The Byzantine Emperors’ Legislation on Monasticism and Its Reception in the Kormchaya Book of Patriarch Nikon

The article examines the reception of Byzantine laws on monks and monasteries included in the Printed Kormchaya Book of 1653 and their applicability in Russia in the 17th and the 18th centuries. Special emphasis is made on three legislative sources: the Novellae of Justinian I, the Ecloga of Leo III and Constantine V, and the Procheiron of Basil I. The author purports determining the scale of assimilation of these norms on Russian soil and identifying their compatibility with the realities of the period. The study is based on the comparative analysis of Byzantine sources and their Slavic translations in the Kormchaya, as well as their comparison with Russian legal documents, including the Sobornoye Ulozheniye of 1649. Very thoroughly are scrutinized the contradictions between Byzantine norms (for example, on the admission of dependent persons to monasteries, the monks’ property) and secular Russian legislation. The analysis allows us to state that, despite the Kormchaya’s accurate reproduction of Byzantine laws, their application in Russia of the 17th to the early 18th centuries was rather restricted. With the establishment of the Monastyrskiy Prikaz and Peter Is reforms, the Byzantine norms were progressively displaced as the reflection of a new policy towards monasticism. The study highlights the importance of the Kormchaya as a symbol of canonical tradition, even in the context of its partial conflict with the current legislative practices.