Reformation and the Muscovite Czar: Anti-Protestant Polemic in the Writings of Ivan the Terrible
Russia's place in the sixteenth-century European Reformation has remained largely an understudied subject in the West. Indeed, most early modern scholarship rarely crosses the Carpathians or Lake Peipus. Similarly, in Russia, scholars have not yet produced a systematic study of Ivan the Terribl...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
2009
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 2009, Volume: 40, Issue: 4, Pages: 1109-1129 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Russia's place in the sixteenth-century European Reformation has remained largely an understudied subject in the West. Indeed, most early modern scholarship rarely crosses the Carpathians or Lake Peipus. Similarly, in Russia, scholars have not yet produced a systematic study of Ivan the Terribles views vis-à-vis the Reformation. This article examines Ivan the Terribles polemic against Protestantism within the context of the regional eastern European and larger, continental Reformation. For Ivan, Protestants constituted both internal and external threats, posing grave danger to Orthodox doctrine, Russian society, and the safety of Muscovy s borders. Theologically, in the czars worldview, Protestants were heretics and schismatics par excellence, whose split from apostolic succession endangered not only Roman Catholicism, but the integrity of the Orthodox church as well. Socially, Ivan thought, Protestants championed moral degeneracy, while politically they threatened global and regional security by overwhelming neighboring European states with upheavals and revolt. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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