The Сontroversy against Josephites in the Life of Serapion, Archbishop of Novgorod

Abstract

The conflict between the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery and the Novgorod see under Archbishop Serapion was touched upon in a considerable number of works devoted to the history of the Russian church at the turn of the 16th century. Regardless of whom the researchers were inclined to consider as the instigator of the feud, most of their studies were based on the sources of Josephite origin. The present paper is an attempt to look at the complex relationship of the Volokolamsk hegumen with the Novgorod archbishop as presented in the Life of St. Serapion. A preliminary analysis of the composition of the text shows its heterogeneity: the Life contains both passages with sharp attacks on Joseph Volotsky, and a generally quite correct account of his reconciliation with Serapion. Most of the article is devoted to the question of how Archbishop Serapion himself and his supporters were inclined to evaluate the actions of Joseph Volotsky, which were directed squarely against the Novgorod archbishop and ended with his forcible removal from the bishop’s see at the behest of the Grand Prince. Consideration of this issue essentially allows us to conclude that the system of self-justification of the Novgorod archbishop in the text of his Life was quite deliberate and consistent and was based primarily on his ideas about the bishop's prerogatives in relation to the Volokolamsk hegumen subordinate to his authority. DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.1.5