Church direction of charity of the nobles of the southern Ukrainian provinces in the early ХХ century

Abstract

The history of charity is inextricably linked to the church, as the religious and moral conceptions of Christianity are a fundamental element of the very idea of charity. The Orthodox Church in pre-revolutionary Russia played a prominent role in caring for the needy of various segments of society. However, it is worth noting that she often needed support. In different historical periods, the church has been the object of philanthropy by citizens, regardless of the size of their finances. The nobility made a significant contribution to charitable assistance to churches. This is confirmed by several factors. In addition to wealth and ambition, the desire to stand out among others, to earn the mercy of the court, the main factor that determined the scope of charity, remained the internal motivations of noble donors, due primarily to religious education and moral ideas about the soul. Analysis of the latest research shows that the leading aspects of the charitable activities of the nobility have found sufficient coverage in the scientific literature. However, despite the array of available scientific literature, the main forms of aristocratic church charity remain insufficiently studied. The purpose of the article is to highlight the contribution of the nobles-philanthropists of the southern Ukrainian provinces in optimizing the activities of temple institutions in the region in the early ХХ century. The methodology of this study is based on general scientific principles (historicity, objectivity, scientific character) and historical and scientific methods (historical-typological, historical-comparative, chronological), which made it possible to objectively identify the main forms of assistance of the nobility to the churches of the region, to identify the potential for enhancing and optimizing further research this question. The analysis suggests that the southern Ukrainian nobility provided significant support to the churches of the region. Among the main areas of assistance were the construction of churches and church outbuildings, their repair, monetary offerings, donations of liturgical items and liturgical items, etc. The funds of the nobles-benefactors did not cover all the expenses, but together with the donations of other segments of the population, they certainly optimized the functioning and improved the situation of the churches.