Interaction of the Diocesan Authorities with Local Administrations in the New Samara Province in the 1850s – 1870s: On the Question of the Nature of Church-State Relations

The article studies the relationship between the secular and spiritual authorities in the first decades of Samara province (from the 1850s until the 1880s). The study utilizes various sources, both newly discovered and previously published, to shed light on this topic. It employs methods such as “local history”, “history of everyday life”, and interdisciplinary practices. Many works related to different aspects of state-church relations indicate the significance and social relevance of studying this topic. In the 19th century, the diocesan authorities at the local level had goals consistent with the intentions of the imperial administration. Due to modernization, elements of civic society were also involved in cooperating with these authorities. Even though the provincial secular and spiritual supervisors were rigidly subordinated vertically to the higher authorities at the imperial level, they were practically independent. Still, they interacted and “collaborated” in solving common problems in the fields such as education, upbringing, culture, charity, economics, and law. These authorities were united in their opposition to anything that would undermine social stability and in their desire to achieve positive cultural and social changes within the existing state orders.