PAPER RU 4: EARLY MODERN RUSSIA

 

A seventeenth century map of Muscovy

Portrait of Patriarch Nikon

 

 

 

 

 

About the paper:

This paper charts the historical and cultural development of Russia during the period when it grew into the largest country in the world.

By the end of the 13th century the de-facto capital of Rus’ had moved from Kiev to Vladimir. In 1325, in the reign of Ivan I Kalita, the head of the Russian Church moved from Vladimir to Moscow, thus confirmingthe importance of that city. But while Ivan Kalita had inherited a territory no more than 200 miles in radius, Ivan Groznyi, his sixteenth century successor, controlled so many territories that Russian envoys to foreign courts took half an hour to read his full title. He created the Tsardom of Muscovy, whose continuous land mass was greater than that of any other contemporary state.

In the seventeenth-early eighteenth century this empire was further expanded by the Romanovs. Peter the Great, the eighteenth century Romanov Emperor, moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to Petersburg and started the transformation of his country into a world superpower.

This paper traces the political and cultural evolution of Russia in this period. Historical and cultural themes are evenly balanced. The set texts can be approached either as historical sources or as literary works, or a combination of both. They reflect the growth of a ‘Russian consciousness’, the spread of  literacy and the gradual secularization of culture.The paper also provides an introduction to Russian art and architecture in a period when Russia began its love-hate relationship with the West.

The paper also provides an introduction to Russian art and architecture in a period when Russia began, for the first time, to turn to the West for information and help, and when secular culture began to coexist with the culture of the Church.

Key Topics:

·                     The Mongols, Тhe Church and the Grand Principality of Moscow

·                     The Formation of the Tsardom of Russia: Ivan Kalita to Ivan the Terrible

·                     The Time of Troubles and the first Romanovs: Boris Godunov to Peter I

·                     Visual Texts: Muscovite iconography and architecture, early popular prints, the architecture, art and sculpture of St. Petersburg

 

Set Texts:

Passages for commentary will be set from THREE of the following texts:

·         Житие митрополита Петра

·         Житие Петра, царевича ордынского

·         Видение Хутынского пономаря Тарасия

·         Домострой

·         Житие Юльянии Лазаревской

·         Житие протопопа Аввакума

·         Повесть о бражнике

·         Калязинская челобитная

·         О зачатии и здании царствующего града С.-Петербурга

 

  The texts are all available on this site - click on the links on the right. Further materials will be made available on CamTools throughout the year. 

 

 

The set texts can be downloaded from the links below.

ЖИТИЕ И ЖИЗНЬ МИТРОПОЛИТА ПЕТРА

The Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, founded by Metropolitan Petr and Ivan Kalita in 1326. Burial place of Metropolitan Peter. 

ЖИТИЕ ПЕТРА, ЦАРЕВИЧА ОРДЫНСКОГО 

 

ВИДЕНИЕ ХУТЫНСКОГО ПОНОМАРЯ ТАРАСИЯ

 

Icon of the Vision of Tarasii

ДОМОСТРОЙ

 

First page of the manuscript of Domostroi

 

ЖИТИЕ ЮЛИАНИИ ЛАЗАРЕВСКОЙ

 

ПОВЕСТЬ О БРАЖНИКЕ

КАЛЯЗИНСКАЯ ЧЕЛОБИТНАЯ



ЖИТИЕ ПРОТОПОПА АВВАКУМА

The Holy Martyr Avvakum

 

 

О ЗАЧАТИИ И ЗДАНИИ ЦАРСТВУЮЩЕГО ГРАДА С.-ПЕТЕРБУРГА

 

 

Last Updated: 5 March 2009