The culture of Ancient Rus' is a unique phenomenon. According to the researcher, "Old Russian art is the fruit of the feat of the Russian people, who defended their independence, their faith and their ideals on the edge of the European world." Scientists note the openness and synthesis (from the word "synthesis" - bringing together into a single whole) of ancient Russian culture. The interaction of the heritage of the Eastern Slavs with the Byzantine and, consequently, ancient traditions created an original spiritual world. The time of its formation and first flourishing - X - the first half of the XIII century. (pre-Mongol period).
First of all, we note the influence of the baptism of Rus' on the historical and cultural process. Christianity became the state religion of Kievan Rus in 988, during the reign of St. Vladimir I (980 - 1015). Princely power received in the new religion and the church that professed it a reliable support - spiritual and political. The state was strengthened, and with it tribal differences were overcome. A single faith gave the subjects of the state a new sense of unity and community. All-Russian self-consciousness gradually took shape - an important element of the unity of the ancient Russian people.
Christianity, with its monotheism, the recognition of God as the source of power and order in society, made a serious contribution to the consolidation of the feudal relations that were taking shape in Kievan Rus.
The baptism of Rus' turned it into an equal partner of medieval Christian states and thereby strengthened the foreign policy position in the then world.
Finally, about the spiritual and cultural significance of the adoption of Christianity. It is huge. Liturgical books in the Slavic language came to Rus' from Bulgaria and Byzantium, and the number of those who spoke Slavonic writing and literacy increased. The immediate consequence of the baptism of Rus' was the development of painting, icon painting, stone and wooden architecture, church and secular literature, and the education system.
Orthodoxy, having attached Rus' to the ancient Greco-Roman and Christian traditions, at the same time became one of the factors that predetermined the features of the economic, social, political, religious, cultural, and spiritual history of our country.
Pagan antiquity was preserved primarily in oral folk art - folklore (riddles, incantations, spells, proverbs, fairy tales, songs). A special place in the historical memory of the people was occupied by epics - heroic tales about the defenders of their native land from enemies. Folk storytellers sing the exploits of Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich, Volga, Mikula Selyaninovich and other epic heroes (in total, more than 50 main characters act in epics). They turn their appeal to them: “You stand up for the faith, for the fatherland, you stand up for the glorious capital city of Kiev!” It is interesting that in the epics the motive of defending the fatherland is supplemented by the motive of defending the Christian faith. The Baptism of Rus' was the most important event in the history of ancient Russian culture.
With the adoption of Christianity, the rapid development of writing began. Writing was known in Rus' in pre-Christian times (the mention of "features and cuts", the middle of the 1st millennium; information about agreements with Byzantium drawn up in Russian; a clay vessel found near Smolensk with an inscription made in Cyrillic - the alphabet created by the enlighteners of the Slavs Cyril and Methodius at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries). Orthodoxy brought liturgical books, religious and secular translated literature to Rus'. The oldest handwritten books have come down to us - the Ostromir Gospel (1057) and two Izborniks (collection of texts) of Prince Svyatoslav (1073 and 1076). They say that in the XI - XIII centuries. 130 - 140 thousand books of several hundred titles were in circulation: the level of literacy in Ancient Rus' was very high by the standards of the Middle Ages. There is other evidence: birch bark writings (archaeologists discovered them in the middle of the 20th century in Veliky Novgorod), inscriptions on the walls of cathedrals and handicrafts, the activities of monastic schools, the richest book collections of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, etc.
There was an opinion that the ancient Russian culture was "dumb" - it was believed that it had no original literature. This is wrong. Old Russian literature is represented by various genres (chronicles, lives of the saints, journalism, teachings and travel notes, the wonderful "Tale of Igor's Campaign", which does not belong to any of the known genres, it is distinguished by a wealth of images, styles and trends.
The oldest of the chronicles that have come down to us - "The Tale of Bygone Years" - was created around 1113 by Nestor, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The famous questions that open The Tale of Bygone Years: “Where did the Russian land come from, who in Kiev began first to reign, and how the Russian land began to exist,” they already speak about the scale of the personality of the chronicle’s creator, his literary abilities. After the collapse of the Old Russian state, independent chronicle schools arose in isolated lands, but all of them, as a model, turned to The Tale of Bygone Years.
Culture in works
Of the works of the oratorical and journalistic genre, the “Word on Law and Grace” stands out, created by Hilarion, the first Russian-born metropolitan, in the middle of the 11th century. These are thoughts about power, about the place of Rus' in Europe. Wonderful is Vladimir Monomakh's Teaching, written for his sons. The prince must be wise, merciful, just, educated, indulgent and firm in protecting the weak. Strength and valor, faithful service to the country demanded from Prince Daniil Zatochnik, the author of the “Prayer”, brilliant in language and literary form.
The unknown author of the greatest work of ancient Russian literature, The Tale of Igor's Campaign (end of the 12th century), also called for the consent and reconciliation of the princes. The real event - the defeat of the Seversky prince Igor from the Polovtsy (1185 - 1187) - was only an excuse for the creation of the "Word", amazing with the richness of the language, the harmony of the composition, the power of the figurative system. The author sees the Russian land from a great height, embraces vast spaces with his mind's eye, as if “flies with his mind under the clouds”, “prowls through the fields to the mountains” (D.S. Likhachev). Danger threatens Rus', and the princes must forget the strife in order to save her from destruction.
The art of Ancient Rus' is primarily architecture and painting. Byzantine traditions of stone architecture came with Christianity. The greatest buildings of the XI - XII centuries. (Death Church, which died in 1240, cathedrals dedicated to Hagia Sophia in Kyiv, Novgorod, Chernigov, Polotsk) followed Byzantine traditions. A cylindrical drum rests on four massive pillars in the center of the building, connected by arches. On it firmly stands the hemisphere of the dome. Following the four branches of the cross, the remaining parts of the temple adjoin them, ending with vaults, sometimes with domes. In the altar part - semicircular ledges, apses. This is the cross-domed composition of the church building developed by the Byzantines. The inner, and often the outer walls of the temple are painted with frescoes (painting on wet plaster) or covered with mosaics. A special place is occupied by icons - picturesque images of Christ, the Mother of God, saints. The first icons came to Rus' from Byzantium, but Russian masters quickly mastered the strict laws of icon painting. Honoring traditions and diligently studying with Byzantine teachers, Russian architects and painters showed amazing creative freedom: ancient Russian architecture and iconography are more open to the world, cheerful, decorative than Byzantine ones. By the middle of the XII century. the differences between the art schools of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, and South Russian lands also became apparent. Joyful, light, lavishly decorated churches in Vladimir (Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, etc.) contrast with the squat, solid, massive churches of Novgorod (the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, Paraskeva Pyatnitsa on the Market, etc.). The Novgorod icons “Angel of Golden Hair”, “The Sign” differ from the icons “Dmitry of Thessalonica” or “Bogolyubskaya Mother of God” painted by Vladimir-Suzdal masters.
Among the greatest achievements of ancient Russian culture is the artistic craft, or patterning, as it was called in Rus'. Gold jewelry covered with enamel, silver items made using filigree, granulation or niello techniques, patterned decoration of weapons - all this testifies to the high skill and taste of ancient Russian artisans.
Political fragmentation in Rus'
In 1097, princes from different lands of Kievan Rus came to the city of Lyubech and proclaimed a new principle of relations among themselves: "Let everyone keep his fatherland." Its adoption meant that the princes abandoned the ladder system of succession to princely thrones (it went to the eldest in the entire grand ducal family) and switched to inheriting the throne from father to eldest son within individual lands. By the middle of the XII century. the political fragmentation of the Old Russian state with its center in Kyiv was already a fait accompli. It is believed that the introduction of the principle adopted in Lyubech was a factor in the collapse of Kievan Rus. However, not the only and not the most important.
Political fragmentation was inevitable. What were her reasons? During the 11th century Russian lands developed in an ascending line: the population grew, the economy grew stronger, large princely and boyar land ownership increased, cities grew rich. They were less and less dependent on Kyiv and were burdened by his guardianship. To maintain order within his "fatherland", the prince had enough strength and power. Local boyars and cities supported their princes in their quest for independence: they were closer, more closely connected with them, better able to protect their interests. External reasons were added to the internal ones. The Polovtsy raids weakened the southern Russian lands, the population left the restless lands for the northeastern (Vladimir, Suzdal) and southwestern (Galic, Volyn) outskirts. The princes of Kyiv were weakening in the military and economic sense, their authority and influence in solving all-Russian affairs were falling.
The negative consequences of the political fragmentation of Rus' are concentrated in the military-strategic area: the defense capability has weakened in the face of external threats, inter-princely feuds have intensified. But fragmentation also had positive aspects. The isolation of the lands contributed to their economic and cultural development. The collapse of a single state did not mean a complete loss of principles that united the Russian lands. The seniority of the Grand Prince of Kyiv was formally recognized; ecclesiastical and linguistic unity was preserved; the basis of the legislation of the destinies was the norms of Russian Truth. In the popular mind up to the XIII - XIV centuries. lived ideas about the unity of the lands that were part of Kievan Rus.
At the end of the XII century. There were 15 independent lands, essentially independent states. The largest were: in the south-west - the Galicia-Volyn principality; in the northeast - the Vladimir-Suzdal principality; in the northwest - the Novgorod Republic.
The Galicia-Volyn principality (formed in 1199 as a result of the subordination of Galich to the Volyn princes) inherited the political system of Kievan Rus. The princes (Daniil Romanovich, the middle of the 13th century was the largest) when solving important issues, had to take into account the opinion of the boyar-druzhina nobility and city assemblies (veche). This feature reflected the peculiarity of the socio-economic development of the Galicia-Volyn land: boyar estates and cities were traditionally strong here. From the middle of the XIII century. the principality was weakening: internal unrest and constant wars with Hungary, Poland and Lithuania led to the fact that it was included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland.
The Vladimir-Suzdal principality separated from Kyiv under Prince Yuri Dolgoruky (1125 - 1157). Its mass settlement took place in the XI - XII centuries. Settlers from the southern regions of Rus' were attracted by the relative safety from raids (the region was covered with impenetrable forests), the fertile lands of the Russian opolye, navigable rivers, along which dozens of cities grew (Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Polsky, Dmitrov, Zvenigorod, Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod ). There were no old boyar estates and strong traditions of city self-government here. The Vladimir-Suzdal princes were much freer in their decisions and relied not so much on the boyars and cities, but on the princely servants personally devoted to them (merciful, i.e., people dependent on the mercy of the prince).
Decisive in the process of the rise of princely power was the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky's son Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157 - 1174). Under him, the capital of the principality was moved to Vladimir, and a new title of the ruler was established - "Tsar and Grand Duke." Andrei Bogolyubsky led an active foreign policy, fought for influence in Kyiv and Novgorod, organizing all-Russian campaigns against them. In 1174, he was killed by boyar conspirators. Under his brother Vsevolod the Big Nest (1176 - 1212), the principality flourished, interrupted by civil strife that began after his death, and the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars in 1237 - 1238.
The Vladimir-Suzdal Principality became the cradle of the formation of the Great Russian people and in the near future the center of rallying the Russian lands into a single Russian state.
A different type of state structure developed in Novgorod. One of the oldest Russian cities was at the same time one of the richest and most influential. The basis of its prosperity was not agriculture (Novgorod depended on the supply of bread from the neighboring Vladimir-Suzdal principality), but trade and handicrafts. The local merchants were a full participant in trade operations in the north-west of Europe, they traded with the German Hansa (the representative office of this powerful trade union of German cities was in Novgorod), Sweden, Denmark, the countries of the East with cloth, salt, amber, weapons, jewelry, furs, wax. Power and influence were concentrated in the hands of the Novgorod veche. Historians argue about its composition. Some believe that the entire urban population and even residents of nearby villages participated in it. Others argue that the so-called "five hundred golden belts" - people from large boyar families - were full participants in the veche. Be that as it may, the influential boyar and merchant families, as well as the clergy, played a decisive role. Officials were elected at the veche - the posadnik (ruler of Novgorod), the thousand (leaders of the militia), the governor (maintaining law and order), the bishop (later the archbishop, the head of the Novgorod church), the archimandrite (the elder among the abbots of the Novgorod monasteries). The veche resolved the issue of inviting the prince, who, under the supervision of the council of gentlemen and the posadnik, performed the functions of a military leader. This order developed after 1136, when the Novgorodians expelled Prince Vsevolod from the city.
Novgorod, thus, was an aristocratic (boyar) republic, the keeper of the veche traditions of Ancient Rus'.
Written sources testify to the richness and diversity of the folklore of Ancient Rus'.
A significant place in it was occupied by calendar ritual poetry: incantations, incantations, songs, which were an integral part of the agrarian cult. Ritual folklore also included pre-wedding songs, funeral laments, songs at feasts and feasts. Mythological tales were also widespread, reflecting the pagan ideas of the ancient Slavs. For many years, the church, in an effort to eradicate the remnants of paganism, waged a stubborn struggle against "vile" customs, "demonic games" and "blasphemers". Nevertheless, these types of folklore were preserved in folk life until the 19th-20th centuries, having lost their initial religious meaning over time.
There were also such forms of folklore that were not associated with a pagan cult, such as proverbs, sayings, riddles, fairy tales, labor songs. The authors of literary works widely used them in their work.
Written monuments brought to us numerous traditions and legends about the founders of tribes and princely dynasties, about the founders of cities, about the struggle against foreigners. Folk tales about the events of the 2nd-6th centuries were reflected in the Tale of Igor's Campaign.
The significance of the historical genres of folklore increases with the formation of the state and the beginning of the formation of the Old Russian people. For many years, the people created and kept a kind of "oral" chronicle in the form of prose legends and epic tales about the past of their native land. The Oral Chronicle preceded the written chronicle and served as one of its main sources. Among such legends used by the chroniclers are the legends about Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv and the founding of Kiev, about calling the Varangians, about campaigns against Constantinople, about Oleg and his death from a snakebite, about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans, about Belgorod jelly, and many others. . The chronicle narrative about the events of the 9th-10th centuries is almost entirely based on folklore material.
The emergence of a new epic genre, the heroic epic epic, which was the pinnacle of oral folk art, dates back to the 10th century. Epics are oral poetic works about the past. They are based on real historical events, the prototypes of some epic heroes are real people. So, the prototype of the epic Dobrynya Nikitich was the uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - the governor Dobrynya, whose name is repeatedly mentioned in the annals.
However, epics rarely retained the accuracy of actual details. But the dignity of epics was not in exact adherence to historical facts. Their main value is that these works were created by the people and reflect their views, assessment of the essence of historical events and understanding of the social relations that have developed in the Old Russian state, its ideals.
Most of the epic stories are connected with the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - the time of the unity and power of Rus' and the successful struggle against the steppe nomads. But the true hero of the epic epic is not Prince Vladimir, but the heroes who personified the people. Ilya Muromets, a peasant son, a courageous patriot warrior, a defender of "widows and orphans", became a favorite folk hero. The people also sang the peasant plowman Mikula Selyaninovich.
The epics reflected the idea of Rus' as a single state. Their main theme is the struggle of the people against foreign invaders, they are imbued with the spirit of patriotism. The ideas of the unity and greatness of Rus', service to the motherland were preserved in epics and in times of political fragmentation, the Golden Horde yoke. For many centuries, these ideas, images of heroic heroes inspired the people to fight the enemy, which predetermined the longevity of the epic epic, preserved in the people's memory.
Oral poetry also existed in the princely retinue environment. In squad songs, princes and their exploits were glorified. Echoes of these songs are heard, for example, in the annalistic description of Prince Svyatoslav and in the description of his campaigns. The princely squads had their own "songwriters" - professionals who composed "glory" songs in honor of the princes and their warriors. Such court singers were probably the one mentioned in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign" and "the notorious singer Mitus", which is mentioned in the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle.
Oral folk art continued to live and develop even after the appearance of written literature, remaining an important element of the culture of the Middle Ages. His influence on literature continued in the following centuries: writers and poets used the plots of oral poetry and the arsenal of its artistic means and techniques.
Writing and education
The appearance of writing was due to the internal needs of society at a certain stage of its development: the complication of socio-economic relations and the formation of the state. This meant a qualitative leap in the development of culture, since writing is the most important means of consolidating and transmitting knowledge, thoughts, ideas, preserving and disseminating cultural achievements in time and space.
The existence of written language among the Eastern Slavs in the pre-Christian period is beyond doubt. This is evidenced by numerous written sources and archaeological finds. According to them, you can draw up a general picture of the formation of Slavic writing.
In the legends of the Chernorizian Khrabr “On Writings” (end of IX - beginning of X centuries) it is reported that “before, I didn’t have books, but with features and cuts I read tahu and reptiles.” The emergence of this primitive pictographic writing (“features and cuts”) is attributed by researchers to the first half of the 1st millennium. Its scope was limited. These were, apparently, the simplest counting signs in the form of dashes and notches, generic and personal signs of property, signs for divination, calendar signs that served to date the dates for the start of various chores, pagan holidays, etc. Such a letter was unsuitable for recording complex texts, the need for which arose with the birth of the first Slavic states. The Slavs began to use Greek letters to record their native speech, but "without dispensation", that is, without adapting the Greek alphabet to the peculiarities of the phonetics of the Slavic languages.
The creation of the Slavic alphabet is associated with the names of the Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius. But the oldest monuments of Slavic writing know two alphabets - Cyrillic and Glagolitic. In science, there have been disputes for a long time about which of these alphabets appeared earlier, the creators of which of them were the famous "Thessalonica brothers" (from Thessalonica, the modern city of Thessaloniki). At present, it can be considered established that Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet (Glagolitic) in the second half of the 9th century, in which the first translations of church books for the Slavic population of Moravia and Pannonia were written. At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, on the territory of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, as a result of the synthesis of the Greek script, which had long been widespread here, and those elements of the Glagolitic alphabet that successfully conveyed the features of the Slavic languages, an alphabet arose, later called Cyrillic. In the future, this easier and more convenient alphabet replaced the Glagolitic alphabet and became the only one among the southern and eastern Slavs.
The adoption of Christianity contributed to the widespread and rapid development of writing and written culture. It was essential that Christianity was adopted in its eastern, Orthodox version, which, unlike Catholicism, allowed worship in national languages. This created favorable conditions for the development of writing in the native language.
The development of writing in the native language led to the fact that the Russian Church from the very beginning did not become a monopoly in the field of literacy and education. The spread of literacy among the democratic strata of the urban population is evidenced by birch bark letters discovered during archaeological excavations in Novgorod and other cities. These are letters, memos, study exercises, etc. The letter, therefore, was used not only to create books, state and legal acts, but also in everyday life. Often there are inscriptions on handicraft products. Ordinary citizens left numerous records on the walls of churches in Kyiv, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir and other cities.
School education also existed in Ancient Rus'. After the introduction of Christianity, Vladimir ordered that the children of the “best people”, that is, the local aristocracy, be given “for book teaching”. Yaroslav the Wise created a school in Novgorod for the children of elders and clerics. The training was conducted in the native language. They taught reading, writing, the basics of Christian doctrine and counting. There were also schools of the highest type, preparing for state and church activities. One of them existed at the Kiev Caves Monastery. Many prominent figures of ancient Russian culture came out of it. In such schools, along with theology, they studied philosophy, rhetoric, grammar, historical writings, sayings of ancient authors, geographical and natural science works.
Highly educated people met not only among the clergy, but also in secular aristocratic circles. Such "book men" were, for example, princes Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, Vladimir Monomakh, Yaroslav Osmomysl and others. Knowledge of foreign languages was widespread in the aristocratic environment. Women were also educated in princely families. The Chernigov princess Efrosinya studied with the boyar Fyodor and, as it is said in her life, although she “does not study in Athens, but learn the Athenian wisdom”, having mastered “philosophy, rhetoric and all grammar”. Princess Efrosinya Polotskaya "was smart about princess writing" and wrote books herself.
Education was highly valued. In the literature of that time one can find many panegyrics to the book, statements about the benefits of books and "book teaching".
Most of the written monuments of the pre-Mongol period perished during numerous fires and foreign invasions. Only a small part of them survived. The oldest of them are the Ostromir Gospel, written by deacon Gregory for the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir in 1057, and two Izborniks by Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavovich of 1073 and years. The high level of professional skill with which these books were made testifies to the well-established production of handwritten books already in the first half of the 11th century, as well as to the skills of “book construction” that were established at that time.
The correspondence of books was concentrated mainly in monasteries. However, in the 12th century, the craft of "book describers" also arose in large cities. This testifies, firstly, to the spread of literacy among the urban population, and secondly, to an increase in the need for a book that the monastic scribes could not satisfy. Many princes kept copyists of books, and some of them copied books themselves.
Nevertheless, monasteries and cathedral churches continued to be the main centers of literacy, in which there were special workshops with permanent teams of scribes. Here not only books were copied, but also chronicles were kept, original literary works were created, foreign books were translated. One of the leading centers was the Kiev Caves Monastery, which developed a special literary trend that had a great influence on the literature and culture of Ancient Rus'. As chronicles testify, already in the 11th century in Rus', libraries with up to several hundred books were created at monasteries and cathedral churches.
Separate randomly preserved copies do not fully reflect the richness and diversity of the books of Kievan Rus. Many literary works, which undoubtedly existed in the pre-Mongol period, have come down to us in later lists, and some of them have died altogether. According to historians of the Russian book, the book fund of Ancient Rus' was quite extensive and numbered in the hundreds of titles.
The needs of the Christian cult required a large number of liturgical books, which served as a guide in the performance of church rites. With the adoption of Christianity, the appearance of the main books of Holy Scripture was associated.
The translated literature of religious and secular content occupied a large place in the book fund of Ancient Rus'. The selection of works for translation was determined by the internal needs of society, the tastes and needs of the reader. At the same time, the translators did not aim to accurately convey the original, but sought to bring it as close as possible to reality, to the demands of the time and environment. Works of secular literature were subjected to especially significant processing. Elements of folklore were widely penetrated into them, and the techniques of original literature were used. In the future, these works were repeatedly processed and became Russian in nature.
The appearance of the works of Christian writers and collections of their works is connected with the tasks of spreading the Christian doctrine. The writings of John Chrysostom were especially widely disseminated as part of the collections Chrysostom, Chrysostom, etc.
In Rus', as well as throughout the medieval world, collections of sayings of famous poets, philosophers, and theologians were popular. In addition to quotations from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the "fathers of the church", they included excerpts from the works of ancient writers and philosophers. The most popular was the collection "Bee", in which there were especially many sayings of ancient authors.
A large place in literature was occupied by the lives of the saints, which served as an important means of introducing the Christian worldview and morality. At the same time, they were fascinating reading, in which elements of the miraculous were intertwined with folk fantasy, giving the reader a variety of historical, geographical and everyday information. On Russian soil, many of the lives were revised and supplemented with new episodes. In Rus', such a specific type of religious literature as the Apocrypha spread - Jewish and Christian legendary works that were not recognized by the official church as reliable, were even considered heretical. Being closely connected by their origin with ancient mythology, pre-Christian religion and Middle Eastern folklore, the apocrypha reflected popular ideas about the universe, good and evil, about the afterlife. The amusingness of the stories, the closeness to oral folk legends contributed to the spread of the Apocrypha throughout the medieval world. The most popular were the "Walking of the Virgin through the torments", "Revelations of Methodius of Patara", legends associated with the name of the biblical king Solomon and others. On Russian soil, apocryphal literature was further developed, its plots were used in literature, fine arts, and folklore.
Of particular interest, associated with the desire to determine the place of Rus', all Slavs in world history, were historical works. Byzantine historical literature was represented by the chronicles of George Amartol, John Malala, Patriarch Nicephorus and some other works. On the basis of these writings, an extensive compilation on world history was compiled - "The Hellenic and Roman Chronicler".
In Rus', there were also works that reflected medieval ideas about the universe, about natural phenomena, semi-fantastic information about the animal and plant world. One of the most popular works throughout the Middle Ages was "Christian Topography" by Cosmas (Kozma) Indikoplov, a Byzantine merchant who traveled to India in the 6th century.
Secular military tales, which were widespread in world medieval literature, were also translated. Among them is one of the largest works of this genre - "History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius, in Russian translation called "The Tale of the Devastation of Jerusalem." The story about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great - "Alexandria", which goes back to Hellenistic literature, was very well known.
Another military tale was popular until the 17th century, "Deed of Devgen". This is a Byzantine epic poem of the 10th century, subjected to fairly free processing, about the exploits of Digenis Akritas, a courageous Christian warrior, defender of the borders of his state. The plot of the work, individual episodes, the image of the hero bring it closer to the Russian heroic epic, which is even more emphasized in the translation using elements of oral folk poetry.
Especially popular in Rus' were also used stories of a fabulously didactic nature, the plots of which date back to the literatures of the Ancient East. Their peculiarity is the abundance of aphorisms and wise sayings, to which the medieval reader was a great hunter. One of them was The Tale of Akira the Wise, which arose in Assyro-Babylonia in the 7th-5th centuries BC. This is an action-packed work, a significant part of which is moralizing parables.
One of the most widespread works of medieval world literature is The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph, known in different versions in more than 30 languages of the peoples of Asia, Europe and Africa. The story is a Christian version of the life of the Buddha. It contains a large number of moralizing parables, which, using everyday examples understandable to everyone, explain current worldview problems. In Rus', it was the most widely read work for several centuries, until the 17th century. This story is also reflected in oral folk art.
The translated literature contributed to the enrichment and development of the original Old Russian literature. However, this does not give grounds to associate its occurrence only with the influence of translated works. It was caused by the internal political and cultural needs of the emerging early feudal society. Translation literature did not precede the development of Russian original literature, but accompanied it.
Literature
Russian written literature arose on the basis of the rich traditions of oral folk art, which has its roots in the depths of centuries. Behind many original works of ancient Russian literature is folklore as one of the most important sources. Oral poetry had a great influence on the artistic features and ideological orientation of written literature, on the formation of the Old Russian language.
A characteristic feature of Russian medieval literature is its sharp publicism. Monuments of literature are at the same time monuments of social thought. Their content is based on the most important problems of society and the state.
One of the main original genres of emerging Russian literature was chronicle writing. Chronicles are not just monuments of literature or historical thought. They are the largest monuments of the entire spiritual culture of medieval society. They embodied a wide range of ideas and concepts of that time, reflected the diversity of the phenomena of social life. Throughout the Middle Ages, chronicle writing played an important role in the political and cultural life of the country.
The most significant monument of chronicle writing is The Tale of Bygone Years, written in 1113 by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor and which has come down to us as part of the later chronicles of the XIV-XV centuries.
However, The Tale of Bygone Years is not the very first chronicle work. It was preceded by chronicles. The existence of the codes compiled in the 70s and 90s can be considered precisely established: the 11th century in the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery. The opinion about the existence of the Novgorod chronicle of the 50s of the 11th century is quite substantiated. Chronicle work was also carried out in other centers. Echoes of chronicle traditions, different from the Kiev-Pechersk one, are found in later chronicle collections.
As for the time of the emergence of Russian chronicle writing and its initial stages, much remains unclear here. There are several hypotheses on this issue. A.A. Shakhmatov believed that the "Ancient" code was compiled in 1039 in connection with the establishment of the Kyiv Metropolis. According to D.S. Likhachev, the first historical work was "The Tale of the Initial Spread of Christianity in Rus'", compiled in the 40s of the XI century and served as the basis for the collection of the 70s. M.N. Tikhomirov associated the beginning of chronicle writing with the “Tale of the Russian Princes” (X century), compiled, in his opinion, after the baptism of Rus' and had a non-church character. Thus, the formation of original Russian literature is associated with the emergence of chronicle writing, which most fully reflected its characteristic features.
Like any chronicle, "The Tale of Bygone Years" is distinguished by the complexity of the composition and the variety of material included in it. In addition to short weather records and more detailed stories about political events, it includes texts of diplomatic and legal documents, and retellings of folklore legends, and excerpts from monuments of translated literature, and records of natural phenomena, and independent literary works - historical stories, lives, theological treatises and teachings, words of praise. This allows us to speak of the chronicle as a synthetic monument of medieval culture, as a kind of encyclopedia of medieval publications. But this is not a simple mechanical summary of heterogeneous material, but an integral work, distinguished by the unity of the theme and ideological content.
The purpose of the work is formulated by the author in its title: "Behold the tales of time years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kiev began first to reign, and where did the Russian land come from." From these words it follows that the origin and history of the state were considered by the author inextricably linked with the origin and history of Kievan princely power. At the same time, the history of Rus' was given against a broad background of world history.
The Tale of Bygone Years is a monument to medieval ideology. The position of the author affected both the selection of material and the assessments of various facts and events. The main attention is paid to the events of political history, the deeds of princes and other representatives of the nobility. The economic life and life of the people remain in the shadows. The chronicler is hostile to the mass popular movements, considering them as "the execution of God." The religious worldview of its compiler was clearly manifested in the annals: he sees the ultimate cause of all events and actions of people in the action of divine forces, “providence”. But behind religious differences and references to the will of God often hide a practical approach to reality, attempts to identify real causal relationships between events.
Having served as the main local chronicle of the period of political fragmentation, The Tale of Bygone Years played a huge role in affirming and preserving the idea of the unity of Rus' in the minds of subsequent generations who lived during the time of princely strife and the severe trials of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. It had a great influence on the formation of the self-consciousness of the Russian people over the next few centuries.
A new period in the history of Russian chronicle writing begins in the 12th century. In conditions of political fragmentation, it acquires a regional character. The number of centers of chronicle writing is significantly increasing. In addition to Kyiv and Novgorod, chronicles were kept in Chernigov and Pereyaslavl, in Polotsk and Smolensk, in Vladimir and Rostov, and other cities. The chroniclers focused on local events, considering the history of their lands as a continuation of the history of Kievan Rus and keeping the Tale of Bygone Years as part of the local chronicles. Generic princely annals, biographies of individual princes, historical stories about relations between princes are being created. The compilers were often no longer monks, but boyars and warriors, and sometimes the princes themselves. This strengthened the secular trend in chronicle writing.
Local individual features appeared in the annals. So, in the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle, which tells about the life of Prince Daniel Romanovich and is distinguished by a secular character, the main attention was paid to the struggle of the princely power with the recalcitrant boyars, and to the description of internecine wars. In the annals there are almost no arguments of a religious nature, but echoes of retinue poetry are clearly audible in it.
The local character is especially distinguished by the Novogorod chronicle, which meticulously and accurately recorded the events of intracity life. It most fully reflected the democratic orientation, the role of the urban population in public life. The style of the Novgorod chronicles is distinguished by simplicity and efficiency, the absence of church rhetoric.
The Vladimir-Suzdal chronicle reflected the interests of the ever-increasing power of the grand duke. In an effort to assert the authority of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality and substantiate the claims of its princes to political and ecclesiastical supremacy in Rus', the chroniclers did not limit themselves to describing local events, but tried to give the chronicle a general Russian character. The leading trend of the Vladimir arches is the justification for the need for a unified and strong power of the Vladimir prince, which seemed to be the successor to the power of the great princes of Kyiv. Religious reasoning was widely used for this.
One of the oldest monuments of ancient Russian literature is " The Word of Law and Grace". It was written in the 30-40s of the XI century by the court princely priest Hilarion, who later became the first Russian metropolitan of Kyiv. Using the form of a church sermon, Hilarion created a political treatise, which reflected the pressing problems of Russian reality. Contrasting "grace" (Christianity) with "law" (Judaism), Hilarion rejects the concept of God's chosen people inherent in Judaism and affirms the idea of transferring heavenly attention and disposition from one chosen people to all mankind, the equality of all peoples. With its edge, the Word is directed against Byzantium's claims to cultural and political supremacy in Eastern Europe. Illarion contrasts this position with the idea of equality of all Christian peoples, regardless of the time of their baptism, puts forward the theory of world history as a process of gradual and equal introduction of all peoples to Christianity. Rus, having adopted Christianity, took a worthy place among other Christian states. Thus, a religious substantiation of the state independence and international significance of Rus' is given. The Word is permeated with patriotic pathos, pride in the Russian land.
The emergence of an original hagiographic culture is connected with the struggle of Rus' for the assertion of church independence. And this typical ecclesiastical genre is characterized by the penetration of journalistic motives into it. Princely lives became a variety of hagiographic literature. An example of such a life is "The Tale of Boris and Gleb". The cult of Boris and Gleb, who became victims of internecine struggle (they were killed in 1015 by their brother Svyatopolk), had a deep political meaning: it consecrated the idea that all Russian princes were brothers. At the same time, the work emphasized the obligation to “subjugate” the younger princes to the older ones. "Tale" differs significantly from the canonical life of the Byzantine type. His main idea is not the martyrdom of the saints for the faith, but the unity of the Russian land, the condemnation of princely civil strife. And in terms of form, the "Tale", although it uses hagiographic techniques, is, in essence, a historical story with the exact name of names, facts, with a detailed description of real events.
The “Reading about Boris and Gleb” written by Nestor is different in character. It is much closer to the hagiographic canon. By removing all specific historical material, the author made the exposition more abstract, and strengthened the edifying and ecclesiastical elements.
Important social, political and moral problems are touched upon in the Teaching by Vladimir Monomakh. This is a political and moral testament of an outstanding statesman, imbued with deep anxiety for the fate of Rus', which has entered a difficult period in its history. The princely congress, held in 1097 in Lyubech, recognized the fact of the fragmentation of Rus' and, putting forward the principle “everyone keeps his fatherland”, sanctioned a new form of political system. Monomakh's "Instruction" was an attempt to prevent princely strife and preserve the unity of Rus' in the face of fragmentation. Behind the requirements to comply with the norms of Christian morality, a certain political program is clearly visible.
The question of princely power in the life of the state, its duties and methods of implementation becomes one of the central ones in literature. The idea arises of the need for strong power as a condition for a successful struggle against external enemies and overcoming internal contradictions. This thought is permeated with " Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener"(First quarter of the 13th century). Condemning the dominance of the boyars and the arbitrariness perpetrated by them, the author creates an ideal image of the prince - the protector of orphans and widows, all the destitute, caring for his subjects. The idea of the need for a “princely thunderstorm” is being developed. But by a thunderstorm, we mean not despotism and arbitrariness, but the viability and reliability of power: only princely “strength and thunderstorm” can protect subjects “like a solid fence” from the arbitrariness of “strong people”, overcome internal strife and ensure external security. The urgency of the problem, the brightness of the language, the abundance of proverbs and aphorisms, sharply satirical attacks against the boyars and the clergy provided this work with great popularity for a long time.
Undoubtedly, the most outstanding work of ancient Russian literature, in which its best aspects are embodied, is The Tale of Igor's Campaign (late 12th century). It tells about the unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsy in 1185 by the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavovich. But not the description of this campaign is the purpose of the author. It serves him only as an occasion for reflection on the fate of the Russian land. The author sees the reasons for the defeats in the struggle against the nomads, the reasons for the disasters of Rus' in the princely civil strife, in the egoistic policy of the princes, thirsting for personal glory.
"The Lay of Igor's Campaign" is an all-Russian work, it does not have local features. It testifies to the high patriotism of its author, who managed to rise above the narrowness of the interests of his principality to the height of all-Russian proportions. Central to the "Word" is the image of the Russian land.
The author belonged to the milieu. He constantly used the concepts of “honor” and “glory” characteristic of her, but filled them with a broader, patriotic content.
The Word is a secular work. It lacks church rhetoric, Christian symbols and concepts. It is closely connected with oral folk art, which is manifested in the poetic animation of nature, in the widespread use of pagan symbols and images of pagan mythology, as well as forms and expressive means typical of folklore. Both the ideological content and the artistic form of the work testify to the connection with folk art.
The Tale of Igor's Campaign embodied the characteristic features of ancient Russian literature of this period: a living connection with historical reality, citizenship and patriotism. The appearance of such a masterpiece testified to the high degree of maturity of the literature of Ancient Rus', its originality, and the high level of development of culture as a whole.
Architecture and painting
Until the end of the tenth century, there was no monumental stone architecture in Rus', but there were rich traditions of wooden construction, some forms of which subsequently influenced stone architecture. After the adoption of Christianity, the construction of stone temples begins, the principles of construction of which were borrowed from Byzantium.
In Rus', the cross-domed type of church became widespread. The interior space of the building was divided by four massive pillars, forming a cross in plan. On these pillars, connected in pairs by arches, a “drum” was erected, ending with a hemispherical dome. The ends of the spatial cross were covered with cylindrical vaults, and the corner parts - with domed vaults. The eastern part of the building had ledges for the altar - the apse. The inner space of the temple was divided by pillars into naves (spaces between rows). There could have been more pillars in the temple. In the western part there was a balcony - the choirs, where the prince and his family and his approach were during the service. A spiral staircase led to the choir, located in a tower specially designed for this purpose. Sometimes the choirs were connected by a passage to the princely palace.
The first stone building was the Church of the Tithes, built near Kyiv at the end of the 10th century by Greek craftsmen. It was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars in 1240. In 1031-36, Greek architects erected the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov - the most "Byzantine", according to experts, the temple of Ancient Rus'.
The pinnacle of southern Russian architecture of the 11th century is St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv - a huge five-aisled temple built in 1037-1054 by Greek and Russian masters. In ancient times it was surrounded by two open galleries. The walls are built of rows of hewn stone, alternating with rows of flat bricks. The Kievan Sophia was already significantly different from the Byzantine models in the stepped composition of the temple, the presence of thirteen domes crowning it, which was probably due to the traditions of wooden construction. In the 11th century, several more stone buildings, including secular ones, were erected in Kyiv.
Following the Kyiv Sophia, Sophia Cathedrals were built in Novgorod and Polotsk. Novgorod Sophia (1045-1060) differs significantly from the Kyiv Cathedral. It is simpler, more concise, stricter than its original. It is characterized by some artistic and constructive solutions that are not known to either South Russian or Byzantine architecture: laying walls from huge, irregularly shaped stones, gable ceilings, the presence of blades on the facades, an arched belt on a drum, etc. This is partly due to Novgorod's connections with Western Europe and the influence of Romanesque architecture.
Since the XII century, a new stage in the development of Russian architecture begins, which differs from the architecture of previous times in the smaller scale of buildings, the search for simple, but at the same time expressive forms. The most typical was a cubic temple with a pozakomar covering and a massive dome.
From the second half of the 12th century, Byzantine influence noticeably weakened, which was marked by the appearance in ancient Russian architecture of temples of a tower-like shape, unknown to Byzantine architecture. The earliest example of such a temple is the Cathedral of the Spaso-Efrosiniev Monastery in Polotsk, as well as the Cathedral of Michael the Archangel in Smolensk. The aspiration of the building upwards was emphasized by a tall slender drum, a second tier of zakomars and decorative kokoshniks at the base of the drum.
The influence of the Romanesque style becomes more noticeable. It did not affect the foundations of ancient Russian architecture - the cross-domed structure of the temple with a pozakomarnoy coating, but affected the external design of buildings: arched belts, like buttresses on the outer walls, groups of semi-columns and pilasters, columnar belts on the walls, perspective portals and, finally, a bizarre stone carving on the outer surface of the walls. The use of elements of the Romanesque style spread in the XII century in the Smolensk and Galicia-Volyn principalities, and then in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'.
Unfortunately, the architectural monuments of the Galicia-Volyn land are poorly preserved. 30 stone buildings of Galich are known only from archaeological data. An example of the local architectural school was the Assumption Cathedral, built in Galich under Yaroslav Osmomysl. The peculiarity of Galician architecture was the organic combination of the Byzantine-Kyiv spatial composition with Romanesque building techniques and elements of pre-Romanesque decorative art.
The establishment of the republican system in Novgorod led to a significant democratization of culture, which could not but affect architecture. Reduced princely construction. Boyars, merchants, groups of parishioners began to act as customers of churches. Churches were the centers of social life in certain areas of the city, often they served as a warehouse for goods, a place for storing the property of the townspeople, brothers gathered in them. A new type of temple arose - a four-foot cubic temple with one dome and three apses, distinguished by its small size and simplicity in the design of facades.
The oldest monument of Pskov architecture is the Church of the Savior in the Mirozhsky Monastery (mid-12th century), which has come down to us, differing from the Novgorod buildings in the absence of pillars. The squat three-domed cathedral of the Ivanovo Monastery resembles the Church of the Savior-Nereditsa. Of the monuments of Staraya Ladoga, only the churches of George and the Assumption have survived, similar in their architectural appearance to the Novgorod monuments.
Stone construction in the Vladimir-Suzdal land begins at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries with the construction of a cathedral in Suzdal by Vladimir Monomakh, but it reaches its peak in the 12th - early 13th centuries. In contrast to the harsh architecture of Novgorod, the architecture of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus was of a ceremonial character, distinguished by the sophistication of proportions and the elegance of lines.
The influence of Romanesque architecture had a particular effect on Vladimir-Suzdal art. According to the chronicle, Andrei Bogolyubsky, building up his capital, collected "masters from all the lands", among them were "Latins".
Construction in Vladimir under Andrei Bogolyubsky reached a great upsurge. City fortifications are being erected, from which the white-stone Golden Gates have been preserved. In the suburban princely residence of Bogolyubovo, a castle was built, consisting of a complex of buildings surrounded by walls with white stone towers. The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, which was the center of the entire ensemble, was connected by passages with a two-story stone palace.
In the last quarter of the XII century, it ends mainly with the construction of the architectural ensemble of Vladimir. After a fire in 1184, the Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt and received its final form. Ensembles of Rozhdestvensky (1192-1196) and Knyaginin (1200-1201) monasteries are formed.
Traditions and techniques developed by the masters of the Vladimir school continued to develop in Suzdal, Yuryev-Polsky, Nizhny Novgorod. St. George's Cathedral of Yuryevo-Polsky was covered with decorative carvings from top to bottom. Relief images against the background of a continuous carpet pattern formed complete narrative compositions. Unfortunately, the cathedral has not been preserved in its original form.
With the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, new types of monumental painting came to Rus' - mosaics and frescoes, as well as easel painting (icon painting). Byzantium not only introduced Russian artists to a new painting technique for them, but also gave them an iconographic canon, the immutability of which was strictly guarded by the church. This, to a certain extent, fettered artistic creativity and predetermined a longer and more stable Byzantine influence in painting than in architecture.
The earliest surviving works of ancient Russian painting were created in Kyiv. According to the chronicles, the first temples were decorated by visiting Greek masters, who introduced the system of arrangement of plots in the interior of the temple, as well as the manner of planar writing, into the existing iconography. The mosaics and frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral are distinguished by severe beauty and monumentality. They are made in a strict and solemn manner, characteristic of Byzantine monumental painting. Their creators skillfully used a variety of shades of smalt, skillfully combined the mosaic with the fresco. Of the mosaic works, the images of Christ the Almighty in the central dome are especially significant. All images are imbued with the idea of greatness, triumph and inviolability of the Orthodox Church and earthly power.
The wall paintings of the two towers of the Kyiv Sophia are unique monuments of secular painting. It depicts scenes of princely hunting, circus competitions, musicians, buffoons, acrobats, fantastic animals and birds. By their nature, they are far from ordinary church paintings. Among the frescoes in Sofia are two group portraits of the family of Yaroslav the Wise.
The mosaics of the Golden-Domed Cathedral of the Mikhailovsky Monastery are distinguished by a rather free composition, liveliness of movements and individual characteristics of individual characters. The mosaic image of Dmitry of Thessalonica, a warrior in a gilded shell and a blue cloak, is well known. By the beginning of the 12th century, expensive and time-consuming mosaics were completely replaced by frescoes.
In the 12th-13th centuries, local peculiarities became more and more noticeable in the painting of individual cultural centers. In the second half of the 12th century, a specific Novgorodian style of monumental painting was formed, which reaches its fullest expression in the murals of the churches of St. George in Staraya Ladoga, the Annunciation in Arkazhy, and especially the Savior-Nereditsa. In these fresco cycles, in contrast to the Kiev cycles, there is a noticeable desire to simplify artistic techniques, to expressive interpretation of iconographic types, which was dictated by the desire to create art that is accessible to the perception of a person inexperienced in theological subtleties, capable of influencing his feelings. To a lesser extent, the democratism of Novgorod art manifested itself in easel painting, where local features are less pronounced. The icon “Angel with Golden Hair” belongs to the Novgorod school, attracting attention with the lyricism of the image and light coloring.
Fragments of frescoes of the Dmitrievsky and Assumption Cathedrals in Vladimir and the Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha, as well as several icons, have come down to us from the painting of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' of the pre-Mongolian time. Based on this material, the researchers consider it possible to talk about the gradual formation of the Vladimir-Suzdal school of painting. The fresco of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral depicting the Last Judgment is the best preserved. It was created by two masters - a Greek and a Russian. The faces of the apostles and angels, painted by the Russian master, are simpler and sincere, they are endowed with kindness and softness; they do not have the intense psychologism characteristic of the manner of the Greek master. Several large icons of the 12th - early 13th centuries belong to the Vladimir-Suzdal school. The earliest of them is the “Bogolyubskaya Mother of God” (mid-12th century), stylistically close to the famous “Vladimir Mother of God” - an icon of Byzantine origin. Of great interest is the icon "Dmitry of Thessalonica". Dmitry is depicted sitting on a throne in expensive clothes, in a crown, with a half-drawn sword in his hands.
The spread of writing, the appearance of handwritten books led to the emergence of another type of painting - book miniatures. The oldest Russian miniatures are in the Ostromir Gospel, which contains images of the three evangelists. The bright ornamental surroundings of their figures and the abundance of gold make these illustrations look like a piece of jewelry. Prince Svyatoslav's Izbornik (1073) contains a miniature depicting the prince's family, as well as marginal drawings resembling the secular painting of Kyiv Sophia.
Despite its relative simplicity, Russian medieval culture was an important component of the medieval world. During this period, the features of the national culture were formed, which determined its identity and national foundations. Traditionalism, locality, the priority of the religious worldview were characteristic features of the spiritual life of medieval society.
The development of ancient Russian culture was based both on the heritage of the Eastern Slavs, and on the creatively processed achievements of the culture of other countries, mainly Byzantium. The most important event of this period was the adoption of Christianity, which contributed to the development of contacts with Byzantium and the processing of pagan traditions on new ground.
The formation of a centralized Russian state redefined the nature and direction of the historical and cultural process. This time was marked by great achievements in various fields of culture and art, the completion of the formation of the Great Russian people as a whole.
The main content of the cultural-historical process of the 17th century, which completed the period of the Middle Ages, is the beginning of the destruction of the religious worldview, the development of secular elements in culture.
The culture and art of Ancient Rus' did not become a simple continuation of the culture of the previous time. Profound changes in the socio-economic and political life, expressed in the maturation of feudal relations, in the emergence of the state and in the formation of the ancient Russian people, led to qualitative changes in the life of the Slavs and led to a rapid rise in development, as a result of which their culture in a relatively short historical period reached high level and took a worthy place in the world medieval culture.
The culture of Ancient Rus', like the culture of any other country, is a combination of spiritual and material values that mankind has created in the course of its social and labor practices. Material culture is the development of technology, machines, tools, construction, etc. Spiritual culture - literature, science, ideology, art, education.
The culture was distinguished by a high level of development. Unfortunately, many monuments did not reach us, but perished in the fires of fires, wars, and invasions. Literature, cathedrals, icons, objects of religious cults have been preserved mainly. The basis of culture is the cultural heritage left from it. Varangians, nomadic peoples, the adoption of Christianity, as well as countries and, of course, Byzantium, had a great influence on it.
Appeared even before the adoption of Christianity. At this point, the alphabet has already formed. And the very adoption of Christianity only contributed to the development of writing, education, and the spread of literacy.
The very wide development of writing in Ancient Rus' is evidenced by inscriptions on various handicrafts: hoops, clay vessels, and boots. Over time, even a school was opened in Kyiv.
Along with the development of written literature, epics were widely distributed, first of all, telling about the creative and military labor of our people.
Material culture of Ancient Rus'
Architecture has reached a high level of development. About 60 architectural monuments of the pre-Mongolian period have been preserved. Until the middle of the X century. The buildings were exclusively wooden. Wood was the main building material. It was used for the construction of residential buildings, palace buildings, city fortifications, churches. In these wooden buildings, the planning and volumetric structure was determined by a strong log structure and its natural parameters. But even with the "rigidity" of the building wooden system, the craftsmen managed to revive it plastically and diversify compositionally.
One of the very first stone buildings was Later, the Golden Gate and St. Sophia Cathedral and other temples were built from stone. The walls inside the temples were richly decorated with frescoes, mosaics, and icons. In many lands, white stone was the main building material. Its characteristic features are sophistication, rich decoration, slenderness of buildings, aspiration upwards. Residential houses were also built from it. From the 14th century, defensive walls began to be erected in cities.
In stone cult construction, the type of an even cubic temple with parallel four naves in the inner space, six criss-crossed pillars supporting the domes and vaults has forever established itself. In the presence of a constructive and similar three-dimensional structure, religious Russian buildings present a picture of various three-dimensional shapes and sizes, means of processing the decor of buildings. Most of the buildings were distinguished by the unity of their constructive solution and organicity, their internal structure was consistently and clearly expressed in external forms.
Ancient Rus'
The musical culture of Ancient Rus' developed in two directions: folk art, folklore, and church music.
The ancient Slavs worshiped idols, were pagans. They performed rituals in their honor, accompanied by dances, songs, playing various musical instruments (harp, flute, rattles).
Bright representatives of folk art are buffoons. These are professional traveling actors who entertained the people with songs and dances. With their art, they actively contributed to the development of certain literary genres - epic, drama, poetry. Buffoons possessed the impeccable skill of entertainers - organizers of holidays, folk entertainers, acted as actors or musicians. Of course, the most important area in the musical art of that time was the folk song, especially the one associated with the holidays of the agricultural calendar. The main genre of the epic is epic.
With the adoption of Christianity came from Byzantium. Then the church musical culture of ancient Rus' was represented by monophonic singing. The melody of the song was recorded above the line of text using a system of special conventional signs that indicated only the direction of the melody, but not the exact pitch of the sounds.
Christianity played a big role in shaping both the musical and the entire culture of Ancient Rus' as a whole. It determined the prospect of its development for many centuries to come.
THEME 16
Culture of Ancient Rus'
This topic is undoubtedly important for us, and it would not be surprising if it took up half the volume of the course. But it makes no sense to retell the history of Ancient Rus', all the necessary information can be gleaned from other books. Our goal is to study culture as a kind of human, and not just Russian, being. The difficulty in studying the life of one's own people is connected with the fact that it always seems to be something special. Indeed, Russian culture is unique, but precisely because of the combination of features that can be found in other cultures. The originality of Russian culture has been the subject of attention of many researchers. There were many ideological currents in which the attitude towards Russian culture was somehow expressed: Slavophilism, Westernism, Pan-Slavism, Slavophobia and Russophobia, the Young Russians, etc. And in the 20s. in emigration, Eurasianism, or the Eurasian movement, took shape, one of the founders of which was Prince N.S. Trubetskoy (1890–1938). This original teaching proclaimed the Asian element in the culture of Russia and condemned her desire to be like Europe. There were so many teachings and ideas about Russian culture that, on the whole, they almost surpass the ideological baggage of culture itself. Let us consider two questions directly related to Ancient Rus', and then we will make a general overview of the subsequent development of Russian culture in order to somehow decide on its features. The main questions of the topic:
1) historical conditions for the formation of the state and culture of Ancient Rus';
2) Slavic-Russian paganism and the baptism of Rus';
3) historical features of Russian culture.
"Ancient Rus'" is the common collective name of the Eastern Slavic principalities of the 9th-13th centuries. There is also the concept of "Kievan Rus", which coincides in meaning with the concept of "Old Russian state". According to legend, after the flood, Noah's sons Shem, Ham and Japheth divided the land among themselves. North and west went to Japheth, from whose sons the Slavs went. The first information about the Slavs mentions their settlement on the Danube, from there they settled in different directions, some of them settled along the Dnieper, its tributaries and further north. Among them were the tribes of Polyans, Drevlyans, Radimichi, Krivichi, Ilmen Slavs, etc. They made up the Eastern Slavs.
The word "Rus" was used to designate the squad of the Kyiv prince. An exact explanation of this word has not yet been found. It is believed that this was the name of the Varangian tribe, from which the first Russian princes came. In the X century. Rus was the name given to the highest stratum of Russian society, mainly the princely retinue, which consisted mainly of the same Varangians. The expression "Russian land" appeared in 945 and already had a geographical meaning: this was the name mainly of the Kiev land, where the newcomer Varangians settled more densely. In the XI-XII centuries. Russia and the Russian land were called the state, i.e. these words have taken on a political meaning. In the X century. Russian society included the upper layer (Rus), which included the Varangians, and the Slavic common people. Later it made up the lower strata of Russian society, differing in rights and obligations from the upper strata. The population of Kievan Rus was formed from local and alien tribes.
Natural factors in the formation of the culture of Ancient Rus'
Slavic-Russian tribes were located on the plains along the rivers. Forest, steppe and river were the main factors that determined the originality of Russian culture. The forest gave a lot to a person: food, building material, household utensils, shoes, a torch for lighting, firewood for heating. The forest served as a reliable shelter from external enemies. A lot of beliefs and legends were associated with the forest, a lot of mysterious and hostile things: there was a predatory beast, and robber nests were twisted. In addition, the forest often advanced, took away the cleared meadow and field with difficulty. The attitude to the steppe was different, it pleased with expanse and breadth, the possibility of viewing and openness. The southern Russian steppes were fertile for arable farming and cattle breeding. But the steppe was also an eternal threat to Rus', it was from there that the nomads came. At all times, Rus' was at enmity with them. But more than the forest and the steppe, the Russian man loved the river, his most affectionate words were addressed to it. She was both a breadwinner, and a reliable companion, and a winter road, and a source of peace of mind. He usually clung to her, placing his dwelling on the shore. Where there is a river, there are people; for a Russian person, it was a sign of salvation. The hiddenness of the forest, the expanse and expanse of the steppe, the carefree and life-giving course of the river - these impressions formed the basis of the Russian soul, determined the nature of the worldview and culture of the Russian people.
Psychological and everyday factors in the formation of the culture of Ancient Rus'
We saw that the word "Russians" united very heterogeneous tribes. No less heterogeneous tribes were united by the term "Slavs". It is believed that he came from the word "Slovene", which once meant "speaking" (intelligibly, understandably), in contrast to "Germans" - "indistinctly speaking". But the psychology of the ancient Slavs is more consistent with a different meaning of the word "Slovene" - "talking a lot." The Slavs have always had ideas of peace and unification, which was also explained by external reasons? constant threats of attacks, and internal, the nature of the Slavs themselves. Their peace and unity were, as a rule, short-lived. Strife and discord are the most frequent and natural relations between the ancient Slavs. The Varangian element did not improve these relations, but brought with it an external deterrent in the form of the state.
The chroniclers describe the Slavs as vigorous, strong, tireless, easily enduring any need. They surprised the Greeks with their speed and courage with which they rushed into dangerous swamps and deep rivers, as well as carelessness in relation to their appearance, untidiness. There were swarthy Slavs and Russes. Their militancy was known to many other nations. The Greeks described them as cruel and predatory. In battles, the Slavs did not use military formations, they suppressed the crowd, following not a single plan, but personal courage and fearlessness. They knew how to hide in the grass, lurk in the river, breathing through hollow canes. In everyday life, the Slavs appeared to be harmless, simple-hearted. Their hospitality and special love for the guest were known. Leaving home, the Slav left food for the wanderer and did not close the door. The Slavs had a blood feud. In marriage, the Slavs were faithful spouses, wives unquestioningly obeyed their husbands, and in the event of the death of a husband, the wife was usually burned with him.
In VII. V. the Slavs began to separate, part of them, leaving the Carpathians, went to the east and northeast. They settled to the east of the Dniester, along the Dnieper and the Don, in a deserted forest region, where they engaged in catching fur-bearing animals, forest beekeeping and arable farming. Places suitable for life were removed from each other, solitary courtyards, the so-called settlements, were placed on them. Such one-yard settlements later appeared in the upper Volga region. The city of Kyiv grew out of lonely courtyards. Thus, among the Eastern Slavs, life in the conditions of the tribal community was replaced by life in the conditions of the court. It has become a world of culture for a person, an environment for upbringing and life, a determining factor in the formation of his worldview. The courtyard was a consequence not only of the natural conditions of the places where the Eastern Slavs settled, but also of their disunity, a tendency to isolate.
Social factors in the formation of the culture of Ancient Rus'
In the 8th century Khazars conquered some tribes of the Eastern Slavs. But the yoke of the Khazars was not too heavy, in some respects it turned out to be even beneficial. The Khazars became the intermediaries of the trade exchange between the Arab East and the Russian Slavs. The result of successful eastern trade was the emergence of ancient cities in Rus': Kyiv, Lubech, Novgorod, Pereyaslavl, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov. Most of the cities stretched out in a chain along the river route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." Cities were built on the site of large markets located on especially important trade routes. Trade has transformed the life of the Eastern Slavs, many of the same palaces and farmers have become townspeople. But the emergence of cities also led to the need to arm, gird with walls, keep military people. Cities became military-industrial centers. A special military-industrial layer was formed, which was mainly made up of the Varangians-Scandinavians.
Varangians were called overseas aliens from the Baltic Sea. As a rule, these were armed merchants going to Rus' and further to rich Byzantium. There they traded, sometimes served as hired bodyguards for the emperor. Varangian newcomers stayed mainly in large trading cities. In the 8th century among the Eastern Slavs nothing was heard about Rus', and in the 9th-10th centuries. she was not yet among the Slavs. Then they wrote about Rus' as a special tribe dominating the Slavs. Most likely, the newcomers Vikings were from the Scandinavians. The names of the first Russian Varangian princes and their combatants are mainly of Scandinavian origin: Rurik, Truvor, Oleg, Igor, Askold, Dir, Svenald, etc. The chronicles indicate that they were called from across the sea. But that happened later. Initially, the Varangians settled among the Novgorodians, took tribute from them, then the Slavs expelled them. Having driven the Varangians away, they began to quarrel among themselves, in the end, the strife led to the fact that the Slavs sent an embassy across the sea, to the Varangians-Rus, to tell them: “Our land is great and plentiful, but there is no order in it, go reign and own us." Having defended their freedom, the Slavs failed to possess it. Calling on the Varangians, they renounced freedom in the name of order, thereby producing an act of national self-denial. Three brothers responded to the call of the Slavs: Rurik, Sineus and Truvor. IN. Klyuchevsky believed that they were called not to establish a state, but to protect the Novgorodians and their allied tribes from external enemies. In his opinion, the Slavs were not talking about the rule of the Varangians, but about the military hiring of the Varangian squads. Even if this is so, the Varangians quickly turned from mercenaries into masters.
Two years after the installation of Rurik in Novgorod, the townspeople began to fear that they could be turned into slaves, a conspiracy arose. Rurik killed the leader of the discontented and killed many Novgorodians.
But the center of the political unification of the Slavs was not Novgorod, but Kyiv, where the Varangian aliens had long been drawn to. Many cities were economically dependent on Kyiv, it was a collection point for Russian trade, trade routes were drawn to it from everywhere. For the sake of reigning in Kyiv, the Varangians exterminated each other. Askold and Dir, close friends of Rurik, were the first to settle there. Then Oleg, a relative of Rurik, who succeeded him in Novgorod, killed them and himself began to reign in Kyiv, saying at the same time: "This will be the mother of Russian cities." Because of Kyiv, Vladimir, who had previously reigned in Novgorod, killed his own brother. After the death of Vladimir, his eldest son Svyatopolk became the prince of Kyiv, who killed three of his brothers - Boris, Gleb and Svyatoslav. He decided to kill the rest of the brothers in order to own Russia alone. But Yaroslav, who lived in Novgorod and even during the life of Vladimir, wanted to fight with his father, defeated the army of Svyatopolk and himself sat down in Kyiv. “Great silence in the land” of Kiev came only after Yaroslav and his brother Mstislav, who also wanted to sit in Kiev, divided the Russian land along the Dnieper: Yaroslav took the right side, and Mstislav took the left. The Kiev Varangian principality, established on blood and violence, became the original form of the Russian state.
The founding of Kyiv and the establishment of princely power are reminiscent of the formation of ancient Rome. As well as there, the power in Kyiv did not grow out of the depths of the life of an individual people, it was not original, but artificial, completely superstructural. But the rule of the Etruscans for Rome was more fruitful than the rule of the Varangians in Kievan Rus. The Etruscans brought with them the culture of urban planning and civil life, the Varangians - only a passion for trade and robbery. As in Rome, in Kyiv there was a confrontation between the authorities and the people. But the struggle between the "patricians" and the "plebeians" in Kyiv did not end with an agreement between them and the recognition of the rights of the "plebeians" as legislative, as in Rome. The people were needed by the authorities as a tributary, as a means of robbery and protection from external enemies. With the advent of the Varangians, the foundations of the life of the people were changed: it was not the Varangians who defended the cities, but the townspeople defended the alien power, thus being hired by their own mercenaries. The traditions of perverted relations between the people and the authorities were strengthened during the Mongol-Tatar yoke and were adopted by the Moscow principality. Throughout the history of Russia, these traditions have not been interrupted, and after 1917 they became even stronger, although in recent years their effect has become less obvious. Moscow, which once gave hopes of becoming the "third Rome", could not justify these hopes, since the Moscow authorities did not dare to take the step taken by the Roman patricians in their time. Moscow accepted the ideas of a dying Rome; it started from where Ancient Rome ended, i.e. from the empire and its collapse. Therefore, the expression "republican Rome" still sounds more natural today than the expression "republican Moscow".
Interaction of factors in the formation of the culture of ancient Rus'
The natural, psychological and everyday factors in the formation of the culture of Ancient Rus' did not at all imply rigid and centralized power. The centralized method of government, established in Rus', paralyzed the spontaneous and free maturation of the natural and personal principles of ancient Russian man, caused their uncertainty, indistinctness of expression, as well as their rigid dependence on the environment, on sociality. Natural and psychological factors were captured by the social factor, since sociality was never perceived by the common man in Rus' as the work of his own hands. Often the captivity of sociality was understood by him as a captivity of life itself, which weakened him and extinguished his interest in it. This could not but affect the development of culture, where natural, psychological, domestic spheres and relations between people turned out to be the most undeveloped. This also affected the corresponding needs, which were clearly underestimated for a person in Rus'.
material culture
Agriculture was quite stable in Rus'. Hunting, fishing, beekeeping played a subordinate role in the economy, developed mainly under the influence of trade relations with other peoples. Thanks to the rapid growth of cities, handicrafts developed. By the end of the period of antiquity, there were about 300 cities in Rus'. Metallurgical production flourished, most of all aimed at the manufacture of weapons and military armor. Jewelry craft also spread. Various techniques for making jewelry were mastered: forging, embossing, including relief, gilding, inlay, granulation, filigree, enamel. Woodworking and construction were widely developed. Masters in Rus' were also familiar with icon painting, among them were book scribes, bone cutters. Due to the fact that in Rus' the most important means of communication were rivers and lakes, the production of light river vessels with low draft - boats, canoes, plows was mastered. Russian people achieved true mastery when they did something for others, and not for themselves, when they worked “for show”, trying to outdo someone.
Folklore - folk wisdom
A significant place in the worldview of the people was occupied by pagan ideas about nature, life and death, the cult rituals of paganism. It was associated with holidays, with various events in people's lives: weddings, funerals, commemorations. Songs were widespread, including ritual ones. The funeral rite included song lamentations aimed at arousing sympathy and grief among those present. Ancient divination, spells, conspiracies, proverbs, sayings, riddles were tenacious among the people. A special place in Rus' was occupied by the epic epic. Most of the epic stories were associated with the reign of Vladimir. They were based on the idea of the struggle of the people for their freedom. Most often, this idea was personified by heroes. There were about seventy of them, and, according to epic legends, they all died.
Numerous fairy tales depicted a variety of heroes worthy of respect or ridicule. Even the simplest tales were instructive. Fairy tales are allegory, they have a deep meaning. Here is the well-known Ryaba Hen. Why the grandfather and the woman could not break the golden egg, but “the mouse waved its tail” and broke it. Why did grandfather and grandmother cry over a broken testicle, although they themselves wanted to break it? Why does the hen reassure them with the promise of laying a simple egg, which costs - everyone knows - less than a golden one? It is possible that the attitude of the ancient Slavs to gold is reflected in the fairy tale. N.M. Karamzin wrote that the Slavs raged in the Byzantine Empire, did not spare their own lives to acquire jewelry that they did not need, since they usually buried them in the ground. In his description one hears a reproach, quite justified if one takes the position of a civilized person. Meanwhile, in antiquity, according to the well-known culturologist A.Ya. Gurevich, treasures were buried so that no one could use them (this was mentioned in the topic of ideals). It is quite possible that the Slavs resisted baptism also because the new faith came to them in the brilliance of gold and in magnificent robes, which the Byzantine priests did not disdain. The Slavs in their own way fought the "evil of this world", and long before the sermons of such a struggle by Christian missionaries. They could not fail to see that the priesthood did not always regard gold as a real evil. After all, it is known how brilliance and luxury are revered in the Orthodox Church. Consequently, in the fairy tale known to all, a completely different, unusual system of values is hidden.
Legend of the Pigeon Book
Russian folklore expresses the idea of the unity of space and man. Here is what one of the folklore researchers wrote about it: “Myths and legends about the existence of a starry, heavenly book exist in many ancient cultures. In Russian folklore, this is the legend of the Pigeon Book. On the very first pages of it we read about the universal man, whose body is woven from the stars, the moon, the sun, whose breath is the wind. These ideas are rooted in deep antiquity.”113 In the Pigeon Book, not only the cosmos is man, but vice versa: man is also a cosmos, isolated from him by virtue of his earthly existence. And it is understood as the "inversion" of the cosmos as a result of the birth of man. Therefore, the cosmos is the inner essence of man, and the essence of the cosmos remains man, as he should be according to his prototype. Hence the conclusion about the need for an unearthly birth of a person in order to achieve a coincidence of internal and external existence. In the legend about the Pigeon Book there is a thought about Rus', similar to the one that Oleg, nicknamed the Prophetic, spoke about Kiev: Rus'-land is the mother of all lands. This idea was a persistent myth in Rus', reminiscent of the idea of the Jewish people being God's chosen people. The myth of Rus' being chosen by God helped endure many hardships, just like the myth of the cosmic essence of man. We will see that it has found its expression in Orthodox churches.
Writing in Ancient Rus'
There is no definite opinion about whether the Slavs had a written language before the baptism of Rus'. But there are many facts indicating that the alphabet became widespread among the Eastern Slavs in the second half of the 9th century. It was created by the preachers of Christianity Cyril and Methodius, invited in 863 to the Great Moravian Principality (Western Slavs). They created two alphabets - Glagolitic and Cyrillic. In Rus', the Cyrillic alphabet became the official alphabet. All manuscripts until the middle of the XIV century. were written on parchment, which was originally called "leather", "veal", "haratya". The oldest handwritten book is the Ostromir Gospel (mid-11th century). Two Izborniks are known, written a little later and containing moralizing articles. A true work of art is the Mstislav Gospel (beginning of the 12th century), in a luxurious binding, with headpieces and letters painted with gold and paints. The letter was also distributed among the people. In many Russian cities, private letters executed on birch bark were found. Some of the birch bark documents are dated to the 11th-12th centuries. It should be noted that the influence of Greek culture on Old Russian was insignificant precisely because Cyril and Methodius laid the foundations of Slavic writing. The activities of the brothers-enlighteners fatally affected the development of Rus', since the richest heritage of Greek culture became inaccessible to its peoples. Translation literature, which penetrated into Rus' with the adoption of Christianity, was available to very few, and even then, as a rule, these were church books.
chronicle writing
Chronicle occupies a significant place among the written monuments of Rus'. Chronicle writing arose in the 11th century. and existed until the 17th century, but the chronicles came down to us as part of later chronicles, mainly the 14th-15th centuries. All of them are the result of repeated revision of the texts of earlier chronicles. This makes it difficult to clarify many issues related to the initial Old Russian annals. It can be assumed that already in the first half of the XI century. chronicles included weather records. The first mentioned date is considered to be the evidence of the victory of Svyatoslav over the Pechenegs in 968. The victory of Christianity in Rus' and the activities of the princes were the main subjects that occupied the compilers of the annals. It is believed that the first chronicle codes appeared in the 70s. 11th century A significant event was the compilation of the "Sermon on Law and Grace" by Hilarion, the first Russian to become the head of the young Russian Orthodox Church. The ideas of the Lay largely determined the existence of the myth of Rus' being chosen by God over the following centuries. Hilarion developed the idea of the universal nature of Christianity, from which the equality of Rus' with Byzantium, which claimed to lead the Christian world, followed. But from the truth about the universality of Christianity and the equality of all churches, the conclusion about the superiority or chosenness of Rus' should not at all follow. Christ called for humility and meekness, he directly said: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). However, the idea of the chosenness of Rus' by God developed in subsequent works. So, in the annals of the 90s. XI century. the author explained all the misfortunes of the Russian land by the fact that the Russians, chosen and especially loved by God, often sin, for which the Lord punishes them more severely than other peoples. The author did not notice that the main sin of the secular and ecclesiastical authorities, into which they constantly drew the people, was precisely in the claim to be chosen by God.
Chronicle of the 90s. 11th century in the historical literature was called the Primary. It served as the basis for the compilation at the beginning of the XII century. "The Tale of Bygone Years". Until now, not a single manuscript has been found in which the Primary Chronicle would be in the form in which it came out from the hands of the compiler. Two lists of the annals are known - Lavrentiev and Ipatiev, which are annalistic vaults. The Tale of Bygone Years is one of the three parts of the chronicle. Its author is the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor. He brought the presentation of events to the death of Svyatoslav, i.e. until 1113. A few years later, the "Tale" was revised by Abbot Sylvester. It had a great influence on subsequent chronicle writing, and was included in the annals of many cities.
Education
Vladimir organized the first schools in Rus' on the advice of the Greeks. He believed, not without reason, that children, remaining in the care of their parents, would be brought up, like the parents themselves, in the pagan faith. According to the chronicle, the prince ordered to gather children from famous families for "book learning", and their mothers mourned them as dead, because they considered science a dangerous sorcery. Yaroslav organized a school in Novgorod for 300 children, mostly from clergy families. Teachers, as a rule, of a clergy rank, taught small groups of students in other cities as well. It is known that in the middle of the XI century. in the small town of Kursk, a teacher taught Theodosius of the Caves, who later became a writer and abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery. In Ancient Rus', there were two types of schools: at monasteries, where they trained clergy and, in addition to reading and writing, they taught theology, and schools of a higher type, for children from the nobility, where they also gave knowledge in philosophy and rhetoric. But the most common was individual training. The development of education was facilitated by the creation of libraries. The first of them was organized by Yaroslav the Wise at the Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. There were libraries in other cities, as well as in large monasteries. Some women from princely families also received education. For example, the daughter of the Chernigov prince studied Greek philosophy, rhetoric, grammar, Yaroslav's daughter Anna was also educated.
Literature
From literary works of the XI-XII centuries. few have come down to us. The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh are known. It was preserved as an insert in the text of the Laurentian Chronicle. Monomakh was not only a well-educated person, but also a master of words. His "Instruction" is highly artistic. Monomakh urged children to be active and conscientious, to love God and the people, to take care of the fate of Rus'. He saw the painful state of the country, in which there was no peace because of the strife of the princes, and believed that the ruler for the sake of peace in Rus' should forgive his opponents all insults.
Annalistic stories about Russian travelers of the 11th-12th centuries have been preserved. They went mainly to Palestine "to the tomb of Christ." In 1113, Daniel's Journey was written about the journey of Abbot Daniel to the homeland of Christ. This work has become a literary monument and a model for writing travel notes.
Hagiographic literature was widely spread in Rus', in which the biographies of church saints were presented. The Russian pantheon of saints was taking shape, and legends about Olga and Vladimir were included in the first chronicles. In 1015, the "Lives" of Boris and Gleb appeared. Nestor, who owns The Life of Theodosius and Reading about the Life and Death of Boris and Gleb, did not ignore the hagiographic theme. The chronicler canonized his heroes. He moved away from the facts and paid more attention to the depiction of their holiness, wanting to create a vivid impression in readers.
Architecture
The Baptism of Rus' marked the beginning of the construction of temples and monasteries. They were originally made of wood. Stone construction, which arose under the influence of Byzantium, began in Kyiv at the end of the 10th century. The Church of the Tithes was built in the center of the city. Intensive construction was carried out under Yaroslav the Wise: St. Sophia Cathedral, the Golden Gate, the Church of the Virgin, Yuriev and Irininsky monasteries were erected. Following the Kyiv Sophia, St. Sophia Cathedrals are being built in Novgorod and Polotsk. Thus, the political and cultural unity of Rus' was emphasized. Cathedrals and churches were built in many cities. But Russian masters did not copy the church buildings of Byzantium. Kiev Sofia, whose design features served as a model for the cathedrals of the same name in Novgorod and Polotsk, is completely original, its design goes back to the national wooden architecture. Russian churches embody the idea of the cosmic nature of man and the humanoidness of the cosmos, which is characteristic of folklore. The temple is an unearthly world in the conditions of earthly existence, and the Russian person associates with it, first of all, the soul, which, based on the pagan worldview, is human-like. The Slavic-speaking cultural tradition was manifested in the arrangement of temples, which “symbolically reminded us of the structure of the Universe and the “small world” – man. Anthropomorphic features of the temple were found in the names of its individual parts: head, neck (drum), shoulders, sole, brow above the windows. Its device was oriented to the cardinal directions, and the paintings reminded of the Universe, its history - the Old and New Testaments, the future of mankind - the end of the world and the Last Judgment. The Church sought to raise a person above the vain concerns of the day and show him the world in its structure and history, penetrating the entire hierarchy of phenomena and events.”114
Art
The influence of pre-Christian ideas is noticeable in many types of ancient Russian art. Even in those whose roots in paganism could not be. Iconography, although entirely inherited from the Greeks, was reworked by Russian artists in the tradition of "pagan cheerfulness". The students of the Byzantines became masters and created the national art of Ancient Rus'. Pagan symbols were used in arts and crafts, ornamental compositions applied to household items, weapons, and jewelry. The sun was depicted in the form of a circle, water - in the form of wavy lines, animals and birds - as fabulous creatures. Thanks to paganism, the vision of earthly life and independence from the Christian worldview were preserved in art.
Slavic-Russian paganism
The Eastern Slavs had two cults: nature and ancestors. The surviving monuments have preserved traces of worship of the sky (Svarog), the sun (Dazhbog, Khores, Veles), thunder and lightning (Perun), air elements (Stribog), fire and other natural phenomena. Svarog was considered the god-father, his sons were Dazhbog and Svarozhich - the god of earthly fire. In the annals, Perun was named the main deity, they swore by his name, as well as by the name of Beles, or the "cattle god", the patron of domestic herds and wealth. There was also Lado, the god of fun, love, prosperity. Wooden sculptural images of the gods were placed in open places, near which rituals were performed, sacrifices were made, sometimes human. For example, in Kyiv, on a hill, there were images of the golden-whiskered Perun with a silver head and other gods, to whom the prince and people made sacrifices. It can be assumed that the Eastern Slavs had ideas about the hierarchy of the gods. The attitude of the gods to the world is depicted on the Zbruch idol, probably made in the 10th century. and found in 1848 in a tributary of the Dnieper. The idol is a four-sided pillar with images on each side. Three faces give an idea of the underground gods, of earthly life and of the four supreme deities crowned with one common cap. Accordingly, Mokosh, the goddess of fertility, Lada, the goddess of marriage and family, Perun and a male deity without attributes are depicted. Some researchers believe that the common cap reflects the idea of a single supreme god.
Transformation of the pagan pantheon
The cult of ancestors was expressed in the veneration of the Family, in which they saw the ancestor of life and the guardian of relatives and families. Women in labor were associated with him - female deities, patronesses of the family, the hearth and everything related to birth. The ancestor was called "chur" (shur), hence the ancestor (distant ancestor, ancestor). The dead were buried in the ground, later they began to be burned, and the bones were collected in a special vessel and placed on poles in places where paths or boundaries of different possessions crossed. The cult of ancestors was more enduring than the worship of natural forces, more closely associated with social change. Researchers believe that in ancient times, the Slavs made offerings only to evil and good spirits - ghouls and coasts. Later, the place of the spirits was taken by Rod and women in labor. With the advent of the state, Perun comes to the fore, and after the adoption of Christianity, pagan rites generally become secret, Rod and his retinue were revered for the longest time. The transformation of the pantheon reflected the trend towards monotheism in Slavic-Russian paganism. But pagan beliefs could not really compete with the monotheism of Christianity, since they were limited to the sphere of private life of people. In addition, the Kyiv authorities supported a single faith, which corresponded to the interests of a centralized state.
Baptism of Rus'
Vladimir, who won the bloody struggle for the throne of Kiev, wanted to reform the pagan cult, but soon realized that the reform of local cults would not give anything, but would only separate Rus' from Christian countries. However, he did not immediately lean towards Christianity. Ambassadors from Mohammedans and Jews came to the prince. Vladimir was fascinated by the story of the Greek nameless philosopher about the Christian faith. A weighty argument was the fact that Princess Olga, Vladimir's grandmother, accepted the Christian faith. But also inclined to Christianity, the prince chose between Rome and Byzantium. The Western Church stubbornly sought dominance over secular power, which could hardly arouse the sympathy of the power-hungry Vladimir. In Byzantium, spiritual power occupied a subordinate position. It was this that corresponded to the political views of the Kievan prince. In addition, the Roman hierarchs severely condemned the educational activities of Cyril and Methodius, which contributed to the spread of Slavic worship. The Roman Church recognized only three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. The ban on Slavic worship corresponded to the general policy of the papacy in alliance with the Western European feudal lords to establish power over the Slavic peoples.
All this explains the choice of Byzantine orientation. The chronicle reports that Vladimir sent trusted people to different lands to get acquainted with the peculiarities of worship. The ambassadors were especially struck by the Greeks. In the St. Sophia Church of Constantinople, the patriarch himself performed the liturgy for the ambassadors. The splendor of the temple, the importance of the persons present, the mystery of the rites captivated the Russians. They were sure that God himself was in that temple, about which they told in Kyiv. In 988, after the overthrow of all the idols in Kyiv, Rus was baptized with the assistance of the Greek priests. The chronicler noted that the people of Kiev stood in the water, and Vladimir on the banks of the Dnieper asked God to bless the "new children" and establish the right faith in them: "The earth and heaven rejoiced that day."
Duality in Rus'
With the introduction of Christianity in Rus', there were two faiths, each of which was rooted in different layers of culture. Paganism and Christianity not only coexisted, but intertwined and penetrated each other. At the beginning of the XV century. one of the Catholic hierarchs reported to Rome that it was difficult to understand the religion of the Russians: whether it was pagan Christianity, or whether it was Christian paganism. Yes, and Nestor the Chronicler lamented the people's preference for various spectacles, where they "crush each other", while the churches are empty. Two mutually exclusive faiths can enrich each other in art, as evidenced, for example, by Russian temple architecture. But in the individual consciousness, these same two faiths do not enrich each other, but rather neutralize one another, exist as inferior faiths. Just as any believer experiences distrust towards another religion, so a person who has two faiths can only experience distrust towards each of them, which over time can become a character trait. Dual faith in Rus' did not divide society into adherents of one or another faith, but cut individual consciousness, forcing the individual to seek a common basis for both faiths. Such a basis can only be distrust or lack of faith, but in essence - unbelief. It is clear that this is a very uncertain state of man. In unbelief, a person does not allow anything higher than himself, because he does not believe in anything. At the same time, he can be dependent on any little thing, because he is ready to believe anything. In this state, a person does not trust anything external, but at the same time is ready to be satisfied with a purely external, ostentatious effect. Dual faith in Rus' gave rise to disbelief and an ambiguous attitude not only to religion, but also to power, to the fatherland, to its role and fate. On the one hand, the Orthodox ideal of the monarch was affirmed, on the other hand, the pagan image of the eastern despot, “crushing the foreheads” of his subjects, as the ancient Egyptians used to say about their pharaoh. The Christian idea of the equality of all peoples before God was extolled, but the idea of the God-chosenness of Rus' and its people was also cherished. The same was manifested in relation to the most essential thing in Christianity - to the image of Christ. He aroused sympathy with his suffering, but no more. The general meaning of the fact that God sacrificed to man remained outside the popular consciousness, which was characterized by a pagan understanding: it is not a man who is sacrificed, but he himself is sacrificed. Human sacrifice has turned into self-sacrifice, and this is all that remains in the minds of the people from the Son of God. As a result, Christ became understandable and close, but ceased to be a Christian image. The worldly image of Christ was supplanted by the image of the Mother of God, who resurrected the Family and women in childbirth in memory. In the fact that the image of the Mother of God became closer than the image of Christ who was born by her, one can see traces of the cult of ancestors, when the memory of parents was honored, not particularly honoring children.
The image of Jesus Christ and the image of the Virgin
In Russian icon painting, the Mother of God occupied a central place, she was assigned the role of the Queen of Heaven. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, had the same place. But the icons of the Mother of God, as the Russian philosopher believed E.N. Trubetskoy(1863-1920), artistically fuller, more colorful and more perfect. He explained it this way: “The icon of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God expresses the yet undiscovered mystery of God's plan for the creature. And the Mother of God, who gathered the world around the eternal Child, personifies the fulfillment and revelation of the same plan. It was this catholic, united universe that God intended in His Wisdom: it was this that He wanted; and it is precisely by her that the chaotic realm of death must be conquered.”115 The veneration of the Mother of God is associated with ideas about the female essence of Rus', which are found in Russian folklore. They obligated to love Rus' in a special way, but at the same time they aroused the desire to always be under her protection, never to go beyond the age when you can still be in your mother's arms. These same ideas gave rise to fears of violence against Russia, abuse of it by "strangers", "aliens".
Views of Theodosius Pechersky
All this indicates that the choice of faith in Rus' never happened. This could not but excite the ancient Russian thinkers, who lived mainly in a monastic environment. Among such thinkers was Theodosius (died in 1074). From a young age he was imbued with the ideas of Christianity, in 1032 he was tonsured a monk and tortured his flesh for thirty years, following the call of Christianity to leave the world and not take care of the body. In 1062 he became hegumen of the Pechersk Monastery. Theodosius preached the idea of the chosenness of monasticism and considered necessary monastic supervision over society and secular power. The latter, Theodosius believed, should only be an instrument for the defense of faith and the Church, which is the true guardian of "orthodoxy". He believed that Rus' would be united not by secular power, but by a common faith. The views of Theodosius Pechersky served as the beginning of the formation of church ideology.
Historiosophy of Nestor the Chronicler
His views were shared and developed by Nestor, a monk of the same monastery, the author of the first edition of The Tale of Bygone Years. Nestor was undoubtedly familiar with the ideas of the Caves abbot, he has a work called The Life of Theodosius of Caves. He came to the idea of common faith from a more general idea of the unity and God's chosenness of the Slavic people. He convinced readers that the Apostle Paul was a teacher for the Slavs, and since Rus' is also the Slavs, therefore, the Apostle Paul is a teacher for the Russian people. According to Nestor, history is controlled and directed by God, and those who violate church commandments, even if they are entire nations, will be punished. The misfortunes of Rus' are a punishment for the "evil belief" and "cunning" of the rulers, but in this way Rus' is brought to the "truth". So, Svyatopolk, the son of Vladimir, wanted to kill all the brothers in order to own Russia alone, but was defeated by Yaroslav and as a result spent the rest of his life in loneliness and illness. The lesson here was obvious to Nestor: the accursed Svyatopolk was ruined by the desire for autocracy. The conclusion was no less obvious for him: the specific system of the principality is a God-established form of government in Rus', it comes from the sons of the Old Testament Noah, who divided the land among themselves. Secular specificity can be balanced in Rus' by common faith. The power of the church should be one, and not princely power.
The idea of Slavic unity, which Nestor persistently developed, did not at all correspond to the historical reality of his time. The Slavs were disunited, and a significant part of them were enslaved. Western Slavs were influenced by the Catholic Church. Nestor insisted on the domination of Orthodoxy, seeing the reason for disunity in the departure from the true faith. Like Theodosius of Pechersk, he reduced the social process to the action of two forces - church and secular authorities. The people were mentioned in chronicles only in connection with anti-feudal uprisings. He was perceived as an indefinite and threatening force, but not equal to the ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Three forces - the church, the princely power and the people - remained disunited in the culture of Ancient Rus'. The need for their unity was not understood by the chroniclers, which left an imprint on the understanding and development of Russian culture. She always lacked a third force that matured, as it were, away from the general direction of the development of Russian culture. Connected with this is the feeling that Russian culture has not yet manifested itself, that it is always on the road, in the future, and not in the present. But this provision did not contribute to solving the problems of culture. In one of the books on the history of Russian culture we read: “A sore point for the schools of the 18th century. there was a lack of teachers.”116 But the same problem carried over into the 19th century, and little has changed today. It could not have been otherwise in Rus' in the absence of universities and higher school education, which entailed a lag in the development of science and philosophy.117
Difficulties in determining the nature of Russian culture
Due to the traditional unresolved nature of some problems, one could, following the classification of K. Levi-Strauss, classify ancient Russian culture as “cold”. But such a conclusion is superficial, does not express the essence of things, since upon closer examination it can be seen that the ideology, namely, it should be sufficiently developed in the “cold” culture, was very vague and ambivalent in Ancient Rus'.
In the subsequent history of Russia, the brightest pages are associated with the breaking of traditions, and in general, anti-traditionalism was inherent in Russian statehood: if traditions were preserved, then at the level of family and community life. But this level (and the culture of everyday life associated with it) has always been perceived in Rus' as something secondary, although it is at this level that the foundations of human cultural development are laid.
Monologuery of ancient Russian culture
The worldview of the ancient Russian man was characterized by patriarchy. A woman-mother in Rus' was called a "beregina", but she had to take care of a way of life that was entirely dependent on her father. Relations between the people and the government were also patriarchal. The people are not even children, who were ordinary Chinese in relation to their emperor, among the ancient Russian princes the people were a silent supplier of tribute. Like bees, obliged to give honey to their owner every year. The “children” of the princes were warriors who helped their patron to rob the people in the most predatory ways. There was no question of any cooperation between the authorities and the people. Self-will, arbitrariness, treachery - this is how the actions of the first Russian princes can be characterized in relation not only to the people, or to smerds, as they were called, but also to each other. This type of relationship led to the existence of a monological type of culture, i.e. a culture of "one-voiced", one-dimensional, egocentric, where everyone hears mostly only himself. The people, withdrawn in Russia outside the boundaries of cultural life, for a very long time did not even belong to society, and their activities were not perceived as cultural activities. This is evidenced by the calls to “bring culture to the people”, which were so rich in the second half of the 19th century. At the same time, calls were made to help the people, and the calls were addressed not only to the authorities, but also to society, which, therefore, the people did not enter. So, the Russian philosopher B.C. Solovyov wrote at the end of the last century, in connection with the terrible famine of 1891-1892, about the situation in the state: “The people are starving, the government is trying in every possible way to help them, but society is doing nothing.”118
Monologism, one-dimensionality of ancient Russian culture also affected the perception of a person. It was not voluminous, a person was seen as a scheme, his psyche, character, inner world were beyond the border of a sensual image. The perception of a person was reminiscent of his image in the ancient Egyptian art of the XIV century. BC. But the self-perception of a person in ancient Russian culture was different, he perceived himself as a completely sufficient person. However, in comparison with power, the value of which was the highest measure in ancient Russian culture, the life of an individual was worth nothing. In particular, the life of smerds, who were perceived by the princes as objects of nature. It is generally accepted that there was no slavery in Rus', but smerds in Rus' were hardly revered as people, and anyone who did not have power was a potential slave and serf.
We should not be surprised by the discrepancy just noted in the perception of the person of Ancient Rus' himself and the other. If the relations of power and subordination determined the culture as a whole, then these same relations determined the culture of the individual. As a rule, people in their attitudes towards others only reproduce the attitudes they experience towards themselves. Based on this, in ancient Chinese philosophy and Christianity, a principle was formulated that prescribes a person to treat other people not as they treat him, but as he would like them to treat him. But Christianity seduced the envoys of the Kyiv prince not with its ethical side, but with its external beauty and brilliance. This outward side of the Byzantine liturgy contributed little to the inner transformation of the man of Ancient Rus', his protest against baptism was expressed in the desire to preserve the faith of his ancestors - paganism.
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Culture of Ancient Rus'(or Culture of Medieval Rus') - the culture of Rus' during the period of the Old Russian state from the moment of its formation to the Tatar-Mongol invasion.
Writing and education
The existence of writing among the Eastern Slavs in the pre-Christian period is evidenced by numerous written sources and archaeological finds. The creation of the Slavic alphabet is associated with the names of the Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius. Cyril in the second half of the 9th century created the Glagolitic alphabet (Glagolitic), in which the first translations of church books were written for the Slavic population of Moravia and Pannonia. At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, on the territory of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, as a result of the synthesis of the Greek script, which had long been widespread here, and those elements of the Glagolitic alphabet that successfully conveyed the features of the Slavic languages, an alphabet arose, later called Cyrillic. In the future, this easier and more convenient alphabet replaced the Glagolitic alphabet and became the only one among the southern and eastern Slavs.
The Baptism of Rus' contributed to the widespread and rapid development of writing and written culture. It was essential that Christianity was adopted in its eastern, Orthodox version, which, unlike Catholicism, allowed worship in national languages. This created favorable conditions for the development of writing in the native language.
The development of writing in the native language led to the fact that the Russian Church from the very beginning did not become a monopoly in the field of literacy and education. The spread of literacy among the strata of the urban population is evidenced by birch bark letters discovered during archaeological excavations in Novgorod, Tver, Smolensk, Torzhok, Staraya Russa, Pskov, Staraya Ryazan, etc. These are letters, memos, training exercises, etc. The letter, therefore, was used not only to create books, state and legal acts, but also in everyday life. Often there are inscriptions on handicraft products. Ordinary citizens left numerous records on the walls of churches in Kyiv, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir and other cities. The oldest surviving book in Rus' is the so-called. "Novgorod Psalter" of the first quarter of the 11th century: wooden, wax-covered tablets with texts of 75 and 76 psalms.
Most of the written monuments before the Mongol period perished during numerous fires and foreign invasions. Only a small part of them survived. The oldest of them are the Ostromir Gospel, written by deacon Gregory for the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir in 1057, and two Izborniks by Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of 1073 and 1076. The high level of professional skill with which these books were made testifies to the well-established production of handwritten books already in the first half of the 11th century, as well as to the skills of “book construction” that had been established by that time.
Correspondence of books was carried out mainly in monasteries. The situation changed in the 12th century, when the craft of "book describers" also arose in large cities. This speaks of the growing literacy of the population and the increased need for books, which the monastic scribes could not satisfy. Many princes kept copyists of books, and some of them copied books on their own.
At the same time, the main centers of literacy continued to be monasteries and cathedral churches, where there were special workshops with permanent teams of scribes. They were engaged not only in the correspondence of books, but also kept chronicles, created original literary works, and translated foreign books. One of the leading centers of this activity was the Kiev Caves Monastery, which developed a special literary trend that had a great influence on the literature and culture of Ancient Rus'. As chronicles testify, already in the 11th century in Rus', libraries with up to several hundred books were created at monasteries and cathedral churches.
Needing literate people, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich organized the first schools. Literacy was not only the privilege of the ruling class, it also penetrated into the environment of the townspeople. Letters found in a significant number in Novgorod, written on birch bark (from the 11th century), contain the correspondence of ordinary citizens; inscriptions were also made on handicrafts.
Education was highly valued in ancient Russian society. In the literature of that time one can find many panegyrics to the book, statements about the benefits of books and "book teaching".
Literature
With the adoption of Christianity, Ancient Rus' was attached to book culture. The development of Russian writing gradually became the basis for the emergence of literature and was closely connected with Christianity. Despite the fact that writing was known in the Russian lands before, only after the baptism of Rus' did it become widespread. It also received a basis in the form of a developed cultural tradition of Eastern Christianity. An extensive translated literature became the basis for the formation of a non-own tradition.
The original literature of Ancient Rus' is characterized by great ideological richness and high artistic perfection. Its prominent representative was Metropolitan Hilarion, the author of the famous "Sermon on Law and Grace", dating from the middle of the 11th century. In this work, the idea of the need for the unity of Rus' is clearly manifested. Using the form of a church sermon, Hilarion created a political treatise, which reflected the pressing problems of Russian reality. Contrasting "grace" (Christianity) with "law" (Judaism), Hilarion rejects the concept of God's chosen people inherent in Judaism and affirms the idea of transferring heavenly attention and disposition from one chosen people to all mankind, the equality of all peoples.
An outstanding writer and historian was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor. His “Reading” about the princes Boris and Gleb and the “Life of Theodosius”, valuable for the history of life, have been preserved. "Reading" is written in a somewhat abstract style, instructive and ecclesiastical elements are reinforced in it. Approximately 1113 is an outstanding monument of ancient Russian chronicle - "The Tale of Bygone Years", preserved in the composition of later chronicles of the XIV-XV centuries. This work is compiled on the basis of earlier chronicles - historical works dedicated to the past of the Russian land. The author of the Tale, the monk Nestor, managed to vividly and figuratively tell about the emergence of Rus' and connect its history with the history of other countries. The main attention in the Tale is given to the events of political history, the deeds of princes and other representatives of the nobility. The economic life and life of the people are described in less detail. The religious worldview of its compiler was clearly manifested in the annals: he sees the ultimate cause of all events and actions of people in the action of divine forces, “providence”. However, religious differences and references to the will of God often hide a practical approach to reality, the desire to identify real causal relationships between events.
In turn, Theodosius, hegumen of the Pechersk Monastery, about whom Nestor also wrote, wrote several teachings and letters to Prince Izyaslav.
Vladimir Monomakh was an outstanding writer. His "Instruction" painted the ideal image of a prince - a just feudal ruler, touched upon the pressing issues of our time: the need for strong princely power, unity in repelling nomadic raids, etc. "Instruction" is a work of a secular nature. It is imbued with the immediacy of human experiences, alien to abstraction and filled with real images and examples taken from life.
The question of princely power in the life of the state, its duties and methods of implementation becomes one of the central ones in literature. The idea arises of the need for strong power as a condition for a successful struggle against external enemies and overcoming internal contradictions. These reflections are embodied in one of the most talented works of the 12th-13th centuries, which has come down to us in two main editions of the “Word” and “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik. A staunch supporter of strong princely power, Daniel writes with humor and sarcasm about the sad reality surrounding him.
A special place in the literature of Ancient Rus' is occupied by the "Tale of Igor's Campaign", dating from the end of the 12th century. It tells about the unsuccessful campaign against the Polovtsy in 1185 by the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavich. The description of this campaign only serves as an occasion for the author to reflect on the fate of the Russian land. The author sees the reasons for the defeats in the struggle against the nomads, the reasons for the disasters of Rus' in the princely civil strife, in the egoistic policy of the princes, thirsting for personal glory. Central to the "Word" is the image of the Russian land. The author belonged to the milieu. He constantly used the concepts of “honor” and “glory” characteristic of her, but filled them with a broader, patriotic content. The Tale of Igor's Campaign embodied the characteristic features of ancient Russian literature of that time: a living connection with historical reality, citizenship and patriotism.
The Batu invasion had a great influence on Russian culture. The first work devoted to the invasion - "The Word about the destruction of the Russian land." This word has not come down to us completely. Also Batu's invasion is dedicated to "The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu" - an integral part of the cycle of stories about the "miraculous" icon of Nikola Zaraisky.
Architecture
Until the end of the tenth century, there was no monumental stone architecture in Rus', but there were rich traditions of wooden construction, some forms of which subsequently influenced stone architecture. Significant skills in the field of wooden architecture led to the rapid development of stone architecture and its originality. After the adoption of Christianity, the construction of stone temples begins, the principles of construction of which were borrowed from Byzantium. The Byzantine architects called to Kyiv passed on to the Russian masters the extensive experience of the building culture of Byzantium.
The large churches of Kievan Rus, built after the adoption of Christianity in 988, were the first examples of monumental architecture in the Eastern Slavic lands. The architectural style of Kievan Rus was established under the influence of the Byzantine. Early Orthodox churches were mostly made of wood.
The first stone church of Kievan Rus was the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv, the construction of which dates back to 989. The church was built as a cathedral not far from the prince's tower. In the first half of the XII century. The church has undergone significant renovations. At this time, the southwestern corner of the temple was completely rebuilt, a powerful pylon appeared in front of the western facade, supporting the wall. These events, most likely, were the restoration of the temple after a partial collapse due to an earthquake.
Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, built in the XI century, is one of the most significant architectural structures of this period. Initially, St. Sophia Cathedral was a five-nave cross-domed church with 13 domes. On three sides, it was surrounded by a two-tier gallery, and from the outside - an even wider single-tier one. The cathedral was built by the builders of Constantinople, with the participation of Kyiv masters. At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, it was externally rebuilt in the Ukrainian baroque style. The temple is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Painting
After the baptism of Rus', new types of monumental painting came from Byzantium - mosaics and frescoes, as well as easel painting (icon painting). Also, the iconographic canon was adopted from Byzantium, the invariability of which was strictly guarded by the church. This predetermined a longer and more stable Byzantine influence in painting than in architecture.
The earliest surviving works of ancient Russian painting were created in Kyiv. According to the chronicles, the first temples were decorated by visiting Greek masters, who added to the existing iconography a system for arranging plots in the interior of the temple, as well as a manner of planar painting. The mosaics and frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral are known for their special beauty. They are made in a strict and solemn manner, characteristic of Byzantine monumental painting. Their creators skillfully used a variety of shades of smalt, skillfully combined the mosaic with the fresco. Of the mosaic works, the images of Christ the Almighty in the central dome are especially significant. All images are imbued with the idea of greatness, triumph and inviolability of the Orthodox Church and earthly power.
Another unique monument of the secular painting of Ancient Rus' is the wall paintings of the two towers of the Kyiv Sophia. They depict scenes of princely hunting, circus competitions, musicians, buffoons, acrobats, fantastic animals and birds, which somewhat distinguishes them from ordinary church paintings. Among the frescoes in Sofia are two group portraits of the family of Yaroslav the Wise.
In the XII-XIII centuries, local features began to appear in the painting of individual cultural centers. This is typical for the Novgorod land and the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Since the XII century, a specific Novgorod style of monumental painting has been formed, which reaches a fuller expression in the paintings of the churches of St. George in Staraya Ladoga, the Annunciation in Arkazhy and especially the Savior-Nereditsa. In these fresco cycles, in contrast to the Kyiv ones, there is a noticeable desire to simplify artistic techniques, to an expressive interpretation of iconographic types. In easel painting, Novgorod features were less pronounced.
In Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', fragments of frescoes of the Dmitrievsky and Assumption Cathedrals in Vladimir and the Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha, as well as several icons, have been preserved until the Mongol period. Based on this material, the researchers consider it possible to talk about the gradual formation of the Vladimir-Suzdal school of painting. The best preserved fresco of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral depicting the Last Judgment. It was created by two masters - a Greek and a Russian. Several large icons of the 12th - early 13th centuries belong to the Vladimir-Suzdal school. The earliest of them is the "Bogolyubskaya Mother of God", dating from the middle of the XII century, stylistically close to the famous "Vladimir Mother of God", which is of Byzantine origin.
Folklore
Written sources testify to the richness and diversity of the folklore of Ancient Rus'. A significant place in it was occupied by calendar ritual poetry: incantations, incantations, songs, which were an integral part of the agrarian cult. Ritual folklore also included pre-wedding songs, funeral laments, songs at feasts and feasts. Mythological tales, reflecting the pagan ideas of the ancient Slavs, also became widespread. For many years, the church, in an effort to eradicate the remnants of paganism, waged a stubborn struggle against "vile" customs, "demonic games" and "blasphemers". However, these types of folklore survived in folk life until the 19th-20th centuries, having lost their initial religious meaning over time, while the rites turned into folk games.
There were also such forms of folklore that were not associated with a pagan cult. These include proverbs, sayings, riddles, fairy tales, labor songs. The authors of literary works widely used them in their work. Written monuments have preserved numerous traditions and legends about the founders of tribes and princely dynasties, about the founders of cities, about the struggle against foreigners. So, folk tales about the events of the II-VI centuries were reflected in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign".
In the 9th century, a new epic genre arose - the heroic epic epic, which became the pinnacle of oral folk art and the result of the growth of national consciousness. Epics are oral poetic works about the past. Epics are based on real historical events, the prototypes of some epic heroes are real people. So, the prototype of the epic Dobrynya Nikitich was the uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich - the governor Dobrynya, whose name is repeatedly mentioned in ancient Russian chronicles.
In turn, in the military estate, in the princely retinue environment, there was their own oral poetry. In squad songs, princes and their exploits were glorified. The princely squads had their own "songwriters" - professionals who composed songs - "glory" in honor of the princes and their soldiers.
Folklore continued to develop even after the spread of written literature, remaining an important element of ancient Russian culture. In the following centuries, many writers and poets used the plots of oral poetry and the arsenal of its artistic means and techniques. Also in Rus', the art of playing the harp was widespread, of which it is the birthplace.
Decorative and applied crafts
Kievan Rus was famous for its craftsmen in applied, decorative arts, who were fluent in various techniques: filigree, enamel, granulation, niello, as evidenced by jewelry. It is no coincidence that foreigners admired the artistic creativity of our craftsmen. L. Lyubimov in his book “The Art of Ancient Rus'” gives a description of star-shaped silver kolts from the Tver treasure of the 11th–12th centuries: “Six silver cones with balls are soldered to a ring with a semicircular shield. 5000 tiny rings with a diameter of 0.06 cm from wire 0.02 cm thick are soldered onto each cone! Only microphotography made it possible to establish these dimensions. But that's not all. The rings serve only as a pedestal for the grain, so that another silver grain with a diameter of 0.04 cm is planted on each one! Jewelry was decorated with cloisonné enamel. Masters used bright colors, skillfully selected colors. In the drawings, mythological pagan plots and images were traced, which were especially often used in applied art. They can be seen on carved wooden furniture, household utensils, fabrics embroidered with gold, in carved bone products, known in Western Europe under the name "carving of the Taurus", "carving of the Rus".
Cloth
Modern researchers have numerous evidence of how princes and boyars dressed. Verbal descriptions, images on icons, frescoes and miniatures, as well as fragments of fabrics from sarcophagi have been preserved. Various researchers compared these materials in their works with references to clothing in written documentary and narrative sources - chronicles, lives and various acts.
