(Boris a Gleb: Politické a teologické dôsledky prekonávania násilia cez obetu v Kyjevskej Rusi)

Abstract: In the East Slavic historical consciousness, the sacrifice of the first canonized Rus’ saints Boris and Gleb (died in 1015) came to be viewed as a reflection of the sacrifice of the Old Testament figure Abel and as a model of the imitation of Christ concerning the renouncement of secular power. The author of this article advocates the following thesis: the fact that the first canonized East Slavic saints came from the secular ruling elite testifies to the attempts of the Rus’ literati to stress the strong influence of recently adopted Christianity on politically important decisions in Kievan Rus’, which allegedly achieved its religious “maturity” within the context of salvation history through this. The existence of the martyrs among the secular ruling elite, however, cannot be viewed as a specific element of East Slavic medieval culture alone because this type of sainthood was, despite local differences, present in recently Christianized lands on the northern and eastern periphery of Europe at the time.

Authors: Malmenvall, Simon

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2019.12.2.43-58

Publication order reference: Doc. dr. Simon Malmenvall; University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology, Research Program Group “Ethical and Religious Foundations and Perspectives of Society”, Poljanska 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

The second affiliation to doc. dr. Simon Malmenvall: Catholic Institute, Faculty of Business Studies, Chair of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Applied Ethics, Krekov trg 1, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2019 vol.: 12, issue: 2, pages: 43-58 (PDF file)

Keywords: BORIS AND GLEB, KIEVAN RUS’, SAINTHOOD, VIOLENCE, POLITICAL THEOLOGY, SALVATION HISTORY

Language: ENGLISH