Power, Sainthood, and the Art of Myth
Pierre Gonneau, A l'aube de la Russie muscovite: Serge de Radonege et Andre Roublev. Legendes et images (XIVe-XVIIe siecles) (At the Dawn of Muscovite Russia: Sergius of Radonezh and Andrei Rublev. Legends and Images [14th-17th Centuries]). 357 pp., illus., appendices. Paris: Institut d'etudes slaves, 2007. ISBN-13 978-2720404351. 24.00 [euro]. Elisabeth Teiro, L'Eglise des premiers saints metropolites russes (The Church of the First Saintly Russian Metropolitans). 418 pp., illus., appendices. Paris: Institut d'etudes slaves, 2009. ISBN-13 978-2720404511. 24.00 [euro]. During the Soviet era, publications covering the religious life of medieval and early modern Rus' tended to emphasize land issues and the condition of the peasantry. The scope of this area of scholarship has broadened considerably in recent years to encompass the cultural and spiritual aspects of Muscovite church history. This expansion has been aided significantly by the publication of documents supplementing fundamental collections of source materials created in the 20th century. Rich collections in Russian museums and art restorers' revelations are becoming increasingly accessible through the bountiful production of high-quality albums and exhibit catalogues as well as the development of websites devoted to art and architecture. The two excellent monographs reviewed here will further expand our understanding of the formative period of the Muscovite polity because they underscore the crucial interconnections that permitted church leaders and Moscow's princes to construct the symbiotic relationships that promoted their mutual success. Both books reveal the importance of sainthood as the social and political "glue" holding together the rising status of rulers and church hierarchs, while simultaneously laying out the widely divergent itineraries for future saints to follow during their earthly lives. The saints who figure in Elisabeth Teiro's examination of the Russian metropolitanate during the 14th to 16th centuries are cut from very different cloth from the legendarily humble monk Sergius of Radonezh--adviser of princes, conciliator, counterpart of St. Francis in giving away worldly possessions, and source of inspiration for unity against the Tatars and rebuilding Russian spirituality. In contrast, the saintly metropolitans contribute to the building of church and state as political activists who move to Moscow and thereafter link the destiny of their church to that of the local rulers. Sergius and the metropolitans alike were then posthumously claimed as wonder-working intercessors for Moscow, an image fostered both by church hierarchs and by Moscow's rulers. Teiro's study begins with Peter's relocation of the seat of the metropolitan to Moscow, his initiation of the construction of the Dormition Cathedral, and his burial in 1326 in his unfinished church. His relatively rapid recognition as the first saint associated with the principality of Moscow was initiated by his successor, Theognost, backed by Ivan Kalita of Moscow; and the Byzantine patriarch agreed to canonization. Metropolitans before Peter had not been the focus of special veneration, but thereafter his successors came to be given serious consideration for this status. Analyzing the grounds for sainthood, Teiro concludes that after Peter "admission to the ranks of the saints" (199) rather than canonization, with its connotation of the procedure used in the Roman Catholic Church, better describes the process at work in Muscovy, especially before Metropolitan Makarii's councils of 1547-49 made glorification a more formal process. Incorrupt relics served as an indication of worthiness for sainthood, but the indispensable requirement was that the potential saint perform miracles, in life or after death (and a candidate's record in this regard might be "improved" to strengthen his claim). After the Russian church became autocephalous in 1448, candidates native to the Russian lands were more likely to be canonized. …
Saint Sergius of Radonezh, His Trinity Monastery, and the Formation of the Russian Identity
When Sergius of Radonezh founded a monastery near Moscow, his example spawned a movement of monastic foundations throughout Russia. Within three decades of his death in 1392, Sergius was recognized as a saint, and by 1450 many considered him the intercessor for the Russian land who freed its people from Mongol rule. Over the next century and a half, thousands sought St. Sergius s intercession with gifts to the monastery. Moscow s rulers made Sergius patron saint of their dynasty and of the Russian tsardom. By 1605, the Trinity-Sergius monastery was the biggest house in Russia.Miller presents Trinity s dramatic history from the 14th century to the beginning of the Time of Troubles. Using extensive archival materials, he traces the evolution of Trinity s relationship to Sergius s venerators and its traditions, governance, social composition, and the lifestyle of its members. In lucid prose, Miller argues that St. Sergius s cult and monastery became integrating forces on a national scale and vital elements in the forging of a Russian identity, economy, and cohesive society. The power of religion to shape national identity is a lively topic today, and Miller s study will interest both medievalists and modern historians, as well as readers of Orthodox Church history."
What is an archival education?1
This article introduces the approach to Master's level archival education adopted at the University of Manitoba. It is intended as a contribution to the recently renewed discussion of graduate archival education in the UK and Ireland. The author maintains that recent major developments in the accessibility, uses, and very conception of archives powerfully underscore the distinctiveness of archival work. These developments foster continued collaboration between archivists and those in related professions such as records management, but, more importantly, reinforce their longstanding distinctiveness. The article discusses why and how the University of Manitoba has responded to the increasingly complex challenges facing archivists and archival educators in this evolving setting with an archival, conceptual, historical, and research-oriented curriculum.