Correspondence of B.P. Mansurov with some figures of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society in 1882–1885

Abstract

We analyze the activities of B.P. Mansurov to establish contacts with Russian dignitaries and clerics interested in the implementation of the Palestinian project. It is shown that the greatest impact was caused by the need to implement large projects, such as the acquisition of land or the construction of churches. At the same time, support for the urgent needs of pilgrims (arrangement of hotels and hospices, food supply, treatment) became secondary and was not solved by B.P. Mansurov. As a result, dissatisfaction with his activities and opposition to both the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, with which the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society competed for the flow of budget funds and donations, and with secular officials dissatisfied with the ineffective Russian policy in the region, grew. We describe the tension in relations between the Russian authorities and the Jerusalem Patriarchate due to the interference of the Russian Empire in the income of the Patriarch from the Bessarabian estates. Information is given about the support of the local Arab population, part of which traditionally belonged to Christian (including Orthodox) churches. It is indicated that public support for pilgrimage and missionary activities was more effective than that carried out through state (or close to dignitaries) organizations.