This article analyzes the origin and development of the legend of Charlemagne’s journey to Jerusalem and Constantinople. Its roots lie in ninth-century Frankish historiography: authors transformed Charlemagne’s diplomatic exchanges with the East into a narrative centered on Caliph Harun al Rachid’s concession of jurisdiction over the holy sites in Jerusalem. The evolution of the Emperor’s image as an ecclesiastical benefactor and collector of relics further contributed to the legend, as sending ambassadors with gifts and meeting pilgrims were replaced by his independent pilgrimage to the Holy Land in search of Passion relics. Charlemagne’s acquisition of relics of the Passion became a politically significant symbol of the transfer of imperial dignity from the Greeks to the Franks, beginning with his imaginary journey to the East. As the idea of a crusading movement developed, the friendship between Harun and Charlemagne faded, and his pilgrimage assumed the characteristics of a military campaign imbued with crusading rhetoric. The sources recounting Charlemagne’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem were composed independently of one another, which precludes the possibility of a continuous development within a single tradition. However, in each case, the author’s perspective may have been shaped by a collective belief in the potential reality of such an occurrence, and adapted to specific contexts. Consequently, Charlemagne’s journey to the East and the liberation of Jerusalem came to be seen as part of a broader sequence of events, alongside emperor Heraclius’ victory over the Sasanian Empire and the First Crusade.

The article continues the study of the principles of constructing the image of a priest in late Antiquity using the example of the «Apology» by St. Gregory the Theologian. It is demonstrated that the literary image of a priest is constructed by using images of other bearers of authority and is thought of as one of them: Gregory uses the topoi and vocabulary of political literature. The key image is that of the Platonic philosopher-ruler, as well as vocabulary from the monarchical rather than democratic tradition. The origin and tradition of using the formula «the art of arts and the science of sciences» (τέχνη τεχνῶν καὶ ἐπιστήμη ἐπιστημῶν), by which the author defines the priesthood, is studied. It is shown that in this way Gregory puts the priest in the place of the philosopher of the Platonic tradition. This is confirmed by an analysis of allusions to Plato’s Gorgias, which contains images of two universal power roles: the rhetorician and the philosopher. The comparison of caring for the soul with medicine, which originates in this dialogue, is further developed by Gregory, who incorporates into it provisions of the Christian gospel and describes principles of spiritual counseling that have no precedent in earlier writings. In addition, the author combines the functions of a rhetorician and a priest in the described image, thus making him a comprehensive leader of the church space, conceptualized by analogy with the polis. In conclusion, a comparison is made with the image of Pythagoras as described by Iamblichus, who, like the priest, combines a political dimension (rule of a community) with a soteriological perspective through varied types of influence on the soul: through public speech, individual communication, example, and a cult. The comparison allows us to see that the priest and the local Church are thought of by Gregory not as a separate new political space with its own power structure, but as its metaphorical projection, universal in defining identity, but not denying the existing political institutions.

The paper examines the situation of growing attention to the practices of confession, which took place at the turn of the 10^th–11^th centuries and which lasted until the end of the 12^th century. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the statements by representatives of the Middle Byzantine canonical thought and discover methods (concepts, categories, hierarchical systems) by which they integrated the phenomenon of secret confession into a complex system of relationships in Byzantine society, and to evaluate their compatibility with the discourse of the time. The article consists of two parts which trace the situation during the 11^th and 12^th centuries, respectively. Each of these is further divided into two sections: in the first one the positions of the main authors of the period are described, while in the second they are analyzed and provided with historical contextualization. Part One compares historical narratives concerning the development of the institution of confession developed by three authors: St. Symeon the New Theologian, Patriarch John IV the Oxite of Antioch, and ex-chartophylax Nicephorus. It turns out that all three see the situation in a similar way, although they differ in their evaluation of it. The juxtaposition of these stories and their historical context allows us to conclude that the interests of the state and church authorities coincided on the issue of regulating confessional practices. This part serves as context for the subsequent assessment of the views of 12^th-century authors. Part Two of the article describes and examines the phenomenon of a significant increase of the occurrence of the concept of «power» (ἐξουσία) in texts containing reflections on confession. The positions of key 12^th-century church canonists are analyzed: Alexius Aristinus, John Zonaras, Theodore Balsamon, and Anonymous, the author of an unpublished commentary on Nomocanon contained in the Codex Sinaiticus 1117. Their ideas about how the «power to bind and loose» arises, exists, and is transmitted in the Church are reconstructed. The correlation of these ideas with the discussions of the 11th century allows us to assert that although Balsamon’s model was the most detailed, it also turned out to be the least organic to the views of its time, which predetermined its fate. In conclusion, a connection is made with the subsequent late Byzantine period, in which the ideas of the previous time were partly adopted and partly abandoned.

The article is devoted to the formation of the image of patriarchal authority that took place in Russia during the 1720s. The main mechanism behind this process was the transposition of the paradigm of father-child relations onto the relationship between ruler and subjects. A particularly significant role in shaping this perception of domination and subordination was played by the political interpretation of the Fifth Commandment, «Honor thy father and thy mother». Following the Reformation this interpretation became widespread in both Protestant and Catholic catechisms, and later was reproduced in works published by Kyiv Metropolitan Petro Mohyla (Peter Mogila). According to this view, along with one’s biological parents, representatives of authority – primarily the sovereign, but also officials, clergy, teachers, etc. – were to be honored as paternal figures. During the Petrine era, this interpretation was taken up by Feofan Prokopovich, who devoted extensive passages to the sovereign’s patriarchal authority in his well-known catechism «A Child’s First Lesson», first published in 1720, as well as in his sermons. These texts conveyed to the subjects an ideal model of behavior requiring reverence and unconditional obedience to the ruler, while the latter, in turn, was to exercise «paternal care». The political reading of the Fifth Commandment represented yet another manifestation of the principle of «power from God», which lay at the heart of Feofan Prokopovich’s political theology. The image of patriarchal authority also gained popularity due to its compatibility with the concept of the “common good”. In Petrine ideology, the notion of patriarchal power served as a politico-theological foundation for the «well-ordered police state», enabling the equation of supervision and the meticulous regulation of subjects’ daily lives with the ruler’s paternal concern for their welfare. In the post-Petrine period, the image of patriarchal authority was transformed into the panegyric trope of the «little mother-empress», the «mother of the Fatherland». Thus, the ideal of patriarchal rule became an integral part of the political ideology of imperial Russia.

The article examines the motives and content of political activity in the years preceding World War I by Russian «Germanophiles» from among high-ranking officials and aristocrats who took steps to influence Emperor Nicholas II in order to restore friendly relations between the Russian Empire and the German monarchies. As the analysis of the sources shows, Russian autocrats since the 1880s were under the powerful influence of pan-Slavists and neo-Slavophiles, and they themselves, on a psycho-mental level, shared the attitudes of these ideological movements. At the same time, throughout his reign until 1914, Nicholas II demonstrated a certain commitment to dynastic ties with Germany, often visited that country and maintained outwardly friendly relations with Kaiser Wilhelm II. This gave rise to certain illusions among Russian «Germanophiles», who included both diplomats and courtiers, regarding a possible change in foreign policy. However, their public speeches and direct appeal to the tsar (V. P. Meshchersky, P. N. Durnovo and M. A. Taube) did not lead to any political results. In our opinion, this resulted both from the lack of a developed ideology (Russian «Germanophiles» used the already anachronistic concept of «monarchical solidarity» or were guided by political and economic pragmatism) and from the internal choice in favor of a «national» war against Germany, one that Nicholas II made long before 1914. It is not surprising that attempts, on the basis of rational arguments, to make clear the danger of a collision between Russia and the Central Powers ultimately lost to the irrational ideological structure that became established in the mind of the last Russian tsar.

This paper analyzes the communication of female political influencers on TikTok, based on the assumption that, due to their gender, they represent otherness on social media. The characteristics of their communication styles, the performance on Tik-Tok of four female political influencers from Spain and four from Argentina were explored. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory research. The content analysis method was applied to the selected publications. The total sample is made up of 400 units of analysis, drawn from the universe of publications made on TikTok by eight female political influencers from Argentina and Spain. Fifty videos were analyzed for each influencer selected, in the context of national-level electoral campaigns in both countries. In the case of the Spanish women, the data collection period consisted of fifty videos published by each of them before 23 July 2023 inclusive, the date of the general elections in Spain. With reference to the Argentinian women, 50 videos published by them before and including 13 August 2023, the date of the PASO (Simultaneous Open Primary Elections) in Argentina, were collected. The results allowed us to identify their preferences in the types of videos they produce, classify the types of emotions they communicate, the main contents they choose to disseminate, as well as the degree of personalization that characterizes their clips.

This article analyzes media productions of religious profiles on digital social networks, based on Cartographic Discourse Analysis (used in the sense of mapping psychosocial landscapes, affections, vectors of forces that are always in motion and not hierarchical, such as the roots of rhizomatic plants that served as metaphorical inspiration for Deleuze and Guattari), to understand how evangelical religious fundamentalist groups, associated with the so-called new Brazilian right, strategically use digital media to construct, disseminate, and resignify political discourses. We then seek the interconnections betweens discursive practices. To this end, we investigate how these groups reported and commented on the Israel–Hamas–Palestine conflict – an event situated in a geopolitical, cultural, and religious context distinct from that of Brazil – transforming it into a simplified moral narrative based on the dichotomy between good and evil and the political sacralization of the State of Israel. We argue that, embedded in the dynamics of digital media, these groups mobilize essentialist, binary, and reductionist discourses to disseminate their single truths, influence public opinion, and garner support for socio-political interventions. As a result, we observe the strengthening of hate speech directed at social minorities, as well as the legitimization of political leaders aligned with conservative Christian values. We conclude that understanding these discursive practices is fundamental to considering alternative forms of political intervention that promote respect for diversity, equity and the strengthening of democratic culture.

The article is devoted to the ways and purposes for which Russian Old Believers of different denominations use social media. Based on observations in the digital environment (online ethnography) and interviews with Old Believer religious leaders, administrators of Telegram channels and VK pages of Old Believer communities, as well as active users of social networks, the article examines the differences in the use of the most popular media platforms. The article focuses on how the communities themselves change under the influence of the use of social media, as well as how the technical affordances of different platforms form an optimal environment for interaction between Old Believers and achieving their goals in online communication. The study showed that Old Believers currently use VKontakte and Telegram as the main platforms for digital preaching, exchanging news, broadcasting messages important to the communities, and delineating their cultural space online. Platform preferences are influenced by the ability to restrict access to data, protect it from copying, use different data formats, as well as the convenience of correspondence. When choosing a way to interact with a particular platform, Old Believers act in accordance with their religious beliefs and not following the logic of the media. Access to social media not only unites but also divides communities, depending on views regarding the purposes of using media platforms (while some create a chronicle of their community on a social network, others consider it possible to discuss issues of faith online). Online communication blurs the boundaries of the communities, while dividing believers through the use of tools that are designed to create a limitless space for communication.

Using the example of the Foma project, which operates with the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church but is financed by secular sources, the article examines the work of a religious media project with audience fragmentation, which is characteristic of the entire contemporary media ecosystem. The author puts forward the hypothesis that the diversity of modern technologies that allow for delivery of information with a high degree of personalization leads to the emergence of a new type of otherness – a technological one: instead of presenting the «other» in the content itself, modern multi-platformed media projects can divide information and deliver different parts of it to the corresponding segments of the audience. Using as a base the ideas of deep mediatization, new materiality and the discourse-material knot, the author attempts to identify how exactly the link between materiality, content and patterns of media consumption works in multi-platform media projects in this shift from otherness in content to technological otherness. To test the hypothesis, the author analyzes the platforms on which the Foma project is presented and the formats with which it works. This analysis is supplemented by interviews with the creators and leaders of the project, which reveal their understanding of media consumption among the project audience and how the understanding of media consumption influences the formation of the agenda, the choice of the format of the produced content and the methods of its delivery to the audience. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the hypothesis is partially confirmed, and further development of the proposed idea requires work with a more subtle system of distinctions, in particular, with respect to what part of materiality plays a leading role in the formation of technological otherness. Analysis of the selected project shows that the ramified network of delivery of diverse content not only does not work to form a new type of otherness, but, on the contrary, is a strategy for overcoming it.

This paper explores the ethical complexities of developing research data infrastructures (RDIs) for digitalized archives, with a focus on materials containing historical hateful content. It examines the tension between the principles of open access and mass digitization, which aim to enhance knowledge accessibility, and the ethical imperative to prevent the dissemination of harmful content that could perpetuate biased ideologies or harmful stereotypes. The author proposes a comprehensive ethical strategy that integrates a trans-epistemic design approach with principles of organizational learning and development to address these challenges. This strategy emphasizes collaboration among diverse stakeholders – archivists, researchers, IT experts, and affected communities – to create solutions that are both ethically robust and practically viable. By moving beyond solely technical or legal frameworks, the approach seeks to balance the accessibility of historical records for research purposes with the need to mitigate risks associated with the spread of hateful content. The paper delves into critical issues such as algorithmic bias, which can inadvertently amplify harmful stereotypes, and the dual-use potential of AI, where technologies designed for archival efficiency might be misused. It also addresses the conflict between open science principles and restricted access to sensitive materials, advocating for nuanced access controls for both human users and AI systems. Through a trans-epistemic lens, the strategy fosters interdisciplinary dialogue to ensure RDIs serve as ethical infrastructures that preserve historical knowledge while safeguarding against harm, contributing to a framework for responsible digital archiving.

This study investigates how museum staff in Russia conceptualize their audiences in the context of evolving cultural policies and institutional requirements. The research addresses the complexity of museums as multifaceted organizations navigating the tension between preservation, education, and entertainment. Employing a qualitative methodology, the study analyzes 33 semi-structured interviews with museum professionals from 21 museums across 13 Russian regions, representing various types and ownership structures. The analysis identifies three different types of museums based on the dominant «episteme» guiding their operations and audience formation: those prioritizing educational values, those emphasizing recreational functions, and those focusing on creative engagement. Museums with a strong educational bias, often established during the Soviet era, tend to maintain traditional exhibition formats and view visitors as recipients of knowledge. Museums prioritizing entertainment, frequently emerging in the post-Soviet period, adopt interactive approaches and see visitors as customers seeking engaging experiences. Finally, creatively oriented museums, including art galleries and vernacular museums, often collaborate with local communities and view visitors as active participants in meaning-making. The findings reveal that museum staff actively shape their audiences through their understanding of the museum’s role, the design of exhibitions, and their interaction strategies. These processes are influenced by historical legacies, neoliberal cultural policies, and the increasing need for museums to engage with diverse publics. The study concludes by highlighting the varying approaches to audience construction in Russian museums and their implications for visitor engagement and museum development.

Inclusion and accessibility are among the most current trends in the development of modern museum projects. In adhering to these principles, museums represent diverse identities, work with excluded groups, involving people with disabilities in museum activities. The study examines three main forms of interaction between museums and inclusive communities and identifies the role of the museum in their formation, its ability to act as a catalyst for social cohesion of people with disabilities. The analysis is based on 56 in-depth interviews with museum staff who work with people with disabilities, and people with sensory disabilities involved in museum communities. As the results of the study have shown, museums can act as a platform that attracts already established inclusive communities. This practice is ensured through cooperation with public organizations, foundations and other stakeholders. Museums can also participate in the formation of their own inclusive communities. This approach appears when museums systematically work with people with disabilities, allowing them to express their identity and expertise. Moreover, museums contribute to the formation of professional inclusive communities that unite people with disabilities and specialists in the field of accessibility and inclusiveness.

Moscow is a megaregion where it is difficult to find local identities. Spatial, cultural, ethnic, and economic mobility undermine opportunities for the formation of sustainable cultural citizenship at the level of a particular district, with the status of «Moscovite» being very vague and mutable. Meanwhile, there is a demand for local urban self-identification, and cultural institutions located in district libraries, small museums and exhibition halls contribute to its spread. Their role is often invisible, poorly thought out, but important as they become anchors for the localization of cultural citizenship. This article presents an analysis of the role of the network of local exhibition halls in Moscow, most of which are located outside the city center. Their uniqueness lies in the combination of a citywide cultural agenda, implemented through a network management system at the level of the capital, and their active involvement in the production of local cultural identity and citizenship. The article reveals what material, organizational and intellectual resources of this network of exhibition halls allow them to be glocalized actors of urban space, linking the cultural policy of the capital and rootedness in the local context. The mediation function of the exhibition halls themselves is problematized through the narratives of their employees. The article is based on interviews with employees of exhibition halls, community members, and close observation of the work of these cultural institutions.

This article explores the role of amber in Russian culture during the reign of Anna Ioannovna (1730–1740), as well as the empress’s engagement in this process. Amber is presented as a material used in decorative art, an object of scientific research, and a potential collectible. An analysis of early to mid-18th century documents and publications suggests that Anna Ioannovna shared the interest in amber typical of many European aristocrats of that time; she also made some efforts to promote the development of the natural science amber collection at the Saint Petersburg Kunstkamera and of research into amber at the Academy of Sciences. The importance of archival documents for reconstructing the cultural and historical context of the formation of collections, identifying the sources and conditions of this process in the first decades of the 18th century in Russia, is justified. Special attention is paid to amber artworks that are typologically comparable with those now stored in Russian museum collections. The activities of scientists in the formation and scientific description of amber collections are shown using the example of a project submitted for consideration to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences by A. P. Volynsky, and the first popular science article on amber written by G. V. Richman. A document from the collection of the Russian State Historical Archive, titled «On the theft of amber items from the house of Anna Ioannovna», which contains information on popular types of amber objects included in everyday life of Russian society, is introduced into scholarly discourse.

The article is devoted to the representation of medieval heritage in Old Believer culture at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, when society’s attitude towards Old Believers changed: they were perceived as guardians of folk democratic traditions, «ancient Piety», and antiquity. The focus is on technological changes in the bookbinding of the Old Believers, who cultivated massive binding in embossed leather, made by hand on the basis of wooden covers. The source base consists of books in such bindings from the Antiquities Repository of the Ural Federal University’s Laboratory of Archaeographical Studies and libraries of the Chelyabinsk Region. Analysis of the notes, stamps, and embossing on the leather cover of the books allows us to identify the work of four previously unknown Old Believer masters who created bindings in the Southern Urals and Trans-Urals. For each of them, characteristic technological techniques were identified, and an arsenal of embossed decor was reconstructed. The conclusion is substantiated that medieval binding continued to be cultivated by the Old Believers. However, not only the metropolitan but also regional craftsmen at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries turned to innovative design solutions and materials when creating books, and also actively used name marking of their products for positioning in the market.

The published materials deal with censorship bans on cultural projects that referenced insulted religious feelings. The first set of documents is related to the ban on staging Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé in Russia. It includes a letter from V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko justifying the importance of staging this play for the Moscow Art Theatre, and an appeal from V. F. Komissarzhevskaya requesting permission to put on a revised version of the tragedy. The arguments of those in favour of the ban are reflected in an expert analysis of the Salomé adaptation for the Russian theatre by Bishop Innocent (Belyaev) of Shatsk. Bishop Innocent proceeds from the fact that both the portrayal on stage of saints venerated by the Church and the re-enactment of Gospel-based plots are inadmissable. The document set concludes with the transcribed bureaucratic correspondence about the ban on staging in Russia of the play Salomé and any of its adaptations. The second set of documents is devoted to the intention of the A. Khanzhonkov and Co. Joint Stock Company to prepare a series of documentary films focusing on the life of the Russian Church. It includes a letter to the Synod signed by A. A. Khanzhonkov in which he seeks the Synod’s assistance and permission to film in churches and monasteries. Another document is a questionnaire, intended for distribution among bishops, about the most significant shrines and architectural monuments in their dioceses. The Synod did not support Khanzhonkov’s project, citing the fact that cinematic reproduction of icons and shrines is prohibited. The published documents show that early 20th-century Russian culture was marked by active assimilation and adaptation of Christian culture, which provided reasons to accuse authors of cultural and educational projects of profaning the sacred.

A review of: Ng, E. (2022). Cancel culture: A critical analysis. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97374-2.