Post on the topic of Greco-Byzantine language. On some borrowings in Russian from Greek: Catechism. Late antiquity and early middle ages

Archangel Michael and Manuel II Palaeologus. XV century Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

1. The country called Byzantium never existed

If the Byzantines of the 6th, 10th or 14th centuries heard from us that they are Byzantines, and their country is called Byzantium, the overwhelming majority of them would simply not understand us. And those who did understand would decide that we want to flatter them, calling them residents of the capital, and even in an outdated language that is used only by scientists trying to make their speech as sophisticated as possible. Part of the consular diptych of Justinian. Constantinople, 521 Diptychs were presented to consuls in honor of their inauguration. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The country that its inhabitants would call Byzantium never existed; the word "Byzantines" has never been the self-name of the inhabitants of any state. The word "Byzantines" was sometimes used to refer to the inhabitants of Constantinople - after the name of the ancient city of Byzantium (Βυζάντιον), which in 330 was re-founded by the emperor Constantine under the name Constantinople. They were called so only in texts written in a conventional literary language, stylized as ancient Greek, which no one spoke for a long time. No one knew other Byzantines, and these existed only in texts accessible to a narrow circle of the educated elite, who wrote in this archaized Greek language and understood it.

The self-name of the Eastern Roman Empire, starting from the III-IV centuries (and after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453), had several stable and understandable phrases and words: the state of the Romans, or the Romans, (βασιλεία τῶν Ρωμαίων), Romania (Ρωμανία), Romáida (Ρωμαΐς ).

The residents themselves called themselves Romans- the Romans (Ρωμαίοι), they were ruled by the Roman emperor - basileus(Βασιλεύς τῶν Ρωμαίων), and their capital was New rome(Νέα Ρώμη) - this is how the city founded by Constantine was usually called.

Where did the word "Byzantium" come from, and with it the idea of ​​the Byzantine Empire as a state that arose after the fall of the Roman Empire on the territory of its eastern provinces? The fact is that in the 15th century, along with the statehood of the Eastern Roman Empire (as Byzantium is often called in modern historical writings, and this is much closer to the self-consciousness of the Byzantines themselves), in fact, it lost its voice heard outside its borders: the Eastern Roman tradition of self-description found itself isolated within the Greek-speaking lands that belonged to the Ottoman Empire; what was important now was only what Western European scholars thought and wrote about Byzantium.

Jerome Wolf. Engraving by Dominicus Kustos. 1580 year Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig

In the Western European tradition, the state of Byzantium was actually created by Hieronymus Wolf, a German humanist and historian, who in 1577 published the Corpus of Byzantine History, a small anthology of works by historians of the Eastern Empire with a Latin translation. It was from the "Corpus" that the concept of "Byzantine" entered the Western European scientific circulation.

Wolf's work formed the basis for another collection of Byzantine historians, also called the "Corpus of Byzantine History", but much more ambitious - it was published in 37 volumes with the assistance of King Louis XIV of France. Finally, the Venetian re-edition of the second Corpus was used by the 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon when he wrote his History of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire - perhaps no book had such a huge and at the same time destructive impact on the creation and popularization of the modern image of Byzantium.

The Romans, with their historical and cultural tradition, were thus deprived not only of their voice, but also of the right to self-designation and identity.

2. The Byzantines did not know that they were not Romans

Autumn. Coptic panel. IV century Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, UK / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

For the Byzantines, who called themselves Romans-Romans, history great empire never ended. The very idea would have seemed absurd to them. Romulus and Remus, Numa, Augustus Octavian, Constantine I, Justinian, Phoca, Michael the Great Comnenus - all of them in the same way from time immemorial stood at the head of the Roman people.

Before the fall of Constantinople (and even after it), the Byzantines considered themselves residents of the Roman Empire. Social institutions, laws, statehood - all this has been preserved in Byzantium since the time of the first Roman emperors. The adoption of Christianity had almost no effect on the legal, economic and administrative structure of the Roman Empire. If the Byzantines saw the origins of the Christian church in the Old Testament, then the beginning of their own political history, like the ancient Romans, was attributed to the Trojan Aeneas - the hero of the poem Virgil, which was fundamental to Roman identity.

The social order of the Roman Empire and a sense of belonging to the great Roman patria were combined in the Byzantine world with Greek science and written culture: the Byzantines considered classical ancient Greek literature as their own. For example, in the 11th century, the monk and scholar Michael Psellus seriously discusses in one treatise who writes poetry better - the Athenian tragedian Euripides or the Byzantine poet of the 7th century George Pisis, the author of a panegyric about the Avar-Slavic siege of Constantinople in 626 and the theological poem "Six Days »About the divine creation of the world. In this poem, later translated into the Slavic language, George paraphrases the ancient authors Plato, Plutarch, Ovid and Pliny the Elder.

At the same time, at the level of ideology, Byzantine culture often contrasted itself with classical antiquity. Christian apologists noticed that all of Greek antiquity - poetry, theater, sports, sculpture - is permeated with religious cults of pagan deities. Hellenic values ​​(material and physical beauty, desire for pleasure, human glory and honor, military and athletic victories, eroticism, rational philosophical thinking) were condemned as unworthy of Christians. Basil the Great, in his famous conversation "To the youths on how to use pagan writings," sees the main danger for Christian youth in an attractive lifestyle that is offered to the reader in Hellenic writings. He advises to select only morally useful stories for yourself. The paradox is that Basil, like many other Church Fathers, himself received an excellent Hellenic education and wrote his works in a classical literary style, using the techniques of ancient rhetorical art and a language that by his time had already fallen out of use and sounded like archaic.

In practice, ideological incompatibility with Hellenism did not prevent the Byzantines from taking care of the ancient cultural heritage. The ancient texts were not destroyed, but copied, while the scribes tried to maintain accuracy, except that in rare cases they could throw out too frank erotic passage. Hellenic literature continued to be the basis of the school curriculum in Byzantium. An educated person had to read and know the epic of Homer, the tragedy of Euripides, the speech of Demos-phenes and use the Hellenic cultural code in own compositions, for example, to call the Arabs Persians, and Russia - Hyperborea. Many elements of ancient culture in Byzantium survived, although they changed beyond recognition and acquired a new religious content: for example, rhetoric became homiletics (the science of church sermon), philosophy became theology, and an antique love story influenced hagiographic genres.

3. Byzantium was born when Antiquity adopted Christianity

When does Byzantium begin? Probably when the history of the Roman Empire ends - that's how we used to think. For the most part, this thought seems natural to us, thanks to the tremendous influence of Edward Gibbon's monumental History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Written in the 18th century, this book still prompts both historians and non-specialists to look at the period from the 3rd to the 7th century (which is now increasingly called Late Antiquity) as the time of the decline of the former greatness of the Roman Empire under the influence of two main factors - the invasions of the German tribes and the ever-growing social role of Christianity, which in the IV century became the dominant religion. Byzantium, which exists in the mass consciousness primarily as a Christian empire, is portrayed in this perspective as a natural heir to the cultural decline that occurred in late Antiquity due to mass Christianization: a medium of religious fanaticism and obscurantism that stretched for a whole millennium of stagnation.

Amulet that protects against the evil eye. Byzantium, V-VI centuries

On one side there is an eye, at which arrows are directed and attacked by a lion, a snake, a scorpion and a stork.

© The Walters Art Museum

Hematite amulet. Byzantine Egypt, VI-VII centuries

The inscriptions define him as “a woman who suffered from bleeding” (Luke 8: 43–48). Hematite was believed to help stop bleeding, and amulets related to women's health and the menstrual cycle were very popular from it.

Thus, if you look at history through the eyes of Gibbon, late Antiquity turns into a tragic and irreversible end of Antiquity. But was it only a time of destruction of beautiful antiquity? For more than half a century, historical science has been convinced that this is not the case.

The idea of ​​the allegedly fatal role of Christianization in the destruction of the culture of the Roman Empire turns out to be especially simplified. The culture of late Antiquity in reality was hardly built on the opposition of "pagan" (Roman) and "Christian" (Byzantine). The way the late antique culture was arranged for its creators and users was much more complicated: Christians of that era would have found it strange the very question of the conflict between the Roman and the religious. In the IV century, Roman Christians could easily place images of pagan deities, made in the antique style, on household items: for example, on one casket donated to newlyweds, naked Venus is adjacent to the pious call "Seconds and Project, live in Christ."

On the territory of the future Byzantium, there was an equally problem-free fusion of the pagan and Christian in artistic techniques for contemporaries: in the 6th century, images of Christ and saints were performed using the technique of the traditional Egyptian funerary portrait, the most famous type of which is the so-called Fayum portrait Fayum portrait- a variety of funerary portraits common in Hellenized Egypt in the Ι-III centuries A.D. NS. The image was applied with hot paints to a heated wax layer.... Christian visuality in late Antiquity did not necessarily strive to oppose itself to the pagan, Roman tradition: very often it deliberately (or maybe, on the contrary, naturally and naturally) adhered to it. The same fusion of pagan and Christian is seen in the literature of late Antiquity. The poet Arator in the 6th century recites in a Roman cathedral a hexametric poem about the deeds of the apostles, written in the stylistic traditions of Virgil. In Christianized Egypt in the middle of the 5th century (by this time there have been different shapes monasticism) the poet Nonn from the city of Panopol (modern Akmim) writes an arrangement (paraphrase) of the Gospel of John in the language of Homer, preserving not only meter and style, but also deliberately borrowing whole verbal formulas and figurative layers from his epic Gospel of John 1: 1-6 (synodal translation):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything through Him began to be, and without Him nothing began to be that began to be. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not embrace it. There was a man sent from God; his name is John.

Nonn from Panopol. Paraphrase of the Gospel of John, ode 1 (translated by Y. A. Golubets, D. A. Pospelov, A. V. Markov):
Logos, God's Child, Light born of Light,
He is inseparable from the Father on an infinite throne!
Heavenly God, Logos, because You are the original
He shone together with the Eternal, the Creator of the world,
O Oldest of the Universe! All things have been accomplished through Him,
What is breathless and in spirit! Outside of the Speech, which does a lot,
Is it revealed that abides? And in Him there is eternally
Life that is inherent in everything, the light of a short-lived people ...<…>
In the bee-feeding more often
The mountain wanderer has appeared, the inhabitant of the desert slopes,
He is the herald of the cornerstone baptism, the name -
God's husband, John, counselor. ...

Portrait of a young girl. 2nd century© Google Cultural Institute

Funeral portrait of a man. III century© Google Cultural Institute

Christ Pantokrator. Icon from the monastery of St. Catherine. Sinai, mid-6th century Wikimedia Commons

St. Peter. Icon from the monastery of St. Catherine. Sinai, VII century© campus.belmont.edu

The dynamic changes that took place in different layers of the culture of the Roman Empire in late Antiquity are difficult to directly relate to Christianization, since the Christians of that time were themselves such hunters for classical forms both in the visual arts and in literature (as well as in many other spheres of life). Future Byzantium was born in an era in which the relationship between religion, artistic language, its audience, and the sociology of historical shifts were complex and indirect. They carried the potential of the complexity and diversity that developed later over the centuries of Byzantine history.

4. In Byzantium they spoke one language and wrote in another

The linguistic picture of Byzantium is paradoxical. The empire, which not only claimed succession to the Roman Empire and inherited its institutions, but also from the point of view of its political ideology, the former Roman Empire, never spoke Latin. It was spoken in the western provinces and in the Balkans, until the 6th century it remained the official language of jurisprudence (the last legislative code in Latin was the Code of Justinian, promulgated in 529 - after it laws were issued already in Greek), it enriched Greek with many borrowings (formerly all in the military and administrative spheres), early Byzantine Constantinople attracted Latin grammarians with career opportunities. Yet Latin was not even the real language of early Byzantium. Although the Latin-speaking poets Koripp and Pristsian lived in Constantinople, we will not find these names in the pages of a textbook on the history of Byzantine literature.

We cannot say at what point the Roman emperor becomes Byzantine: the formal identity of institutions does not allow drawing a clear line. In search of an answer to this question, it is necessary to address informalized cultural differences. The Roman Empire differs from the Byzantine Empire in that the latter merges Roman institutions, Greek culture and Christianity, and this synthesis is carried out on the basis of the Greek language. Therefore, one of the criteria on which we could rely is language: the Byzantine emperor, unlike his Roman counterpart, is easier to speak in Greek than in Latin.

But what is this Greek? The alternatives offered to us by bookstore shelves and philology programs are deceiving: we can find in them either Ancient or Modern Greek. There is no other starting point. Because of this, we are forced to proceed from the assumption that the Greek language of Byzantium is either distorted ancient Greek (almost Plato's dialogues, but not quite), or proton-Greek (almost negotiations between Tsipras and the IMF, but not quite yet). The history of 24 centuries of continuous development of the language is straightened and simplified: it is either the inevitable decline and degradation of the ancient Greek (this is what Western European classical philologists thought before the establishment of Byzantinism as an independent scientific discipline), or the inevitable germination of the modern Greek (this is what the Greek scientists believed during the formation of the Greek nation in the 19th century) ...

Indeed, Byzantine Greek is elusive. Its development cannot be viewed as a series of progressive, sequential changes, since for each step forward in language development there was also a step back. The reason for this is the attitude towards the language of the Byzantines themselves. The linguistic norm of Homer and the classics of Attic prose was socially prestigious. To write well meant to write history indistinguishable from Xenophon or Thucydides (the last historian who decided to introduce into his text Old Attic elements that seemed archaic already in the classical era is the witness of the fall of Constantinople Laonik Chalcocondilus), and the epic is indistinguishable from Homer. Throughout the history of the empire, educated Byzantines were required to literally speak one (changed) language, and write in another (frozen in classical immutability) language. The duality of linguistic consciousness is the most important feature of Byzantine culture.

Ostrakon with a fragment of the Iliad in Coptic. Byzantine Egypt, 580-640

Ostrakons - shards of earthen vessels - were used to record Bible verses, legal documents, bills, school assignments, and prayers when papyrus was unavailable or too expensive.

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ostrakon with the troparion to the Mother of God in Coptic. Byzantine Egypt, 580-640© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The situation was aggravated by the fact that since the time of classical antiquity, certain dialectal features were assigned to certain genres: epic poems were written in the language of Homer, and medical treatises were compiled in the Ionian dialect in imitation of Hippocrates. We see a similar picture in Byzantium. In ancient Greek, vowels were divided into long and short, and their orderly alternation formed the basis of ancient Greek poetic meters. In the Hellenistic era, the opposition of vowels in longitude left the Greek language, but nevertheless, after a thousand years, heroic poems and epitaphs were written as if the phonetic system had remained unchanged since the time of Homer. Differences permeated other linguistic levels: it was necessary to construct a phrase, like Homer, select words, like Homer, and inflect and conjugate them in accordance with the paradigm that died out in living speech thousands of years ago.

However, not everyone succeeded in writing with antique liveliness and simplicity; quite often, in an attempt to achieve the Attic ideal, Byzantine authors lost their sense of proportion, trying to write more correctly than their idols. So, we know that the dative case, which existed in ancient Greek, almost completely disappeared in modern Greek. It would be logical to assume that with every century in literature it will be encountered less and less, until it gradually disappears altogether. However, recent studies have shown that the dative case is used much more often in Byzantine high literature than in the literature of classical antiquity. But it is precisely this increase in frequency that speaks of a loosening of the norm! Obsession in using one form or another will tell about your inability to use it correctly, no less than its complete absence in your speech.

At the same time, the living language element took its toll. We learn about how the spoken language changed thanks to the mistakes of the scribes of manuscripts, non-literary inscriptions and the so-called folk-language literature. The term “folk-lingual” is not accidental: it describes the phenomenon of interest to us much better than the more familiar “folk” one, since often elements of simple urban colloquial speech were used in monuments created in the circles of the Constantinople elite. This became a real literary fashion in the XII century, when the same authors could work in several registers, today offering the reader exquisite prose, almost indistinguishable from Attic, and tomorrow - almost areal rhymes.

Diglossia, or bilingualism, gave rise to another typically Byzantine phenomenon - metaphrasing, that is, transposition, retelling in half with translation, presentation of the content of the source in new words with a decrease or increase in the stylistic register. Moreover, the shift could go both along the line of complication (pretentious syntax, exquisite figures of speech, antique allusions and quotes), and along the line of simplifying the language. Not a single work was considered inviolable, even the language of sacred texts in Byzantium did not have the status of a sacred: the Gospel could be rewritten in a different stylistic key (as, for example, did the already mentioned Nonn Panopolitan) - and this did not bring anathemas on the author's head. It was necessary to wait until 1901, when the translation of the Gospels into colloquial New Greek (in fact, the same metaphor) brought opponents and defenders of language renewal to the streets and led to dozens of victims. In this sense, the outraged crowds defending the "language of the ancestors" and demanding reprisals against the translator Alexandros Pallis were much further from Byzantine culture, not only than they would have liked, but also than Pallis himself.

5. In Byzantium there were iconoclasts - and this is a terrible mystery

Iconoclasts John the Grammaticus and Bishop Anthony Sileisky. Khludov Psalter. Byzantium, about 850 Thumbnail to Psalm 68, verse 2: "And they gave me bile for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." The actions of the iconoclasts, covering the icon of Christ with lime, are compared with the crucifixion on Calvary. The soldier on the right brings Christ a sponge with vinegar. At the foot of the mountain - John the Grammaticus and Bishop Anthony of Sileisky. rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.ru

Iconoclasm is the most famous period in the history of Byzantium for a wide audience and the most mysterious even for specialists. The depth of the trace that he left in the cultural memory of Europe is evidenced by the possibility, for example, in English language to use the word iconoclast ("iconoclast") outside the historical context, in the timeless meaning of "rebel, subverter of foundations."

The event outline is as follows. By the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, the theory of worshiping religious images was hopelessly behind practice. The Arab conquests of the middle of the 7th century led the empire to a deep cultural crisis, which, in turn, gave rise to the growth of apocalyptic sentiments, the multiplication of superstitions and a surge of disordered forms of veneration of icons, sometimes indistinguishable from magical practices. According to the collections of the miracles of the saints, drunk wax from a melted seal with the face of Saint Artemy healed from a hernia, and Saints Cosmas and Damian healed the suffering woman, commanding her to drink, mixing with water, the plaster from the fresco with their image.

Such veneration of icons, which did not receive a philosophical and theological justification, aroused rejection among some of the clergy, who saw in it signs of paganism. Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717-741), finding himself in a difficult political situation, used this discontent to create a new consolidating ideology. The first iconoclastic steps date back to 726-730, but both the theological substantiation of the iconoclastic dogma and full-fledged repressions against dissidents fell on the reign of the most odious Byzantine emperor - Constantine V Copronymus (Gnoe-named) (741-775).

Claiming to the status of the ecumenical, the iconoclastic council of 754 brought the dispute to a new level: from now on it was not about fighting superstitions and fulfilling the Old Testament prohibition "Do not make yourself an idol", but about the hypostasis of Christ. Can He be considered depictable if His divine nature is “indescribable”? The “Christological dilemma” was this: icon-worshipers are guilty either of imprinting on icons only the flesh of Christ without His deity (Nestorianism), or of limiting the deity of Christ through a description of His depicted flesh (Monophysitism).

However, already in 787, Empress Irene held a new council in Nicaea, the participants of which formulated the dogma of icon veneration as a response to the dogma of iconoclasticism, thereby offering a full theological basis for previously unordered practices. An intellectual breakthrough was, firstly, the separation of "service" and "relative" worship: the first can be given only to God, while in the second, "the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype" (words of Basil the Great, which became the real motto of icon-worshipers). Secondly, the theory of homonymy was proposed, that is, uniformity, which removed the problem of portrait similarity between the image and the depicted: the icon of Christ was recognized as such not because of the similarity of features, but because of the spelling of the name - the act of naming.

Patriarch Nicephorus. Miniature from the Psalter of Theodore of Caesarea. 1066 year British Library Board. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

In 815, Emperor Leo V the Armenian again turned to iconoclastic politics, hoping in this way to build a line of succession in relation to Constantine V, the most successful and most beloved ruler in the army in the last century. The so-called second icon-fighting accounted for both a new round of repression and a new upsurge of theological thought. The iconoclastic era ends in 843, when iconoclasm is finally condemned as heresy. But his ghost haunted the Byzantines until 1453: for centuries, the participants in any church disputes, using the most sophisticated rhetoric, accused each other of hidden iconoclasm, and this accusation was more serious than any other heresy.

It would seem that everything is quite simple and straightforward. But as soon as we try to somehow clarify this general scheme, our constructions turn out to be very shaky.

The main difficulty is the state of the sources. The texts, thanks to which we know about the first iconoclasm, were written much later, and by icon-worshipers. In the 40s of the 9th century, a full-fledged program was carried out to write the history of iconoclasm from an icon-worshiping position. As a result, the history of the dispute was completely distorted: the works of the iconoclasts are available only in biased selections, and the textological analysis shows that the works of icon-worshipers, seemingly created to refute the teachings of Constantine V, could not have been written earlier than the very end of the 8th century. The task of the icon-worshiping authors was to turn the story we have described inside out, to create the illusion of tradition: to show that the veneration of icons (and not spontaneous, but meaningful!) Has been present in the church since apostolic times, and iconoclasm is just an innovation (the word καινοτομία - "innovation" in Greek - the most hated word for any Byzantine), and deliberately anti-Christian. The iconoclasts appeared not as fighters for the purification of Christianity from paganism, but as "Christian accusers" - this word began to designate precisely and exclusively iconoclasts. The sides in the iconoclastic dispute were not Christians, who interpreted the same teaching in different ways, but Christians and some external force hostile to them.

The arsenal of polemical techniques that were used in these texts to denigrate the enemy was very large. Legends were created about the hatred of the iconoclasts for education, for example, about the burning of the never-existed university in Constantinople by Leo III, and Constantine V was credited with participating in pagan rituals and human sacrifices, hatred of the Mother of God and doubts about the divine nature of Christ. If such myths seem simple and were debunked long ago, others remain at the center of scientific discussions to this day. For example, it was only quite recently that it was possible to establish that the cruel massacre perpetrated on the glorified martyr Stephen the New in 766 is connected not so much with his uncompromising icon-worshiping position, as stated in his life, as with his closeness to the conspiracy of political opponents of Constantine V. controversy and key questions: what is the role of Islamic influence in the genesis of iconoclasm? what was the true attitude of the iconoclasts towards the cult of saints and their relics?

Even the language we use about iconoclasm is the language of the victors. The word "iconoclast" is not a self-name, but an offensive polemic label that their opponents have invented and implemented. No "iconoclast" would ever agree with such a name, simply because the Greek word εἰκών has many more meanings than the Russian "icon". This is any image, including intangible, which means that to call someone an iconoclast is to declare that he is struggling with the idea of ​​God the Son as the image of God the Father, and man as the image of God, and the events of the Old Testament as prototypes of the events of the New and so on. Moreover, the iconoclasts themselves argued that they somehow defend the true image of Christ - the Eucharistic gifts, while what their opponents call an image, in fact, is not such, but is just an image.

In the end, conquer their teaching, it is precisely this that would now be called Orthodox, and the teaching of their opponents we would contemptuously call icon-worship and would speak not about the iconoclastic, but about the icon-worshiping period in Byzantium. However, if this were so, the whole further history and visual aesthetics of Eastern Christianity would have been different.

6. The West never loved Byzantium

Although trade, religious and diplomatic contacts between Byzantium and the states of Western Europe continued throughout the Middle Ages, it is difficult to talk about real cooperation or mutual understanding between them. At the end of the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire disintegrated into barbarian states and the tradition of “Romanism” was interrupted in the West, but remained in the East. Within a few centuries, the new Western dynasties of Germany wanted to restore the continuity of their power with the Roman Empire, and for this they entered into dynastic marriages with Byzantine princesses. Charlemagne's court competed with Byzantium - this can be seen in architecture and art. However, Charles' imperial claims rather intensified the misunderstanding between East and West: the culture of the Carolingian Renaissance wanted to see itself as the only legitimate heir to Rome.

The crusaders attack Constantinople. Miniature from the chronicle "The Conquest of Constantinople" by Geoffroy de Villardouin. Roughly 1330, Villardouin was one of the leaders of the campaign. Bibliothèque nationale de France

By the 10th century, the routes from Constantinople to Northern Italy by land through the Balkans and along the Danube were blocked by barbarian tribes. There was only a way by sea, which reduced the possibilities of communication and made it difficult for cultural exchange. The division into East and West has become a physical reality. The ideological divide between West and East, fueled by theological disputes throughout the Middle Ages, was exacerbated by the Crusades. The organizer of the Fourth Crusade, which ended with the capture of Constantinople in 1204, Pope Innocent III openly declared the primacy of the Roman Church over all others, referring to the divine institution.

As a result, it turned out that the Byzantines and the inhabitants of Europe knew little about each other, but were unfriendly towards each other. In the 14th century, the West criticized the depravity of the Byzantine clergy and attributed the successes of Islam to it. For example, Dante believed that Sultan Saladin could convert to Christianity (and even placed him in his "Divine Comedy" in limbo - a special place for virtuous non-Christians), but did not do this due to the unattractiveness of Byzantine Christianity. In Western countries, by the time of Dante, almost no one knew Greek. At the same time, Byzantine intellectuals learned Latin only in order to translate Thomas Aquinas, and did not hear anything about Dante. The situation changed in the 15th century after the Turkish invasion and the fall of Constantinople, when Byzantine culture began to penetrate Europe along with Byzantine scholars who fled from the Turks. The Greeks brought with them many manuscripts of ancient works, and humanists were able to study Greek antiquity from the originals, and not from Roman literature and the few Latin translations known in the West.

But scientists and intellectuals of the Renaissance were interested in classical antiquity, and not in the society that preserved it. In addition, it was mainly intellectuals who fled to the West, negatively disposed towards the ideas of monasticism and Orthodox theology of that time and sympathizing with the Roman Church; their opponents, supporters of Gregory Palamas, on the contrary, believed that it was better to try to come to an agreement with the Turks than to seek help from the Pope. Therefore, the Byzantine civilization continued to be perceived in a negative light. If the ancient Greeks and Romans were "their own", then the image of Byzantium was entrenched in European culture as oriental and exotic, sometimes attractive, but more often hostile and alien to the European ideals of reason and progress.

The Age of European Enlightenment even branded Byzantium. The French enlighteners Montesquieu and Voltaire associated it with despotism, luxury, lavish ceremonies, superstition, moral decay, civilizational decline and cultural sterility. According to Voltaire, the history of Byzantium is "an unworthy collection of grandiloquent phrases and descriptions of miracles" that disgraces the human mind. Montesquieu sees the main reason for the fall of Constantinople in the pernicious and pervasive influence of religion on society and power. He speaks especially aggressively about Byzantine monasticism and clergy, about the veneration of icons, as well as about theological polemics:

“The Greeks - great talkers, great debaters, sophists by nature - constantly got into religious disputes. Since the monks enjoyed great influence at the court, which weakened as it became corrupted, it turned out that the monks and the court mutually corrupted each other and that evil infected both. As a result, all the attention of the emperors was absorbed in trying to calm down or provoke divine-word disputes, concerning which it was noticed that they became the hotter, the less insignificant the reason that caused them was. "

So Byzantium became part of the image of the barbarian dark East, which, paradoxically, also included the main enemies of the Byzantine Empire - the Muslims. In the Orientalist model, Byzantium was contrasted with a liberal and rational European society based on ideals Ancient Greece and Rome. This model underlies, for example, the descriptions of the Byzantine court in the drama The Temptation of St. Anthony by Gustave Flaubert:

“The king wipes the scents from his face with his sleeve. He eats from sacred vessels, then breaks them; and mentally he counts his ships, his troops, his people. Now, on a whim, he will take and burn his palace with all the guests. He thinks to restore the Tower of Babel and to overthrow the Most High from the throne. Antony reads all his thoughts from afar on his brow. They take possession of him, and he becomes Nebuchadnezzar. "

The mythological view of Byzantium has not yet been completely overcome in historical scholarship. Of course, there could be no question of any moral example of Byzantine history for the education of youth. School programs were built on the samples of classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, and the Byzantine culture was excluded from them. In Russia, science and education followed Western patterns. In the 19th century, a dispute over the role of Byzantium in Russian history broke out between Westernizers and Slavophiles. Peter Chaadaev, following the tradition of European enlightenment, bitterly complained about the Byzantine heritage of Russia:

"By the will of fatal fate, we turned for a moral teaching that was supposed to educate us, to corrupted Byzantium, to the subject of deep contempt of these peoples."

Byzantine ideologist Konstantin Leontiev Konstantin Leontiev(1831-1891) - diplomat, writer, philosopher. In 1875, his work "Byzantism and Slavism" was published, in which he argued that "Byzantism" is a civilization or culture, the "general idea" of which is composed of several components: autocracy, Christianity (different from Western, "from heresies and splits ”), disappointment in everything earthly, the absence of“ an extremely exaggerated concept of the earthly human personality ”, rejection of hope for the universal well-being of peoples, the totality of some aesthetic ideas, and so on. Since pan-Slavism is not a civilization or a culture at all, and European civilization is coming to an end, Russia - which inherited almost everything from Byzantium - is precisely Byzantism that is necessary for flourishing. pointed to the stereotypical idea of ​​Byzantium, formed due to school education and the lack of independence of Russian science:

"Byzantium seems to be something dry, boring, priestly, and not only boring, but even something pathetic and vile."

7.In 1453 Constantinople fell - but Byzantium did not die

Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. Miniature from the collection of Topkapi Palace. Istanbul, late 15th century Wikimedia Commons

In 1935, a book by the Romanian historian Nicolae Yorgi "Byzantium after Byzantium" was published - and its name was established as a designation of the life of Byzantine culture after the fall of the empire in 1453. Byzantine life and institutions did not disappear overnight. They were preserved thanks to Byzantine emigrants who fled to Western Europe, in Constantinople itself, even under the rule of the Turks, as well as in the countries of the "Byzantine community", as the British historian Dmitry Obolensky called the Eastern European medieval cultures that were directly influenced by Byzantium - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia. The members of this supranational unity have preserved the legacy of Byzantium in religion, the norms of Roman law, the standards of literature and art.

In the last hundred years of the empire's existence, two factors - the cultural revival of the Paleologians and the Palamite disputes - contributed, on the one hand, to the renewal of ties between Orthodox peoples and Byzantium, and, on the other, to a new surge in the spread of Byzantine culture, primarily through liturgical texts and monastic literature. In the XIV century, Byzantine ideas, texts and even their authors entered the Slavic world through the city of Tarnovo, the capital of the Bulgarian Empire; in particular, the number of Byzantine works available in Russia doubled thanks to the Bulgarian translations.

In addition, the Ottoman Empire officially recognized the Patriarch of Constantinople: as the head of the Orthodox millet (or community), he continued to rule the church, in whose jurisdiction both Russia and the Orthodox Balkan peoples remained. Finally, the rulers of the Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, even after becoming subjects of the Sultan, preserved Christian statehood and considered themselves cultural and political heirs of the Byzantine Empire. They continued the traditions of the royal court ceremonial, Greek education and theology and supported the Constantinople Greek elite, the Phanariots Fanariots- literally "inhabitants of Phanar", the quarter of Constantinople, in which the residence of the Greek patriarch was located. The Greek elite of the Ottoman Empire were called Phanariots because they lived primarily in this quarter..

Greek uprising of 1821. Illustration from A History of All Nations from the Earliest Times by John Henry Wright. 1905 year The Internet Archive

Jorga believes that Byzantium died after Byzantium during an unsuccessful uprising against the Turks in 1821, which was organized by the Phanariot Alexander Ypsilanti. On one side of the Ypsilanti banner there was the inscription "Conquer Sim" and the image of the emperor Constantine the Great, whose name is associated with the beginning of Byzantine history, and on the other - a phoenix reborn from the flame, a symbol of the revival of the Byzantine empire. The uprising was defeated, the Patriarch of Constantinople was executed, and the ideology of the Byzantine Empire then dissolved into Greek nationalism.

BYZANTINE (4-15th century AD)

The Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantine culture as a whole played a gigantic, not yet adequately appreciated role in the preservation and transmission of the Greco-Roman philosophical and scientific heritage (including in the field of philosophy and theory of language) to representatives of the ideology and science of the New Age. It is precisely the Byzantine culture that Europe owes to the achievements in the creative synthesis of the pagan ancient tradition (mainly in the late Hellenistic form) and the Christian worldview. And it remains only to regret that in the history of linguistics, insufficient attention is still paid to the contribution of Byzantine scholars to the formation of medieval linguistic teachings in Europe and the Middle East.

When characterizing the culture and science (in particular linguistics) of Byzantium, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the state, political, economic, cultural, religious life in this powerful Mediterranean power, which existed for more than a thousand years during the period of continuous redrawing of the political map of Europe, the appearance and disappearance of many "barbaric" states ...

Culturally, the Byzantines were superior to the Europeans. In many ways, for a long time they retained a late antique way of life. They were characterized by an active interest of a wide range of people in the problems of philosophy, logic, literature and language. Byzantium had a powerful cultural impact on the peoples of the adjacent countries. And at the same time, until the 11th century. the Byzantines protected their culture from foreign influences and only later borrowed the achievements of Arab medicine, mathematics, etc.

In 1453 the Byzantine Empire finally fell under the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. A mass exodus of Greek scientists, writers, artists, philosophers, religious figures, theologians began to other countries, including the Moscow state. Many of them continued their activities as professors of Western European universities, mentors of humanists, translators, spiritual leaders, etc. Byzantium had a responsible historical mission to save the treasures of the great ancient civilization during the period of abrupt breakdowns, and this mission successfully ended with their transfer to the Italian humanists in the Pre-Renaissance period.

The ethnic composition of the empire's population was very variegated from the very beginning and changed over the course of the history of the state. Many of the inhabitants of the empire were originally Hellenized or Romanized. The Byzantines had to maintain constant contacts with speakers of a wide variety of languages ​​- Germanic, Slavic, Iranian, Armenian, Syrian, and then Arabic, Turkic, etc. Many of them were familiar with written Hebrew as the language of the Bible, which did not prevent them from frequently expressing an extremely puristic attitude, contrary to church dogmas, towards borrowing from it. In the 11th and 12th centuries. - after the invasion and resettlement of numerous Slavic tribes on the territory of Byzantium and before the formation of independent states by them, Byzantium was essentially a Greco-Slavic state.

Much attention was paid to rhetoric dating back to the ideas of the ancient authors Hermogenes, Menander of Laodicea, Aftonius and further developed by the Byzantines Psellus and especially well-known in the West by George of Trebizond. Rhetoric was the basis higher education... Its content consisted of teachings about paths and figures of speech. Rhetoric retained an orientation toward the speaker characteristic of antiquity, while philology was oriented toward the person who perceives artistic speech. The Byzantine experience of studying the cultural side of speech in the development of poetics, stylistics and hermeneutics has retained its significance in the Middle Ages and in our time.

The Byzantines achieved significant success in the practice and theory of translation. They carried out translations of Western theologians and philosophers, intensifying this activity after the conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders. The “Greek Donates” (Greek interlinear translations to the Latin text) appeared, which initially helped the study of the Latin language, and then served as aids for Italian humanists to study the Greek language). Outstanding translators were the Byzantines Dimitri Kydonis, Gennadius Scholarius, Planud, the Venetians Jacob from Venice, the natives of southern Italy Henrik Aristippus and Leontius Pilate from Catania.

The official and spoken language of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, especially its capital, Constantinople; a transitional stage between the ancient Greek language of antiquity and the modern modern Greek language of Greece and Cyprus.

Chronology

Chronologically, the Middle Greek stage covers almost the entire Middle Ages from the final division of the Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In the history of the Byzantine language, the following periods are distinguished:

prehistory - up to the 6th century; 1) from the VII to the century; 2) from before the fall of Constantinople.

Late antiquity and early middle ages

First (early Byzantine) period

In the conditions of almost universal illiteracy, incomprehensibility and inaccessibility of education in an archaic literary language, dilution of the ethnic composition of the empire due to the migration of Slavs to the Balkans and constant foreign intervention after 1204, many Greek peasants speak foreign languages ​​better than their own literary language. In the late Byzantine period, French and Italian played the role of the lingua franca of the coast. Albanian, many South Slavic languages ​​and dialects, the Arumanian language, and even the Gypsy language are also used in the mountainous regions. As a result of constant interethnic communication in the Greek language in the Byzantine period, a number of features in common with other Balkan languages ​​were developed (see Balkan Language Union). After the capture of Adrianople (Edirne) by the Turks in 1365, the Byzantine dialects were increasingly influenced by the Turkish language; many Greeks (Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia) finally convert to non-Indo-European Turkish and convert to Islam.

In the late Byzantine period, the folk language, expelled from literary circulation, was left to natural development in popular use and was preserved in a few monuments of folk literature. How great was the difference between the artificially maintained pure literary language and the one used by the people can be judged by the numerous versions or transcriptions into the common language of the most famous historical writers.

Patterns of development of the Middle Greek language

The chronological and genetic development of the Byzantine language from ancient Greek and its gradual transition into the modern modern Greek language are different, for example, from the history of the Latin language. The latter, after the formation of the Romance languages ​​(Old French, etc.), ceased to be a living and developing organism. Greek, on the other hand, basically retains the unity and gradualness of development until modern times, although a detailed analysis of the series shows that this unity is largely imaginary.

In the Byzantine language, there are tendencies towards divergent development. Feature Byzantine period - a gap between the literary-written and spoken language, developed diglossia: proficiency in both the literary language (among the upper strata) and colloquial dialects. An end to this process was put only in the modern Greek period (in the 20th century) after the Greek-Turkish population exchange and the gradual Turkishization of native speakers outside of independent Greece.

The organizing principle in the development of neologisms (neologisms) of the Greek language was folk dialects and provincialisms, as well as the individual traits of writers. The influence of popular dialects (vernacular), expressed in differences in the pronunciation of sounds, in the structure of sentences (syntax), in the decomposition of grammatical forms and in the formation of new words according to the law of analogy, is found even in the pre-Christian era.

The Greeks themselves, realizing the difference between the literary and the language used in ordinary conversation and in popular circulation, called this last γλώσσα δημώδης, άπλή καθωμιλημένη (Glossa Dimodis), finally, ρωμαϊκή (romayka) as opposed to the first - καθαρεύουσα, κοινή διαλεκτος (caferevusa- literally "purified", koine). Earlier traces of grammatical and lexical features are observed even on Egyptian papyri and in inscriptions. In the Christian era, the literary and folk language are separated even further and deeper, since the peculiarities of the folk language have found their application in Holy Scripture and in church practice, that is, in chants and teachings. It might be expected that the folk language, which has already significantly moved away from the literary language, will find itself a gradual application in different kinds of literature and enrich it with new forms and word formations. But in reality, due to the extreme purism of dimotics, the spoken language continued to oppose kafarevus (written literary language) until the 1976 reform, when the two options were brought closer together, with a predominance of dimotics.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution

higher professional education

Orenburg State University

Faculty of Geology and Geography

Department of Ecology and Nature Management

The spread of the Greco-Byzantine spiritual traditions in Russia. Lives of the Saints and Introduction to Ancient Knowledge

Work manager

Ph.D., associate professor E.V. Grivko

Executor

student of group 15TB (ba) -1

A.V. Mazina

Orenburg 2015

Relevance

Pre-Cyrillic writing and knowledge of the Slavs

Spread of Greco-Byzantine cultural and scientific traditions

Christianization of Rus: the development of everyday and spiritual culture

Widespread literacy in the urban environment in the 11th-12th centuries: birch bark letters and graffiti

Mathematical, astronomical and geographical knowledge in Ancient Russia

The first parish schools under Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise

Practical application of knowledge in crafts and construction

Sources of

Relevance

Byzantium is an original cultural integrity (330-1453), the first Christian empire. Byzantium was located at the junction of three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. Its territory included the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica, part of Mesopotamia and Armenia, the island of Cyprus, Crete, strongholds in the Crimea (Chersonesos), in the Caucasus (in Georgia), and some regions of Arabia. The Mediterranean was an inland lake of Byzantium.

Byzantium was a multinational empire, motley in ethnic composition of the population, which consisted of Syrians, Copts, Thracians, Illyrians, Armenians, Georgians, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans. Non-Greeks and non-Romans have played a major role since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. There was no physical continuity between the ancient and medieval peoples at all. The immigration of barbarians into the empire is an essential feature that separates antiquity from the Middle Ages. The constant and abundant replenishment of the provinces of the empire with new peoples poured a lot of new blood into the remnants of the old population, contributed to a gradual change in the very physical type of the ancient peoples.

In the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine Empire, the heir and successor of Greek culture and the state-legal organization of the Roman Empire, was the most cultured, strongest and most economically developed European state. It is quite natural that its influence was decisive in a fairly large segment of Russian history.

Since ancient times, the Slavs traded with Byzantium, using the great waterway of the Magi - the Dnieper - the so-called "from the Varangians to the Greeks." They took out honey, furs, wax, slaves, and from Byzantium they brought luxury goods, art, household goods, fabrics, and with the advent of writing - and books. On this way, numerous Russian trading cities arise: Kiev, Chernigov, Smolensk, Novgorod Veliky, Pskov and others. Simultaneously with this, the Russian princes made military campaigns against Constantinople (Constantinople), which ended with the signing of peace treaties. So, in 907, the Grand Duke Oleg besieges Constantinople, after which peace with the Greeks follows, after him Igor, the son of Rurik, marches on Byzantium in 941-945, and in 946 concludes treaties with it on peace, trade and mutual military aid. Igor's son Svyatoslav in 970 helps the Byzantine emperor in the war against Danube Bulgaria.

1. Pre-Cyrillic writing and knowledge of the Slavs

Language and writing are perhaps the most important culture-forming factors. If the people are deprived of the right or the opportunity to speak their native language, this will be the hardest blow to their native culture. If a person is deprived of books in his native language, then he will be deprived of the most important treasures of his culture. From childhood we get used to the letters of our Russian alphabet and rarely think about when and how our writing arose. The beginning of writing is a special milestone in the history of each nation, in the history of its culture.

Writing existed in Russia even in the pre-Christian period, but the question of the pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing remained controversial until recently. Only as a result of the works of scientists, as well as in connection with the discovery of new ancient monuments, the existence of writing among the Slavs in the pre-Cyril period is almost proven.

A historian working on the problems of Russian history of the XII-XIV centuries has only chronicles preserved, as a rule, in later lists, very few official acts that have survived happily, monuments of legislation, the rarest works of fiction and canonical church books. Taken together, these written sources make up a tiny fraction of a percent of the 19th century written sources. Even less written evidence has survived from the 10th and 11th centuries. The paucity of ancient Russian written sources is the result of one of the worst disasters in wooden Russia - frequent fires, during which entire cities with all their riches, including books, were burned out more than once.

In Russian works up to the mid-40s of the twentieth century, and in most foreign works - and until now, the existence of writing among the Slavs in the pre-Cyrillic period was usually denied. From the second half of the 40s to the end of the 50s of the twentieth century, many researchers of this issue showed the opposite tendency - to excessively reduce the role of external influences on the emergence of Slavic writing, to believe that writing independently arose among the Slavs from ancient times. Moreover, there were even suggestions that Slavic writing repeated the entire path of the world development of writing - from the original pictograms and primitive conventional signs to logography, from logographers to syllabic or consonant sound and, finally, to vocalized sound writing.

However, according to the general laws of the development of writing, as well as according to the peculiarities of the Slavic languages ​​of the second half of the 1st millennium BC. NS. such a path of development should be recognized as impossible. World history writing shows that not one of the peoples, even the most ancient, did not fully pass the entire path of the world development of writing. The Slavs, including the Eastern ones, were young peoples.

The decay of the primitive communal system began among them only in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. and ended in the second half of the 1st millennium with the formation of early feudal states. In such a short time, the Slavs could not independently go through the difficult path from pictography to logography, and from it to sound writing. In addition, the Slavs during this period were in close trade and cultural ties with the Byzantine Greeks. And the Greeks have long been using the perfect vocalized-sound writing, which the Slavs knew about. Vocalized-sound writing was also used by other neighbors of the Slavs: in the west, the Germans, in the east, the Georgians (from the beginning of our era), the Armenians (from the beginning of the 5th century A.D.), the Goths (from the 4th century A.D.). ) and the Khazars (from the 8th century AD).

In addition, logographic writing could not have developed among the Slavs, since the Slavic languages ​​are characterized by a wealth of grammatical forms; syllabic writing would be unsuitable, since the Slavic languages ​​are distinguished by a variety of syllabic composition; consonant-sound writing would be unacceptable for the Slavs, because in the Slavic languages ​​consonants and vowels are equally involved in the formation of root and affixal morphemes. From all that has been said, it follows that the pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing could be of only three types.

The surviving mentions of "lines and cuts" in the legend "About pismenekh" (the turn of the 9th-10th centuries) have survived to our days. The author, a monk Brave, noted that the pagan Slavs use pictorial signs, with the help of which they "chitahu and gadakhu" (read and guess). The emergence of such an initial letter took place when, on the basis of small and scattered clan groups, more complex, large and durable forms of community of people arose - tribes and tribal alliances. The evidence of the presence of pre-Christian writing among the Slavs is a broken clay korchaga discovered in 1949 in the Gnezdovskiye pagan barrows near Smolensk, on which the inscription "goroukhshcha" ("gorushna") was preserved, which meant: either "Gorukh wrote" or "mustard". In addition to Gnezdovskaya, fragments of inscriptions and digital calculations on amphoras and other vessels of the 10th century were found. in Taman (ancient Tmutarakan), Sarkel and the Black Sea ports. Writing based on various alphabets (Greek, Cyrillic, runic) was used by the diverse population of the most ancient cities and proto-cities located on important trade routes. Trade became the soil that contributed to the spread throughout the territory of Russia, adapted for Slavic speech and convenient for writing Cyrillic.

Along with the testimony of the monastic Khrabr, with the above considerations of a sociological and linguistic order, the existence of the letter of the type "devil and cut" among the Slavs is also confirmed by literary reports of foreign travelers and writers of the 9th-10th centuries. and archaeological finds.

A "pre-Cyrillic" letter was formed. History shows that a similar process of adaptation of writing to language took place in almost all cases of borrowing by one people the writing of another people, for example, when the Phoenician writing was borrowed by the Greeks, Greek by the Etruscans and Romans, etc. The Slavs could not be an exception to this rule. The assumption of the gradual formation of the "pre-Cyrillic" letter is also confirmed by the fact that the Cyril alphabet in its extant version is so adapted to the exact transmission of Slavic speech that this could be achieved only as a result of long development.

If the letter writing did not exist among the Slavs long before their adoption of Christianity, then the unexpected flourishing of Bulgarian literature at the end of the 9th-beginning of the 10th centuries, and the widespread spread of literacy in the everyday life of the Eastern Slavs of the 10th-11th centuries, and high skill, would be incomprehensible. which reached in Russia already in the XI century. the art of writing and book design (for example, "The Ostromir Gospel").

Thus, now we can say with confidence that in the pre-Cyrillic era, the Slavs had several types of writing; most likely, it was not quite adapted for the accurate transmission of Slavic speech and was of a syllabic or runic character, the Slavs and the simplest writing of the "lines and cuts" type were used for various purposes. The spread of Christianity among the Slavs was a political step both on the part of the Slavs, who sought to consolidate their position in Europe, and on the part of the Roman-Byzantine world, which sought to establish its rule over the Slavic peoples, which were gaining more and more political influence. This is partly due to the almost complete destruction of the oldest Slavic writing and the rapid spread of new alphabets among people accustomed to writing.

Spread of Greco-Byzantine cultural and scientific traditions

Byzantium is a state that made a great contribution to the development of culture in Europe in the Middle Ages. In the history of world culture of Byzantium, a special, outstanding place belongs. In artistic creation, Byzantium gave the medieval world high images of literature and art, which were distinguished by noble grace of forms, imaginative vision of thought, refinement of aesthetic thinking, depth of philosophical thought. By the power of expressiveness and deep spirituality, Byzantium was ahead of all the countries of medieval Europe for many centuries.

If you try to separate the Byzantine culture from the culture of Europe, the Near East and the Near East, then the following factors will be most important:

· In Byzantium there was a linguistic community (the main language was Greek);

· In Byzantium there was a religious community (the main religion was Christianity in the form of Orthodoxy);

· In Byzantium, with all its multi-ethnicity, there was an ethnic core consisting of Greeks.

· The Byzantine Empire has always been distinguished by a stable statehood and centralized government.

All this, of course, does not exclude the fact that Byzantine culture, which had an impact on many neighboring countries, itself was subjected to cultural influence from both the tribes and peoples inhabiting it, and the states adjacent to it. During its thousand-year existence, Byzantium was faced with powerful external cultural influences emanating from countries that were at a similar stage of development - from Iran, Egypt, Syria, Transcaucasia, and later the Latin West and Ancient Russia. On the other hand, Byzantium had to enter into various cultural contacts with peoples who were at a somewhat or much lower stage of development (the Byzantines called them "barbarians").

The development process of Byzantium was not straightforward. It had epochs of upsurge and decline, periods of the triumph of progressive ideas and dark years of the domination of the reactionary. But the sprouts of the new, living, advanced sprout sooner or later in all spheres of life, at all times.

Therefore, the culture of Byzantium is an interesting cultural and historical type with very specific features.

There are three stages in the history of Byzantine culture:

*early (IV - mid-VII century);

*medium (VII-IX centuries);

*late (X-XV centuries).

The most important topics of theological discussions at the early stage of the development of this culture were disputes about the nature of Christ and his place in the Trinity, about the meaning of human existence, the place of man in the Universe and about the limit of his possibilities. In this regard, several directions of theological thought of that era can be distinguished:

*Arianism: The Arians believed that Christ is the creation of God the Father, and therefore he is not consubstantial with God the Father, is not eternal and occupies a subordinate place in the structure of the Trinity.

*Nestorianism: Nestorians believed that the divine and human principles in Christ are one only relatively and never merge.

*Monophisitism: Monophisites emphasized primarily the divine nature of Christ and spoke of Christ as a God-man.

*Chalcedonianism: The Chalcedonites preached those ideas that later became dominant: the consubstantiality of God the Father and God the Son, the non-fusion and inseparability of the divine and human in Christ.

The flourishing of Byzantine art in the early period is associated with the strengthening of the power of the empire under Justinian. At this time, magnificent palaces and temples were erected in Constantinople.

The style of Byzantine architecture took shape gradually, elements of ancient and oriental architecture were organically combined in it. The main architectural structure was a temple, the so-called basilica (Greek "royal house"), the purpose of which was significantly different from other buildings.

Another masterpiece of Byzantine architecture is the church of St. Vitalia in Ravenna - strikes with sophistication and elegance of architectural forms. This temple was especially famous for its famous mosaics not only of a church, but also of a secular nature, in particular, images of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and their retinue. The faces of Justinian and Theodora are endowed with portrait features, the color scheme of the mosaics is distinguished by full-blooded brightness, warmth and freshness.

Mosaics of Byzantium gained worldwide fame. The technology of mosaic art has been known since antiquity, but it was only in Byzantium that glass alloys, not natural, but painted with mineral paints, the so-called smalts with the finest gold surface, began to be used for the first time. The masters made extensive use of the gold color, which, on the one hand, symbolized luxury and wealth, and on the other, was the brightest and most radiant of all colors. Most of the mosaics were located at different angles on the concave or spherical surface of the walls, and this only increased the golden shine of uneven smalt cubes. He turned the plane of the walls into a continuous shimmering space, even more sparkling thanks to the light of candles burning in the temple. The mosaicists of Byzantium used a wide colorful spectrum: from pale blue, green and bright blue to lavender, pink and red in various shades and degrees of intensity. The images on the walls mainly told about the main events of Christian history, the earthly life of Jesus Christ, glorified the power of the emperor. The mosaics of the Church of San Vitale in the city of Ravenna (6th century) are especially famous. On the side aisles of the apse, on both sides of the windows, there are mosaics depicting the imperial couple - Justinian and his wife Theodora with their retinues.

The artist places the characters on a neutral gold background. Everything in this scene is full of solemn grandeur. Both mosaic paintings, located under the figure of the seated Christ, inspire the viewer with the idea of ​​the inviolability of the Byzantine emperor.

In painting of the 6th-7th centuries. a specific Byzantine image crystallizes, cleansed of foreign influences. It is based on the experience of masters of the East and West, who independently came to the creation of a new art, corresponding to the spiritualistic ideals of medieval society. Various trends and schools are already emerging in this art. The metropolitan school, for example, was distinguished by excellent quality of performance, refined artistry, picturesque and colorful variety, tremulousness and iridescence of colors. One of the most perfect works of this school was the mosaics in the dome of the Church of the Assumption at Nicaea.

Music occupied a special place in Byzantine civilization. A peculiar combination of authoritarianism and democracy could not but affect the nature of musical culture, which was a complex and multifaceted phenomenon of the spiritual life of the era. In the V-VII centuries. the formation of the Christian liturgy took place, new genres of vocal art developed. Music acquires a special civil status, is included in the system of representation of state power. The music of city streets, theater and circus performances and folk festivals retained a special flavor, reflecting the richest song and musical practice of many peoples inhabiting the empire. Each of these types of music had its own aesthetic and social meaning, and at the same time, interacting, they merged into a single and unique whole. Christianity very early appreciated the special possibilities of music as a universal art and at the same time, possessing the power of mass and individual psychological impact, and included it in its cult ritual. It was cult music that was destined to occupy a dominant position in medieval Byzantium.

*Trivium - grammar, rhetoric and dialectics.

*Quadrivium - arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

Mass spectacles continued to play a huge role in the life of the broad masses. True, the ancient theater is beginning to decline - ancient tragedies and comedies are increasingly being replaced by performances of mimes, jugglers, dancers, gymnasts, and tamers of wild animals. The place of the theater is now occupied by a circus (hippodrome) with its very popular equestrian rides.

Summing up the first period of the existence of Byzantium, we can say that during this period the main features of Byzantine culture were formed. First of all, they should include the fact that Byzantine culture was open to other cultural influences received from outside. But gradually, already in the early period, they were synthesized by the main, leading Greco-Roman culture.

The culture of early Byzantium was an urban culture. The large cities of the empire, and primarily Constantinople, were not only centers of crafts and trade, but also centers of the highest culture and education, where the rich heritage of antiquity was preserved.

An important component of the second stage in the history of Byzantine culture was the confrontation between iconoclasts and icon-worshipers (726-843). The first direction was supported by the ruling secular elite, and the second - by the orthodox clergy and many segments of the population. During the period of iconoclasm (726-843), an attempt was made to officially prohibit icons. The philosopher, poet, author of many theological works, John Damascene (700-760), spoke out in defense of the icons. In his opinion, the icon is fundamentally different from the idol. It is not a copy or decoration, but an illustration that reflects the nature and essence of the deity.

At a certain stage, the iconoclasts prevailed, therefore, ornamental and decorative abstract symbolic elements predominated in Byzantine Christian art for some time. However, the struggle between the supporters of these directions was extremely tough, and in this confrontation many monuments of the early stage of Byzantine culture perished, in particular the first mosaics of the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Constantinople. But nevertheless, the final victory was won by the adherents of the veneration of icons, which further contributed to the final addition of the iconographic canon - strict rules for depicting all scenes of religious content.

It should be noted that the essential moment that the iconoclastic movement served as a stimulus for a new rise of the secular art and architecture of Byzantium. Under the iconoclastic emperors, the influence of Muslim architecture penetrated into architecture. So, one of the Vrias palaces in Constantinople was built according to the plan of the palaces of Baghdad. All palaces were surrounded by parks with fountains, exotic flowers and trees. In Constantinople, Nicaea and other cities of Greece and Asia Minor, city walls, public buildings, and private buildings were erected. In the secular art of the iconoclastic period, the principles of representative solemnity, architectural monumentality and colorful multi-figured decorativeness, which later served as the basis for the development of secular artistic creativity, triumphed.

During this period, the art of colored mosaic images reached a new heyday. In the IX-XI centuries. old monuments were also restored. Mosaics were renewed in the church of St. Sofia. New plots appeared, which reflected the idea of ​​the union of the church with the state.

In the IX-X centuries. The decor of manuscripts has become much richer and more complicated, book miniatures and ornaments have become richer and more diverse. However, a truly new period in the development of book miniatures falls on the 11th-12th centuries, when the Constantinople school of masters in this field of art flourished. In that era, in general, the leading role in painting as a whole (in icon painting, miniature, fresco) was acquired by metropolitan schools, marked with the stamp of a special perfection of taste and technique.

In the VII-VIII centuries. In the temple construction of Byzantium and the countries of the Byzantine cultural circle, the same cross-domed composition prevailed, which arose in the 6th century. and was characterized by a weakly expressed external decorative design. The decor of the facade acquired great importance in the 9th-10th centuries, when a new architectural style emerged and spread. The emergence of a new style was associated with the flourishing of cities, the strengthening of the social role of the church, a change in the social content of the very concept of sacred architecture in general and temple construction in particular (temple as an image of the world). Many new temples were erected, a large number of monasteries were built, although they were like usually small in size.

In addition to changes in the decorative design of buildings, architectural forms and the very composition of buildings also changed. The value of the vertical lines and divisions of the facade increased, which also changed the silhouette of the temple. Builders increasingly resorted to the use of patterned brickwork.

The features of the new architectural style also appeared in a number of local schools. For example, in Greece X-XII centuries. the preservation of a certain archaism of architectural forms is characteristic (not the dissection of the plane of the facade, the traditional forms of small temples) - with the further development and growth of the influence of the new style - patterned brick decor and polychrome plastic were also increasingly used here.

In the VIII-XII centuries. a special musical and poetic church art took shape. Due to its high artistic merit, the influence of folklore music on church music has weakened, the melodies of which had previously penetrated even into the liturgy. In order to further isolate the musical foundations of worship from external influences, the canonization of the laotonal system - "octoiha" (octopus) was carried out. Ichos were some kind of melodic formulas. However, the musical-theoretical monuments allow us to conclude that the system of ichos did not exclude the understanding of scale. The most popular genres of church music were the canon (musical and poetic composition during a church service) and the troparion (almost the main cell of Byzantine hymnography). Tropari were composed for all holidays, all solemn events and memorable dates.

The progress of musical art led to the creation of musical notation (notation), as well as liturgical manuscript collections in which chants were recorded (either only the text, or a text with notation).

Public life was also not complete without music. In the book "On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court" about 400 chants are reported. These are songs-processions, and songs during horse processions, and songs at the imperial feast, and songs-acclamation, etc.

From the IX century. In the circles of the intellectual elite, interest in ancient musical culture was growing, although this interest was primarily theoretical in nature: attention was attracted not so much by music itself as by the works of ancient Greek music theorists.

As a result, by the second period, it can be noted that Byzantium at this time reached its highest power and the highest point of cultural development. In social development and in the evolution of Byzantine culture, contradictory tendencies are evident, due to its middle position between East and West.

From the X century. a new stage in the history of Byzantine culture begins - there is a generalization and classification of everything achieved in science, theology, philosophy, literature. In Byzantine culture, this century is associated with the creation of works of a general nature - encyclopedias on history, agriculture, and medicine have been compiled. The treatises of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (913-959) "On the government", "On the themes", "On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court" - an extensive encyclopedia of the most valuable information about the political and administrative structure of the Byzantine state. At the same time, colorful material of ethnographic and historical-geographical character about the countries and peoples adjacent to the Empire, including the Slavs, is collected here.

In culture, generalized spiritualistic principles are fully triumphant; social thought, literature and art seem to be detached from reality and enclosed in a circle of higher, abstract ideas. The basic principles of Byzantine aesthetics were finally formed. The ideal aesthetic object is transferred to the spiritual sphere, and it is now described using such aesthetic categories as beauty, light, color, image, sign, symbol. These categories help to highlight global issues of art and other areas of culture.

In artistic creation, traditionalism and canonicity prevail; art now does not contradict the dogmas of the official religion, but actively serves them. However, the duality of Byzantine culture, the confrontation in it between aristocratic and popular trends do not disappear even during periods of the most complete domination of dogmatized church ideology.

In the XI-XII centuries. in Byzantine culture, there are serious worldview shifts. The growth of provincial cities, the rise of handicrafts and trade, the crystallization of the political and intellectual self-consciousness of the townspeople, the feudal consolidation of the ruling class while maintaining a centralized state, rapprochement with the West under the Comnenes could not but affect culture. A significant accumulation of positive knowledge, the growth of natural sciences, the expansion of man's ideas about the Earth and the universe, the needs of navigation, trade, diplomacy, jurisprudence, the development of cultural communication with the countries of Europe and the Arab world - all this leads to the enrichment of Byzantine culture and major changes in the outlook of Byzantine society ... This was the time of the rise of scientific knowledge and the birth of rationalism in the philosophical thought of Byzantium.

Rationalist tendencies among Byzantine philosophers and theologians, as well as among Western European scholastics of the 11th-12th centuries, manifested themselves primarily in the desire to combine faith with reason, and sometimes put reason above faith. The most important prerequisite for the development of rationalism in Byzantium was a new stage in the revival of ancient culture, the understanding of the ancient heritage as a single, integral philosophical and aesthetic system. Byzantine thinkers XI-XII centuries perceive from ancient philosophers respect for reason; the blind faith based on authority is being replaced by the study of the causality of phenomena in nature and society. But unlike Western European scholasticism, Byzantine philosophy of the XI-XII centuries. was built on the basis of the ancient philosophical teachings of different schools, and not only on the works of Aristotle, as it was in the West. The exponents of rationalistic trends in Byzantine philosophy were "Michael Psellus, John Ital and their followers.

However, all these representatives of rationalism and religious freedom of thought were condemned by the church, and their works were burned. But their activity was not in vain - it paved the way for the emergence of humanistic ideas in Byzantium.

In the literature, there are tendencies towards the democratization of the language and plot, towards the individualization of the author's face, towards the manifestation of the author's position; in it a critical attitude to the ascetic monastic ideal arises and religious doubts slip through. Literary life becomes more intense, and literary circles appear. Byzantine art also flourished during this period.

At the court of Latin emperors, princes and barons Western customs and entertainment, tournaments, troubadour songs, holidays and theatrical performances were spread. A notable phenomenon in the culture of the Latin Empire was the work of troubadours, many of whom were participants in the Fourth Crusade. Thus, Conon de Bethune reached the zenith of his glory in Constantinople. Eloquence, poetic gift, firmness and courage made him the second person in the state after the emperor, in whose absence he often ruled Constantinople. Truvers of the empire were the noble knights Robert de Blois, Hugh de Saint-Canton, Count Jean de Brienne, and lesser nobles such as Hugh de Brejil. All of them enriched themselves after the capture of Constantinople and, as Hugo de Breigil tells in the rhythmic verses, from poverty plunged into wealth, into emeralds, rubies, brocade, ended up in fairy gardens and marble palaces along with noble ladies and beauties-virgins. Of course, attempts to introduce the Catholic religion and spread Western culture in the Latin Empire met with constant stubborn resistance from both the Orthodox clergy and the general population. Among the intellectuals, the ideas of Hellenic patriotism and Hellenic self-awareness grew and became stronger. But the meeting and mutual influence of Western and Byzantine cultures during this period prepared their rapprochement in late Byzantium.

The culture of late Byzantium was characterized by the ideological communication of the Byzantine scholars with Italian scientists, writers, and poets, which influenced the formation of early Italian humanism. It was the Byzantine erudites who were destined to open the wonderful world of Greco-Roman antiquity to Western humanists, to acquaint them with classical ancient literature, with the true philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. It should be noted that the concept of "Byzantine humanism" denotes that cultural, spiritual, intellectual, psychological and aesthetic complex, which is characteristic of the worldview of the erudite layer of the XIV-XV centuries, and which, by its characteristics, can be considered an analogue of Italian humanism. At the same time, it is not so much about the completed and formed culture of humanism, but about humanistic tendencies, not so much about the revival of antiquity, but about the well-known rethinking of the ancient heritage, paganism as a system of views, about turning it into a factor of worldview.

The broadest knowledge of such famous Byzantine philosophers, theologians, philologists, rhetoricians as George Gemist Pliton, Dmitry Kidonis, Manuel Chrysolor, Vissarion of Nicaea, etc., aroused the boundless admiration of Italian humanists, many of whom became disciples and followers of Byzantine scholars. However, the inconsistency of social relations in late Byzantium, the weakness of the germs of pre-capitalist relations, the onslaught of the Turks and a sharp ideological struggle, which ended in the victory of mystical currents, led to the fact that the new direction in artistic creativity that arose there, akin to the early Italian Renaissance, did not receive an end.

Simultaneously with the development of humanistic ideas in late Byzantium, an extraordinary rise of mysticism took place. As if all the temporarily lurking forces of spiritualism and mysticism, asceticism and detachment from life were now consolidated in the hesychast movement, in the teachings of Gregory Palamas, and began an attack on the ideals of the Renaissance. In an atmosphere of hopelessness generated by the deadly military danger, feudal strife and the defeat of popular movements, in particular the uprising of the Zealots, among the Byzantine clergy and monasticism there was a growing conviction that salvation from earthly troubles could be found only in a world of passive contemplation, complete tranquility - hesychia, in self-deepened ecstasy , allegedly bestowing a mystical fusion with a deity and illumination with divine light. Supported by the ruling church and the feudal nobility, the teachings of the hesychasts triumphed, enchanting the broad masses of the empire with mystical ideas. The victory of hesychasm was in many ways fatal for the Byzantine state: hesychasm stifled the germs of humanistic ideas in literature and art, weakened the will to resist the masses of the people with external enemies. Superstition flourished in late Byzantium. Social turmoil gave rise to thoughts about the approaching end of the world. Even among educated people, fortune-telling, predictions, and sometimes magic were common. Byzantine authors more than once turned to the plot about the prophecies of the Sibyl, who allegedly correctly determined the number of Byzantine emperors and patriarchs, and thus allegedly predicted the time of the death of the empire. There were special fortune-telling books (bible chris-matogy) that predicted the future.

Religious sentiment was highly characteristic of late Byzantine society. The sermons of asceticism and anchorism addressed to the people could not but leave a trace. The life of many people, both from the nobility and representatives of the lower classes, was marked by the desire for solitude, for prayer. The words of George the Acropolitan could characterize not only the despot John: “He spent whole nights in prayer ... such a life. " Leaving political life for a monastery is far from being isolated. The desire to get away from public affairs was explained primarily by the fact that contemporaries did not see a way out of those unfavorable collisions of the domestic and international plan, which testified to the fall of the empire's authority and its approach to catastrophe.

Summing up the development of Byzantine culture in the XI-XII centuries, we can note some important new features. Of course, the culture of the Byzantine Empire at this time was still medieval, traditional, in many respects canonical. But in the artistic life of society, despite its canonicity and unification of aesthetic values, the sprouts of new pre-Renaissance trends are breaking through, which found further development in Byzantine art of the Paleologian era. They affect not only and not so much the return of interest in antiquity, which never died in Byzantium, but in the emergence of the germs of rationalism and free-thinking, in the intensification of the struggle of various social groups in the cultural sphere, in the growth of social discontent.

What is the contribution of the Byzantine civilization to world culture? First of all, it should be noted that Byzantium was a "golden bridge" between Western and Eastern cultures; it had a profound and lasting impact on the development of the cultures of many countries of medieval Europe. The area of ​​the spread of the influence of Byzantine culture was very extensive: Sicily, southern Italy, Dalmatia, the states of the Balkan Peninsula, Ancient Russia, Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus and the Crimea - all of them, to one degree or another, were in contact with Byzantine education. The most intense Byzantine cultural influence, naturally, affected the countries where Orthodoxy was established, connected by strong threads with the Church of Constantinople. Byzantine influence manifested itself in the field of religion and philosophy, social thought and cosmology, writing and education, political ideas and law, it penetrated into all spheres of art - into literature and architecture, painting and music. Through Byzantium, the ancient and Hellenistic cultural heritage, spiritual values ​​created not only in Greece itself, but also in Egypt and Syria, Palestine and Italy, were passed on to other peoples. The perception of the traditions of Byzantine culture in Bulgaria and Serbia, Georgia and Armenia, in Ancient Rus contributed to the further progressive development of their cultures.

Despite the fact that Byzantium existed for 1000 years longer than the Great Roman Empire, it was conquered in the XIV century. by the Seljuk Turks. Turkish troops, who conquered Constantinople in 1453, put an end to the history of the Byzantine Empire. But this was not the end of her artistic and cultural development. Byzantium made a huge contribution to the development of world culture. Its basic principles and directions of culture passed to neighboring states. Almost all the time, medieval Europe developed on the basis of the achievements of Byzantine culture. Byzantium can be called "the second Rome", tk. its contribution to the development of Europe and the whole world is in no way inferior to the Roman Empire.

After 1000 years of history, Byzantium ceased to exist, but the original and interesting Byzantine culture did not remain in oblivion, which passed the cultural and historical baton to Russian culture.

Christianization of Rus: the development of everyday and spiritual culture

The beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe is usually associated with the transition from paganism to Christianity. And in our history, the adoption of Christianity has become an important milestone. The unification of the Old Russian lands into a single state set an important task for the grand dukes - to give the tribes that entered it a single spiritual basis.

Christianity was the spiritual foundation of European civilization. In this sense, Vladimir's choice was correct. It showed an orientation towards Europe. Of the two most significant branches of Christianity: Catholicism and Orthodoxy, he chose Orthodoxy or Orthodox Christianity.

The adoption of Christianity had long-term consequences for Russia. First of all, it defined its further development as a European country, became part of the Christian world and played a noticeable role in Europe of that time. The baptism of Rus took place in 988, when, by order of the Grand Duke Vladimir, the Kievites had to be baptized in the waters of the Dnieper, recognize one God, renounce pagan gods and overthrow their images - idols. In some principalities, baptism was accepted voluntarily, in others it provoked popular resistance. It can be assumed that the people of Kiev perceived baptism as a pagan act - cleansing with water and finding another god, the patron saint of the prince.

After the adoption of Christianity, Orthodoxy gradually began to influence ethnic consciousness and culture. The influence of the Russian Church extended to all aspects of social life. State acts, holidays (church and state), lighting and services for the beginning and end of any event; registration of acts of registration of births, marriages and deaths - all this was under the jurisdiction of the church.

The princely power actively influenced the formation and strengthening of the Orthodox Church in Russia. A system of material support for the church has developed. The Orthodox church becomes the center of not only the spiritual, but also the social and economic life of the parish, especially the rural one.

The church has taken an important place in the political life of the country. The princes, starting with Vladimir, called on the metropolitans and bishops to participate in state affairs; at the princely congresses, the clergy was in first place after the princes. The Russian Church acted in the princely feuds as a pacifying party, she stood up for the preservation of peace and the welfare of the state. This position of the church is reflected in theological and artistic works. The clergy were the most educated segment of society. In the writings of church leaders, universally significant ideas were put forward, the position of Russia in the world was comprehended, the ways of development of Russian culture. During the fragmentation of Russia and the Mongol Tatar invasion, the Russian Orthodox Church was the bearer of the Orthodox faith, which made it possible to maintain the unity of Russia in the popular consciousness. From the middle of the XIV century. a cultural upsurge gradually begins, the development of education, the spread of literacy and the accumulation of scientific knowledge in all areas. External contacts are revived due to diplomatic ties, pilgrimage to holy places, trade. As a result, people's horizons are broadened. Since the XV century. the process of the formation of the Russian national idea, the cultural and religious self-determination of the people is taking place more actively. It manifested itself in comprehending the place of Russia and the world, ways of its further development and national priorities. A certain impetus in this direction was the Florentine Union of 1439 (the union of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches). As a result of complex political and religious processes, the Russian Orthodox Church in 1539 became autocephalous - independent, with a patriarch at its head.

Development of the Slavic alphabet by the Byzantine diplomat and Slavic educator Cyril

writing christianization rus byzantine

The creation of Slavic writing is rightfully attributed to the brothers Constantine the Philosopher (in monasticism - Cyril) and Methodius. Information about the beginning of Slavic writing can be gleaned from various sources: the Slavic lives of Cyril and Methodius, several words of praise and church services in their honor, the works of the monastic Khrabr "On the Writings", etc.

In 863, an embassy from the Great Moravian prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. The ambassadors conveyed to Emperor Michael III a request to send missionaries to Moravia who could preach sermons in a language understandable to the Moravians (Moravians) instead of the Latin language of the German clergy.

The Great Moravian Empire (830-906) was a large early feudal state of the Western Slavs. Apparently, already under the first prince Moimir (ruled 830-846), representatives of the princely family adopted Christianity. Under Moymir's successor Rostislav (846-870), the Great Moravian state waged an intense struggle against German expansion, the instrument of which was the church. Rostislav tried to oppose the German Church, creating an independent Slavic bishopric, and therefore turned to Byzantium, knowing that Slavs lived in Byzantium and in its neighborhood.

Rostislav's request to send missionaries was in the interests of Byzantium, which had long sought to extend its influence to the Western Slavs. It corresponded even more to the interests of the Byzantine Church, whose relations with Rome in the middle of the 9th century. became more and more hostile. Just in the year of the arrival of the Great Moravian embassy, ​​these relations became so aggravated that Pope Nicholas even publicly cursed Patriarch Photius.

Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius decided to send a mission to Great Moravia headed by Constantine the Philosopher and Methodius. This choice was not accidental. Konstantin already had a rich experience of missionary activity and showed himself in it as a brilliant dialectician and diplomat. This decision was also due to the fact that the brothers, originating from the half-Slavic-half-Greek city of Soluni, knew the Slavic language perfectly.

Constantine (826-869) and his older brother Methodius (820-885) were born and spent their childhood in the bustling Macedonian port city of Soluni (now Thessaloniki, Greece).

In the early 1950s, Constantine proved himself to be a skillful orator, having won a brilliant victory in a debate over the former patriarch Arius. It was from this time that Emperor Michael, and then Patriarch Photius, began almost continuously to send Constantine as an envoy of Byzantium to neighboring peoples to convince them of the superiority of Byzantine Christianity over other religions. So Konstantin, as a missionary, visited Bulgaria, Syria and the Khazar Kaganate.

The character and, consequently, the life of Methodius were largely similar, but in many respects they were different from the character and life of his younger brother.

Both of them lived mainly a spiritual life, striving for the embodiment of their beliefs and ideas, not attaching importance to either wealth, or career, or fame. The brothers never had wives or children, wandered all their lives, never creating a home for themselves, and even died in a foreign land. It is also no coincidence that not a single literary work of Constantine and Methodius has survived to this day, although both of them, especially Constantine, wrote and translated many scientific and literary works; finally, it is still not known which alphabet was created by Constantine the Philosopher - Cyrillic or Glagolitic.

In addition to similar features, there were many different in the character of the brothers, however, despite this, they ideally complemented each other in a conscientious work. The younger brother wrote, the older one translated his works. The younger created the Slavic alphabet, Slavic writing and book business, the elder practically developed what the younger had created. The younger was a talented scientist, philosopher, brilliant dialectician and subtle philologist; the elder is a capable organizer and practitioner.

It is not surprising that at a council convened on the occasion of the Moravian embassy, ​​the emperor announced that no one would fulfill the request of Prince Rostislav better than Constantine the Philosopher. After that, according to the story "Life", Constantine left the council and prayed for a long time. According to the chronicle and documentary sources, then he developed the Slavic alphabet. "The Philosopher went and, according to the old custom, began to pray with other helpers. And soon God revealed them to him that he was listening to the prayers of his servants, and then he folded the letters and began to write the words of the Gospel: from time immemorial there was the word and the word of God, and God was the word ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God") and so on. " "Psalter" and selected passages from "Church services"). Thus, the first Slavic literary language was born, many of whose words are still alive in the Slavic languages, including Bulgarian and Russian.

Constantine and Methodius went to Great Moravia. In the summer of 863, after a long and difficult journey, the brothers finally arrived at the hospitable capital of Moravia, Velehrad.

Prince Rostislav received the envoys of friendly Byzantium. With his help, the brothers chose disciples for themselves and diligently taught them the Slavic alphabet and church services in the Slavic language, and in their free time they continued to translate the brought Greek books into the Slavic language. So, from the very arrival in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius did everything possible for the speedy dissemination of Slavic writing and culture in the country.

Gradually the Moravians (Moravians) became more and more accustomed to hearing in churches native language... Churches where services were conducted in Latin were emptied, and the German Catholic clergy was losing their influence and income in Moravia, and therefore attacked the brothers with malice, accusing them of heresy.

Having prepared disciples, Constantine and Methodius, however, faced a serious difficulty: since none of them was a bishop, they had no right to ordain priests. And the German bishops refused this, since they were by no means interested in the development of divine services in the Slavic language. In addition, the activities of the brothers in the direction of the development of worship in the Slavic language, being historically progressive, came into conflict with the so-called theory of trilingualism, created in the early Middle Ages, according to which only three languages ​​had the right to exist in worship and literature: Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

Constantine and Methodius had only one way out - to seek a solution to the difficulties that had arisen in Byzantium or Rome. However, oddly enough, the brothers choose Rome, although at that moment the papal throne was occupied by Nicholas, who fiercely hated Patriarch Photius and everyone associated with him. Despite this, Constantine and Methodius hoped for a favorable reception from the pope, and not without reason. The fact is that Constantine had the remains of Clement, the third pope in order, if we assume that the very first was the apostle Peter. Having such a valuable relic in their hands, the brothers could be sure that Nicholas would make big concessions, up to the permission of divine services in the Slavic language.

In the middle of 866, after 3 years in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius, accompanied by their disciples, left Velehrad for Rome. On the way, the brothers met the Pannonian prince Kocel. He well understood the significance of the work undertaken by Constantine and Methodius and treated the brothers as a friend and ally. Kotsel himself learned the Slavic literacy from them and sent about fifty students with them for the same training and ordination. Thus, Slavic writing, in addition to Moravia, became widespread in Pannonia, where the ancestors of modern Slovenes lived.

By the time the brothers arrived in Rome, Pope Nicholas was replaced by Adrian II. He favorably accepts Constantine and Methodius, allows divine services in the Slavic language, ordains brothers to priests, and their disciples to enlighteners and deacons.

The brothers remain in Rome for almost two years. Konstantin falls seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, he is tonsured a monk and takes a new name - Cyril. Shortly before his death, he turns to Methodius: “Behold, brother, you and I were a couple in the same team and plowed the same furrow, and I fall in the field, having finished my day. how else can you achieve salvation? " On February 14, 869, Constantine-Cyril died at the age of 42.

Methodius, on the advice of Kocel, achieves consecration to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. In 870 he returned to Pannonia, where he was persecuted by the German clergy and imprisoned for some time. In the middle of 884 Methodius moved to Moravia and was engaged in the translation of the Bible into the Slavic language. He dies on April 6, 885.

The brothers' activities were continued in the South Slavic countries by their disciples, expelled from Moravia in 886. In the West, Slavic divine services and literacy did not survive, but were established in Bulgaria, from where they spread from the 9th century to Russia, Serbia and other countries.

The significance of the activities of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius consisted in the creation of the Slavic alphabet, the development of the first Slavic literary-written language, the formation of the foundations for the creation of texts in the Slavic literary-written language. Cyril and Methodius traditions were the most important foundation of the literary and written languages ​​of the southern Slavs, as well as the Slavs of the Great Moravian state. In addition, they deeply influenced the formation of the literary-written language and texts in it in Ancient Rus, as well as its descendants - Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. One way or another, Cyril and Methodius traditions are reflected in the Polish, Serbolic, Polabian languages. Thus, the activities of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius were of general Slavic significance.

Widespread literacy in the urban environment in the 11th-12th centuries: birch bark letters and graffiti

The urban culture of Ancient Rus has hardly been studied; little space has been allotted to it even in a large two-volume publication on the history of the culture of ancient Russia in pre-Mongol times, even less in books on the history of architecture, painting and literature. In this sense, the section on "the culture of Ancient Rus" in such a generalizing work as "Essays on the History of the USSR" (IX-XIII centuries) is very indicative. Here the thesis is absolutely correctly proclaimed that "Russian rural and urban material culture, the culture of peasants and artisans, constituted the basis of the entire culture of Ancient Rus". And then writing, literature and art, albeit in a somewhat obscure form, are declared the property of "feudal landowners" and only folklore is recognized as the property of the poetic creativity of the Russian people.

Of course, the monuments of literature, architecture, painting, and applied arts that have come down to our time from Ancient Rus in the 11th-13th centuries are works made primarily by order of the feudal lords. But after all, they also reflect the national tastes, moreover, to a greater extent even the tastes of artisans than the feudal lords themselves. Works of art were made according to the idea of ​​artisans and by the hands of artisans. The feudal lords, naturally, expressed general wishes, what they would like to see buildings, weapons, ornaments, but they themselves did nothing, but embodied their wishes with someone else's hands. The largest role in the creation of art objects in Ancient Russia belonged to the masters-townspeople, and this role has not yet been clarified, but has not even been studied. Therefore, the culture of Ancient Rus appears to be so one-sided in many historical works. In vain we would look for even a paragraph on urban culture in our general and special editions. The city and its cultural life fell out of sight of historians and historians of the culture of Ancient Rus, while the urban culture of the medieval Western European city attracted and continues to attract the attention of researchers.

One of the prerequisites for the development of urban culture was the spread of literacy. The wide spread of writing in the cities of Ancient Rus is confirmed by the remarkable discoveries made by Soviet archaeologists. And before them there were already known graffiti inscriptions inscribed by unknown hands on the walls of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, on the walls of the Vydubitskaya Church in Kiev, the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the Church of Panteleimon in Galich, etc. These inscriptions were made on plaster with a sharp tool, known in the Old Russian script as "schiltsa". Their details are not feudal lords or churchmen, but ordinary parishioners, therefore, merchants, artisans and other people who attended churches and left their memory in the form of this kind of wall literature. The graffiti custom itself speaks to the spread of literacy in urban circles. Scraps of prayers and prayer appeals, names, whole phrases carved on church walls show that their creators were literate people, and this literacy, if it was not widespread, was not the lot of a too limited circle of townspeople. After all, the surviving graffiti inscriptions have come down to us by accident. You can imagine how many of them should have died with different kinds renewal of ancient churches, when in the name of "splendor" they covered with new plaster and painted the walls of wonderful buildings of Ancient Russia.

Recently, the inscriptions of the XI-XIII centuries. were found on various household items. They had a household purpose, therefore, they were intended for people who could read these inscriptions. If the graffiti inscriptions can to some extent be attributed to the representatives of the clergy, even the lowest, then what princes and boyars made the inscriptions on wine pots and on shoe blocks? It is clear that these inscriptions were made by representatives of completely different circles of the population, the writing of which is now becoming our property thanks to the successes of Soviet archaeological and historical science.

Even more remarkable finds were made in Novgorod. Here the bottom of one of the barrels was found with a clear inscription of the XII-XIII centuries. - "law". The barrel, therefore, belonged to some Yuri, "Yurishch", according to the old Russian custom to diminish or strengthen the name. On a wooden shoe block for women's shoes, we meet the inscription "Mnezi" - an invisible woman's name. Two inscriptions are abbreviations of names, they are made on a bone arrow and on a birch bark float. But, perhaps, the most interesting find is the discovery in Novgorod of the so-called Ivansky elbow, found during excavations at the Yaroslav's Court in Novgorod. This is a small piece of wood in the form of a broken arshin, on which there was an inscription in letters of the XII-XIII centuries.

A wooden cylinder, also found in Novgorod, is remarkable. It is engraved with the inscription "emetsya hryvnia 3". Yemets is a princely servant who collected court and other duties. The cylinder, apparently, served to store the hryvnia and was provided with a corresponding inscription).

Finds from Novgorod show that the spread of writing was significant in craft and trade life, at least this can be said about Novgorod. However, the use of writing on household items was not only a Novgorod feature. B.A. Rybakov described a fragment of a korchaga on which an inscription was preserved. He managed to make out most of it. The complete inscription, apparently, read like this: "the gracious plona of the korchaga si". The words "nesha plona korchaga si" are completely preserved on the remains of this vessel, found in the old part of Kiev during excavation work. About the same, only more extensive, inscription on the fragment of the pot in which the wine was kept, reports A.L. Mongait. Along the edge of this vessel, found in Staraya Ryazan, there is an inscription in letters of the 12th or early 13th century. V.D. Blavatsky discovered a fragment of a vessel from Tmutarakan, on which several obscure letters were made in ancient handwriting. It was not possible to disassemble this inscription due to its fragmentary nature.

Speaking about writing in ancient Russian cities, one must not forget that in a number of handicraft professions writing was a necessary condition, a need arising from the peculiarities of production itself. These were, first of all, iconic craftsmanship and murals. On icons, as a rule, letters and whole phrases were placed. A master icon painter or a church painter could be a semi-literate person, but he had to know the rudiments of literacy under all conditions, otherwise he could not successfully fulfill the orders he received. In some cases, the artist had to fill in images of open pages of books or scrolls with long texts (see, for example, the icon of the Mother of God of the Bogolyubsky mid-12th century). The study of inscriptions on icons and murals with regard to their linguistic features has hardly been carried out, but it could have yielded interesting results. So, on the temple icon of Dmitry Selunsky, which stood in the cathedral of the city of Dmitrov, almost from the time of its foundation, we read the signature "Dmitry" next to the Greek designations (about agios - saint). Here the typically Russian, common people "Dmitri" is combined with a conventional Greek expression. This reveals that the artist was Russian and not a foreigner.

The number of small and large inscriptions on icons and frescoes is so great, the inscriptions themselves are made so carefully and so reflect the development of the living Old Russian language with its features that no special evidence is required to draw a conclusion about the wide development of writing among master artists.

Knowledge of at least the elements of literacy was also necessary for silversmiths and gunsmiths who made expensive items. This is evidenced by the custom to mark the names of the masters on some objects of the 11th-13th centuries. The names of the masters (Costa, Bratilo) have been preserved on the Novgorod craters, on the copper arch from Vshizh (Constantine), on the cross of the Polotsk princess Euphrosyne (Bogsha). Writing was also widespread among bricklayers-builders. Special studies have shown that bricks used for the construction of stone buildings in Ancient Rus usually have marks. So, on several bricks of the cathedral in Staraya Ryazan, the name of the master is imprinted: Yakov.

We also find the spread of writing among stone carvers. The oldest samples of Cyril's inscriptions are stone slabs with the remains of letters found in the ruins of the Tithe Church in Kiev at the end of the 10th century. One of the oldest inscriptions was made on the famous Tmutarakan stone. The Sterzhensky cross belongs to 1133; almost simultaneously with him the Borisov stone was erected on the Western Dvina. The prevalence of such crosses and stones with memorial records of the 11th-13th centuries. indicates that writing was firmly rooted in the everyday life of Ancient Russia. The so-called "Stepan's stone" found in the Kalinin region also speaks of the established custom of placing stones with inscriptions on the boundaries.

Let us also recall the existence of inscriptions on various kinds of vessels, crosses, icons, ornaments that have come down to us from the 11th-13th centuries. It is impossible to assume that the artisans who made these inscriptions were illiterate people, since in this case we would have clear traces of inability to reproduce the inscriptions on the things themselves. Therefore, it must be assumed that among the artisans there were people with certain writing skills.

It can be assumed that the inscriptions on household items of princes or the higher clergy, as is clearly seen, for example, from the already mentioned inscription on an Old Ryazan vessel, were sometimes made by princely tiuns or some other household servants. The salary of the Mstislavov Gospel was made between 1125-1137. at the expense of the prince. A certain Naslav traveled on a princely order to Constantinople and was a prince's servant. But does this give the right to deny the existence of writing among those artisans who were engaged in the production of other, less precious items than the Novgorod craters and the Polotsk cross? Wooden shoe pads, a bone arrow, a birch bark float, a wooden cup with the inscription "smova", found in the Novgorod excavations, indicate that writing in Kievan Rus was not the property of only the feudal lords. It was widespread among the trade and craft circles of ancient Russian cities of the XI-XIII centuries. Of course, the spread of writing among artisans should not be exaggerated. Literacy was necessary for the craftsmen of a few professions and was spread mainly in large cities, but even in this case, archaeological finds of recent years lead us far from the usual ideas about unwritten Russia, according to which only monasteries and palaces of princes and boyars were centers of culture.

The need for literacy and writing was especially evident in the merchant environment. "Ryad" - the contract - is known to us both from Russian Pravda and from other sources. The oldest private written "row" (Teshaty and Yakima) dates back to the second half of the 13th century, but this does not mean that such written documents did not exist before.

This is evidenced by the use of terms related to writing in legal monuments of ancient times. Usually, to prove that Ancient Russia did not know the widespread distribution of private acts, they referred to Russian Pravda, which allegedly does not mention written documents. However, in the lengthy edition of Pravda, "fur" is named, a special collection that went in favor of the scribe: "scribe 10 kunas, 5 kunas on the fur, two legs on the fur". Such a connoisseur of ancient writing as I.I. Sreznevsky, translates the term "fur" in Russian Pravda exactly as "leather for writing". Russkaya Pravda itself points out that both the "baggage" and the duty "on fur" went to the scribe. We have an indication of the duty on written transactions and records in the Manuscript of Vsevolod Mstislavich ("Russian letter").

Among the urban population there was also such a stratum for which writing was compulsory - this is the parish clergy, primarily priests, deacons, deacons, who read and sang in church. Popov's son, who had not learned to read and write, seemed to the people of Ancient Russia to be a kind of undergrowth, a person who had lost the right to his profession, along with an owed merchant or a slave who had been ransomed to freedom. From among the clergy and lower church clerks, cadres of book scribes were recruited. If we recall that the monasteries of Ancient Rus were primarily urban monasteries, then the category of urban residents, among whom literacy was widespread, seems to be quite significant: it included artisans, merchants, clergy, boyars, and princely people. Let literacy not be ubiquitous; at least in the city there were significantly more literate people than in the countryside, where the need for literacy at this time was extremely limited.

Among the princes of the XII-XIII centuries. the custom was widespread to exchange the so-called letters of the cross, which were written contracts. The letter of the cross, which the Galician prince Vladimirka "revived" the Kiev prince Vsevolod, is reported under 1144. In 1152, Izyaslav Mstislavich sent the same Vladimirka letters of the cross with accusations of treachery; in 1195 the Kiev prince Rurik sent the letters of the cross to Roman Mstislavich; on the basis of their Rurik "expose" the betrayal of Roman; in 1196, the same letters of the cross were mentioned in relation to Vsevolod the Big Nest. Known about the letters of the cross of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, etc. Thus, the custom of written treaties between princes became firmly established in Russia in the 12th century. Already at this time, letters-forgeries appeared. It is known about a false letter sent on behalf of Yaroslav Osmomysl in 1172 by the Galician governor and his comrades. The letter in this news is one of the necessary attributes of inter-princely relations. The princely letters that have survived to our time allow us to say that they were already in the XII century. were compiled according to a specific form. Two letters of the Novgorod prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, given by him to the Yuryev Monastery in 1125-1137, have the same introduction and conclusion. The letters of Mstislav Vladimirovich (1130) and Izyaslav Mstislavich (1146-1155) 1) were written in approximately the same form. These documents, which came out of the prince's office, were written according to certain samples by experienced scribes. The skills of the princely offices could not be developed overnight. Consequently, they must have been preceded by some period of development. The existence of treaties between Russia and the Greeks tells us that the princely offices in Russia appeared no later than the 10th century.

The relatively wide spread of literacy in the urban environment is confirmed by the discovery of Novgorod birch bark letters. The material for writing in Ancient Russia was such an object as birch bark. It cannot even be called cheap, it was just generally available, because birch bark is found wherever birch grows. The processing of the bark for writing was extremely primitive. The properties of birch bark, easily disintegrating and brittle, made it a convenient writing material only for correspondence with temporary significance; books and acts were written on durable parchment, later on paper.

The discovery of birch bark letters by A.V. Artsikhovsky dispelled the legend about the extremely weak spread of literacy in Ancient Russia. It turns out that at this time people readily corresponded on various issues. Here is a letter from Guests to Vasily about a difficult family case. Another letter is about a controversial or stolen cow, the third about furs, etc. These are the findings of 1951.

The correspondence of the townspeople of the XI-XIII centuries in the letters found during the excavations of 1952 is drawn even more fully and vividly for us. Here are the demands to send "spindles" and "Medvedna" (bags and bearskins), correspondence about the dishonor of some nobleman, orders for trade and even reports of hostilities.

Diplomas on birch bark are valuable because they give an idea of Everyday life and the activities of the townspeople with their petty concerns of personal and public order. At the same time, they are indisputable proof of the relatively wide spread of literacy in the cities of Ancient Rus in the 11th-13th centuries.

Mathematical, astronomical and geographical knowledge in Ancient Russia

The process of unification of the Russian lands around Moscow began in the 14th century, and at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries. this process has ended. The Russian centralized state was created. But, its lag behind the West was significant. Universities were operating in Europe at that time, the market was developing, manufactures appeared, the bourgeoisie was an organized class, Europeans were actively exploring new lands and continents.

Scientific and technical knowledge in the XIV-XVI centuries. in the Russian lands, in most cases, they were at the practical level, there were no theoretical developments. Their main source continued to be books by Western European authors translated into Russian.

By the XIV-XVI centuries. mathematics was especially developed, primarily in the practical aspect. The stimulus was the needs of the church and the state. However, the interest of the church was limited only to the area of ​​the church calendar, questions of the chronological determination of holidays and church services. In particular, translated from Latin, special works in mathematics made it possible to calculate Easter tables, which were brought only up to 1492. The fiscal policy needs of the state have also generated a greater focus on mathematics. Various surveying work was carried out, and, accordingly, knowledge of geometry was needed.

Astronomy occupied a special place in the field of natural science. Its development took place in several directions: reproduction and systematization of old astronomical concepts, supplementing them with new knowledge; the development of practical astronomy, associated with the calculation of calendar-astronomical tables; attempts to present the system of the world in a mathematical perspective.

Geographical knowledge in the XIV-XVI centuries. did not progress much compared to the previous period. A distinctive feature of this period was the increase in the number of Russian travels abroad. The sources of geographic information were foreign manuals. For example, the Byzantine work "Chronograph", published in 1512. This work bore a tinge of fabulousness. Another translated work of this period - the geography of "Lucidarius" gives superficial information about Western Europe, the geography of Asia is described in some detail, although it contains a lot of mythical information about the population of India, its fauna.

In the XV-XVI centuries. philosophical knowledge is actively penetrating into Russia. The country got acquainted with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle through translated literature. Thus, the main source of penetration of Aristotle's ideas was "The Dialectic of St. John of Damascus". Around the same period, the philosophical work of the Arab scientist Al - Ghazali "The Purpose of the Philosopher", who professed the ideas of Neoplatonism, came to Russia. Of the Russian philosophers, it is necessary to single out the works of Ermolai-Erasmus on the cosmic significance of the Holy Trinity.

The first parish schools under Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise

The period of development of domestic education under the princes Vladimir and Yaroslav the Wise is often recognized as the initial one in the entire history of this education, which is largely associated with Christian churches.

Under the year 988, in the Tale of Bygone Years: "And he set up (Vladimir) a church in the name of St. Basil on a hill where the idol of Perun and others stood and where the prince and people performed for them. And in other cities they began to erect churches and determine priests in them, and bring people to baptism in all cities and villages. the best people children and send them to book education. The mothers of these children wept for them; for they were not yet established in the faith, and wept for them as if they were dead "(the pagans were against Christian innovations).

Polish historian Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480) about the Kiev school of "book learning" "Vladimir ... attracts Russian youths to the study of arts, in addition, contains masters requested from Greece." To create a three-volume history of Poland, Dlugosz used Polish, Czech, Hungarian, German sources, and Old Russian chronicles. Apparently, from the chronicle that did not come down to us, he learned the news about the study of arts (sciences) at the Kiev school of Vladimir. According to rough estimates, the "Vladimir school" with a contingent of 300 students in 49 years (988-1037) could prepare over a thousand educated pupils. Yaroslav the Wise used a number of them to develop education in Russia.

Teachers of the X-XIII centuries due to the imperfection of teaching methods and individual work in the process of classes with each student individually, he could not deal with more than 6-8 students. The prince recruited a large number of children to school, so at first he was forced to distribute them among the teachers. This division of students into groups was common in Western European schools at the time. From the surviving acts of the cantor of the schools of medieval Paris, it is known that the number of students per teacher was from 6 to 12 people, in the schools of the Cluny Monastery - 6 people, in the girls' primary schools in Thiel - 4-5 students. Eight students are depicted on the miniature of the front "Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh", 5 students are sitting in front of the teacher in the engraving of the front "ABC" of 1637 by V. Burtsov.

About this number of students is evidenced by the birch bark letters of the famous Novgorod schoolchild of the 13th century. Onfima. One with a handwriting different from that of Onfim (No. 201), hence V.L. Yanin suggested that this letter belongs to Onfim's school comrade. Onfim's fellow disciple was Danila, to whom Onfim prepared a greeting: "A bow from Onfim to Danila." Perhaps the fourth Novgorodian, Matvey (diploma No. 108), also studied with Onfim, whose handwritings are very similar.

Russian scribes who worked in advanced schools used their own version of the structure of subjects, which to a certain extent took into account the experience of Byzantine and Bulgarian schools that provided higher education.

Sophia's first chronicle of the school in Novgorod: 1030. "In the summer of 6538. Yaroslav's idea to Chyud, and I win, and set up the city of Yuryev. And when I come to Novgorod, and take 300 children from the elders and the priests, teach them with a book."

The school in Novgorod, founded in 1030 by Yaroslav the Wise, was the second higher educational institution in Russia, in which only the children of elders and clergy were trained. There is a version that the chronicle refers to the children of church elders, elected from the lower classes, but until the end of the 16th century. only administrative and military elders are known. The term "church elder" appeared in the 17th century. The contingent of students of the Novgorod school consisted of children of the clergy and the city administration. The social composition of students reflected the class nature of education at that time.

The main task of the school was to train a competent and united by a new faith administrative apparatus and priests, whose activities took place in a difficult struggle against the strong traditions of pagan religion among the Novgorodians and the Finno-Ugric tribes that surrounded Novgorod.

The activities of Yaroslav's school relied on an extensive network of schools for elementary literacy, as evidenced by the large number of birch bark letters discovered by archaeologists, wrote, wax boards. On the basis of widespread literacy, Novgorod literacy flourished. The famous Ostromir Gospel, the description of Constantinople by Dobrynya Yadreykovich, and Kirik's mathematical treatise were written in Novgorod. Preserved for posterity "Izbornik 1073 Years", the initial collection of chronicles, a short edition of "Russian Pravda". The Novgorod book depositories served as one of the main sources of "The Great Menaion" - a collection of "all books in Russia", consisting of 12 huge volumes with a total volume of over 27 thousand pages.

In the year 6545. Yaroslav laid the foundation for a large city, which now has the Golden Gate, laid the Church of St. Sophia, the Metropolitanate, and then the Church of the Holy Virgin of the Annunciation at the Golden Gate, then the monastery of St. George and St. Irene ... Yaroslav loved church statutes, priests were very fond of, especially the monks, and showed zeal for books, often reading them both night and day. And he gathered many book-writers who translated from Greek into Slavic. And they wrote many books from which believers learn and enjoy the divine teachings. As it happens that one plows the land, another sows it, and still others reap and eat food that is not scarce, so it is here. After all, his father Vladimir plowed the land and softened, that is, he enlightened him with baptism, and we reap, receiving the teaching of the book.

After all, there is great benefit from the teaching of the book; books instruct and teach us the ways of repentance, for we gain wisdom and abstinence in the words of books. These are the rivers that feed the universe, these are the sources of wisdom, there is immeasurable depth in books ... ... Yaroslav ... loved books and, having copied many of them, put them in the Church of St. Sophia, which he created himself "

The educational reform of Vladimir and Yaroslav intensified Christianization in the lands of the future Russia and its neighbors, but the centuries-old pagan traditions had deep roots in the peoples of the country.

As professional scribes of South Slavic manuscripts, they called themselves "grammarians", and teachers - teachers of the full course of grammar - were also called Greeks. Emperor Justinian in 534 established a remuneration for prominent grammarians in the amount of 70 solidi and assigned a number of other privileges to these teachers. Grammar was taught in the Kiev palace school, after death, according to their status, they were buried in the cathedral. The relics of the "Grammar" were transferred to the monastery, where Lazar was the abbot (mentioned under 1088).

Practical application of knowledge in crafts and construction

In Kievan Rus, a variety of knowledge, technical achievements used in practical life were accumulated and actively used: cities, fortresses and castles were erected, metal was mined, tools and weapons were forged, ships and machines were built, fabrics and clothing were produced, leather and shoes were made. All these branches of the craft required a wide variety of knowledge, skills and technical devices. From X to 20-30s. XII century. the first stage in the development of ancient Russian craft with a fairly high technology of production in terms of the Middle Ages stands out. At this time, the foundations of ancient Russian production were created. In particular, there was ferrous metallurgy based on the raw-blown process of iron production from bog ores. Metallurgists living in rural areas supplied the cities with sufficient quantities of high-quality iron, which the city's blacksmiths converted into high-quality carbon steel. There was also developed leather and furry production, the manufacture of leather footwear. In Kievan Rus, several types of high-quality leather were known, an assortment of woolen fabrics was widely represented. In handicraft production, there were various technologies of woodworking, which made it possible to manufacture the most complex turned vessels of more than 20 types. The products of jewelers for the processing of non-ferrous metals were diverse and the technique of jewelry craft was at a high technological level.

The second period, which began at the end of the first third of the 12th century, was characterized by a sharp expansion of the range of products and, at the same time, a significant rationalization of production, which led to the standardization of products and the specialization of handicraft industries. The number of specialties at the end of the XII century in some Russian cities it exceeded 100. For example, in metalworking, instead of high-quality multilayer steel blades, simplified blades with a welded edge appear. In the textile industry at the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII century. (at the same time as in Western Europe) a horizontal loom appears. Russian weavers, using extensive economic ties with the countries of Western Europe, did not lag far behind European craftsmen in the modernization of weaving production. Russian weavers specialized in the production of linen fabrics.

In addition to looms in Russia, various mechanical devices and machines were used, made mainly of wood: blower bellows, lifting levers, drills and collars, circular sharpeners and hand mills, spindles and reels, wheeled carts and a potter's wheel, crushing and pulp, turning machines, stone throwers, battering rams, crossbows and much more.

Thus, through translated literature in Kievan Rus, scientific ideas of the surrounding world were spread, there were many literate and educated (in general) people, schools were operating. The technique of building temples and other structures, military fortifications was developing (here it was necessary to operate with precise calculations, to know the mechanics). Handicraft production in Russia, in terms of the variety of technological operations, in the development and equipping of tools, in terms of specialization, was on the same level with handicraft production in Western Europe and the East. However, scientific schools were not created, the development of knowledge was of an exclusively practical nature.

From the second quarter of the XIII century. the development of the Russian lands was stopped by a powerful blow from the East, from the Mongol Empire, and the establishment of the vassal dependence of Russia on the Golden Horde. Batu's invasion caused terrible damage to Russian cities ─ centers of progress and knowledge. Among the tragic consequences was the fact that the development of Russian craft was interrupted, and yet it was in a state of recovery. For more than a century, some types of crafts (jewelry, glass), techniques and skills (filigree, grain, cloisonne enamel) were lost. Monuments of Russian architecture were destroyed. For half a century, stone urban construction ceased. Many written monuments were lost. As N.M. wrote Karamzin: "the shade of barbarism, darkening the horizon of Russia, hid Europe from us at the very time when ... the invention of the compass spread navigation and trade; artisans, artists, scientists were encouraged by the government; universities for higher sciences arose ... The nobility was already ashamed of robberies ... Europe is not us I learned: but for the fact that it has changed in these 250 years, and we stayed as we were. "

The situation in the Russian lands began to change in the second half of the 14th century, in particular, the pre-Mongol level of production development was achieved. The prerequisites for this kind of production boom, undoubtedly, were the rise and strengthening of Moscow's positions in the unification process, the tactics of Ivan Kalita and his sons to "avoid conflicts" with the Horde. The symbol of the revival was the construction of the white-stone Kremlin in Moscow during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy.

conclusions

The historical role of Byzantium in the destinies of Europe, Kievan Rus is enormous, the significance of its culture in the development of world civilization is enduring and, of course, fruitful.

Byzantine art was extremely important. Making extensive use of the ancient heritage, Byzantine art acted as a repository of many of its images and motives and passed them on to other peoples. The significance of Byzantine art was especially great for countries that, like Byzantium, adhered to the Orthodox religion (Bulgaria, Ancient Rus) and invariably retained lively cultural ties with Constantinople (imperial and patriarchal courts).

In the history of world culture, Byzantium is the first Christian empire, an Orthodox state, opening the era of the European Middle Ages.

The most ancient durable medieval state, Byzantium for many centuries - the most powerful country in the Christian world, the center of a multifaceted, outstanding civilization.

Sources of

1.Istrin V.A. The emergence and development of writing, 2010

.Rozov N.N. Books of Ancient Russia 9-14 centuries, 1977

.Florea B.N. The emergence of Slavic writing. Historical conditions of its development // Essays on the history of culture of the Slavs. RAS. Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies. M., 1996

.Udaltsova Z. V. Byzantine culture. M., 1988.

.# "justify">. Arsentieva A.V., Mikhailova S.Yu. History of Science: Textbook. Cheboksary, ed. Chuvash University. 2003.

.Dyatchin N.I. The history of the development of technology. M .: Phoenix, 2001, 320 p.

.Puzyrev N.M. A Brief History of Science and Technology. Textbook. allowance. Tver, Tver University 2003-2004.

.# "justify">. # "justify">. http://www.portal-slovo.ru/impressionism/39140.php - educational portal

Similar works on - The spread of the Greco-Byzantine spiritual traditions in Russia. Lives of the Saints and Introduction to Ancient Knowledge