Literate Slavs likely appeared in the Russian Land around the beginning of the 10th century, the exact age is impossible now to ascertain. By the middle of the century there were Christians in Kiev and it is safe to assume that in their services they used books which can be termed, compilations. Once the inhabitants turned to Christianity en masse at in the eleventh century, a literary culture began to spread throughout the empire. Among the more famous early compendia are the Izbornik of 1073[1] and that of 1076, which influenced many later compilations. An early version of Prolog might have appeared in this century.[2]
Other medieval Russian compilations of relatively stable content include the following names: Zlataya Tzep’,[3] which is distantly related to the Pandekti [catenae] of Antiochus, the Pandekti of Nikon of the Black Mountain,[4] Zlataya Matitza, Pchela,[5] Rai, Izmaragd, various Nomokanoni (penitentiaries, such as Zonar), Appended Psalters and various patericons - collections of stories of monastic life.[6] Some compilations describe the natural world, such as the Tolkovaya Paleya. Others are service books, such as the Torzhestvennik (Panegyricon).[7] Hagiographic compilations include the voluminous and rare Lectionary Menology (Menaia, Menologion), in which the vitae of the saints are arranged according to the days of the year. Titles later termed “ascetic compilations”[8] include versions of Starchestvo.[9] Compilations attributed to a single author were also popular. These include: Dioptra; Lestvitza (of John the Sinite); Postnichestvo (of Basil the Great); Taktikon (of Nikon of the Black Mt.); Zlatostrui;[10] Margarit;[11] and Zlatoust.[12] The latter three are associated with John Chrysostom, but contain articles by other writers as well.
Other anthologies, such as: Sobornik 71go Slova, Kirillova Kniga, Sbornik o Pochitanii Ikon and Kniga o Vere were printed in Moscow in the 1640s.[13] Tsvetnik Svyaschennoinoka Dorofeya, and Α&Ω, “a true encyclopedia of old-Russian literature,”[14] appeared around this time, but were not printed until the end of the eighteenth century, along with the abovementioned Zlatoust.[15] Later compilations printed in this era include a book with a misleading title, История об отцах и страдальцах соловецких, which contains other polemical texts as well as the story of the siege of this monastery[16] and various books titled Tzvetnik.[17] Extracts from the abovementioned Sobornic were printed in Klintzi in 1789. As most of these editions were illegal, they were often supplemented with incorrect information regarding their publishing date of location.
Sborniki (compilations) were so common in Russia in the middle ages that O. V. Tvorogov, compliling a catalog of Russian-Slavonic texts of the 11th - 14th centuries, assigned to them the third section of his comprehensive list - between the biblical and liturgical books and the patristica.[18] (Approximately half of these early compendia are Prologs; most of the rest are diverse in content and difficult to classify.[19])
Handwritten chrestomathies did not disappear with the age of printing. In fact, they flourished, especially among the Old-Believers, who were generally more literate than the average Great-Russians. These manuscripts were often viewed by the imperial government and its ecclesiastical outgrowth, ‘the treasury’s church,’ as evidence of an illegal dissemination of forbidden beliefs. The paraphernalia was confiscated and/or destroyed; its owners were often exiled.
After a few years of ‘enlightened’ freedom of conscience proclaimed by Catherine II (yet not always executed by the local authorities) printing houses were forced underground. Despite the rapid population growth of the early nineteenth century, Old-Slavonic printing dwindled. Not only was it again illegal for entrepreneurs to reprint old books, but the authorities took over the task, producing poorly edited and cheaply executed editions. Moreover, almost all of these legal editions were of the most common and necessary type: Psalters, Gospels & c., the demand for which was still high.[20]
Meanwhile, manuscript production boomed. In the furthest reaches of the empire and in the main cities, Orthodox Christians, many of whom were true calligraphers, produced exquisitely illuminated manuscripts in an age when the tradition had all but died in Europe. Orthodox compendia continued to be written until the early twentieth century when, in 1905, partial freedom of the press was allowed. Many of the above books were reprinted in this ‘Golden Age’ of free thought in Russia. Yet the manuscript tradition did not die altogether - in Soviet times faithful Russians continued to produce short handwritten compilations of extracts from the larger canonical books. The latter were usually kept hidden, gathering mold.
Today, there is a renewed interest in Old-Russian literature, much of which, including many of the above titles, has appeared in print and on the internet. Yet demand among those who are to consider practically all of these books as canonical has waned - the totalitarian Soviet propaganda and the temptations of modernity being the culprits.
The following pages illustrate an ascetic side of Christianity unfamiliar to many Christians. They describe the heroism of the early champions of this faith, often in very vivid language. Speaking of Prolog, in particular, one imagines a diverse medieval congregation standing in church, hearing of the passions of the martyrs and knowing that she too could be subjected to the same horrors by the ever-invading heathen. Yet the people did not despair - a sense of humor and resilience pervades much of the writing. As far as the controversial passages - these should not distract one from the more inspiring ones. One must remember that the articles were written by different people, at different times and under differing circumstances.
The style of the narratives is often naïve; the vocabulary is often blunt (not least because the vocabulary of Slavonic is less extensive than that of modern English), yet Slavonic is not an inferior language - what it lacks in vocabulary and punctuation it makes up for in other respects. These texts elevated the Slavonic, and later, the Russian language to a certain similarity to Medieval Greek, the style of which they aspired to imitate. While some stories are dry and purely informative, others’ style is most elaborate. As far as their veracity, I believe that each article contains a great deal of truth; yes, there are factual inaccuracies and literary embellishments, but these nowise alter the essential truth of the texts.
There are a number of broad themes which could be traced throughout this book. These include: early Byzantine martyrology, sermons against drunkenness and laziness, and a comparison between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ women; there is also a large number of articles concerning historical figures and events.
[1] See, Изборник Святослава 1073 года. (Facsimile) Москва: Книга, 1983.
[2] Such is the opinion of L. V. Prokopenko, who studied the lexicography of the earliest Slavonic version of the book. See, Прокопенко, Л. В. et al. ed. Славяно-Русский Пролог по Древнейшим Спискам. Синаксарь. Сентябрь - Февраль Tome 2. Moscow: Institute of the Russian Language, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011. p. 680
[3] Encyclopedic compendia of three types go by this name; some are related to the abovementioned izborniki. Taken together they contain up to 3000 articles and their fragments, by up to 200 Slavic and Byzantine authors. See, Крутова, М. С. Книга Глаголемая. Москва: Пашков дом, 2010. p. 195 Zlataya Tzep’ exists in Greek and Latin under various names: Σέιραι’, Catena aurea, Glossa... ibid. p. 196
[4] This text had been translated into Slavonic as early as the 12th century. See, Максимович, К. А. Пандекты Никона… TODRL, Tome LIX. St. Petersburg: Наука, 2008. p. 46
[5] Translated in Russia in the 12 - 13 c., this compilation had been popular until the 18th c. This work contains excerpts from the various philosophers and historians of antiquity along with those of the church fathers. See, Прокофьева, И. И. Сокровища Древнерусской Литературы: Древнерусская Притча. Москва: Советская Россия, 1991. p. 483
[6] the Sinai Patericon (Limonar’), the Skit Patericon, the Mt. Athos Patericon, the Jerusalem Patericon, the Alphabetical Patericon, the Roman Patericon, and others
[7] For the early Slavonic history of this book and its relation to Zlatoust see, Черторицкая, Т. В. О начальных этапах… Источниковедение литературы Древней Руси. Д. С. Лихачев et al., ed. Ленинград: Наука, 1980. p. 96
[8] See, M. S. Egorova. Russian Ascetical Compilations of the 14th-16th centuries, as a Compilation Type. TODRL, Tome LVI. St. Petersburg: Дмитрий Буланин, 2004. She also identifies encyclopedic, historical, hymnographycal and other types. Other researchers, she writes, have used the terms “monastic compilation,” “patristic compilation,” and “otechnik.” ibid. p. 182. The content of most such compendia, she writes, is like a kaleidoscope, in its diversity. p. 201
[9] A popular version of this guidebook for novice monks was likely compiled in the first half of the 16th century. See the article by S. A. Semyachko in TODRL, Tome LVIII
[10] One of the earliest compendia, this book dates to the 11th-12th centuries. See, Фомина, М. С. Древнейшие списки сборника Златоструй… ТОДPЛ, Tome XLVII. St. Petersburg: Дмитрий Буланин, 1993
[11] Popular in the 15th-18th centuries, this book was printed in Warsaw, in 1788. (The word Μαργαρίται means “pearls” in Greek.) See, Черторицкая, Т. В. Словарь Книжников и Книжности Древней Руси. Second half of the 14th c. - 16th c. part 2. Л - Я. Leningrad: Nauka, 1989. This substantial reference work contains information on the other meieval Russian books as well.
[12] This was possibly the most popular Slavonic compilation of the past three centuries; it began to take shape from more humble origins in the early 17th century, but its content was not standardized to any degree until the end of that century. Zlatoust is a collection of sermons, many by John Chrysostom, which are traditionally read following the liturgy.
[13] The former was re-printed five times in the late 18th century; the latter, the Book of the Faith, - twice.
[14]Лабынцев, Ю. А. Памятники Древнерусской Книжности и Литературы. TODRL, Tome XXXVI. Leningrad: Nauka, 1981. Printed twice in the 1780s, this encyclopedia was, according to A. V. Voznesenskiy, compiled in the first half of the 17th century in the south-west of Russia. According to N. V. Savelyeva, the same Kievan writer compiled the Kniga o Vere. See, Савельева, Н. В. Неизвестный западнорусский книжник Гедеон… Книжная Старина. Выпуск 2. St. Petersburg: Russian National Library, 2011
[15] E. A. Emelyanova identifies 16 editions of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, yet it should be noted that A. V. Voznesenskiy and other researchers follow a more conservative classification system, identifying fewer editions of this and many other books printed in Slavonic at that time.
[16] Of all the mentioned compendia this is the only one containing material written after the mid-seventeenth century Schism.
[17] These include the books identified by E. A. Emelyanova under the numbers 20, 33, 45, 234, 260, 271, 290, 298, 310, 322 (among the longer ones), 343, 372 and 385. All of these consist of extracts from other pre-schism compendia. For a classification of manuscripts titled, tsvetniki, see, Крутова, М. С. Книга Глаголемая, Москва: Пашков дом, 2010. p. 203-209
[18] Творогов О. В. Древнерусская книжность XI - XIV веков. TODRL, Tome LVI. St. Petersburg: Дмитрий Буланин, 2004. p. 5
[19] ibid. p. 36
[20] The Psalter, by the way, can easily be termed a compilation, because a Slavonic Psalter contains a number of over a dozen traditional introductory articles; in addition, the so-called Appended Psalter, contains sections concerning the ways of calculating Easter, the post- and pre-communion prayers, the Order of the Hours and much else.