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17 - Political ideas and rituals

from Part II - The Expansion, Consolidation and Crisis of Muscovy (1462–1613)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Michael Flier
Edited by
Maureen Perrie
Maureen Perrie
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Summary

Shortly after the dedication of Moscow’s cathedral church in 1479, Grand Prince Ivan III accused Metropolitan Gerontii of contravening ritual tradition by leading the cross procession around the church counterclockwise (protiv solntsa) instead of clockwise (po solon’) during the dedication service. Perhaps Ivan was motivated by superstition, given the collapse of the previous reconstruction. Or perhaps he was influenced by the Catholic-orientated entourage around his second wife, Sophia Palaeologa, a former ward of the Pope. Whatever the cause, he forbade the consecration of any church in Moscow for three years while he investigated previous practice. Finding no conclusive protocols, he was obliged to recant in 1482 to prevent the metropolitan’s resignation. This rare personal episode involving ritual and political control reveals a connection that merits further enquiry.

Ritual, with its attendant symbols and actions, powerfully expresses the ways in which members of a society, especially its elites, see themselves and wish themselves to be seen. The present chapter seeks to describe and analyse the function of ritual in representing political ideas in Muscovy before the seventeenth century. Political ritual refers to that set of conventionalised events ruled by protocol and consisting of separate acts performed in public whose purpose is to confirmor restore links to a commonly held political concept or belief for the ritual’s participants and observers. The interlocking spheres of politics and religion inmedieval society presuppose the presentation of political ideology within a spiritual framework. Religious symbolism approximates the harmony of political structure with the providence of God.

Keywords

Dormition's ritualsCyclical ritualsContingent ritualsCoronation ritualMuscovite rulershipMuscovypolitical ideasPalm Sunday ritual
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Russia , pp. 387 - 408
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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