The role of metric books in the study of the decembrist movement on the example of Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky’s family

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of metric books as a key source of information about the facts of the birth and marriage of Volkonsky Sergey Grigorievich, Volkonskaya (Raevskaya) Maria Nikolaevna, the birth of Volkonsky Nikolai Sergeevich. Data from metric books, entries in which were made upon the fact of the baptism, marriage and funeral ceremony, allow us to establish the date of the event of interest as accurately as possible, and also carry additional information that is not always available when using other archival documents. Explicit information from metric records of birth, marriage and death helps to obtain, analyze and correctly interpret other archival documents available. The studies conducted provide a comprehensive answer about the facts of the biography of these persons, which were previously questioned and served as the subject of heated discussions. The sources are metric books identified in the Central State Archive of Moscow and the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine