HSE Publishing House

The book presents a study of the decrees of the Synod of Constantinople, held in 1276 at the request of Russian bishops. Russian Bishop Theognostus of Sarai asked the Synod to resolve issues that were relevant for Rus’ during its most difficult period, at the height of the Mongol invasion. The book examines the background of the journey of Bishop Theognostus to Constantinople and the peculiarities of the perception of issues related to worship and church governance by Russian and Greek bishops during the period of the Union of Lyons. The book contains an analysis of the historical context and features of the liturgy in relation to each article of the Old Russian text of the Synodal decrees. this allowed the author to identify the origin of the articles missing from the Greek version of the text. The study of the translation of the Greek decrees into Old Russian and their supplementation with original Russian materials shows that the decrees of the Synod of Constantinople were translated no earlier than the middle of the 14th century. The book is accompanied by the publication of all known Greek and Old Russian versions of the text of the decrees of the Synod of Constantinople. The publication is intended for historians, philologists, and all those interested in canon law, liturgy, and the history of Byzantium and Russia.