Russification of Education and Religion (1769–1786)
A systematic campaign of the Russian Empire to root out the indigenous people's language from education and religion: "in 1769 the Holy Synod not only refused permission to print South Russian primers, but ordered the confiscation of those already in people's hands"[1]; by an order of 26 October 1784, the Kyiv metropolitan Samuil Myslavsky directed the rector and prefect of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy "to take unremitting care of the unfailing and unomitted observance, by teachers and students alike, of the rules of Russian orthography," under the threat of expelling students from the clerical estate[2]; in 1786 the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was prescribed the empire-wide mode of instruction[3].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0009 | Russian Empire | 3 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0011 | Moscow Patriarchate | 2 |
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The mass confiscation of national educational and religious literature: "in 1769 the Holy Synod not only refused permission to print South Russian primers, but ordered the confiscation of those already in people's hands, since the primers of that time were regarded as church books"[1].
The Russification of teaching in the country's principal institution of learning: from 1784 metropolitan Samuil Myslavsky introduced new classes of geography and history at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy with an order to conduct them "in pure Russian," and by his order of 26 October 1784 demanded that teachers and students observe "the rules of orthography proper to the Russian language" - teachers faced dismissal for lapses, and students expulsion from the clerical estate[2]. The unification was completed by the order of February 13, 1786: "to adopt immediately for the Kyiv Academy the mode of instruction legalized for all schools in the All-Russian Empire"[3] – the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was transferred to the empire-wide mode of teaching.
The displacement of the local population's language from the sacred sphere: metropolitan Samuil Myslavsky's order of 26 October 1784 demanded that students and future priests practice "the reading of church books of every kind, and above all the Bible, acquiring a good and pure pronunciation" - after the Moscow model instead of the Ukrainian church tradition, under the threat of expulsion from the clerical estate[2], and in 1786 metropolitan Myslavsky prescribed to the clergy the unification of pronunciation and orthography along the Russian model[3].