"Russian War Monks" Topic

"The 16th and 17th centuries saw the growth of the principality of Moscow, conquering its neighbours and eventually becoming the state of Russia, and along with that growth came the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church saw it as its duty to convert unbelievers to its faith, as religious organisations so often do, and right from the start monasticism was a vital element in Russian Orthodoxy, with the monks colonising and cultivating remote and inhospitable regions. For their own defence such monasteries were often strongpoints, fortified and capable of resisting attack, and so these were also instruments in the expansion of Muscovy. The monks themselves were not permitted to bear arms – there was no tradition of warrior military orders like those in the West or Japan – but if attacked then if necessary the monks might take up arms to defend their monastery. It is not surprising that this happened on several occasions, so while the figures in this set represent no regular military unit, they show monks as they must have appeared on several occasions during those turbulent years.

The poses in this set are an interesting lot, and seem to have been inspired by two sources. The first is a painting by the Russian artist Sergey Miloradovich (1851-1943) of the defence of the Holy Trinity and St Sergius Monastery between 1608 and 1610. This monastery was attacked by an army from Poland-Lithuania and successfully defended by soldiers, peasants and monks, and many of these poses can be found in that painting. The second source may be a painting by Mikhail Petrovich Klodt (1835-1914) of the same event, where we can find monks armed with muskets. The first four pictured poses are of men holding firearms, which is reasonable as many monks were proficient in the use of muskets before entering the Order. Others have weapons that would have been whatever came to hand at the time, so we find someone with an axe and another with a Russian axe called a bardiche. The next man has a large ladle which from the painting seems to be filled with boiling water, hot coals or something else with which to deter anyone coming up against the walls. Beside him is someone about to throw down something heavy on the heads of the attackers, and to his left is a man throwing a bucket of something – perhaps water to quench a fire or some unpleasant substance, again on the heads of attackers at the walls. The last figure is also taken from the Miloradovich painting and is of a man hauling on a rope. In the painting he and others are pulling a small gun up a flight of steps, but having this single pose, apparently pulling a rope out of the ground, seems like an odd choice as it makes no sense by itself and is extremely specific. Although we are not convinced of the wisdom of the last pose, all the rest make good sense and some interesting figures…."

Full review here
link

Also…

Russian War Monk Artillery

Review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Here is the pic

And this one just because it's interesting.

Thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand