Religion in the Russian Empire: Power, Control, Ideology - AVES01191

• Title: Religion in the Russian Empire: Power, Control, Ideology
• Guaranteed by: Institute of East European Studies (21-UVES)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2025
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unlimited / unknown (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Dr. Kristíne Vaceka-Ante
• Teacher(s): Dr. Kristíne Vaceka-Ante

Annotation

This course examines the Russian Empire as a confessional state and analyzes the interaction between religion, political authority, and imperial governance from the establishment of the Empire in 1721 to the early twentieth century. It addresses the Byzantine legacy and the ideology of Moscow as the “Third Rome” as foundations of imperial political theology, and examines Peter I’s transformation of church–state relations through the creation of the synodal system. The course considers Catherine II’s legislation on tolerance, Uvarov’s formula of “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality,” imperial religious policy, missionary activity, and the legal status of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and emerging evangelical communities.
Particular attention is given to the development of religious intolerance in Eastern Europe, the role of state authorities in supporting dominant confessions, and the regulation, restriction, or toleration of minority religions, culminating in the reforms of 1905.

Last update: Vaceka-Ante Kristíne, Dr. (18.02.2026)

Course completion requirements

Active participation in 4 seminars and oral presentation.

Last update: Vaceka-Ante Kristíne, Dr. (18.02.2026)

Literature

Eastern Christianity and politics in the twenty-first century. Ed. by Luckian N. Leustean. Routledge. 2017.

The Russian Orthodox Church, 1917-1948 From decline to resurrection. Daniela Kalkandijeva. Routledge, 2017.

The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology. Edited by Mary B. Cunningham and Elizabeth Theokritoff. Cambridge University Press. 2008.

John P. Burgess. Holy Rus’. The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia. Yale University Press. 2017. 

Ross D. Tatar Empire. Kazan's Muslims and the Making of Imperial Russia. Indiana University Press. 2020.

Kane E. Russian Hajj. Empire and the Pilgrimage to Mecca. Cornell University Press. 2015.

Last update: Vaceka-Ante Kristíne, Dr. (01.02.2026)

Syllabus

1. Introduction. The Russian Empire as a “Confessional State”. The legacy of Byzantium and “Third Rome” ideology.
2. Peter the Great and State Control over Russian Orthodox Church.
3. Patriarch Nikon’s Reforms in Russia in the Second Half of the 17th Century.
4. Catherina the Great and the Legal Framework of Tolerance.
5. Specific Features of the Activity of the Roman Catholic Church in Eastern Europe.
6. Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality: Uvarov’s Triad.
7. The Influence of the Russian Emperor on State Religious Policy External and Internal Missions of the Russian Orthodox Church toward Other Confessions and Religions.
8. The Special Status of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Baltic Provinces.
9. The Emergence of New Evangelical Movements in the 1850s–60s in the Inner Provinces of Russia.
10. The Era of Great Reforms (1860s-1870s) and Religious Freedom.
11. The 1905 Edict of Toleration and its consequences. The politicization of the Church during the Duma era. Revolutionary movements and the Orthodox response.
12. Student presentations.

Last update: Vaceka-Ante Kristíne, Dr. (19.02.2026)