A ribald cleric: Obscene marginalia in an Old East Slavic Gospel

The article for the first time publishes and examines two notes in the margins of a Pskov Gospel of the 14"th century, scraped off by the scribe himself or his followers, but completely restored thanks to modern technical means. The paleographic analysis proves that the marginalia belong to the scribe of the manuscript, the priest Savva, who recorded his name in a marginal note. The obscene content of the destroyed marginalia is revealed: these are semi-folklore jokes that demonstrate early fixations of obscene vocabulary and contain elements of wordplay. Thus, thanks to modern methods of text restoration, researchers get the unique opportunity to look into the most secluded corners of the intimate life of a medieval person, where, alas, there was also a place for blasphemy.

The article is written in Russian.