Week 13 Lecture: 18th Century Russian Culture

Court and Palace Culture

Catherine spent about 12% of national income – similar to France, 15/20% [estimates].

Spending money in order to represent power to people who cant see them individually
(representational monarchy).

St Petersburg – wholly wooden structures – admiralty, St Isaacs and the winter palace [no
embankment as of yet]. – Elizabeth builds new Winter Palace following 7 Years War:

Actually in middle of the city = difficult to see from the outside, its gargantuan building,
characteristic product of foreigners who came to Russia (they played w the Rules they
couldn’t do in Euro – classical statues on Roof).

- Interior: Catherine inherited it as a shell, virtually anyone well dressed could get in,
depending how senior you were, depended how far you would go.
o Courts held high bills for retired courtiers, ground floor all for pensioners.
o Catherine builds from 1769, the Small Hermitidge, originally has her art
collection here and where she entertains her friends
- Large Hermitage = filled with even more art collections, paintings bit like land,
representative of a view of power and that power can be collected (i.e. everyone
starts at 0)
o French had become effeminate in military endeavors, so art collection was
being siphoned off.
- Granite embankment completed in 1780s/90s = enlightened image of man
controlling nature, nothing to stop flood dumping boats on the shore originally

Theatre, mid-1780s, based on Italian renaissance theatres == inside spectacular: 1. Limited

no of posh seats, 2. Egalitarian, classical roman arrangements [no tiers], emphasize
closeness of imperial family.

How does this Court Culture reach the public??

Public Sphere

Kind of imaginary space between domestic sphere (home) and sphere of employment 
where ideas can be discussed and explained in either of these two spheres.

Coffee House – meet, talk and exchange ideas with those they may not otherwise know.

Habermas: This is a bourgeois sphere – growing, progressive space which was critical of a
more conservative Gov/Monarchy – intrigued in critical ideas could emerge that were
subversive of the ruling power.

Blanning: Monarchs, themselves, actually created a public sphere in order to develop a

group of people who were capable of implementing reforms – can push to wider group
Catherine is monarch who does most to develop this idea, other places could’ve been:

1. Free Economic Society [1765] = group of agricultural improvers trying to make

Russian Farming land more productive – logo is a beehive, image of utility/industry, C
is Queen B, and double headed eagle = imperial emblem

Catherine DID manage to develop idea – wasn’t a very large group of people, was just the
court dressed up in different costumes.

2. Nikolai Novikov = started satirical journals (the Tattler, the Spectator etc) based off
18th Century English Novels, pushing sarcastic view of old-fashioned ways of doing
things, ridiculing the old would allow for a transformation of the new, enlightened
ideas.

Problems = 1. Not enough readers to make them profitable, only kept going due to
Catherine subsidising them, 2. Novikov was a leading freemason

3. Russian Freemasonry = indulge in philanthropic activity, not really public as meet in

secret (suspect as unenlightened mess, and group of subversives) – Ivan Elagin –
hierarchical structure, secular practice of churches

C doesn’t think Church is committed to worldly affairs anymore, and believes this is how
those who wish to find a charitable outlet.

Catherine fears  international network that might be covert way of supporting son from
Prussia, they’re all male.

Religion

XXX True Court had no connection to the church – Catherine spends large amount of time in
Church – Church was part of Western Court Calendar, part of Western borrowing, had to
show Catherine’s loyalty, faithfulness in National Religion; Orthodoxy, which Peter III had
neglected.

Rastrelli’s Great Chapel (Winter Palace) = Metropolitan Platon (1737 – 1812), how does he
try to get through to a Monarch who isn’t spiritual???

One way to show strength of religion, is that it is defensible via rational thought – reason
and revelation.

Popular Belief

Post-PtG = world turned upside down, normal hierarchy is reversed == popular culture can
be politically subversive.

Problems with Evidence

No record of it till 19th Century – vast ethnography from then onwards.

Are we looking at timeless peasantry//intelligentsia phantasm (skewed image of their own
peasants, fear of Peasants Revolt that created view of a dangerous counterculture//salt of
the Earth type deal.

Travellers accounts – Protestants tend to comment on these peasants habits

Judicial Evidence (17th Century Witchcraft) – how can you judge cultural norm vs a deviant? –
Religion and Magic: when does it become dangerous? Kivelson, when it doesn’t work.

Folk healers quoted holy trinity, paganism – don’t need to prosecute if works, if it doesn’t
then there’s potentially a problem.

Church attitude to popular religion – fluctuating story: church tries to get act together,
greater institutionalization with attempts at regulation/methods of standardizing of practice

In truth, little standardizing = Russian heterodoxy; variations on a theme, popular culture =

focus between short sighted historians and long sighted folklorists

Miracle-working icons: Prayers to an icon form a miracle, leaves opening for abuses in faith
 PtG keen on weeding out false miracles, fraudulently taking advantage of these people.

1771 Plagues Riots == Archbishop tries to restrict use of miracle working icon, populus
ripped him limb from limb, Catherine was appalled as she was hoping for better educated
people.

Holy Water: Sprinkling, drinking and immersion  Epiphany (6th Jan) – blessing of the
Waters, St George’s Day – Livestock released into fields, Dormition Fast – Blessing of the
Waters, SS Flor and Laver – patron saints of horses.

The Jordan Staircase in Winter Palace – on 6th Jan to bless the waters, bring to livestock to
drink.

Summer blessing of Waters – whole water system becomes idea of flow down to the Jordan,
looks extremely Western – Elite and Popular Cultures are INTERTWINED, not binary.

Seminar

Type/Level of Toleration // Reasons behind it – is it due to enlightenment/any empire??

Catherine – ‘politically expedient method’ – best approach for multi-denominational/multi-

national empire.

‘Selective tolerance = selective intolerance’, tolerance of different Christian groups//different

faiths/non-faiths  language of privileges over language of rights.

Persecution and principled intolerance = used to distract from domestic issues, belief that
YOU are right (subjective).
Lack of persecution  Degree of toleration (private thoughts/practice)  Ultimate
relativism (everyone is right, allowing non-faith/belief)

Catherine lies in the middle – allows private thoughts, stops persecution of Muslims in 1780s
[administrative assimilation], aim remains to still ultimately come under one religion
[cultural assimilation].

C spending time in Palaces for prayer == Catherine wants people to know she is present and
attentive.

DOESN’T have universal toleration, not till 1905 – Hapsburg stuck w issue over Roman
Catholicism (supranational organization) – Orthodoxy = Russian National Church?

‘National church’: One that has backing of the state? Make sure that the church and the
monarch level? == 1. National because you try to get as many people in it as possible  less
bothered w Doctrine, broad church, ultimately not matter what you believe//2. Distinguish it
from other national churches  much more doctrinally severe.

Where does Russia lie?? = Orthodoxy issue is the Old Believer – how can you have a national
church that rejects a group, excluding.

Can Religion be a political stabilizer in a multi-national empire?? – if offer too much

toleration: offend orthodox hierarchy, if you offer too little: you risk revolution.

Enlightenment inter-relates w Religion

Religion/enlightenment are compatible? – Reason might increase understanding of

revelation, could increase credibility of revelation.

Platon issues in Catherine’s Court:

1. Monk – seen as useless, they’re contemplative, monks are celibate.

2. Educate Catherine’s son in the court = wary of gaining too much power that C gets
concerned.
3. Can only work within set framework of Christian Orthodoxy – Catherine isn’t
spiritually minded, surrounded by enthusiasm for the enlightenment.

In the South (Ukraine), ‘New Russia’, sets up new diasis  headed up by Greeks, coming
from Greek enlightenment.

How do you manage Peasants not bad to see priests = ort to be tolerant, either rivals secs
will be, so we should gradually move to be nicer to popular traditions (attempt at control
now, but church will eventually move away from this).