BASHNIN N.V. The Contributions of Ivan IV and the Princes Paletsky to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery: Power and Memory
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.6
Nikita V. Bashnin,
Doctor of Sciences (History), Head of the Department of Medieval History of Russia, Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodakaya St, 7, 197110 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,
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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2209-8750
Abstract. Introduction. The scientific literature shows that the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was large and significant in medieval Russia. Scientists have repeatedly addressed the study of contributions and the social composition of contributors to this monastery. It was found out that Ivan IV made the largest monetary donations, but the fate of material contributions was not the subject of special study. Methods and materials. Information about contributions is available in the contributions and feed books. The original icons, chasubles, and vessels are described in more detail in the inventories of buildings and property of 1601, 1615, 1621, 1635, and 1668. Comparative and retrospective methods were used to analyze these sources. Analysis. The analysis of the sources shows that the land, material, and monetary contributions to the monastery were not something unshakable. So, the depositor could take the money and transfer it to another monastery; in turn, the monks could sell the received material assets, or they could leave them in the sacristy, and, of course, according to the royal will, the monastery could either receive grants or lose them. Ivan IV Vasilyevich was the largest and most famous contributor to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. The article compares information about his contributions in the contribution book of 1559/60–1620s and inventories of buildings and property of the 17th century. In the world of things of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery of the 17th century, some particularly significant material contributions of Ivan IV were in second place after the personal items of Kirill Belozersky. The contributions of the representatives of the Paletsky princes’ family were less valuable in monetary terms, but mentions of them, along with the names of depositors, are found in the inventories of the 17th century. Results. In the second half of the 16th century – first third of the 17th century, the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was for the tsar, boyars, and princes (who were active in the 1560s – 1580s) not only a place of removal but also a kind of meeting place and, to some extent, a place of reconciliation. Elder Bogolep Paletsky will outlive Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, and their contributions will be located in the same temples and in the same monastery. The memory of depositors and contributions of the 1560s will be kept in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in the 17th century, although it will transform, disappear, and reappear, and some things will be repaired, updated, or irretrievably used for the needs of the monastery.
Key words: medieval monasteries, Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, contributions, Ivan IV, Princes Paletsky, source studies.
Citation. Bashnin N.V. The Contributions of Ivan IV and the Princes Paletsky to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery: Power and Memory. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2026, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 56-74. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.6
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