The article discusses a rule from the penitentiary compilation in manuscript No. 32 (1713) from the collection of V. Grigorovich (f. 87) in the Russian State Library in Moscow – a late 15th – early 16th century service book. The rule under consideration states that if a woman drinks a potion to have no children, she will destroy her soul, and on the Day of Judgment her unborn children will turn into snakes and eat her flesh. The text must be analyzed in the context of the group of rules among which it is set. They sanction the negligent treatment of child by its parents, which may result in its death. Its sources are to be found in apocryphal literature and more specifically the Infernal Journeys. An echo of the dissemination of these motifs can be seen in the iconographic doomsday program at St Nicholas church in Kalotina (1331–1337), where a woman is depicted among the sinners in hell, with snakes that have sunk their teeth into her breasts. The scene is labeled with the following text: “woman who refuses to milk another child”. This mural pattern is widespread. Its earliest appearance is to be found in Yılanlı Kilise (Snake Church), Cappadocia (9th–11th centuries) and is present in various Crete and Cyprus churches for a lengthy period of time (13th–15th centuries).
Desislava Naydenova (Sofia, Bulgaria)
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