The Tale of Boiarynia Morozova: A Seventeenth-Century Religious Life [Hardcover]

She has given the field an elegant, subtle edition of a most useful, too-long-neglected primary source. Along with recent studies by Serhii Plokhy and Isolde Thyret, she vividly reminds us of the religious ferment of the seventeenth century in Muscovy and Europe generally. Thanks to Ziolkowski, boiarynia Morozova can now take her place among the many zealots who were her contemporaries. Anyone seeking an introduction to and thoughtful discussion of seventeenth-century religious culture, the hagiographical tradition, or the appropriation of a religious figure by later secular revolutionaries will benefit from this book.Margaret Ziolkowski's book comprises a thorough introduction to, skillful translation of, and erudite commentary on the four-hundred-year-old Tale of Boiarynia Morozova. The story of Feodosia Morozova, a member of the Russian aristocratic elite and a major participant in the Russian Othodox Schism, describes one of the most violent ruptures in religious historythe complete destabilization of the bastions of church and society in seventeenth-century Russia. In her explication of this famous text, Ziolkowski examines the hagiography of the Tale, the spiritual asceticism of Morozova in the context of Christian womens' struggles for independence, and the role this prominent female dissident has played as a symbol of resistance to corrupt authority. This work makes a significant contribution to the history of the Orthodox Church, pre-Petrine Russia, women in religion, and the study of medieval Russian literature.Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Tale of Boiarynia Morozova Chapter 3 Archpriest Avvakum's Lament for the Three Martyrs Chapter 4 Excerpts from the Correspondence of Feodosia Morozova with Avvakum and His Family Chapter 5 CommentaryMargaret Ziolkowski is Professor in the department of German, Russian and East Asian Languages at Miami University. She is the authorLiterary Exorcisms of Stalinism: Russian Writers and the Soviet Past (1998) andHagiogl3ã