Avraamii joined a monastery, but not that he became a
jurodivyj. It is only a single small detail of
his life, a part of the
topos that includes other details such as the renunciation of possessions, the
lonely and pious childhood dedicated to the study and reading of religious writings, etc. This
passage could be understood as a literary trope. There is no strong evidence to consider the
Life of
Avraamii as an example of
jurodstvo. Yet, it is remarkable that among other positive attributions of
his saintliness, the author/s of his
Life also attributes
jurodstvo to him.
This choice and inclusion constitutes proof that Efrem, the author of his
vita, understood
jurodstvo as a expression of sainthood. At this point in time,
jurodstvo is recognized as an ascetic
exploit and is positive in its connotations.
Once again, there is a gap of almost one hundred years between Avraamii and the next
recorded example of
jurodstvo. The
vita of Procopius of Ustiug
178
has been pointed as the first
paradigmatic
vita of a Russian
yurodiviyi (Fedotov 1966: 325). At the same time, scholars recognize
that the
vita was poorly written in the 15
th
century and consists of disconnected episodes, legends,
local anecdotes and various reworking of episodes found in Byzantine
vitae (Kobets 2000a, citing
Kliuchevskii 1988: 277). Rather than a prototypical example of
jurodstvo in Russian Orthodoxy, we
have a third expression of
jurodstvo, not as a set of attributes for this saint, but as a compilation, a
framework for the description of a pattern of behavior that came to typify Russian
jurodstvo. Again,
it is not the
jurodivyj that is the focus, but another re-interpretation of
jurodstvo.
To
summarize, in the first four centuries of Rus’ian Orthodoxy, we only have three examples
of
yurodivvi and
jurodstvo, and the nature of the three saints and examples is shown to be a process
of evolution rather than a codification of a set series of attributes.
The next
jurodivye to be recognized and categorized as such will be analyzed briefly here as
a group, not because they present as individuals with common characteristics, but because they
represent the most largest concentration of
jurodivye during two of the most remarkable periods in
Russian history: the establishment and continuation of the Muscovite-state (1360-1597) and the
historical period known as the Time of Troubles (1598-1620). During these eras, more than twenty
holy fools were canonized. It is also during these periods that we find a greater variety and larger
178
Zhitie prepodobnago Ustyuzhskago.
Sankt Peterburg,1893.
Zhitiia sviatykh na russkom iazykie / izlozhennyia po
rukovodstvu Chetikh-Minei sv. Dimitriia Rostovskago. Sviato-Troitskii monastyr, 1991; and in Muravev, A.N.,
Zhitiia sviatykh rossiiskoi tserkvi.
Sankt Peterburg, 1854-1864.
334
number of references to
jurodstvo
179
.
As indicated above, while every single case had been studied
and understood on its individual merits, our approach should also try to find the positive conditions
that produced such an increase in the manifestations of
jurodstvo and the total number of
jurodivyje.
As a proof of this diversity, a few examples may be cited. Some of the
jurodivye came from rich
families (Isaac the Recluse, Avraamii of Smolensk or Michail of Klop Monastery), while others
were found alone in the forest as feral children (Simon of Iurevets). Holy fools were known to act
as clairvoyants or prophets, using their language in a particular way. Through the analysis of the
vitae, we know that manifestations of holy foolery related to their speech reflect a wide spectrum.
Some of the
jurodivye were silent (Procopy of Viatka and Simon of Iurevets)
,
while others showed
verbose communication or odd social behavior (Procopius of Ustiug). Scholars emphasize the
political role of the
jurodivye but this is actually poorly reflected in the vitae (Nicholai "Salos" of
Pskov and Ioann "Bol'shoi Kolpak” of Moscow). Some
jurodivye were dressed in rags, others were
naked, and others are still a challenge for interpretation (Xenia of Petersburg).
Analyses, such as those provided by Eve Levin (2003) for some of the processes that took
place at this point are a clear example of how the complexity of the phenomenon can be reduced
and explained. The tools provided by game theory and the studies of how ethnicity processes
manipulate sacral symbols may offer new explanations to this moment in time in relation to
jurodstvo. The figure of the ruler, now tsar, is also dramatically transformed at this time. The
complex figure of Ivan IV (Hunt 1993) and the following period, Time of Troubles, characterized
by impostors and instability, also provide a extremely positive set of subsystems for
jurodstvo. The
study of the interaction of the ascetic phenomenon with these processes and their reconstruction
over time had been a relevant clue for a better understanding.
Nikon's reforms and the response of the Old Believers announced the end of an era. A new
period was slowly been introduced in Russian history based in a late enlightenment. The status of
fools-for-Christ's-sake changed with the modernization of Russia and the approximation to the
European pattern that found its representation in reforms of Peter I. In the beginning of the 18
th
century,
jurodivye were persecuted and authorities did not seem to recognize their saintliness. The
new legislation and the growing role of rationality with manifestations such as the concept of
insanity constituted remarkable negative consequences for
jurodstvo. The number of such saints
179These, however, were not the only testimonies of
jurodstvo. Others include the testimony of travelers (Fletcher 1966
and Massa 1937), the autobiography of Avvakum (Ivanov 2006:335-339, Hunt 2008 and 2009),
and the writings and
other material around the infamous figure of Ivan IV (Hunt 1993). They reinforce the
relevance of the phenomenon
at this point.
335