Prayers of the ancestors for the living princes in the Rurikovych dynasty (12th–13th centuries)

Abstract. The work examines the descriptions of the prayers of ancestors for living princes in the Rurik dynasty (12th–13th centuries), recorded in ancient Russian chronicles. The purpose of the article is to identify the main reasons and circumstances of the princes turning to higher powers in prayers for living representatives of the princely family. Based on the analysis of ancient Russian narrative sources, a conclusion is drawn about the Christian nature of prayer requests. Most descriptions of princely prayers are associated with the Vladimir princes — descendants of Vladimir Monomakh and Yuri Dolgoruky. The mention of both living and deceased rulers in the description of prayers indicates the spread in the tribal consciousness of the Yuryevichs of the cult of princely ancestors — the closest relatives of living princes in the male line. This circumstance is an indicator of the identification of the Vladimir branch as a separate line in the general Rurik dynasty, occupying a special position in the new political center of Rus’ — the Vladimir-Suzdal land and claiming in the second half of the 12th–early 13th centuries for political supremacy in the lands of Rus’.

Keywords: Ancient Rus’, Rurikovich, Vladimir princes, princely prayers, cult of ancestors.