Why is it not possible to write the history of medieval Russian monasticism? A review of Ye. Kharin, Byt i nravy drevnerusskogo monashestva XI-XIII vv. (The lifestyle and customs of medieval Russian monastics in the 11th-13th centuries)

This is a review of the monograph by Fr. Georgy (Yegor Sergeyevich Kharin), a priest of the Izhevsk Diocese and Associate Professor at Udmurt State University. Te work being reviewed is devoted studying the everyday life of medieval Russian monasticism in the 11th-13th centuries. Its novelty is in its atempt to reconstruct and describe the main aspects of the everyday life of monks in pre-Mongol invasion Russia. Te author has been able to draw on a significant number of sources and studies, which has allowed him to be able to reconstruct, to a great extent, the customs and lifestyle of monks and the communities in which they lived. Te author’s atention is mostly focused on male monastic communities, but he touches briefly also upon life in some female convents. Some aspects of the canonical and liturgical life of monasteries are also described, and an atempt is made to study the social ministry of Russian monasteries. Te work is inter-disciplinary in character and will be of interest to a wide audience