What is the Russian chronicle and its features - artistic analysis. Literature of the 11th-12th centuries

Traditionally chronicles in a broad sense are called historical writings, the presentation of which is strictly by year and is accompanied by chronographic (annual), often calendar, and sometimes chronometric (hourly) dates. In the narrow sense of the word, chronicles are usually called chronicle texts that have actually come down to us, preserved in one or more lists similar to each other. Sometimes small chronicles - most often of a narrow local or chronologically limited nature - are called chroniclers (the Rogozhsky Chronicler, the Chronicler of the Beginning of the Kingdoms, etc.). As a rule, a chronicle in studies means a complex of lists combined into one edition (say, the Laurentian Chronicle, the Ipatiev Chronicle). At the same time, they are considered to be based on a common alleged source.

Chronicle writing was carried out in Russia from the 11th to the 17th centuries. Late Russian chronicles (XVI-XVII centuries) differ significantly from the chronicles of the previous time. Therefore, working with them has its own specifics. At that time chronicle as special genre historical narrative faded away. It was replaced by other types of historical sources: chronographs, synopsis, etc. The period of coexistence of these types of sources is characterized by a kind of blurring of specific boundaries. The chronicles are increasingly acquiring the features of a chronographic (more precisely, granographic) presentation: the narration is conducted along the “edges” - the periods of the reign of kings and grand dukes. In turn, later chronographs may include chronicle materials (sometimes entire fragments of chronicles).

Back in the 19th century it was found that almost all surviving chronicle texts are compilations, sets of previous chronicles.

Reconstruction of the texts of the vaults is a complex and time-consuming task (examples are the reconstructions of the Ancient Code of 1036/39, the Initial Code of 1096/97, I, II and III editions of the Tale of Bygone Years, created by A.A. Shakhmatov; academic edition of the reconstruction of the text Tale of Bygone Years, prepared by D.S. Likhachev). They are resorted to in order to clarify the composition and content of the text of a hypothetical code. Basically, such reconstructions are illustrative. At the same time, there is a known case of scientific reconstruction by M.D. Priselkov of the Trinity Chronicle, the list of which perished during the Moscow fire of 1812. Thanks to this reconstruction, the Trinity List was reintroduced into scientific circulation. Reconstructions of protographs are admissible, as a rule, at the final stage of source studies, since they allow to present more concretely the results of work on the texts of chronicle lists. However, they are not commonly used as starting material.

>When working with annalistic materials, one should be aware of the inaccuracies and conventions of scientific terminology. This is due, in particular, to the “lack of clear boundaries and the complexity of the history of chronicle texts”, with the “fluidity” of chronicle texts, which allow for “gradual transitions from text to text without visible gradations of monuments and editions”. It should be distinguished whether the study refers to the chronicle as a conditional edition or a specific list; not to confuse reconstructions of chronicle protographs with texts of lists that have come down to us, etc.

Clarification of chronicle terminology is one of the urgent tasks of chronicle source studies. Until now, “in the study of chronicle writing, the use of terms is extremely vague.

One of the most complex in chronicle studies is the concept of authorship. After all, as already noted, almost all known chronicles are the result of the work of several generations of chroniclers.

For this reason alone, the very notion of the author (or compiler, or editor) of a chronicle text turns out to be largely arbitrary. Each of them, before proceeding to describe the events and processes of which he was an eyewitness or contemporary, first rewrote one or more previous chronicles that were at his disposal.

The situation was different when the chronicler approached the creation of an original, "author's" text about contemporary events, of which he was a participant or eyewitness, or about which he learned from witnesses. Here the individual experience of the author or his informants could conflict with public memory. However, this obvious paradox disappeared when it was possible to discern in what was happening the features of historical experience that was higher for the Christian consciousness. For the chronicler, Sacred history is a timeless and constantly re-experiencing value in real, "today's" events. An event is essential for a chronicler insofar as, figuratively speaking, it was an event.

From here followed the method of description - through direct or indirect citation of authoritative (most often sacred) texts. analogy with already famous events gave the chronicler a typology of the essential. That is why the texts of the sources, on which the chronicler relied, were for him and his contemporaries a semantic fund, from which it remained to choose ready-made clichés for the perception, description and simultaneous assessment of what was happening. Apparently, individual creativity affected mainly the form and to a much greater extent lesser degree content of the chronicle.

The idea should allow you to consistently explain: 1) the reasons that prompted the creation of new codes and the continuation of the exposition once begun; 2) the structure of the chronicle narrative; 3) selection of material to be presented; 4) the form of its submission; 5) selection of sources on which the chronicler relied.

The way to reveal the intention is the opposite: by analyzing the content of the texts on which the chronicler relied (and the general ideas of the works he took as the basis for the presentation), according to the literary forms found in the chronicle, one should restore the content of chronicle messages that is relevant for the chronicler and his potential readers , the code as a whole, and already on this basis, try to isolate the basic idea that brought this work to life.

7. The Tale of Bygone Years: origin, authorship, editions, internal structure. It is customary to associate the beginning of Old Russian chronicle writing with a stable general text, which begins the vast majority of chronicles that have come down to our time. The text of The Tale of Bygone Years covers a long period - from ancient times to the beginning of the second decade of the 12th century. This is one of the oldest chronicle codes, the text of which was preserved by the chronicle tradition. In different chronicles, the text of the Tale reaches different years: before 1110 (Lavrentiev and related lists) or until 1118 (Ipatiev and related lists). This is usually associated with repeated editing of the Tale. A comparison of both editions led A.A. Shakhmatov concluded that the text of the first edition, carried out by Abbot Sylvester of the Vydubitsky Monastery, has been preserved in the Laurentian Chronicle. Text of Articles 6618-6626 is associated with the second edition of the Tale of Bygone Years, apparently carried out under the eldest son of Vladimir Monomakh, Prince Mstislav of Novgorod. At the same time, an indication that the author of the Tale was some monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery, Nestor. According to A.A. Shakhmatova, the chronicle, which is usually called the Tale of Bygone Years, was created in 1112 by Nestor, presumably the author of two well-known hagiographic works - Readings about Boris and Gleb and The Life of Theodosius of the Caves.

Chronicle compilations that preceded the Tale of Bygone Years: the text of the chronicle code that preceded the Tale of Bygone Years has been preserved in the Novgorod I Chronicle. The Tale of Bygone Years was preceded by a code, which A.A. Shakhmatov suggested calling it Primary. Based on the content and nature of the presentation of the chronicle, it was proposed to date it to 1096-1099. According to the researcher, it was he who formed the basis of the Novgorod I Chronicle. Further study of the Primary Code, however, showed that it was based on some kind of work (or works) of an annalistic nature. From this L.A. Shakhmatov concluded that the Primary Code was based on some chronicle compiled between 977 and 1044. The most likely in this gap is L.A. Shakhmatov considered 1037, under which the praise of Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich is placed in the Tale. The researcher suggested calling this hypothetical chronicle work the Most Ancient Code. The narrative in it has not yet been divided into years and was plot. Annual dates (chronological network) were introduced into it by the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nikoi the Great in the 70s of the 11th century.

M.P. Tikhomirov drew attention to the fact that the Tale better reflects the reign of Svyatoslav Igorevich than Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Yaroslav Vladimirovich. On the basis of a comparative study of the Tale and the Novgorod I Chronicle, the scientist came to the conclusion that the Tale was based on the monothematic Tale of the beginning of the Russian land, which told about the founding of Kyiv and the first Kyiv princes.

D.S. Likhachev believes that the Tale of the initial spread of Christianity to Russ preceded the Primary Code. It was a monothematic story, compiled in the early 10s. 11th century The Legend included: stories about the baptism and death of Princess Olga; about the first Russian martyrs, the Varangian Christians; about the baptism of Russia; about Boris and Gleb and Praise to Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich.

L.V. Cherepnin, Comparing the text of the Tale with the praise of Prince Vladimir Jacob Mnikh, came to the conclusion that the latter was based on the code of 996. This text was based on brief annalistic notes that were kept at the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv. It was also suggested that Anastas Korsunyanin was involved in compiling the code of the Church of the Tithes.

Novgorod vaults of the 11th century: together with the Kiev-Pechersk vault of 1074 (the so-called Nikon vault), it formed the basis of the Initial Code. According to A.A. Shakhmatov, lay the Ancient Kyiv code of 1037 and some earlier Novgorod chronicle of 1017, compiled under the Novgorod bishop Joachim.

B.A. Rybakov associated the compilation of such a code with the name of the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir (1054-1059). According to the researcher, it was a secular chronicle that substantiated the independence of Novgorod, its independence from Kyiv.

Oral sources in the Tale of Bygone Years: under 1096, the chronicler mentions the Novgorodian Gyuryata Rogovich, who told him the Ugra legend about peoples living on the edge of the earth in "midnight countries".

Foreign sources of the Tale of Bygone Years: A significant part of them are foreign chronicles, primarily Greek. The most numerous borrowings are from the translation of the Chronicle by George Amartol. The Chronicle itself was created around 867 and covered world history from Adam to the death of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus (812). Information related to the history of the Slavs was borrowed from the Chronicle, and above all with the first campaigns of Russia against Constantinople.

Another important source of the Tale was the Chronicler of the Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople (806-815), which contained a chronological list of the most important events world history, brought to the year of the author's death (829). Another important source of the Tale, according to A.A. Shakhmatov, supported by a number of researchers, became some kind of Chronograph of a special composition that has not survived to our time. It included fragments of the already mentioned Chronicle of George Amartol, as well as the Greek chronicles of John Malala, the Chronicle of George Sinkell and the Easter Chronicle.

Used in the Tale and the text of the Jewish chronograph Book of Josippon, compiled in southern Italy in the middle of the 10th century. At the base - latin translation"Jewish Antiquities" and a retelling of the "Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius. The main source of figurative representations of the first Russian chroniclers were sacred works, primarily the Holy Scriptures.

For the compilation of chronicles, apocryphal literature was also widely used, which in the XI-XII centuries. existed along with liturgical books. It was used by the compiler of the Tale and the Life of Basil the New - a Greek hagiographic work.

Internal structure: The PVL consists of an undated "introduction" and annual articles of varying length, content, and origin. These articles may have the character of 1) brief factual notes about a particular event, 2) an independent short story, 3) part of a single narrative, spaced apart in different years when timing the original text that did not have a weather grid, and 4) “annual” articles of a complex composition .

8. Chronicle 12-15 century. The main centers, features of the content of chronicles.

Local chronicle XII-XIII centuries. South Russian Chronicle Sources for the study of South Russian chronicle XII-XIII centuries. serve, first of all, Ipatievsky (beginning of the 15th century), close to him Khlebnikovsky (16th century), Pogodinsky (17th century), Ermolaevsky (late 17th - early 18th centuries) and other lists, as well as lists of Voskresenskaya and the main Editions of the Sofia I chronicles. In the XII-XIII centuries. in the south of Russia, chronicling was systematically carried out only in Kyiv and Pereyaslavl South. In Chernigov, there were only family princely chroniclers.

The Kiev Chronicle, on the one hand, seemed to continue the tradition of the Tale of Bygone Years. On the other hand, it lost its national character and turned into a family chronicle of the Kievan princes. It was carried on continuously throughout the 12th century.

Chronicle of the North-East Sources for the study of the chronicle of the Russian North-East for the XII-XIII centuries. include the Radzivilov (end of the 15th century) and the Moscow Academic (XV century) lists dating back to a common protographer (the Radzivilov Chronicle), the Chronicler of Pereyaslavl of Suzdal (the list of the 60s of the 15th century) and the Laurentian list of 1377. According to M. D. Priselkov, the central idea of ​​this (grand-princely Vladimir vault of 1281) vault was to prove the priority of Vladimir “among the allied feudal Russian principalities (as opposed to the Galician vault of the late 13th century).

The Vladimir-Suzdal chronicle as an independent branch originates from 1158, when continuous local records began to rush in Vladimir-on-Klyazma at the court of Andrei Bogolyubsky. In 1177 they were merged with separate annalistic notes by Yuri Dolgoruky into a grand ducal code, which, moreover, relied on the episcopal South Russian (Pereyaslavl) Chronicler. It was continued by the annalistic code of 1193, which also included materials from the princely Chronicler of Pereyaslavl South. In 1212, on its basis, an obverse vault was created (that is, decorated with miniatures, copies of which can now be seen in the Radzivilov list) of the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Until that moment, the chronicle was probably conducted at the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. Then the annalistic code acquired secular features, which is associated with the deterioration of relations between Prince Yuri of Vladimir and Bishop Ivan. Most likely, the compilation of the code of 1212 was entrusted to a person close to the Grand Duke. Subsequently, as a result of the Mongol invasion and the ruin of Vladimir, the Vladimir annals proper faded.

The Rostov chronicle continued the traditions of the Vladimir grand ducal vaults. Here already at the beginning of the XIII century. a local princely chronicler was created, in many respects similar to the Vladimir one. In 1239, a continuation of the grand-princely Vladimir code appeared, which also took the news of the Rostov code of 1207.

The basis of the northeastern chronicle tradition was the idea of ​​the transition of the center of the Russian land from Kyiv along Vladimir-on-Klyazma.

Novgorod chronicle The sources of studying the Novgorod chronicle of the XII-XIII centuries. serve as the Synodal List (XIII - the first third of the XIV century) of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the senior edition), as well as the lists Commission (XV century), Academic (second half of the XV century) and Troitsky (second half of the XV century), combined into her junior version. Their analysis allows us to establish that in Novgorod from the middle of the XI century. the chronicle tradition was not interrupted until the 16th century.

History of the chronicle of Novgorod the Great. Around 1136, apparently in connection with the expulsion of Prince Vsevolod from Novgorod, at the direction of Bishop Nifont, the Sophia Sovereign Code was created, reworking the Novgorod princely chronicle, which was conducted from the middle of the 11th century. Another source was also the Kyiv Initial Code of 1096, which formed the basis of the Novgorod chronicle. It is possible that the well-known cleric of Novgorod Sophia Kirik participated in the creation of the first sovereign arch. At the beginning of the XIII century. a new dominion emerged. Its creation was somehow connected with the fall of Constantinople in 1204. In any case, it ended with a story about the capture of the Byzantine capital by the Crusaders.

By the XIV century. include the first chronicles that claim to cover the history of all Russian lands (although in fact they displayed, as a rule, only the events that took place in North-Eastern Russia). Sources for studying the origin of the all-Russian chronicle are, first of all, the Laurentian and Trinity chronicles.

Due to the fact that in 1305 the Prince of Tver, Mikhail Yaroslavich, became the Grand Duke of Vladimir, the center of the Grand Duke's annals moved to Tver, where, probably, as early as the end of the 13th century. records begin to be made. The creation here of the grand ducal code of the beginning of the XIV century coincided with the assimilation of a new title by Mikhail Yaroslavich - “ Grand Duke of all Russia."

As a general Russian, the code included not only local, but also Novgorod, Ryazan, Smolensk, South Russian news and had a clear anti-Horde orientation. The code of 1305 became the main source of the Laurentian Chronicle. With the transfer of the label to the great reign in the hands of Ivan Kalita, the tradition of all-Russian chronicle writing, which originated in Tver, passes to Moscow. Here, approximately in 1389, the Great Russian Chronicler was created. An analysis of it shows that under Prince Yuri Danilovich in Moscow, apparently, no chronicle records were kept. Separate fragments of such a work (family chronicle) are noted at the Moscow princely court only from 1317. A little later, from 1327, the chronicle began to be conducted at the metropolitan see, transferred a year before to Moscow. Apparently, since 1327 a unified chronicle has been continuously kept here.

Most likely, the chronicle in that period was conducted at the metropolitan court. This is indicated by the nature of the annual entries: the chronicler is much more attentive to the changes on the metropolitan throne, and not on the Grand Duke's. However, this is quite understandable. Let's not forget that it was the metropolitans, and not the grand dukes, who traditionally had at that time in their titles the mention of "all Russia", which (at least nominally) was subordinate to them. Nevertheless, the code that appeared was not actually a metropolitan, but a grand-prince-metropolitan. This collection (according to the dating of A.A. Shakhmatov - 1390), probably, was called the Great Russian Chronicler. It should be noted, however, that the horizons of the compilers of the new code were unusually narrow. The Moscow chronicler saw much less than the compilers of the Tver grand ducal codes. However, according to Ya.S. Lurie, the so-called Great Russian Chronicler, in his origin could also be from Tver.

The next stage in the development of the all-Russian chronicle in the existing independent lands and principalities was associated with the strengthening of the role and influence of the metropolitan of "All Russia". This was the result of a long confrontation between the Grand Duke of Moscow and the church during the reign of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. The idea of ​​creating a new annalistic code is associated with the name of Metropolitan Cyprian. It included the history of the Russian lands that were part of the Russian metropolis from ancient times. It was supposed to include, if possible, materials from all local annalistic traditions, including individual annalistic records on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first all-Russian metropolitan code was the so-called Trinity Chronicle of 1408, which was reflected mainly in the Simeonovsky list.

After the invasion of Yedigey and in connection with the ensuing struggle for the Moscow throne between the heirs of Dmitry Donskoy, the center of all-Russian chronicle writing again moved to Tver. As a result of the strengthening of Tver in the 30s of the XV century. (according to the latest dating by Ya.S. Lurie - in 1412), a new edition of the code of 1408 appeared here, which was directly reflected in the Rogozhsky chronicler, Nikonovskaya and (indirectly) Simeonovskaya annals. An important stage in the formation of the all-Russian chronicle was the compilation of a code, which formed the basis large group chronicle lists combined into the Sofia I and Novgorod IV chronicles. The calculation of years, placed under 6888 (1380), allowed L.L. Shakhmatov to determine the date of its creation as 1448. The compiler of the code in 1448 reflected the changed outlook of the reader of his time. Under his pen, the idea of ​​​​the need to unite the Moscow lands with Rostov, Suzdal, Tver and Novgorod the Great for a joint fight against the "nasty" took shape quite clearly. The chronicler “for the first time raised this question not from the narrow Moscow (or Tver) point of view, but from the all-Russian point of view (using in this case the South Russian chronicle).

The vault of 1448 did not reach us in its original form. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it involuntarily, due to the time of its creation, had a compromise character, sometimes paradoxically uniting Moscow, Tver and Suzdal points of view.

Nevertheless, it formed the basis of almost all Russian chronicles of the subsequent period (primarily Sophia I and Novgorod IV), which in one way or another processed it.

Translation literature of the 11th-12th centuries

According to the chronicle, immediately after the adoption of Christianity by Russia, Vladimir Svyatoslavich “began to take deliberate children from [noble people] children, and start giving book learning” (PVL, p. 81). For training, books were brought from Bulgaria. Old Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) and Old Russian languages ​​are so close that Russia was able to use the ready-made Old Slavonic alphabet, and Bulgarian books, being formally foreign languages, essentially did not require translation. This greatly facilitated the acquaintance of Russia with the monuments of Byzantine literature, which for the most part penetrated into Russia in Bulgarian translation.

Later, during the time of Yaroslav the Wise, in Russia they begin to translate directly from Greek. The chronicle reports that Yaroslav collected “many scribes and translations from Greek into Slovenian writing. And many books have been written off” (PVL, p. 102). The intensity of translation activity is confirmed both by direct data (lists of translated monuments that have come down to us or references to them in original works) and indirectly: the influx of translated literature at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries. was not only a consequence of the established cultural ties of Russia with Bulgaria or Byzantium, but above all was caused by an acute need, a kind of state necessity: having adopted Christianity, Russia needed literature for worship, for familiarization with philosophical

and ethical doctrines of the new religion, ritual and legal practices of church and monastic life. 6

For the activities of the Christian Church in Russia, liturgical books were needed first of all. The obligatory set of books that were necessary for worship in each individual church included the Aprakos Gospel, the Aprakos Apostle, the Missal, the Trebnik, the Psalter, the Lenten Triodion, the Colored Triodion, and the Common Menaion. 7 Considering that in the annals in the narrative of the events of the IX-XI centuries. 88 cities are mentioned (data from B.V. Sapunov), each of which had from a few units to several dozen churches, then the number of books necessary for their functioning will amount to many hundreds. 8 Only a few copies of manuscripts from the 11th-12th centuries have come down to us, but they confirm our ideas about the above repertoire liturgical books. 9

If the transfer of liturgical books to Russian soil was dictated by the needs of the church service, and their repertoire was regulated by the canon of liturgical practice, then in relation to other genres of Byzantine literature one can assume some selectivity.

But it is here that we encounter an interesting phenomenon, which D.S. Likhachev described as the phenomenon of “transplantation”: Byzantine literature in its individual genres not only influenced Slavic literature, but through it on Old Russian, but was - of course, in some its part - simply transferred to Russia. ten

Patristics. First of all, this applies to Byzantine patristic literature. 11 In Russia, the works of the "fathers of the church", theologians and preachers were known and enjoyed high authority: John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus,

Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Athanasius of Alexandria and others.

Homilet writers (authors of teachings and sermons) were highly valued throughout the Russian Middle Ages. Their creations not only helped shape the moral ideals of the Christian world, but at the same time made us think about the properties of the human character, drew attention to various features of the human psyche, and influenced other literary genres with their experience of “human studies”. 12

Of the Homilet writers, John Chrysostom (d. 407) enjoyed the greatest authority. In his work, “the assimilation of the traditions of ancient culture by the Christian church has reached complete and classical completeness. He developed a style of preaching prose, which absorbed an incalculable wealth of expressive rhetoric techniques and brought to amazing expressiveness by virtuosity of finishing. 13 The Teachings of John Chrysostom were included in collections starting from the 11th century. 14 From the XII century. the list "Zlatostruya" has been preserved, containing mainly the "words" of Chrysostom, several "words" were included in the famous Assumption collection at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries.

In the lists of the XI-XII centuries. translations of other Byzantine homiletes have also been preserved - Gregory the Theologian, Cyril of Jerusalem, the "Ladder" of John of the Ladder, 15 Pandects of Antiochus and Pandects of Nikon Montenegrin. 16 Sayings and aphorisms of the "fathers of the church" (along with aphorisms extracted from the writings of ancient authors) made up a collection popular in Ancient Russia - "Bee" (the oldest list of the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries). In "Izbornik 1076" a significant place is occupied by "Stoslovets" Gennady - a kind of "moral code" of a Christian. 17

The works of the homiletic genre did not hide their instructive, didactic function. Addressing directly to readers and listeners, Homilet writers sought to convince

with their logic of their reasoning, they extolled the virtues and condemned the vices, promised the righteous eternal bliss, and threatened the negligent and sinners with divine punishment.

Lives of the Saints. Monuments of the hagiographic genre - the lives of the saints - also educated and instructed, but the main means of persuasion was not so much the word - sometimes indignant and denouncing, sometimes insinuatingly instructive, but a living image. The action-packed narrative about the life of a righteous man, willingly using the plot and plot devices of the Hellenistic adventure novel, could not but interest the medieval reader. The hagiographer turned not so much to his mind, but to his feelings and ability to vivid imagination. Therefore, the most fantastic episodes - the intervention of angels or demons, miracles performed by saints - were sometimes described with detailed details that helped the reader to see and imagine what was happening. Sometimes the hagiographies reported accurate geographic or topographical signs, the names of real historical figures were named - all this also created the illusion of authenticity, was intended to convince the reader of the veracity of the story and thereby give the hagiographies the authority of a “historical” narrative.

Lives can be divided into two plot types - lives-martyrias, i.e., stories about the torment of fighters for the faith in pagan times, and lives that told about saints who voluntarily assumed the feat of seclusion or foolishness, distinguished by extraordinary piety, poverty-loving etc.

An example of the life of the first type is the Life of St. Irene. 18 It tells how Irene's father, the pagan king Licinius, at the instigation of a demon, decides to destroy his Christian daughter; according to his sentence, she should be crushed by a chariot, but a miracle happens: the horse, having broken the traces, pounces on the king, bites off his hand and returns to former place. Irina is subjected to various sophisticated tortures by King Zedekiy, but each time, thanks to divine intercession, she remains alive and unharmed. The princess is thrown into a ditch, teeming with poisonous snakes, but the "reptiles" immediately "press" against the walls of the ditch and die. They try to saw the saint alive, but the saw breaks and the executioners perish. She is tied to the mill wheel, but the water "by the command of God will flow around", etc.

Another type of life is, for example, the legend of Alexei the Man of God. Alexei, a pious and virtuous young man, voluntarily renounces wealth, honor, female

love. He leaves the house of his father - a wealthy Roman nobleman, a beautiful wife, barely married to her, distributes the money taken from the house to the poor, and for seventeen years lives on alms in the porch of the Church of the Virgin in Edessa. When the fame of his holiness spread everywhere, Alexei leaves Edessa and, after wandering, again finds himself in Rome. Unrecognized by anyone, he settles in his father's house, feeds at the same table with the beggars, whom the pious nobleman gives alms daily, patiently endures the bullying and beatings of his father's servants. Another seventeen years pass. Alexei dies, and only then will the parents and the widow recognize their missing son and husband. 19

Pateriki. Patericons were widely known in Kievan Rus - collections short stories about monks. The themes of patericon legends are quite traditional. Most often these are stories about monks who became famous for their asceticism or humility. So, in one legend it is told how the elders come to the hermit for a conversation with him, thirsting for guidance from him. But the recluse is silent, and when asked about the reason for his silence, he answers that he sees the image of the crucified Christ in front of him day and night. “This is the best instruction for us!” - exclaim the elders.

The hero of another story is a stylite. 20 He is so alien to pride that he lays out even alms for the poor on the steps of his refuge, and does not give them from hand to hand, claiming that it is not he, but the Mother of God who gives gifts to the suffering.

The patericon tells of a young nun who gouges out her own eyes after learning that their beauty aroused the lust of a young man.

The omnipotence of prayer, the ability of ascetics to work miracles are the plots of another group of patericon short stories. The righteous old man is accused of adultery, but through his prayer, the twelve-day-old baby, when asked “who is his father”, points his finger at the real father. At the prayer of a pious shipbuilder, on a hot day, rain pours over the deck, delighting travelers suffering from heat and thirst. A lion, having met a monk on a narrow mountain path, stands up on its hind legs to give it way, etc.

If the righteous are accompanied by divine help, then the sinners in the paterinic legends will face a terrible and, which is especially characteristic, not a posthumous, but an immediate punishment: the defiler

graves are gouged out by the revived dead man's eyes; the ship does not move from its place until a child-killer woman descends from its side into the boat, and the abyss immediately swallows the boat with the sinner; the servant, who planned to kill and rob his mistress, cannot leave the place and stabs himself.

Thus, a certain fantastic world is depicted in patericons, where the forces of good and evil are continuously fighting for the souls of people, where the righteous are not just pious, but exaltedly fanatical, where miracles are performed in the most everyday situations, where even wild animals confirm the omnipotence of faith with their behavior. The plots of translated patericons 21 influenced the work of Russian scribes: in Russian patericons and lives we will find direct analogies to episodes from Byzantine patericons.

Apocrypha. Apocrypha were also a favorite genre of Old Russian readers, the oldest translations of which also date back to the Kievan era. Apocrypha (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφα - “secret, hidden”) were works that tell about biblical characters or saints, but were not included in the circle of monuments revered as sacred scripture or officially recognized by the church. There were apocryphal gospels (for example, "The Gospel of Thomas", "The Gospel of Nicodemus"), lives ("The Life of St. Andrew the Fool", "The Life of Basil the New"), legends, prophecies, etc. 22 Apocrypha often contained more than detailed story about events or characters mentioned in canonical biblical books. There were apocryphal stories about Adam and Eve (for example, about Adam's second wife - Lilith, about the birds that taught Adam how to bury Abel 23), about the childhood of Moses (in particular, about testing the wisdom of the boy Moses by Pharaoh 24), about the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

The apocryphal “Walking of the Virgin through Torments” describes the suffering of sinners in hell, the “Tale of Agapius” tells about paradise - a wonderful garden, where “beds and a meal decorated with precious stones” are prepared for the righteous, birds sing around with “various voices”, and plumage they have gold, and scarlet, and scarlet, and blue, and green ...

Apocrypha often reflected heretical ideas about the present and future world, rose to complex philosophical problems. The apocrypha reflects the doctrine according to which God is opposed by a no less powerful antipode - Satan, the source of evil and the culprit of human disasters; so, according to one apocryphal legend, the human body was created by Satan, and God only “put” his soul into it. 25

The attitude of the orthodox church towards apocryphal literature was complex. The oldest indexes (lists) of “true and false books”, in addition to “true” books, distinguished between “secret”, “hidden” books, which were recommended to be read only by knowledgeable people, and “false” books, which were certainly forbidden to read, since they contained heretical views . However, in practice, it was almost impossible to separate the apocryphal stories from the stories found in the “true” books: apocryphal legends were reflected in the monuments that enjoyed the highest authority: in the chronicles, palaea, in collections used in worship (Teremonniki, Menaion). The attitude towards the apocrypha changed over time: some monuments popular in the past were subsequently banned and even destroyed, but, on the other hand, in the Great Menaion of the Cheti, created in the 16th century. Orthodox churchmen, as a set of literature recommended for reading, included many texts that were previously considered apocryphal.

Among the first translations carried out under Yaroslav the Wise or during subsequent decades, there were also monuments of Byzantine chronography. 26

Chronicle of George Amartol. Among them, the Chronicle of George Amartol was of the greatest importance for the history of Russian chronicle writing and chronography. The author, a Byzantine monk 27, outlined in his work the entire history of the world from Adam to the events of the middle of the 9th century. In addition to the events of biblical history, the "Chronicle" told about the kings of the East (Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius), Alexander the Great, about the Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Costantius Chlorus, and then about the Byzantine emperors, from Constantine the Great to Michael III. Still on Greek soil, the Chronicle was supplemented by an extract

from the "Chronicle of Simeon Logothetes", and the presentation in it was brought to the death of Emperor Romanus Lekapinus (he was deposed from the throne in 944, and died in 948). Despite its significant volume and breadth of historical range, Amartol's work presented world history in a peculiar perspective, primarily as church history. The author often introduces lengthy theological discourses into his exposition, scrupulously recounts debates at ecumenical councils, himself argues with heretics, denounces iconoclasm,28 and quite often replaces the description of events with discourses about them. Relatively detailed political history Byzantium we find only in the last part of the "Chronicle", setting out the events of the 9th - the first half of the 10th century. The "Chronicle of Amartol" was used in compiling a short chronographic code - "Chronograph according to the great presentation", which in turn was involved in compiling the "Initial Code", one of ancient monuments Russian annals (see below, p. 39). Then the "Chronicle" was again turned to when compiling the "Tale of Bygone Years"; it became part of the extensive ancient Russian chronographic codes - "The Hellenic Chronicler", "Russian Chronograph", etc. 29

Chronicle of John Malala. The Byzantine Chronicle, compiled in the 6th century, had a different character. Greekized Syrian John Malalas. Its author, according to the researcher of the monument, "set out to give a moralizing, in the spirit of Christian piety, instructive, and at the same time entertaining reading for a wide audience of readers and listeners." 30 In the Chronicle of Malala, ancient myths are retold in detail (about the birth of Zeus, about the struggle of the gods with the titans, myths about Dionysus, Orpheus, Daedalus and Icarus, Theseus and Ariadne, Oedipus); the fifth book of the Chronicle contains the story of the Trojan War. 31 Malala sets out in detail the history of Rome (especially the most ancient - from Romulus and Remus to Julius Caesar), a significant place is also given to the political history of Byzantium. In a word, the "Chronicle of Malala" successfully supplemented the presentation of Amartol, in particular, it was through this "Chronicle" that Kievan Rus could get acquainted with the myths of ancient Greece. Separate lists of the Slavic translation of the Chronicle of Malala have not reached us, we know it only as part of the extracts included in the Russian chronographic compilations

("Archive" and "Vilna" chronographs, both editions of "The Hellenic Chronicler", etc.). 32

History of the Jewish War of Josephus Flavius. Perhaps already in the middle of the XI century. in Russia was translated "History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius ​​- an exceptionally authoritative monument in Christian literature middle ages. 33 "History" was written between 75-79 AD. n. e. Joseph ben Mattafie, a contemporary and direct participant in the anti-Roman uprising in Judea, who then went over to the side of the Romans. The book of Joseph is a valuable historical source, although extremely tendentious, for the author very unequivocally condemns his fellow tribesmen, but on the other hand glorifies the military art and political wisdom of Vespasian and Titus Flavius. 34 At the same time, "History" is a brilliant literary monument. Josephus skillfully uses the techniques of storytelling, his presentation is replete with descriptions, dialogues, psychological characteristics; The "speech" of the characters in the "History" is built according to the laws of ancient declamations; even when talking about events, the author remains a refined stylist: he strives for a symmetrical construction of phrases, willingly resorts to rhetorical oppositions, skillfully constructed enumerations, etc. Sometimes it seems that for Flavius ​​the form of presentation is no less important than the subject itself, about which he writes.

The Old Russian translator understood and appreciated the literary merits of the “History”: he not only managed to preserve the refined style of the monument in translation, but in a number of cases enters into competition with the author, either spreading the descriptions with traditional stylistic formulas, or translating the indirect speech of the original into direct speech, or introducing comparisons or clarifications that make the narrative more lively and imaginative. The translation of the "History" is a convincing evidence of the high culture of the word among the scribes of Kievan Rus. 35

Alexandria. No later than the 12th century. an extensive narrative about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great was also translated from Greek - the so-called pseudo-Kallisthenov "Alexandria". 36 It is based on the Hellenistic novel, created, apparently,

in Alexandria in the II-I century. BC e., but later subjected to additions and revisions. Initial biographical narrative over time, it became more and more fictionalized, overgrown with legendary and fabulous motifs, gradually turning into an adventure novel typical of the Hellenistic era. One of these later versions of "Alexandria" was translated into Russia. 37

The real history of the actions of the famous commander is barely traced here, buried under layers of later traditions and legends. Alexander turns out to be no longer the son of the Macedonian king, but the illegitimate son of Olympias and the Egyptian sorcerer king Nektonav. The birth of a hero is accompanied by miraculous signs. Contrary to history, Alexander conquers Rome and Athens, boldly comes to Darius, posing as the Macedonian ambassador, negotiates with the queen of the Amazons, etc. mothers; the hero informs Olympias about the miracles he has seen: giant people, disappearing trees, fish that can be boiled in cold water, six-legged and three-eyed monsters, etc. Nevertheless, ancient Russian scribes apparently perceived "Alexandria" as a historical narrative, about as evidenced by the inclusion of its full text in the composition of the chronographic codes. Regardless of how the novel about Alexander was perceived in Russia, the very fact that ancient Russian readers were acquainted with this most popular plot of the Middle Ages 38 was of great importance: ancient Russian literature was thus introduced into the sphere of common European cultural interests, enriching their knowledge of the history of the ancient world.

The Tale of Akira the Wise. If "Alexandria" genetically ascended to a historical narrative and told about a historical character, then "The Tale of Akira the Wise", also translated in Kievan Rus in the 11th - early 12th centuries, is by its origin a purely fictional monument - an ancient Assyrian legend of the 7th century. BC e. Researchers

they did not come to a single conclusion about the ways of penetration of the "Tale of Akira" into Russia: there are suggestions that it was translated from the Syriac 39 or from the Armenian original. 40 In Russia the Tale lived long life. Its oldest edition (apparently a translation very close to the original) has been preserved in four lists of the 15th-17th centuries. 41 In the XVI or early XVII century. The story has been radically revised. Its new editions (Short and ascending to it Widespread), which have largely lost their original oriental flavor, but having acquired the features of a Russian folk tale, were extremely popular in the 17th century, and in the Old Believer environment the story continued to exist until our time. 42

In the oldest version of the Russian translation of the Tale, it was told how Akir, the wise adviser to King Sinagripp, was slandered by his adopted son Anadan and sentenced to death penalty. But Akira's devoted friend, Nabuginael, saved and managed to securely shelter the convict. Some time later Egyptian pharaoh demanded that King Sinagripp send him a wise man who could solve the riddles proposed by the pharaoh and build a palace "between heaven and earth." For this, the pharaoh will pay Sinagripp "a three-year tribute." If the envoy of Sinagripp does not cope with the task, tribute will be exacted in favor of Egypt. All close associates of Sinagrippa, including Anadan, who has now become Akir's successor as the first noble, admit that they are unable to fulfill the demand of the pharaoh. Then Nabuginael informs the desperate Sinagripp that Akir is alive. The happy king forgives the disgraced sage and sends him under the guise of a simple groom to the pharaoh. Aqir solves the riddles and then cunningly avoids the last task - the construction of the palace. To do this, Akir teaches the eagles to lift a basket into the air; the boy sitting in it shouts for “stone and lime” to be served to him: he is ready to start building the palace. But no one can deliver the necessary cargo to the skies, and the pharaoh is forced to admit defeat. Akir returns home with a "three-year tribute", once again becomes close to Sinagripp, and the unmasked Anadan dies a terrible death.

The wisdom (or cunning) of a hero who frees himself from the need to perform an impossible task is a traditional fairy tale motif. 43 And it is characteristic that, despite all the alterations of the Tale on Russian soil, it was the story of how Akir guesses the riddles of the pharaoh and, by wise counterclaims, forces him to renounce his claims, 44 enjoyed invariable popularity, it was constantly revised and supplemented with new details. 45

The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph. If the "Tale of Akira the Wise" in many of its elements resembles a fairy tale, then another translated story - about Barlaam and Joasaph - closely approaches the hagiographic genre, although in reality its plot is based on the legendary biography of the Buddha, which came to Russia through Byzantine intermediary.

The Tale tells how Prince Joasaph, the son of the Indian pagan king Abner, becomes a Christian ascetic under the influence of the hermit Varlaam.

However, the plot, potentially replete with "conflict situations", turns out to be extremely smoothed out in the Tale: the author seems to be in a hurry to eliminate the obstacles that arise or simply "forget" about them. So, for example, Avenir imprisons young Joasaph in a secluded palace precisely so that the boy could not hear about the ideas of Christianity and did not learn about the existence of old age, illness, and death in the world. Nevertheless, Joasaph nevertheless leaves the palace and immediately meets a sick old man, and the Christian hermit Barlaam enters his chambers without any special obstacles. The pagan sage Nahor, according to the plan of Abner, in a dispute with the imaginary Barlaam, should debunk the ideas of Christianity, but suddenly, quite unexpectedly, he himself begins to denounce paganism. They bring to Joasaph beautiful princess, she must persuade the young ascetic to sensual pleasures, but Joasaph easily resists the charms of the beauty and easily convinces her to become a chaste Christian. There are a lot of dialogues in the Tale, but all of them are devoid of both individuality and naturalness: Varlaam speaks equally grandiloquently and “learnedly”,

and Joasaph, and the pagan wise men. Before us is like a lengthy philosophical debate, the participants of which are as conditional as the participants in the conversation in the genre of "philosophical dialogue". Nevertheless, The Tale of Varlaam was widely circulated; especially popular were the parables-apologists included in it, illustrating the ideals of Christian piety and asceticism: some of the parables were included in collections of both mixed and permanent composition (for example, in Izmaragd), and many dozens of their lists are known. 46

Devgenian act. It is believed that even in Kievan Rus, a translation of the Byzantine epic poem about Digenis Akritas was carried out (warriors guarding the borders of the Byzantine Empire were called Akritas). The time of translation is indicated, according to the researchers, by the data of the language - lexical parallels of the story (in the Russian version it was called "Devgeny's deed") and literary monuments of Kievan Rus, 47 as well as the mention of Devgeny Akrit in "The Life of Alexander Nevsky". But the comparison with Akritus appears only in the third (according to the classification of Yu. K. Begunov) edition of the monument, created probably in the middle of the 15th century, 48 and cannot serve as an argument in favor of the existence of the translation in Kievan Rus. Significant plot differences between the “Deeds of Devgenius” and the Greek versions of the epic about Digenis Akrita known to us leave open the question of whether these differences were the result of a radical reworking of the original during translation, whether they arose in the process of later alterations of the text on Russian soil, or whether the Russian text corresponds to the one that did not come down to us. before us the Greek version.

Devgeny (this is how the Greek name Digenis was rendered in the Russian translation) - a typical epic hero. He has extraordinary strength (even as a youth, Devgeny strangled with bare hands bear, and, having matured, destroys thousands of enemy soldiers in battles), he is handsome, knightly magnanimous. significant place

in the Russian version of the monument there is a story about the marriage of Devgeny to the daughter of a proud and stern Stratig. 49 This episode has all the characteristic features of an "epic matchmaking": Devgeny sings a love song under the girl's windows; she, admiring the beauty and prowess of the young man, agrees to run away with him, Devgeny takes away his beloved in broad daylight, defeats her father and brothers in battle, then reconciles with them; the parents of the young arrange a multi-day magnificent wedding.

Devgeny is akin to the heroes of translated chivalric novels that spread in Russia in the 17th century. (such as Bova Korolevich, Eruslan, Vasily the Golden-haired), and, apparently, this proximity to the literary taste of the era contributed to the revival of the handwritten tradition of the "Acts": all three lists that have come down to us date from the 17th-18th centuries. fifty

So, Kievan Rus in a short period of time acquired a rich and varied literature. A whole system of genres was transferred to the new soil: chronicles, historical stories, lives, patericons, "words", teachings. The significance of this phenomenon is increasingly being studied and comprehended in our science. 51 It has been established that the system of genres of Byzantine or Old Bulgarian literature was not completely transferred to Russia: Old Russian scribes preferred certain genres and rejected others. At the same time, genres arose in Russia that had no analogy in “model literature”: the Russian chronicle is not similar to the Byzantine chronicle, and the chronicles themselves are used as material for independent and original chronographic compilations; completely original "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Prayer of Daniil the Sharpener" and "The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan". Translated works not only enriched Russian scribes with historical or natural science information, introduced them to the plots of ancient myths and epic legends, they represented at the same time different types of plots, styles, manners of narration, being a kind of literary school for ancient Russian

scribes who were able to get acquainted with the ponderous verbose Amartol and the laconic Malala, stingy with details and details, with the brilliant stylist Flavius ​​and the inspired rhetorician John Chrysostom, with the heroic world of the epic about Devgenia and the exotic fantasy of "Alexandria". It was rich material for reading and writing experience, an excellent school of literary language; it helped the Old Russian scribes to visualize the possible variants of styles, to refine their hearing and speech on the colossal lexical richness of Byzantine and Old Slavonic literatures.

But it would be a mistake to believe that translated literature was the only and main school of ancient Russian scribes. In addition to translated literature, they used the rich traditions of oral folk art, and above all - the traditions of the Slavic epic. It's not a guess or a reconstruction modern researchers: as we will see later, folk epic traditions are recorded in early chronicles and represent a completely exceptional artistic phenomenon that has no analogy in the monuments of translated literature known to us. Slavic epic legends are distinguished by a special manner of constructing the plot, a peculiar interpretation of the character of the characters, and their style, which differs from the style of monumental historicism, which was formed mainly under the influence of monuments of translated literature.

The "historical memory" of the East Slavic tribes extended several centuries in depth: from generation to generation, legends and legends were passed on about the settlement of Slavic tribes, about the clashes of the Slavs with the Avars ("frames"), about the founding of Kyiv, about the glorious deeds of the first Kyiv princes, about distant campaigns Kiya, about the wisdom of the prophetic Oleg, about the cunning and decisive Olga, about the warlike and noble Svyatoslav.

In the XI century. next to the historical epic there is chronicle writing. It was the annals that were destined for several centuries, up to the time of Peter the Great, to become not just a weather record of current events, but one of the leading literary genres, in the depths of which the Russian plot narrative developed, and at the same time a journalistic genre, sensitively responding to the political demands of its time.

The study of chronicles of the XI-XII centuries. presents considerable difficulties: the oldest of the chronicles that have come down to us date back to the 13th (the first part of the Novgorod first chronicle of the older version) or to the end of the 14th century. (Laurentian chronicle). But thanks to the fundamental research of A. A. Shakhmatov,

M. D. Priselkova and D. S. Likhachev 52 have now created a fairly well-founded hypothesis about the initial stage of Russian chronicle writing, which will undoubtedly be supplemented and clarified over time, but which is unlikely to change in essence.

According to this hypothesis, the chronicle originates in the time of Yaroslav the Wise. 53 At this time, Christianized Russia began to be weary of Byzantine tutelage and sought to justify its right to church independence, which was invariably combined with political independence, for Byzantium was inclined to consider all Christian states as the spiritual flock of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and as a kind of vassals of the Byzantine Empire. It is precisely this that Yaroslav's resolute actions oppose: he seeks the establishment of a metropolia in Kyiv (which raises the church authority of Russia), 54 seeks the canonization of the first Russian saints - princes Boris and Gleb. In this situation, apparently, the first historical work, the forerunner of the future chronicle, is being created - a set of stories about the spread of Christianity in Russia. Kievan scribes argued that the history of Russia repeats the history of other great powers: "divine grace" descended on Russia in the same way as once upon Rome and Byzantium; in Russia there were forerunners of Christianity - for example, Princess Olga, who was baptized in Constantinople in the days of the convinced pagan Svyatoslav; there were their own martyrs - a Christian Varangian, who did not give his son to "slaughter" to idols, and the prince-brothers Boris and Gleb, who died, but did not violate the Christian precepts of brotherly love and obedience to the "eldest". There was also in Russia its “Equal-to-the-Apostles” prince Vladimir, who baptized Russia and thereby equaled the great Constantine, who declared Christianity the state religion of Byzantium. To substantiate this idea, according to the assumption of D.S. Likhachev, a set of traditions about the emergence of Christianity in Russia was compiled. It includes stories about the baptism and death of Olga, a legend about the first Russian martyrs - the Varangian Christians, a legend about the baptism of Russia (including the "Speech of the Philosopher", in which short form Christian

the concept of world history), the legend of the princes Boris and Gleb and extensive praise to Yaroslav the Wise under 1037. All six of these works "reveal their belonging to one hand ... the closest relationship between them: compositional, stylistic and ideological." 55 This set of articles (which D.S. Likhachev proposed to conditionally call “The Tale of the Spread of Christianity in Russia”) was compiled, in his opinion, in the first half of the 1940s. 11th century scribes of the Kyiv Metropolis.

Probably, at the same time, the first Russian chronographic code was created in Kyiv - "Chronograph according to the great exposition." He represented summary world history (with a clearly expressed interest in the history of the church), compiled on the basis of Byzantine chronicles - "Chronicles of George Amartol" and "Chronicles of John Malala"; it is possible that already at that time in Russia other translated monuments were becoming known, outlining world history or containing prophecies about the coming “end of the world”: “The Revelation of Methodius of Patara”, “Interpretations” of Hippolytus on the books of the prophet Daniel, “The Tale of Epiphanius of Cyprus about six days of creation, etc.

The next stage in the development of Russian chronicle writing falls on the 60-70s. 11th century and is associated with the activities of the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nikon.

It was Nikon who added to the "Tale of the Spread of Christianity in Russia" the legends about the first Russian princes and stories about their campaigns against Constantinople. It is possible that Nikon also introduced the “Korsun legend” into the chronicle (according to which Vladimir was baptized not in Kyiv, but in Korsun), and finally, the chronicle owes the same Nikon the inclusion of the so-called Varangian legend in it. This legend reported that the princes of Kyiv allegedly descended from the Varangian prince Rurik, invited to Russia to stop the internecine strife of the Slavs. The inclusion of the legend in the chronicle had its own meaning: by the authority of legend, Nikon tried to convince his contemporaries of the unnaturalness of internecine wars, of the need for all princes to obey the Grand Duke of Kyiv - the heir and descendant of Rurik. 56 Finally, according to the researchers, it was Nikon who gave the chronicle the form of weather records.

Initial summary. Around 1095, a new annalistic code was created, which A. A. Shakhmatov proposed to call "Initial". Since the creation of the “Initial Code”, it becomes possible

proper textual study of ancient chronicles. A. A. Shakhmatov drew attention to the fact that the description of events up to the beginning of the XII century. different in the Laurentian, Radzivilov, Moscow-Academic and Ipatiev Chronicles, on the one hand, and in the Novgorod First Chronicle, on the other. This gave him the opportunity to establish that the Novgorod First Chronicle reflected the previous stage of chronicle writing - the "Initial Code", and the rest of the named chronicles included a revision of the "Initial Code", a new chronicle monument - "The Tale of Bygone Years". 57

The compiler of the "Initial Code" continued the chronicle description of the events of 1073-1095, giving his work, especially in this part, supplemented by him, a clearly journalistic character: he reproached the princes for internecine wars, complained that they did not care about the defense of the Russian land, do not listen to the advice of “smart men”.

The Tale of Bygone Years. At the beginning of the XII century. The “Initial Code” was again revised: the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, a scribe with a broad historical outlook and great literary talent (he also wrote “The Life of Boris and Gleb” and “The Life of Theodosius of the Caves”) creates a new chronicle code - “The Tale of Bygone Years ". Nestor set himself a significant task: not only to state the events turn XI-XII centuries, of which he was an eyewitness, but also to completely rework the story of the beginning of Russia - “where did the Russian land come from, who in Kyiv began first to reign,” as he himself formulated this task in the title of his work (PVL, p. 9).

Nestor introduces the history of Russia into the mainstream of world history. He begins his chronicle by outlining the biblical legend about the division of the land between the sons of Noah, while placing the Slavs in the list of peoples ascending to the Chronicle of Amartol on the banks of the Danube). Nestor slowly and thoroughly talks about the territory occupied by the Slavs, about the Slavic tribes and their past, gradually focusing the attention of readers on one of these tribes - the meadows, on the land of which Kyiv arose, the city that in his time became the "mother of Russian cities". Nestor clarifies and develops the Varangian concept of the history of Russia: Askold and Dir, referred to in the "Initial Code" as "some" Varangian princes, are now called the "boyars" of Rurik, it is they who are credited with a campaign against Byzantium at the time

Emperor Michael; Oleg, referred to in the "Initial Code" as governor of Igor, in "The Tale of Bygone Years" "returned" (in accordance with history) his princely dignity, but it is emphasized that it is Igor who is the direct heir of Rurik, and Oleg - a relative of Rurik - reigned only in the years of Igor's infancy.

Nestor is even more of a historian than his predecessors. He tries to arrange the maximum of events known to him on the scale of absolute chronology, draws on documents for his narrative (texts of treaties with Byzantium), uses fragments from the Chronicle of Georgy Amartol and Russian historical legends (for example, the story of Olga's fourth revenge, the legend of the "Belgorod jelly "and about the young man-kozhemyak). “We can safely say,” D.S. Likhachev writes about Nestor’s work, “that never before or later, until the 16th century, did Russian historical thought rise to such a height of scientific inquisitiveness and literary skill.” 58

Around 1116, on behalf of Vladimir Monomakh, The Tale of Bygone Years was revised by the abbot of the Vydubitsky monastery (near Kyiv) Sylvester. In this new (second) edition of the Tale, the interpretation of the events of 1093-1113 was changed: they were now presented with a clear tendency to glorify the deeds of Monomakh. In particular, the story about the blinding of Vasilko Terebovlsky was introduced into the text of the Tale (in the article of 1097), for Monomakh acted as a champion of justice and brotherly love in the inter-princely strife of these years.

Finally, in 1118, The Tale of Bygone Years underwent another revision, carried out at the direction of Prince Mstislav, the son of Vladimir Monomakh. The narrative was continued until 1117, some articles for earlier years were changed. We call this edition of The Tale of Bygone Years the third edition. 59 Such are the modern ideas about the history of ancient chronicles.

As already mentioned, only relatively late lists of annals have been preserved, in which the mentioned ancient codes were reflected. Thus, the “Initial Code” was preserved in the Novgorod First Chronicle (lists of the 13th-14th and 15th centuries), the second edition of the Tale of Bygone Years is best represented by the Lavrentiev (1377) and Radzivilov (15th century) chronicles, and the third edition came to us as part of the Ipatiev Chronicle. Through the "Tver vault of 1305" - common source Lavrentiev and Trinity chronicles - "The Tale of Bygone Years" of the second edition became part of the majority of Russian chronicles of the 15th-16th centuries.

Since the middle of the XIX century. researchers have repeatedly noted the high literary skill of Russian chroniclers. 60 But private observations on the style of chronicles, sometimes quite deep and fair, were replaced by holistic ideas only relatively recently in the works of D. S. Likhachev 61 and I. P. Eremin. 62

Thus, in the article “The Kyiv Chronicle as a Literary Monument”, I. P. Eremin draws attention to the different literary nature of the various components of the chronicle text: weather records, chronicle stories and chronicle stories. In the latter, according to the researcher, the chronicler resorted to a special "hagiographic", idealizing manner of narration.

D. S. Likhachev showed that the difference stylistic devices that we find in the annals is explained primarily by the origin and specifics of the annalistic genre: in the annals, articles created by the chronicler himself, telling about the events of his contemporary political life, coexist with fragments from epic traditions and legends that have their own special style, a special manner of storytelling. In addition, the "style of the era" had a significant influence on the stylistic devices of the chronicler. It is necessary to dwell on this last phenomenon in more detail.

It is extremely difficult to characterize the "style of the era", i.e., some general trends in worldview, literature, art, norms of social life, etc. 63 Nevertheless, in the literature of the XI-XIII centuries. The phenomenon that D.S. Likhachev called “literary etiquette” manifests itself quite thoroughly. Literary etiquette - this is the refraction in the literary work of the "style of the era", the features of the worldview and ideology. Literary etiquette, as it were, defines the tasks of literature and already - its themes, principles of construction literary plots

and, finally, the visual means themselves, highlighting the circle of the most preferred speech turns, images, metaphors.

The concept of literary etiquette is based on the idea of ​​an unshakable and orderly world, where all the deeds of people are, as it were, predetermined, where for each person there is a special standard of his behavior. Literature, on the other hand, must accordingly assert and demonstrate this static, “normative” world. This means that its subject should primarily be the depiction of "normative" situations: if a chronicle is written, then the focus is on descriptions of the prince's accession to the throne, battles, diplomatic actions, the death and burial of the prince; moreover, in this latter case, a peculiar summary of his life is summed up in an obituary description. Similarly, the hagiographies must necessarily tell about the childhood of the saint, about his path to asceticism, about his “traditional” (precisely traditional, almost obligatory for every saint) virtues, about the miracles he performed during life and after death, etc.

At the same time, each of these situations (in which the hero of the chronicle or life most clearly appears in his role - a prince or a saint) should have been depicted in similar, traditional speech turns: it was always said about the parents of the saint that they were pious, about the child - the future saint, that he shunned games with his peers, the battle was narrated in traditional formulas such as: “and there was a slaughter of evil”, “others were cut, and others were killed” (i.e., some were cut down with swords, others were captured), etc. 64

That chronicle style, which most corresponded to the literary etiquette of the 11th-13th centuries, was called by D.S. Likhachev “the style of monumental historicism”. 65 But at the same time, it cannot be argued that the entire chronicle narrative is sustained in this style. If we understand style as a general characteristic of the author's attitude to the subject of his narration, then we can undoubtedly speak of the all-embracing nature of this style in the annals - the chronicler really selects for his narration only the most important events and deeds of state importance. If, on the other hand, one demands from the style and indispensable observance of certain linguistic features (that is, stylistic devices proper), then it turns out that far from every line of the annals will be an illustration of the style of monumental historicism. First, because the variety

phenomena of reality - and the chronicle could not help but correlate with it - could not fit into a previously invented scheme of "etiquette situations", and therefore we find the most striking manifestation of this style only in the description of traditional situations: in the image of the arrival of the prince "on the table", in the description battles, in obituaries, etc. Secondly, two genetically different layers of narrative coexist in the annals: along with the articles compiled by the chronicler, we also find fragments introduced by the chronicler into the text. Among them, a significant place is folk legends, legends, many of which are part of the "Tale of Bygone Years" and - albeit to a lesser extent - subsequent chronicles.

If the actual chronicle articles were a product of their time, bore the stamp of the “style of the era”, were sustained in the traditions of the style of monumental historicism, then the oral legends included in the chronicle reflected a different - epic tradition and, naturally, had a different stylistic character. The style of folk legends included in the chronicle was defined by D.S. Likhachev as the “epic style”. 66

"The Tale of Bygone Years", where the story of the events of our time is preceded by recollections of the deeds of the glorious princes of past centuries - Oleg the Prophet, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir, combines both of these styles.

In the style of monumental historicism, for example, a presentation of the events of the time of Yaroslav the Wise and his son, Vsevolod, is being conducted. Suffice it to recall the description of the battle on Alta (PVL, pp. 97-98), which brought Yaroslav victory over the "cursed" Svyatopolk, the murderer of Boris and Gleb: Svyatopolk came to the battlefield "heavily strong", Yaroslav also gathered "many howls, and left against him on Lto. Before the battle, Yaroslav prays to God and his slain brothers, asking for their help "against this murderer and the proud." And now the troops moved towards each other, "and covering the field of Letskoe wallpaper from a multitude of howls." At dawn (“the rising sun”) “there was a slaughter of evil, as if it had not been in Russia, and by the hands of it I was sechahus, and stepping down three times, as if in the valley [valleys, hollows] of the mother-in-law’s blood.” By evening, Yaroslav won, and Svyatopolk fled. Yaroslav ascended the throne of Kyiv, "wiped sweat with his retinue, showing victory and great work." Everything in this story is intended to emphasize the historical significance of the battle: both the indication of the large number of troops, and the details that testify to the fierceness of the battle, and the pathetic ending - Yaroslav triumphantly ascends the throne of Kyiv, obtained by him in military labor and struggle for a “just cause”.

And at the same time, it turns out that we have before us not so much the impression of an eyewitness about a particular battle, but rather the traditional formulas that described other battles in the same Tale of Bygone Years and in subsequent chronicles: the turnover “slashing evil” is traditional, the ending is traditional , telling who is “overcome” and who is “running”, usually for the annalistic narrative an indication of the large number of troops, and even the formula “as if by the mother-in-law’s blood” is found in descriptions of other battles. In a word, we have before us one of the samples of the "etiquette" image of the battle. 67

With special care, the creators of The Tale of Bygone Years write out the obituary characteristics of the princes. For example, according to the chronicler, Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich was “mockingly God-loving, loving the truth, looking after the wretched [took care of the unfortunate and poor], honoring the bishop and presbyter [priests], loving the Chernoristsy in excess, and making a demand to them” (PVL, with .142). This type of annalistic obituary would be used more than once by chroniclers of the 12th and subsequent centuries. 68 The use of literary formulas, prescribed by the style of monumental historicism, gave the annalistic text a special artistic flavor: not the effect of surprise, but, on the contrary, the expectation of a meeting with the familiar, familiar, expressed in a “polished”, consecrated by tradition form - this is what had the power of aesthetic impact on reader. The same technique is well known to folklore - let us recall the traditional plots of epics, three repetitions of plot situations, permanent epithets and similar artistic means. The style of monumental historicism, therefore, is not evidence of limited artistic possibilities, but, on the contrary, evidence of a deep awareness of the role of the poetic word. But at the same time, this style, naturally, fettered the freedom of plot narration, for it sought to unify, express various life situations in the same speech formulas and plot motifs.

For the development of the plot narrative, the oral folk legends fixed in the annalistic text played a significant role, each time differing in the unusual and “amusing” of the plot. The story about the death of Oleg is widely known, the plot of which was the basis of the famous ballad by A. S. Pushkin,

stories about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans, etc. It was in this kind of legend that not only princes, but also people of insignificant social status could act as heroes: an old man who saved the Belgorod people from death and Pecheneg captivity, a young kozhemyak who defeated the Pecheneg hero. But the main thing, perhaps, is something else: it is in such annalistic stories that were genetically oral historical traditions, the chronicler uses a completely different - compared to stories written in the style of monumental historicism - method of depicting events and characterizing characters.

In works of verbal art, there are two opposite methods of aesthetic impact on the reader (listener). In one case, a work of art affects precisely by its dissimilarity to everyday life and, let's add, to the "everyday" story about her. Such a work is distinguished by a special vocabulary, rhythm of speech, inversions, special visual means (epithets, metaphors) and, finally, a special “unusual” behavior of the characters. We know that people in life do not speak like that, do not act like that, but it is this unusualness that is perceived as art. 69 Literature of the style of monumental historicism also takes the same position.

In another case, art, as it were, strives to become like life, and the narrative strives to create an "illusion of authenticity", to bring itself as close as possible to the eyewitness's story. The means of influencing the reader here are completely different: in this kind of narrative, the “plot detail” plays a huge role, a well-found everyday detail that, as it were, awakens the reader’s own life impressions, helps him see what is being described with his own eyes and thereby believe in the truth of the story.

Here it is necessary to make an important reservation. Such details are often called “elements of realism”, but it is significant that if in modern literature these realistic elements are a means for reproducing real life (and the work itself is intended not only to depict reality, but also to comprehend it), then in ancient times “plot details” - nothing more than a means to create an "illusion of reality", since the story itself can tell about a legendary event, about a miracle, in a word, about what the author portrays as really being, but which may not be so. 70

In The Tale of Bygone Years, the stories performed in this manner make extensive use of a “household detail”: this is a bridle in the hands

a boy from Kiev, who, pretending to be looking for a horse, runs with her through the camp of enemies, then the mention of how, testing himself before a duel with a Pecheneg hero, a young man-kozhemyak pulls out (with professionally strong hands) from the side of a bull that ran past “skin from meat, eliko his hand zay”, then a detailed, detailed (and skillfully slowing down the story) description of how the Belgorod people “took mead onion”, which they found “in princes of medusha”, how they diluted the honey, how they poured the drink into the “kad”, etc. These details evoke vivid visual images in the reader, help him to imagine what is being described, to become, as it were, a witness to the events.

If in the stories, executed in the manner of monumental historicism, everything is known to the reader in advance, then in the epic legends the narrator skillfully uses the effect of surprise. The wise Olga, as it were, takes seriously the courtship of the Drevlyansk prince Mal, secretly preparing a terrible death for his ambassadors; the prediction given to Oleg the Prophet, it would seem, did not come true (the horse from which the prince was supposed to die had already died himself), but nevertheless the bones of this horse, from which the snake would crawl out, would bring death to Oleg. It’s not a warrior who goes to a duel with a Pecheneg hero, but a lad-kozhemyaka, moreover, “medium in body”, and the Pecheneg hero - “great and terrible” - chuckles at him. And despite this “exposure”, it is the lad who overcomes.

It is very significant to note that the chronicler resorts to the method of "reproducing reality" not only in retelling epic traditions, but also in narrating about contemporary events. An example of this is the story "The Tale of Bygone Years" under 1097 about the blinding of Vasilko Terebovlsky (p. 170-180). It is no coincidence that it was on this example that the researchers considered the “elements of realism” of the Old Russian narrative, it was in it that they found the skillful use of “strong details”, it was here that they discovered the masterful use of “narrative direct speech”. 71

The culminating episode of the story is the scene of Vasilko's blinding. On the way to the Terebovl volost assigned to him at the Lubech princely congress, Vasilko settled down for the night not far from Vydobych. Kyiv prince Svyatopolk, succumbing to the persuasion of David Igorevich, decides to lure Vasilko and blind him. After persistent invitations ("Do not go from my name day") Vasilko arrives at the "prince's yard"; David and Svyatopolk lead the guest into the "istobka" (hut). Svyatopolk persuades Vasilko to stay, and frightened himself by his malicious intent

David, "sit down like a mute." When Svyatopolk came out of the exhaustion, Vasilko tries to continue the conversation with David, but, says the chronicler, “there was no voice in Davyd, no obedience [hearing].” This is a very rare example for early chronicle writing when the mood of the interlocutors is conveyed. But then David comes out (allegedly in order to call Svyatopolk), and the prince's servants burst into the vent, they rush at Vasilko, knock him to the floor. And the terrible details of the ensuing struggle: in order to keep the mighty and desperately resisting Vasilka, they remove the board from the stove, put it on his chest, sit on the board and press their victim to the floor so, “like perse [breasts] troskotati” - and the mention that “ torchin Berendi", who was supposed to blind the prince with a knife, missed and cut the unfortunate face - all these are not simple details of the narrative, but precisely artistic "strong details" that help the reader visually imagine the terrible scene of blinding. According to the plan of the chronicler, the story was supposed to excite the reader, turn him against Svyatopolk and David, convince Vladimir Monomakh of the rightness, who condemned the cruel massacre of the innocent Vasilko and punished the perjurer-perjurer princes.

The literary influence of The Tale of Bygone Years has been clearly felt for several centuries: chroniclers continue to apply or vary those literary formulas that were used by the creators of The Tale of Bygone Years, imitate its characteristics, and sometimes quote the Tale, introducing fragments into their text. from this monument. 72 The Tale of Bygone Years has retained its aesthetic charm to our time, eloquently testifying to the literary skill of the ancient Russian chroniclers.

About the life of the Monk Nestor the Chronicler before he became a resident of the Kiev Caves Monastery, we know practically nothing. We do not know who he was in terms of social status, we do not know the exact date of his birth. Scientists agree on an approximate date - the middle of the XI century. History has not recorded even the worldly name of the first historian of the Russian land. And he preserved for us invaluable information about the psychological makeup of the holy brothers-passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, the Monk Theodosius of the Caves, remaining in the shadow of the heroes of his labors. The circumstances of the life of this outstanding figure of Russian culture have to be restored bit by bit, and not all gaps in his biography can be filled. We celebrate the memory of St. Nestor on November 9th.

The Monk Nestor came to the famous Kievo-Pechersk monastery, being a youth of seventeen. The holy monastery lived according to the strict Studian rule, which the Monk Theodosius introduced in it, borrowing it from Byzantine books. According to this charter, before taking monastic vows, the candidate had to go through a long preparatory stage. Newcomers first had to wear lay clothes until they had learned well the rules of monastic life. After that, the candidates were allowed to put on the monastic attire and proceed to the tests, that is, to show themselves in work on various obediences. The one who successfully passed these tests was tonsured, but the test did not end there - the last stage of admission to the monastery was tonsure into the great schema, which not everyone was honored with.

The Monk Nestor went all the way from a simple novice to a schemamonk in just four years, and also received the rank of deacon. A significant role in this was played, in addition to obedience and virtue, by his education and outstanding literary talent.

The Kiev Caves Monastery was a unique phenomenon in the spiritual life of Kievan Rus. The number of brethren reached one hundred people, which was rare even for Byzantium itself. The severity of the communal charter, found in the archives of Constantinople, had no analogues. The monastery also prospered in material terms, although its governors did not care about collecting earthly riches. They listened to the voice of the monastery powers of the world this, he had a real political and, most importantly, spiritual influence on society.

The young Russian Church at that time was actively mastering the richest material of Byzantine church literature. She was faced with the task of creating original Russian texts in which the national image of Russian holiness would be revealed.

The first hagiographic (hagiography is a theological discipline that studies the lives of saints, the theological and historical-ecclesiastical aspects of holiness. - Ed.) work of the Monk Nestor - "Reading about the life and destruction of the blessed martyrs Boris and Gleb" - is dedicated to the memory of the first Russian saints. The chronicler, apparently, responded to the expected all-Russian church celebration - the consecration of a stone church over the relics of Saints Boris and Gleb.

The work of St. Nestor was not the first among the works devoted to this topic. However, he did not begin to present the history of the brothers according to a ready-made chronicle tradition, but created a text that was deeply original in form and content. The author of "Readings about life ..." creatively reworked the best examples of Byzantine hagiographic literature and was able to express ideas that are very important for Russian church and state self-consciousness. As the researcher of ancient Russian church culture Georgy Fedotov writes, “the memory of Saints Boris and Gleb was the voice of conscience in inter-princely appanage accounts, not regulated by law, but only vaguely limited by the idea of ​​tribal seniority.”

The Monk Nestor did not have a large amount of data on the death of the brothers, but as a subtle artist he was able to recreate a psychologically reliable image of true Christians, meekly accepting death. The truly Christian death of the sons of the baptizer of the Russian people, Prince Vladimir, is inscribed by the chronicler in the panorama of the global historical process, which he understands as the arena of the universal struggle between good and evil.

Father of Russian monasticism

The second hagiographic work of St. Nestor is dedicated to the life of one of the founders of the Kiev Caves Monastery - St. Theodosius. He wrote this work in the 1080s, just a few years after the death of the ascetic, in the hope of a speedy canonization of the saint. This hope, however, was not destined to come true. Saint Theodosius was canonized only in 1108.

The inner appearance of the Monk Theodosius of the Caves is of particular importance to us. As Georgy Fedotov writes, “in the person of the Monk Theodosius, Ancient Russia found its ideal of a saint, to whom it remained faithful for many centuries. Saint Theodosius is the father of Russian monasticism. All Russian monks are his children, bearing his family traits. And Nestor the Chronicler was the man who preserved for us his unique appearance and created on Russian soil ideal type biography of the reverend. As the same Fedotov writes, “Nestor’s work forms the basis of all Russian hagiography, inspiring feat, indicating the normal, Russian path of labor and, on the other hand, filling in the gaps of biographical tradition with common necessary features.<…>All this makes Nestor's life of exceptional importance for the Russian type of ascetic holiness. The chronicler was not a witness to the life and deeds of the Monk Theodosius. Nevertheless, his life story is based on eyewitness accounts, which he was able to combine into a coherent, vivid and memorable story.

Of course, in order to create a full-fledged literary life, it is necessary to rely on a developed literary tradition, which has not yet existed in Russia. Therefore, the Monk Nestor borrows a lot from Greek sources, sometimes making long verbatim extracts. However, they practically do not affect the biographical basis of his story.

The memory of the unity of the people

The main feat of the life of the Monk Nestor was the compilation of the Tale of Bygone Years by 1112-1113. This work is a quarter of a century away from the first two literary works of the Monk Nestor known to us and belongs to another literary genre - chronicles. Unfortunately, the set of "The Tale ..." has not come down to us in its entirety. It was subjected to processing by the monk of the Vydubitsky monastery Sylvester.

The Tale of Bygone Years is based on the chronicle work of Abbot John, who made the first attempt at a systematic presentation of Russian history from ancient times. He brought his story up to 1093. Earlier chronicles are a fragmentary account of disparate events. It is interesting that these records contain a legend about Kyi and his brothers, a short report about the reign of the Varangian Oleg in Novgorod, about the death of Askold and Dir, and a legend about the death of Prophetic Oleg. Actually Kyiv history begins with the reign of "old Igor", the origin of which is silent.

Abbot John, dissatisfied with the inaccuracy and fabulousness of the chronicle, restores the years, based on the Greek and Novgorod chronicles. It is he who first introduces "old Igor" as the son of Rurik. Askold and Dir here for the first time appear as the boyars of Rurik, and Oleg as his governor.

It was the set of Abbot John that became the basis of the work of the Monk Nestor. He subjected the initial part of the chronicle to the greatest processing. The original edition of the chronicle was supplemented with legends, monastic records, Byzantine chronicles of John Malala and George Amartol. Saint Nestor attached great importance to oral testimonies - the stories of the elder boyar Jan Vyshatich, merchants, warriors, and travelers.

In his main work, Nestor the Chronicler acts both as a historian, as a writer, and as a religious thinker, giving a theological understanding of Russian history, which is integral part history of the salvation of the human race.

For St. Nestor, the history of Russia is the history of the perception of Christian preaching. Therefore, he fixes in his chronicle the first mention of the Slavs in church sources - the year 866, tells in detail about the activities of the saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, about the baptism of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga in Constantinople. It is this ascetic who introduces into the chronicle the story of the first Orthodox church in Kyiv, of the preaching feat of the Varangian martyrs Theodore the Varangian and his son John.

Despite the huge amount of heterogeneous information, the chronicle of St. Nestor has become a true masterpiece of ancient Russian and world literature.

In the years of fragmentation, when there was almost nothing to remind of the former unity of Kievan Rus, The Tale of Bygone Years remained the monument that awakened in all corners of crumbling Rus the memory of its former unity.

The Monk Nestor died about the year 1114, having bequeathed to the chronicler monks of the Caves the continuation of his great work.

Newspaper "Orthodox Faith" No. 21 (545)

teacher of history, social studies,

"Istokov" MOU secondary school No. 23

Kostroma

Origins -5th grade

Section: Chronicles

Lesson topic:

"The First Chronicles and the First Chroniclers"

THE PURPOSE OF THE LESSON: the revival of the original context, the category of values ​​of the work of the chronicler.

TASKS:

To give an idea of ​​the first chroniclers, their worldview, as they reflected the history of the Fatherland in the light of Divine Providence.

To acquaint students with the features of ancient Russian literature, with different ways attraction to the knowledge of history through the traditions of folklore.

AFO: work in pairs, in four, resource circle.

SOCIO-CULTURAL SERIES: National treasure, historical sources, scribes, chronicle, wisdom, patriotism.

LESSON EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS:

textbook Origins "Grade 5, workbook"Origins" Part 2, cards with a record of the socio-cultural categories of the lesson, the musical arrangement of the lesson - the performance of the epic on the harp (phonogram); samples of Church Slavonic handwriting (2-3 per desk).

DURING THE CLASSES:

1. Joining a topic .

Today our lesson will be devoted to the first chronicles and chroniclers.

And we will make a trip to Ancient Russia, and talk about who and how wrote ancient books, annals. After all, earlier, in the old days, there was neither radio nor television, and storytellers, guslars walked around the villages and villages, who introduced people to important events through epics, legends taken from ancient chronicles.

Working with the epigraph of the lesson:

“Books are rivers that fill the universe, they are sources of wisdom; there is immeasurable depth in books; we shall be comforted by them in sorrow…” The Tale of Bygone Years.

And she will help us make this journey, she will perform the epic Ilya Muromets (phonogram sounds).

What thoughts or feelings did you have while listening to

bylina?

Ancient books are almost the only source, the narrator is an eyewitness of distant ancestors, their manners and customs, everyday troubles and solemn ceremonies...

There is a feeling of trepidation when you touch the manuscript, created several centuries ago, in which the chronicler carefully put his mind and work.

pay attention to exhibition of ancient books. These books mark entire epochs in folk life: "The Tale of Bygone Years", "Lives of the Saints ...", "Gospel", "Instruction of Vladimir Monomakh", Code of Laws of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. There are many wise instructions in these books, useful in our time. From ancient times there is a call to respect the knowledge and experience that has come down to us in books.

- Guys, who among you knows when the first handwritten books appeared in Russia?

At the end of the 10th century, with the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the first handwritten books appeared, and the writing of letters was developed by two monk brothers Cyril and Methodius, immigrants from Macedonia. It was they who created the first Russian alphabet, thereby making an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian culture.

CONSIDER the Church Slavonic style of writing, and compare with our modern one. Which way to write is easier and which is more difficult, why? ( handout is used)

WORKING WITH THE TEXTBOOK: p. 111.

- What were the ancient chronicles? Let's read about it in the textbook on page 111 1st paragraph.

Ancient chronicles have preserved and conveyed to us evidence of ancient times.

- So what is a chronicle?

+Chronicle - a record of events by years, that is, by years. (Hang out a sign with the definition).

Chronicles are ours public property.

-How do you understand it?

Ancient chronicles wisely and leisurely tell about our history. - Why, it was important for our ancestors to write down that “in the summer” some event happened? (children's opinion).

Life acquired a universal significance, the Russian land was comprehended in the system of the world, Russian history became part of world history. Old manuscripts are very useful to the present day. They are public property.

And now we will read about the first chroniclers and what they wrote in the ancient chronicles.

WORKING WITH THE TEXTBOOK p. d, 2nd paragraphs, 112-113 (an excerpt from The Tale of Bygone Years - p. 114).

- What do the old chronicles tell us about?

(after reading, the teacher summarizes)

The chronicle tells not only about the events of Russian history, but also about people, about our ancestors, how they lived, what they believed in, what they valued, what kind of memory did they leave about themselves? All these questions are answered by the chronicle. In addition, receiving news from the distant past, we learn to love our Motherland, be proud of it, take care of it, as our ancestors, the Russians, did many, many years ago.

TRAINING (developing).

1. Preparatory stage.

outlook ancient Russian man was Christian: people checked all their actions, feelings and thoughts with the commandments of God and tried to live according to them. The chroniclers felt especially great responsibility before God and their people, because they reflected the history of the Fatherland in the light of Divine Providence.

2.Individual stage.

Working time 5 minutes.

"What were the first chroniclers."

Work in a notebook. Page 21, task number 1.

Vocabulary work (find out which words are incomprehensible, explain their meaning).

ON ONE'S OWN.

Imagine a monk - a chronicler. What qualities do you think he needed? Choose the 7 most important qualities, underline them.

Mind, enterprise, patience, physical strength, faith in God, love for the Fatherland, humility, craftiness, diligence, wisdom.

3. WORK IN THE FOUR.

Discuss the individual decision in the group, come to a unified decision. Highlight your choice.

4. Discussion in class. Expert review.

(A representative of one of the groups reports a decision, argues his answer, the rest of the students listen carefully, express their agreement or express a different point of view.) The teacher summarizes the discussion, reports an expert assessment.

(INTELLIGENCE, PATIENCE, FAITH IN GOD, LOVE FOR THE FATHERLAND, HUMILITY, INDIVIDUALITY, WISDOM).

Ancient chronicles inspired many historians, musicians, writers, poets to create their best masterpieces.

Ancient Russia valued books as the rarest treasures. To have several books meant to have a fortune. One book could cost a herd of cows or horses. Chronicler Nestor calls books - rivers that fill the universe with wisdom of immeasurable depth. “If you diligently look for wisdom in books, Nestor remarked, you will find great benefit to your soul.”

The ancient book absorbed the knowledge and mind, history and art of glorious Russia. And now, the surviving book gives us, now living on the great land of our ancestors, the good light of that distant time.

RESOURCE CIRCLE:

Guys, let's stand in a circle of friendship and think: What feelings, thoughts do you have when you hold an ancient book in your hands? (to let the ancient book.) (the teacher of origins begins) When I hold an ancient book in my hands, I feel my heart beating excitedly, because right now my thoughts and feelings will come into contact with that distant, distant past, and I will find out the answers to many questions in the ancient I will find something wise and interesting in books, because “books, as the chronicler Nestor said, are rivers that fill the universe, they are sources of wisdom, there is immeasurable depth in books, we are comforted by them in sorrow” ......

REFLECTION:

- What is wise, interesting for myself, I will take away from the lesson today? What character traits would I like to have?

(a bouquet of wisdom is gathered, the words are hung on the board: KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, TRUTH, FAITH, TRUTH, PATRIOTISM, LOVE, INTELLIGENCE, PATIENCE, HUMILITY, INDIVIDUALITY…).

That's how many interesting and wise thoughts we learned in the lesson. I especially liked the statements (name the guys). I want to say thank you to everyone. All the best, goodbye.

The methodology of textual research, as we have already seen, largely depends on how the Old Russian scribe worked. The peculiarities of the textual study of chronicles also to a certain extent depend on how the Old Russian chronicler worked.

In the literature on ancient Russian chronicle writing, there were many disputes about how chronicles were kept. Some of the researchers saw in the compilers of the annals simple, unsophisticated and objective presenters of facts. Others, like A. A. Shakhmatov and M. D. Priselkov, assumed on the basis of textual data that the chroniclers were very knowledgeable sources, connecting various material from previous chronicles from the point of view of certain political and historical concepts. Of course, the latter are right. It was their ideas that made it possible to unravel the complex composition of chronicle codes and build a general scheme for the history of Russian chronicle writing. The application of these views to the textual criticism of the chronicle turned out to be practically fruitful.

Let us turn to the statements and statements of the chroniclers themselves and get acquainted in detail with their work.

First of all, we note that the nature of the text of the annals was largely determined by their acute political orientation.

The chronicle was most closely connected with the class and intra-class struggle of its time, with the struggle between individual feudal centers. In 1241, Prince Daniel of Galicia ordered his printer Kirill to "write out the robbery of the impious boyars", and this report of Cyril formed the main part of Daniel's princely chronicle. In another case (1289), Prince Mstislav Danilovich ordered that the sedition of the inhabitants of Berestye be recorded in the chronicle.

The way the chronicler himself looked at his work is shown by the following characteristic entry in the burnt Trinity Chronicle. Under 1392, bitter reproaches were read in it to the Novgorodians for their disobedience to the grand dukes: “Besha, the people are harsh, disobedient, stubborn, unsettled ... who from the prince is not angry or who from the prince please them? Even the great Alexander Yaroslavich [Nevsky] did not crush them!” As evidence, the chronicler refers to the Moscow chronicle: “And if you want to torture, open the book of the Great Russian Chronicler - and read from the Great Yaroslav to this current prince.”

Indeed, the Moscow chronicle is full of political attacks against the Novgorodians, Tverians, Suzdalians, Ryazanians, just as the Ryazan, Tver, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod chronicles are against the Muscovites. In the annals we will meet angry denunciations of the boyars (in Galician, Vladimir, Moscow), democratic lower classes (in Novgorod), sharp defense of "black people" from living people and boyars (in some Pskov annals), anti-princely attacks of the boyars themselves (in the annals Novgorod of the 12th century), defense of the foundations of the grand-ducal “monocracy” (in the annals of the Tver middle of the 15th century and in Moscow at the end of the 15th-16th centuries), etc.

The prefaces to the annals also speak of the purely "worldly" - political tasks that the chroniclers set themselves. Few of these prefaces have survived, since in all cases of later alterations of the annals they were destroyed, as they did not correspond to the new tasks of the annals compilations that included them. But even those prefaces that have survived speak quite clearly about the specific political goals that the chroniclers set themselves.

D.S. Likhachev. Textology - St. Petersburg, 2001