Statutes as a sort historic sourse.


Arnold Podmazov, Dr. philosophy, leading researcher, the Latvian University Institute of Philosophy and Sociology
Riga, Latvia


The document „Regulations for administration of Riga Old Believer Community asylums, hospitals, orphanages and schools” accepted in 1813 is analized in this writig. The activities of Riga Old Believers parishes and their inside rules were subject to this normative act until the 1830s when the Old Believers got into the next wave of governmental punitive measures because of Nicolay the First confessional policy. „Regulations” not only consist of implications on specific aspects of the Old Believers asylum and school management, but also reflect Old Believers activities in the spritual and social fields and give evidence of stabilization of Riga Old Believers position in the first decade of the 19th century. The text of this document is interpreted in a broad historical context and it suggests new approaches to Riga and Moscow Non-priestly Old Believers relations and to the relations of the secular administration to Riga Old Believers.