Prokopovich, Pravda and Proof: Some Myths about Pravda Voli Monarshei

Abstract

Revisiting some conclusions advanced in his 1996 edition of Pravda Voli Monarshei, the author first considers the meaning of 'Pravda' in the title of the work. He then reconsiders the doubts as to its authorship raised by James Cracraft in 1981 in his influential article 'Did Feofan Prokopovich really write Pravda Voli Monarshei?' (Slavic Review, vol. 40, No. 2, pp.173-93). Finally he examines the accepted belief, now current for almost a century, that Hobbes is a source of Pravda Voli Monarshei.