Authors

Discussion

This paper investigates the narrative and ideological functions of the “miraculous” in the Kazanskaja istorija, one of the most circulated historical-publicistic works of sixteenth-century Muscovy. Composed in the 1560s to celebrate Ivan IV and his expansionist policy, the text recounts the conquest of Kazan in 1552 and the history of Russo-Tatar relations. It is marked by its complex composition, the mix of fictionalised and chronicle elements, and its ideological aim to legitimise the young tsar and present Moscow as the heir to Constantinople.

Modern scholarship has not reached consensus on the definition of mystical genres in Old Russian narrative – miracles, visions, dreams, omens, prophecies – studied by Prokof’ev, Pigin, Pautkin, Ryzhova, Trofimova, Volkova and others. Here these are considered collectively, as expressions of a medieval worldview in which the supernatural permeates historical narration. Although the Kazanskaja istorija has drawn less attention than other Muscovite works, its originality lies in combining historical, hagiographic, and legendary discourse. As Dmitry Likhachev noted, medieval readers regarded miracles and prophecies as real events, and the author himself often believed in their reality. This shows that the miraculous was not peripheral but central to the work’s design. 

Visions, dreams, and omens in the Kazanskaja istorija acquire a prophetic function: long before the siege, they announce Ivan IV’s victory. Such visions involve not only Russian warriors but also Tatars, who witness apparitions of saints such as Sergius of Radonezh and Nicholas the Wonderworker. The narrative also depicts miracles aiding the Muscovite army and prophecies predicting the defeat of Islam, voiced not only by Russian saints but also by Tatar figures, including Queen Sumbeka and even a demon. 

Alongside these “visible” episodes, the chronicle is interwoven with “invisible” miracles: through authorial commentary, the deeper causes of events are explained as manifestations of divine providence. This framework turns Ivan’s campaign into a God-guided podvig, in which his actions appear as the fulfilment of a higher design. 

The paper argues that miracles, dreams, and prophecies – apparently peripheral – are deliberate literary devices that articulate the historiosophical and ideological conception of the work. They recast the 1552 campaign as a providential crusade, the triumph of Orthodoxy over Islam, and the ideological foundation of the nascent Muscovite empire. The Kazanskaja istorija thus emerges as a key text for understanding the intertwining of historical and sacred discourse in sixteenth-century Muscovy, and the mechanisms through which the image of the tsar as “God’s chosen ruler” was consolidated in Russian political culture.