Poetics of the Accusatory Epistles of Metropolitan Jonah to Vyatka (1450s)

In the 1450s, Metropolitan Jonah of Kiev and All Rus’ (1390–1461) sent several messages to Vyatka: message no. 1 of 1452, “To the Vyatka voivodes and all Vyatka residents, urging them to submit to the Grand Duke, stop looting and brigandage, and return the captives,” message no. 2 of 1452, “To the Vyatka clergy, instructing them to instruct the laity in Christian duties,” and the final message of 1456, “A messenger from the Metropolitan to Vyatka to the boyars, voivodes, and vatamons, and to all Orthodox Christians together, went with Ignat and the interpreter with such a letter.” Accusatory messages of the 1450s Metropolitan Jonah’s letters to the people of Vyatka present clearly crafted, literate and rhetorically compelling texts, addressed to the people of the region and accurately reflecting the changing political realities of the period associated with the names of Grand Duke Vasily II of Moscow (1415–1462) and Prince Dmitry Shemyaka (1414–1453). The poetics of the letters to the people of Vyatka is based on expressive rhetorical techniques (appeals, comparisons, calls), which determines the speech strategy chosen by the Metropolitan to create the effect of an expressive and authoritative message.