Don Ostrowski | Harvard University (original) (raw)

Papers by Don Ostrowski

Russian Linguistics, 2022

In the work of editing and analyzing Rus'ian texts, there has developed a difference in opinion b... more In the work of editing and analyzing Rus'ian texts, there has developed a difference in opinion between those scholars who embrace the use of stemmatics (to help determine readings in cases of closed transmission) and those who reject it (and therefore do not use stemma for that purpose). The difference in opinion can and often does lead to differing notions of the choice of readings. Another essential consideration for editing the text of the Povest′ vremen nyx let (PVL) is determining when the narrative ends. One finds no general agreement in the scholarly literature: as every yearly entry between 1110 and 1117 has been proposed as the endpoint of the text. The answer to that question of the ending of the narrative is intertwined with how scholars answer three related questions: Who wrote it? When was it written? And what are the internal divisions of the text? Based on a metahistorical analysis, this article describes two narratives in the text-the first from the beginning of it through to the year 1037; the second from the year 1054 through to the year 1114. The text between these two narratives (between 1037 and 1054) includes a series of yearly entries, including a story about the founding of the Kievan Caves Monastery interpolated into the entry for the year 1051 by the author of the second narrative. (The first narrative was most likely written during the reign of Jaroslav Volodimirič [1019-1054]). The yearly entries following it were added during first reign of Izjaslav Jaroslavič (1054-1078), possibly by the monk Nikon of the Kievan Caves Monastery. The second narrative was completed between 1114 and 1116 by a monk of the Kievan Caves Monastery named Vasilij. This article demonstrates that stemmatics and metahistorical analysis are useful methodological tools in the study of the PVL.

In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrat... more In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrated history of the world, composed in or near Moscow between the late 1560s and early 1580s, appears an illustration of the Mystic Meal (Eastern Church)/Last Supper (Western Church). Within the same frame, it depicts four (or five scenes): Judas receiving the moneybag from the priests; Judas returning the moneybag to the priests, Jesus telling the disciples how to go about finding the room for the Passover meal; Jesus and the disciples at the meal itself; and a woman with a halo in a house. The questions this article explores are what is the context for the representation of Judas, who is the woman in the house, and what is her relationship to the Last Supper scene. In the process an illustration on the previous folio of well-do-do Mary in “Magda town” (Магда грaд) who welcomes Jesus into her house and subsequently gives it up to follow Jesus is analyzed for its relationship to the Last S...

The Encyclopedia of Empire, 2016

The American Historical Review, 1999

The importance of the Mongols' impact on the Rus lands has been recogniz... more The importance of the Mongols' impact on the Rus lands has been recognized by many scholars, but its precise nature and extent is very contentious. While diverse opinions exist on the origins and develop-ment of Muscovy, the author argues that no society arises ex ...

Die Illustrierte Chronikhandschrift des Zaren Ivan IV. Groznyj. Ein Schlüsselwerk der Moskauer Historiographie und Buchkunst zwischen Spätmittelalter und Früher Neuzeit, 2021

Chronicle writing in Rus’ culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century with a monumenta... more Chronicle writing in Rus’ culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century with a monumental work, the Litsevoi letopisnyi svod (LLS; Illustrated Chronicle Compilation). This article explores the possibility that the LLS also represents the first and fullest application of icon painting techniques involving theological and religious principles to illustrating the mainly secular literary material of a chronicle. The present article focuses on the interplay of text and image in the “Life of Alexander Nevskii” as they appear in the LLS. I attempt to determine the sources of the artistic style being used as well as to ascertain the significance of the difference between the LLS redaction and other redactions of the “Life.”

Slavic Review, 1990

Sources of the first half of the fourteenth century provide evidence that a sharp rift in institu... more Sources of the first half of the fourteenth century provide evidence that a sharp rift in institutional continuity occurred in Muscovy. This rift constituted a kind of "punctuated equilibrium" in the evolutionary development of the Rus' political system. The political institutional structure inherited from the Vladimir-Suzdal' component of Kievan Rus' ended abruptly, and, concomitantly, a new political structure similar to that of the Kipchak Khanate was established. I contend in this article that the Muscovite princes introduced Mongol political and military institutions into Muscovy on a wide scale during the first half of the fourteenth century.

Canadian-American Slavic Studies, 2018

This article explores the gap between the scholarly literature, which touts a Riurikid dynasty in... more This article explores the gap between the scholarly literature, which touts a Riurikid dynasty in Rus′ before the sixteenth century, and the primary sources of the time, which seem to be unaware of such a dynasty. The appeals to legitimacy in the primary sources for a particular kniaz′ to rule in a town never resort to claiming descent from Riurik. Instead, such claims are based on whether one’s father ruled in that town. All others are outside the line of succession to any particular throne. The chronologies of the Povest′ vremennykh let and the Novgorod I Chronicle that declare Igor′ to be Riurik’s son are faulty and most likely derive from a single source. In the sixteenth century, Rus′ churchmen in an effort to shore up the legitimacy of the Daniilovichi, who should have been considered outside the line according to the Rus’ succession system, to rule in Moscow claimed descent of the Rus′ grand prince from Riurik and beyond him to Prus, a fictitious kinsman of Augustus Caesar. Historians have accepted the dynastic claim of the sixteenth-century Rus′ churchmen to Rus′ kniazi being descended from Riurik (although not from Prus) and thus perpetuate the view that such a dynasty, and thereby a dynastic state, existed in early Rus′.

Ikon. Journal of Iconographic Studies (Rijeka), 2016

In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrat... more In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrated history of the world, composed in or near Moscow between the late 1560s and early 1580s, appears an illustration of the Mystic Meal (Eastern Church)/Last Supper (Western Church). Within the same frame are depicted multiple scenes: Judas receiving the moneybag from the priests; Judas returning the moneybag to the priests, Jesus telling the disciples how to go about finding the room for the Passover meal; Jesus and the disciples at the meal itself; and a woman with a halo in a house. The questions this article explores are what is the context for the representation of Judas, who is the woman in the house, and what is her relationship to the Last Supper scene. In the process, I analyze an illustration on the facing folio of a well-do-do Mary in “Magda town” (Магда грaд) who welcomes Jesus into her house and subsequently gives it up to follow Jesus for its relationship to the Last Supper illustration. The article concludes that the woman in the Last Supper scene is the mother of Jesus, who represents synecdochically the women at the Last Supper (although probably segregated). The illustration of Mary from Magda town is closer to the Gospels’ description of the role of Mary Magdalene than that of churchmen and novelists.

The disputation is a phenomenon commonly mentioned in Christian and Islamic medieval sources. In ... more The disputation is a phenomenon commonly mentioned in Christian and Islamic medieval sources. In some cases, we find accounts of the disputations themselves in regard to who said what and in what sequence. We have records of disputations at the Byzantine court in the first half of the twelfth century, and of one at the Mongol court in Qaraqorum in 1254. Yet, it is generally accepted that there were no disputations in Orthodox Slavic lands before the seventeenth century. We do have one curious sixteenth-century Muscovite text that appears to be a disputation between Iosif, hegumen of the Volokolamsk Monastery, and the monk Vassian, who was from the Patrikeev boyar family. But this work—The Debate with Iosif Volotskii (Prenie s Iosifom Volotskim)—was probably a literary composition—a fictive disputation at best—and not the record of a face-to-face discussion between the two protagonists.

The period from 1447 to 1589 stands as an important one for the genesis and development of an ind... more The period from 1447 to 1589 stands as an important one for the genesis and development of an independent Russian Church, and the role of the councils was immensely significant in guiding that development. To the extent they were significant, one can justifiably refer to this time as the conciliar period in the history of the church.
Conciliar activity both in the Western Church and in the Rus′ Church were galvanized by reaction to a combination of internal and external challenges. In Muscovy, the initial challenge came from the proposed Union of Florence (1439) and the subsequent arrival in Moscow of the Uniate Metropolitan Isidor (1441), appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. My finding is that, although the Russian Church became autocephalous during this period, the decisions of the councils, were firmly situated within the already well-accepted doctrines of the Eastern Church.

Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim is the name of the narrator in Grimmelshausen's novel "Der aben... more Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim is the name of the narrator in Grimmelshausen's novel "Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch" (Adventures of a Simpleton). To a great extent the events in the novel are based on Grimmelshausen's own experiences in the Thirty Years War. One part of the novel, however, is not -- the part where Melchior travels to Muscovy as a mercenary. This article analyzes that part of the novel to see how accurately it portrays mid-17th-century Muscovy.

The following five beliefs and practices appear in the writings of Nil Sorskii and other Hesychas... more The following five beliefs and practices appear in the writings of Nil Sorskii and other Hesychasts as well as in those of the Sufis: (1) the importance of repeated prayer that invokes the divine name; (2) breath control; (3) the heart as an epistemological organ; (4) anti-philosophical views -- that is, opposition to the mind that is not contained within the heart; and (5) the idea of being born again after degradation. Hesychasts expressed these ideas through a Christian medium, citing as authority the Bible and Patristic literature where appropriate. Sufis expressed them through an Islamic medium, citing as authority the Prophet, other Sufi writers, and, sometimes, the Bible as well. This article is an attempt to explore these similarities and the significance they might have for understanding Nil's writings.

Our evidence concerning the Khanate of Sibir’ is sparse. The origin of the term is murky, its ori... more Our evidence concerning the Khanate of Sibir’ is sparse. The origin of the term is murky, its origins in the northeastern part of the Ulus of Jochi unclear, and most of its history unaccounted for. Arabic sources provide testimony that groupings of people coalesced in the area under the Taybughids (a non-Chingissid ruling clan), in the late 14th century and that Ibak, a Shibanid (descendants of Batu's fifth son), ousted the Taybughid ruler in the 15th century. Ibak, in turn, was ousted and killed by Muhammad, a Taybughid. Russian chronicles begin referring to Sibir’ as the Khanate of Tiumen in the late 15th century and provide more testimony about its relations with Muscovy until its demise a hundred years later. By the mid-16th century, Khan Kuchum, the grandson of Ibak, had apparently overthrown the Taybughid ruler of Sibir’ and was dealing on an equal footing more or less directly with Tsar Ivan IV. Disputes concerning subject peoples are reported in the Russian sources, and a Cossack band under Ermak, who was hired by the Stroganovs, defeated Kuchum's forces in 1582. Subsequently, in 1585, Kuchum's forces ambushed Ermak's group and killed Ermak. Thirteen years later, in 1598, Kuchum was defeated by Russian forces, and, according to a 17th-century Chagatai source, he fled to the Noghays. Thus, 1598 is considered to be the official end of the Khanate of Sibir’, although reports of Kuchum's descendants contesting Russian control continued until the 1680s.

The Bible is a major source for the Povest' vremennykh let (PVL), as quotations from over 120 Bib... more The Bible is a major source for the Povest' vremennykh let (PVL), as quotations from over 120 Biblical verses and phrases appear there. With 42 quotations, the Psalter is the Biblical book most cited in the PVL. In incorporating quotations from the psalms into the text, the writers of parts of the PVL and its final editor/compiler drew on the Rus'ian Redaction of the Psalter. The evidence for this is the coincidence in three cases of a reading in PVLa with a reading in the Rus'ian Redaction as represented by three extant manuscript copies of that redaction—Sinai 6, Harvard Typ 221, and Simonov. There are no cases where a reading of PVLa agrees with another redaction against a reading in the Rus'ian Redaction. It is likely that whoever was citing those quotations that went into the PVL were quoting from memory than that they had a written Psalter before them when they wrote. Nonetheless, the coincidence of psalmic passages in the PVL with the Rus'ian Redaction of the Slavonic Psalter, with the exception of singular readings, is fairly exact.

Attributions of original works, letters, and translations to Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbskii ... more Attributions of original works, letters, and translations to Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbskii (d. 1583) have been contested for almost 45 years. This article proposes that Bayesian or inferential probability be applied to a number of the main points of contention. Of central importance to the attribution question are the so-called Kurbskii miscellanies (sborniki Kurbskogo), which date no earlier than the mid-1670s. Among the works in the Kurbskii miscellanies are the History of the Grand Prince of Moscow, letters addressed to Tsar Ivan iv, the “Lithuanian” letters, and the History of the Eighth Council. Proponents of attributing these works to Kurbskii tend to weight the evidence
differently from the way the skeptics of those attributions do, and both camps find explanations favorable to their respective positions for unexpected oddities in the
evidence. No one issue has been defined conclusively in the favor of one side or the other, but placing the differences in the context of inferential probability may allow us to continue to discuss the contentious issues of the attributions in a productive manner.

The Muscovite cavalry went over to carbines and pistols during the course of the 17th century, ye... more The Muscovite cavalry went over to carbines and pistols during the course of the 17th century, yet firearms were not better handheld weapons than the composite reflex bow that the cavalry had been using. The carbine was a light form of musket that could be used on horseback, 1 but it had a very short range. 2 To reload the carbine on a horse was tricky, and a cavalryman had to bring his horse to a more or less full stop or dismount. In the heat of battle, the carbine was just dropped in its sling so the cavalryman could use his sword. 3 Likewise, a cavalryman could get off only one shot with a pistol (two shots if he had two pistols) and was effective only at very close range. 4 In contrast, mounted archers could get off anywhere from 6 to 15 shots a minute, and their bows had an effective range of from 350 to well over 500 yards, depending on the quality of the bow, the arrows, and the skill of the bowman. In the hands of truly expert bowmen using flight arrows, distances My thanks to Brian Davies, Chester S. L. Dunning, Robert I. Frost, Russell E. Martin, and Kira Stevens for providing constructive criticism of drafts of this article and to Davies, Richard Hellie, and Stevens for answering my questions about particular military matters in Muscovy. 1 Terminological precision in distinguishing arquebuses (hackbutts) from muskets is impossible for this period. Initially "musket" was a larger form of arquebus that required a stand, but soon "musket" was used as a generic term for both.

Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich was the nephew of Ivan IV’s second wife, Mariia Temriukovna. He was a C... more Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich was the nephew of Ivan IV’s second wife, Mariia Temriukovna. He was a Chingissid who had a remarkable career, first, as khan of Kasimov, then after entering
Muscovite service, as head of the Muscovite army’s “main regiment”, as grand prince of Rus', and as grand prince of Tver'. He also married Anastasia Ivanovna Miloslavskaia. Finally he was tonsured as the monk Stefan and was buried in the Simonov Monastery. The episode that has attracted the most attention in the sources and in the scholarly literature was his
appointment as grand prince of all Rus' between September 1575 and September 1576. Ivan IV held on to his other titles, including tsar of Kazan' and Astrakhan', but he also acquired an estate as the prince of Moscow under Grand Prince Simeon. In this article, I classified the primary source testimony into two categories: those accounts contemporary to the time of Ivan IV and those written after his death in 1584. After analyzing them and comparing them
with the various historiographical explanations, I proposed that Ivan IV placed Simeon on the grand princely throne of Rus' as a legal maneuver to allow him to go after certain individuals in the ruling elite who he thought were plotting against him. These individuals who he suspected were mostly former members of the oprichnina. Ivan had claimed to the metropolitan in 1565 that he was being prevented from investigating and punishing certain individuals and again to foreigners in 1575 about the perfidiousness of his subjects. By having someone else serve as grand prince of Rus' who would give him the go ahead, he would be freed from constraints on his actions.

Russian Linguistics, 2022

In the work of editing and analyzing Rus'ian texts, there has developed a difference in opinion b... more In the work of editing and analyzing Rus'ian texts, there has developed a difference in opinion between those scholars who embrace the use of stemmatics (to help determine readings in cases of closed transmission) and those who reject it (and therefore do not use stemma for that purpose). The difference in opinion can and often does lead to differing notions of the choice of readings. Another essential consideration for editing the text of the Povest′ vremen nyx let (PVL) is determining when the narrative ends. One finds no general agreement in the scholarly literature: as every yearly entry between 1110 and 1117 has been proposed as the endpoint of the text. The answer to that question of the ending of the narrative is intertwined with how scholars answer three related questions: Who wrote it? When was it written? And what are the internal divisions of the text? Based on a metahistorical analysis, this article describes two narratives in the text-the first from the beginning of it through to the year 1037; the second from the year 1054 through to the year 1114. The text between these two narratives (between 1037 and 1054) includes a series of yearly entries, including a story about the founding of the Kievan Caves Monastery interpolated into the entry for the year 1051 by the author of the second narrative. (The first narrative was most likely written during the reign of Jaroslav Volodimirič [1019-1054]). The yearly entries following it were added during first reign of Izjaslav Jaroslavič (1054-1078), possibly by the monk Nikon of the Kievan Caves Monastery. The second narrative was completed between 1114 and 1116 by a monk of the Kievan Caves Monastery named Vasilij. This article demonstrates that stemmatics and metahistorical analysis are useful methodological tools in the study of the PVL.

In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrat... more In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrated history of the world, composed in or near Moscow between the late 1560s and early 1580s, appears an illustration of the Mystic Meal (Eastern Church)/Last Supper (Western Church). Within the same frame, it depicts four (or five scenes): Judas receiving the moneybag from the priests; Judas returning the moneybag to the priests, Jesus telling the disciples how to go about finding the room for the Passover meal; Jesus and the disciples at the meal itself; and a woman with a halo in a house. The questions this article explores are what is the context for the representation of Judas, who is the woman in the house, and what is her relationship to the Last Supper scene. In the process an illustration on the previous folio of well-do-do Mary in “Magda town” (Магда грaд) who welcomes Jesus into her house and subsequently gives it up to follow Jesus is analyzed for its relationship to the Last S...

The Encyclopedia of Empire, 2016

The American Historical Review, 1999

The importance of the Mongols' impact on the Rus lands has been recogniz... more The importance of the Mongols' impact on the Rus lands has been recognized by many scholars, but its precise nature and extent is very contentious. While diverse opinions exist on the origins and develop-ment of Muscovy, the author argues that no society arises ex ...

Die Illustrierte Chronikhandschrift des Zaren Ivan IV. Groznyj. Ein Schlüsselwerk der Moskauer Historiographie und Buchkunst zwischen Spätmittelalter und Früher Neuzeit, 2021

Chronicle writing in Rus’ culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century with a monumenta... more Chronicle writing in Rus’ culminated in the second half of the sixteenth century with a monumental work, the Litsevoi letopisnyi svod (LLS; Illustrated Chronicle Compilation). This article explores the possibility that the LLS also represents the first and fullest application of icon painting techniques involving theological and religious principles to illustrating the mainly secular literary material of a chronicle. The present article focuses on the interplay of text and image in the “Life of Alexander Nevskii” as they appear in the LLS. I attempt to determine the sources of the artistic style being used as well as to ascertain the significance of the difference between the LLS redaction and other redactions of the “Life.”

Slavic Review, 1990

Sources of the first half of the fourteenth century provide evidence that a sharp rift in institu... more Sources of the first half of the fourteenth century provide evidence that a sharp rift in institutional continuity occurred in Muscovy. This rift constituted a kind of "punctuated equilibrium" in the evolutionary development of the Rus' political system. The political institutional structure inherited from the Vladimir-Suzdal' component of Kievan Rus' ended abruptly, and, concomitantly, a new political structure similar to that of the Kipchak Khanate was established. I contend in this article that the Muscovite princes introduced Mongol political and military institutions into Muscovy on a wide scale during the first half of the fourteenth century.

Canadian-American Slavic Studies, 2018

This article explores the gap between the scholarly literature, which touts a Riurikid dynasty in... more This article explores the gap between the scholarly literature, which touts a Riurikid dynasty in Rus′ before the sixteenth century, and the primary sources of the time, which seem to be unaware of such a dynasty. The appeals to legitimacy in the primary sources for a particular kniaz′ to rule in a town never resort to claiming descent from Riurik. Instead, such claims are based on whether one’s father ruled in that town. All others are outside the line of succession to any particular throne. The chronologies of the Povest′ vremennykh let and the Novgorod I Chronicle that declare Igor′ to be Riurik’s son are faulty and most likely derive from a single source. In the sixteenth century, Rus′ churchmen in an effort to shore up the legitimacy of the Daniilovichi, who should have been considered outside the line according to the Rus’ succession system, to rule in Moscow claimed descent of the Rus′ grand prince from Riurik and beyond him to Prus, a fictitious kinsman of Augustus Caesar. Historians have accepted the dynastic claim of the sixteenth-century Rus′ churchmen to Rus′ kniazi being descended from Riurik (although not from Prus) and thus perpetuate the view that such a dynasty, and thereby a dynastic state, existed in early Rus′.

Ikon. Journal of Iconographic Studies (Rijeka), 2016

In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrat... more In the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoi letopisnyi svod), which is a massive illustrated history of the world, composed in or near Moscow between the late 1560s and early 1580s, appears an illustration of the Mystic Meal (Eastern Church)/Last Supper (Western Church). Within the same frame are depicted multiple scenes: Judas receiving the moneybag from the priests; Judas returning the moneybag to the priests, Jesus telling the disciples how to go about finding the room for the Passover meal; Jesus and the disciples at the meal itself; and a woman with a halo in a house. The questions this article explores are what is the context for the representation of Judas, who is the woman in the house, and what is her relationship to the Last Supper scene. In the process, I analyze an illustration on the facing folio of a well-do-do Mary in “Magda town” (Магда грaд) who welcomes Jesus into her house and subsequently gives it up to follow Jesus for its relationship to the Last Supper illustration. The article concludes that the woman in the Last Supper scene is the mother of Jesus, who represents synecdochically the women at the Last Supper (although probably segregated). The illustration of Mary from Magda town is closer to the Gospels’ description of the role of Mary Magdalene than that of churchmen and novelists.

The disputation is a phenomenon commonly mentioned in Christian and Islamic medieval sources. In ... more The disputation is a phenomenon commonly mentioned in Christian and Islamic medieval sources. In some cases, we find accounts of the disputations themselves in regard to who said what and in what sequence. We have records of disputations at the Byzantine court in the first half of the twelfth century, and of one at the Mongol court in Qaraqorum in 1254. Yet, it is generally accepted that there were no disputations in Orthodox Slavic lands before the seventeenth century. We do have one curious sixteenth-century Muscovite text that appears to be a disputation between Iosif, hegumen of the Volokolamsk Monastery, and the monk Vassian, who was from the Patrikeev boyar family. But this work—The Debate with Iosif Volotskii (Prenie s Iosifom Volotskim)—was probably a literary composition—a fictive disputation at best—and not the record of a face-to-face discussion between the two protagonists.

The period from 1447 to 1589 stands as an important one for the genesis and development of an ind... more The period from 1447 to 1589 stands as an important one for the genesis and development of an independent Russian Church, and the role of the councils was immensely significant in guiding that development. To the extent they were significant, one can justifiably refer to this time as the conciliar period in the history of the church.
Conciliar activity both in the Western Church and in the Rus′ Church were galvanized by reaction to a combination of internal and external challenges. In Muscovy, the initial challenge came from the proposed Union of Florence (1439) and the subsequent arrival in Moscow of the Uniate Metropolitan Isidor (1441), appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. My finding is that, although the Russian Church became autocephalous during this period, the decisions of the councils, were firmly situated within the already well-accepted doctrines of the Eastern Church.

Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim is the name of the narrator in Grimmelshausen's novel "Der aben... more Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim is the name of the narrator in Grimmelshausen's novel "Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch" (Adventures of a Simpleton). To a great extent the events in the novel are based on Grimmelshausen's own experiences in the Thirty Years War. One part of the novel, however, is not -- the part where Melchior travels to Muscovy as a mercenary. This article analyzes that part of the novel to see how accurately it portrays mid-17th-century Muscovy.

The following five beliefs and practices appear in the writings of Nil Sorskii and other Hesychas... more The following five beliefs and practices appear in the writings of Nil Sorskii and other Hesychasts as well as in those of the Sufis: (1) the importance of repeated prayer that invokes the divine name; (2) breath control; (3) the heart as an epistemological organ; (4) anti-philosophical views -- that is, opposition to the mind that is not contained within the heart; and (5) the idea of being born again after degradation. Hesychasts expressed these ideas through a Christian medium, citing as authority the Bible and Patristic literature where appropriate. Sufis expressed them through an Islamic medium, citing as authority the Prophet, other Sufi writers, and, sometimes, the Bible as well. This article is an attempt to explore these similarities and the significance they might have for understanding Nil's writings.

Our evidence concerning the Khanate of Sibir’ is sparse. The origin of the term is murky, its ori... more Our evidence concerning the Khanate of Sibir’ is sparse. The origin of the term is murky, its origins in the northeastern part of the Ulus of Jochi unclear, and most of its history unaccounted for. Arabic sources provide testimony that groupings of people coalesced in the area under the Taybughids (a non-Chingissid ruling clan), in the late 14th century and that Ibak, a Shibanid (descendants of Batu's fifth son), ousted the Taybughid ruler in the 15th century. Ibak, in turn, was ousted and killed by Muhammad, a Taybughid. Russian chronicles begin referring to Sibir’ as the Khanate of Tiumen in the late 15th century and provide more testimony about its relations with Muscovy until its demise a hundred years later. By the mid-16th century, Khan Kuchum, the grandson of Ibak, had apparently overthrown the Taybughid ruler of Sibir’ and was dealing on an equal footing more or less directly with Tsar Ivan IV. Disputes concerning subject peoples are reported in the Russian sources, and a Cossack band under Ermak, who was hired by the Stroganovs, defeated Kuchum's forces in 1582. Subsequently, in 1585, Kuchum's forces ambushed Ermak's group and killed Ermak. Thirteen years later, in 1598, Kuchum was defeated by Russian forces, and, according to a 17th-century Chagatai source, he fled to the Noghays. Thus, 1598 is considered to be the official end of the Khanate of Sibir’, although reports of Kuchum's descendants contesting Russian control continued until the 1680s.

The Bible is a major source for the Povest' vremennykh let (PVL), as quotations from over 120 Bib... more The Bible is a major source for the Povest' vremennykh let (PVL), as quotations from over 120 Biblical verses and phrases appear there. With 42 quotations, the Psalter is the Biblical book most cited in the PVL. In incorporating quotations from the psalms into the text, the writers of parts of the PVL and its final editor/compiler drew on the Rus'ian Redaction of the Psalter. The evidence for this is the coincidence in three cases of a reading in PVLa with a reading in the Rus'ian Redaction as represented by three extant manuscript copies of that redaction—Sinai 6, Harvard Typ 221, and Simonov. There are no cases where a reading of PVLa agrees with another redaction against a reading in the Rus'ian Redaction. It is likely that whoever was citing those quotations that went into the PVL were quoting from memory than that they had a written Psalter before them when they wrote. Nonetheless, the coincidence of psalmic passages in the PVL with the Rus'ian Redaction of the Slavonic Psalter, with the exception of singular readings, is fairly exact.

Attributions of original works, letters, and translations to Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbskii ... more Attributions of original works, letters, and translations to Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbskii (d. 1583) have been contested for almost 45 years. This article proposes that Bayesian or inferential probability be applied to a number of the main points of contention. Of central importance to the attribution question are the so-called Kurbskii miscellanies (sborniki Kurbskogo), which date no earlier than the mid-1670s. Among the works in the Kurbskii miscellanies are the History of the Grand Prince of Moscow, letters addressed to Tsar Ivan iv, the “Lithuanian” letters, and the History of the Eighth Council. Proponents of attributing these works to Kurbskii tend to weight the evidence
differently from the way the skeptics of those attributions do, and both camps find explanations favorable to their respective positions for unexpected oddities in the
evidence. No one issue has been defined conclusively in the favor of one side or the other, but placing the differences in the context of inferential probability may allow us to continue to discuss the contentious issues of the attributions in a productive manner.

The Muscovite cavalry went over to carbines and pistols during the course of the 17th century, ye... more The Muscovite cavalry went over to carbines and pistols during the course of the 17th century, yet firearms were not better handheld weapons than the composite reflex bow that the cavalry had been using. The carbine was a light form of musket that could be used on horseback, 1 but it had a very short range. 2 To reload the carbine on a horse was tricky, and a cavalryman had to bring his horse to a more or less full stop or dismount. In the heat of battle, the carbine was just dropped in its sling so the cavalryman could use his sword. 3 Likewise, a cavalryman could get off only one shot with a pistol (two shots if he had two pistols) and was effective only at very close range. 4 In contrast, mounted archers could get off anywhere from 6 to 15 shots a minute, and their bows had an effective range of from 350 to well over 500 yards, depending on the quality of the bow, the arrows, and the skill of the bowman. In the hands of truly expert bowmen using flight arrows, distances My thanks to Brian Davies, Chester S. L. Dunning, Robert I. Frost, Russell E. Martin, and Kira Stevens for providing constructive criticism of drafts of this article and to Davies, Richard Hellie, and Stevens for answering my questions about particular military matters in Muscovy. 1 Terminological precision in distinguishing arquebuses (hackbutts) from muskets is impossible for this period. Initially "musket" was a larger form of arquebus that required a stand, but soon "musket" was used as a generic term for both.

Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich was the nephew of Ivan IV’s second wife, Mariia Temriukovna. He was a C... more Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich was the nephew of Ivan IV’s second wife, Mariia Temriukovna. He was a Chingissid who had a remarkable career, first, as khan of Kasimov, then after entering
Muscovite service, as head of the Muscovite army’s “main regiment”, as grand prince of Rus', and as grand prince of Tver'. He also married Anastasia Ivanovna Miloslavskaia. Finally he was tonsured as the monk Stefan and was buried in the Simonov Monastery. The episode that has attracted the most attention in the sources and in the scholarly literature was his
appointment as grand prince of all Rus' between September 1575 and September 1576. Ivan IV held on to his other titles, including tsar of Kazan' and Astrakhan', but he also acquired an estate as the prince of Moscow under Grand Prince Simeon. In this article, I classified the primary source testimony into two categories: those accounts contemporary to the time of Ivan IV and those written after his death in 1584. After analyzing them and comparing them
with the various historiographical explanations, I proposed that Ivan IV placed Simeon on the grand princely throne of Rus' as a legal maneuver to allow him to go after certain individuals in the ruling elite who he thought were plotting against him. These individuals who he suspected were mostly former members of the oprichnina. Ivan had claimed to the metropolitan in 1565 that he was being prevented from investigating and punishing certain individuals and again to foreigners in 1575 about the perfidiousness of his subjects. By having someone else serve as grand prince of Rus' who would give him the go ahead, he would be freed from constraints on his actions.

Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides imagined biographies of twenty different figures fr... more Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides imagined biographies of twenty different figures from all walks of life living in Eastern Europe from 900 to 1400. Moving beyond the usual boundaries of speculative history, the book presents innovative and creative interpretations of the people, places and events of medieval Eastern Europe and provides an insight into medieval life from Scandinavia to Byzantium.

Each chapter explores a different figure and together they present snapshots of life across a wide range of different social backgrounds. Among the figures are both imagined and historical characters, including the Byzantine Princess Anna Porphyrogenita, a Jewish traveller, a slave, the Mongol general Subodei, a woman from Novgorod, and a Rus’ pilgrim. A range of different narrative styles are also used throughout the book, from omniscient third person narrators to diary entries, letters and travel accounts.

By using primary sources to construct the lives of, and give a voice to, the types of people who existed within Medieval European history, Portraits of Medieval Eastern Europe provides a highly accessible introduction to the period. Accompanied by a new and interactive companion website, it is the perfect teaching aid to support and excite students of medieval Eastern Europe.