“Index of Forbidden Books” by Markell Radyshevsky, Archimandrite (On the History of Spiritual Censorship in Russia)

Abstract

The article highlights a little known side of the social activities of the prominent spiritual writer Archimandrite Markell Radyshevsky, the most prominent representative of the oppositional and conservative wing of the Russian clergy of the eighteenth century. In 1727-1728, being among the brethren of the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky monastery, Radyshevsky made consistent criticism of non-Orthodox publications that appeared from 1722 to 1725 in the printing house of Alexander Nevsky monastery. For the first time the critical marginalia of Archimandrite Markell to quotations selected from various books of Peter's time, mostly from "Theatron" by W. Stratemann translated into Russian by Gavriil Buzhinsky, and also from the "Book of blessings" and "Spiritual Regulations" by Theofan Prokopovich and others are introduced into scientific circulation. Radyshevsky's criticism of books infected with Lutheran and Calvin heresy marked the emergence of spiritual censorship in Russia. The article for the first time establishes a connection between the critical remarks of Radyshevsky and the subsequent prohibitions of some publications in government decrees. In the Appendix to the article Radyshevsky's objections to the text of the book "Theatron, or Historical Theatre " and other books of Peter's time are published for the first time.

Keywords

• markell radyshevsky
• theophan prokopovich
• the printing house of aleksandro-nevsky monastery
• criticism of the publications of 1722–1725
• “theatron
• or historical theatre”
• spiritual and political censorship
• the lutheran heresy