Church Landownership in the Volyn Province at the End of the 18th — First Third of the 19th Century: State Policy in the Context of Confessional Diversity

The purpose of the research paper is to analyze the peculiarities of the Russian Empire’s state policy regarding land use and land ownership by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Uniate clergy in the Volyn province during the late 18th and first third of the 19th centuries.

The scientific novelty is analyzes the peculiarities of the state policy on church land tenure in the Volyn province in the context of imperial integration processes. It examines the influence of the region’s socio-confessional structure on the formation of state policy toward the clergy, as well as the regulation of ownership and usage rights of church lands. The authors investigate the activities of the state land surveying service in the process of land demarcation and the implementation of orders from the imperial administration.

Conclusions. After the annexation of Right-Bank Ukraine, the Russian authorities faced a confessionally diverse social structure and pursued a relatively moderate integration policy. To avoid resistance from local elites, the clergy retained their landholdings after swearing allegiance to the empire, while the Orthodox Church received state support as an instrument of imperial integration. The return of some Greek Catholic estates under Paul I and Alexander I reflected this pragmatic approach.

A key task for the authorities was the demarcation of church and private landownership. State surveyors allocated church lands, prepared detailed plans of ecclesiastical estates, and documented their natural resources. In disputes between clergy and landowners, the authorities generally favored the Church, while also regulating obligations attached to church lands and procedures for acquiring new property.

The imperial government also controlled Jesuit estates. Although the order remained legal until 1820, its confiscated lands were not restored. After the expulsion of the Jesuits by Alexander I, all their estates became state property. This policy changed fundamentally after the Polish November Uprising of 1830-1831. Because part of the Greek Catholic clergy supported the uprising, the government abolished the Greek Catholic Church and began the secularization of its landholdings.