Newsletters 1997-2000

Message from the ESSA President

Greetings, ESSA Members!

Happy Midsummer! I hope all of your bonfires were burning brightly, and that you celebrated the season appropriately.

Even though it is only June, the AAASS convention is almost upon us. The preliminary program suggests that we have much to anticipate. Our membership will be extremely well-represented in November, and the wide range of panel topics reflects the energy and lively curiosity of Early Slavs. The unfortunate, but probably inevitable aspect of our expanding offerings is the problem of conflicts. We do have more panels than there are time slots in the program. Still, there are three sessions in the preliminary schedule without any "early" choices, so I have written to the association to request changes, if possible. I have not been notified of any rescheduling thus far, but it would probably be good to consult the list of changes as soon as you receive it. There will be hard choices to make. As it stands now, there are a few sessions which offer not two but three or even four panels of potential interest to our members. However many presentations you may be forced to miss, you will still be able to attend many more than was the case twenty years ago, when there were often only two or three early panels on the entire program and they were invariably scheduled for the same time slot.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive summer and special envious regards to all of you who are going to Helsinki.

Ann Kleimola

Treasurer's Report

Balance 8/31/98 $964.25
Dues $309.00
Postage $389.88
Interest $18.54
New Balance 10/16/99 $901.91

Minutes of the 1999 Meeting

The annual meeting of the Early Slavic Studies Association took place at the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis on November 19, 1999 at 4:15 pm. The meeting was opened by outgoing president Daniel Kaiser. Following the treasurer's report which was accepted unanimously, Janet Martin, the chair of the ESSA nominating committee, which besides Janet included Priscilla Hunt and Daniel Collins, made a motion to accept David Prestel as the next Vice-President of ESSA, Robert Romanchuk as the new Newsletter editor, and Isolde Thyrêt as the continuing Secretary-Treasurer. Sandy Levy seconded the motion which passed unanimously. After Daniel Kaiser proclaimed the election results, Ann Kleimola assumed her new position as president of ESSA. Don Ostrowski, the chair of the ESSA Technology Committee, asked for feedback on the use of the ESSA website for which Cynthia Vakareliyska is serving as webmaster. He also urged the ESSA members to make use of the electronic version of the ESSA newsletter to reduce costs. Ostrowski encouraged the ESSA members to consider participating in the technology committee. A discussion of the electronic Newsletter ensued. Marshall Poe reported on the ESSL listserve. Lindsey Hughes conveyed greetings from the Slavonic and East European Studies Group in the UK. The new president then raised the issue of how to increase ESSA's visibility, particularly regarding scheduling at AAASS meetings. Eve Levin urged ESSA to ask the AAASS scheduling staff for larger rooms for ESSA sessions. Norm Ingham shared his past experience regarding the scheduling. The discussion then turned to the potential establishment of one or several ESSA prizes (monetary or otherwise). It was decided to add a new line in the Newsletter asking for additional donations. Ann Kleimola proposed to establish a committee to investigate the issue of prizes and to check on the corporate status of ESSA. As a result, a committee, consisting of George Majeska, David Goldfrank, and Isolde Thyrt, was charged with investigating the use of accumulated surplus funds in the ESSA treasury and drafting a statement before the next ESSA meeting. Marshall Poe then raised the issue of how ESSA can support its junior members to be competitive with modern Slavicists in the job market. A lively discussion of this question ensued. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm and members gathered for dinner at the Morgan Street Brewery later that evening.

Respectfully submitted
Isolde Thyrêt, Secretary Treasurer

Meeting of the Slavonic and East European Medieval Studies Group

The Slavonic and East European Medieval Studies Group (SEEMSG) met in Cambridge on Mar. 18, 2000. The following talks were scheduled:

Petr Stepanovich, Institute of Russian History, RAN

"Prikhod i prikhodstvo dukhovenstva v Rossii XVI-go i XVII-go vekov"

Jaakko Lehtovirta, Institute of History, University of Turku

"The Appearance of the Halo in Muscovite Ruler Images"

Chris Thomas, British Library, and Ralph Cleminson, University of Portsmouth

"Cyrillic Early Printed Books in the British Library" (with exhibition)

For further information, contact Dr. Jonathan Shepard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Third Midwest Medieval Slavic Workshop in Chicago

On this side of the Atlantic, Norman W. Ingham recently organized another very successful workshop at the University of Chicago, on May 12, 2000. The following papers were given:

William R. Veder, University of Amsterdam (in absentia)

"Faithful to the Letter, But to Which? The Palatalized n' in Russian and Ukrainian amin'"

Thomas Klocek, University of Chicago

"The Problem of Trilingualism in the VC and VM"

Francis Butler, Northern Illinois University

"Wenceslas and Ludmila among the East Slavs"

Bill J. Darden, University of Chicago

"Platonic Roots of Pseudo-Dionysius"

Robert Romanchuk, UCLA/Florida State University

"The Glavy latinskie: A Thirteenth(?)-Century Byzantino-Slavic Refutation of Latin Genealogies of the Holy Family"

Bojan Beli, University of Illinois at Chicago

"Linguistic and Orthographic Features of a Charter of Stefan the First-Crowned"

Ann Kleimola, University of Nebraska

"The Russian Cult of Florus and Laurus"

David Miller, Roosevelt University

"How Many Monks Were There at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery?"

Brian Bennett, University of Nebraska

"Elements of Providentialism in the Primary Chronicle"

Richard Hellie, University of Chicago

"Russian Smoky Huts"

The participants looked forward to meeting again at this venue, while hopes are also high for another winter workshop at UCLA in 2001. Stay tuned. For more information on the Chicago workshop, contact Prof. Norman W. Ingham at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Call for Papers: 36th International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo

• Medieval Slavic I: Language and Literature
• Medieval Slavic II: History and Culture

May 3-6, 2001
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Over the years, Slavic topics have been almost nonexistent at this prestigious congress (the official printed program of the 35th Congress, which met in early May, lists no fewer than 562 panels), a fact that suggests, in a sense, that the Slavs and Slavic cultures are a non-presence in the larger medieval picture. In an effort to redress somewhat this situation, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University has proposed the two sponsored sessions listed above.

Given the history of the Congress, scholars are encouraged to submit proposals for papers of a more general nature than might be given, for example, at the AATSEEL conference, since one is not able to presume an audience that is knowledgeable in things Slavic; in fact, the real point of these sessions is to provide what for many would be their first real exposure to the richness of the medieval Slavic cultures. The sessions are open to all disciplines; papers can focus on topics within a given Slavic culture, across Slavic cultures, or on the relationships between Slavic and non-Slavic cultures, during the period roughly 600 - 1400 AD.

One-page abstracts of papers designed for delivery in 20-25 minutes should be sent to the address provided below by September 1, 2000.

Interested scholars are encouraged to submit very brief (one paragraph) descriptions of possible papers as soon as possible, in order for Dr. Murphy to convey to the Congress organizers a sense of how much interest in participating on these panels actually is "out there."

For more information contact:

Eighth International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality at Bose

Fr. Enzo Bianchi, prior of Bose, has kindly informed us of the Eighth International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality, which will be held at the Monastery of Bose, Italy, this September. The conference, organized by the Monastic Community of Bose in collaboration with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Moscow Patriarchate, and the University of Turin, is part of a series of conferences at Bose devoted to distinguished figures of Orthodox spirituality. This year's conference will be in two sessions, addressing the following themes:

• Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos and the Philokalia (Sept. 16-19, 2000)
• Forms of Holiness in Russia (Sept. 20-23, 2000)

Bishops, monks from Mount Athos and from other countries, eminent representatives of the Orthodox Churches, and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of Protestant Churches are expected to take part in the conference. For both sessions of the conference simultaneous translation from Italian, French, Greek, and Russian will be provided. A guided excursion will be provided for conference participants to see the Holy Shroud at the Cathedral of Turin and the principal Romanesque sites (churches and monasteries) of the Piemonte region. The program of the second session, "Forms of Holiness in Russia," follows:

Enzo Bianchi, Bose

"Models of Holiness in the East and in the West"

V. Vodoff, Paris

"Local Saints' Cults among the Eastern Slavs from the Beginnings to the Thirteenth Century"

Ilarion (Alfeev), Moscow

"Holiness and the Theology of the Divine Light"

Makarii (Veretennikov), Moscow

"Notes on Russian Hagiology"

A. Poppe, Warsaw

"The Holy Strastoterptsy Boris and Gleb"

P. Gonneau, Paris

"The Ideal of the Holy Monk in Fourteenth and Fifteenth-Century Russia"

O.V. Panchenko, St. Petersburg

"The Office of Russian Monk-Saints in the Writings of a Seventeenth-Century Solovki Monk"

N. Kauchtschischwili, Bergamo

"Figures of Holiness in Russian Literature"

T.R. Rudi, St. Petersburg

"Holy Women in Russia: The Life of Iulianiia Lazarevskaia"

S. Senyk, Rome

"Pastoral Work and the Search for Holiness. A Bishop in the Russian Empire"

O. Clment, Paris "'Fools for Christ' in the Eastern Church" N.V. Ponyrko, St. Petersburg "The Holy 'Fool for Christ' in Seventeenth-Century Russia" V. Putsko, Kaluga "Iconography of Russian Saints" S. S. Averintsev, Vienna "Holiness and Beauty in the Spiritual Tradition of Russia" A concert of sacred music (Vivaldi, Corelli, Boccherini, Franck) with Maestro Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti will follow the conference. The Secretariat of the Conference (br. Adalberto, br. Salvatore) will be pleased to provide any further information you require, and hope to hear from you regarding the details of your participation in the conference. For more information on this or other Bose conferences, contact the brethren at +39 015.679.185, fax +39 015.679.290, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Call for Papers: Conference on Medieval Medicine in Sofia

The Department of Medieval Slavic Studies at the University of Sofia (Bulgaria), the Institute of History of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, Zagreb (Croatia), and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Veliko Turnovo (Bulgaria) announces an international interdisciplinary conference on the topic of "Medieval Medicine: Texts, Practices, Institutions," on Aug. 29-31 at the Rila Monastery in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference aims at uniting scholars working in the fields of medieval medicine and history of healing institutions, cultural history, archeology, linguistics, and anthropology. Both learned medical practices and popular healing devices will be topics of discusssion. Special panels will be organized on: medical terminology the distribution of medical texts and their translations healing practices magic and divination healing prayers and amulets medieval dietology medival baths the role of monasteries as healing places; monastic medicine and hospitals cults of saints-healers exorcism medieval understanding of the human body and illness the status of the doctor and the healer Papers concerning the Slavic and Byzantine worlds, Central and Western Europe, Latin, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, and Armenia and Georgia are equally welcome. Abstracts should be up to 200 words, preferably in English or Russian. Contact Dr. Adelina Angusheva (Sofia) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Dr. Tatjana Buklijas (Croatia) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Rossina Kostova (Veliko Turnovo) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Dr. Margaret Dimitrova (Sofia) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. See also web pages at http://www.rdlab.carnet.hr/u/azaluski/t/mm and http://public.srce.hr/~tabukli/mm.

Staraia Ladoga Conference on Northwestern Rus' in the Middle Ages

The Staraia Ladoga Museum held its eighth conference, on the topic of "Northwestern Rus' in the Middle Ages," on May 29-31, 2000. Paper titles of interest included: G.S. Lebedev. "Peredol, Ladoga, the Original Petersburg" B.G. Vasil'ev. "Towards the History of the Wall-Painting of the Assumption Cathedral in Staraia Ladoga" Iu. Korpela. "St. Stefan of Perm' Missionary or Politician?" D.G. Khrustalev. "Metropolitan Ephrem's Seals" A.A. Panchenko. "The 'Strange Religion' and the Blood Libel" E.V. Markasova. "The Stylistic Concept of the Sermon (Russian Rhetoric of the 17th-18th c.)" M.S. Zueva. "'Neo-Vikings': Intonation Spheres of the Late 20th c." S. Todorova. "Harald's Stone at Jelling: Pagan and Christian traits" A.A. Selin. "New Sources on the Historical Geography of Church Building in the Novgorod Land in the 16th-17th c." K.V. Sutorius. "The Second Scholastic in Northwestern Russia" V.B. Panchenko. "The Epigraphy of Medieval Stone Crosses of the Novgorod Land: Styles and Functions" M.E. Vorozheikina, I.S. Ielchin. "An Attempt at the Reconstruction of the16th-c. Boring Pickle-Elevating System According to the 16th-17th-c. Instruction 'Rospis' kak zachat' delat' novaia truba na novom meste," and Archaeological Data from Industrial Zones" Z.D. Bessarabova. "The Results of Archaeological Observation of Trench XVIII in the Northern Part of Staraia Ladoga in 1999" N.I. Milutenko. "'Austrvegr' to Jerusalem (Why did the Jotunheim Hill, the lborg Town and the Odense Island Appear in Gardariki?)" M.V. Pankratova. "The Particularities of 'God's Trial' in Norway and Iceland" V.O. Kazanskii. "Once More on Jaroslav the Wise's Marriage Gift to Ingigerd, Olof Skstkonung's Daughter" N.I. Milutenko, S.V. Beletskii. "Comments on the Treaty of 944" Iu.M. Lesman. "The Ancient Russian Stream in the Development of Circular Pendants in Borre Style" S.Iu. Kargopol'tsev. "The Kurgolovo Archaeological Site: A Puzzle with Three Unknowns (Preliminary Report)" I.I. Tarasov. "Fishing Tools from the Staraia Ladoga Excavations" V.Iu. Sobolev. "The Zastoron'e Archaeological Site: The History of Its Study and Some Results" K.A. Zhukov. "The 14th-c. Russian Lamellar-Scale Mail" For further information contact Adrian A. Selin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Notes on Two Obituaries of D. S. Likhachev and on A.A. Zimin's Book

Prof. Robin Milner-Gulland (University of Sussex) wishes to comment on the two obituaries of D.S. Likhachev by Daniel Kaiser and Daniel S. Waugh in the ESSA Newsletter 12 #2, regarding the role that the late Dmitrii Sergeevich played in the case of Aleksandr A. Zimin during the debate on the Igor Tale and its relationship to the Zadonshchina. Prof. Milner-Gulland notes: "For the record, I heard him [D.S. Likhachev] in lectures (1967) calling repeatedly and clearly for the proper publication of Zimin's views, and he followed this up in completely unequivocal terms in print (Oxford Slavonic Papers XIII: 46): 'In paying my tribute of respect to those who deny its [the Igor Tale's] authenticity, I would also express my hope that they may be able to make their views fully and satisfactorily known,' adding in a footnote: 'As a first step A.A. Zimins book [published in mimeograph: "Slovo o polku Igoreve": Istochniki. Vremia napisaniia. Avtor. T. 1-3 (Moscow: 1963)] should be properly published.'" The editor of this Newsletter notes further that O.V. Tvorogov restated this goal in a publication for a domestic audience (Entsiklopediia "Slova o polku Igoreve" (St. Petersburg: 1995), s.v. "Zimin, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich"). Tvorogov's article also gives full bibliography of Zimin's available publications on the question of the Igor Tale and the Zadonshchina.

Miscellany Izb;rano Izb|rano

A four-week course on "Issues and Resources in Central Europe for Research on the Middle Ages" will be held at the CEU in Budapest, Hungary, Jul. 17-Aug. 10 2000, as this year's Summer Institute on Medieval Central Europe. For information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (+36-1) 327-3024, or (+36-1) 327-3055 (fax).

A conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on the topic of "Medieval Christian Europe, East and West: Tradition, Values, Communications," has been announced for Sept. 2-5, 2000. For information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (+359-2) 981-38-84.
Viacheslav V. Ivanov and Dean S. Worth, both of UCLA, were recently presented with Festschrifts (both containing articles of interest to medievalists): Essays in Poetics, Literary History and Linguistics, Moscow, 1999, and In the Realm of Slavic Philology, Los Angeles, 2000.


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