It is the Epistle of Archbishop Vasily of Novgorod to Feodor, bishop of Tver, entitled, "Concerning the Earthly Paradise," wherein the author discusses a subject of contention which had arisen among the clergy of the latter's diocese, as to "whether the earthly paradise planted by God for Adam doth still exist upon the earth, or whether not the earthly but only an imaginary paradise doth still exist." The worthy archbishop, with divers arguments, defends his position, that the earthly paradise does still exist in the East, and hell in the West: which latter proposition is not surprising when we recall the historical circumstances under which it was enounced.
The monks continued to be the leaders in the educational and literary army, and under the stress of circumstances, not only won immense political influence over the life of the people, but also developed a new and special type of literature--political sermons--which attained to particular development in the fourteenth century.

Another curious phenomenon was presented by the narratives concerning various prominent personages, which contain precious facts and expressions of contemporary views.

The authors always endeavored, after the time-honored fashion of biographers, to exalt and adorn their subjects; so that "decorated narratives," a most apt title for that sort of literature in general, was the characteristic name under which they came to be known.

One peculiarity of all of these, it is worth noting, including that which dealt with the decisive battle with the Tatars on the field of Kulikovo, on the Don, in 1370, under Dmitry Donskoy (Dmitry of the Don), Prince of Moscow, is, that they are imitated, in style and language, from the famous "Word Concerning Igor's Raid." Among the many purely secular tales of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries preserved in manuscript, not one has anything in common with Russian national literature.

All are translations, or reconstructions of material derived from widely divergent sources, such as the stories of Alexander of Macedon, of the Trojan War, and various Oriental tales.
About the middle of the sixteenth century, Makary, metropolitan of Moscow, collected, in twelve huge volumes, the Legends (or Spiritual Tales) of the Saints, under the title of Tchetya Minaya--literally, Monthly Reading.