Simeon of Polotsk message. "Rejoice, Belarusian land!"

The city of Polotsk is not just a regional center of the modern Republic of Belarus. This is also a city with ancient traditions, which has replenished the history of culture with more than one name that has glorified our land. One of these glorious fellow countrymen was Simeon of Polotsk - a “scribe”, theologian, poet, translator and playwright. If we talk about the life path of Simeon of Polotsk and his talents and successes, then we can highlight several areas where he showed his remarkable mind and political savvy. This is religion, pedagogy, literature. Without going into excessive detail, we will try to give a generalized description of it.

The year 1629 was marked by the birth in the city of Polotsk of Samuil Gavrilovich Petrovsky-Sitnyanovich, in the future - Simeon of Polotsk. The sources are silent about the parents and childhood of the future public and religious figure. What is known is that his father died quite early.

In 1651, Samuil graduated from the largest Orthodox educational institution - the Kiev-Mohyla College, where he could receive a humanitarian and theological education. Next was the Vilna Jesuit Academy. Studying in these, for that time the best educational institutions, laid the foundation for Samuel’s future activities.

Simeon Polotsky: teaching activities.

In 1656, Samuel accepted monasticism and became Simeon. Subsequently, already in Moscow, the toponymic nickname “Polotsk” will be added to this name. In the same year, he became a didaskal (teacher) at a local fraternal school (such schools were created at Orthodox monasteries, their goal was to spread education and Orthodoxy among the population). The same year was marked for Simeon’s acquaintance with the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (Quiet). In 1664, Simeon goes to Moscow, which radically changes his life. From an ordinary monk, albeit distinguished by his extraordinary intelligence and talents, Simeon of Polotsk turns into a significant public figure of his time. First, the Tsar instructs him to teach the clerks of the Order of Secret Affairs, and then appoints his children, Princess Sophia and Peter (in the future, the great Peter I) as teachers.

It was Simeon of Polotsk who was entrusted by the Eastern Patriarchs to give a speech to the Tsar and call on Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to “seek wisdom,” that is, to contribute to raising the level of education in the Russian state, which he did brilliantly.

Religious and literary activities.

In Moscow, Simeon of Polotsk not only taught, but also plunged headlong into religious life, which in those days was quite chaotic. Thus, he personally participated in the deposition of Patriarch Nikon, and was an active participant in the Moscow Council. Simeon of Polotsk also actively participates in religious polemics, thanks to which some of his journalistic works are published.

In addition to journalism, Simeon of Polotsk was a good poet. In 1667 he was appointed court poet to the Tsar. His book “The Rhyming Psalter” (a translation of the biblical book “Psalter” in poetic style) gained fame and popularity. The pinnacle of S. Polotsky’s poetic creativity is considered to be the collection of moral and didactic poems “The Multicolored Vertograd”.

hieromonk, Russian preacher, teacher and poet, was born in Belarus in 1628. Having completed a course at the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium, Simeon of Polotsk also visited Polish academies. The scholastic education system that reigned in the college, which served special purposes - to develop experienced spiritual speakers, “savers of Orthodoxy,” had a worthy representative in the person of Simeon of Polotsk. At the age of 27, he became a monk at the Polotsk Epiphany fraternal monastery, in whose school he later served as a “didaskal” (teacher).

Thanks to his strong connections and personally ingratiating himself with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who was passing through Polotsk in 1656 during the Russian-Polish War, Simeon of Polotsk was invited, along with other scientists, to Moscow, where he soon became a court poet and mentor to the royal children. At the same time, he founded a Latin school in the Spassky Monastery behind the Icon Row, in which, by royal decree, he taught some people “Alvar” (Alvarez’s Latin grammar) and the composition of verses and orations.

Being a supporter of Western European enlightenment, Simeon of Polotsk is an energetic antagonist of the “Greek” trend, which had its defenders mainly in the Chudov and Rtishchev schools. On behalf of the council convened in 1666 about Patriarch Nikon, Simeon of Polotsk wrote the book “The Rod of Government” (in 1668) in defense of Nikon’s innovations and in denouncing the “schism”. In addition, his theological works are known: “The Crown of Faith” (the first popular dogmatic system in the north of Russia) and a short catechism.

But most of all, the activity of Simeon of Polotsk in the church-administrative sphere was expressed in the renewal of the preaching word. The religious and moral ideal, defined by two collections of his sermons: “The Soulful Dinner” (109 sermons) and “The Soulful Supper” (78 sermons and 29 teachings), is close to ascetic. Of the total number, only 26 of them treat the issues of time and the needs of society, but despite this, Simeon of Polotsk is a constant messenger of state needs. In the rest of his sermons, he denounces “evil morals in general,” promotes sound Christian concepts, etc. The books written by Polotsky reveal the author’s considerable erudition, but differ unfavorably from the lively, vibrant and folk-Russian works of his contemporary Old Believers (Abakkuk and others) by being soulless , official, “non-national” syllable.

Standing at the head of the poets of his time, Simeon of Polotsk wrote two collections of syllabic poems: “The Multi-Colored Vertograd” (an encyclopedia of moral instructions, literary and scientific information, issues of education), and “Rhythmologion”, concluding speeches of a panegyric nature in case of various events in the royal family. Finally, the important merit of Simeon of Polotsk as a poet is that he was one of the first to introduce Moscow to dramatic art, writing in the spirit medieval mysteries three plays that were performed at the royal court: “On the Prodigal Son,” “On Nebuchadnezzar and the Three Youths,” and “On Nebuchadnezzar and Holofernes.” Using all his influence and energy to make science a factor in public life, Simeon of Polotsk worked to establish schools, founded a printing house and even dreamed of an academy, for which he composed a charter.

Ivana. A bright representative of syllabic poetry.

Educator and theologian

Simeon of Polotsk was born in Polotsk in 1629. In addition to him, the family had four children.

He was educated at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy under Lazar Baranovich and at the Vilna Jesuit Academy. Returning to Polotsk in 1656, he took monastic vows in Orthodoxy and became the didaskal of the Polotsk Orthodox fraternal school. Then he met Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) while visiting the city.

In 1664 Simeon left for Moscow. Here, on behalf of the Tsar, in 1665 he organized a school at the Zaikonospassky Monastery to train clerks of the Order of Secret Affairs, where he was also a teacher (in 1669 he was replaced by his student Sylvester Medvedev).

Polotsky came up with the idea that secular knowledge does not contradict the true faith, defended the need to develop secular education, familiarization with European culture through the study of the Latin language.

He embodied these views both at the Zaikonospasskaya school and when teaching the royal children, becoming their mentor in 1667. Thanks to Polotsky, Fyodor, Sophia and Ivan received a good education, they knew Polish and Latin, Fyodor Alekseevich even wrote poetry. To teach them, the monk wrote several works: a collection of poems for reading “The Multi-Colored Vertograd”, “The Life and Teaching of Christ our Lord and God”, “The Book of Brief Catechetical Questions and Answers”, “The Crown of the Catholic Faith” (in this book Polotsky used the Bible according to text of the Vulgate, often quoted Western Church Fathers).

In the 1680s, Simeon of Polotsk was one of those who stood at the origins of the creation. He is credited with the authorship of the original Charter of the Academy, submitted to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich for approval by Sylvester Medvedev in 1682.

In addition to teaching, Simeon was also involved in church activities. In 1665, he participated in the preparation of the Local Council on the Deposition, which took place in 1666 with the participation of the Eastern Patriarchs. The same council instructed Polotsk to write an essay called “The Rod of Government” and designed to confirm those who waver in the faith. It was recommended by the patriarchs for reading by Christians, but in 1690, after the death of Simeon, the book was condemned for the Catholic heresies present in it (for example, the bread-worshipping heresy associated with the question of the time of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts). It was on this issue that a theological debate took place in 1673, in which Simeon of Polotsk, representing the “Latinists,” spoke out against Epiphanius Slavinetsky. At that time his views were not yet condemned.

Polotsk also translated the works of the Bishop of the Jerusalem Church, Paisius Ligarid.

Writer and social and political figure

A new phenomenon in the literature of the 17th century was syllabic versification, based on an equal number of syllables in a line, a pause in the middle of the line, and stress on the penultimate syllable of the last word. The flourishing of syllabic poetry is associated with the name of Simeon of Polotsk. He was the author of the poetry collections “Rhythmologion” and “Multicolored Vertograd”, as well as the “Rhymed Psalter” translated into verse. Simeon's verses, glorifying members of the royal family, were of a panegyric nature. The work of Polotsky and his successors - Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin - bore the features of Baroque literature with its allegories, metaphors, and linguistic borrowings. Polotsky also wrote two dramatic works for the nascent theater: “The Comedy about King Nebuchadnezzar, about the Golden Body and about the Three Youths in the Cave who were not burned” and “The Comedy of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.”

His socio-political ideas were also expressed in the literary works of Simeon of Polotsk. He saw the real embodiment of the “common good” and “universal justice” in royal justice. The principle of equal justice he proclaimed was an absolutist principle of equality of subjects before the monarch. Polotsky expressed thoughts about the transcendental significance of a person, calling for him to be valued not for his origin, but according to his merits, his contribution to the “common good.” At the same time, Simeon advocated strengthening the class system, but proposed softening the oppression of peasants and slaves in order to avoid popular uprisings.

In his writings, Simeon of Polotsk created the image of an ideal monarch - wise, enlightened, fair, guarding the law. The duty of a true monarch, as he believed, is to take care of the education of his subjects. Polotsky believed that the spread of education in Russian society was the basis for the prosperity of the state and the morality of its inhabitants.

After his move to Moscow Simeon of Polotsk had the opportunity to make a brilliant career and occupy the highest positions in the church hierarchy, but he avoided this path, preferring instead the role of a close associate of the royal family with the rank of a simple monk. Outstanding personality of Polotsk.

Simeon of Polotsk short history

Simeon of Polotsk, who remained under this name in history, actually received the name Samuel at baptism, and his last name was Petrovsky-Sitnianovich. He was born in Polotsk or its environs in 1629. At the end of the 1640s he studied at the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium, which was the center of Orthodox scholarship in southwestern Rus'. Later, most likely, the young man continued his education at the Vilna Jesuit Academy, where, according to some sources, he joined the Uniate Basilian Order. Researchers often blame him for this fact, but it was impossible to get a decent education in any other way in those days - many people from southern Rus' followed this path, after the Uniate experience they returned to the fold of Orthodoxy, moved to Russia and became famous church hierarchs.

In 1656, Samuil Sitnianovich’s stay in Polotsk was documented. He took monastic vows with the name Simeon, joined the brethren of the Polotsk Epiphany Monastery and became a didaskal (teacher) of the fraternal school. In the same year, the Tsar, who went to the Russian army, which was then at war with the Swedes, visited Polotsk, where he personally met the young teacher. Twelve of Simeon’s students recited welcoming verses of his composition, which struck the autocrat to the very heart - such things were unknown in Moscow at that time. The acquaintance was strengthened in 1660, when Simeon of Polotsk, as part of the Polotsk delegation, attended the Moscow Council dedicated to Nikon’s unauthorized abandonment of the patriarchal throne.

In the early 1660s, Polotsk again fell under Polish rule, and those who expressed their sympathies for Russia felt uncomfortable there. There is silent information that Simeon of Polotsk was denounced, after which he fled to Rus'.

Simeon of Polotsk in Moscow

In 1664 we find him in Moscow. The Belarusian monk literally shocked the Muscovites with his European learning, and he soon took leading roles at the royal court. He was trusted with the most important missions. Thus, on behalf of the Council of 1666, Simeon of Polotsk wrote “The Rod of Government” denouncing the views of Nikita Pustosvyat and priest Lazar, the leaders of the Russian schism. In 1670, a new theological work by Simeon appeared: “The Crown of the Catholic Faith.” In the mid-1660s, he trained young clerks of the Order of Secret Affairs, preparing them for the diplomatic career. Since 1667, the learned monk became the educator of the royal children - and later the young Peter “passed” through his hands.

With his accession to the throne in 1676, the influence of his former mentor grew even greater. In 1678, Simeon of Polotsk was allowed to start his own printing house, not accountable to the Patriarch; its first publication was the Primer. A year later, Simeon prepared a project for the future, the first higher educational institution in Russia - it was opened after the death of the “author”, in 1687.

At the same time, he did not want to make an official career - according to a contemporary, Simeon of Polotsk never aspired to become a “boss”, preferring a “quiet life near the sun.” He embodied the purest type of armchair scientist and poet, immersed in the world of his own poetic dreams. He had an extensive library, which mainly included books by ancient and Western authors; Simeon wrote daily - his creative heritage includes about fifty thousand poetic lines.

Simeon of Polotsk, the founder of Russian syllabic poetry

Simeon of Polotsk was the founder of Russian syllabic poetry, imparting to his work bright baroque features: this is a stylistic “decoration”, and a powerful ancient echo, and ornamentalism (what are his poems, made in the shape of a star or a heart!), and the deliberate difficulty of speech caused by unusual arrangement of words... In 1678, Simeon of Polotsk prepared two collections of poetry (“Rhythmologion” and “Vertograd multicolored”), opening the genre of the poetic book in Russian culture, and also translated the Psalter into verse. In addition, two of his “moralizing” plays for the court theater are known.

Death of Simeon

The educator died in 1680. He was buried in the Zaikonospassky Monastery.

Alas, posthumous fate was not too merciful to Simeon of Polotsk. At the end of the 1680s, his religious writings were condemned and banned - at the insistence of Patriarch Joachim, who always disliked people from southwestern Rus', not without reason considering them infected with Latin. Simeon's best student Sylvester Medvedev, accused of heresy, was beheaded.

Already in the 19th-20th centuries, the opinion about the mediocrity of Simeon’s poetic creativity became almost a commonplace. This is unlikely to be the case. Phenomena of the past cannot be judged by the standards of the present; they can only be understood by plunging into bygone times, into their “objective” and spiritual context. And from this point of view, Simeon of Polotsk stands as an entire era in the history of Russian education (in the modern sense), its founder. And in Russian culture, if you look at the facts impartially, a new time is opening, perhaps, in his name.

Boris Viktorovich Sapunov

How transformations happen

In those years, Moscow became the generally recognized center of the spiritual and cultural life of the Eastern Slavs. Here, all the best that was developed in the process of historical development of these peoples was synthesized.

Our hero, with all his activities, enriched the cultures of fraternal peoples, promoted the culture of the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples into the Russian culture of his time.

Samuil Petrovsky Sitnianovich received his higher education in Kyiv, at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, founded by the outstanding Ukrainian humanist Petro Mohyla in 1632.

Studying in this Ukrainian center of education introduced him to the culture of the fraternal people, who in many respects are close to the Great Russians-Muscovites. The founder of the Academy, a man of broad European education, Pyotr Semyonovich Mogila (1596-1647), had a huge influence on the formation of his personality. He was the Kyiv metropolitan since 1632, and consistently fought against the strengthening of Catholic influence. Through him, our hero became familiar with European civilization in its eastern version, many elements of which he subsequently tried to transfer to Russian soil.

After completing his studies in Kyiv, our defendant returned to his native Polotsk, where in 1656 he became a monk under the name of Simeon. There he received the nickname Polotsk, after his place of birth.

Secret order. Raising an Emperor

The Emperor read the text, remembered the talented monk and invited him to Moscow. However, the move was delayed due to a number of circumstances, and Simeon arrived in the capital only eight years later, in 1664.

First, the sovereign entrusted him with work in the Secret Order. Simeon taught young clerks at the school, which was then located in the Spassky Monastery.

In 1665, Simeon offered the sovereign a “Good Greeting” on the occasion of the birth of the royal son, and thereby strengthened the sovereign’s affection for his person. And in 1667, Simeon received the “great sovereign favor” - he was appointed teacher of the royal children - Alexei, Fyodor and Sophia. Especially for them, he wrote the work “The Wind City of Many Colors.”

Thus, Simeon of Polotsk got the opportunity to influence the formation of the mentality of the highest officials of the state, to instill in them his ideology. From that moment on, S. Polotsk was under a “high roof” and became inaccessible to the machinations of numerous enemies.

According to Professor B.N. Mityurov, among the students of S. Polotsk was young Pyotr Alekseevich, the future Emperor Peter the Great.

This is very interesting information. It is well known that Peter joined Western civilization in Kukuy, a German settlement in Moscow. But if in Kukui Pyotr Alekseevich saw German life in the Russian model, then his teacher S. Polotsky introduced the prince to European culture, so to speak, in a training, strict academic presentation 1.

Window to Europe through Moscow

This idea was once emphasized by V.O. Klyuchevsky, who argued that was an intermediary in the process of penetration of Western culture, life and European education into Russia “Orthodox monk of Latin training S. Polotsk” 2 .

S. Polotsky not only taught his royal students the humanities (languages, rhetoric), but also formed their political consciousness, arguing that “Russia expands its glory not only with the sword, but with the fleeting type, through books, which are eternal” 3 .

The school, founded by S. Polotsky in the Spassky Monastery, received recognition from the Moscow elite. It functioned successfully, attracting a large number of people wishing to receive a solid education there. It was the first secular state educational institution in Moscow (and in Russia), where the pro-Western direction in Russian education was established, but at the same time its national and Orthodox general character was not lost.

Such a famous gymnasium! Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy

Thus, the concept of higher humanities education in Russia was prepared and the first practical steps were taken to implement it. But in reality the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was opened in 1687, after the death of Simeon of Polotsk.

A major role in the dissemination of S. Polotsky’s educational ideas was played by the so-called “Upper Printing House”, which since 1676 was at his complete disposal and whose publications were of a secular nature.

It can be argued that S. Polotsky’s activities in the field of education, his successes in spreading secular education in Russia, which merged the best Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian traditions with elements of European culture, prepared the ground for Peter’s transformations in the field of culture.

On the essence of schism and the importance of unity

He took a clear position on the issue of church schism.

The Russian Orthodox Church, unlike supranational The Roman Catholic Church has always been a national structure that expressed and defended the interests of the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples. The schismatic Old Believers who opposed the United National Church destroyed the community of the people for whom Orthodoxy meant something more than a confession. The split was primarily beneficial to Russia's enemies. It is no coincidence that A.I. Solzhenitsyn called the split “a great tragedy of the Russian people.”

In 1666, S. Polotsky sharply condemned the petitioners - the schismatics Lazarus and Nikita. In 1667, his essay “The Rod of Orthodoxy” was published, in which the views of the Old Believers were sharply condemned. In the same year, the Church Council highly appreciated this treatise by S. Polotsk.

S. Polotsky is the author of the poetic translation of one of the most widely read books of the Bible, “The Psalter” (Rhymed Psalter. M, 1686). This publication combines the efforts of S. Polotsky and the authors of the illustrations: the great Russian isographer S. Ushakov and the talented engraver A. Trukhmensky.

Our figure stood at the origins of the Russian national theater. For his stage, he wrote two plays, one of which, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” was at one time a great success with the audience.

A talented poet, playwright, preacher, S. Polotsky was a pioneer in Russia national syllabic poetry, the idea of ​​which was formed in his mind under the influence of the Ukrainian literary tradition.

Let's summarize some results.

Simeon of Polotsk was the largest figure of the Moscow Baroque era. He brought elements of the culture of the fraternal Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples to Russian soil, combining them with elements of European education, while preserving the foundations of the Russian mentality.

When considering and assessing his contribution to Russian culture of the second half of the 17th century, one should not limit ourselves only to the context of the historical and cultural background of Moscow at that time. Much of what the Belarusian educator wrote about and actually did is relevant today, at the beginning of the 21st century.

This is the highest assessment of the activities in Russia of a Belarusian by origin, a Ukrainian by education, and a Russian by self-awareness, Simeon of Polotsk.

1 Mityurov B.N. Valuable pedagogical heritage of Simeon of Polotsk // Simeon of Polotsk: worldview, socio-political and literary activities. Polotsk, 1999. P. 109.
2 Klyuchevsky V.O. Russian history course. Part IX. M., 1988. P. 259.
3 Simeon of Polotsk. Selected works. M.-L., 19953. P. 159

Literature

1. Abetsadarsky L.S. Belarusians in Moscow in the 17th century. Minsk, 1957.
2. Eremin N.P. Simeon Polotsky - publications and comments. M.-L., 1952.
3. Pushkarev L. Simeon of Polotsk (Russian writers of the 17th century). M., 1972. S. 197-335.
4. Tatarsky N. Simeon of Polotsk. M., 1886.