Military SaintS in ByzantiuM and ruS,...

Milita ry Sa intS in Byz a ntiuM a nd ruS, 900–1200

The rulers of the Byzantine Empire and its commonwealth were protected both by their own soldiers and by a heavenly army: the military saints. The transformation of Saints George, demetrios, Theodore and others into the patrons of imperial armies was one of the defining developments of religious life under the Macedonian emperors. This book provides a comprehensive study of military sainthood and its roots in late antiquity. The emergence of the cults is situated within a broader social context, in which mortal sol-diers were equated with martyrs and martyrs of the early Church recruited to protect them on the battlefield. dr White then traces the fate of these saints in early rus, drawing on unpublished manu-scripts and other under-utilised sources to discuss their veneration within the princely clan and their influence on the first native saints of rus, Boris and Gleb, who eventually joined the ranks of their ancient counterparts.

monic a w hit e is a lecturer in Slavonic Studies at the university of nottingham, where she teaches Byzantine and rus history, the history of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox sainthood.

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Cambridge University Press978-0-521-19564-5 - Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900–1200Monica WhiteFrontmatterMore information

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Milita ry Sa intS in Byz a ntiuM a nd ruS,

900–1200

MOniC a W hitEUniversity of Nottingham






C A M BR I DGE U N I V E R S I T Y PR E S SCambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,

Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City

Cambridge University PressThe Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.orgInformation on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521195645

© Monica White 2013

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written

permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2013

Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books Group

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication dataWhite, Monica, 1976–

Military saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900–1200 / Monica White.pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.I SBN 978-0-521-19564-5

1. Christian patron saints–Cult–Byzantine Empire. 2. Christian martyrs–Cult–Byzantine Empire. 3. Byzantine Empire–History,

Military–1081–1453. 4. Byzantine Empire–Church history. 5. Byzantine Empire. Stratos. 6. War–Religious aspects–Christianity–History of doctrines–Middle

Ages, 600–1500. I. Title.B X 4659.B9W55 2013

274.7′03–dc232012033991

I SBN 978-0-521-19564-5 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of U R L s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in

this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.






моим учителям






vii

Contents

List of illustrations page viiiAcknowledgements xA note on translations, transliterations and names xiiList of abbreviations xivGeneral map of Rus in the late pre-Mongol period xvi

introduction 1

1 The pre-history of the military saints 13

2 The formation of the martyr-warrior ideal 32

3 The collective cult of the military saints 64

4 The military saints in early rus 94

5 Boris and Gleb and the martyr-warrior ideal in rus 132

6 Military saints under the house of Suzdal 167

Conclusion 201

Appendix 1: Feast days of the principal military saints 206Appendix 2: Reigns of Roman and Byzantine emperors mentioned in the text 207Appendix 3: Simplified genealogy of the Riurikids 209Appendix 4: Rus churches and monasteries dedicated to patronal figures 210Appendix 5: Rus churches and monasteries dedicated to non-patronal figures 217Bibliography 222Index 241






viii

Illustrations

1 ivory triptych from the Palazzo Venezia, rome (alinari archives, Florence) page 79

2 Steatite icon of the Hetoimasia (hétimasie et saints militaires © rMn-GP (Musée du louvre)/daniel arnaudet) 83

3 ivory icon of demetrios (© 2012. image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of art/art resource/Scala, Florence) 86

4 Frontispiece of the Psalter of Basil ii (© 2012. Photo Scala, Florence) 92

5 Seal of iaroslav Vladimirovich (© Valentin yanin and Petr Gajdukov, photograph by Ken Walton) 112

6 Seal of Mstislav iurevich (© Valentin yanin and Petr Gajdukov) 116

7 Zmeevik featuring George and Theodore (Photograph © The State hermitage Museum. Photo by yuri Molodkovets) 126

8 Carved relief from Kiev featuring George and Theodore (© 2012. andrea Jemolo/Scala, Florence) 129

9 Seal of rostislav Mstislavich (© Valentin yanin and Petr Gajdukov) 155

10 Byzantine enamel icon of demetrios (© 2012. Photo Scala, Florence/BPK, Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin) 158

11 rus enamel pendants with unidentified martyrs (Photograph © The State hermitage Museum. Photo by yuri Molodkovets) 160

12 Metal icon from riazan (© riazan historical-architectural Museum-reserve, photograph by Ken Walton) 164

13 Cathedral of St demetrios, Vladimir: George (© M. S. Gladkaya) 188






List of illustrations ix

14 Cathedral of St demetrios, Vladimir: Theodore (© M. S. Gladkaya) 189

15 Cathedral of St demetrios, Vladimir: Boris and Gleb on horseback (© M. S. Gladkaya) 189

16 Cathedral of St demetrios, Vladimir: Boris and Gleb holding crosses (© M. S. Gladkaya) 191

17 Cathedral of St George, iurev-Polskoi: frontal portraits (© G. K. Vagner, photograph by Ken Walton) 195

18 Cathedral of St George, iurev-Polskoi: Mother of God and military saints (© G. K. Vagner, photograph by Ken Walton) 195

19 icon depicting novgorod’s victory over Suzdal (detail) (© t. tsarevskaya) 202






x

Acknowledgements

The dedication of this volume is an expression of my gratitude to the mentors and friends who have guided me in my study of Byzantium, rus and russia. Simon Franklin, who supervised the original version of this study as a doctoral dissertation, deserves special thanks for his encour-agement, patience, advice and generosity with books ever since receiving an unsolicited telephone call from tver about the possibility of com-ing to Cambridge to study with him. a number of other teachers have also inspired and helped me in countless ways: Phil Pomper, Susanne Fusso, Bob Whitman, Priscilla Meyer, duffy White, irene aleshkovsky, William McCarthy, Jonathan Shepard, Philip Pattenden, Predrag Matejic and M. a. Johnson. anything of value in this study is largely the result of their dedication as teachers and scholars, although any mistakes are of course entirely my own.

The logistical difficulties associated with producing this book could not have been surmounted without help from numerous quarters. a schol-arship to enable me to attend the Medieval Slavic Summer institute in 2001 furnished me with essential research skills, which were put to use during a trip to russia funded by a lightfoot Grant from the Faculty of history, university of Cambridge. The Phd was completed thanks to a Gunn Studentship from Peterhouse, university of Cambridge and work on the book continued during a research Fellowship at Clare College, Cambridge, a Mellon Fellowship at Stanford university and a lectureship at the university of nottingham. Further research trips were supported by the dean’s Fund of the Faculty of arts, university of nottingham. This fund, along with research funds from the department of russian and Slavonic Studies and the School of Cultures, languages and area Studies, helped offset the costs associated with the illustrations. hospitality and general moral support during visits to libraries in Cambridge, london and Berkeley were kindly provided by Sophie lunn-rockliffe, Piers Baker-Bates and the White, Gordon and hill families. alexei Gippius






Acknowledgements xi

went to extraordinary lengths to secure copyright permissions for illus-trations of rus materials. tim hill, linda Gordon, Polly McMichael, Emily Finer, Mary Cunningham, doug lee and liudmyla Sharipova helped immensely by reading and correcting the draft, providing transla-tions and books and assisting with technical matters. My editor, Michael Sharp, has been a great source of encouragement and support, while man-aging not to express dismay at continuing delays. Finally, the comments of two anonymous reviewers did much to improve the book’s arguments and structure.

Earlier versions of parts of Chapters 5 and 6 appeared in the follow-ing publications, respectively: ‘Byzantine Visual Propaganda and the inverted heart Motif ’, Byzantion, 76 (2006), pp. 330–63 and ‘a Byzantine tradition transformed: Military Saints under the house of Suzdal’, The Russian Review, 63/3 (2004), pp. 493–513.






xii

A note on translations, transliterations and names

assimilating the texts, names and conventions of two pre-modern lan-guages into a work of English prose presents a number of difficulties. although every effort has been made to ensure consistency, grey areas remain.

Quotations from Greek and Slavonic sources have been translated by the author unless otherwise indicated, with references to both the ori-ginal texts and any published translations given in the notes. titles of secondary sources and individual words in Greek and Slavonic languages have been transliterated using the modified library of Congress system. The only exception to this system is made for individual Slavonic words used in the body of the text, such as ‘rus’, ‘iaroslavl’, and so on, which are written without apostrophes denoting palatalisation. (different systems used by other authors, however, have not been changed in quotations.)

For pre-modern written works with generally accepted English, latin or Greek titles, those have been used throughout (hence, Tactical Constitutions, The Primary Chronicle, De Obsidione Toleranda, Strategikon). less widely known works are designated by the titles given by their first publishers (hence, Mémorandum inédit sur la défense des places, ‘two Military Orations of Constantine Vii’). Works published only in the ori-ginal language or with more than one generally accepted title have been given in an English translation by the author (hence, Tale and Passion and Enkomion of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb, ‘Martyrdom of the holy and honourable Great Martyr George’).

if a Greek or Slavonic personal name has an English equivalent, it has been used (hence, andrew rather than andrei Bogoliubskii, Constantine Vii rather than Konstantinos Vii, Clement of Ohrid rather than Kliment of Ohrid). an exception has been made for the name iurii, which, des-pite being a form of George, sounds significantly different. For names with no English equivalent, the Greek or Slavonic forms, rather than a latin form, have been used (hence, Komnenos rather than Comnene,






A note on translations, transliterations and names xiii

demetrios rather than demetrius). in the interest of consistency, saints are referred to by the Greek forms of their names even when discussing their rus cults, although rus people with the same names are referred to by the Slavonic forms.

Finally, because of the frequency with which saints are mentioned, the title ‘St’ has been dropped, except when referring to church dedications.






xiv

Abbreviations

AASS Acta SanctorumAB Analecta BollandianaANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen WeltBHG Bibliotheca hagiographica graecaBMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek StudiesBZ Byzantinische ZeitschriftCFhB Corpus Fontium historiae ByzantinaeCnrS Centre national de la recherche ScientifiqueDOP Dumbarton Oaks PapersdOS dumbarton Oaks StudiesdOt dumbarton Oaks textsEO Echos d’OrienthlEul harvard library of Early ukrainian literatureHUS Harvard Ukrainian Studiesian imperatorskaia akademiia naukiarK iazyki russkoi kul’turyJÖB Jahrbuch der Österreichischen ByzantinistikMB Menologium BasilianumMSON Menaea Septembris Octobris Novembris. Ad Fidem

Vetustissimorum CodicumOC Oriens ChristianusODB The Oxford Dictionary of ByzantiumPG Patrologiae cursus completus, series graecaPSrl Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopiseiPVL Povest’ vremennykh letREB Revue des études byzantinesREG Revue des études grecquesrGada rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv drevnikh aktovrnB rossiiskaia natsional’naia biblioteka






List of abbreviations xv

rOBMSt rukopisnyi otdel biblioteki moskovskoi sinodal’noi tipografii

SA Sovetskaia arkheologiiaSai Svod arkheologicheskikh istochnikovSEC Synaxarium Ecclesiae ConstantinopolitanaeSh Subsidia hagiographicaSKK Slovar’ knizhnikov i knizhnosti drevnei Rusi, vol. I,

X–pervaia polovina XIV v.TM Travaux et MémoirestMM The Medieval Mediterranean: Peoples, Economies and

Cultures, 400–1500TODRL Trudy otdela drevnerusskoi literaturytth translated texts for historiansVV Vizantiiskii vremennik






0 500250 750 km

0 300200100 400 500 miles

B y z a n t i n e E m p i r e

B l a c k S e a

White Sea

RUS

A t l a n t i cO c e a n

Carpathian Mountains

B a l t i c S ea

Dvina Ur

al

M

ou

nt

ai

ns

Volg

a

Pripyat

Vistu

la

Danube

C a u c a s u s

DnieperDniester

Donets

Don

Ca

s pi a

n S

ea

Volga

O

ka

Ests

Finns

Balts

L a p p s

Norway

Sweden

Komi

Bulgaria

Georgia

Khazars

Mordvins

Volga Bulgars

Pechenegs

Poland

Bohemia

Magyars

Serbia

Kam

a

Ladoga

PskovNovgorod

Beloozero

Moscow

Riazan

Vladimir

NizhniiNovgorod

Murom

SuzdalRostovIaroslavl

Iurev-Polskoi

Dmitrov

Ksniatin

Polotsk

SmolenskMinsk

Vitebsk

Turov

GalichKiev

Chernigov KurskLiubech

BelgorodPereslavlPeremyshl

Athens

Constantinople

Tmutarakan

Samandar

Itil

Sarkel

Bolghar

Map 1 General map of rus in the late pre-Mongol period






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