Man of God, Man of Words: Semën Shakhovskoi as an Author of Liturgical Texts

• In Event: Seventeenth-Century East Slavic Intellectual and Political Thought: Three Case Studies

Abstract

Prince Semën Shakhovskoi (c1585-1653?) is the author of a large list of works, from important histories of his times, to elegant and erudite letters, to prayers for himself and others, to religious services, and much more besides. Most of the attention of scholars has landed on his historical works on events during the Time of Troubles (1605-1613), but among his most important and least studied works are his liturgical offices. This paper will provide the results of a close analysis of his known liturgical services (canons for matins, liturgy for Sofiia the Divine Wisdom, an akathist to St. Seraphim of Sarov, and a service celebrating the installation of Christ’s Robe) and consider them in the context of the intellectual life of Muscovy in the seventeenth century. The paper explores the questions, What do his services tell us about the life of an intellectual in the seventeenth century? How was this secular writer, warrior, and diplomat also the composer of approved liturgical offices? What clues about his thought and the intellectual currents of his times are imprinted on his religious writings? Exploring (and answering) these questions sheds critical new light on intellectual trends in Muscovy before the coming of the Petrine reforms.

Author

• Russell Edward Martin, Westminster College