THE PLACE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE STRUCTURE OF IMPERIAL POWER: PARADIGM OF GOLDEN HORDE

Abstract

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has its origins in the establishment of the Golden Horde occupation authorities in the north-eastern territories of Kievan Rus. At this time, the Kyiv metropolitanate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was faced with a choice: «with whom to be?» — with the invaders, or with their own people. The vast majority of its clergy and laity are Kyiv, Chernihiv, Pereyaslav, Halych-Volyn, and others. principality) chose the path of struggle for independence, and the other (Vladimir, Suzdal, Moscow) — close cooperation and obedience to the new government. The rulers of the Golden Horde themselves were guided by the laws of Iasi, with its postulates about the divine essence of the ruler, and local beliefs (including Orthodoxy) were pragmatically used in their own interests. Instead, the clergy and church property fell under the direct subordination of the khan, and the faithful service of the hierarchs was supported by labels — personalized privileges. In this context, a conscious choice was made to serve the Horde by Metropolitans Kirill and Maxim, who adapted church norms to the requirements of the authorities, built infrastructure, established new dioceses, including the capital, in Sarai-Batu, and so on. The latter was demonstratively translated, ie expropriated, from Pereyaslav, Dnieper, with a corresponding change of name to Saraisk.
In the Horde, the ROC became part of the state mechanism for managing the occupied territories and population, participating in the redistribution of power, property and resources. Methods of terror, spiritual violence, denationalization, etc. were used for everyday use, and bribes and access to looted and official success were used to recruit the faithful. Since then, the discourse of lies and deception has also been adopted as the defining communicative strategy. These Golden Horde archetypes have formed a strategic paradigm for the functioning of the ROC as an integral part of imperial power, which it is trying to implement in modern conditions. A clear confirmation of this is the participation of the ROC in promoting the ideas of the «Russian world» and direct participation in the establishment of occupation regimes in the Crimea and ORDLO.