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Abstract

This paper addresses the issues associated with little-investigated aspects of the religious activity of orthodox Russian peasants in the Russian Empire, namely age and gender-related characteristics of their religious activity and behaviour. Against the backdrop of significant age and gender-related stratification in the peasantry community in Russia, these factors were of significance for the formation and evolution of the peasant religion. Their relevance is particularly evident in the period from the second half of the 19th century to the early 20th century which saw intensive quantitative “rejuvenation” of the Russian peasantry, massive migration of farm workers to the industry and growing feminism with women. Essential gender-related patterns of the peasant religious activity are determined on the basis of private materials, folk art, ethnographic findings and archive documents. Furthermore, the investigated materials showed that the degree and nature of the peasants’ religious activity evolved throughout the entire lifetime.