Mutual Insurance of Church Real Estate, 1910–1917: Evidence from Kadnikov District, Vologda Diocese
https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2025-200
EDN: VHQIBW
Abstract
This article investigates the historical practice of fire insurance for immovable property organised by the Russian Orthodox Church on principles of reciprocity during the pre-revolutionary period. This subject remains underexplored in Russian historiography and merits closer examination. Focusing on the Kadnikov district of the Vologda diocese between 1910 and 1917, the study draws on archival insurance documents and materials from the Vologda Diocesan Gazette. It considers the organisation of mutual insurance at the district level, methods for valuing church property, the calculation of insurance premiums, recorded fire incidents, and the relationship between contributions and compensation for losses. The author also analyses cases where compensatory funds were used to finance rebuilding efforts. The data enables a comparative assessment of insurance outcomes for parishes and monasteries in Kadnikov relative to other districts within the Vologda diocese and the wider Russian Empire. The study concludes that mutual insurance was less advantageous for Kadnikov’s ecclesiastical institutions, as premiums significantly exceeded fire damage compensations during the period under review.
About the Author
A. V. Rozhina
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasia V. Rozhina — PhD in History, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Sciences at the Northwestern Institute of Management
St. Petersburg
References
1. Choi, J. (2015). Fire, arson and fire insurance in late imperial Russia, Slavonic and East European Review, 93(3), 451-492.
2. Zverinsky, V. V. (1892). Material for historical and topographic research on Orthodox monasteries in the Russian Empire: with a bibliographic index. Vol. II. Monasteries in the states of 1764, 1786 and 1795. St. Petersburg, 462 p. (In Russ.)
3. Kokarev, M. S. (2023). Insurance of church real estate in the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. Proceedings of the IX International Scientific and Practical Conference, Samara, May 25–26, 2023. Samara: Samara State Institute of Culture, Modernization of Culture: Dialogues about the Past and Present in Science, Art, Education, 44-47. (In Russ.) EDN: JCDFSO.
4. Georgievsky, P. (1912). Fires in Russia. St. Petersburg, Statistics of fires in the Russian Empire for 1895–1910. Part 1. 63 provinces of European Russia. Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 276 p. (In Russ.)
5. Regulations on mutual fire insurance of buildings of the spiritual department. Most highly approved on June 6, 1904 (1907). St. Petersburg, The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. The third collection. Vol. XXIV. Part 1, No. 24712, 614-809. (In Russ.)
6. Rozhina, A. V. (2024). On the issue of mutual insurance of buildings of the ecclesiastical department in Russia during the period of the Duma monarchy. Bulletin of the Udmurt University. Ser. History and Philology, 34(5), 1055-1063. (In Russ.) doi:10.35634/2412-9534-2024-34-5-1055-1063.
7. Rozhina, A. V. (2024). Implementation of mutual insurance "against fire" of buildings of the ecclesiastical department in Russia in 1910–1917 (based on the materials of Ust-Sysolsky district of Vologda province). Proceedings of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ser. History and Philology, (6), 29-36. (In Russ.) doi:10.19110/1994-5655-2024-6-29-36.
8. Rozhina, A. V. (2025). Fires and mutual insurance "against fire" of church buildings in Totemsky district of Vologda province in 1910–1917. Proceedings of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ser. History and Philology, (2), 67-75. (In Russ.) doi:10.19110/1994-5655-2025-2-67-75.
Review
For citations:
Rozhina A.V. Mutual Insurance of Church Real Estate, 1910–1917: Evidence from Kadnikov District, Vologda Diocese. Russian Journal of Church History. 2025;6(3):101-114. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15829/2686-973X-2025-200. EDN: VHQIBW
Views:
179
Email this article 