“You Asked about Certain People who Would Buy Servants”: about the Christian Attitude towards Slaves and Servants in Rus’

The canonical answers of Metropolitan John II are the oldest canonical monument. It has long attracted the attention of researchers, but throughout its history it has not received a full, as far as possible, commentary. The essay presented to the attention of readers is a commentary on one of the rules of this canonical code. Rule 22 of the Canonical Answers is devoted to the problem of the sale of Christian slaves to Gentiles, the “pagans.” A preliminary analysis of the text allows us to say that in Rus’, when selling slaves, they were not guided by the legislation of the Byzantine Empire, as, for example, it was when organizing Church life. It is obvious that Metropolitan John had an extremely negative attitude towards the practice that took place. However, he did not dare to intervene in what was happening, leaving this issue to the will of confessors.