Battle on the Ice Soon after the victory on the Neva, his relations with the Novgorod boyars went wrong, as a result of clashes with the boyars, Alexander Nevsky was forced to leave Novgorod. After the invasion of the Livonian knights into Russia, the Novgorodians sent messengers to Prince Alexander

In 1980 T.V. Diana was facsimile published the Front manuscript of the XVII century. "Tales of the Battle of Mamaev" (State Historical Museum, collected by Uvarov, No. 999a). Since then, a quarter of a century has passed, but the book turned out to be completely not included in scientific circulation (1), although it contains many completely unique messages.

Dianova gave a brief archaeographic description of the manuscript, but did not convey the text in modern graphics, and - most importantly! - did not characterize it in terms of content. Meanwhile, L.A. Back in 1959, Dmitriev, in his “Review of the editions of the Tale of the Mamaev Battle”, considered it necessary to devote a page to her, noting that “there are places in this list that are unique to him”, and in 1966 he studied 8 front manuscripts of the “Tale” ( hereinafter - C) and found that all of them - including No. 999a - belong to the Undolsky (U) variant. However, in the last reprint of U, only 4 lists were used, and at the same time, the published Diana manuscript (hereinafter - Persons) was not included in their number (2).

The most surprising thing is that U is a text that is in all respects much less interesting than Lit.: the latter - despite the loss of individual sheets and gaps - is more detailed than U, and often gives earlier and more correct readings. Moreover, in Persons. one can point to a number of more obviously earlier fragments than those found in the Main Variant (O), which is now considered to be the most ancient version of S. Finally, in Lit. contains information that is not found in any of the currently published texts of S. The most important thing is that this concerns mainly not an ideological "frame", but a description of events.

Here are the most important examples. Due to the lack of space, the main attention will be paid not to the textual, but to the content side of the matter.

1. Lit.: “The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, with Prince Vladimer Andreevich and with all the Christ-loving army came to Kolomna. I’ll be in time for the month of August on the 28th day of Saturday, in memory of our holy father Moses Murin, there were many voivodes and warriors here, the meeting of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich with all the regiments on the river in Severka. The Bishop of Kolomna will meet him at the gates of the city with miraculous icons and with wings and with life-giving crosses and his autumn cross ”(3).

If we compare this text with the corresponding versions of O, U, Printed version (Print) and Distributed edition (R), then it is not difficult to see that this fragment is the most complete, while all other versions give only more or less short and distorted versions. this text. In the Cyprian edition (K) the exact name is given - Gerasim, but the absence of a name in Persons. and Y is still more precise than "Gerontius" or "Euphemius" as in O, R, and Pech.

2. Lit.: “the next morning in the week of August on the 29th day of the beheading of the honest head of the holy prophet and forerunner of the baptist John, the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich on that day ordered all the governors with all the people to go to the Golutvin monastery and to the Maiden on the fields, and he left here, and the bowl of many war trumpets began to sound, and argans beat and banners roar at the Panfilyev court ”(4) (L. 42 / 34ob.).

U: “on the same holy week, after morning, many trumpets of military trumpets, voices, and argans of many beats and banners are dragged near the garden near Panfilyev.”

O: “The next morning, the great prince ordered everyone to leave howling on the field to Divich. On the holy week, after morning, the bowl of many trumpets of military voices is heard, and many argans are beaten, and banners are roared around Panfilov's garden.

And again the text of Persons. more complete and more accurate in essence. Not only the Maiden Monastery is mentioned, but also the Golutvin Monastery, about which there is not a word in any other texts of C (5). Who would think of inventing such a thing a hundred years from now? Meanwhile, it was located where the review was supposed to take place - on the banks of the Oka, at the confluence of the river. Moscow.

Very organic and the subsequent description. Trumpets and organs begin to sound when the Grand Duke has left for a review of his forces: it should have been so; this is not a literary cliché, but an eyewitness account. Panfilyev court, i.e. pier, is also much more appropriate than the garden found in all other texts: after the review and dressing of the regiments, the crossing over the Oka began, and this naturally had to pass close to the river and the pier, where ships were to be prepared. The fact that this is not an accidental typo is repeated: “the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich and the whole army left for the field, while the sons of the Russians stepped on the Kalomensky field at the Panfilyev court” (L. 43/35 v.).

“Court” in the meaning of “pier, port” is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years when describing Russian raids on Constantinople: “sit down inside the court” (6374); “and I came to Caesaryugrad [y], and the Greeks castled the court” (6415); "the court is all burnt" (6449) . This word is usually interpreted as the name of the Golden Horn Bay, the entrance to which at the time of danger was closed with a huge chain, however, the last phrase unequivocally says that it is more correct to understand the huge port located in the bay by the Tsargrad "court": the bay itself cannot be burned, but it is possible to do this with the marinas that are located on its banks.

A.B. Mazurov drew attention to the toponym "Panfilovo", located on the way from Kolomna to the Oka. He is in the XVII-XVIII centuries. was called "Panfilov's garden", "the wasteland of Panfilov's garden". However, it is not at all necessary to see this as evidence of the correctness of the “garden”, and not the “court” - the opposite is more likely: mechanical distortion in the later texts of the Tale, which gained wide popularity in the 16th-17th centuries, influenced the change in the name of the area. In the same way, “to the Maiden [monastery] on the fields” [Compare: 21. C. 34] later turned into the Maiden’s Field.

3. Then again there is a completely original presentation of well-known information: “And a speech to the Grand Duke Dmitry, his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich: “make (6) a rank for all your people, appoint a governor for each regiment.” Well, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich himself accepts the Belozersky prince into the big regiment and in his right hand put his brother prince Vladimir Andreevich in his right hand and give him the regiment of the princes of Yaroslavl, and in the left hand of Prince Gleb Bryansk, and in the first regiment were governors Dmitry Vsevolozh and Volodimer Vsevolozh from Kolomensky voivode Mikula Vasilyevich, and in the left hand Timofey Valuevich, Kostrama were voivodes Prince Andrey of Murom and Andrey Serkizovich, and Prince Vladimir Andreevich had voivodes Danila Belous and Kostyantin Konanovich and Prince Fedor Yeletskoy and Prince Yuri Meshcherskaya and assigned to the regiment and led the Oka River mess around” (L. 43/35v.–44/36).

The main differences from the usual versions available in O and U are 1) the placement of Prince Andrei Muromsky in the regiment of the left, and not the right hand; 2) in the gaps: in fact, Timofey was not a Kostroma, but a Vladimir and Yuryev governor; Kostroma was commanded by Ivan Rodionovich Kvashnya, and Andrey Serkizovich was commanded by Pereyaslav [Compare: 15. p. 34; 9. S. 159]; 3) the main thing is that all those Moscow boyars who are usually “enlisted” in the advanced regiment, according to Persons, are distributed among the first (7), i.e. a large regiment, and a regiment of the left hand. And this is very logical: first, the princes who led the center and flanks are listed, and then the commanders of a lower rank of the same units follow, and in this case that strange situation does not arise when only Vladimir Andreevich's subordinates are named. And, in my opinion, the errors in the boyar “nomenclature”, which are noticeable in the Persons, indirectly testify in favor of its reliability: Persons. was copied from a very dilapidated, which means quite an ancient book, in which part of the page or text turned out to be damaged. The most difficult thing is to rationally interpret the location of Andrei Muromsky. Maybe it was just a mechanical error of an ancient scribe?

4. In Persons. there is a very significant addition to the story of the events preceding the Battle of Kulikovo: “Hurry up on the day on Wednesday of the month of September on the 6th day of the remembrance of the former miraculous Archangel Michael and the suffering of the holy martyr Eudoxius at 6 o’clock in the afternoon, Semyon Melik came running with his retinue, after them he chased Totarov - so much dully gnash, but the regiments of ru[sk]iya saw and returned and went to a place high and that saw all the regiments of rust<…>Semyon Melik will tell Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich: “It is fitting for you, Lord (8), to go to Nepryadva and Gusin Ford, and Tsar Mamai is now on Kuzmin Gati, one night between you will be ...” (L. 56/45, 57/46rev.).

The mention of Kuzmina gati is not the first in St.: the day before, the language captured by Peter Gorsky and Karp Oleksin told the grand duke similar news: the king of the gathering does not know, nor do you desire your striving<…>, and for three days to be on the Don.

The last phrase is not at all necessary to be understood as an indication of a distance of three day's marches: Mamai was in no hurry. This may be a retroactive adjustment to the date known to the author of the text - September 8, as well as an indication of his plan - to move north along the "Tatar places". Therefore, there are no contradictions in it with the words of Semyon Melik, according to which the next day Mamai continued to stay in the same place as before - on Kuzmina Gati.

But his proposal to the Grand Duke to send an army to Gusin Ford and Nepryadva makes it possible to clarify the location of these ancient toponyms (9). It would hardly be a mistake to say that Gusin Ford is the crossing on Nepryadva, where the Russian soldiers returning back after the battle found the killed Tatars.
According to many editions of C, a certain robber Foma Katsybeev saw on the eve of the battle how the saints Boris and Gleb beat the Tatar army, and the warriors who were beaten by the saints of the Tatars, returning to the place of the battle, found it on the banks of the Nepryadva. So in Pec. It is said: “The Russians are chasing the daring ones, until they reach all the Tatars and return, having found the corpses of the dead Tatars about the country of the Nepryadva River, where the Russian regiments were not. These are beaten by the essence of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb. In Persons. the following option is given: “For the sake of returning, we chased and saw a lot of the corpse of the dead both along the Nepryadva River, where it was impassable, that is, it was deep, and that was filled with the corpse of filthy ones” (10) (L. 88/77).

The words "there is no place for a Russian regiment" from Pec. one can give the following interpretation: according to the descriptions of the battle, Mamai was the first to flee, followed by a chase that could not catch up with him. Therefore, the source conveys the point of view of those who pursued Mamai: they were the first to overcome the Gusin ford, when neither Tatars nor other Russian forces had yet passed there; then the main “wave” of fleeing Tatars approached the ford, where they were again overtaken by the Russian cavalry: due to the resulting pandemonium, part of the Tatars tried to cross where Nepryadva was deep, and drowned in the river. Thus, the second "Sword", which is referred to in the sources, turns out to be in fact Nepryadvoi. Returning, the pursuers of Mamai saw corpses at the crossing and attributed their appearance to the "actions" of Boris and Gleb.

Since Semyon Melik returned at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, i.e. around noon, then the Gusin ford should have been located at a distance of no more than half the day's transition - no more than 15-20 km from the Kulikovo field. Otherwise, the Russian troops, who only began crossing the Don on September 5, simply would not have reached Gusin Ford. However, a greater distance was not required: Nepryadva is exactly 15 km to the south, near the current village. Mikhailovsky, turns to the west, incl. Goose ford should be sought between this settlement and the village of Krasnye Buitsy, which is 10 km to the north.

The Tatar watchmen, who first saw the Russian forces, had to return to Mamai's headquarters on Kuzmina Gati for the remaining 6 hours before sunset: otherwise Mamai simply did not reach Kulikovo field during September 7th. It follows that the distance between the named places was only one day's march - hardly more than 40 km. This means that the Kuzmina Gate was located in the upper reaches of the Beautiful Sword, not far from Volov, the current regional center of the Tula region.

It is difficult to find a motive that would make a late editor, who had an unusually wild imagination, invent such details. Therefore, the unique data of Persons. should be taken as evidence of some very ancient primary source, transmitting an oral account of an eyewitness to these events.

5. Only Persons. gives an exhaustive explanation of why Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy, who was in ambush, obeyed the order of Dmitry Mikhailovich Volynsky, who was much less noble than he was. In itself, a reference to the experience of this commander, who had already achieved several striking victories, is not enough: in that era only a person occupying a higher rank could be a commander, and therefore Volynets could at best be an adviser, and the decisive word should have remained precisely with the prince. Vladimir. So why, according to S, this prince, seeing how - I quote U - “the filth is everywhere, but Christianity is impoverished”, “he cannot waste victory in vain”, instead of giving the order to speak, he turns to Dmitry Volynsky: “ My brother Dmitry, that our standing is crawling and that our success will be, then to whom the imam will help. Persons conveys these words more correctly and at the same time makes a unique addition: to the question “Brother Dmitry, why is our standing crawling? what will be our success and to whom will the imam help? Volynets asks to be patient, and Vladimir, “raising his hand”, exclaims: “God our father, who created heaven and earth, look at us and see what sedition Volynets is doing over them and do not let, Lord, our enemy the devil rejoice with us "(L. 83/72v.-84/73).
But that's not all! Next to Persons. follows: “The sons of the Russian prince Vladimir Andreevich’s regiment began to cry, seeing his retinue being beaten, and also his fathers and children and brethren, although you strongly let loose. Volynets also rebuke them ... ". That is, the situation in the ambush escalated to such an extent that the soldiers were determined to rush into battle against orders!

So why Vladimir Andreevich, in fact likening Volynets to the devil, at the same time obeys his governor, when all the soldiers simply demand to start an attack? All this looks like the literature of a later time, like a dramatic escalation of tension, like fiction. However, in Persons even earlier, a very specific explanation is given to this: on the eve of the battle, a strict order to do as Volynets orders was given to Vladimir Andreevich by the Grand Duke himself.

This ends in Lit. the famous divination scene, which makes it quite complete. According to all versions of C, on the night before the battle, Dmitry Volynets, crouching to the ground, listened for a long time to what sounds would be heard from one side and the other.

As a result, he heard the crying of Russian and "Hellenic" women and predicted the victory of the Russians and heavy losses on both sides. To this person. adds: “Even the Volynets speech to the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich will accept his own: “If, gentleman, let your western regiment go at my command, then we will beat; if, lord, they stand on the way without my command, then they will beat us all, there are many signs of those battles. It is not false to you, Lord, I will tell you these words. Great Prince Dmitry Ivanovich commanded his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich: “For God’s sake and for our parents, according to the Volyntsov commandments, create, if you see me, your brother, I’m killed, you can’t listen to his orders: you can’t take me away, only God will kill me to be." And strengthen him with an oath: “If you do not do such a thing, you will not be forgiven from me” ”(L. 67 / 56v.–68 / 57v.).

Of course, these words can also be interpreted as the fruit of later literary creativity, but in this case it remains unclear why it was Volynets who commanded the ambush regiment, and not Vladimir Andreevich. In addition, this kind of interpretation is in fact an implicit transfer of modern ideas to the medieval era. In our rationalistic age, for most people, including pundits, all sorts of signs and divination are just superstitions that cannot be taken seriously. Hence the attitude to this layer of information not as part of the ancient fundamental principle of C, but as a later literary fiction. However, if we renounce our baseless arrogance, and take this "mysticism" seriously - as our ancestors did, then we recognize this story about the signs of Volynets as reliable and even accurately name its primary source - the oral story of Dmitry Mikhailovich Volynsky himself : no one but him and the Grand Duke could tell about what happened on the night before the battle.

And in this respect Persons. turns out to be the text that most fully conveys this primary source, dating back to the 80s. 14th century And if you look at the differences between the text of Persons from this angle. and other published versions of C, where the fortune-telling scene ends with Volynets’ call to pray to God and seek help from the saints, in particular, Boris and Gleb, then the truncation of the original text, in which the main attention is paid not to the religious, but to the “mystical” side of the matter, can be perceived as the fruit of the editorial activity of a certain clergyman who reworked the purely secular text of the original C, removing unnecessary "pagan" motives from him and replacing them with proper Orthodox rhetoric.

6. In Persons. there is one more interesting fragment that provides a unique opportunity to trace how exactly the original quite specific story about the victory on the Don was processed into an edifying and soulful story about what - I will allow myself a drop of irony - the life-giving cross can do.

Before citing data C, it is necessary to refer to the lengthy chronicle Tale (hereinafter - L), which describes the very beginning of the battle as follows: the prince departed for the great regiment. And see the great army of Mamaev, all the power of the Tatars. And from here on, the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with all the princes of Russia, having equipped the regiments, went against the filthy Polovtsy and with all his ratmi. Below, when describing the losses, it is reported: the Grand Duke "fought with the Tatars in the face, standing ahead at the first suim", refusing to stand "nowhere in the other place."

Because of this, he almost died: “His bish’s right and left squad, but he stepped around both sides, and hit his head with a lot of impact, and splashed him, and his womb<…>And tacos between many military intact were preserved.

In K, a similar text is placed in the scene of Dmitry Ivanovich’s search, which is absent in L: “And his armor was all beaten and the ulcer was badly, on his body he found mortal wounds nowhere, and first of all he stood up for battle, on the first step, and in the face with Tatars fought a lot. Further, the narrator reports Dmitry’s refusal to retreat to the “oprichnina” place and returns to the previous topic: “Yes, as you say, do so, first of all, you start fighting with the Tatars, but the Tatars stumble on the right and left, like water, and much at his head and in his splashing and in his womb it strikes and pierces and cuts.

There is one significant difference between L and K: in K it is stated that the Grand Duke not only participated in the first clash with the Tatars, but fought "first of all", and this is repeated twice. Consequently, L's data that he "hit ahead of<…>Calf”, are quite reliable. And although this circumstance is somewhat smeared with an episode of a scene of persuading him to leave for a safe place (for example, in K: “The princes and governors say a lot to him”), there is a suspicion that K and L preserved - albeit fleetingly, each source in its own way - a fact , which they later wanted to hide or at least not really advertise: the Grand Duke, who went to the “watchman”, for some reason attacked the Tatars, as a result of which his detachment was defeated, and Dmitry Ivanovich himself had to fight back almost alone: ​​the Tatars, according to the description, surrounded him, "like water." The question is: who could see this, if this happened during the battle, if Dmitry was barely found after the battle? Such a colorful description was most likely preserved because it happened in front of thousands of soldiers.

And here it is necessary to turn to C, first noting the sequence of events in O and U (textologically close to Lit.): the Grand Duke changes clothes, takes out the life-bearing cross from “his skin”, then the ambassador from Sergius of Radonezh comes to him with books and bread, having eaten which Dmitry picks up an iron club and wants to personally go to battle with the Tatars. The boyars begin to object. After reasoning about St. Theodore Tyrone and other very significant things at a decisive moment, Dmitry nevertheless decides to go into battle: “if I die, with you, if I save myself, with you.” Further, it is told how the brothers Vsevolozhy lead the advanced regiment into battle, from the right hand the regiment is led by Mikula Vasilievich, from the left hand - Timofey Voluevich; then it is said about the wandering Tatars, about the exit of Mamai to the hill with three princes, then about how, in front of closely converged forces, a huge Pecheneg rode forward, which Peresvet encountered in a duel; after that, the slaughter began. Wu basically repeats the general outline, but after the theological "debate" he gives the original phrase: "But the advanced troops came out against us, and our advanced regiment came out"; further, in a distorted form, it speaks of Vsevolozhy (Timofei Voluevich, in particular, is omitted), about someone wandering “bobapol”, about the godless king in a high place, and, finally, about the duel of the “Pechenig” with Peresvet.

Persons transmits a similar text with U in a much more serviceable and, apparently, original form. It is fundamentally important that here the order of events is presented quite differently than usual. After Dmitry Ivanovich handed over "his dragged" (not "royal", by the way!) And the horse to Mikhail Bryansky, it follows:

“The advanced regiments converged. The abominations wander against them, there is no place where they can step aside, so many of them have gathered. The godless Tsar Mamai rode with his three princes to a place high up, seeing the blood of Christians. Already converging near him, and left from the regiment of the Tatar herbalist Pecheneg named Kalobey in front of all the men [a] they appeared ... The sons of the Russian, seeing him and being afraid, seeing him, the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, putting his hand in his bowels and taking out his iron club and moved out with his regiment, having desired, before all people, he himself began to fight ... ”(L.72 / 61v.-73 / 62v.) This is followed by an extensive and more detailed story than in other texts about how“ Russian heroes" kept him from going into battle himself - although Dmitry was already "beginning to fight"! At the same time, Dmitry expresses the following original, i.e. the thought missing in O, L and K: “Isn’t I honored by the heavenly king and lord before all of you and bestowed with earthly honor? Now, first of all, it is fitting for my head to be a truncated life ”(L. 76/65).

Then there is a repetition: “But the advanced regiments of the Tatars came forward and our advanced regiment ...” (L. 76 / 65v.), after which half a sheet was torn out obliquely in the book. On this sheet there was, apparently, a more detailed story about Peresvet and the "Pecheneg". This follows from a comparison with the usual descriptions according to O and U. So, on the front side of the half-lost sheet 77/66, there was most likely the usual mention of the leading regiments of the Moscow boyars (the number of characters in the lost place and in the standard text about this is approximately the same): further on the surviving lower half of the page, the Pecheneg is again mentioned, whom Peresvet saw and wished to fight with him. The most interesting thing is that despite the loss of half of the sheet, the amount of information that gives Persons. about the “preparation” of Peresvet for single combat with the “Pecheneg” essentially coincides with what is available in the intact texts C: Peresvet is armed with the “Arkhangelsk image” - in O with a “helmet”; he asks for forgiveness and blessings. In fact, only the references to Abbot Sergius, brother Andrey Osleb and “Child Jacob” that do not take up much space have disappeared, although more information should have fit on the lost part of the turnover.

What should be the conclusion from all this? First of all, Person. retained the remainder of the original text, which was omitted in other versions of C, about how Dmitry Ivanovich at the very beginning, when the advanced regiments were just converging, he himself went towards the “Pecheneg”, who, apparently, was a noble Tatar and, like Dmitry, did not go forward alone at all. According to L, Dmitry's opponent was none other than Mamaev "Tsar Telyak". He and Dmitry probably knew each other by sight, which could provoke their clash.

In this regard, S.N. Azbelev quite rightly pointed out to me the corresponding place from the legend “About Mamai the Godless”, written down in the 19th century. and ascending not to the currently known lists C, but to an older version of the historical narrative that has not come down to us. According to this legend, and contrary to almost all currently known versions of C, “Zadonsky Prince Dmitry Ivanovich” himself, taking “a battle club, goes to Krovolin the Tatar.” At the last moment, however, he exchanges horses "with an unknown warrior", who enters into a mortal battle with Bloodline. Then history repeats itself: Dmitry Ivanovich again leaves for a duel with another Tatar warrior, but again another "unknown" Russian warrior fights and dies instead of him.

The most significant is that in many versions of C, in fact, the names of these two warriors are indicated: after the battle, the Grand Duke saw, after the battle, lying next to the defeated Peresvet and the “Pecheneg” some “deliberate hero Grigory Kapustin” lying next to him. C is silent, however, why he was noted along with the princes and the most noble boyars, which gave rise to a version of the purely accidental appearance of this name.

However, the similarity of motives between Persons. and the Arkhangelsk legend makes us think that both Alexander Peresvet and Grigory Kapustin accompanied Prince Dmitry when he went to watch, they were the first to encounter the Tatars from the Tyulyak detachment (or Tyulyak himself !?) and were the first to die in battle, and the original story gave a specific description these collisions.

Subsequently, this story was replaced by a pious and completely fantastic description of the duel of a monk with the Tatar "Goliath": the author of this fake did not need the Grand Duke with the "Tsar" Tyulyak as duels: the role of the "Tsar" in C was given to Mamai, and Dmitry Ivanovich should not fight with the lowest rank. It was all the easier to make such a substitution, since the motive for the replacement apparently already existed in the original story: Peresvet, followed by Kapustin, outstripped the Grand Duke on the suim, which means they replaced him with themselves. That is why Peresvet turned out to be an “initiator” and was turned into a monk: thereby the leading and guiding role of the Orthodox Church was emphasized, and the duel itself became a symbol of the confrontation between the Orthodox army and the infidels, whom C calls both “Greeks” and “filthy” - in a word, atheists.

Value of Persons. is that it conveys an intermediate stage in the transformation of the original story into something completely different: on the one hand, it retained the original fragment about the Grand Duke’s (and not Peresvet’s) speech against the “Pecheneg”, and on the other hand, presented an early version of the transformation of the historical narration in a journalistic text: Dmitry went into battle, but the boyars held him back, and instead of him, a monk sent by Sergius of Radonezh spoke out against the "Goliath". Subsequent revisions lost the link between persuasion and the symbolic duel: they turned into self-sufficient “microplots”.

An indirect confirmation that this episode is an interstitial, secondary one is the definition in Persons. Peresvet as a black man "like in the first regiment of Volodimer Vsevolozh". Previously, this boyar was mentioned only when describing the Kolomna review, where he, together with his brother Dmitry, was named the governor of the first (but not “advanced!) Regiment.

When describing the battle, O essentially repeats the Kolomna layout of the boyars between the regiments in its original, “intact” form, making one “correction”: giving Mikula Vasilyevich a regiment of the right hand, the later editor ensured the symmetry of the forces described at the beginning of the battle: what it really was the ordering of the regiments on the Kulikovo field, he was not interested. In a word, these data cannot be considered reliable: they characterize the "Kolomensk", and not the "Don" category.

Also noteworthy is a phrase from Lit., unusual for texts C: “And he left the regiment of the Tartar baited Pechenegs.” This "baiting", which took place between individual soldiers and small detachments, is mentioned in some chronicle texts and corresponds to the later "hertz", in which the soldiers demonstrated their military prowess (11). This word clearly refers to military vocabulary, which indirectly shows that no clergyman was involved in this message. This also indirectly speaks of the originality of these Persons. compared to O and U.

7. Original in Persons. the return of the winners from the Don is described. Firstly, it is more clearly and unequivocally stated that Dmitry Ivanovich subjugated Ryazan at that moment: “And going past Ryazan, the Grand Duke commanded his Rezan to cover. Hearing then Olgird Lithuanian and saying to himself: “Oleg Rezansky gave me Moscow, but at home he lost his Rezan and died his belly in evil.” At the meeting of Dmitry in Kolomenskoye, it is said: “and exclaiming to all: “many years, ruler, on your Russian land and on Rezanskaya”” (L. 97/86ob.-98/87, 101/90).

Secondly, it is directly stated that, on the orders of the Grand Duke himself, a synodik was compiled with the names of all those who fell in battle: “And the Great Prince ordered messengers to be sent throughout the Russian region to the archbishop, and the bishop, and the holy hierarch to the monasteries to archimo[ nd] rite and abbot and to the holy monastery of the life-giving Trinity to the Monk Abbot Sergius, and to the entire priestly rank, command them to pray to God for their health and for all the Christ-loving host, and command the sons of the Russian souls killed beyond the Don to write in senadik for all the monastery [m] and to the churches as a heritage of eternal blessings and the end of the world and ponichida, command them to serve and remember their souls ”(L. 99 / 88-100 / 99).

Thirdly, in the general context with the above information, the original chronology of the last campaign is contained. According to Lit., the Grand Duke “went from the Don to the city of Moscow in the month of October on the 28th day, in memory of Stefan Savait and the Holy Great Martyr Poraskovgeya, named Friday”, and “Dmitry Ivanovich arrived in Moscow in the month of November on the 8th day, the Cathedral of the Holy Archangel Michael” , moreover, “the guests of the spouse and all black people met Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow and all Russia in Kolomenskoye, and Metropolitan Cyprian “with the whole ecumenical council” - at the Cauldron (L. 97 / 86ob., 101 / 90-102 / 91). All Christmas dates of Persons. accurate, which eliminates the possibility of typographical errors.

Outwardly, such dates look extremely strange: compared with the data, for example, Pec. they are a month late. But the important thing is that the month is this lunar one, 29 and 30 days long, and not at all the month of the solar Julian calendar that we are used to (12). Since a detailed substantiation of this will take up a lot of space, I will confine myself to a summary: the study showed that the dating of Persons. there is the fruit of the original lunar dates that existed in the original source; this recalculation was carried out retroactively, and this indirectly testifies in favor of the authenticity of the context in which these dates are placed.

The very content of this context speaks quite definitely about this: the toast “many years, ruler” is hardly invented retroactively: Dmitry Ivanovich did not live long after his glorious victory - less than 10 years, which the late writer should have known, and therefore it is unlikely I would write just such a text. It is much more natural to think that this is an eyewitness account that was recorded shortly after the battle.

In the same way, there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of both the double indication of the source about the conquest of Ryazan by Dmitry, and the evidence of the compilation of the Synod: confirmation of this has been preserved in L (13).

These examples are by no means limited. A more detailed textual analysis will certainly confirm that Lit. better than all other versions of C published to date, conveys the text of the original narrative of the Battle of Kulikovo. The texts that have been in scientific circulation so far are the fruit of a later revision of the original Tale. Researchers, discovering these late features, erroneously draw on this basis a seemingly logical conclusion about his late origin. smaller in terms of their specific gravity. Thus, in C it is necessary to clearly separate the specific description of events from its journalistic framing: the first goes back to the 80s. XIV century, the second - by the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. The substantiation of the last statement is the topic of a special study (14).

________________________

(1) Specific references to it can only be found in the works of A.K. Zaitsev and A.E. Petrov, released recently. However, their appeals to Persons. are point and do not cover its main content.
(2) There is no reference at all to the 1980 edition in this book.
(3) Further in the text, only indications of sheets are given. The original and most complete readings are in italics throughout. Due to the confusion of sheets in the manuscript, double numbering is given - ink and pencil numbering of sheets. When transmitting graphics, "oy" is replaced by "y", "h" - by "e", two dots above vowels are transmitted as "y", a solid sign at the end of words is omitted.
(4) Epiphany Golutvin Monastery was founded by Sergius of Radonezh. The exact date is not known, but the foundation of the white-stone temple found by archaeologists dates back to the second half of the 14th century. . Therefore, the testimony of Persons. can be considered a confirmation that this monastery arose in the 70s. 14th century
(5) Such repetitions are captions for figures.
(6) "H" is read presumably.
(7) The “first”, and not the “advanced” regiment - also in the front collection of the RSL., coll. Museum, No. 3155. See:.
(8) Hereinafter, the form "gsdr" is revealed as "master". The rationale for this was given by M. Agoshton.
(9) In the usual versions of C, Semyon Melik says: “Already Mamai the Tsar has come to Gusin Ford and we have one night among ourselves, in the morning we should come to Nepryadva.” It is important that this text omits "Kuzmina gat" and it is simpler than the Persons variant. Therefore, of the two formally possible versions, providing for the simplification of the text (O, Pech., etc.) and its complication (Lit.), preference should be given to the second: what motive should have moved the editor in order to remake the original text in this way? Rather, the scribe, who met twice with the mention of "Kuzmina Gati", simply threw it away in one case, and "transferred" other toponyms to Mamai.
(10) In Wu the verb is lost: “For this reason, the persecutors turned<…>the corpse of the dead is both across the river Nepryadnya, where it was impassable, that is, deep, filled with the corpse of filthy ones.
(11) One of the episodes of the Kazan capture in 1552: “The Sovereign ordered his regiment to stand carelessly, but do not fight with them and command not a single person to go to the grass.” The reference of possible skeptics to the later origin of this text can hardly be considered solid: such details can only be contained in very detailed descriptions of the battles, and there are not so many of them in the annals.
(12) See .
(13) “Prince Dmitry is about to send an army to Olga. And all of a sudden, the boyars of Ryazan came to him and told him that Prince Oleg had damaged his land and ran with the princess, and with the children, and from the boyars. And praying to him a lot about seven, so that they do not send a rati, but they themselves bish his brow and dress up in his row. The prince, listen to them and accept their petition, did not send an army against them, but plant your governors in the Ryazan principality ”; "... and others are many, their own names are written in the books of animals" .
(14) This issue is discussed in detail in Book. 2 of my monograph.

SOURCES AND LITERATURE:

1. Azbelev S.N. Historicism of epics and the specifics of folklore. L., 1982.
1a. Agoshton M. The Grand Duke's seal of 1497. On the history of the formation of Russian state symbols. M., 2005.
2. Altshuller B.L. Pillarless temples of the XIV century in Kolomna // Soviet archeology. 1977. No. 4.
3. Dal V.I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language. T.4. M., 1980.
4. Dmitriev L.A. Miniatures "Tales of the Battle of Mamaev" // Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature. T.22. M.; L., 1966.
4a. Dmitriev L.A. Review of editions of the Legend of the Battle of Mamaev // Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo. M., 1959.
5. Zhuravel A.V. Lunisolar calendar in Russia: a new approach to the study // Astronomy of ancient societies. M., 2002.
5a. Zhuravel A.V. "Aki lightning on a day of rain." Book. 1-2. M., 2010.
6. Zaitsev A.K. Where was the “place recommended by Berezuy”, “Tales of the Battle of Mamaev” // Upper Don: Nature. Archeology. Story. T.2. Tula, 2004.
7. Mazurov A.B. Medieval Kolomna in the XIV - the first third of the XVI centuries. M., 2001.
8. Folk Russian fairy tales A.N. Afanasiev. T.2. L., 1985.
9. Monuments of the Kulikovo cycle. St. Petersburg, 1998.
10. Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia. XI - beginning of the XII century. M., 1978.
11. Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia. XIV - the middle of the XV century. M., 1981.
11a. Petrov A.E. "Alexandria of Serbia" and "The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev" // Ancient Russia. Questions of medieval studies. 2005. No. 2.
12. PSRL. T.2. M., 2000.
13. PSRL. T.6. Issue 1. M., 2000
14. PSRL. T.11. M., 2000.
15. PSRL. T.13. M., 2000.
16. PSRL. T.21. M., 2005.
17. PSRL. T.42. SPb., 2002.
18. Legends and stories about the battle of Kulikovo. L., 1982.
19. The legend of the Mamaev battle. Front manuscript of the 17th century. from the collection of the State Historical Museum. M., 1980.
20. Shambinago S.K. Tale of the Mamaev Battle. SPb., 1906.

Translation by V. V. Kolesov

The beginning of the story of how God gave victory to the sovereign Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich beyond the Don over the filthy Mamai and how, through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God and Russian miracle workers, Orthodox Christianity - God exalted the Russian land, and shamed the godless Hagarians.

I want to tell you, brothers, about the struggle of the recent war, how the battle on the Don took place between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and all Orthodox Christians with the filthy Mamai and the godless Agarians. And God exalted the Christian race, and humiliated the filthy and confounded their savagery, just as in the old days he helped Gideon over Midian and the glorious Moses over Pharaoh. We must tell about the greatness and mercy of God, how the Lord fulfilled the wishes of those who were faithful to him, how he helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich over the godless Polovtsians and Hagarians.

The legend of the Mamaev battle. Popular Science Video

By God's permission, for our sins, at the instigation of the devil, the prince of an eastern country, named Mamai, a pagan by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil persecutor of Christians, rose up. And the devil began to incite him, and temptation against the Christian world entered his heart, and the enemy taught him how to destroy the Christian faith and desecrate the holy churches, because he wanted to conquer all Christians, so that the name of the Lord would not be glorified among the faithful to God. Our Lord, God, king and creator of all things, will fulfill whatever He wills.

The same godless Mamai began to boast and, envying the second Julian the Apostate, Tsar Batu, began to ask the old Tatars how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land. And the old Tatars began to tell him how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land, how he took Kyiv and Vladimir, and all of Russia, the Slavic land, and killed the Grand Duke Yuri Dmitrievich, and killed many Orthodox princes, and desecrated the holy churches and burned many monasteries and villages , and in Vladimir he plundered the golden-domed cathedral church. And since he was blinded by his mind, he did not comprehend that, as the Lord wills, it will be so: in the same way, in ancient days, Jerusalem was captured by Titus the Roman and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, for the sins and lack of faith of the Jews - but not the Lord is infinitely angry and he does not punish forever.

Having learned everything from his old Tatars, Mamai began to hurry, inflamed by the devil incessantly, taking up arms against Christians. And, forgetting, he began to say to his Alpauts, and Yesauls, and princes, and governors, and all Tatars like this: “I don’t want to do this like Batu, but when I come to Russia and kill their prince, then which cities are the best sufficient, will be for us - here we will settle, and we will take possession of Russia, we will live quietly and carefree, ”but he didn’t know, damned, that the Lord’s hand is high.

And a few days later he crossed the great river Volga with all his might, and he added many other hordes to his great army and said to them: “Let's go to the Russian land and get rich from Russian gold!” The godless one went to Russia, like a lion, roaring with rage, like an insatiable viper breathing malice. And he reached the mouth of the river. Voronezh, and dismissed all his strength, and punished all his Tatars like this: “Let none of you plow bread, be ready for Russian bread!”

Prince Oleg Ryazansky found out that Mamai was wandering in Voronezh and wanted to go to Russia, to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow. The poverty of the mind was in his head, he sent his son to the godless Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, and wrote his letters to him like this: “The Eastern great and free, the kings of Tsar Mamai - rejoice! Your henchman, Oleg, who swore allegiance to you, the prince of Ryazan, prays a lot to you. I heard, sir, that you want to go to the Russian land, to your servant Prince Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, you want to frighten him. Now, lord and bright tsar, your time has come: the land of Moscow has overflowed with gold, and silver, and many riches, and with all sorts of treasures your possession is needed. And Prince Dimitry of Moscow - a Christian man - as soon as he hears the word of your fury, “he will run away to his far reaches: either to Novgorod the Great, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and the great wealth of Moscow and gold - everything will be in your hands and your army on demand. But me, your servant, Oleg of Ryazan, your power will spare, O king: for your sake I strongly frighten Russia and Prince Dimitri. And we also ask you, O Tsar, both of your servants, Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania: we received a great offense from this Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich, and no matter how we threaten him with your royal name in our offense, he does not worry about it. And yet, our lord the tsar, he captured my city Kolomna for himself - and about all this, O tsar, we send a complaint to you.

And Prince Oleg of Ryazansky soon sent his messenger with his letter, but it was written in the letter as follows: “To the Grand Duke Olgerd of Lithuania - rejoice in great joy! It is known, after all, that for a long time you were plotting against the Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow in order to expel him from Moscow and take possession of Moscow yourself. Now, prince, our time has come, for the great king Mamai is coming upon him and on his land. And now, prince, we will both join Tsar Mamai, for I know that the tsar will give you the city of Moscow, and other cities that are closer to your principality, and he will give me the city of Kolomna, and Vladimir, and Murom, which are to my the principality is closer. I sent my messenger to Tsar Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, so you sent your messenger, and what you have from the gifts, then you went to him, having written your letters, but you yourself know how, for more you understand me."

Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, having learned about all this, was very pleased with the great praise of his friend, Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and quickly sends an ambassador to Tsar Mamai with great gifts and gifts for royal amusements. And he writes his letters like this: “To the Great Eastern Tsar Mamai! Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, who swore allegiance to you, begs you a lot. I heard, sir, that you want to punish your lot, your servant, the Moscow prince Dimitri, therefore I pray you, free tsar, your servant: Prince Dimitri of Moscow inflicts a great insult on your prince Oleg Ryazansky, and he also causes great harm to me. Mr. Tsar, free Mamai! May the power of your reign now come to our places, may your attention, O king, turn your attention to our suffering from the Moscow prince Dimitri Ivanovich.

Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Litovsky thought to themselves, saying this: “When Prince Dimitry hears about the coming of the tsar, and about his fury, and about our alliance with him, he will run away from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and we will land in Moscow and Kolomna. When the tsar comes, we will meet him with great gifts and with great honor, and we will beg him, the tsar will return to his possessions, and we will divide the principality of Moscow among ourselves by the tsar’s decree - either to Vilna, or to Ryazan, and the tsar will give us Mamai your labels and our descendants after us. After all, they did not know what they were plotting and what they were saying, like foolish little children who do not know God's power and God's destiny. For it is truly said: “If someone holds faith in God with good deeds and the truth in his heart and trusts in God, then the Lord will not betray such a person to enemies in humiliation and ridicule.”

The Sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich - a kind man - was a model of humility, wished for a heavenly life, expecting future eternal blessings from God, not knowing that his close friends were plotting an evil conspiracy against him. After all, the prophet said about such people: “Do not harm your neighbor and do not swarm, do not dig holes for your enemy, but trust in the Creator God, the Lord God can revive and kill.”

Ambassadors came to Tsar Mamai from Olgerd of Lithuania and from Oleg of Ryazan and brought him great gifts and letters. The tsar, however, accepted the gifts and letters favorably and, after hearing the letters and ambassadors, let him go and wrote the following answer: “To Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan. For your gifts and for your praise addressed to me, whatever Russian possessions you want from me, I will bestow upon you. And you swear allegiance to me and quickly come to me and defeat your enemy. After all, I don’t really need your help: if I now wished, then with my great strength I would have conquered ancient Jerusalem, as before the Chaldeans. Now I want to support you with my royal name and strength, and with your oath and your power, Prince Dmitry of Moscow will be defeated, and your name will become formidable in your countries as my threat. After all, if I, the king, have to defeat a king like myself, then it is fitting and proper for me to receive royal honor. You now go away from me and convey my words to your princes.

The envoys, returning from the king to their princes, said to them: “King Mamai welcomes you and is very, for your great praise, favorably disposed towards you!” Those, poor in mind, rejoiced at the vain greetings of the godless king, not knowing that God gives power to whomever he wishes. Now they are of one faith, one baptism, and with the godless they united together to persecute the Orthodox faith of Christ. Of such, after all, the prophet said: “Indeed, they cut themselves off from a good olive tree and were grafted into a wild olive tree.”

Prince Oleg Ryazansky began to rush to send ambassadors to Mamai, saying: “Come out, tsar, rather to Russia!” For great wisdom says: "The way of the wicked will perish, for they gather vexation and reproach upon themselves." Now I will call this cursed Oleg the new Svyatopolk.

And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich heard that the godless Tsar Mamai was advancing on him with many hordes and with all his might, tirelessly furious at Christians and at the faith of Christ and envying the headless Batu, and the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich was greatly saddened because of the invasion of the godless. And, standing before the holy icon of the Lord's image that stood at his head, and falling on his knees, he began to pray and said: “Lord! I, a sinner, dare I pray to you, your humble servant? But to whom shall I turn my grief? Only relying on you, Lord, and I will lift up my sorrow. But you, Lord, king, lord, light giver, do not do to us, Lord, what you did to our fathers, bringing the evil Batu on them and on their cities, for even now, Lord, that great fear and trembling lives in us. And now, Lord, king, lord, do not be completely angry with us, I know, Lord, that because of me, a sinner, you want to destroy our whole land; for I have sinned against you more than all men. Create for me, Lord, for my tears, like Hezekiah, and tame, Lord, the heart of this fierce beast! He bowed and said: "I trusted in the Lord - and I will not perish." And he sent for his brother, for Prince Vladimir Andreevich to Borovsk, and for all the Russian princes he sent fast messengers, and for all the governors in the field, and for the boyar children, and for all the service people. And he ordered them to be in Moscow soon.

Prince Vladimir Andreevich arrived quickly in Moscow, and all the princes and governors. And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich, came to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian and said to him: “Do you know, our father, the great trial that lies ahead of us, because the godless Tsar Mamai is moving towards us, inflaming inexorable fury in himself?” And the metropolitan answered the Grand Duke: “Tell me, my lord, what did you do wrong before him?” The great prince said: “Father, I checked everything for sure, that everything was according to the precepts of our fathers, and even more, I paid tribute to him.” The metropolitan said: “You see, my lord, by God’s permission for the sake of our sins, he goes to fill our land, but you, the Orthodox princes, must satisfy those wicked with gifts at least four times. If even after that he does not humble himself, then the Lord will humble him, because the Lord opposes the bold, but gives grace to the humble. The same happened once with the Great Basil in Caesarea: when the evil apostate Julian, going to the Persians, wanted to destroy his city of Caesarea, Basil the Great prayed with all Christians to the Lord God, collected a lot of gold and sent it to him to satisfy the greed of the criminal. The same, accursed, only became more furious, and the Lord sent his warrior, Mercury, to destroy him. And the wicked was invisibly pierced in the heart, cruelly ended his life. You, my lord, take as much gold as you have, and go to meet him, and you will soon come to his senses.

The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich sent to the impious Tsar Mamai his chosen young man, named Zakhary Tyutchev, tested by reason and sense, giving him a lot of gold and two translators who knew the Tatar language. Zakhary, having reached the land of Ryazan and having learned that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania had joined the filthy Tsar Mamai, quickly sent a messenger secretly to the Grand Duke.

The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard that news, grieved in his heart, and was filled with rage and sadness, and began to pray: “Lord, my God, I hope for you, who loves the truth. If an enemy harms me, then I should endure, for from time immemorial he has been a hater and enemy of the Christian race; but my close friends have plotted against me. Judge, Lord, them and me, because I did them no harm, except that I accepted gifts and honors from them, but I also gave them in return. Judge, O Lord, according to my righteousness, let the wickedness of sinners end."

And, taking his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he went for the second time to the Right Reverend Metropolitan and told him how Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg Ryazansky united with Mamai against us. The bishop, however, said: “And you yourself, sir, haven’t you done any offense to both of them?” The great prince shed a tear and said: “If I am a sinner before God or before people, then I have not violated a single line before them according to the law of my fathers. For you yourself, Father, know that I am satisfied with my limits, and have not done them any offense, and I do not know why those who harm me have multiplied against me. The blessed metropolitan said: “My son, lord great prince, may your heart’s eyes light up with joy: you honor the law of God and do the truth, because the Lord is righteous, and you loved the truth. Now they have surrounded you like many dogs; vain and vain are their attempts, but in the name of the Lord defend yourself against them. The Lord is just and will be your true helper. And from the all-seeing eye of the Lord, where can one hide - and from his firm hand?

And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and with all the Russian princes and governors thought about how to set up a strong outpost in the field, and sent their best and most experienced soldiers to the outpost: Rodion Rzhevsky, Andrey Volosaty, Vasily Tupik, Yakov Oslyabyatev and other hardened warriors with them. And he ordered them to carry out guard duty on the Quiet Pine with all diligence, and go to the Horde, and get a language in order to find out the true intentions of the king.

And the great prince himself sent fast messengers throughout the Russian land with his letters to all cities: “Be ready to go to my service, to the battle with the godless Hagar Tatars; Let us unite in Kolomna for the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God.”

And since the guard detachments lingered in the steppe, the Grand Duke sent a second outpost: Klementy Polyanin, Ivan Svyatoslavich Sveslanin, Grigory Sudakov and others with them, ordering them to return as soon as possible. The same met Vasily Tupik: he leads the language to the Grand Duke, the language is from the people of the royal court, from dignitaries. And he informs the Grand Duke that Mamai is inevitably advancing on Russia and that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Lithuanian have written to each other and joined him. And the king is in no hurry to go because he is waiting for autumn.

Hearing such news from the tongue about the invasion of the godless tsar, the Grand Duke began to take comfort in God and called for firmness to his brother Prince Vladimir and all the Russian princes, saying: “Brothers, Russian princes, we are all from the family of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich of Kyiv, to whom the Lord revealed to know the Orthodox faith, like Eustathius Plakida; he enlightened the whole Russian land with holy baptism, brought us out of the torments of paganism, and commanded us to firmly hold and preserve the same holy faith and fight for it. If anyone suffers for it, in the future life he will be numbered among the holy first disciples for the faith of Christ. But I, brothers, want to suffer even to death for the faith of Christ.” They all answered him in agreement, as if with one mouth: “Truly, you, sovereign, fulfill the law of God and followed the gospel commandment, for the Lord said: “If anyone suffers for my name’s sake, after the resurrection he will receive eternal life a hundredfold.” And we, sovereign, today are ready to die with you and lay down our heads for the holy Christian faith and for your great offense.

The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard this from his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich and from all the Russian princes who decide to fight for the faith, ordered his entire army to be at Kolomna for the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God: “Then I will review the regiments and appoint a governor to each regiment.” And all the multitude of people seemed to say with one mouth: “Give us, Lord, the decision is to fulfill your name for the sake of the saint!”

And the princes of Belozersky came to him, they were ready for battle, and the army was well equipped, Prince Fedor Semenovich, Prince Semyon Mikhailovich, Prince Andrey Kemsky, Prince Gleb Kargopolsky and Andomsky princes; Yaroslavl princes also came with their regiments: Prince Andrei Yaroslavsky, Prince Roman Prozorovsky, Prince Lev Kurbsky, Prince Dmitry Rostovsky and many other princes.

Right there, brothers, a knock is knocking and like thunder rumbles in the glorious city of Moscow - then the strong army of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich is coming and the Russian sons are thundering with their gilded armor.

The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and all the princes of Russia, went to the life-giving Trinity to bow to his spiritual father, Reverend Elder Sergius, to receive a blessing from that holy monastery. And the Monk Abbot Sergius begged him to listen to the Holy Liturgy, because it was then Sunday and the memory of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus was honored. At the end of the Liturgy, St. Sergius and all his brothers asked the Grand Duke to eat bread in the house of the life-giving Trinity, in his monastery. The Grand Duke was in confusion, for I would send messengers to him that the filthy Tatars were already approaching, and he asked the monk to let him go. And the reverend elder answered him: “This delay of yours will turn into double obedience for you. For it is not yet, my lord, that you should wear the crown of death, but in a few years, and for many others crowns are now being woven. The great prince ate their bread, and Abbot Sergius at that time ordered the water to be consecrated from the relics of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus. The great prince soon got up from the meal, and the Monk Sergius sprinkled him with holy water and all his Christ-loving army and overshadowed the great prince with the cross of Christ - a sign on his forehead. And he said: “Go, sir, to the filthy Polovtsians, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor,” and added to him quietly: “You will defeat your adversaries, sir, as befits you, our sovereign.” The great prince said: “Father, give me two warriors from your brethren - Peresvet Alexander and his brother Andrey Oslyaba, and you yourself will help us.” The elder, the monk, ordered both of them to quickly prepare to go with the Grand Duke, for they were well-known warriors in battles, they met more than one attack. They immediately obeyed the venerable elder and did not refuse his command. And he gave them, instead of a corruptible weapon, an incorruptible one - the cross of Christ, sewn on schemas, and ordered them to put it on themselves instead of gilded helmets. And he handed them over to the hands of the Grand Duke, and said: “Here are my soldiers for you, and your chosen ones,” and he said to them: “Peace be with you, my brothers, fight firmly, like glorious warriors for the faith of Christ and for all Orthodox Christianity with the filthy Cumans." And he overshadowed the entire army of the Grand Duke with the sign of Christ - peace and blessing.

The great prince rejoiced in his heart, but he did not tell anyone what St. Sergius had said to him. And he went to his glorious city of Moscow, rejoicing in the blessing of the holy elder, as if he had received an indelible treasure. And, returning to Moscow, he went with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, and secretly told him everything that Elder Saint Sergius had said only to him, and what blessing he had given him and all his Orthodox army. The archbishop ordered these words to be kept secret, not to be told to anyone.

When Thursday, August 27, the day of memory of the holy father Pimen the Hermit, came, on that day the great prince decided to go out to meet the godless Tatars. And, taking with him his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he stood in the church of the Holy Mother of God in front of the image of the Lord, folding his hands on his chest, shedding streams of tears, praying, and said: “O Lord our God, great lord, firm, truly you are the king of glory, have mercy on us sinners, when we lose heart, we resort to you alone, our savior and benefactor, for we were created by your hand. But I know, Lord, that my sins are already covering my head, and now do not leave us sinners, do not depart from us. Judge, Lord, those who oppress me and defend me from those who fight with me; Take, Lord, a weapon and a shield and come to my aid. Give me, Lord, victory over my enemies, let them know your glory. And then he proceeded to the miraculous image of the lady of the Mother of God, which Luke the Evangelist wrote, and said: “O miraculous lady of the Mother of God, intercessor of all human creation, for thanks to you we have come to know our true God, incarnated and born by you. Do not give, madam, our cities to the ruin of the filthy Polovtsy, so that your holy churches and the Christian faith will not be defiled. Begged, Lady Mother of God, your son Christ, our God, to humble the hearts of our enemies, may their hand not be over us. And you, our lady, the Most Holy Theotokos, send us your help and cover us with your imperishable robe so that we do not fear wounds, because we rely on you, for we are your slaves. I know, lady, if you want, you will help us against the evil enemies, these filthy Polovtsians who do not call on your name; but we, Madam the Most Pure Theotokos, rely on you and your help. Now we oppose the godless pagans of the filthy Tatars, pray for your son, our God. And then he came to the tomb of the blessed miracle worker Metropolitan Peter and, falling heartily to him, said: And now the time has come for you to pray for us to the common ruler of all, the king and gracious savior. For now the filthy adversaries have taken up arms against me and they are preparing weapons against your city of Moscow. After all, the Lord showed you to our subsequent generations, kindled you to us, a bright candle, and placed you on a high candlestick to shine throughout the Russian land. And now it is fitting for you to pray for us sinners, so that the hand of death does not come upon us and the hand of the sinner does not destroy us. You are our firm guard from enemy attacks, for we are your flock. And, having finished the prayer, he bowed to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, while the archbishop blessed him and let him go on a campaign against the filthy Tatars; and, having crossed his forehead, overshadowed him with the sign of Christ, and sent his divinely holy cathedral with crosses, and with holy icons, and with sacred water to the Frolovsky gates, and to Nikolsky, and to Konstantin-Eleninsky, so that every soldier would come out blessed and holy water sprinkled.

The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, went to the church of the heavenly governor Archangel Michael and beat his holy image with his brow, and then proceeded to the coffins of Orthodox princes, his forefathers, so tearfully saying: “True protectors, Russian princes, champions of the Orthodox faith of the Christian, our parents! If you have the boldness to stand before Christ, then now pray for our grief, for a great invasion threatens us, your children, and now help us. And having said this, he left the church.

The Grand Duchess Evdokia, and Princess Maria of Vladimir, and other Orthodox princes, the princesses, and many wives of the governor, and the boyars of Moscow, and the wives of the servants stood here, seeing them off, from tears and cries of the heart they could not even say a word, making a farewell kiss. And the rest of the princesses, and the boyars, and the wives of the servants also made a farewell kiss with their husbands and returned with the Grand Duchess. The great prince, barely holding back tears, did not begin to cry in front of the people, but in his heart he shed a lot of tears, consoling his princess, and said: “Wife, if God is for us, then who is against us!” And he sat on his best horse, and all the princes and governors sat on their horses.

The sun shines brightly for him in the east, showing him the way. Then, after all, as the falcons fell from the golden blocks from the stone city of Moscow, and flew up under the blue skies, and thundered with their golden bells, they wanted to strike at the large herds of swans and geese: then, brothers, it was not the falcons that flew out of the stone city of Moscow, then the Russian daredevils drove out with their sovereign, with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, and they wanted to run into the great power of the Tatars.

The princes of Belozersk left separately with their army; their army looks made. The great prince let his brother prince Vladimir go by the road to Brashevo, and the Belozersky princes - by the Bolvanovsky road, and the great prince himself went to the Kotel by the road. Before him the sun shines brightly, and after him a gentle breeze blows. Therefore, the great prince parted from his brother, because it was not possible for them to pass along one road.

The Grand Duchess Evdokia, with her daughter-in-law, Princess Maria of Vladimir, and with the voivodeship wives, and with the boyars, went up to her golden-domed tower to the embankment and sat on a locker under the glass windows. For this is the last time he sees the Grand Duke, shedding tears like a river stream. With great sadness, putting his hands to his chest, he says: Lord, my God, the Most High Creator, look at my humility, make me worthy, Lord, to see again my sovereign, the most glorious among people, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich. Help him, Lord, with your firm hand to defeat the filthy Polovtsians who came against him. And do not allow, Lord, what happened many years before this, when the Russian princes had a terrible battle on the Kalka with the filthy Polovtsians, with the Hagarians; and now deliver, Lord, from such a misfortune, and save, and have mercy! Do not let, Lord, perish the surviving Christianity, and may your holy name be glorified in the Russian land! Since the time of that Kalk misfortune and the terrible battle of the Tatars, the Russian land has now been despondent, and it no longer has hope for anyone, but only for you, the all-merciful God, for you can revive and kill. But I, a sinner, now have two small branches, Prince Vasily and Prince Yuri: if the clear sun rises from the south or the wind blows from the west, they will not be able to endure either one or the other. What then am I, a sinner, to do? So return to them, Lord, their father, the Grand Duke, healthy, then their land will be saved, and they will always reign.

The Grand Duke set off, taking with him the husbands of noble, Moscow merchants - ten people as witnesses: no matter what God arranged, they would tell in distant lands, like noble merchants, and there were: the first - Vasily Kapitsa, the second - Sidor Alferyev, third - Konstantin Petunov, fourth - Kuzma Kovrya, fifth - Semyon Antonov, sixth - Mikhail Salarev, seventh - Timofey Vesyakov, eighth - Dmitry Cherny, ninth - Dementyu Salarev and tenth - Ivan Shikha.

And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich moved along the big wide road, and the Russian sons followed him quickly, as if they were drinking copper bowls and eating grapes, wishing for themselves the honor and a glorious name: after all, brothers, the knock knocks and the thunder rumbles at an early dawn, Prince Vladimir Andreevich crosses the Moscow River on a good ferry on Borovsky.

The great prince came to Kolomna on Saturday, on the feast day of the holy father Moses the Ethiopian. Many governors and warriors were already here and met him on the Severka River. Archbishop Gerontius of Kolomna, with all his clergy, met the Grand Duke at the gates of the city with life-giving crosses and holy icons, and overshadowed him with a life-bearing cross, and made a prayer: "Save, God, your people."

The next morning, the great prince ordered all the soldiers to leave for the field to the Maiden Monastery.

On Holy Sunday, after Matins, many battle trumpets sounded, and the timpani rattled, and the embroidered banners rustled near Panfilov's garden.

The sons of the Russians entered the vast fields of Kolomna, but even here a huge army could not fit, and it was impossible for anyone to look at the Grand Duke's rati with their eyes. The prince is great, ”having driven to an elevated place with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, seeing so many people equipped, he rejoiced and appointed a governor to each regiment. For himself, the great prince took command of the Belozersky princes, and appointed his brother Prince Vladimir to the regiment of the right hand and gave him command of the Yaroslavl princes, and appointed Prince Gleb of Bryansky to the regiment of the left hand. The advanced regiment is Dmitry Vsevolodovich and his brother Vladimir Vsevolodovich, with the Kolomna people - the voivode Mikula Vasilievich, the Vladimir voivode and Yuryevsky - Timofey Voluevich, and the Kostroma voivode - Ivan Rodionovich Kvashnya, the Pereyaslav voivode - Andrey Serkizovich. And Prince Vladimir Andreevich has governors: Danilo Beleut, Konstantin Kononov, Prince Fyodor Yeletsky, Prince Yuri Meshchersky, Prince Andrei Muromsky.

The great prince, having distributed the regiments, ordered them to cross the Oka River and ordered each regiment and governors: “If anyone goes through the Ryazan land, do not touch a single hair!” And, having taken a blessing from the Archbishop of Kolomna, the great prince crossed the Oka River with all his might and sent the third outpost, his best knights, into the field so that they would meet with the Tatar watchmen in the steppe: Semyon Medic, Ignaty Kren, Foma Tynin, Peter Gorsky, Karp Oleksin , Petrush Churikov and many other daring riders with them.

The great prince said to his brother Prince Vladimir: “Let us hasten, brother, to meet the godless pagans, filthy Tatars, and we will not turn our faces away from their impudence, and if, brother, death is destined for us, then not without benefit, not without a plan for us this death, but into eternal life!” And the sovereign, the great prince himself, on his way, called on his relatives for help - the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb.

Prince Oleg Ryazansky heard that the great prince had united with many forces and was moving towards the godless Tsar Mamai, and besides, he was firmly armed with his faith, which he placed with all hope on God the Almighty, the Supreme Creator. And Oleg Ryazansky began to beware and move from place to place with his like-minded people, saying: “Now, if we could send news of this misfortune to the intelligent Olgerd of Lithuania, find out what he thinks about it, but it’s impossible: they blocked our way. I thought in the old fashioned way that the Russian princes should not rise against the eastern tsar, but now how to understand all this? And where did the prince come from such help that he could rise against the three of us?

His boyars answered him: “We, the prince, were informed from Moscow fifteen days before this, but we were afraid to tell you, that a monk lives in his patrimony, near Moscow, his name is Sergius, he is very perspicacious. He over-armed him, and from his monks gave him assistants. Hearing this, Prince Oleg Ryazansky was frightened and angry at his boyars and furious: “Why haven’t they told me so far? Then I would have sent to the unclean king and begged him, and no evil would have happened! Woe to me, I have lost my mind, but I am not the only one who has weakened in mind, but more intelligent Olgerd Lithuanian than me; but, however, he honors the Latin faith of Peter the Hunnivogo, but I, accursed, have known the true law of God! And why did I turn away? And what the Lord said to me will come true: “If a slave, knowing the law of his master, breaks it, the beat will be severe.” For what have you done now? Knowing the law of God, who created the heavens and the earth, and all creation, now joined the impious king, who decided to trample on the law of God! And now to what foolish thought did he entrust himself? If now the Grand Duke were to offer help, he would not accept me in any way, for he had learned about my betrayal. If I join the impious tsar, then I will truly become like the former persecutor of the Christian faith, and then the earth will swallow me alive, like Svyatopolk: I will not only be deprived of my reign, but I will also lose my life, and I will be thrown into hellfire to suffer. If the Lord is for them, then no one will overcome them, and even that shrewd monk will help him with his prayer! If I don’t help any of them, then how can I resist them both in the future? And now I think so: which of them the Lord will help, I will join him!”

Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, in accordance with the previous plan, gathered many Lithuanians, both Varangians and Zhmudis, and went to the aid of Mamai. And he came to the city of Odoev, but, having heard that the great prince had gathered a great many warriors - all of Russia and Slovenia, but went to the Don against Tsar Mamai, - having also heard that Oleg was frightened, - and has since become motionless, and realized the futility of his thoughts, now regretted his alliance with Oleg Ryazansky, tossed about and was indignant, saying: “If a person lacks his own mind, then in vain he is looking for someone else’s mind: it never happened that Ryazan taught Lithuania! Now Oleg has driven me crazy, and he himself has perished even more. So now I will stay here until I hear about the Moscow victory.

At the same time, Princes Andrei of Polotsk and Prince Dmitry of Bryansk, the Olgerdovichs, heard that a great misfortune and concern weighed down the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow and all Orthodox Christianity from the godless Mamai. Those princes were unloved by their father, Prince Olgerd, because of their stepmother, but now they were loved by God and received holy baptism. They were like fruitful ears, suppressed by weeds: living in the midst of wickedness, they could not bear worthy fruit. And Prince Andrei sends a secret small letter to his brother, Prince Dmitry, in which it is written as follows: “You know, my beloved brother, that our father rejected us from himself, but our heavenly father, the Lord God, loved us more strongly and enlightened us with the saints by baptism, having given us his law, in order to live according to it, and delivered us from empty fuss and from unclean food; What shall we repay God for now? So let us strive, brother, for a good deed for the ascetics of Christ, the source of Christianity, let us go, brother, to the aid of the Grand Duke Dmitry of Moscow and all Orthodox Christians, for a great misfortune came for them from the filthy Ishmaelites, and even our father and Oleg Ryazansky joined the godless and persecute the Orthodox Christian faith. We, brothers, should fulfill the holy scripture, which says: “Brothers, be responsive in trouble!” Do not doubt, brother, that we will resist the father, because this is how the Evangelist Luke conveyed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “You will be betrayed by your parents and brothers, and you will die for my name; but whoever endures to the end will be saved!” Let us get out, brother, from this crushing weed and graft ourselves into the true fruitful "" "Christ's grapes, cultivated by the hand of Christ. Now, brother, we aspire not for earthly life, but desiring the honor in heaven, which the Lord gives to those who do his will."

Prince Dmitry Olgerdovich, having read the letter of his elder brother, rejoiced and wept for joy, saying: “Vladyka, Lord, philanthropist, give your servants the desire to accomplish this good feat in this way, which you revealed to my elder brother!” And he ordered the ambassador: “Tell my brother, Prince Andrei: I am ready right now on your order, brother and master. How many of my troops are, then they are all with me, because by God's providence we have gathered for the upcoming war with the Danube Tatars. And also tell my brother, I also heard from the honey-gatherers who came to me from the Sevres land, they say that the Grand Duke Dmitry is already on the Don, because the evil raw-eaters want to wait there. And we should go to the North and unite there: we must keep our way to the North, and in this way we will hide from our father, so that shame does not interfere with us.

A few days later, both brothers met, as they decided, with all their might in the Seversk land and, seeing each other, rejoiced, as Joseph and Benjamin once did, seeing with them a lot of people, vigorous and equipped, skilled warriors. And they quickly reached the Don, and caught up with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow on this side of the Don, at a place called Berezuy, and then joined.

The great prince Dmitry and his brother Vladimir both rejoiced with the joy of the great mercy of God: after all, it is impossible to be so simple that the father’s children leave and outwit him, as Herod’s magicians once did, and come to our aid. And he honored them with many gifts, and went on their way, rejoicing and glorifying the holy spirit, having already renounced everything earthly, expecting another immortal redemption. The great prince said to them: “My dear brothers, for what need have you come here?” They answered: “The Lord God sent us to help you!” The great prince said: “Truly you are like our forefather Abraham, who quickly helped Lot, and you are also like the valiant great prince Yaroslav, who avenged the blood of his brothers.” And immediately the great prince sent such a message to Moscow to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian: "The Olgerdovichi - the princes came to me with many forces, but they left their father." And the messenger quickly reached the right Reverend Metropolitan. The archbishop, having heard about this, stood up for prayer, saying with tears: “Lord, Vladyka, philanthropist, for you turn winds that are contrary to us into calm ones! And he sent it to all the cathedral churches and monasteries, commanding diligent prayers to be done day and night to the Almighty God. And he sent to the monastery to the Monk Abbot Sergius, so that God would heed their prayers. The great princess Evdokia, having heard about that great mercy of God, began to distribute generous alms and constantly stayed in the holy church, praying day and night.

Let us leave this again and return to the former.

When the great prince was at the place called Berezuy, twenty-three fields from the Don, the fifth day of the month of September arrived - the day of memory of the holy prophet Zechariah (on the same day the murder of Dmitry's ancestor - Prince Gleb Vladimirovich), and two of his guard outposts arrived , Peter Gorsky and Karp Oleksin, came from among the dignitaries of the royal court. That language tells: “Tsar Kuzmine is already standing, but not in a hurry, waiting for Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan; guided by the information received from Oleg, the tsar does not know about your fees and does not expect a meeting with you; in three days should be on the Don. The great prince asked him about the power of the king, and he replied: "An uncountable number of troops is his strength, no one can count them."

The great prince began to consult with his brother and with his newly found brother, with the Lithuanian princes: “Will we stay here further or will we cross the Don?” Olgerdpvichi told him: “If you want a solid army, then order to cross over the Don, so that not a single thought of retreat would have; do not think about the great power of the enemy, for God is not in power, but in truth: Yaroslav, having crossed the river, defeated Svyatopolk, your great-grandfather, the great prince Alexander, having crossed the Neva river, defeated the king, and you, calling on God, should do the same . And if we defeat the enemy, then we will all be saved, but if we perish, then we will accept a common death - from the princes to the common people. You, the Sovereign Grand Duke, now need to forget about death, speak with bold words, so that your army will be strengthened from those speeches. : after all, we see what a great number of chosen knights are in your army.

And the great prince ordered the army to cross the Don.

And at this time, the scouts are hurrying, because the filthy Tatars are approaching. And many Russian sons rejoiced with great joy, the tea of ​​their desired feat, which they still dreamed about in Russia.

And for many days many wolves flocked to that place, howling terribly, continuously all night, anticipating a great thunderstorm. The hearts of brave people in the troops are strengthened, while other people in the troops, hearing that thunderstorm, are completely depressed: after all, an unprecedented army has gathered, they call to each other insanely, and the jackdaws speak their own language, and the eagles, flying in multitudes from the mouth of the Don, soaring through the air, call , and many animals howl ferociously, waiting for that terrible day, predetermined by God, in which human bodies should lie down: such will be bloodshed, like sea water. From that fear and horror, the great trees bow down and the grass spreads.

Many people from both armies grieve, foreseeing their death.

The filthy Polovtsy, in great despondency, began to lament the end of their lives, because if the ungodly dies, then the memory of him will disappear with noise. The faithful, however, will shine even more with joy, waiting for the aspirations prepared for them, the beautiful crowns, about which the Monk Abbot Sergius told the Grand Duke.

The scouts are hurrying, for the filthy ones are already close and are getting closer. And at the sixth hour of the day, Semyon Melik rushed with his retinue, and a lot of Tatars were chasing him: they brazenly chased almost to our army, and as soon as they saw the Russians, they quickly returned to the tsar and informed him that the Russian princes had prepared for battle at the Don. For by God's providence they saw a great multitude of people placed apart and informed the tsar: "The army of the Russian princes is four times larger than our gathering." The same impious tsar, inflamed by the devil to his own destruction, suddenly screaming out, spoke like this: “Such are my strengths, and if I do not overcome the Russian princes, then how will I return home? I can't bear my shame!" - and ordered his filthy Polovtsians to prepare for battle.

Semyon Melik told the great prince: “Mamai the Tsar has already come to Gusin Ford, and there is only one night between us, for by morning he will reach Nepryadva. You, sovereign Grand Duke, should now prepare yourself so that the filthy ones are not taken by surprise.

Then the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich began with his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and with the Lithuanian princes Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich, until the sixth hour, to arrange the regiments. A certain governor came with the Lithuanian princes, named Dmitry Bobrok, originally from the Volyn land, who was a noble commander, he well arranged the regiments, according to their dignity, how and where one should stand.

The great prince, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir, and the Lithuanian princes, and all the Russian princes, and the governor, and riding up to a high place, saw the images of saints sewn on Christian banners, like some kind of solar lamps, glowing in the rays of the sun; and their gilded banners rustle, spreading like clouds, quietly trembling, as if they want to say something; the Russian heroes are standing, and their banners, as if alive, are swaying, the armor of the Russian sons is like water that flows in the wind, the gilded helmets on their heads, like the dawn of the morning in clear weather, shine, the Yalovites of their helmets are like a fiery flame, sway.

It is sad to see and pity to behold such a Russian assembly and their organization, for all are unanimous, one for the other, for each other they want to die, and all unanimously say: “God, look at us from the heights and grant our Orthodox prince, like Constantine, victory, throw the Amalekites under his feet, as once meek David. The Lithuanian princes marveled at all this, saying to themselves: “There was neither before us, nor with us, and after us there will be no such army organized. It is like Alexander, the king of Macedonia, the army, courage are like Gideon's horsemen, for the Lord armed them with his power!

The great prince, seeing his regiments worthily arranged, got off his horse and fell on his knees right in front of a large regiment with a black banner, on which the image of the ruler of our Lord Jesus Christ was embroidered, and from the depths of his soul began to cry out loudly: “O sovereign almighty! Look with a penetrating eye at these people who were created by your right hand and redeemed from the service of the devil by your blood.

Listen, Lord, to the sound of our prayers, turn your face to the wicked who do evil to your servants. And now, Lord Jesus, I pray and worship the image of your saint, and your most pure mother, and all the saints who pleased you, and our strong and irresistible intercessor and intercessor for us, you, Russian saint, the new wonderworker Peter! Hoping for your mercy, we dare to cry out and praise your holy and beautiful name, and father and son and holy spirit, now and forever and forever and ever! Amen!"

Having finished the prayer and sitting on his horse, he began to ride around the regiments with princes and governors and said to each regiment: “My dear brothers, Russian sons, everything from small to great! Already, brothers, the night has come, and the terrible day has approached - on this night, watch and pray, take courage and be strong, the Lord is with us, mighty in battle. Remain here, brothers, in your places, without confusion. Let each of you get ready now, because in the morning it will be impossible to get ready: for our guests are already approaching, they are standing on the river on Nepryadva, near the Kulikov field they have prepared for battle, and in the morning we will drink a common cup with them, passed on to each other, it’s her, after all, friends mine, even in Russia we desired. Now, brothers, trust in the living God, may peace be with Christ, because in the morning the filthy raw-eaters will not slow down to attack us.”

For the night of the luminous feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God has already come. Autumn then dragged on and still pleased with bright days, and that night it was warm and very quiet, and the fogs rose from the dew. For the prophet truly said: "The night is not bright for the unbelievers, but for the faithful it is enlightened."

And Dmitry Volynets said to the Grand Duke: “I want, sir, to check this sign at night” - and the dawn had already faded. When the dead of night came, Dmitry Volynets, taking the Grand Duke with him only, rode out to the Kulikovo field and, standing between the two troops and turning to the Tatar side, he heard a loud knock, and cliques, and a cry, as if the markets were converging, as if the city was being built, as if great thunder rumbles; from the rear of the Tatar troops, the wolves howl very menacingly, on the right side of the Tatar troops, the crows call and the bird’s hubbub is very loud, and on the field side the mountains seem to stagger - a terrible thunder, along the river Nepryadve geese and swans splash their wings, foreshadowing an unprecedented thunderstorm. And the great prince said to Dmitry Volynets: "We hear, brother, - a very terrible thunderstorm," - and Volynets shone: "Call, prince, God for help!"

And he turned to the Russian army - and there was great silence. Volynets then asked: “Do you see anything, prince?” - the same one answered: “I see: many fiery dawns are rising ...” And Volynets said: “Rejoice, sovereign, these are good signs, only call on God and do not become impoverished in faith!”

And again he said: "And I also have a sign to check." And he got off his horse, and clung to the ground with his right ear for a long time. Rising, he sighed and took a deep breath. And the great prince asked: “What is there, brother Dmitry?” The same was silent and did not want to speak to him, while the great prince urged him for a long time. Then he said: “One sign is for your benefit, the other is for sorrow. I heard the earth weeping in two ways: on one side, a woman was sobbing loudly for her children in a foreign language, on the other side, as if some maiden suddenly cried out loudly in a sad voice, as if into some kind of flute, so it is very sad to hear. After all, before that, I checked a lot of those signs of battles, that’s why I count on the mercy of God - the prayer of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, your relatives, and other miracle workers, Russian guardians, I am waiting for the defeat of the filthy Tatars. And your Christ-loving army will fall many, but, however, your victory, your glory will be.

Hearing this, the great prince shed tears and said: “To the Lord God, everything is possible: the breath of all of us is in his hands!” And Volynets said: “You, sovereign, should not tell this army, but only order each soldier to pray to God and call on his saints for help. And early in the morning, order them to sit on their horses, to each soldier, and arm themselves firmly and overshadow themselves with a cross: this is, after all, a weapon against opponents who will meet with us in the morning.

On the same night, a certain man, named Foma Katsibey, a robber, was put under guard by the Grand Duke on the Churov River for his courage for faithful protection from the filthy. Correcting him, God honored him on this night to see a wondrous spectacle. Standing on a high place, he saw a cloud coming from the east, very large, as if some troops were marching to the west. From the southern side came two young men, dressed in bright scarlet, their faces shone like the sun, sharp swords in both hands, and said to the leaders of the army: “Who ordered you to destroy our fatherland, which the Lord has given us? And they began to cut them down and cut them all down, not one of them escaped. The same Thomas, since then chaste and prudent, believed in God, and in the morning he told the Grand Duke alone about that vision. The great prince said to him: “Do not say this, my friend, to anyone,” and, raising his hands to heaven, he began to cry, saying: “Lord of the Lord, philanthropist! Prayers for the sake of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, help me, as Moses to the Amalekites, and as old Yaroslav to Svyatopolk, and my great-grandfather, Grand Duke Alexander, to the boasting king of Rome, who wished to ruin his fatherland. Repay me not according to my sins, but pour out your mercy on us, extend your mercy on us, do not let us be a mockery of our enemies, so that our enemies do not mock us, the countries of the infidels do not say: “Where is the god against whom they so hoped "But help, Lord, the Christians, after all, your holy name is famous for them!"

And the prince sent his great brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, up the Don to the oak forest, so that his regiment would hide there, giving him the best experts from his retinue, daring knights, solid warriors. And with him he sent his famous governor Dmitry Volynsky and many others.

When it came, on the eighth day of the month of September, the great feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, at dawn on Friday, when the sun was rising and it was a foggy morning, Christian banners began to flutter and battle trumpets sounded in multitude. And now the Russian horses cheered up from the sound of the trumpet, and each warrior goes under his own banner. And it was a joy to see the regiments lined up on the advice of the firm governor Dmitry Bobrok Volynets.

When the second hour of the day came, the sounds of the trumpets of both troops began to ascend, but the Tatar trumpets seemed to be numb, and the Russian trumpets thundered louder. The regiments still do not see each other, for the morning was foggy. And at this time, brothers, the earth is groaning terribly, predicting a great thunderstorm to the east right up to the sea, and to the west to the Danube, and that huge field of Kulikovo caves in, and the rivers overflowed their banks, for there have never been so many people in that place .

When the great prince mounted the best horse, rode through the regiments and spoke in great sorrow of his heart, tears flowed from his eyes in streams: “Fathers and my brothers, for the Lord’s sake, fight and the saints for the sake of the churches and the Christian faith, for this death is for us now not death, but eternal life; and think of nothing earthly, brothers, we will not retreat, and then Christ the God and Savior of our souls will crown us with crowns of victory.

Having strengthened the regiments, he again returned under his black banner, and got off his horse, and sat on another horse, and threw off his royal clothes, and dressed in another. He gave his former horse to Mikhail Andreevich Brenk and put those clothes on him, for he loved him beyond measure, and ordered his black banner to his squire to hold over Brenk. Under that banner, he was killed instead of the Grand Duke.

The great prince stood in his place, and, removing from his chest the life-giving cross, on which the sufferings of Christ were depicted and in which there was a piece of the life-bearing tree, he wept bitterly and said: “So, we hope for you, the life-bearing cross of the Lord, in the same appeared to the Greek king Constantine, when he went to battle with the wicked, and defeated them with your miraculous appearance. For the filthy wicked Polovtsians cannot resist your image; so, Lord, and show your mercy on your servant!

At the same time, a messenger came to him with letters from the Reverend Elder Abbot Sergius, and the letters read: “To the Grand Duke, and to all Russian princes, and to the entire Orthodox army - peace and blessing!” The great prince, having listened to the writing of the venerable elder and kissed the messenger with love, was strengthened by that letter, as if by some kind of hard armor. And the elder sent from Abbot Sergius gave a loaf of the most pure Mother of God, while the great prince accepted the holy loaf and stretched out his hands, crying out loudly: “O great name of all the holy trinity, O most holy lady of the Mother of God, help us with the prayers of that monastery and the Monk Abbot Sergius; Christ God, have mercy and save our souls!”

And he mounted his best horse, and, taking his spear and iron club, rode out of the ranks, he wanted to fight the filthy ones himself from the great sadness of his soul, for his great offense, for the holy churches and the Christian faith. Many Russian heroes, having restrained him, prevented him from doing this, saying: “You, Grand Duke, should not fight in battle first of all, you should stand aside and look at us, but we need to fight and our courage and courage before show you: if the Lord saves you with his mercy, then you will know who to reward with what. We are all ready on this day to lay down our heads for you, sovereign, and for the holy churches, and for Orthodox Christianity. You must, Grand Duke, to your servants, as far as anyone deserves with your head, create a memory, like Leonty the Tsar to Fedor Tiron, write down our names in the cathedral book so that the Russian sons who will be after us remember. But if we destroy you alone, then from whom can we expect that remembrance will suit us? If we are all saved, and we leave you alone, then what success will we have? And we will be like a flock of sheep that has no shepherd: it drags through the desert, and the wild wolves that come running will scatter it, and the sheep will scatter in all directions, You, sovereign, should save yourself, and us.

The great prince shed tears and said: “My dear brothers, Russian sons, I cannot answer your good speech, but only thank you, for you are truly good servants of God. After all, you know well about the torment of Christ's martyr Aretha. When he was tormented and ordered by the king to lead him before the people and cut him down with a sword, his valiant friends, one in front of the other in a hurry, each of them bowed his head to the executioner under the sword instead of Aretha, his leader, understanding the glory of his deed. Aretha, the leader, said to his warriors: “So know, my brothers, have I not been honored by the earthly king more than you, having accepted earthly glory and gifts? So now it is also fitting for me to go ahead to the heavenly king, my head should be the first to be cut off, or rather, crowned. And, approaching, the executioner cut off his head, and then cut off the heads of his soldiers. So do I, brothers. Which of the Russian sons was honored more than me and received good things from the Lord without ceasing? And now evil has come upon me, can I really not endure it, for it is only because of me that all this has been erected. I can’t see you being defeated, and I can’t endure everything that follows, therefore I want to drink the same common cup with you and die the same death for the holy Christian faith! If I die, I will be with you; if I am saved, I will be with you!”

And now, brothers, at that time the regiments are being led: Dmitry Vsevolodovich and his brother, Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich, are leading the advanced regiment, and Mikula Vasilyevich with the Kolomna people is leading the regiment from the right hand, and Timofey Voluevich is leading the regiment with the Kostroma from the left hand. Many filthy regiments wander from all sides: from the multitude of the army there is no place for them to converge. The godless king Mamai, having gone to a high place with three princes, watches the bloodshed of people.

Seeing that the third hour of the day had come, the great prince said: “Now our guests have approached and are passing each other a circular cup, that the first have already drunk it, and rejoiced, and fell asleep, for the time has come and the hour has come to show their courage to everyone.” And each warrior whipped his horse, and they all exclaimed unanimously: “God sleep!” - and again: "Christian God, help us!", - and the filthy Tatars began to call on their gods.

And menacingly both great forces converged, fighting firmly, brutally destroying each other, not only from weapons, but also from terrible crowding under horse hooves, they breathed their last, for it was impossible to accommodate everyone on that Kulikovo field: that field was close between the Don and the Mechei. On that field, after all, strong troops converged, bloody dawns emerged from them, and sparkling lightning trembled in them from the glare of swords. And there was a crackling and a great thunder from the broken spears and from the blows of swords, so that it was impossible in this sorrowful hour to overlook that ferocious battle. For in just one hour, in the blink of an eye, how many thousands of human souls, God's creatures, perished! The will of the Lord is being done: the hour, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, the Christians are firmly fighting unrelentingly with the filthy Polovtsians.

When the seventh hour of the day came, by God's permission and for our sins, the filthy began to overcome. Many of the noble men have already been killed, Russian heroes, and governors, and daring people, like oak trees, bow to the ground under horse hooves: many Russian sons are crushed. And the Grand Duke himself was badly wounded, and they threw him off his horse, he got out of the field with difficulty, for he could no longer fight, and hid in a thicket and was saved by God's power. Many times the banners of the Grand Duke were cut down, but they were not destroyed by God's grace, they were even more established.

We heard this from a faithful eyewitness who was in the regiment of Vladimir Andreevich; he told the Grand Duke, saying: “At the sixth hour of this day, I saw the sky open above you, from which a cloud came out, like a crimson dawn over the army of the Grand Duke, sliding low. That cloud was filled with human hands, and those hands stretched out over the great regiment as if preaching or prophetically. At the seventh hour of the day, a cloud held many crowns and lowered them on the army, on the heads of Christians.

The filthy ones began to overcome, and the Christian regiments thinned out - there are already few Christians, and all the filthy ones. Seeing such a death of Russian sons, Prince Vladimir Andreevich could not restrain himself and said to Dmitry Volynets: “So what is the use of our standing? what success will we have? who do we help? Already our princes and boyars, all Russian sons, are cruelly dying from the filthy ones, as if the grass is leaning! And Dmitry answered: “The trouble, prince, is great, but our hour has not yet come: he who starts ahead of time will bring harm to himself; for the ears of wheat are crushed, and the weeds grow and rage on the well-born. So let's endure a little until the time is convenient and at that hour we will repay our adversaries according to their merits. Now only command every warrior to God to pray diligently and call on the saints for help, and from now on the grace of God and help to Christians will descend. And Prince Vladimir Andreevich, raising his hands to heaven, wept bitterly and said: “God, our father, who created heaven and earth, help the Christian people! Lord, do not allow our enemies to rejoice over us, punish us a little and have mercy a lot, for your mercy is endless! The Russian sons in his regiment wept bitterly, seeing their friends stricken by the filthy, they constantly rushed into battle, as if invited to a wedding to drink sweet wine. But Volynets forbade them to do so, saying: “Wait a little, violent sons of Russia, your time will come when you will be consoled, for you have someone to have fun with!”

And then the eighth hour of the day came, when the south wind pulled from behind us, and Volynets exclaimed in a loud voice: “Prince Vladimir, our time has come and the convenient hour has come!” - and added: “My brothers, friends, be bolder: the power of the holy spirit helps us!”

The comrades-in-arms, friends, jumped out of the green oak forest, like experienced falcons fell off the golden blocks, rushed to the endless herds of fattened, to that great Tatar power; and their banners were directed by the firm governor Dmitry Volynets: and they were like David's youths, whose hearts were like lions, like fierce wolves attacked the sheep herds and began to whip the filthy Tatars mercilessly.

The filthy Polovtsians saw their death, shouted in their own language, saying: “Alas, to us, Russia again outwitted; the younger ones fought with us, but the best ones survived!” And the filthy ones turned, and showed their backs, and ran. The Russian sons, by the power of the holy spirit and the help of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, dispersed them, cutting them down, as if they were cutting down a forest - as if the grass under the scythe lies behind the Russian sons under horse hooves. The filthy ones on the shore shouted, saying: “Alas for us, Tsar Mamai, honored by us! You have ascended high - and you have descended into hell! And many of our wounded, and they helped, whipping the filthy ones without mercy: one Russian drives a hundred filthy ones.

The godless king Mamai, seeing his death, began to call on his gods: Perun and Salavat, and Rakli and Khors, and his great accomplice Mohammed. And he had no help from them, for the power of the holy spirit, like fire, burns them.

And Mamai, seeing the new warriors, who, like fierce beasts, galloped and tore apart the enemies, like a flock of sheep, said to his own: “Let's run, because we can’t wait for anything good, so at least we’ll take our heads!” And immediately the filthy Mamai ran with four men into the bend of the sea, gnashing his teeth, crying bitterly, saying: “We, brothers, will not be in our own land, and we won’t caress our wives, and we won’t see our children, we will caress the damp earth, kiss the green ant for us, and we will no longer see our retinue, neither with the princes, nor with the boyars!

And many chased after them and did not catch up, because their horses were tired, and Mamai had fresh horses, and he left the chase.

And all this happened by the grace of the Almighty God and the Most Pure Mother of God and the prayer and help of the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, whom Foma Katsibei the robber saw when he was on guard, as already written above. Some pursued the Tatars and, having finished off everyone, returned, each under his own banner.

Prince Vladimir Andreevich stood on the battlefield under a black banner. It is terrible, brothers, to see then, and it is pitiful to see and look bitterly at human bloodshed: like sea space, and human corpses like haystacks: a fast horse cannot ride, and they plodded knee-deep in blood, and rivers flowed with blood for three days.

And the Lithuanian princes said: “We think that he is alive, but seriously wounded; what if it lies among the dead corpses?” Another soldier said: "I saw him at the seventh hour, firmly fighting with the filthy club." Another said: "I saw him later: four Tatars attacked him, but he fought them firmly." A certain prince, named Stefan Novosilsky, said: “I saw him just before your arrival, he was on foot from the battle, and: all wounded. That’s why I couldn’t help him because three Tatars pursued me and by the grace of God I barely escaped from them, but I received a lot of evil from them and was very exhausted.

Prince Vladimir said: “Brothers and friends, Russian sons, if anyone finds my brother alive, he will truly be the first among us!; And they scattered all over the great, mighty and formidable battlefield, looking for the victory of the winner. And some came across the murdered Mikhail Andreevich Brenk: he was lying in clothes and in a helmet that the Grand Duke had given him; others came across the murdered Prince Fyodor Semyonovich Belozersky, considering him for the Grand Duke, because he looked like him.

But two of some warriors deviated to the right side into the oak forest, one named Fedor Sabur, and the other Grigory Kholopishchev, both from Kostroma. We moved a little away from the place of the battle - and came across the Grand Duke, beaten and wounded all over and tired, he lay in the shade of a cut down birch tree. And they saw him, and dismounting from their horses, bowed down to him. Sabur immediately returned to tell Prince Vladimir about this and said: “The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich is alive and reigns forever!”

All the princes and governors, having heard about this, quickly rushed and fell at his feet, saying: “Rejoice, our prince, like the former Yaroslav, the new Alexander, the conqueror of enemies: this honor belongs to you!” The great prince barely said: "What is there - tell me." And Prince Vladimir said: “By the grace of God and his most pure mother, with the help and prayers of the relatives of our holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, and with the prayers of the Russian saint Peter, and our accomplice and inspirer Abbot Sergius, our enemies were defeated by all those prayers, but we were saved” .

And they brought him a horse, and, sitting on a horse and riding out to a great, terrible and formidable place of battle, he saw a lot of his troops killed, and filthy Tatars four times more than those killed, and, turning to Volynets, he said: “Truly, Dmitry, not your sign is false, it is fitting for you to always be a governor.

And he went with his brother and with the remaining princes and governors to the place of battle, exclaiming from the pain of his heart and shedding tears, and so he said: “Brothers, Russian sons, princes, and boyars, and governors, and boyar servants! The Lord God has judged you to die such a death. You laid down your heads for the holy churches and for Orthodox Christianity.” And a little later he drove up to the place where the princes of Belozersky, killed together, lay: they fought so hard that they died one after another. Immediately nearby lay the murdered Mikhail Vasilyevich; standing over them, the amiable governors, the great prince began to weep and say: “My brothers, princes, sons of Russia, if you have the courage before God, pray for us so that together with you we can be with the Lord God, for I know that he will listen to you God!"

And he went further, and found his confidante Mikhail Andreevich Brenk, and next to him lies a steadfast guard Semyon Melik, Timofei Voluevich was killed nearby. Standing over them, the great prince shed tears and said: “My beloved brother, because of your resemblance to me, you were killed. What kind of slave can serve his master like this, for my sake, he himself voluntarily coming to death! Truly like the ancient Avis, who was in the army of Darius the Persian and did the same as you. Since Melik was also lying here, the prince said over him: “My steadfast guard, I was tightly guarded by your guard.” He also arrived at another place, saw Peresvet the monk, and in front of him lies a filthy Pecheneg, an evil Tatar, like a mountain, and right next to him lies the famous hero Grigory Kapustin. The great prince turned to his people and said: “You see, brothers, your founder, for this Alexander Peresvet, our accomplice, blessed by hegumen Sergius, defeated the great, strong, evil Tatar, from whom many people would drink the cup of death.”

And having driven off to a new place, he commanded to blow the prefabricated pipes, to call people. The brave knights, having sufficiently tested their weapons against the filthy Tatars, wander from all sides to the sound of the trumpet. They walked merrily, rejoicing, they sang songs: those sang the Mother of God, others - martyrdom, others - psalms - all Christian songs. Each warrior goes rejoicing at the sound of the trumpet.

When all the people had gathered, the great prince stood in the midst of them, weeping and rejoicing: he weeps over the dead, but rejoices over the healthy. He said: my brothers, Russian princes, and local boyars, and service people of the whole earth! It is fitting for you to serve in this way, and for me it is proper to praise you. If the Lord will save me and I will be on my throne, in the great reign in the city of Moscow, then I will give you a worthy gift. Now here's what we'll do: let's bury each one of our neighbors, so that the bodies of Christians don't fall to the beasts."

The great prince stood behind the Don on the battlefield for eight days, until the Christians were separated from the wicked. The bodies of Christians were buried in the ground, the wicked bodies were thrown to the beasts and birds to be torn to pieces.

And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich said: “Count, brothers, how many governors there are, how many service people.” Says the Moscow boyar, named Mikhail Alexandrovich, and he was in Mikula’s regiment with Vasilyevich, the counter was great: “We don’t have, sovereign, forty boyars of Moscow, and twelve princes of Belozersky, and thirteen boyars - posadniks of Novgorod, and fifty boyars of Nizhny Novgorod, Yes, forty boyars of Serpukhov, yes, twenty boyars of Pereyaslav, yes, twenty-five boyars of Kostroma, yes, thirty-five boyars of Vladimir, yes, fifty boyars of Suzdal, yes, forty boyars of Murom, yes, thirty-three boyars of Rostov, yes, twenty boyars of Dmitrovsky, yes, seventy boyars of Mozhaisky, yes, sixty the boyars of Zvenigorod, and fifteen of the boyars of Uglich, and twenty of the boyars of Galich, and there are no counts of junior warriors; but we only know: our whole squad died two hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand, and we have fifty thousand squads left.

And the great prince said: “Glory to you, the highest creator, the king of heaven, the merciful Savior, who had mercy on us sinners, did not give into the hands of our enemies, filthy raw-eaters. And you, brothers, princes, and boyars, and governors, and the younger squad, Russian sons, are destined to place between the Don and Nepryadva, on the Kulikovo field, on the Nepryadva river. You laid down your heads for the Russian land, for the Christian faith. Forgive me, brethren, and bless me in this life and the next!” And he cried for a long time, and said to his princes and governors: “Let's go, brothers, to our land of Zalesskaya, to the glorious city of Moscow, we will return to our estates and grandfathers: we have earned ourselves honor and a glorious name!”

The filthy Mamai then fled from the battle, and reached the city of Kafa, and, concealing his name, returned to his land, not wanting to endure, seeing himself defeated, shamed and scolded. And again he was angry, very angry, and still plotting evil on the Russian land, like a roaring lion and like an insatiable viper. And, having gathered his remaining forces, he again wanted to go into exile to the Russian land. And when he planned this, the news suddenly came to him that a king named Tokhtamysh from the east, from the Blue Horde itself, was coming against him. And Mamai, who prepared an army for a campaign on the Russian land, with that army went against Tokhtamysh. And they met at Kalka, and there was a big fight between them. And King Tokhtamysh, having defeated King Mamai, drove him away. The Mamaev princes, and allies, and Yesauls, and boyars beat Tokhtamysh with their foreheads, and he accepted them, and captured the Horde, and sat on the kingdom. Mamai ran away again to Kafu alone; concealing his name, he hid here, and was identified by some merchant, and then he was killed by flasks; and so evil lost his life. Let's end this here.

Olgerd of Lithuania, having heard that the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich defeated Mamai, returned home with great shame. Oleg Ryazansky, having learned that the Grand Duke wanted to send an army against him, was frightened and fled from his estate with the princess and the boyars; the Ryazan people browed the Grand Duke, and the Grand Duke installed his deputies in Ryazan.

The legend of the Mamaev battle- - a monument of the Kulikovo cycle, along with "Zadonshchina", a short and lengthy chronicle Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo. Of all the works of the cycle, S. is the most detailed and plot-driven story about the battle on the Kulikovo field in 1380. S. reports ... ...

"The Legend of the Mamaev Battle"- LEGEND ABOUT MAMAEV BATTLE commemorated. Kulikovo cycle, which most fully tells about the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). S. contains a number of information unknown from other sources (on preparation for the campaign, on the deployment of troops, on the course of the battle), which makes it ... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary

"TALE ABOUT MOMAY BATTLE"- a monument to other Russian. Literature 1st quarter. 15th century, dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo 1380. The presence of a large number of lists, an abundance of editions and variants (4 editions of the Main, Chronicle, Cyprian, Common, including many ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

"TALE ABOUT MOMAY'S BATTLE"- “THE LEGENCY ABOUT THE BATTLE OF MOMAY”, a monument of ancient Russian literature of the 1st quarter of the 15th century. (the dating is hypothetical, there have been attempts to attribute the "Legend" to a later time). Contains the most detailed story about the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 and related ... ... Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary

TALE ABOUT MOMAY'S BATTLE- Literary work of the XV century. about the historical events of the Battle of Kulikovo. The Tale tells of heavenly visions that foreshadowed the victory of the Russian people. Many interesting details of this heroic time are given: about the embassy ... ... Russian history

legend- (Greek historia, diegemata) is currently a term not attached to a specific literary genre. Even experts often use indifferently the words legend, legend, legend, saga. The word "S." in ancient Russian literature had ... ... Literary Encyclopedia

legend- I'm with. In folklore: a narrative work of historical or legendary character. The legend of the Mamaev battle. The legend of the princes of Vladimir. The legend of the death of the sufferer Epiphanius and others who suffered together with him in Pustozersk: ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

legend- a prose narrative with a historical or legendary plot, clothed in a literary form, written or oral. There are mythological (most ancient) and historical (later) S. Varieties of S.: myth, tradition, legend, true story, etc ... Dictionary of literary terms

The Tale of Boris and Gleb- - the most interesting and literary perfect monument from the cycle of works dedicated to the story of the death of the sons of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich Boris and Gleb during the internecine struggle for the Grand Duke of Kyiv in 1015 Boriso ... Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Russia

legend- in folklore, the common generic name for narrative works of a historical and legendary nature. Among S., legends (See Tradition), legends (See Legend), etc. are distinguished. In ancient literatures, S. are called prose works with ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Books

• The legend of the Mamaev battle, S.K. Chambinago. The publication can be divided into two parts. The first presents the results of philological studies of various lists of manuscripts of the Legend of the Mamaev Battle that have come down to us. Differences are analyzed… Buy for 2290 UAH (Ukraine only)
• The legend of the Mamaev battle, S.K. Chambinago. The publication can be divided into two parts. The first presents the results of philological studies of various lists of manuscripts of the Legend of the Mamaev Battle that have come down to us. Differences are analyzed...