Les trublions au monastère (bezčinniki monastyrskie) : indiscipline et partage du pouvoir à la Trinité-Saint-Serge au XVe siècle

Abstract

Trouble-makers in the Abbey : Disobedience and the Sharing of Power at the Trinity St-Sergius Monastery During the XVth Century In the 1350’s, the then tiny Trinity abbey established by Sergius of Radonezh became famous, being the leader in the adoption of the cenobitic rule which made possible, at the turning of the XVth century, the emergence in Russia of big monasteries, playing a great role in the economical, political and ecclesiastical life of the country. Nevertheless, a few documentary evidences tend to prove that, during the XVth century, the monastic life at the Trinity was not so common. In fact, one is confronted with a rather schizophrenic picture: the authority of the abbot is emphasized in almost all the sources, but a little mention, from a late XVth century redaction of the Moscow princely chronicles which says that the abbot Paisij had to leave the Trinity, because the monks «wanted to kill him» (1482). Moreover, some of the miracles St Sergius performs after his death intend to punish rebellious monks. These spectacular episodes show that the abbot has, very soon, to share his power with the most influent monks. Among them, says the Moscovite chronicle we quoted, are «bojare and princes» who often enjoy the privilege of keeping some of their secular goods, provided that they become, in the end, monastic property. In this way, the peace of the community is bought at the expense of the cenobitic ideal, strongly compromised. But one cannot say that the power is confiscated by a social aristocraty. Indeed, the Trinity provides some of the poorest with an unique opportunity of making a career within the community and beyond, in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, by asserting themselves in administrating the landownings. Thus, the position of the abbot depends on his own charisma and on the way he maintains the growth of the monastic estate, or, at least preserves what his predecessors have acquired. When the growth is halted by the political will of the Moscow grand-prince Ivan III, a new institution, the svjatyj sobor, establishes a new sharing of the power within the community. It appears, one more time, that the process of «monasticisation», of a new abbey takes more than a hundred years, no matter how bright was the start.