Holy Fools question

[Svitlana Kobets]

Dear Natalia and Denise Tapp,



This is one of the questions addressing the veracity of hagiographic
writings and also such issues as canonization procedures, apocrypha, and
national mythologies (the archetypal in the Russian culture tension between
the holy fool and the tsar).

As you say, according to the hagiographical and apocryphal sources, there
were indeed quite a few encounters between St. Basil and Ivan IV. (See
Kuznetsov, Ivan I, "Sviatye Blazhennye Vasilii i Ioann, Khrista Radi
Moskovskie Chudotvortsy," Moskva, 1910), where the iurodivyi played the role
of Ivan's spiritual mentor, acted as God's mouthpiece, a clairvoyant, and a
miracle workers. All of these episodes were later added to the saint's life.

As we know, Ivan was born in 1530, while St. Basil the Blessed (St. Vasilii
Blazhennyi of Moscow) died in 1552, therefore they had a chance to interact
yet historical evidence about their interaction(s) is very scarce. An
English travelor to Medieval Muscovy, Giles Fletcher, accounts about Ivan IV
distress at St. Vasilii's funeral (see Fletcher, Gilesm Of the Russe
Commonwealth, 1591, R. Pipes, (ed.) Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1966). At the same time Vasilii's name was not known to
Fletcher, nor is it mentioned in the book.
For discussions of St. Basil's Life and his relationship with Ivan the
Terrible see Natalie Challis and Horace W. Dewey, "Basil the Blessed, Holy
Fool of Moscow, In: Russian History, vol 14, 1987, p. 47-60 and Panchenko,
Aleksandr, "Iurodstvo kak zrelishche," in Likhachev, Panchenko, Ponyrko,
"Smekh v Drevnei Rusi," Leningrad, Nauka, 1984.

Good luck,
Svitlana Kobets



> Denise Tapp's question:
>
> >From my remote outpost in Memphis, I am attempting to research
> Holy Fools, specifically Basil the Blessed.  For some reason, I
> recall learning (25 years ago!) that Ivan IV never actually
> encountered Basil, who died prior to Ivan's reign, however,
> most of the information I can locate comes from Orthodox Church
> sources and they detail a long and interesting personal
> relationship between the two men.
>
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