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The Ritualisation of Political Power in Early Rus' (10Th-12Th Centuries)

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The Ritualisation of Political Power in Early Rus' (10Th-12Th Centuries) The Ritualisation of Political Power in Early Rus’ (10th-12th centuries) Alexandra Vukovic University of Cambridge Jesus College June 2015 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Preface Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration where specifically indicated in the text. No parts of this dissertation have been submitted for any other qualification. Statement of Length This dissertation does not exceed the word limit of 80,000 words set by the Degree Committee of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages. Word count: 79, 991 words Alexandra Vukovic Abstract The Ritualisation of Political Power in Early Rus’ (10th-12th centuries) Alexandra Vukovic This dissertation examines the ceremonies and rituals involving the princes of early Rus’ and their entourage, how these ceremonies and rituals are represented in the literature and artefacts of early Rus’, the possible cultural influences on ceremony and ritual in this emergent society, and the role of ceremony and ritual as representative of political structures and in shaping the political culture of the principalities of early Rus’. The process begins by introducing key concepts and historiographic considerations for the study of ceremony and ritual and their application to the medieval world. The textological survey that follows focusses on the chronicles of Rus’, due to their compilatory nature, and discusses the philological, linguistic, and contextual factors governing the use of chronicles in this study. This examination of the ceremonies and rituals of early Rus’, the first comprehensive study of its kind for this region in the early period, engages with other studies of ceremony and ritual for the medieval period to inform our understanding of the political culture of early Rus’ and its influences. The structure of this dissertation is dictated by the chronology of ceremonies and rituals that structure the reigns of Rus’ princes in literary sources. The first chapter investigates—both comparatively and locally—the development of enthronement rituals depicted in textual sources and on coins. The second chapter focusses on rituals of association that are represented as mediating relations between princes in a non-central functioning dynastic culture. Oath-taking (and breaking) and association through commensality—dining and gift-giving—are examined in terms of historical context and the internal categorisation of associative acts in textual sources from Rus’. The final chapter builds on recent studies of ritualised warfare in early Rus’ and examines the ritualisation of princely movement—the most common action associated with the princes of Rus’ in textual sources—in times of war. The celebration of triumph and princely entry along with ritualised invocations for intercession in war are acts examined—both in textual sources and iconographic artefacts—as rituals of triumphal rulership reflecting both Byzantine and wider medieval culture. This study concludes with a discussion of the themes explored in its three chapters and offers further considerations about the influence of the Church and monastic culture inherited from Byzantium (and developed in Rus’) on the preservation, creation, and promulgation of ritualised political power. In Memoriam Alexander Vukovic Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... i. Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. ii. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Ritual: The Transformative Aspect ............................................................................................... 6 The Structure of Rites: The Ideological Domain ......................................................................... 8 The Structure or Rites: The Performative Domain ..................................................................... 10 Textological survey of sources ................................................................................................... 11 Tekstologiia or Textkritik? A short note on editing practices ...................................................... 17 Chapter I: Ceremonies of Inauguration ................................................................................. 21 Enthronement ceremonies in Kiev ............................................................................................. 26 Enthronements in Vladimir-Suzdal’ and Novgorod ................................................................... 40 The Act of “Sitting” or “Being Seated” on the Throne .............................................................. 47 The Visual Rhetoric of Enthronement ........................................................................................ 56 Chapter II: Rituals of Association ........................................................................................... 78 Oaths and Oath-taking ................................................................................................................ 80 Association Through Dining: Commensality in Early Rus’ ....................................................... 99 Association Through Gifts and Gift-Giving ............................................................................. 121 Chapter III: Rituals of Itinerancy, Intercession, and Commemoration ............................ 133 Triumphal Entries and Adventus ............................................................................................... 136 Intercession for Victory ............................................................................................................ 145 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 161 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 166 Supplementary Material Translated Passages .................................................................................................................... 2 Plates .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Maps ........................................................................................................................................... 52 Genealogical Tables .................................................................................................................. 55 i. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Simon Franklin, for his inspiration, unwavering support, commitment to my research, understanding during times of great adversity, and impression of optimism in the face of delay. Without Professor Franklin’s intellectual stimulation, good judgement, patience, and rigour, this thesis would not have seen the light of day. I have had the unquantifiable luck to have been taught by wise, inspiring, intellectually generous, and encouraging teachers and mentors, I am especially grateful to Monsieur Georges Bischoff, Monsieur Paolo Odorico and Madame Marie-Élisabeth Handman who introduced me to the study of Medieval History, its sources, and methods. I would also like to recognise Dr Jana Howlett, Professor Rosamond McKitterick, Dr Jonathan Shepard, Professor George Majeska, Dr Yulia Mikhailova, Dr Christian Raffensperger, Dr Monica White, Dr Ines Garcia de la Puente, Dr Catherine Hills, Dr Judy Quinn, Dr Nora Berend, and Dr Olenka Pevny for their guidance and willingness to share research and knowledge. For his immense kindness, wise counsel, and friendship, I am eternally indebted to Dr Jeffrey Michael Featherstone who is the inspiration for this thesis. When I began this thesis, I believed that acknowledgements beyond academic recognition were mere captationes benevolentiae. However, it is now my whole-hearted conviction that without the unwavering support, companionship, optimism, and conviviality of my friends and family, this dissertation would not have come to fruition. In my Canadian homeland, I am especially grateful to Victoria Moote, Alexandra Berechet, Amanda Bradley, Laurence Côté-Fournier, Ken Yung, Mikhail Santos, Iffat Sajjad, Miriam Henry and Hira Mian for their unfailing friendship. For being a source of wisdom, optimism, and resilience in the face of adversity, I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Michael Gervers. I must also express my gratitude to my mother and grandmother for their support, patience, and fortitude throughout this long process and all the tragedies and difficulties that attended it. I owe a debt of gratitude to those I befriended during my studies in France for the endless kindness, patience, good-humour, and acceptance they demonstrated to a young foreign student in Strasbourg and Paris, my thanks to Nora Soufi, Deniz Günce Demirhisar, Kassia Aleksic, James Beason, Melissa Parsons, and Les Piquette. To my friends from the Bibliothèque byzantine at the Collège de France, Nairusz Haidar Vela, Saska Bogevska, Étienne Blondeau, Komaït Abdallah, Nikos Panayotou, and Elena Nonveiller, I am ever thankful for our many invigorating conversations and our open and frank exchanges. To my Cambridge
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