Christian motives in the tale of people’s militia in 1611-1612 in the New Chronicler

• Main Author: Olga A. Tufanova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2019-12-01
• Series: RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism
• Subjects: New Chronicler; the motive of hoping for God’s help; the motive with God’s help and miracle workers; realistic motives
• Online Access: http://journals.rudn.ru/literary-criticism/article/viewFile/21725/17188
• ISSN: 2312-9220; 2312-9247

The idea of cleansing the Moscow state, closely related to the idea of protecting the true Orthodox faith permeates the tale of people’s militia in 1611-1612 in the New Chronicler. The specifics of the story about the events of 1611-1612, observed in the New Chronicler, which found expression in a combination of motives, reflecting real actions of militia organizing, and motives of hoping for God’s help and with God’s help and miracle workers indicates that relatively recent past is quite deliberately transformed by the author into the system-constructed text, in which all elements are subject to two main ideas. It is not by chance that in the militia organizers personalities in 1611-1612 the author of the New Chronicler emphasizes exclusively the qualities that characterize them as people who deeply believe and act in the difficult events of The Time of Troubles in accordance with the basics and rules of Orthodox culture. In general, the New Chronicler reflected in the story about events in 1611-1612, established by the 30th years of the 17th century the events interpretation, turning the history of the people’s militia in the symbolic “sign”: victory was possible thanks to the “admonition” of the people, the return of the “fallen people” to the Orthodox fundamentals of good behavior, which was consecrated by the God’s help and miracle workers.