Domostroy. Women's share

S. Solomko. Russian beauty
In foreign historical works, a stable cliché about the miserable fate of women in pre-Petrine Rus' has developed. However, domestic liberal authors have also worked hard to create this stamp. Kostomarov lamented that "the Russian woman was a constant slave from birth to the grave." She was kept locked up, husbands beat their wives with whips, rods, clubs. On what are such assertions based? It turns out that there are not so many sources. One of them is an Austrian diplomat of the 16th century. Herberstein. His mission to Moscow failed, and he left evil and caustic memories of our country (even the Jesuit Possevino, after visiting Russia, noted that Herberstein lied a lot). Among other negative things, he described that Russian women are constantly locked up, “spinning and twisting threads,” and they are not allowed to do anything else.

But the most famous document on which the evidence is built is Domostroy. The name of this popular book of the 16th century even became abusive, fitting somewhere next to “Black Hundreds” and “obscurantism”. Although in reality "Domostroy" is a complete and good encyclopedia of economic life. This was typical for all medieval literature, books were expensive, and the buyer wanted “everything” in one or another field of knowledge to be collected in one book. “Domostroy” is precisely an attempt to unite “everything”. How to pray correctly, how to maintain a house, how to build relationships between family members, owners and workers, how to receive guests, take care of livestock, how to harvest fish, mushrooms, cabbage, how to make kvass, honey, beer, recipes for hundreds of dishes are given. And all this is united by the concept of “home” as a single organism. healthy body- it will be good to live, something is wrong in the house - things will go awry.

But according to various works - scientific, journalistic, artistic, the same quote from Domostroy wanders: ". It would seem that everything is clear here! What barbarity! Cruelty is not only allowed, but also prescribed, elevated to a mandatory practice! Stop ... Do not rush to draw conclusions. In fact, we have before us one of the most brazen examples of historical falsification. The text is indeed pulled out of Domostroy, but ... pay attention to the ellipsis. There are not a few words missing. Missing a few paragraphs!

Let us take the original text of Domostroy and see what is cut off by the first ellipsis: “If a husband sees that his wife and servants are in disorder, he would be able to instruct and teach his wife useful advice". Do you think the original and the quotation have the same meaning? Or was it distorted beyond recognition? As for the teachings about flogging, they do not refer to the wife at all: “But if the servant does not heed the word of the wife or son or daughter, and does not do what the husband, father or mother teaches him, then whip with a whip, depending on the fault.” And it is explained how to punish the servants: “When punishing with a whip, carefully beat, and it is reasonable, and it hurts, and it’s scary, and it’s great if the guilt is great. For disobedience or negligence, taking off his shirt, whipping with a whip, holding hands and looking through fault ... "


I’m not arguing here whether it’s right or not to flog a servant if, for example, he steals (maybe it’s more correct to send him to the gallows right away, as they did in England?) I just want to note that explicit fraud was introduced in relation to wives. Writers and journalists copying each other's quote with ellipsis may not know this. But didn’t historians of the 19th century read the full text of Domostroy? who launched the crippled quote into circulation? Couldn't stop reading. Therefore, the forgery was deliberately committed. By the way, some translators also allow additional falsifications. For example, instead of “taking off your shirt”, as in the original, they write “lifting up your shirt” - to stick the quote to a woman, not a man. And the reader will not notice, swallow! Is anyone really going to study the original text in Church Slavonic and compare it with the translation?

By the way, true relationship between husbands and wives, or between lovers, accepted in Rus', it is not difficult to see from other sources. There are plenty of them left. Listen to folk songs, read epics. Or "The Tale of St. Peter and Fevronia" - it was written in the same years as "Domostroy". Where do you find cruelty, rudeness, barbarism? Of course, the love of the patron saints of family and marriage, or the love of fabulous, epic heroes, was the ideal. But it was the very ideal to which our ancestors aspired and gravitated.

And Russian women have never been downtrodden and timid. One can recall at least the talented ruler of the vast state of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga. You can also remember the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise Anna, married to the French king Henry I. She turned out to be the most educated person in France, fluent in several languages. Documents have been preserved where her neat signature in Latin flaunts, and next to it is a cross - the “signature” of an illiterate husband. It was Anna who, for the first time in France, introduced secular receptions into the custom, and began to go hunting with the ladies. Before her, French women sat at home, behind the embroidery frame or empty chatter with the servants.

Russian princesses showed themselves as queens of the Scandinavian countries, Hungary, Poland. The granddaughter of Vladimir Monomakh, Dobrodeya-Evpraksia, amazed even Byzantium, the most cultured country of that era, with her erudition. She was an excellent doctor, knew how to heal with herbs, wrote medical works. Her treatise "Alimma" ("Mazi") has been preserved. For her time, the princess had the deepest knowledge. The book contains sections on general human hygiene, marriage hygiene, pregnancy, child care, nutrition, diet, external and internal diseases, recommendations for treatment with ointments, massage techniques. Surely Dobrodeya-Evpraksia was not the only such specialist. At home, she had mentors, the mentors had other students.

Humiliating Russians and pouring slander on them, foreign authors for some reason do not pay attention to their own past. After all, ideas about the Western gallant attitude towards ladies developed only in the 19th century. from the fiction novels of Dumas, Walter Scott, etc. In reality, “knightly” was not enough. Luther taught that "the wife is obliged to work tirelessly for her husband, to obey him in everything." In the popular book "About evil women” it was stated that “the donkey, the woman and the nut need blows”. The famous German poet Reimer von Tsvetten recommended that men “take a club and pull their wife along the back, and harder, with all her might, so that she feels her master.” And the British writer Swift reasoned that the female sex is a cross between a man and a monkey.

In France, Italy, Germany, even the nobles frankly, for money, sold beautiful daughters kings, princes, aristocrats. Such deals were considered not shameful, but extremely profitable. After all, the mistress of a high-ranking person opened the way to a career and enrichment for her relatives, she was showered with gifts. But they could easily give it to another owner, resell it, lose it at cards, beat it. English king Henry VIII in fits bad mood he beat the favorites so much that they “failed” for several weeks. He sent two bored wives to the chopping block. And the norms of gallantry did not apply to commoners at all. They were treated like an object for use. By the way, Kostomarov, condemning domestic customs, referred to a certain Italian - who himself beat a Russian woman to death, which he boasted about abroad. But is this evidence of Russian morals? Rather, about the mores of the Italians.


In Rus', a woman enjoyed much greater freedoms than is commonly believed. The law protected her rights. Insulting women was punished twice as much as insulting men. They fully owned movable and immovable property, they themselves disposed of their own dowry. Widows ran the household with minor children. If there were no sons in the family, daughters were heirs. Women made deals, sued. Among them there were many literate people, even commoners exchanged Novgorod birch bark notes. In Kievan Rus there were special schools for girls. And in the XVII century. the notorious archpriest Avvakum angrily attacked a certain girl Evdokia, who had begun to study grammar and rhetoric.

But Russian representatives of the fair sex were also able to wield weapons. There are repeated references to how they defended the walls of cities along with men. They even took part in court fights. In general, in such cases, it was allowed to hire a fighter instead of oneself, but the Pskov Judicial Letter stipulated: “And the wife with the wife should award the field, and the hireling from the wife should not be on either side.” If a duel is awarded to a woman with a man - please, put up a mercenary, but if with a woman - you can’t. Put on armor yourself, go out on horseback or on foot, take swords, spears, axes and cut as much as you like. Obviously, the law also had a cunning background. Two women will quarrel, pay the fighters, and one of them will die or be crippled because of a trifling quarrel. And they themselves will not take risks on trifles, they will reconcile.

Well, now let's try to deal with the "generally recognized" evidence of the domestic imprisonment of Russian women. In the era of Muscovite Rus', 90% of the population were peasants. So think about it - could they keep their wives under lock and key? And who will work in the field, in the garden, take care of the cattle? This concept clearly does not fit with peasant women. Maybe only townspeople were locked up? No, it doesn't fit again. In addition to the mentioned Herberstein, memories of our country were left by dozens of foreigners who visited it in different times. They describe crowds of women interspersed with men at various holidays, celebrations, and divine services. They tell about saleswomen and customers who overflowed the bazaars. Czech Tanner remarked: “It is a pleasure, in particular, to look at the goods or trade of the Muscovites flocking there. Whether they carry linen, thread, shirts or rings for sale, whether they crowd there to yawn from nothing to do, they raise such a cry that a newcomer, perhaps, will think if the city is on fire.

Muscovites worked in workshops, in shops, hundreds of them washed clothes near the bridges across the Moscow River. Bathing on Water Blessing was described - many women plunged into the hole along with men, this spectacle has always attracted foreigners. Almost all foreign guests who came to our country considered it their duty to describe the Russian baths. In Europe, they were not, the baths were considered exotic, so they climbed there to stare at the undressed women. Excitedly they told their readers how they, steamed, jumped out into the snow or into the river. But ... what about seclusion?

It remains to be assumed that only noblewomen were imprisoned at home ... No. They just had no time to chill! In those days, the nobles left for service every year. Sometimes from spring to late autumn sometimes absent for several years. And who managed the estates in their absence? Wives, mothers. A confirmation can serve, for example, “The Tale of Yuliana Osorina”, written in the 17th century. the heroine's son. He told how his father served in Astrakhan, and his mother ran the household. The court physician Collins described the family of the stolnik Miloslavsky, who served in the Pushkar order. He reported that they lived very poorly, and Miloslavsky's daughter Maria, the future queen, was forced to pick mushrooms in the forest and sell them at the market.

As for the representatives of the highest nobility, princesses and boyars, they also took care of their husbands' household, estates and crafts. They did not stay away from political, spiritual life. Marfa Boretskaya actually headed the government of Novgorod. Morozova ran the schismatic opposition. But most of the boyars themselves were in the court service. They were in charge of the tsar's wardrobe, occupied important positions of mothers and nannies for the sovereign's children. And the queen had her own large courtyard. She was served by boyars, noblewomen, the staff consisted of clerks, clerks, Russian and foreign doctors, teachers of children.

The wives of the sovereigns were in charge of the palace villages and volosts, received reports from the managers, and counted the income. They also had their own possessions, land, industrial enterprises. Collins wrote that under Alexei Mikhailovich, for his wife Maria, seven miles from Moscow, manufactories for processing hemp and flax were built. They "are in great order, very extensive, and will provide work for all the poor in the state." The queens were widely engaged in charity, had the right to pardon criminals. Often they themselves, without husbands, went to monasteries and temples, on pilgrimages. They were accompanied by a retinue of 5-6 thousand noble ladies.


Margeret and Guldenstern noted that when traveling to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, “many women” rode behind the queen, and “they sat on horses like men.” Fletcher also writes that boyars often rode horseback. Come on, try after indoor sedentary seclusion to ride in the saddle from Moscow to Sergiev Posad! What will happen to you? It turns out that noble ladies where they trained, rode horses. Obviously in their villages. And if, during the period of residence in the capital, boyar daughters or wives spent a significant part of their time in their own courtyard, then it is necessary to take into account what the boyar courts were like! These were entire towns, their population consisted of 3-4 thousand servants and servants. They spread their gardens, ponds, baths, dozens of buildings. Agree, spending time in such a courtyard is by no means tantamount to a dreary conclusion in the “terem”.

However, Herberstein's mention that Russian women "spin and twist threads" is to some extent close to the truth. Each girl learned needlework. A peasant woman or a craftsman's wife sheathed the family. But the wives and daughters of the nobility, of course, were not poring over the heirloom ports and shirts. Some samples of their work have come down to us - magnificent embroideries. Basically, they were made for the church. Veils, shrouds, covers, air, banners, even whole embroidered iconostases. So what do we see? Women are engaged in complex economic issues, in their free time they create works of the highest art - and this is called enslavement?

Some restrictions did exist. In Rus', balls and feasts with the participation of women were not accepted. The host, as a special honor, could introduce his wife to the guests. She will come out, bring them a glass each and leave. On holidays, at weddings, women gathered in a separate room - men in another. "Domostroy" did not recommend at all for " fair half» intoxicating drinks. But foreigners who had a chance to communicate closely with Russian ladies admired their upbringing and manners.

The German Airman described that they appear before the guests “with very serious faces, but not dissatisfied or sour, but connected with friendliness; and you will never see such a lady laughing, much less with those cutesy and ridiculous antics with which the women of our countries try to show their secular pleasantness. They do not change their facial expressions either by jerking their heads, biting their lips or rolling their eyes, as German women do. They do not wear like wandering lights, but constantly maintain gravity, and if they want to greet or thank someone, they straighten up in an elegant way and slowly put their right hand on their left chest to their hearts and immediately lower it seriously and slowly, so that both hands hang down. on both sides of the body and just as ceremoniously return to their previous position. As a result, they give the impression of noble personalities.”


Our distant great-great-grandmothers loved and knew how to dress up. Comfortable and beautiful sundresses, summer coats, fur coats, hats with fur trim were sewn. All this was decorated with intricate patterns, festive costumes - with pearls and beads. Fashionistas flaunted shoes on a very high heels, adopted from the Tatars the custom of painting nails - by the way, both were new in the West, described as curiosities. Russian jewelers made amazing earrings, bracelets, necklaces. Airman noted: “They, according to their custom, adorn themselves beyond measure with pearls and jewels, which they constantly hang from their ears on gold rings, and they also wear precious rings on their fingers.” The girls made complex exquisite hairstyles - they even wove pearls and gold threads into braids, decorated them with silk tassels.

Yes, and morals in general were quite free. As in all times, women were drawn to joy and fun. They loved to dance, swing on the swings. The girls gathered with the guys outside the outskirts to spin in round dances, sing perky ditties, frolic in young games, in winter - go skating, sledding from the mountain. Each holiday had its own customs. On the Assumption - "dozhinki", on Christmas - carols, on Maslenitsa - pancakes, storming of snow fortresses, and grooms with brides and young spouses famously raced in troikas. As in all times, people wanted family happiness. In Ustyug in 1630, they announced a recruitment of 150 girls who wanted to go to Siberia "for marriage" - there were not enough wives for the Cossacks and archers. The required amount was accumulated instantly, they drove through all of Russia!


However, Russian women were not alien to the usual female weaknesses, how could it be without this? Suppose, during the next fire in Moscow, they began to find out the cause - it turned out that the widow Ulyana Ivanova left the stove unturned, went out for a minute to her neighbor, sexton Timofey Golosov, and sat up, chatted away. She scratched her tongue until they screamed that her house was on fire. Probably, such a widow could live in any country and in any era.

Olearius describes an incident in Astrakhan. The Germans here also decided to look at the Russian bathers, went for a walk to the baths. Four girls jumped out of the steam room and splashed in the Volga. A German soldier decided to take a dip with them. They began to jokingly splash, but one went too deep and began to sink. Girlfriends appealed to the soldier, he pulled out the pullet. All four hugged the German, showering him with kisses of gratitude. Something not too similar to "enslavement". Obviously, the girls themselves played the "accident" in order to get to know each other better.

Ambassador Foscarino boasted how several Moscow women found themselves in the arms of Italians - out of curiosity, they wanted to compare them with their compatriots. Olearius and Tanner mentioned that there were also girls in Moscow prostitute. They hung around near the Execution Ground under the guise of canvas saleswomen, but identified themselves by holding a turquoise ring in their lips. It is very convenient - if an outfit of archers appears, hide the ring in your mouth. Although it did not come to wholesale debauchery, as in France or Italy. Moreover, the situation turned out to be largely paradoxical. In most European countries, medieval draconian laws were preserved, fornication was punishable by death. But no one remembered these laws, debauchery flourished openly. There were no such laws in Russia. Only the Church dealt with questions of morality. But the moral foundations remained much stronger than in the West.


Of course, not every family reigned "advice and love." sometimes happened adultery- it was a sin, and confessors appointed repentance, penance. But if the husband offended his wife, she could also find protection in the church - the priest will figure it out, will reason with the head of the family. In such cases, the “world” also intervened - a rural, suburban, artisan community. And the communities in Rus' were strong, they could turn to the authorities, governors, to the tsar himself. For example, a public complaint has come down to us about the townsman Korob, who “drinks and dabbles ugly, plays grain and cards, beats and tortures his wife not according to the law ...” The community asked to appease the hooligan or even evict him out.

Yes, and Russian women themselves were by no means defenseless hothouse creatures, they knew how to fend for themselves. In the folk “Parable of an old husband and a young maiden” (XVII century), a rich nobleman wooes a beautiful woman against her will - he forces her parents to marry. But the girl lists in advance the arsenal of means with which she will torment him - from treating him with dry crusts and undercooked moss to beatings “on a barn mug, an unstabbed top, a fried neck, bream cows, pike teeth.” Indeed, it also happened that it was not the wife who suffered from her husband, but the husband got it from his wife. So, the nobleman Nikifor Skoryatin twice turned to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself! He complained that Pelageya's wife beat him, pulled his beard and threatened him with an axe. He asked to be protected or allowed to get a divorce.

Of course, I cite this example not as a positive and not as an excuse for quarrelsome women. But he also confirms how untenable the “generally recognized” stereotype about downtrodden and unfortunate Russian women who have been sitting behind locked doors all their lives and moaning from beatings.

Valery Shambarov

What was the position of women in society and in the family? Domostroy pays considerable attention to this issue.

We do not consider it an exaggeration or a mistake to note that in modern society the word “Domostroy” evokes quite definite associations: the harsh despotism of the husband and father in the house, the humiliated, powerless position of the woman and other household members. Let's try to figure out whether such a bad rumor about the morals of Domostroy is deserved?

Let's take a look at the text itself. In the chapters on family life, the author of "Domostroy" unambiguously calls on the husband to keep his wife in obedience, look after her, point her out in everything and not give her any freedom. For example, “Husbands should bring up their wives with love and exemplary instruction; the wives of their husbands ask about the strict order, about how to save the soul, to please God and the husband, and better arrange their house, and obey the husband in everything; and whatever the husband punishes, listen to him with love and fear and fulfill according to his instructions and according to what is written here. In another place we see: “... And to go and invite to visit and send only with whom the husband allows”; “... And the husband will see that his wife is in disorder ... he would be able to instruct and teach his wife with useful advice; ... but if the wife does not follow the instruction and does not fulfill all of this, and she herself does not know any of this, and does not teach the servants, the husband should punish his wife, admonish her with fear in private .... With a whip, punishing, beat carefully, and reasonably and painfully, and scary and healthy - if the guilt is great.

Indeed, at first glance, we see a harsh picture of male despotism and unlimited tyranny in the family, leaving the unfortunate woman the lot of a silent and unquestioning slave. The historian N.I. Kostomarov in his book Life and Customs of the Russian People in the 16th and 17th Centuries, where he speaks with undisguised grief about the unenviable female lot in Rus'. According to him, "a Russian woman was a constant slave from childhood to the grave." As a girl, she was kept in seclusion, strictly hiding from human eyes, she was often beaten so that she would not lose her virginity, she was married to a completely stranger without asking her will and desires.

Having become a wife, she fell into the "new slavery", in which she was not allowed to leave the house anywhere without the permission of her husband, to get acquainted with anyone according to her heart and temper, nor to send or receive gifts from acquaintances without the knowledge of her husband. She did not even dare to eat or drink anything herself without her husband's permission. At any slightest pretext or suspicion, the husband punished his wife with a whip, called "fool" [, "stripped naked, tied with ropes and whipped the fool to the point of blood - this was called teaching the wife." And the most terrible thing, according to the historian, is that this kind of treatment not only did not seem reprehensible, but was also imputed to the husband as a moral obligation, as we saw in the example of the advice of Domostroy.

Kostomarov also writes that a woman did not always endure such a harsh treatment with her without a murmur, and it did not always go unpunished. There were cases when a wife decided to poison her husband, avenge herself by denouncing him to the king, or, driven to despair, abused drunkenness and indulged in adultery. The truth and the punishment of the unfortunate for these sins was more than severe - for killing them alive they buried them in the ground, dooming them to starvation, and fornication they were forcibly locked up in a monastery.

The author of Domostroy, in an effort to prevent indecent behavior on the part of his wife, especially severely punishes her “never and in no way intoxicated drink” not to use, not to conduct with the servants “wasteful speeches that are funny, shameful and absurd”, and never accept at home “ no merchants, no idle wives, no procuresses, no magicians, since many troubles come from all of them. He is well aware of the existence of the so-called "conjured women" who used to enter into the confidence of young wives and then seduce them and bring them together with other people's husbands, about which he warns in one of the chapters of Domostroy.

One gets the impression that the compiler of Domostroy, this strict moralist, deliberately deprives a woman of all the pleasures in life, even the smallest and most innocent ones, leaving her only constant, hard and exhausting work in the household and arranging a home. Ideal hostess, in his view, should work all day tirelessly: get up before everyone else and wake others, go to bed later than everyone, closely monitor all the servants, give everyone instructions, lessons and work for the coming day, while setting an example, i.e. . better than all her servants to know any business that they perform on her behalf. The list of duties of a woman in everyday life is truly amazing: she must be able to excellently “cook food, and put jelly, and wash linen, and rinse, and dry, and spread tablecloths and benches”, and be able to sew, embroider, weave, teach needlework to her maids , "Yes, and see and notice all this." It is precisely such a hardworking, businesslike and skillful hostess that the author of Domostroy praises: “For that, honor and glory to her, and praise to her husband.”

In general, as has been repeatedly noted above, "Domostroy" really paints a very depressing picture of the position of women in the family. But the very society of that time is to blame for this, its absolutely medieval customs, rigid and ascetic moral ideas about how righteous, God-fearing people should live. And in this sense, it seems to us that Domostroy is just a direct product of this cruel century. Many scientists point to this, including I.E. Zabelin, I.S. Nekrasov, V.O. Klyuchevsky, whose statements are given in the article by V.V. Kolesov "Domostroy as a monument of medieval culture".

Summarizing the study of this issue, Kolesov writes that in any medieval society, the position of a woman was socially uncertain - "not a master and not a slave, therefore, no one." The main requirement of public morality: "imitate!" (which Domostroy also teaches) - developed an extreme immobility of social and family life. In accordance with the mores of that time, love was cruelly suppressed, marriages not for convenience were considered debauchery, and a personal attitude towards a person was perceived as too defiant a manifestation of individuality. Excessive abstinence and fasting suppressed natural feelings and inversely caused vices and crimes, which in turn were severely punished. Of course, social uncertainty in one's position caused protests from extraordinary personalities, but, we repeat, such protests were brutally suppressed by society and the church.

Such were the morals of the Middle Ages, especially medieval Rus', generated by "Byzantine asceticism and rude Tatar jealousy." A woman in the Middle Ages was generally considered a being inferior to a man, the embodiment of the devilish temptations of sins, the object of persecution by the church, and these reprehensible ideas were deeply rooted in the minds of people of that time, and are widely represented in a wide variety of monuments of medieval literature. Accordingly, one should not hastily condemn the harsh morality of Domostroy.

Moreover, according to Zabelin, Domostroy is much softer in its recommendations in relation to women compared to other writings of the earlier Middle Ages, since this was already determined by the real position of women in society [. With all the restrictions, a woman in Domostroy is the mistress of the house, and occupies a special place in the hierarchy family relations. The rights and duties of the master and mistress are distributed between them, almost without overlapping, and this also determines the social rank of the hostess in privacy at home. Only jointly husband and wife constitute a "house". Without a wife, a man is not a socially equal member of society. Their functions in the house, according to Zabelin, can be distributed according to the formula "word and deed." The last word always remains with the man, but the woman is in charge of the house, so many of the women were characterized by "strong courage and immutable mind - qualities that are definitely masculine." True, unfortunately, these qualities were certainly condemned, but first of all, purity and obedience were ideal: “And above all, to have the fear of God and stay in bodily purity.”

Again, compared to common practice, in which there was no place for love and pity for weak woman, Domostroy tried to soften the morals of despotic husbands: it was not recommended to beat the wife either in the ear, or in the face, or under the heart with a fist, or with a kick, or with a staff, with anything iron or wooden, so that she would not maim her or prevent a child from miscarrying if she pregnant. And it’s important that you don’t beat people in front of them, but teach them in private, and then forgive, so that at the same time “neither the husband should be offended by his wife, nor the wife by her husband”! For the author of Domostroy, the main thing in the family is not domestic oppression and tyranny of a man over a submissive slave wife, but a happy “life in love and in harmony.” According to him, kind, good wife is real a treasure, “more precious than a precious stone”, “a crown to your husband”, a source of blessed good in the house.

And if a woman really follows the precepts and recommendations of Domostroy in everything, she fully possesses the qualities ideal wife and hostesses - kindness, piety, diligence, humility, silence, etc., then such a family can only give praise and honor. It is precisely such a family that the author of Domostroy sets as an example for all other Russian families. “A good wife saves her husband even after death, like the pious Empress Theodora.” Of course, an ardent misogynist, such as Domostroy is considered in our time, could not give such praise to a woman.

So what can we conclude? Of course, many of Domostroy’s cruel and despotic statements about the role and position of a woman in the family give him a sad reputation as a “domestic tyrant”, but at the same time, this one-sided interpretation does not correspond to real attitude medieval society to a woman. According to Klyuchevsky, “Old Russian thought was not afraid and did not get bored thinking about a woman and was even disposed to idealize the image of a good wife. Who knows, maybe the old Russian woman was psychologically arranged in such a way that when they called her an ideal and said that it was her portrait, a desire was born in her to become his original and the ability to be his good copy was found.

In the end, we can rightfully say that the attitude towards a woman was much wider than the narrow framework of the “master-slave”. It put at the forefront, first of all, family harmony and the division of household duties between husband and wife, in the depths of which the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bfemale equality was ripening. At the same time, according to L.P. Naydenova, it was the work of the mother, the work of the wife, that was very important in the hearth, it not only created well-being and peace in the house, but also had the meaning of fulfilling Christian duty, was regarded as a Christian virtue. Evaluating all of the above, we can boldly conclude that the family played an important role in the gradual development of women's social equality.

In the middle of the 16th century, a monument of folk customs "Domostroy" appeared. It was a collection of not just practical advice on how to punish children, salt mushrooms, put clean dishes on the table, but also other recommendations: how to decorate your home so that it was "like entering paradise."

Pop Sylvester is considered the author of Domostroy. This book is a code of conduct in home life. The author of Domostroy paid special attention to how a woman should behave - the mother of the family, the mistress of the house. According to "Domostroy", the whole burden of household chores lay on female shoulders. A woman had to economically manage the household, not throw anything away, and be able to prepare food for the future.

Women were not supposed to participate in public life, and they were not even allowed to just walk the streets. The more noble the family, the more strictness fell on the lot of a woman. The most unfortunate of the Russian girls were the princesses (royal daughters). It was very difficult for them to even get married: religion did not allow for subjects - not according to rank, for foreigners. Other noble women lived a little better - they were hidden from human eyes, and even in the church a place was specially fenced off for them.

When a girl was given in marriage, no one asked her consent, and often she met the groom already at the wedding.

AT women's clothing, even the most expensive, was also strict. A headdress was obligatory for a woman, to open her hair - “to goof off” - was a great shame for a woman. The Russian national dress - a sundress - completely hid the figure of a woman from immodest glances.

"Domostroy", without exaggeration, is an outstanding work, which defines the rules of home organization, which concerned spiritual life, relationships within the family and housekeeping. "Domostroy", according to the author, was supposed to help the Russian person to behave correctly both in state and in family life. It affirmed a deep faith in God, true mercy, honesty, diligence, and mutual respect. Idleness and vanity, drunkenness and overeating, slander and greed were condemned.

1.: #c1 Father's teaching to son.

2.: #c2 How can Christians believe in the Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God and in the Cross of Christ and how to worship the holy, incorporeal powers of heaven, and all honest and holy relics.

3.: #c3 How to partake of the mysteries of God and believe in the resurrection from the dead and expect the Last Judgment, and how to touch any shrine.

4.: #c4 How to love the Lord and your neighbor with all your soul, to have the fear of God and remember about death.

5.: #c5 How to honor a king or a prince and obey them in everything, and submit to any authority, and serve them with truth in everything, big and small, as well as sick and weak - to any person, whoever he is; and think it over for yourself.

6.: #c6 How people should honor their spiritual fathers and obey them in everything.

7.: #c7 How to honor bishops, as well as priests and monks, in all sorrows of the soul and body, it is beneficial to confess to them.

8.: #c8 How can Christians heal from illnesses and from all kinds of suffering - for kings, and princes, and all kinds of people, bishops, and priests, and monks, and all Christians.

[About sorcery and sorcerers]

9.: #c9 How to visit anyone in suffering in monasteries, hospitals and dungeons.

10.: #c10 How to come with gifts in God's church and monasteries.

11.: #c11 How to decorate your house with holy images and keep your home clean.

12.: #c12 How can a husband and wife and household members pray to God at home.

13.: #c13 How a husband and wife pray in church, keep cleanliness, avoiding all evil.

14.: #c14 How to invite priests and monks to your house for prayer.

15.: #c15 How to treat gratefully coming to your house with your family members.

16.: #c16 How can a husband and wife consult on what to punish the housekeeper about the dining room, about the kitchen and about the bakery.

17.: #c17 Order for the housekeeper in case of a feast.

18.: #c18 Master's order to the key keeper how to prepare lean and meat dishes and feed the family during the meat-eater and during the fast.

19.: #c19 How to bring up your children in different teachings and the fear of God.

20.: #c20 How to raise daughters and marry them off with a dowry.

21.: #c21 How to teach children and save them with fear.

22.: #c22 How children love and cherish their father and mother, and obey them, and comfort them in everything.

23.: #c23 Praise for husbands.

24.: #c24 How to do needlework for every person and do any business, blessing.

25.: #c25 A command to husband and wife and children and servants about how they should live.

26.: #c26 What kind of servants to keep with you and how to take care of them in all their teaching and according to the divine commandments, and in household work.

27.: #c27 If a husband himself does not teach good things, then God will punish him; but if he himself does good, and teaches his wife and household that, he will receive mercy from God.

28.: #c28 About unrighteous living.

29.: #c29 About a righteous life.

30.: #c30 How can a man live within his means

31.: #c31 Who lives imprudently.

32.: #c32 Who keeps servants without supervision.

33.: #c33 How can a husband educate his wife so that she can both please God and adapt to her husband, so that she can better arrange her house and know all household chores and needlework, and train servants, and work herself.

34.: #c34 About craftswomen good wives, about their thriftiness and about what to cut, how to save leftovers and trimmings.

35.: #c35 How to cut different clothes and save leftovers and trimmings.

36.: #c36 How to keep order at home and what to do if you have to ask people for something or give people yours.

37.: #c37 As a mistress, she should look after the servants in the household and needlework every day, and she herself should keep everything and increase everything.

38.: #c38 When you send servants to people, tell them not to talk too much.

39.: #c39 How a wife and her husband should consult every day and ask about everything: how to visit, how to invite them to your place, and what to talk about with guests.

40.: #c40 Instruction to wives about drunkenness and intoxicating drink (and to servants as well): not to secretly keep anything anywhere, but not to trust the slander and deceit of servants without inquiry; to instruct them with severity (and his wife as well), and how to stay at a party and behave correctly at home.

41.: #c41 How to wear to wife different clothes and how to sew it.

42.: #c42 How to keep dishes and housekeeping in perfect order, keep all rooms well clean; as a mistress to instruct servants in this, and for a husband to check his wife, teach and save with the fear of God.

43.: #c43 As the owner himself, or to whom he orders, to buy supplies for a year and other goods.

44.: #c44 How can I buy various overseas goods from distant lands at my expense.

45.: #c45 When and what to buy for someone who has no villages, all sorts of household supplies, in summer and winter, and how to store for a year, and how to raise all kinds of cattle at home, keep food and drink constantly.

46.: #c46

47.: #c47 About profit from stockpiled for future use.

48.: #c48 How to garden and garden.

49.: #c49 What supplies of drinks should the owner keep for himself and guests, and how should the servants prepare them.

50.: #c50 Instructions to cooks: how to brew beer and feed mead, and smoke wine.

51.: #c51 How to look after the cooks, the bakers, and everywhere - the whole household.

52.: #c52 As in the granaries and in the bins, the keykeepers would have all the grain and other supplies safe.

53.: #c53 Also in the dryer, the keykeeper should look after fish, dried and dried, for plast meat and tongues.

54.: #c54 How to keep everything in the cellar, on the glacier and in the tomb.

55.: #c55 How to keep everything in order in the cages, basements and barns, as ordered by the master's key keeper.

56.: #c56 How to keep hay in the haylofts and horses in the stables, and in the yard a supply of firewood and timber, and take care of all the cattle.

57.: #c57 How to cook in kitchens, bakeries and workrooms, and how to understand what is cooked.

58.: #c58 How best to look after cellars and glaciers, in granaries and dryers, in barns and stables.

59.: #c59 As a master, having found out everything, reward the servants according to their merits, and punish the bad ones.

60.: #c60 About merchants and shopkeepers: how best to pay them off.

61.: #c61 How to arrange a yard or a shop, or a barn and a village.

62.: #c62 It is like a household tax to pay either from the shop or from the village to pay, and to debtors to repay debts.

63.: #c63 Instructing the keykeeper how to store all sorts of salted supplies in the cellar - in barrels, and in tubs, and in merniks, and in vats, and in buckets of meat, fish, cabbage, cucumbers, plums, lemons, caviar, mushrooms and mushrooms.

64.: #c64 Notes for the whole year, what to serve at the table, meat and lenten food, and about coarse flour, how to cook flour and what from a quarter of canteen rolls, and about all kinds of rolls.

65.: #c65 The rule about different sycheny honeys, how to satiate all sorts of honeys, how to cook berry juice, and simple to put honey kvass, and simple beer to add honey, and prepare sourdough.

66.: #c66 Rules about all sorts of different vegetables, how to cook, dress and store them. Notes of a different kind for the whole year: table dishes are served in the Uspensky meat-eater.

67.: #c67 Wedding rites; about how to marry a young prince - four articles, four ceremonies: a large and medium and small rites.

Preface to this book, so be it!

Teaching and punishment of the spiritual fathers to all Orthodox Christians on how to believe in the Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God and in the cross of Christ and in the heavenly powers, and to worship the holy relics and partake of the sacraments of the saints and how to apply the rest of the shrine. About how to honor the Tsar and his princes and nobles, for the apostle said: “To whom honor is honor, to whom tribute is tribute, to whom to give is to give”, “he does not carry a sword in vain, but in praise of the virtuous, but in punishment to the foolish.” “Do you want not to be afraid of power? Always do good" - before God and before her, and obey her in everything and serve in truth - you will be a chosen vessel and you will carry the royal name in yourself.

And about how to honor saints, priests and monks - and receive benefits from them and ask prayers for the blessing of your house and all your needs, both spiritual and bodily, but most of all spiritual - and listen to them with diligence, and listen to their teachings, as if from the mouth of God.

And in this book you will also find a charter about the worldly structure: about how Orthodox Christians live in peace with their wives and children and household members, how to instruct them and instruct them, and save them with fear and forbid strictly and in all their affairs to preserve them in purity, spiritual and bodily, and take care of them as if they were their own part of the body, for the Lord said: “Let you both become one flesh,” for the apostle said: “If one member suffers, then all suffer with it”; so do you, do not worry about yourself alone, but also about your wife and your children and about everyone else - to the very last household, for we are all bound by one faith in God. And with such good diligence, bring love to all who live in a divine way, like the eye of the heart, looking at God, and you will be like a chosen vessel, not carrying yourself alone to God, but many, and you will hear: “Good servant, faithful servant, be in the joy of their Lord!”

And also in this book you will find a charter on house building, how to teach a wife and children and servants, and how to collect any stock - grain, and meat, and fish, and vegetables, and about housekeeping, especially in difficult cases. And in total here you will find 67 chapters.

1. Teaching from father to son

I bless, sinner (name), and teach, and instruct, and admonish only son his (name) and his wife (name), and their children, and household members - to follow Christian laws, live with a clear conscience and in truth, observing the will of God and his commandments in faith, and affirming oneself in the fear of God and in a righteous life, instructing his wife and his household not by coercion, not by beating, not by hard work, but like children, who are always at rest, clothed and well-fed, and in a warm house, and always in order. I entrust to you, who live in a Christian way, this scripture as a keepsake, for admonishment to you and your children. If you don’t accept my writings, you don’t follow the instructions, you don’t live according to it and you don’t act as it is said here, give an answer for yourself on the day of the Last Judgment, and I am not involved in your crimes and sins, it’s not my fault: I blessed you for a decent life, and meditated, and prayed, and taught, and wrote to you. If, however, you accept my simple teaching and my insignificant instruction with all the purity of your soul and read it, asking God for help and understanding, as far as possible, and if God enlightens, put them all into action, then the mercy of God and the most pure Mother of God, and the great miracle workers, and our blessing from now until the end of the age. And your house, and your children, your property and wealth, which God has sent you with our blessing and for your labors - may they be blessed and full of all blessings forever and ever. Amen.

2. How can Christians believe in the Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God and in the Cross of Christ, and how to worship the holy heavenly powers, incorporeal, and all honest and holy relics

Every Christian should know how to live divinely in the Orthodox Christian faith, how, firstly, with all his soul and any thought, with all his feelings, with sincere faith, to believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - in the indivisible Trinity; in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, believe, call his mother who gave birth to the Mother of God, and worship with faith the cross of Christ, for the Lord brought salvation to these people. Always honor the icon of Christ and his most pure mother and the holy heavenly incorporeal forces and all the saints with faith, as well as themselves, and with love in prayer, say all this and make bows, and call on God for help, and reverently kiss and worship the relics of the saints them.

3. How to partake of the Mysteries of God and believe in the resurrection from the dead and expect the Last Judgment and how to touch any shrine

Believe in the mysteries of God, partake of the body and blood of God with trepidation in the purification and sanctification of the soul and body, for the sake of the remission of sins and for eternal life. Believe in the resurrection from the dead and in eternal life, remember the Last Judgment - and we will all be rewarded for our deeds. When, having prepared ourselves spiritually, we touch them with a clear conscience, kiss the life-giving cross and the holy icons of honest, miraculous and multi-healing relics with a prayer. And after the prayer, cross yourself and kiss them, holding the air in yourself and not smacking your lips. And the Lord deigns to partake of the divine mysteries of Christ, so with a spoon from the priest taking into his mouth carefully, do not smack his lips, but fold his hands at his chest with a cross; and if someone is worthy, dora and prosphyra and everything sanctified must be eaten carefully, with faith and with trepidation, and crumbs must not be dropped on the ground and not bitten with teeth, as others do; bread, breaking it, put it in small pieces in your mouth, chew with your lips and mouth, do not champ; and do not eat prosphyra with seasoning, but only take a sip of water or add church wine to boiled water, and do not mix anything else into it.

Before any food, prosphyra is eaten in churches and at home, never eat prosphyra with kutya or eve, with any other additive, and do not put prosphyra on kutya. And if you kiss with someone in Christ, then, while kissing, holding the air in yourself, do not smack your lips. Think for yourself: we abhor human weakness, the slightly noticeable smell of garlic, as well as the stench of intoxicated, sick and other stench - how disgusting is our stench and the stench from it - that's why you should do all this with caution.

4. how to love the Lord and your loved one with all your soul, have the fear of God and remember the hour of death

So love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all the firmness of your spirit, and strive with all your deeds, habits, disposition to please God. At the same time, love all your loved ones, created in the image of God, that is, every Christian. Always carry the fear of God in your heart and unfeigned love, and remember death. Always observe the will of God and live according to his commandments. The Lord said: “What I find you on, by that I judge,” so that every Christian should be ready to meet the Lord - to live good deeds, in repentance and purity, always confessing, constantly waiting for the hour of death.

More about the same. If you love the Lord with all your soul, let his fear be in your heart. Be both righteous and just, and live in humility; lowering your eyes to the bottom, stretch your mind to heaven, in prayer to God and in a word be friendly to people; console the saddened, be patient in troubles, be courteous to everyone, generous and merciful, love the poor and hospitable, grieve for sins and rejoice in God, do not be greedy for drunkenness and greedy for gluttony, be meek, quiet, silent, love friends, but not gold, be unhurried, fearful before the king, ready to fulfill his will, polite in answers; and pray more often, prudent seeker of God, do not judge anyone, defender of the disadvantaged, not hypocritical, - a child of the gospel, the son of the resurrection, the heir of eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to him be glory forever.

5. How to honor a king or a prince and obey them in everything, and submit to any authority, and serve them with truth in everything, big and small, as well as sick and weak - to any person, no matter who he is; and think it all over

Fear the king and serve him faithfully, always pray to God for him. And never speak falsely to him, but with reverence answer him the truth, as to God himself, obeying him in everything. If you serve the earthly king with truth and fear him, you will learn to fear the heavenly king too: this one is temporary, and the heavenly one is eternal, he is an unfeigned judge, he will reward everyone according to his deeds. Also, submit to the princes, giving them due honor, for they were sent by God to punish the evildoers and reward the virtuous. Accept your prince and your authorities, do not think evil against them. For the Apostle Paul says: “All power is from God,” so that whoever opposes authority opposes God’s commandment. And do not think to serve as a deception to the king and prince and any nobleman, the Lord will destroy those who speak lies, and gossips and slanderers are cursed by people. To those who are older than you, honor and bow, honor the middle ones as brothers, comfort the weak and sorrowful with love, and love the younger ones as children - do not be a villain to a single creation of God. Do not desire earthly glory in anything, ask God for eternal bliss, endure any sorrow and burden with gratitude: if they offend, do not take revenge, if they blaspheme, pray, do not repay evil for evil, for slander - slander; do not condemn those who sin, remember your sins, take care of them first of all; reject the advice of evil people, be jealous of those who live in truth, take their deeds into your heart, and do the same yourself.

You should also know how to honor your children's spiritual fathers. Look for a spiritual father, kind, God-loving and prudent, prudent and firm in faith, who will set an example, and not a drunkard indulgence, not a lover of money, not angry. One should honor and obey him in everything, and repent before him with tears, confessing one's sins without shame and without fear, and fulfilling his instructions and observing penance according to one's sins. Call him to your house often, and even come to him for confession in all conscience, listen to his teachings with gratitude, and obey him in everything, and honor him, and strike him low with your forehead: he is our teacher and mentor. And to stay before him with fear and gratitude, to go to him and give him offerings from your fruits of labor, if possible. Consult with him more often about a useful life in order to refrain from all sorts of sins. How can a husband instruct and love his wife and children and servants, how can a wife obey her husband; consult with him every day about everything. But one should confess one's sins before the spiritual father and reveal all one's sins, and submit to him in everything: for they take care of our souls and will give an answer for us on the day of the Last Judgment; and one should neither scold them, nor condemn, nor reproach, but if they begin to ask for someone, listen to this, and punish the guilty, looking at the fault, but first discussing everything.

Always come to the priests and render due honors to them, ask them for blessings and spiritual guidance, and, falling at their feet, obey them in everything pleasing to God. Treat priests and monks with trust and love, submit and obey them in everything, receiving the salvation of your soul from them. In difficult matters, do not hesitate to ask their advice about both spiritual and everything sinful. And if any suffering befalls you, mental or bodily, or sickness, or some kind of illness, whether a fire, a flood, theft and robbery, or royal disgrace, or the wrath of the Lord, or slander, slander, or immeasurable losses and other inescapable sorrow, At the same time, do not fall into despair, remember your previous sins that brought grief to God or people, and shed sincere tears before the merciful sovereign and the Most Pure Mother of God, and before all the saints; turning to a quiet haven, to these spiritual mentors, confess your sins and sorrow - in tenderness and with tears, in contrition of heart, and they will heal you in all troubles, giving relief to your soul. And if the priests command anything, do it all, repenting of sins, for they are servants and supplicants to the heavenly king, the Lord has given them the boldness to ask for useful and good things for souls and for our bodies, and for the forgiveness of sins, and for eternal life .

8. How can Christians heal from illnesses and from all kinds of suffering - both kings and princes, and all kinds of ranks to people. and priests, and monks, and all Christians

If God sends an illness or some kind of suffering on someone, one should be healed by God's mercy and prayer and tears, fasting, giving to the poor and sincere repentance, with gratitude and forgiveness, with mercy and unfeigned love for all. If you offended someone with something, you need to ask for forgiveness purely and not offend in the future. And at the same time, raise the spiritual fathers and all the priests and monks to pray to God, and sing prayers, and bless the water to the honest life-giving cross and from holy relics and from miraculous images, and be sanctified with oil; walking in the holy miraculous places according to a vow, pray with all a clear conscience, and thereby receive healing from God for a variety of ailments. And avoid all sins and continue to do no harm to anyone. To observe the orders of the spiritual fathers and to correct penances, and thereby cleanse oneself from sin, heal mental and bodily illnesses, appealing to God's mercy. Every Christian is obliged to rid himself of all ailments, mental and bodily, from mental and painful suffering, to live according to the commandment of the Lord, according to patristic tradition and according to Christian law (as it is written at the beginning of this book, from the first chapter, the first fifteen chapters and all other chapters of the book also); read the twenty-ninth chapter: think about them and observe everything - then a person will please God, and save his soul, and overcome sin, and receive health, mental and bodily, and inherit eternal blessings.

Who, in his insolence and the fear of God, does not have and does not do the will of God, does not follow the law of Christian fatherly tradition, does not think about the church of God and about church singing, and about cell rules, and about prayer, and about praising God, does not think, eats and drinks without restraint until overeating and drunkenness at inopportune times, and does not observe the rules of the hostel: on Sundays and Wednesdays and Fridays, on holidays and Great Lent and Fasting of the Assumption, fornicates without abstinence at inopportune times, violating nature and law, or those from wives they commit fornication or commit sodomy sins and do all sorts of abominations and all sorts of godless deeds: fornication, debauchery, foul language and slander, demonic songs, dancing and jumping, playing tambourines, trumpets, nozzles, they bring in bears and birds and hunting dogs and arrange horse races, - everything that is pleasing to demons, all obscenity and arrogance, and besides, sorcery and sorcery, and sorcery, astrology, black books, reading renounced books, almanacs, fortune-telling books, six-winged, believe in thunder arrows and puffins, in the moustache and in the uterus, in magic stones and bones, and in all sorts of other intrigues of demons. If someone feeds someone with sorcery and potion, roots-herbs, to death or to insanity, or demonic words, obsession and slander, leads someone to any vice, and especially to adultery, or if someone swears falsely by the name of God or slanders a friend, – immediately read the twenty-eighth chapter. With such deeds, in such customs-mores, pride, hatred, rancor, anger, hostility, resentment, lies, theft, cursing, slander, foul language, sorcery and sorcery, mockery, blasphemy, gluttony and immeasurable drunkenness are born in people - with dawn until late, and all kinds of evil deeds, and gross fornication, and any debauchery. And the good philanthropist God, not accepting such evil morals of people and customs, and all kinds of unsimilar deeds, like a child-loving father, saves us all through suffering and leads to salvation, instructing, punishes for our many sins, but does not put a quick death, does not want the death of a sinner, but waits for repentance so that a person can improve and live. If they do not correct themselves, do not repent of bad deeds, God brings upon us according to our sins when there is famine, when there is pestilence, or even fires, or even a flood, or even captivity and death at the hands of the pagans, and cities are devastated, destruction of God's churches and every holy thing, and plunder of all property, and slander of friends. Sometimes, even through royal anger, ruin befalls you, merciless execution and shameful death, sometimes from robbers - murder and robbery, and from thieves - theft, and from judges - both bribes and expenses. That lack of rain - and then the rains without end, bad years- and the winter is unsuitable, and the frosts are severe, and the land is barren, and all kinds of living creatures - the death of cattle and the beast, and birds, and fish, and the scarcity of all kinds of bread; and then suddenly the loss of parents and wife and children from heavy and quick and sudden deaths after severe and bitter suffering in illnesses and an evil death. For many righteous people truly serve God, according to the commandments of the Lord they live among us sinners, but in this world God executes them equally with sinners, so that after death they can be honored with the most shining crowns from the Lord, but for us, sinners, torment is worse, - after all, even the righteous suffer grievous sufferings for our iniquity. So really, in all these troubles, we won’t correct ourselves, won’t learn anything and won’t come to repentance, won’t we wake up, won’t we be afraid, seeing such a punishment from God’s righteous wrath for our endless sins? And again, the Lord, instructing us and guiding us to salvation, tempting us, like the righteous long-suffering Job, sends us suffering and illness, and serious illnesses, from the evil spirits torment, fiery body, aching bones, swelling and swelling on all members, constipation in both passages , and a kidney stone, and a keel, and secret members of putrefaction, dropsy and deafness, blindness and dumbness, pain in the stomach and terrible vomiting, and down both passages and blood and pus, and consumption, and cough, and pain in the head and toothache, and a hernia, and gout, boils and rashes, weakness and trembling, nodules and buboes, and a scab, and a hump, a neck, twisted legs and arms, and strabismus, and all sorts of other serious ailments - all the punishment of God's wrath. And now - we have forgotten all our sins, we have not repented, we do not want to either correct ourselves or be afraid of anything, nothing will teach us!

And although we see God’s punishment in all this and suffer from serious illnesses for many of our sins, for forgetting God who created us, not asking God for mercy or forgiveness, what evil are we doing, turning to unclean demons , from which we already renounced at holy baptism, as well as from their deeds, and we invite sorcerers, magicians and magicians, sorcerers and healers of all kinds with their roots, from whom we expect soulful and temporary help, and by this we prepare ourselves into the hands of the devil, in hellish abyss forever tormented. O foolish people! Alas for your foolishness, we do not recognize our sins, for which God executes and torments us, and we do not repent of them, we do not avoid vices and obscene deeds, we do not think about the eternal, but we dream of the perishable and temporary. I pray - and again I pray: reject all vices and soulful deeds, let us sincerely cleanse ourselves with repentance, and may the merciful Lord have mercy on us in sins, give health to the body, and salvation to souls, and not deprive us of eternal blessings. And if one of us gratefully endures in this world in various illnesses, in all kinds of suffering, in order to be cleansed from the sins of his kingdom for the sake of heaven, he will not only receive forgiveness for sins, but will also be the heir to eternal blessings. For it is written in the holy Apostle: "We have to enter the kingdom of heaven through many sufferings." The Holy Gospel says: “The path is narrow and sorrowful, leading to eternal life, but broad and spacious, leading to destruction.” And the Lord also said: “It is difficult to reach the kingdom of heaven, and only those who make an effort will receive it.”

Let us remember the holy men, their sufferings for God's sake, a variety of ailments and illnesses, and the good patience of those who did not call to themselves either sorcerers, or magicians, or sorcerers, or herbalists, or any demonic healers, but placed all their hope in God, gratefully enduring cleansing for one's sins and for the sake of enjoying eternal blessings, like the long-suffering Monk Job or the poor Lazarus, who lay before the gates of the rich in manure, devoured by pus and worms, and now rests in the bosom of Abraham; and like Simeon the Stylite, who himself rotted his body, foaming with worms; and many righteous people who pleased God, suffering from all sorts of illnesses and various ailments, gratefully endured all salvations for the sake of their souls and for the sake of eternal life, and for those sufferings they entered the kingdom of heaven, many - both rich and poor - of the Christian race, people of all ranks - and princely, and boyar, and priests, and monks - suffering in endless illnesses and ailments, were obsessed with all kinds of sorrows, and even endured insults for the sake of God, and asked God for mercy and hoped for his help.

And then the merciful God pours out endless mercy on His servants and grants healing, and forgives sins, and saves from suffering: those with the help of life-giving crosses and miraculous icons, holy images of Christ and the Mother of God, Archangel and all saints, and through holy relics and anointing with oil and the consecration of the oil, and through prayers in the service, which take place at Vespers in God's holy churches and monasteries, and in miraculous places, and at home, and on the way, and on the waters - everywhere calling with faith to the Lord God, the Most Pure Mother of God, to bestow their saints forgiveness, health of body and soul, salvation.

Many died in ailments and serious illnesses, in various sufferings, having been cleansed from sins by them, they were honored with eternal life. Let us comprehend the meaning of this exactly, let us imitate their life and their patience, in life competing with the holy fathers, prophets and apostles, saints and martyrs, saints and holy fools for Christ's sake, with holy wives, Orthodox tsars and princes, priests and monks - with all Christians who have lived a charitable age.

Let us comprehend to the end how in this life they endured the sufferings of Christ for the sake of - those by fasting and prayers and long-suffering, thirst and hunger, nakedness in frost or in the heat of the sun, reproach and spitting, all sorts of reproaches, beatings and torment from wicked kings with various torments for the sake of Christ ; they were executed, burned in fire, animals devoured them, slaughtered them with stones, drowned them in waters, in caves, in deserts and in earthly abysses; “And who will number them?” - as the Holy Scripture says.

And for such terrible sufferings, for their torments, what a reward they received from Christ in this life and in eternal life! The enjoyment of eternal blessings, which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and has not given to the heart of man - this is what God will prepare for those who love him. And how they are glorified today, how the Church of God glorifies them! We ourselves only pray to these saints, we call on their help with a request to pray before God for us, and we receive healing from their miraculous images and revered relics. Let us follow such saints to life and suffering gratefully and meekly, and as a reward we will receive a similar grace from God.

[About sorcery and sorcerers]

Rule 61 of the 6th Council. And for those who have succumbed to sorcery or the so-called wise men (or others of the same kind who can predict), if anyone wants to reveal the unknown according to the first commandment received from the holy fathers, let him follow the rule of the canon: for six years they are deprived of communion, as are those who lead bears or some other animal for the amusement of the crowd and for earning money, who predict fate at birth and lineage from the stars, and with such speeches mislead the people. Fortune-telling by the clouds, sorcerers, makers of amulets and magicians, who are busy with this and do not retreat from these pernicious pagan deeds - we everywhere demand that they be driven out of the church, as the law commands the priest. "What does light have in common with darkness?" - as the apostle said, and how is the church of God combined with pagan idols? what is the partnership of the faithful with the unbelievers? what is the agreement between Christ and the devil?

Interpretation. Those who follow pernicious witchcraft go to sorcerers and sorcerers or invite them to their house, desiring to learn something inexpressible through them, just like those who feed and keep bears or some kind of dogs or birds of prey for hunting or entertainment and for deception crowds, or they believe in fate and genealogies, that is, in women in childbirth, and in witchcraft by the stars and fortune telling by the clouds running - all who do this, the cathedral ordered to excommunicate for six years from communion, let them stand with catechumens for four years, and the rest two years with the faithful, and thus they will be vouchsafed divine gifts. If, however, they do not correct themselves, and after excommunication and do not leave pagan deceit, then from the church - everywhere and always - let them be expelled. God-bearing fathers and church teachers spoke about sorcerers and sorcerers, and most of all John Chrysostom says: those who practice magic and perform witchcraft, even if they utter the name of the Holy Trinity, even if they create the sign of the holy cross of Christ, it is still appropriate for them avoid and turn away from sneeze.

On the 24th Rule of the Council of Ancyra. Those who practice magic, who follow the customs of the pagans, and those who bring sorcerers into their homes to perform witchcraft and to cleanse from poisoning, are deprived of communion, according to the rules, for five years in a certain order: three years to stay inside, and outside the church two years, - only prayers without prosvir and without communion.

Interpretation. If someone trusts the magi, sorcerers or herbalists, or others like them, and calls them to his house to try his luck, and they clarify to him what he wants, or during witchcraft, wanting to know the mysterious, he tells fortunes on the water in order to heal with evil evil - let him stand with the catechumens for three years, and with the faithful for two years, partaking with them only by prayer, but only after the expiration of five years will he partake of the holy mysteries.

61 rules of the Sixth Council, which took place in the palace Trull. For six years he does not order such people to partake of the mysteries, that is, not to commune.

The sixth council in Constantinople, in the palace of Trulla, the 11th canon. There should be no fellowship between Christians and Jews. Therefore, if someone is found who eats their unleavened bread or invites their doctor for his healing, or who washes with them in the bath, or otherwise somehow communicates with them, if he is from the clergy, he will be expelled from the church, if he is a layman, excommunicated .

From Basil the Great rule 72. Having trusted the magi or similar people who kill time, let it become forbidden.

Interpretation. Let him who went to study harmful wisdom to the magicians, sorcerers or sorcerers, be punished as a deliberate murderer; but he who believes the Magi or brings them into his house for treatment from poisoning or foretelling the future - let him be punished for six years, as commanded by the 61st canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which was in Constantinople, in the palace Trull, and 83 canon in the same message of Basil the Great.

9. How to visit anyone in suffering in monasteries, hospitals and dungeons

In the monastery and in the hospital, in seclusion and in the dungeon of prisoners, visit alms, according to the strength of your ability, give what they ask; look into trouble and suffering, into all their needs, and help, as you can, and all. who suffers in poverty and in need, do not despise the poor, invite him into your house and bring him into your house. ”, give drink, feed, warm, with love and with a clear conscience, welcome; through their prayers you will receive from God mercy and forgiveness of sins. Remember the parents of your dead by offering to the church of God for a memorial service and services, and arrange a memorial service for them at home, and give alms to the poor: then God will not forget you either.

10. How to come with gifts to the churches of God and monasteries

Always come to the church of God with faith, not in anger and without envy, without any enmity, but always with humble wisdom, meekness and purity of body, and with an offering: with a candle and with prosvir, with incense and incense, with eve and with kutya, and with alms, - and for health, and for peace, and for the holidays you will also go to monasteries - also with alms and with offerings. When you bring your gift to the altar, remember the gospel word: “If your brother has something against you, then leave your gift before the altar, and go and make peace first with your brother,” and only then offer your gift to God from your righteous good : from unrighteous acquisition, donation is unacceptable. It was said to the rich: “It is better not to rob than to give alms from the unjustly obtained.” Return what you received unrighteously to the offended by you - this is worthy of alms. God is pleased with the gift of righteous gain, of good deeds.

11. How to decorate your house with holy images and keep your home clean

Every Christian needs in his house, in all rooms, according to seniority, to hang holy and honest images on the walls, painted on icons, decorating them, and put lamps in which candles are lit during prayer before the holy images, and after the service they are extinguished, closed a curtain from dirt and dust, strictly for the sake of order and for safety. You should constantly brush them with a clean wing and wipe them with a soft sponge, and always keep this room clean. To touch the holy images only with a clear conscience, during the service, while singing and praying, light candles and incense with fragrant incense and incense. And the images of the saints are arranged in order of seniority, first, as already mentioned, especially revered. In prayers and vigils, and in bows, and in every praise of God, one must always give them honor - with tears and weeping, and with a sorrowful heart, confessing their sins, asking for forgiveness of sins.

12. How can a husband and wife and household members in their house pray to God

Every day in the evening, a husband with his wife and with children, and with household members, if anyone knows the letter - sing Vespers, Companion, in silence with attention, coming humbly with prayer, with bows, singing in accordance and distinctly, after the service do not drink, do not eat and do not never talk. Yes, and everything has its own rules. Going to bed, each Christian puts three earthly bows before the icon, but at midnight, getting up secretly, with tears it is good to pray to God, as much as you can, about your sins, and in the morning, getting up - also; and everyone acts according to their strength and desire, and pregnant women bow with a waist bow. Every Christian should pray for his sins and for the remission of sins, for the health of the king and queen, and their children, and his brothers, and his boyars, and for the Christ-loving army, for help against enemies, for the release of captives, and for saints, priests and monks, and about spiritual fathers, and about the sick, about those imprisoned, and for all Christians. A wife, on the other hand, needs to pray for her sins - for her husband, and for children, and for household members, and for relatives, and for spiritual fathers. And in the morning, rising, also pray to God, sing the morning service and the hours, and a prayer service with prayer, but in silence, with humility, sing harmoniously and listen with attention, and bow to the images. And if there is no one to sing, then pray more in the evening and in the morning. Husbands, on the other hand, must not miss a day of church singing: neither vespers, nor matins, nor Mass, but wives and household members - as it turns out, as they decide: on Sunday and on holidays, and on holy holidays.

13. How can a husband and wife pray in church, stay clean and avoid all evil

In the church, in the service, stand tremblingly and pray in silence. At home, always sing the evening service, midnight office and hours. And whoever adds church service for the sake of his salvation, this is in his will, for then the reward is greater from God. And wives go to the church of God as they can - both at will and in consultation with their husbands. In church, she should not talk to anyone, stand silently, listen to singing with attention and read the Holy Scriptures, not looking anywhere, not leaning against a wall or a pillar, and not standing with a staff, not stepping from foot to foot; stand with your hands folded crosswise on your chest, unshakably and firmly, lowering your bodily eyes down, and with your heart - to God; pray to God with fear and trembling, with sighs and tears. Do not leave the church until the end of the service, but come to its very beginning. On Sundays and on the feasts of the Lord, on Wednesdays and Fridays, on Holy Great Lent and on the Theotokos, to remain in purity. But gluttony and drunkenness, and empty conversations, obscene laughter, always beware. From theft and fornication, from lies, slander, from envy and everything unjustly acquired: from usury, from feeding, from bribery and from any other craftiness, renounce and not be angry with anyone, do not remember evil, but robbery and robbery and violence of any and never do unrighteous judgment. From early food (and drink) and from late - after the evening service - to refrain, but if you drink and eat, then to the glory of God and only at the permitted time; small children and workers to feed at the discretion of the owners.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not enter the kingdom of God? – as the apostle Paul said: “If someone is known as a fornicator, or a covetous person, or an idolater, or a mocker, or a drunkard, or a robber, do not eat with such people”? And he also said: “Do not be flattered: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor defilers, nor masturbators, nor sodomists, nor covetous men, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor offenders, nor robbers will enter the kingdom of God.” every Christian must guard against all evil.

A Christian should always keep in his hands - a rosary, and the Jesus Prayer - tirelessly on his lips; and in church and at home, and at the market - you go, whether you stand, whether you sit, and in every place, according to the words of the prophet David: “In every place, bless the Lord, my soul!” Make a prayer like this: “Lord, Jesus Christ, son of God! have mercy on me, a sinner," and say so six hundred times, and the seventh hundred - to the most pure Mother of God: "My mistress, Holy Mother of God have mercy on me, a sinner!” - and again return to the beginning, and say so constantly. If someone, using it, easily says this prayer, as if breathing through his nostrils, then after the first year the son of God - Christ will enter into him, after the second - the Holy Spirit will enter into him, and after the third - the Father will cling to him, and, having entered into him, the Holy Trinity will dwell in him, the prayer will swallow the heart and the heart will swallow the prayer, and he will cry out that prayer day and night, and he will be delivered from the enemy's networks according to the word of Christ Jesus, our Lord - glory to him forever, amen.

And the most pure Theotokos with all heavenly powers and with all the saints will become the protector from the devilish wiles of everyone in this life and in the future - for those who pray with faith and follow God's commandments.

How to be baptized and bow

Hierarchs - and priests and monks - kings and princes, and all Christians should bow to the image of the Savior and the life-giving cross, and the Most Pure Mother of God, and the holy powers of heaven and all the saints, and sacred vessels, and holy revered relics in this way: right hand to connect the fingers - to close the first extreme and the lower two with the ends - this marks the Holy Trinity; straighten the middle finger, slightly tilting, and the next one higher, straightening - they signify two hypostases: divine and human. And cross yourself in front like this: first put your hand on your forehead, then on your chest, then on your right shoulder and, finally, on your left - this is how the cross of Christ is presented in meaning. Then bow your head to the waist, but a big bow - head to the ground. Prayers and supplications are on the lips, and in the heart there is tenderness, and in all your members there is repentance for sins, tears flow from the eyes and from the soul - sigh. With your mouth - to glorify and sing to God, with your mind and heart and breath to pray for good, to be baptized with your hand, and with your body to bow to the ground or to your belt - and always do just that. Bishops and priests, in the same way, baptize a Christian asking their blessing with their hands.

About the cross of Christ as a sign, about worshiping him in the "Paterik" they write authentically; reading everything there, you will comprehend the power of the cross of Christ.

From Theodoret. Bless and be baptized with your hand like this: hold three fingers together on a level in the image of the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit; not three gods, but one God in the Trinity, the names differ, but the deity is one: the Father is not born. The Son is begotten, not created, but the Holy Spirit is neither begotten nor created - descends - three in one deity. One power - one deity and honor, one bow from all creation, from angels and from people. This is the foundation of those three fingers. Two fingers must be held obliquely, without bending, they signify the two natures of Christ, divine and human: God according to divinity, and man according to incarnation, while both of them together are perfection. The upper finger marks the deity, and the lower one - humanity, because, descending from the highest, he saved the lower ones. He also explains the bringing together of the fingers: for, having bowed the heavens, he came down for our salvation. So it is necessary to be baptized and bless, as established by the holy fathers.

From Athanasius and Peter of Damascus, about the same. Since demons and various ailments are cast out without any payment and without labor by the inscription of the honest and life-giving cross, who can glorify him too much? The holy fathers left us this sign for disputes with unfaithful heretics: two fingers (but on one hand) reveal Christ our God in two natures, but in one being knowable. The right hand, however, marks his ineffable power and the sitting at the right hand of the Father, and the descent from above, from heaven to us it shows, and also indicates to us what follows from right side on the left to drive away enemies, for the Lord conquered the devil with his invincible power: the shuitsa is in essence both invisible and weak.

14. How to invite priests and monks to your house for prayer

And on other holidays, according to your covenant, or for the sake of infirmity, or if you sanctify someone with oil, call the priests to your house, as often as you can, and perform the service on every occasion; then they pray for the tsar and the grand prince (name), the autocrat of all Rus' and for his queen the grand duchess (name), and for their noble children, and for his brothers and for the boyars, and for all the Christ-loving army, and for victory over enemies , and about the release of the captives, about the saints and about all the priests and monks - about every request, and for all Christians, and for the owners of the house - husband and wife, and for children and household members, and about everything that they need, if in this need.

And the water is blessed with a life-giving cross and from miraculous images or from revered holy relics, and oil is consecrated for the sick for health and healing. But if it is necessary to consecrate the oil over the sick in the house, let them call seven priests or more, and as many deacons as they can. They consecrate the oil and do everything according to the charter, and the deacon or the priest censes in all the rooms, and they sprinkle it with holy water, and the eldest of them overshadows with an honest cross, and all together in this house glorify God. And after the service, tables are set, priests and monks drink and eat, and everyone who comes will immediately caress and bestow the poor in every possible way, and they will return to their homes, glorifying God. The deceased parents should also be commemorated; in the holy churches of God, in the monasteries, sing panikhidas and serve the liturgy, and feed the brethren at the meal for repose and health, and invite and feed, console and give alms to your house.

Water must be blessed on the sixth of January and the first of August - always with one life-giving cross. Three times it is immersed in bowls by a bishop or priest, saying the troparion “Save, O Lord, your people” three times, and on Epiphany - the troparion: “When You were baptized in Yerdan, Lord” - also three times, and on the platter lie holy crosses and icons and miraculous revered relics. And taking the cross out of the bowl, the priest holds it over the dish, and water flows from the cross onto this shrine. After immersing the cross and consecrating the water, he anoints with a sponge, dipping the revered crosses and holy icons and miraculous relics into the consecrated water, as many as there are in the holy temple or in the house, pronouncing the troparia to each saint, anointing his holy icon. And after that, you should squeeze the sponge into the already consecrated water and again anoint other shrines with it as well. And with the same holy water, sprinkle the altar and the entire holy temple crosswise, and in the house also sprinkle everyone in the rooms, and all the people. And those who deserve faith anoint themselves with this water and drink it for healing and cleansing of souls and bodies, and for the remission of sins and eternal life.

15. How to treat gratefully coming to your house with family members

Before the start of the meal, first of all, the priests praise the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the virgin Mother of God and take out the consecrated bread, and at the end of the meal, the consecrated bread is put out, and after praying, they eat as they should and drink the consecrated cup of the Most Pure Theotokos. Then let them talk about health and repose. And if they eat in reverent silence or in spiritual conversation, then angels invisibly stand before them and write down good deeds, and then food and drink are sweet. If, however, they begin to blaspheme food and drink, what they eat immediately turns into garbage. And if, at the same time, rude and shameless speeches sound, obscene disgrace, laughter, various amusements, or playing the harp and all kinds of music, dancing and clapping hands, and jumping, all kinds of games and songs of demons, then, as if smoke drives away bees, they will depart and angels of God from this meal and obscene conversation. And the demons will rejoice and swoop in, having seized their hour, then everything that they want is done: they commit atrocities while playing dice and chess, they amuse themselves with all sorts of demonic games, the gift of God is food and drink, and the fruits of the earth are thrown to ridicule, spilled, they beat each other, douse each other, desecrating God's gift in every possible way, and the demons record these deeds, carry them to Satan, and together they rejoice at the death of Christians. But all such deeds will appear on the Day of Judgment: oh, woe to those who do such things! When the Jews sat down in the wilderness to eat and drink, and having overfed and drunk, began to have fun and commit fornication, then the earth swallowed them up - twenty thousand and three thousand. Oh, be afraid of this, people, and do the will of God as it is written in the law; From such evil excesses, Lord, save every Christian, Eat and drink for the glory of God, do not overeat, do not get drunk, do not make empty speeches.

When you put food and drink and all kinds of dishes in front of someone, or they put them in front of you, you should not blaspheme, saying: "this is rotten" or "sour" or "fresh" or "salty" or "bitter" or “rotten”, or “raw”, or “overcooked”, or some other censure to express, but it is fitting for the gift of God - any food and drink - to praise and eat with gratitude, then God also gives the food a fragrance and turns it into sweetness . And if some food and drink are no good, punish the household, the one who cooked, so that this would not happen in advance.

From the Gospel. When they call you to the feast. do not sit in a place of honor, suddenly one of the invitees will be more respectable than you, and the owner will come up to you and say: “Give him a seat!” - and then you will have to go to the last place with shame. But if you are invited, sit down when you enter the last place, and when the one who invited you comes and says to you: “Friend, sit higher!” - then the rest of the guests will honor you. So everyone who ascends will humble himself, and the humble will ascend.

And add to this: when you are invited to a feast, do not get drunk to the point of terrible intoxication and do not sit up late, because in much drinking and in long sitting, strife and strife and fight are born, and even bloodshed. And you, if you are here, even if you do not scold and do not bully, you will not be the last in that battle and fight, but the first: after all, you sit for a long time, waiting for this scolding. And the owner with this is a reproach to you: you don’t go to sleep with yourself, and his household doesn’t have peace and time for other guests. If you get drunk drunk, but you don’t go to bed - you don’t go, then you fall asleep where you drank, you will be left unattended, because there are many guests, you are not alone. And in this drinking and neglect of yours, you will dirty your clothes, and you will lose your cap or hat. If there was money in the purse or in the purse, they would pull it out, and take the knives away - and now the owner, from whom he drank, and that’s a problem for you, and even more so for you: he himself was spent, and shame from people, they will say: there , where he drank, and fell asleep here, who will look after him, if everyone is drunk? You see for yourself what a shame and reproach and damage to you from excessive drunkenness.

If you leave or leave, but still drink decently, then you will fall asleep along the way, you won’t get to the house, and then you will suffer even more than before: they will take off all your clothes and everything, they will take away everything that you have with you, they won’t even leave a shirt. So, if you don’t sober up and get drunk to the end, I will say this: you will deprive the body of the soul. Drunk, many die from wine and freeze on the way. I do not say: you should not drink, this is not necessary; but I say: do not get drunk drunk. I do not blame the gift of God, but I blame those who drink without restraint. As the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “Drink little wine, only for the sake of the stomach and frequent illnesses,” but he wrote to us: “Drink little wine for the sake of joy, and not for drunkenness: drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Many people are deprived of drunkenness and earthly wealth. If someone immeasurably adheres to drink, the foolish will praise him, but then they will also condemn him for having foolishly squandered his wealth. As the apostle said: “Do not get drunk with wine, there is no salvation in it, but get drunk with the praise of God,” and I will say this: get drunk with prayer, and fasting, and almsgiving, and going to church with a clear conscience. God approves of them, such will receive from him a reward in his kingdom. To revel in wine is the death of the soul and body, and the destruction of one’s wealth. Along with their earthly possessions, drunkards are also deprived of their heavenly possessions, for they drink not for God's sake, but for drunkenness. And only the demons rejoice, to which the drunkard has a path ahead, if he does not have time to repent. So do you see, O man, what a disgrace and what a reproach for this from God and from his saints? The apostle ranks the drunkard, like any sinner, among those objectionable to God, equal in fate to demons, if he does not purify his soul by sincere repentance. So let there be all Christians, living with God in the Orthodox faith, together with our Lord Jesus Christ and with his saints, glorifying the Holy Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

But back to the previous one, what we are talking about. And the owner of the house (or his servants) must give everyone food and drink, either at the table, or send it to another house, dividing according to dignity and rank, and according to custom. Dishes are sent from the big table, but not from the rest; for love and faithful service - let them all be clothed as it should be, and ask for forgiveness.

And from the table or from the meal, food and drink are secretly taken out or sent away, without permission and without blessing - sacrilege and arbitrariness, such people are always condemned.

When they put before you various dishes and drinks, but if someone is more noble than you among those invited, do not start eating before him; but if you are the honored guest, then eat the offered food first. Some God-lovers have plenty of food and drink, and everything that remains untouched, they remove, then it will still be useful - send or give. If someone, insensitive and inexperienced, not learned and ignorant, without reasoning all the dishes in a row mends, but being satisfied and not wanting to eat, not caring about preserving the dishes, they will scold and ridicule him, he is dishonored before God and people.

If you happen to greet visiting people, whether merchants, or foreigners, other guests, whether invited. Whether given by God: rich or poor, priests or monks, then the owner and mistress should be friendly and give due honor according to the rank and dignity of each person. With love and gratitude, honor each of them with an affectionate word, talk with everyone and kind word to greet, yes, eat and drink, or put it on the table, or serve it from your hands with a good greeting, and send something to others, but to single out everyone with something and please everyone. If some of them are waiting in the hallway or sitting in the yard, feed and drink those and, sitting at the table, do not forget to send them food and drink. If the owner has a son or a faithful servant, let him look everywhere and honor everyone and greet with a kind word, and would not scold, dishonor, disgrace, ridicule, condemn anyone, so that neither the owner, nor the mistress, nor their children, nor their servants he condemned.

And if the guests or guests quarrel among themselves - carefully appease them, and whoever is already out of his mind - carefully escort him to his court and save him from any fight along the way; gratefully and gratefully, having fed and drunk, with honor and sent - this is both a gift to God, and good people - in honor. Treat the poor mercifully and sincerely - from that you will receive a reward from God, and good glory from people.

When you treat or commemorate your parents in the monastery, do exactly the same: feed and drink and distribute alms according to the strength of your ability, for health and peace. If someone first feeds, gives drink and bestows, but then dishonors and scolds, condemns and ridicules, or slanders in absentia, or bypasses the place, or, without feeding and barking, also strikes, and then drives him out of the yard, or the servants dishonor him someone - then such a table or a feast for the joy of demons, and to God in anger, and among people there is shame and rage, and enmity, and for the offended - shame and insult. To such a reckless master and mistress and their servants - a sin from God, hostility and reproach from people, and a curse and censure from poor people. If you can’t feed someone, explain calmly, without barking or beating, and without dishonoring, politely let go, refusing. And whoever leaves the yard, complaining about the master’s inattention, so the courteous servant will politely say to the guest: “Do not be angry, father, our hosts have many guests, they did not have time to regale you,” then they are the first to hit you with their forehead so that you are not angry with them . And at the end of the feast, the servant should tell the owner about the guest who has left, and if the guest is needed, then immediately tell the master, and he will do as he wants.

The empress’s wife has good and all sorts of guests, no matter what happens to her, she should do the same with them, as it is written in this chapter. And her children and servants also.

And about those sitting at the meal, the vision of St. Niphon is set forth in the Prologue, and in the Pandects of Antiochus, chapter three is about food.

16. How can a husband and wife consult on what to punish the housekeeper about tableware, about the kitchen and about the bakery

Every day and every evening, having corrected spiritual duties, and in the morning, getting up at the bell ringing and after prayer, the husband and wife consult about household chores, and who has what duty and who is in charge of what business, to punish all those when and what to eat and drink to prepare for the guests and for yourself. And even the housekeeper, according to the master's word, will order what to buy at the expense, and when, having bought the appointed, they bring it, measure everything and carefully examine it. And to the one who buys all supplies for household expenses, for food, for fish and meat and for all kinds of seasoning, give money for a week or a month, and when he spends the money and gives an account of them to the master, he will take it again. So everything is visible: both grubs, and expenses, and his service. To the cook, send what should be cooked, and to the baker, and for other preparations, send the goods as well. And the key keeper would always keep in mind what needs to be said to the owner. And in the kitchen to bake and cook meat and fish dishes according to the bill, as the lord commands, let them bake and cook as many dishes, and take everything ready from the cook according to the bill. Put all sorts of dishes on the table according to the master’s order, looking at the guests, and also give bread and all food according to the account and take it according to the account, and if any of the stew and cooking of any from the table remains untouched and half-eaten, sort out the untouched dishes, and started - separately, both meat and fish, and put everything in a clean, strong dish and cover, and overlay with ice. Opened dishes and various leftovers should be given to be eaten, where anything will fit, and untouched should be kept for the owner and hostess and for guests. Serve drinks at the table according to the order, judging by the guests, or without guests, and only braga and kvass for the lady. As for tableware: plates, brothers, ladles, vinegar bowls, pepper shakers, pickles, salt shakers, setters, dishes, spoons, tablecloths and bedspreads, everything would always be clean and ready on the table or in setters. And the rooms would have been swept, and the chambers, but tidied up, and the images on the wall would have been hung in order, as expected, and the tables and benches would have been washed and wiped, and the carpets were spread on the benches. And vinegar, cucumber pickle, lemon juice, and plum pickle would be filtered through a sieve, while cucumbers, lemons, and plums would be peeled and sorted out, and the table would be clean and tidy. And dried fish and any dried fish, and various jelly, meat and lean, and caviar, and cabbage - are cleaned and laid out in dishes, already cooked before eating. And the drinks would all be clean, filtered through sieves. And the housekeepers and cooks, and bakers, and cooks would still eat before the table and drink some weak drinks, then they cook calmly. And in a dress they would dress up in what the owner orders, they would be prepared cleanly, and in any cooking that was entrusted to the owner, they would keep themselves clean and tidy. And all the dishes and all the tackle at the keykeeper and everyone in the kitchen would be washed and cleaned and in complete safety, and the hostess and her servants as well. Bring food and drinks to the table, looking around so that the dishes in which you carry are clean and the bottom is wiped, and the food and drinks are also clean, without garbage and without mold and without burning; put, having examined, and having put food or drinks, then do not cough, do not spit, do not blow your nose, but stepping aside, clean your nose and clear your throat, or spit, turning away and rubbing it with your foot; that's fine for any person.

17. Order to the housekeeper in case of a feast

If the feast is to be big, then everywhere you can observe yourself - in the kitchen, in the cutting room and in the bakery. And to serve dishes on the tables - to put a skilled person, but at the supplier, at the drinks and at the utensils, an experienced one is also needed so that everything is in order. And serve drinks to the table according to the master's instructions, who knows what, on the side, without permission, do not give anyone. And at the table, and when the feast is over, examine and count, and tidy up silver and pewter and copper utensils, mugs and ladles, and brothers, and brothers with a lid, and dishes - where and for what someone will be sent and who will carry, on volume from that and demand; Yes, so that nothing is stolen on the side, follow everything strictly. Then a reliable person is also needed in the yard to watch everything and guard all sorts of household things: they wouldn’t steal anything, and even protect a drunken guest so that he doesn’t lose anything and doesn’t break, and doesn’t swear with anyone. And the servants of the guests, who are in the yard with the horses at the sleigh and at the saddles, should also be looked after, so that they do not quarrel among themselves, do not rob each other, they would not vilify the guests, and they would not steal or spoil anything at home - for to look after everyone, to appease everything; and who does not obey - report to the owner. And the man who was put in the yard should not drink anything at that time, do not go anywhere, and here in the yard, and in the cellars, and in the bakery, and in the kitchen, and in the stable, strictly observe everything.

When the table leaves and the feast is over, collect all the silver and pewter dishes, look through, count, wash and put everything in its place, and the kitchen utensils as well. And sort out all the dishes, meat and fish, and jelly and stews, and tidy up, as said before. On the day of the feast - in the evening or early the next day - the host himself should look around, whether everything is in order and count, and test with the keykeeper exactly how much of what was eaten, drunk, and to whom what was given, and to whom what was sent, so that all expenses are he would be known in every business, and all the dishes would be on the account, and the housekeeper could report to the master exactly what went where and to whom what was given, and how much agreed on what. And if. God willing, everything is in order and not spent, and nothing is spoiled, then the master should reward the keykeeper, and the rest of the servants as well: both cooks and bakers who skillfully and economically cooked, and did not drink, and then praise everyone and feed, and drink; then they will try to continue to work well.

18. The order of the master to the keykeeper, how to cook lenten and meat dishes and feed the family in the meat-eater and in fasting

And even then the master would punish the housekeeper, what kind of food to the meat-eater to let go to the kitchen for the owner for household consumption, and for guests, and what kind - on fasting days. As for drinks, the housekeeper also needs a master’s order, which drinks to bring to the master and his wife, which to the family and guests, and all that to cook and make and give out according to the master’s order. And in every case, the master's housekeeper should ask every morning about dishes and drinks and about all assignments; as the lord commands, so be it. The master, on all household matters, consult with his wife and entrust the key keeper, how to feed the servants on which day: in fast days, sieve bread, cabbage soup every day, and liquid porridge with ham, and sometimes, replacing it, and cool with lard, and meat, if if they will, they will give it for dinner: and for dinner, cabbage soup and milk or porridge: and on fasting days, cabbage soup and rich porridge, sometimes with jam, when it’s peas, and when it’s dry, when it’s baked turnips. Yes, for dinner cabbage soup, oatmeal, and even pickle, botvinya. On Sundays and holidays for dinner, some pies or thick cereals, or vegetables, or herring porridge, pancakes and jelly, and whatever God sends. Yes, for dinner everything is as before. And for the wives of the servants and the girls, and the children too, and the working people the same food, but with the addition of leftovers from the tables of the master and the guest. The best people who trade or serve in the order, those master puts at his table. Those who serve guests at the table, in addition, after the table, eat up dishes from table leftovers. And the mistress to the craftswomen and seamstresses also - she herself feeds them at the table and serves them from her food. The servants drink beer from the squeeze, and on Sunday and on the holiday they will give the mash, and the clerks, too, always mash; other drinks the master will grant himself or order the keykeeper, but for pleasure and beer he orders to give.

The order of the lord or lady to the housekeeper and the cook, how to cook for the family, the servants or for the poor fast and fast food. Finely chop the cabbage or tops or kroshevo and wash well, and boil, and steam it harder; on fast days, put meat, ham or ham lard, serve sour cream or add cereals and boil. In the post, pour juice or some other kind of welding, add it and add it again, evaporate it well, add cereals and brew it with salt in sour cabbage soup. And also boil various porridge, and evaporate it well with oil or lard, or with herring oil, or with juice. And if there is dried meat, pollen meat, and corned beef or dried fish, both smoked and salted, wash them, scrape them, clean them and boil them well. And prepare all kinds of food for working families, and knead and leaven bread for them and roll it up well and bake it; and pies for them too. Prepare all food for them well and cleanly, as for yourself: from any dish of such a mistress or a housekeeper always eats himself, and if it is not cooked well or baked, he scolds the cook or baker, or the women who cooked. If the housekeeper does not follow this, then they scold him, but if the lady does not care about it, then her husband scolds; to feed the servants and the poor as you would yourself, for that is in honor of God, but for your own salvation.

The master and the lady should always watch and ask the servants and the weak and the poor about their need, about food, drink, clothing, everything necessary, about all their poverty and lack, about insult, about illness, about all those needs, in which you can help for the sake of God, as far as possible, and take care, as far as God will help, and with all your heart, as about your children, as about your loved ones. If someone does not take care of this and does not sympathize with such, he will answer before God and will not receive a reward from him, who will watch and keep all this with love, with all his heart, he will receive great mercy from God, remission of sins, and eternal life inherits.

19. How to bring up your children in different teachings and in the fear of God

May God send children, sons and daughters to whom, then the father and mother take care of their children; provide for them and educate them in good science: to teach the fear of God and courtesy, and every order. And over time, depending on the children and age, teach them needlework, the father - sons, and the mother - daughters, who is worthy of what, what abilities God will give to whom. To love and keep them, but also to save them with fear, punishing and teaching, or, having figured it out, and beat them. Punish children in your youth - they will put you to rest in your old age. And keep and observe the purity of the body and from all sin to the fathers of their children as the apple of their eye and as their soul. If children sin due to paternal or maternal negligence, they should be held accountable for such sins on the day of the Last Judgment. So if children, deprived of the instructions of their father and mother, in which they sin or do evil, then it is a sin for the father and mother with their children from God, and reproach and ridicule from people, loss to the house, and sorrow to themselves, from the judges shame and fine. If, however, God-fearing parents, prudent and reasonable, have children brought up in the fear of God in good instruction, and taught all knowledge and order, and craft, and needlework, such children, together with their parents, will be pardoned by God, blessed by priests and praised by good people, and when they grow up, good people with joy and gratitude will marry their sons to their daughters, or, by God's grace and choosing according to age, they will marry their daughters to their sons. But if God takes any child from such after repentance and with communion, then the parents bring an immaculate sacrifice to God, and as such children move into the eternal palaces, then they have the audacity to ask God for mercy and forgiveness of sins also for their parents.

20. How to raise daughters and marry with a dowry

If a daughter is born to someone, a prudent father who feeds on trade - whether he trades in a city or overseas - or plows in a village, such a one saves from any profit for his daughter (and in the village also): either they raise a small animal for her with offspring, or from her share, that God will send there, will buy canvases and canvases, and pieces of fabric, and robes, and a shirt - and all these years they put her in a special chest or in a box and a dress, and headdresses, and a monist, and church utensils, and utensils tin and copper and wood, always adding a little, every year, as it is said, and not all at once, at a loss. And everything, God willing, will be full. So the daughter grows, she learns the fear of God and knowledge, and her dowry keeps coming. As soon as they talk about marriage, the father and mother can no longer be sad: God has given them everything they have plenty, they will have a feast in fun and joy. If, however, the father and mother are not prosperous, according to what has been said here, they did not prepare anything for their daughter, and did not allocate any shares to her, they only begin to give her in marriage - they will immediately rush and buy everything, so fast wedding in front of everyone. Both father and mother will fall into sadness from such a wedding, because buying everything at once is expensive. If, by the will of God, the daughter passes away, then they commemorate her with a dowry, magpies like her soul, and they distribute alms. And if there are other daughters, take care of them in the same way.

21. How to teach children and save them with fear

Punish your son in his youth, and he will give you rest in your old age, and give beauty to your soul. And do not feel sorry for the baby biy: if you punish him with a rod, he will not die, but he will be healthier, for by executing his body, you deliver his soul from death. If you have a daughter, and direct your severity at her, you will save her from bodily troubles: you will not shame your face if your daughters walk in obedience, and it’s not your fault if she foolishly violates her virginity, and becomes known to your acquaintances in mockery and then they will shame you before people. For if you give your daughter blameless - as if you will do a great deed, in any society you will be proud, never suffering because of her. Loving your son, increase his wounds - and then you will not praise him. Punish your son from youth, and you will rejoice for him in his maturity, and among ill-wishers you will be able to boast of him, and your enemies will envy you. Raise children in prohibitions and you will find peace and blessings in them. Do not laugh in vain when playing with him: in small things you will loosen up - in big

Domostroy, a monument of Russian literature of the 16th century, was published in the 19th century and at the same time, through the efforts of the so-called. Russian intelligentsia, he was turned into a symbol of the rigid dominance of men in everyday life, primarily over women. The publicist - populist N.V. Shelgunov expressed his attitude to this work and indirectly, to Russian life in this way: "the deaf and stupid world of boundless tyranny." Very inspiring.

Classical Russian literature picked up this image. The most prominent writers - the rulers of thoughts - described Domostroy as a world where "a wild concept of a woman and marriage" reigns. Lines were constantly quoted that one should “crush the ribs and whip the women and children with a whip.” Against this background, the transformation of Domostroy into a bogey family violence the voices of the Slavophiles sounded timidly that the morals of people should be assessed from the standpoint of the time when they lived, and medieval everyday norms are, of course, horror, but since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and we have become civilized, leaving the “domostroevsky” orders in past.

On Women's Day, it's time to open the notorious "Domostroy" and read how the author recommended building family relationships.

The compilation of Domostroy is attributed to Silverst, a significant personality of Medieval Rus'. This man lived in the 16th century, the year of birth is unknown, according to various sources, he died either in 1568 or in 1578. Evaluate our knowledge of your history: not the last person in the state, and even the dates of life are not exactly known. He was a native of the Novgorod prosperous merchant environment, was close to the Novgorod Archbishop Macarius. After the latter was elected metropolitan in 1542, Sylvester moved to Moscow and from 1545 became archpriest of the court Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin. Then he entered the inner circle of the young Tsar Ivan IV. After the boyar rebellion of 1553, when Sylvester, instead of condemning the rebels, took the position of "neither yours nor ours", Ivan IV sent him out of sight, and he, apparently voluntarily-compulsorily, took the vows as a monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery under named Spiridon. After the death of Tsarina Anastasia, he was allegedly exiled to Solovki, where he died. However, he bequeathed his library to the monastery of Kirillo-Belozersky (it is interesting what Sylvester-Spyridon read), in last years During his life he was intensively engaged in literature, several messages and other texts compiled by him have been preserved. These texts differ so sharply from Domostroy in style that Sylvester's authorship is questioned.

The texts of Domostroy have come down to us in manuscripts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The word "Domostroy" itself means "housekeeping", "house construction". Compilation of collections teaching how to properly organize life was general trend late European Middle Ages and reflected the public interest in the individual. The author of Domostroy, whoever he was, was a very educated person and for his work reworked great amount literature, Greek, patristic and European. Based on all the baggage of knowledge, he developed his vision of an ideally arranged family and the role of a woman in the family.

Let's see what the source itself says about the attitude towards a woman.

The Preface says the following: "And in this book you will find about the house structure, as a command to have for your wife and children, and servants ...". Order in this case does not mean punishment for non-existent offenses, but the duties of a wife and children in relation to the head of the family. It must be understood that the Medieval society was constantly in an extreme life situation, and the Master, a man, was responsible for the physical survival of the household. Submission to him was dictated by the harsh conditions of military life and had nothing to do with despotism.

The first chapter: Punishment from father to son, in other words, paternal admonition. It immediately states that the father blesses his son, among other things, “to teach his wife, and also to punish (i.e. teach) his household members not with need, not with wounds, not with hard work”, i.e. it is immediately emphasized that spreading rot, beating and messing with work is not Christian behavior, and if the owner cruelly oppresses his wife and household, he will answer for such deeds at the Last Judgment.

Chapter 12 "As a husband with his wife and household in his house prays to God." The wife, as well as children and household members, prayed together with the Master of the house, common prayer, undoubtedly, united a small (and not so) family team, it was an activity that united male and female part society. Who were you supposed to pray for?

Chapter 14 As you can see, the well-being of women should have been prayed for on a par with the well-being of men, so far no female discrimination has been observed.

Chapter 16 “All the days ... a husband and wife consult about the arrangement of a domnov, who is supposed to do what, and who is ordered to manage which business, and to punish him, how to arrange, eat and drink about the guests or about himself.” The word "punish" is used in the sense of "order". The husband is not a despot-tyrant, on the contrary, he must discuss his decisions with his wife, “consult”. The wife had the right to vote in family council, she knew a lot about business, as soon as the husband "all the days", i.e. always solved them with his wife. It is emphasized that on female half the same order should be observed as for men, that is, everything should be clean and tidy: “and for the empress and her servants, therefore (the same).”

Chapter 18 “The sovereign and his wife should consult on all household chores, and punish the housekeeper, how to feed the servants all the days.” Further, it is said that the hostess of the house could order the key keeper and autonomously from her husband: “an order from the sovereign or from the empress, how to cook modest or fast food for the family, servants or poverty.”

Chapter 19 “And God will send children, sons and daughters to someone, to have care for the father and mother about their children .... Depending on the children and age, teach them needlework, the father - sons, and the mother - daughters ... and love them and take care of them. Love for children in the Late Middle Ages was peculiar and included corporal punishment "by fear to save, teaching and punishing, and reasoning, laying wounds." Since we are considering the question not of the medieval attitude towards children, but towards women, it can be noted that in the upbringing of children, separation on the basis of sex is not provided. Both sons and daughters were equally to be loved, cared for and punished for their misdeeds. The difference was only in teaching needlework, which is natural, but the spiritual and moral education was identical.

Chapter 20 Domostroy recommends that the happy father of his daughter take care of the dowry from birth, so that by the time of her marriage, the dowry would be collected from her daughter, and there would not be an urgent need to spend money.

Chapter 21 The chapter justifies the application corporal punishment to children as a method of education. And here it is, the difference by gender: “execute your son from his youth ... if you beat him with a rod, he will not die, but he will be healthier ... If you have a daughter, then put your thunderstorm on her, which will save her from bodily troubles.” So, the sons were ordered to be whipped, and the daughters were to be severely reprimanded. It should be noted that flogging in the Middle Ages was a kind of hardening before physical suffering that had to be endured in military campaigns. The young man was prepared for hand-to-hand combat, where his body would be kneaded not with a rod (rod), but with a mace, and also chopped with a sword and stabbed with a spear. Whipping in childhood raised the threshold pain sensitivity and gave a chance not to die from pain shock in case of severe injuries. Girls, as we see, on the contrary, were not recommended to be beaten, because beating can lead to illness, “bodily troubles”.

Chapter 22 Children should equally take care of both parents, both father and mother, there is no discrimination on the basis of sex. “Children, listen to the commandments of the Lord: love your father and your mother, listen to them, and obey them, and honor their old age, and you will bear their infirmity and sorrow with all your soul on your neck, and it will be good for you on earth ... It is written that the father's curse will dry up, and the mother's will eradicate. To rest your mother - to do the will of God, pleasing the father - to live in the good ... The Father's blessing will confirm the house, and motherly prayer deliver from adversity. If father and mother become impoverished in mind in old age, do not dishonor them, do not reproach them, and there will be respect from your children. Do not forget the work of your mother and father, how they were sick and sad about you, rest their old age, and be sick about them, as they are about you ... ". The role of the mother is somewhat higher than the role of the father, the will of God is to take care of the mother, and to please the father is to gain good for yourself. The father's curse - will cause illness, and the mother's - will destroy in the bud. The blessing of the father gives earthly gains, the mother's prayer saves from incomprehensible troubles.

Chapter 23 If God grants someone a good wife, there is more expensive than a multi-colored stone. This one… gives her husband all the blessings of life… Having gained wool and linen, she creates good things with her own hands. It will be like a trading ship, collecting all the wealth from afar. And he gets up at night, gives food to the house and works to the slaves. From the fruits of one's own hands, wealth will be multiplied. Having girded his loins, he will strengthen his muscles for work, he teaches his children, as well as slaves. Her lamp does not go out all night, she does useful things with her hands. He sets his hands on a spindle, extends his mercy to the poor, gives the fruit to the poor. Her husband does not take care of his house. She will make various garments and ornaments for her husband, and for herself, and for her children, and for her household. When her husband is in a host with nobles and sits down with friends, he will be honored, and speaking prudently, he knows how to do well, for no one is married without difficulty.

Blessed is the husband of a good wife, and the number of his years shall be doubled. A good wife amuses her husband, their life passes in harmony. A good wife is a part of the blessing given to those who fear God, for the wife endows her husband with honor, firstly, having kept God's commandment, she will be blessed, and secondly, people praise her. A kind, hardworking, silent wife is the crown of her husband. If a husband has found a good wife, he brings only good things from his house. Such a wife has a blessed husband, and they will live their years in the good of the world. For a good wife, praise to her husband and honor. A good wife saves her husband even after the death, like the pious Empress Theodora.

Chapter 26

... but married servants with their wives lived lawfully, they did not fornicate from their wives, and wives from their husbands .... In the same way, they taught their wives the fear of God, and ignorance, and humility, and the empress obeyed and obeyed her in everything, and served with their labors and needlework, and would not steal, would not lie, would not gossip, would not fornicate, and the women would not they listened to those who incite young wives to evil, in other words, they set them up with other people's husbands, and moreover, they teach them to steal and fornicate and all kinds of evil ...

Chapter 33

It is fitting for a husband to teach his wife with love and prudent punishment, the wives of their husbands ask about every deanery, how to save their souls, and please God and their husband, build their house in goodness, obey the husband in everything, that he will punish, then with love and fear listen and do according to his punishment .... First, to have the fear of God and bodily purity ... Having risen from the bed, having cleansed himself and made a prayer, the servants should indicate the daily work, and all needlework ... If a good wife knows everything with her husband's punishment and thunderstorm, and with her good mind and science, everything will be arguable and everything it will be full ... And the Empress herself would know everything, to whom to give what business. And the Empress herself, except for weakness or her husband’s will, would not be idle, so that the servants, looking at her, would work well. Whether a husband comes, or a guest, and she would always sit over needlework, then honor and glory to her, and praise to her husband. And the servants of the empress would never wake up, but she herself must wake them up, and she would go to bed herself from needlework, having performed a prayer service, she would teach the servants the same way.

Chapter 34

A good wife, hospitable, with her prudent providence and good deed, and husbandly punishment, from her labors, what she does with her servants of canvases ... then she dyes ..., and then in her household it is redrawn and altered ..., and where there is an excess - she will sell, and what she needs, she will buy, but she does not ask her husband for that. And everything at the good wife is laid out, sorted and cleaned.

Chapter 37

And all the days the empress watches over the servants (i.e. oversees the servants) who bake and cook ... and who do needlework, and who serves well - asks the servant for that servant to be rewarded ... And the empress herself would always be arranged , in every everyday life, and such would be her and the servants were polite. And with the servants, the Empress did not speak empty speeches, not mocking, neither senseless, nor shameful. Neither merchants, nor idle zhonki, nor women, nor wise men came to the yard, for much evil is done from them.

Chapter 39

And all the days the husband's wife would ask, and consult in all everyday life, and would remember what was necessary, and go to visit, and call to her, and communicate with whom the husband orders. Guests, if they happen, or where to be yourself, sit down at the table and best dress change your clothes, and beware of your wife from drunken drinking. The husband is drunk - bad, and the wife is drunk - and unattractive in the world. To talk with guests about needlework, about household chores ... What you don’t know, then ask good wives, politely and affectionately, and whoever points out something, beat them low on their foreheads. In your courtyard, which guest will hear a good proverb, and how good wives live, and how they keep order, and run their household, and how they teach children and servants, and how they listen to their husbands and ask them questions, and they are obeyed in everything, and they pay attention to it. If you don’t know something good, then ask politely about it, but don’t listen to bad and mocking and prodigal speeches, and don’t talk about it. If you see good order at a party, go to drink in food, and in what supplies, or what unusual needlework, and home order, where it is good, and what a kind wife, smart and intelligent, and in speeches, and in conversation, and in everything everyday life, and where the servants are smart, and polite, and needlework, and are trained in every good thing, to notice and listen to all that goodness, and what you don’t know or don’t know how to ask politely and kindly, and whoever says something good, beat on that forehead , and returning to the farmstead about everything to her husband to retell for peace of mind. It is good to meet with such kind people, not for food and drink, but for good conversation and science, but to listen to yourself, and not to laugh about anyone, and not to slander anyone. If they ask about something about someone, and they start torturing their minds, they answer: I don’t know, I haven’t heard anything and I don’t know, and I myself don’t ask about the princesses, or the boyars, or about the neighbors, and I don’t discuss anyone.

Chapter 40

And the wife would not have had any drunken drink ... Drinking would have been in the cellar on the glacier, and she would have drunk drunken brew and kvass, at home and in public. If wives come from somewhere to ask about their health, they should not give drinks to those who are drunk, and they will not give their wives and girls to drink drunk at home and in people. And the wife should not secretly eat or drink anything from her husband, and don’t keep secret caches of food and drink from her husband, and don’t ask her friends for food and drink secretly from her husband and don’t give it herself, and don’t keep someone else’s without the knowledge of her husband. On everything, consult with your husband, and not with a serf, and not with a slave ... Do not slander your servants with false words in front of your husband ... And whoever does what, tell her husband directly, without an increase. Husband and wife should not listen to any slander ... Wife should not bring household trifles to her husband, which she herself cannot judge, and if it’s a bad deed, then tell her husband the truth. If some woman or girl sins, and does not obey, and has no word and punishment, and does some dirty tricks, then talk about everything with her husband and what is the punishment for whom to inflict.

If there are guests, then treat them with a drink, whichever is more convenient, but do not drink the most drunken drink. Food and drink, and all household items are brought by one person who is ordered, and there would be no other men for any business.

Chapter 41

Wear dresses and shirts and robes carefully all the days ... For the sovereign himself, and the empress, and children and servants, if it happens to do something, then put on an old dress, and then put on an everyday dress ...

Chapter 42

... The wife looks after every order, and teaches the servants good and dashing, not in one word, but sometimes she will strike. If a husband sees a disorder in his wife and servants, then he instructs and teaches his wife with useful advice, if she understands, then love and favor. If the wife does not do what is written in this book, and does not know it herself, and does not teach the servants, then the husband should admonish his wife with fear in private, and having punished, welcome, and say, and gently instruct and teach, and the husband to his wife not to be angry, but to the wife - to her husband, always live in love and sincerity. Servants in the same way, looking at the fault and on the case, teach and punish, and lay wounds, having punished, welcome, and the empress to intercede for the servants, so the servants are calmer .... And for any guilt in the ear, and in the eyes, do not beat, neither with a fist under the heart, nor with a kick, nor with a staff, do not beat with anything iron and wooden. Whoever beats like that, many troubles happen from him: blindness and deafness, and his arm, and leg, and finger will dislocate, and his head hurts, and dental disease, and in pregnant women and children in the womb, damage happens ...

So, beatings were given to servants, incl. women, but this was not a gender inequality, but a social inequality. Domostroy condemns domestic violence, although he admits that the master has the right to beat the servants with a whip, but not maim them in any way. In relation to the wife, one type of punishment is recognized - strict suggestion, and it was necessary to do it face to face.

That's all that Domostroy says about the relationship between husband and wife. As you can see, there is no question of any beating. A woman is represented as a full-fledged mistress of the house, she looks after the servants, she has her own means, she can even withhold food and drink from her husband, which is condemned. A woman visits guests and receives guests at her place. The husband consults with his wife in everything. If she kept the house neglected, the only thing her husband could afford was to scold her in private. Of course, everything in life was not so rosy, but Domostroy represents an ideal to which one should strive. There is no trace of hatred towards women in the book, only respect for her work as a housewife.