Writing, the art of the book, literacy, education, natural science knowledge in Ancient Rus' (IX-XIII centuries) and Russian lands and principalities of the XIV-XV centuries. Slavic writing in Rus'

If you follow the generally accepted version, the writing Eastern Slavs appeared only in the 9th-10th centuries. Allegedly, there was no written language in Kievan Rus until the 9th-10th centuries and could not be. But this erroneous and dead-end conclusion has been refuted many times.

If we study the history of other countries, we will see that while any state system must have had its own script. If there is a state, but there is no written language, then this complicates, of course, all the processes taking place in it. How can any processes take place in a state without a written language? Don't you think this is strange? Therefore, the opinion that Cyril and Methodius are the founders of our writing is erroneous, there is evidence for this.

In the 9th-10th centuries, Kievan Rus was already a state. By this time, many large, for those times, cities, huge centers of trade, including with many other countries, had formed. A large number of different artisans lived in these cities (blacksmiths, wood carvers, potters, jewelers), these craftsmen made products from metal, clay, wood and precious metals at a very high level, which could well compete with the products of masters from other countries. AT major cities was presented wide selection all kinds of goods from other countries. And, therefore, foreign trade was at a high level. In the presence of developed trade, how were contracts concluded? All this proves that the appearance of writing in Rus' occurred even before the appearance of Cyril and Methodius.
Here it is also worth recalling Lomonosov, who wrote that the Slavs had a written language long before the new faith. In his evidence, he referred to ancient sources, including Nestor the Chronicler.

There are written sources where Catherine the Great argued that the ancient Slavs had their own written language even before Christianity and were taught to read and write in cities and small settlements. And she had a brilliant education for that time.

Creation of Slavic writing by Cyril and Methodius

The history of the creation of Slavic writing by Cyril and Methodius has grown large quantity false facts, and now it is difficult to figure out where the truth is. Who were the brothers Cyril and Methodius? They were born into a noble family in the city of Saluni (Greece, Thessaloniki). Later they both became monks of the orthodox church. Now they would be called missionaries who carried a new religion to the masses. The monasteries were the centers of education, the monks were very educated people, so it is not surprising that they created the Slavic alphabet, which we know as the Cyrillic alphabet.

The creation of Slavic writing, Cyrillic, was necessary not in order to bring writing to Kievan Rus (our ancestors already had it), but in order to:

1. Translate into a language understandable to the Slavs all spiritual writings (the Gospel, the Psalter, the text of the Liturgy). What made them accessible to a huge number of people. It was much easier to translate them from Greek into Cyrillic. In Europe, spiritual books were written in Latin, so this caused certain difficulties and misunderstanding among the masses.
2. After the introduction of the new written language, church services in the Orthodox Church were conducted in the Slavic language. What gave impetus to the speedy introduction of a new faith in the masses.

Beginning of writing Ancient Rus' The 10th century, Cyrillic, helped spread the new religion among the Slavs, after that, it became the script for the state and the church. This is, of course, the official version. Well, in fact, the introduction of Christianity was extremely difficult. The Slavs were extremely reluctant to leave paganism. Therefore, it is likely that Old Russian books in Old Russian were simply burned. This was destroyed in order to quickly make the Slavs of Kievan Rus Christians.

Slavic writing to Cyrillic

Now everything suggests that writing in Rus' before Cyril and Methodius already existed, it is no longer possible to ignore this. Presumably the old Russian script was Glagolitic. Evidence of its earlier appearance:

1. On parchment manuscripts (specially made leather) that have come down to us, we can see that the text originally applied was scraped off, and another superimposed on top. In those days, this technique was often resorted to, because leather processing was not an easy task. The text that was scraped off is written in Glagolitic. The text, which is printed on top, was Cyrillic. And to this day, not a single parchment has been found where the Glagolitic alphabet would be applied over the Cyrillic alphabet.
2. The oldest Slavic text that has come down to us is written in the Glagolitic alphabet.
3. There is a lot of evidence subsidized different centuries, and they say that the Slavs had writing and counting back in pagan times.

There are several opinions about when the Glagolitic alphabet nevertheless appeared. The most famous opinion is that Cyril was the creator of the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet was created, later, after the death of Cyril, by his student. Which of his students here also differ opinions.

But if we analyze the entire history of Ancient Rus', then the opinion that the Glagolitic alphabet is much older, and was created even before Cyril and Methodius, seems more plausible. Well, as for the more specific time of its origin, then everything is very confused. According to some unofficial data, this is approximately 3-5 centuries, and some are trying to argue that the Glagolitic alphabet was created much earlier.

It is also not clear to which of the language groups to attribute the Glagolitic. How did ancient Russian writing originate? All more ancient languages ​​in their origin were repelled from even more ancient ones, therefore each language is included in some kind of language group. The Glagolitic is not similar to any of the scripts and is not included in any of the language groups. Its origin is still not clear.

Attention

There is an assumption that it, in part, looks like runes, but there is no 100% evidence from linguists for this.

But also in historical circles there is a different opinion. Pre-Christian Rus' had its own written language, but it was neither Glagolitic nor Cyrillic. The Slavs have had a written language since ancient times, perhaps even for several thousand years. And she really looked like runes. Sometimes, during excavations, strange letters-symbols are found. But this happens extremely rarely. Why do we have a lot of written evidence from the Christian era, and extremely rarely from the pre-Christian era? Yes, because in order to eradicate Old Russian writing, they burned books, annals, birch bark letters. Just like they eradicated paganism.

Writing and literacy in Ancient Rus'

Even from school textbooks, we were taught that after the adoption of the Christian faith, the rise of culture in Rus' began. Prince Vladimir opened many schools where they taught literacy, where a large number of children were taken. Many schools were opened at the monasteries, where monks taught literacy. The princes themselves were highly educated people of their time, fluent in 4-5 languages, as well as many other sciences (Prince Vladimir, Yaroslav the Wise). In Kyiv, at one of the monasteries, a women's school was opened, where the girls were taught to read and write and other sciences.

But after all, long before Christianity in Rus', people were literate. Before the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus great importance devoted to literacy. There were schools where children learned to write and count. In big cities and small settlements people were taught to read and write. And this is not even dependent on origin: noble and wealthy Slavs or ordinary artisans. Even women, for the most part, were literate. Kievan Rus was a strong and developed state, and the Slavs were literate.

And there is evidence of this in the form of many birch bark letters, which are subsidized long before the adoption of the Christian faith, there are even very ancient ones. They were written by both noble Slavs and ordinary artisans. There are letters written by women about the rules of conducting household. But, what is most interesting, there is a birch bark written by a six-year-old child. That is, in those days, at such a young age, children knew how to read and write. Doesn't this prove that our ancestors in Ancient Rus' were never dark and illiterate?

Results

The history of the creation of Slavic writing for many centuries forcibly changed. Ancient Rus' was shown as a state that for a long time did not have its own written language, and most of the Slavs were illiterate and downtrodden. It was believed that women in general, regardless of what stratum of society they belonged to, were illiterate and dark. And literacy, allegedly, was inherent only to the upper class: princes and noble Slavs. But we are already seeing that this is far from the case. Rus' has never been a barbarian state without its own written language.
When writing appeared in Rus', it is now not known for certain. Perhaps someday historians and linguists will reveal this secret to us. But she appeared long before Cyril and Methodius. And this is a fact. They could not give us what our ancestors owned long before them. Indeed, by the 9th-10th centuries, Kievan Rus was already an established and quite influential state.
And it is quite possible that Old Russian writing is, in fact, very ancient. Perhaps someday we will know the truth about this.

Modern Russian is based on Old Church Slavonic, which, in turn, was previously used for both writing and speech. Many scrolls and paintings have survived to this day.

Culture of Ancient Rus': writing

Many scholars claim that until the ninth century there was no written language at all. This means that in the days of Kievan Rus, writing did not exist as such.

However, this assumption is erroneous, because if you look at the history of other developed countries and states, you can see that each strong state had its own script. Since it was also included in a number of rather strong countries, writing was also necessary for Rus'.

Another group of research scientists proved that there was a written language, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: Brave wrote the legends “About Writings”. Also, "in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine" it is mentioned that the Eastern Slavs had written language. Ibn Fadlan's notes are also cited as evidence.

So when did writing appear in Rus'? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society, confirming the emergence of writing in Rus', are the agreements between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.

Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to Slavic writing

The contribution of the Slavic enlighteners is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that they had their own alphabet, which was much simpler in its pronunciation and writing than the previous version of the language.

It is known that the educators and their students did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, however, researchers say that, perhaps, Methodius and Cyril set themselves such a goal. Adoption of one's views would allow not only to expand the range of one's interests, but would also simplify the introduction of a simplified language into East Slavic culture.

In the tenth century, books and lives of the great enlighteners came to the territory of Rus', where they began to enjoy real success. It is to this moment that researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Rus', Slavic alphabet.

Rus' since the appearance of its language alphabet

Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of the Enlighteners appeared in the days of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Rus was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most of the historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in Glagolitic. Researchers say that, probably, the Glagolitic alphabet was also used in Ancient Rus' precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before the adoption of Christianity by Russia.

More recently, this assumption has been proven. Scientists-researchers found a document that contained records of a certain priest Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Rus', but the Slavic people perceived it as the work of the enlightener Cyril and began to call it "Cyrillic".

It is difficult to say how much the culture of Ancient Rus' differed at that time. The emergence of writing in Rus', as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment of the widespread distribution of the books of the Enlightenment, despite the facts indicating that writing was important element for pagan Rus'.

The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of the pagan land

The rapid pace of development of the writing of the East Slavic peoples began after the baptism of Rus', when writing appeared in Rus'. In 988, when Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in Rus', children, who were considered the social elite, began to be taught from alphabetic books. It was at the same time that church books appeared in writing, inscriptions on cylinder locks, there were also written expressions that blacksmiths knocked out on order, on swords. Texts appear on princely seals.

Also, it is important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions that were used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.

A 1030 wide use acquire birch bark letters.

The first written records: birch bark letters and books

The first written records were records on birch bark. Such a letter is a written record on a small fragment of birch bark.

Their uniqueness lies in the fact that today they are perfectly preserved. For researchers, such a find is of great importance: in addition to the fact that thanks to these letters one can learn the features of the Slavic language, writing on birch bark can tell about important events that took place between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. Such records have become an important element for studying the history of Ancient Rus'.

Except Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among the cultures of other countries.

On the this moment there are many birch bark documents in the archives, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark, people taught how to exfoliate birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books on Slavic writing in Rus' began to develop more and more.

A find for researchers and historians

The first writings made on birch bark paper, which were found in Russia, were located in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Everyone who has studied history knows that this city was of no small importance for the development of Rus'.

A new stage in the development of writing: translation as the main achievement

The South Slavs had a huge influence on writing in Rus'.

Under Prince Vladimir in Rus', they began to translate books and documents from the South Slavic language. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise began to develop literary language, thanks to which such a literary genre as church literature appeared.

Of great importance for the Old Russian language was the ability to translate texts from foreign languages. The first translations (of books) that came from the Western European side were translations from Greek. It was the Greek language that largely changed the culture of the Russian language. Many borrowed words were used more and more in literary works, even in the same church writings.

It was at this stage that the culture of Rus' began to change, the writing of which became more and more complicated.

Reforms of Peter the Great: on the way to a simple language

With the advent of Peter I, who reformed all the structures of the Russian people, significant amendments were made even to the culture of the language. The appearance of writing in Rus' in antiquity immediately complicated the already complex In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called "civil script". Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally revised every letter of the Russian language, after which a new alphabet was created. The alphabet was distinguished by its simplicity and ease of use. The Russian ruler wanted to simplify the Russian language. Many letters were simply excluded from the alphabet, thereby simplifying not only Speaking but also written.

Significant changes in the 18th century: the introduction of new symbols

The main change during this period was the introduction of such a letter as "and short". This letter was introduced in 1735. Already in 1797 Karamzin used a new sign to denote the sound "yo".

By the end of the 18th century, the letter "yat" had lost its meaning, because its sound coincided with the sound of "e". It was at this time that the letter "yat" was no longer used. Soon she also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.

The last stage of the development of the Russian language: small changes

The final reform that changed writing in Rus' was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters, the sound of which was either too similar or completely repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today the hard sign (b) is separating, and the soft sign (b) has become separating when denoting a soft consonant sound.

It is important to note that this reform caused great dissatisfaction on the part of many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in mother tongue.

A huge cultural revolution, which made extremely important changes in the development of culture and helped to accumulate the necessary experience, knowledge, the ability to develop the artistic word, consolidate and preserve verbal works for posterity and distribute them among the broad masses, was the introduction of a single written language.

The factor that prepared the adoption of Christianity by Russia was the creation in the second half of the 9th century. Slavic writing based on Greek statutory writing with the addition of several letters. The creation of writing is associated with the names of the brothers Cyril (827-869) and Methodius (815-885), who arrived from Byzantium in the Great Moravian state at the invitation of Prince Rostislav for missionary purposes in 863. They not only created the Slavic alphabet, but also translated into it from the ancient Greek language of the book of Holy Scripture. In the tenth century there is already evidence of the use of the Cyrillic alphabet in Rus'. The agreement of 911 between Oleg and Byzantium was written in two languages ​​- Greek and Slavonic. There are numerous annalistic and archaeological evidence of the widespread use of literacy among different strata of society. So Novgorod birch bark letters are found everywhere, starting from the XI century 11 History of Ukrainian culture. -- K., 1993.

The raging development of the book art of Kievan Rus began. Christianity, unlike paganism, was a highly literate religion. It owned its own set of books required to be sent different kind divine services, for monastic readings, which were obligatory, for the promotion of Christianity, for the training of ministers of the church. Such were historical works, church singing, theological, preaching and others. All of them required not only a single alphabet, but also a highly developed writing system as a whole.

The high art of translation already existed. Under Yaroslav the Wise, the "History of the Jewish War" by Josephus Flavius ​​was translated.

The most common literacy was among the urban population. The townspeople left inscriptions - "graffiti" on the walls of churches in Kyiv, Smolensk, Novgorod. Among such inscriptions are reflections on life, complaint, and prayer. Vladimir Monomakh, being a young prince, during church service wrote on the wall of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv - "Oh, it's hard for me" - and signed the Christian name Vasily.

So, the introduction of Christianity intensified the processes of the spread of education, served as the reason for the organization and development of the school business. However, in the beginning, "book writing" did not become more or less widespread, limited to a small number " the best people"or "deliberate children". There is evidence that Vladimir, after the baptism of Russia in 988, created the first school for children of the local aristocracy in Kiev at the Church of the Tithes. From the annals it is known that Vladimir's son Yaroslav the Wise in Novgorod in 1054 created a school for 300 children elders and clerics.Teaching was conducted in the native language, and in this school they taught reading, writing, the basics of Christian doctrine and arithmetic.

The circumstances of that time and the needs of life required certain knowledge, since enlightened people were required for the church and for the state, to fill church positions and various administrative positions, to maintain broad trade relations, to manage large farms in boyar estates, etc.

The raging castle and temple construction that unfolded after the introduction of Christianity required highly skilled master artists for their framing, singers for church functions. Therefore, apart from general education schools in Rus', separate schools of singing, painting, carving, pottery, artistic blacksmithing, etc. began to be created. .

Diplomatic and trade relations of Rus' with Byzantium and other countries demanded from Ukrainians a high education with the obligatory knowledge of Greek and Latin. His study was necessary for practical activities the then diplomatic corps and various trade, cultural and other relations of Rus' with abroad. To this end, Yaroslav in 1037 created a school in the newly built St. Sophia of Kyiv, which, continuing best traditions Vladimirovskaya and Byzantine schools, was in fact already a new type of school. This is the first domestic institution of higher education, which appeared, by the way, a century earlier than the first universities in Western Europe. The level of knowledge that children received here was not lower than in Byzantine higher schools. The children of the nobility studied at this school: the future Metropolitan Hilarion, the posadniks Ostromir and Ratibor, the codifiers (who brought the codes of Russkaya Pravda into a single whole) Kosnyachko and Nikifor of Kiev, the children of Yaroslav himself, from a dozen noble foreigners - contenders for the crowns of kings. According to some information, at different times children studied at Yaroslav's school. English king Edmund Ironside, the Hungarian prince Andrew, the successor to the Danish throne Herman, the Norwegian king Harald, the son of the Norwegian king Olaf and other foreigners.

What sciences were studied in this high school? Chronicle names philosophy, rhetoric, grammar, history, Greek language, sayings of ancient authors, geography and natural sciences next to theology. Many figures of Ukrainian culture came out of its walls.

After the death of Yaroslav the Wise, schools were created at the courts of bishops to train the clergy. They taught reading, writing, church singing, the basics of faith and morality, necessary for priests. In the parishes, at the churches, there were schools of primary education for the children of ordinary people.

The processes of spreading education in Rus' had their own characteristics. The most important of them was that not only male children were involved in education, mastered it. School education was extended, although not on such a scale, among female children. Regarding this, there is an interesting testimony of the famous historian of the 18th century. Tatishcheva, who gives such an example from an annals dated 1085: the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, Yanka (Anna) Vsevolodovna, opened a special school in Kiev for 300 girls in the same year, in which, in addition to reading and writing, they also taught various needlework. Extremely highly educated were the Chernigov princess Paraskeva, Paraskeva Polotskaya and other women in princely families. Moreover, they studied and knew well not only "Athenian wisdom", but also "philosophy, rhetoric and all grammar." They were taught here singing, noble behavior, sewing, embroidery, tailoring.

The Kiev Caves Monastery contributed a lot to the development of education. Already in the XI century. here a training center for higher clergy, artists, doctors, calligraphers, and translators was established. Only up to Tatar-Mongol invasion more than 80 bishops emerged from the walls of the monastery. Here the phenomenon of chronicle writing appeared and acquired its development. Famous chroniclers Nestor, Nikon, Sylvester worked in this monastery; in the XII century. was compiled "Kyiv-Pechersk Paterikon" - an outstanding work, the historical first-born of Kievan Rus 11 Ukrainian culture. / Ed. D. Antonovich. - K .: Libid, 1993 ..

In addition to literacy in the narrow sense of the word - the ability to read and write - arithmetic was also well known in Rus'. The chronicle brought to us such interesting example: the Novgorod deacon Kirik in 1136 calculated how many days have passed since the creation of the world - 29,120,652. In addition to knowing the four rules of arithmetic, in Rus' they also knew fractions and used them in a variety of calculations.

The emergence and spread of writing, the development of education in Rus' had a positive impact on the development of scientific knowledge. Scientific centers in Rus' during the heyday of the Kievan state were primarily Kyiv, Novgorod, Polotsk, Chernigov, Galich, Vladimir-Volynsky were of great importance. Schools existed there, primarily founded by the clergy. Among them were many teachers, writers, orators, artists, chroniclers, creators of the then Ukrainian science, which, like all ancient culture, was at first completely dependent on Byzantium, which by that time, next to Rome, had the glory of the second world center of science. and literature.

The heart of contemporary science was, of course, theology, often tinged with philosophical content. Her works were associated not only with the thoughts of the holy fathers of the Church and ancient philosophy(characteristic of this is the polemic of Klim Smolyatich with Thomas around 1147 about the use of the theology of Homer, Plato and Aristotle), but also with his own folk wisdom and her original worldview. Based on theology and mythology, the science of that time also processed other areas of knowledge - history, law, natural science, mathematics, astronomy - in such more or less volumes as it was in Byzantium and Western European countries. In historical knowledge, translations of the Byzantine chronicles by I. Malali, G. Amartoli and G. Sinkel, "History of Palestine" by Josephus Flavius ​​stand out; The "Shestidnev" of Basil the Great and revised by the Bulgarian exarch John is dedicated to natural history, in which the individual kingdoms of nature are characterized according to the days of their creation according to the Bible; "Physiologist" narrates about different animals, in particular about plants and stones, and "Cosmography" by Kozma Indikoplov gives a general description of the universe. Church law was developed in many "driving" books.

Domestic original scientific experiments at that time began, as a rule, in such areas of science that Byzantium was not interested in and could not give us anything, since the Slavic lands there were known only superficially. Therefore, our ancestors began to write about themselves. We see an attempt to do this already on the first pages of the chronicle found. The chronicler is widely engaged in the history of mankind from the creation of the world and to the information that he gleaned from the Bible and Greek sources, he adds his account of the origin of the Slavs, their language, ethnographic affiliation, their wandering and describes the customs of the tribes that were part of the Kievan state.

Historical science developed successfully. Like the historical chronicles of Byzantium, the then historiography was developed, which dealt with the history of our state, there was annals. The most ancient of those that have come down to us are, of course, the Book of Veles and others that have been preserved in later lists, in particular the chronicle of 1039, probably compiled at the court Kyiv monastery monks such as Nikon and the famous chronicler Nestor, author of The Tale of Bygone Years. The monks of the Vydubytsky monastery also ordered the writing of chronicles - for example, hegumen Sylvester; other monasteries were engaged in this business also. Next to the monastery there were also private historians-chroniclers at the princely courts. / Ed. D. Antonovich. - K .: Libid, 1993 ..

The most ancient Slavic legal code XI-XII Art. - "Russkaya Pravda" - testifies to its long-term preparation and comparative studies of Byzantine, Western European and its own, ancient Russian, customary law. This collection of laws of Prince Yaroslav and his successors formed the basis of the Lithuanian Charter and the legislation of the hetman's time. It is also interesting for its almost pure East Slavic language, without Church Slavonic elements, transparent structure of sentences and a dictionary of words-terms that are no longer commonly used today.

You should also remember medicine. The first doctors in Rus' were "sorcerers" and healers, various "prophetists" and "magicians" - men and women. They were treated with spells and incantations. There was also a kind of medicine, which, in addition to various ointments, powders, etc., also provided for hydrotherapy, thermotherapy (heating, warming up the body, cooling it), etc. There are single mentions of surgical intervention in the patient's body.

Writing in Rus' existed even before the adoption of Christianity (for example, the text of Oleg's treaty with the Greeks in 911 was written in Russian and Greek). By the time of the adoption of Christianity, an alphabet had developed.

In 1949, the Soviet archaeologist D.V. Avdusin, during excavations near Smolensk, found an earthenware vessel dating back to the beginning of the 10th century, on which "pea" (spice) was written. This meant that already at that time in the East Slavic environment there was a letter, there was an alphabet. The adoption of Christianity contributed to the spread of literacy, the development of writing, and education. This is also evidenced by the testimony of the Byzantine diplomat and Slavic educator Cyril. While serving in Chersonese in the 60s of the IX century. he got acquainted with the Gospel, written in Slavonic letters. Subsequently, Cyril and his brother Methodius became the founders of the Slavic alphabet, which, apparently, was based in some part on the principles of Slavic writing that existed among the Eastern, Southern and Western Slavs long before their Christianization.

The history of the creation of the Slavic alphabet is as follows: the Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius spread Christianity among the Slavic peoples of southeastern Europe. Greek theological books had to be translated into Slavic languages, but the alphabet, corresponding to the peculiarities of sound Slavic languages, did not exist. It was then that the brothers conceived to create it, the good education and talent of Cyril made this task feasible.

A talented linguist, Cyril took the Greek alphabet, consisting of 24 letters, as a basis, supplemented it with the hissing (zh, u, w, h) characteristic of Slavic languages ​​and several other letters. Some of them are preserved in the modern alphabet - b, b, b, s, others have long gone out of use - yat, yus, izhitsa, fita.

So, the Slavic alphabet originally consisted of 43 letters, similar in spelling to Greek. Each of them had its own name: A - "az", B - "beeches" (their combination formed the word "alphabet"), C - "lead", G - "verb", D - "good" and so on. The letters on the letter denoted not only sounds, but also numbers. "A" - the number 1, "B" - 2, "P" - 100. In Rus', only in the XVIII century. Arabic numerals have replaced "alphabetic" numerals. In honor of its creator, the new alphabet was named "Cyrillic".

The Christianization of Rus' gave a powerful impetus to the further development of writing and literacy. From the time of Vladimir, church clerks and translators from Byzantium, Bulgaria, and Serbia began to come to Russia. There appeared, especially during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise and his sons, numerous translations of Greek and Bulgarian books, both ecclesiastical and secular. Translated, in particular, Byzantine historical writings, biographies of Christian saints. These translations became the property of literate people; they were read with pleasure in the princely, boyar, merchant environment, in monasteries, churches, where Russian chronicle writing was born. In the XI century. such popular translated works as "Alexandria", containing legends and traditions about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, "Devgeniev's deed", which is a translation of the Byzantine epic poem about the exploits of the warrior Digenis, are spreading.

Thus, a literate Russian person of the 11th century. knew much of what writing and book culture had of Eastern Europe, Byzantium. The cadres of the first Russian literates, scribes, and translators were formed in schools that had been opened at churches since the time of Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise, and later at monasteries. There is a lot of evidence of the widespread development of literacy in Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries. However, it was distributed mainly only in the urban environment, especially among wealthy citizens, the princely-boyar elite, merchants, and wealthy artisans. AT countryside, in distant, deaf places, the population was almost entirely illiterate.

Under Yaroslav the Wise, a school was opened in Kyiv, where more than 300 children studied. He was educated by his daughter - Anna - one of the first literate women who became Queen of France. About the son of Yaroslav the Wise - Vsevolod - the chronicler respectfully says that he "sitting at home learned five languages."

Inscriptions on handicraft products testify to the wide development of writing: women signed spinning wheels, potters signed clay vessels, a shoemaker carved the names of his customers on blocks.

In 1951, birch-bark letters were first discovered in Novgorod by archaeologists. More than 500 letters have been found in Novgorod, Smolensk, Moscow, Polotsk, Pskov and other cities. Among the letters there are economic documents, letters, wills.

Literacy and education in Ancient Rus' (IX-XVII centuries)

The writing of the Eastern Slavs existed even before the adoption of Christianity. Many sources reported about a kind of pictographic letter - "Russian letters". The creators of the Slavic alphabet ("Glagolitic" and "Cyrillic") are considered to be the Byzantine missionary monks Cyril and Methodius, who lived in the 10th-20th centuries.

The adoption of Christianity in 988, which became the official religion of Kievan Rus, contributed to the rapid spread of writing and written culture. A large amount of translated literature of religious and secular content appeared in Rus', and the first libraries arose at cathedrals and monasteries. Original Russian literature began to be created - religious and secular (chronicles, words, teachings, lives, etc.)

With the introduction of Christianity is connected the beginning school education in Ancient Rus'. The first schools in the Kievan state were created by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. “He sent to collect children from the best people and give them to book education,” the chronicle reported. Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, who went down in history as the Wise, expanded the circle of people who learned to read and write, instructing the priests "in cities and other places" to teach people, for "there is great benefit from book teaching." In Novgorod, he created a school in which 300 children of the clergy and church elders studied. Education in it was conducted in the native language, they taught reading, writing, the basics of Christian doctrine and counting. In Ancient Rus' there were also schools of the highest type, which prepared for state and church activities. In such schools, along with theology, philosophy, rhetoric, grammar were studied, they got acquainted with historical, geographical and natural science works. Special schools existed for teaching literacy and foreign languages; in 1086, the first women's school was opened in Kyiv. Following the model of Kyiv and Novgorod, other schools were opened at the courts of Russian princes - for example, in Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, Suzdal, schools were created at monasteries.

Schools were not only educational institutions, but also centers of culture, they made translations of ancient and Byzantine authors, copied manuscripts.

education in Kyiv period was highly valued. High level The professional skill with which the most ancient Russian books that have come down to us are executed (first of all, the oldest - the Ostromir Gospel, 1057), testifies to the well-established production of handwritten books as early as the 10th century. Good educated people the annals were called "book men".

The wide distribution of literacy among the population is evidenced by birch bark letters found by archaeologists in in large numbers. They are private letters, business records, receipts and study books. In addition, wooden planks were found with letters carved on them. Probably, such alphabets served as textbooks for teaching children. There are also written records of the existence of XIII-XV centuries schools for children and about teachers - "scribes". Schools existed not only in cities, but also in rural areas. They taught reading, writing, church singing and counting, i.e. provided primary education.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion had disastrous consequences for Russian culture. The death of the population, the destruction of cities - centers of literacy and culture, the rupture of ties with Byzantium and Western countries, the destruction of books led to a decrease in the general cultural level of Ancient Rus'. Although the traditions of writing and books were preserved, the spread of literacy was concentrated during this period mainly in the hands of the church. Schools were created in monasteries and churches, where representatives of the clergy taught children. At the same time, the level of literacy of the population of Ancient Rus' was very low, even among the clergy, for whom literacy was a craft. Therefore, in 1551, at the Stoglavy Cathedral, a decision was made: “In the reigning city of Moscow and in all cities ... among priests, deacons and deacons, do it in the houses of the school so that priests and deacons and all Orthodox Christians in every city betray their children to them for the teaching of literacy and the teaching of book writing. The decision of the Stoglavy Cathedral was not implemented. There were few schools, and education in them was limited to the assimilation of elementary literacy. Home-based learning continued to dominate. Teaching aids were liturgical books.

In the second half of the XVI century. special grammars appeared (“A conversation about the teaching of literacy, what is literacy and what its structure is, and why such a doctrine is glad to be composed, and what an acquisition is from it, and what, above all, it is fitting to learn”) and arithmetic (“Book, recommendation in Greek Arithmetic , and in German Algorism, and in Russian tsifir counting wisdom").

In the middle of the 16th century, the largest event in the history of Russian culture took place, which played a crucial role in the development of literacy and book literacy - the printing press arose. On March 1, 1564, The Apostle, the first Russian dated printed book, came out of a Moscow printing house. The deacon of the Kremlin church Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets became the head of the state printing house, created on the initiative of Ivan IV and Metropolitan Macarius. further increased the need for literacy and education. The development of urban life, the revival of commercial and industrial activities, the complication of the system of the state apparatus, the growth of ties with foreign countries demanded a large number educated people.

The distribution of books acquired a much wider scale during this period. Extensive libraries of Russian and translated literature began to be compiled. The Printing Yard worked more intensively, publishing not only religious works, but also secular books. The first printed textbooks appeared. In 1634, the first Russian primer Vasily Burtsev was published, which was repeatedly reprinted. In the second half of the XVII century. More than 300,000 primers and about 150,000 educational Psalters and Books of Hours were printed. In 1648, the printed "Grammar" of Meletius Smotrytsky was published, in 1682 - the multiplication table. In 1678, Innokenty Gizel's book "Synopsis" was published in Moscow, which became the first printed textbook of Russian history. In 1672, the first bookstore opened in Moscow.

From the middle of the XVII century. In Moscow, schools began to open, modeled on European grammar schools and providing both secular and theological education. In 1687, the first higher educational institution was opened in Russia - the Slavic-Greek-Latin School (Academy), intended for the training of higher clergy and officials public service. People "of every rank, rank and age" were admitted to the academy. The academy was headed by the Greeks, the brothers Sophrony and Ioanniky Likhud. The program of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was built on the model of Western European educational institutions. The charter of the academy provided for the teaching of civil and spiritual sciences: grammar, rhetoric, logic and physics, dialectics, philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, Latin and Greek, and other secular sciences.

At this time, there were also important changes in the methodology of primary education. The literal method of teaching literacy was replaced by a sound one. Instead of the alphabetic designation of numbers (letters of the Cyrillic alphabet), Arabic numerals began to be used. The primers included coherent texts for reading, for example, psalms. “ABCs” appeared, i.e. explanatory dictionaries for students. The teaching of mathematics was the weakest. Only in the 17th century did textbooks with Arabic numerals begin to appear. Of the four rules of arithmetic, only addition and subtraction were used in practice, operations with fractions were almost never used. Geometry, or rather, practical land surveying, was more or less developed. Astronomy was also a purely applied area (compilation of calendars, etc.). In the 12th century, astrology spread. Natural science knowledge was random, unsystematic. Practical medicine (mostly borrowed from the East) and especially pharmaceuticals developed.

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