Maxim Grek, reflexe humanismu na Rusi v 16. století

Maxim Grek, the reformer of the Russian Orthodox Church - his original name was Michail Trivolis - is one of the most important personalities of Russian political and cultural world in the half of the 16th century. Michail Trivolis was born around 1470 in Greek town Arte, but as a young man he left his country and emigrated - as many Greeks - to Italy. First we can find him in Florence, than in Bologna, Padova, Ferrara, Milano, Verceli, he visited Venice two times, but finaly he settled in Mirandola, where he worked for Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola, who was maybe the great admiror of Savonarola that time. Probably under the influence of thoughts of Italian reformer and Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola he came into Dominican monastery San Marco in Florence. A year later - in 1505 - we can find him in Atos, in Vatoped monastery with a new name - Maxim. After ten years he left Vatoped too and he changed Atos for Russia, where he had to check through and translate old Greek sacral texts. He met several interesting people in Moscow - for example Vassian Patrikejev - he was influenced by their thoughts and became an active figure of Russian political and religious life. This predetermined his future des-tiny. Beginning 1525 he was put through enquiries and finally he was condemned to isolation in one of Russian monasteries. He died probably in 1556. There is no doubt, that Maxim Grek was influenced by Girolamo Savonarola. The most important point of the study is to demonstrate this. It tries to complete some important periods of Maxim's life and compare some principal points of his and Savonarola's Church reform (as far as the questions of Church poverty, reform of monastery life, return to the original Christian morality, refusing of exaggerated rituals, Church reform, connected with the reform of political life and critical view of ancient art works are concerned). Another goal of this study was to answer a question, whether it is possible to consider Maxim Grek as an exponent of Italian humanism in old Russia. The comparison of particular parts of the texts of both reformers serves as an evidence of the existing influence. We can say that after summarizing all the possible facts, it is possible to conclude that the Old Russia was not purposely influenced by Italian humanism of Maxim Grek. These presupositions, harboured by some historians, are unsubstantiated. On the contrary Maxim tried to save Russian society from - as he wrote - "wandering", which diverts common people from God and put them under the influece of Satan. Maxim's works are extremly critical and full of animosity aimed towards the West. But it is important to say, that the style of his writing and his critical way of thinking was hardly influenced by humanism. Maxim Grek much more represented one of the personalities, who imported to Russia some aspects of humanism, but only in suggestions, rather unconsciously and incidentally.