Several sentences on canonical-legal foundations of monastery creation in premongolian Russia

Abstract

Introduction. This study focuses on the formation of ancient Russian monasticism in the 11th-13th centuries. The main emphasis of the article is on the recognition of foreign communities as fullyfledged monasteries by episcopal cathedrals, as well as on the administrative-canonical rights of ancient Russian bishops. The author is interested in how the relationship between the episcopate and monasteries developed and changed. Methods. The analysis of the information on the establishment of the first Russian monasteries allows for some preliminary judgments not only in the field of the history of relations between the episcopate and monastic communities, but also regarding the development of canonical concepts within the church organization, revealing the peculiarities of these processes in different lands. Materials and methods. The main sources for this work were published and well-known sources on the early history of the Russian Church: ancient Russian chronicles, a collection of texts related to the history of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, 25 graffiti, as well as sources on the early history of the Antonius Romanin Monastery. Results. As a result, the author comes to the following conclusions. Firstly, the process of recognizing monastic settlements and institutions by episcopal cathedrals was complex and reflected the extremely difficult canonical and administrative situation in Russia. If in the initial stage, in the first century after the events of the Baptism, there was maximum freedom, expressed in the fact that the majority of monastic settlements were founded solely at the desire of the monks or at the will of the princes, then over time there is a tendency to expand the rights of the hierarchs in the control of monastic life. Conclusion. The first successful experience of full influence of the hierarchs on monastic life for the cathedrals is observed in the time of Prince Vsevolod and Metropolitan John the Baptist. However, the participation of bishops in the foundation of monasteries and the consecration of monastery churches became the norm only from the end of the 12th century. An exception to this series was Novgorod, where monastic life was brought under the control of the bishops already in the early 12th century. Secondly, it is obvious that in the initial stage of the Christianization of Russia, most monasteries were established without recognition from the episcopate. They simply did not need it. The only authority to which such settlements resorted was the princely authority.