Speaking briefly about the progress of Peter I's church reform, it is important to note its thoughtfulness. At the end of the reform, Russia, as a result, received only one person with absolute full power.

Church reform of Peter I

From 1701 to 1722, Peter the Great tried to reduce the authority of the Church and establish control over its administrative and financial activities. The prerequisites for this were the protest of the Church against the changes taking place in the country, calling the king the Antichrist. Having enormous authority, comparable to the authority and complete power of Peter himself, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' was the main political competitor of the Russian reformer tsar.

Rice. 1. Young Peter.

Among other things, the Church had accumulated enormous wealth, which Peter needed to wage war with the Swedes. All this tied Peter’s hands to use all the country’s resources for the sake of the desired victory.

The tsar was faced with the task of eliminating the economic and administrative autonomy of the Church and reducing the number of clergy.

Table “The essence of the reforms being carried out”

Events	Year	Goals
Appointment of the “Guardian and Manager of the Patriarchal Throne”		Replace the election of the Patriarch by the Church with an imperial appointment	Peter was personally appointed as the new Patriarch
Secularization of peasants and lands		Elimination of the financial autonomy of the Church	Church peasants and lands were transferred to the management of the State.
Monastic prohibitions		Reduce the number of clergy	It is forbidden to build new monasteries and conduct a census of monks
Senate control over the Church		Restriction of administrative freedom of the Church	Creation of the Senate and transfer of church affairs to its management
Decree limiting the number of clergy		Improving the efficiency of human resource allocation	Servants are assigned to a specific parish and are prohibited from traveling
Preparatory stage for the abolition of the Patriarchate		Get full power in the empire	Development of a project for the establishment of the Theological College

January 25, 1721 is the date of the final victory of the emperor over the patriarch, when the patriarchate was abolished.

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Rice. 2. Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky.

The relevance of the topic was not only under Peter, but also under the Bolsheviks, when not only church power was abolished, but also the very structure and organization of the Church.

Rice. 3. Building of 12 colleges.

The Spiritual College also had another name - the Governing Synod. A secular official, not a clergyman, was appointed to the position of Chief Prosecutor of the Synod.

As a result, the reform of the Church of Peter the Great had its pros and cons. Thus, Peter discovered for himself the opportunity to lead the country towards Europeanization, however, if this power began to be abused, in the hands of another person Russia could find itself in a dictatorial-despotic regime. However, the consequences are a reduction in the role of the church in society, a reduction in its financial independence and the number of servants of the Lord.

Gradually, all institutions began to concentrate around St. Petersburg, including church ones. The activities of the Synod were monitored by fiscal services.

Peter also introduced church schools. According to his plan, every bishop was obliged to have a school for children at home or at home and provide primary education.

Results of the reform

• The position of Patriarch has been abolished;
• Taxes increased;
• Recruitment from church peasants is underway;
• The number of monks and monasteries has been reduced;
• The Church is dependent on the Emperor.

What have we learned?

Peter the Great concentrated all branches of power in his hands and had unlimited freedom of action, establishing absolutism in Russia.

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Church reform of Peter I

Sovereign Peter I lived at a time when it was impossible for Russia to remain on the same beaten path and it was necessary to embark on the path of renewal.

The Spiritual Reform occupies a prominent place among Peter's reforms. Peter knew very well the history of the struggle for power between his father and Patriarch Nikon; he also knew the attitude of the Clergy to his reforms. At this time, Adrian was the patriarch in Russia. The relationship between Peter and the patriarch was clearly strained. Peter perfectly understood the desire of the church to subjugate secular power - this determined the events that were carried out in this area. Patriarch Andrian died in 1700, but the tsar was in no hurry to elect a new patriarch. Management of church affairs was transferred to Ryazan Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky.

The situation of the Russian Church was difficult. On the one hand there is a split, on the other there is an influx of foreigners of other faiths. “Peter had to begin the fight against schismatics. The schismatics, possessing great wealth, refused to take part in common duties: to enter service, military or civilian. Peter found a solution to this issue - he imposed a double tax on them. The schismatics refused to pay and a struggle broke out. Raskolnikov was executed, exiled or flogged.” Peter sought to completely subordinate the church to the state. He begins to limit the rights of the church and its head: a council of bishops was created, and then in 1721 the Holy Synod was created, which was in charge of the affairs of the church. Stefan Yavorsky was appointed President of the Synod. “By decree of January 25, 1721, the Synod was founded, and already on January 27, pre-convened members of the Synod took the oath and on February 14, 1721 the grand opening took place. The spiritual regulations for guiding the activities of the Synod were written by Feofan Prokopovich and corrected and approved by the tsar.”

The Spiritual Regulations are a legislative act that determined the functions, rights and responsibilities of the Synod and its members in governing the Russian Orthodox Church. He equated members of the Synod with members of other government institutions. According to the “Spiritual Regulations”, the synod was supposed to consist of 12 people - a president, 2 vice-presidents, 4 advisers, 4 assessors and a secretary. All of them were appointed by the king from among the clergy. At least three of them had to be bishops. The Synod was placed on a par with the Senate, above all other collegiums and administrative bodies. The following issues were submitted to the Synod: spiritual court (on crimes against faith and piety); censorship; consideration of sectarian teachings, with the aim of reporting to the state on the admissibility of their presence in Russia; testing candidates for episcopal ranks; supervision of church property; protection of the clergy before secular courts; checking the authenticity of wills; charity and eradication of beggary; combating various abuses in the church environment. Church management and organization.

The Church was now completely subordinate to secular authority.

Peter did not favor either “white” or “black” monks. Seeing the monasteries as an unjustified expense, the tsar decided to reduce financial expenditures in this area, declaring that he would show the monks the path to holiness not with sturgeon, honey and wine, but with bread, water and work for the good of Russia. For this reason, the monasteries were subject to certain taxes; in addition, they had to engage in carpentry, icon painting, spinning, sewing, etc. - all that was not contraindicated to monasticism. In 1701, the royal decree limited the number of monks: for permission to take monastic vows, one now had to apply to the Monastic Prikaz. Subsequently, the king had the idea to use the monasteries as shelters for retired soldiers and beggars. In a decree of 1724, the number of monks in the monastery was directly dependent on the number of people they cared for. In one of its admonitions, the Synod denounced the people’s beliefs about the godliness of suffering, which schismatics often resorted to. Their children were ordered to be baptized according to Orthodox custom. The schismatics who converted to Orthodoxy were freed from double salary and extortion. Peter did not like the fact that there were many churches in Russia; Moscow was especially famous for their abundance. The tsar ordered the churches to be rewritten, the time of their foundation, the number of parish yards, the distance between churches to be indicated, and the superfluous ones to be abolished. The Synod prohibited bringing personal icons to church and praying in front of them. During church services, it was indicated to collect alms in two wallets - one for church needs, and the other for supporting the sick and poor. By decree of Peter, the rich were forbidden to invite the clergy to their homes to serve vespers and matins, considering this to be vanity. All house churches were abolished. From that time on, the priest became a servant of state power and had to put its interests above church rules. According to the decree of the Synod of March 26, 1722, spiritual fathers were obliged to report on persons who admitted in confession to malicious intent against the tsar. The priests were obliged to ensure that parishioners attended churches on holidays and Sundays, on the birthdays and name days of the Tsar and Tsarina, on the days of the Poltava victory and the New Year. Wanting to introduce Russians to other religions, the Emperor ordered the Lutheran and Calvinist catechisms to be translated into Russian. Those of other faiths in the Kazan province who expressed a desire to be baptized were ordered not to be accepted as soldiers. And when the tsar was informed that the newly baptized Tatars in Siberia were given into slavery, he ordered to immediately declare them free. Also, the Synod issued a decree allowing marriages with people of other faiths. On October 10, 1723, an important decree was issued not to bury the dead in churches, but to do it in cemeteries or monasteries. A year later, new rules were drawn up for monasteries, which now had to be supported by their own labors. Holy relics and miraculous icons for pilgrims were placed at the gate, outside the church fence. From now on, convents became impenetrable to outsiders. Seminaries were established in St. Petersburg and Moscow to train bishops. At the age of 30, those who wished could enter the Nevsky Monastery for probation, take monastic vows three years later, preach in the Nevsky Monastery and in cathedral churches, and also translate books. Every day they had to spend 4 hours in the library studying the teachers of the church. From among these privileged monks, bishops and archimandrites were chosen, who were confirmed by the sovereign after the Synod.

Thus, Peter eliminated the threat of an attack on secular power by spiritual power and placed the church at the service of the state. From now on, the church was part of the support on which the absolute monarchy stood.

One of the transformations of Peter I was the reform of church administration that he carried out, aimed at eliminating the church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian hierarchy to the Emperor.

In 1696, the government obliged the white clergy not to make any unsalary expenses from its treasury without a personal decree of the sovereign. Beginning in 1697, a number of decrees prohibited the erection of new church buildings, the construction of monasteries, the payment of salaries to bishops who had estates, and the financial privileges of the church were abolished. In 1700, the Patriarchal Order was abolished, the affairs of the laity were transferred to other orders, and the fight against heresies and schism was made the responsibility of a “locum tenens.” Temporarily, instead of Patriarch Adrian, who died in December 1700, a new position was established: “Exarch of the Holy Patriarchal Throne, Guardian and Administrator,” to which Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky of Murom and Ryazan was appointed, whose power was greatly limited. He had to resolve the most important issues of church administration together with other hierarchs, who were called to Moscow “for the sacred council” for this purpose. By decree of January 24, 1701, the Patriarchal order was restored, and at its head Peter put the secular person of the former Astrakhan governor A.I. Musina-Pushkin. The management of the real estate of the patriarchal and bishop's houses and monasteries was transferred to the order. In 1701, a series of decrees were issued to reform the management of church and monastic estates and the organization of monastic life. The patriarchal order again began to be in charge of the trial of the monastic peasants and control the income from church and monastic landholdings.

Church employees were subject to poll tax. According to the “Spiritual Regulations” of 1721, the Spiritual College was established (soon renamed the Synod). According to the decree of May 11, 1722, a special secular official was appointed to oversee affairs and discipline in the Synod. The Synod became a state institution, subordinate to the supreme authority of the king, who became the head of the church. Priests had to take an oath of faithful service to the state and thereby became civil servants, dressed in a special uniform. In addition, priests, under threat of torture, were obliged to violate the secret of confession and inform on their flock.

The king developed a persistently negative attitude towards the monastics. In a decree dated December 30, 1701, he set as an example the ancient monks, who “with their own industrious hands produced food for themselves and, living a communal life, fed many beggars with their own hands.” The current monks, the king reasoned, “have eaten alien labors themselves, and the early monks have fallen into many luxuries.” 23 years later, the king expressed the same thoughts: most of the monks “are parasites,” because they lead an idle life (“the root of all evil is idleness”), they care only about themselves, while before they were tonsured they were “thrice-eating: that is, to their home , the state and the landowner." In 1724, Peter the Great issued a decree according to which the number of monks in a monastery directly depended on the number of people they had to look after, that is, the number of tonsures was sharply reduced. According to Peter, the monasteries were to be turned into almshouses for crippled and elderly soldiers or into workhouses; It was planned to teach the nuns literacy, spinning, sewing, and lace-making, so that there would be “benefits for society.”

In 1721, Peter approved the Spiritual Regulations, the drafting of which was entrusted to the Pskov bishop, the Tsar's close Little Russian Feofan Prokopovich. As a result, a radical reform of the church took place, eliminating the autonomy of the clergy and completely subordinating it to the state. In wartime, valuables had to be removed from the monastery storages. But Peter still did not go for the complete secularization of church and monastic properties, which was carried out much later, at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II.

Another feature of the church policy of Peter I was the declaration of religious tolerance in the manifesto of 1702, granting foreigners the right to freely practice their religion and build churches for this. This measure was due to the attraction of foreign specialists to Russian service. Therefore, the era of Peter was marked by a trend towards greater religious tolerance. Peter also terminated the “12 Articles” adopted by Sophia, according to which Old Believers who refused to renounce the “schism” were subject to burning at the stake. The “schismatics” were allowed to practice their faith, subject to recognition of the existing state order and payment of double taxes. Complete freedom of faith was granted to foreigners coming to Russia, and restrictions on communication between Orthodox Christians and Christians of other faiths were lifted (in particular, interfaith marriages were allowed).

All these transformations caused muted, and sometimes obvious, discontent of the clergy, for they destroyed the old Moscow system and customs, to which they were so committed in their ignorance. Nevertheless, Peter still managed to find among the clergy a true supporter of the reforms and a reliable ally in their implementation - Feofan Prokopovich.

As a statesman, Peter did not allow the independence of the church in the state, and as a reformer who devoted his life to the cause of renewal of the fatherland, he did not like the clergy, among whom he found the largest number of opponents of what was closest to him. Peter looked at the clergy in such a way that they “are not another state” and must, “along with other classes,” obey general state laws. But he was not an unbeliever - Peter was taught church piety from childhood, he learned the order of church services, participated in all church ceremonies and remained a deeply religious person until the end of his days, believing that all good things, expressed, for example, in victories in theater of war, and the evil that came from the Falls, such as the tragedy on the Prut, is nothing more than God’s favor.

The case of Tsarevich Alexy, with whom many clergy pinned hopes for the restoration of former customs, was extremely painful for some of the higher clergy. Having fled abroad in 1716, the Tsarevich maintained relations with Metropolitan Ignatius (Smola) of Krutitsky, Metropolitan Joasaph (Krakovsky) of Kiev, Bishop Dosifei of Rostov, and others. During the search carried out by Peter, Peter himself called “conversations with priests and monks” the main reason for treason. As a result of the investigation, punishment fell upon the clergy who were found to have connections with the Tsarevich: Bishop Dosifei was defrocked and executed, as well as the Tsarevich’s confessor, Archpriest Jacob Ignatiev, and the clergyman of the cathedral in Suzdal, Theodore the Desert, who was close to Peter’s first wife, Queen Evdokia; Metropolitan Joasaph was deprived of his see, and Metropolitan Joasaph, summoned for questioning, died on the way from Kyiv.

Peter used Prokopovich's talents to, firstly, justify his decision to deprive his son Alexei of the right to inherit the throne and, secondly, to justify the advantages of the collegial system over individual management. But Prokopovich’s main contribution to Peter’s transformative undertakings was to substantiate the groundlessness of the theocratic claims of the clergy and the untenability of Nikon’s idea of ​​​​the advantage of spiritual power over secular power.

A prominent figure of the era of Peter the Great, Feofan Prokopovich, argued that the priesthood is simply “another rank among the people, and not another state,” that in spiritual and temporal power the sovereign and patriarch are represented by one person - the emperor. The idea of ​​the primacy of secular power over spiritual power and the uselessness of the patriarchate is closely related to the system of proof of the superiority of collegial government over individual management. The relations that developed between the church and the royal government, which resulted in the Church reform of Peter 1, required a new design from a legal point of view. Prokopovich drew up the Spiritual Regulations in 1721, which provided for the destruction of the patriarchal institution and the creation of a new body called the “Spiritual Collegium,” which was soon renamed the “Holy Government Synod.” This document outlined the essence of church reform: the monarch was declared the head of the church, and the management of church affairs was entrusted to the same officials who were in the civil service and received a salary, like the officials who sat in the Senate and collegiums.

The difference from the patriarchal institution was that the Synod was attended by officials dressed in robes. Control of state power over the activities of the Synod was carried out by the Chief Prosecutor, a secular person declared by the instructions to be the same “eye of the sovereign” as the Prosecutor General of the Senate. The Synod's complete dependence on the state was expressed not only in the salaries received, but also in the oath taken by its members. Members of the Synod swore an oath of allegiance to the reigning family, pledged to safeguard the state's interests, and to regard the monarch himself as the supreme judge in spiritual matters. The clergy were also assigned police functions - they were allowed to neglect secret confession and report to the authorities in cases where the person confessing was plotting something against the existing order.

It was the creation of the Synod that marked the start of the absolutist period in the history of Russia. During this period, all power, including church power, was in the hands of the sovereign, Peter the Great. Thus, the church loses its independence from royal power, as well as the right to dispose of church property. The church reform of Peter the Great turned clergy into government officials. Indeed, during this period, even the Synod was supervised by a secular person, the so-called chief prosecutor.

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Church reforms of Peter I. Abolition of the patriarchate. Creation of the Holy Synod.

Reasons, prerequisites and purpose of the church reform of Peter I

Historians note that the church reforms of Peter the Great must be considered not only in the context of other government reforms that made it possible to form a new state, but also in the context of past church-state relations.

First of all, we should remember the actual beginning of the confrontation between the patriarchate and the royal power, which unfolded almost a century before the start of Peter’s reign. It is worth mentioning the deep conflict, in which his father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was also included.

The seventeenth century is the period of transformation of the Russian state from a monarchy to an absolute monarchy. At the same time, the absolute ruler had to rely on a standing army and professional officials, limiting and “suppressing” other authority, independence and power in his own state.

One of the very first such acts in Russia was the signing of the Council Code in 1649, when the tsar actually limited church power, which was regarded as the first signs that sooner or later the tsar would still take away church lands, which is what happened in the eighteenth century.

Peter the Great, despite his young age, had experience in conflictual relationships. He also remembered the tense relationship between his father and Nikon, who was his patriarch. However, Peter himself did not immediately come to the need for reforms regulating relations between the state and the church. So, in 1700, after the death of Patriarch Adrian, the ruler stopped this foundation for twenty-one years. At the same time, a year later he approves the monastic order, canceled several years earlier, the essence of which was precisely the management of all church changes by the state and the possession of judicial functions that extended to people living on church estates.

As we see, at the very beginning, Tsar Peter was only interested in the fiscal aspect. That is, he is interested in how large the church income brought by the patriarchal sphere and other dioceses is.

Before the end of the long Northern War, which lasted just twenty-one years, the ruler is again trying to clarify the form of state-church relations. Throughout the entire period of the war, it was not clear whether the Council would be convened and whether Peter would give sanctions on the choice of the patriarch.

Abolition of the patriarchate and creation of the Holy Synod

At first, the king himself, apparently, was not completely sure of the decision he should take. However, in 1721 he elected a man who was supposed to offer him a completely different new system of state-church relations. This man was Bishop of Narva and Pskov, Feofan Prokopyevich. It was he who, at the time established by the tsar, had to create a new document - the Spiritual Regulations, which fully included a description of the new relationship between the state and the Church. According to the regulations signed by Tsar Peter the First, the patriarchate was completely abolished, and in its place a new collegial body was established called the Holy Governing Synod.

It is worth noting that the Spiritual Regulations themselves are quite an interesting document, representing not so much a law as journalism that substantiates the updated relations between the state and the Church in imperial Russia.

The Holy Synod was a collegial body, all of whose members were appointed to positions exclusively by Emperor Peter himself. He was entirely dependent on imperial decisions and power. At the very beginning of the formation of the organ, its composition should have been mixed. It was to include bishops, religious clergy and white clergy, that is, married priests. Under Peter, the head of the Synod was called nothing less than the president of the spiritual college. However, later, for the most part, it will only include bishops.

Thus, the tsar managed to abolish the patriarchate and erase Church Councils from Russian history for two centuries.

A year later, the emperor made an addition to the structure of the Synod. According to Peter's decree, the position of chief prosecutor appears in the Synod. At the same time, the initial text of the decree approving this position was formulated in general terms. It said that this should be an officer keeping order. But what exactly he should do to ensure it and what the wording “order in the Synod” generally means was not said.

For this reason, such chief prosecutors had the right to interpret the text of the royal decree according to their interests and inclinations. Some interfered quite harshly in the affairs of the Church, trying to maximally expand their own powers in this position, while others did not want to deal with the details of the work at all, expecting a fairly well-paid pension.

Table: church reform of Emperor Peter I

Scheme: Peter I’s reforms in the spiritual sphere

Peter the Great (1672 - 1725) - Russian Tsar, ruled independently from 1689 to 1725. Conducted a large-scale reform of all areas of life in Russia. The artist Valentin Serov, who dedicated a number of works to Peter, described him this way: “He was terrible: long, with weak, thin legs and with such a small head in relation to the whole body that he should have looked more like some kind of stuffed animal with a badly placed head than a living person. There was a constant tic in his face, and he was always making faces: blinking, twitching his mouth, moving his nose and flapping his chin. At the same time, he walked with huge strides, and all his companions were forced to follow him at a run.” .

Prerequisites for the reforms of Peter the Great

Peter accepted Russia as a backward country, located on the outskirts of Europe. Muscovy had no access to the sea, with the exception of the White Sea, a regular army, navy, developed industry, trade, the system of government was antediluvian and ineffective, there were no higher educational institutions (only in 1687 the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy opened in Moscow), printing , theater, painting, libraries, not only the people, but many representatives of the elite: boyars, nobles, did not know how to read and write. Science did not develop. Serfdom ruled.

Public Administration Reform

- Peter replaced orders that did not have clear responsibilities with collegiums, the prototype of future ministries

• Collegium of Foreign Affairs
• Military college
• Naval College
• Board for Trade Affairs
• College of Justice...

The boards consisted of several officials, the eldest was called the chairman or president. All of them were subordinate to the Governor General, who was part of the Senate. There were 12 boards in total.
- In March 1711, Peter created the Governing Senate. At first its function was to govern the country in the absence of the king, then it became a permanent institution. The Senate included presidents of colleges and senators - people appointed by the tsar.
- In January 1722, Peter issued a “table of ranks”, numbering 14 class ranks from State Chancellor (first rank) to collegiate registrar (fourteenth)
- Peter reorganized the secret police system. Since 1718, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which was in charge of cases of political crimes, was transformed into the Secret Investigation Office.

Church reform of Peter

Peter abolished the patriarchate, a church organization practically independent of the state, and created in its place the Holy Synod, all of whose members were appointed by the tsar, thereby eliminating the autonomy of the clergy. Peter pursued a policy of religious tolerance, making the existence of Old Believers easier and allowing foreigners to freely practice their faith.

Administrative reform of Peter

Russia was divided into provinces, provinces were divided into provinces, provinces into counties.
Provinces:

• Moscow
• Ingria
• Kyiv
• Smolenskaya
• Azovskaya
• Kazanskaya
• Arkhangelogorodskaya
• Siberian
• Rizhskaya
• Astrakhan
• Nizhny Novgorod

Peter's military reform

Peter replaced the irregular and noble militia with a permanent regular army, staffed by recruits drawn one from each of the 20 peasant or petty-bourgeois households in the Great Russian provinces. He built a powerful navy and wrote the military regulations himself, using the Swedish one as a basis.

Peter turned Russia into one of the strongest naval powers in the world, with 48 battleships and 788 galleys and other ships

Peter's economic reform

A modern army could not exist without a state supply system. To supply the army and navy with weapons, uniforms, food, consumables, it was necessary to create powerful industrial production. By the end of Peter's reign, there were about 230 factories and plants operating in Russia. Factories were created focused on the production of glass products, gunpowder, paper, canvas, linen, cloth, paints, ropes, even hats; metallurgical, sawmill, and leather industries were organized. In order for the products of Russian craftsmen to be competitive in the market, high customs duties were introduced on European goods. Encouraging entrepreneurial activity, Peter made extensive use of loans to create new factories and trading companies. The largest enterprises that arose during the era of Peter the Great's reforms were those created in Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Urals, Tula, Astrakhan, Arkhangelsk, Samara

• Admiralty Shipyard
• Arsenal
• Powder factories
• Metallurgical plants
• Linen production
• Production of potash, sulfur, saltpeter

By the end of the reign of Peter I, Russia had 233 factories, including more than 90 large manufactories built during his reign. During the first quarter of the 18th century, 386 different ships were built at the shipyards of St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk; at the beginning of the century, Russia smelted about 150 thousand pounds of cast iron, in 1725 - more than 800 thousand pounds; Russia caught up with England in cast iron smelting

Peter's reform in education

The army and navy needed qualified specialists. Therefore, Peter paid great attention to their preparation. During his reign, they were organized in Moscow and St. Petersburg

• School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences
• artillery school
• engineering school
• medical school
• Marine Academy
• mining schools at Olonets and Ural factories
• Digital schools for “children of all ranks”
• Garrison schools for children of soldiers
• Theological schools
• Academy of Sciences (opened a few months after the death of the Emperor)

Peter's reforms in the field of culture

• Publication of the first newspaper in Russia “St. Petersburg Vedomosti”
• Ban on boyars wearing beards
• Establishment of the first Russian museum - Kunskamera
• Requirement for nobility to wear European dress
• Creation of assemblies where nobles had to appear together with their wives
• Creation of new printing houses and translation into Russian of many European books

Reforms of Peter the Great. Chronology

• 1690 - The first guards regiments Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky were created
• 1693 — Creation of a shipyard in Arkhangelsk
• 1696 — Creation of a shipyard in Voronezh
• 1696 - Decree on the creation of an arms factory in Tobolsk
• 1698 - Decree banning beards and requiring nobles to wear European clothing
• 1699 - Dissolution of the Streltsy army
• 1699 - creation of commercial and industrial enterprises enjoying a monopoly
• 1699, December 15 - Decree on calendar reform. New Year starts on January 1st
• 1700 - Creation of the Government Senate
• 1701 - Decree prohibiting kneeling at the sight of the sovereign and removing one’s hat in winter when passing by his palace
• 1701 - Opening of a school of mathematical and navigational sciences in Moscow
• 1703, January - the first Russian newspaper was published in Moscow

• 1704 - Replacement of the Boyar Duma with a council of ministers - the Council of Chiefs of Orders
• 1705 - First decree on recruitment
• 1708, November - Administrative reform
• 1710, January 18 - decree on the official introduction of the Russian civil alphabet instead of the Church Slavonic
• 1710 - Founding of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg
• 1711 - instead of the Boyar Duma, a Senate of 9 members and a chief secretary was created. Currency reform: minting gold, silver and copper coins
• 1712 - Transfer of the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg
• 1712 - Decree on the creation of horse breeding farms in the Kazan, Azov and Kyiv provinces
• 1714, February - Decree on the opening of digital schools for the children of clerks and priests
• 1714, March 23 - Decree on primogeniture (single inheritance)
• 1714 - Foundation of the state library in St. Petersburg
• 1715 - Creation of shelters for the poor in all cities of Russia
• 1715 - Instruction of the College of Commerce to organize the training of Russian merchants abroad
• 1715 - Decree on encouraging the cultivation of flax, hemp, tobacco, mulberry trees for silkworms
• 1716 - Census of all schismatics for double taxation
• 1716, March 30 - Adoption of military regulations
• 1717 - Introduction of free trade in grain, cancellation of some privileges for foreign merchants
• 1718 - Replacement of Orders by Colleges
• 1718 - Judicial reform. tax reform
• 1718 - Beginning of the population census (continued until 1721)
• 1719, November 26 - Decree on the establishment of assemblies - free meetings for fun and business
• 1719 - Creation of an engineering school, establishment of the Berg College to manage the mining industry
• 1720 - Naval Charter adopted
• 1721, January 14 - Decree on the creation of the Theological College (the future Holy Synod)