Stones on the Prairie: Acculturation in Texas

An Appreciation of Robert O. Crummey

Rude & Barbarous Kingdom Revisited: Essays in Russian History and Culture in Honor of Robert O. Crummey. Chester S. L. Dunning, Russell E. Martin, and Daniel Rowland, eds. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2008, 3–7.       An Appreciation of Robert O. Crummey Daniel Rowland Bob  Crummey  belongs  to  a  generation  of  American  scholars  of  Muscovy  that   has  made  a  truly  extraordinary  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  early  mod-­‐‑ ern  Russia.  Prof.  Crummey’s  remarkable  corpus  of  published  work,  as  well  as   his  profound  influence  on  his  own  students  and  on  many  others  not  officially   under  his  academic  care,  clearly  places  him  at  the  forefront  of  this  remarkable   generation.  These  short  comments  cannot  do  justice  to  his  contributions,  but   they  can  provide  a  short  overview,  and  some  personal  memories  from  one  of   his  Ph.D.  students  at  Yale  in  the  late  1960s  and  early  1970s.   Robert  Crummey  has  revolutionized  two  of  the  most  important  subfields   within  Muscovite  history:  studies  of  the  Old  Belief  and  studies  of  the  Muscov-­‐‑ ite   elite.   He   has   also   written   more   general   studies   that   place   the   history   of   Muscovy   in   the   broader   contexts   of   Russian   history,   European   history,   and   world  history.     Bob  is  recognized  worldwide  as  one  of  the  greatest  scholars   of   the   Old   Belief.   His   dissertation   at   Chicago   concentrated   on   Old   Believers   in   the   Olonets  region,  chiefly  the  famous  Vyg  community  there,  and  his  first  mono-­‐‑ graph  (1970),  now  regarded  as  a  classic,  was  on  the  same  subject.  Given  the   restraints  on  Old  Believer  studies  under  the  Russian  Empire,  as  well  as  the   vicissitudes  of  the  historical  profession  in  the  Soviet  period,  Bob  was  among  a   small  group  of  scholars,  including  important  Russian  specialists  with  whom   he   has   collaborated   closely,   who   elevated   Old   Believer   studies   to   a   new   academic   level   and   may   almost   be   said   to   have   founded   the   subject   on   a   modern   scholarly   basis.   Over   time,   however,   Bob’s   emphasis   has   changed   somewhat,  from  the  study  of  the  “social  and  economic  development”  of  the   Chicago  thesis  (even  then  an  overly  narrow  description)  to  the  broad  cultural   approach   to   the   Old   Belief   that   particularly   characterizes   his   work   in   the   1990s  and  beyond.  He  has  been  remarkably  successful,  perhaps  uniquely  so,   in   giving   his   readers   a   view   of   how   Old   Believers,   over   a   remarkably   long   span   of   time   and   in   many   places,   looked   at   their   world—the   cultural   and   spiritual  convictions  that  motivated  them  to  do  what  they  did.       His  study  of  the  boyar  elite  is  no  less  impressive,  and  perhaps  even  more   respected.  In  a  series  of  prosopographical  studies  in  the  1970s,  Bob  surveyed   the  composition  of  the  Boyar  Duma  from  the  time  of  Ivan  the  IV  through  the   reign  of  Peter  the  Great,  summing  up  and  developing  his  conclusions  in  his   1983  classic,  Aristocrats  and  Servitors.  Again,  he  developed  a  three-­‐‑dimensional   4 DANIEL ROWLAND picture  of  these  crucially  important  players  in  Muscovite  politics,  tracing  their   military  and  court  careers,  their  economic  interests  and  connections,  and,  as   far   as   possible,   their   religious   and   other   belief   systems.   He   also   compared   these   aristocrats   with   their   counterparts   in   Western   Europe.   Aristocrats   and   Servitors   and   his   earlier   essays   on   continuity   and   change   within   the   boyar   aristocracy   are   still   our   best   source   for   a   full   picture   of   this   all-­‐‑important   group  of  people,  particularly  in  the  17th  century.     Prof.   Crummey   has   put   his   pioneering   detailed   knowledge   to   work   to   give   a   wider   group   of   readers   a   more   general   view   of   Muscovy.   His   most   important   contribution   under   this   rubric   is,   of   course,   his   The   Formation   of   Muscovy,  1304–1613,  a  period,  we  should  note  in  passing,  that  ends  just  as  the   17th  century,  the  century  at  the  center  of  most  of  Bob’s  other  research,  begins.   This  slender  volume  has  become  the  first  stop  for  students  and  scholars  alike   in   finding   a   quick   answer   to   a   question   or   seeking   a   balanced   view   of   a   historiographic  dispute.  It  remains  the  best  overall  textbook  for  that  period,   not   only   in   English,   but   in   any   language.   His   1989   edited   book   on   what   “reform”  has  meant  at  various  periods  in  Russian  history  not  only  illuminates   a   crucial   subject   often   misunderstood,   but   places   reforms   under   Ivan   the   Terrible  and  projects  during  the  Time  of  Troubles  into  the  overall  context  of   reform   throughout   Russian   history.   In   several   incisive   articles   Bob   has   explored   the   degree   to   which   ideas   from   the   historiography   of   Western   Europe  (“absolutism,”  “the  general  crisis  of  the  seventeenth  century”)  apply   (or  don’t)  to  the  case  of  early  modern  Russia.  His  more  general  works  have   often   been...