115. 1490 г. в октябре. Грамоты новгородского архиепископа Геннадия: I) к митрополиту Зосиме и II) к собору епископов – о немедленном принятии строжайших мер против новгородских еретиков (жидовствующих)

From the collection Imper. Publ. Bibliot, Q, XVII, No. 15 (Tolstoy's collections, department II, No. 254), l. 396–401 and l. 401–404. The first one was published in Act. Archaeogr. Expedition, vol. I, no. 380, a small part of the latter - in Orthodox. Interview. for 1863, part I, rep. 476–481. To my lord father, Metropolitan Zosima of All Rus', your son, Archbishop of Veliky Novgorod and Pskov, Vladyka Gennady beats his forehead. That you, my lord, sent me a letter and lists of letters from the metropolitans from the Gerontians, and you ordered me, sir, to write letters according to the same, what are those lists: otherwise, sir, you order me to completely unsubscribe from Moscow, so that you, your master father, will not be seen, nor will you hit you again with your forehead; and about those letters, sir, they repent a lot that I gave to Gerontius to the Metropolitan; It has never happened before that the Bishop gives Confession to himself on other occasions. 2939 Do not say this: “the greater archbishop should unsubscribe from the metropolitan and the bishops” 2940; Yes, with that letter they laid our holiness under our feet! If the Archbishop of Rostov Asaph left his dominion, and where it was possible to send us all, and conduct a thorough search of that council, and they didn’t even do a wake for me here; and now messengers travel every day about small matters, from Moscow to Novgorod, in three days. And for this reason I wrote about those letters to my brethren, the archbishop and the bishops, so that they would not issue notices with those letters, but would send them to me, if they happen to install a metropolitan or a bishop. And you wanted that greatness, so that I would live at your appointment, our lord father. Here again, sir, the order 2941 of the sovereign Grand Duke about his great deeds, but he ordered me to take care of him, but did not order me to go to Moscow for my affairs; Yes, and my rulers wrote in their letter that you had already been elected and elevated to the metropolitan court, “and for what kind of business you, dei, cannot go, and you, dei, would send us your free letter.” And I sent a free letter to my brethren, the archbishop and bishops, about this great divine deed, so that they would accomplish that great divine deed: and I shared with them in that great divine deed in one will and desire. And why, sir, do you order me to write a Confession: otherwise, sir, you laid down a Confession to your father Gerontius the Metropolitan and to the entire divine council, the archbishop and bishops; Yes, the Confession is in your treasury. And just as I confessed before God and before the chosen angels, so in that Confession I stand and now remain motionless: below I send letters to Lithuania, neither from Lithuania do they send letters to me, nor again do Lithuanian proteges serve in my archdiocese. And what about the cursed deeds of Lptov that languished in the Russian land, in Veliky Novegrad, in the patrimony of the sovereign Grand Duke, since Prince Mikhailo Olelkovich was in Novegrad 2942, and with him there was a Jewish heretic, and from that Jew the heresy spread in the Novgorod land, and they kept it secretly, and then they began to argue Vopiani: and I heard this, and sent a letter about it to the Grand Duke and to his father Gerontius the Metropolitan. And the great prince sent a letter and ordered us to take care so that it would not spread across the land. And then a search came to Jacob for the heretics, and I ordered them to be seized and given bail; and those heretics, having handed over their guarantors, fled to Moscow: Gregory the priest with his son with Samson, and the priest of Eresa, and Gridya, the deacon of Borisoglebsky. And I sent the original of my first search to the Grand Duke, and sent the other original to the Metropolitan. And the great prince executed those heretics in Moscow, and having executed them, he sent to me: Gregory the priest with his son with Samson, and Heresim the priest, and Gridya the deacon of Borisoglebsky; Yes, he sent me his letter, and ordered me to search those heretics thoroughly with their boyars Yakov and Yuri and Zakharyichi; and Metropolitan Gerontius sent me another letter, according to the same thing: he ordered a conciliar search for him, exposing their heresy, and punishing them spiritually, so that they would repent and retreat from that heresy: and only if they repent, they will be worthy of mercy; and those who do not repent, they were ordered to be sent to Yakov and to Yuri to the Zakharichs, and they would execute them with city execution. And those who repented and wrote their actions on themselves with their own hands, and I accepted them into repentance, and showed them penance, and ordered them to come to the church and stand in front of the church, but you did not order them to enter the church; and those who did not repent, but praised the Jewish faith, and I sent them to Yakov and to Yuri to Zacharich, and ordered them to be executed by city execution. And Yakov and Yuri gave the son of a boyar and ordered them to be executed by city execution, according to the Apostle: “Convict the one who sins before everyone, and others also have fear.” Yes, I wrote the original of those speeches and sent them to Gerontius to the Metropolitan. And Metropolitan Gerontius did not pester the Grand Duke about this, and they did not put an end to those heretics: and those heretics who were here repented, and even wrote the actions against themselves with their own hands, and they, having heard that heretics lived in Moscow in weakness, and they all fled from here to Moscow; Yes, the heretics fled there, and they walked around in weakness 2943, and they went to church and to the altar without restrictions; and others served there: Gavrilko the priest from Mikhailov Street, he served in Moscow, and Denis the priest served in the Archangel, and at the liturgy, the dei danced behind the throne, and cursed the cross; Otherwise, it is written in the divine rules: “if anyone disturbs the church during the Divine Liturgy, he is guilty of capital punishment.” 2944 Yes, archimandrites, and abbots, and archpriests and many priests served with those priests; and it is written in the divine rules - you yourself know more, our lord father - the 10th rule of the holy Apostles: “If anyone prays lovingly with those who do not communicate even in the house, let him leave”; also the 11th rule of the Holy Apostles: “Whoever is with the eruption, the cleric, if he prays with the cleric, he himself will be cast out”; packs of the holy Apostles, rule 45: “A bishop or a priest, or a devil, having prayed with heretics, let him be excommunicated; If he commanded them to act like a clerk, he would erupt; also the 70th canon of the Holy Apostles: “If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone of the priestly rank, fasts with the Jews and celebrates with them, or accepts from them a portion of unleavened bread on the day of their feast, or does any such thing, let him be cast out, but let a worldly person be excommunicated” 2945; again the 12th rule of the Holy Apostle Paul: “Following the Greek fables, or the Jewish custom, if they do not deviate from this, they will be cast out.” Otherwise, those heretics did everything, and not only that, but they also spoke blasphemy against Christ himself; and about them at length, our lord father, you will see in the originals. And we all gave Confession before God and his chosen angels, both you, our lord father, and we, your children, archbishops and bishops, that we would not allow an Orthodox Christian to have communication with a heretic, or with a Jew, especially who would be of the priestly rank, sharing with them their nasty prayer, or following the Jewish custom. And now we thank God that those heretics received rebuke from you, just as you have already. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, the great metropolitanate of the entire Russian land was placed on that high level of holiness; and before you, whoever allowed it to happen that these heretics contributed to the service, and those who shared their heresy with them, or contributed to the service with them, will receive vengeance from Christ in the next century; and it is fitting for them to accept execution from you here, against their crime, according to the Lord’s word: “If you bind him on earth, he will be bound in heaven.” To you, my lord my father, and with you our brethren, archbishops and bishops, having convened a council, and to curse those who disappeared from this life: Alexei Archpriest, and Istoma, and Ivashko Black, who fled with Zubov, and began to embrace the Jewish faith. Yes, which are written in the originals, they would all be damned, and even those with whom they came to an agreement, or who held a guarantee for them, or whoever was sad for them, and whoever would follow their charms; Yes, and you would have punished me, your son, about this, ordering it to be done: and I would, your son, also condemned those heretics of like-minded people to the conciliar curse, so that the evil would cease, and for us there would be no condemnation from God, that we would allow it to be, according to the word of the Lord, as it was said by the Prophet Ezekiel: “If the guard sees the sword is coming, and will not blow the trumpet and [not] preach to the people, but the people will supply it, and having found the sword, it will take away the soul from them, for such iniquity will be taken, and the guards will require its blood from the hand of the guard.” And again the Prophet: “And you, O son of man, have set a guard over you for the house of Israel, and you will hear the word from my mouth and will provide it for me.” The same Prophet Ezekiel said: “When you do not place a sinner, so as to be supplied, and a wicked person, so as to turn him from his way and live to be him, the wicked one will die by his iniquity, and I will exact his blood from your hand; If you preach his way to the wicked to turn from him, and he does not turn from his way, you will die in your wickedness, but you will deliver your soul.” For this reason, I remembered to you, my lord father, even though I myself couldn’t weigh it: why should 2946 them crawl from our silence? Otherwise, they do not have this: the sinner, however, will die in his iniquity, and his blood will be required at our hand. And it was written to them: “If anyone chooses an indulgent father, both will inherit eternal torment; As soon as we remember, and once the sinner turns from his evil path and takes up the good life (after all, “God wants to save all people and come to the true mind”): otherwise the shepherd is purely a reward, he saves his soul, and he will deliver his soul from death, just as the Prophet said: “I live, says the Lord, because I do not want the death of a sinner, but because he should turn from his path and live.” And then, sir, that misfortune began from those places when Kuritsin arrived from the Ugric land, and from here the heretics fled to Moscow; and it is written in the original that Archpriest Oleksei, Istoma, Sverchek, and Priest Denis came to Kuritsin, and other heretics, and he is a sad person among them, but has no concern for the state’s honor. And now the misfortune has become the zemstvo and the state’s great dishonor: the old, eternal churches have been carried out of the city, and the old, eternal monasteries have been moved from their places of 2947. And whoever holds faith in the holy churches of God, it is written about him: “Sanctify the beauty of your house, and glorify them with your divine power.” And on top of that, the bones of the dead were carried out to Dorogomilovo: sometimes the bones were taken out, but the bodies remained here, disintegrated into dust; Yes, a garden was planted in those places. And Moses wrote in the Second Law: “You shall not plant for yourself a garden or a tree near the breviary of the Lord your God.” But our lord, father Gerontius the Metropolitan, did not forbid this: he knows what answer he will give to God for this. What kind of punishment is prescribed for grave diggers? But because 2948 there will be a resurrection of the dead, it is commanded that they be moved from their place, unlike those great Saints whom God glorified with miracles, until the transfer of relics occurs by God’s command and an angelic appearance, for the deliverance of people and for the establishment and honor of the city. And what about taking out the churches, and the coffins of the dead, and planting a garden in that place, otherwise what kind of dishonor has been committed? Sin comes from God, but rubbish comes from people. Here a newly baptized Jew arrived, his name is Danil, and now he’s a Christian, and he told me at the table like all the people: he’s dressed up, dei, from Kyiv to Moscow, and others, dei, began to bark to the Jew: “dog, where have you dressed up? The prince, the dei, the great church in Moscow swept everything out of the city”; and I said it in front of your boyar son in front of Vyatka: otherwise what kind of lack of order and dishonor has been committed to the great state! Otherwise, according to the knowledge of the sovereign, they led him into that sin with blessed guilt, and they gave him that parable: that if they go to the army, or where there are no Christian churches, they will take the priest with them, and carry the church linen with them, but they make a great care about it: first, the dei, lay leather, and on top of the leather there are boards, on which that church should stand; Yes, how, dei, having served mass, and having removed that church, and according to custom, preserve it, and burn the place with fire, and even without that nothing touched it; or again, someone out of ignorance will make it so that they will build a church on the ground, but will not lay the payment under it: another priest, washes his hands over the bowl, and pours that water into the river, and having removed the church, they will also set the place on fire. And the churches of God stood for how many years? and where the priest served, he washed his hands, and that place is impassable; and where the throne stood and the altar, and those places are not passable 2949; but now those places are not fenced, but dogs and all kinds of livestock go to those places. And the fact that the courtyards are moved away from the city, otherwise they become a thing of the past; and the churches would stand around the city: it would be a great honor for the city. And when it happens because of sin that foreigners are present, they will take out the icons and burn the walls, but the mercy of the Lord God Almighty, His church, will remain, and prayer and intercession will remain to His Most Pure Mother and the Saints of all, for the preservation of the city. And what churches were in the city, otherwise they would also be raised on the basements, and the canopy would be decorated around the church, and the passages from the Grand Duke's courtyard, and the priest would sing walking at those doors 2950: and if the Grand Duke or Grand Duchess happens to come out to look at the garden, and he would sit gray-haired at the church: it would be nice to see. And now it’s up to no one, the Grand Duke, to talk to him, except you, our lord father, with God’s help; and it is good for us, your children and co-workers, to remember this; And you, our lord father, firmly remember this to your son the Grand Duke: you must eat. But our sovereign, your son the great prince, will not search him, and not execute them: otherwise how can he remove that sorority from his land? Ano Fryazov, by his faith, holds what a fortress! The Tsar's ambassador told me about the Spanish king, how he cleared his land, and from those speeches I sent a list to you. And you, sir, would decently speak to the Grand Duke about this, not only for the sake of his salvation, but also for the honor of the sovereign Grand Duke: there is no one else to talk to the sovereign, but it lies on you, on our father, and on us, on your children. Yes, for this reason, prayer for the sovereign and for his army is established at all hours, so that, God willing, he will be healthy for many years with his Grand Duchess, and with his children, and with all his army, and in their silence we will live a quiet and silent life in all good faith and purity. And why, sir, do you want to install Kolomna as ruler, and not having ruled the affairs of the heretical: but it’s not from another land that you can get a person for dominion! And to carry out a search on those here: whoever served with those heretics, or communed and consorted with them, otherwise different penances: for some, excommunication is written, and for others, complete expulsion. Yes, you know, our lord father; and we, with our brethren, the archbishop and the bishops, remembered this most fondly for you. And you, our lord father, would stand firm about this, and we, your children, will be with God and with you: it has already lasted a long time: three years have passed, and the fourth has already come. But you, our lord father, will not thoroughly search for those heretics, and you will not order them to be executed or damned: otherwise we will already be some kind of rulers? Is that what our shepherding is called again? Yes, sir, so that you, sir, would speak firmly to your son the Grand Duke, so that he would order me to be with you and with you, our father, to be blessed: no matter what great things are here, but that business is no longer there; If he manages that matter, then the great work here will also be strengthened. Yes, I complain to you to my father, about Zakhar, about the monk and the strigolnik: he has been barking at me, sir, incessantly for the third year already, the fourth year has come, and he sends letters to my archdiocese and to the monks and to the priests of the Semi-Cathedral, and as for the Moscow land, then there is no number; and he writes in his letters: “I sent letters to all the cities against the heretic”; otherwise, sir, you are ordered to endure everything, reject the heretic, but I am not a heretic; Now I sent it back to my elder Jonah with a great laiba, and from that letter I sent a list to you, my master father, and you would have protected me from that Zakhar Strigolnik. And the mercy of the Lord God Almighty in the Trinitarian Divinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in the last years of the One of the Trinity appeared God and man, purely by nature, and not by composition, and that of the Most Pure Mother of God prayer and protection, also the holy wonderworkers Peter and Alexis prayer, may there be in your holiness, our lord father; and I, your son, Archbishop of Veliky Novgorod and Pskov, hit you, my lord father, with my forehead. To our most holy and God-loving brethren, Archbishop 2951 and bishops: Tikhon, Archbishop of Rostov and Yaroslavl, Nifont, Bishop of Suzdal and Toru, Vasian, Bishop of Tver, Prokhor, Bishop of Sara and Podon, Filotheus, Bishop of Primsky. 2952 I remember seven times for you, our brethren: the great prince sent me a letter, and the metropolitan another, about the installation of the ruler of Kolomna, and no one; and they order me to give an unnamed signature to the same one as they took from me to Gerontius the Metropolitan. 2953 Yes, the Metropolitan sent me the lists of those letters, but I did not give such a transcript 2954; Yes, I wrote about this to the Grand Duke and the Metropolitan, and you, our brethren, will know how the Metropolitan orders that letter to be honored before you. And about the ruler of Kolomna and about others, if it happens, they would send to me exactly who to appoint, and I give records as legal as our other brethren gave. But they would not have been in a hurry to install a ruler: before, naturally, they would have insisted that the heretics be thoroughly searched, and the great prince would have ordered them to be executed. And Zakhar the Chernets writes in his letters that he sent letters against me throughout all the cities: he calls me a heretic, but I am not a heretic. And it is written: “If anyone calls you a heretic, do not accept it; Even if you accepted it, you rejected Christ.” And I sent you a list from his letter. And according to Zakhara, he sent him for: the monks complained to me about him: he cut their hair from Prince Fyodor from Belsky, but did not give communion for three years, and he himself, dei, did not receive communion. And I called him and began to ask: “What are you doing so much about that you haven’t received communion for three years?” And he said to me: “I am a sinner.” And I said to him: “Why did you cut the hair of the boyars’ children, and take them away from the sovereign, and excommunicate them from God, why did you not give them communion for three years?” And he revealed his heresy: “And from whom, dei, should I take communion? Priests, dei, are appointed for compensation, but the metropolitan, dei, and rulers are appointed for compensation.” And I said: “But the Metropolitan is not appointed for compensation.” And he said: “if, dei, he went to Constantinople to be installed as a metropolitan, and he, dei, gave money to the patriarch; and now, dei, he gives promises to the boyars secretly, and the rulers, dei, give money to the metropolitan: otherwise, dei, from whom should I receive communion?” And I knew that he was a strigolnik, and I ordered him to be sent into the desert to Gornechno. And then the great prince sent me a letter about him, so that I could punish him spiritually and let him go to his monastery in Nemchinovo. And he took his hands and ordered him to receive his spiritual father and take communion; and the monks would have lived with him in the monastery and also received communion. And he broke his oath, but did not go to the monastery, but went to Moscow. But someone was sad about him: why does that strigolnik [know] 2955 the Grand Duke? Yes, here Alekseiko the clerk lives on the estate, but he got drunk and climbed into the chapel, and took off the icon of the Dormition of the Most Pure One from the bench, and let bad water fall on it, and turned other icons upside down. And some are nameless, some are not even numbered, some icons were cut, and no one knows [by whom]. And now they are sewing lies on me 2956, they have no faith in my search. And that’s sadness! Was it for heretics to slander our priesthood? Who would say that to himself? And if he said it, and they are looking for others, and he is already ready - in his hands, then they no longer have faith in him that he is not lying. And here is the saint, and two boyars of the Grand Duke, and my boyar, and besides that, several children of the boyars of the Grand Duke, and besides, abbots and priests: otherwise they don’t believe it, but by all of them, and at me with lies. Was it Samsonka who tormented him? After all, he was tortured by the boyar son of the Grand Duke, and mine was only a watchman so that no one would take the promise. And what Samsonko said that was written in the originals, was it possible to say so, if only he did it himself? We asked Samsonko, Yuri Zakharych and I: “Were you naturally in Moscow, with whom were you expelled? Do you know what they say in Moscow? And Samsonko said: “I know, dei, sir, how can we, dei, not know? They all went to Fyodor Kuritsin, the clerk of the Grand Duke, and the dei came to him, Archpriest Oleksei, and Istoma, and Sverchek, and Ivashko Cherny, who writes books, and the dei learned from the Orthodox.” And if that bastard didn’t act and didn’t go to Kuritsin, why would he know what was going on at Kuritsin’s, or who was coming to him? “Yes, dei, a Ugrian came with Fyodor and Kuritsin from the Ugric land, their name is Martyn”: then why did he find that Martyn, if only he would not settle down with Kuritsin? And that’s why Kuritsin is the boss of all those villains. And it is not for myself that I am writing to you, my brethren, - I remember that for the sake of: if the Orthodox faith had been expressed, and the Metropolitan would have cursed all those heretics with you, with my brethren, and even those with whom they came to an agreement, or who held a guarantee for them, or who is sad about them, and whoever followed their charms - our father, the Metropolitan, and you, our brethren, would curse them all betrayed. Yes, so that they would talk to our father, the Metropolitan, and with him and the Grand Duke, so that he would personally send for me; But the Grand Duke doesn’t even want to send for me, but you don’t have anything to do without me: how else could he [not] send for me? And until the heresy is completely smoked, they won’t protect me from Zakhar: and they can’t give me an official report. And how would you curse the heretics, the Metropolitan Father, and you, our brethren, would send them to me, and I would have cursed them here at the Council as well. And of course you wouldn’t rush to install rulers until you eradicate heresy. But now do not make the end of those heretics, otherwise it is already clear that our faith has been trampled upon; What else can we expect 2959, that justice will not be done for the heretics for so long? But it is written in the rules of the holy Apostles how to install a ruler. And your archimandrites, and abbots, and archpriests, and cathedral priests served with heretics: for another, excommunication is written, and for another, eruption is written. In the rules of the holy Apostles you will find for yourself: chapter 10, 11, 45, 70, the rule of the removed Apostle Paul 12. Otherwise, those heretics acted all this, and even spoke blasphemy against Christ himself. Otherwise you will see it in detail in the originals. But they will want the council to be about faith, and you would not dare to do so: the Orthodox faith was already set out for us at the first council, and at the second about the Holy Spirit, and other councils all followed the first council and at the seventh council they sealed, having taught to glorify the one God in the Trinity, the same one from the Trinity, God and man, purely by nature, and not by composition; by the same is perfected that God and perfected man, truly preaching, we confess Christ our God. Yes, for the sake of the iconoclasts I cursed them; [yes] just as you cursed the iconoclasts, so also 2960 and now iconoclasts have appeared: if he chips icons, cuts them, dishonors them, then he too will be cursed, but it is necessary and especially proper to curse them. And their execution is on par with real heretics: since a person is protected from a heretic, but how can one protect oneself from these heretics? And they call themselves Christians, but to a reasonable man - and they are not real, but a fool - and they ate him: for that they need twice the execution, and even a curse. But about faith it is not commanded to add or lay down, according to the Apostle: “If an angel brings you more good news than his good news, let him be anathema.” Moreover, our people are simple, they don’t know how to speak from ordinary books: we shouldn’t make any speeches about faith with them; The only reason to hold a council was to execute them - to burn and hang them: before the heretics took repentance and penance from me, leaving everything behind, they fled. Yes, they should be thoroughly tortured about who they deceived, so that it would be known: before they are eradicated, there are already branches. Don’t make a mistake: stand strong so that anger does not come to us, lest we be like people-pleasers and betray Christ with Judas: they chip, cut, blaspheme, scold icons, but we establish them, let them go to their will! unilaterally would now be executed and damned. And the mercy of the Lord God Almighty, and His Most Pure Mother and the holy miracle workers, the prayer, and the prayer of our humility, together with the blessing, may always be with your holiness and love of God. Amen. Having consulted the archives of his archdiocese, Gennady could have been convinced that his predecessors, for example Jonah (1459–1470), gave not only “to others, but also to third parties” their Confession. See above No. 95, 99 and 100. The same thing happened with other rulers. See No. 94. In other words: “do not say that it is an advantage of the senior (Novgorod) archbishop to give special letters of emancipation (freedom) to the metropolitan and the rulers every time, even if he, upon his very appointment, gave one in advance for all matters requiring the convening of a council.” In the Tolstoy list there is a treasury; corrected according to Act. Expedition In Tolstoy's list Olenkovich. The words: “and they all... walked in weakness” - from the Acts of Archaeogr. Expedition Wed. article by Kormcha “From the scroll of the new commandments of King Justinian” ch. 74. All rules are given according to the Helmsman Sofia (Russian) edition. what is the Act. Ext. It is difficult to decide which reading is more correct; The meaning of the place is not quite clear at all. But for that from the Act. Expedition The words: “and where is the throne... are not passable” - from the Act. Expedition The words: “yes, there are passages... at those doors” - from the Act. Expedition In the Tolstoy and Solovetsky lists it is an archbishop - incorrectly. Besides Gennady himself, only one Great Russian ruler held the title of archbishop at that time - Rostov and Yaroslavl. According to chronicles, Simeon of Ryazan, mentioned after Niphon of Suzdal, was also present at the council. Floor. Collection Years. vol. IV, p. 158. Ninon, part VI, p. 126. It is clear that from Gennady, upon his installation, they took the same license for all matters of church administration, which was taken from other rulers, before and after. See Nos. 106 and 109; Act. Exp. Vol. I, No. 184, IV. This circumstance is also noted in the chronicles: “the same autumn, November 18, on Thursday, Avramiy, abbot of Ugresh, was installed as Bishop of Kolomna... but Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod did not send his free letters for his installation.” Floor. Collection Years. IV, 159. By the way, it was added according to the meaning and in accordance with the same turn of phrase about the epetics of Samson (see below in the text). There is nothing in the manuscript that spoils the meaning, which logically can only be this: “and they no longer believe him, because he does not lie.” You might be interested in: