Old Russian bishops of the 12th century: the view of the source researcher. Review of the monograph by V. I. Panova “Metropolitans and bishops of Russia in the 12th century on the basis of the Ipatiev chronicle”. Voronezh: Ed. house of the VSU, 2016, 364 p

The growth of scientific interest in the problems of the formation and development of the Old Russian church hierarchy is natural and fully justified. This is explained not only by the key role of the episcopate and the clergy in the organization of church institutions, but also by the content of ancient Russian written sources. However, despite the fact that the number of works devoted to specific subjects and circumstances of Old Russian ecclesiastical reality is growing, many problems of source study of monuments related to the history of Old Russian Christianity remain poorly understood. The creation of a comprehensive work devoted to the peculiarities of the source study of texts containing information on the history of the Russian Church is a matter of a distant future. The book of V. I. Panova reviewed in the review is devoted to the consideration of the activities of the Russian metropolitans and bishops of the 12th century in the Ipatiev Chronicle. This is the first comprehensive study of Old Russian texts of church content. The work done by the researcher impresses with its accuracy and thoughtfulness. The author can be considered one of the best continuers of work, started by the outstanding Russian historians A. A. Shakhmatov and Ya. N. Shchapov. Conclusions and observations of V. I. Panova deserve all-round support and approval