Russian peasant bride theft / John Bushnell.

SeriesRoutledge studies in the history of Russia and Eastern Europe
Contents How many old believers were there? -- Bride theft in Russian practice and in religious law -- Old believers and the bride theft: an overview -- Bride theft customs -- Bride theft and irregular marriage in the 17th -- The North Russian Bridal Lament: a complement to bride theft -- A hypothetical "survivalist" genealogy of 19th-century bride theft.
Abstract "This book explores the history of Russian peasant bride theft - abduction, capture - from the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus in the late tenth century to the very early twentieth century. It argues that bride theft in eighteenth and nineteenth century Russia was practised in large part by, but not exclusively by, Old Believers, the schismatics who rejected the Church reforms of the mid-seventeenth century and shunned contact with the Orthodox Church; and that the point of bride theft, where the bride was often a willing party, often married secretly at night by an Orthodox priest acting illegally, was to absolve the bride and her parents of the responsibility for engaging in a formal Orthodox ritual which Old Believers regarded as sinful. The book also considers how bride theft originated much earlier in Russia and was a continuing tradition in some places, and how all this fitted into the Russian peasant economy. Throughout the book provides rich details of particular bride theft cases, of Russian peasant life, and of Russian folklore, in particular bridal laments"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 2020044662
ISBN9780367676254 (hardback)
ISBN(ebook)

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