Der Religionsdisput in Feofan Prokopovyčs Vladimir

Abstract

Summary Usually Feofan Prokopovyč’s tragedokomedija Vladimir is considered an early example of the author’s ecclesiastical reform concerns, which he realized in the Russian Empire from 1716 onwards. However, a detailed analysis of the religious dispute, which is at the center of the play, and its literary sources gives rise to a more biographical reading, according to which the young author recommended himself to the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy for his work as a professor in rhetoric. He, the former supporter of the Union, emphasizes the Greek roots of Eastern Christianity and presents himself as a loyal representative of Moscow-orientated Orthodoxy. There is no evidence that he disagreed with Hetman Mazepa on the political position of Ukraine at the time.