"Do not let them torture you." Priestly Admonition of Suspects in the Provincial Judicial Practice of the Second Half of the 18th Century

The practice of having priests admonish suspects, which was designed to replace torture, was a significant innovation in the legal system during the reign of Catherine II. This practice has been overlooked by researchers in the history of law and judicial practice. The article examines the involvement of clergy in the investigation of criminal offences on the basis of judicial materials from the Voevoda Chancellery of the city of Gorokhovets (central Russia) for the period 1760s-1770s. These materials demonstrate, for the first time, how the court appointed priests for such admonishment, how the process of admonition unfolded, how the testimonies of the suspects were formulated juridically and what information they contained. Furthermore, they present the results of involving priests in the investigation. Overall, these documents testify to the considerable participation of priests as investigators and their contribution to the improvement of the judicial process.