Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 1.pdf/65

 The newly introduced punishments displayed their Byzantine origin—blinding, chopping off of hands, and similar brutalities—punishments whose atrocity was subsequently reinforced by Tatar influence.

It was natural to the Byzantines to cultivate theology and theological literature. Such literature remained Byzantine when couched in the Slavic ecclesiastical tongue. The Greeks learned Russian, indeed, but their views and their habits remained Byzantine. At the court of the metropolitan and in many of the monasteries there were Byzantine colonies, continually replenished from Byzantium.

Byzantium, less powerful than Rome, was unable to impose its speech upon the daughter churches. The Russians, like the southern Slavs, preserved the Old Slavic ecclesiastical tongue. For this reason the southern Slavs, and especially the Bulgars, who were more directly influenced by Byzantium, took an active part in the Christianisation and civilisation of the Russians.

It will readily be understood that Russian opposition to Byzantine influence in the church sprang to life. This opposition seems to have been active as early as the eleventh century, and was certainly active in the twelfth century, focusing in Kiev, the capital, and above all in the Pečerskii Monastyr (Monastery of the Caves). The grand princes endeavoured to compromise between the metropolitans and the Monastery of the Caves, but favoured the latter.

Novgorod exercised an influence as well as Byzantium, and in Kiev western civilising forces were also at work. St. Vladimir entered into relationships with Germany, Rome, Poland, and Bohemia. It is by no means improbable that the first Christianity in Russia, in Novgorod and Kiev, was Roman, and that the Norsemen who founded the Kievic state were Roman Christians. But history has as yet no definite information how and to what extent western Europe influenced Old Russia.

Russian civilisation, Russian views of the world and of life, were lower than Byzantine. Russia was at a lower level of civilisation. The Russians were not simply uncultured, not merely, as we should say to-day, illiterate; but their morality was crude; they were polygamists; but they were natural, simple, and frank, and despite their roughness they were more humane than most of the Byzantines. This Old