What Was the Love If Any in the 18th Century Russia?

Abstract

The theme of love, in the context of the history of emotions, is poorly developed on the Russian material of the early modern period. In a few studies, on the one hand, it is argued that in the 18^th century. this feeling was freed from the aura of sinfulness and the idea of ​​romantic love was formed, and on the other hand, that under the conditions of arranged marriages and strict marriage legislation, its institutionalization was impossible. This article, based on archival sources, proposes one of the possible approaches to the study of this topic and proves that the feeling of love was familiar to representatives of different social strata of Russian society.