Monastyrskii Prikaz

Monastyrskii Prikaz 

a central administrative organ of the Russian state which controled the votchiny (patrimonial estates) belonging to the church. Created around 1650, the Monastyrskii Prikaz from 1701 performed a number of judicial and administrative functions with respect to the clergy and the peasant population that was feudally dependent on monasteries and other church establishments.

Under the pressure of clergymen who spoke out at the church councils of 1667 and 1675, the Monastyrskii Prikaz was abolished in 1675. Peter I reestablished it in 1701 and placed all administrative-financial and judicial affairs of church administration, including the collection of cash and in-kind revenues, under its jurisdiction. Increased state control over the church and the reform of the central state apparatus led to the final abolition of the Monastyrskii Prikaz in 1725 and the transfer of its functions to the collegiums and chamber-office of the Holy Synod.

REFERENCE

Gorchakov, M. I. Monastyrskii prikaz (1649–1725). St. Petersburg, 1868.