KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE

PRE-CHRISTIAN EAST SLAV SOCIETY  Practiced animistic paganism  deified nature, many gods & spirits  worshipped women’s reproductive power  lacked institutional structure Perun domovoipolovoivodianoimother goddess

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE CHRISTIAN KIEVAN RUS’  Form of Christianity = Eastern Orthodoxy  Accepted uncritically from Byzantine model  Place high value on aesthetics: Beauty = Truth = God  Subject to Byzantine Patriarchate, but Russian Church had much autonomy

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE CHRISTIAN KIEVAN RUS’  Structure of Russian Orthodox Church  Metropolitan at head  Two types of clergy: black = monks/nuns white = priests/bishops  Church involved in many aspects of Kievan society  Many pagan elements retained or incorporated into Christian practice

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Oral tradition (folklore)  Folksongs, proverbs, sayings, fairy tales  Byliny or Stariny (epic poems) heroic & romantic feature bogatyrs (heroes) The Bogatyrs: Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, & Alyosha Popovich

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Written literature  Developed in close association with religion: Canonical literature: prayer books, hymnals, illuminated manuscripts, chronicles

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Written literature  Developed in close association with religion: Canonical literature: prayer books, hymnals, illuminated manuscripts, chronicles  Secular literature: poetry, ballads, tales Lay (Tale) of the Host of Igor  Literacy fairly widespread

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Architecture  Wooden: reflect native folk traditions  Stone: heavy Byzantine influence But developed distinctive Russian style Reconstruction of wooden church: Suzdal St. Sophia Cathedral, Kiev Hagia Sophia, Constantinople

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Architecture  Wooden: reflect native folk traditions  Stone: heavy Byzantine influence But developed distinctive Russian style St. Sophia, Novgorod St. George Monastery, near Novgorod Golden Gate of Kremlin, Vladimir Assumption Cathedral, Vladimir

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Art  Close association with religion church mosaics & frescoes Frescoes in St. Sophia, Kiev

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Art  Close association with religion church mosaics & frescoes icons Christ Pantokrator (Byzantine) Christ the Redeemer (Kievan)

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Art  Close association with religion church mosaics & frescoes icons Vladimir Mother of God The Virgin Orans

KIEVAN RELIGION & CULTURE KIEVAN CULTURE  Art  Close association with religion church mosaics & frescoes icons St. George The Archangel Gabriel

St. Sophia (Kiev),