Преславно бо Господь прослави вѣрнаго раба своего»: чудеса в составе «Жития Михаила Ярославича Тверского

Abstract

The paper examines the functioning of a symbolic microgenre as part of an Old Russian literary work of the 14 century — “The hagiography of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy”. Among the miracles presented in the text only one is intravital, all the rest are posthumous. They are arranged in a chain of successive episodes, united ideologically, thematically and by the object of the image. Most posthumous miracles happened when the murdered prince`s body has been moved from the Horde to Tver, mostly on the foreign territory. Therefore the purpose of their inclusion in the hagiography may be the desire to affirm the holiness of Mikhail Tverskoy and to convince his enemies and people who do not believe in his righteousness. Among the common and familiar miraculous motifs are the following: a body untouched by wild animals, a pillar of fire and a glow over the body, incorruptible relics. Besides the miracles which are performed directly over the relics and with the relics, unusual situations that cannot be rationally explained may also be considered as miracles. The author of the text, without being a direct witness of miraculous events, basing on eyewitness accounts retells them in detail, sometimes with explanations. Despite references to early Old Russian literary works and the use of familiar topos, the author of “The hagiography of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy”, thanks to the inclusion of miracles, manages to achieve a high degree of persuasiveness, to reveal his plan and reflect his assessment of what was happening in the Horde.