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"Завещание" митрополита Константина I Киевского и канон "на исход души"
The article puts forward the suggestion that the mysterious last will of Metropolitan Constantine I of Kiev, in which he ordered that a² er his death his body should be torn to pieces by dogs instead of receiving a proper burial, was inspired by a very specifi c literary text. This text is still used in the Orthodox Christian tradition; it is known as the hymnographical kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body.” While nowadays this kanon is used in the course of an ordinary liturgical rite, in the 12th century, when it fi rst appeared, it was used among some Byzantine in tel lectual and ascetic circles as a particular element of personal piety. The 12th cen tury is exactly the epoch of Constantine's activities, and the descrip tion of а fune ral procedure given by this kanon is very close to the last will of Constantine. The kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body” has close ties to another hymn of roughly the same epoch—the “Penitential” kanon wri¯ en a² er the 5th chap ter of the “Ladder” of John Climacus. Both kanons conceal a didactic story under the structure of a hymnographic pa¯ ern. What is more important, both are from the very beginning intertwined with a distinct illustrative program: each monostrophe is accompanied by a specifi c picture, which discloses the contents of the text. These “comics-like” stories have no parallel among other Byzantine kanons. Finally, both kanons witness the growth of the infl uence of Palestinian and, more gene rally, Eastern ascetic traditions on the monastic practices of Constan tinople and its surrounding regions. This infl uence was associated, most of all, with the Everge tian movement, with its strict disciplinary and fasting rules, etc. Metropolitan Constantine, who was an outstanding representative of the Byzantine intellectual elite of those times, should have been acquainted—at the very least!— with this movement. Moreover, the confl icts of the bishops in his circle with the Russian princes concerning the fasting discipline suggest that Constantine was trying to introduce the new Evergetian ascetic standards among the Russians. Thus, the literal adherence to the provisions of the kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body” at the funeral of Metropolitan Constantine Ι should be in terpreted as a sign of his full confi dence in his ideals.