The Birth of Europe (Essays on Works of L.P. Karsavin)
The article is devoted to the formation of European civilization or "birth of Europe" according to J. Le Goff. In the 30-50s of the XX century this topic was substantiated in the school of "Annals" of M. Bloch and L. February, and more recently, thanks to the efforts of Jacques Le Goff, has gained fame and become one of the fundamental trends in historical science. The author illustrates the background to the theme of the formation of civilization through the works of Amable Jourdain, Charles G. Haskins, and Nicholay Jorgi. It shows the importance of the Petersburg school of Prof. I.M. Grevs in the formulation of the problem of religiosity. The author seeks to reveal in these Karsavin’s works the meaning and characteristic features of the concepts: faith, religiosity, their manifestations in the orthodox and unorthodox religious currents of the epoch and why exactly Francis of Assisi, Angela of Foligno are highlighted by Karsavin as leading figures of the age of the beginning of European civilization. The author emphasizes the exceptional nature of the early 20th century era for the Russian Empire, which undoubtedly influenced the scholarly activity of such a brilliant and distinguished historian Lev Platonovich Karsavin.