‘Latin’ relics of Novgorod in the literary tradition of the Vyg Hermitage: on the interpretation of medieval western European art by Old Believers

Abstract

The article addresses the question of how Old Believers interpreted Novgorod relics of Western European origin – namely, the 12^th-century Magdeburg Gates and the 13^th-century Limoges Gospel covers from the Antoniev Monastery. The scribes of the Vyg Hermitage used these examples of medieval European art in their polemics against the New Ritualists and the followers of Feodosy Vasiliev, who defended the veneration of crosses bearing the “Pilate title” inscription – ІНЦІ (Iisus Nazaryanin Tsar Iudeyskii, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”). As a result of this controversy, a relatively detailed description of these artifacts was produced in the first third of the 18^th century as an appendix to Andrey Denisov’s treatise Collection on the Title on the Cross. One copy of this work is preserved in the Written Sources Department of the Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve. The article also suggests that these relics may have influenced the position of Novgorod supporters of depicting the “Pilate title” on crosses – a stance that sparked a prolonged debate, which ultimately hindered the unification of two major bespopovtsy (priestless) Old Believer factions in the 18^th century. Finally, comparing the Old Believer interpretations of the Latin inscriptions on the Novgorod relics with the original artifacts that have survived to this day makes it possible to assess the Old Believer author’s (most likely the Vyg Hermitage leader Andrey Denisov) proficiency in working with Latin texts. The detailed deciphering of monograms suggests that the work was carried out either by the Vyg scribe himself or with the assistance of someone knowledgeable in the various methods of interpretation and the nuances of Latin pronunciation – features that are reflected in the Cyrillic transcriptions included in the treatise