The role of the clerks of the Patriarchal State Order in the issuance of patriarchal alms in the second half of the 17th century.

The subject of the study is the records of the account books of the Patriarchal State Order, which provide information about the activities of its administrative servants, primarily clerks, related to the compilation of books based on primary documentation that has not reached us, as well as material assistance to those in need on behalf of the patriarch. The purpose of the study is to determine the powers of the clerks of this order in relation to these issues. The author examines in detail the mechanism of creating expense books as a whole and defines the place of clerks in it along with other officials — treasurers and clerks. As for the participation of the clerks in the patriarchal charity, namely in the procedure for issuing money, special attention is paid to their "handouts", as well as the distribution of alms in prisons and almshouses.  The methodology is based on methods of auxiliary historical disciplines: first of all, Russian paleography, which allows analyzing and comparing the handwriting of officials in book entries, as well as historical chronology and historical metrology. The analysis of the texts of the expense books carried out by the author is the basis for a comprehensive description of the charity of the Moscow Patriarchal House in the second half of the 17th century, which has so far received insufficient attention in modern historiography, in particular with regard to the problems of the history of everyday life. The results of the study indicate the active participation of the clerks of the Patriarchal State Order both in the compilation of expense books and in the direct distribution of alms to recipients, including during a special ceremony during patriarchal outings. The reconstruction of the procedure for issuing handouts indicates the great financial responsibility of the clerks and the high level of trust shown to them personally by the patriarch. It was also possible to establish the fact that the patriarchs, during their exits, as a rule, did not give alms with their own hands, but delegated this task to the clerks who accompanied them.