Religion and Society in Russia: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries / Edition 1

by Paul Bushkovitch

Overview

This book traces the evolution of religious attitudes in an important transitional period in Russian history. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Russia saw the gradual decline of monastic spirituality, the rise of miracle cults, and ultimately the birth of a more personal and private faith that stressed morality instead of public rituals. Bushkovitch not only skillfully reconstructs these rapid and fundamental changes in the Russian religious experience, but also shows how they were influenced by European religious ideas and how they foreshadowed the secularization of Russian society usually credited to Peter the Great.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195069464
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/28/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.26(h) x 1.03(d)

About the Author

Yale University

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Russian History and Russian Orthodoxy	3
1.	Orthodoxy in the Sixteenth Century	10
2.	The Landholding Class and Its Religious World	32
3.	The Church in the Seventeenth Century	51
4.	Saints and Miracles in Church Policy	74
5.	The Era of Miracles	100
6.	The Beginnings of Change	128
7.	The Rise of the Sermon	150
	Conclusion	176
Appendix	The Manuscripts of Epifanii Slavmetskii's Sermons	180
	Notes	183
	Bibhography	241
	Index	265

Editorial Reviews

"A bold and remarkable book....This stimulating book draws our attention to the full range of Moscovite religiosity."—Modern Greek Studies Yearbook

"This is a fresh, well-documented, and important work, filling a near-total void in the history of religion in Russia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as opposed to the history of the church, or the history of literature. There is simply no work like it, whether in English or Russian, which analyzes the changes and the complexities in Rusian spirituality during these centuries."—Brenda Meehan-Waters, University of Rochester

"It is a most welcome addition to the scholarly literature."—American Historical Review

"Bushkovitch's superb book...breaks important ground by reopening the field of religious history and sets a high standard for works on religion yet to come."—The Russian Review

"Bushkovitch's book is a masterful work, based on a vast array of published and unpublished material."—Religious Studies Review

"Paul Bushkovitch presents an important contribution to the social history of Russia....The author writes well and has presented a vast body of important material concisely and directly."—The Historian

"The importance of this work is that Bushkovitch goes against the traditional viewpoint that the 'westernization' of Russia began in the seventeenth century....The Polish-Ukrainian influence upon russia is one of the author's real achievements."—Sixteenth Century Journal

"Bushkovitch's monograph sets an important precedent that should inspire further study."—Journal of Modern History

From the Publisher