Abstract

This article is the first part of a broader study about the “Russian messianism” that is usually considered as a persistent phenomenon of crucial importance at various times in Russian history. In the focus of the author’s concern is emergence of the mediaeval doctrine “Moscow, the Third Rome”. This doctrine was formulated in an epistle of the monk Filofei, the elder of Eleazarov monastery in Pskov. Religious background and historical context of the idea “Moscow, the Third Rome” are analyzed in view of the fact that Filofei’s doctrine from XVI Century has remained fundamental pattern for all latter modifications of messianic ideas in the course of Russian history.