Translation Query

[Jack Kollmann]

Dear Nora,

         (1)  Re: "Ivana postnogo" -- "John's Fast" is literally correct as
a translation, but the full meaning, as your text explains, is the Day (29
August) of the Fast of the Beheading of John the Forerunner/Precursor
(Baptist); with or without parentheses or brackets or footnote, you might
include some of this more full info; one could, e.g., say "John's Day," or
"the Fast Day of [St.] John [the Baptist]," with footnote:  "the Fast Day
of the Beheading of John the Baptist (29 August)," plus you have to decide
how to render "Predtecha":  Precursor/Forerunner/Baptist.  All of this
depends on how picky and detailed you want your translation and its
supporting apparatus to be.

         (2)  Re: "Nikitskii sorok" -- you're on the right track with your
"conglomeration of Moscow churches."  The Stoglav Council in 1551 decreed
(Chap. 6) that seven church districts should be established in Moscow, that
a "cathedral(sobor)" should be designated in each of the seven districts,
and that a priest supervisor (popovksii starosta) should be appointed to
each sobor to oversee and supervise the qualifications and practices of
parish priests.  Seven districts were in fact delineated at the time of the
council, each containing approx. 40 churches, and thus the nomenclature
arose of calling each district a "forty," one of which was Nikitskii (the
others were Kremlevskii, Kitaigorodskii, Zamoskvoretskii, Prechistenskii,
Sretenskii, and Ivanovskii).
         The expression "sorok sorokov" apparently arose from cross
procession days, when priests and parishioners (from approx. 40 churches)
processed to their district (sorok) "cathedral(sobor)."  As I understand
it, the expression did not originally mean that there were 40 times 40
(=1,600) "churches" in Moscow as of, say, the 1550s, but that cross
processions and parish priests proceeded in each district (sorok) from the
40 (sorok) churches to the district sobor.  In 1594, by which time Moscow
had grown and an 8th district sobor was designated, each sobor had
approx.100 district priests assigned to it.  I haven't researched it, but
it is my impression that the nomenclature of "sorok" districts fell into
disuse at about this time, while the expression "sorok sorokov" came to
mean 40 X 40 churches.  What is the date of your text that refers to the
Nikitskii sorok?

         Numbers of individual church buildings are frequently hard to
determine:  many churches had more than one consecrated altar, each altar
might have a priest assigned to it, and statistics frequently refer to the
number of consecrated altars (not separate church buildings).  For example,
a 17 February 1551 decree naming priest supervisors for Moscow states that
there were 644 churches in Moscow, but if one adds district totals in the
same decree, the total is only 300.  My guess:  there were about 300 church
buildings at the time (which is close to 7 districts times 40 churches),
but a total of 644 consecrated altars.  Figures for 1917:  848 church
buildings (khramy) in Moscow, and 1,620 consecrated altars.  To
repeat:  most estimates are inflated in the sense that consecrated altars
are frequently being counted (not "churches" in the sense of individual
buildings).   One practice that the prelates of the Stoglav Council tried
to reduce was "altar inflation":  secondary altars would be consecrated in
a church, a priest would wrangle an appointment to one of them, and then
the priest with some justification could beg the tsar or the prelates for
financial support since the priest had few if any parishioners on whom to
rely.  In the 17th century the Kremlin Archangel Michael Cathedral had 12
consecrated altars, the Annunciation Cathedral had 9, and the main church
of the Chudov Monastery had 7 altars.  Each altar (indeed, each altar
cloth:  antimins/antimension) could be counted as a "church (tserkov')" in
the sense that a daily liturgy could be performed at it.

         By the way, what is the source (and its date) that you're
translating, concerning what convent, and for what years?

The above strays beyond your questions, but I hope some of it helps.

Jack Kollmann
Stanford University


At 11:30 AM 1/10/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear SEELANGERS,
>I am working on a translation concerning the history of a convent and have
>stumbled over some of the religious terminology.  Perhaps one of you will be
>able to enlighten me.
>1.  Ivana postnogo:  it is explained in the text that this is the
>prostonarodnyj abbreviation for "prazdnik Useknovenija glavy sv. Ioanna
>Predtechi."  Would "John's Fast" convey what a Russian hears in "Ivana
>postnogo"?  I'm not sure how to deal with postnyj as an adjective modifying
>Ivan.
>2.  Nikitskij sorok:  This sounds from context like a conglomeration of
>Moscow churches, but I'm not sure.  The sentence reads:  Sobornuiu tserkov
>Ioanna Predtechi pereveli v razriad prikhodskikh s zachisleniem ee v
>Nikitskij sorok...  While I have found many Russian-lanaguage internet
>mentions of this Nikitskij sorok, they haven't been enough to clarify
>exactly what it is.
>
>Any help would be appreciated.
>Nora Favorov
>Reply on list or to norafavorov at earthlink.net
>
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