Abstract

The history of mixed marriages in Russia officially dates back to 1721. The subject of this study is the structure of marriages among foreigners who joined the ranks of Moscow guild merchants in the period from the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century. Entering into marriage with representatives of the local Orthodox population could serve as a factor contributing to the russification of former foreign subjects. At the same time, marriages within an ethno-confessional milieu were supposed to counteract processes of ethnic consolidation and ensure the preservation of national identity in subsequent generations. The article aims to determine which of the trends prevailed among the various national groups represented in the Moscow merchant class. These trends are considered independently for each national group and studied in comparison. The author introduces into scientific circulation a body of archival materials, which are sources on population statistics (data of revisions), office records (cases of admission to the Moscow merchant class) and sources of ecclesiastical nature (metric books of non-Orthodox churches). As the concept of “mixed marriage” encompasses not only the national aspect (the marriage of people of different nationalities), but also the confessional one (that is, marriage where both spouses were parishioners of different churches), the article analyzes the marriage structure in both aspects. On the basis of the studied sources, it is concluded that among merchants of foreign origin, marriages within the ethno-confessional milieu prevailed, although by the middle of the 19th century, the trend of marriages with representatives of the local Orthodox population had increased. At the same time, adherence to Orthodox religion of some national groups (such as, for example, the gypsies) was not a factor that contributed to the growth of marriages with representatives of this group in the milieu of the Moscow merchant class. Among merchants of French origin, national self-consciousness prevailed over religious self-consciousness, which was also reflected in the fact that cases of their marriage with Italians and Poles representing the same denomination were rare .