Features of upbringing and education in the early Middle Ages. Features of upbringing and education in the early Middle Ages Historical attacks on faith

The date of the:________
Lesson topic: Rus' in the time of Vladimir Svyatoslavich Lesson objectives:
- educational: to characterize the essence of early feudal relations in Kievan Rus, highlight their features in comparison with the processes in Western Europe; evaluate the significance of the adoption of Christianity under Prince Vladimir for the socio-political development of the state.
-developing: to promote the development of teamwork
- educational: educate patriotic education
Lesson plan:
Vladimir's reign.
Baptism of Rus'.
The meaning of the baptism of Rus'.
Basic concepts: strife, Pechenegs, Christianity, Orthodoxy.
The most important dates: 988 - the adoption of Christianity in Rus'.
Lesson equipment: map “Kievan Rus. IX-XII centuries.»
Suggested Lesson Organization
I. Checking homework
Check contour maps;
Table validation - see previous lesson;
Checking the additional task: "Contemporaries of Princess Olga in Byzantium, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic"
Rus' Princess Olga. Years of life? -969; reign years: 945-964
Byzantium Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, reigned 913-959.
Emperor Romanus of Lacania: co-ruler of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus since 920 110 944
Emperor Roman P. Years of reign: 959-963.
Emperor Nikephoros 11 Phocas. Years of government: 963-969
Germany Otto 1: from 936 German king, from 962 to 973 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Poland The first historically reliable Polish prince from the Piast dynasty Mexico City 1. Reigned: 960-992.
Czech Republic Prince Boleslav 1. Years of government: 935-972.
II. Learning new material
The teacher reports: Going on a second trip to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons: the eldest - Yaropolk - was planted in Kyiv, the second - Oleg a - in the Drevlyane land, and the youngest - Vladimir - in Novgorod. In 972, Svyatoslav died, and soon the brothers quarreled among themselves and went to war with each other. The first strife in Rus' began.
Notebook entry:
Strife - wars between princes for the throne of the grand duke.
The teacher reports: in 980, Vladimir becomes the sole ruler of Rus'. He completed the unification of the lands. There was a qualitative change in the relations between Kyiv and the tribes: the sons of Vladimir became governors, i.e., the system of governing the country was strengthened.
Invite students to draw up a table based on the textbook material (§8, pp. 58-59):
Deputies of Vladimir
Yaroslav - Novgorod
Izyaslav - Polotsk
Boris - Rostov
Gleb-Murom
Svyatoslav - Drevlyane land
Vsevolod - Vladimir in Volyn
Mstislav - Tmutarakan Principality
The teacher reports: Vladimir continued to pursue his father's active foreign policy. In 985 he again undertook a campaign against the Danube Bulgaria and made peace with it. A new direction in foreign policy was also designated - the western one: Rus' entered the struggle with Poland. The border territories in the region of Transcarpathia - the so-called Cherven Rus (show this territory on the map) became the object of contention.
The teacher reports: At this time, Rus' began to experience an increasingly strong onslaught of nomadic Pechenegs.
Notebook entry:
The Pechenegs are a Turkic-speaking nomadic people. In the VIII-IX centuries. their camps were located between the lower reaches of the Volka and the Urals. In the ninth century Pechenegs moved to the southern Russian steppes and began to raid Rus'.
The teacher continues: In an effort to protect the southern borders of Rus' from constant raids, Vladimir undertook the construction of fortresses on the left bank of the Dnieper (show on the hag).
2. Work with the textbook: Based on the material of the textbook (§8 S. 60-61), students must write down the main prerequisites for the baptism of Rus' point by point:
Prerequisites for the baptism of Rus':
a) The interests of the developing state (centralization) demanded the rejection of polytheism and the introduction of a monotheistic religion;
b) This was required by international conditions, since almost the entire European world had already converted to Christianity;
c) Christianity with its new moral norms demanded a humane attitude towards a person, that is, it carried a huge educational function;
d) Initiation to Christianity could help in the development of culture, writing, spiritual life of the country;
e) The complication of the social structure of society in Rus' required an explanation, a new ideology, which Christianity could provide.
Notebook entry:
Christianity is one of the world religions (along with Buddhism and Islam). It arose in the 1st century. n. e. in Judea. It has three main directions: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism. A common feature that unites Christian denominations is faith in Jesus Christ as the God-man, the savior of the world.
The teacher reports: By the end of the X century. Christianity has already penetrated into Rus'. It is known that among the squad of Prince Igor there were Christians, moreover, Igor's wife, Princess Olga, was also baptized. She persuaded her son Svyatoslav to be baptized, but he did not consider it convenient for himself.
Vladimir did not immediately go for the introduction of Christianity. First, he decided to reform paganism, seeking to raise the ancient beliefs to the level of the state religion: he ordered to put up wooden idols of six gods: Perun, Khors, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Semargl and Mokosh. However, this religious reform did not bring the result that Vladimir had hoped for. And he chose Orthodox Christianity.
33
Notebook entry:
Orthodoxy is a Christian doctrine that developed in Byzantium as an Eastern Christian church, in contrast to Catholicism that arose in the West.
Work with the textbook: Reading the source "The Tale of Bygone Years" (§ 8, p. 64). Answer question No. 2. (Answer: the nature of the initial stage of baptism is forced, violent; example: “And Perun ordered to tie a horse to the tail ... When Perun was dragged along the stream to the Dnieper, believers mourned him ... After that, Vladimir sent throughout the city with the words: “Whoever will not be on the river tomorrow, whether rich, poor, inferior or a slave, he goes against me” ... he forced people to be baptized in all cities and villages ... And he began to take them from deliberate people and their mothers wept for them as if they were dead... if anyone breaks this command, let him be damned...”) The teacher can add to the answer to this question (see Supplementary Resources, p. one).
Interview with students on:
What are the reasons for choosing Byzantine Orthodoxy? (Rus in the 10th-19th centuries was traditionally associated with Constantinople - "Tsargrad" - and with the Slavs in Central Europe and the Balkan Peninsula, who were also in close contact with Byzantium. These ties largely determined the church orientation of Rus' to the Eastern Christian world and to in addition, in the tenth century Byzantium was the largest and economically strongest of the states of Europe.) Did such a forced, or even voluntary baptism, mean that a person would immediately become a Christian? (No, many more decades will pass before Christianity triumphs in Rus', moreover, paganism has not completely surrendered, many pagan traditions and holidays have been combined with Christian ones).
The teacher can add to the answer to this question (see Supplementary Materials, p. 2).
3. Work with the textbook: based on the textbook material (§ 8, pp. 62-63) and with your help, the students should write down the most important consequences of the baptism of Rus':
a) Political:
Rus', having rejected "primitive" paganism, now became equal to other Christian countries, ties with which expanded significantly.
Christianity became the state religion, linked the secular and ecclesiastical authorities and united the multi-ethnic population into a single whole.
Dynastic kinship with the Byzantine emperors.
b) Cultural:
Creation of the church as an institution and church organization according to the Byzantine model.
The entry of the Russian state and people into the circle of Byzantine culture, values, art, etc.
The possibility, unlike Catholicism, of preaching in the native language of believers.
Introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet and the beginning of literature.
III. Lesson summary
The adoption of Christianity in the Orthodox tradition has become one of the determining factors in the further historical development of Rus'.
Homework
§ 8, repeat terms and notes in notebooks.
Additional task. Answer the question: who ruled at the same time as Prince Vladimir in Byzantium, the Bulgarian kingdom, the Holy Roman Empire, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary?
Additional material for the teacher
Adoption of Christianity in Rus'. The spread of Christianity was carried out by the princely authorities and the emerging church organization by force, with the resistance not only of the priesthood, but also of various segments of the population. Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv acknowledged that baptism in Kyiv took place under duress: "... no one resisted the prince's order, pleasing to God, and they were baptized, if not of their own free will, then out of fear of the one who ordered, for their religion was connected with power." In other cities, the replacement of the traditional cult by a new one met with open resistance. In Novgorod, a legend has been preserved about the introduction of Christianity there by Bishop Joachim Korsunian and the princely governors Dobrynya and Putyata, when “Putyata baptize with a sword, and Dobrynya with fire.”
Russian Orthodoxy: milestones of history. M., 1988. - S. 14-18.
Fight against paganism. Christianity zealously fought against the remnants of the pagan worldview, firmly held in Russian society for many centuries. Thus, that kind of syncretism, dual faith, was created, which was also used by church authorities who fought against paganism. Perun began to appear in the form of the prophet Elijah, rumbling his fiery chariot in the sky in the midst of summer thunderstorms. The cattle bot Velss turned into Blasius, the patron saint of livestock, and the Novgorod icon naively depicts Blasius among colorful cows and sheep. Seeing off winter and the old pagan Shrovetide in subsequent times remained as drunken and violent as they were among the Eastern Slavs. We will meet with traces of pagan philosophy in various kinds of writings not only of ancient, but also of medieval Rus', and “equal to the apostles” Vladimir is carried to burial according to the old pagan custom in a sleigh. All this only indicates that the paganism of the Eastern Slavs did not at all so quickly give way to solemn Christianity and for a long time retained its significance as a worldview persecuted, but loved by popular circles.
Tikhomirov M. Russian culture X-XIII centuries. M „ 1968. - S. 95.

Attached files

Golden eagles hovered over you,
sometimes sitting down
On God's chest
When you were mial, rhea, whirlpool,
Pointing at fish
The villages are terrible.

God carried by the waves
Yachan met swans,
Did You predestinate Tsushima
To the kind of people who overthrew You?

(Velemir Khlebnikov, "Perun")

Let's start from afar...

In 1450, a certain subject of the most Christian king of France, J. Le Bouvier, wrote in his “Book of Country Descriptions” about the neighbors of his people: “The English are cruel and treacherous, besides, they are mean merchants, the Swiss are cruel and rude, the Scandinavians are quick-tempered and angry; Neapolitans are fat and rude, bad Catholics and great sinners; Castilians are violent, badly dressed, shod, sleep in bad beds and bad Catholics.

Sketching a portrait of every European nation with a few bold strokes, giving, so to speak, earrings to all sisters, Le Bouvier inserts everything into the line - from a bad bed to insufficient, in his opinion, Catholicism.

Of course, against such a background, the fellow countrymen of the author of the "Book of the Description of Countries" should look like the purest angels ... but this is not what interests us now. As you can easily see, the French accused two nations of "bad" Catholicism: the "Neapolitans", that is, the Italians, and the "Castilians" - the Spaniards.

Why, however, did these peoples deserve such an epithet? After all, later, as we know, both of them remained faithful to the Vatican even three centuries later after the bilious "ethnographer" Le Bouvier, when most of the peoples listed by Le Bouvier, not endowed with the stigma of "bad Catholics", fell into Protestantism, or even at all - like the same French - departed from Christianity, sending priests to the guillotines "in the name of reason and progress."

It's about the time when the undiplomatic Frenchman wrote his book. In 1450, no heresies were heard in France (the Czech Republic, which was seething with Hussite wars, was too far away, and Martin Luther had not yet been born). "Bad Catholic" in the mouth of a European in 1450 means "bad Christian"!

It is curious that both the writer and scientist, a specialist in the culture of the Middle Ages, Umberto Eco writes something similar. In his novel "The Name of the Rose", which we have already quoted in the introduction, he, through the mouth of a stern English Dominican, William of Baskerville, says to the novice Atson: they say that the Italians, in order to experience reverence, need some kind of idol, and most often this idol takes the name of one of the saints.

The Englishman expresses fear that the Italians, they say, are about to reach "secondary paganism" in this way.

William of Baskerville hit the mark. Here is what, for example, happened in southern Italy at the end of 1893 (!!). A long drought hit these parts. Grain fields and orchards perished, people were threatened with famine.

After the magnificent religious processions turned out to be powerless, all night long with a rosary in their hands and praying on their lips in front of the statues of saints, hanging palm branches on the branches of the gardens, consecrated on Palm Sunday, and even scattering litter swept out of the churches on the same Sunday across the fields, desperate the peasants went to extreme measures.

The enraged Italians came to the church with far from pious intentions. Gone are the days when the inhabitants of Nicosia with songs carried crucifixes around the city, lashing each other with twigs - now the statues of saints who did not want to respond to prayers were beaten with twigs.

In Palermo, the parishioners dragged the statue of Joseph out of the church into the sun, so that he himself would taste what people had to endure by his grace, and vowed to leave the named father-savior there until it rained.

This, however, was still a mild treatment - magnificent robes were torn off the statues of the saints, turned to face the walls, like useless children, they were threatened, they were mocked at, they were insulted, they were dipped in puddles, they were expelled from the parishes.

In the city of Caltanisetta, the golden wings of the Archangel Michael were torn off, but, however, they replaced them with cardboard ones - apparently, considering that it would be too cruel to turn a winged creature into a wingless cripple; they tore off his purple robe and dressed him in rags and rags.

Worst of all was Saint Angelo, the patron saint of Licata - a crowd of recent admirers skinned their negligent intercessor naked, chained him in chains and threatened to hang or drown him. "Rain or rope?!" - shouted the furious Italians, waving a rope loop in front of the wooden face of the saint.

This is what "bad Catholics" are, or, if you like, "secondary paganism." Yes, the Italians really fought the drought like pagans, yes, they really treated the statues of saints as if they were idols. But the countrymen of their strict judges - both the real Le Bouvier and the fictional Englishman - by this time had ceased, in the overwhelming and absolute majority, to be not only Catholics, but at least simply people who believed in God.

Recall, reader, what we talked about in the preface. "Since the 16th century, witch trials, sermons, catechisms have insistently emphasized the distinction between God and Satan, saints and demons, in order to root it in the mentality of the villagers," Delumeau writes.

Starting from the 15th century, the church, which has dramatically changed its attitude towards witches and witchcraft, begins to persecute them and burn them at the stake. All of these are facets of the same process. Having basically done away with conscious paganism (Lithuania, the last pagan country in Europe, adopted Christianity at the end of the 14th century), the church turned to combat the remnants of paganism among its parishioners.

Who is to blame that some of the churchmen, such as the Augustinian monk from Germany, Martin Luther, went further than the rest in this matter and turned to those remnants of paganism that had grown into the very, so to speak, flesh of the church?

The Protestants declared war on that legacy of the former Faith, which the Church consciously, in order to facilitate the transition to Christianity for the pagans, or unconsciously, in the souls of new, not quite consistent parishioners, took for itself - the cult of saints, the heir of polytheism, the veneration of icons and relics, the heir of idolatry, magnificent rituals, heirs of magic, the ringing of bells and bright robes of prelates, the very apparatus of the priesthood, the heir of the priesthood, and finally, the very symbol of the cross (however, not everyone has come to this).

All this was openly and, in general, justly denounced as the legacy of ungodly, filthy paganism.

The 16th and 17th centuries passed under the sign of this struggle - the struggle between paganism and Christianity, which spilled over into Christian society. It is probably not worth retelling it in detail here.

Everything is too reminiscent of the previous struggle with paganism - now the crowds of fanatics smashed not the temples, but the churches, now they dragged horses and threw into the fires not the magi and priestesses, but priests and nuns, the crowbars broke not the statues of Brigitte or Freya, but the smiling faces of the Madonnas and curly plaster heads of babies on their hands.

In the same way, entire regions turned into deserts, brother went to brother and son to father - in general, the church drank with a full cup what, by her grace, the worshipers of the old Gods had to taste.

"For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you"...

In the end, all the countries that took the fight against paganism seriously, all the "good Catholics" Le Bouvier fell away from Rome. More or less held the position of the church in France, but even there she had a hard time.

And in other countries, a person with a gaze cleansed of pagan idols and symbols could look into the face of the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the god of Scripture. And soon he began to declare that he did not want to have anything to do with this god.

Deprived of the Gods and deities of their ancestors dressed in Catholic robes, the European did not want to deal with either the sadistic despot of the Old Testament or the sufferer of the New. In the centers of Protestantism - Switzerland, Britain, Germany - materialistic philosophy flourishes.

Europe, having become better acquainted with the god of Christians, seemed to have declared that such a god is better than none! Christian zeal and consistency of Catholics cleared the way for Protestantism, and that for atheism.

Something similar happened in our homeland, reader. Since the 17th century, the Christian Church, having finally cast down its main adversary, Slavic paganism, began to fight against its remnants.

The first swallows were the rejection of the consecration of fire, then - the global equating of Russian Orthodoxy with the Byzantine "template", the Nikon schism. By the way, for his opponents, the Old Believers, according to scientists, "characterized by a noticeable restoration of paganism in the worldview and in cult actions."

But the real war on the remnants of paganism in Orthodoxy, especially on that folk, rural "Orthodoxy", which we spoke about in the introduction, was declared in the next, XVIII century.

Still, at the end of this century there were priests (!), who did not know who Christ was (!!), and believed that God's name was ... Nicola (!!!).

However, behind the coups and reforms in the Russian state - and after Peter the Church finally turned into one of his offices, so to speak, the "ministry of spiritual guidance" - for a long time did not get around to this task.

So seriously for the "evangelization of the Russian village" - let me remind you that even at the beginning of the 20th century, hardly 15% of the country's inhabitants lived in cities - the church and the state took up only in the 19th century.

At the same time, the studies of ethnographers opened the eyes of the educated public to what the Russian peasant really believes in, from which the Slavophils hastened to paint the icon of Christian virtues.

The results were disappointing. I spoke a lot about the vivid manifestations of the actual paganism of the Russian village in the preface, I will not repeat myself. But the Christianity of the Russian peasant was ... un-Christian, so to speak.

They did not preach in churches - services were served there. Not interested in dogmas for a second, the peasant concentrated his faith in the ritual. It was, in fact, Orthodox idolatry - ritualism, as church publicists called it.

Having learned under pressure to bow to icons, to cross himself and kiss the hand of a priest, the Russian peasant has not advanced in understanding Christianity for centuries after baptism. This is not my opinion, this is not the "atheistic propaganda" of the Soviet militant atheists, this is not the writings of Marxists or Narodniks - this is an assessment of pre-revolutionary church Orthodox publicists.

“The Russian people do not understand anything about their religion… they confuse God with St. Nicholas and are even ready to give preference to the latter… The doctrines of Christianity are completely unknown to them” (Missionerskoe obozreniye, 1902, vol. II, p. 34).

“Our commoner is enveloped in the impenetrable darkness of religious ignorance, he sometimes understands nothing either in the confessed faith or in the worship performed before him” (Tserkovny voice, 1906, No. 46, p. 1256).

"It is hardly possible to find confessors of another religion who would have such a poor understanding of their faith, just like the sons of the Orthodox Church. Ignorance of the dogma of Christianity by our people is a fact that is unlikely to be disputed by anyone" (Tserkovno-obshchestvennyi vestnik, 1913, No. 25, p. .2).

A comrade of the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod wrote in those years that Orthodoxy in Russia is maintained only by the efforts of his state department. Not by sermons, not by the craving of the Russian people for Christianity, but by the efforts of officials.

If we leave, he wrote, the enlightened society will go into Catholicism, and the peasants will go into schism. Well, if by schism we understand the same rural "Christianity", then everything is correct - although he really thought too well about an enlightened society!

As in the West, the struggle against pagan survivals was also a struggle against ritual belief - for preaching against service, for dogma against ritual.

In vain, the subtle and deep thinker Vasily Rozanov (known, by the way, for his sympathy for paganism, in particular, it was he who owns the famous phrase: "Try to crucify the Sun - and you will see which God is!") warned his contemporaries that planting sermons in village churches would lead only to the loss of interest of the peasants in religion.

In vain did the chief procurator of the Holy Synod, "the tsar's eye" and the scarecrow of the "progressive intelligentsia", Konstantin Pobedonostsev warned against the destruction of ritual belief. The internal logic of Christianity turned out to be stronger. Did Christ perform rituals? He preached!

The echo of the attack on pagan survivals is reflected in the works of Russian ethnographers. Vladimir Dal simply writes about the dominance of the remnants of paganism in the Russian village.

S.V. Maksimov reports on successes - horses are no longer drowned to the water man, fewer people believe in werewolves, listen to the prophecies of hysterics, listen with respect to the sorcerer and healer, fewer and fewer people come to revered trees, stones, springs.

And every year all these dense superstitions recede from cities, from railways, from new, literate and enlightened priests, into the wilderness, into the wilds ...

N.I. Galkovsky in his work "The Struggle of Christianity with the Remnants of Paganism in Ancient Rus'" already speaks of an actual victory. Of course, there are still sparks smoldering somewhere... but these are really sparks, not remnants - the remnants of remnants.

And everything would be fine ... but only this book is dated 1916. Do any of the readers need to be reminded of what happened exactly a year later with Orthodox Russia?

What good Orthodox peasants began to throw out, to whom enlightened priests explained that the earth is not the body of the Mother of God, but a dead creature, that the generic images in the red corner are not magical intercessors and helpers, but just a "book for the illiterate", that from now on they are in the church should we listen to the sermons, and not participate in the service?

Some of them calmly watched the destruction of churches, the execution of priests, the rape of nuns, and some of them helped, not only the "Jewish commissars" with the Latvians and the Chinese ... but what is there, not only the Reds committed atrocities over Orthodox shrines.

And what? Why not throw an icon into the fire - it's just a "book for the illiterate"? Why not shoot at the priest - after all, this is not one of the "knowledgeable", but just an official in a cassock? Why not arrange in the church where you listened to sermons, a club where you will listen to lectures?

In the villages near Moscow, at the beginning of the 20th century, zealous priests collected from the villagers and burned the idols of "chicken gods". The next generation will collect and burn icons.

An even more entertaining and revealing episode took place at the same beginning of the 20th century in one of the villages of the Krestetsky district of the Novgorod province. There, in the zemstvo court, the priest was suing the peasants for a completely curious reason.

Arriving in the village, "fresh", recently from the seminary, the priest, as they say, did not know grief, until the parishioners called him with a censer to the pity. Sorry, if anyone does not know, this is such an ethnographic specificity of the Russian North - a rural cemetery (again!), planted with trees and lined with boulders around the perimeter.

On the days of commemoration - on the ninth day, on the fortieth, on the anniversary, on Parental Saturday, on Radunitsa - gifts are brought there and tied to the trunks and branches of trees for the dead - bright ribbons, scarves, sometimes whole shirts or dresses.

In short, a view that in itself is not very pleasing to the Christian eye. And here ... at the edge of the pity - I remind the reader, European Russia, the twentieth century! - there are stone idols.

Kadi, father, ask the Hosts for rain and harvest.

I, the reader, would like to see the expression on the priest's face at this moment. However, this desire, of course, will remain among the impossible, and we can only try to imagine it to the best of our ability. I'm sure the spectacle was memorable.

To the indignant refusal to participate in "idolatry", the parishioners calmly answered the pastor:

We don't know anything. Past priests censed, and you cadi, otherwise we won’t feed you - you don’t fulfill your duties. We have an elected grain to donate to them, but it’s your direct, priestly business to cense ...

Another unfulfilled desire of mine is to look at one of these "past priests" during the performance of duties. What, curiously, did he sing, dousing stone faces with incense from a censer? However ... read, reader, Pomyalovsky's "Essays on the Bursa".

A person who has gone through such a school for the sake of a true piece of bread for himself and his family could also agree to the consecration of something more serious - funeral pyres or sacrifices to the same idols of cattle.

In the end, bulls were sacrificed to Ilya Gromovnik, and for some reason I don’t remember that many priests protested!

It all ended quite predictably. The police came from the volost, flogged the peasants, threw the idols into the river - you can probably still find them - seriously raise archives, maps, find out in which particular village the priests were forced to burn stone idols, weed the bottom of nearby rivers.

Why the Gods are not joking - maybe we will see the faces of the last pagan idols of Rus'.

And this whole story happened shortly before the First World War.

In general, in the 20th century, about the same thing happened to Russian Orthodoxy as happened to Catholicism in France, Germany, Britain, and the Scandinavian countries in the 16th-17th centuries. Struggling with the "remnants of paganism", it undermined its own foundations, sawed off the "bough" of Russian religiosity, on which it sat.

Then, quite naturally, it flew upside down. Eradicating "idolatry" and "ritualism", it is - well, just like in the West! - eradicated religiosity itself.

The pagan cults of the Russian countryside ceased - and, despite all the prayers in the gilded cathedrals of the cities, despite the bishops' dinners and the theological delights of the Florenskys and the Solovyovs, Orthodoxy collapsed, and the empire collapsed.

And if Orthodoxy somehow survived this fall, then ... then throughout the Soviet period it was mainly preserved at the chapels at "miraculous springs" at holy graves, trees and stones with a "trace of the Virgin".

Just as in Europe, Catholicism was saved from final destruction by the "bad Catholics" of Spain and Italy, so Orthodoxy survived at the expense of rural semi-pagans, "ritualists", "two-believers".

The struggle against paganism turned out to be a virtual suicide for Christianity. Because it was, in the words of the Christian writer Clive Lewis, the rebellion of the branch against the tree.

Paganism is the oldest religion on earth. This is religion itself - and any religion is as viable as there is much paganism in it, how great is the reverence for rituals and "idols" in it (after all, even Muslims continue to bow during prayer to the ancient idol of Mecca - the black stone).

However, I confess, reader, that the fate of Christianity is deeply indifferent to me. I care about the fate of Rus'.

Christians and materialists can repeat anything, but the fact remains - Rus' was strong when it was pagan, it weakened when it became Christian.

She perked up again, merging together Christian symbols and names with an ancient essence into a fusion of "folk Orthodoxy", where the ancient, native Gods were revered under the names "Mother of the Raw Mother of God" and "Russian God Mikola", "Ilya the Thunderer" and "Ko-zmademyan , God's farrier", where the priests calmly treated the veneration of goblin, brownies and water.

And it weakened again, almost collapsed, when its rulers, and after them the people, moved away from this faith in the direction of the "purified" stereotyped Christianity of Nikon and the Holy Synod.

Rus' always - ALWAYS! - breathed the ancient Faith, the rites of the Native Gods. May the rites not be interrupted. May the native Gods be merciful to my land, to the Russian family.

May it be so.

And may the work of those who kept these rites and the names of the Gods of the age of foreignness live in the memory of the descendants. The ones I wrote this book about.

THANK YOU:

Igor Yakovlevich Froyanov, historian and patriot, without whose findings this book would not exist.

Peter Mikhailovich Khomyakov - for the idea about the role of Byzantium.

Egor Kharin, sexton of the Trinity Cathedral in Izhevsk - his help was very useful.

Readers - for their attention to the book.

Notes:

For comparison, the famous work of the Chernoriz Khrabr is known in five lists. At the same time, only in two, Moscow and Chudovsky, it is said that "before, Slovenia did not have letters ... filthy beings," and in three - Savinsky, Lavrentevsky and Hilendarsky - in the majority! - said "did not have books." The difference, you see, is significant. Now guess what lists our historians cite? Quite right, reader, those two lists where the Slavs are depicted as not knowing not only books, but also writing.

Consider for yourself, reader, how many of these methods were Christian - just first remember the words of Yaroslav Vladimirovich addressed to the Suzdal Magi. The Lord sends a drought, but the business of a person is to humble himself and pray - this is a truly Christian approach.

IV. The struggle of Christianity with paganism in life and thought.

[Above there was already a speech about the attitude towards paganism of Constantine V . (306-337) and Constantius (337-361). Under the pagan Julian (361-363), an attempt was made to restore paganism]. During the reign of Julian, the church of Christ endured terrible oppression, but with the death of Julian, the work he had begun dissipated like smoke. His successor Jovian (363) was a Christian and did not even want to take command over the pagan armies. Jovian's successor Valentinian I (364-375) was also a Christian and maintained freedom of religious belief. Eastern co-ruler with his Valens (364-378), who wanted to give triumph to the Arian party, the pagans also had no reason to be dissatisfied. Cases of oppression of pagans were quite rare under him and had a local character.

Under Emperor Gratian (375-383) a gradual restriction and suppression of paganism begins. So, Gratian did not take the title " pontifex maximus ”, which was worn by all previous emperors, removed the statue of Victoria from the Senate, deprived the vestals of their privileges and banned pagan sacrifices combined with divination. Valentinian II (383-392), being under the influence of Ambrose of Milan, continued the policy of his brother; he didn't want to be named pontifex maximus , because of which there was a murmur among the people. "If Valentinian does not wish to be pontifex maximus - said the pagans - then Maxim will pontifex "o m. There was an uprising and turmoil.

When established on the throne Theodosius the Elder (379-395), there was no change in relation to the Gentiles. In his policy, he maintained a balance. In 381, on December 21, he issued an edict forbidding sacrifices connected with divination and spells. In 382, ​​he allowed the opening of a pagan temple in Edessa as an artistic monument. In 386, Christians were exempted from contributions to the maintenance of pagan temples and from municipal posts associated with paganism. In principle, it appeared that paganism still had a future. From 387 to 391 the emperor had to be in the west. Here he, having become acquainted with paganism, decided to give triumph to Christianity. Under the influence of Ambrose, he issued two decrees that forbade sacrifices and entry into pagan temples for sacrifice and worship of man-made. But political considerations forced the emperor to go further in this direction. It was at that time that the indignation of Maxim and Eugene occurred. The latter, [protecting the pagans, had the image of Hercules on the banner. From here Theodosius noticed that the indignation took place in the name of paganism. Therefore, in 392, he issues a rescript prohibiting the pagan cult as an insult to the royal majesty. Various officials, under pain of punishment, had to ensure that no sacrifices were made. Thus, the general characteristic of the reign of Theodosius is that he wanted to give the pagans a warning, but did not want to execute them.

At Arcadia (395-408) practical measures are taken against paganism - missions are organized to educate

Pagan worship, sometimes pagan temples are forcibly destroyed. All such phenomena proved necessary for the protection of the Christian population. From the life of Porfiry of Gaza, one can see what life was like for Christians in those cities where there were many pagans. Each destruction of pagan temples showed that there was strength on the side of the Christians, and called the pagans to calmness and modesty.

In the east, paganism was more shattered than in the west. In the western half of Honorius' empire (395-423) had to reckon with paganism in the person of the courtiers. Thus, Stilicho dreamed of restoring paganism as a state religion. In 399, Honorius issues, under his influence, two decrees that protected the inviolability of pagan temples as architectural monuments and buildings for feasts. In 408, he already forbade pagans to be in the guard corps, although, however, this prohibition remained a dead letter. The language was alive. In the same year 408, during the siege of Rome by Alaric, pagan sacrifices were performed.

Under Emperor Leo (457-474), Quaestor Isocasius of Antioch, accused of belonging to a pagan faith, was subjected to criminal prosecution; ended with baptism Zonar . XIV, 1). The Athenian pagan-philosophical school continued to exist until 529, when it was destroyed by Justinian . The Syrian historian John, Bishop of Ephesus, tells of himself that on a missionary trip in 542 he converted up to seventy thousand pagans to Christianity.

Thus, paganism existed and counted many thousands in its midst. Only the pagans did not openly declare their religious beliefs. Bishops and civil officials were charged with the duty to involve pagans in the judicial investigation. Thus, until then, a person was not persecuted by the government for the content of paganism, until there was a denunciation. So, we see that the pagans and Christians have reversed their roles. Paganism became an unlawful religion, but it still existed. A pagan could rise high in the social hierarchical ladder; but it was worth denouncing him, and he fell into disgrace. Paganism also existed after Justinian, and in the west it held on more stubbornly than in the east, and therefore

There were often hostile clashes between pagans and Christians.

There has also been a change in the field of guiding ideas. Formerly paganism was the attacking side; now, on the contrary, Christianity has become such a side. Previously, for example, Porfiry wrote essays against Christians, and Christians compiled treatises in defense of their teaching and in refutation of pagan slanders. Now the pagans themselves turn to defend their faith from the attacks of Christians. They were led by Themistius , honored by Julian and Theodosius V.. The latter even entrusted him with the upbringing of his son, Arcadius. He held the opinion that everyone should believe as his conscience requires. Another apologist for paganism, Livanius , defended the latter on practical grounds. He cried out against the destruction of pagan temples and tried to protect the pagans from Christian encroachment on their freedom. This kind of work, which is a close analogy with the judicial apologies of ancient Christian writers, did not evoke any literary response from Christians (except for a short letter from Ambrose against Aurelius Symmachus ).

From the scientific point of view, Emperor Julian argues against Christians (κατὰ χριστιανῶν , 363) and Proclus († 485). The writing of the first is the most profound attack on it, based on a multifaceted study of Christian doctrine. Proclus objected to the doctrine of the creation and death of the world from a philosophical point of view. Finally, pagan historians like Eunapius and Zosima serve their cause, representing in the most unfavorable light the activities of Christian emperors. As for the dialogue « Philopatris », then in determining its origin, scientists fluctuate between 261 and 969.

On the part of Christian writers of the present era, several apologetic works of a scientific nature have been compiled. [Back in the first half of the 4th c. acted with apologetic works of Lactantius : Institutionum divinar u m libri VII, Eusebius of Caesarea: Προπαρασκευὴ εὐαγγελική and ἀπόδειξις εὐαγγελική , Athanasius V.: Κατὰ τῶν ἐλλήνων and Περὶ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Λόγου . The writing Theodoret of Cyrus: Ἐλληνικών θεραπευτικὴ παθημάτων serves as the conclusion of these works of a general apologetic nature. In particular

Julian refuted Cyril of Alexandria, Proclus John Philopon(VI century). Finally, essay Julia Firmika Materna(343—350): De errore profanarum religionum, where it is recommended to exterminate paganism with fire and sword, according to this practical tendency, is the opposite of the speeches of pagan orators.

A peculiar kind of apologetics is made up of works of a historical nature that came out from the pen of Western writers. The mass of the people believed that the structure of state life was closely connected with the ancient national religion, and therefore they saw the cause of all the disasters of the people in Christians, as violators and apostates from the true ancient religion. This circumstance prompted Orosius to compose a "world history": Historiarum adversus paganos libriVII. At the beginning of it, the idea is carried out that disasters have always occurred, and then real disasters are considered. In them, the author, in addition to everything bad, sees some good sides. One of these good sides was the conversion of the barbarians to Christianity, which would not have happened with a happy turn of affairs.

The same events, but only from a philosophical point of view, are considered by Bl. Augustine in his essay " De civitate Dei » . He considers the fact of the fall of mankind as the foundation of world history, adding to this the fact that pagan writers themselves attribute the fall of pagan morality to the time of the first success of Roman weapons, the conquest of Carthage. Finally, the motivation for the founding of the Roman Empire was the love of glory, a patriotic virtue, not a religious one. But temporary virtue and reward can only be temporary. Such an award is the long-term existence of the Roman Empire. Augustine contrasts this temporary "city" with the heavenly city, founded on an unshakable rock and outliving everything, that is, the church of Christ. The City of God will exist until the time of perfect rest and contemplation of God.

The Gallic presbyter Salvian speaks with the same theme. . The reason for writing his essay De gubernatione Dei" or "De praesenti judicio was the fall of Rome. This event made a terrible impression on the best Romans, especially since the attacks of the barbarians after this

Have intensified. They complained of Christians as the perpetrators of disasters, and asked: is there any Providence when Rome, the eternal city, is destroyed? The tone of his work, unlike that of Augustine, is melancholy. The author depicts here the rudeness of the barbarians and the depravity of the Roman Christians. The depravity of the latter especially struck him, since it is the result of refinement, and not rudeness. What to say about Christians, about the church, which should propitiate God? Are there many in it not drunkards, not murderers, but those who would be generally blameless? Many of its members are mired in terrible vices. It is against such Christians that the barbarians and heretics oppose. They are also corrupted; but this does not depend on luxury, but on their moral rudeness. However, for all that, they are more capable of organizing a good state than vicious Christians. In conclusion, Salvian raises the question of how a Christian should stand in the newly formed state relations, and resolves it in the sense that pagans should be treated in the same way as they treat Christians. God will judge who is right.

How did the church get out of the struggle with the newly formed circumstances, and how did these circumstances historically affect its life? Until the time of Constantine V., the essence of the struggle of Christianity against paganism was to protect the rights of freedom of conscience. Tertullian, in a letter to the proconsul Scapula, says that every person has the right to worship whomever he wishes, and this does not harm anyone; it is impossible to force, since this is not pleasing to God; even a man does not want to be worshiped involuntarily, much less God does not want this. Lactantius says that religion must be defended with words, not with blows. If anyone decides to defend her with violence and crime, he will only dishonor her. Let the pagans exert all their mental gifts to defend their religion. We will listen to them, but they will not do anything with ferocity. We do not lure into our society, but exhort. If no one leaves us, it is not because we are holding them back, but the truth itself is holding them back.

Since the time of Constantine V., these views on freedom of religious belief have changed. True, in the Edict of Milan, the emperor granted all his subjects freedom of choice

Between pagan and Christian religion. But in later times he maintained the view that the state religion should be the Christian Catholic religion. Therefore, he constrained all other religions. Constantius declared himself even more clearly from this side [and since he, patronizing the Arians, subjected the Orthodox to persecution, provoked denunciations against him from Athanasius V., Hilary of Pictavia, Hosea of ​​Cordub]. AT IV in. The Fathers of the Church are in general in agreement with the point of view of freedom of conscience and assert that it is impossible to compel religion by violent measures. But this point of view was primarily applied pro domo sua , i.e. to his Christian church. Therefore, the question arises, did the pagans enjoy freedom of conscience?

The answer is the fact of the existence of Christian κατηχούμενοι , announced. In the IV century. the Christian church consisted of people who were baptized at a mature age, and therefore well understood their desire and their motives when converting to Christianity. From 348, a number of catechetical teachings of the Jerusalem presbyter (later bishop) Cyril remained, from which it is clear that if the doors of the church were open to persons who wished to be baptized, then, therefore, they were not closed to those who wished to leave it . In these teachings of his, Cyril of Jerusalem says in this tone: “Although God is generous in doing good, He expects sincere will from everyone. Therefore, if you are here only in body and not in soul, then there is no use. And we, the ministers of the church, accept everyone, and there is no prohibition to enter here even with an unclean intention. But be careful that when you call it right, you do not have the disposition of the wrong one. If you accept baptism only with your mouth and not with your heart, then beware of the judgment of the Knower of Hearts; and if you have departed from the faith, then the catechumens are not guilty; only the water accepted you, not the Spirit.”

Thus, the church, standing at the height of its position, accepted the pagans, but cautiously, arguing that without an internal disposition, the adoption of Christianity would not be beneficial. From this point of view - from the side of the inviolability of inner convictions - both Christianity and paganism were equal. But beside this lofty beginning there were also variations in views on the question of freedom of conscience, which left their mark on the subsequent history of relations between Christianity and paganism.

The issue of freedom of conscience was touched, among other things, by St. Athanasius and Hilarius of Pictavia, who taught about freedom of confession in defense of the rights of the church. But after all, this position could also be defended from another point of view, arguing that the church is free because this institution is undoubtedly high, and whoever exerts pressure must obtain permission from her primates. If there is no such permission, then there should be no place for violence. Thus, by recognizing the high position of the episcopal rank, the same results can be achieved. Everyone should obey the primates of the church, and not give them prescriptions. A typical exponent of this view is Ambrose of Milan, who brilliantly defended the interests of the church, based on the authority of the episcopal rank [in the cases of his collision with the imperial authorities mentioned above]. The oppression of paganism, which resulted in the conversion to Christianity, was considered a triumph of the church. That is why various measures to that which should not have been used were considered good. That is why they looked with favor on terror legum , on the imperial laws that forbade paganism. The spokesman for this view on the subject of coercion in matters of faith was also Augustine [in the above-mentioned letter to the Donatist Vincentius].

It must be admitted that Christians in general stood on the side of a somewhat different view. This can be seen from how, according to the story in the life of Porfiry of Gaz, the Gazi Christians reacted when, after the destruction of the temple, the pagans began to convert under the influence of fear and when they began to find idols and books from them. Many learned the truth voluntarily, while others entered under fear, while the church opened its doors to everyone. Some said that those who come out of fear should not be received, but only out of volition. But Porphyry points out that a person has to acquire goods by chance. For example, whoever buys an ungrateful slave who does not want to do his will, he admonishes him with words, but then, when he does not listen, strikes fear into him with blows, puts him in prison, not at all wanting to destroy him. And God works by means of punishments, so that people, even if necessary, know the good. Moreover, if the convert comes with doubt, then time can soften a cruel heart, and if he does not appear worthy of believers, then those born to him can be blessed. So

Thus, the primates of the Church found it possible to make indulgences so that at least the descendants of the parents converted in this way would become good Christians.

In the West, Gregory V. spoke quite consistently in this sense. As you know, he is, by the way, a good master, along with church orders, he owns many economic orders regarding church property, charitable affairs, etc. He had to state the fact that even bishops other Churches did not care that the slaves living on church lands accepted Christianity. He sent, among other things, a letter to the Sardinian bishop, where he threatened the latter with punishment for negligence. He drew attention to the legislation on this issue. He recommended that converting Jews reduce the dues as far as this could be done without harming church income, hoping that the Jews would turn to Christian mercy and accept Christianity. In relation to the peasants who remained pagans, Gregory recommended a heavier dues, so that they would feel more burdened; if pagan slaves lived on church lands, then they should have been admonished by beatings and torment, and if they were free pagans, then strict solitary confinement should have been acted upon. These are the practical steps taken in resolving the issue of freedom of conscience.

In Spain, whose population consisted of Iberian, Celtic and Romanesque tribes, they zealously set about forcibly converting [Jews] to Christianity. The same was true in other places. It goes without saying that, in this course of action, many were baptized insincerely. The Cathedral of Toledo had to reckon with them. All the bishops agreed that they were not Christians, but they were baptized and received St. Mysteries, and therefore they could not be allowed to leave Christianity [ can. 57].

In essence, we have to use the examples of Western life. This hardly gives the right to assume that such an order of affairs does not take place in the east. The fact is that in Western literature there are documents (for example, the correspondence of Gregory V.) of this kind, which did not leave us

None of the Eastern writers. The writing of the east and west was very different. The Latins wrote in a businesslike manner; their authors had no time for eloquence; they provide much more material for elucidating the state of material affairs. In Greece, however, rhetoric prevailed over efficiency, cultivating eloquence, because of which it is difficult to see the real attitude of the Eastern fathers to the question of freedom of conscience.

We find the only serious clarification on this issue in the decisions of the 7th Ecumenical Council. This latter ordered [right. 8], so that Jews who came to church insincerely should not be considered Christians; the civil government had to leave them under the weight of civil laws; they could not freely use the property 1).

1) Soon afterwards, the heretics Paulicians and Athingans (in Phrygia) had to be reckoned with. Terrible rumors circulated about sectarians; some believed that they worshiped the devil and that their deeds were filthy. When the question of their persecution was raised, it came to the point that they were executed. Theodore the Studite spoke about this in a letter to the Ephesian bishop Theophilus. The following words of Theophilus were transmitted to St. Theodore: “I did not advise killing heretics, and I did not advise; but even if he had advised them to kill them, he would have done a better job.” Against this, Theodore argued that such relations are contrary to the command of Christ to leave the tares with wheat to grow until the harvest, so that, pulling out the tares, not to uproot the wheat; and Chrysostom says that heretics should not be persecuted by death. Against the reference to the Old Testament examples of Phinehas and Elijah, St. Theodore objected in the sense that such actions were not in keeping with the spirit of the New Testament. As for the reference to the example of John the Faster, who allegedly advised the execution of heretics, this fact has not been verified; moreover, there it was a matter of magic, therefore, the civil authorities executed the guilty there for civil lawlessness, but the church had no right to do so. “That is why we said to the blessed patriarch (Nikiphoros): “the church does not take revenge with the sword”, and to the emperors - to the first: “God does not like such a murder”, and to the other: “if consent to execution is required, then first remove our heads.” So, if you have another gospel, then it is good; but if the same, then remember that the pastors of the Church must admonish those who err by the word” [Ep. 155]. Thus we have views against the persecution of heretics. But one cannot exaggerate the significance of this evidence, for this opinion is not the only one. Theophanes the Confessor appears as an opponent of such views. When under Emperor Michael the opinion of the Studite triumphed, Theophanes said that “the pious emperor wanted to execute heretics, but there were bad advisers who pretended that they should not be executed; but if they knew the heretics, they would also know

In general - this cannot be denied - the Christian government in its measures against paganism practiced a system of moderate and consistent violence, at one time consciously expressed by the emperor Arcadius. Many representatives of the Christian society in this respect acted in concert with the government, and the more zealous (especially the monks) even went ahead of it. There were even martyrs who laid down their lives during a destructive campaign against the temples (such is Markell of Apamea under Theodosius).

But all this does not change the fact that paganism died a natural death: if in any court, including the court of history, it is required, ut audiatur et altera pars (so that the other side was also heard) - in relation to paganism, this requirement was brilliantly satisfied in the reign of Julian. The strongest measures were taken to resurrect paganism, but even here it did not show any vitality. Reforms in the Christian spirit did not take root in him; having gone into neoplatonic interpretations of the content of the old religious doctrine, Julian broke away from both the masses and the majority of the intelligentsia; with his ardent, affected piety, he seemed almost ridiculous in the eyes of the religiously indifferent pagan society of that time. The blows of subsequent Christian sovereigns were directed, generally speaking, not against paganism in itself, not against adherents of the old faith, but against those external supports on which the ancient Roman religion could rest: the laws deprived it of only these external resources. It is already characteristic of the position of the two warring religions that paganism has not produced a single martyr. Death of Hypatia (415), torn to pieces by the fanatical mob of Alexandria led by

that they are unable to convert to faith. The Apostle Peter smitten Ananias for one thought. However, the pious emperor killed a lot of them.” Secondly, Theodore himself did not express an opinion on the punishment of heretics in general, not by the death penalty]. The holy father could bring Chrysostom and other fathers, but the fact is that the fathers opposed both the execution of heretics and execution in general. Thus the question remained open, for the fathers did not express themselves clearly. And Chrysostom himself expresses that the Savior forbade only killing heretics, but did not forbid curbing their boldness, did not forbid scattering their crowds [homil. 46, al. 47, in Matt. XIII, 29].

"Reader Peter" says nothing against this generalization. Hypatia was killed not because she was a pagan, but for reasons of such a private nature that, probably, she would not have escaped death, even if she had been a Christian.

This gradual weakening of paganism was accompanied, of course, by the outward strengthening of the church, by numerous conversions. This point is one of the weakest aspects of the established new order of church life. Konstantin V. looked at the matter very practically; bluntly recognizing that very few are capable of listening to and accepting Christian preaching for the sake of its very content, the emperor recommended to the fathers of the Council of Nicaea the way of external influence, attracting pagans to Christianity by extraneous means - material assistance in needs, intercession before the civil authorities. The emperor himself practiced these means on a large scale, and his generous rewards to those who converted to Christianity attracted to the bosom of the church precisely the worst part of the court society, such people for whom the question of persuasion is of the least importance and who were able to migrate from Christian temples to pagan altars and back, depending on the requirements of court circumstances. This side of Constantine's activity did not hide even from Eusebius and caused censure from this panegyrist. Of course, the immediate influence of the emperor was limited to the narrow sphere of court life; but his example was not left without imitation in the lower spheres: and there a passion for propaganda developed. And the laws that forbade the pagan cult, of course, also did their job: with the weakness of religious inspiration among the masses, naturally, the majority preferred to fulfill the will of the divine emperors than to endure one or another trouble. In a word, one of the worst consequences of the declaration of Christianity as the state religion was the conversion of entire masses without firm conviction, without inner preparation, without anything that even resembled the laying off of the old man.

There were persons prepared for the conversion to Christianity by the study of idealistic philosophy, such as Sinesius; but such could be considered only a few; they usually accepted Christianity for motives far from the region

Religious beliefs, and even directly egoistic. Another accepted Christianity out of sincere friendship with someone in order to give him pleasure; the other, because he had a case and thought to transfer it to the judgment of the bishop; the third - in order to enlist some strong patronage through the clergy; the fourth, because there was an opportunity to make a profitable game. Bl. Augustine, who enumerates all such cases of conversion, nevertheless looks at the matter with faith and hope, finding that the grace of God can carry a Man further than he thought to go himself; that many who have entered the door of the church and from these promptings are subsequently corrected; that, through the influence of Christian catechumens, many actually become what at first they only intended to appear.

And indeed, in principle, all this should not adversely affect the internal life of the church: bishops have always had the opportunity to keep such proselytes at the doorstep of the church until they are sincerely converted. But that did not turn out in practice: in order for the bishops to fulfill with dignity in this case the difficult task of the shepherd of souls, they themselves had to be incomparably higher than they were in reality. Already Chrysostom complains that the spiritual often violate the commandment of the Savior: cast no pearls before swine; due to unreasonable vanity and ambition, they admit, without any test, to communion in the sacraments people who are morally corrupt, without faith, without conscience. The mass of appeals met with a lack of means for the enlightening influence of the church—a lack both qualitatively, since the average level of the clergy was below their vocation, and quantitatively, because the churches themselves were not even enough. And the same St. Chrysostom complains in his sermons that many owners, having converted the colonies subject to them to Christianity, then do not care about their Christian enlightenment, do not build churches. The consequence of this was, on the one hand, falling away from Christianity into paganism, and on the other hand, a lowering of the level of moral life and religious consciousness in the church itself, which was placed in the need to accept into its bosom so many people with a pagan system of concepts and everyday habits, only very weakly and superficially touched by the light of Christian truth.

Previously, a period of 1 year - 40 days was legalized for the subjects, now it has become customary, in cases of conversion of the Jews, to shorten the period so that, as recommended by Gregory V., the subjects do not get bored in their position. They consoled themselves with the hope that the children of the converted were brought up in the true faith. But this hope was not always justified in practice. On the contrary, it turned out that with a quick conversion, no moral success was noticed, i.e., with extensive expansion, the church lost in the intensity of the religious and moral consciousness of its members. And according to Chrysostom, believers consist of three categories. Some turn on the sickbed; others vouch for them in faith, for they themselves could not do it; when they recover, they do not always live the life they promised to lead at baptism. Others are baptized in childhood, and still others at a mature and responsible age, but even in those, the religious fire soon cools.

Thus, when the conversion covers large masses, the intensity of their religious and moral perfection is lost. And here, apparently, the well-known law justifies itself, that the same amount of energy, progressing in the world in extensiveness, falls in intensity. And Christianity, while losing in intensity the [faith] of individual members, nevertheless produces a beneficial effect through extensive expansion, for many phenomena that were previously possible due to the unbelief of some people have now become impossible. It is not individual characters that rise, but customs themselves gradually change, and much that was once considered commonplace is now impossible. If it was not possible to change the mass into sons of light, then it was possible to raise the customs of the people to such a degree that they became largely consistent with Christian requirements. A greater number of people consider it worthy to imitate Christ and already consider it unworthy to be an opponent of Christ, not only in deeds, but even in words.

Decisively rejected by the civil authorities under St. Vladimir, paganism made almost no attempt to rehabilitate itself, it hid “in the Ukraine”, in remote villages and villages, in huts and barns. It was not easy to find it there and eradicate it, and there were no proper means for the struggle: ancient Rus' did not had science and could not use this most powerful means in the fight against ignorance and superstition.
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Christianity sought to influence and influenced all aspects of a person's conscious life. But first of all, it is necessary to find out what Christianity fought against. Of course, it fought against ancient Russian paganism: against pagan beliefs, customs, superstitions, and so on. Both church and state fought against all this.
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In the Elninsk district of the Smolensk province. there is the village of Bolvanichi, located in a swampy area; according to legend, idols-blockheads were preserved there for a long time, until the authorities penetrated there and exterminated them.
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In 988, Vladimir ordered the overthrow of the gods: some were cut down, others were burned. Perun was desecrated and thrown into Pochaina or the Dnieper. The same fate befell the idols in 991 in Novgorod: Bishop Iakim, having arrived in Novgorod, ravaged the temples, crushed the idols, cut, that is, overthrew Perun and ordered him to be thrown into the Volkhov. When Perun was dragged and mocked at him, a demon entered him and began to shout: “Oh, oh, I got these unmerciful hands.”
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In the Ipatiev Chronicle of the year 1114, Svarog is mentioned as a commentary on the word Feosta-Hephaestus “And it was after the flood and after the division of the language, when the first Mestrom reigned from the clan of Khamov, according to him Jeremiah, according to him Feosta even Svarog called the Egyptians ... The same Feosta ruled the wives for one husband to encroach ... for this sake, they called the god Svarog. And his son reigned seven by seven, the name of the Sun, they call him Dazhbog the Sun, the king, the son of Svarogov, even if there is Dazhbog, be a strong husband "... He, having heard that one Egyptian woman was in an unlawful relationship, tried to convict her, "not although the father of his law to scatter Svarozh, "finally denounced her and roughly punished her.
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With the introduction of Christianity in Russia, ancient beliefs in Perun were mixed with new Christian ones: many the features of Perun were transferred to Elijah the prophet. The mixing of Perun with Ilya was due, on the one hand, to the fact that the last one (July 20) is celebrated at the time of greatest heat; besides, there are often thunderstorms at this time. George the Victorious also wear many pagan features, transferred to him, probably from Perun. George, the winner of the snake, is considered the patron of herds and animals in general. But this brings him closer to Veles. Thus, the pagan element affected the folk legends about Elijah the Prophet and George the Victorious.
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From this it can be seen that the words Kupala, Kupala were used to designate the day of 23 None, the eve of the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, or June 24, the holiday itself. Kupalo is not mentioned in ancient Russian memories. The first mention of Kupala, as a deity of Russian pagans, dates back to the middle of the 17th century: namely in the Synopsis and the Gustyn Chronicle. The Kupala festival was accompanied by wild fun on the night of June 24: the people danced to the music and songs; they jumped over the blazing fires, and at dawn they washed and bathed in the rivers. The festival itself was not dedicated to the god Kupala.
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Yarilin's day was not celebrated everywhere at the same time: it was celebrated either on the day of all saints, or on the next day of Peter's fast, and so on. The festival was accompanied by dances and round dances. The central figure of the holiday was a man, most often a woman, decorated with flowers and ribbons, sometimes a doll. The sunny nature of the holiday is visible from the custom of jumping through fire. As already mentioned, Yarila's holiday was celebrated approximately around Peter's Day. At this time, the days begin to wane. Yarile copes in a forest clearing. They celebrate for two days: on the first day they meet Yarila, and on the second they are buried. From this we can conclude that there were once two special holidays in honor of the sun - Yarila Kostrubonka, then combined into one. Kostrubonka, perhaps, comes from the fact that the buried doll was made from different herbs: kostrubaty, rough, from there captious, perky. Kostrub, Kostrubonko is not the proper name of God, but his nickname, epithet. But how Kostroma emerged from Kostrubonka is not clear. It seems that the word Kostroma is a Finnish word; if so, is there a Finnish element in the celebration of Yarila-Kupala-Kostroma?
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Our pagan ancestor imagined nature as living, spiritualized, sympathetic or hostile to man, but not passive. Primitive non-scientific thought can work only under certain forms, subjectively: a person ascribes to objects those properties, he observes in himself. That is why our ancestors endowed not only animals with feelings and mental abilities, but also inanimate objects: * Yaroslavna turned with a request to the sun, the Dnieper, the wind; the sun, with its eclipse, foreshadowed trouble for Igor; but the same nature sympathized with Igor's flight from captivity. It can be said that the Russian person quickened rather than deified inanimate nature.
*
Traces of bowing to trees can be seen in the Semitsk holiday. In the petition of the Nizhny Novgorod priests of 1636 we read the following: “on the seventh Thursday after Pascha, wives and girls gather under a tree, under birch trees, and bring, like sacrifices, pies and cereals and scrambled eggs, and bowing to the birches, they learn songs in passing
satanic weaving neti and splashing with hands, and all kinds of rage. "Then, sitting down, they ate their supplies, curled wreaths, and so on.
*
So, in the life of St. Irinarch Borisoglebsky (XYII century) it is said that in the city of Pereyaslavl a large stone lay in a stream; and the demon moved into that stone and created his dreams. The inhabitants of the city of Pereyaslavl revered this stone; a particularly large gathering of people was on the feast day of the apostles Peter and Paul: then men, wives and children converged on the stone and honored it. The Monk Irinarkh ordered Deacon Onufryo to put that stone into the pit and cover it with earth, so that Christians would not worship the stone. Deacon Onufry fulfilled the command of the prof. Irinarch, for which the devil raised the sinking to the deacon and did a lot of dirty tricks to him, by the way, brought on him a strong fever. Two large stones are known in the Odoevsky district, Tula province. Bash and Bashikha, to whom the surrounding residents paid tribute at the beginning of the 19th century, and, perhaps, they pay tribute to them even at the present time. The veneration of the stones continues to this day. There is a case when this veneration bordered on idolatry. When the well-known Chertomlytsky mound was dug out for archaeological purposes (in the middle of the 19th century), they had to be demolished and laid at the sole
a stone “woman” standing on the mound. This transfer of the “woman” aroused the displeasure of the surrounding inhabitants: it turned out that the “woman” was considered a healer of fever. The drought that happened that summer was considered a punishment for desecrating the “woman”. "Baba" was placed on another mound. Once they observed such a spectacle: at dawn a woman with a child in her arms approached the "baba", bowed to the idol and raised her child in her arms. Then she put down the copper coin and left. The woman, as it turned out, came to ask a stone "woman" to save her child from a fever. Coins of the 18-19 centuries were found at the old foot of the idol.
*
In the village of Ukolov, Smolensk district, not far from the village, in a swampy ravine, from under a birch, a spring with very cold water beats; in summer, this birch is always hung with ribbons and stripes of multi-colored matter; often around the source, on the ground or more often on the branches of trees, one can see pieces of bread brought by someone. In the muddy bottom of the source, after digging, you can also find a coin, usually an old copper one that has gone out of use. It is usually women who go to worship this spring; what worship consists of, we cannot say, since people go to worship in the strictest secrecy. The worship of stones is not forgotten either. Near the aforementioned village of Luchesa, in a pit on the bank of the river, lay a stone that was respected by the peasants. There was a rumor that a treasure was hidden under a stone, but it was cursed and could not be taken.
*
Just as ancient must be the belief that it is easiest for a man to die on earth; it is especially difficult to die on a feather bed (for a rich man). If the patient is “hard” (suffering hard), but cannot die, he was lowered to the floor (peasants used to have always had an earthen floor; now, when the floor is usually plank, straw is laid under the patient) The touching custom of washing the dead and dressing them in everything clean is well known: in addition to natural respect for the dead, there still lies the old concern not to disturb the purity of the earth.
*
We believe that the cult of the earth has been preserved in its most ancient form: it is revered without temples, rituals, and even without a clearly expressed idea; This cult is based on the consciousness of closeness and dependence on the earth, hence the reverent reverence for the earth, its universal mother. This consciousness is inherent in all people. Under the influence of a pure Christian worldview, this consciousness has its own, so to speak, legitimate dimensions. But where there is no pure Christianity, the ancient cult of the earth expands, as we see it among the Strigolnikovs and our schismatics, the non-priests. This reverence is not alien to the modern peasant, as we can see from the following fact, personally known to us. One peasant of the Dorogobuzh district, Smolensk province, did not keep cattle, he died. One good friend of the peasant, under great secrecy, advised the loser, secretly from everyone, to go out into the yard at sunrise and bow to the earth three times without a cross and a hat. The peasant fulfilled this, and his cattle began to be kept at that time. But then he realized that he bowed not to God, but to the earth, and, considering his deed a sin, repented of it. This incident clearly shows us that the ancient cult of the earth secretly still continues to live; this is precisely the remnant of paganism: it was necessary to bow without a cross and secretly.
*
Funeral rites.
Ancient Rus' had a belief in the afterlife of the soul. Funeral rites serve as proof of this. Vyatichi, Radimichi and northerners celebrated a funeral feast over the dead man “and according to seven works I treasure (steal) great”, on which the dead man was laid and burned, then they collected the bones in a small vessel and put him “on a pillar” near the roads.
*
The funeral of nobles was furnished with various rites and ceremonies. With the dead, one of his girls or boys voluntarily doomed himself to death. When a rich Russian died, one of the girls expressed a desire to die with her master. When everything was ready, the ship that belonged to the deceased was dragged from the river, put it on supports; then they put a bed (bench) on the ship, covered it with wadded quilted blankets, Greek gold curtains and a pillow made of the same material. The deceased was taken out of the grave, where he had been until that time, dressed in rich clothes, seated on a prepared bed, propped up with pillows; they put a strong drink around the deceased, put fruits, fragrant herbs, bread, meat, onions; they killed a dog, two horses, two bulls, a hen and a rooster, and threw them all into the ship; the weapons of the dead man were placed near him. The girl who condemned herself to death was after various rites
and ceremonies killed beside the deceased. Then they set fire to firewood: the fire engulfed the ship, and in less than an hour, the ship, the fire and the girl with her master turned into ashes. In place of the vessel, they poured an elevation similar to a round hill, inserted a large tree in the middle, and wrote the name of the deceased on it.
Death through suffocation and drowning, of course, was later considered unclean, pagan. A person who died such a death was not subject to Christian burial, like a great sinner; moreover, according to our popular opinion, a drowned or strangled person should not be buried at all, but should be left without any burial.
*
The winter solstice was considered the beginning of the renewal of nature, its gradual resurrection to a new life, and was met with universal joy. Christianity regenerated the Greco-Roman world, but pagan festivals continued to exist. So it was with the winter festivities. The result was a complex and mixed ritual, where Christianity was intertwined with paganism. A protest from the church followed. The feast of the Nativity of Christ was established. Justinian in the VI century. canceled the previous holidays and decided to celebrate from December 25 to January 5.
*
But in ancient times, our year began in spring from March, which continued until the 15th century, although there was another Byzantine account from September 2. New Year from January was introduced by Peter the Great
*
The carol was followed by a feast in honor of spring, called Maslenitsa, but it took place probably not much later than our Maslenitsa. At present, Maslenitsa celebrates on the cheese week, the last before Great Lent. The meeting of spring is timed to Shrovetide. Probably, Shrovetide in pagan times was celebrated after the spring equinox.
*
The pagan character of the rainbow is beyond doubt. The custom to commemorate the dead during the spring holidays probably arose due to this idea: nature freezes in winter, and comes to life in spring; such a change also occurs with the souls of the dead: together with herbs, flowers and trees, the souls of the dead come to life and live for some time in rivers freed from the shackles of ice.
*
Kupalo.
The most stormy holiday was Yarilin's day, Kupalo on the night of June 23-24. It was a holiday in honor of the sun. At this time, our northern nature reaches its highest flourishing and splendor. That is why they collect healing herbs on Kupala and grow. Maybe this holiday was meant by the chronicler, speaking of gatherings between villages: they gathered for games, for dancing and for demonic fun, and there they kidnapped their wives, who conferred with whom. Starting from July 9, the days begin to decrease, which becomes noticeable towards Kupala. The Kupala customs of rolling the wheel down the mountain and jumping over the fire, sometimes directly into the water, indicate the sun descending, turning towards the winter.
*
In the middle of the XYI century. pagan rites were firmly held in Rus', against which the cathedral of 1551 armed itself. In the middle of the 17th century, as can be seen from the writings of Simeon of Polotsk, Kupala holidays existed. In his “Super of the Spirits”, Simeon of Polotsk says that on the eve of Ivanov’s Day, according to pagan custom, they make a fire, jump through it, and this celebration is called Kupalo; they spend the whole night without sleep, waiting for the sunrise, thinking that it plays on this day, “jumping from place to place”, changes different colors. clean) Thursday, on the eve of the Nativity of John the Baptist (on Kupala) and on the day of Peter and Paul.
*
A very lengthy denunciation of bathing customs is contained in the article "On the idols of Vladimirov" "). At present, the bacchanalia on the Kupala night has ceased. But even now, in the 20th century, the common people divide the very beliefs against which Simeon of Polotsk opposed. In Smolensk province, the peasants are convinced that on Ivanov's day early in the morning the sun plays across the sky, now rising high, then sinking down, and so on. In general, Kupala night is full of charms and miracles. This night, the ferns bloom, treasures come out of the ground to dry, and so on. Not only Russian, but also Western European peoples attach special significance to the "Ivanov" (Kupala) night; in Germany, for example, they are convinced that on this night all the former gods come to life and come into their own. Obviously, our Kupala night is a relic of an ancient holiday, dating back to deep antiquity. Speaking of pagan holidays, we actually turn to the area of ​​​​more or less probable assumptions. In the first centuries of Christianity in Rus', when pagan antiquity was alive, no one described Russian paganism and pagan holidays. Talking about pagan holidays, we In fact, we are talking about the holidays in the Christian era, which retained the features of ancient paganism. Obviously, the ancient holidays were not one-day, but lasted more or less long periods, about a week or two.
*
The meaning of the solar holidays was very soon forgotten by the Russian people. The people on certain days of the year indulged in fun, games, but did it according to tradition. The authorities denounced and exhorted the people for revelry, but there was no talk of paganism in its direct form: the people spent their time in a pagan way, but what did these or other rites mean at these games, no one knew. Not so with the customs and holidays dedicated to the cult of ancestors. These holidays, touching the most intimate aspects of the human spirit, proved to be very tenacious. It was all the more difficult to fight them. that they usually took place not in the square and the street, not in public at all, but in the family, intimately. We are talking about the struggle against the veneration of the clan and women in childbirth in another place.
***
Starting to study the struggle of Christianity with the remnants of paganism in ancient Rus', we first of all note that the struggle against paganism in our country was fought from two sides: the church and the state fought against it. Sometimes church and state acted together, sometimes they fought independently.
First of all, the means of struggle against paganism were the canonical decrees of the universal church, collected in a book known to us under the name of Pilot Book. Our first metropolitans were Greeks; when they came to Rus', they brought with them the Greek church traditions and, in all likelihood, the canonical decrees of the Greek church.
*
The canonical decrees of Russian origin should include the charters of our princes, which determined the area of ​​the church court, which was one of the means of fighting against paganism. Striving for the fastest and most profound assimilation of Christianity by the Russian people, our princes officially granted the church the right to judge certain types of crimes. St. Vladimir was the first to give an example of this. According to the Charter of Vladimir, the Church was granted extensive judicial power over Christians. The metropolitan and bishops judged not only church crimes, but civil and criminal ones: witchcraft (witchcraft), zelninism (poisoning), do magic, sorcery, sorcery.
The metropolitan court was necessary for the first time; in some cases, only the church could fairly determine the rightness or guilt of a Russian person of the 11th-12th centuries. Thus, life itself, new social conditions, placed the judgment of the worldly in the hands of the church. What means did the church have at its disposal against sin and crime? The usual means of punishment was monetary fine in favor of the judge. But in addition to a fine, a punitive measure, the charter of Yaroslav applied corrective measures: penance and forced stay in the Church House, where the arrested were probably charged with obligatory attendance of the temple and some physical labor, which is also practiced now for persons sent “under the beginning to the monastery. Seems,
corporal punishment was also used. For example, to him exposed persons engaged in bestiality and witchcraft. They were subjected to penance and imprisonment in a church house mainly for sins against the seventh commandment. Obviously, the old pagan intemperance was not soon forgotten by the Russians.
*
Games and dances are reprehensible because this is a deed that distracts from a righteous life. In games, honor and glory to the devil, since lovers of such entertainment create contrary to God's law. Such is the view of our ancient scribes on our ancient paganism.
*
The activities of the princes of the pre-Mongolian period, dedicated to this side of people's life, we have already noted. The subsequent rulers of Rus' showed no less care in this direction, although they did not clothe it in such a definite legislative form. Christianity was introduced to us at the initiative of the civil authorities. The idols were crushed by order of Prince Vladimir. In the 11th century, the state also stood guard over the interests of the church; appeared magi "died"; we know about some of them that they died at the hands of representatives of the state, one can think of others that their disappearance occurred with the assistance of the same power. Striving for the fastest and most profound assimilation of Christianity by the Russian people, our princes officially granted the church the right to judge certain types of crime. Thus, the state voluntarily sacrificed its rights in favor of the church. In general, ancient Rus' was successfully Christianized, being under the beneficial influence of Byzantium.
In the first half of the XIII century. a great misfortune befell over Russia: the Tatar horde with fire and sword passed through our homeland, devastating and destroying villages and cities; many inhabitants were exterminated or fell into slavery. A heavy tribute was imposed on the survivors. Residents of Russian cities and villages, lying on the path of the Tatar hordes, went out to meet them with crosses, that is, they surrendered voluntarily without the slightest resistance and without any conditions, but were all killed.
*
Russian people, from the time of St. Vladimir, sincerely strove for true orthodoxy and Christian virtues. Ancient paganism faded and died out.
*
In the XVI-XVII centuries. and the spiritual authorities took great care of the moral success of Russian society: games, dances, songs, buffoons, magic, astrology, and so on were persecuted.
*
It must be taken into account that Christianity could for a long time penetrate into Russian cities, mainly in Kiev, through trade and military relations with the Greeks. The natural softness of the Slavs contributed to the spread of Christianity in Rus'.
*
Then Vladimir ordered all unbaptized Kievans without exception to be baptized, and the refusal to be baptized was a personal inconvenience for the prince, according to Vladimir: if someone does not appear on the river for baptism in the morning, then “let me have a baking sheet”. The people went to be baptized with joy, as the chronicler notes. Then Vladinir ordered to chop down the churches and put them in the places where the idols used to stand. Some time after the baptism of Kyiv, the baptism of Novgorod was performed. The spread of Christianity proceeded gradually. One might think that by the end of his life, Vladimir managed to christen all Slavic Rus', except for foreign. When Prince Vladimir declared Christianity the dominant religion in Kyiv, official paganism in Kiev came to an end. In other places, the spread of Christianity was not so successful, and in the wilderness of the forests the old pagan traditions and rituals were kept for a long time. Like Elijah the Fesfitian, who slaughtered three hundred and fifty priests of idols, saying: "Jealous of jealousy for the Lord"- so the Christ-lover could not tolerate Christians who lived in two faiths, who believed in Perun, Khors, Mokosh, Sim and Regla, in vil, in clans and women in childbirth. they cut in their honor, they pray to the fire, calling it Svarozhich.To the regret of the Christ-lover, not only the ignorant, but also the clergy, lived in two faiths, that is, not only dark people who were not aware of their actions, but also people who knew the account of faith; even "Priests and princesses", clergy and people well-read in sacred books. We do not have exact information when the word of the Christ-lover was written. It is possible that it was composed in the pre-Mongolian period. Thus, two centuries after the adoption of Christianity, in Rus' they still well remembered the names of the pagan gods, performed some kind of rites for them. But the meaning of ancient paganism was already forgotten: the rites and, in general, pagan rites were performed simply out of habit, without understanding their meaning, at least the Christ-lover, listing the names of the gods, said almost nothing about the pagan cult in essence, which he would not fail to do without a doubt spread with it
zeal for reproof. The meaning of ancient paganism was so forgotten that even when performing old pagan rites, Christian prayers were used.
Russian people, having already been baptized, bowed and made sacrifices to thunder and lightning, the sun and moon, Perun, Khors, Stribog, Dazhbog, vilam, Pereplut, Mokosh, ghouls and coasts. Bowing to the fire-Svarozhich, stones, rivers, springs, trees. Chickens were sacrificed, which were sometimes slaughtered and eaten, and sometimes drowned in water, probably having been strangled beforehand. how they did not know Christianity, although they were baptized. But even worse were they pagans, since the meaning of paganism was completely lost by them: the names of the gods were preserved, some pagan rites were preserved, but no one knew or understood their meaning. Indeed, these were people "living in two faiths," as the Christ-lover aptly called them. Among the illiterate masses of the Russian people, such two-faith continued for a very long time.
*
The further time passed, the dimmer and more incomprehensible did ancient paganism become. Our scribes knew from books the names of their ancient gods, but the people did not even remember their names. In order to comprehend the ancient Slavic mythology, they turned to Greek chronographs, bringing the names of the ancient Slavic deities closer to the deities of the Greco-Roman world. There were attempts to explain Russian mythology on the basis of Polish historians (eg Stryjkowski). Finally, the names of Russian gods were explained on the basis of the Bible.
*
From the message of Mr. Simon (1501) in Perm, it is clear that the new converts in many respects still continued to adhere to the old customs; in fact, they were real pagans in spirit and Christians only in name. Archbishop Macarius of Novgorod, as a result of rumors that had reached him, wrote to the clergy of the Vozhskaya Pyatina that their flock did not go to church, did not fast, did not keep fasts. “They pray for their nasty supplicants with wood and stone ... They eat sacrifice and drink and eat a vile demon, and call on those nasty prayer sites of villains apostate arbuev of Chudts, and they lay their dead in villages along the mound and along the colossus with those arbui, but they don’t take them to the churches to the graveyards of those who have died.” But Vodka Pyatina, as can be seen from the charter of the Novgorod arch. Veodoniy of 1548, Christians prayed in their prayer places “with wood and stones”, they did not observe fasts, lived without a wedding, there was no marital fidelity and purity; the dead were buried in the forests and along the mounds, first arboi were called to newborn children, and then priests. Apxbishop. Theodosius commanded prayer places, stones and woods everywhere to destroy and destroy to the end and burn with fire.
*
There is an indication that in Novgorod Christianity was introduced by the civil authorities, which acted with an armed hand: a well-known proverb says that "Putyata was baptized with a sword, and Dobrynya with fire"
*
Preserved traitor about the appearance of the sorcerer in Novgorod; the story about this is transmitted in the annals under 1071, but in fact
the sorcerer in Novgorod could appear between 1074-1078. The sorcerer promised to cross the river Volkhv in front of everyone. The Novgorodians, who had not grown strong in Christianity, became agitated. The position of the bishop was difficult. He put on sacred vestments and, taking the cross in his hands, said: “Whoever wants to believe the sorcerer, let him follow him; and whoever believes (in Christ), let him go to the cross." Only Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich with his retinue stood on the side of the bishop, and the whole people followed the sorcerer. Prince Gleb hid
an ax under the floor, went up to the magician and asked him: "Do you know what will happen today?" Gleb hit him with an ax, and the sorcerer fell dead.
*
The Magi soon realized that they could not overcome the prevailing current. They began to hide their trade and, to a large extent, managed to maintain their influence on the people. The Magi realized that the princes would not allow their activities in the capital, guarding the new religion, and they no longer spoke openly.
*
Votskoy pyatina were more likely pagans than Christians, since they worshiped trees and stones, revered more arbuev than priests. In Perm they prayed to the blockhead Voipel. But here we are talking not about the Russian population, but about the Finnish. In his message to Perm (1501), Metropolitan Simon speaks directly about the converts. Chudsky, Izhorsky, Korelsky and other counties and graveyards of Votskaya Pyatina were inhabited by pagans, or by such Finnish tribes who were considered Christians only in name.
and everywhere he exterminated pagan customs, restored the right, and baptized the unbaptized. How successful Ilya's work was can be seen from the fact that after 12-13 years, on behalf of arch. Ephodonius, the priest Nicephorus was sent to the same spot to eradicate paganism. The results of the latter's activities are unknown'). The same should be said about Siberia. After its conquest by Brmakom, ten priests were sent there in 1582. In 1585 there were already "Russian cities with Orthodox churches."
And yet, in Siberian cities, many did not live in the Christian way.
CONTINUATION.

The adaptation of paganism to the needs of the emerging state took place in the conditions of rivalry with such world religions as Christianity and Islam, which was reflected in the legend "of the choice of faith."

The Byzantine Empire was directly interested in the Christianization of the young but powerful state of Rus', believing that every nation that accepted the Christian faith from the hands of the emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople, thereby already became a vassal of the Orthodox Empire.

Naturally, with such stable contact with Christian lands, Christianity could penetrate into the Russian environment, which we can see from a number of documents of the 9th century, especially from the 860s.

There is a missionary activity of the Greek Orthodox Church: Metropolitan Mikhail (Bulgarian) was sent to Rus', who baptized the Kyiv prince Oskold.

One of the ways for Christians to penetrate Kyiv, the well-known historian of the Russian church E.E. Golubinsky rightly considers the arrival at the service of the Kyiv prince of the Varangians from the Norman community of Constantinople, baptized Scandinavians. The Varangians-Scandinavians had their own, well traveled by these sailors, sea route to Constantinople, which for some reason has been mixed up in our scientific and popular literature for two centuries with the route through Eastern Europe. Nestor in his text leads the reader from the Black Sea up the Dnieper and further to the Baltic Sea, pointing out that from the Varangian Baltic it is possible to sail by sea, without any portage, to Rome and Constantinople. Historians are still confused by the general title of this paragraph; since the question of the Varangians is directly related to our topic, I will quote Nestor's text:

“Be the way from the Varangians to Grky and from Grk along the Dnieper and the Dnieper viers to Lovot and along Lovot, enter the great lake into Ilmer, from it the lakes will flow Vlkhov and flow into the great lake Nevo (Ladoga) and that lake will enter the mouth into the Varangian Sea (Baltic and Northern).

The route from the Varangians to the Greeks is designated as the well-known route of the Scandinavian flotillas along a single body of water (along the same sea) from the Baltic and the North Sea through the English Channel, past Normandy, through Gibraltar in the Mediterranean to the Norman possessions in Italy and to Constantinople, where the Normans served in the Imperial Palace Guard. These Vikings of the Byzantine service naturally adopted Christianity, knew to some extent the Greek language. One can fully agree with E. E. Golubinsky that it was from these Constantinople Varangians that the hired squads of the Kyiv princes were recruited: “The Varangians in very large numbers moved from Constantinople to Kyiv.”

The first pagan action described in the chronicle was the sacrifice of a Christian Varangian youth to Perun. “Because the Varangian t (the father of the young man) came from Grk and kept the Christian faith in secret.” The Varangian, as we see, was one of those Constantinople Normans about whom Golubinsky wrote.

The religious question was raised to the level of international politics. This was especially clear after Igor's campaign against Byzantium in 943 and the conclusion of the treaty in 944, already in the reign of Igor's widow Olga (since 945). The annalistic texts do not say a word about the priestly class, about the pagan sorcerers in Rus' and about their actions at that time, but without taking into account this social element, so well described among the Western Slavs, it will be difficult for us to comprehend many events.

The conflict between Svyatoslav and his pagan squad with Olga began at the moment when the regency of the princess ended. Obviously, Svyatoslav forbade the public holding of a Christian cult (prayer services, crusades, blessings of water, etc.), giving the main place to "pogansky tempers."

Olga became, obviously, half a Christian, confessing. But without demonstrating their Orthodoxy. With this understanding of events, we will not have to reproach Jacob Mnich for using the inaccurate date of Olga's baptism (955) - he conscientiously said that the princess for 15 years after baptism pleased God with good deeds. Naturally, the orator of the 11th century kept silent about the renunciation of Christianity or the prohibition of rituals.

Concluding the consideration of the last period of the heyday of the paganism of Kievan Rus, when the ancient religion had to be improved not only in the interests of the state, but also in the confrontation with the penetration of Christianity into Rus', we should dwell on the most interesting work that reflected this confrontation in a peculiar epic form - the epic about Mikhail stream.

The epic about Mikhail Potok is the most widespread and most significant work of the Russian heroic epic in its volume: it has over 1100 lines, it consists of two parts, and each part is equal to the average size of the songs of the Iliad. The literature devoted to this epic is very extensive; it was studied by V. I. Stasov, A. N. Veselovsky, O. Miller, V. F. Miller, G. N. Potanin, B. I. Yarkho, B. M. Sokolov, V. Ya. Propp, and others. And yet, in the historical interpretation of the epic, much remained unfinished and should be studied in conjunction with Russian and Byzantine historical evidence and archaeological data, which provide a convincing dating of the main plot of the epic.

Chroniclers and church writers eventually began to call the Prince of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (980 - 1015) Saint and Equal to the Apostles, crediting him with the baptism of Rus', but in the folk epic epic he remained an archaic mythological epithet, like "Volodimer the Sun". This solar sign made him related to the distant mythical Sokolot (Orthodox) king Kolaksai, the “Sun King”. Vladimir was the last pagan prince of Rus', and only he retained this poetic nickname, coming from great chronological depths.

For almost two centuries, Kievan Rus was a pagan power that needed religious and ideological support for the statehood and power of the Kievan princes.

Christianity, which had become the state religion in Byzantium already six centuries ago and in kindred Bulgaria for more than a century, by that time had become no longer the hope of a persecuted plebs, but a well-developed religion of a class society with the main thesis: "let slaves obey their masters." The adoption of Christianity was supposed to help strengthen statehood, but there was a great danger in such an act: the Byzantines believed that every nation that received a new faith from the hands of the Greek clergy, thereby becoming a vassal of the Byzantine Caesar, who headed both secular and supreme spiritual power.

In the late 980s, Rus' adopted Christianity as a public state religion. After the siege and capture of the capital of the Byzantine possessions - Chersonesos-Korsun - the Kiev boyars and Prince Vladimir could no longer fear that the empire would regard the acceptance of the faith from the hands of the Caesar and the patriarch as a sign of recognition of the vassal dependence of Rus' on the Greeks. The conditions were dictated by the winner, who wanted to secure peace by marrying a Byzantine princess; "Hedgehog and come true."

The adoption of Christianity immediately put Rus' on a par with the advanced states of that time, facilitated diplomatic ties, since the people of the Middle Ages attached great importance to religion, and by this time Christianity had covered about three-quarters of Europe, Transcaucasia and a significant part of the Middle East. One of the political results of the baptism was that the son of Vladimir, by agreement with the Caesar of the Byzantine Empire, received the highest European title of "Caesar", i.e. emperor. And the son, grandchildren and granddaughters of Vladimir intermarried with the largest royal houses of the continent. The point was, of course, not in one religion, but also in the objective political power of Rus', but Christianity formalized this new force, and in Europe there were three monarchs of the highest rank: the emperor of Byzantium, the emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire" (Germany) and the emperor ( Tsar) of Rus', Grand Duke of Kyiv.

In Rus', Christianity did not appear in its original form, in which it was in the first centuries of its existence; it has long ceased to be the religion of the disenfranchised and the oppressed, who expected compensation only in the other world.

From the time of Constantine the Great (306 - 337), who baptized Byzantium, Christianity became the state religion and moved further and further away from the principles of the "new testament", relying more and more on the "old testament" (Bible) full of deceit, cruelty and autocracy.

The strength of such state Christianity was the combination of the principle of inviolability and limitlessness of power, taken from the Bible, with the principle of humility and humility, taken from the gospel teaching. All subsequent Christian literature followed this path; Christian clergy took an active part in the development of state legislation.

For a millennium, paganism retreated very slowly under the persistent onslaught of the Orthodox clergy. The village essentially became Christian hardly earlier than the 13th century, and the remnants of pagan cremations in the form of huge bonfires over the grave (“smoke” according to the life of Konstantin of Murom) survived in some places until the end of the 19th century. Churches were built in the cities of Kievan Rus; they were supplied with liturgical books, utensils, served by the clergy; around the cities, immediately outside the fortress walls, monasteries arose, which were the "nodes of strength" of the church organization; the clergy organized solemn prayers in the cities, crusades, read sermons; but paganism continued to be strong not only "in Ukraine", but also in big cities. To characterize the correlation in Russian cities between the Christian principle and the pagan one, it is enough to cite the well-known "Word about the Creature ...", compiled by the Russian scribe of the 12th century. The author strengthens the previous generations of Russian people in the fact that they created a pagan religion: "I have done our fathers in a lie, bow down to an idol in the image of a man and serve the creature." The author of the "Word..." also scourged his contemporaries for worshiping the images of pagan gods ("those who wrote the light with a blockhead bow to him"); these images of light (Svyatovich?) are "creature", i.e. the creation of human hands "write in the image of a man for the charm of the unintelligent."

Paganism survived in the early days of the existence of the Old Russian state and Christianity, coexisting with Christianity, and remnants of paganism persist to this day: Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala, seeing off winter, and much more.