Cherniev Nikolaev Monastery

Contents I. The beginning of the monastery II. Abbots of the monastery III. Buildings in the monastery and monuments In the Tsar’s charter of 1583, dated February 15, the following is written: “He beat us with his forehead from the Shatsky gate, from the wild floor, from the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which is in Cherni, that church, the black priest Matvey and the brethren, and said: it was at the Shatsky gates on the river on Tsna behind Novokshchenets behind Ivashka behind Prosandeev in our state rent, in word, Malysheva glade with forest, with bushes, with feather grass, and with water for fishing. About that, about fifteen years ago, when that Ivashko Prosandeev died... And how in the same place on Mamysheva in the clearing the dilapidated Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stood for many years, without singing; and I, the black priest Matvey, in the same clearing on Mamysheva, with the blessing of Bishop Leonid of Ryazan, built a new church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and built a community of brethren, and fenced off the entire children’s Nikolin monastery, fenced off and cut down the brethren’s cells in that zatyn. And Matvey bought the wood for the church and for the brethren’s cell from Mordva; and with me, with the black priest and Matvey, in that new desert of my Matvey, five black brothers live. And now de Mordva, neither Matvey nor my brothers from the mob, for the construction of the monastery, does not allow me to cut down a forest or take a felled tree. And for the fact that I, the black priest, axed many wives and children from the Mordovians by agreement, akiba from twenty souls from the share, and another de Mordva surrenders to my fawning and wants to avenge. And because of this, our holy penance is now Mordovians who have not offered me priest Matvey and with my brothers they are doing all sorts of great dirty tricks and are threatening to desecrate Mordovians and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and to ruin the St. Nicholas Monastery and to drive me out of priest Matvey and the brethren to the steppe. And they steal the Mordovian people from my priest Matvey's horse, cattle, all kinds of birds with their bellies; and our monastery beekeeper was burned out by the filthy ones.” Then the Tsar writes: “And for this purpose, according to our insistence, we commanded Matvey to be welcomed from the Chernetsy Ivashkin estate to the Malysheva glade and hay fields, between the two rivers Vochkasov on the Ossinsky drainage; to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to cut down every forest on the monastery building and to the roots, cut down the hay, let the fish scatter in nets, whatever priest Matvey wants; and from the Mordovian wild sexes and from all sorts of third-party insults, and from the efforts of his black priest and his brethren, you must protect your clerk Yurka Durov” 1 . In a charter dated March 27, 1586, it is written: “The Sotsian builder Elder Matvey and his brethren beat us from the Shatsky Gate to the new deserts of the Nativity of the Most Pure Mother of God and the Great Wonderworker St. Nicholas: that monastery became a desert for about thirteen years.” Here is written news about the beginning of the Cherniev Nikolaev Monastery, located on the Tsna River, 18 versts from the so-called Shatsk Gate or the current city of Shatsk, Tambov province. The beginning of the Cherniev Nikolaev Monastery undoubtedly dates back to 1573, “that monastery began “about thirteen years ago in the desert,” says the founder of the monastery in 1586. From here it is clear that the blessing for the founding of the monastery was given to Hieromonk Matthew by Bishop Leonid of Ryazan, the one who was at the council of 1581 and who was tonsured at Joseph’s Volokolamsk Monastery. Who was Elder Matvey by origin, and where did he come from? It's not visible on the papers. Tradition called him Donets and this legend is justified by his relations with the Don Cossacks. But no matter who he was, it is clear that he passionately loved both piety and the faith of Christ. He himself humbly says that at his fawning, that is, at his admonitions, many of the Mordovians are ready to accept Christianity and he has already baptized up to 25 wives and children. It is clear that he breathed with zeal to spread the light of faith among idolaters. According to his words, it is clear that the feat of a preacher of faith was not easy for him; not baptized Mordva, took revenge on him for his successes in preaching ministry, caused him various troubles, disturbed him with robbery, burned the beekeeper, threatened to ruin the entire monastery and drive him and his brethren away. That is why he was forced to ask the Tsar himself for protection. And the formidable Tsar, as recorded in the quitrent book of 1594, sternly wrote: “And from the Mordovians and outsiders, and from any insults from their black priest Matvey and his brothers, you should protect Yurka, and the monastery Nikolina from anyone, and there would be no dirty tricks in anything, and in the future no one would hit the Tsar with a complaint about this. And whoever, according to you, Yurka Durov, other than you Yurka, will be on orders in Meshchora, and those officers, according to the same royal charter of ours, will protect priest Matvey and the brothers with the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” 2. After such a command from the formidable King John, there is no doubt that the unbaptized Mordovians “pacified and the opportunity opened up for the elder to freely acquire followers of the Faith of Christ among Mordovians. And the field for the exploits of the preacher of the faith was then vast in the vicinity of the Cherniev Hermitage. It is known that even under P. Nikon, Mordva killed the Ryazan Archpastor 16 versts from the Cherniev monastery, in the village of Konobeev, precisely because of his zeal for the spread of the faith. According to the monastery acts, it is clear that near the current villages of Nasin, Knyazheno, along the Tsna River, especially in the black forest, Mordvinians lived in the 17th century; It is also clear that the monastery in Cherni or in the black forests of Cherniev, Cherneev was a hotbed of faith among the Mordovians. In the World War of 1612, the farmers with the monastery read: “Yaz Tomila Yakovlev son of Meshcheryak, and Yaz Vasily Onomosov son was newly baptized, and Yaz Fyodor Ushakov son... and all the beekeepers and Mordva villages of Syuna and the villages of Nosin, are we not looking for court at the call? Therefore, they pay the monastery 40 rubles. and they say: to the beekeepers and Mordovians, everyone in the river in Syun in fishing, throughout the whole meadow through the forest, while it is clear, from the Syunov mouth, there is no business with which they should not break or remove the monastery locks” 3. The piety of Elder Matthew is already evidenced by the fact that the Cherniev Monastery was for a long time called the Matveeva Hermitage according to acts, for example, in the charter of Tsar Michael on December 11, 1614: “Hegumen Artemon, the builder, Elder Tikhon and the brethren beat us with his brow.” Establishing a monastery on the outskirts, then wild and hostile, cost the elder many and long labors. The elder dealt with troubles patiently, placed his hope in God, and hope did not shame him. According to legend, the people called him their breadwinner; during famine, he opened granaries for the poor suffering from hunger, then, as before, by some foresight, he filled them with bread. In the monastery synodikon, “Hieromonk Matthew” is the first to be remembered. And there, in 1720, it is written: “the pioneer Matthew died on December 21; 69 years old; A memorial service for him is held on the Saturday before Christmas. We have been forming a monastery for 21 years and 6 months.” The Don Cossacks took a special part in establishing the monastery. In the charter, May 11, 1613, we read that in the unconvicted charter of Tsar Theodore Ivanovich it was written: “yes, the monastery was given a heart-to-heart on boarding grooming on the Tsna and Chelnova rivers, and on the river on the Vorona, boarding grooming and fishing, and on the river on Khoper, the Kamlyk river, and the Armon forest, boarding grooming and fishing.” Thus, the donations of the Donets date back to the time of the construction of the monastery by Elder Matthew. In the monastery synodikon, quite often, the families of the Don Cossacks are found; for example, the clan of the Don Cossack from Cherkassk Gerasim Surmin, the clan of the elder Savvaty Donskoy, the clan of the Don Cossack Pavel Chesnokhin, the clan of the Don Cossack Vasily Biryuk, the clan of the Don Cossack Feodor Ostroukh, the clan of the Don Cossack Yakov Shchepa, the clan of Don and military Cossacks, the beaten Cossacks on Yaik, the clan of Ataman Vasily Sinful, the clan of Ataman Ivan Gorelkin, the clan of Ataman Ivan Podshiva, the clan of Ataman Nikita Chermny, the clan of Ataman Pyotr Fustov, the clan of Ataman Vasily, the clan of Ataman Semyon Ukolov, the clan of Don Cossack Semyon Nos, the clan of Don Cossacks beaten near Azov, etc. The bell is still intact in the monastery, sent, as the inscription says, in 1641 by the Don Cossacks from Azov. In the charter of Tsar Alexei on January 23, 1663 it is written: “the atamans and Cossacks Osip Petrov and the entire Don army beat us with their foreheads to the great Sovereign; in the past years, as they learned to serve on the Don River, and the entire Don army was granted for their service and for the blood of old, the atamans under Isaiah Martemyanov, and under Smach Chershensky, in the Shatsk district of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the great Wonderworker St. Nicholas Cherniev Monastery for eternal refuge and for the building, and for the old and those crippled from wounds in that monastery get a haircut without making a contribution. And they, from time immemorial, have been building that Cherniev Monastery with the entire Don army and to this day and giving many contributions” 4. After the builder, Elder Matthew, who was mentioned for the last time in a charter on January 20, 1597 and who died as a schema-monk, 5 ruled the monastery: 1) Hegumen Isaiah, mentioned in the synodical after Matthew. 2) Hegumen Kirill, mentioned in the charter of Tsar Boris dated December 16, 1603. 3) Hegumen Artamon, who is mentioned in the letters of Tsar Michael of 1613–22 and in the letter of V.K. nun Martha on November 25, 1628. According to the synodik, he is the schema monk Athanasius. 4) Hegumen Sergius, mentioned in the synodik after the schema-monk Athanasius. 5) Hegumen Cornelius, who is mentioned in the charter of Tsar Michael in 1643. 6) Hegumen Filaret, known from Tsar Alexei’s letter of 1663 and from the land dispute of 1675–1681, also from the synodikon. 7) Hegumen Moses, about whom the letter of March 11, 1685 speaks. Since the charter of 1651 mentions Hegumen Moses; it is likely that he temporarily retired from managing the monastery, giving way to Philaret. 8) Hegumen Isaac, known from the synodik as the predecessor of Joseph. 9) Hegumen Joseph is mentioned in the Decrees of 1715–1717. In the synodikon it is noted about him: “He died on the 27th day of June 1718.” 10) Abbot Jacob, according to the synod before Aaron. 11) Hegumen Aaron, known by the charter of Ryazan Archbishop Alexei, given in 1738 for the construction of a stone cathedral church. 12) Hegumen Veniamin Turchenev. 13) Hegumen Euthymius, according to the synodik after Aaron and Benjamin. Under these abbots the creation of the Council took place; but its primary co-publisher was the pious builder Theodore. It should be noted that the builders of the Cherniev Monastery were the hegumen’s assistants in the economic department, which was under the abbot Artamon, Elder Tikhon. 14) Archimandrite Mark, mentioned in the synod. was in charge since 1754 and, according to the charter of Ryazan Bishop Dimitry Sechenov, consecrated the cathedral church in February 1756. 15) Hegumen Anthony, according to the synod. 16) Archimandrite Dosifei, who ruled from 1762 to 1772. 17) Builder Hieromonk Alexey, entered in 1772 and died in the same year. 18) Builder Hieromonk Stefan from 1774–1797. 19) Builder Hieromonk Gabriel 1797–1801. 20) Builder Hieromonk Akaki, 1801–1819, caring for the strict order of monastic life; He also worked to acquire the archimandry for the monastery, and by Decree of March 9, 1819, the monastery was incorporated into the state. 21) Archimandrite Nikolai, 1819–1822, inspector of the Seminary. 22) Archimandrite Akakiy 1822–1833, the same one who was formerly the builder; a husband of spiritual life, who died at a very old age, in retirement in 1835. 23) Archimandrite Nikanor 1833–1835, inspector of the Seminary. 24) Archimandrite Lavrenty 1835–1840, inspector of the Seminary. 25) Archimandrite Nikon since 1840. III. Buildings in the monastery and monuments a) The most remarkable building is the magnificent stone cathedral. The wooden church in the name of St. Nicholas and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built by the founder Matthew, burned down in 1738 under Abbot Aaron; in 1738 they began to build a stone Cathedral, which was completed in 1751 and consecrated in 1756. This church, in terms of the beauty of its architecture and the richness of its iconostasis, has few others like it; its vault is built on one pillar. There are two altars side by side - one in honor of St. Nicholas, the other in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. b) A two-story stone church, built and consecrated by Hegumen Joseph in 1638, on the lower floor the church was in the name of All Saints, but rebuilt in 1840–1841, dedicated to the name of the Archangel Michael; the upper church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. c) Stone bell tower of three tiers, with the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the middle tier. d) Four stone buildings for the abbot and brethren. e) Stone house for the Bishop. f) There is a stone fence around the monastery with towers at the corners. In the cathedral church there is a very remarkable image of the Wonderworker Nicholas, known for his miracles and written in very ancient Greek writing. The whole is covered with a rich silver-gilded chasuble. Another icon, a small one, of the Savior Not Made by Hands, is also of ancient Greek work and is decorated with expensive stones. The altar cross is of ancient Greek craftsmanship and, it seems, is of the same time as the same cross from the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the village of Rozhdestveno on the Kulikovo field. The image of St. Mina, says legend, has existed since time immemorial; It was brought to the deserted, wild Cherniev desert by one of the wandering hermits who received a blessing for work from the clergy of the promised land. It is not difficult to be sure that his painting is Greek and very ancient. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, according to local legend, was removed at the very time of the manifestation of the miraculous icon in Kazan and depicted by the hand of a pious promise. Other sights in the monastery are as follows: a) Faceted rich, silver censer. It was donated to the monastery by Prince Grigory Syungalievich Cherkasky, the same one who appears in the list of Boyars of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The donation was made on January 27, 1657. b) The Gospel of 1628, printed under Patriarch Filaret. Returning from captivity in 1619, and in 1624 having met the Robe of the Savior, the precious gift of Shah Abbas, Filaret wanted to commemorate his gratitude for his return and for the gift of the great shrine with a new edition of the Holy Gospel. But the printing house hesitated, and the Patriarch’s wish came true exactly four years later. c) The Gospel of 1653, printed with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon, without changes from previous editions. d) The missal of Patriarch Joseph, without title, dilapidated. e) The Ladder of John Climacus, written by charter in the 17th century, a gift from the aforementioned Prince Grigory Syungalievich Cherkasky. On one page it is noted: “Knya (Knyazhaya) upmidshe (for the wake of souls).” This Prince, as can be seen from the Family Papers of the Rtishchev nobles, had a heated dispute over academic education with the boyar Rtishchev; he thought that because of greater literate knowledge, schisms would appear in the Church and insisted that everyone remain with the same literacy, that is, with ignorance. There were quite a few of these then, to the sorrow of the great Nikon and to the misfortune of the Church. They were the reason for the split. f) Synodic. It contains, at the beginning, printed pictures relating to the circumstances of death and the fate of the soul beyond the grave; only 30 paintings. On the last is the face of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, and below are the following verses: Hold the light on the hand of the one holding the finger Most Pure Maiden, do not despise you, Like Saint Theophylact, glory to you Attributed, bowed soul, heart, head. The artist of this and the wisher of all blessings Similar compositions are found under each of the paintings. They were drawn, like the poems, obviously by the same Ivan Zubov. Next comes the synod. “An ancient old synodikon was found in the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the Cherniev Monastery, - in it there is a clear testimony about the remembrance and benefit of the souls of the departed, a preface and testimonies from the old law, and new graces, and the Gospels and the Apostle, and other inspired books collected, and with faces about the death of people... Beginning to write 1720. Then “about benefits for the dead” - an article ending like this: “to all of you, my all-zealous wisher is Semeon Medvedev.” This is a famous venerator of Simeon of Polotsk, builder of the Zaikonospassky monastery, monastic Sylvester. Whether all subsequent reflections on the commemoration of the dead, which make up the preface to the Synodik, belong to him is not directly stated. But, since extracts are made here from the works of Blessed Augustine, it is likely that all of them were compiled by the same Medvedev. The compiler of the new synodik wrote his synodik of the Cherniev Monastery in imitation of the Moscow synodik, under the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Stefan Metropolitan of Ryazan, “in the reigning great city of Moscow.” In the synodikon, under a special border, which is not for any of the inscribed boyar families, the family of Simeon Ioannovich Lyubovnikov is inscribed: “Schemon Iradion, Schema Nun Catherine, Schema Monk Sergius,” etc. Between the brethren, after the abbots, the second person is “Schemon Simeon,” - then “Schemon Sergius.” The Lyubovnikov nobles were the primary and most devoted servants of the Ryazan princes. They begged Prince Oleg not to shy away from St. appeals of the Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy against Mamai: “may he, Prince Oleg, not destroy his soul with the godless flattery of the Tatar.” They begged the last Ryazan Prince Ivan Ivanovich not to trust the Moscow Prince Vasily Ivanovich, but Prince Ivan did not listen and then fled from Moscow and went missing 6. g) Copies of letters of grant and records written under Hegumen Aaron and the file on the surveying of monastic lands with an extract “from the Meshchera scribes and survey books” of 1735. a) The above letter from Tsar Ivan the Terrible. b) Certificate of Tsar Feodor Ivanovich. Let's put it here: “From the Tsar and Grand Duke Feodor Ivanovich of All Russia in Shatskaya to Vasily Okinfov. The builder Elder Matthew and his brethren beat us with his brow from the Shatsky gate of the new desert of the Nativity of the Most Pure Theotokos and the great Wonderworker Nikola Sotsky. About thirteen years ago, that monastery became deserted. But they don’t have fishing grounds or fishing grounds. And they are catching fish about the monastic needs of the Mordva on the river on Tsna in the Osinsky well between the Bagrinsky and Mamir waters, from the river from Kansha along the river along the Tsna down to Naraks, and Osinsky Lake, on both sides of the Tsna River, until the spring water catches. And that fishing behind Mordva, behind Melsit, behind Sheydanovin and his comrades, and beyond the Torkhans, behind Semyon Malyshev, and beyond Kirdyanya, behind Oborev on quitrent. And they take rent from those waters between themselves, for a year, at fifteen altyns. And we would welcome the builder Matthew and his brothers to tell them to give those waters to the house of the Wonderworker St. Nicholas for candles and incense, for a wretched place that there is no estate behind them, but a new place. And it will be as the Builder Matvey beat us with his forehead, and from then on the waters of the Mordovians will receive rent of fifteen altyns among themselves; and how our letter will come to you and you would have denied those waters the new deserts of the St. Nicholas Monastery and ordered them to fish in those waters for the monastery without giving dues for the monastic needs, but did not order the Mordva and Tarkhan, behind which those waters were, to enter into them. If I had read this document of ours, I would have written it off, given it back to the builder Matvey, and they would have kept it for our other officials and envoys. Written on Moscow in the summer of March 7094 (1586) at 27. Authentic letter signed by clerk Sheshilov.” c) Certificate of Tsar Theodore Ivanovich on January 20, 1597, which gives the monastery the village of Tatarskaya on the Tsna River. d) Letter of complaint and non-conviction from Tsar Feodor Ivanovich, preserved in the letter of Tsar Michael on May 11, 1613. Tsar Theodore removes state taxes from the lands, bee fields and fisheries donated to the monastery and then writes: “He did not order servants from them and peasants to be assigned to the policeman and to the prison case, and to the prisons, and to the yamshchina. And why do they have guards from Shatskovo for the Cossack exits and keep the peasants on guard - and they stand as watchmen and did not order the peasants to be hired. And the boyars, and the governors, and the heads, and the centurion, and all the commanding people of Elder Matvey and his brethren, and the servants, and the workers, and the investors and peasants, were not to be judged and ordered to do anything; and he ordered our boyars and clerks, who will have the Kazan Palace in the order, to judge and rule in everything in Moscow, for the period of the Nativity of Christ. And the luchitsa court is between monastery servants or peasants with city, or volost, or rural people; and the boyars and clerks should judge them, and the abbot or elder should sit with them. And the monastery will be right or wrong, and he is in guilt, and in truth the Abbot and the brethren, but the boyars and clerks do not care about him; but an outsider will be right or wrong, and he is in the truth, and in the guilt of the boyars and clerks, but the abbot does not care about him. And the military men, and messengers, and messengers do not enter them, they do not eat carts and feed, and they do not commit any violence.” e) Two letters of Tsar Boris Feodorovich dated March 1, 1599 and December 16, 1603. f) Seven certificates of Tsar Michael on May 11, 1613, December 11, 1614, July 5, 1621, January 1622, January 21 and November 16, 1631, July 24, 1643 and four letters of the Grand Duchess nun Martha on August 25, 1627, February 13 and November 25 1628, January 21st, 1631. g) Five letters of Tsar Alexei on August 20, 1647, August 15, 1449, January 30 and February 2, 1651, January 23, 1663. h) Two charters of Tsar John and Peter on March 11, 1685, June 30, 1690 and two Decrees of Tsar Peter on September 10, 1715, July 26, 1716. The first one is worth noting. Hegumen Joseph twice complained to the Voronezh Governor and President of the Admiralty, Count Apraksin: “since 1701, he wrote, according to his Great Sovereign Decree, those peasants were assigned to the Great Sovereign; and from that date on from Moscow, from the monastery order, the de Igumen and his brethren were given a monetary and grain salary according to a specified number. And then, until this year 1715, the cash salary from his Great Sovereign treasury was given in full, but since 1712, 1713, 1714 and 1715 they have not given grain to the abbot and his brethren. And because of the negligence of the officials in everything, they have a great poverty in that monastery and the peasants do not bring wood to them to the monastery and do not do any work. And those peasants are in charge of the people in charge. Also, now in their monastery, on the churches and on the cells, and around the monastery, the fence has all rotted and collapsed, and there is no concern from the officials about this. And many of the peasants, from insults and outsiders, dispersed into discord and to new places. According to the 1710 census alone, there were ninety peasant households left 7 . And now the abbot and his brethren have nothing to feed on. And the peasants of the other monasteries, according to his Great Sovereign Decree, were given over to the monasteries as before, and all monastic work is done against the former. And in 1712, following a petition from the Spassky Monastery in Pereslavl in Ryazan, Archimandrite Leo and his brethren were given their estates in the Tambov district and given to them as before. And so that the Great Sovereign would grant his abbot Joseph and the brethren a Decree to give them grain wages for three years and those estates of the village of Cherniev from the village peasants to be behind that Cherniev monastery as before against other monasteries, and the sent clerks of those monastery peasants would not be in charge of the management and henceforth for the possession and all sorts of benefits to them the abbot and the brethren should be given his Great Sovereign Decree.” The count makes an order in agreement with the abbot's request. The monastery had great wealth. Otherwise, due to the latest government regulations, it could be returned to the monastery. But the smart and kind O. Archimandrite Akaki used to say: “The strong offended us; a monk is not a lawyer; time is lost; and our monastery blossoms, and blossoms, now and ever, - by the word of the Lord.” On three church holidays of the monastery - on the day of St. Nicholas (May 9), on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8) and on the day of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29), there is a large gathering of pilgrims to the monastery, especially in reverence for the ancient Miraculous image of St. Nicholas. Therefore, there are fairs at the monastery three times a year, on the three indicated holidays. This document was published by G. Makarov in essays on Russia, book 5 St. Petersburg. 1840, pp. 210–213. The list from which it was published there, although older and more accurate than the list stored in the monastery archive, is not without errors, some of which are very important. For example, in the table of contents it is written: “a copy from a copy of the charter of Tsar Vasily Ioannovich” - this is a late arbitrariness and constitutes a gross mistake. In the monastery list the beginning of the letter: “From the Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of all Russia in Shatskaya to the Mordovian clerk Yurka Durov. He hit us with his forehead” and so on. At the end of the extract from the scribal book: “written in Moscow in the summer of February 7091 (1583) on the 15th day.” The certificate was sealed by deacon Vasily Shchelkalov. We see Vasily Shchelkalov as a deacon under Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich in 1567; under Tsar Theodore in 1595, he was already the keeper of the state seal (Karam. 10, 119, 9, ed. pr. 221) So, according to the seal, the letter belongs to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. G. Makarov again made several mistakes. In the monastery list: “And in the Meshchersky quitrents in the scribal books, letters from Meshcherin (and not Meshchenin) Morozov and his comrades in the summer of 7072 (1594) it is written: In the forest (and not in the Polish) camp of a wild field on a quitrent behind Ivashka behind Prosandeev, at the Shatsky Gate, between two rivers Vachkasov at the Osinsky source; it’s well-groomed, a hundred quarters in the field, and two for the same reason; the land of goodness, etc. Ending: “The ancestors hold the letter for themselves, for the sake of our Mordovian (and not Moscow) clerks and for the sake of our other messenger people. Written in Moscow, summer 7091 (1583) February on the 15th day.” The village of Nasiny is 4 versts from the monastery. About the village of Knyazhina in an extract from the Meshchera scribe books of 1735. In the same extract: “Yes, according to the data of different years of the Shatsk city of the Tsensky Murzas and other beekeepers, patrimonial boarders leave on the river on Tsna on both sides and along the river along Pilavki, and along other tracts there are various board banners with all kinds of land, with animal camps and with fishing, and beaver ruts.” Mordovian landowners are, of course, called Murzas here. Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in his will of 1572 goals, denies his eldest son, among other things, the city of Shatsk and the Princes of Mordovian lands with their estates. The brave ataman Petrov is known for the fact that he took Azov, fought off all the attacks of the Turks for 6 years and offered Azov to Tsar Michael. The Zemsky Council, assembled by Mikhail, decided to take Azov and send an army to help the Cossacks. But Mikhail sent a letter to leave Azov. The Cossacks obeyed and the Tsar sent Ataman, with his army, a letter of commendation dated April 30, 1642 (Meeting of the Zemstvo Council and two letters in the collection 3 No. 112–114. M. 1821). In the Synodikon the death of the blessed one. Matthew is dated to 1640; but, this is the most unfortunate guess of 1720. If Blessed. Matthew began building the monastery in 1573 and lived for 69 years - as the Synodik shows, counting 69 years of his life from 1650, we would have reached the point where Matthew would have been the builder of the monastery in the third year of his life. And the synodik does not agree with himself: if the monastery was established in 21 years and 6 months, and began to be established, according to the synodic, in 1571, or rather, in 1573; then the end of the builder’s exploits falls on 1595. Monastic notes of Simon of Ryazan Bishop. According to the 1678 census it was written: “The Nativity of the Most Pure Mother of God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the Cherniev Monastery in the ancestral lands in the village of Chernievo, in the village of Vysokoye, in the village of Knyazhy, and in the village of Pokrovskoye there are 385 peasant households, 1709 people in them, 273 Bobyl households, 680 people; in total there are 658 households, there are 2389 people in them.”