Kulhavý - Cannons vs. God

Cannons vs. God: Battle of Feldidoara and its reception in the Church Slavonic chronicle of Moldavian bishop Macarius

Adam KulhavýCharles University of Prague

Feldioară/Marienburg/Földvár

Church Slavonic Literatures

• Dominated by clergy – lack of disctinct secular literature

• Monasteries – the only educational institutions, also responsible of creation and copying of manuscripts

• The secular persons, with exception of rulers, can „consume“ texts, but do not write them

Moldavian Church Alavonic Literature

• Isolated: All traditional cultural centres of Southeast Europe conquered by the Ottomans. No contact with any catholic literature.

• Stagnating: no new impulses from abroad or inside. Satisfying same needs and preferences as hundreds of years ago.

• Language proficiency in decline: Lack of educational institution outside the:monasteries. No grammars or educational system outside the memorizing of the liturgical texts in monastic schools.

Battles in the Chronicles

• Frontal clash of two armies, no matter how the battle looked in reality.

• The description of tactics, terrain, and weaponry is generally lacking.

• Attention generally focused to the result and the fate of the defeated army.

Dechristianisation of the Opponent

• Battle presented as the clash of Christians againts Others. Righteous vs. non-righteous.

• Used in Byzantine only against non-christians, starting from Persians

The Cannons

• Documented for the first time in the army of Stephen the Great (1456-1504)

• Obtained by import or as a spoil of war.• Always operated by Western mercenaries• Firearms documented from the 2th half of

16th century.• The cannon – пушка, no existing word for the

fireamrs in South-slavic literary tradition.

The Siege of Constantinople – frecsoes from the Moldovița monastery - 1537

Biblical Analogy

• and a lot of them perished near the river Bârsa, slain and killed, like a dug for the ground in the psalms, about Jabin, the outlander, in the brook of Kishon. (Macarius)

• Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. (Psalms 83/9-10, King James Bible)

• And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosethof the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. (Judges 4:2-3, King James Bible)

• And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left . (Judges 4:15-16, King James Bible)

• The Christians called the Lord for help and the enemies turned to run at once and turned back. And all weapons we talked about earlier, with the coaches and riders, about which know better those, who take care about these things, what mattered these, they left all with shame. (Macarius)

Conclusions

• Macarius remained in his description of the battle and warfare firmly faithful to the literary tradition he represented.

• His ideal of the frontal clash of two armies, decided by the will of the God, without influence of any strange human killing invention, standed firm and unchanged.

• Mentioning the elements changing the modern warfare serves only to deny any change to its nature.