Abstract

The article examines sources’ reports of a large-scale fire in Kyiv in 1017. The two parallel texts are: the German Latin chronicle by Thietmar of Merseburg (composed in 1018) and the Primary Chronicle of Rus (composed in around 1116), which relied on early Kyivan annals. Thietmar wrote about the fire that damaged the “monasterium sancte Sophiae”. The Primary Chronicle reported of the fire of one church or several churches without specifying them. The main focus of the article is on the textual analysis of two versions of the short account of the event in the copies of the Primary Chronicle. One of the versions implies that it was the fire of one church only. According to another version there were many churches that suffered from the fire. Remarkably, the textual difference between the variants is only two letters – the plural form ending of the verb (“погорѣша цр҃кви” versus “погорѣ цр҃кви”). The dilemma of determining the original variant correlates with the ambiguity of Thietmar’s words, which could denote the fire of either one building or several. The chronicler used the word “monasterium” which could denote both “monastery” (as a complex of church buildings) and “cathedral”. The article provides a comprehensive textual and philological analysis of the variant readings of the Primary Chronicle. At the same time, the authors did not resort to hypothetical reconstructions of the text but proceeded from those readings that are attested by the preserved manuscripts. The analysis revealed the advantages and disadvantages of two textual scenarios, which provided for the originality of one or another version of the fire of 1017. Based on the available copies of the Primary Chronicle, it appeared impossible to unambiguously choose between the variants. This led to modeling two historical scenarios of the event. However, as it was demonstrated recently, the German chronicler meant the Tithe Church (possibly, with a surrounding buildings) by St. Sophia monastery or cathedral. The palace complex centered around the first stone church of Kyiv included other buildings used for ecclesiastical needs. This can explain the ambiguous terminology of the Kyivan and German chronicles. Therefore, as it turned out, regardless of the textual choice, both competing readings can be interpreted in the same sense. Thietmar and the Primary Chronicle unanimously reported about the fire of the Tithe Church.

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