Religious policies of Anna Ivanovna
Religious policies of Anna Ivanovna

Summary/Abstract: Anna Ivanovna was an empress of Russia in 1730-1740. The process of dismantling the authority of the church that started under Peter in 1700 was continued during Anna’s reign. The clergy were treated as civil servants serving the interest of the state through their spiritual service, as governmental clerks whose highest obligation was to the empress. The ecclesiastical life was disrupted, its spiritual role diminished, and the clergy was whipped to submission by harsh means. Orthodoxy was a mandatory religion. Conversion to other faiths was punishable. Peter’s discriminatory policies against Old Believers were continued. Anna herself was devoted to entertainment and everything else took the second place including her involvement in the affairs of the state as well as her personal spiritual life.

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