Contribution of the Russian Church Historians to the Development of Serbian Church Historiography
Russian influence on the Serbian Church Historiography was the most intensive in the second half of the nineteenth and in the first half of the twentieth century. This influence was coming from Russian theological academies before the Russian Revolution. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, this influence was made by Russian professors at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the most important research results of these Russian Church historians, who influenced the development of Serbian Church historiography. Their lineage begins with Evgeny Evsignyevuch Golubinsky, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, and it ends with Vikentie Floryanovich Fradinsky, professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade. This paper shows that Russian church historians significantly marked the development of Serbian church historiography. They were the authors of the first systematic Serbian church history review. They also found new facts that are relevant for Serbian medieval church history. Russian church historians founded the Department for General Church History at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade. The conclusion highlights that the work of Russian church historians in the field of Serbian church historiography is very important for the Serbian-Russian church relations in general.