On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I

Written by Sylvester Medvedev Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh (BAN. P I A No. 85), with a low popularity of the copy itself and a broad publicity of the text contained in it, stands alone among a few dozen gifted manuscripts of the library of Peter I. The book is specially decorated in a ceremon...

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Main Author: Vera G. Podkovyrova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Orthodox Church. Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary of the Ekaterinburg Eparchy 2022-10-01
Series:Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/7_-39-2022_History-Podkovyrova.pdf
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author Vera G. Podkovyrova
author_facet Vera G. Podkovyrova
author_sort Vera G. Podkovyrova
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description Written by Sylvester Medvedev Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh (BAN. P I A No. 85), with a low popularity of the copy itself and a broad publicity of the text contained in it, stands alone among a few dozen gifted manuscripts of the library of Peter I. The book is specially decorated in a ceremonial way: it is written in elegant semi-uncial font, bound in red morocco with gold embossing. The manuscript presented to Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna in 1689 contained one of the last works of the soon-to-be executed monk, favorite student of Simeon Polotsky, court poet and prominent figure of the theological and political group of the so-called Latinists (in the 1680s). The talented writer mastered perfectly the techniques of both baroque literature of the early modern period and traditional hymnography. In the second half of the 17th — early 18th centuries different authors wrote four akathists to St. Sergius; the text of Sylvester Medvedev was erroneously attributed for a long time to another author (prince S. I. Shakhovsky, the author of the text of another akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh) and was even published under that name at the end of the 18th century. The subject of this article is the existence of the gifted manuscript text and its features. The article also considers direct sources of the text of this akathist the genre of which is centonic construction. The author created his work based on the Great Akathist to the Mother of God (its vocabulary and figurative system are consistently used in all stanzas of the Akathist), ikoses and kontakia (it is this part of the canon that becomes the basis of the text of Sylvester Medvedev), as well as troparia of the services of St. Sergius of Radonezh and hagiographic materials. Having conducted a comparative analysis of the original and modern texts of the akathist, the author makes a conclusion about the nature of changes in the vocabulary of this text. The ambiguity of the figure of Sylvester Medvedev who was the author of the text widely used in worship and private prayers, and at the same time a monk too deeply immersed in politics and church controversy, has allowed one to see the tragedy of an extraordinary personality at the turning point in history.
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spelling doaj.art-482d95eb5e5145aa89965a13997c68de2022-12-22T03:56:58ZengRussian Orthodox Church. Ekaterinburg Theological Seminary of the Ekaterinburg EparchyВестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии2224-53912022-10-013914116510.24412/2224-5391-2022-39-141-165On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter IVera G. Podkovyrova0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5658-252XLibrary of the Russian Academy of ScienceWritten by Sylvester Medvedev Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh (BAN. P I A No. 85), with a low popularity of the copy itself and a broad publicity of the text contained in it, stands alone among a few dozen gifted manuscripts of the library of Peter I. The book is specially decorated in a ceremonial way: it is written in elegant semi-uncial font, bound in red morocco with gold embossing. The manuscript presented to Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna in 1689 contained one of the last works of the soon-to-be executed monk, favorite student of Simeon Polotsky, court poet and prominent figure of the theological and political group of the so-called Latinists (in the 1680s). The talented writer mastered perfectly the techniques of both baroque literature of the early modern period and traditional hymnography. In the second half of the 17th — early 18th centuries different authors wrote four akathists to St. Sergius; the text of Sylvester Medvedev was erroneously attributed for a long time to another author (prince S. I. Shakhovsky, the author of the text of another akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh) and was even published under that name at the end of the 18th century. The subject of this article is the existence of the gifted manuscript text and its features. The article also considers direct sources of the text of this akathist the genre of which is centonic construction. The author created his work based on the Great Akathist to the Mother of God (its vocabulary and figurative system are consistently used in all stanzas of the Akathist), ikoses and kontakia (it is this part of the canon that becomes the basis of the text of Sylvester Medvedev), as well as troparia of the services of St. Sergius of Radonezh and hagiographic materials. Having conducted a comparative analysis of the original and modern texts of the akathist, the author makes a conclusion about the nature of changes in the vocabulary of this text. The ambiguity of the figure of Sylvester Medvedev who was the author of the text widely used in worship and private prayers, and at the same time a monk too deeply immersed in politics and church controversy, has allowed one to see the tragedy of an extraordinary personality at the turning point in history.https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/7_-39-2022_History-Podkovyrova.pdfakathisthymnographyst. sergius of radonezhsylvester medvedevhand-written gifted copies
spellingShingle Vera G. Podkovyrova
On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии
akathist
hymnography
st. sergius of radonezh
sylvester medvedev
hand-written gifted copies
title On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
title_full On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
title_fullStr On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
title_full_unstemmed On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
title_short On the History of Creation of the Akathist to St. Sergius of Radonezh: A Gifted Copy from the Library of Peter I
title_sort on the history of creation of the akathist to st sergius of radonezh a gifted copy from the library of peter i
topic akathist
hymnography
st. sergius of radonezh
sylvester medvedev
hand-written gifted copies
url https://epds.ru/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/7_-39-2022_History-Podkovyrova.pdf
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