Praying of Daniel the Immured
"Praying of Daniel the Immured" ("Моление Ð"аниила Заточника" in
Russian, or Moleniye Danila Zatochnika), is a Russian
literary monument of the
13th century.
The work is written in the form of an
epistle to
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich,
Prince of
Pereyaslavl and
Suzdal. The author appears to be in great need and begs the prince for help, depicting him as a defender of all his
subjects. Some Russian researchers consider the
"Praying..." as a first trial of the Old Russian social and political
journalism. The
"Praying..." is written in a mixed style and full of
quotations from the
biblical books,
chronicles, and elements of
satire, aimed at the
boyars and the
clergy.
Russian
historians believe that the
"Praying..." is actually based on the previously written
"Word from Daniel the Immured" ("Слово Ð"аниила Заточника", or Slovo Daniila Zatochnika) of the
12th century, however, the questions about
chronology and literary
correlation of both texts, as well as their
authorship, still remain open to this day.
