"The Tale of Bygone Years" is an ancient Russian chronicle created by the monk Nestor at the beginning of the 12th century.

The story is a large work that describes the events taking place in Russia from the arrival of the first Slavs and ending with the 12th century. The chronicle itself is not an integral narrative, it includes:

• historical notes;
• annual articles (starting from 852); one article tells about the events that took place in one year;
• historical documents;
• teachings of princes;
• the lives of the saints;
• folk tales.

The history of the creation of "The Tale of Bygone Years"

Before the appearance of The Tale of Bygone Years, there were other collections of essays and historical notes in Russia, which were mainly written by monks. However, all these records were of a local nature and could not represent the full history of the life of Russia. The idea of ​​creating a unified chronicle belongs to the monk Nestor, who lived and worked in the Kiev Caves Monastery at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries.

There are some disagreements among scholars about the history of writing the story. According to the generally accepted theory, the chronicle was written by Nestor in Kyiv. The original edition was based on early historical records, legends, folklore stories, teachings and records of monks. After writing, Nestor and other monks revised the chronicle several times, and later the author himself added Christian ideology to it, and this edition was already considered final. As for the date of creation of the chronicle, scientists name two dates - 1037 and 1110.

The chronicle compiled by Nestor is considered the first Russian chronicle, and its author is considered the first chronicler. Unfortunately, ancient editions have not survived to this day, the earliest version that exists today dates back to the 14th century.

Genre and idea of ​​"The Tale of Bygone Years"

The main goal and idea of ​​​​creating the story was the desire to consistently present the entire history of Russia from biblical times, and then gradually supplement the chronicle, painstakingly describing all the events that took place.

As for the genre, modern scholars believe that the chronicle cannot be called a purely historical or purely artistic genre, since it contains elements of both. Since The Tale of Bygone Years was rewritten and supplemented several times, its genre is open, as evidenced by parts that sometimes do not agree with each other in style.

The Tale of Bygone Years was different in that the events told in it were not interpreted, but simply retold as dispassionately as possible. The task of the chronicler is to convey everything that happened, but not to draw conclusions. However, it should be understood that the chronicle was created from the point of view of Christian ideology, and therefore is of an appropriate nature.

In addition to historical significance, the chronicle was also a legal document, as it contained some codes of laws and instructions from the great princes (for example, "Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh").

The story can be roughly divided into three parts:

• at the very beginning it tells about biblical times (the Russians were considered descendants of Japheth), about the origin of the Slavs, about for reigning, about becoming, about the Baptism of Russia and the formation of the state;
• the main part is made up of descriptions of the life of princes (, Princess Olga, Yaroslav the Wise, etc.), descriptions of the life of saints, as well as stories about conquests and great Russian heroes (Nikita Kozhemyaka, etc.);
• the final part is devoted to the description of numerous wars and battles. In addition, it contains princely obituaries.

The meaning of "The Tale of Bygone Years"

The Tale of Bygone Years was the first written document that systematically outlined the history of Russia, its formation as a state. It was this chronicle that later formed the basis of all historical documents and legends, it was from it that modern historians drew and draw their knowledge. In addition, the chronicle has become a literary and cultural monument of Russian writing.

The Tale of Bygone Years was created in the 12th century and is the most famous ancient Russian chronicle. Now it is included in the school curriculum - that is why every student who wants not to disgrace himself in the classroom has to read or listen to this work.

What is The Tale of Bygone Years (PVL)

This ancient chronicle is a collection of texts-articles that tells about the events in Kyiv from the time described in the Bible, up to 1137. At the same time, the dating itself begins in the work of 852.

The Tale of Bygone Years: Characteristics of the Chronicle

The features of the piece are:

All this singled out the Tale of Bygone Years from among other ancient Russian works. The genre can not be called either historical or literary, the chronicle only tells about the events that took place, without trying to make an assessment of them. The position of the authors is simple - everything is the will of God.

History of creation

In science, the monk Nestor is recognized as the main author of the chronicle, although it has been proven that the work has several authors. However, it was Nestor who was named the first chronicler in Russia.

There are several theories explaining when the chronicle was written:

• Written in Kyiv. Date of writing - 1037, author Nestor. Folklore works are taken as a basis. Repeatedly corresponded with various monks and Nestor himself.
• The date of writing is 1110.

One of the variants of the work has survived to this day, the Laurentian Chronicle - a copy of the Tale of Bygone Years, performed by the monk Lavrenty. Unfortunately, the original edition has been lost.

The Tale of Bygone Years: a summary

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the summary of the chronicle chapter by chapter.

The beginning of the chronicle. About Slavs. First princes

When the Flood ended, the creator of the ark, Noah, died. His sons had the honor of dividing the land among themselves by lot. North and west went to Japheth, Ham to the south, Shem to the east. The angry God destroyed the majestic Tower of Babel and, as a punishment for the proud people, divides them into nationalities and endows them with different languages. This is how the Slavic people was formed - the Rusichi, who settled along the banks of the Dnieper. Gradually, the Russians also divided:

• Meek peaceful clearings began to live across the fields.
• In the forests - warlike robbers Drevlyans. Even cannibalism is not alien to them.

Andrey's journey

Further in the text you can read about the wanderings of the Apostle Andrew in the Crimea and along the Dnieper, everywhere he preached Christianity. It also tells about the creation of Kyiv, a great city with pious inhabitants and an abundance of churches. This is what the apostle tells his disciples. Then Andrei returns to Rome and talks about the Slovenes who build wooden houses and take strange water procedures called ablutions.

Three brothers ruled over the glades. By the name of the eldest, Kiya, the great city of Kyiv was named. The other two brothers are Shchek and Khoriv. In Tsargrad, Kiyu was given a great honor by the local king. Further, the path of Kyi lay in the city of Kievets, which attracted his attention, but the locals did not allow him to settle here. Returning to Kyiv, Kyi and his brothers continue to live here until their death.

Khazars

The brothers were gone, and the militant Khazars attacked Kyiv, forcing the peaceful, good-natured glades to pay tribute to them. After conferring, the inhabitants of Kyiv decide to pay tribute with sharp swords. The elders of the Khazars see this as a bad sign - the tribe will not always be submissive. Times are coming when the Khazars themselves will pay tribute to this strange tribe. In the future, this prophecy will come true.

Name of the Russian land

In the Byzantine chronicle there is information about a campaign against Constantinople by a certain “Rus”, suffering from civil strife: in the north, Russian lands pay tribute to the Varangians, in the south - to the Khazars. Having got rid of oppression, the northern peoples begin to suffer from constant conflicts within the tribe and the lack of a unified power. To solve the problem, they turn to their former enslavers - the Varangians, with a request to give them a prince. Three brothers came: Rurik, Sineus and Truvor, but when the younger brothers died, Rurik became the only Russian prince. And the new state was called the Russian land.

Dir and Askold

With the permission of Prince Rurik, two of his boyars, Dir and Askold, undertook a military campaign to Constantinople, on the way meeting glades paying tribute to the Khazars. The boyars decide to settle here and rule Kyiv. Their campaign against Constantinople turned out to be a complete failure, when all 200 ships of the Varangians were destroyed, many soldiers drowned in the abyss of water, and few returned home.

After the death of Prince Rurik, the throne was to pass to his young son Igor, but while the prince was still a baby, the governor, Oleg, began to rule. It was he who found out that Dir and Askold illegally appropriated the princely title and ruled in Kyiv. Having lured the impostors by cunning, Oleg arranged a trial for them and the boyars were killed, since they ascended the throne without being a princely family.

When the famous princes ruled - Prophetic Oleg, Prince Igor and Olga, Svyatoslav

Oleg

In 882-912. Oleg was the governor of the Kyiv throne, he built cities, conquered hostile tribes, so it was he who managed to conquer the Drevlyans. With a huge army, Oleg comes to the gates of Constantinople and cunningly scares the Greeks, who agree to pay huge tribute to Russia, and hangs his shield on the gates of the conquered city. For extraordinary insight (the prince realized that the dishes presented to him were poisoned), Oleg was called the Prophetic.

Peace reigns for a long time, but when he sees an evil omen in the sky (a star resembling a spear), the prince-governor calls the soothsayer to him and asks what kind of death awaits him. To Oleg's surprise, he reports that the death of the prince awaits from his beloved war horse. So that the prophecy does not come true, Oleg orders to feed the pet, but no longer approaches him. A few years later, the horse died and the prince, coming to say goodbye to him, is amazed at the error of the prophecy. But alas, the predictor was right - a poisonous snake crawled out of the skull of the animal and bit Oleg, he died in agony.

Death of Prince Igor

The events in the chapter take place in the years 913-945. Prophetic Oleg died and the reign passed to Igor, who had already matured enough. The Drevlyans refuse to pay tribute to the new prince, but Igor, like Oleg earlier, managed to subdue them and imposed even greater tribute. Then the young prince gathers a large army and marches on Constantinople, but suffers a crushing defeat: the Greeks use fire against Igor's ships and destroy almost the entire army. But the young prince manages to gather a new large army, and the king of Byzantium, deciding to avoid bloodshed, offers Igor a rich tribute in exchange for peace. The prince confers with the warriors, who offer to accept tribute and not fight.

But this was not enough for the greedy warriors, after a while they literally force Igor to go to the Drevlyans again for tribute. Greed killed the young prince - not wanting to pay more, the Drevlyans kill Igor and bury him not far from Iskorosten.

Olga and her revenge

Having killed Prince Igor, the Drevlyans decide to marry his widow to their prince Mal. But the princess, by cunning, managed to destroy all the nobility of the recalcitrant tribe, burying them alive. Then the smart princess calls matchmakers - noble Drevlyans and burns them alive in a bathhouse. And then she manages to burn Iskorosten by tying burning tinder to the legs of pigeons. The princess establishes a huge tribute to the Drevlyansk lands.

Olga and baptism

The princess shows her wisdom in another chapter of the Tale of Bygone Years: wanting to avoid marriage with the king of Byzantium, she is baptized, becoming his spiritual daughter. Struck by the woman's cunning, the king lets her go in peace.

Svyatoslav

The next chapter describes the events of 964-972 and the war of Prince Svyatoslav. He began to rule after the death of his mother, Princess Olga. He was a courageous warrior who managed to defeat the Bulgarians, save Kyiv from the attack of the Pechenegs and make Pereyaslavets the capital.

With an army of only 10,000 soldiers, the brave prince attacks Byzantium, which sent a hundred thousandth army against him. Inspiring his army to go to certain death, Svyatoslav said that death is better than the shame of defeat. And he manages to win. The Byzantine king pays a good tribute to the Russian army.

The brave prince died at the hands of the Pecheneg prince Kuri, who attacked the army of Svyatoslav, weakened by hunger, going to Russia in search of a new squad. A bowl is made from his skull, from which the treacherous Pechenegs drink wine.

Russia after baptism

Baptism of Russia

This chapter of the chronicle tells that Vladimir, the son of Svyatoslav and the housekeeper, became a prince and chose a single god. Idols were overthrown, and Russia adopted Christianity. At first, Vladimir lived in sin, he had several wives and concubines, and his people made sacrifices to idol gods. But having accepted faith in one God, the prince becomes pious.

On the fight against the Pechenegs

The chapter recounts several events:

• In 992, the struggle between the troops of Prince Vladimir and the attacking Pechenegs began. They offer to fight the best fighters: if the Pecheneg wins, the war will be three years, if the Rusich - three years of peace. The Russian youth won, peace was established for three years.
• Three years later, the Pechenegs attack again and the prince miraculously manages to escape. A church was erected in honor of this event.
• The Pechenegs attacked Belgorod, a terrible famine began in the city. The inhabitants managed to escape only by cunning: on the advice of a wise old man, they dug wells in the ground, put a vat of oatmeal jelly in one, and honey in the second, and the Pechenegs were told that the earth itself gives them food. They lifted the siege in fear.

Massacre with the Magi

Magi come to Kyiv, they begin to accuse noble women of hiding food, causing hunger. Cunning people kill many women, taking their property for themselves. Only Jan Vyshatich, the Kyiv governor, manages to expose the Magi. He ordered the townspeople to give him the deceivers, threatening that otherwise he would live with them for another year. Talking with the Magi, Yang learns that they worship the Antichrist. The governor orders people whose relatives died due to the fault of deceivers to kill them.

Blindness

This chapter describes the events of 1097 when the following happened:

• Princely council in Lubitsch for the conclusion of peace. Each prince received his own oprichnina, they entered into an agreement not to fight with each other, focusing on the expulsion of external enemies.
• But not all the princes are satisfied: Prince Davyd felt left out and forced Svyatopolk to go over to his side. They conspired against Prince Vasilko.
• Svyatopolk tricks the gullible Vasilko into his place, where he blinds him.
• The rest of the princes are horrified by what the brothers did with Vasilko. They demand from Svyatopolk the expulsion of Davyd.
• Davyd dies in exile, and Vasilko returns to his native Terebovl, where he reigns.

Victory over the Polovtsy

The last chapter of the Tale of Bygone Years tells about the victory over the Polovtsy of princes Vladimir Monomakh and Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. The Polovtsian troops were defeated, and Prince Beldyuzya was executed, the Russians returned home with rich booty: cattle, slaves and property.

This event ends the narrative of the first Russian chronicle.

The Tale of Bygone Years is an ancient Russian chronicle created at the beginning of the 12th century. The story is an essay that tells about the events that took place and are taking place in Russia at that time.

The Tale of Bygone Years was compiled in Kyiv, later rewritten several times, but was not greatly changed. The chronicle covers the period from biblical times up to 1137, dated articles begin from 852.

All dated articles are compositions beginning with the words “In the summer such and such ...”, which means that entries were added to the annals every year and told about the events that took place. One article per year. This distinguishes the Tale of Bygone Years from all the chronicles that were written before. The text of the chronicle also contains legends, folklore stories, copies of documents (for example, teachings of Vladimir Monomakh) and extracts from other chronicles.

The story got its name thanks to its first phrase, which opens the narrative - "The Tale of Bygone Years ..."

The history of the creation of the Tale of Bygone Years

The author of the idea of ​​the Tale of Bygone Years is the monk Nestor, who lived and worked at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries in the Kiev Caves Monastery. Despite the fact that the author's name appears only in later copies of the chronicle, it is the monk Nestor who is considered the first chronicler in Russia, and The Tale of Bygone Years is considered the first Russian chronicle.

The oldest version of the annalistic code, which has come down to the present, is dated to the 14th century and is a copy made by the monk Lavrenty (Laurentian Chronicle). The original edition of the creator of the Tale of Bygone Years, Nestor, has been lost, today there are only revised versions from various scribes and later compilers.

Today, there are several theories regarding the history of the creation of The Tale of Bygone Years. According to one of them, the chronicle was written by Nestor in Kyiv in 1037. It was based on ancient legends, folk songs, documents, oral stories and documents preserved in monasteries. After writing, this first edition was rewritten and revised several times by various monks, including Nestor himself, who added elements of Christian ideology to it. According to other sources, the chronicle was written much later, in 1110.

Genre and features of the Tale of Bygone Years

The genre of the Tale of Bygone Years is defined by experts as historical, but scientists argue that the chronicle is neither a work of art nor historical in the full sense of the word.

A distinctive feature of the chronicle is that it does not interpret events, but only tells about them. The attitude of the author or scribe to everything that is told in the annals was determined only by the presence of God's Will, which determines everything. Causal relationships and interpretation from the point of view of other positions was uninteresting and was not included in the annals.

The Tale of Bygone Years had an open genre, that is, it could consist of completely different parts - from folk tales to notes about the weather.

The chronicle in ancient times also had a legal significance, as a set of documents and laws.

The original purpose of writing the Tale of Bygone Years is to study and explain the origin of the Russian people, the origin of princely power and a description of the spread of Christianity in Russia.

The beginning of the Tale of Bygone Years is a story about the appearance of the Slavs. The Russians are presented by the chronicler as the descendants of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah. At the very beginning of the narrative, stories are given that tell about the life of the East Slavic tribes: about the princes, about the calling of Rurik, Truvor and Sineus to reign, and about the formation of the Rurik dynasty in Russia.

The main part of the content of the chronicle is made up of descriptions of wars, legends about the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, the exploits of Nikita Kozhemyaka and other heroes.

The final part consists of descriptions of battles and princely obituaries.

Thus, the basis of the Tale of Bygone Years is:

• Traditions about the resettlement of the Slavs, the calling of the Varangians and the formation of Russia;
• Description of the baptism of Russia;
• Description of the life of the Grand Dukes: Oleg, Vladimir, Olga and others;
• Lives of the Saints;
• Description of wars and military campaigns.

The significance of the Tale of Bygone Years can hardly be overestimated - it was it that became the first document in which the history of Kievan Rus was recorded from its very formation. The chronicle later served as the main source of knowledge for subsequent historical descriptions and research. In addition, due to the open genre, the Tale of Bygone Years has a high value as a cultural and literary monument.

For more than 900 years, Russians have been drawing information about their history from the famous Tale of Bygone Years, the exact date of which is still unknown. There is also much controversy about the authorship of this work.

A few words about myths and historical facts

Scientific postulates often change over time, but if in the field of physics, chemistry, biology or astronomy such scientific revolutions are based on the discovery of new facts, then history has been repeatedly rewritten to please the authorities or according to the dominant ideology. Fortunately, modern man has a lot of opportunities to independently find and compare facts regarding events that occurred many centuries and even millennia ago, as well as get acquainted with the point of view of scientists who do not adhere to traditional views. All of the above applies to such an important document for understanding the history of Russia as The Tale of Bygone Years, the year of creation and authorship of which have recently been questioned by some members of the scientific community.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": authorship

From the Tale of Bygone Years itself, one can only learn about its creator that at the end of the 11th century he lived in the Pechora Monastery. In particular, there is a record of the Polovtsian attack on this monastery in 1096, which was witnessed by the chronicler himself. In addition, the document mentions the death of Elder Jan, who helped write the historical work, and indicates that the death of this monk occurred in 1106, which means that at that time the person who made the record was alive.

Russian official science, including Soviet, since the time of Peter the Great believes that the author of the story "The Tale of Bygone Years" is the chronicler Nestor. The oldest historical document that refers to it is the famous one written in the 20s of the 15th century. This work includes in a separate chapter the text of The Tale of Bygone Years, which is preceded by a mention as its author of a certain black-bearer from the Pechersk Monastery. The name of Nestor is first found in the correspondence of the monk Polycarp of the Caves with Archimandrite Akindin. The same fact is confirmed by the "Life of St. Anthony", compiled on the basis of oral monastic traditions.

Nestor the Chronicler

The “official” author of the story “The Tale of Bygone Years” was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, so you can read about him in the lives of the saints. From these sources we learn that the Monk Nestor was born in Kyiv in the 1050s. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he was a novice of the Monk Theodosius. At a fairly young age, Nestor took the tonsure, and later he was ordained a hierodeacon. He spent his whole life in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: here he wrote not only The Tale of Bygone Years, the year of creation of which is not known for certain, but also the famous lives of the holy princes Gleb and Boris, as well as a work telling about the first ascetics of his monastery. Church sources also indicate that Nestor, who had reached a ripe old age, died around 1114.

What does "The Tale of Bygone Years" tell about?

“The Tale of Bygone Years” is the history of our country, covering a huge time period, incredibly rich in various events. The manuscript begins with a story about one of which - Japheth - went to manage such lands as Armenia, Britain, Scythia, Dalmatia, Ionia, Illyria, Macedonia, Media, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Thessaly and others. The brothers began the construction of the Pillar of Babylon, but the angry Lord not only destroyed this structure, which personifies human pride, but also divided the people “into 70 and 2 nations”, among which were the Norics, the progenitors of the Slavs, descended from the sons of Japheth. Further, the Apostle Andrew is mentioned, who predicted that a Great City would appear on the banks of the Dnieper, which happened when Kyiv was founded with the brothers Shchek and Khoriv. Another important mention concerns the year 862, when “Chud, Slovene, Krivichi and all” went to the Varangians to call them to reign, and the three brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus with their families and close associates came at their call. Two of the alien boyars - Askold and Dir - asked to leave Novgorod for Tsargrad and, seeing Kyiv on the way, stayed there. Further, The Tale of Bygone Years, the year of the creation of which historians have yet to clarify, tells about the reign of Oleg and Igor and tells the story of the baptism of Russia. The story ends with the events of 1117.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": the history of the study of this work

The Nestor Chronicle became known after Peter the Great in 1715 ordered a copy to be made from the Radzivilov list stored in the library of Koenigsberg. Documents have been preserved confirming that Jacob Bruce, a person remarkable in all respects, drew the attention of the tsar to this manuscript. He also handed over the transcription of the Radzivilov list into modern language, which was going to write the history of Russia. In addition, such well-known scientists as A. Shleptser, P. M. Stroev and A. A. Shakhmatov were engaged in the study of the story.

Chronicler Nestor. “The Tale of Bygone Years”: the opinion of A. A. Shakhmatov

A new look at The Tale of Bygone Years was proposed at the beginning of the 20th century. Its author was A. A. Shakhmatov, who proposed and substantiated the “new history” of this work. In particular, he argued that in 1039 in Kyiv, on the basis of Byzantine chronicles and local folklore, the Kyiv code was created, which can be considered the oldest document of this kind in Russia. Approximately at the same time in Novgorod it was written It was on the basis of these two works in 1073 that Nestor first created the first Kiev-Pechersk Code, then the second, and finally the Tale of Bygone Years.

Was The Tale of Bygone Years written by a Russian monk or a Scottish prince?

The last two decades have been rich in all sorts of historical sensations. However, in fairness, it must be said that some of them have not found scientific confirmation. For example, today there is an opinion that the Tale of Bygone Years, whose year of creation is known only approximately, was actually written not between 1110 and 1118, but six centuries later. In any case, even official historians admit that the Radzivilov list, that is, a copy of the manuscript, the authorship of which is attributed to Nestor, was made in the 15th century and then decorated with numerous miniatures. Moreover, Tatishchev wrote the “History of Russia” not even from him, but from a retelling of this work into the language of his day, the author of which, perhaps, was Jacob Bruce himself, the great-great-grandson of King Robert the First of Scotland. But this theory does not have any serious justification.

What is the main essence of Nestor's work

Experts who hold an unofficial view of the work attributed to Nestor the Chronicler believe that it was necessary to justify autocracy as the only form of government in Russia. Moreover, it was this manuscript that put an end to the question of the rejection of the "old gods", pointing to Christianity as the only correct religion. This was its main essence.

“The Tale of Bygone Years” is the only work that tells the canonical version of the baptism of Russia, all the rest simply refer to it. This alone should make one study it very closely. And it is precisely the “Tale of Bygone Years”, the characteristic of which is now being questioned in official historiography, that is the first source telling that the Russian sovereigns descended from the Rurikovichs. For each historical work, the date of creation is very important. The Tale of Bygone Years, which is of exceptional importance for Russian historiography, does not have one. More precisely, at the moment there are no irrefutable facts that allow us to indicate even a specific year of its writing. And this means that new discoveries are ahead, which, perhaps, can shed light on some dark pages in the history of our country.

A Word on Law and Grace

Kirillin V. M.

According to their genre nature, monuments of ancient Russian church eloquence can be divided into two categories. The first of these, what is usually called pastoral preaching, is referred to as didactic eloquence. Such oratorical creativity is represented by teachings written in the 11th century. Novgorod Bishop Luka Zhidyata and Abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery Theodosius.

Epidictic or solemn eloquence is quite another matter. To compose speeches of a solemn type, a relatively high level of education, literary culture and skill were required. As a rule, the ideological goal-setting of such speeches, in contrast to the narrowly practical tasks of ordinary pastoral sermons, was connected with the sphere of "big" problems of religious, church and public life. In artistic terms, solemn speeches belonged to the realm of high art. That is why they are characterized by a certain complexity of the figurative-ideological content and generalization, the refinement of the compositional-stylistic form and the polyvariance of pathos. In the book tradition of Ancient Russia, such works were usually designated by the term "Word". Working on them required the observance of strict literary rules and was associated with the spirit of creative inspiration.

In this regard, the "Sermon on Law and Grace" is of considerable interest - the earliest monument of ancient Russian solemn eloquence. In the sources, this speech is usually provided with a full title without indicating its genre affiliation: "On the Law given by Moses, and on the Goodness and Truth, who were Jesus Christ; and how the Law departed, Grace and Truth fill the whole earth, and faith in all languages stretched out to our Russian language, and praise to our kagan Volodimer, from him baptism was byhom, and a prayer to God from our land. Lord, bless, father! Created in the 11th century, the "Word" has been preserved in several dozen handwritten copies, the oldest of which dates back to the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century, but a fragment of the monument is also known from a manuscript of the 12th-13th centuries.

Despite the fact that among the ancient Russian scribes the aforementioned work was very popular and often rewritten, the general scientific community became acquainted with it rather late, only in 1844. Its first publisher and researcher was the church historian and archeographer A. V. Gorsky, later archpriest and rector Moscow Theological Academy, Doctor of Theology and Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. This remarkable Russian scientist found the text of the work in a manuscript collection of the 15th century, sorting through the book collection of the Holy Synod (now the State Historical Museum, Synodal Collection, No. 591). In it, two more texts adjoined directly to the "Word" - "Prayer" and "Confession of Faith" with a final entry on behalf of "Mnich and prosvuter Hilarion" regarding his consecration in 1051 as the Metropolitan of Kyiv. The last detail, as well as the old Russian manuscript tradition, allowed Gorsky to assume that this church figure was the author of the Lay.

Unfortunately, only fragmentary information has been preserved about the mentioned hierarch. Firstly, The Tale of Bygone Years, in an article under 1051, reports that at one time Hilarion was a priest in the Holy Apostolic Church in the village of Berestov near Kyiv, the country residence of Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise; that he was "a good man, bookish, and fasting"; that on the banks of the Dnieper he "stoked himself" for a solitary prayer "a small stove for two sazhens, where now the dilapidated monastery of the Caves", and that, finally, it was him who "place Yaroslav the Metropolitan." Secondly, at the beginning of the "Charter of Prince Yaroslav on Church Courts" it is reported that the work of introducing the rules of the "Greek nomokanun" into Russian life was carried out by the prince jointly "with Metropolitan Larion." Thirdly, in the "Life of the Monk Theodosius of the Caves" there is a message about a certain "Chernorizets Larion", who was "a cunning psati for books, who wrote books all day and night in the cell ... Theodosius." That's all.

In 1055, the "Novgorod First Chronicle" already mentions another Kyiv metropolitan - Ephraim, a Greek by birth. What is the further fate of Hilarion is not known. It has been suggested that his life ended within the walls of the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he lived under the name of Nikon, having accepted the schema. But the identification of Hilarion and the chronicler Nikon the Great is not documented in any way. It is obvious, however, that Hilarion was the first metropolitan elected to the Kyiv cathedra from among the Russians in violation of the canons of the Byzantine church, and also acted as an adherent of the great Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise. As for the "Sermon on Law and Grace", some of the historical realities mentioned in it allow us to date it between 1037 and 1050. That is, it was written even before the appointment of Hilarion.

What is the speech written and, undoubtedly, delivered by Hilarion - this, in the words of the prominent church historian Makariy Bulgakov, "the jewel and, one might say, the pearl of all our spiritual literature of the first period"? Already in the title of the work it is indicated that it is about the Old Testament and Christian faith, about their connection and relationship, about the spread of Christianity and, in particular, about the baptism of Russia thanks to the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir. In addition, the "Word" contains praise to Vladimir and a prayer to God.

So, Hilarion's work is a thematically complex text. Its first section begins with a dogmatic reflection that the Jews ("Israel") and Christians profess one, common God. At first, by means of the Law, he did not allow only the “tribe of Abraham” to perish in pagan idolatry, but then, having sent his Son, through his incarnation, baptism, preaching about the good (“gospel”), suffering on the cross, death and resurrection, he led all nations to eternal life . The criterion for the difference between the Law (Judaism) and Grace (Christianity) is, according to Hilarion, the idea of ​​the "future age". If the Law only prepared, led the Jews to Baptism, and this limits its significance, then Baptism directly opens the way to salvation, to eternal life in God, to all those who have already been baptized. After all, Moses and the prophets predicted only the coming of Christ, but Christ and then his disciples already taught about the resurrection and the future life. Further, in the first section of the "Words" Hilarion illustrates this idea through a long series of detailed figurative-symbolic comparisons and contrasts. The material for his historiosophical reflection is the exegetical retelling of biblical stories. "Law", according to the speaker, is associated with the concepts of lies ("wall"), cold ("students at night"), with images of the "moon", "dry land", as well as Old Testament characters: Hagar ("slaves"), Ishmael (son slave), Manasseh (eldest son of Joseph). On the contrary, "Grace" is associated with the concepts of truth ("truth"), warmth ("solar warmth"), with the images of the "sun", "dew" or Old Testament characters: Sarah ("free"), Isaac ("son of the free "), Ephraim (youngest son of Joseph).

Having defined the meaning of Judaism and Christianity in such a correlative way, Hilarion further expounds the dogmatic doctrine of the two-natural, divine-human nature of Christ. And again he illustrates the latter with a long series of comparative figurative pairs of the type: Christ "Like a man, fast for 40 days, vzaalka, and like God conquer the tempting one ... like a man, eat some, give up the ghost, and like God darken the sun and shake the earth." The greatness of Christ lies in the fact that, through his suffering on the cross, He brought salvation to people and destroyed the "crime and sin" of those people who accepted it. The Jews, who “tortured him like a villain”, thereby called upon themselves the “final wrath of God”: Jerusalem, according to prophecy, was destroyed by the Romans, “Judaism from now on perished”, the Law “extinguished”, and his servants were scattered around the world , "Let not the evil abide." On the contrary, Christianity spread throughout all countries: “... it’s a shame for Grace and Truth to rise to new people! Do not pour more, according to the word of the Lord, the wine of the new teaching is blessed into the wineskins of the old, you promise in Judaism. the wine will spill. You could not keep the Law by groaning, but many times bowing to an idol. How can true Grace keep the doctrine? New doctrine - new bottles, new tongues! And both will be fulfilled.

Thus, the purpose of the entire first section of the Lay is polemical. The author sought to prove the superiority of Christianity over the Old Testament religion and through this, probably, the superiority of Russia that adopted Christianity over the Khazar Empire, which had lost its former significance.

Probably, at the time when the work was created and uttered, this task was realized as especially relevant. In fact, firstly, long before Hilarion between Russia and the Khazar Khaganate, whose ruling elite professed Judaism, relations of the type of competition developed: at first, Russia paid tribute to the Khazars, but then the roles changed, and in connection with this, apparently, the Russians The princes became convinced that they were the recipients of the power that belonged to the rulers of the state they had conquered, hence the title “kagan” adopted by the great Russian princes. Secondly, in the process of developing relations between Russia and the Khazar Khaganate, some part of the Khazar Jews migrated to Kyiv and here, having obviously found favorable conditions for themselves, settled, and later, naturally, found some contacts with the people of Kiev. Thirdly, the attempt of the Jews to persuade Vladimir Svyatoslavich to Judaism is known, when he thought about the choice of the state religion. And although this attempt was unsuccessful, it nevertheless testifies to the direct and lively nature of the relationship between the Jews and the Russians. Fourthly, such relations, apparently, were not always cloudless, especially after the adoption of Christianity by Russia. This is indicated by at least two recorded in ancient Russian literature and dating back to the 11th century. legends. Thus, in the "Life of St. Theodosius of the Caves", written at the end of the 11th or at the beginning of the 12th century, it is said that this ascetic used to visit the settlements in Kyiv, where the Jews lived, in order to debate with them about faith. But dating back to the second quarter of the XIII century. The pages of the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" more definitely indicate that sometimes the relations between the Russians who converted to Christianity and the Jews developed precisely as hostile. For example, the patericon short story about Eustratius Postnik testifies that the Jews living in Russia not only traded Russian Christians as slaves, but also, through torture, tried to force them to renounce their faith in favor of Judaism. So the polemical theme sounding in the "Sermon on Law and Grace" was generated not only by religious consciousness, but, undoubtedly, by real life itself.

The second section of Hilarion's speech is historical. This is a reflection on the significance of the adoption of Christianity by Russia. “Faith is more than grace,” says the speaker, “stretching across the whole earth and up to our language, the Russian language has come to an end. And the lawful lake is over, but the Euagel source has flooded, and covered the whole earth, and has spread to us.” All subsequent reasoning is also built on the method of co- or opposition, and all with the same polemical goal. Only now are the fact of Russia's glorious communion with the Christian world and the fact of Judaism's infamy being compared. And at the same time, the advantage of Christian Russia over pagan Russia is comprehended: “All the countries of the good God our God have mercy and do not despise us, we are willing and saved, brought to the true mind. Euagel springs, flooding all our land ... ".. At the same time, Hilarion again uses a long series of figuratively correlative pairs in which an anti-Jewish theme sounds: "And so, strange things, we will call the people of God. we do not blaspheme the Jews, we bless the Christians. We do not give advice, as if we crucify, as if we bow to the crucified. We do not crucify the Savior, but raise our hands to him. We do not pierce the ribs, but from them we drink the source of incorruption ... ".

Further, the speaker, citing biblical sayings on the topic of the universal significance of God's providence for the salvation of mankind, substantiates the idea that what was once revealed to the Old Testament prophets and what they said about the universal, beyond Judaism, recognition of God, applies in particular to Russia: "And come true about us , speaking, spoken: "The Lord open his holy arm before all tongues, and see all the ends of the earth salvation, hedgehog from our God! ..." (Is. 52: 10). As you can see, the introduction of Russia to Christianity is interpreted by Hilarion in the context of the sacred tradition about the providence of God regarding the history of mankind. Having thus determined the meaning of the baptism of Russia, the author of the Lay proceeds to praise Prince Vladimir. He builds it in the form of a personal appeal to him and in an intonation filled with inspired patriotic pathos. The main theme of this third - panegyric - section of the work is not so much the personal virtues of Vladimir, - his nobility, courage, intelligence, political power, mercy (although all this was noted by the speaker), but the phenomenon of his spiritual transformation into a Christian and baptizer of Russia.

The meaning of the deed committed by the prince, Hilarion, again reveals with the help of the method of comparison - hidden or direct. “Praise with praiseworthy voices,” he begins his doxology, “the Roman country of Peter and Paul, who also believed in Jesus Christ, the son of God; Asia, and Ephesus, and Pathm - John the Theologian; India - Thomas, Egypt - Mark. The whole country ", and city, and people honor and glorify every once in a while their teacher, even having taught me the Orthodox faith. Let us also praise the strength of our small praises of the great and wondrous creator, our teacher and mentor of the great kagan of our land Volodimer ... ". Already in this passage, the idea of ​​the exceptional character of the feat of the Russian prince is secretly emphasized. If the countries of the East and West thank his immediate disciples and successors, the holy apostles, for their communion with Christ, then Russia owes its baptism to a statesman whose fame was based only on military and political victories. His advantage is that he himself, by his own will, without outside help, as soon as he learned about the blessed "land of Grechsk", "was hungry in his heart, in spirit, as if he were a Christian and his land."

In rhetorical admiration, Hilarion turns to Vladimir, begging him to explain the "wonderful miracle": how is it that he, having never personally seen the Savior, not hearing the apostolic sermon in his land, not having witnessed the exorcism of demons in the name of Jesus alone, found faith and became his disciple . Trying to understand this, Hilarion emphasizes Vladimir's spiritual gifts, as well as his "good sense and wit." It was thanks to them that the prince was able to realize, "as there is one God, the creator of the invisible and visible to them, heavenly and earthly, and as if he sent salvation to the world for the sake of his beloved Son." It was this realization that led the prince to Christ and "to the holy font." But the merit of Vladimir is due not only to his personal conversion, and not even to the fact that he brought someone else to Christianity! The Lord, according to the speaker, vouchsafed him “glory and honor” “in heaven”, first of all, because he destroyed the “delusions of idol flattery” in his entire “field”. In this respect, Vladimir, or Basil, is similar to the founder of the Byzantine state, Saint Constantine the Great Equal to the Apostles. “With the same,” says the speaker, “the Lord created you in heaven for the sake of the only glory and honor of the promiser, for your good faith, even if you have it in your stomach.” This conclusion about the equality of Caesar Constantine and Prince Vladimir is based on a number of cited by Hilarion in order to compare the facts of the church-political works of the first and second. Both such a comparison and such a conclusion naturally follow from the previously expressed patriotic thought that the Russian princes "are not at a loss for and unknown to the land of your sovereignty, but in Ruska, even known and audible, there are all four corners of the earth!". In addition, the entire historiosophical reasoning of Hilarion affirms, in essence, although not directly, the idea of ​​the equality of Russia in relation to Byzantium, an idea that was especially relevant precisely in the era of Yaroslav the Wise, who built his foreign and domestic policy detached from and independently of Constantinople. And it is quite appropriate that, having figuratively substantiated the idea of ​​the self-sufficiency of the Russian land and continuing his appeal to Vladimir, Hilarion speaks about this of his son - George (the baptismal name of Yaroslav); and speaks of him as Vladimir's "faithful ear" and as the "viceroy" of his power. The latter continued the work begun by his father of spreading “pious faith” in Russia, “your unfinished finally, like Solomon Davydova: ... the house of God is a great saint of his Wisdom of the congress, ... as if another will not appear in all the midnight of the earth from the east to the west. And your glorious city of Kiev with majesty, like a crown, overlaid. Your people and the holy, all-glorious city have betrayed, soon to help the Christians, the Holy Mother of God, and the Church to the great gates of the congress in the name of the first Lord's holiday - the Holy Annunciation.

At the end of the commendable section of the work under consideration, the speaker's rhetorical pathos rises to a prayerful apotheosis: "Get up, O honest head, from your coffin! die believing in Christ, the belly of the whole world! , the Lord brought him out of your loins, see the beautiful table of your land and rejoice, and rejoice! To this, see your faithful daughter-in-law Erina! See your grandchildren and great-grandchildren, how they live, how they keep the essence of the Lord ... ".

In essence, this is a prayer for the prosperity of Russia and Prince Yaroslav the Wise, expressed in the form of articulated in long chains and interspersed with laudatory, grateful and pleading exclamations. But a prayer addressed specifically to Vladimir as to one who is in heaven in the host of the holy saints of God. The rhetorical in their genre nature sections of the "Words about Law and Grace" end with it.

Further, in the earliest list of the work, "prayer to God" is read, as it is indicated in the title to the entire text. However, sometimes the Old Russian scribes rewrote only its text in the form of an independent work by Hilarion. On this basis, apparently, some researchers, publishing the "Word", did not include prayer in its composition. Nevertheless, in addition to the fact that its belonging to the "Word" as an integral part follows from the very name of the latter, its content as a logical continuation of the previous text also speaks of this. If the rhetorical part of the "Word" ends with a petition addressed to Vladimir to pray before God for his son George, so that he would receive "the crown of incorruptible glory with all the righteous who labored for him" (for God), then the motif of glory that sounded in this final petition develops in the next then a prayer in the form of a glorification of God: “Behold, now, O lord, the king and our God, high and glorious human-loving, give glory and honor and communicants against labor, creating your kingdom, remember, as good, and us, your poor, as the name you are a philanthropist! ... ". And then follow confession-repentance-plea in content exclamations, the main theme of which is hope in God's mercy.

But among them there are also exclamations thematically echoing the rhetorical part of the work. For example, a mention of paganism that has not yet been outlived: we "And the flock, even if we begin to graze anew, wrest from the destruction of idolatry, good shepherd ... Do not leave us, if we are still fornication, do not open us!..."; or a comparison with the history of the Jews: “We are afraid of the same thing, when you do it to us, as in Jerusalem, leaving you and not walking in your way. or, finally, a patriotic appeal-petition: “And keep the peace for a long time, do not bring misfortune on us, do not betray us into the hands of strangers, let your city be called captive and your flock come to the land that is not yours, but do not talk about the country: "Where is their God?" In general, this prayer, as it were, sums up the whole work and the chain of binary comparisons deployed in it, expressing the idea of ​​continuity and hereditary attitude to the past: Judaism - Christianity, Khazaria - Russia, old Christian peoples - new Christian peoples, Byzantium - Russia, Constantine - Vladimir , pagan Russia - Christian Russia, the beginning of Christianity in Russia - the continuation of Christianity in Russia, Vladimir - Yaroslav-George, a prayer to Vladimir - a prayer to God. But in general, all parts of the "Sermon on Law and Grace" - both dogmatic, and historical, and panegyric, and prayer, - each in its own way, develop a single patriotic theme of the independence of the Russian people and - more broadly - the equality of all Christian states.

The parts that make up the "Word" are inextricably linked into one ideologically integral narrative building. This building, as you can see, is distinguished by impeccable harmony of content and compositional structure. But at the same time, it also has high artistic and stylistic qualities, ornamentally branched beauty of the external decor. He is characterized by vivid imagery, solemn pathos, emotional excitement, journalistic sharpness, the sublime power of biblical language, correlation with the context of Christian thought and history.

Accordingly, Hilarion uses the richest set of means of artistic expression inherent in Holy Scripture and church literature. These are poetic tropes (metaphors, comparisons, similes, symbols, playing with consonant words), and poetic figures (questions, exclamations, appeals, oppositions), and rhythmic organization of the text (syntactic parallelism, anaphoric repetitions, verbal rhymes, assonating verbs). This is the generous use of biblical images, quotations and paraphrases, fragments from church hymns, as well as various borrowings from other sources. The above examples fully reflect the peculiarities of Hilarion's literary manner. But here is one more fragment, in which, as it seems, all the main substantive motifs of the "Word" sound and which quite clearly demonstrates the above-mentioned formal properties of the speech of the Old Russian orator:

“Behold, we already glorify the Holy Trinity with all Christians, but Judea is silent. Christ is glorified, but the Jews are klenom. Bring the tongues, but reject the Jews. I will not accept them, since from the east and west, my name is glorified in the countries, and in every place temyan my name is brought. For my name is great in the countries!" (Compare: Mal. 1: 10-11). And David: "Let all the earth worship you and sing to you:" And, Lord, our Lord! How marvelous is your name throughout the whole earth !" (Compare: Ps. 65; 4). And we are no longer called idolaters, but Christians; not yet hopeless, but hopeful in eternal life. And we are no longer co-building the temple of Soton, we are building the churches of Christ. We no longer slaughter each other with a demon, but Christ is slaughtered for us and crushed as a sacrifice to God and the Father. And we no longer perish by eating sacrificial blood, but by eating the most pure blood of Christ we are saved. Our good God has mercy on the whole country, and we are not despised - we are saved and saved, and brought to the true mind. Empty and dried up the land of our being, having dried up the heat of idols, the source of Euagel suddenly flowed, flooding all our land.

Although the “Sermon on Law and Grace”, according to the author himself, was intended not for ordinary people, but for the “chosen ones”, “the overflowing sweetness of the book”, that is, for relatively educated people, it nevertheless gained very wide popularity among ancient Russian readers. . It was not only rewritten (dozens of copies have survived), but also revised (several editions are known). Moreover, Hilarion's work was used as a source for compiling new works. So, its traces are found in a number of ancient Russian texts of the XII-XVII centuries: for example, in the prologue praise to Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich (XII-XIII centuries), in praise of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich and his brother Mstislav from the Volyn Chronicle (XIII century), in "The Life of Leonty of Rostov" (XII century), "The Life of Stephen of Perm" (end of the XIV century). Finally, the "Word" was also used in South Slavic literature. So, in the second half of the XIII century. borrowing from it was made by the Serbian monk writer Domentian when compiling the "Lives" of Simeon and Savva Serbian. So, just as, according to Hilarion, Russia of his time was known in all parts of the world, so his wonderful speech - undoubtedly a brilliant oratorical work - attracted a very wide range of readers of the Middle Ages with its meaningful and artistic significance and for a very long time. time. So, already the first independent manifestations of artistic thought in the work of ancient Russian writers, as can be judged from Metropolitan Hilarion's "Sermon on Law and Grace", turned out to be not at all student. The power of penetrating spirit and intellect that filled them, the power of lofty truth and beauty that exuded from them, did not dry out in the future, and for many centuries. This is indicated even by the little that has come down to us despite the pernicious time and various circumstances. Like a book of books "Bible", like an icon or a temple, the ancient Russian art of the word is striking in its amazing seriousness, depth, completely indestructible desire to comprehend the most important, most important, most necessary for a person, as soon as he realizes himself as a creation of God and as a child of his own. land, his people and his country.