Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was famous for portraits and moralizing family scenes. At the same time, he achieved exceptional success in popularizing his art by engraving genre compositions. This article examines preparatory modellos for his family scenes and the organization of their engraving process. This aspect of his activity has not been yet studied, and his drawings are little covered in Russian-language literature. The study reconstructs step by step the activity of Greuze as a popularizer of family scenes in prints on the basis of the documents available to the author, analysis of original drawings and prints from Russian and foreign collections. It highlights such aspects of the creative process as preparation of compositions for engraving, achievement of specific qualities in the drawings in connection with the technologies of further reproduction, interaction with engravers and organization of creative and technical works within the special association. The author concludes that the master chose a limited number of engraving techniques by the criterion of the most accurate reflection of the artistic properties of the originals. By engaging a special circle of engravers, he created a monopoly association to control the process of creating, producing and selling prints. As a result, Greuze achieved outstanding and specific artistic qualities in his drawings intended for further duplication. Even contemporaries paid attention to the excellent quality of Greuze’s engravings, which amazingly accurately conveyed the individuality of his technique, and singled them out among the mass production of general circulation in eighteenth-century France. This system of creation and popularization of drawings was innovative in the field of engraving. It reveals practical and business abilities of the outstanding artist, as well as a new insight into Greuze’s artistry.

When setting the goal and objectives of this article, the author proceeded from the fact that the well-studied early history of the palace settlements (dvortsovoe settlements) of Moscow uyezd and other central uyezds of the Russian State is very rarely integrated into the study of their current state, largely formed under the influence of their past as palace settlements. The sources for the article comprise numerous reference books on the history of the former palace estates, as well as online resources based on official primary sources on the current state of particular settlements. The author has identified the main socio-demographic characteristics of 162 out of the 178 settlements included in the List of palace volosts and villages for 1705. The settlements whose historical fate has not been identified are either those whose names have changed beyond recognition or the ones that have completely melted into other settlements. A quantitative analysis of various administrative and socio-demographic parameters of the former palace villages, first of all, made it possible to trace changes in the settlement status of the former palace villages of Central Russia in the 18th — early 21st centuries and to reveal isolated cases of the complete disappearance of the former palace settlements. The analysis of the changes in the administrative status of the former palace villages has shown that the potential given to them when they were founded, was eventually instrumental in the transformation of the two-thirds of them into local administrative centers. The article interprets population growth in 70% of studied palace settlements, which continued up to the end of the 20th century, as an indicator of their successful demographic development. A study of the socio-economic development of the palace villages led to the conclusion that many of them in the 18th–19th centuries became and now remain local commercial, industrial and socio-cultural centers. In conclusion, the article states that a number of long-term historical, historical-geographical, historical-cultural factors contributed to successful, and unparalleled at present, socio-demographic development of almost one and a half hundred former palace settlements. This relative success manifested itself against the backdrop of the withering of thousands of Russian rural settlements.

The article deals with the main directions of cooperation in the sphere of education within the framework of the Union State. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time it formulates and introduces the authors’ research position, clearly outlines the boundaries separating the processes which take place within the Union State, and traces the development of the Russian-Belarusian interaction. In the context of this concept the authors identify and formulate the main stages of development of these processes and systematize the main trends of formation of the normative-legal base of the common educational space and measures for its practical implementation. They examine the interaction between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus within the Union State framework in the general context of the Union State building. The following stages are outlined: the preliminary stage from 1995 through 1999 included the maintenance of equal rights of citizens at the level of interstate relations and in the beginning of the Union State building; the second stage from 1999 through 2012 provided the normative-legal base of the educational space of the Union State and implementation of the existing norms; the third stage from 2012 through 2018 was characterized by gradual growth of attention of the governing bodies of the Union State to the problems of humanitarian cooperation, adaptation of the normative-legal acts to the actual changes in the sphere of education of the two countries; the fourth stage from 2018 until now is regarded as a high time for formation of a single space of education of the Union State for further development of integration. The article categorizes and characterizes the actions taken by the bodies of the Union State, educational institutions and professional circles in order to develop cooperation in the field of education. The study identifies the role of diaspora public organizations in the processes under consideration. The authors conclude about the special role of educational and scientific organizations, professional associations and civil society institutions of the two countries in the development of a unified educational space.

Recent years have seen the possibility of introducing into scientific circulation declassified documents of the highest state and political bodies, public organizations, and the spiritual directorates of Muslims, which until now were unknown in wide circles. They allow us to examine the forms and methods of activity of the Soviet state in building relationships with Muslims and to identify the directions, principles, and features of the work of state and public organizations in this sphere. A characteristic feature of religious policy in the late 1960s, one of the main conductors of which was the Council for Religious Affairs under the USSR Council of Ministers, established in December 1965, was the creation of a picture of the harmony of religious life and prosperity of religious organizations in the country. The Soviet Union demonstrated to the world that Soviet Muslims, like their co-religionists from other states, could go on Hajj to Saudi Arabia. The quantity of Hajj travelers from the USSR was extremely small and there was a huge disproportion not only between them and the number of Muslims who wanted to perform Hajj but also between the number of applications received by the organizers of the Hajj and the authorities, including the Council for Religious Affairs. At the same time, the heads of Muslim spiritual administrations could travel to Hajj several times. Analysis of archival documents discovered in 2022 showed the attitude to Muslims who made the Hajj from several angles: from the Soviet state, ordinary Muslims of the USSR, the authorities and Muslims of the countries visited by Soviet pilgrims during their journey, such as Sudan and Egypt. Very revealing is the attitude towards the Soviet pilgrims from the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ranging from ordinary people to the authorities, including the king.

The article examines the 1952 “Book of Tasty and Healthy Food” in the context of the development of mass agitation and propaganda in the USSR. This colorful and richly illustrated publication was not only a guide to cooking, but also set the task of planting the idea of the achievements of socialist construction in people’s mind. The book proclaimed the triumph of the Soviet food industry and housing construction development. It was the first to describe such a social space as the kitchen, a place for cooking, and it dealt with a personal kitchen, and the appearance of gas stoves and refrigerators. The author shows that the guide, not least of all set the goal of stimulating the buying activity of citizens in order to replenish the state budget. The recipes presented in the book were aimed at different income strata of the society and people of various occupations. The book advertised delicatessen products: black caviar, artichokes, champagne, sturgeon, etc. At the same time, some of the recipes were targeted at working women, and the book featured a wide selection of convenience foods produced by the food industry. However, turning to the actual living conditions of citizens in this period allows us to conclude that for many readers the book was just a myth of a blissful life. The analysis of appeals made by citizens to the executive bodies shows that many of them did not even entertain the hope for the change for the better, and the process of modernization of the housing stock continued in violation of the norms of social justice. The abundance of food that was demonstrated in the book existed solely on paper. Even in large cities the distribution of food supplies to regular grocery stores was uneven. The situation in the provinces was even more patchy. In a planned economy, some foodstuffs were shipped over long distances. All this created the prerequisites for food shortage, and the “Book of Tasty and Healthy Food” was intended to fulfill, above all, an ideological mission.

The personnel matter in the physical culture movement from 1918 through 1930 has not yet practically become the object of special study, despite the fact that the success of this movement which was given an important role in education of “new man” and mobilization of labor resources in Soviet state depended to a large extent on solving the staffing problem. The article presents a comprehensive analysis of this problem in the above-mentioned period. The author examines patterns in the qualitative and quantitative changes in the cadre of instructors, as well as identifies the factors that influenced this process. An acute shortage of instructors (coaches) was a characteristic phenomenon in these years. Since physical education was to become one of the most important tools of education in the spirit of communist ideals and at the same time a method of restoring the health of the population, it was necessary to make the physical culture movement a mass movement, and therefore it required a large instructor staff. According to the materials reviewed, there were a number of problems on the way to achieve large-scale participation. The principal one was financial, so the number of educational institutions and courses grew extremely slowly, and the instructors were often not interested in high quality work. Another problem was the social composition of the instructor cadres, since physical education, according to Soviet ideologists, could not be apolitical and exist for the sake of sports achievements. The situation was aggravated by the inconsistency of the work of various departments and organizations. All these facts taken together led the Soviet leadership to the conviction that the problem could not be solved without strict regulation and control of personnel training, as well as large-scale financial support. The system of management of the physical culture movement was radically rebuilt, and the shortage of personnel was comprehensively solved due to the decisions of the Party and the Soviet government, Komsomol and trade unions in 1929 and 1930.

Trends in modern historiography are largely determined by the influence of the linguistic turn in the methodology of study of Russian history, including the development of discursive analysis of textual sources which reflect the worldview of contemporaries. The historical community has realized the methodological inadequacy of both the use of the Western scientific language and the search for universal historical concepts suitable for the study of the history of any country, regardless of its socio-cultural uniqueness. Currently, the principle of contextuality is brought to the forefront, that is, the study of historical phenomena within the socio-cultural environment that gave rise to this phenomenon, which actualizes the treatment of the political history of the Russian Empire with the use of new optics, i.e., the methodology of discursive analysis of the texts of contemporaries. Cognitive possibilities of the named approach can be demonstrated on the example of the analysis of the language of the texts representing the content of public and memorial discourses about the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Empire, voters and people’s deputies. The author focuses on the concepts used by contemporaries, which reflected the historical and cultural national specificity of the perception of “Russian voter” and “people’s representatives” as actors in the historical process, who were called to “participate in the destiny of their country”. Thus, the disclosure of the meaning of the most frequently used concept “Russian” in the discourse of contemporaries includes its understanding as a representation of the guardian of the tradition of national political culture, and as a centripetal force, uniting Russians in their awareness of their ethno-cultural identity. This specificity is recorded in contemporaries’ explanation of the significance of the project of the representation of people, “granted by the tsar’s will”, which represents a form of “inherently Russian autocracy”. The Russian voter’s awareness of civic identity in the public and memorial discourses of his contemporaries is represented by the perception of “elected ones from the population” as “their own” in contrast to the government officials who act as “aliens”. Revealing an authentic meaning of the notions, used by the contemporaries, it is possible to understand the world of values, rules of social communication during the decisive historical period of reforms and revolutions in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The article examines letters by Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Sergeeva (Tanskaya), who was born in Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude), to her relatives and friends during her education at Troitskosavsk high school and, from 1903, the Bestuzhev Higher Women’s Courses. The post-reform development of the Russian Empire greatly diversified women’s living conditions. The introduction of the concept of personal freedom and the modernization of the educational system stimulated social emancipation in general, and women’s emancipation in particular. Social changes are reflected in private lives, particularly in personal correspondence. In her letters, Sergeeva goes beyond the female “domestic” narrative, enriching it with pictures of education, reflections on the books she read and on socio-political events, and a presentation of her inner self. Her correspondence can be roughly assigned to the period in Troitskosavsk, when she thought upon and wrote extensively about her desire to become independent, and to the time in Saint Petersburg when she actively implemented her new-found independence. In addition, the letters reveal the birth of a new kind of woman, whose life is not limited to her female duties. The study of Sergeeva (Tanskaya)’s letters leads to the conclusion that the circle of out-of-home interests of women began to form even in the outskirts of the Russian Empire. While this progress developed in the central regions of the empire during the nineteenth century, it was slow and limited in Transbaikalia. Sergeeva’s letters are a unique historical source for the region, allowing us to reconstruct history through the eyes of women, whose view of personal, social and state events was not examined by specialists in the social sciences and humanities until the late twentieth century.

The research is based on the analysis of the 1821 detailed description of the premises of the apartment of the Moscow University professor Heim, who had just passed away. From 1781 Heim, who maintained ties with Germany, rose to professor and then to rector of the Moscow University. His home environment provides material for reconstruction of the life of a “Russian German”, a representative of academic culture (with its academic everyday life). According to the inventory, the rector’s apartment near Mokhovaya Street contains four living rooms, a kitchen and a stable (on the lower floor). The room-by-room description of furniture, clothing, utensils and other household items, and information on the composition of the home library embody the anthropological characteristics of the professor’s subculture. The author of the article views a home item as a tangle of cultural practices, and the structure of the home and its contents as an embodiment of the professor’s way of life. The list of numerous kitchen utensils, a carriage, a droshky and several sets of harness in the stable indicate the complete autonomy of existence, and a large number of chairs and dining utensils allows us to speak about a certain degree of the publicity of the space. A set of clothes (casual and ceremonial), orders, letters of loan and idle money indicate a relatively high material and social status of Heim, demonstrate prosperity, the desire for domestic convenience of a “private man”. But the restrained style of apartment decoration, lots of desks, books, measuring instruments and stationery (attributes of routine academic writing) speak of the priority of the professor’s intellectual pursuits at home. The material of the inventory, considered against historical and cultural background, allows us to expand our views on understudied subculture of university professors as a specific layer of “middle-class people”, Russian intellectual elite of the late 18th and the early 19th centuries..

Thе article examines a unique case in the history of the Catholic Church: the execution of Archbishop of York Richard Scrope for his participation in a rebellion against the king in 1405. Conflicts between monarchs and prelates were common in medieval Europe. Occasionally, sovereigns impri­soned recalcitrant hierarchs and might even have physically eliminated them, but never by public execution. The author discusses the possible reasons that led Richard Scrope, who supported Henry Bolingbroke’s ascent to the English throne in 1399, to raise an army against his king. Should the Archbishop’s rebellion be seen in the context of the July 1403 mutiny of Henry and Thomas Percy with whom Scrope was related or should we look for an imitation of Thomas Becket, who openly opposed Henry II to protect the liberties of the English Church? In addition to attempting to find answers to these questions, the article examines the public outcry caused by the execution of the archbishop. First, it deals with the reaction of the papacy and the measures taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Arundel to conceal from the people information about the excommunication of those involved in the execution, including the king himself. Second, it deals with the rumors that circulated in English society about the nature of the illness that afflicted Henry immediately after Scrope’s execution. The rumor referred to the king’s illness as leprosy, believing it to be a punishment for shedding the blood of a servant of God. Finally, special attention is given to the cult of the executed Scrope, who was revered as saint and martyr in York. Despite royal prohibitions and even attempts to block access to Scrope’s tomb in York Cathedral, the flow of pilgrims to his burial site continued unabated. The veneration of Richard Scrope was unexpectedly supported by the crown during the reign of the York kings, who saw the executed archbishop as an opponent of the House of Lancaster.