The “Sermon on Law and Grace” in the Context of the Russian-Byzantine Conflict in the Mid-11th Century

The article offers a new interpretation of the ideological content of the Sermon on Law and Grace in the context of the Russian–Byzantine conflict in the mid-11th century. Presented, apparently, in the Tithe Church on March 26, 1049, it contains Yaroslav’s program to strengthen the prestige and independence of the Russian Church. The compilation of the Sermon was entrusted to one of the most educated Eastern Slavs of his time, the princely presbyter Ilarion: on the one hand, he did not directly subordinate to the metropolitan, and on the other, the prince did not directly reveal the origin of his initiative. By showing that the era of Jewish law was replaced by the era of Christian grace, Ilarion demonstrates that Russia took an equal place among Christian nations thanks to its baptism by Prince Vladimir, who himself was baptized miraculously. Without directly calling Vladimir a saint, the author raises his status by likening him to the apostles and saints. To Constantine the Great, which also sanctifies his descendants and, first of all, Yaroslav, represented as the successor of his father’s work. In addition to this, Ilarion introduces for the first time in Russian literature the idea of the divine establishment of the prince’s power, likening him implicitly to the Byzantine emperor, whom Yaroslav guided in his construction of churches and their decoration. Thus, Yaroslav, like the Emperor, also gets the right to interfere in the affairs of the Church, which happened very soon, in 1051.