the Eastern and Western Churches. The schism arose out of
the immemorial rivalry between the Greeks and the Latins, a rivalry
which ever since then has continued to exist between Rome and
Byzantium. The Slavs, whom the matter did not concern, and who were
naturally tolerant, were the victims of a racial hatred and a rivalry
wholly alien to them. It may seem unnecessary to dwell upon what some
may regard as an ancient and trivial ecclesiastical dispute. But, in
its effects and in its results, this "Querelle de Moine," as Leo X
said when he heard of Luther's action, was as momentous for the East
as the Reformation was for the West. Sir Charles Eliot says the schism
of the Churches ranks in importance with the foundation of
Constantinople and the Coronation of Charlemagne as one of the turning
points in the relations of West and East. He says that for the East it
was of doleful import, since it prevented the two great divisions from
combining against the common enemy, the Turk. It was of still more
doleful import for Russia, for the schism erected a barrier, which
soon became formidable, between it and the civilizing influences of
Western Europe.

But in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the existence of this
growing barrier was not yet perceptible. The eleventh and twelfth
centuries in Russia were an age of Sagas and "Byliny," already clearly
stamped with the democratic character and ideal that is at the root of
all Russian literature, and which offer so sharp a contrast to Greek
and Western ideals. In the Russian Sagas, the most popular hero is the
peasant's son, who is despised and rejected, but at the critical
moment displays superhuman strength and saves his country from the
enemy; and in return for his services is allowed to drink his fill for
three years in a tavern.

But by far the most interesting remains of the literature of Kiev
which have reached posterity are the _Chronicle of Kiev_, often called
the _Chronicle of Nestor_, finished at the beginning of the twelfth
century, and the _Story of the Raid of Prince Igor_. The _Chronicle of
Kiev_, written in a cloister, rich in that epic detail and democratic
quality that characterize the Sagas, is the basis of all later
chronicles dealing with the early history of Russia. _The Story of the
Raid of Prince Igor_, which also belongs to the twelfth century, a
prose epic, is not only one of the most remarkable memorials of the
ancient written language of Russia; but