Pachomius the Serb (russian: Пахомий Серб, sr, Пахомије Србин), also known as Pachomius Logothetes, russian: Пахомий Логофет, el, Παχώμιος Λογοθέτης) was a 15th-century

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

who, after taking monastic vows, was schooled on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

and mastered the ornate style of medieval

Serbian literature Serbian literature ( sr-Cyrl, Српска књижевност), refers to literature written in Serbian and/or in Serbia and all other lands where Serbs reside. The history of Serbian literature begins with the independent works from the Nema ...

.G. M. Prokhorov, “Pakhomii Serb,” in D. S. Likhachev, ''Slovar’ knizhnikov i knizhnosti Drevnei Rusi'', vol. 2, Pervaia polovina XIV-XVI v., pt. 2. He is credited by the Russian Early Texts Society for the Serbian version of

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are legendary Christian saints. Their life story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to the legend, an Indian ...

from

Old Greek Old Greek is the Greek language as spoken from Late Antiquity (c. AD 400) to around AD 1500. Greek spoken during this period is usually split into: *Late Greek (c. 400 – c. 800 AD) *Medieval Greek (c. 800 – c. 1500 AD) "Old Greek" (OG) is also ...

. In the 1450s and 1460s he resided at the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius north of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. One of his major undertakings was a Russian translation of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. In about 1470 Archbishop

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

(Iona) asked him to settle in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

where he prepared a set of the lives of local saints. It has been suggested that ''

The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir The ''Tale of the Princes of Vladimir'' (russian: Сказание о князьях Владимирских) is an early 16th-century Muscovite treatise which propounds the conception of Moscow as the Third Rome. It has been attributed either to ...

'' was also authored by Pachomius.

Life

He arrived in

at the end of the 1430s or beginning of the 1440s, during the archiepiscopate of Evfimy II of Novgorod (1429–1458) and, under Evfimii's aegis, he composed the Life of Varlaam of Khutyn, the founder of the

Khutyn Monastery Khutyn Monastery of Saviour's Transfiguration and of St. Varlaam (russian: Хутынский Спасо-Преображенский Варлаамиев монастырь) is an Orthodox monastery situated on the right bank of the Volkhov River ...

, as well as the "Tale of the Journey of Ioann (Il'ia, Archbishop of Novgorod 1165-1186) on a Devil to Jerusalem." He then travelled to the

Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (russian: Тро́ице-Се́ргиева ла́вра) is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Pos ...

north of

, where he composed the Life of

Sergei of Radonezh Sergius of Radonezh (russian: Се́ргий Ра́донежский, ''Sergii Radonezhsky''; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392), also known as Sergiy Radonezhsky, Serge of Radonezh and Sergius of Moscow, was a spiritual leader and monastic ref ...

, the founder of that monastery. He returned to Novgorod under Archbishop Iona (1458–1470) and composed the Lives of several Novgorodian bishop-saints, including those of Il'ia (Ioann) and Evfimii II. He later composed the Life of Moisei, Archbishop of Novgorod sometime shortly after 1484. He died sometime thereafter.

Works

Pachomius is believed to have written eleven saint's lives (zhitie), including those of

Metropolitan Peter Peter, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus (russian: Пётр; c. 1260 – 20 December 1326) was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In spite of the move, t ...

of Moscow, Stephen of Perm, Ilia (Ioann) of Novgorod, Moses of Novgorod,

Euthymius II of Novgorod Evfimy II, Archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov from 1429 to 1458, was one of the most prolific patrons of the arts and architecture of all the Novgorodian archbishops. His Background According to his saint's lives, Evfimy's baptismal name w ...

, Jonah of Novgorod, Prince

Michael of Chernigov Saint Michael of Chernigov (russian: Михаи́л Черни́говский, uk, Миха́йло Все́володович Чернігівський) or Mikhail Vsevolodovich (russian: Михаил Всеволодович, uk, Михай� ...

Barlaam of Khutyn Barlaam of Khutyn (russian: Варлаам Хутынский), also known as Varlaam, was a hermit. Born Alexis Michalevich to a wealthy family from Novgorod. After the death of his parents, he became a hermit on the Volkhov and handed all of h ...

Sergius of Radonezh Sergius of Radonezh (russian: Се́ргий Ра́донежский, ''Sergii Radonezhsky''; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392), also known as Sergiy Radonezhsky, Serge of Radonezh and Sergius of Moscow, was a spiritual leader and monastic ref ...

, and others. He also wrote fourteen services, including those for Evfimii II, The Mother of God of the Sign in Novgorod, Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow,

Anthony of Kiev Anthony of Kiev also called Anthony of the Caves ( uk, Антоній Печерський, russian: Антоний Печерский; c. 983–1073) was a monk and the founder of the monastic tradition in Kievan Rus'. Together with Theodosius ...

, and Metropolitan Jonah of Moscow.

Legacy

A Serbian Orthodox Church monastery is named after him in

Greenfield, Missouri Greenfield is a city in Dade County, Missouri. The population was 1,220 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dade County. History Greenfield was laid out in 1841, and named for the greenery of the original town site. A post office call ...

References

{{Authority control 15th-century Serbian writers Medieval Serbian Orthodox clergy Eastern Orthodox monks Medieval Athos People from medieval Novgorod Hagiographers Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Russian people of Serbian descent Medieval European scribes 1484 deaths People associated with Mount Athos

Life

Works

Legacy

See also

References