Gennadii

Birthdate unknown; died 1505. Russian ecclesiastical and political figure.

After his appointment as archbishop of Novgorod in 1484, Gennadii was expected to carry out the policies of the Muscovite grand prince in Novgorod, which had recently been joined to the centralized Russian state. However, the territorial holdings of the archepiscopal see soon gave rise to differences between Gennadii and Grand Prince Ivan III. Gennadii fought along with the prominent religious figure Iosif Volot-skii against the Novgorod-Moscow heresy of the “Judaizers” and dealt harshly with the heretics. The publicistic and translation activity of the literary circle organized by Gennadii was related to the struggle against the heretics. Disturbed and embarrassed by the low level of literacy of his associates and the high level of education of the freethinkers, Gennadii advocated the creation of special schools for the clergy, and he spread literature on astronomy and religious polemics. At the court of Gennadii, “A Brief Word” in defense of church property (original title—“A Collection Against Usurers”) was written, and the first full edition of the Bible in Russian, the so-called Gennadii Bible, was compiled in 1499. In 1504, Gennadii and his associates succeeded in having the heretics completely discredited, but Gennadii himself was removed as archbishop by order of the grand prince. He died in disfavor.