I. A. Lobakova Žitie mitropolita Filippa. Issledo­vanie i teksty. Izdat. Dmitrij Bulanin S.-Peterburg 2006. 308 S. ISBN: 5-86007-520-0.

This important book is devoted to the Vita of Metropolitan Filipp of Moscow, the sixteenth-century Russian religious leader who suffered martyrdom for publicly upbraiding tsar Ivan IV. 150 pages of analysis are devoted to the manuscript tradition of the Vita, structural and stylistic differences between its various versions, and borrowings from other sources. An equal amount of space is devoted to the publication of texts.

The study identifies six redactions, which all share a similar narrative structure and trace their ultimate origins to an archetype produced before 1597. Lobakova argues that the short redaction (which exists in 3 copies later than the mid-seventeenth century) is not a pared down version of the more extensive redactions, but rather provides readings closer to the original. In her opinion the Tulupov redaction (which exists in over 170 copies, the earliest of which may date to the 1610s) and the Kolychev redaction (which exists in a few mid-seventeenth century copies), descend from an extended version. The versions of the life found in later seventeenth-century chronographs derive from the short redaction, the version found in the printed Prolog derives from the Tulupov redaction, and the Milutin Minei goes back to the hypothetical archetype of the extended versions. Lobakova identifies additional borrowings from the Byzantine philosopher Agapetus in the Tulupov redaction, demonstrates their connection to the earlier of two Russian translations, and publishes the texts in an appendix. Surprisingly, she says almost nothing about each redaction’s repertoire of Biblical citations and paraphrases and makes no effort to establish their possible sources.

While recognizing this book as a major step forward in our understanding of literary traditions devoted to Filipp, a few words of criticism are in order. Lobakova entirely overlooked the abridged, rhetorical redaction of the vita embedded in the history attributed to prince Andrei Kurbsky. It is highly notable that only the Tulupov redaction and the Kurbsky narrative feature the miracle of the chains in its full form. Regrettably neither her analysis nor stemma reflects this central hagiographic fact. The publication of the chronograph redaction for some unexplained reason omits the sections on the sack of Novgorod. The extensive enumeration of manuscripts on pages 297–301 misses the copy in the Vatican Library.

Lobakova deserves praise for making most (but by no means all) of the key texts available for the first time. Her study will be central to all future discussions of the confrontations between the terrible tyrant and the martyred metropolitan. Readers looking for an extensive discussion of Filipp’s role in Russian culture will be disappointed, but scholars interested in hagiography and technical matters of the manuscript tradition will find much to appreciate in thus study.

Brian J. Boeck, Chicago, IL

Zitierweise: Brian J. Boeck über: I. A. Lobakov: Žitie mitropolita Filippa. Issledovanie i teksty. Izdat. Dmitrij Bulanin S.-Peterburg 2006. ISBN: 5-86007-520-0, in: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. Neue Folge, 58 (2010) H. 1, S. 107: http://www.dokumente.ios-regensburg.de/JGO/Rez/Boeck_Lobakova_Zitie_mitropolita.html (Datum des Seitenbesuchs)