Social make-up of Vladimir branch of Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in the pre-revolutionary period

The article is devoted to the study of the social composition of the Vladimir branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in the pre-revolutionary period. On the basis of published reports on the activities of the organization, the dynamics of changes in the number of its members was traced. The analysis showed that the number of members in the Vladimir branch of the Palestinian Society was close to the average for all reginal departments of the Society. The trends, revealed in the changes of the quantitative composition of the Vladimir department were similar to the other departments: rapid growth in the first three years has been followed by a steady decline since 1905.The study identifies the reasons for the decline in the number of members of the organization in the studied region. Attention is drawn to the fact that one of the reasons could be the death of Archbishop Sergius, who headed the Vladimir branch of the Palestinian Society since its creation, which led to the collapse of the system of personal ties that played a major role in attracting new members.Based on the collected data on the social status of the members of the Vladimir branch of the Palestinian Society, the social composition of the organization was analyzed, the representation of various social groups was revealed. The specifics of the social composition was determined by the fact that the Society was associated with religious activity, and those who were more closely connected with the Church, joined he Society first of all. Those groups were the clergy and merchants, whose representatives were often church wardens and actively participated in church charity. The other social groups are significantly less represented. Secular members made up the majority in the Vladimir branch of the Palestinian Society, but the percentage of the clergy gradually grew.It is noted that high membership fees and the selective invitation of new members determined the elite nature of the society. This, on the one hand, ensured a high status of membership, but, on the other hand, limited the possibilities of organizing the work of the society.