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European diplomatic sources from the early 17th century provide us with previously unaccounted for data on Russian history. Thanks to a report by Georg Tectander, a member of Emperor Rudolph II’s mission to Russia, we can now establish... more
European diplomatic sources from the early 17th century provide us with previously unaccounted for data on Russian history. Thanks to a report by Georg Tectander, a member of Emperor Rudolph II’s mission to Russia, we can now establish the exact date of birth for Boris Godunov. An unpublished manuscript by Tectander’s contemporary and compatriot, Baron Heinrich von Logau, who visited the Tsardom of Russia at the same time, allows us to verify this date as well as to broaden our perspective on everyday life and ceremonial of the royal court, on the Tsar’s personal piety and on the status of the ancient tradition of celebrating birthdays and name days. Moreover, analyzing various calendars used by the diplomats of that era allows us to ascertain that one’s preference for the Gregorian or Julian calendar was not defined by national strategies only but remained a matter of personal choice that was subject to change during one’s life.
The present paper offers a rethinking of inscriptions and images on the famous artifact known as “Prince Ivan Khvorostinin’s reliquary”. We are interested both in the texts inscribed directly on various parts of this objects and those... more
The present paper offers a rethinking of inscriptions and images on the famous artifact known as “Prince Ivan Khvorostinin’s reliquary”. We are interested both in the texts inscribed directly on various parts of this objects and those potentially linked with some of its elements. Contrary to the widely accepted opinion, the article suggests seeing this reliquary not as an attribute of state power, but as a family relic of the Khvorostinins. From this perspective, the important tools of research are the history of the cult of personal saint patrons and the history of secular Christian binominality.
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This paper takes a new look at the “anthroponymical dossier” of Boris Godunov and his family. Insufficient familiarity with the structure of the Medieval Russian polyonymy (that is, the practice of using many names for the same person)... more
This paper takes a new look at the “anthroponymical dossier” of Boris Godunov and his family. Insufficient familiarity with the structure of the Medieval Russian polyonymy (that is, the practice of using many names for the same person) has been known to lead not only to the introduction of redundant and never-existing people to research papers, but also to real people taking redundant, imaginary names, which they did not and often could not have taken in reality. This paper takes a look at both the names the tsar had, without a doubt, and the names under which he existed in previous research (Boris, Bogolep, Iakov, Bogdan, Theodot). Special attention is given to the personal patron saints’ cult in Godunov’s family, mostly to St. Theodotus. Some problems of attribution and dating of several artifacts are raised.
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The article investigates the ways in which the celebration of the name day (imeniny) of Russian princes or their entourages was presented in the Russian chronicles. The custom of celebrating the name day was firmly rooted in the Russian... more
The article investigates the ways in which the celebration of the name day (imeniny) of Russian princes or their entourages was presented in the Russian chronicles. The custom of celebrating the name day was firmly rooted in the Russian princely environment. For a chronicle narrative, the very rootedness of this custom and the number of its associated actions plays an important role—it is this rootedness that makes stories told in the chronicles quite opaque to the modern reader. A prince’s Christian name and the day of his patron saint were considered to be important background knowledge for the audience of the medieval compiler. There were, apparently, clear ideas about appropriate behavior for prince or a person from his environment on his name day or on the eve of this day but, on the other hand, such assumptions explain why this kind of “normal” behavior rarely forms the subject of special reflection in the chronicles. It is not only a description of the celebration itself that...
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The paper deals with the special features of Russian dual Christian naming—that is, the practice of giving a lay person an additional Christian name, other than his/her baptismal name. In the Middle Ages in Russia, a man could not under... more
The paper deals with the special features of Russian dual Christian naming—that is, the practice of giving a lay person an additional Christian name, other than his/her baptismal name. In the Middle Ages in Russia, a man could not under any circumstances get a female anthroponym as a second Christian name, and a woman, respectively, could not get a male anthroponym. In particular, no variations with respect to the calendar tradition, which transform male names into female names and vice versa, were allowed. This markedly contraposes the choice of the second Christian name for a lay woman to the choice of the monastic name for a nun. The work examines a number of incidents that would seem to violate this rigor of the gender distribution of anthroponyms, and discusses a number of related problems associated with the multiplicity of personal names in pre-Petrine Rus’.
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В работе демонстрируется, каким образом в XVI – первой половине XVII в. выбор имени для женщины мог транслировать связь ее семьи с правящей династией в прошлом и настоящем. Причастность к власти могла воплощаться не только в том, как... more
В работе демонстрируется, каким образом в XVI – первой половине XVII в. выбор имени для женщины мог транслировать связь ее семьи с правящей династией в прошлом и настоящем. Причастность к власти могла воплощаться не только в том, как девочку нарекали при рождении, но и в перемене имени при замужестве и/или в монашеском постриге. Особое внимание уделяется семейной ситуации Дмитрия Ивановича Годунова, дяди царицы Ирины и царя Бориса, одного из самых влиятельных людей своего времени. Семья Дмитрия Ивановича прославлена, в частности, богатейшими вкладами образчиков художественного шитья, причем традиционно предполагается, что руководила мастерскими, где изготавливались эти драгоценные предметы, жена хозяина дома. Однако представления о том, как была устроена матримониальная жизнь Д. Годунова, до сих пор оставались весьма запутанными и противоречивыми, а соответственно, невозможной была и надежная атрибуция памятников, вышедших из его дома. Настоящая работа призвана восполнить эту лакуну...
The history of dual Christian naming – that is, the practice of giving a lay person an additional Christian name, other than his/her baptismal name, – spans a period as long as at least five centuries (late 13th to 18th). This practice... more
The history of dual Christian naming – that is, the practice of giving a lay person an additional Christian name, other than his/her baptismal name, – spans a period as long as at least five centuries (late 13th to 18th). This practice tended to be mostly socially and gender neutral, however, the ruling elites specifically contributed both to the making and unmaking of it. Originally, Russian princes and their milieu would give a baby one Christian name as baptismal and another as public, patrimonial and dynastic. Later, this public name would conflate the functions of a dynastic name and a baptismal name, while the first name, defined by the birth date, would be relegated to personal piety.
Later, this transformation would have a dramatic effect on the whole practice of naming in Russia.
Later, this transformation would have a dramatic effect on the whole practice of naming in Russia.
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Research Interests: Russian Studies, Russian Literature, Translation Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Literature, and 17 morePoetry, Poetics, Russian Language, Russian Poetry, Translation, Poetry and Poetics, Literary translation, Osip Mandelshtam, Wordplay, Osip Mandelstam, Poetic Language, Wordplay translation, Wordplay and Pun, Мандельштам, Osip Mandel'stam, Language of Poetry, and Поэтика
The present paper focuses on the obscure evidence of the Tale of Bygone Years: according to the Chronicle in 1024 a Varangian prince, named Yakun, lost (lit. ‘fled from’) his gold-woven robe at the end of the Listven’ battle. In order to... more
The present paper focuses on the obscure evidence of the Tale of Bygone Years: according to the Chronicle in 1024 a Varangian prince, named Yakun, lost (lit. ‘fled from’) his gold-woven robe at the end of the Listven’ battle. In order to clarify this fragment parallels from the Old Norse King sagas are drawn, allowing not only to identify this historical character, but also to explain the meaning of his action. Apparently, we have here another valuable testimony of Scandinavian-East Slavonic cultural contacts from the 11th century.
В работе предлагается новая интерпретация странного летописного известия, согласно которому в 1024 г. некий варяжский князь по-имени Якун бежал от своей вытканной золотом луды на исходе Лиственской битвы. Для прояснения этого фрагмента будут привлечены ранее не отмечавшиеся параллели из скандинавских саг, позволяющие, по мнению авторов, не только идентифицировать данного исторического персонажа, но и объяснить прямой смысл его действий. По-видимому, перед нами еще одно ценное свидетельство варяжско-русского культурного взаимодействия, относящееся к XI в.
В работе предлагается новая интерпретация странного летописного известия, согласно которому в 1024 г. некий варяжский князь по-имени Якун бежал от своей вытканной золотом луды на исходе Лиственской битвы. Для прояснения этого фрагмента будут привлечены ранее не отмечавшиеся параллели из скандинавских саг, позволяющие, по мнению авторов, не только идентифицировать данного исторического персонажа, но и объяснить прямой смысл его действий. По-видимому, перед нами еще одно ценное свидетельство варяжско-русского культурного взаимодействия, относящееся к XI в.
Research Interests: Russian Studies, Medieval Literature, Medieval History, Narrative, Medieval Studies, and 24 moreOld Norse Literature, Oral history, Oral Traditions, Medieval Scandinavia, Russian History, Kings´ Sagas, Scandinavian history, Scandinavian Studies, Viking Age Scandinavia, Icelandic Sagas, Oral History and Memory, Old Norse literature and culture, Medieval Norway, Medieval Russia, Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, Old Russian Chronicles, A Tale of Bygone Years, Vikings in the East, Varangians, Old Rus', Varangians, Russian Primary Chronicle, Olafs Saga Tryggvasonar, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar by Oddr Snorrason (ÓTOdd), Olaf Tryggvason, and Medieval Russian History
В работе демонстрируется связь структуры и содержания последнего стихотво-рения Гавриила Державина с формулой, восходящей к труду Геродота. Эта формула регулярно употреблялась, с одной стороны, в историографических и дидактических... more
В работе демонстрируется связь структуры и содержания последнего стихотво-рения Гавриила Державина с формулой, восходящей к труду Геродота. Эта формула регулярно употреблялась, с одной стороны, в историографических и дидактических сочинениях и, с другой стороны, в юридических текстах Средневековья и раннего Но-вого времени. Особенно устойчивой она оказалась в завещаниях, что и обыгрывается поэтом в стихотворении «Река времен». Ключевые слова: русская поэзия, средневековая историография, частный акт, аренга, литературная формула The paper demonstrates the connection between the structure and the content of the last poem of Gabriel Derzhavin and its formula dating back to the works of Herodotus. This formula was used on a regular basis in historiographical and didactic works as well as in legal texts of the Middle Ages and t h e early Modern period. It was especially consistently used in wills, which is highlighted in Derzhavin's poem Reka vremen (" Time's river ").