The Cathedral Clergy
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral Clergy is a novel by Nikolai Leskov
, a series of "romantic chronicles" (as the author called them) of the imaginary town of Stargorod.
It was first published in ##4-7 1872
issues of Russky vestnik magazine and formed a trilogy with Old Years in Plodomasovo (1869) and A Decayed Family (1874).
issues appeared the Book 1 of it under the original title of Awaiting Waters. The romantic chronicle (Чающие движения воды. Романтическая хроника). The publication then has been stopped after the raw between Leskov and Krayevsky, as to the cuts that had been made. Then Literaturnaya biblioteka started publishing the novel from the beginning, in its 1868 ##1 and 2 issues (as Bozhedomy. Chapters of Awaiting Waters, the unfinished novel), but closed after the February issue's release. Only in 1872 Russky vestnik published the novel's full text's in its renewed version, as Soboryane.
In its original version (as presented by the Book I, in Otechestvennye zapiski) the novel dealt more with the life of Stargorod in general, focusing on its starovery
community with it's problems and altercations, but also describing in detail the ordinary, non-religious people's spiritual leanings. Book I, therefore, looked more like background for the story of Savely Tuberozov, the novel's main character. In the Russky vestnik version most of the side plots, which had little to do with protopope
Tuberozov and his colleagues, have been cut. Konstantin Pizonsky and Platonida who featured prominently in the chronicles disappeared from the latter version and resurfaced as the main characters of Kotin doilets y Platonida short story, included into the collection Novelets and Short Stories by M.Stebnitsky (Vol.1, 1867).
", and expect him to report to them on dissenters, he refuses to comply and criticizes instead the destruction of the old believers
' church as barbarism. As the Governor comes to town, he comes up with a speech complaining of local masters exploiting peasants, making them work on Sundays and religious holidays; describes devastation local rural areas were being submerged into. The Governor doesn't want to listen, and protopope Tuberozov, reprimanded for such an audacity, gets demoted in rank. His mission ends after he summons the whole of the local authority figures to a moleben
and makes a sermon which sounds more like a political speech, promising dires to leaders who treat their people in an inhuman way. Tuberozov gets fired, goes through numerous humiliations, falls ill and dies.
Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was a Russian journalist, novelist and short story writer, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is...
, a series of "romantic chronicles" (as the author called them) of the imaginary town of Stargorod.
It was first published in ##4-7 1872
1872 in literature
The year 1872 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Paul Verlaine abandons his family to go to London with Arthur Rimbaud....
issues of Russky vestnik magazine and formed a trilogy with Old Years in Plodomasovo (1869) and A Decayed Family (1874).
Background
Leskov started working upon his "romantic chronicles" in January 1866. In ## 6-8 (March-April) 1867 Otechestvennye zapiskiOtechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski was a Russian literary magazine published in St Petersburg on a monthly basis between 1818 and 1884. The journal served liberal-minded readers, known as the intelligentsia...
issues appeared the Book 1 of it under the original title of Awaiting Waters. The romantic chronicle (Чающие движения воды. Романтическая хроника). The publication then has been stopped after the raw between Leskov and Krayevsky, as to the cuts that had been made. Then Literaturnaya biblioteka started publishing the novel from the beginning, in its 1868 ##1 and 2 issues (as Bozhedomy. Chapters of Awaiting Waters, the unfinished novel), but closed after the February issue's release. Only in 1872 Russky vestnik published the novel's full text's in its renewed version, as Soboryane.
In its original version (as presented by the Book I, in Otechestvennye zapiski) the novel dealt more with the life of Stargorod in general, focusing on its starovery
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
community with it's problems and altercations, but also describing in detail the ordinary, non-religious people's spiritual leanings. Book I, therefore, looked more like background for the story of Savely Tuberozov, the novel's main character. In the Russky vestnik version most of the side plots, which had little to do with protopope
Protopope
A Protopope , or Protopresbyter, is a priest of higher rank in the Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches, corresponding in general to the Western archpriest or Latin dean.-History:...
Tuberozov and his colleagues, have been cut. Konstantin Pizonsky and Platonida who featured prominently in the chronicles disappeared from the latter version and resurfaced as the main characters of Kotin doilets y Platonida short story, included into the collection Novelets and Short Stories by M.Stebnitsky (Vol.1, 1867).
Synopsis
Priest Savely Tuberozov, a spiritual leader of a small religious community (sobor) in a provincial town of Stargorod, who firmly believes in his spiritual and social mission, but not in making compromises of any kind, comes into conflict with his church bosses and the local authorities. His seniors expect him to "eradicate raskolRaskol
Raskol |schism]]') was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in mid-17th century, triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653, aiming to establish uniformity between the Greek and Russian church practices.-The Raskol:...
", and expect him to report to them on dissenters, he refuses to comply and criticizes instead the destruction of the old believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
' church as barbarism. As the Governor comes to town, he comes up with a speech complaining of local masters exploiting peasants, making them work on Sundays and religious holidays; describes devastation local rural areas were being submerged into. The Governor doesn't want to listen, and protopope Tuberozov, reprimanded for such an audacity, gets demoted in rank. His mission ends after he summons the whole of the local authority figures to a moleben
Moleben
A molében , also called a molieben, service of intercession, or service of supplication, is a supplicatory prayer service used within the Orthodox Christian Church and various Eastern Catholic Churches in honor of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, a Feast, or a particular saint or martyr.The Moleben...
and makes a sermon which sounds more like a political speech, promising dires to leaders who treat their people in an inhuman way. Tuberozov gets fired, goes through numerous humiliations, falls ill and dies.
External links
- Соборяне. The original Russian text.