Semantica Palatului Opricininei și semnificația opricininei. Despre sistemul de dovezi în reconstrucția istorică
Semantics of the Oprichny Palace and the Sense of the Oprichnina: To the Question of the Evidence System in the Historical Reconstruction

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the present article is to examine the conditions under which intuitive conjectures in historical reconstructions are transformed into scientific hypotheses. In order to prove it, the author focuses on the procedure of identifying verbal texts that underlie the descriptions found in historical sources and that explicitly reveal the meaning of retrospective information. The methodological basis of the study is a hermeneutic approach. One unique source is taken as a case study: the only surviving description of the Oprichny Palace, left by the German oprichnik Heinrich von Staden. A. L. Yurganov linked a number of details in this description (the square plan of the palace, the presence of three gates facing north, south, and east, the absence of a western gate, the fact that only the Grand Duke could pass through the eastern gate, etc.) to the City of God described by the prophet Ezekiel. However, in order to emphasize the palace’s connection with the eschatological expectations of the sixteenth century, Yurganov attempted to interpret Staden’s description primarily through the Revelation of John the Theologian. In doing so, he overlooked a number of significant details, including the correspondence of dimensions, the palace’s topography, the dates of its construction and of the introduction of the oprichnina, as well as the relationship between the palace and other buildings that appeared in Moscow at the same time. This raises serious doubts about the validity of Yurganov’s interpretation of Staden’s description of the Oprichny Palace, if not about the soundness of his overall hypothesis. These details receive a more consistent inter-pretation when examined in light of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel and the Third Book of Enoch, which constitute additional sources for the present study. A systematic analysis of the architectural, topographical, and chronological features of the Oprichny Palace makes it possible to argue, with sufficient justification, that the oprichnina was conceived as preparation for the End of the World, expected in the year 7077 (1569). Ivan the Terrible appears to have assumed the role of the Savior, believing himself to be the Messiah. The destruction of the Oprichny Palace by the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray in 1572 signaled to Ivan IV that this claim had not been accepted by God. As a result, the Oprichnina was abolished, and even the very word Oprichnina was prohibited. Thus, a systematic appeal to appropriate sources allows a plausible intuition to be transformed into a scientifically grounded hypothesis.

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