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Saint Sergey Radonezhsky was an important monastic reformer. He was born as Barfolomei Kirillovich (1314). The actual year is disputed. He was born into a once wealthy and proiminent boyar family. His impoverished parents died while Kirillovich was still a young man (1334). He was still living with them at the time. He went to Pokrovsky monastery at Khotkovoolder where his brother Stefan who was preaching. He soon became a monk (1334) and ordained a priest. He first lived as a hermit, but other sought him out and he eventually founded a monestary, the Holy Trinity (1340). This was one of 40 monestaries found by him. (More than 400 monastaries are believed to have been founded by his followers.) Normally a settlement or posad grew around these monastaries, some of which evolved into towns and even cities. Kirillovich also founded a number of monastery schools. He was noted for teaching improved agricultural techniques. Patriarch Alexii Alexius of Moscow asked him to become his successor, but Sergey declined (1378). He was given a charter by the Patriarch in Constantinople. He strongly advised Prince Dimitri of Moscovy to confront the Tatars. Despite his early life as a hermit, Sergey became involved in the politics of the early Russian state. He was an ardent nationalist and hated the Tartars. This was the last era of Mongol domination over Russia. The Mongol remnant state was the Golden Horde which was experiencing civil war and dynastic rivalries. He strongly promoted Prince Dimitri's efforts to unify warring Russian principalities into a single state so the Tartar rule could be overthrone. Prince Dimitri achieved the important victory over them at Kulikovo near the Don River was given the title of Dimitri Donosky by which he became known. Saint Sergey died (1392) and he was cannonized (1452).
A British reader notes the work of M.W. Nesterov, a noted Russian artist. He painted some intraguing historical ans religious scenes. One scene set in the the 19th Century shows a boy wearing a Russian blouse in the countryside talking to a hooded figure. It seems that the boy is dreaming and in the dream he meets the spirit of death. This spirit will take the boy away to heaven. Despite this being a sombre theme I thought the boy's clothes were interesting as he appears to be in Russian clothes. He is not one of the more useful articts providing clothing depictions, but his images are intreaging.
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