''Domostroy'' (, , ) is a 16th-century Russian set of household rules, instructions and advice pertaining to various religious, social, domestic, and family matters of Russian society. Core ''Domostroy'' values tended to reinforce obedience and submission to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, the

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, and the church. Key obligations were

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

prayer File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

veneration and the giving of

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

Description

Its real author is unknown, but the most widespread version was edited by the archpriest Silvester, an influential advisor to

Ivan IV of Russia Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. ...

. The text does include an

epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

entitled "64. A Father's Epistle Instructing His Son", which was written by Silvester instructing his son, Anfim, on some of the larger themes found within the ''Domostroy''. An updated edition of the ''Domostroy'' was compiled by Karion Istomin during the late 17th century. To modern researchers, it is a precious account of Russian society and the life of wealthy

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

s and merchants. The first part of the ''Domostroy'' is written in Russian Church Slavonic and deals with religious matters, morals, and the education of children, while the second part is written almost entirely in the Russian vernacular. Modern researchers tend to trace the origins of the ''Domostroy'' to the 15th century Novgorod Republic, where it could have been used as a kind of

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

for the wealthy. As such, it has some quotations from the ''

Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs (, ; , ; , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into ...

'' and other biblical texts, and from earlier Russian moral texts such as the '' Izmaragd'' and the , and from some western texts such as the ''Book of Christian Teachings'' (Czech) and '' Le Ménagier de Paris'' (French).

Structure

The book is divided into 67 sections (in Silvester's version) dealing roughly with the following matters: * Religious practices * The relationship between the Russian people and the

* Organization of the family * Management of the household * Culinary

Legacy

In modern Russia, the term ''Domostroy'' has a pejorative meaning. It is used in such classic texts as Herzen's ''My Past and Thoughts'' and Turgenev's ''Fathers and Sons'' to refer to a

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

alist way of life associated with

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

tyranny, as exemplified by the following quotations: "A wife which is good, laborious, and silent is a crown to her husband." "Don't pity a youngling while beating him: if you punish him with a rod, he will not die, but become healthier."

Notes

References

{{reflist

Bibliography