Authors
Nazar Zatorskyy1; 1 University of Fribourg, Switzerland Discussion
The situation after the Union of Florence in 1439 created new conditions and challenges in the Metropolitanate of Kyiv, due to the acceptance of the union in its eparchies which were part of Poland and Lithuania, but the rejection of the union and the unionist Metropolitan Isidore in the territories under the influence of the Grand Duke of Moscow. Additional challenges arose with the election of Jonah as metropolitan in Moscow in 1448, as a counterpart to Isidore, who was absent from his metropolitanate. In 1451, Jonah’s title and rights as Metropolitan of Kyiv were recognised by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Casimir IV Jagiellon, which forced the local bishops to recognise Jonah’s authority and renounce their support for the union with Rome. One of the immediate consequences of this recognition was the ‘penitential’ charter of 1452 addressed by the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Bishop of Volodymyr in Volhynia, Daniel, to the Moscow-based appointee of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Jonah. On the one hand, the study of this letter adds new important data to the biography of Metropolitan Isidore. On the other hand, thanks to contextualisation, it is possible to notice gross inconsistencies with the generally known facts of that time, which exposes certain statements in the letter as undisguised lies thrown in the face of the Muscovite hierarch. And by bringing other documents of that time into consideration, it is possible to identify certain verbal barbs with which the addressee skilfully stings his new boss, mocking his pretensions and veiledly pointing to his superiority over him. These observations point to the forced nature of Daniel’s ‘repentance’ and his insincerity in acknowledging Jonah. The letter itself can serve as an example of sophisticated, subtle trolling, which the addressee understands perfectly well but cannot do anything about other than recognise Daniel’s episcopal authority, since the direct text corresponds to the requirements put forward to the latter, which the elements of trolling do not directly contradict. 
