Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies

1. From ‘Nations’ to ‘Archontias’ (I) ‘Sclavinia’ and ‘Sclavoarchontia’: Terms and Chronology

   This article deals with the terms ‘Sclavinia’ and ‘Sclavoarchontia’, which are used in historiography in different and even contradictory ways, and aims to clarify a highly complicated topic, investigating the ways these terms were used by contemporaries, trying to define differences between them and connecting their use with the political changes of the time. Topics discussed include the chronology of the terms’ usage, different ways in which they were being used, relations of ‘Sclavinia’ and ‘Sclavoarchontia’ with the Empire, their appearance and disappearance and the political processes connected with it, as well as the analysis of the existing interpretations. The first part mostly discusses chronology and some existing hypotheses. The second (and the main) part analyses the way these terms were used and tries to define them.

   The hypothesis presented connects these terms with the re-establishing of imperial authority in the Balkans, marked in the sources by replacing the term ‘Slavic nations’, which had been used until the late 8 century to denote the independent Balkan Slavic societies and their lands. The Empire lacked the capacity for direct subjugation of the independent Slavic communities and was forced to rely on complicated measures including colonization and ensuring Slav cooperation in the process. In the themes where the Empire had enough power, Slavic communities were organized as ‘Sclavoarchontias’, who received archons from the strategos, paid collective tribute and served as symahoi, but kept some inner autonomy. The Empire also tended to ensure the cooperation of Slavic communities around themes by granting titles and subsidies to some powerful Slavic leaders, which led to the creation of client states known as ‘Sclavinias’. They were not part of the thematic system, they had their native and hereditary leaders recognized and affirmed by the emperor by titles and seals and act as imperial allies. A prototype of both had appeared at the end of the 7th c., but only when relations of such types had multiplied after Stauracius’ expedition in 783, corresponding generic terms appeared and became regular.

   DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.1

2. Quantitative Linguistic Study of Frequency Words in Kirill of Turov’s Words (based on the NLR manuscript F.п.I.39)

   The authors have studied quantitative and statistical qualities of the most frequent words in sermons of Kirill of Turov, contained in the Tolstoy Collection from the 13^th century (NLR, F.п.I.39).

   In the course of three experiments, firstly, formal distinctions were found between the list and the corresponding copies from 8 contrasting sub-corpora, them being: 11^th–14^th century copies of the May Menaea, other months’ Minaea, Sticheraria, Gospels, The Book of Psalms, chronicles, the Apostolos, and the Parenesisof Ephrem the Syrian; the last two appear to be the most similar to the list. Secondly, using Log-Likelihood, TF*ICTF' and Weirdness statistical tools, statistically meaningful words were found out, and a partial overlap in the forms under study appeared between the texts of Kirill and several of the sub-corpora. Thirdly, by comparing ranks of each of the forms, the closeness of the Tolstoy Collection texts and sub-corpora of different genres was estimated, and it was shown that original sermons of Kirill of Turov and translations of the teaching sermons of Ephrem the Syrian and of the Apostolos are closest to each other in terms of statistical significance of 15 most frequent forms.

   For the first time, the configurations of the most significant lexemes in the sub-corpora were found out. Also for the first time, their list was found to be similar in the sub-corpora of Kirill of Turov’s sermons and of the Apostolos, as well as (partially) of the Parenesis, The Book of Psalms and the chronicles. High-rank units in the sermons of Kirill of Turov (нъ, о, бо, съ) were described in terms of linguistics, of genre and style, and of discursive pragmatics.

   The work was made using the transcriptions from the historical corpus “Manuscript” (manuscripts.ru).

   DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.2

3. The Female Tonsure and Female Monasticism in Old Russia and the Balkans

   This paper describes a rare rite of female tonsure that is known from five Slavonic Euchologia (Trebnik) of the 13th–16th centuries and attempts to investigate on the basis of historical sources how this rite of tonsure could be applied in the Balkans and in Early Russia. N. F. Krasnosel′tsev suggested that this tonsure was of a very ancient origin and was intended for tonsuring virgins who took the vow of celibacy. The Greek original of this rite is preserved only in one known Euchologion Coisl.213(1027). We argue that its Slavonic translation is of a Serbian origin and was made not earlier than in the 13thcentury, but that it apparently was not used in the Balkans afterwards. In Early Russia this rite is scantily attested in written sources — since the 14thcentury its content was shortened and influenced by the later practice of tonsure. However, historical sources prove that tonsuring of virgins was very common in Kievan Rus′ with its urban convents, while it was practically unknown in the Balkans. In medieval Bulgaria and Serbia there were recorded cases of widows tonsured without entering the monastery. It is difficult to say whether before the end of 14th century any fully developed female monastic communities existed in this region in the form in which they are known in Rus′. Probably, the rite of tonsure of virgins in Old Russia was very close to the rite from the manuscript Gilf.21, though, most likely, it did not contain the final part — the prayer for the removal of the veil (kukol'), as in Coisl.213.

   DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.3

4. The 15th-century Synodal Hexameron (Shestodnevets)

   The article is devoted to the textual analysis and publication of the short Hexameron, titled Shestodnevets, which became part of the Miscellany from the Synodal collection in the State Historical museum (No. 951). An archaeographical description of the manuscript (dated to around 1460) is given; it is noted that 13 folios from it are now in the Miscellany from the V. M. Undolsky collection (RSL, col. 310, No. 562). The analysis of the Shestodnevets showed that the source for its initial part was the prototype of the Sofiisky chronograph, which had a more elaborate form compared to that conserved in manuscripts. The rest of the text is based on the Palaea Interpretata and “The Word about the Creation of Heaven and Earth”, which is a part of another brief chronograph, Parenios. An attempt to trace the history of the spread of “The Word …” in the Old Russian literature revealed its use as an introduction to the illuminated Palaea Interpretata of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the initial part of which is now largely lost. It turned out that a copy of these pages, in addition to two well-known 16th-century copies, is copied from the “Word …” in a manuscript of the Trinity-Sergius monastery, dated to the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century (RSL, сol. 304/I, No. 39). Four more copies of the same text were also identified. A version of the “Word about the Creation of Heaven and Earth” is also used in the “Word about the Existence of the Whole World”, where the story of the six days, starting with the narrative of Cain and Abel, is supplemented by the “Speech of the philosopher” from the The Tale of Bygone Years. The Synodal Shestodnevets has textual features of “The Word about the Creation of Heaven and Earth” in the Parenios version, but it also contains individual additional fragments from the Book of Enoch. In conclusion, the importance of the Shestodnevets for our knowledge about the book repertoire and the guiding principles of Old Russian authors working on Palaea compilations in the middle of the XV century is underlined. Another significant result is the acquisition of new data on the content and the terminus ante quemfor the Sofiisky chronograph’s archetype, the earliest copy of which dates from the 1530s.

   
   

   DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.4

5. The Сontroversy against Josephites in the Life of Serapion, Archbishop of Novgorod

   The conflict between the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery and the Novgorod see under Archbishop Serapion was touched upon in a considerable number of works devoted to the history of the Russian church at the turn of the 16th century. Regardless of whom the researchers were inclined to consider as the instigator of the feud, most of their studies were based on the sources of Josephite origin. The present paper is an attempt to look at the complex relationship of the Volokolamsk hegumen with the Novgorod archbishop as presented in the Life of St. Serapion. A preliminary analysis of the composition of the text shows its heterogeneity: the Life contains both passages with sharp attacks on Joseph Volotsky, and a generally quite correct account of his reconciliation with Serapion. Most of the article is devoted to the question of how Archbishop Serapion himself and his supporters were inclined to evaluate the actions of Joseph Volotsky, which were directed squarely against the Novgorod archbishop and ended with his forcible removal from the bishop’s see at the behest of the Grand Prince. Consideration of this issue essentially allows us to conclude that the system of self-justification of the Novgorod archbishop in the text of his Life was quite deliberate and consistent and was based primarily on his ideas about the bishop's prerogatives in relation to the Volokolamsk hegumen subordinate to his authority.

   
   

   DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.5