Framing the Sacred Image of Tsar Power in the Second Half of the XVI Century (the Coronation Ceremony)

About the author:

Maksim N. Shevchenko, Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Senior Lecturer, Omsk Theological Seminary of the Omsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate); maxsh1978@yandex.ru; ORCID: 0000-0002-9752-8332

Abstract:

The goal of the article is to determine the nature of framing the sacred image of tsar power on the example of the coronation ceremony. The formulated objective involves the following tasks: identifying the specifics and interconnection of the structural elements of the coronation ceremony; disclosing the meanings of key components of the rite; identifying the direction and the nature of the activities used in the coronation ceremony as the tools aimed at framing of the unique image of the tsar authority. In the article we employ the historical-genetic and historical-comparative research methods. The analysis of the source base and literature reveals that the coronation ceremony involves the techniques aimed at creating the idea that Tsar power rests on two foundations — “God’s Will” and “Sobornost'”. The author argues that the title of Tsar was interpreted in the religious vein, bringing a monarch together to biblical kings. The specificity of the Confirmation rite promoted for the unique charisma of power. The coronation ceremony was given the form of worship. The movement of the Tsar procession between the temples correlated with the cross procession. After the procession those who were present at the ceremony were able to touch the “sacred”, thus becoming owners of fragments of the matter, which was spread under the feet of the Tsar and the Primate. Numerous jewels formed the “aesthetics of Tsar power”, through which the idea of ineffable, mysterious interaction between God and man was transmitted. Coronation ceremony bound the sacred and the secular.

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