NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE CULTURE OF MEDIEVAL RUSSIA: TWO CASES OF DESECRATION OF THE END OF THE XV CENTURY

Abstract

This paper deals with two curious cases of dishonor, which may be attributed to the phenomenon called «antipovedenie» in modern Russian scholarship. The first event is associated with sophisticated punishment of the «Jidaizers» heretics, arranged by Gennady (Gonzov), Archbishop of Novgorod, in 1490. The second event originates of booklore: an episode of the devil’s mockery to Reverend Abraham of Rostov from the lives of this saint, compiled at the end of the XV century. The article highlightes the ground that connects these cases: the infamous skating of punishable by pack animals. An attempt is made to explain the symbolic meaning of this ritual as a communion of punishable to «Antimir».