VYPIS’ ABOUT THE SECOND MARRIAGE OF VASILIY THE THIRD: A DOCUMENT OR A LITERARY STYLE IMITATION?

Abstract

The article examines a landmark text of Old Russian literature entitled Vypis’. The author of Vypis’ declares it an extract from a genuine message that was sent to Moscow by the monks of Mount Athos. In reality, the text is in no way an extract, and the message from which it is supposedly taken has never existed. Vypis’ is a convoluted story about the decision of the Grand Duke Vasiliy the Third to divorce his first wife and take a new one. Several bold representatives among the Russian clergy, Eastern patriarchs and Athonite monks — all of them considered the prince’s intention to be a violation of church canons. Vypis’ is filled with factual errors; thus, it is devoid of value as a historical document, but is of interest as a literary phenomenon. The literary sources of Vypis’, its influence on other literary pieces, its unusual language with a large number of agrammatisms and strange barbarisms are analyzed in the article. The text is compared with the first style imitation experiments which were conducted in course of discussions on the Russian-Turkish relations. By the complex of its features, Vypis’ can be dated the last decades of the 16th century. It can be defined as a failed attempt to create a literary style imitation. The author believes Vypis’ was composed in Chudov Monastery or by one of Orthodox church defenders in Lithuania.