THE HERESY OF THE JEWS AND THE POWER OF THE GRAND DUKE OF MOSCOW AT THE TURN OF THE XV–XVI CENTURIES: POLITICAL AND IDEOLOGICAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article analyzes the main elements of the beliefs of Jewish people, reveals their features based on a detailed analysis of available sources. It is emphasized that this heretical movement mainly covered Novgorod and Moscow. But even within the largest cities of the north-eastern Russian lands, it did not become massive enough to play a significant role in the political struggle at the final stage of the formation of the Moscow state. Despite this, in the conditions of intensifying political struggle and confrontation between the state and the church, the secular authorities contacted representatives of the Jewish movement and they were drawn into the court struggle. It is emphasized that even the daughter-in-law of the Grand Duke Elena Voloshanka, the widow of the eldest son of Ivan III Ivan Ivanovich, who was the co-ruler of his father and had the title of Grand Duke, was included in the circle of heretics. After his death, the legal successor was to be his son Dmytro, whose rival was another son of Ivan III, Vasyl. Since both candidates were still young, a significant role in the struggle for the throne was played by their supporters and mothers – Olena Stefanivna and Sofia Paleolog. This dynastic competition also acquired an ideological meaning, because Elena was a heretic, and Sofia and her entourage were closely related to the opponents of the Jews. Attention was drawn to the fact that in Novgorod, Judaism was an urban heresy, similar to those that existed in Western Europe, and one of its main tenets was the desire for a “cheap church”. As a typical urban heresy, the Novgorod Jews became a kind of oppositional center of the feudal society of that time. Of all the famous members of this circle, the most representatives were from the clergy. The Moscow heresy, based on its social composition, had a secular character. In general, the Judaizers were the largest heretical movement in North-Eastern Russia in terms of its scale, significance, influence on people’s consciousness and on state and church life. However, unlike Western Europe, which survived the Reformation era, the heretical movement of Jews remained the work of small groups of supporters and declined after their defeat.