Studia Litterarum

2500-4247

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2023-8-2-288-315

Research Article

Articles

The Panegyric on Nicholas Kochanov, a Fool for Christ of Novgorod: Literary Sources

Pak

Natalia V.

red@studlit.ru

June 25, 2023

2023

July 19, 2022

The article examines the literary sources of the anonymous Panegyric on Nicholas, named Kochanov, a 14th-century Saint of Novgorod, presumably written in Novgorod in the middle of the 16th century. In numerous cases the author of the Panegyric conveys the few historical information about the life of the Saint by the borrowings from certain literary sources. Established ones are the Sermon on the memory of Basil of Caesarea by John XIII of Constantinople, the Panegyric of Nicholas of Myra attributed to Clement of Ohrid, and the anonymous Sermon on the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Lycia to Bari. The second part of the article privides a comparison of the Panegyric with two late lives of Nicholas Kochanov. The results of analysis confirm the conclusion that they go back to the Panegyric as their source. Moreover, the late Praise of Xenophon of Robeika, another Saint of Novgorod, the founder of the Monastery in honour of St. Nicholas, as well as the Life of Xenophon of Robeika are also based on the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov. The appendix contains the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov published in accordance with the manuscript of the 17th century OLDP F.48.

East Slavic hagiography Old Russian hagiography Novgorod hagiography textual criticism Basil of Caesarea Nicholas of Myra Nicholas (Kochanov) John XIII of Constantinople Clement of Ohrid Xenophon of Robeika

2026

1 Ankudinov, I.Iu. “Ksenofontov Robeiskii Nikolaevskii monastyr’” [“The Monastery of Xenophon of Robeika in Honour of St. Nicholas”]. Novgorodskii arkhivnyi vestnik, no. 13, 2016, pp. 83–141. (In Russ.)

2 Atanasova, D. “Razkaz”t kato retoricheski pokhvat (Slovata za sv. Nikolai Mirlikiiski, pripisvani na Kliment Okhridski)” [“The Narrative as a Rhetorical Device (The Slavonic Eulogies on St. Nicholas of Myra, Attributed to Clement of Ohrid)”]. Sv. Kliment Okhridski v kulturata na Evropa: Mezhdunarodna nauchna konferentsiia, Sofia, 25– 27 noemvri 2018 [St. Clement of Ohrid in the Culture of Europe: International Scientific Conference, Sofia, November 25–27, 2018]. Sofia, 2018, pp. 513–524. (In Bulgarian)

3 Bobrov, A.G. “Zhitie Ksenofonta Robeiskogo v spiske Pushkinskogo vremeni” [“The Life of Xenophon of Robeika in the Manuscript of Pushkin’s Time”]. Pushkin i drugie: Sbornik statei k 60-letiiu professora Sergeia Aleksandrovicha Fomicheva [Pushkin and Others: Collection of Articles on the 60th Anniversary of Professor Sergei Alexandrovich Fomichev]. Novgorod, 1997, pp. 257–268. (In Russ.)

4 Ivanov, S.A. Blazhennye pokhaby: Kul’turnaia istoriia iurodstva [Blessed Fools for Christ: Cultural History of God’s Foolishness]. Moscow, CORPUS Publ., 2005. 464 p. (In Russ.)

5 Karbasova, T.B., and A.G. Sergeev. “Neizvestnyi godovoi komplekt zhitiinouchitel’nykh tekstov 20-kh godov XVII veka” [“Unknown Annual Set of Hagiographic and Teaching Texts of the 20s of the 17th Century”]. Shestye Likhachevskie chteniia: Mezhdunarodnaia nauchnaia konferentsiia “Peterburgskaia tekstologicheskaia shkola: traditsii i razvitie.” Tezisy dokladov [The 6th Likhachev Readings: International Scientific Conference “St. Petersburg Textual Criticism School: Tradition and Development.” Abstracts of Reports]. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2021, pp. 53–54. (In Russ.)

6 Kliuchevskii, V. Drevnerusskie zhitiia sviatykh kak istoricheskii istochnik [Ancient Russian Lives of the Saints as a Historical Source]. Moscow, K. Soldatenkov Publ., 1871. [4], IV, 466, IV, IV p. (In Russ.)

7 Ryzhova, E.A. “Motiv ʽkhozhdenie po vode’ v zhitiiakh iurodivykh i ustnykh predaniiakh” [“The Motif of ʽWalking on Water’ in the Lives of God’s Fools and Oral Tradition”]. Iukhimenko, E.M., editor. Iurodivye v russkoi kul’ture: Sbornik nauchnykh statei [Holy Fools in Russian Culture: Collection of Academic Articles]. Moscow, 2013, pp. 34–47. (Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo muzeia [Proceedings of the State Historical Museum], issue 197.) (In Russ.)

8 Tereshkina, D.B. Novgorodskaia zhitiinaia literatura: uchebnoe posobie po spetskursu [Novgorod Hagiographic Literature: A Textbook for a Special Course]. Veliky Novgorod, 2006. 125 p. (In Russ.)

9 Thomson, Fransis. “The ʽPassio S. Johannis Baptistae’ and the ʽLaudatio (Secunda) S. Nicolai Episcopi Myrensis’ Hitherto Attributed to Clement of Ochrida.” Studia Slavica Mediaevalia et Humanistica Riccardo Picchio Dicata, vol. 2. Roma, Edizione dell’Ateneo, 1986, pp. 697–703. (In English)