DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_3_151

T. V. Sazonova. “She Was Doing the Opposite to the Holy Church”: Princess Anna Khilkova in the
Goritsky Monastery // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 3, 2025, pp. 151–160

Abstract:

The article contains and analyzes all available materials regarding one of the famous residents of
the Goritsky nunnery, Anna Pavlovna Khilkova. An analysis of the news regarding her family ties and land ownership is conducted, with the documents concerning her exile to the nunnery and subsequent escape from it being meticulously examined. It is evident that A. P. Khilkova is a staunch supporter of the Old Belief, according to the sources cited. The exile of the subject to the Goritsky nunnery had no effect on her beliefs, nor did it compel her to observe the Nikonian rites, at least in public. It became evident to her that she would not be left unaccompanied, and consequently she absconded from the nunnery, a manoeuvre which was facilitated by the perpetual “unrest” therein. It is hypothesised that her subsequent fate was connected with the Old Believer communities of Romanov and Poshekhonye.

Key words: Goritsky nunnery, Anna Pavlovna Khilkova, Old Belief, Belozersky region.

Author:

Sazonova, Tatiana Viktorovna — PhD in History, Researcher, Division of Medieval History of Russia of the St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: tvsaz@rambler.ru

References:

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