Homily for the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in a Sixteenth-Century Codex: The Problem of the Authorship of Spyridon, Metropolitan of Kyiv

Abstract

This article considers the previously unstudied Homily for the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ found in the manuscript of the early sixteenth century from the Kornilievo-Komelsky Monastery. Based on a comparison with other works attributed to Spyridon-Sava and considering the typical features of his works, i. e. his teleology and Graecisms, the author puts forward a hypothesis that the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Russia is the author of the Homily. The material used by the author to substantiate his attribution is withdrawn from the title of the Homily for the Descent of the Holy Spirit which is stylistically akin to the homily found. The plot comparison of the Homily for the Nativity makes it possible to single out a common motif that unambiguously connects this homily with the Message about the Monomachus’ Crown, whose belonging to Spyridon has been questioned. After summarising all known information about Spyridon, the author puts forward a concept that determines his participation in political contacts between Muscovite Russia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Patriarch of Constantinople. Referring to the chronicle entries, the author suggests revising the relationship between Spyridon and Ivan III, whose patronage can explain the high assessment of Spyridon’s activities by Archbishop Gennady, Abbot Dositheus, and Maksim Grek. The author revises Spyridon’s message about his “imprisonment” in the Ferapontov Monastery, suggesting that the condemnation of Spyridon and his “curse” in the charters issued may have been caused by a change in the political situation at the end or after the reign of Ivan III.