No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Political Background to the Establishment of the Slavic Nomocanon in the Thirteenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2020
Abstract
The first collection of canon law translated from the Greek into the Slavic language in the ninth century supported the consolidation of Christianity among the Slav peoples. This article focuses on the nomocanon of St Sava of Serbia (Kormchaia), a collection which was original and specific in its content; its relationship to other contemporary legal historical documents will be considered. The article also explores the political background to the emergence of Orthodox Slav collections of ecclesiastical and civil law. The political context in which these collections originated exercised a determinative influence on their contents, the selection of texts and the interpretation of the canons contained within them. The emergence of the Slavic nomocanon is interpreted within a context in which Balkan Slav states sought to foster their independence and aspired to form autocephalous national churches.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2020
References
1 Valliere, Paul, ‘Introduction to the Modern Orthodox Traditionʼ, in Witte, John Jr and Alexander, Frank S., eds, The Teachings of Modern Orthodox Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature (New York, 2007), 14–19Google Scholar; John Meyendorff, ‘Contemporary Problems in Orthodox Canon Lawʼ, in idem, Living Tradition: Orthodox Witness in the Contemporary World (New York, 1978), 99–114; Ярослав Н. Щапов [͡Iaroslav N. Shchapov], ‘Рецепция сборников византийского права в средновековых бакланских государствах’ [‘Recepcii͡a sbornikov vizantiĭskogo prava v srednovekovykh balkanskikh gosudarstvakhʼ / ‘The Reception of Collections of Byzantine Law in Medieval States’], Византинский временник [Bizantinskiy Vremennik] 37 (1976), 123–9.
2 For text and commentary, see М. Н.Тихомиров and Л. М. Милов [M. N. Tihomirov and L. M. Milov], Закон судный людемъ краткой редакции [Zakon sudnyĭ li҇udem ' kratkoĭ redakcii / Court Law for the People] (Moscow, 1961); ET H. W. Dewey and A. M. Kleimola, eds, Zakon Sudnyj Ljudem (Court Law for the People) (Ann Arbor, MI, 1977). On the Nomocanon of Methodius and Zakon sudnyi li ҇udem, see further Сергијe Троицки [Sergije Troicki], ‘Да ли је Закон судный людемъ саставио Методије или Бугарски кнез?’ [‘Da li je Zakon sudnyj li҇udem sastavio Metodije ili Bugarski knez?’ / ‘Was the Court Law for the People made by Methodius or the Bulgarian Prince?’], Istorijski časopis 14–15 (1965), 505–16; Кирил Максимович [Kiril Maksimovich], Закон судный людем, источниковедческие и лингвистические аспекты исследования славянского юридического памятника [Zakon sudny ĭ li ҇udem, istochnikovedcheskie i lingvisticheskie aspetkty issledovanii ҇a slovi ҇anskogo i ҇uridicheskogo pami ҇atnika / Court Law for the People: The Sources and Linguistic Aspects of researching a Slavic Legal Monument] (Moscow, 2004).
3 Kiril Maksimovich, ‘Byzantine Law in Old Slavonic Translations and the Nomocanon of Methodius’, Byzantinoslavica 65 (2007), 9–18; Ludwig Burgmann, ‘Mittelalterliche Übersetzungen byzantinischer Rechtstexteʼ and ‘Vortrag zur slavischen Rezeption byzantinischer Kirchenrechtssammlungen’, in idem, Aufs ä tze zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte, Forschungen zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte 36 (Frankfurt am Main, 2018), 330–2, 357–61.
4 Kormchaia (Kormčaja Kniga, Krmčija), according to current etymological interpretation ‘the pilot's book’, is a term for Slavic collections of ecclesiastical and secular law: A. P. Kazhdan and A. M. Talbot, eds, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (Oxford, 1991; hereafter: ODB), 1149.
5 В. Н. Бенешевич [V. N. Beneshevich], Древнеславянская кормчая XIV титулов без толкований [Drevneslovi ҇ anskai ҇ a kormchai ҇ a 14 titlov bez tolkovani ĭ / Old Slavic Kormchaia Book in 14 Titles without Interpretation] (St Petersburg, 1906); Яарослав Н. Щапов [I҇Aroslav N. Shchapov], Византийское и южнославянское правовое наследие на Руси в XI – XIII в. [Vizantijskoe i juzhnoslavi ҇ anskoe pravovoe nasledenie na Rusi v XI – XIII v. / Byzantine and South Slavic Legal Heritage in 11th- to 13th-Century Russia] (Моscow, 1978), 49–63.
6 For a comprehensive assessment of the development and significance of the Kormchaia, see Мария В. Корогодина [Marija V. Korogodina], Кормчие книги 14 – первой половины 17 вв. Том 1 – исследование, том 2 – описание редакций [Kormchie knigi 14 – pervoj poloviny 17 veka. Tom 1: issledovanie, Tom 2: opisanie redakci ĭ / Kormchaia Books from the 14th Century to the first half of the 17th Century, 1: Studies; 2: Description of the Redactions] (Moscow and St Petersburg, 2017).
7 This is how the significance of the code was described by Сергијe Троицки [Sergije Troicki], Како треба издати Светосавску крмчију, номоканон са тумачењима [Kako treba izdati Svetosavsku krm čiju, nomokanon sa tuma čenjima / How to publish Saint Sava's Kormchaia, The Nomocanon with Interpretation] (Belgrade, 1952), 1–2.
8 One of the oldest manuscripts, Ilovichka Kormchaia, was published in a phototype edition: Законоправило или Номоканон Светога Саве, Иловачки препис 1262. године [Zakonopravilo ili Nomokanon Svetoga Save, Ilova čki prepis 1262. godine / The Zakonopravilo or Nomocanon of St Sava: The Ilovichka T ranscription of 1262, ed. M. Петровић [M. Petrović] (Gornji Milanovac, 1991). However, a critical edition and a translation into modern language were only provided for chapters 1–47: Миодраг Петровић and Љубица Штављанин-Ђорђевић [Miodrag Petrović and Ljubica Štavljanin-Đorđević], eds, Законоправило Светога Саве I [Zakonopravilo Svetoga Save I / The Zakonopravilo of St Sava I] (Belgrade, 2005). For a description of the oldest Serbian manuscripts, see Троицки [Troicki], Како треба издати [Kako treba izdati], 34–75; Александар Соловјев [Aleksandar Solovjev], ‘Светосавски Номоканон и његови нови преписиʼ [‘Svetosavski Nomokanon i njegovi novi prepisi’ / ‘The Nomocanon of Saint Sava and its Transcriptions’], Братство [Bratstvo] 24 (1932), 22–39; Vatroslav Jagić, ‘Opisi i izvodi iz nekoliko južnoslovinskih rukopisa. Krmčaja Ilovička godine 1262ʼ [‘Descriptions and Extracts of a few South Slavic Manuscripts: The Kormchaia Ilovichka of 1262], Starine Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti 6 (1874), 60–111.
9 Миодраг Петровић [Miodrag Petrović], ‘Свети Сава као састављач и преводилац Законоправила – српског Номоканонаʼ [‘Sveti Sava kao sastavljač i prevodilac Zakonopravila – srpskog Nomokanonaʼ / ‘St Sava as a Writer and Translator of Legal Rights in the Serbian Nomocanon’], Istorijski časopis 49 (2002), 27–47, at 29–32; Сергијe Троицки [Sergije Troicki], ‘Ко је превео Крмчију са тумачењимаʼ [‘Ko je preveo Krmčiju sa tumačenjima’ / ‘Who translated the Kormchaia with Interpretations?’], Glas Srpske kraljevske akademije 96 (1949), 119–42; idem, ‘Da li je slovenski Nomokanon sa tumačenjima postojao pre svetog Save?ʼ [‘Did the Slavic Nomocanon with Interpretations exist before St Sava?’], Slovo 4–5 (1955), 111–22.
10 The Slavic compound Zakonopravilo corresponds closely to the original Greek, which is made up of two words: νόμος, ‘law in general’ (in this case state law), and κάνων, authoritative ‘rules’ laid down by ecclesiastical bodies: М. Петровић [M. Petrović], О Законоправилу или Номоканону Св.Саве [O Zakonopravilu ili Nomokanonu Sv. Save / The Zakonopravilo or Nomocanon of St Sava] (Belgrade, 1990), 7–39; Burgmann, ‘Vortrag zur slavischen Rezeption’, 361–2.
11 John V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest (Ann Arbor, MI, 1994) 54–8, 61–4, 79–80; Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier, 309–14; Snezhana Rakova, The Fourth Crusade in the Historical Memory of the Eastern Orthodox Slavs (Sofia, 2013), 2–6, 55–99.
12 George Ostrogorsky, ‘Die byzantinische Staatenhierarchieʼ, Seminarum Kordakovianum 8 (1936), 41–61; Günter Prinzing, ‘Byzanz, Altrussland und die sogenannte “Familie der Könige”ʼ, in Martina Thomsen, ed., Religionsgeschichtliche Studien zum östlichen Europa: Festschrift für Ludwig Steindorff zum 65. Geburtstag, Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des östlichen Europa 85 (Stuttgart, 2017), 43–56.
13 Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, 79–81.
14 Kempf, Friedrich, ‘Innocent's Claim to Power’, in Powell, James M., ed., Innocent III, Vicar of Christ or Lord of the World?, 2nd edn (Washington DC, 1994), 173–7Google Scholar.
15 Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, 31–3; Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier, 309–12; Ани Данчева-Василева [Ani Dancheva-Vasileva], България и Латинската империя (1204–1261) [B‘lgarii ҇a i Latrinskata imperii ҇a (1204– 1261) / Bulgaria and the Latin Empire (1204– 1261)] (Sofia, 1985), 40–8.
16 Innocentii III Romani pontificis regestorum sive epistolarum, liber septimus (PL 215, cols 277–88).
17 Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, 107; С.Ћирковић, ед. [S. Ćirković, ed.], Историја српског народа I, [Istorija srpskog naroda I / The History of the Serbian People] (Belgrade, 1994), 299–300.
18 Историја српског народа I [Istorija srpskog naroda I], 317–22; Петровић [Petrović], ‘Свети Сава као састављач ’ [‘Sveti Sava kao sastavljač’], 27–9; Zoran Milutinović, ‘Legitimacy through Translation: The Miraculous Transformation of Laws and Relics’, in Stephan M. Hart and Zoltan Biedermann, eds, From the Supernatural to the Uncanny (Cambridge, 2017), 6–20.
19 Ђура Даничић [Đura Daničić], ed., Живот Светога Симеуна и Светога Саве, написао Доментијан [Život Svetoga Simeuna i Svetoga Save, napisao Domentijan / The Lives of St Simeon and St Sava, written by Domentijan] (Belgrade, 1865), 227. Domentijan's Life of St Sava is considered one of the most reliable sources on the life and work of the first Serbian archbishop. It was written in the second half of the thirteenth century, and its author (a monk) is thought to be one of Sava's students and associates.
20 Троицки [Troicki], ‘Ко је превео Крмчију’ [‘Ko je preveo Krmčiju’], 119–42; Щапов [Shchapov], Византийское [‘Vizantiĭskoe’], 120–3; Петровић [Petrović], ‘Свети Сава као састављач’ [‘Sveti Sava kao sastavljač’], 29–32.
21 Troianos, Spyros, ‘Byzantine Canon Law from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries’, in Hartmann, Wilfried and Pennington, Kenneth, eds, The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500 (Washington DC, 2012), 170–214CrossRefGoogle Scholar; М. Е. Красножен [M. E. Krasnozhen], Толкователи канонического кодекса Восточной Церкви: Аристин, Зонара и Вальсамон: Исследование [Tolkovateli kanonicheskogo kodeksa Vostochno ĭ tserkvi : Aristin, Zonara i Valsamon : Issledovanie / The Commentators on the Eastern Church Canon Code, Aristenos, Zonaras and Balsamon: A Study] (Yuryev, 1911).
22 Suggestions of similarity with a Greek nomocanon in the Vatican Library and attempts to prove that the Slavic translation was based on a Greek model have not sustained detailed analysis; in addition to similarities, numerous differences have also been noted: Ludwig Burgmann, ‘Der Codex Vaticanus graecus 1167 und der serbische Nomokanon’, Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta 34 (1995), 91–106; Петровић [Petrović], ‘Свети Сава као састављач’ [‘Sveti Sava kao sastavljač’], 32–41.
23 Most of the sources for the canonical part in its original form were published in Γ. Α. Ράλλης and Μ. Ποτλής [G. A. Rhalle and M. Potle], Σύνταγμα των Θείων και Ιερών Κανόνων των τε Αγίων και πανευφήμων Αποστόλων, και των Ιερών και Οικουμενικών και τοπικών Συνόδων, και των κατά μέρος Αγίων Πατέρων [Syntagma ton theion kai hieron kanonon ton te hagion kai paneuphemon apostolon, kai ton hieron oikoumenikon kai topikon synodon, kai ton kata meros hagion pateron / Constitution of the Divine and Holy Rules of the Holy and Sacred Apostles, and of the Holy and Ecumenical Local Synods, and of the Holy Fathers], vols 2–4 (Athens, 1852–4).
24 For a new edition, see Alexios Aristenos, Kanonistischer Kommentar zur ‘Synopsis canonum’, ed. Eleftheria Papagianni et al., Forschungen zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte NF 1 (Berlin, 2019).
25 For an overview of the contents and sources of the Nomocanon of St Sava, see Троицки [Troicki], Како треба издати [Kako treba izdati], 77–95; Петровић [Petrović], О Законоправилу [O Zakonopravilu], 125–43; Корогодина [Korogodina], Кормчие книги II [Kormchie knigi II], 14–28.
26 ODB, 480; Nikolaas Van der Wal and Bernard H. Stolte, eds, Collection Tripartita: Justinian on Religious and Ecclesiastical Affairs (Groningen, 1994).
27 Meeder, Sven, ‘Liber ex lege Moysi: Notes and Text’, Journal of Medieval Latin 19 (2009), 173–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
28 ODB, 1725; See K. E. Zachariæ von Lingenthal, ed., Ὁ προχειρος νομος. Imperatorum Basilii, Constantini et Leonis Prochiron (Heidelberg, 1837), 1–258; ET A Manual of Eastern Roman Law: The Procheiros Nomos published by the Emperor Basil I at Constantinople between 867 and 879 A.D., transl. Edwin Hanson Freshfield (Cambridge, 1928); Ludwig Burgmann, ‘Zur Entstehung des Prochiron auctum I. Das Prochiron Stephani’, in idem, Ausgewählte Aufsätze zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte, Forschungen zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte 33 (Frankfurt am Main, 2015), 285–342.
29 ODB, 672–3; see Ludwig Burgmann, ed., Ecloga . Das Gesetzbuch Leons III. und Konstantinos V., Forschungen zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte 10 (Frankfurt am Main, 1983); ET A Manual of Roman Law: The Ecloga, published by the Emperors Leo III and Constantine V of Isauria, transl. Edwin Hanson Freshfield (Cambridge, 1927). For the Slavic version of this code, see Ярослав Н. Щапов [I҇Aroslav N. Shchapov], Византийская Эклога законов в русской письменной традиции. Исследование, издание текстов и комментарий [Vizanti ĭskai ҇a Ekloga zakonov v russko ĭ pis 'meno ĭ tradicii / The Byzantine Ecloga in the Russian Written Tradition: Study, Text and Comments] (St Petersburg, 2011); Ludwig Burgmann and Jaroslav N. Ščapov, eds, Die slavische Ecloga, Forschungen zur byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte 23 (Frankfurt am Main, 2011).
30 ODB, 364–5; Geanakoplos, Deno J., ‘Church and State in the Byzantine Empire: A Reconsideration of the Problem of Caesaropapism’, ChH 34 (1965), 381–403Google Scholar.
31 Сергије Троицки [Sergije Troicki], ‘Црквено-политичка идеологија Светосавске Крмчије и Властареве Синтагме’ [‘Crkveno-politička ideologija Svetosavske Krmčije i Vlastareve Sintagme’ / ‘Ecclesiastical-Political Ideology in the Kormchaia of St Sava and Syntagma of Blastaros’], Glas Srpske akademije nauka 212 (1953), 157–64.
32 Pitra, I. B., Iuris ecclesiastici graecorum historia et monumenta, 2: A VI ad IX saeculum (Rome, 1868), 385–405Google Scholar; ODB, 480.
33 Троицки [Troicki], ‘Црквено-политичка идеологија’ [‘Crkveno-politička ideologija’], 175–86.
34 Сима Ћирковић [Sima Ćirković], ‘Свети Сава између истока и запада’ [‘Sveti Sava između istoka i zapada’ / ‘St Sava between East and West’], in idem, ed, Свети Сава у срп c кој историји и традицији [Sveti Sava u srpskoj istoriji i tradiciji / S t Sava in Serbian H istory and T radition] (Belgrade, 1995), 27–38.
35 Bogomilism was a dualist, neo-Manichaean sect founded in tenth-century Bulgaria, which subsequently spread to the Balkans. It held that God created and ruled the spiritual part of the world, and that Satan created the material world. The movement rejected the whole organization of the Orthodox Church: ODB, 301; Paters, Edvard, Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe (Philadelphia, PA, 1980), 108–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
36 Иловачки препис [Ilova čki prepis], 205–6; Законоправило [Zakonopravilo], ed. Петровић and Штављанин [Pertović and Štavljanin], 602–3.
37 Елена В. Белякова and Ярослав Н. Щапов [Elena V. Beli҇akova and I҇Aroslav N. Shchapov], ‘Традиции святого Саввы Сербского на Руси’ [‘Tradicii svi҇atogo Savvy Serbskogo na Rusi’ / ‘Traditions of St Sava of Serbia in Rus’], in Ћирковић [Ćirković], ed., Свети Сава [Sveti Sava], 359–68.
38 For an overview of Russian redactions and manuscripts, see Корогодина [Korogodina], Кормчие книги II [Kormchie knigi II], 65–414.
39 The Epanagoge was a book of laws of the emperors Basil I, Leo VI and Alexander, promulgated in the second half of the ninth century. Patriarch Photius took part in its composition, writing two important sections about the power of the patriarch and the emperor. Although the Epanagoge soon ceased to be officially circulated, it found the way into Russian law and was included in Kormchaias. Its provisions on the positions of the patriarch and the church contributed greatly to the strengthening of ecclesiastical authority in Rus: ODB, 703.