Some comments on the authority of the abbot in medieval Russian monasteries (XIth to XIIIth centuries)

The history of medieval Russian monasticism is only now beginning to be studied. Among those institutions of monastic self-organization that remain poorly studied is the institution of abbots of monasteries. Obedience to the head of the monastic community provided the abbot of the monastery not only with broad rights, but also imposed on him a very great responsibility. In the conditions of the Russian early Middle Ages, the complexity of the abbot's position was largely explained by the former high social status of a number of the monasteries residents, which, in the eyes of monks, limited the authority that the abbots could exercise over such monastics. Te structure of most communities was also specific. In the life of the monasteries, both the forms of cenobitic monasticism and the high independence of certain monks were ofen combined. No less acute was the question of the sources of power of the abbot: was it achieved through a brotherly expression of will, or was it obtained in other ways? Despite the similarity between the powers of the majority of abbots, their real rights and opportunities could be quite different in practice. Differences were due to the influence of many factors. Te life of the monastery and the approval of the abbot's work depended, first of all, on the unity and will of the monastics themselves. But other forces could be included in the struggle: founders, diocesan authorities, and the power of princes. In this article, an atempt is made to examine some aspects of the organization of the position of abbot in the monasteries of pre-Mongol Invasion Russia. Te main focus of the study is some of the criteria that were applied to candidates for abbot by monastics and various groups of founders