Rural Priest in the System of Social Representations of the Russian Peasantry in the XIX – early XX centuries (on the Example of Penza Province)

The authors analyze the social ideas of peasants about the priest, his functions and importance in the village world.On the one hand, the peasants treated their spiritual mentor with respect, making certain demands on his spiritual and moral appearance.On the other hand, the peasantry condemned manifestations of uncanonical behavior on the part of clerics, such as drunkenness, profanity, and excessive extortion from peasants.An important aspect in the issue of interaction between the priest and the peasants was the material side -the collection of fees for trebs.Despite the fact that the level of well-being of the rural clergy was very low, it was the very way of receiving remuneration for performing their duties that distanced the priest from the peasant.Many of the peasants opposed payment in monetary terms.The fact that the priest was a representative of the church and state authorities also played a significant role.The general attitude of the peasants towards the clergy was formed taking into account both the personal qualities of the priest and stable ideas about the correspondence of the activities of the church and Christian preaching to the idea of justice -the basis of the ideological principles of the Russian peasantry.