A.S. Pushkin: “We owe the monks our history, and therefore our enlightenment” (“Notes on Russian History of the 18th Century”). Old Russian monasteries as centers of enlightenment

The monastery is:

· A form of organization of a community of monks living according to a specific charter and observing religious vows.

· A complex of liturgical, residential, utility and other buildings, usually enclosed by a wall.

In defining a monastery, we are more interested in its second part.

The history of monasteries is presented on the pages of works devoted to religion. The chroniclers can rightfully be considered the first researchers of this topic. As a rule, they came from monasteries and sought to tell about them in more detail. The main theme raised in the earliest narratives is the founding of monasteries. For example, information about the creation of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery is contained in the Tale of Bygone Years and the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk. In the works of historians, the topic of monasteries took its place only in the 19th century. There are many topics in this area that interest historians. These include monastic landholdings, monastery charters and many others. We, in the context of our topic, are interested in monasteries as fortresses; we pay special attention to their construction, architecture, and the role they played in the life of society, and we will only briefly touch upon other issues. Chronicles still constitute the main source base for the history of monasteries. They are supplemented by lives. The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon is of particular importance. The third group of sources are acts. Finally, the most important sources are archaeological and architectural monuments. Monasteries appeared in Rus' with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion. The first information about the existence of monasteries refers to Kyiv. In the Tale of Bygone Years, under 1037, there is information about the founding of two monasteries by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. PSRL, St. Petersburg, 1885. Thus began the construction of monasteries by the princes. The characteristic thing was that they were intended directly to serve the princely families. Consequently, at this stage small monasteries were built. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery was formed differently. The first mention of it dates back to 1051. It does not arise thanks to the funds of wealthy investors. The monastery acquired significance thanks to its first ascetics and their exploits; it was created by the labor of monks on the alms of believers. The Monk Anthony received permission from the prince to own the land where the monastery would be built, thus avoiding dependence on the princely authority. In the period from the middle of the XI to the middle of the XIV century. In Kyiv, according to the latest data, about 22 monasteries were created, mostly princely, including 4 for women. With the spread of Christianity, monasteries appeared in other regions. The beginning of this process dates back to the 12th century. Novgorod can be especially highlighted; quite complete information about it has been preserved. The first monastery appears here around 1119. The princely power in Novgorod was weak, so there are only three princely monasteries here: Yuryev (1119. ), Panteleimonov (1134) and Spaso-Preobrazhensky (1198). In Novgorod, monasteries were created at the expense of the boyars, marking the beginning of a new phenomenon in Rus'. These are, for example, the Shilov Monastery, Belo-Nikolaevsky (1165), Blagoveshchensky (1170). In Novgorod, local rulers also build monasteries. Archbishop John, together with his brother Gabriel, founded two monasteries - Belo-Nikolaevsky in the name of St. Nicholas in 1165 and Blagoveshchensky in 1170. At the beginning of the 14th century. A notable figure appears in Novgorod: Archbishop Moses. He founded several monasteries: in 1313 St. St. Nicholas in the Nerevsky end, in 1335 - the Resurrection Convent on Derevyanitsa, in 1352 - the Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on Volotovo, the so-called Moiseev, etc. All these monasteries subsequently retained their connection with the Novgorod hierarchs. During the period XI - mid-XIV centuries. There are 27 known monasteries in Novgorod, including 10 for women. In North-Eastern Rus' a different picture is observed. The grand-ducal throne was moved here from Kyiv. Here the princes, as in Kyiv, began to build monasteries. As in Novgorod, in the North-East of Rus' monasteries were founded by local hierarchs. Thus, two monasteries were founded in Suzdal and one in Yaroslavl. There are about 26 known monasteries in North-Eastern Rus', 4 of which are women’s. Information about the monasteries of South-Western Rus' appears only from the 13th century. This is probably due to the fact that during the reign of Roman Mstislavich (1199-1205), a strong Galician-Volyn principality was created, which occupied one of the leading places in the political life of Ancient Rus'. Monasteries were also associated with princely power. An important issue in the study of monasteries is their location. Thanks to archaeological excavations, it was possible to create a fairly accurate picture of the location of the monasteries. A characteristic feature of early monasteries was that they were built within or near cities. The two main known types of monasteries are hermitic and cenobitic. The first monasteries in Rus' were more hermitic. The Kiev-Pechersk Monastery originally consisted of many caves with a cave church. This continued until the number of monks grew so large that they could no longer live in caves. Then a monastery was built. Cenobitic monasteries, which require the presence of a charter, appear in Rus' later, from the era of Sergius of Radonezh. Quite important is that the founders of the monasteries received lands, and sometimes the right to collect tribute from them. In addition to villages and lands, they also received forests, ponds and other lands. Along with the lands, the monasteries also received the people who inhabited them. Thus, we can say that the monasteries had all the conditions for development and prosperity. The fact that monasteries were located near cities led to the fact that they, one way or another, participated in the political life of society. Firstly, controversial issues concerning princely power were resolved in the monasteries. In this case, the monasteries became a meeting place for princes. An important function of ancient Russian monasteries was the preparation of future church hierarchs, bishops and archbishops. Monasteries sometimes served as places of imprisonment. During this period, they included mainly representatives of princely families solely for political reasons. So, before accepting martyrdom at the hands of the people of Kiev in 1147, Prince Igor Olgovich, the son of the Chernigov prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, was arrested and imprisoned first in the Kiev St. Michael's Monastery, and later transferred to Pereyaslavl within the walls of the Ioannovsky Monastery. From the second half of the 12th century. A new organization arose in ancient Russian cities - the archimandrite. This is a monastery that occupied a leading place among the rest. The archimandrite maintained the connection between the black clergy and the city, the prince, the episcopate, and also largely controlled the relationship between the monasteries themselves. The emergence of archimandrites, according to Ya.N. Shchapov, it was possible after the monasteries became independent feudal economic organizations. Being subordinate to the metropolitan and bishops in terms of church discipline, they had independence in administrative terms and in participating in city life. The first such monastery arose in Kyiv in the second half of the 12th century. In North-Eastern Rus', including Moscow, the archimandrite arose later - in the 13th - first half of the 14th centuries. also in princely monasteries. For example, in Yaroslavl - in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (1311), and in Moscow - in the Danilov Monastery (beginning of the 14th century). Their emergence is associated with the need for princely power to maintain control over the clergy. Monasteries were not only large feudal owners, closely connected with the political life of the city and state, but were also centers of ideological life. Within the walls of monasteries, manuscripts were created and copied, and then distributed among believers. There were schools at the monasteries in which literacy and theology were taught. Balkhova M.I. “monasteries in Rus' of the 11th-mid-14th centuries” // Monasticism and monasteries in Russia of the 11th-20th centuries: historical essays. M., “Science”, 2002, pp. 25-56.

Over time, monasteries acquired exceptionally great importance, located both far from cities and in their centers, and among suburbs, and on the near and distant approaches to cities, where they sometimes became “watchmen” - advanced outposts, in the language of another era.

The walls of monasteries could acquire a fortress character. In the XVI - XVII centuries. such monasteries received a very noticeable, if not leading, position in the ensembles of cities. In fact, these were cities within cities, as directly written about, for example, by Baron Herberstein, who visited Muscovy in the first half of the 16th century. Turning into large feudal owners, the monasteries became, in a certain sense, competitors of cities; in a number of cases they found themselves in the position of a city-forming core, that is, they began to play the role of a detin or the Kremlin of a new city, the settlements of which were formed from monastic settlements. This is how the city of Trinity-Sergiev Posad arose. And in Yaroslavl, for example, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, which adjoined directly to the ramparts of Zemlyanoy Gorod - the main settlement territory - took on the significance of the Kremlin, while the ancient fortress core - Detynets, called here "Chopped City", in the 16th - 17th centuries. it has lost its original meaning. The monastery, well fortified with stone walls, became the de facto citadel of the entire city, which the townspeople themselves called the Kremlin.

Monastic ensembles developed according to their own laws. In their formation, a significant role was played by those hidden symbols that permeate religious views and ideas about the world. At the same time, the organizers of the monasteries could not abstract themselves from the real dangers with which life was so generous - foreign enemies, princely strife, and thiefs in the night. Therefore, from the very first steps, the monasteries acquired a courageous, serf-like appearance. And the place for their installation was chosen accordingly. Moreover, monastic hermits also needed protection from life’s temptations (a hermit - withdrew from external life, that is, protected from it). So, compared to fortresses, monasteries needed additional degrees of protection. Balkhova M.I. Op. op. - p.10-12.

It is interesting that Sigismund Herberstein wrote that each of the Moscow monasteries, and there were more than forty of them at that time: “if you look at it from a distance, it seems like something like a small city.”

However, this was so from the very beginning of monastery construction. Already in the 12th century, Abbot Daniel wrote about Russian monasteries that “they were made into cities.”

And the process of their formation is a chain reaction model. New ones sprang from large, authoritative monasteries. Thus, from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery alone, taking into account mutual branching off, twenty-seven desert and eight city monasteries were formed. Almost all ancient monasteries in their original form were wooden, but over time, wooden churches were replaced by stone ones, the territories expanded, and were outlined with stone fortress walls instead of wooden ones. And now a speculative restoration of the appearance of wooden monasteries is possible using ancient images, plans, descriptions and imagination.

The principles of order, both in the formation of individual religious buildings and their ensembles, were based on the symbols of faith. The temple was a symbol of heaven and earth, heaven and hell - a concentrated image of the world. The altar part of the temple should look to the east where the center of the earth is located - the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was crucified on Mount Golgotha. And at the entrance to the temple on the western side there should be a baptismal shrine, as a symbol of coming to Christianity and gaining faith. The altar symbolizes the Bethlehem cave in which Christ was born. The colors and gestures in the images had symbolic meanings. The invisible was hidden in the visible and understood through the visible. There was mystery and magic in everything. And the composition of the ensemble followed the symbolic reproduction of the “City of Heaven - Jerusalem”. Its essence was a centric system - a model of cosmic order. The central symbol of the ensemble was the dominant building in its spiritual significance - the main cathedral of the monastery. Just as in a temple the height of the image of a saint unambiguously characterizes its spiritual hierarchy, the semantic, value hierarchy of buildings was characterized by proximity to the main temple. The ordered form should be "quadruple". This is the “mountain city of Jerusalem.” As it is said about it in the Apocalypse: “The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude.”

At the same time, ideas about the symbolic world order were not the only regulating principle. The shape was determined by the relief, the landscape, and the need to increase territories over time. Therefore, in real monastic ensembles there is always a compromise between the ideal scheme and the circumstances of place and time. “At the construction sites of Kremlins and monasteries, one of the most precious properties of Russian architecture took shape and matured - the unique picturesqueness of the ensemble. The combination of horizontal massifs of walls with unevenly high verticals of towers and belfries, with the roundness of domes and slender hipped tops - all this gives the old monasteries a free variety of silhouette, making them related with the Russian landscape, with its free, soft outlines, with its special community of smooth fields and copses scattered across them." I.E. Hrabal. History of the Russian state. v.1. Architecture. M. Ed. Knebel. 1919. - p.456-489.

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Introduction

2.1 Trinity-Sergius Monastery

2.2 Novodevichy Convent

2.3 Solovetsky Monastery

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Since the baptism of Rus', Russian culture has been closely intertwined with the Christian religion. All the traditions of the people, inherited from the times of paganism, interacting with the new religion, gave birth to an amazing and unique Russian culture. The most important role in this process was played by the centers of Christianity - monasteries.

Since the 11th century. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, monasteries were actively built throughout the entire Russian State, even in the most remote areas. This contributed to the development of knowledge among the population, thanks to the educational activities of monasticism.

The construction of monasteries contributed to the development of architecture in Rus', since the most capable people were involved in their creation, and foreign construction styles were used.

The monasteries were inhabited by monks who created icons. It was icon painting that contributed to the development of painting in Rus'. We all know Andrei Rublev very well, whose works are a world heritage.

The monastic chroniclers living in the monasteries laid the foundation of Russian literature. The most prominent representative of chronicles - Nestor, is the author of an artifact of ancient Russian literature - “The Tale of Bygone Years”.

Thanks to the monasteries, the people were introduced to culture and its active development under the influence of Christianity.

Purpose of the work: to study the role of monasteries in Russian culture

Learn the history of the monasteries.

Consider the role of monasteries in the cultural life of the country.

Consider some types of monasteries that existed in Rus'.

monastery Slavic baptism cultural

1. The history of the emergence of monasteries in Rus'

Monasteries appeared in Ancient Rus' in the 11th century, a few

decades after the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir of Kyiv and his subjects. And after 1.5-2 centuries they already played an important role in the life of the country.

The chronicle connects the beginning of Russian monasticism with the activities of Anthony, a resident of the city of Lyubech, near Chernigov, who became a monk on Mount Athos and appeared in Kyiv in the middle of the 11th century. The Tale of Bygone Years reports about him under the year 1051. True, the chronicle says that when Anthony came to Kyiv and began to choose where to settle, he “went to the monasteries, and did not like it anywhere.” This means that there were some monastic monasteries on the Kyiv land even before Anthony. But there is no information about them, and therefore the first Russian Orthodox monastery is considered to be Pechersky (later the Kiev-Pechora Lavra), which arose on one of the Kyiv mountains at the initiative of Anthony: he allegedly settled in a cave dug for prayers by the future Metropolitan Hilarion.

However, the Russian Orthodox Church considers Theodosius, who accepted monasticism with the blessing of Anthony, to be the true founder of monasticism.

Having become abbot, he introduced into his monastery, which numbered two dozen monks, the charter of the Constantinople Studite Monastery, which strictly regulated the entire life of the monastics. Subsequently, this charter was introduced in other large monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church, which were predominantly communal.

At the beginning of the 12th century. Kievan Rus broke up into a number of principalities, which were, in essence, completely independent feudal states. The process of Christianization in their capital cities has already gone far; princes and boyars, wealthy merchants, whose lives did not at all correspond to Christian commandments, founded monasteries, trying to atone for their sins. At the same time, rich investors not only received “service from specialists” - monks, but could themselves spend the rest of their lives in the usual conditions of material well-being. The increased population in cities also ensured an increase in the number of monks.

There was a predominance of urban monasteries. Apparently, the spread of Christianity played a role here, first among rich and wealthy people close to the princes and living with them in the cities.

Rich merchants and artisans also lived in them. Of course, ordinary townspeople accepted Christianity more quickly than peasants.

Along with large ones, there were also small private monasteries, the owners of which could dispose of them and pass them on to their heirs. The monks in such monasteries did not maintain a common household, and investors, wishing to leave the monastery, could demand their contribution back.

From the middle of the 14th century. the emergence of a new type of monasteries began, which were founded by people who did not have land holdings, but had energy and enterprise. They sought land grants from the Grand Duke, accepted donations from their feudal neighbors “to commemorate their souls,” enslaved surrounding peasants, bought and bartered lands, ran their own farms, traded, engaged in usury, and turned monasteries into feudal estates.

Following Kiev, Novgorod, Vladimir, Smolensk, Galich and other ancient Russian cities acquired their own monasteries. In the pre-Mongol period, the total number of monasteries and the number of monastics in them were insignificant. According to chronicles, in the 11th-13th centuries there were no more than 70 monasteries in Rus', including 17 each in Kyiv and Novgorod.

The number of monasteries increased noticeably during the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke: by the middle of the 15th century there were more than 180 of them. Over the next century and a half, about 300 new monasteries were opened, and in the 17th century alone - 220. The process of the emergence of more and more new monasteries (both men's, and women's) continued until the Great October Socialist Revolution. By 1917 there were 1025 of them.

Russian Orthodox monasteries were multifunctional. They have always been considered not only as centers of the most intense religious life and guardians of church traditions, but also as an economic stronghold of the church, as well as centers for training church personnel. Monks formed the backbone of the clergy, occupying key positions in all areas of church life. Only the monastic rank gave access to the episcopal rank. Bound by the vow of complete and unconditional obedience, which they took at the time of tonsure, the monks were obedient instruments in the hands of the church leadership.

As a rule, in the Russian lands of the 11th-13th centuries. monasteries were founded by princes or local boyar aristocracy. The first monasteries arose near large cities, or directly in them. Monasteries were a form of social organization of people who abandoned the norms of life accepted in secular society. These groups solved various problems: from preparing their members for the afterlife to creating model farms. Monasteries served as institutions of social charity. They, closely connected with the authorities, became the centers of the ideological life of Rus'.

The monasteries trained cadres of clergy of all ranks. The episcopate was elected from the monastic circle, and the rank of bishop was received mainly by monks of noble origin.

In the 11th-12th centuries, fifteen bishops emerged from one Kiev-Pechora monastery. There were only a few bishops who emerged from the “common people.”

2. The role of monasteries in the cultural life of Rus'

Orthodox monasteries played an important role in the cultural, political and economic life of Rus'. In our country - as, indeed, in other countries of the Christian world - the monasteries of monks have always been not only places of prayerful service to God, but also centers of culture and enlightenment; in many periods of Russian history, monasteries had a noticeable impact on the political development of the country and on the economic life of people.

One of these periods was the time of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow, the time of the heyday of Orthodox art and the rethinking of the cultural tradition that connected Kievan Rus with the Muscovite kingdom, the time of the colonization of new lands and the introduction of new peoples to Orthodoxy.

Over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, the wooded north of the country was covered with a network of large monastic farms, around which the peasant population gradually settled. Thus began the peaceful development of vast spaces. It went simultaneously with extensive educational and missionary activities.

Bishop Stefan of Perm preached along the Northern Dvina among the Komi, for whom he created the alphabet and translated the Gospel. Reverends Sergius and Herman founded the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior on islands in Lake Ladoga and preached among the Karelian tribes. Reverends Savvaty and Zosima laid the foundation for the largest Solovetsky Transfiguration Monastery in Northern Europe. Saint Cyril created a monastery in the Beloozersky region. Saint Theodoret of Kola baptized the Finnish tribe of Topars and created the alphabet for them. His mission in the middle of the 16th century. continued Saint Tryphon of Pecheneg, who founded a monastery on the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula.

Appeared in the XV-XVI centuries. and many other monasteries. A lot of educational work was carried out in them, books were copied, original schools of icon painting and fresco painting developed.

Icons were painted in monasteries, which, along with frescoes and mosaics, constituted that genre of painting that was allowed by the church and encouraged in every possible way by it.

Outstanding painters of antiquity reflected in icons both religious subjects and their vision of the world around them; they captured in paint not only Christian dogmas, but also their own attitude to pressing problems of our time. Therefore, ancient Russian painting went beyond the narrow framework of church utilitarianism and became an important means of artistic reflection of its era - a phenomenon not only of purely religious life, but also of general cultural life.

XIV - early XV centuries. - this is the heyday of icon painting. It was in it that Russian artists managed to fully express the character of the country and people, and rise to the heights of world culture. The luminaries of icon painting, of course, were Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev and Dionysius. Thanks to their work, the Russian icon became not only the subject of painting, but also of philosophical discussions; it says a lot not only to art historians, but also to social psychologists, and has become an integral part of the life of the Russian people.

Providence extremely rarely orders in such a way that for 150 years, great cultural figures live and create one after another. Russia XIV-XV centuries. in this regard, she was lucky - she had F. Greek, A. Rublev, Dionysius. The first link in this chain turned out to be Feofan - a philosopher, scribe, illustrator, and icon painter, who came to Rus' as an already established master, but not frozen in the themes and techniques of writing. Working in Novgorod and Moscow, he managed to create completely different frescoes and icons with equal sophistication. The Greek did not disdain adapting to circumstances: frantic, amazing with irrepressible imagination in Novgorod, he bears little resemblance to the strictly canonical master in Moscow. Only his skill remains unchanged. He did not argue with time and customers, and taught the life and tricks of his profession to Russian artists, including, probably, Andrei Rublev.

Rublev tried to make a revolution in the souls and minds of his viewers. He wanted the icon to become not only an object of cult, endowed with magical powers, but also an object of philosophical, artistic and aesthetic contemplation. Not much is known about the life of Rublev, like many other masters of Ancient Rus'. Almost his entire life path is connected with the Trinity-Sergius and Andronnikov monasteries in Moscow and the Moscow region.

Rublev's most famous icon, the Trinity, caused controversy and doubt during the author's lifetime. The dogmatic concept of the Trinity - the unity of deity in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - was abstract and difficult to understand. It is no coincidence that it was the doctrine of the Trinity that gave rise to a huge number of heresies in the history of Christianity. Yes, and in Rus' XI-XIII centuries. they preferred to dedicate churches to more real images: the Savior, the Mother of God, and St. Nicholas.

In the symbol of the Trinity, Rublev distinguished not only an abstract dogmatic idea, but also a vital idea for that time about the political and moral unity of the Russian land. In picturesque images he conveyed a religious periphrasis of a completely earthly idea of unity, “unity of equals.” Rublev's approach to the essence and meaning of the icon was so new, and his breakthrough from the canon so decisive, that real fame came to him only in the 20th century. Contemporaries appreciated in him not only a talented painter, but also the holiness of his life. Then the Rublev icons were updated by later authors and disappeared until our century (let’s not forget that 80-100 years after their creation, the icons darkened from the drying oil covering them, and the painting became indistinguishable.

We also know little about the third luminary of icon painting. Dionysius, apparently, was the favorite artist of Ivan III and remained a secular painter without taking monastic vows. In fact, humility and obedience are clearly not inherent in him, which is reflected in his frescoes. And the era was completely different from the times of Grek and Rublev. Moscow triumphed over the Horde and art was instructed to glorify the greatness and glory of the Moscow state. Dionysius's frescoes do not perhaps achieve the high aspiration and deep expressiveness of Rublev's icons. They are created not for reflection, but for joyful admiration. They are part of the holiday, and not an object of thoughtful contemplation. Dionysius did not become a prophetic predictor, but he is an unsurpassed master and master of color, unusually light and pure tones. With his work, ceremonial, solemn art became leading. Of course, they tried to imitate him, but his followers lacked some small things: measure, harmony, cleanliness - what distinguishes a true master from a diligent artisan.

We know by name only a few monks - icon painters, carvers, writers, architects. The culture of that time was to a certain extent anonymous, which was generally characteristic of the Middle Ages. Humble monks did not always sign their works; lay masters also did not care too much about lifetime or posthumous earthly glory.

This was the era of cathedral creativity. Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryev, our contemporary, wrote about this era in his work “The Experience of the National Spirit” as follows: “The spirit of conciliar work touched all areas of creativity. Following the political gathering of Rus', simultaneously with the growth of economic ties between various parts of the state, a cultural gathering began. It was then that the works of hagiographic literature multiplied, general chronicle collections were created, and the achievements of the largest provincial schools in the field of fine, architectural, musical and singing, and decorative and applied arts began to merge into the all-Russian culture.”

Before the advent of printing, it was in monastery cells that liturgical books were copied, literature of religious and ecclesiastical content was composed, in particular the “lives of the saints”, glorifying the “pleasers of God” (mostly monastics) and those monasteries where they carried out monastic obedience.

At the same time, the monasteries fulfilled the social order of the princely authorities: they created and re-edited chronicles and legislative documents. Judging by the content of the chronicles and the style of their presentation, they were written by people who had only formally “left the world”, as required by the ritual of initiation into monasticism, but in fact were in the thick of political events, full of “sea” worries and unrest.

The creation of culture is always closely connected with its conservation and preservation. This dual task in the XV-XVI centuries. This was precisely the solution to monasteries, which from time immemorial were not only spiritual centers, but also a kind of museums where unique works of national art were kept, as well as libraries with amazingly valuable collections of manuscripts and rare books.

One of the main sources of replenishment of the monastery collections were deposits. Family heirlooms were brought here by the impoverished descendants of appanage princes, who could not withstand the unequal struggle with the strengthened grand-ducal power. Contributions also came from Moscow princes and tsars, who often used influential monasteries for political purposes. The reasons for the contribution to the treasury of the monastery could be a victory won over an enemy, a prayer for the birth of an heir, or a solemn accession to the throne. They often made deposits just for the sake of their souls. On the territory of monasteries, near their cathedrals and churches, noble people were sometimes buried; during burial, the monastery was not only paid money for the grave, but also left the personal belongings of the deceased, an icon taken from the coffin, and even a cart with horses on which it was brought. Among the investors in Russian monasteries were princes and boyars, representatives of the highest clergy, nobles, merchants and service people of different cities, “people of various ranks of the sovereign’s court,” city clerks, monastery servants and servants, artisans and peasants.

Monasteries were looked upon as reliable repositories of national treasures. Works of art were brought here to preserve them. It is no coincidence that many of them had the following written on them: “Don’t give it to anyone.” The most common deposits were family icons decorated with precious frames.

Monastic meetings in Moscow and Sergiev Posad, Rostov the Great and Suzdal, Tver and Yaroslavl were famous; in these cities unique collections of Russian icon painting of the 15th-16th centuries were compiled.

2.1 Trinity-Sergius Monastery

Tromitsa-Semrgiev Lamvra, (in church literature usually the Holy Tromitskaya Semrgiev Lamvra) is the largest Orthodox male stauropegic monastery in Russia, located in the center of the city of Sergiev Posad, Moscow region, on the Konchurem River. The founding date of the monastery is considered to be the settlement of Sergius of Radonezh on Makovets in 1337. However, a number of historians believe that this happened in 1342.

Since 1688 Patriarchal stauropegy. On July 8, 1742, by imperial decree of Elizabeth Petrovna, the monastery was given the status and name of a monastery; On June 22, 1744, the Holy Synod issued a decree to Archimandrite Arseny naming the Trinity-Sergius Monastery a Lavra. It was closed on April 20, 1920 by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars “On applying to the museum of historical and artistic values of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra”; resumed in the spring of 1946.

In the Middle Ages, at certain points in history, the monastery played a prominent role in the political life of North-Eastern Rus'; was the support of the government and the people. According to accepted church historiography, he took part in the fight against the Tatar-Mongol yoke; opposed supporters of the government of False Dmitry II during the Time of Troubles

Let us trace the formation of a unique monastery collection using the example of one of the most revered monasteries in Rus' - Trinity-Sergius.

The monastery's collections formed the basis of the museum collections of the Zagorsk Museum. Among the contributions to the monastery are many rich church vessels, silver book covers and icons. Attracting attention is a silver chalice with a crystal bowl, a golden chalice with ore-yellow marble from 1449 (the work of Ivan Fomin), a censer (Kadimlo - originally in Judaism one of the sacred vessels of the tabernacle and temple, used for burning incense on especially solemn occasions.) by Abbot Nikon 1405, reliquary ark of the Radonezh princes of the first quarter of the 15th century. In the 16th century The most significant contributions were made to the monastery treasury. The best Russian jewelers, isographers, and foundry workers worked in the Moscow workshops under Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, and Boris Godunov.

Ivan IV ordered the most revered icon of the Trinity in the monastery to be decorated with jewelry (mostly created by Moscow craftsmen). Under the icon was suspended a pearl shroud, embroidered in the workshop of the Tsar’s first wife, Anastasia Romanova; The icon had a gold frame with crowns decorated with enamels and precious stones. Under Ivan IV, a monumental silver chased shrine was also made for the remains of Sergius of Radonezh.

Under Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, a chased gold frame was made for the tombstone icon of Sergius, decorated with gold beads with engraving and niello, precious stones, cameos, and pearls. It is known that for this work the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory received great awards from the Tsar.

After his coronation, Boris Godunov presented the monastery with a new precious frame for the icon of the Trinity.

It was not only gifts that replenished the monastic collections; many works of art were created directly within the monastery walls. In the 15th century Epiphanius the Wise worked at the Trinity Monastery, creating the Life of the founder of the monastery, Sergius of Radonezh; Andrei Rublev wrote there, whose worldview was formed thanks to the constant influence of the ideas of Sergius and his followers, thanks to the habit acquired in the monastery of resisting the “discord of this world.” For the iconostasis of the monastery cathedral, the Monk Andrew painted the famous “Trinity”. Andrei Rublev, Daniil Cherny and other isographers in a short time, on behalf of Abbot Nikon, decorated the Trinity Cathedral, newly built at the expense of Prince Yuri Galitsky and Zvenigorod, with frescoes and icons.

“A city does not stand without a saint, and a village does not stand without a righteous man.” This proverb expressed the view of the Russian people on the importance of holiness and spiritual culture for the very existence of the Russian Land. And if the soul of a city or village was a temple, then the spiritual center of the region in Rus' usually became a monastery.

For the culture of Ancient Rus', the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery was of utmost importance; in subsequent centuries, the Trinity Monastery founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh, which from the mid-18th century received the name Trinity-Sergius Lavra, began to occupy an equally important place in Russian history and culture. Priest Pavel Florensky, who studied the history and artistic treasures of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra for many years, wrote: “According to the creative plan of the founder, the Trinity Church, which he ingeniously, one might say, discovered, is the prototype of the gathering of Rus' in spiritual unity, in brotherly love. It should be the center of the cultural unification of Rus', in which all aspects of Russian life find a foothold and the highest justification.”

In the XV-XVI centuries. The Trinity Monastery became a place for the creation of magnificent icons and works of applied art, as well as a kind of educational center where masters - isographers and jewelers - were trained. Trinity icons were sent to other monasteries and churches and presented as gifts to foreign guests.

2.2 Novodevichy Convent

The monastery was founded ca. 1524 in the suburbs of Moscow on Devichye Pole. The cathedral church of the monastery was built on the model of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin and is one of the significant monuments of ancient Russian art in Moscow. The walls and towers of the monastery were built in the 16th-17th centuries; most of the existing buildings of the monastery date back to the 2nd half. XVII century and is an excellent example of the Moscow Baroque style. Representatives of the royal and princely families, including the leading ones, are buried in the monastery cathedral. book Sofya Alekseevna.

On the territory of the monastery there are the graves of the poet D.V. Davydov, writers M.N. Zagoskina, I.I. Lazhechnikova, A.P. Chekhov, historian S.M. Solovyov and his son, philosopher V.S. Solovyov, General A.A. Brusilova and others. N.V. is buried in the new cemetery adjacent to the monastery from the south. Gogol, A.S. Khomyakov, M.A. Bulgakov, M.N. Ermolov, many figures of Russian culture and statesmen of the Soviet era.

The Novodevichy Convent was a major cultural center. But his initial task was different - the defense of Moscow. He took his place among the same guardian monasteries - Androniev, Novospassky, Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy, together with which he created a powerful defensive semi-ring. The Novodevichy Convent is located in a bend of the river; from its walls it was possible to control three crossings at once: at the Crimean Ford (now in its place is the Crimean Bridge; and then, during the construction era, it was there that the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey liked to cross the Moscow River during his raids on the capital), at Vorobyovy Gory and Dorogomilov, where the road to Mozhaisk passed. The monastery became a cultural center later.

In 1571, the monastery was ravaged and burned by the Crimeans of Khan Devlet-Girey. After this, new towers and walls were erected. And when in 1591 the Crimean horde under the leadership of Kazy-Girey again stormed the monastery, the artillery managed to adequately meet the attackers and the assault was repulsed.

But the monastery is known not only in connection with military events. It is closely connected with the dynastic history of Russian sovereigns. Ivan the Terrible’s young daughter Anna was buried there, the wife of Ivan IV’s brother, Princess Ulyana, the widow of Ivan the Terrible’s eldest son, Elena, and the widow of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, Irina Godunova, ended their days there. Some sources mention that it was in the Novodevichy Convent that Boris Godunov was elected to the kingdom. This is not entirely accurate: in the monastery Boris only agreed to be elected.

In just two years (1603-1604), Boris Godunov donated many icons to the monastery, a lot of precious utensils, and another 3 thousand rubles - a considerable amount at that time. Alas, most of those gifts were not preserved. Ironically, they were captured by Godunov’s destroyer False Dmitry in 1605.

And yet, much of what was collected at the Novodevichy Convent has survived to this day. The works of Russian isographers and jewelers, which made up a unique collection, as well as many contributions from Russian sovereigns, have also been preserved. The magnificent creations of Russian goldsmiths, embroiderers, silversmiths, wood and stone carvers, and painters collected in the Smolensk Cathedral were almost never exhibited in full; many works were transferred to other repositories over the years.

A remarkable value of Russian culture is the Smolensk Cathedral itself - the only architectural monument of the early 16th century that has survived on the territory of the monastery.

All compositions of the paintings of the Smolensk Cathedral are subordinated to the exaltation of Moscow and its sovereigns.

But the cathedral can also tell about the time of Boris Godunov. By his decree, the temple was repaired, the smoky frescoes were renewed, and some things were rewritten. This is how the images of Saints Boris and Fyodor and the image of Saint Irene appeared.

The monastery also keeps in its collection extremely valuable works of ancient Russian small sculpture: panagias, reliquary crosses, breastplate icons. Mostly these works of ancient Russian masters date back to the 15th-16th centuries. The decoration of the collection of the Novodevichy Convent is a silver bowl from 1581 - the contribution of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich the Elder, the son of Ivan the Terrible, made by him shortly before his death.

The ancient stones of Novodevichy saw Vasily III, Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov; rulers came here to celebrate success, victory or await the decision of their fate. And often each such visit ended with the construction of a new church, new chambers, new fortifications, and a new gift to the monastery.

UNESCO included the Novodevichy Convent on the World Heritage List. In addition, the monastery is rightfully considered one of the oldest and most beautiful monasteries in Russia.

2.3 Solovetsky Monastery

The Solovetsky Monastery entered the history of Russian culture with its stone buildings of the 16th century. - a one-of-a-kind complex of engineering and architectural structures, and a famous collection of manuscripts, and priceless icons, and a unique library; it was not only a cultural, but also a political center.

In the 15th century, the Russian North was no longer perceived by its inhabitants as part of the Novgorod land. The once powerful medieval republic was declining, and the Novgorodians were forced to declare their loyalty to the Moscow princes, and therefore, to some extent, give up power over the once conquered and only partially developed territories.

The Solovetsky Monastery actually became the real center of power in the North. He extended his influence in the west to the border with Sweden, in the north - all the way to Pechenga. The monastery maintained international relations (with Athos, Constantinople, Serbia), maintained military garrisons in Karelia, and defended the White Sea from incursions by foreign ships.

After the Novgorod campaigns of Ivan III, the Solovetsky Monastery ended up in Moscow possessions. The monastery on the islands arose in the 30s of the 15th century. Saints Sabbatius, Zosima and Herman stood at its origins.

The history of the monastery is the story of the asceticism of people who voluntarily chose life in very harsh conditions. The first inhabitants of Solovki dug vegetable gardens, chopped wood, and boiled salt from sea water, which they exchanged for bread.

Philip Kolychev played a special role in the history of Solovki and all of Rus'. Coming from a boyar family, this abbot of the Solovetsky Monastery not only skillfully directed its diverse activities, but also invested his personal funds in the development of the monastery economy. The complex of buildings erected under the leadership of the future Metropolitan of Moscow is not only a unique architectural monument, but also an outstanding achievement of Russian technical thought in the mid-16th century. In 1552, the construction of the stone Church of the Assumption began, in 1558 - the construction of the Transfiguration Cathedral. These two structures created the monumental center of the monastery; subsequently they were connected by galleries and other buildings.

Both under Philip and under other abbots, the Solovetsky Monastery was one of the most important centers of rational economic management in the North.

Many thousands of peasants passed through the monastery's economy - fishing and bakeries, washrooms and carpentry workshops, drying rooms and smokehouses, who, having made a pilgrimage to the monastery, remained in it to work. Arkhangelsk and Vologda, Kostroma and Novgorod, Karelian and Perm people received the best working skills here, which later spread everywhere. And to this day, in chests and caskets stored in villages and towns of the Russian North, one can find grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s testimonies that such and such completed a full course of crafts at the Solovetsky monastery.

A brick factory was established on the islands, producing very high quality bricks. The construction equipment used in the construction of the monastery buildings was also very advanced. The improvement of the islands has always been considered the most important task of the Solovetsky abbots.

Hegumen Philip, at his own expense, connected the Holy Lake with 52 other lakes; On his instructions, the inhabitants of the monastery and workers dug canals, installed a water supply system and water mills. A whole network of convenient roads was laid, wooden and stone warehouses and cells were built. There was a barnyard and a forge on the islands, where not only the necessary tools were forged, but also artistic forging developed, where, for example, bars and locks were made.

The stone ship pier built by Philip is the oldest structure of this kind in Russia that has survived to this day. Various technical innovations were used at the brick factory: brick and lime were lifted with special blocks (the gate was driven by horses). Various improvements were made in flour-grinding and drying, in winnowing grain and bottling the famous Solovetsky kvass. Kvass, for example, under Philip began to be supplied to the cellar through pipes and poured into barrels through pipes. One elder and five servants did this work, in which all the brethren and “many servants” had previously participated.

Stone dams protected fish cages. The monastery sewed elegant and durable clothes from animal skins.

Many pages of Russian military history are connected with the Solovetsky Monastery. The monastery-sovereign, as it was called, was in charge of the defense of the Russian North, ensured that the Karelian and other tribes “lived under the sovereign invariably,” and therefore the monastery was given exceptional benefits. The secular authorities, especially during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, not only supplied Solovki with gunpowder, arquebuses and cannonballs, but also donated money, church values, icons and books to the monastery.

The icon collection of the monastery began to take shape in the 15th century. The first icons, according to legend, were brought to the islands by Savvati. Over the course of the 15th-16th centuries, the monastery received many icons donated by princes, kings and metropolitans.

There is information that Philip invited masters from Novgorod, who painted many icons for the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Church of Zosima and Savvaty and other churches. Experts suggest that Moscow craftsmen were also invited. The masters worked on Solovki for a long time, teaching their skills to the monks; This is how the monastery gradually established its own school of icon painting. The future Patriarch Nikon began as a simple icon painter in this chamber.

The Solovetsky icon painting school mainly preserved the traditions of Novgorod and Moscow. In the spirit of these traditions, uniquely intertwined in Solovetsky art, many icons were created. For example, two faces painted by masters of the 16th century became widely known: “Our Lady of Tikhvin” and “Our Lady of the Stone of the Unhandled Mountain.”

In the North, the founders of the monastery, the Monks Zosima and Savvaty, were especially revered. Their faces were depicted on many icons.

Another significant cultural undertaking of the Solovetsky monks was associated with the collection of books. The holy monk (later hegumen) Dosifei collected a library, wrote the lives of Zosima and Savvaty, and attracted the most erudite writers of that time to the creation and editing of manuscripts. While in Novgorod, Dosifey ordered books to be rewritten and sent them to Solovki. Among the books in the library collected by Dositheus are works by the Church Fathers of different eras, from Basil the Great and John Chrysostom to John of Damascus. Russian literature was also well represented in the meeting, starting with “The Tale of Law and Grace.”

For the first time in Rus', Dosifei began to mark the books of the monastic collection with a special sign - a bookplate. He also contributed to the development of book miniatures. The creation of the library became the life's work of the abbot, who made a significant contribution to the development of national book culture.

Conclusion

To summarize, we can confidently say that monasteries played a vital role in Russian culture. Since the 11th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, monasteries throughout the entire Russian State were a necessary component of public life.

They were the pillar that supported the moral foundations of society. With kind words, prayer and advice, the monks helped people looking for support.

Monasteries preserved and developed not only the spiritual, but also the cultural life of society. Chronicle writing gave a powerful impetus to the development of literature, the beauty of monasteries was a model of architecture, and icon painting eventually gave birth to painting.

In addition, for many centuries the monasteries were a repository of cultural values, many of which were unique and would not have been preserved in turbulent times.

Thus, the monasteries completed a most difficult task: they preserved and created many cultural values, preserved the spirituality of the people, even in the most difficult times, serving as a support for Russian culture.

Bibliography

1. Brodsky B.I. Connection of times. M., 1974.

2. Gordienko N.S. “The Baptism of Rus': facts against legends and myths”, Lenizdat, 1986

3. Gorimov M.M., Lyashenko L.M. "Russian history. From Ancient Rus' to Imperial Russia", Knowledge Society, 1994

4. Kukushkina M.V. Monastic libraries of the Russian North., 1987

5. Nikolsky N.M. History of the Russian Church., M., 1988

7. Monasteries of Russia // Monuments of the Fatherland. M., 1993. No. 26

6. Russian monasteries. M., 1996.

8. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity-Sergius_Lavra

9. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novodevichy_monastery

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The history of the emergence of monasteries in Rus'

Monasteries appeared in Ancient Rus' in the 11th century, several decades after the adoption of Christianity by the Kyiv prince Vladimir and his subjects. And after 1.5-2 centuries they played an important role in the life of the country.

However, the Russian Orthodox Church considers Theodosius, who accepted monasticism with the blessing of Anthony, to be the true founder of monasticism. Having become abbot, he introduced into his monastery, which numbered two dozen monks, the charter of the Constantinople Studite Monastery, which strictly regulated the entire life of the monastics. Subsequently, this charter was introduced in other large monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church, which were predominantly communal.

There was a predominance of urban monasteries. Apparently, the spread of Christianity played a role here, first among rich and wealthy people close to the princes and living with them in the cities. Rich merchants and artisans also lived in them. Of course, ordinary townspeople accepted Christianity more quickly than peasants.

Russian Orthodox monasteries were multifunctional. They have always been considered not only as centers of the most intense religious life, guardians of church traditions, but also as an economic stronghold of the church, as well as centers for training church personnel. Monks formed the backbone of the clergy, occupying key positions in all areas of church life. Only the monastic rank gave access to the episcopal rank. Bound by the vow of complete and unconditional obedience, which they took at the time of tonsure, the monks were obedient instruments in the hands of the church leadership.

The monasteries trained cadres of clergy of all ranks. The episcopate was elected from the monastic circle, and the rank of bishop was received mainly by monks of noble origin. In the 11th-12th centuries, fifteen bishops emerged from one Kiev-Pechora monastery. Among the “simples,” there were only a few bishops (a clergyman with the third most important degree of priesthood).

monastery enlightenment writing

The appearance of the first monasteries in Rus' dates back to the era of Vladimir, the baptist of Rus', and under his son, Yaroslav the Wise, monastic life was already very diverse.

At first, monasteries were created in Southern Rus': in Chernigov - Boldinsky (Eletsky) in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in Pereslavl - St. John, etc. Gradually, monasteries began to appear in the northeastern lands: in Murom in the pre-Mongol period the Spassky Monastery was founded, in Suzdal - St. Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica and others. Monasticism is very quickly becoming a widespread phenomenon in Rus'.

According to chronicles, in the 11th century. there were 19 monasteries, on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion - more than a hundred. By the middle of the 15th century. their number increased to 180. Over the next century and a half, about three hundred were opened, the 17th century alone gave 220 new monasteries. On the eve of the revolution, there were 1025 monasteries in the Russian Empire.

Oddly enough, in the early period very few monasteries were founded by the monks themselves. One of these - the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery - was founded by Anthony and his disciple Theodosius, who are considered the founders of monasticism in Rus'.

Anthony was from Lyubech, at a young age he went to Mount Athos, there he became a monk, learned the rules of monastic life, and then received a command from God to return to Rus'. The Tale of Bygone Years says that upon arriving in Kyiv, Anthony walked through monasteries in search of places of asceticism, but “did not love” any of them. Having found Hilarion's cave, he settled in it. It follows from this that there were some monastic monasteries on the Kyiv land even before Anthony. But there is no information about them, and therefore the first Russian Orthodox monastery is considered to be the Pechersky Monastery (later the Kiev Pechersk Lavra), which arose on one of the Kyiv mountains at the initiative of Anthony.

However, the Russian Orthodox Church considers Theodosius, who accepted monasticism with the blessing of Anthony, to be the true founder of monasticism. When he became abbot, he was only 26 years old. But under him the number of brethren increased from twenty to one hundred people. Theodosius was very concerned about the spiritual growth of the monks and about the organization of the monastery, he built cells, and in 1062 he laid the stone foundation for the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Under Theodosius, the Pechersk monastery received a cenobitic charter based on the model of the Studite monastery in Constantinople and became the largest monastery in Kyiv. Theodosius was a talented church writer and left many spiritual works.

Novgorod was the second most important city of Ancient Rus', and in the pre-Mongol period there were 14 monastic monasteries here. The most famous among them was the Transfiguration Khutyn Monastery.

Its founder, Varlaam (in the world - Alexa Mikhailovich), a native of Novgorod, the son of wealthy parents, under the influence of “divine” books, even in childhood, felt an attraction to monasticism. After the death of his parents, he distributed the estate and entered into obedience to the elder Porfiry (Perfury), after some time he went to the Khutyn hill (a famous bad place), ten miles outside the city, and began to live in solitude. Disciples began to come to him, and a monastery was gradually formed.

The Mongol invasion disrupted the natural course of monastic life in Rus', many monasteries suffered from pogrom and destruction, and not all monasteries were subsequently restored. The revival of monasticism began in the second half of the 14th century, and it is associated with the names of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Rev. Sergius of Radonezh. A hundred years after Sergius, the question of monastic property would lead to a split of monasticism into two parties - the non-covetous, led by Nil of Sorsky, who preached poverty and independence of the monasteries, and the Josephites, led by Joseph of Volotsky, who defended the right of the monasteries to own property.

The monastic movement was especially active in the North; monks contributed to the development of new lands, bringing civilization and culture to those places where previously it was deserted or lived by wild pagan tribes.

Usually, monasteries were built away from the bustle, most often outside the city limits, in a deserted place. They were fenced with high walls, which rarely had military-strategic significance, with the exception of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which withstood several sieges, and some other monasteries. Monastery walls mark the boundary between the spiritual and the worldly, behind them a person should feel protected from external storms and unrest, fenced off from the world. In the monastery fence there is no running and haste, people speak quietly, idle laughter is excluded here, empty conversations are prohibited, and even more so swear words. There should be nothing here that would distract a person’s attention or seduce him; on the contrary, everything should set him in a high spiritual mood. Monasteries have always been a spiritual school not only for those who have chosen the monastic way of life, but also for the laity.

The monasteries trained cadres of clergy of all ranks. The episcopate was elected from the monastic circle, and the rank of bishop was received mainly by monks of noble origin. In the 11th-12th centuries, fifteen bishops emerged from one Kiev-Pechersk monastery. There were only a few “simple” bishops.

In general, Orthodox monasteries played a huge role in the cultural, political and economic history of Rus' and Russia. In our country - as, indeed, in other countries of the Christian world - the monasteries of monks have always been not only places of prayerful service to God, but also centers of culture and enlightenment; in many periods of Russian history, monasteries had a noticeable impact on the political development of the country and on the economic life of people.

It is known that monasteries had an enduring significance in the formation and life of ancient Rus'. To this day, monastery church regulations are the basis of modern worship. Monasteries also played a significant role. The monasteries of Vetka, Irgiz, Kerzhenets and Vyg were the most important spiritual centers of Old Believer harmony. At the same time, we have to admit the difficult state of current monasticism in the Old Believers. The number of monks and the monasteries themselves is very small. Nevertheless, interest in the history of Russian monasticism and Russian monasteries does not wane.

A researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, author of a number of publications on the history of the ancient Russian church, writing and culture, candidate of historical sciences, talks about the historical features of the formation and development of the monastic culture of Ancient Russia

Yuri Alexandrovich, the heritage of Ancient Rus' is very voluminous and varied: this includes ancient Russian literature, monastic culture, temple architecture and much more. Tell us about the formation of monastic culture in Rus'.

The determining influence on the formation of Old Russian monastic culture was exerted by Byzantine monastic traditions, familiarity with which was carried out through translated hagiographic and canonical literature, as well as through personal contact of the population of Rus' with representatives of the black clergy of the East. Sources indicate the widespread practice of pilgrimages, the purpose of which was not only to visit holy places associated with the earthly life of Jesus Christ, but also the famous temples and monasteries of Byzantium. In the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk (beginning of the 12th century), for example, it is reported that the abbot of the Demetrius Monastery Varlaam, who had previously visited Jerusalem, visited Constantinople, where “the entire monastery visited (60s of the 11th century).” There is information about the residence of Russian monks in the monasteries of Byzantium. Lived for some time in one of the monasteries of Constantinople monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Ephraim, later (in the 70s of the 11th century) appointed to the episcopal see in Pereyaslavl.

The interest with which Russian pilgrims treated the monasteries of the East is evidenced by the “Life and Walking of Daniel, Abbot of the Russian Land” (beginning of the 12th century) and the “Book of the Pilgrim,” compiled by the future Archbishop of Novgorod Anthony (beginning of the 13th century). Athos, or the Holy Mountain, was very popular among pilgrims, especially among monks. Here the “father of Russian monasticism” took monastic vows Venerable Anthony of Pechersk.

Meanwhile, much in the process of formation of Old Russian monasticism was determined by the cultural and historical traditions of East Slavic society, as well as the natural and climatic conditions of the region. This, for example, is evidenced by the fact that items of folk clothing penetrated into the clothing complexes of ancient Russian monks. As outerwear, Russian monks wore a retinue and a sleeveless cloak - votolu. There was a wider use of furs, prohibited by many monastic rules in Greece, as well as the wearing of bast shoes - bast shoes, instead of oriental sandals and caligas. Severe winters made it necessary to use stoves more significantly, including for heating the underground rooms of hermits: they were placed at the entrance to the cave). Apparently, the diet of ancient Russian monks also had some peculiarities. First of all, this concerned a more limited use of wine. It was replaced at the monastery meal with meads (intoxicating drinks made from diluted honey with spices). The basis of the table was bread and porridge made from oats, rye, millet, peas, and lentils. In special cases (lack of cereals, fast days) they could cook wheat, mixing it with honey, or vegetables, herbs (“potions”), flavoring them with vegetable oil.

The life of monks in Ancient Rus' was distinguished by a variety of forms and types of asceticism. Hermitage, the oldest form of monasticism, which determined the path of salvation through solitude and ascetic abstinence, apparently enjoyed particular popularity. The formation of ancient Russian hermitage was greatly influenced by the traditions of the “desert fathers” of Palestine, the hermit monks of Athos and, possibly, Bulgaria. The caves of hermit monks most often dug into the slopes of elevated river banks or ravines, in the thickness of loess rocks, characterized by ease of development and a structure resistant to stress. Clusters of isolated cave cells were subsequently, as a rule, connected by internal passages and galleries (the chronicle “street”), forming complex labyrinths that included residential and religious buildings. Over time, the cave monasteries “came” to the surface, transforming into communal monasteries. From this point on, underground structures were usually used as a monastic necropolis and a settlement for individual hermits. The Kiev-Pechersk, Mikhailovsky Vydubitsky, Kirillovsky Trinity, Gniletsky Mother of God, Zverinetsky monasteries in Kyiv originate from hermit settlements.

Were ancient Russian monasteries really “city-forming” objects, economic and cultural centers? What monastic complexes were, so to speak, key in the ancient Russian state?

Monasteries would become “city-forming” already in the Moscow period of our history (XIV-XVI centuries), when, in search of solitude, ascetics began to create monasteries away from crowded villages. But running away from the world is difficult. Remote monasteries will attract pious laity, through whose efforts new settlements will arise around them. In Ancient Rus' it was different: monasteries predominantly arose either within the city limits or in the immediate vicinity. The Old Russian monastery is a product of urban culture, more affected by the process of Christianization than the countryside.

Of key importance in the history of Russian monasticism is the monastery complex that arose on the southern outskirts of Kyiv. Here in the middle of the 11th century, the “father of Russian monasticism” - the Monk Anthony of Pechersk - settled. On the high bank of the Dnieper, completely covered with forest, he began to lead an ascetic lifestyle: he dug a cave, fasted, and remained in vigil and prayer. His fame quickly spread among the surrounding residents. The chronicler notes that by the time of the death of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1054), Anthony was “glorified in the Russian land.”

A monastic community formed around the hermit, through whose efforts a cave church and cells were created. This is how the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery arose. By the beginning of the 60s of the 11th century, the total number of the brethren reached one hundred people, which, by the standards of that time, was an incredibly large figure. The formation of the monastery marked a new stage in the history of ancient Russian monasticism. It is no coincidence that, talking about the history of the emergence of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, the author of a chronicle article in 1051, a Pechersk monk, wrote: “For many monasteries were established by the Caesar and by the boyars and by wealth, but they are not the essence of tatsi, the essence of the monasteries was established by tears, pity, prayer, keep vigil."

Next to the Pechersk monastery, other monasteries soon appeared, founded not by princes, but by the labors and prayers of the monks themselves. These include Vydubitsky Mikhailovsky, Spaso-Preobrazhensky (“Germanech”), Mother of God on Klov (“Stephanech”) and Zverinetsky monasteries. Obviously, there were other monasteries in the neighborhood, the names of which were not preserved by the sources. This “Old Russian Athos” remained the most authoritative center of monastic life in Rus' until the Mongol invasion in the mid-13th century.

It is known that in Rus' there was a tradition of family necropolises. When did it begin to take shape, what interesting features does this tradition have?

The tradition of family necropolises came to us from Byzantium. It is well known that there the practice of building monasteries by the laity was very widespread. According to the famous church historian I. I. Sokolov, “everyone who had the opportunity considered it almost his main duty” (1894). Even poor peasants built monasteries, collecting the necessary funds by sharing. The main goal that guided the patrons was the desire to have a family tomb. This tradition was also adopted in Rus': already from the end of the 11th century, ancestral necropolises began to form at monasteries. This is evidenced by the chronicle clichés that accompany the news of the funerals of princes: “placing his body in the monastery that was taken away from him,” “placing his body where his father lay,” “placing his body near the grave,” and the like. A striking example of a family necropolis is the Kiev Fedorov Monastery, founded in 1129. Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich(baptized Theodore), son of Vladimir Monomakh.

He was buried within the walls of this monastery in April 1132. Later, the bodies of his children - Izyaslav (d. 1154), Rostislav (d. 1167) and Vladimir (d. 1171) were laid next to his father. Already terminally ill, Rostislav punished his sister Rogneda: “Take me to Kiev, if God takes me away from you on the way, then place me in the blessing of St. Theodore.” The son of Izyaslav Mstislavich, Yaropolk (d. 1168), was also buried here. In February 1196, Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich, the great-grandson of the founder of the monastery, was buried in the monastery.

How was the monastic tradition perceived in Rus', in particular, what was the layman’s view of monasticism?

The attitude towards monasticism in ancient Russian society was not unambiguous and unchanged. On the one hand, the lifestyle of the monks was often perceived as an idle pastime, and the appearance of the monks sometimes caused grins and reproaches from the laity. So, turning to the Monk Theodosius, a simple cab driver said: “Chernorizche, behold, you are apart all your days, but you are working hard.” Many of the laity, meeting the saint, laughed at him, reproaching him for his wretched appearance. Polycarp, one of the authors of the Kiev-Pechersk patericon (20-30s of the 13th century), talking about the meeting of the Pechersk monk Gregory with the warriors of Prince Rostislav Vsevolodovich (1093), writes that when they saw the elder, they began to mock him and insult with “disgraceful words.” It is also known that a meeting with a monk was often perceived by the laity as a bad omen. At the same time, there were cases of imprisonment, torture and murder of monks. The monasteries themselves were repeatedly plundered during princely strife, and invaded by robbers and thieves.

On the other hand, the gradual increase in the number of monastics and the growth in the welfare of the monasteries indicate that over time, ancient Russian society became more receptive to the ideas of monastic service. The monasteries received money, books, food (bread, cheese, fish, millet, honey, etc.), wine and oil for church services. In addition to princes and nobles, who are repeatedly mentioned in sources, people of more modest means (merchants, artisans, warriors, etc.) also played the same role as patrons of monasteries and generous investors. Many orphans, widows and cripples sought intercession and help from the monasteries.

Were the liturgical and food regulations of the most ancient Russian monasteries really more liberal and soft than those that had developed by the middle? XVII century?

The issue here is not “liberalism,” but rather the ability of people to resist worldly temptations. It is known that reform plays a special role in the history of Russian monasticism Venerable Theodosius of Pechersk, the result of which was the introduction in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, and then in other monasteries, of the Studite monastic charter, which enjoyed exceptionally great popularity in Byzantium.

The studio charter provided for the complete socialization of property, a common table, and equality of all in relation to monastic work. Monks were forbidden to have any property beyond what was prescribed by the Charter. Struggling with the manifestation of money-grubbing among the brethren, the Monk Theodosius, having discovered any surplus in his cell, gave orders to immediately throw it into the fire. There was a strict ban on wearing clothes made from fabrics of expensive and bright colors, eating outside the refectory, using servants for one’s needs, and so on. Some concessions could be made for sick and infirm elders. Researchers are unanimous that during the period of the abbess of Theodosius (1062-1074), the disciplinary part of the Charter was observed in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery in its entirety.

However, soon after his death, discipline weakened significantly. This is evidenced by the authors of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, whose stories indicate the existence of serious violations of the regulations of the Charter in the monastery. So, in the word “ About Saint Athanasius the Recluse“A case is reported when the body of a deceased monk was left without burial during the day: none of the brothers deigned to take care of him, since the latter was very poor, and therefore could not count on receiving part of his property.

Monk Arefa, contrary to all the rules, he kept a lot of wealth in his cell, but throughout his life he never gave a single penny or a piece of bread to a beggar. Arefa's stinginess reached the point where he began to starve himself. When all his property was stolen, he almost took his own life, bringing unfair accusations against his brothers.

Monk Erasmus He spent all his property on church needs, binding many monastery icons at his own expense. Having fallen into extreme poverty, he lost the respect of other monks (“it would be a waste of time to be a nobody”).

From the story about Alimpia Iconographer we learn that the monks had the right to sell the products they produced, keeping the payment for themselves.

The refusal of Monk Agapit to accept “gifts” from Prince Vladimir Monomakh, whom he healed, caused general surprise in the monastery.

Thus, already at the end of the XI-XII centuries. Pechersk monks were not limited in the right to acquire and increase personal property; among them there was a division into rich and poor; the practice of paying for mutual services took place, and acquisitiveness flourished. All this contradicted the norms of the Studio Charter, introduced by the Monk Theodosius.

What role did hagiographic works play in the culture of ancient Rus'?

This may seem strange to a modern person, but the lives of saints were the most widely read genre of ancient Russian literature. The bulk of the hagiographies that existed in ancient Russian literature were translated texts, mainly Greek in origin. But already from the middle of the 11th century, original monuments of Russian hagiography appeared. Reading hagiographic texts was the duty of monastics. They fostered Christian morality and a reverent attitude towards the ascetics of the Church and martyrs for the faith. It is known that in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery one of the monks had to read aloud for all the brethren during meals. In addition, short lives were part of the church service.

The ancient Russian chronicler, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery (1037), gives a high assessment of the bookish word: “Great is the crawling from the teaching of the book; Through books we show and teach the ways of repentance, so that we gain wisdom and abstinence from the words of books. These are the rivers that feed the universe, these are the sources of wisdom; books have an unsought depth; With these we console us in sorrow; This is the bridle of self-restraint.”

Interviewed by Marina Voloskova