On the Right to Trial over the Clergy and Monkhood in Russia (11th - 13th Centuries). Formulation of the Problem
A study of the development of Church courts in pre-Mongol Russia cannot be complete without considering the participation of clergy and monkhood in these courts. The article is a preliminary review of the participation of monks and clergy in Church court and other courts. It is quite obvious that the position of priests and monks was vulnerable not only socially, but also legally. Despite the fact that princely charters and Byzantine legal norms declared a special status for clergy, in reality clergy were extremely rarely able to defend themselves in a Church court and were completely defenseless before the prince's court.