The Worship of the Novgorod Archbishop Theoktist in the 17th — early 18th cent.: New Information on the Basis of Manuscripts Evidence

Abstract

The research deals with the history of the worship of the Novgorod Archbishop Theoktist (†1310) during the 17th—early 18th centuries. On the basis of the literary, hymnographic and iconographic monuments, the authors of the article carried out a comprehensive analysis of this topic. The comparison of the testimonies mentioned in the Vita and the service to the saint with the surviving documents showed that they are based on real historical events and reflect the renewed worship of the saint from the middle of the 17th century. The authors of the article also discovered the earliest of the currently known copies of the Vita and the service. A textual study of this copy of the Vita of Theoktist made it possible to establish that this literary monument was created in several stages associated with the strengthening of the worship of the saint. According to the results of the hymnographic analysis of the discovered copy, it became possible to establish the author of the chants and the initial articles of the life—the famous Novgorodian scribe of the second half of the 17th century Boris Kozynin.