The Alms-Collector’s Progress. Alternatively, Why Should We Care about the Travails of Two Holy Men Travelling between Balkan and Ukrainian Lands in the Mid-18th century?
The Alms-Collector’s Progress. Alternatively, Why Should We Care about the Travails of Two Holy Men Travelling between Balkan and Ukrainian Lands in the Mid-18th century?

Summary/Abstract: This article examines Orthodox alms-collection in the mid-eighteenth century through the strategies of two Athonite monks, Anatolios Meles of St Paul’s Monastery and Archimandrite Cosmas of the Great Lavra. Moving between the Balkans, Ukraine, and the Russian Empire, these travelling Holy Men operated within networks that connected monastic finance, pilgrimage, charity, commerce, and imperial power. The article argues that alms-collection should not be understood merely as fundraising, but as a religious practice shaped by the ideals of Eleemosyne, Salvation, and sacred exchange. Drawing on concepts of symbolic and social capital, it explores how relics, narratives of sanctity, personal reputation, and trans-imperial networks enabled the conversion of spiritual authority into material support. The contrasting fortunes of Anatolios, who achieved influence and advancement, and Cosmas, whose mission ended in disgrace and repentance, reveal the tensions between holiness, entrepreneurship and institutional control.

• Details
• Contents