TSARIST-CHURCH RELATIONS IN THE MOSCOW STATE AND IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE:: ‘SYMPHONY OF AUTHORITIES’ AS A LEGAL FORMULA

Abstract

The topic of interaction between the Church and is still relevant since the influence of religion on public-power relations throughout the Christian world remains a tangible factor in public life. The present research aims to uncover the legal meaning of the sixth novella of Emperor Justinian (known in historiography as the ‘symphony of authorities’) in tsarist-church legal relations that were characteristic of Muscovy and the Russian Empire. The civilizational-cultural approach in jurisprudence used by the author allowed concluding that there is not only a functional difference between the tsardom and the priesthood (the two subjects of law that are part of the novella) but also the legal inequality characteristic of public law relations. From this angle, the novella was adopted in medieval Russia and legalized in the Russian Empire where the sovereign was called the Head of the Church and resolved the most important issues of church life with the help of the Holy Synod for this. The acquired experience of interaction between the reigning monarch and the Church can be mastered for developing the model of state structure existing in modern Russia.