The Liturgical Past in Byzantium and Early Rus
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:20th Aug '20
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- Hardback£90.00(9781107156760)
The first major study of the relationship between liturgy and historiography in early medieval Rus.
Original and engaging, this substantial contribution to the study of the Rus Primary Chronicle, the most important piece of evidence for the history of the Rus in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, includes the first English-language translations of key Slavonic sources.The chroniclers of medieval Rus were monks, who celebrated the divine services of the Byzantine church throughout every day. This study is the first to analyze how these rituals shaped their writing of the Rus Primary Chronicle, the first written history of the East Slavs. During the eleventh century, chroniclers in Kiev learned about the conversion of the Roman Empire by celebrating a series of distinctively Byzantine liturgical feasts. When the services concluded, and the clerics sought to compose a native history for their own people, they instinctively drew on the sacred stories that they sang at church. The result was a myth of Christian origins for Rus - a myth promulgated even today by the Russian government - which reproduced the Christian origins myth of the Byzantine Empire. The book uncovers this ritual subtext and reconstructs the intricate web of liturgical narratives that underlie this foundational text of pre-modern Slavic civilization.
'It is hard to over-emphasize just what a tour de force this is.' Nadieszda Kizenko, The Russian Review
'… Sean Griffin's excellent new study, The Liturgical Past in Byzantium and Early Rus, reveals just how complex, vital, revolutionary, and central this particular event - the Christianization of the Eastern Slavic peoples - was to the self-understanding and self-representation of Kiev's ruling elite.' Patrick Lally Michelson, Slavic Review
'The focus of Sean Griffin's book is a medieval chronicle and its sources. However, the subject resonates beyond its time.' Simon Franklin, Los Angeles Review of Books
'… there is no doubt that this book brings fresh insights and a powerful approach to the understanding of history writing in Rus'. This is a sharply argued contribution to Byzantine and Rus cultural and intellectual history that will deservedly be cited for decades to come.' Florin Curta, Medieval Encounters
'Griffin's contribution has definitively inserted liturgy into the list of core sources for future studies of the medieval Slavic world, and provides a solid methodological starting point for future reflection on the topic.' Nina Glibetić, Speculum
'… an excellent study of specific aspects of liturgy in early Rus, and, in particular, the role of worship in the development of a myth of East Slavic Christian origins. Sean Griffin demonstrates a solid command of the most recent scholarship in the field and does so with an engaging style.' Peter Galadza, Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies
ISBN: 9781108814843
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 16mm
Weight: 425g
285 pages