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# The ban on musical entertainments in the decisions of the Stoglav Council of 1551
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/zapret-balalaek-obychno-sviazyvaiut-s-ukazom-1648-goda-tsaria-alekseia-mikhailovicha-kotoryi-predpisyval-unichtozhit-strunnye-instrumenty/
- Published: 2017-08-31T14:46:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:56:09.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Faith, Books, Observations, Mores

The ban on balalaikas is usually linked to a decree of 1648 by Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, which ordered stringed instruments to be destroyed.

But the idea of banning musical amusements was originally laid down in the answers of the Stoglav Council of 1551, so called for the number of its chapters (a hundred), which regulated various aspects of public, ecclesiastical, state and private life.

In particular, "Chapter Ninety-Two" proposes to forbid games played on fiddle-bows, gusli and pipes, all manner of droning, hudoks, fiddles, and "mockery, spectacle and dancing", on account of which people "absent themselves from all holy services".

Yet a great many documents of the age confirm that these prohibitions were often disregarded.

The Stoglav Council itself is a very interesting book and, beyond doubt, an advanced one for its time. But, regrettably, for 300 years after its appearance it was never once published. It first appeared in print in London in 1860, and it is from that edition that I quoted the entries on the ban on amusements. The document was considered disputed for many years, but most scholars today incline to the view that it is, after all, authentic.

I think I shall soon say more about my favourite passages of the Stoglav.