Of their Religious men.
THE Metropolitane is next unto God, our Lady and S.
Nicholas excepted: for the Emperors majesty judgeth &
affirmeth him to be of higher dignitie then himselfe; for
that, saith he, he is Gods spiritual officer, and I the
Emperour am his temporall officer, and therefore his
majestie submitteth himselfe unto him in many things concerning religious matters, as in leading the Metropolitans
horse upon Palme sunday, and giving him leave to sitte
on a chaire upon the 12. day, when the river Mosco was in
blessing, his majestie standing on the yce.
All matters of religion are reformed by the Metropolitane, he heareth the causes and giveth sentence as himselfe
listeth, and is authorized so to doe, whether it be to whip,
hang or burne, his will must needs be fulfilled.
They have both monks, friers and nunnes, with a great
number of great & rich monasteries: they keepe great
hospitalitie, and doe relieve much poore people day by day.
I have bene in one of the monasteries called Troietes,
which is walled about with bricke very strongly like a
castle, and much ordinance of brasse upon the walles of
the same. They told me themselves that there are seven
hundred brethren of them which belong unto that house.
The most part of the lands, towns, and villages which are
within 40. miles of it, belong unto the same. They shewed
me the church, wherein were as many images as could
hang about, or upon the wals of the Church round about,
and even the roofe of the church was painted ful of
images. The chiefe image was of our Ladie, which was
garnished with gold, rubies, saphirs and other rich stones
abundantly. In the midst of the church stood 12. waxe
tapers of two yards long, and a fathom about in bignesse,
& there stands a kettle full of waxe with about 100.
weight, wherein there is alwayes the wicke of a candle
burning, as it were a lampe which goeth not out day nor
night.
They shewed me a coffin covered with cloth of gold
which stoode upon one side within their church, in which
they told me lay a holy man, who never eate or dranke,
and yet that he liveth. And they told me (supposing that
I had beleeved them) that he healeth many diseases, and
giveth the blind their sight, with many other miracles, but
I was hard of belief because I saw him worke no miracle
whilest I was there.
After this they brought me into their sellers, and made
me taste of divers kinds of drinks, both wine and beere,
mead and quassie, of sundry colours and kinds. Such
abundance of drink as they have in their sellers, I doe
suppose few princes have more, or so much at once.
Their barrels or vessels are of an unmeasurable bignes
& sise: some of them are 3. yards long and more, and
2. yards & more broad in their heads: they conteine 6. or
7. tunnes a piece: they have none in their sellers of their
owne making that are lesse then a tunne. They have 9.
or 10. great vautes which are full of those barrels which
are seldome remooved : for they have trunks which come
downe through the roofe of the vautes in sundry places,
through which they powre drinke downe, having the caske
right under it to receive the same, for it should be a great
trouble to bring it all downe the stayres.
They give bread, meat and drinke unto all men that
come to them, not onely while they are at their abbey, but
also when they depart, to serve them by the way.
There are a great number of such monasteries in the
Realm, and the Emperors majesty rideth oftentimes from
one to another of them, and lieth at them 3. or 4. daies
together.
The same monkes are as great merchants as any in the
land of Russia
, and doe occupy buying and selling as
much as any other men, and have boats which passe too
and fro in the rivers with merchandize from place to place
where any of their countrey do traffike.
They eate no flesh during their lives as it is reported:
but upon Sunday, Munday, Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday it is lawful for them to eate egges, butter,
cheese and milke, and at all times to eate fish, and after
this sort they lead their lives.
They weare all blacke garments, and so doe none other
in all the lande, but at that abbey onely.
They have no preachers no not one in al the land to
instruct the people, so that there are many, & the most
part of the poore in the country, who if one aske them
how many gods there be, they wil say a great many,
meaning that every image which they have is a god: for
all the countrey and the Emperours majesty himselfe wil
blesse and bowe, and knocke their heads before their
images, in so much that they will crie earnestly unto their
images to helpe them to the things which they need. Al
men are bound by their law to have those images in their
houses, and over every gate in all their townes and cities
are images set up, unto which the people bow and bend,
and knocke their heads against the ground before them:
as often as they come by any church or crosse they do in
like maner. And when they come to any house, they
blesse themselves 3. or 4. times before they will salute
any man in the house.
They reckon and hold it for great sinne to touch or
handle any of their images within the circle of the boord
where the painting is, but they keep them very daintily,
and rich men deck them over and about with gold, silver
and stones, and hang them over and about with cloth of
gold.
The priestes are married as other men are, and weare
all their garments as other men doe, except their nightcaps, which is cloth of some sad colour, being round, &
reacheth unto the eares: their crownes are shaven, but the
rest of their haire they let grow, as long as nature will
permit, so that it hangeth beneath their eares upon their
shoulders: their beards they never shave: if his wife
happen to die, it is not lawfull for him to mary againe
during his life.
They minister the Communion with bread and wine
after our order, but he breaketh the bread and putteth
it into the cup unto the wine, and commonly some are
partakers with them: and they take the bread out againe
with a spoon together with part of the wine, and so take it
themselves, and give it to others that receive with them
after the same maner.
Their ceremonies are al as they say, according to the
Greeke Church used at this present day, and they allow
no other religion but the Greeks, and their owne: and
will not permit any nation but the Greeks to be buried in
their sacred burials, or churchyards.
All their churches are full of images, unto the which
the people when they assemble, doe bowe and knocke their
heads, as I have before said, that some will have knobbes
upon their foreheads with knocking, as great as egges.
All their service is in the Russe
tongue, and they and
the common people have no other praiers but this, Ghospodi Jesus Christos esine voze ponuloi nashe. That is
to say, O Lorde Jesus Christ, sonne of God have mercy
upon us: and this is their prayer, so that the most part
of the unlearned know neither Pater noster, nor the
Beliefe, nor Ten commandements, nor scarcely understand
the one halfe of their service which is read in their
Churches.
