5 works of ancient Russian literature. Ancient Russian literature - what is it? Works of ancient Russian literature. Genres of literature of Ancient Russia

Preliminary remarks. The concept of Old Russian literature designates in a strict terminological sense the literature of the Eastern Slavs of the 11th - 13th centuries. before their subsequent division into Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. From the 14th century distinct book traditions are clearly manifested, which led to the formation of Russian (Great Russian) literature, and from the 15th century. - Ukrainian and Belarusian. In philology, the concept of Old Russian literature is traditionally used in relation to all periods in the history of Russian literature of the 11th - 17th centuries.

All attempts to find traces of East Slavic literature before the baptism of Russia in 988 ended in failure. The evidence cited is either gross fakes (the pagan chronicle "Vlesova book" covering a huge era from the 9th century BC to the 9th century AD inclusive), or untenable hypotheses (the so-called "Askold's Chronicle" in the Nikon code of the 16th century. among the articles of 867-89). The foregoing does not mean at all that writing was completely absent in pre-Christian Russia. Treaties of Kievan Rus with Byzantium in 911, 944 and 971. as part of "The Tale of Bygone Years" (if we accept the evidence of S. P. Obnorsky) and archaeological finds (an inscription from firing on a GnЈzdovskaya korchaga of the first decades or no later than the middle of the 10th century, a Novgorod inscription on a wooden cylinder lock, according to V. L Yanina, 970-80) show that in the 10th century, even before the baptism of Russia, the Cyrillic script could be used in official documents, the state apparatus and everyday life, gradually preparing the ground for the spread of writing after the adoption of Christianity in 988.

§ 1. The emergence of ancient Russian literature
§ 1.1. Folklore and Literature. The forerunner of ancient Russian literature was folklore, which was widespread in the Middle Ages in all strata of society: from peasants to the princely-boyar aristocracy. Long before Christianity it was already litteratura sine litteris, literature without letters. In the written era, folklore and literature with their genre systems existed in parallel, mutually complementing each other, sometimes coming into close contact. Folklore has accompanied ancient Russian literature throughout its history: from the annals of the 11th - early 12th centuries. (see § 2.3) to the "Tale of Woe-Misfortune" of the transitional era (see § 7.2), although on the whole it was poorly reflected in writing. In turn, literature influenced folklore. The most striking example of this is spiritual poetry, folk songs of religious content. They were strongly influenced by ecclesiastical canonical literature (biblical and liturgical books, lives of saints, etc.) and apocrypha. Spiritual verses retain a vivid imprint of dual faith and are a motley mixture of Christian and pagan ideas.

§ 1.2. The Baptism of Russia and the Beginning of the "Book Teaching". The adoption of Christianity in 988 under the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich brought Russia into the orbit of influence of the Byzantine world. After baptism, the country was transferred from the southern and, to a lesser extent, from the western Slavs, the rich Old Slavonic literature created by the Thessalonica brothers Constantine the Philosopher, Methodius and their students in the second half of the 9th-10th centuries. A huge body of translated (mainly from Greek) and original monuments included biblical and liturgical books, patristics and church teaching literature, dogmatic-polemical and legal writings, etc. This book fund, common to the entire Byzantine-Slavic Orthodox world , ensured within it the consciousness of religious, cultural and linguistic unity for centuries. From Byzantium, the Slavs learned primarily church and monastic book culture. The rich secular literature of Byzantium, which continued the traditions of ancient, with a few exceptions, was not in demand by the Slavs. South Slavic influence at the end of the 10th - 11th centuries. marked the beginning of ancient Russian literature and book language.

Ancient Russia was the last of the Slavic countries to adopt Christianity and got acquainted with the Cyril and Methodius book heritage. However, in a surprisingly short time, she turned it into her national treasure. Compared with other Orthodox Slavic countries, Ancient Russia created a much more developed and genre-diverse national literature and immeasurably better preserved the pan-Slavic book fund.

§ 1.3. Worldview principles and artistic method of ancient Russian literature. For all its originality, ancient Russian literature possessed the same basic features and developed according to the same general laws as other medieval European literatures. Her artistic method was determined by the peculiarities of medieval thinking. He was distinguished by theocentrism - faith in God as the root cause of all being, goodness, wisdom and beauty; providentialism, according to which the course of world history and the behavior of each person is determined by God and is the implementation of his predetermined plan; understanding of man as a creature in the image and likeness of God, endowed with reason and free will in the choice of good and evil. In medieval consciousness, the world was divided into heavenly, higher, eternal, inaccessible to touch, opening to the elect in a moment of spiritual insight (“a hedgehog cannot be seen with the eyes of the flesh, but listens to the spirit and mind”), and the earthly, lower, temporary. This faint reflection of the spiritual, ideal world contained images and similarities of divine ideas, by which man cognized the Creator. The mediaeval worldview ultimately predetermined the artistic method of ancient Russian literature, which was basically religious and symbolic.

Old Russian literature is imbued with a Christian moralistic and didactic spirit. Imitation and likeness to God were understood as the highest goal of human life, and serving him was considered as the basis of morality. The literature of Ancient Russia had a pronounced historical (and even factual) character and for a long time did not allow fiction. It was characterized by etiquette, tradition and retrospectiveness, when reality was assessed on the basis of ideas about the past and the events of the sacred history of the Old and New Testaments.

§ 1.4. Genre system of ancient Russian literature. In the ancient Russian era, literary samples were of exceptionally great importance. First of all, translated Church Slavonic biblical and liturgical books were considered such. Exemplary works contained rhetorical and structural models of different types of texts, determined the written tradition, or, in other words, codified the literary and linguistic norm. They replaced grammars, rhetorics and other theoretical guides to the art of the word, common in medieval Western Europe, but absent in Russia for a long time. Reading Church Slavonic samples, many generations of ancient Russian scribes comprehended the secrets of literary technique. The medieval author constantly turned to exemplary texts, using their vocabulary and grammar, lofty symbols and images, figures of speech and tropes. Sanctified by hoary antiquity and the authority of holiness, they seemed unshakable and served as a measure of writing skills. This rule was the alpha and omega of ancient Russian creativity.

The Belarusian educator and humanist Francysk Skaryna argued in the preface to the Bible (Prague, 1519) that the books of the Old and New Testaments are an analogue of the "seven free arts" that formed the basis of medieval Western European education. Psalter teaches grammar, logic, or dialectics, the Book of Job and the Epistle of the Apostle Paul, rhetoric - the works of Solomon, music - biblical chants, arithmetic - the Book of Numbers, geometry - the Book of Joshua, astronomy - the Book of Genesis and other sacred tech-s-you.

Bible books were also perceived as ideal genre examples. In the Izbornik of 1073, an Old Russian manuscript dating back to the translation from the Greek collection of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon (893-927), the article "from the Apostolic Rules" states that the Books of Kings are the standard of historical and narrative works, and the Psalter serves as an example in the genre of church hymns , exemplary "cunning and creative" works (that is, related to the writing of the wise and poetic) are the instructive Books of Job and the Proverbs of Solomon. Almost four centuries later, around 1453, the Tver monk Foma called in the "Word of Praise about the Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich" an example of the historical and narrative works of the Book of Kings, the epistolary genre - the apostolic epistles, and "soul-saving books" - lives.

Such ideas, which came to Russia from Byzantium, were spread throughout medieval Europe. In the preface to the Bible, Francis Skorina referred those who wished to "know about the military" and "about heroic deeds" to the Books of Judges, noting that they were more truthful and useful than "Alexandria" and "Troy" - medieval novels with adventure stories about Alexander Macedonian and Trojan Wars, known in Russia (see § 5.3 and § 6.3). By the way, the canon says the same thing in M. Cervantes, urging Don Quixote to leave folly and take up his mind: "If ... you are drawn to books about exploits and chivalrous deeds, then open the Holy Scripture and read the Book of Judges: here you you will find great and genuine events and deeds as true as they are brave" (part 1, 1605).

The hierarchy of church books, as it was understood in Ancient Russia, is set forth in the preface of Metropolitan Macarius to the Great Menaion Chetiyim (completed c. 1554). The monuments that formed the core of traditional literacy are arranged in strict accordance with their place on the hierarchical ladder. Its upper steps are occupied by the most revered biblical books with theological interpretations. At the top of the book hierarchy is the Gospel, followed by the Apostle and the Psalter (which in Ancient Russia was also used as an educational book - people learned to read from it). This is followed by the works of the Church Fathers: collections of works by John Chrysostom "Chrystostom", "Margaret", "Golden Mouth", the works of Basil the Great, the words of Gregory the Theologian with interpretations of Metropolitan Nikita of Iraq-liysky, "Pandects" and "Taktikon" by Nikon Chernogorets etc. The next level is oratorical prose with its genre subsystem: 1) prophetic words, 2) apostolic, 3) patristic, 4) festive, 5) praiseworthy. At the last stage is hagiographic literature with a special genre hierarchy: 1) the lives of the martyrs, 2) the saints, 3) the ABC, Jerusalem, Egyptian, Sinai, Skete, Kiev-Pechersk patericons, 4) the lives of Russian saints, canonized by the cathedrals of 1547 and 1549.

The ancient Russian genre system, formed under the influence of the Byzantine system, was rebuilt and developed over the course of seven centuries of its existence. Nevertheless, it was preserved in its main features until the New Age.

§ 1.5. Literary language of Ancient Russia. Together with Old Slavonic books to Russia at the end of the 10th-11th centuries. the Old Church Slavonic language was transferred - the first common Slavic literary language, supranational and international, created on the Bulgarian-Macedonian dialect basis in the process of translating church books (mainly Greek) by Constantine the Philosopher, Methodius and their students in the second half of the 9th century. in the West and South Slavic lands. From the first years of its existence in Russia, the Old Slavonic language began to adapt to the living speech of the Eastern Slavs. Under its influence, some specific South Slavisms were forced out of the book norm by Russianisms, while others became acceptable options within it. As a result of the adaptation of the Old Church Slavonic language to the peculiarities of Old Russian speech, a local (Old Russian) version of the Church Slavonic language has developed. Its formation was close to completion in the second half of the 11th century, as the most ancient East Slavic written monuments show: the Ostromir Gospel (1056-57), the Arkhangelsk Gospel (1092), the Novgorod Service Menaia (1095-96, 1096, 1097) and other contemporary manuscripts.

The linguistic situation of Kievan Rus is assessed differently in the works of researchers. Some of them recognize the existence of bilingualism, in which Old Russian was the spoken language, and Church Slavonic (Old Slavonic by origin), which was only gradually Russified (A. A. Shakhmatov), ​​was the literary language. Opponents of this hypothesis prove the originality of the literary language in Kievan Rus, the strength and depth of its folk East Slavic speech base and, accordingly, the weakness and superficiality of the Old Slavonic influence (S. P. Obnorsky). There is a compromise concept of two types of a single Old Russian literary language: book-Slavonic and folk-literary, widely and versatile interacting with each other in the process of historical development (V. V. Vinogradov). According to the theory of literary bilingualism, in Ancient Russia there were two bookish languages: Church Slavonic and Old Russian (this point of view was close to F. I. Buslaev, and then it was developed by L. P. Yakubinsky and D. S. Likhachev).

In the last decades of the XX century. The theory of diglossia gained great popularity (G. Hütl-Folter, A. V. Isachenko, B. A. Uspensky). In contrast to bilingualism, in diglossia, the functional spheres of the bookish (Church Slavonic) and non-bookish (Old Russian) languages ​​are strictly distributed, almost do not intersect, and require speakers to assess their idioms on the scale of "high - low", "solemn - ordinary", "church - secular" . Church Slavonic, for example, being a literary and liturgical language, could not serve as a means of conversational communication, while Old Russian had one of its main functions. Under diglossia, Church Slavonic and Old Russian were perceived in Ancient Russia as two functional varieties of one language. There are other views on the origin of the Russian literary language, but all of them are debatable. Obviously, the Old Russian literary language was formed from the very beginning as a language of complex composition (B.A. Larin, V.V. Vinogradov) and organically included Church Slavonic and Old Russian elements.

Already in the XI century. different written traditions develop and a business language appears, Old Russian in origin. It was a special written, but not a literary, not actually bookish language. It was used to draw up official documents (letters, petitions, etc.), legal codes (for example, Russkaya Pravda, see § 2.8), and order clerical work was carried out in the 16th - 17th centuries. Everyday texts were also written in Old Russian: birch bark letters (see § 2.8), graffiti inscriptions drawn with a sharp object on the plaster of ancient buildings, mainly churches, etc. At first, the business language interacted weakly with the literary one. However, over time, the once clear boundaries between them began to collapse. The rapprochement of literature and business writing took place mutually and was clearly manifested in a number of works of the 15th–17th centuries: “Domostroy”, the messages of Ivan the Terrible, Grigory Kotoshikhin’s essay “On Russia in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich”, “The Tale of Ersh Ershovich”, “Kalyazinskaya petition" and others.

§ 2. Literature of Kievan Rus
(XI - first third of the XII century)

§ 2.1. The oldest book of Russia and the first monuments of writing. "Book teaching", begun by Vladimir Svyatoslavich, quickly achieved significant success. The oldest surviving book of Russia is the Novgorod Codex (no later than the 1st quarter of the 11th century) - a triptych of three waxed tablets, found in 2000 during the work of the Novgorod archaeological expedition. In addition to the main text - two psalms, the codex contains "hidden" texts, scratched on wood or preserved in the form of faint imprints on tablets under wax. Among the "hidden" texts read by A. A. Zaliznyak, a previously unknown work of four separate articles about the gradual movement of people from the darkness of paganism through the limited good of the law of Moses to the light of the teachings of Christ is especially interesting (tetralogy "From paganism to Christ").

In 1056-57. The oldest precisely dated Slavic manuscript, the Ostromir Gospel, was created with an afterword by the scribe Deacon Gregory. Gregory, together with his assistants, rewrote and decorated the book in eight months for the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir (Joseph in baptism), whence the name of the Gospel comes from. The manuscript is luxuriously decorated, written in large calligraphic charter in two columns, and is a wonderful example of book writing. Of the other oldest accurately dated manuscripts, the philosophical and didactic Izbornik of 1073, rewritten in Kiev, should be mentioned - a richly decorated folio containing more than 380 articles by 25 authors (including the essay "On Images", on rhetorical figures and tropes, by the Byzantine grammarian George Khirovoska, c. 750-825), a small and modest Izbornik of 1076, copied in Kiev by the scribe John and, possibly, compiled by him mainly from articles of religious and moral content, the Archangel Gospel of 1092, copied in the south of Kievan Rus, as well as three Novgorod list of official Menaia: for September - 1095-96, for October - 1096 and for November - 1097

These seven manuscripts exhaust the surviving Old Russian books of the 11th century, which indicate the time of their creation. Other ancient Russian manuscripts of the 11th century. or do not have exact dates, or have been preserved in later lists of lists. So, it has reached our time in the lists not earlier than the 15th century. a book of 16 Old Testament prophets with interpretations, rewritten in 1047 by a Novgorod priest who had a "worldly" name Ghoul Likhoy. (In Ancient Russia, the custom of giving two names, Christian and "worldly", was widespread not only in the world, cf. the name of the mayor Joseph-Ostromir, but also among the clergy and monasticism.)

§ 2.2. Yaroslav the Wise and a new stage in the development of ancient Russian literature. The educational activity of Vladimir Svyatoslavich was continued by his son Yaroslav the Wise († 1054), who finally established himself on the throne of Kiev in 1019 after the victory over Svyatopolk (see § 2.5). The reign of Yaroslav the Wise was marked by foreign policy and military successes, the establishment of broad ties with the countries of Western Europe (including dynastic ones), the rapid rise of culture and extensive construction in Kiev, transferring to the Dnieper, at least by name, the main shrines of Constantinople (St. Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate and etc.).

Under Yaroslav the Wise, "Russian Truth" arose (see § 2.8), annals were written, and, according to A. A. Shakhmatov, around 1039, the most ancient annalistic code was compiled at the metropolitan see in Kiev. In the Kiev metropolis, administratively subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Yaroslav the Wise sought to nominate his people to the highest church positions. With his support, Luka Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 (see § 2.8), and Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev from 1051 (from the priests in the village of Berestovo, Yaroslav's country palace near Kiev) became the first Old Russian hierarchs from among the local clergy. During the entire pre-Mongolian period, only two metropolitans of Kiev, Hilarion (1051-54) and Kliment Smolyatich (see § 3.1), came from among the local clergy, were elected and installed in Russia by a council of bishops without intercourse with the patriarch of Constantinople. All other metropolitans of Kiev were Greeks, elected and consecrated by the patriarch in Constantinople.

Hilarion owns one of the deepest works of the Slavic Middle Ages - "The Word of Law and Grace", pronounced by him between 1037 and 1050. Among Hilarion's listeners there could well be people who remembered Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich and the baptism of the Russian land. However, the writer turned not to the ignorant and the simple, but to those experienced in theology and book wisdom. Using the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians (4: 21-31), he proves with dogmatic impeccability the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, the New Testament - Grace, bringing salvation to the whole world and affirming the equality of peoples before God, over the Old Testament - the Law given to one people. The triumph of the Christian faith in Russia has world significance in the eyes of Hilarion. He glorifies the Russian land, a full power in the family of Christian states, and its princes - Vladimir and Yaroslav. Hilarion was an outstanding orator, he was well aware of the methods and rules of Byzantine preaching. The "Sermon on Law and Grace" in rhetorical and theological merits is not inferior to the best examples of Greek and Latin church eloquence. It became known outside Russia and influenced the work of the Serbian hagiographer Domentian (XIII century).

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, Yaroslav the Wise organized large-scale translation and book-writing works in Kiev. In pre-Mongol Russia, there were various translation schools and centers. The vast majority of texts were translated from Greek. In the XI-XII centuries. wonderful examples of ancient Russian translation art appear. For centuries, they have enjoyed constant reader success and have influenced ancient Russian literature, folklore, and visual arts.

The Northern Russian translation of the "Life of Andrei the Holy Fool" (XI century or not later than the beginning of the XII century) had a noticeable influence on the development of the ideas of foolishness in Ancient Russia (see also § 3.1). The outstanding book of world medieval literature, "The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph" (no later than the first half of the 12th century, possibly Kiev), vividly and figuratively told the Old Russian reader about the Indian prince Joasaph, who, under the influence of the hermit Varlaam, abdicated the throne and worldly joys and became an ascetic hermit. "The Life of Basil the New" (XI - XII centuries) struck the imagination of a medieval person with impressive pictures of hellish torments, paradise and the Last Judgment, like those Western European legends (for example, "The Vision of Tnugdal", mid-XII century), which subsequently fed " Divine Comedy Dante.

Not later than the beginning of the XII century. in Russia was translated from Greek and supplemented with new articles Prologue, dating back to the Byzantine Synaxar (Greek uhnbobsyn) - a collection of brief information about the life of saints and church holidays. (According to M.N. Speransky, the translation was made on Athos or in Constantinople by the joint works of Old Russian and South Slavic scribes.) The prologue contains in abridged editions of life, words for Christian holidays and other church teaching texts, arranged in the order of the church month-word, starting with first day of September. In Russia, the Prologue was one of the most beloved books, repeatedly edited, revised, supplemented by Russian and Slavic articles.

Historical writings received special attention. Not later than the 12th century, obviously, in the south-west of Russia, in the Principality of Galicia, the famous monument of ancient historiography was translated in a free manner - "The History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius, a fascinating and dramatic story about the uprising in Judea in 67-73 years. against Rome. According to V. M. Istrin, in the XI century. In Kiev, the Byzantine World Chronicle of the monk George Amartol was translated. However, it is also assumed that this is a Bulgarian translation or a translation made by a Bulgarian in Russia. Due to the lack of originals and the linguistic proximity of Old Russian and South Slavic texts, their localization is often hypothetical and gives rise to scientific disputes. It is far from always possible to say which Russianisms in the text should be attributed to the share of the East Slavic author or translator and which - to the account of later scribes.

In the XI century. on the basis of the translated Greek chronicles of Georgy Amartol, the Syrian John Malala (Bulgarian translation, probably in the 10th century) and other sources, the "Chronograph according to the great exposition" was compiled. The monument covered the era from biblical times to the history of Byzantium in the 10th century. and was already reflected in the Primary Chronicle around 1095 (see § 2.3). The "Chronograph according to the great presentation" has not been preserved, but it existed in the first half of the 15th century, when it was used in the "Chronograph of Hellenic and Roman" Second Edition - the largest ancient Russian compilation chronographic code containing a presentation of world history from the creation of the world.

To Old Russian translations of the XI-XII centuries. usually include "Deed of Devgen" and "The Tale of Akira the Wise". Both works have come down to our time in the late lists of the XV-XVIII centuries. and occupy a special place in ancient Russian literature. "Deed of Devgen" is a translation of the Byzantine heroic epic, which over time underwent processing in Russia under the influence of military stories and heroic epics. The Assyrian "The Tale of Akira the Wise" is an example of an entertaining, instructive and semi-fairytale short story, so beloved in the ancient literatures of the Middle East. Its oldest edition has been preserved in fragments in an Aramaic papyrus of the end of the 5th century BC. BC e. from Egypt. It is assumed that "The Tale of Akira the Wise" was translated into Russia from the Syrian or Armenian original dating back to it.

The love for didactic sententiousness, characteristic of the Middle Ages, led to the translation of "Bees" (no later than the 12th-13th centuries) - a popular Byzantine collection of moralizing aphorisms by ancient, biblical and Christian authors. "Bee" not only contained ethical instructions, but also significantly expanded the historical and cultural horizons of the Old Russian reader.

Translation work was carried out, obviously, at the metropolitan department in Kiev. Translations of dogmatic, ecclesiastical teaching, epistolary and anti-Latin writings by the Metropolitans of Kiev John II (1077-89) and Nicephorus (1104-21), Greeks by origin, who wrote in their native language, have been preserved. Nikifor's letter to Vladimir Monomakh "on fasting and abstinence of feelings" is marked by high literary merit and professional translation technique. In the first half of the XII century. Theodosius the Greek was engaged in translations. By order of the prince-monk Nicholas (Holy One), he translated the message of Pope Leo I the Great to Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople about the heresy of Eutychius. The Greek original of the epistle was received from Rome.

The ties with Rome that have not yet died out after the church schism in 1054 are due to the origin of one of the main holidays of the Russian Church (not recognized by Byzantium and the Orthodox southern Slavs) - the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the World of Lycia in Asia Minor to the Italian city of Bari in 1087 (9 May). Installed in Russia at the end of the 11th century, it contributed to the development of a cycle of translated and original works in honor of Nicholas of Myra, which includes "A word of praise for the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker", stories about the miracles of the saint, preserved in the lists of the 12th century, etc.

§ 2.3. Kiev-Pechersky Monastery and Old Russian Chronicle. The most important literary and translational center of pre-Mongol Rus was the Kiev Caves Monastery, which brought up a bright galaxy of original writers, preachers and church leaders. Quite early, in the second half of the 11th century, the monastery established book connections with Athos and Constantinople. Under the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavich (978-1015), Anthony († 1072-73), the founder of Russian monastic life, one of the founders of the Kiev Caves Monastery, was tonsured on Athos. His disciple Theodosius Pechersky became the "father of Russian monasticism." During his abbess in the Kiev Caves Monastery (1062-74), the number of brethren reached an unprecedented figure in Russia - 100 people. Theodosius was not only a spiritual writer (author of ecclesiastical and anti-Latin writings), but also an organizer of translation works. On his initiative, the communal rule of the Studian monastery of John the Baptist in Constantinople was translated, sent to Russia by monk Ephraim, a tonsured monk of Anthony, who lived in one of the Constantinople monasteries. Adopted in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, the Studian Rule was then introduced in all ancient Russian monasteries.

From the last third of the XI century. The Kiev-Pechersky Monastery becomes the center of ancient Russian chronicle writing. The history of early chronicle writing is brilliantly reconstructed in the works of A. A. Shakhmatov, although not all researchers share certain provisions of his concept. In 1073, in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, on the basis of the Most Ancient code (see § 2.2), a code of Nikon the Great, an associate of Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves, was compiled. Nikon was the first to turn historical records into weather articles. Not known to the Byzantine chronicles, it has firmly established itself in ancient Russian chronicles. His work formed the basis for the Primary Code (c. 1095), which appeared under the Igumen of the Caves, was the first all-Russian chronicle monument in character.

During the second decade of the XII century. one after another, editions of a new annalistic code appear - "The Tale of Bygone Years". All of them were compiled by scribes, reflecting the interests of one or another prince. The first edition was created by the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor, the chronicler of the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (according to A. A. Shakhmatov - 1110-12, according to M. D. Priselkov - 1113). Nestor took the Primary Code as the basis of his work, supplementing it with numerous written sources and folk legends. After the death in 1113 of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, his political opponent Vladimir Monomakh ascended the throne of Kiev. The new Grand Duke transferred the chronicle to his family Mikhailovsky Vydubitsky Monastery near Kiev. There, in 1116, Abbot Sylvester created the Second Edition of the Tale of Bygone Years, positively evaluating Monomakh's activities in the fight against Svyatopolk. The third edition of the "Tale of Bygone Years" was compiled in 1118 on behalf of the eldest son of Vladimir Monomakh Mstislav.

"The Tale of Bygone Years" is the most valuable monument of ancient Russian historical thought, literature and language, complex in composition and sources. The structure of the chronicle text is heterogeneous. "The Tale of Bygone Years" includes retinue-epic legends (about the death of Prince Oleg the Prophet from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of his beloved horse, under 912, about the revenge of Princess Olga on the Drevlyans under 945-46), folk tales ( about the old man who saved Belgorod from the Pechenegs, under 997), toponymic legends (about the youth-kozhemyak who defeated the Pecheneg hero, under 992), testimonies of contemporaries (governor Vyshata and his son, governor Yan), peace treaties with Byzantium 911 , 944 and 971, church teachings (the speech of the Greek philosopher under 986), hagiographic stories (about the murder of princes Boris and Gleb under 1015), military stories, etc. The heterogeneity of the chronicle determined the special, hybrid nature of its language : a complex interpenetration in the text of the Church Slavonic and Russian language elements, a mixture of bookish and non-bookish elements. "The Tale of Bygone Years" became for centuries an unsurpassed role model and formed the basis for further ancient Russian chronicle writing.

§ 2.4. Literary monuments in "The Tale of Bygone Years". The chronicle includes "The Tale of the Blinding of Prince Vasilko Terebovlsky" (1110s), which arose as an independent work about princely crimes. Its author, Basil, was an eyewitness and participant in dramatic events, he knew perfectly well all the internecine wars of 1097-1100. The whole scene of the reception by the princes Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and David Igorevich Vasilko, his arrest and blinding, the subsequent torment of the blinded man (the episode with the bloodied shirt washed out of the bottom) are written with deep psychologism, great concrete accuracy and exciting drama. In this respect, Vasily's work anticipates "The Tale of the Murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky" with its vivid psychological and realistic sketches (see § 3.1).

Organically included in the "Tale of Bygone Years" is a selection of works by Vladimir Monomakh († 1125) - the fruit of many years of life and deep reflections of the wisest of the princes of the appanage-veche period. Known as "Instruction", it consists of three different works: instructions for children, autobiography - annals of military and hunting exploits of Monomakh and a letter in 1096 to his political rival Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. In "Instruction" the author summarized his life principles and the prince's code of honor. The ideal of the "Instruction" is a wise, just and merciful sovereign, sacredly faithful to treaties and the kiss of the cross, a brave prince-warrior, sharing work with his retinue in everything, and a pious Christian. The combination of elements of teaching and autobiography finds a direct parallel in the apocryphal "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs", known in medieval Byzantine, Latin and Slavic literature. Included in the apocryphal "Testament of Judas on Courage" had a direct impact on Monomakh.

His work is on a par with medieval Western European teachings to children - heirs to the throne. The most famous among them are the "Testament", attributed to the Byzantine emperor Basil I the Macedonian, the Anglo-Saxon "Teachings" of King Alfred the Great and "Father's Teachings" (VIII century), used to educate royal children. It cannot be argued that Monomakh was familiar with these writings. However, it is impossible not to remember that his mother came from the family of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh, and his wife was Hyda († 1098/9), the daughter of the last Anglo-Saxon king Harald, who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

§ 2.5. Development of hagiographic genres. One of the first works of ancient Russian hagiography is "The Life of Anthony of the Caves" (§ 2.3). Although it has not survived to our time, it can be argued that it was an outstanding work of its kind. The Life contained valuable historical and legendary information about the emergence of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, influenced the chronicle, served as the source of the Primary Code, and was later used in the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon".

One of the oldest monuments of our literature, the rhetorically embellished "Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir of Russia" (XI century) by monk Jacob, combines the features of life and historical laudatory words. The work is dedicated to the solemn glorification of the Baptist of Russia, the proof of his God's chosenness. Jacob had access to the ancient chronicle that preceded the "Tale of Bygone Years" and the Primary Code, and used its unique information, which more accurately conveys the chronology of events during the time of Vladimir Svyatoslavich.

The lives of the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor (not earlier than 1057 - the beginning of the 12th century), created on the basis of Byzantine hagiography, are distinguished by outstanding literary merits. His "Reading about the life of Boris and Gleb" together with other monuments of the XI-XII centuries. (more dramatic and emotional "The Tale of Boris and Gleb" and continuing it "The Tale of the Miracles of Roman and David") form a widespread cycle about the bloody internecine war of the sons of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich for the throne of Kiev. Boris and Gleb (in baptism Roman and David) are depicted as martyrs not so much of a religious as of a political idea. Preferring death in 1015 to the fight against their older brother Svyatopolk, who seized power in Kiev after the death of his father, they assert with all their behavior and death the triumph of brotherly love and the need to subordinate the younger princes to the eldest in the family in order to preserve the unity of the Russian land. The passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb, the first canonized saints in Russia, became her heavenly patrons and defenders.

After the "Reading" Nestor created, based on the memoirs of his contemporaries, a detailed biography of Theodosius of the Caves, which became a model in the genre of the venerable life. The work contains precious information about monastic life and customs, about the attitude of ordinary laymen, boyars and the Grand Duke towards the monks. Later, "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves" was included in the "Kiev-Pechersk Paterik" - the last major work of pre-Mongolian Rus.

In Byzantine literature, pateriks (cf. Greek rbfesykn, Old Russian otchnik 'father, patericon') were collections of edifying short stories about ascetics of monastic and hermit life (some locality famous for monasticism), as well as collections of their moralizing and ascetic sayings and short words . The golden fund of medieval Western European literatures included the Skete, Sinai, Egyptian, Roman patericons, known in translations from Greek in ancient Slavic writing. Created in imitation of the translated "fathers" "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" adequately continues this series.

Even in the XI - XII centuries. in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, legends were written about its history and the ascetics of piety who labored in it, reflected in the "Tale of Bygone Years" under 1051 and 1074. In the 20s-30s. 13th century begins to take shape "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" - a collection of short stories about the history of this monastery, its monks, their ascetic life and spiritual exploits. The monument was based on the epistles and accompanying patericon tales of two Kiev-Pechersk monks: Simon († 1226), who in 1214 became the first bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, and Polycarp († 1st half of the 13th century). The sources of their stories about the events of the XI - the first half of the XII century. monastic and tribal traditions, folk tales, the Kiev-Pechersk chronicle, the lives of Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves appeared. The formation of the patericon genre took place at the intersection of oral and written traditions: folklore, hagiography, annals, oratorical prose.

"Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" is one of the most beloved books of Orthodox Russia. For centuries it has been read and rewritten willingly. 300 years before the appearance of the "Volokolamsk patericon" in the 30s-40s. 16th century (see § 6.5), it remained the only original monument of this genre in ancient Russian literature.

§ 2.6. The emergence of the genre of "walking". At the beginning of the XII century. (in 1104-07) hegumen of one of the Chernigov monasteries Daniel made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and stayed there for a year and a half. Daniel's mission was politically motivated. He arrived in the Holy Land after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099 and the formation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Daniel was twice granted an audience with the King of Jerusalem by Baldwin (Baudouin) I (1100-18), one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who more than once showed him other exceptional signs of attention. In "Journey" Daniel appears before us as a messenger of the entire Russian land as a kind of political entity.

Daniel's "Walking" is an example of pilgrimage notes, a valuable source of historical information about Palestine and Jerusalem. In form and content, it resembles numerous medieval itineraria (lat. itinerarium ‘description of the journey’) of Western European pilgrims. He described in detail the route, the sights he saw, retold traditions and legends about the shrines of Palestine and Jerusalem, sometimes not distinguishing church canonical stories from apocryphal ones. Daniel is the largest representative of the pilgrimage literature not only of Ancient Russia, but of all medieval Europe.

§ 2.7. Apocrypha. As in medieval Europe, in Russia already in the 11th century, in addition to orthodox literature, apocrypha (Greek ? rkkh f pt 'secret, secret') became widespread - semi-bookish, semi-folk tales on religious topics that are not included in the church canon (in history, the meaning of the concept of apocrypha has changed). Their main flow went to Russia from Bulgaria, where in the X century. the dualistic heresy of the Bogomils was strong, preaching equal participation in the creation of the world of God and the devil, their eternal struggle in world history and human life.

The Apocrypha form a kind of common people's Bible and for the most part are divided into the Old Testament ("The Tale of How God Created Adam", "The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs", the Apocrypha of Solomon, in which demonological motifs predominate, "The Book of Enoch the Righteous"), the New Testament ("The Gospel of Thomas "," The First Gospel of Jacob "," The Gospel of Nicodemus "," The Tale of Aphrodite "), eschatological - about the afterlife and the final destinies of the world ("Vision of the prophet Isaiah," "The Tale of Bygone Years" under 1096).

Apocryphal lives, torments, words, epistles, conversations, etc. are known. Great love among the people was enjoyed by the "Conversation of the Three Hierarchs" (Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom), preserved in ancient Russian lists from the 12th century. Written in the form of questions and answers on a wide variety of topics, from biblical to "natural science", it reveals, on the one hand, clear points of contact with medieval Greek and Latin literature (for example, Joca monachorum 'Monastic games'), and on the other - has experienced a strong influence of folk superstitions, pagan ideas, riddles throughout its manuscript history. Many apocrypha are included in the dogmatic-polemical compilation "Explanatory Palea" (probably XIII century) and in its revision "Chronographic Palea".

In the Middle Ages, there were special lists (indexes) of renounced, that is, books forbidden by the Church. The oldest Slavic index, translated from Greek, is in the Izbornik of 1073. Independent lists of renounced books, reflecting the real circle of reading in Ancient Russia, appear at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. and have a recommendatory, and not strictly prohibitive (with subsequent punitive sanctions) character. Many apocrypha ("The Gospel of Thomas", "The First Gospel of James", "The Gospel of Nicodemus", "The Tale of Aphroditian", which significantly supplement the information of the New Testament about the earthly life of Jesus Christ) could not be perceived as "false writings" and were revered on a par with church canonical works . Apocrypha left noticeable traces in the literature and art of all medieval Europe (in church painting, architectural decorations, book ornaments, etc.).

§ 2.8. Literature and writing of Veliky Novgorod. Even in the most ancient period, literary life was not concentrated in Kiev alone. In the north of Russia, the largest cultural center and trade and craft center was Veliky Novgorod, which early, already at the beginning of the 11th century, showed a tendency to separate from Kiev and achieved political independence in 1136.

In the middle of the XI century. in Novgorod, chronicles were already being written at the church of St. Sophia. The Novgorod chronicles are generally distinguished by their brevity, businesslike tone, simple language, and the absence of rhetorical embellishments and colorful descriptions. They are designed for the Novgorod reader, and not for general Russian distribution, they tell about local history, rarely affect events in other lands, and then mainly in their relation to Novgorod. One of the first ancient Russian writers known to us by name was Luka Zhidyata († 1059-60), Bishop of Novgorod since 1036 (The nickname is a diminutive formation from the worldly name Zhidoslav or church George: Gyurgiy> Gyurata> Zhydyata.) His "Instruction to the brethren "on the foundations of the Christian faith and piety represents a completely different type of rhetorical strategy in comparison with Hilarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace". It is devoid of oratorical tricks, written in a generally accessible language, simply and briefly.

In 1015, an uprising broke out in Novgorod, caused by the shameless management of the prince's retinue, which largely consisted of Varangian mercenaries. To prevent such clashes, at the behest of Yaroslav the Wise and with his participation, in 1016 the first written judicial code in Russia was compiled - "The Ancient Truth", or "The Truth of Yaroslav". This is a fundamental document in the history of ancient Russian law in the 11th - early 12th centuries. In the first half of the XI century. he entered the Brief edition of "Russian Truth" - the legislation of Yaroslav the Wise and his sons. "Brief Truth" has come down to us in two lists of the middle of the XV century. in the Novgorod First Chronicle of the younger version. In the first third of the XII century. the "Brief Pravda" was replaced by a new legislative code - the lengthy edition of the "Russian Truth". This is an independent monument, which includes various legal documents, including the "Brief Truth". The oldest copy of the "Large Truth" was preserved in the Novgorod helmsman in 1280. The appearance at the very beginning of our writing of an exemplary legislative code written in Old Russian was of exceptionally great importance for the development of the business language.

The most important sources of everyday writing XI-XV centuries. are birch bark letters. Their cultural and historical significance is extremely great. Texts on birch bark made it possible to put an end to the myth of almost universal illiteracy in Ancient Russia. For the first time birch-bark letters were discovered in 1951 during archaeological excavations in Novgorod. Then they were found in Staraya Russa, Pskov, Smolensk, Tver, Torzhok, Moscow, Vitebsk, Mstislavl, Zvenigorod Galitsky (near Lvov). Currently, their collection includes over a thousand documents. The vast majority of sources come from Novgorod and its lands.

Unlike expensive parchment, birch bark was the most democratic and easily accessible writing material. On soft birch bark, letters were squeezed out or scratched with a sharp metal or bone rod, which was called writing. Only rarely was pen and ink used. The oldest birch-bark writings found today belong to the first half to the middle of the 11th century. The social composition of the authors and addressees of birch bark letters is very wide. Among them are not only representatives of the titled nobility, clergy and monasticism, which is understandable in itself, but also merchants, elders, housekeepers, warriors, artisans, peasants, etc., which indicates the widespread literacy in Russia already in the 11th-12th centuries. Women took part in the correspondence on birch bark. Sometimes they are the addressees or authors of the messages. There are several letters sent from woman to woman. Almost all birch-bark writings were written in Old Russian, and only a few were written in Church Slavonic.

Birch bark letters, mostly private letters. Everyday life and worries of a medieval person appear in them in great detail. The authors of the messages talk about their affairs: family, economic, commercial, monetary, judicial, trips, military campaigns, expeditions for tribute, etc. Business documents are not uncommon: invoices, receipts, records of promissory notes, owner's labels, wills, bills of sale , petitions from the peasants to the feudal lord, etc. Educational texts are interesting: exercises, alphabets, lists of numbers, lists of syllables by which they learned to read. Conspiracies, a riddle, a school joke have also been preserved. All this everyday side of the medieval way of life, all these trifles of life, so obvious to contemporaries and constantly eluding researchers, are poorly reflected in the literature of the 11th-15th centuries.

Occasionally there are birch bark letters of ecclesiastical and literary content: fragments of liturgical texts, prayers and teachings, for example, two quotations from Cyril of Turov's "Word on Wisdom" (see § 3.1) in the birch bark copy of the first 20th anniversary of the 13th century. from Torzhok.

§ 3. Decentralization of Old Russian literature
(second third of the 12th - first quarter of the 13th century)

§ 3.1. Old and new literary centers. After the death of Vladimir Monomakh's son Mstislav the Great († 1132), Kiev lost power over most of the Russian lands. Kievan Rus broke up into a dozen and a half sovereign and semi-sovereign states. Feudal fragmentation was accompanied by cultural decentralization. Although the largest ecclesiastical, political and cultural centers were still Kiev and Novgorod, literary life awakened and developed in other lands: Vladimir, Smolensk, Turov, Polotsk, etc.

A prominent representative of Byzantine influence in the pre-Mongolian period is Kliment Smolyatich, the second after Hilarion Metropolitan of Kiev (1147-55, with short breaks), elected and installed in Russia from local natives. (His nickname comes from the name Smolyat and does not indicate an origin from the Smolensk land.) In the polemical letter of Clement to the Smolensk presbyter Thomas (mid-12th century), Homer, Aristotle, Plato, the interpretation of Holy Scripture with the help of parables and allegories, the search for spiritual meaning are discussed in objects of material nature, as well as schedography - the highest course of literacy in Greek education, which consisted in grammatical analysis and memorization of exercises (words, forms, etc.) for each letter of the alphabet.

Skillful rhetorical technique is distinguished by a solemn thanksgiving speech to the Grand Duke of Kiev Rurik Rostislavich, written by Moses, hegumen of the Mikhailovsky Vydubitsky Monastery near Kiev, on the occasion of the completion of construction work in 1199 to erect a wall that strengthens the shore under the ancient St. Michael's Cathedral. It is assumed that Moses was the chronicler of Rurik Rostislavich and the compiler of the Kiev grand ducal code of 1200, preserved in the Ipatiev Chronicle.

One of the most learned scribes was the hierodeacon and domestik (church regent) of the Antoniev Monastery in Novgorod Kirik, the first ancient Russian mathematician. He wrote mathematical and chronological works, combined in "The Doctrine of Numbers" (1136) and "Questioning" (mid-XII century) - a work of complex composition in the form of questions to the local Archbishop Nifont, Metropolitan Kliment Smolyatich and other persons relating to various aspects of church ritual and secular life and discussed among the Novgorod parishioners and clergy. It is possible that Kirik participated in the local archiepiscopal annals. At the end of the 1160s. priest Herman Voyata, having revised the previous chronicle, compiled the archiepiscopal code. The early Novgorod chronicle and the Kiev-Pechersk Initial Code were reflected in the Synodal List of the 13th-14th centuries. Novgorod First Chronicle.

Before his tonsure as a monk, the Novgorodian Dobrynya Yadreykovich (since 1211, Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod) traveled to the holy places in Constantinople until it was captured by the crusaders in 1204. What he saw during the wandering is briefly described by him in the "Book of the Pilgrim" - a kind of guide to the Tsargrad shrines . The fall of Constantinople in 1204 is dedicated to the testimony of an unknown eyewitness, included in the Novgorod First Chronicle - "The Tale of the Capture of Tsargrad by the Friags." Written with external impartiality and objectivity, the story significantly complements the picture of the defeat of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Campaign, drawn by Latin and Byzantine historians and memoirists.

Bishop Cyril of Turov († c. 1182), the "chrysostom" of Ancient Russia, brilliantly mastered the techniques of Byzantine oratory. The loftiness of religious feelings and thoughts, the depth of theological interpretations, expressive language, visual comparisons, a subtle sense of nature - all this made the sermons of Cyril of Turov a wonderful monument of ancient Russian eloquence. They can be put on a par with the best works of contemporary Byzantine preaching. The creations of Cyril of Turov became widespread in Russia and beyond its borders - among the Orthodox southern Slavs, caused numerous alterations and imitations. In total, more than 30 works are attributed to him: a cycle of 8 words for the holidays of the Colored Triodion, a cycle of weekly prayers, "The Tale of the Belarusian and the Mind and the Soul and Repentance", etc. According to I. P. Eremin, in an allegorical form " Parables about the human soul and body "(between 1160-69) Cyril of Turovsky wrote an accusatory pamphlet against Bishop Feodor of Rostov, who fought with the support of the appanage prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, son of Yuri Dolgoruky, for the independence of his department from the Kiev Metropolis.

Under Andrei Bogolyubsky, the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, which had been one of the youngest and most insignificant destinies before him, experienced a political and cultural flourishing. Having become the most powerful prince in Russia, Andrei Bogolyubsky dreamed of uniting the Russian lands under his power. In the struggle for ecclesiastical independence from Kiev, he either thought of separating the Suzdal region from the diocese of Rostov and establishing in Russia a second (after Kiev) metropolis in Vladimir, then after the patriarch of Constantinople refused this, he tried to obtain autocephaly from him for the Rostov bishopric. Significant assistance in this struggle was provided to him by literature glorifying his deeds and local shrines, proving the special patronage of the heavenly forces of North-Eastern Russia.

Andrei Bogolyubsky was distinguished by a deep reverence for the Mother of God. Having left for Vladimir from Vyshgorod near Kiev, he took with him an ancient icon of the Mother of God (according to legend, painted by the Evangelist Luke), and then ordered to compose a legend about her miracles. The work affirms the chosenness of the Vladimir-Suzdal state among other Russian principalities and the primacy of the political importance of its sovereign. The legend marked the beginning of a popular cycle of monuments about one of the most beloved Russian shrines - the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, which later included "The Tale of Temir Aksak" (beginning of the 15th century; see § 5.2 and § 7.8) and the compilation "The Tale of the Vladimir Icon Mother of God" (middle of the 16th century). In the 1160s under Andrei Bogolyubsky, on October 1, the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was established in memory of the appearance of the Mother of God to Andrei the Holy Fool and Epiphanius in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople, praying for Christians and covering them with her headdress - omophorion (see § 2.2). Old Russian works created in honor of this holiday (prologue, service, words on the Intercession) explain it as a special intercession and patronage of the Mother of God of the Russian land.

Having defeated the Volga Bulgarians on August 1, 1164, Andrei Bogolyubsky composed a thankful "Sermon on the Mercy of God" (First edition - 1164) and established a feast for the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos. These events are also dedicated to the "Legend of the victory over the Volga Bulgarians in 1164 and the feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos" (1164-65), celebrated on August 1 in memory of the victories on this day of the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-80) over the Saratsins and Andrei Bogolyubsky over the Volga Bulgarians. The legend reflected the growing military and political power of the Vladimir-Suzdal state and portrayed Manuel Komnenos and Andrei Bogolyubsky as equal in glory and dignity.

After the discovery in Rostov in 1164 of the relics of Bishop Leonty, who preached Christianity in the Rostov land and was killed by pagans around 1076, a short edition of his life was written (until 1174). "The Life of Leonty of Rostov", one of the most widespread works of ancient Russian hagiography, glorifies the holy martyr as the heavenly patron of Vladimir Russia.

The strengthening of princely power led to a clash between Andrei Bogolyubsky and the boyar opposition. The death of the prince in 1174 as a result of a palace conspiracy was vividly captured by the dramatic "The Tale of the Murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky" (probably between 1174-77), combining high literary merit with historically important and accurate details. The author was an eyewitness to the events, which does not exclude the recording of the story from his words (one of the possible authors is the servant of the murdered prince Kuzmishch Kiyanin).

Daniil Zatochnik, one of the most enigmatic ancient Russian authors (12th or 13th century), also develops the eternal theme of "woe from wit". His work has been preserved in several editions in the lists of the 16th - 17th centuries, apparently reflecting a late stage in the history of the monument. "Word" and "Prayer" by Daniil Zatochnik, in fact, are two independent works created at the intersection of book, primarily biblical, and folklore traditions. In the figurative form of allegories and aphorisms, close to the maxims of "Bees", the author sarcastically depicted the life and customs of his time, the tragedy of an outstanding person who is haunted by need and trouble. Daniil Zatochnik is a supporter of the strong and "formidable" princely power, to which he turns with a request for help and protection. In terms of genre, the work can be compared with Western European "prayers" for pardon, for release from prison, often written in verse in the form of aphorisms and parables (for example, Byzantine monuments of the 12th century. ).

§ 3.2. Swan song of the literature of Kievan Rus: "A word about Igor's regiment". In line with the medieval pan-European literary process, there is also "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" (end of the 12th century), a lyrical-epic work associated with the retinue milieu and poetry. The reason for its creation was the unsuccessful campaign of 1185 by the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians. The defeat of Igor is dedicated to military stories that have come down in the Laurentian Chronicle (1377) and the Ipatiev Chronicle (late 10s - early 20s of the 15th century). However, only the author of the "Word" managed to turn a private episode of numerous wars with the Steppe into a great poetic monument, standing on a par with such masterpieces of the medieval epic as the French "Song of Roland" (apparently, the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century), the Spanish "Song of my Side" (c. 1140), the German "Song of the Nibelungs" (c. 1200), "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" by the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli (late XII - early XIII century).

The poetic imagery of the "Word" is closely connected with pagan ideas that were alive in the 12th century. The author managed to combine the rhetorical devices of church literature with the traditions of epic poetry of the retinue, the model of which, in his eyes, was the creation of the poet-singer of the 11th century. Boyana. The political ideals of the Slovo are connected with the fading Kievan Rus. Its creator is a staunch opponent of princely "seditions" - civil strife that ruined the Russian land. "The Word" is imbued with a passionate patriotic pathos of the unity of the princes for protection from external enemies. In this respect, the "Sermon about the princes" is close to him, directed against the civil strife that torn apart Russia (possibly, the XII century).

"The Word about Igor's Campaign" was discovered by Count AI Musin-Pushkin in the early 1790s. and published by him according to the only surviving list in 1800 (By the way, in a single manuscript, moreover, extremely faulty and incomplete, the "Song of my Sid" has come down to us.) During the Patriotic War of 1812, the collection with the "Word" burned down in the Moscow fire. The artistic perfection of the "Word", its mysterious fate and death gave rise to doubts about the authenticity of the monument. All attempts to challenge the antiquity of the Lay, to declare it a forgery of the 18th century. (French Slavist A. Mazon, Moscow historian A. A. Zimin, American historian E. Keenan, etc.) are scientifically untenable.

§ 4. Literature of the era of the struggle against the foreign yoke
(second quarter of the 13th - end of the 14th century)

§ 4.1. The tragic theme of ancient Russian literature. The Mongol-Tatar invasion caused irreparable damage to ancient Russian literature, led to its noticeable reduction and decline, and interrupted book ties with other Slavs for a long time. The first tragic battle with the conquerors on the Kalka River in 1223 is dedicated to the stories preserved in the Novgorod First, Laurentian and Ipatiev Chronicles. In 1237-40. hordes of nomads, led by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu, poured into Russia, sowing death and destruction everywhere. The stubborn resistance of Russia, which held a "shield between two hostile races of the Mongols and Europe" ("Scythians" by A. A. Blok), undermined the military power of the Mongol-Tatar horde, which ruined, but no longer held Hungary, Poland and Dalmatia in their hands.

The foreign invasion was perceived in Russia as a sign of the end of the world and God's punishment for the grave sins of all the people. The former greatness, power and beauty of the country is mourned by the lyrical "Sermon about the destruction of the Russian land". The time of Vladimir Monomakh is portrayed as the era of the highest glory and prosperity of Russia. The work vividly conveys the feelings of contemporaries - the idealization of the past and deep sorrow for the bleak present. "The Word" is a rhetorical fragment (beginning) of a lost work about the Mongol-Tatar invasion (according to the most likely opinion, between 1238-46). The excerpt has been preserved in two lists, but not in a separate form, but as a kind of prologue to the original edition of the Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky.

The most prominent church preacher of that time was Serapion. In 1274, shortly before his death († 1275), he was made Bishop of Vladimir from among the archimandrites of the Kiev Caves Monastery. From his work, 5 teachings have been preserved - a vivid monument of the tragic era. In three of them, the author paints a vivid picture of the defeat and disasters that have befallen Russia, considers them God's punishment for sins, and preaches the path of salvation in popular repentance and moral cleansing. In two other teachings, he denounces belief in witchcraft and gross superstitions. The works of Serapion are distinguished by deep sincerity, sincerity of feelings, simplicity and at the same time skillful rhetorical technique. This is not only one of the excellent examples of ancient Russian ecclesiastical eloquence, but also a valuable historical source, revealing with particular force and brightness life and moods during the "destruction of the Russian land."

13th century gave an outstanding monument of southern Russian chronicles - the Galicia-Volyn chronicle, consisting of two independent parts: "Chronicle Daniil of Galicia" (until 1260) and the annals of the Vladimir-Volyn principality (from 1261 to 1290). The court historiographer of Daniil Galitsky was a man of high book culture and literary skill, an innovator in the field of chronicle writing. For the first time, he compiled not a traditional weather chronicle, but created a coherent and coherent historical story, not bound by records over the years. His work is a vivid biography of the warrior prince Daniel of Galicia, who fought against the Mongol-Tatars, Polish and Hungarian feudal lords, and the rebellious Galician boyars. The author used the traditions of squad epic poetry, folk legends, subtly understood the poetry of the steppe, as evidenced by the beautiful Polovtsian legend he retold about the grass evshan ‘wormwood’ and khan Otr o ke.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion revived the ideals of a wise sovereign, a courageous defender of his native land and the Orthodox faith, ready to sacrifice himself for them. A typical example of a martyr's life (or martyria) is the "Legend of the murder in the Horde of Prince Mikhail of Chernigov and his boyar Theodore." In 1246, they were both executed by order of Batu Khan for refusing to bow to pagan idols. A short (prologue) edition of the monument appeared no later than 1271 in Rostov, where Maria Mikhailovna, the daughter of the murdered prince, and his grandsons Boris and Gleb ruled. Subsequently, on its basis, more extensive editions of the work arose, the author of one of which was the priest Andrei (no later than the end of the 13th century).

The conflict in the most ancient monument of Tver hagiography - "The Life of Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver" (late 1319 - early 1320 or 1322-27) has a pronounced political background. In 1318, Mikhail of Tverskoy was killed in the Golden Horde with the approval of the Tatars by the people of Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow, his rival in the struggle for the great reign of Vladimir. The life portrayed Yuri Danilovich in the most unfavorable light and contained anti-Moscow attacks. In the official literature of the XVI century. it was subjected to strong pro-Moscow censorship. Under the son of the martyr, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, a popular uprising broke out in Tver in 1327 against the Khan's Baskak Chol Khan. The response to these events was "The Tale of Shevkal", which appeared shortly after them, included in the Tver chronicles, and the folk historical song "About Shchelkan Dudentevich".

The "military-heroic" direction in hagiography is developed by "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky". Its original edition was probably created in the 1280s. in the Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin, where Alexander Nevsky was originally buried. An unknown author, who was fluent in various literary techniques, skillfully combined the traditions of a military story and life. The bright face of the young hero of the Battle of the Neva in 1240 and the Battle of the Ice in 1242, the winner of the Swedish and German knights, the defender of Russia from foreign invaders and Orthodoxy from Roman Catholic expansion, a pious Christian became a model for subsequent princely biographies and military stories. The work influenced the "Tale of Dovmont" (2nd quarter of the 14th century). The reign of Dovmont (1266-99), who fled to Russia from Lithuania because of civil strife and was baptized, became for Pskov a time of prosperity and victories over external enemies, Lithuanians and Livonian knights. The story is connected with the Pskov chronicle writing, which began in the 13th century. (see § 5.3).

Two interesting works of the end of the 13th century are devoted to princely power. The image of the ideal ruler is presented in the message-admonition of the monk Jacob to his spiritual son, Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov (possibly, 1281). The responsibility of the prince for the affairs of his administration, the question of justice and truth is considered in the "Punishment" of the first Bishop of Tver Simeon (+ 1289) to Prince Konstantin of Polotsk.

Stories about the foreign invasion and the heroic struggle of the Russian people overgrown with legendary details over time. The Tale of Nikol Zarazsky, a lyrical-epic masterpiece of regional Ryazan literature, is distinguished by high artistic merit. The work, dedicated to the local shrine - the icon of Nikola Zarazsky, includes the story of its transfer from Korsun to the Ryazan land in 1225 and the story of the devastation of Ryazan by Batu Khan in 1237 with praise to the Ryazan princes. One of the main places in the story about the capture of Ryazan is occupied by the image of the epic knight Evpaty Kolovrat. On the example of his valiant deeds and death, it is proved that the heroes in Russia did not disappear, the heroism and greatness of the spirit of the Russian people, not broken by the enemy and cruelly avenging him for the desecrated land, are glorified. In its final form, the monument apparently took shape in 1560, while it should be borne in mind that over the centuries its ancient core could be subjected and, presumably, was subjected to processing, acquiring actual inaccuracies and anachronisms.

In Smolensk literature of the XIII century. only muffled echoes of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, which did not affect Smolensk, are heard. He calls on God to destroy the Ishmaelites, that is, the Tatars, the well-read and educated scribe Ephraim in the life of his teacher Abraham of Smolensk, a valuable monument of local hagiography (apparently, the 2nd half of the 13th century). For understanding the spiritual life of that time, the clash of Abraham, the ascetic scribe, with an environment that does not accept him, is important, depicted by Ephraim. The erudition and preaching gift of Abraham, who read "deep books" (perhaps the Apocrypha), became the cause of envy and persecution of him by the local clergy.

The miraculous deliverance of Smolensk from the troops of Batu, who did not besiege or plunder the city, but passed away from it, seemed to contemporaries, was understood as a manifestation of divine intercession. Over time, a local legend developed, completely rethinking historical facts. In it, the young man Mercury is represented as the savior of Smolensk - an epic hero who, with the help of heavenly forces, defeated countless hordes of enemies. In the "Tale of Mercury of Smolensk" (copies from the 16th century), a "wandering" story about a saint carrying his severed head in his hands is used (cf. the same legend about the first bishop of Gaul, Dionysius, who was executed by pagans).

Such later literary adaptations of oral legends about Batyevism include the legend of the invisible city of Kitezh, after its devastation by the Mongol-Tatars, hidden by God until the second coming of Christ. The work was preserved in the late Old Believer literature (2nd half of the 18th century). Faith in the hidden city of the righteous lived among the Old Believers and other religious seekers from the people as early as the 20th century. (See, for example, "At the walls of the invisible city. (Light Lake)" by M. M. Prishvin, 1909).

§ 4.2. Literature of Veliky Novgorod. In Novgorod, which retained its independence, the archbishop's annals continued in a relatively calm atmosphere (its most significant literary part belongs to the sexton of the 13th century, Timothy, the manner of presentation of which is distinguished by an abundance of edifying digressions, emotionality, and extensive use of church-book linguistic means), travel notes appeared - " The Wanderer "of Stephen the Novgorodian, who visited Constantinople in 1348 or 1349, created biographies of local saints. Ancient oral traditions preceded the lives of two of the most revered Novgorod saints who lived in the 12th century: Varlaam Khutynsky, founder of the Transfiguration Monastery of the Savior (original version - 13th century), and Archbishop Ilya John of Novgorod (Basic version - between 1471-78). In the "Life of John of Novgorod" the central place is occupied by the legend created at different times about the victory of the Novgorodians over the united Suzdal troops on November 25, 1170 and the establishment of the feast of the Sign of the Virgin, celebrated on November 27 (it is believed that the 40s-50s of the XIV c.), as well as a story about the journey of Archbishop John on a demon to Jerusalem (possibly, the 1st half of the 15th century), using a "wandering" story about a line sworn by a cross or sign of the cross.

For understanding the medieval religious worldview, the message of the Archbishop of Novgorod Vasily Kaliki to the Bishop of Tver Fyodor the Good about paradise (perhaps 1347) is important. It was written in response to the theological disputes in Tver about whether paradise exists only as a special spiritual substance or, in addition to it, in the east of the earth there is a material paradise created for Adam and Eve. The central place among the evidence of Vasily Kalika is occupied by the story of the discovery by Novgorod seafarers of an earthly paradise surrounded by high mountains, and an earthly hell. Typologically, this story is close to Western European medieval legends, for example, about Abbot Brendan, who founded many monasteries in England and sailed away to the Paradise Islands. (In turn, the legends of St. Brendan absorbed the ancient Celtic traditions of King Bran's voyage to the otherworldly wonderland.)

Around the middle of the XIV century. in Novgorod, the first significant heretical movement in Russia appeared - strigolism, which then engulfed Pskov, where in the first quarter of the 15th century. has flourished. Strigolniki denied the clergy and monasticism, church sacraments and rituals. Against them is directed the "Write-off from the rule of the holy apostles and holy fathers ... to the strigolniks", among the possible authors of which Bishop Stephen of Perm is named.

§ 5. Revival of Russian literature
(late XIV-XV century)

§ 5.1. "The Second South Slavic Influence". In the XIV century. Byzantium, and after it Bulgaria and Serbia, experienced a cultural upsurge that affected various areas of spiritual life: literature, bookish language, icon painting, theology in the form of the mystical teachings of hesychast monks, that is, silencers (from the Greek. ?uhchYab 'peace, silence, silence '). At this time, the southern Slavs are undergoing a reform of the book language, major translation and editing work is underway in book centers on Mount Athos, in Constantinople, and after that in the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, Tarnovo, under Patriarch Euthymius (c. 1375-93). The purpose of the South Slavic book reform of the XIV century. there was a desire to restore the ancient norms of the common Slavic literary language, dating back to the Cyril and Methodius tradition, in the XII-XI V centuries. more and more isolated by national izvoda, to streamline the graphic and orthographic system, to bring it closer to the Greek spelling.

By the end of the XIV century. among the southern Slavs, a large corpus of church monuments was translated from Greek. The translations were caused by the increased needs of cenobitic monasteries and hesychast monks in ascetic and theological literature, the rules of monastic life and religious controversy. In the main, works not known in Slavic writing were translated: Isaac the Syrian, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Peter Damaskin, Abba Dorotheus, Simeon the New Theologian, preachers of renewed hesychast ideas Gregory of Sinai and Gregory Palamas, etc. Such old translations as the "Ladder" of John of the Ladder , were checked against the Greek originals and thoroughly revised. The revival of translation activity was facilitated by the church reform - the replacement of the Studian church charter by the Jerusalem one, carried out first in Byzantium, and then, by the middle of the 14th century, in Bulgaria and Serbia. The church reform demanded from the South Slavs the translation of new texts, the reading of which was provided for by the Jerusalem Rule during worship. This is how the verse Prologue, the Triode Synaxarion, the Menaion and Triode Solemnist, the Teaching Gospel of Patriarch Callistus, and others appeared. All this literature was not known in Russia (or existed in old translations). Ancient Russia was in dire need of the book treasures of the southern Slavs.

In the XIV century. Russia's ties with Athos and Constantinople, interrupted by the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the largest centers of cultural contacts between Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs and Russians, resumed. In the last decades of the XIV century. and in the first half of the fifteenth century. The Jerusalem Charter was widely used in Ancient Russia. At the same time, the South Slavic manuscripts were transferred to Russia, where, under their influence, "book writing on the right" began - editing church texts and reforming the literary language. The main directions of the reform were to "purify" the bookish language from "corruption" (rapprochement with colloquial speech), its archaization and Greekization. The renewal of bookishness was caused by the internal needs of Russian life. Simultaneously with the "second South Slavic influence" and independently of it, the revival of Old Russian literature took place. Diligently searched for, copied and distributed works that had survived from the era of Kievan Rus. The revival of pre-Mongolian literature, combined with the "second South Slavic influence" ensured the rapid rise of Russian literature in the 15th century.

From the end of the XIV century. rhetorical changes are taking place in Russian literature. At this time, a special rhetorically decorated manner of presentation appears and develops, which contemporaries called "word weaving". "Weaving words" revived the rhetorical devices known in the eloquence of Kievan Rus ("The Word of Law and Grace" by Hilarion, "Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Vladimir" by Jacob, works by Cyril of Turov), but gave them even more solemnity and emotionality. In the XIV-XV centuries. Old Russian rhetorical traditions were enriched as a result of increased ties with South Slavic literatures. Russian scribes got acquainted with the rhetorically decorated works of Serbian hagiographers of the 13th-14th centuries. Domentian, Theodosius and Archbishop Danila II, with monuments of the Bulgarian Tarnovo literary school (primarily with the lives and laudatory words of Patriarch Evfimy Tyrnovskiy), with the Chronicle of Constantine Manasseh and "Dioptra" by Philip the Hermit - South Slavic translations of Byzantine poetic works, made in the XIV century. ornamental, rhythmic prose.

"Weaving of words" reached its highest development in the work of Epiphanius the Wise. This style was most clearly manifested in the "Life of Stephen of Perm" (1396-98 or 1406-10), the enlightener of the pagan Komi-Zyryans, the creator of the Perm alphabet and literary language, the first bishop of Perm. Less emotional and rhetorical is Epiphanius the Wise in the biography of the spiritual educator of the Russian people Sergius of Radonezh (completed in 1418-19). Life shows in the person of Sergius of Radonezh the ideal of humility, love, meekness, poverty and non-acquisitiveness.

The spread of South Slavic influence was facilitated by some Bulgarian and Serbian scribes who moved to Russia. Prominent representatives of the literary school of Patriarch Evfimy Tyrnovskiy were Metropolitan of All Russia Cyprian, who finally settled in Moscow in 1390, and Grigory Tsamblak, Metropolitan of Lithuanian Rus (since 1415). Serb Pakhomiy Logofet became famous as the author and editor of many lives, church services, canons, words of praise. Pakhomiy Logofet revised the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" by Epiphanius the Wise and created several new editions of this monument (1438-50s). Later, he wrote "The Life of Kirill Belozersky" (1462), making extensive use of eyewitness accounts. The lives of Pachomius Logofet, built according to a clear scheme and decorated with "weaving of words", stand at the origins of a special trend in Russian hagiography with its rigid etiquette and magnificent eloquence.

§ 5.2. The collapse of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of Moscow. During the Turkish invasion of the Balkans and Byzantium, an interesting monument appeared - "The Legend of the Babylonian Kingdom" (1390s - until 1439). Going back to oral legend, it substantiates the succession of the Byzantine imperial power from the Babylonian monarchy, the arbiter of the destinies of the world, and at the same time proves the equality of Byzantium, Russia and Abkhazia-Georgia. The subtext was probably in the call for joint actions of Orthodox countries in support of Byzantium, which was dying under the blows of the Turks.

The threat of the Turkish conquest forced the authorities of Constantinople to seek help in the Catholic West and, in order to save the empire, make important concessions in the field of religious dogma, agree to submit to the Pope of Rome and unite the churches. The Florentine Union of 1439, rejected by Moscow and all Orthodox countries, undermined the influence of the Greek Church on Russia. The Russian participants in the embassy to the Ferrara-Florence Cathedral (Bishop Abraham of Suzdal and the scribes in his retinue) left notes telling about the journey through Western Europe and its sights. Literary merits are distinguished by "Going to the Cathedral of Florence" by an unknown Suzdal scribe (1437-40) and, obviously, his "Note on Rome". Also of interest are the Exodus by Bishop Abraham of Suzdal and the Tale of the Florentine Cathedral by Hieromonk Simeon of Suzdal (1447).

In 1453, after a 52-day siege, Constantinople fell under the blows of the Turks, the second Rome - the heart of the once huge Byzantine Empire. In Russia, the collapse of the empire and the conquest of the entire Orthodox East by Muslims were considered God's punishment for the great sin of the Union of Florence. The translated "Sobbing" by the Byzantine writer John Eugeniks (50s-60s of the XV century) and the original "The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks" (2nd half of the XV century) are dedicated to the fall of Constantinople - a talented literary monument and valuable historical source attributed to Nestor Iskander. At the end of the story, there is a prophecy about the future liberation of Constantinople by the "Rus" - an idea that was later repeatedly discussed in Russian literature.

The conquest of the Orthodox countries by the Turks took place against the backdrop of the gradual rise of Moscow as a spiritual and political center. Of exceptional importance was the transfer of the metropolitan see from Vladimir to Moscow under Metropolitan Peter (1308-26), the first Moscow saint and heavenly patron of the capital. Based on the Brief Edition of the "Life of Metropolitan Peter" (1327-28), the earliest monument of Moscow hagiography, Metropolitan Cyprian compiled a lengthy edition (end of the 14th century), in which he included Peter's prophecy about the future greatness of Moscow.

The great victory over the Tatars on the Kulikovo field on September 8, 1380 meant a radical turning point in the struggle against foreign domination, was of exceptional importance for the formation of Russian national identity, and was a unifying beginning in the era of fragmentation of Russian lands. She convinced her contemporaries that the wrath of God had passed, that the Tatars could be defeated, that complete liberation from the hated yoke was not far off.

The echo of the Kulikovo victory did not cease in literature for more than a century. The cycle about the heroes and events of the "battle on the Don" includes a short (original) and lengthy story about the Battle of Kulikovo as part of the chronicles under 1380. The author of the lyric-epic "Zadonshchina" (1380s or, in any case, not later 1470s) turned in search of literary samples to the "Tale of Igor's Campaign", but rethought his source. The writer saw in the defeat of the Tatars a fulfilled call of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" to put an end to internecine strife and unite in the fight against nomads. The "Tale of the Battle of Mamaev" (no later than the end of the 15th century) was widely used in the manuscript tradition - the most extensive and fascinating story about the Battle of Kulikovo, however, containing obvious anachronisms, epic and legendary details. Adjacent to the Kulikovo cycle is the "Sermon on the Life and Repose of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia" (perhaps 1412-19) - a solemn panegyric in honor of the winner of the Tatars Dmitry Donskoy, close in language and rhetorical devices to the literary manner of Epiphanius the Wise and, probably written by him.

The events after the Battle of Kulikovo are told in "The Tale of the Invasion of Khan Tokhtamysh", who captured and plundered Moscow in 1382, and "The Tale of Temir Aksak" (beginning of the 15th century). The last work is dedicated to the invasion of Russia in 1395 by the hordes of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) and the miraculous salvation of the country after the transfer of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the "sovereign intercessor" of the Russian land, to Moscow (after standing at the Oka for 15 days, Timur unexpectedly turned back south). "The Tale of Temir Aksak", proving the special patronage of the Mother of God of Moscow Russia, was included in the monumental grand-ducal Moscow chronicle of 1479. This monument, compiled shortly after the annexation of Novgorod to Moscow under Ivan III (see § 5.3), formed the basis of all official of the all-Russian chronicle of the end of the 15th-16th centuries, grand-ducal and tsarist.

The reign of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (1462-1505), married to Sophia (Zoya) Paleolog - the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, was marked by the cultural upsurge of Russia, its return to Europe, the unification of Russian lands around Moscow and the liberation from the Tatar yoke in 1480 At the moment of the highest confrontation between Moscow and the Golden Horde, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov sent the rhetorically embellished "Message to the Ugra" (1480) - an important historical document and publicistic monument. Following the example of Sergius of Radonezh, who, according to legend, blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the battle, Vassian called on Ivan III to decisively fight the Tatars, declaring his power royal and God-affirmed.

§ 5.3. local literary centers. By the second half of the XV century. the first surviving Pskov chronicles are included, and at the same time three branches of local annals are distinguished, different in their ideological and political views: the Pskov first, beginning with "The Tale of Dovmont" (see § 4.1), the second and third chronicles. Already in the XIV century. Dovmont was revered as a local saint and heavenly patron of Pskov, which in 1348 separated from the Novgorod feudal republic and was the center of an independent principality until 1510, when it was subordinated to Moscow, as an eyewitness of the events, well-read and talented, tells in a deeply lyrical and figurative form the author, in "The Tale of the Pskov Capture" (1510s) as part of the Pskov First Chronicle.

In the XV century. in the literature of Veliky Novgorod, conquered by Ivan III in 1478, the "Tale of the Posadnik Shchile" appears (apparently, not earlier than 1462) - a legend about a usurer who fell into the hell, proving the saving power of prayer for dead sinners; a simple, unadorned "Life of Mikhail Klopsky" (1478-79); chronicle story about the campaign of Ivan III to Novgorod in 1471, opposed to the official position of Moscow in covering this event. In the Moscow chronicle of 1479, the main content of the story about Ivan III's campaign against Novgorod in 1471 lies in the idea of ​​the greatness of Moscow as the center of the unification of Russian lands and the succession of grand ducal power since the time of Rurik.

The swan song to the mighty Tver principality (shortly before its annexation to Moscow in 1485) was composed by the court writer monk Foma in a rhetorically decorated panegyric "A word of praise for the Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich" (c. 1453). Depicting Boris Alexandrovich as the political leader of the Russian land, Thomas called him "autocratic sovereign" and "tsar", in relation to whom the Grand Duke of Moscow acted as a junior.

The Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin wrote about the lack of brotherly love between the princes and justice in Russia, switching to a mixed Turkic-Persian language for safety. Abandoned by fate in a foreign land, he spoke in a simple and expressive language about wanderings in distant countries and his stay in India in 1471-74. in travel notes "Journey beyond three seas". Before Nikitin, there was an image of India in Russian literature as the fabulously rich kingdom of Prester John, as a mysterious country located not far from the earthly paradise, inhabited by blessed sages, where amazing miracles are encountered at every step. This fantastic image was formed by the "Legend of the Indian Kingdom" - a translation of the Greek work of the XII century, "Alexandria" - a Christian alteration of the Hellenistic novel by Pseudo-Callisthenes about Alexander the Great (in the South Slavic translation no later than the XIV century), "The Word about the Rahmans", ascending to the Chronicle of George Amartol and preserved in the list of the end of the 15th century. In contrast, Afanasy Nikitin created a real portrait of India, showed her brilliance and poverty, described her life, customs and folk legends (legends about the gukuk bird and the prince of monkeys).

In passing, it should be noted that the deeply personal content of the Journey, the simplicity and immediacy of his story, are close to the notes of the monk Innokenty on the death of Pafnuty Borovsky (apparently, 1477-78), the spiritual teacher of Joseph Volotsky, who created a major literary and book center in the Joseph-Volokolamsk founded by him monastery and became one of the leaders of the "Militant Church".

§ 6. Literature of the "Third Rome"
(late 15th - 16th century)
§ 6.1. "Heretical Storm" in Russia. End of the 15th century was engulfed in religious ferment, generated, among other reasons, by the uncertainty of religious and cultural guidelines in the minds of the educated part of Russian society after the fall of Constantinople and the expectation of the end of the world in 7000 from the Creation of the world (in 1492 from the Nativity of Christ). The heresy of the "Judaizers" originated in the 1470s. in Novgorod, shortly before the loss of independence, and then spread to Moscow, which defeated him. The heretics questioned the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and did not consider the Virgin Mary to be the Theotokos. They did not recognize church sacraments, condemned the worship of sacred objects, and sharply opposed the veneration of relics and icons. Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod and abbot Joseph Volotsky led the fight against freethinkers. An important monument of theological thought and religious struggle of that time is the "Book on the Novgorod heretics" by Joseph Volotsky (Short edition - no earlier than 1502, Lengthy - 1510-11). This "hammer of the Jews" (cf. the name of the book of the Inquisitor John of Frankfurt, published around 1420) or, more precisely, the "hammer of heretics" was renamed in the lists of the 17th century. in "Illuminator".

At the archbishop's court in Novgorod, Gennady created a large book center open to Western European influences. He gathered a whole staff of employees who translated from Latin and German. Among them were the Dominican monk Veniamin, obviously a Croat by nationality, the German Nikolai Bulev, Vlas Ignatov, Dmitry Gerasimov. Under the leadership of Gennady, the first complete biblical collection among the Orthodox Slavs was compiled and translated - the Bible of 1499. In addition to Slavic sources, the Latin (Vulgate) and German Bibles were used in its preparation. The theocratic program of Gennady is substantiated in the work of Benjamin (probably 1497), written in defense of church property from attempts on them by Ivan III and asserting the superiority of spiritual power over secular.

By order of Gennady, an excerpt (8th chapter) from the calendar treatise by Guillaume Duran (Wilhelm Durandus) "Conference of Divine Affairs" was translated from Latin in connection with the need to compile the Paschalia for the "eighth thousand years" (1495) and the anti-Jewish book "of the teacher Samuel the Jew "(1504). The translation of these works is attributed to Nikolai Bulev or Dmitry Gerasimov. The last of them, also by order of Gennady, translated the Latin anti-Jewish work of Nicholas de Lira "Proof of the Coming of Christ" (1501).

In 1504, at a church council in Moscow, the heretics were found guilty, after which some of them were executed, while others were sent into exile in monasteries. The most prominent figure among the Moscow freethinkers and their leader was the clerk Fyodor Kuritsyn, who was close to the court of Ivan III. Kuritsyn is credited with "The Tale of the Governor Dracula" (1482-85). The historical prototype of this character is Prince Vlad, nicknamed Tepes (literally 'Impaler'), who ruled "in the Muntean land" (the old Russian name for the principality of Wallachia in southern Romania) and died in 1477 shortly before Kuritsyn's embassy to Hungary and Moldova ( 1482-84). There were numerous rumors and anecdotes about the monstrous inhumanity of Dracula, which Russian diplomats got acquainted with. Talking about the numerous cruelties of the "evil-wise" Dracula and comparing him with the devil, the Russian author at the same time emphasizes his justice, merciless fight against evil and crime. Dracula seeks to eradicate evil and establish the "great truth" in the country, but operates with methods of unlimited violence. The question of the limits of supreme power and the moral image of the sovereign became one of the main ones in Russian journalism of the 16th century.

§ 6.2. The rise of journalism. On the 16th century there was an unprecedented rise in journalism. One of the most remarkable and mysterious publicists, the authenticity of whose writings and personality itself has repeatedly raised doubts, is Ivan Peresvetov, a native of Lithuanian Russia, who served in mercenary troops in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Arriving in Moscow in the late 30s. In the 16th century, during the boyar "autocracy" under the young Ivan IV, Peresvetov took an active part in the discussion of the burning issues of Russian life. He filed petitions to the king, spoke with political treatises, wrote journalistic works (tales "about Magmet-saltan" and Tsar Constantine Palaiologos). Peresvetov's political treatise, containing an extensive program of state reforms, is in the form of a large petition to Ivan IV (1540s). The writer is a staunch supporter of a strong autocracy. His ideal is a military monarchy modeled after the Ottoman Empire. The basis of its power is the military class. The king is obliged to take care of the well-being of the service nobility. Anticipating the oprichnina terror, Peresvetov advised Ivan IV to put an end to the arbitrariness of the nobles who ruined the state with the help of a "storm".

Russian writers understood that from a strong one-man power to Dracula's "human rule" there was only one step. They tried to limit the "royal storm" by law and mercy. In a letter to Metropolitan Daniel (until 1539), Fyodor Karpov saw the state ideal in a monarchy based on law, truth and mercy.

Church writers were divided into two camps - Josephites and non-possessors, or Trans-Volga elders. Metropolitan Gennady, Joseph Volotsky and his followers, the Josephites (Metropolitans Daniel and Macarius, Zinovy ​​Otensky, and others) defended the right of cenobitic monasteries to own land and peasants, accept rich donations, while not allowing any personal property of a monk. They demanded the death penalty for stubborn heretics, rooted in their delusions ("Sermon on the Condemnation of Heretics" in the Lengthy Edition of the "Illuminator" by Joseph Volotsky 1510-11).

The spiritual father of the non-possessors, the "great old man" Nil Sorsky (c. 1433-7. V. 1508), a preacher of the silent life of the skete, did not take part in the church-political struggle - this contradicted, first of all, his inner convictions. However, his writings, moral authority and spiritual experience had a great influence on the Trans-Volga elders. Nil Sorsky was an opponent of monastic estates and rich contributions, he considered the skete way of life to be the best type of monasticism, understanding it under the influence of hesychasm as an ascetic feat, a path of silence, contemplation and prayer. The dispute with the Josephites was led by his follower, the Monk Prince Vassian Patrikeyev, and later the elder Artemy became a prominent representative of non-covetousness (see § 6.7). The non-possessors believed that repentant freethinkers should be forgiven, and hardened criminals should be sent to prison, but not executed ("Answer of the Kirillov elders to the message of Joseph Volotsky about the condemnation of heretics", possibly 1504). The Josephite party, which occupied the highest church posts, used lawsuits in 1525 and 1531. over Patrikeyev and Maxim the Greek and in 1553-54. over the heretic boyar son Matvey Bashkin and the elder Artemy to deal with non-possessors.

Monuments of the religious struggle are the treatise by Zinovy ​​Otensky "Truth testimony to those who questioned the new teaching" (after 1566) and the anonymous "Message verbose" created approximately at the same time. Both writings are directed against the runaway serf Theodosius Kosoy, the most radical freethinker in the history of ancient Russia, the creator of the "slave doctrine" - the heresy of the masses.

Literature of the first third of the XVI century. developed several ways to connect Russian history with world history. First of all, the Chronograph edition of 1512 (1st quarter of the 16th century), compiled by the nephew and student of Joseph Volotsky, Dosifei Toporkov, should be singled out (see § 6.5). This is a new type of historical work, introducing into the mainstream of world history the history of the Slavs and Russia, understood as a stronghold of Orthodoxy and the heir to the great powers of the past. The legends about the origin of Moscow sovereigns from the Roman emperor Augustus (through his mythical relative Prus, one of the ancestors of Prince Rurik) and about Vladimir Monomakh receiving royal regalia from the Byzantine emperor Konstantin Monomakh are combined in the "Message about the Monomakh's Crown" by Spiridon-Sava, the former Metropolitan of Kiev, and in "The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir". Both legends were used in official documents and Moscow diplomacy in the 16th century.

The answer to Boolev's Catholic propaganda of the church union and the primacy of Rome was the theory "Moscow - the Third Rome", put forward by the elder of the Pskov Eleazarov Monastery Philotheus in a message to the deacon M. G. Misyur Munekhin "against the astrologers" (c. 1523-24). After the falling away of the Catholics from the right faith and the apostasy of the Greeks at the Council of Florence, who were conquered by the Turks as a punishment for this, the center of universal Orthodoxy moved to Moscow. Russia was declared the last world monarchy - the Roman power, the only guardian and defender of the pure faith of Christ. The cycle of main works, united by the theme of the "Third Rome", includes the "Message to the Grand Duke of Moscow about the Sign of the Cross" (between 1524-26), whose belonging to Philotheus is doubtful, and the essay "On the insults of the Church" (30s - early 40s - 16th century) of the so-called successor of Philotheus.

Works that represented Russia as the last stronghold of true piety and the Christian faith, the heiress of Rome and Constantinople, were created not only in Moscow, but also in Novgorod, which preserved, even after the loss of independence, legends about its former greatness and rivalry with Moscow. "The Tale of the Novgorod White Klobuk" (XVI century) explains the origin of the special headdress of the Novgorod archbishops by the transfer from Constantinople to Novgorod of a white klobuk, given by the first Christian emperor Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester I. The same path (Rome-Byzantium-Novgorod land) was made the miraculous image of the Mother of God, according to the "Legend of the Icon of the Mother of God of Tikhvin" (end of the 15th - 15th centuries). "The Life of Anthony the Roman" (XVI century) tells about a hermit who, fleeing persecution of Orthodox Christians in Italy, miraculously sailed on a huge stone to Novgorod in 1106 and founded the Nativity Monastery.

A special place in the literature of the XVI century. occupies the work of Tsar Ivan IV. Grozny is a historically colorful type of autocratic author. In the role of "father of the Fatherland" and defender of the right faith, he composed messages, often written with the famous "biting verbs" in a 'mockingly sarcastic manner' (correspondence with Kurbsky, letters to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in 1573, to the guardsman Vasily Gryazny in 1574, to the Lithuanian prince Alexander Polubensky in 1577 , Polish King Stefan Batory 1579), gave mandated memory, delivered passionate speeches, rewrote history (additions to the Personal Chronicle, reflecting his political views), participated in the work of church councils, wrote hymnographic works (canon to Angel the Terrible, governor , stichera to Metropolitan Peter, the meeting of the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, etc.), denounced dogmas alien to Orthodoxy, participated in scholarly theological disputes. After an open debate with Jan Rokyta, the pastor of the Bohemian Brethren (an offshoot of Husism), he wrote "Reply to Jan Rokyta" (1570) - one of the best monuments of anti-Protestant controversy.

§ 6.3. Western European influence. Contrary to popular belief, Moscow Rus was not fenced off from Western Europe and the culture of the Latin world. Thanks to Gennady Novgorodsky and his entourage, the repertoire of translated literature, which was previously almost exclusively Greek, changed significantly. The end of the XV - the first decades of the XVI century. marked by an unprecedented interest in the Western European book. There are translations from the German language: "The Debate of the Belly and Death" (end of the 15th century), corresponding to the eschatological moods of its time - the expectations of the end of the world in 7000 (1492); "Lucidarium" (late XV - 1st tr. XVI century) - a general educational book of encyclopedic content, written in the form of a conversation between a teacher and a student; medical treatise "Travnik" (1534), translated by Nikolai Bulev, commissioned by Metropolitan Daniel.

A Westerner was such an original writer as Fyodor Karpov, who was sympathetic (unlike Elder Philotheus and Maxim the Greek) to the Boolean propaganda of astrology. In a letter to Metropolitan Daniel (until 1539), answering the question of what is more important in the state: people's patience or truth, Karpov argued that the social order is based on neither one nor the other, but the law, which should be based on truth and mercy. To prove his ideas, Karpov used Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Ovid's Metamorphoses, The Art of Love and Fasta.

A notable event in the history of Russian translated literature was the secular Latin novel by the Sicilian Guido de Columna (Guido delle Colonne) "The History of the Destruction of Troy" (1270s), in the Old Russian translation - "The History of the Devastation of Troy" (late XV - early 18th century). 16th century). Fascinatingly written book was the forerunner of chivalric novels in Russia. "The Trojan History" introduced the Russian reader to a wide range of ancient myths (about the campaign of the Argonauts, the history of Paris, the Trojan War, the wanderings of Odysseus, etc.) and romantic plots (stories about the love of Medea and Jason, Paris and Helen, etc.).

The repertoire of translated church literature is also changing dramatically. There are translations of Western European Latin theologians (see § 6.1 and § 6.3), among which the "Book of St. Augustine" stands out (no later than 1564). The collection includes "The Life of Augustine" by Bishop Possidy of Kalamsky, two works of Pseudo-Augustine: "On the Vision of Christ, or on the Word of God" (Manuale), "Teachings, or Prayers" (Meditationes), as well as two Russian stories of the 16th century. about Blessed Augustine, which use "wandering" stories told by Maxim the Greek, who developed humanistic traditions in literature and language.

§ 6.4. Russian humanism. D.S. Likhachev, comparing the second South Slavic influence with the Western European Renaissance, came to the conclusion about the typological homogeneity of these phenomena and the existence in Ancient Russia of a special East Slavic Pre-Renaissance, which could not pass into the Renaissance. This opinion aroused reasonable objections, which, however, do not mean that in Ancient Russia there were no correspondences to Western European humanism. As R. Picchio showed, points of contact can be found primarily at the linguistic level: in the field of attitude to the text, to the principles of its translation, transmission and correction. The essence of the Italian Renaissance disputes about language (Questione della lingua) consisted, on the one hand, in the desire to justify the use of the vernacular (Lingua volgare) as a literary one, to affirm its cultural merit, and on the other hand, in the desire to establish its grammatical and stylistic norms. It is indicative that the "book on the right", based on the Western European sciences of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics), originates in Russia from the activities of Maxim the Greek (in the world Mikhail Trivolis), who lived at the turn of the XIV - XV centuries. in the heyday of the Renaissance in Italy, where he met and collaborated with famous humanists (John Lascaris, Aldus Manutius, etc.).

Having arrived in Moscow from Athos to translate church books in 1518, Maxim the Greek tried to transfer the rich philological experience of Byzantium and Renaissance Italy to Church Slavonic soil. By virtue of his brilliant education, he became the center of intellectual attraction, quickly gaining admirers and students (Vassian Patrikeev, Elder Siluan, Vasily Tuchkov, later Elder Artemy, Andrei Kurbsky, etc.), worthy opponents (Fyodor Karpov) and making such powerful enemies as Metropolitan Daniel. In 1525 and 1531 Maksim Grek, who was close to the nonpossessors and the disgraced diplomat I. N. Bersen Beklemishev, was tried twice, and some of the charges (deliberate damage to church books when editing them) were of a philological nature. Nevertheless, his humanistic views are established both in Russia and in Lithuanian Rus thanks to his followers and like-minded people who moved there: the elder Artemy, Kurbsky and, possibly, Ivan Fedorov (see § 6.6 and § 6.7).

The literary heritage of Maxim the Greek is great and varied. In the history of Russian journalism, a noticeable trace was left by "The Tale is terrible and memorable and about the perfect monastic life" (until 1525) - about the mendicant monastic orders in the West and the Florentine preacher J. Savonarola, "The word, more expansively, with pity for the disorder and outrage of kings and rulers of the last century of this "(between 1533-39 or the middle of the 16th century), exposing the boyar arbitrariness under the young Ivan IV, the ideological program of his reign - "The chapters are instructive to the rulers of the faithful" (c. 1547-48), works against ancient myths, astrology , apocrypha, superstitions, in defense of the "book right" he carried out and the philological principles of text criticism - "The word is responsible for the correction of Russian books" (1540 or 1543), etc.

§ 6.5. Generalizing literary monuments. The centralization of Russian lands and state power was accompanied by the creation of generalizing book monuments of an encyclopedic nature. Literature of the 16th century as if summing up the entire path traveled, seeking to generalize and consolidate the experience of the past, to create models for future times. At the origins of generalizing enterprises is the Gennadiev Bible of 1499. Literary collecting was continued by another Archbishop of Novgorod (1526-42) - Macarius, who later became the Metropolitan of All Russia (1542-63). Under his leadership, the Great Menaion of the Chetia was created - a grandiose collection of spiritually beneficial literature in 12 books, arranged in the order of the church chronology. Work on the Makaryev Menaions, begun in 1529/1530 in Novgorod and completed around 1554 in Moscow, was carried out for almost a quarter of a century. One of the most prominent scholars of Ancient Russia, Macarius combined the efforts of well-known church and secular scribes, translators and scribes, and created the largest book center. Its employees searched for manuscripts, selected the best texts, corrected them, composed new works and created new editions of old monuments.

Dmitry Gerasimov worked under the direction of Macarius, who translated the Latin Explanatory Psalter of Bishop Brunon of Gerbipolensky, or Würzburg (1535), Vasily Tuchkov, who reworked the simple Novgorod "Life of Mikhail Klopsky" into a rhetorically decorated edition (1537), Novgorod presbyter Ilya, who wrote the life of the Bulgarian martyr George the New (1538-39) based on the oral story of the Athos monks, Dosifey Toporkov - editor of the ancient "Sinai Patericon" (1528-29), which is based on the "Spiritual Meadow" (beginning of the 7th century) by the Byzantine writer John Moskh. Dosifey Toporkov is known as the compiler of two generalizing monuments: the Chronograph edition of 1512 (see § 6.2) and the "Volokolamsk Patericon" (30s-40s of the 16th century), which resumed the tradition of the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" after a long break ". "Volokolamsk Patericon" is a collection of stories about the saints of the Josephite school of Russian monasticism, primarily about Joseph Volotsky himself, his teacher Pafnuty Borovsky, their associates and followers.

In 1547 and 1549 Macarius held church councils, at which 30 new all-Russian saints were canonized - 8 more than in the entire previous period. After the councils, dozens of lives and services were created for the new miracle workers. Among them was the pearl of ancient Russian literature - "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" (late 1540s) by Yermolai-Erasmus.

The work depicts the love of a peasant girl from the Ryazan land, the daughter of a simple beekeeper, and the prince of Murom - love that overcomes all obstacles and even death. The writer created an exalted image of the ideal Russian woman, wise and pious. The peasant princess stands immeasurably higher than the boyars and their wives, who did not want to come to terms with her low origin. Yermolai-Erasmus used folk-poetic "wandering" stories about the struggle with the werewolf snake and the wise, things maiden, which absorbed the motifs of a fairy tale. His work reworks the same motifs as the medieval legends of Tristan and Isolde, the Serbian youth song "Queen Milica and the Serpent from the Hawk", etc. The story sharply diverges from the hagiographic canon and therefore was not included by Macarius in the Great Menaion of Chetia. Already in the XVI century. they began to correct it, bringing it into line with the requirements of literary etiquette.

Macarius was the inspirer of the church council of 1551, at which many aspects of the church, social and political life of the Moscow kingdom were regulated. The collection of conciliar resolutions, arranged in the form of answers of church hierarchs to one hundred questions of Tsar Ivan IV, was called "Stoglav" and for a century was the main normative document of the Russian Church.

Metropolitan Daniel, who angrily denounced human vices in words and teachings, was the editor-compiler of the extensive Nikon Chronicle (late 1520s) - the most complete collection of news in Russian history. The monument had a great influence on subsequent chronicle writing. It became the main source of information on Russian history in the grandiose Illuminated Chronicle - the largest chronicle-chronographic work of Ancient Russia. This authentic "historical encyclopedia of the 16th century", created by decree of Ivan the Terrible, covers world history from biblical times to 1567. It has come down to our time in 10 luxuriously decorated volumes made in the royal workshops and numbering more than 16,000 magnificent miniatures.

The Nikon chronicle was also used in the famous Book of Powers (1560-63). The monument was compiled by the monk of the Chudov Monastery, the confessor of Ivan the Terrible, Athanasius (Metropolitan of Moscow in 1564-66), but the idea obviously belonged to Macarius. "Book of Powers" - the first attempt to present Russian history on a genealogical basis, in the form of princely biographies, from the baptist of Russia Vladimir Svyatoslavich to Ivan IV. The introduction to the "Book of Powers" is "The Life of Princess Olga" edited by Sylvester, Archpriest of the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation.

Sylvester is considered the editor or author-compiler of "Domostroy" - a strictly and detailed "charter" of home life. The monument is a valuable source for studying the life of Russian people of that time, their manners and customs, social and family relations, religious, moral and political views. The ideal of "Domostroy" is a zealous owner who authoritatively manages family affairs in accordance with Christian morality. Wonderful language. In "Domostroy" features of the bookish language, business writing and colloquial speech have merged in a complex alloy with its imagery and ease. Compositions of this kind were common in Western Europe. Almost simultaneously with the final edition of our monument, an extensive work by the Polish writer Mikołaj Rei, "The Life of an Economic Man" (1567), appeared.

§ 6.6. Beginning of typography. Apparently, the emergence of Russian book printing is connected with the generalizing book enterprises of Metropolitan Macarius. In any case, his appearance in Moscow was caused by the needs of worship and was a state initiative supported by Ivan the Terrible. The printing press made it possible to distribute in large numbers correct and unified liturgical texts, free from the mistakes of scribes. In Moscow in the first half of the 1550s - mid-1560s. there was an anonymous printing house that produced professionally prepared publications without imprint. According to the documents of 1556, the "master of printed books" Marusha Nefediev is known.

In 1564, the deacon of the Church of St. Nicholas of Gostunsky in the Moscow Kremlin, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, published the Apostle, the first Russian printed book with imprint. In preparing it, the publishers critically used numerous Church Slavonic and Western European sources and did a great deal of thorough textological and editorial work. Perhaps it was on this basis that they had serious disagreements with the traditionally thinking church hierarchs, who accused them of heresy (as before Maximus the Greek, see § 6.4). After two editions of the Clockwork in Moscow in 1565 and no later than the beginning of 1568, Fedorov and Mstislavets were forced to move to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

With their moving abroad, book printing became permanent in the lands of modern Belarus and Ukraine. With the support of Orthodox patrons, Ivan Fedorov worked in Zabludovo, where, together with Peter Mstislavets, he published the Teaching Gospel in 1569, which was intended to oust translated Catholic and Protestant collections of sermons from use, in Lvov, where he founded the first printing house in Ukraine, published a new edition Apostle in 1574 and at the same time the first printed book for elementary education that has come down to us - the ABC, and in Ostrog, where he published another ABC in 1578, as well as the first complete printed Church Slavonic Bible in 1580-81. The epitaph to Fedorov on the tombstone in Lvov is eloquent: "Drukar [printer. - V.K.] of books previously unseen." Fedorov's prefaces and afterwords to his publications are the most interesting monuments of this literary genre, containing valuable information of a cultural-historical and memoir nature.

§ 6.7. Literature of the Moscow emigration. By the time Fedorov and Mstislavets moved to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, there already existed a circle of Muscovite emigrants who were forced to leave Russia for various reasons, religious and political. The most prominent representatives among them were the elder Artemy and Prince Andrei Kurbsky, both close to Maxim the Greek and continuing his humanistic traditions in literature and language. Moscow emigrants were engaged in creativity, translated and edited books, participated in the creation of printing houses and book centers. They contributed to the revival of Church Slavonic literature and the strengthening of Orthodox consciousness in the religious and cultural struggle against Catholics and religious reformers on the eve of the Union of Brest in 1596.

The work of Kurbsky, a representative of the princely-boyar opposition, became a counterbalance to the official Moscow literature of the 16th century, which deified tsarist power and asserted the originality of autocracy in Russia. Immediately after his flight to Lithuania, he sent the first message to Ivan the Terrible (1564) with accusations of tyranny and apostasy. Ivan the Terrible responded with a political treatise in epistolary form glorifying "free tsarist autocracy" (1564). After a break, correspondence resumed in the 1570s. The dispute was about the limits of royal power: autocracy or a limited class-representative monarchy. Kurbsky devoted his "History of the Grand Duke of Moscow" to the denunciation of Ivan IV and his tyranny (according to I. Auerbach - spring and summer 1581, according to VV Kalugin - 1579-81). If the monuments of official historiography of the 50s-60s. 16th century ("The Book of Power", "The Chronicler of the Beginning of the Kingdom", compiled in connection with the conquest of Kazan in 1552, dedicated to this event in the context of three hundred years of Russian-Horde relations "Kazan History") are an apology for Ivan IV and unlimited autocracy, Kurbsky created the exact opposite to them the tragic story of the moral fall of "formerly a kind and deliberate tsar", ending it with an impressive martyrology of the victims of the oprichnina terror, which is impressive in terms of artistic power.

In emigration, Kurbsky maintained close relations with the elder Artemy († 1st century, 1570s), one of the last adherents of non-covetousness. A follower of Nil Sorsky, Artemy was distinguished by his tolerance for the religious quests of others. Among the scribes close to him were such freethinkers as Theodosius Kosoy and Matvey Bashkin. On January 24, 1554, Artemy was convicted by a church council as a heretic and exiled to imprisonment in the Solovetsky Monastery, from where he soon fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (c. 1554-55). Having settled in Slutsk, he showed himself to be a staunch fighter for Orthodoxy, a debunker of reform movements and heresies. Of his literary heritage, 14 epistles have been preserved.

§ 6.8. In anticipation of the Troubles. The tradition of military stories is continued by the icon painter Vasily (1580s), which tells about the heroic defense of the city from the Polish-Lithuanian army in 1581. In 1589, a patriarchate was established in Russia, which contributed to the revival literary activity and book printing. "The Tale of the Life of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich" (until 1604), written by the first Russian Patriarch Job in the traditional style of idealizing biographism, stands at the origins of the literature of the Time of Troubles.

§ 7. From ancient Russian literature to the literature of modern times
(XVII century)
§ 7.1. Literature of the Time of Troubles. 17th century - a transitional era from ancient to new literature, from the Muscovite kingdom to the Russian Empire. This was the century that paved the way for the comprehensive reforms of Peter the Great.

The "rebellious" century began with the Troubles: a terrible famine, civil war, Polish and Swedish intervention. The events that shook the country gave rise to an urgent need to comprehend them. People of very different views and origins took up the pen: the cellar of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Avraamy Palitsyn, the clerk Ivan Timofeev, who outlined the events from Ivan the Terrible to Mikhail Romanov in florid language in the "Vremnik" (the work was carried out until the author's death in 1631), Prince I. A Khvorostinin - Western writer, favorite of False Dmitry I, who composed in his defense "The Words of the Days, and Tsars, and Moscow Saints" (possibly 1619), Prince S.I. Tale of a certain mnis ... "(about False Dmitry I) and, possibly," Tale of the book of sowing from former years ", or" Chronicle book "(1st tr. XVII century), which is also attributed to princes I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, I. A. Khvorostinin and others.

The tragedy of the Time of Troubles brought to life a vivid journalism that served the goals of the liberation movement. A propaganda essay in the form of a letter-appeal against the Polish-Lithuanian interventionists who captured Moscow is "A New Tale of the Glorious Russian Kingdom" (1611). In "Lament for the captivity and final ruin of the Muscovite state" (1612), depicting in a rhetorically embellished form "the fall of sublime Russia", the propaganda and patriotic letters of the patriarchs Job, Hermogenes (1607), the leaders of the people's militia, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Procopy Lyapunov ( 1611-12). The sudden death at the age of twenty-three of Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, a talented commander and people's favorite, gave rise to a persistent rumor about his poisoning by the boyars out of envy, due to dynastic rivalry. Rumors formed the basis of a folk historical song used in the "Scripture on the Repose and Burial of Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky" (early 1610s).

Among the most remarkable monuments of ancient Russian literature is the work of Avraamy Palitsyn "History in memory of the previous generation." Abraham began to write it after the accession of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in 1613 and worked on it until the end of his life in 1626. With great artistic power and with the authenticity of an eyewitness, he painted a broad picture of the dramatic events of 1584-1618. Most of the book is devoted to the heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery from the Polish-Lithuanian troops in 1608-10. In 1611-12. Abraham, together with Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Dionysius (Zobninovsky), wrote and sent out patriotic messages calling for the fight against foreign invaders. The energetic activity of Abraham contributed to the victory of the people's militia, the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612 and the election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the kingdom at the Zemsky Sobor in 1613.

The events of the Time of Troubles served as an impetus for the creation of numerous regional literary monuments (usually in the form of stories and legends about miracles from locally venerated icons) dedicated to episodes of the struggle against foreign intervention in different regions of the country: in Kursk, Yaroslavl, Veliky Ustyug, Ustyuzhna, Tikhvinsky, Ryazansky Mikhailov monastery and elsewhere.

§ 7.2. Historical truth and fiction. The development of fiction. Feature of the literature of the XVII century. is the use of fictional stories, legends and folk tales in historical stories and tales. The central monument of the legendary historiography of the 17th century. - Novgorod "The Tale of Slovenia and Rus" (no later than 1638). The work is dedicated to the origin of the Slavs and the Russian state (from the descendants of Patriarch Noah to the calling of the Varangians to Novgorod) and includes the mythical charter of Alexander the Great to the Slavic princes, popular in ancient Slavic literatures. The legend was included in the Patriarchal Chronicle of 1652 and became the official version of the initial Russian history. It had a significant impact on subsequent Russian historiography. The historical outline is completely subordinated to a fictional intrigue with elements of an adventurous plot in "The Tale of the Murder of Daniel of Suzdal and the Beginning of Moscow" (between 1652-81).

In the depths of traditional hagiographic genres (tales about the founding of a monastery, about the appearance of the cross, about a repentant sinner, etc.), sprouts of new narrative forms and literary devices were ripening. A fictitious folk-poetic plot was used in "The Tale of the Tver Otroch Monastery" (2nd half of the 17th century). The work, dedicated to the traditional theme - the founding of the monastery, is turned into a lyrical story about a man, his love and fate. The basis of the collision is the unrequited love of the prince's servant George for the beautiful Xenia, the daughter of the village sexton, who rejected him on her wedding day and "by God's will" married her betrothed - the prince. Grief-stricken, Gregory becomes a hermit and establishes the Tver Otroch Monastery.

Murom literature of the first half of the 17th century. gave wonderful images of ideal female types. As in the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", which depicts the sublime image of the wise peasant princess (see § 6.5), the events in these stories unfold not in the monastery, but in the world. Features of life and biography are connected by "The Tale of Ulyania Osorina", or "The Life of Julian Lazarevskaya". The author, the son of Ulyaniya Kallistrat (Druzhin) Osoryin, created a work that is unusual for hagiographic literature, in many respects at odds with generally accepted views on the deeds of saints. With all her behavior, the Murom landowner affirms the sanctity of a virtuous life in the world. She embodies the ideal character of a Russian woman, compassionate and hardworking, daily in business and caring for her neighbors. Taken from life, vivid pictures are drawn by "The Tale of Martha and Mary", or "The Legend of the Unzhe Cross". The miraculous origin of the local shrine, the life-giving cross, is connected here with the fate of loving sisters, separated for a long time by their husbands' quarrel over a place of honor at the feast.

In the 17th century compositions are created with frankly fictional plots, anticipating the appearance of fiction in the proper sense of the word. The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn (probably 1660s) is extremely important for understanding the changes in cultural consciousness. The work is in close connection with demonological legends and motifs, widespread in Russian literature of that time. Suffice it to name, for example, "The Tale of the Possessed Wife Solomonia" by the priest Jacob from Veliky Ustyug (probably between 1671 and 1676), a fellow countryman of the really existing merchants Grudtsyn-Usovs. At the same time, the Tale of Savva Grudtsyn is based on the theme of a contract between a person and the devil and the sale of the soul for worldly goods, honors and love pleasures, which was thoroughly developed in the Western European Middle Ages. The successful denouement of demonological plots is intended to testify to the power of the Church, conquering the machinations of the devil, to the saving intercession of heavenly forces, and especially the Mother of God (as, for example, in the famous cycle of medieval works about Theophilus, one of which was translated by A. Blok, or in the case of Savva Grudtsyn). However, in the story, the religious didactics characteristic of stories about repentant sinners is obscured by a colorful depiction of life and customs, folk-poetic images dating back to a Russian fairy tale.

17th century writers for the first time they realized the self-contained value of artistic comprehension of the world and artistic generalization. This turning point in the history of Russian literature vividly reflects "The Tale of Woe-Misfortune" - an unusually lyrical and profound work written in beautiful folk verses. "The Tale of Woe-Misfortune" was conceived as a moral and philosophical parable about the prodigal son, the ill-fated vagrant hawker, driven by evil fate. In the collective image of a fictional hero (an unnamed young merchant), the eternal conflict of fathers and children, the theme of a fatal unfortunate fate, the desired deliverance from which is only death or going to a monastery, are revealed with amazing force. The ominously fantastic image of Grief-Misfortune personifies the dark urges of the human soul, the unclean conscience of the young man himself.

A new phenomenon in the literature of the time of Peter the Great was "The Tale of Frol Skobeev". Her hero is an emaciated nobleman who seduced a rich bride and secured a comfortable life with a successful marriage. This is the type of a clever trickster, a joker and even a swindler. Moreover, the author does not at all condemn his hero, but even, as it were, admires his resourcefulness. All this brings the story closer to the works of the picaresque genre, fashionable in Western Europe in the 16th-17th centuries. The "Tale of Karp Sutulov" (late 17th - early 18th centuries) is also distinguished by an entertaining plot, glorifying the resourceful female mind and ridiculing the unlucky love affairs of a merchant, priest and bishop. Its satirical orientation grows out of the folk culture of laughter, which flourished in the 17th century.

§ 7.3. Folk humor culture. One of the bright signs of the transitional era is the flourishing of satire, which is closely associated with folk culture of laughter and folklore. Satirical literature of the 17th century. reflected a decisive departure from the old book-Slavic traditions and "soulful reading", well-aimed folk speech and imagery. For the most part, the monuments of folk laughter culture are independent and original. But even if Russian writers sometimes borrowed plots and motifs, they gave them a bright national imprint.

Against social injustice and poverty, the "ABC of a Naked and Poor Man" is directed. Judicial red tape and legal proceedings are ridiculed by "The Tale of Yersh Ershovich" (possibly, the end of the 16th century), the corruption and bribery of judges - "The Tale of the Shemyakin Court", which develops a picaresque line in Russian literature on the basis of a "wandering" plot. The target of satire is the life and customs of the clergy and monasticism ("Kalyazinsky petition", "The Tale of Priest Sava"). The ill-fated losers, who, in the literal sense of the word, are lucky as drowned men, are presented in a clownish form in "The Tale of Thomas and Yerema".

Monuments of folk laughter culture with great sympathy depict the mind, dexterity and resourcefulness of a simple person ("The Tale of the Shemyakin Court", "The Tale of the Peasant's Son"). Behind the outer comic side of the "Tale of the Hawk Moth", which outplayed the righteous and took the best place in paradise, there is a polemic with church ritual formalism and there is proof that human weaknesses cannot interfere with salvation if there is faith in God and Christian love for neighbors in the soul. .

Folk laughter culture of the 17th century. ("The Tale of Ersh Ershovich", depicting a land litigation, and "Kalyazin petition", depicting the drunkenness of monks) widely uses the genres of business writing for comic purposes: the form of a court case and petitions - official petitions and complaints. The language and structure of medical books, prescriptions and documents of the Aptekarsky Prikaz parodies the clownish "Healer for Foreigners", apparently created by one of the Muscovites.

In the 17th century for the first time in the history of ancient Russian literature, parodies of the Church Slavonic language and liturgical texts appear. Although the number of monuments of this kind is small, undoubtedly, only a few parodies have survived to our time, created in the circle of scribes who were well-read in church books and knew their language well. 17th century writers they knew how not only to pray, but also to have fun in Church Slavonic. Sacred plots are played up to a greater or lesser extent in the "Tale of the Peasant's Son" and "The Tale of the Hawk Moth". In the genre of parodia sacra, the "Service to the tavern" was written - a jester's tavern liturgy, the oldest list of which is dated 1666. The "Service to the tavern" is in line with traditions dating back to such Latin services for drunkards, such as, for example, "The All-Drunken Liturgy" (XIII century) - the greatest monument of medieval scholarly buffoonery in the literature of the Vagantes. The Western European "wandering" plot, "turning inside out" the church confession, is used in "The Tale of Kura and the Fox".

From Western Europe came to Russia and the genre of dystopia. The satirical "Tale of Luxurious Life and Joy," a Russian adaptation of a Polish source, depicts in a Rabelaisian manner the fabulous paradise of gluttons and drunkards. The work opposes folk utopian legends like those that fed the legends about Belovodye, a wonderful happy country where true faith and piety bloom, where there is no untruth and crime. Faith in Belovodye lived for a long time among the people, forcing bold dreamers to go in search of a blissful land to distant overseas lands in the second half of the 19th century. (see essays by V. G. Korolenko "At the Cossacks", 1901).

§ 7.4. Activation of local literary life. Since the Time of Troubles, local literatures have been developing, retaining a connection with the center and, as a rule, traditional forms of narration. 17th century presents in abundance samples of the glorification of local shrines that have not received all-Russian veneration (lives, legends about miraculous icons, stories about monasteries) and examples of creating new editions of already known works. From the literary monuments of the Russian North, one can single out the biographies of saints who lived in the 16th century: "The Tale of the Life of Varlaam Keretsky" (XVII century) - a Kola priest who killed his wife and in great grief wandered in a boat with her corpse along the White Sea, begging God's forgiveness, and "The Life of Tryphon of Pechenga" (late 17th - early 18th centuries) - the founder of the northernmost monastery on the Pechenga River, the enlightener of the Saami in the western part of the Kola Peninsula.

The first history of Siberia is the chronicle of the Tobolsk clerk Savva Esipov (1636). Her traditions were continued in the "Siberian History" (end of the 17th century or until 1703) by the Tobolsk nobleman Semyon Remezov. The cycle of stories is dedicated to the capture of Azov by the Don Cossacks in 1637 and their heroic defense of the fortress from the Turks in 1641. "Poetic" "The Tale of the Azov Siege Seat of the Don Cossacks" (border 1641-42) combines documentary accuracy with Cossack folklore. In the "fabulous" story about Azov (70s-80s of the 17th century), which used it, historical truth gives way to fiction based on a large number of oral traditions and songs.

§ 7.5. Western European influence. In the 17th century Muscovite Russia is rapidly completing the medieval era, as if in a hurry to catch up on the previous centuries. This time was marked by a gradual, but steadily growing attraction of Russia to Western Europe. In general, Western influence did not penetrate directly to us, but through Poland and Lithuanian Rus (Ukraine and Belarus), which largely adopted the Latin-Polish culture. Western European influence increased the composition and content of our literature, contributed to the emergence of new literary genres and themes, satisfied new reader tastes and needs, provided abundant material for Russian authors, and changed the repertoire of translated works.

The largest translation center was the Posolsky Prikaz in Moscow, which was in charge of relations with foreign states. At various times, it was headed by prominent diplomats, political and cultural figures - such as, for example, patrons and bibliophiles boyar A. S. Matveev (§ 7.8) or Prince V. V. Golitsyn. In the 70s-80s. 17th century they directed the literary, translation and book activities of the Ambassadorial Department. In 1607, a native of Lithuanian Rus, F.K. Gozvinsky, who served there, translated from the ancient Greek fables of Aesop and his legendary biography. Another embassy translator, Ivan Gudansky, participated in the collective translation of the "Great Mirror" (1674-77) and independently translated from Polish the well-known chivalric novel "The Story of Melusine" (1677) with a fairy tale story about a werewolf woman.

The translated chivalric romance became one of the most significant events of the transitional era. He brought with him many new exciting stories and impressions: exciting adventures and fantasy, the world of selfless love and friendship, the cult of ladies and female beauty, descriptions of jousting tournaments and fights, a knightly code of honor and nobility of feelings. Foreign fiction came to Russia not only through Poland and Lithuanian Rus, but also through the South Slavs, the Czech Republic and other ways.

The "Tale of Bova the King" was especially fond of in Russia (according to V.D. Kuzmina, no later than the middle of the 16th century). It goes back through a Serbian translation to a medieval French novel about the exploits of Bovo d'Anton, which went around all of Europe in various poetic and prose revisions. Oral existence preceded the literary processing of the famous "Tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich", which reflected the ancient oriental legend about the hero Rustem, known in the poem "Shah-name" by Firdousi (X century). Among the early translations (no later than the middle of the 17th century) is The Tale of Shtilfried, a Czech adaptation of a German poem of the late 13th or early 14th century. about Reinfried of Brunswick. From Polish was translated "The Tale of Peter the Golden Keys" (2nd half of the 17th century), dating back to the popular French novel about Peter and the beautiful Magelon, created in the 15th century. at the court of the Burgundian dukes. In the XVIII - XIX centuries. stories about Bova the King, Peter the Golden Keys, Yeruslan Lazarevich were favorite folk tales and popular prints.

Foreign fiction came to the taste of the Russian reader, caused imitations and alterations that gave it a pronounced local flavor. Translated from Polish "The Tale of Caesar Otto and Olund" (1670s), telling about the adventures of the slandered and exiled queen and her sons, was revised in a church-didactic spirit in "The Tale of the Queen and the Lioness" (end of the 17th century .). Until now, there are disputes about whether the Tale of Vasily Zlatovlas is translated or Russian (written under the influence of foreign entertainment literature), close to the fairy tale story about the proud princess (probably, the 2nd half of the 17th century).

In the last third of the XVII century. popular collections of short stories and pseudo-historical legends translated from Polish with a predominant ecclesiastical moralistic spirit are becoming widespread: The Great Mirror in two translations (1674-77 and the 1690s) and Roman Acts (the last tr. of the 17th century. ), in which plots of late Roman writers are used, which explains the title of the book. In the same way, through Poland, secular works come to Russia: "Facetia" (1679) - a collection of stories and anecdotes that acquaints the reader with the novelistics of the Renaissance, and apothegmas - collections containing apothegms - witty sayings, anecdotes, entertaining and moralizing stories. Not later than the last quarter of the 17th century. the Polish collection of apothegms by A. B. Budny († after 1624), a figure of the Reformation era, was twice translated.

§ 7.6. Pioneers of Russian versification. Rhyme in ancient Russian literature did not originate in poetry, but in rhetorically organized prose with its love for the equality of the structural parts of the text (isocolia) and parallelism, which were often accompanied by consonance of endings (homeoteleutons - grammatical rhymes). Many writers (for example, Epiphanius the Wise, Andrei Kurbsky, Avraamiy Palitsyn) deliberately used rhyme and rhythm in prose.

Beginning with the Time of Troubles, virshe poetry with its colloquial verse, unequal and rhyming, has firmly entered Russian literature. Pre-syllabic poetry relied on ancient Russian literary and oral traditions, but at the same time experienced influences coming from Poland and Lithuanian Rus. The older poets were well acquainted with Western European culture. Among them, an aristocratic literary group stands out: princes S. I. Shakhovskoy and I. A. Khvorostinin, roundabout and diplomat Alexei Zyuzin, but there were also clerks: a native of Lithuanian Russia Fyodor Gozvinsky and Antony Podolsky, one of the writers of the Time of Troubles, Eustratius - the author "serpentine", or "serpentine", verse, common in baroque literature.

For the 30s-40s. 17th century accounts for the formation and flourishing of the "order school" of poetry, which united the employees of the Moscow orders. The center of literary life was the Printing House, the largest center of culture and the place of work of many writers and poets. The most prominent representative of the "school of ordered poetry" was the monk Savvaty, the director (editor) of the Printing House. A noticeable mark in the history of virche poetry was left by his colleagues Ivan Shevelev Nasedka, Stefan Gorchak, Mikhail Rogov. All of them wrote mainly didactic messages, spiritual instructions, poetic prefaces, often giving them the form of extended acrostics containing the name of the author, addressee or customer.

An echo of the Troubles is the work of the clerk Timofei Akundinov (Akindinov, Ankidinov, Ankudinov). Entangled in debt and under investigation, in 1644 he fled to Poland and for nine years, moving from one country to another, pretended to be the heir to Tsar Vasily Shuisky. In 1653, he was issued by Holstein to the Russian government and quartered in Moscow. Akundinov is the author of a declaration in verse to the Moscow embassy in Constantinople in 1646, the metrics and style of which are typical of the "mandatory school" of poetry.

In the last third of the XVII century. spoken verse was supplanted from high poetry by more strictly organized syllabic verse and moved into grassroots literature.

§ 7.7. Baroque literature and syllabic poetry. Syllabic versification was brought to Russia (largely through Belarusian-Ukrainian mediation) from Poland, where the main syllabic meters developed in the Baroque literature in the 16th century. based on Latin poetry. Russian verse received a qualitatively new rhythmic organization. The syllabic is based on the principle of equal syllables: rhyming lines must have the same number of syllables (most often 13 or 11), and in addition, only female rhymes are used (as in Polish, where words have a fixed stress on the penultimate syllable). The creative work of Belarusian Simeon Polotsky played a decisive role in spreading the new verbal culture and syllabic poetry with a developed system of poetic meters and genres.

Having moved to Moscow in 1664 and becoming the first court poet in Russia, Simeon Polotsky was the creator of not only his own poetic school, but the whole literary trend of the Baroque - the first Western European style that penetrated Russian literature. Until the end of his life († 1680), the writer worked on two huge collections of poetry: "Multicolored Vertograd" and "Rhymologion, or Verse". His main poetic work, "Multicolored Vertograd", is a "poetry encyclopedia" typical of baroque culture with thematic headings arranged in alphabetical order (1155 titles in total), often including entire cycles of poems and containing information on history, natural philosophy, cosmology, theology , ancient mythology, etc. Characteristic for the elite literature of the Baroque and "Rhymologion" - a collection of panegyric poems on various occasions from the life of the royal family and nobles. In 1680 the "Rhyming Psalter" by Simeon of Polotsk was published - the first verse transcription of psalms in Russia, created in imitation of the "Psalter of David" (1579) by the Polish poet Jan Kokhanovsky. An extremely prolific author, Simeon of Polotsk wrote plays in verse based on biblical subjects: "About the Tsar Navchadnezzar ..." (1673 - early 1674), "The comedy of the parable of the prodigal son" (1673-78), containing typical Russian life of that time the conflict of fathers and children, polemical writings: the anti-Old Believer "Rod of Government" (ed. 1667), sermons: "Dinner of the soul" (1675, ed. 1682) and "Supper of the soul" (1676, ed. 1683), etc.

After the death of Simeon of Polotsk, the place of the court writer was taken by his student Sylvester Medvedev, who dedicated an epitaph to the memory of his mentor - "Epitafion" (1680). Having headed the Moscow Westerners - "Latins", Medvedev led a decisive struggle against the party of Greek writers (Patriarch Joachim, Evfimy Chudovsky, brothers Ioanniky and Sophrony Likhud, Hierodeacon Damaskin), and fell in this struggle, executed in 1691. In collaboration with Karion Istomin Medvedev wrote a historical essay on the reforms of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the Streltsy revolt of 1682 and the first years of the regency of Princess Sophia - "Short contemplation of the years 7190, 91 and 92, in them what happened in citizenship." End of the 17th century was the time of the greatest creative success of the court author Karion Istomin, who wrote a huge number of poems and poems, epitaphs and epigrams, orations and panegyrics. His innovative pedagogical work, illustrated poetic "Primer" (solid engraved in 1694 and typesetting in 1696), was reprinted and used as an educational book as early as the beginning of the 19th century.

A poetic school also existed in the New Jerusalem Monastery of the Resurrection founded by Patriarch Nikon, the most prominent representatives of which were Archimandrites Herman († 1681) and Nikanor (2nd half of the 17th century), who used isosyllabic versification.

An outstanding representative of Baroque authors was the Ukrainian Dimitry Rostovsky (in the world Daniil Savvich Tuptalo), who moved to Russia in 1701. A writer of versatile talents, he became famous as a wonderful preacher, poet and playwright, author of works against the Old Believers ("Search for the schismatic Bryn faith", 1709). The work of Dimitry of Rostov, the East Slavic "metaphrast", summed up the Old Russian hagiography. For almost a quarter of a century, he worked on a generalizing code of the lives of the saints. Having collected and reworked numerous ancient Russian (Great Menaion Chetii, etc.), Latin and Polish sources, Dimitri created a "hagiographic library" - "Lives of the Saints" in four volumes. His work was published for the first time in the printing house of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in 1684-1705. and immediately won a lasting reader's love.

§ 7.8. The beginning of the Russian theater. The development of baroque culture with its favorite postulate of life - stage, people - actors contributed to the birth of the Russian theater. The idea of ​​its creation belonged to the famous statesman boyar-Westerner A. S. Matveev, head of the Ambassadorial Department. The first play of the Russian theater was "Action of Artaxerxes". It was written in 1672 by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich on the subject of the biblical book of Esther by the Lutheran pastor Johann Gottfried Gregory from the German Quarter in Moscow (possibly with the participation of the Leipzig medical student Lavrenty Ringuber). "Action of Artaxerxes" was created in imitation of Western European dramaturgy of the 16th - 17th centuries. to biblical stories. The play, written in German verse, was translated into Russian by employees of the Ambassadorial Department. First staged on the opening day of the court theater of Alexei Mikhailovich on October 17, 1672, it ran for 10 hours without intermissions.

Russian theater was not limited to religious subjects. In 1673, they turned to ancient mythology and staged a musical ballet "Orpheus" based on the German ballet "Orpheus and Eurydice". Gregory's successor, the Saxon Georg Hüfner (in the Russian pronunciation of that time - Yuri Mikhailovich Gibner or Givner), who directed the theater in 1675-76, compiled and translated "Temir-Aksakovo action" based on various sources. The play, dedicated to the struggle of the Central Asian conqueror Timur with the Turkish Sultan Bayezid I, was topical in Moscow both in the historical perspective (see § 5.2) and in connection with the imminent war with Turkey for Ukraine in 1676-81. Despite the fact that the court theater lasted less than four years (until the death of the "chief theatre-goer", Alexei Mikhailovich on January 29, 1676), it was from him that the history of Russian theater and drama began.

By the beginning of the XVIII century. the school theater penetrated into Russia, which was used for educational and religious-political purposes in Western European educational institutions. In Moscow, theatrical performances were held at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy (see § 7.9), for example, "Comedy, a terrible betrayal of a voluptuous life" (1701), written on the theme of the gospel parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus. A new stage in the development of the school theater was the dramaturgy of Metropolitan Dimitry of Rostov, the author of "comedies" for Christmas (1702) and for the Assumption of the Virgin (probably 1703-05). In the Rostov school, opened by Demetrius in 1702, not only his plays were staged, but also the compositions of teachers: the drama "The Crown of Demetrius" (1704) in honor of the heavenly patron of the Metropolitan Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, composed, it is believed, by the teacher Evfimy Morogin. At the beginning of the XVIII century. based on the lives of Dimitry of Rostov, plays were staged in the court theater of Princess Natalia Alekseevna, beloved sister of Peter I: "comedies" by Barlaam and Joasaph, martyrs Evdokia, Catherine, etc.

§ 7.9. Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. The idea of ​​creating the first higher educational institution in Muscovite Russia belonged to Baroque authors - Simeon Polotsky and Sylvester Medvedev, who wrote on behalf of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich "The Privileges of the Moscow Academy" (approved in 1682). This document defined the foundations of a state higher educational institution with an extensive program, rights and prerogatives for the training of secular and spiritual professional personnel. However, the first leaders and teachers of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, opened in Moscow in 1687, were the opponents of Simeon of Polotsk and Sylvester Medvedev - the Greek scientists brothers Ioannikius and Sofroniy Likhud. The Academy, where Church Slavonic, Greek, Latin, grammar, poetics, rhetoric, physics, theology and other subjects were taught, played an important role in spreading education. In the first half of the XVIII century. such famous writers and scientists as A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky, M. V. Lomonosov, V. E. Adodurov, A. A. Barsov, V. P. Petrov and others came out of its walls.

§ 7.10. Church schism and Old Believer literature. The rapidly expanding work of the Moscow Printing House required an increasing number of experts in theology, grammar and Greek. Epiphanius Slavinetsky, Arseniy Satanovsky and Damaskin Ptitsky, who arrived in Moscow in 1649-50, were invited to Russia to translate and edit the books. Boyarin F. M. Rtishchev built the Andreevsky Monastery for the "Kiev elders" in his estate on Sparrow Hills. There they began academic work and opened a school where young Moscow clerks learned Greek and Latin. Southwestern Russian literature became one of the sources of Nikon's church reform. Its other component was the modern Greek church rite, the differences of which from the Old Russian were taken care of by Patriarch Joseph.

In 1649-50. the learned monk Arseniy (in the world Anton Sukhanov) carried out responsible diplomatic missions in Ukraine, Moldavia and Wallachia, where he participated in a theological dispute with the Greek hierarchs. The dispute is described in the "Debate with the Greeks on Faith", which proves the purity of Russian Orthodoxy and its rites (two-fingered, purely alleluia, etc.). In 1651-53. with the blessing of Patriarch Joseph Arseniy traveled to the Orthodox East (to Constantinople, Jerusalem, Egypt) with the aim of a comparative study of Greek and Russian church practice. Sukhanov described what he saw during the trip and critical reviews about the Greeks in the essay "Proskinitary" ‘Fan (of holy places)’ (from the Greek. rspukhnEshch ‘worship’) (1653).

In 1653, Patriarch Nikon began to carry out the unification of the Russian church ritual tradition with the modern Greek and with the Orthodox as a whole. The most significant innovations were: the replacement of the two-finger sign of the cross with the three-finger sign (to which the Byzantines themselves switched under Latin influence after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204); printing on prosphora a four-pointed cross (Latin "kryzha", as the Old Believers believed) instead of the old Russian eight-pointed one; the transition from a special hallelujah to a treguba (from its two-fold repetition during worship to three times); an exception from the eighth member of the Creed ("The true Lord") of the definition of true; the spelling of the name of Christ with two and (Iesus), and not with one (Isus) (in the translation from the Greek Ostromir Gospel of 1056-57, Izbornik 1073, both options are still presented, but subsequently in Russia a tradition is established to write the name with one i ) and much more. As a result of the "book right" in the second half of the XVII century. a new version of the Church Slavonic language was created.

Nikon's reform, which broke the centuries-old Russian way of life, was rejected by the Old Believers and marked the beginning of a church schism. The Old Believers opposed the orientation towards foreign church orders, defended the faith of their fathers and grandfathers, ancient Slavic-Byzantine rites, defended national identity and were against the Europeanization of Russian life. The Old Believer milieu turned out to be unusually rich in talents and bright personalities; a brilliant constellation of writers emerged from it. Among them were Ivan Neronov, the founder of the "God-loving" movement, Archimandrite Spiridon Potemkin, Archpriest Avvakum Petrov, Solovki monks Gerasim Firsov, Epiphanius and Gerontius, the preacher of self-immolation as the last means of salvation from the Antichrist, Hierodeacon Ignatius of Solovetsky, his opponent and accuser of "suicidal deaths" Euphrosynus, priest Lazar, deacon Fyodor Ivanov, monk Abraham, Suzdal priest Nikita Konstantinov Dobrynin and others.

The inspired performances of Archpriest Avvakum attracted numerous followers to him not only from the lower ranks of the people, but also from among the aristocracy (boyar F. P. Morozova, princess E. P. Urusova, etc.). This was the reason for his exile to Tobolsk in 1653, then to Dauria in 1656 and later to Mezen in 1664. In 1666, Avvakum was summoned to Moscow for a church cathedral, where he was stripped and anathematized, and exiled the following year. to the Pustozersky prison, along with other defenders of the "old faith". During almost 15 years of confinement in the earthen prison Avvakum and his associates (Elder Epiphanius, Priest Lazar, Deacon Fyodor Ivanov) did not stop fighting. The moral authority of the prisoners was so great that even the prison guards took part in the distribution of their writings. In 1682, Avvakum and his comrades were burned in Pustozersk "for great blasphemy against the royal house."

In the Pustozero prison, Avvakum created his main works: "The Book of Conversations" (1669-75), "The Book of Interpretations and Morals" (c. 1673-76), "The Book of Reproofs, or the Eternal Gospel" (c. 1676) and a masterpiece of Russian literature - "Life" in three author's editions 1672, 1673 and 1674-75. Avvakum's work is by no means the only autobiographical life in the 16th-17th centuries. Among his predecessors were the story of Martiry Zelenetsky (1580s), "The Tale of the Anzersky Skete" (late 1630s) by Eleazar, and the remarkable "Life" (in two parts 1667-71 and c. 1676) by Epiphanius, spiritual father Avvakum. However, the "Life" of Avvakum, written in the unique richness and expressiveness of the "Russian natural language", is not only an autobiography, but also a sincere confession of a truth seeker and a fiery sermon of a fighter ready to die for his ideals. Avvakum, the author of more than 80 theological, epistolary, polemical and other works (some of which have been lost), combines extreme traditionalism of views with bold innovation in creativity, and especially in language. The word Avvakum grows out of the deepest roots of truly folk speech. The living and figurative language of Avvakum is close to the literary manner of the Old Believer John Lukyanov, the author of pilgrimage notes about the "walking" to Jerusalem in 1701-03.

The spiritual daughter of Avvakum, the boyar F. P. Morozova, starved to death with her sister, Princess E. P. Urusova and the wife of archery colonel M. G. Danilova in an earthen prison in Borovsk in 1675 for refusing to accept church reform, is dedicated to "The Tale of Boyar Morozova ", a work of high artistic merit. Shortly after the death of the disgraced noblewoman, an author close to her (obviously, her brother boyar Fedor Sokovnin) created in the form of a life a vivid and truthful chronicle of one of the most dramatic events in the history of the early Old Believers.

In 1694, in the north-east of Lake Onega, Daniil Vikulin and Andrey Denisov founded the Vygovskoe dormitory, which became the largest book and literary center of the Old Believers in the 18th - mid-19th centuries. The Old Believer book culture, which also developed in Starodubye (since 1669), on Vetka (since 1685) and in other centers, continued the ancient Russian spiritual traditions in new historical conditions.

MAIN SOURCES AND LITERATURE

SOURCES. Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia. M., 1978-1994. [Issue. 1-12]; Library of Literature of Ancient Russia. SPb., 1997-2003. Vol. 1-12 (ed. ongoing).

RESEARCH. Adrianov-Perets V.P. "The Word about Igor's Campaign" and monuments of Russian literature of the XI-XIII centuries. L., 1968; She is. Old Russian literature and folklore. L., 1974; Eremin IP Lectures and articles on the history of ancient Russian literature. 2nd ed. L., 1987; The origins of Russian fiction. L., 1970; Kazakova N. A., Lurie Ya. S. Anti-feudal heretical movements in Russia in the XIV - early XVI century. M.; L., 1955; Klyuchevsky V. O. Old Russian Lives of the Saints as a historical source. M., 1989; Likhachev D.S. Man in the literature of Ancient Russia. M., 1970; He is. Development of Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries: Epochs and styles. L., 1973; He is. Poetics of ancient Russian literature. 3rd ed. M., 1979; Meshchersky N.A. Sources and composition of the ancient Slavic-Russian translated writing of the 9th-15th centuries. L., 1978; Panchenko A. M. Russian poetic culture of the 17th century. L., 1973; He is. Russian culture on the eve of Peter's reforms. L., 1984; Peretz VN From lectures on the methodology of the history of literature. Kiev, 1914; Robinson A.N. Lives of Avvakum and Epiphanius: Studies and texts. M., 1963; He is. Literature of Ancient Russia in the literary process of the Middle Ages in the XI-XIII centuries: Essays on literary and historical typology. M., 1980; Russian literature of the X - the first quarter of the XVIII century. / Ed. D. S. Likhachev // History of Russian Literature: In four volumes. L., 1980. T. 1. S. 9-462; Sazonova L. I. Poetry of Russian Baroque: (second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries). M., 1991; Sobolevsky A. I. Translated Literature of Moscow Russia XIV-XVII centuries. St. Petersburg, 1903; Shakhmatov A. A. History of Russian chronicles. SPb., 2002. T. 1. Book. one; 2003. T. 1. Book. 2.

TEXTBOOKS, READERS. Buslaev F. I. Historical reader of the Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages. M., 1861; Gudziy N.K. History of ancient Russian literature. 7th ed. M., 1966; He is. Reader on ancient Russian literature / Nauch. ed. N. I. Prokofiev. 8th ed. M., 1973; History of Russian literature X - XVII centuries. / Ed. D. S. Likhachev. M., 1985; Kuskov VV History of Old Russian Literature. 7th ed. M., 2002; Orlov A. S. Ancient Russian literature of the XI - XVII centuries. 3rd ed. M.; L., 1945; Picchio R. Old Russian literature. M., 2001; Speransky M.N. History of ancient Russian literature. 4th ed. SPb., 2002.

DIRECTORIES. Bibliography of Soviet Russian works on literature of the XI-XVII centuries. for 1917-1957 / Comp. N. F. Drobenkova. M.; L., 1961; Bibliography of works on Old Russian literature published in the USSR: 1958-1967. / Comp. N. F. Drobenkova. L., 1978. Part 1 (1958-1962); L., 1979. Part 2 (1963-1967); the same: 1968-1972 / Comp. N. F. Drobenkova. SPb., 1996; the same: 1973-1987 / Comp. A. G. Bobrov et al. St. Petersburg, 1995. Part 1 (1973-1977); SPb., 1996. Part 2 (1978-1982); SPb., 1996. Part 3 (1983-1987); Bibliography of works on Old Russian literature published in the USSR (Russia): 1988-1992. / Comp. O. A. Belobrova et al. St. Petersburg, 1998 (ed. ongoing); Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Russia. L., 1987. Issue. 1 (XI-first half of the XIV century); L., 1988. Issue. 2 (second half of the 14th-16th centuries). Part 1 (A-K); L., 1989. Issue. 2 (second half of the 14th-16th centuries). Part 2 (L-Z); SPb., 1992. Issue. 3 (XVII century). Part 1 (A-Z); SPb., 1993. Issue. 3 (XVII century). Part 2 (I-O); SPb., 1998. Issue. 3 (XVII century). Part 3 (P-S); SPb., 2004. Issue. 3 (XVII century). Part 4 (T-Z); Encyclopedia "Words about Igor's Campaign". SPb., 1995. T. 1-5.

The first rhetoric appeared in Russia only at the beginning of the 17th century. and survived in the earliest copy of 1620. This is a translation of the Latin short "Rhetoric" by the German humanist Philipp Melanchthon, revised by Luke Lossius in 1577.

Its source was the Russian Law, dating back to the ancient tribal era of the Eastern Slavs. In the X century. "Russian law" developed into a monument of customary law, complex in composition, which guided the Kiev princes in court cases. In pagan times, the "Russian Law" existed in oral form, passed down from memory from one generation to another (apparently, priests), which contributed to the consolidation in its language of terms, traditional formulas and turns, which, after the baptism of Russia, merged into the business language.

Leo Tolstoy was a maternal descendant of St. Michael of Chernigov.

The literature of "traitors to the sovereign" was continued by clerk Grigory Kotoshikhin. Having fled to Sweden, he wrote there, commissioned by Count Delagardie, a detailed essay on the peculiarities of the Russian political system and social life - "On Russia in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich" (1666-67). The writer is critical of the Moscow order. His work is a vivid document of the transition period, testifying to a turning point in the minds of people on the eve of Peter's reforms. Kotoshikhin had a sharp natural mind and literary talent, but in moral terms he was apparently not high. In 1667, he was executed in the suburbs of Stockholm for the murder of the landlord in a drunken brawl.

Alexei Mikhailovich's interest in the theater is not accidental. The monarch himself willingly took up the pen. Most of his work is occupied by monuments of the epistolary genre: official business messages, "friendly" letters, etc. With his lively participation, the "Supervisor of the Falconer's Way" was created. The book continues the traditions of Western European hunting writings. It describes the rules of falconry, Alexei Mikhailovich's favorite pastime. He also owns "The Tale of the Repose of Patriarch Joseph" (1652), remarkable for its artistic expressiveness and truthfulness to life, unfinished notes on the Russian-Polish war of 1654-67, church and secular poetic works, etc. Under his supervision, the famous code was compiled laws of the Russian state - "Cathedral Code" of 1649, an exemplary monument of the Russian business language of the 17th century.)

Russian medieval literature is the initial stage in the development of Russian literature. Its emergence is closely connected with the process of formation of the early feudal state. Subordinate to the political tasks of strengthening the foundations of the feudal system, it in its own way reflected the various periods in the development of public and social relations in Russia in the 11th-17th centuries. Old Russian literature is the literature of the emerging Great Russian people, gradually taking shape into a nation.

The question of the chronological boundaries of ancient Russian literature has not been finally resolved by our science. Ideas about the volume of ancient Russian literature still remain incomplete. Many works perished in the fire of countless fires, during the devastating raids of the steppe nomads, the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar invaders, the Polish-Swedish invaders! And at a later time, in 1737, the remains of the library of the Moscow tsars were destroyed by a fire that broke out in the Grand Kremlin Palace. In 1777, the Kiev library was destroyed by fire. The works of ancient Russian literature were divided into "worldly" and "spiritual". The latter were supported and disseminated in every possible way, as they contained the enduring values ​​of religious dogma, philosophy and ethics, while the former, with the exception of official legal and historical documents, were declared "vain". Thanks to this, we present our ancient literature to a greater extent ecclesiastical than it really was. When embarking on the study of Old Russian literature, it is necessary to take into account its specific features, which differ from the literature of modern times. A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is handwritten nature of its existence and distribution. At the same time, this or that work did not exist in the form of a separate, independent manuscript, but was part of various collections that pursued certain practical goals. "Everything that serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of embellishment, is subject to the charge of vanity." These words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude of the ancient Russian society to the works of writing. The value of this or that handwritten book was evaluated in terms of its practical purpose and usefulness. One of the characteristic features of ancient Russian literature is its connection with church and business writing, on the one hand, and oral poetic folk art, on the other. The nature of these connections at each historical stage in the development of literature and in its individual monuments was different. However, the wider and deeper literature used the artistic experience of folklore, the more vividly it reflected the phenomena of reality, the wider was the scope of its ideological and artistic influence.

A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is historicism. Her heroes are predominantly historical figures, she almost does not allow fiction and strictly follows the fact. Even numerous stories about "miracles" - phenomena that seem supernatural to a medieval person, are not so much the fiction of an ancient Russian writer, but accurate records of the stories of either eyewitnesses or the persons themselves with whom the "miracle" happened. Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Russian state, the Russian people, is imbued with heroic and patriotic pathos. Another feature is anonymity.

Literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian man, who is capable of giving up the most precious thing for the sake of the common good - life. It expresses a deep faith in the power and ultimate triumph of good, in the ability of a person to elevate his spirit and defeat evil. The Old Russian writer was least of all inclined to an impartial presentation of facts, "listening to good and evil indifferently." Any genre of ancient literature, be it a historical story or a legend, a life story or a church sermon, as a rule, includes significant elements of journalism. Concerning mainly state-political or moral issues, the writer believes in the power of the word, in the power of conviction. He appeals not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with an appeal to take care that the glorious deeds of their ancestors are preserved in the memory of generations and that the descendants do not repeat the sad mistakes of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

The literature of Ancient Russia expressed and defended the interests of the upper classes of feudal society. However, it could not fail to show an acute class struggle, which resulted either in the form of open spontaneous uprisings, or in the forms of typical medieval religious heresies. Literature clearly reflected the struggle between progressive and reactionary groupings within the ruling class, each of which was looking for support among the people. And since the progressive forces of feudal society reflected the interests of the whole state, and these interests coincided with the interests of the people, we can talk about the folk character of ancient Russian literature.

periodization

According to the established tradition in the development of ancient Russian literature, there are three main stages associated with the periods of development of the Russian state:

I. Literature of the ancient Russian state of the XI - the first half of the XIII centuries. The literature of this period is often referred to as the literature of Kievan Rus. The central image is Kiev and the Kiev princes, the unity of the world outlook, the patriotic beginning are glorified. This period is characterized by the relative unity of literature, which is determined by the relationship between the two main cultural centers of the state - Kiev and Novgorod. This is a period of apprenticeship, in the role of mentors Byzantium and Bulgaria. Translation literature prevails. It is first dominated by religious texts, and then secular literature appears. The main theme is the theme of the Russian land and its position in the family of Christian nations. The second half of the 11th century (before this period) - Ostromir Gospel, Izborniki, translation of Greek chronicles, based on cat. "Chronograph according to the great exposition", "Sermon about the Law and Grace of Hilarion". In the middle of the 11th - the first third of the 12th genres of the didactic word appeared

(Theodosius of the Caves, Luka Zhidyata), genre varieties of original lives (“The Tale” and “Reading” about Boris and Gleb, “The Life of Theodosius of the Caves”, “Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir”), historical legends, stories, legends that formed the basis of the chronicle , which at the beginning of the XII century. is called The Tale of Bygone Years. At the same time, the first “walking” appeared - the journey of Abbot Daniel and such an original work as “Instruction”

Vladimir Monomakh.

II. Literature of the period of feudal fragmentation and the struggle for the unification of northeastern Russia (the second half of the 13th - the first half of the 15th centuries). The rise of books. Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. "The Tale of the Tatar-Mongolian Invasion", a cycle of stories about the Battle of Kulikovo. In the regional centers, local chronicles, hagiography, genres of travel, historical stories are created. "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "The Tale" by Daniil Zatochnik and "The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land". In the 14th century, fictional legends "The Tale of Babylon City" appear. "The Tale of the Mutyansk Governor Dracula". B15 c. Appeared "Journey beyond three seas" by Afanasy Nikitin.

III. Literature of the period of creation and development of the centralized Russian state (XVI-XVII centuries). Fight against heresy, liberation from spiritual illness. Satire appears, a household story.

The historical significance of the Battle of Kulikovo and its reflection in the literature of the late 14th-15th centuries \ annalistic story, "Zadonshchina", "The Tale of the Life and Death of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich", "The Tale of the Mamaev Massacre".

In 1380, the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich rallied almost the entire North-Eastern Russia under his banners and dealt a crushing blow to the Golden Horde. The victory showed that the Russian people have the strength to decisively fight the enemy, but these forces can only be united by the centralized power of the Grand Duke. After the victory at the Kulikovo field, the question of the final overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke was only a matter of time. The historical events of 1380 were reflected in the oral folk art and works of literature: the chronicle story, "Zadonshchina", "The Tale of the Life and Death of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich", "The Tale of the Mamaev Massacre".

Chronicle of the Battle of Kulikovo. The chronicle story about the Battle of Kulikovo has come down to us in two versions: short and lengthy. The story not only sets out the main facts: the gathering of enemy forces and Russian troops, the battle on the Nepryadva River, the return of the Grand Duke to Moscow with a victory, the death of Mamai, but also gives an emotionally expressive journalistic assessment of these facts. The central character of the chronicle story is the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich. He "Christ-loving" And "God-loving" the prince is an ideal Christian, constantly turning to God with prayers, at the same time a brave warrior who fights on the Kulikovo field "ahead". The battle itself is depicted using techniques characteristic of a military story: “Swiftly the battle is great and the battle is strong and the coward is great zeal ... shedding blood like a rain cloud of both ... fall the corpse on the corpse, and fall the Tatar body on the body of the peasants.”

The main goal of the chronicle story is to show the superiority of the courage of the Russian troops over arrogance and ferocity "raw eaters" "godless Tatars" And "foul Lithuania" stigmatize the betrayal of Oleg Ryazansky.

The short story was included in the "Rogozhsky chronicler" and is a work of an informative type, with a traditional 3-part structure. A significant place is given to the 3rd part - the consequences of the battle. But new details also appear: a list of the dead at the end of the story; methods of stringing homogeneous paths (“the godless evil prince of the Horde, Mamai is filthy”) and connecting tautological turns (“the dead are countless”). The lengthy story has been preserved as part of the Novgorod Chronicle 4. The composition of the factual information is the same as in the summary, but since this is a story of an event type, the author increased the number of compositional elements characterizing the characters. The number of prayers of the protagonist increases: before the battle - 3, after the battle - a prayer of thanksgiving. Another lyrical fragment also appears, which has not been used before - the lament of Russian wives. A variety of figurative and expressive means are also used, especially bright in relation to enemies: “dark raw-eater Mamai”, apostate Oleg Ryazansky, “soul-destroying”, “peasant blood-drinker”. The descriptions of the Battle of Kulikovo itself in all stories are distinguished by emotionality, which is created by the author's exclamations and the inclusion in the text of landscape elements that were not previously used. All these features make the narrative more plot-motivated and emotionally intense.

The composition of the "Tales" structurally follows the tradition of a military story, but the narrative consists of a number of separate episodes-microplots, interconnected by plot-motivated or chronological inserts, which is an innovation. Also, the new is manifested in the author's desire to show the personality of each hero individually and show his role throughout the story. The characters are divided into main (Dmitry Ivanovich, Vladimir Andreevich and Mamai), secondary (Sergius of Radonezh, Dmitry Bobrok, Oleg Ryazansky, etc.) and episodic (Metropolitan Cyprian, Foma Katsibey, etc.). Also, a compositional feature is a lot of lyrical fragments (prayers, lamentation) and natural descriptions. Vision also appears in the text. A new descriptive element appears - the image of the Russian army, as the princes saw it from the hill. Along with the preservation of military formulas, many epithets and comparisons are used, the role of metaphors emphasizing the experiences of the characters is enhanced. The author of "Zadonshchina" took "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" as a model. In the introduction, Boyan is also mentioned, and at the end the time of the event is set (“And from the Kalat rati to Mamaev, the battle is 160 years old”). The rest of the text is generally traditional - 3-part structure. But within each part, the narrative is built on the basis of individual episodes-pictures, alternating with the author's digressions. The story has documentary elements, the use of digital data, enumerations. There are minor deviations from the chronology, which is unconventional for a military story. Lyrical fragments are not numerous, according to the canons of the military story. There are no detailed descriptions of the characters (except for Dmitry Ivanovich), and the enemies are described quite schematically. Folklore influence can be seen in the use of negative comparisons (“Those were not gray wolves, but having come to the defilement of the Tatars, they want to go through the whole Russian land fighting”). "Zadonshchina" is a monument created at the intersection of traditions: folklore, military story and "Words". But the leading one should still recognize the tradition of a military story.

"Zadonshchina". Zadonshchina" came to us in six lists, the earliest of which (the Euphrosynus list) dates back to the 1470s, and the latest to the end of the 17th century. "Zadonshchina" is the name of the work in question in the Euphrosynus list. In other lists, it is called "The Tale of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich." The Efrosinovsky list is an abbreviated revision of the original lengthy text that did not reach, in the rest of the lists the text is full of errors and distortions.

In "Zadonshchina" the poetic attitude of the author to the events of the Battle of Kulikovo is expressed. His story (as in The Tale of Igor's Campaign) is transferred from one place to another: from Moscow to Kulikovo Field, again to Moscow, to Novgorod, again to Kulikovo Field. The present is intertwined with memories of the past. The author himself described his work as “pity and praise to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother, Prince Vladimir Ondreevich”, “Pity” is lamentation for the dead, “Praise” is glory to the courage and military prowess of the Russians.

The first part of "Zadonshchina" - "a pity" describes the gathering of Russian troops, their campaign, the first battle and defeat. Nature in the "Zadonshchina" is on the side of the Russians and portends defeat "nasty": the birds are crying, the sun is shining on Dmitry Donskoy. The fallen warriors are haunted by their wives: princesses and noblewomen. Their laments are built, like the lament of Yaroslavna, on the appeal to the wind, the Don, the Moscow River.

The second part of "Zadonshchina" - "praise" glorifies the victory won by the Russians when the regiment of Dmitry Bobrok Volynets stepped out of the ambush. The enemies fled, and the Russians got rich booty, and now Russian wives put on the clothes and jewelry of women from the Horde.

The entire text of the "Zadonshchina" is correlated with the "Tale of Igor's Campaign": here is the repetition of entire passages from the "Lay", and the same characteristics, and similar poetic devices. But the appeal of the author of "Zadonshchina" to "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is creative, not mechanical. The victory of the Grand Duke of Moscow over Mamai is perceived by the author of Z. as revenge for the defeat suffered by Igor on Kayala. The Christian element is significantly strengthened in the "Zadonshchina" and there are no pagan images at all.

It is generally accepted that "Zadonshchina" was written by Zephanius Ryazanets: this name, like the name of its author, is named in the title of two works. However, Zephanius Ryazanets is also called the author of the "Tale of the Mamaev Battle" in a number of lists of the main edition of the "Tale". The name of Zephanius Ryazanets is also mentioned in the very text of the “Zadonshchina”, and the nature of this mention is such that in Zephanius Ryazanets one should most likely see not the author of the “Zadonshchina”, but the author of some poetic work about the Battle of Kulikovo that has not come down to us, who, regardless from each other, both the author of "Zadonshina" and the author of "The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev" took advantage . We do not have any information about Zephanius Ryazanets, except for the mention of his name in the "Zadonshchina" and in the "Tale of the Mamai Battle".

"Zadonshchina" is an interesting literary monument, created as a direct response to the most important event in the history of the country. This work is also remarkable in that it reflected the advanced political idea of ​​its time: Moscow should be at the head of all Russian lands and the unity of Russian princes under the rule of the Moscow Grand Duke serves as a guarantee of the liberation of the Russian land from Mongol-Tatar domination.

"The Legend of the Mamaev Battle". "The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev" is the most extensive monument of the Kulikovo cycle, written in the middle of the 15th century. This is not only a literary monument, but also the most important historical source. In it, the most detailed account of the events of the Battle of Kulikovo has come down to us. The "Tale" describes the preparation for the campaign and the "training" of the regiments, the distribution of forces and the setting of their military task before the detachments. The Tale describes in detail the movement of the Russian troops from Moscow through Kolomna to the Kulikovo field. Here is a listing of the princes and governors who took part in the battle, tells about the crossing of Russian forces across the Don. Only from the Tale do we know that the outcome of the battle was decided by the regiment under the leadership of Prince Vladimir Serpukhovsky: before the start of the battle, he was ambushed and an unexpected attack from the flanks and rear on the enemy who broke into the Russian disposition inflicted a crushing defeat on him. From the "Tale" we learn that the Grand Duke was shell-shocked and found unconscious after the end of the battle. These details and a number of others, including legendary epic ones (the story of the duel before the start of the battle between the monk-hero Peresvet and the Tatar hero, episodes telling about the help of Russian saints, etc.), were brought to us only by the “Legend of Mamaev's massacre.

The "Tale" was repeatedly rewritten and revised, up to the beginning of the 18th century, and has come down to us in eight editions and a large number of options. ABOUT popularity The monument of the medieval reader as the “fourth” (intended for individual reading) work is evidenced by a large number of obverse (illustrated with miniatures) lists of it.

The protagonist of the Tale is Dmitry Donskoy. "The Tale" is not only a story about the Battle of Kulikovo, but also a work dedicated to the praise of the Grand Duke of Moscow. The author portrays Dmitry as a wise and courageous commander, emphasizing his military prowess and courage. All other characters of the work are grouped around Dmitry Donskoy. Dmitry is the eldest among the Russian princes, all of them are his faithful assistants, vassals, his younger brothers. The image of Dmitry Donskoy still mostly bears the features of idealization, but future tendencies of turning to the personal principle are also visible in it - the author sometimes talks about the special emotions of DD (sadness, rage, etc.)

In the Tale, Metropolitan Cyprian blesses Dmitry Ivanovich's campaign. In fact, Cyprian was not in Moscow in 1380. This is not the mistake of the author of the Tale, but. For journalistic reasons, the author of the Tale, who set himself the task of drawing an ideal image of the Grand Duke of Moscow, the ruler and head of all Russian forces, had to illustrate the strong alliance of the Moscow prince with the Metropolitan of All Russia. And in a literary work, he could, contrary to historical truth, tell about the blessing of Dmitry and his army by Metropolitan Cyprian, especially since formally Cyprian really was at that time the Metropolitan of All Russia.

During the Battle of Kulikovo, the Ryazan prince Oleg and the Lithuanian prince Jagiello, the son of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, who died in 1377, entered into an alliance with Mamai. In the Tale, which describes the event of 1380, Olgerd is named Lithuanian ally of Mamai. As in the case of Cyprian, this is not a mistake, but a conscious literary and journalistic reception. For a Russian person of the late XIV - early XV centuries, and especially for Muscovites, the name of Olgerd was associated with memories of his campaigns against the Moscow principality. It was an insidious and dangerous enemy of Russia, whose military cunning was reported in an obituary chronicle article about his death. Therefore, they could call Olgerd an ally of Mamai instead of Jogail only at a time when this name was still well remembered as the name of a dangerous enemy of Moscow. At a later time, such a change of names did not make sense. .

Mamai, the enemy of the Russian land, is portrayed by the author of the Tale in sharply negative tones. There is a contrast: if Dmitry is a bright beginning, the head of a good deed, the deeds of which are led by God, then Mamai is the personification of darkness and evil - the devil stands behind him. Heroic character the event depicted in the "Tale" determined appeal author to oral tradition about the Mamaev massacre. Most likely, the episode of single combat before the start of the general battle of the monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery of Peresvet with the Tatar hero goes back to oral traditions. The epic basis is felt in the story about the "test of signs" by Dmitry Volynets; experienced voivode Dmitry Volynets with the Grand Duke on the night before the battle go to the field between the Russian and Tatar troops, and Volynets hears the earth crying “in two” - about the Tatar and Russian soldiers: there will be many killed, but still the Russians will prevail. Oral tradition, probably, also underlies the message of the Tale that Dmitry, before the battle, put on princely armor on his beloved governor, and himself in the clothes of a simple warrior with an iron club was the first to rush into battle. In the weeping of Evdokia, notes of folkloric lamentation also sound.

Descriptions of the Russian army are bright and imaginative pictures. In the descriptions of pictures of nature, a certain lyricism and the desire to connect these descriptions with the mood of events can be noted. Some of the author's remarks are deeply emotional and not devoid of vital veracity. Telling, for example, about the farewell to the wives of the soldiers leaving Moscow for the battle, the author writes that the wives "in tears and exclamations of the heart are unable to utter a word," and adds that "the great prince himself was a little afraid of tears, without choking shed tears for the sake of the people.

The “Legend of the Battle of Mamaev” was of interest to readers already because it described in detail all the circumstances of the Battle of Kulikovo. However, this is not the only attraction of the work. Despite a significant touch of rhetoric, "The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev" has a pronounced plot character. Not only the event itself, but also fate of individuals, the development of the vicissitudes of the plot made readers worry and empathize with what is being described. And in a number of editions of the monument, plot episodes become more complicated and increase in number. All this made "The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev" not only a historical and journalistic monument, but also a plot-fascinating work.

"A word about the life and death of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia"

"A word about the life and death of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia" in its style can be attributed to hagiographic monuments of expressive-emotional style.

This praise deeds of Dmitry Donskoy, about which the author of the "Lay" with genre-specific self-abasement declares at the end of his work that he is not worthy to describe the deeds of the master.

Stylistically and compositionally, the "Word" is close to the works of Epiphanius the Wise.

Book traditions of military biography and folklore traditions are combined (Eudokia's lamentation is filled with f. images).

The time of writing the Lay is dated in different ways. Most researchers attributed its creation to the 90s. XIV century, believing that it was written by an eyewitness to the death and burial of the prince (died in 1389).

He has a traditional structure of life (characteristics of DD, his father and mother), but at the same time, another hypostasis of the DI is intertwined - a statesman.

Accurate biographical information about Dmitry Donskoy and historical data are of little interest to the author. At the beginning, the continuity of Dmitry in relation to the Grand Duke Vladir I and the fact that he is a “relative” of the holy princes Boris and Gleb are emphasized. The battle on the Vozha and the Mamaev battle are mentioned. Both in these parts of the "Word of Life", and in others, where some specific events are implied; it is not so much a story about them that is given as their generalized characteristic. "Word" - a chain of praise to Dmitry and philosophical, very complex thoughts of the author about the greatness of the prince, in which biographical details are wedged. Comparing his hero with biblical characters (Adam, Noah, Moses), the writer emphasizes the superiority of his hero over them. In the same series of comparisons, Dmitry appears as the greatest ruler of all known world history.

Highlighted in the "Word" crying wife of Dmitry Donskoy, Princess Evdokia, imbued with deep lyricism. It reflected the influence of the people's widow's tale: Evdokia addresses the deceased as if he were alive, as if talking to them, are characteristic of folklore and the comparison of the deceased with the sun, the moon, the setting star. However, lamentation also glorifies the Christian virtues of the prince.

The “Word about Life” pursued a clear political goal: to glorify the Moscow prince, the winner of Mamai, as the ruler of the entire Russian land, the heir to the Kiev state, to surround the prince’s power with an aura of holiness and raise his political authority to an unattainable height.

Ancient Russian literature - what is it? The works of the 11th-17th centuries include not only literary works, but also historical texts (chronicle stories and annals), descriptions of travels (which were called walks), lives (narrations about the life of saints), teachings, messages, samples of the oratorical genre, as well as some texts of business content. The themes of ancient Russian literature, as you can see, are very rich. In all works there are elements of emotional illumination of life, artistic creativity.

Authorship

At school, students study what ancient Russian literature is, outline the basic concepts. They probably know that most of the works relating to this period have not retained the author's names. The literature of Ancient Russia is mostly anonymous and therefore similar to oral folk art. The texts were handwritten and distributed by correspondence - copying, as a result of which they were often reworked to suit new literary tastes, the political situation, and also in connection with the literary abilities and personal preferences of the scribes. Therefore, the works have come down to us in different editions and versions. Comparative analysis of them helps researchers reconstruct the history of a particular monument and make a conclusion about which of the options is closest to the original source, the author's text, as well as trace the history of its change.

Sometimes, in very rare cases, we have the author's version, and often in later lists you can find the monuments of ancient Russian literature that are closest to the original. Therefore, they should be studied on the basis of all available options for works. They are available in large city libraries, museums, archives. Many texts have been preserved in a large number of lists, some in a limited number. The only option is presented, for example, "The Tale of Woe-Misfortune", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".

"Etiquette" and repeatability

It is necessary to note such a feature of Old Russian literature as the repetition in different texts belonging to different eras of certain characteristics, situations, epithets, metaphors, comparisons. The works are characterized by the so-called etiquette: the hero behaves or acts one way or another, because he follows the concepts of his time about how one should behave in various circumstances. And events (for example, battles) are described using constant forms and images.

10th century literature

We continue to talk about what it is Take notes on the main points if you are afraid to forget something. majestic, solemn, traditional. Its origin dates back to the 10th century, more precisely, to its end, when, after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in Russia, historical and official texts written in Church Slavonic began to appear. Through the mediation of Bulgaria (which was the source of these works), Ancient Russia joined the developed literature of Byzantium and the southern Slavs. For the realization of its interests, the feudal state headed by Kiev had to create its own texts and introduce new genres. With the help of literature, it was planned to educate patriotism, assert the political and historical unity of the people and the ancient Russian princes, and expose their strife.

Literature of the 11th - early 13th centuries

The themes and tasks of the literature of this period (the struggle against the Polovtsians and Pechenegs - external enemies, the issues of the connection of Russian history with the world, the struggle for the Kiev throne of princes, the history of the emergence of the state) determined the nature of the style of this time, which D. S. Likhachev called monumental historicism. The emergence of chronicle writing in our country is associated with the beginning of domestic literature.

11th century

The first lives date from this century: Theodosius of the Caves, Boris and Gleb. They are distinguished by attention to the problems of modernity, literary perfection, and vitality.

Patriotism, maturity of socio-political thought, publicism and high skill marked the monuments of oratory "The Word of Law and Grace", written by Illarion in the first half of the 11th century, "Words and Teachings" (1130-1182). "Instruction" of the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Monomakh, who lived in the period from 1053 to 1125, is imbued with deep humanity and concern for the fate of the state.

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign"

It is impossible to do without mentioning this work when the topic of the article is Old Russian literature. What is "The Tale of Igor's Campaign?" This is the greatest work of Ancient Russia, created by an unknown author in the 80s of the 12th century. The text is devoted to a specific topic - the unsuccessful campaign in the Polovtsian steppe in 1185 by Prince Igor Svyatoslavovich. The author is interested not only in the fate of the Russian land, he also recalls the events of the present and the distant past, therefore the true heroes of the "Word" are not Igor and not Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who also receives a lot of attention in the work, but the Russian land, the people - what is based on ancient Russian literature. The "Word" is connected in many ways with the narrative traditions of its time. But, as in any brilliant creation, it also has original features, manifested in rhythmic refinement, linguistic richness, the use of techniques characteristic of oral folk art and their rethinking, civic pathos and lyricism.

National Patriotic Theme

It is raised during the period of the Horde yoke (from 1243 to the end of the 15th century) by ancient Russian literature. in works of this period? Let's try to answer this question. The style of monumental historicism acquires a certain expressive tone: the texts are lyrical and have tragic pathos. The idea of ​​a strong centralized princely power takes on great importance at this time. In separate stories and chronicles (for example, in "The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu"), the horrors of the enemy's invasion and the brave struggle against the enslavers of the Russian people are reported. This is where patriotism comes in. The image of the defender of the earth, the ideal prince, was most clearly reflected in the work "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky" written in the 70s of the 13th century.

Before the reader of "Words about the destruction of the Russian land" opens a picture of the greatness of nature, the power of the princes. This work is only an excerpt from an incomplete text that has come down to us. It is dedicated to the events of the first half of the 13th century - the difficult time of the Horde yoke.

New style: expressive and emotional

In the period of 14-50s. In the 15th century, ancient Russian literature changed. What is the expressive-emotional style that arose at this time? It reflects the ideology and events of the period of unification of northeastern Russia around Moscow and the formation of a centralized Russian state. Then the literature began to show interest in the personality, human psychology, his inner spiritual world (although still only within the framework of religious consciousness). This led to the growth in the works of the subjective principle.

And so a new style appeared - expressive-emotional, in which verbal sophistication and "word weaving" (that is, the use of ornamental prose) should be noted. These new techniques were intended to reflect the desire to depict the feelings of an individual.

In the second half of the 15th - early 16th centuries. there are stories that go back in their plot to the novelistic nature of oral stories ("The Tale of the Merchant Basarga", "The Tale of Dracula" and others). The number of translated works of a fictional nature is noticeably increasing;

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia"

As mentioned above, the works of ancient Russian literature also borrow some features of legends. In the middle of the 16th century, Yermolai-Erasmus, an ancient Russian publicist and writer, created the famous Tale of Peter and Fevronia, which is one of the most significant texts in Russian literature. It is based on the legend of how, thanks to her mind, a peasant girl became a princess. Fairy-tale tricks are widely used in the work, social motives also sound.

Characteristics of 16th century literature

In the 16th century, the official character of texts intensifies, solemnity and pomp become a hallmark of literature. Distribution is received by such works, the purpose of which is the regulation of political, spiritual, everyday and legal life. A striking example is "Great, which is a set of texts consisting of 12 volumes that were intended for home reading for each month. At the same time, a "Domostroy" is being created, which sets out the rules of behavior in the family, gives advice on housekeeping, and also about relations between people.Fiction is increasingly penetrating into the historical works of that period in order to give the story an interesting plot.

17th century

The works of ancient Russian literature of the 17th century are noticeably transformed. The art of the so-called modern times begins to take shape. There is a process of democratization, the subject of works is expanding. The role of the individual in history is changing due to the events of the peasant war (late 16th - early 17th centuries), as well as the Time of Troubles. The deeds of Boris Godunov, Ivan the Terrible, Vasily Shuisky and other historical characters are now explained not only by divine will, but also by the personality traits of each of them. A special genre appears - democratic satire, where church and state orders, legal proceedings (for example, "The Tale of the Shemyakin Court"), and clerical practice ("Kalyazinskaya Petition") are ridiculed.

"Life" of Avvakum, everyday stories

In the 17th century, an autobiographical work was written by those who lived in the period from 1620 to 1682. Archpriest Avvakum - "Life". It is set out in the textbook "Old Russian Literature" (Grade 9). A feature of the text is a juicy, lively language, sometimes colloquial, sometimes high bookish.

During this period, everyday stories about Frol Skobeev, Savva Grudtsyn and others were also created, reflecting the original character of ancient Russian literature. There are translated collections of short stories and poetry develops (famous authors are Sylvester Medvedev, Simeon Polotskits, Karion Istomin).

The history of ancient Russian literature ends with the 17th century, and the next stage begins - the literature of the new time.

Old Russian literature arose in the 11th century and developed over the course of seven centuries, until the Petrine era. Kievan Rus was replaced by the time of the principalities of North-Eastern Russia with a center in Vladimir, the annalistic Russian land survived the Mongolo-Tatar invasion, freed itself from the yoke. The Grand Duke of Moscow became the Tsar, Sovereign of All Great, and White, and Lesser Russia. The last offspring of the "tribe of Rurik" died, the Romanov dynasty reigned on the throne. Russia became Russia, passing on the richest literary traditions to its successor.

The term "Old Russian literature" is conditional. Starting from the 13th century, the literature we study is the East Slavic literature of the Middle Ages. Continuing to use the term, historically attached to the named phenomenon, let's not forget about its real semantic content.

Old Russian literature is divided into several periods (according to D.S. Likhachev):

• literature of Kievan Rus (XI-XIII centuries);
• literature of the XIV-XV centuries;
• literature of the 16th century;
• 17th century literature.

In the era of Kievan Rus, the formation of literary genres took place, the foundations were laid for all East Slavic literatures - Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian. At this time, the genres of Greek and Byzantine literature began to develop on a national basis. In the process of the formation of the Old Russian literary language, an important role is played not only by the living spoken language of that time, but also by another language, closely related to it, although foreign in origin, the Old Church Slavonic (Church Slavonic) language.

The literature of the next two periods is already the literature of the Russian people proper, which acquired national independence in the northeast of Russia. This is the time for the creation of traditions, the development of new ideas in Russian culture and literature, a time that is called the Pre-Renaissance.

The 16th century is the time of the development of journalistic genres. Created "Domostroy" - a set of everyday rules and instructions, reflecting the principles of patriarchal life. "Domostroy" requires the strictness of the home way.

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the "Great Menaion of the Cheti" was created - a set of twelve books, including readings for each month. Each of the twelve books has from one thousand five hundred to two thousand sheets of large format. Compilation of white lists lasted about twenty-five years. The books include works of various genres, the creation, translation and editing of which involved a large number of Russian writers, translators, scribes and scribes. At the same time, the “Facial Code” was created, which contains the position of world history from the creation of the world to the 15th century. The surviving ten volumes number about ten thousand sheets, decorated with 17,744 miniatures (color illustrations).

The 17th century is an era when the worldview of people is changing, old literary forms are falling apart, new genres and ideas are emerging. A transition to the literature of the Petrine period is planned. Satirical and everyday literature is developing, the focus is gradually shifting to the life of a simple person - not a prince, not a saint.

Old Russian literature is not like the literature of modern times: it is permeated with other thoughts and feelings, it has a different way of depicting life and a person, a different system of genres.

In the Middle Ages, it is impossible to draw a clear line between secular and ecclesiastical literature. They developed together, not denying, but enriching one another. The main types of ancient Russian literary creativity - chronicle, life, eloquence, which includes teachings, genres in praise And words; military stories, walking (walking) And messages. Poetry, dramaturgy, novel, story in the modern sense of these genres did not exist in the 11th-16th centuries. They appear only in the 17th century.

All genres of ancient Russian literature develop in close relationship with oral folk art. Most of all, the folklore element influenced the chronicle. Like folklore, ancient Russian literature did not know the concept of copyright: every scribe could use everything that had been written before him. This was manifested in the widespread text borrowings. The scribes strove to leave unchanged only the texts of liturgical books and legislative acts.

The main role of the book in the culture of Ancient Russia is to serve as a means of saving the soul. In this regard, the New Testament, Holy Scripture, patristic writings, hagiographic literature and church traditions were considered the most important. Historical works and monuments of business writing were also considered important. Lay writings that did not pursue didactic goals were valued least of all. They were considered "vain".

At the beginning of its development, ancient Russian literature was very closely connected with everyday life, especially liturgical life. Works, in addition to literary significance, also have practical, applied ones. Only gradually, over time, does the separation of the artistic and aesthetic function from the everyday, applied function occur.

Old Russian literature is pre-realistic, medieval, studying it shows us how different our perception of the world is from the perception of our ancestors. In the minds of the inhabitants of Ancient Russia, the book was a symbol of Christianity, enlightenment and a special way of life. In the testing of Christianity by idolaters, the first test was the book. The Life of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir tells how the pagans demanded that Patriarch Photius put a book that teaches the Christian faith into the fire. The gospel did not burn in the fire. The amazed pagans believed in the truth of the new teaching and were baptized. Both the book and the writing itself are covered with a halo of miracle. The Slavic alphabet was given to Constantine after his prayer as a divine revelation. The concepts of "Christianity", "book" and "miracle" were closely intertwined.

The miracle of the Russian language is that a person with even a little philological training can read (prepared) texts almost a thousand years old. But often words that seem familiar to us have a different meaning, there are many incomprehensible words, syntactic constructions are difficult to perceive. The names of objects, names, details of everyday life, the very logic of events - everything requires commentary. Without trying to think about the meaning of the work, the modern reader, as it were, deceives himself. So, for example, "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" seems to him a funny fairy tale, and its theological problems and philosophical depth remain unnoticed.

Over the past centuries, stereotypes of social consciousness, norms of behavior, human thinking have changed radically, old words have acquired a new meaning, actions have been filled with a different content. Already with the invention of printing, the book began to be treated differently. material from the site

Initially, all literature was exclusively ecclesiastical. The themes and ideas of the works could be different, but the attitude of the authors and readers was deeply religious. This is manifested not only in liturgical and theological texts, but also in the description of history, in military stories and secular subjects.

In the view of the Orthodox Middle Ages, "reverence for the book" was a moral merit and virtue, bringing a person closer to the comprehension of God. For this, it was necessary to read and re-read spiritual literature “in the night and in the day”. The Tale of Bygone Years writes that this is exactly what Yaroslav the Wise did. The art of reading consisted in a slow, concentrated and deliberate perception of what was written "with all my heart." The reader stopped, re-read important passages, carefully peering into the depth of meaning. Such a culture of reading taught to recognize the hidden nature of things behind the outer shell, to comprehend with “spiritual eyes” the world invisible to the simple eye.

The book is a microcosm in which "lovers of soulful words" enjoy eternal truths and receive spiritual medicine - consolation and teaching. It was necessary to read not secondarily, but hiding from the hustle and bustle of life and empty worries. It was believed that, turning to the work with sinful thoughts, it is impossible to extract anything useful for the soul from it. Until now, in our minds, the ancient belief in the miraculous power of the word is preserved.

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Introduction

The emergence of ancient Russian literature

Genres of literature of Ancient Russia

Periodization of the history of ancient Russian literature

Features of Old Russian literature

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The centuries-old literature of Ancient Russia has its own classics, there are works that we can rightly call classical, which perfectly represent the literature of Ancient Russia and are known all over the world. Every educated Russian person should know them.

Ancient Russia, in the traditional sense of the word, embracing the country and its history from the 10th to the 17th centuries, had a great culture. This culture, the direct predecessor of the new Russian culture of the 18th-20th centuries, nevertheless had some of its own phenomena, characteristic only of it.

Ancient Russia is famous all over the world for its art and architecture. But it is remarkable not only for these "silent" arts, which allowed some Western scholars to call the culture of Ancient Russia the culture of great silence. Recently, the discovery of ancient Russian music has begun to take place again, and more slowly - much more difficult to understand art - the art of the word, literature. That is why Hilarion's "The Tale of Law and Grace", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "Journey Beyond Three Seas" by Athanasius Nikitin, the Works of Ivan the Terrible, "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum" and many others have now been translated into many foreign languages. Getting acquainted with the literary monuments of Ancient Russia, a modern person will easily notice their differences from the works of modern literature: this is the lack of detailed characters, this is the stinginess of details in describing the appearance of the heroes, their environment, landscape, this is the psychological unmotivated actions, and the "impersonality" of remarks that can be conveyed to any hero of the work, since they do not reflect the individuality of the speaker, this is also the "insincerity" of monologues with an abundance of traditional "common places" - abstract reasoning on theological or moral topics, with exorbitant pathos or expression .

It would be easiest to explain all these features by the student character of ancient Russian literature, to see in them only the result of the fact that the writers of the Middle Ages had not yet mastered the “mechanism” of plot construction, which is now known in general terms to every writer and every reader. All this is true only to some extent. Literature is constantly evolving. The arsenal of artistic techniques is expanding and enriching. Each writer in his work relies on the experience and achievements of his predecessors.

1. The emergence of Old Russian literature

Pagan traditions in Ancient Russia were not written down, but were transmitted orally. Christian teaching was set forth in books, therefore, with the adoption of Christianity in Russia, books appeared. Books were brought from Byzantium, Greece, Bulgaria. The Old Bulgarian and Old Russian languages ​​were similar, and Russia could use the Slavic alphabet created by the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The need for books in Russia at the time of the adoption of Christianity was great, but there were few books. The process of copying the books was long and complicated. The first books were written by charter, more precisely, they were not written, but drawn. Each letter was drawn separately. Continuous writing appeared only in the 15th century. First books. The oldest Russian book from the books that have come down to us is the so-called Ostromir Gospel. It was translated in 1056-1057. commissioned by the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir.

Original Russian literature arose around the middle of the 11th century.

Chronicle is a genre of ancient Russian literature. It consists of two words: "summer", i.e. year, and "write". "Description of years" - this is how the word "chronicle" can be translated into Russian

Chronicle as a genre of Old Russian literature (only Old Russian) arose in the middle of the 11th century, and chronicle writing ended in the 17th century. with the end of the Old Russian period of literature.

genre features. The events were arranged by year. The chronicle began with the words: In the summer, then the year from the creation of the world was called, for example, 6566, and the events of the current year were described. I wonder why? The chronicler, as a rule, is a monk, and he could not live outside the Christian world, outside the Christian tradition. And this means that the world for him is not interrupted, is not divided into the past and the present, the past unites with the present and continues to live in the present.

Modernity is the result of past deeds, and the future of the country and the fate of the individual depend on today's events. Chronicler. Of course, the chronicler could not tell about the events of the past on his own, so he drew on older chronicles, earlier ones, and supplemented them with stories about his time.

So that his work would not become huge, he had to sacrifice something: skip some events, rewrite others in his own words.

In the selection of events, in retelling, the chronicler voluntarily or involuntarily offered his own view, his own assessment of history, but it was always the view of a Christian, for whom history is a chain of events that have a direct relationship. The oldest chronicle is the Tale of Bygone Years, compiled by Nestor, a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery, at the beginning of the 12th century. The title is written like this (of course, translated from the Old Russian language): "Here are the stories of past years, where did the Russian land come from, who became the first to reign in Kiev and how the Russian land arose."

And here is its beginning: "So let's start this story. After the flood, the three sons of Noah divided the earth, Shem, Ham, Japheth. ... Sim, Ham and Japheth divided the earth, casting lots, and decided not to join anyone in the brother's share and lived each in his own part. There was one people... After the destruction of the pillar and after the division of the peoples, the sons of Shem took the eastern countries, and the sons of Ham - the southern countries, while the Japheths took the west and the northern countries. From the same 70 and 2 language came the people Slavic, from the tribe of Japheth - the so-called Noriki, who are the Slavs. Connection with modernity. The chronicler associated this biblical event about the division of the earth with modern life. In 1097, the Russian princes gathered to establish peace and said to each other: Why are we destroying the Russian land, arranging strife among ourselves? Yes, from now on, let us unite with one heart and guard the Russian land, and let everyone own his fatherland.

Russian chronicles have long been read and translated into modern language. The most accessible and fascinating about the events of Russian history and the life of our ancestors is written in the book "Stories of Russian Chronicles" (author-compiler and translator T.N. Mikhelson).

. Genres of literature of Ancient Russia

Old Russian genre story literature

To understand the peculiarity and originality of original Russian literature, to appreciate the courage with which Russian scribes created works that "stand outside genre systems", such as "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh, "Prayer" by Daniil Zatochnik and the like , for all this it is necessary to get acquainted with at least some examples of individual genres of translated literature.

Chronicles.Interest in the past of the Universe, the history of other countries, the fate of the great people of antiquity was satisfied by translations of Byzantine chronicles. These chronicles began a presentation of events from the creation of the world, retold the biblical story, cited individual episodes from the history of the countries of the East, told about the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and then about the history of the countries of the Middle East. Having brought the story to the last decades before the beginning of our era, the chroniclers went back and set out the ancient history of Rome, starting from the legendary times of the founding of the city. The rest and, as a rule, most of the chronicles were occupied by the story of the Roman and Byzantine emperors. The chronicles ended with a description of events contemporary to their compilation.

Thus, the chroniclers created the impression of the continuity of the historical process, of a kind of "change of kingdoms." Of the translations of Byzantine chronicles, the most famous in Russia in the 11th century. received translations of the "Chronicles of George Amartol" and "Chronicles of John Malala". The first of them, together with a continuation made on Byzantine soil, brought the narrative to the middle of the tenth century, the second - to the time of Emperor Justinian (527-565).

Perhaps one of the defining features of the composition of the chronicles was their desire for an exhaustive completeness of the dynastic series. This feature is also characteristic of biblical books (where long lists of genealogies follow), and of medieval chronicles, and of the historical epic.

"Alexandria".The novel about Alexander the Great, the so-called "Alexandria", was very popular in Ancient Russia. This was not a historically accurate description of the life and deeds of the famous commander, but a typical Hellenistic adventure novel 7.

In "Alexandria" we also encounter action-packed (and also pseudo-historical) collisions. "Alexandria" is an indispensable part of all ancient Russian chronographs; from edition to edition, the adventure and fantasy theme intensifies in it, which once again indicates an interest in the plot-entertaining, and not the actual historical side of this work.

"The Life of Eustathius Plakida".In ancient Russian literature, imbued with the spirit of historicism, turned to worldview problems, there was no place for open literary fiction (readers, apparently, trusted the miracles of "Alexandria" - after all, all this happened a long time ago and somewhere in unknown lands, at the end of the world!), everyday story or a novel about the private life of a private person. Strange as it may seem at first glance, but to a certain extent the need for such plots was filled by such authoritative and closely related genres as the lives of saints, patericons or apocrypha.

Researchers have long noticed that the lengthy lives of Byzantine saints in some cases were very reminiscent of an ancient novel: sudden changes in the fate of heroes, imaginary death, recognition and meeting after many years of separation, attacks by pirates or predatory animals - all these traditional plot motifs of an adventure novel strangely coexisted in some lives with the idea of ​​glorifying an ascetic or martyr for the Christian faith 8. A typical example of such a life is the "Life of Eustathius Plakida", translated back in Kievan Rus.

Apocrypha.Apocrypha, legends about biblical characters that were not included in canonical (recognized by the church) biblical books, discussions on topics that worried medieval readers: about the struggle in the world of good and evil, about the ultimate fate of mankind, descriptions of heaven and hell or unknown lands "at the end of the world."

Most of the apocrypha are entertaining plot stories that struck the imagination of readers either with everyday details unknown to them about the life of Christ, the apostles, prophets, or with miracles and fantastic visions. The church tried to fight apocryphal literature. Special lists of banned books were compiled - indexes. However, in judgments about which works are unconditionally "renounced books", that is, unacceptable for reading by orthodox Christians, and which are only apocryphal (literally apocryphal - secret, intimate, that is, designed for a reader experienced in theological matters), medieval censors did not there was unity.

The indices varied in composition; in collections, sometimes very authoritative, we also find apocryphal texts next to canonical biblical books and lives. Sometimes, however, even here they were overtaken by the hand of zealots of piety: in some collections, the pages with the text of the Apocrypha are torn out or their text is crossed out. Nevertheless, there were a lot of apocryphal works, and they continued to be copied throughout the centuries-old history of ancient Russian literature.

Patristics.Patristics, that is, the works of those Roman and Byzantine theologians of the 3rd-7th centuries who enjoyed special authority in the Christian world and were revered as "fathers of the Church": John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius of Alexandria and others.

In their works, the dogmas of the Christian religion were explained, the Holy Scriptures were interpreted, Christian virtues were affirmed and vices were denounced, various worldview questions were raised. At the same time, works of both instructive and solemn eloquence had considerable aesthetic value.

The authors of the solemn words intended to be pronounced in the church during the divine service were perfectly able to create an atmosphere of festive ecstasy or reverence, which was supposed to embrace the faithful when remembering the glorified event of church history, they perfectly mastered the art of rhetoric, which Byzantine writers inherited from antiquity: not by chance, many of the Byzantine theologians studied with pagan rhetors.

In Russia, John Chrysostom (d. 407) was especially famous; from the words belonging to him or attributed to him, entire collections were compiled, bearing the names "Chrysostom" or "Chrystal jet".

The language of liturgical books is especially colorful and rich in paths. Let's give some examples. In service menaias (a collection of services in honor of the saints, arranged according to the days when they are venerated) of the 11th century. we read: "A bunch of thought vines has ripened, but it has been thrown into the winepress of torment, tenderness has poured out wine for us." A literal translation of this phrase will destroy the artistic image, so we will only explain the essence of the metaphor.

The saint is compared to a mature bunch of vines, but it is emphasized that this is not a real, but a spiritual ("mental") vine; the tormented saint is likened to grapes, which are crushed in a "winepress" (pit, vat) in order to "exude" the juice for making wine, the torment of the saint "exudes" the "wine of tenderness" - a feeling of reverence and compassion for him.

A few more metaphorical images from the same service menaias of the 11th century: "From the depths of malice, the last tip of the height of virtue, like an eagle, flying high, gloriously ascended, praised Matthew!"; "Strained prayer bows and arrows and a fierce serpent, a crawling serpent, you killed thou, blessed, from that harm the holy herd was delivered"; "The towering sea, charming polytheism, gloriously passed through the storm of divine rule, a quiet haven for all being drowned." "Prayer bows and arrows", "a storm of polytheism", which raises waves on the "beautiful [insidious, deceitful] sea" of vain life - all these are metaphors designed for a reader who has a developed sense of the word and sophisticated figurative thinking, who is excellently versed in traditional Christian symbolism.

And as can be judged from the original works of Russian authors - chroniclers, hagiographers, creators of teachings and solemn words, this high art was fully accepted by them and implemented in their work.

Speaking about the system of genres of ancient Russian literature, one more important circumstance should be noted: for a long time, until the 17th century, this literature did not allow literary fiction. Old Russian authors wrote and read only about what was in reality: about the history of the world, countries, peoples, about generals and kings of antiquity, about holy ascetics. Even transmitting frank miracles, they believed that it could be that there were fantastic creatures inhabiting unknown lands through which Alexander the Great passed with his troops, that in the darkness of caves and cells demons appeared to holy hermits, then tempting them in the form of harlots , then frightening in the guise of beasts and monsters.

Talking about historical events, ancient Russian authors could tell different, sometimes mutually exclusive versions: some say so, the chronicler or chronicler will say, and others say otherwise. But in their eyes, this was just the ignorance of informants, so to speak, a delusion from ignorance, however, the idea that this or that version could simply be invented, composed, and even more so composed for purely literary purposes - such an idea to older writers, apparently, seemed unbelievable. This non-recognition of literary fiction also, in turn, determined the system of genres, the range of subjects and topics to which a work of literature could be devoted. The fictional hero will come to Russian literature relatively late - not earlier than the 15th century, although even at that time he will still disguise himself as a hero of a distant country or of ancient times for a long time.

Frank fiction was allowed only in one genre - the genre of the apologist, or parable. It was a miniature story, each of whose characters and the whole plot existed only to illustrate an idea visually. It was an allegory story, and that was its meaning.

In ancient Russian literature, which did not know fiction, historical in big or small, the world itself appeared as something eternal, universal, where the events and actions of people are determined by the very system of the universe, where the forces of good and evil are always fighting, a world whose history is well known ( after all, for each event mentioned in the annals, the exact date was indicated - the time elapsed from the "creation of the world"!) And even the future was predestined: prophecies about the end of the world, the "second coming" of Christ and the Last Judgment awaiting all the people of the earth were widespread.

This general ideological attitude could not but affect the desire to subordinate the very image of the world to certain principles and rules, to determine once and for all what should be depicted and how.

Old Russian literature, like other medieval Christian literature, is subject to a special literary and aesthetic regulation - the so-called literary etiquette.

3. Periodization of the history of ancient Russian literature

The literature of Ancient Russia is evidence of life. That is why history itself, to a certain extent, establishes the periodization of literature. Literary changes basically coincide with historical ones. How should the history of Russian literature of the 11th-17th centuries be periodized?

The first period in the history of ancient Russian literature is a period of relative unity of literature. Literature mainly develops in two (interconnected cultural relations) centers: in Kiev in the south and in Novgorod in the north. It lasts a century - XI - and captures the beginning of the XII century. This is the age of formation of the monumental-historical style of literature. The century of the first Russian lives - Boris and Gleb and the Kiev-Pechersk ascetics - and the first monument of Russian chronicle writing that has come down to us - "The Tale of Bygone Years". This is the century of a single ancient Russian Kiev-Novgorod state.

The second period, the middle of the 12th - the first third of the 13th century, is the period of the emergence of new literary centers: Vladimir Zalessky and Suzdal, Rostov and Smolensk, Galich and Vladimir Volynsky; at this time, local features and local themes appear in literature, genres diversify, a strong stream of topicality and publicism is introduced into literature. This is the period of the beginning of feudal fragmentation.

A number of common features of these two periods allows us to consider both periods in their unity (especially taking into account the difficulty of dating some translated and original works). Both first periods are characterized by the dominance of the monumental-historical style.

Then comes a relatively short period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, when the stories about the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar troops into Russia, the battle on Kalka, the capture of Vladimir Zalessky, "The Word of the Destruction of the Russian Land" and "The Life of Alexander Nevsky" are written. Literature is compressed to one theme, but this theme manifests itself with unusual intensity, and the features of the monumental-historical style acquire a tragic imprint and lyrical elation of high patriotic feeling. This short but bright period should be considered separately. It stands out easily.

The next period, the end of the 14th and the first half of the 15th century, is the century of the Pre-Renaissance, coinciding with the economic and cultural revival of the Russian land in the years immediately preceding and following the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. This is a period of expressive-emotional style and a patriotic upsurge in literature, a period of revival of chronicle writing, historical narrative and panegyric hagiography.

In the second half of the XV century. new phenomena are being discovered in Russian literature: monuments of translated secular narrative literature (fiction) are spreading, the first original monuments of such a type as "The Tale of Dracula", "The Tale of Basarga" appear. These phenomena were associated with the development of reformist humanist movements at the end of the 15th century. However, the insufficient development of cities (which in Western Europe were the centers of the Renaissance), the subjugation of the Novgorod and Pskov republics, the suppression of heretical movements contributed to the fact that the movement towards the Renaissance slowed down. The conquest of Byzantium by the Turks (Constantinople fell in 1453), with which Russia was closely linked culturally, closed Russia within its own cultural boundaries. The organization of a single Russian centralized state absorbed the main spiritual forces of the people. Publicism develops in literature; the internal politics of the state and the transformation of society occupy more and more attention of writers and readers.

From the middle of the XVI century. in literature, the official stream is increasingly affecting. The time is coming for a "second monumentalism": traditional forms of literature dominate and suppress the individual beginning in literature that arose in the era of the Russian Pre-Renaissance. Events in the second half of the 16th century delayed the development of fiction, entertaining literature. century - the century of transition to the literature of modern times. This is the age of the development of the individual principle in everything: in the very type of the writer and in his work; a century of development of individual tastes and styles, writer's professionalism and a sense of copyright ownership, individual, personal protest associated with tragic turns in the writer's biography. The personal beginning contributes to the emergence of syllabic poetry and regular theater.

. Features of Old Russian literature

The literature of Ancient Russia arose in the 11th century. and developed over the course of seven centuries until the Petrine era. Old Russian literature is a single entity with all the variety of genres, themes, and images. This literature is the focus of Russian spirituality and patriotism. On the pages of these works, there are conversations about the most important philosophical, moral problems that heroes of all centuries think about, talk about, and meditate on. The works form love for the Fatherland and their people, show the beauty of the Russian land, therefore these works touch the innermost strings of our hearts.

The significance of Old Russian literature as the basis for the development of new Russian literature is very great. So images, ideas, even the style of compositions were inherited by A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy.

Old Russian literature did not arise from scratch. Its appearance was prepared by the development of the language, oral folk art, cultural ties with Byzantium and Bulgaria, and was conditioned by the adoption of Christianity as a single religion. The first literary works that appeared in Russia were translated. Those books that were necessary for worship were translated.

The very first original works, that is, written by the Eastern Slavs themselves, belong to the end of the 11th-beginning of the 12th century. in. There was a formation of Russian national literature, its traditions were formed, features that determine its specific features, a certain dissimilarity with the literature of our days.

The purpose of this work is to show the features of Old Russian literature and its main genres.

Features of Old Russian literature

1. Historicism of content.

Events and characters in literature, as a rule, are the fruit of the author's fiction. The authors of works of art, even if they describe the true events of real people, conjecture a lot. But in ancient Russia, everything was completely different. The Old Russian scribe told only about what, according to his ideas, really happened. Only in the XVII century. Everyday stories appeared in Russia with fictional characters and plots.

2. Handwritten nature of existence.

Another feature of Old Russian literature is the handwritten nature of existence. Even the appearance of the printing press in Russia did little to change the situation until the middle of the 18th century. The existence of literary monuments in manuscripts led to a special reverence for the book. What even separate treatises and instructions were written about. But on the other hand, handwritten existence led to the instability of ancient Russian works of literature. Those writings that have come down to us are the result of the work of many, many people: the author, editor, copyist, and the work itself could continue for several centuries. Therefore, in scientific terminology, there are such concepts as "manuscript" (handwritten text) and "list" (rewritten work). A manuscript may contain lists of various works and may be written by the author himself or by scribes. Another fundamental concept in textual criticism is the term "redaction", i.e., the purposeful processing of a monument caused by social and political events, changes in the function of the text, or differences in the language of the author and editor.

The existence of a work in manuscripts is closely related to such a specific feature of Old Russian literature as the problem of authorship.

The authorial principle in ancient Russian literature is muted, implicit; Old Russian scribes were not careful with other people's texts. When rewriting the texts, they were reworked: some phrases or episodes were excluded from them or some episodes were inserted into them, stylistic "decorations" were added. Sometimes the ideas and assessments of the author were even replaced by the opposite ones. Lists of one work differed significantly from each other.

Old Russian scribes did not at all seek to reveal their involvement in literary writing. Very many monuments remained anonymous, the authorship of others was established by researchers on indirect grounds. So it is impossible to attribute to someone else the writings of Epiphanius the Wise, with his sophisticated "weaving of words." The style of Ivan the Terrible's epistles is inimitable, impudently mixing eloquence and rude abuse, learned examples and the style of a simple conversation.

It happens that in the manuscript one or another text was signed by the name of an authoritative scribe, which may equally correspond or not correspond to reality. So among the works attributed to the famous preacher St. Cyril of Turov, many, apparently, do not belong to him: the name of Cyril of Turov gave additional authority to these works.

The anonymity of literary monuments is also due to the fact that the Old Russian "writer" consciously did not try to be original, but tried to show himself as traditional as possible, that is, to comply with all the rules and regulations of the established canon.

4. Literary etiquette.

Well-known literary critic, researcher of ancient Russian literature academician D.S. Likhachev proposed a special term for the designation of the canon in the monuments of medieval Russian literature - "literary etiquette".

Literary etiquette is composed of:

from the idea of ​​how this or that course of an event should have taken place;

from ideas about how the actor should have behaved in accordance with his position;

from ideas about what words the writer should have described what is happening.

Before us is the etiquette of the world order, the etiquette of behavior and verbal etiquette. The hero is supposed to behave in this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms.

The main genres of ancient Russian literature

The literature of modern times is subject to the laws of the "poetics of the genre". It was this category that began to dictate the ways of creating a new text. But in ancient Russian literature, the genre did not play such an important role.

A sufficient number of studies have been devoted to the genre originality of Old Russian literature, but there is still no clear classification of genres. However, some genres immediately stood out in ancient Russian literature.

1. Hagiographic genre.

Life is a description of the life of a saint.

Russian hagiographic literature includes hundreds of works, the first of which were written already in the 11th century. Life, which came to Russia from Byzantium along with the adoption of Christianity, became the main genre of ancient Russian literature, the literary form in which the spiritual ideals of Ancient Russia were clothed.

The compositional and verbal forms of life have been polished for centuries. A lofty theme - a story about a life that embodies the ideal service to the world and God - determines the image of the author and the style of narration. The author of the life narrates with excitement, he does not hide his admiration for the holy ascetic, admiration for his righteous life. The emotionality of the author, his excitement paint the whole story in lyrical tones and contribute to the creation of a solemn mood. This atmosphere is also created by the style of narration - high solemn, full of quotations from the Holy Scriptures.

When writing a life, the hagiographer (the author of the life) had to follow a number of rules and canons. The composition of the correct life should be three-part: an introduction, a story about the life and deeds of a saint from birth to death, praise. In the introduction, the author apologizes to the readers for their inability to write, for the rudeness of the narration, etc. The life itself followed the introduction. It cannot be called a "biography" of a saint in the full sense of the word. The author of the life selects from his life only those facts that do not contradict the ideals of holiness. The story about the life of a saint is freed from everything everyday, concrete, random. In a life compiled according to all the rules, there are few dates, exact geographical names, names of historical persons. The action of life takes place, as it were, outside historical time and concrete space, it unfolds against the backdrop of eternity. Abstraction is one of the features of hagiographic style.

At the conclusion of the life there should be praise to the saint. This is one of the most important parts of life, requiring great literary art, a good knowledge of rhetoric.

The oldest Russian hagiographic monuments are two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of Pechora.

2. Eloquence.

Eloquence is an area of ​​creativity characteristic of the most ancient period in the development of our literature. Monuments of church and secular eloquence are divided into two types: instructive and solemn.

Solemn eloquence required depth of conception and great literary skill. The orator needed the ability to effectively build a speech in order to capture the listener, set it up in a high way, corresponding to the topic, shake him with pathos. There was a special term for solemn speech - "word". (There was no terminological unity in ancient Russian literature. A military story could also be called a “Word.”) Speeches were not only delivered, but written and distributed in numerous copies.

Solemn eloquence did not pursue narrowly practical goals, it required the formulation of problems of a wide social, philosophical and theological scope. The main reasons for the creation of "words" are theological issues, questions of war and peace, defense of the borders of the Russian land, domestic and foreign policy, the struggle for cultural and political independence.

The oldest monument of solemn eloquence is Metropolitan Hilarion's Sermon on Law and Grace, written between 1037 and 1050.

Teaching eloquence is teachings and conversations. They are usually small in volume, often devoid of rhetorical embellishments, written in the Old Russian language, which was generally accessible to the people of that time. Teachings could be given by church leaders, princes.

Teachings and conversations have purely practical purposes, they contain the information necessary for a person. "Instruction to the brethren" by Luke Zhidyata, Bishop of Novgorod from 1036 to 1059, contains a list of rules of conduct that a Christian should adhere to: do not take revenge, do not say "shameful" words. Go to church and behave in it quietly, honor elders, judge by the truth, honor your prince, do not curse, keep all the commandments of the Gospel.

Theodosius of Pechersk, founder of the Kiev Caves Monastery. He owns eight teachings to the brethren, in which Theodosius reminds the monks of the rules of monastic behavior: do not be late for church, make three bows to the earth, observe deanery and order when singing prayers and psalms, bow to each other when meeting. In his teachings, Theodosius of Pechorsky demands a complete renunciation of the world, abstinence, constant prayer and vigil. The abbot severely denounces idleness, money-grubbing, intemperance in food.

3. Chronicle.

Chronicles were called weather (by "years" - by "years") records. The annual record began with the words: "In the summer." After that, there was a story about events and incidents that, from the point of view of the chronicler, were worthy of the attention of posterity. These could be military campaigns, raids by steppe nomads, natural disasters: droughts, crop failures, etc., as well as simply unusual incidents.

It is thanks to the work of chroniclers that modern historians have an amazing opportunity to look into the distant past.

Most often, the ancient Russian chronicler was a learned monk, who sometimes spent many years compiling the chronicle. In those days, it was customary to start a story about history from ancient times and only then move on to the events of recent years. The chronicler had first of all to find, put in order, and often rewrite the work of his predecessors. If the compiler of the annals had at his disposal not one, but several annalistic texts at once, then he had to “reduce” them, that is, combine them, choosing from each one that he considered necessary to include in his own work. When the materials relating to the past were collected, the chronicler proceeded to present the incidents of his time. The result of this great work was the annalistic code. After some time, this code was continued by other chroniclers.

Apparently, the first major monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing was the annalistic code, compiled in the 70s of the 11th century. The compiler of this code is believed to have been the abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery Nikon the Great (? - 1088).

Nikon's work formed the basis of another annalistic code, which was compiled in the same monastery two decades later. In the scientific literature, he received the conditional name "Initial Code". Its nameless compiler supplemented Nikon's collection not only with news of recent years, but also with chronicle information from other Russian cities.

"The Tale of Bygone Years"

Based on the annals of the tradition of the 11th century. The greatest annalistic monument of the era of Kievan Rus - "The Tale of Bygone Years" - was born.

It was compiled in Kiev in the 10s. 12th c. According to some historians, its likely compiler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor, also known for his other writings. When creating The Tale of Bygone Years, its compiler drew on numerous materials with which he supplemented the Primary Code. Among these materials were Byzantine chronicles, texts of treaties between Russia and Byzantium, monuments of translated and ancient Russian literature, and oral traditions.

The compiler of The Tale of Bygone Years set as his goal not only to tell about the past of Russia, but also to determine the place of the Eastern Slavs among European and Asian peoples.

The chronicler tells in detail about the settlement of the Slavic peoples in antiquity, about the settlement by the Eastern Slavs of the territories that would later become part of the Old Russian state, about the customs and customs of different tribes. The "Tale of Bygone Years" emphasizes not only the antiquities of the Slavic peoples, but also the unity of their culture, language and writing, created in the 9th century. brothers Cyril and Methodius.

The chronicler considers the adoption of Christianity to be the most important event in the history of Russia. The story about the first Russian Christians, about the baptism of Russia, about the spread of a new faith, the construction of churches, the emergence of monasticism, the success of Christian enlightenment occupies a central place in the Tale.

The wealth of historical and political ideas reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years suggests that its compiler was not just an editor, but also a talented historian, a deep thinker, and a bright publicist. Many chroniclers of subsequent centuries turned to the experience of the creator of the "Tale", sought to imitate him and almost always placed the text of the monument at the beginning of each new chronicle collection.

Conclusion

So, the main range of works of monuments of ancient Russian literature are religious and edifying works, the lives of saints, liturgical hymns. Old Russian literature arose in the 11th century. One of its first monuments - "The Word of Law and Grace" of the Kiev Metropolitan Hilarion - was created in the 30-40s. XI century. The 17th century is the last century of ancient Russian literature. Throughout it, the traditional ancient Russian literary canons are gradually destroyed, new genres, new ideas about man and the world are born.

Literature is also called the works of ancient Russian scribes, and the texts of the authors of the 18th century, and the works of Russian classics of the last century, and the works of modern writers. Of course, there are obvious differences between the literature of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. But all Russian literature of the last three centuries is not at all like the monuments of ancient Russian verbal art. However, it is in comparison with them that she reveals much in common.

The cultural horizon of the world is constantly expanding. Now, in the 20th century, we understand and appreciate in the past not only classical antiquity. The Western European Middle Ages has firmly entered the cultural baggage of mankind, back in the 19th century. which seemed barbaric, "Gothic" (the original meaning of this word is precisely "barbarian"), Byzantine music and iconography, African sculpture, Hellenistic novel, Fayum portrait, Persian miniature, Inca art and much, much more. Humanity is freed from "Eurocentrism" and egocentric focus on the present 10.

Deep penetration into the cultures of the past and the cultures of other peoples brings times and countries closer. The unity of the world is becoming more and more tangible. The distances between cultures are shrinking, and there is less and less room for national enmity and stupid chauvinism. This is the greatest merit of the humanities and the arts themselves, a merit that will only be fully realized in the future.

One of the most urgent tasks is to introduce into the circle of reading and understanding of the modern reader the monuments of the art of the word of Ancient Russia. The art of the word is in organic connection with the fine arts, with architecture, with music, and there can be no true understanding of one without an understanding of all other areas of the artistic creativity of Ancient Russia. Fine arts and literature, humanistic culture and material, broad international ties and a pronounced national identity are closely intertwined in the great and unique culture of Ancient Russia.

Bibliography

Likhachev D.S. Great heritage // Likhachev D.S. Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L .: Khudozh. lit., 1987.

Polyakov L.V. Book centers of Ancient Russia. - L., 1991.

The Tale of Bygone Years // Monuments of Literature of Ancient Russia. The Beginning of Russian Literature. X - beginning of the XII century. - M., 1978.

Likhachev D.S. Textology. On the material of Russian literature of the X-XVII centuries. - M.-L., 1962; Textology. Brief essay. M.-L., 1964.