Lives of Saints in the Keleiny Chronicle by Demetrius of Rostov as a Source on a Sacred History

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Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 22
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The research was completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 22-18-00174, https://rscf.ru/project/ 22-18-00174/), Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of Russian Academy of Sciences.
Abstract:

The article examines the last major work Keleiny Chronicle by Demetrius of Rostov. Keleiny Chronicle is an account of biblical events supplied with exegetical commentaries and moralizations. The work is based on numerous sources, both Slavonic and West European, including various theological and historical works. Keleiny Chronicle was created right after the publication of Demetrius’ four-volume Chet’i Minei, and thus it reflects his longtime hagiographic studies. First of all, in the Keleiny Chronicle lives of saints serve as the most authoritative source validating information borrowed from works by European theologists and historians. Lives of saints (along with the writings of Church Fathers) occupy one of the highest places in the “hierarchy of sources” detected in the Keleiny Chronicle. In many cases when pieces of information conveyed by various authors contradict each other, references to lives of saints help to resolve contradictions. References to saints’ vitae are also used in the analysis of various aspects of sacred history, including chronological, geographical, and genealogical; lives accompany the presentation of such plots as the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Finally, lives of saints are used for commenting on Ancient Greek myths included in the Keleiny Chronicle.
Keywords: Demetrius of Rostov, Keleiny Chronicle, lives of saints, biblical history, source studies, hagiography.
Author: Aleksandr V. Volkov
Information about the author:

Aleksandr V. Volkov, PhD in Philology, Junior Research Fellow, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of Russian Academy of Sciences, Makarov emb. 4, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6193-7804

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
For citation:

Volkov, A.V. “Lives of Saints in the ‘Keleiny Chronicle’ by Demetrius of Rostov as a Source on a Sacred History.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 22. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2023, pp. 244–271. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2023-22-244-271 
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/XPQTZH
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Publication Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2023-22-244-271
Received: 05.06.2023
Approved after reviewing: 20.07.2023
Date of publication: 20.09.2023

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