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162-532: The leaders of the Old Believers, including Avvakum Petrov and Ivan Neronov , were originally members of the Zealots of Piety . This group of church reformers gathered around Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the tsar's confessor Stefan Vonifatyev in the late 1630s, and also included the future Patriarch of Moscow Nikon. Upon Nikon's elevation to the patriarchal throne, he and the tsar hoped to revitalize

324-834: A Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia , but resident in Moscow, by a council of Russian bishops in 1448 without consent from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople initiated the effective independence of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Grand Duchy of Moscow . By then, apart from Muslim and Jewish minorities and pagan subject peoples, the Russian people were Christianised , observing church festivals and marking births, marriages, and deaths with Orthodox rituals. The main objectives of reformers in

486-794: A "powerful bureaucracy" by the 1630s. As the Time of Troubles was seen as a punishment for impiety, the Church was "intensely conservative" and "aspired to restore the 'ancient piety' in its fullness." This drive for strengthening and purification was further influenced by the Ruthenian Orthodox revival led by Petro Mohyla in Kiev in the 1630s to 1640s, who likewise sought to strengthen Orthodox religiosity and spirituality in Ruthenia . In Kiev and Lviv , "Orthodox brotherhoods set up schools under

648-473: A battle was narrowly avoided. In the treaty, Dmitry agreed to refrain from making himself the grand prince and he paid the tribute owed to the Tatars. Yury was summoned to Novgorod and did not pay the tribute to the khan, leading to Dmitry to go to Sarai and receive the patent for the grand princely title in 1322. Yury was then summoned by Özbeg, and on his way to Sarai, Dmitry's brother Aleksandr robbed him in

810-699: A cell in St. Nikola's . Avvakum publicly denounces the Nikonian reforms before the Eucemenical Council of Patriarchs. (92–93). After this, he and Lazar, Fyodor, and Epifany are banished to Pustozersk. During this time, many of Avvakum's followers are punished. Though Avvakum's fellows in Pustozersk are physically mutilated by their guards and their tongues, fingers, or hands cut off, God grants them all supernatural healing. Soon after, they are imprisoned in

972-489: A comparative analysis. Such a task would have taken many years of conscientious research and could hardly have given an unambiguous result, given the complex development of the Russian liturgical texts over the previous centuries and the lack of textual historiographic techniques at the time. Without waiting for the completion of any comparative analysis, Nikon overrode the decrees of the Stoglavy Synod and ordered

1134-406: A cultural revival, exemplified by the icons and frescoes of the monk Andrei Rublev . Hundreds of monasteries were founded by disciples of St. Sergius in distant and inhospitable locations, including Beloozero and Solovki . Apart from their cultural functions, these monasteries were major landowners who could control the economy of an adjacent region. They served as outposts of Moscow's influence in

1296-496: A dugout cabin. Avvakum concludes The Life with several accounts of exorcisms performed by him, culminating in the attempted exorcism of a woman in Tobolsk. During the protracted struggle between Avvakum and the devils who possess the woman, she dies for four days. When she wakes, she tells Avvakum she had been led by angels to a beautiful mansion which, they told her, belong to Avvakum. Avvakum eventually heals her and she becomes

1458-455: A formal trial took place at the end of the year. Mikhail was executed and Yury was made the grand prince. Little is known about Yury's reign as grand prince, but relations between Moscow and Tver soon improved and a treaty was concluded in 1319 between Yury and Dmitry of Tver . However, in 1321, a representative of the khan instructed Yury to march on Tver. The two forces met on the Volga and

1620-670: A former strategic adviser to Vladimir Putin , is a proponent of edinoverie, since it combines Apostolic succession of the ROC , while preserving pre-Nikonite liturgical tradition. Vladimir officially converted the Eastern Slavs to Christianity in 988, and the people had adopted Greek Orthodox liturgical practices. At the end of the 11th century, the efforts of St. Theodosius of the Caves in Kiev ( Феодосий Киево-Печерский , d. 1074) introduced

1782-525: A founder-member, as well as the future patriarch Nikon, who joined in 1649. Their original aim was to revitalise the parishes through effective preaching, the orderly celebration of the liturgy, and enforcement of the church's moral teachings. To ensure that the liturgy was celebrated correctly, its original and authentic form had to be established, but the way that Nikon did this caused disputes between him and other reformers. In 1646, Nikon first met Tsar Aleksei, who immediately appointed him archimandrite of

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1944-563: A genuine correction, rather than aligning the texts of Russian liturgical books and practices, customs and even vestments with the Greek versions that Nikon considered were universally applicable norms. Nikon also attacked Russian Church rituals as erroneous, and even in some cases heretical, in comparison with their contemporary Greek equivalents. This went beyond the recommendation of Patriarch Paisios of Jerusalem, who suggested that differences in ritual did not of themselves indicate error, accepting

2106-466: A newborn foal, along with its blood and afterbirth, but two of Avvakum's sons eventually die. Amidst these trials, Avvakum heals the mad and the ill and urges them to repent. Avvakum also denounces shamanism . In one episode, Pashkov sends his son Eremej to battle in Mongolian territory, but first asks a shaman to predict the outcome of the war. The shaman predicts victory. Avvakum is angered, knowing

2268-404: A nun named Agafya. Avvakum ends by beseeching his confessor Epifany to write down his own life story, and to speak not for himself, but for the love of Christ. Avvakum describes the schism in apocalyptic terms: "God poured forth the vials of his wrath upon the kingdom! And still those poor souls didn't come to their senses, and kept right on stirring up the Church. Then Neronov spoke, and he told

2430-552: A patent for the grand princely title, a Tatar army, and a Tatar wife, who was the sister of the khan. Kavgady, the chief representative of the khan, sent his ambassadors to Tver to scare Mikhail into submission, but Mikhail's army proceeded to defeat Yury's army in December 1317. In early 1318, the two parties met on the Volga for another battle, but they reached an agreement. Kavgady and Yury laid their accusations against Mikhail and

2592-597: A prototype of Siberian prison literature, a tradition that would most famously be continued by Fyodor Dostoevsky ( Notes from the House of the Dead ) in the 19th century and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ( The Gulag Archipelago ) in the 20th.   Avvakum's account largely follows his biography. He was born circa 1620 in Grigorevo in present-day Nizhny Novgorod Oblast to an alcoholic priest named Pyotr, who died while Avvakum

2754-509: A result of opposition to the Nikonite reform, they do not constitute a single monolithic body. Despite the emphasis on invariable adherence to the pre-Nikonite traditions, the Old Believers feature a great diversity of groups that profess different interpretations of the church tradition and often are not in communion with each other. Some groups even practice re-baptism before admitting a member of another group into their midst. Since none of

2916-585: A result of the Black Death, and a new vertical pattern of princely succession from father to son was defined. Ivan's successors continued the " gathering of the Russian lands " to increase the population and wealth under their rule. In the process, their interests clashed with the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania , whose subjects were predominantly East Slavic and Orthodox. Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania allied himself by marriage with Tver and undertook three expeditions against Moscow (1368, 1370, 1372) but

3078-627: A side-effect of condemning the past of the Russian Orthodox Church and her traditions, the innovations appeared to weaken the messianic theory depicting Moscow as the Third Rome . Instead of the guardian of Orthodox faith, Moscow seemed an accumulation of serious liturgical mistakes. It is argued that changing the wording of the eighth article of the Nicaean Creed was one of the very few alterations that could be seen as

3240-619: A storm on the Tunguska river by God's grace in response to his prayer. In an episode in which he heals two madwomen, Avvakum describes at length how to drive the devil out of the body: "The devil's no peasant, he's not afraid of a club. He's afraid of the Cross of Christ, and of holy water, and of holy oil, and of plain cuts and runs before the Body of Christ." The madwomen are only rid of their madness when they live with Avvakum, becoming mad again

3402-459: A unified monarchy. Having consolidated the core of Russia under his rule, Ivan III became the first Moscow ruler to adopt the titles of tsar and "Ruler of all Rus ' ". Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for control over some of the semi-independent former principalities of Kievan Rus' in the upper Dnieper and Donets river basins. Through

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3564-506: A war with Lithuania , Vasily captured Smolensk in 1514, and a peace treaty in 1522 confirmed Moscow's gains. Vasily also advanced the Russian border in the east and supported the pro-Russian party in the Khanate of Kazan . The unification of Russia gave rise to a new political system characterized by the dominance of the grand prince, who viewed the country as his personal patrimony. The historian Sergey Platonov wrote: "The authority of

3726-413: Is "no end of to the birds, geese and swans." He recounts the many different kinds of fish that live alongside seals and sea lions, commenting that the fish are so oily that "you can't cook them in a pan — there'd be nothing but fat left!" Bruce T. Holl notes that Avvakum depicted Siberia both as hell and as heaven. In The Life, the horrific struggle against vast Siberian distances, the harsh cold and

3888-484: Is always cool, silvery, in contrast to Novgorodian painting which inevitably tends towards the warm, the yellowish, the golden". Dionisius continued the traditions of Andrei Rublev and the Moscow school at the turn of the 16th century. The art of the miniature in illuminated manuscripts also continued to develop in Moscow, with manuscripts like the Khitrovo Gospels containing rich illustrations. After

4050-460: Is coeval with the arrival of the Antichrist . As a result of this eschatological belief, as well as the church and state's mass persecution of the Old Believers, many fled to establish colonies and monasteries in the wilderness. No bishops opposed Nikon's reforms (besides Paul of Kolomna , who was banished to a monastery), so the Old Believers had no ability to ordain new priests, meaning

4212-533: Is further extended to Avvakum's endurance of his fate. Avvakum describes how, when his barge was swept away on the Khilok River, he expressed no bitterness: "Everything was smashed to bits! But what could be done if Christ and the most immaculate Mother of God deigned it so? I was laughing coming out of the water, but the people there were oh'ing and ah'ing as they hung my clothes around on bushes." An episode with Avvakum's wife Nastasya Markovna further emphasizes

4374-401: Is mentioned under the year 1282 as taking part in a feudal war between his two older brothers. The 16th-century Book of Royal Degrees says that Daniel was given Moscow on his father's death in 1263. The size of the original territory of the Moscow principality is not known, but it likely encompassed the basin of the upper Moskva River , stretching approximately between the eastern influx of

4536-528: Is simultaneously present on the level of imagery, as Avvakum combines high, exalted imagery with the low, bodily, and material. Despite his persecution and death, groups rejecting the liturgical changes persisted. They came to be referred to as Old Believers . Grand Duchy of Moscow The Principality of Moscow ( Russian : Московское княжество ), from 1363 the Grand Principality of Moscow ( Russian : Великое княжество Московское ),

4698-477: Is that wherever the books read 'Церковь' [meaning Church ], Nikon substituted 'Храмъ' [meaning Temple ] and vice versa. According to a source sympathetic to the Old Believers: The incorrectly realized book revision by Nikon, owing to its speed, its range, its foreignness of sources and its offending character was bound to provoke protest, given the seriously assimilated, not only national but also

4860-751: The Danube Delta . In the Imperial Russian census of 1897 , 2,204,596 people, about 1.75% of the population of the Russian Empire self-declared as Old Believers or other denominations split from the Russian Orthodox Church . By the 1910s, in the last Imperial Russian census just before the October Revolution , approximately ten percent of the population of the Russian Empire said that they belonged to one of

5022-658: The Eucharist . The Bezpopovtsy rejected "the World" where they believed the Antichrist reigned; they preached the imminent end of Creation, asceticism , adherence to the old rituals and the old faith. More radical movements which already existed prior to the reforms of Nikon and where eschatological and anticlerical sentiments were predominant, would join the Bezpopovtsy Old Believers. The Bezpopovtsy claimed that any priest or ordinary who had ever used

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5184-553: The Holy Roman Emperor ; however, it would not be until 1547 that the title of tsar became official with the coronation of his grandson, Ivan IV . Ivan III also laid claim to the legacy of Kievan Rus' , which led to conflicts with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The Russian state was later also known in Western Europe as Muscovy under Polish–Lithuanian influence, and the use of both names persisted until

5346-613: The Imperial Academy of Sciences . Research was continued later mainly by Serge A. Zenkovsky , a specialist on Russian ecclesiastical culture. Golubinsky, Dmitriyevsky, Kartashov and Kapterev, amongst others, demonstrated that the rites, rejected and condemned by the church reforms, were genuine traditions of Orthodox Christianity , altered in Greek usage during the 15th–16th centuries but remaining unchanged in Russia. The pre-Nikonite liturgical practices, including some elements of

5508-535: The Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon 's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church . His autobiography and letters to the tsar and other Old Believers such as Feodosia Morozova are considered masterpieces of 17th-century Russian literature . He was born in Grigorovo  [ ru ] , in present-day Nizhny Novgorod . Starting in 1652 Nikon, as the patriarch of

5670-578: The Novospassky monastery in Moscow. In 1649, Nikon was consecrated as the Metropolitan of Novgorod and, in 1652, he became Patriarch of Moscow . During his time in Novgorod, Nikon began to develop his view that the responsibility for the spiritual health of Russia lay with senior church leaders, not the tsar. When he became patriarch, he started to reorganise the church's administration so it

5832-709: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , to attract local Orthodox rebels. Their rite was closer to the Greek than that in the Muscovite realm. Nikon did not accept the existence of two different rites in the same church. Supported by Tsar Aleksei, Nikon carried out some preliminary liturgical reforms. In 1652, he convened a synod and exhorted the clergy on the need to compare Russian Typikon , Euchologion , and other liturgical books with their Greek counterparts. Monasteries from all over Russia received requests to send examples to Moscow to have them subjected to

5994-561: The Rus' Orthodox Church , which experienced a resurgence in influence, due to the monastic reform of St. Sergius of Radonezh . Educated by Metropolitan Alexis , Dmitri posed as a champion of Orthodoxy and managed to unite the warring principalities of Rus' in his struggle against the Horde. He challenged Khan's authority and defeated his commander Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). However,

6156-632: The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. After the Ruthenian revival, western Slavic Orthodox practices became closer to those of Greek Orthodoxy than to the Russian tradition, which had been increasingly isolated from the Greek Orthodox Church over the past several centuries. Nikon sought, likewise, to bring Russian church practice into line with Greek Orthodoxy. Russian linguist Alexander Komchatnov further emphasizes that that goal

6318-652: The Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) to conquer West Russian provinces and Ukraine, developed ambitions of becoming the liberator of the Orthodox areas which at that time formed part of the Ottoman Empire . They also mention the role of the Near-East patriarchs, who actively supported the idea of the Russian Tsar becoming the liberator of all Orthodox Christians and who suggested that Patriarch Nikon might become

6480-518: The Rzhev area and forced him to flee to Pskov . Ivan I ( r.  1325–1340 ) became prince after Yury was murdered by Dmitry of Tver , while the title of grand prince went to Aleksandr of Tver . After the residents of Tver launched a revolt against Tatar rule in 1327, Özbeg Khan dispatched a punitive force led by Ivan and Aleksandr of Suzdal , causing Aleksandr of Tver to flee to Lithuania. Afterwards, Ivan presented himself before Özbeg and

6642-586: The Tsardom of Russia . The English names Moscow and Muscovy , for the city, the principality, and the river, are derived from post-classical Latin Moscovia , Muscovia , and ultimately from the Old Russian fully vocalized accusative form Московь , Moskov' . Moscow is first mentioned under the year 1147 in the locative case ( na Moskvě ). The modern Russian form, Moskva , first appears in

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6804-470: The grand prince of Vladimir . During the Mongol invasions of 1237–1238, Moscow was sacked following the destruction of Ryazan . The city is not mentioned again until the late 13th century. The first prince of Moscow was Daniel ( r.  1263–1303 ), the youngest son of Aleksandr Nevsky , and he was given Moscow as an otchina , where he established a local branch of Rurikid princes. Daniel

6966-552: The "facade of autocracy" and applied the term to later Muscovite history. Relations between Moscow and the Golden Horde varied at times. In the last two decades of the 13th century, Moscow gained the support of one of the rivaling Mongol statesmen, Nogai , against the principalities that were oriented towards the khan. After the restoration of unity in the Golden Horde in the early 14th century, Moscow generally enjoyed

7128-415: The 14th century, the grand princes of Moscow began to style themselves as the rulers of all Russia . During his consolidation of territories, Ivan III adopted the title of sovereign ( gosudar ) of all Russia. After rejecting Mongol suzerainty, he also styled himself as autocrat ( samoderzhets ). In his foreign correspondence, he adopted the title of tsar and rejected the offer of kingship by

7290-489: The 14th century. The oldest endonyms used in documents were Rus ( Russian : Русь ) and the "Russian land" ( Russian : Русская земля , romanized :  Russkaya zemlya ). The 14th-century Zadonshchina , which belongs to the Kulikovo cycle of works, stresses the unity of the Russian princes and describes the principalities of Moscow, Novgorod , and others as being part of the "Russian land". A new form of

7452-451: The 1666 Great Moscow Synod , which brought Patriarch Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im of Antioch, Patriarch Paisios of Alexandria , and many bishops to Moscow. Some scholars allege that the visiting patriarchs each received both 20,000 rubles in gold and furs for their participation. This council officially established the reforms and anathematized not only all those opposing the innovations but the old Russian books and rites themselves as well. As

7614-515: The 16th century, many from the secular clergy , were to standardise the liturgy throughout the Muscovite realm. This resulted in the holding of the Stoglavy Synod , a Russian church council in 1551, whose decrees formed the basis of Orthodox ritual and liturgy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This synod condemned many popular religious practices; among other things, it forbade the practice of polyphony . In addition, while stressing

7776-541: The 17th century into the 19th century. The Old Believers considered such self-immolations not as a suicide but as a martyr’s death and an act of protest. In 1678, in the Paleostrov self-immolation, one of the largest, on an island in Lake Onega over 2,700 people perished at the sight of soldiers and officials who were sent to stop the burnings. In totaly, there were over 100 officially registered self-immolations of

7938-446: The 17th century, Greek and Russian Church officials, including Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, had noticed discrepancies between contemporary Russian and Greek usages. They reached the conclusion that the Russian Orthodox Church had, as a result of errors of incompetent copyists, developed rites and liturgical books of its own that had significantly deviated from the Greek originals. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church had become dissonant with

8100-429: The Church to the state. Nevertheless, the Old Believers sought above all to defend and preserve the purity of the Orthodox faith, embodied in the old rituals, which inspired many to strive against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms even unto death. Avvakum Petrov Avvakum Petrov (Russian: Аввакум Петров ; 20 November 1620/1621 – 14 April 1682; also spelled Awakum ) was a Russian Old Believer and protopope of

8262-488: The Great (reigned 1682–1725) (Old Believers had to pay double taxation and a separate tax for wearing a beard )—to intense, as under Tsar Nicholas I (reigned 1825–1855). The Russian synodal state church and the state authorities often saw Old Believers as dangerous elements and as a threat to the Russian state. There were Old Believers who chose death rather than give up their faith. Collective suicides by fire continued from

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8424-464: The Great passed an act that allowed Old Believers to practise their faith openly without interference. In 1905, Tsar Nicholas II signed an act of religious freedom that ended the persecution of all religious minorities in Russia. The Old Believers gained the right to build churches, to ring church bells, to hold processions and to organize themselves. It became prohibited to refer to Old Believers as raskolniki (schismatics), as they were under Catherine

8586-675: The Great—reigned 1762–1796, a name they consider insulting. People often refer to the period from 1905 until 1917 as "the Golden Age of the Old Faith". One can regard the Act of 1905 as emancipating the Old Believers, who had until then occupied an almost illegal position in Russian society. Some restrictions for Old Believers continued: for example, they were forbidden from joining the civil service. Although all Old Believers groups emerged as

8748-432: The Greek ones of his time. In doing so, according to the Old Believers, Nikon acted without adequate consultation with the clergy and without gathering a council. After the implementation of these revisions, the Church anathematized and suppressed—with the support of Muscovite state power—the prior liturgical rite itself, as well as those who were reluctant to pass to the revised rite. Those who maintained fidelity to

8910-599: The Greek style, and imposed a normalized revision of liturgical books. Those opposing Nikon's reforms came to be known as the Old Believers . Their texts painted the Schism as an apocalyptic contest between good and evil, with Nikon as the Antichrist. They were continually repressed, arrested, and exiled from the onset of Nikon's reforms. Nikon and Tsar Alexei soon fell out, and Nikon was placed in confinement, but

9072-653: The Gzhelka and the western influx of the Ruza . The northeast of the territory consisted of the basin of the upper Klyazma . By the turn of the century, Moscow was one of the leading principalities within Vladimir-Suzdal . Daniel defeated Ryazan in 1301, after which Kolomna and Serpukhov were incorporated into the Moscow principality. Pereyaslavl was also temporarily annexed to Moscow, and after Daniel's death, his sons seized Mozhaysk in 1304. At this point,

9234-402: The Moscow grand principality adopted the ideology of an Orthodox tsardom after the fall of Constantinople , which was incompatible with the recognition of suzerainty of the khan, and as a result, the grand prince began to declare the independence of Moscow in diplomatic relations with other countries. This process was complete during the reign of Ivan III. A distinct school of icon painting

9396-416: The Moscow princes took on the character of the authority of a lord of the manor over its land and people... The prince was not only the ruler of the country; he was also its owner". During the appanage period, princes and their retinues played a major administrative and social role in their principalities; however, with the rise of the grand principality of Moscow, the role of those princes were subordinated to

9558-414: The Moscow printed editions of 1610, 1633 and 1641, continues to be used by modern Old Believers. In the course of the polemics against Old Believers, the official Russian Orthodox Church often claimed the discrepancies, which emerged in the texts between the Russian and the Greek churches, as Russian innovations, errors, or arbitrary translations. This charge of "Russian innovation" re-appeared repeatedly in

9720-524: The Nikonite Rites had forfeited apostolic succession . Therefore, the true church of Christ had ceased to exist on Earth, and the Bezpopovtsy therefore renounced priests and all sacraments except baptism . The Bezpopovtsy movement has many sub-groups. Bezpopovtsy have no priests and no Eucharist , but may elect a mentor ( наставник ) or church leaders ( настоятели or начётчики ) to lead

9882-658: The Old Believer branches (census data). Some Old Believers evaded state persecution by fleeing to the Altai Mountains , a mountainous region near the Russian border with Mongolia. The convents of the Pomorskii group were built there at the beginning of the 20th century with the financial support of Savva Morozov , a rich textile mill owner and a member of the Pomorskii community himself. In 1762, Catherine

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10044-543: The Old Believers. Old Believers were driven by persecutions to the fringes of Russia and became the dominant denomination in many regions, including the Pomors of the Russian Far North , in the Kursk region, in the Ural Mountains , in Siberia , and the Russian Far East . Many Old Believers fled Russia altogether, particularly for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , where the community exists to this day. The 40,000-strong community of Lipovans still lives in Izmail Raion ( Vylkove ) of Ukraine and Tulcea County of Romania in

10206-420: The Russian Church between supporters of the reforms and their opponents, who came to be known as the Old Believers , is known as the Schism of the Russian Church . Historian Georg Bernhard Michels writes that "the Russian Orthodox Church became a significant target of popular hostility during the second half of the seventeenth century." Having survived the destabilizing Time of Troubles , the Church had become

10368-413: The Russian Church through the ecumenical Eastern Orthodoxy of the Greek Church, introducing various Greek reforms to the liturgy. Old Believers believe these reforms to be heretical, believing the pre-reform rites to be the authentic practices of the early church. Old Believer theology is characterized by this strict adherence to pre-reform traditions, as well as the belief that the reformed church's heresy

10530-535: The Russian Church, initiated a wide range of reforms in Russian liturgy and theology . These reforms were intended mostly to bring the Russian Church into line with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Avvakum and others strongly rejected these changes. They saw them as a corruption of the Russian Church, which they considered to be the true Church of God. The other churches were more closely related to Constantinople in their liturgies. Avvakum argued that Constantinople fell to

10692-461: The Russian typicon Oko Tserkovnoe , were demonstrated to have preserved earlier Byzantine practices, being closer to the earlier Byzantine texts than some later Greek customs. Remarkably, the scholars who opened the new avenues for re-evaluation of the reform by the Russian Church themselves held membership in the official church (A. V. Kapterev, for instance, was a professor at the Slavic Greek Latin Academy ) but nevertheless took up serious study of

10854-445: The Studite liturgical practices were gradually replaced in Russia with the so-called Jerusalem Typicon or the Typicon of St. Sabbas —originally, an adaptation of the Studite liturgy to the customs of Palestinian monasteries. The process of gradual change of typica continued throughout the 15th century and, because of its slow implementation, met with little resistance—unlike Nikon's reforms, conducted with abruptness and violence. In

11016-408: The Turks because of these heretical beliefs and practices. For his opposition to the reforms, Avvakum was repeatedly imprisoned. First he was exiled to Siberia, to the city of Tobolsk , and partook in an exploration expedition under Afanasii Pashkov to the Chinese border. In 1664, after Nikon was no longer patriarch, Avvakum was allowed to return to Moscow, and was then exiled again to Mezen . He

11178-410: The United States. In 1652, Nikon of Moscow , patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church from then until 1658, introduced a number of ritual and textual revisions with the aim of achieving uniformity between the practices of the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches. Nikon, having noticed discrepancies between Russian and Greek rites and texts, ordered an adjustment of the Russian rites to align with

11340-474: The Word of God like you used to and don't grieve over us.... Now go on, get to the church, Petrovič, unmask the whoredom of heresy!" Well, sir, I bowed low to her for that, and shaking off the blindness of a heavy heart, I began to preach and teach the Word of God about the tows and everywhere, and yet again did I unmask the Nikonian heresy with boldness. The Life is full of accounts of violent beatings and trials that Avvakum endures without resistance. This theme

11502-401: The Zealots of Piety against him. Their protests led to their excommunication and exile and, in some cases, imprisonment or execution. It was not disputed by the reformers that the Russian texts should be corrected by reference to the most ancient Greek, but also Slavonic, manuscripts, although they also considered that many traditional Russian ceremonial practices were acceptable. In addition,

11664-434: The ambition to aim for such control. Both the popovtsy and bespopovtsy, although theologically and psychologically two different teachings, manifested spiritual, eschatological and mystical tendencies throughout Russian religious thought and church life. One can also emphasize the schism's position in the political and cultural background of its time: increasing Western influence, secularization , and attempts to subordinate

11826-711: The anti-reform priesthood would quickly vanish. This dilemma led to the split among the Old Believers into the Popovtsy (the priested ones) and the Bespopovtsy (the priestless ones); the Popovtsy accept priests ordained by the reformed Russian Church, while the Bespopovtsy reject any priest ordained after Nikonite reforms. The widespread persecution of Old Believers came to an end with Tsar Nicholas II 's Edict of Tolerance in 1905. The total number of Old Believers at

11988-573: The beauties and bounty of the land explored during the expedition to Dauria. Avvakum describes saving a man by lying about his whereabouts. Avvakum asks whether, having lied, he has sinned and should seek penance. The narrative is then interrupted by words of absolution attributed to Avvakum's confessor, Epifany: "God doth forgive and bless thee in this age and that to come, together why thy helpmate Anastasia and thy daughter, and all they house. Ye have acted rightly and justly. Amen." Returning from exile, Avvakum writes of being well received in Moscow by

12150-582: The beginning of the 20th century is difficult to estimate, as many still feared persecution for admitting their faith, but contemporary sources put the total between 10 and 20 million. Persecution was renewed in the Soviet era , ending during Gorbachev 's perestroika reforms of the Soviet Union. In the early 21st century, the number of Old Believers is estimated to be between 2 and 3 million, mostly in Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and

12312-575: The bishops joined the Old Believers, except Bishop Pavel of Kolomna , who was put to death for this, apostolically ordained priests of the old rite would have soon become extinct. Two responses appeared to this dilemma: the Popovtsy (поповцы, "with priests") and the Bezpopovtsy ("priestless"). The Popovtsy represented the more moderate conservative opposition, those who strove to continue religious and church life as it had existed before

12474-564: The boyars and the tsar, whom Avvakum describes charitably despite the oppression he himself faced. However, due to Avvakum's continued condemnation of the reforms, the tsar eventually exiles him once more, this time to Mezen, where Avvakum spends a year and half with his family. He is brought to Moscow again during the Great Moscow Synod of 1666–67, though this time he is received poorly and is imprisoned in Pafnut'yev monastery and in

12636-507: The causes and background of the reforms and of the resulting schism. Their research revealed that the official explanation regarding the old Russian books and rites was unsustainable. As Serge A. Zenkovsky points out in his standard work Russia's Old Believers , the Old Believer schism did not occur simply as a result of a few individuals with power and influence. The schism had complex causes, revealing historical processes and circumstances in 17th-century Russian society. Those who broke from

12798-414: The city in 1478 and the city surrendered. Ivan imposed his direct rule on the city and abolished its system of government. Tver offered even less resistance, and when Ivan launched a new campaign against Tver in 1485, its prince fled to Lithuania. Ivan incorporated other appanages into the grand principality, while other princes acknowledged him as their overlord. As a result, Ivan began to rule Russia as

12960-420: The claims were taken up by his sons, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka , who pursued their claims well into the 1450s. Although he was ousted from Moscow on several occasions, taken prisoner by Olug Moxammat of Kazan , and blinded in 1446, Vasily II eventually managed to triumph over his enemies and pass the throne to his son in 1462. At his urging, a native bishop was elected as Metropolitan of Moscow, which

13122-412: The community and its services. Apart from these major groups, many smaller groups have emerged and became extinct at various times since the end of the 17th century: Edinovertsy ( единоверцы , i.e. "people of the same faith"; collective, единоверчество; often referred to as Orthodox Old Ritualists, православные старообрядцы): Agreed to become a part of the official Russian Orthodox Church while saving

13284-460: The course of the 15th—17th centuries, Russian scribes continued to insert some Studite material into the general shape of Jerusalem Typicon . This explains the differences between the modern version of the Typicon , used by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the pre-Nikonite Russian recension of Jerusalem Typicon , called Oko Tserkovnoe (Rus. "eye of the church"). This pre-Nikonite version, based on

13446-573: The decrees of the Council of Florence , the Greek patriarchate had compromised its authority and forfeited any right to dictate to Russia on liturgical matters. Tsar Aleksei, Nikon and some of the Zealots of Piety decided that the best way to revitalise the Russian church was to conform with the usages of the Greek church and accept the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople . By the middle of

13608-604: The defeat of the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo , heroic accounts of the battle were written with considerable artistry, including The Tale of the Battle with Mamai and Zadonshchina . The latter crafted a proto-national myth about the need for unification against foreign enemies: "Let us lay down our lives for the Russian land and the Christian faith". Muscovite Russia was culturally influenced by Slavic and Byzantine cultural elements. In Muscovite Russia, supernaturalism

13770-451: The defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and the long inconclusive Russo-Lithuanian Wars that ended only in 1503, Ivan III was able to push westward, and the Moscow state tripled in size under his rule. Vasily III ( r.  1505–1533 ) continued his father's policy of annexing the other appanages. He annexed Pskov and Ryazan in 1510 and 1521, respectively, completing the process of "gathering" (Great) Russian lands. During

13932-438: The direct patronage of the patriarch of Constantinople." In the late 1640s, Nikon and Avvakum were members of the Zealots of Piety (known also as bogolyubtsy , i.e. "lovers of God"), a circle of ecclesiastical and secular figures who aimed to improve religious and civilian life and to purify and strengthen the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Gradually, a split appeared in this circle: while certain Zealots echoed

14094-424: The early 18th century. Moscow is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1147, as part of the principality of Rostov-Suzdal . The importance of Moscow greatly increased during the second half of the 12th century, and it was converted into a fortified gorod (stronghold) in the 1150s. On the death of Vsevolod III in 1212, Moscow appears to have been passed to his son Yury , who succeeded his father as

14256-455: The end of the appanage era and the beginning of a period in Russian history known as Muscovite Russia . He also stopped paying tribute and his defeat of the Tatars in 1480 traditionally marks the end of Tatar suzerainty. Vasily III ( r.  1505–1533 ) completed his father's policy of annexing the remaining appanages, and his son Ivan IV ( r.  1533–1584 ) was crowned as tsar in 1547, thereby officially proclaiming

14418-419: The end of the struggle between Moscow and Tver, and Ivan's nephew-in-law, Konstantin , continued to rule Tver as a loyal servant. To secure his position, Ivan began absorbing surrounding principalities. In particular, Ivan was credited by his grandson Dmitry Donskoy in his will with purchasing the principalities of Beloozero , Galich and Uglich . Ivan also developed Moscow to attract people and produce

14580-643: The ensuing hunger and thirst — which prompt hellish instances of eating infant foals and carrion — are interposed with rhapsodies waxing poetic about the beautiful Siberian landscape and the God-given bountiful excess it keeps as its treasure. Avvakum's The Life has been greatly valued for its unique style. Russian linguist Viktor Vinogradov observed that The Life uniquely combined two entirely different linguistic registers, mixing high literary language with low vernacular, colloquialisms, and profanity. Vinogradov further remarks that this mixture of linguistic forms

14742-476: The existing rite endured severe persecutions from the end of the 17th century until the beginning of the 20th century as "Schismatics" (Russian: раскольники , raskol'niki ). They became known as "Old Ritualists", a name introduced under the empress Catherine the Great , who reigned from 1762 to 1796. Those who adopted new liturgical practices started to call themselves pravoslavnye ( православные , 'those believing rightly', 'orthodox'). The installation of

14904-479: The favor of the khan until 1317 and 1322–1327. For the following thirty years, when relations between the two parties improved, Moscow was able to achieve sufficient economic and political potential. Further attempts to deprive its rulers of the status of grand prince were unsuccessful after the Horde sank into internecine war and proved to be fruitless during the reign of a relatively powerful khan such as Mamai , whereas Tokhtamysh had no other choice but to recognize

15066-518: The first version of The Life was drafted in 1669–1672, and the subsequent three redactions from 1672 to 1675. The trials he suffered in his numerous exiles are largely the subject of this text. Avvakum referred to his memoir as a hagiography (Russian: житие), which might suggest that he was characterizing himself as a saint, though he may have referred to it that way because, simply, no other word for what we would today call autobiography had yet been coined. Scholars such as Alan Wood consider The Life

15228-565: The forms of Russian worship." This exacerbated tensions with and among the Zealots, who "wanted to create a church which was morally pure and close to the ordinary Russian people". Tsar Alexei and Patriarch Nikon, by contrast, had imperial aspirations. Nikon's vision of ecclesiastical restoration assumed the "continued dominance of the church over state" and stretched beyond Muscovy to the "entire Eastern Christian ecumene." Nikon's ambitions were further strengthened by his "contact with Greek and Ukrainian churchmen" and by Russian territorial gains in

15390-407: The genuine orthodox identity of the Russian people. The protest was indeed global: the episcopate, the clergy, both regular and monastic, the laity and the ordinary people. Opponents of the ecclesiastical reforms of Nikon emerged among all strata of the people and in relatively large numbers (see Raskol ). However, after the deposition of Patriarch Nikon (1658), who presented too strong a challenge to

15552-455: The grand prince and the emerging state apparatus. Traditional institutions like the veche were abolished, and appanage princes were incorporated into the boyar class. As a result, they became increasingly part of the service class . Some historians have argued that a ruling class, which included the grand prince and leading boyars, governed the country by consultation and consensus-building. Nancy Shields Kollmann in particular called it

15714-480: The ground and foam ran out of his mouth. The devils were crushing him, but he asked of them, "Will the expedition be successful?" And the devils said, "You will come back with a greatly victory and with much wealth." Avvakum also describes how once, during winter in Dauria, he had to travel across a great stretch of ice but fell from weariness and thirst. In his response to his prayer for water, God splintered and parted

15876-420: The growing power of the Golden Horde. The power of the Horde over Moscow was greatly limited during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy , who gained recognition of the grand principality of Vladimir as a hereditary possession of the princes of Moscow; while the Horde continued to collect tribute, it could no longer have a serious impact on the internal structure of Russia. During the reigns of Vasily II and Ivan III ,

16038-470: The hastily published new editions of the service books contained internal inconsistencies, and had to be reprinted several times in quick succession. Rather than being revised according to ancient Slavonic and Greek manuscripts, the new liturgical editions had actually been translated from modern Greek editions printed in Catholic Venice. The locum tenens for Patriarch Pitirim of Moscow convened

16200-424: The hierarchy of the official State Church had quite divergent views on church, faith, society, state power and social issues. Thus the collective term "Old Believers" groups together various movements within Russian society which actually had existed long before 1666–67. They shared a distrust of state power and of the episcopate, insisting upon the right of the people to arrange their own spiritual life, and expressing

16362-570: The ice, leaving him a small hole from which to drink. Avvakum draws a parallel between this episode and God's mercy to the Israelites wandering in the Sinai. In other instances, the holy fool Fyodor is chained but, "by God's will," the chains fall to pieces, and various others whose tongues are cut out miraculously grow new tongues. Valerie Kivelson remarks that Avvakum's depictions of Siberia present an image of "excessive, luxuriant bounty." On

16524-516: The journey to Dauria, Avvakum writes of the extremes of nature that he encountered: Around it mountains were high and the cliffs of rock, fearfully high; twenty-thousand versts and more I've dragged myself, and I've never seen their like anywhere. Along their summits are halls and turrets, gates and pillars, stone walls and courtyards, all made by God. Onions grow there and garlic, bigger than the Romanov onion and uncommonly sweet. He writes that there

16686-399: The khan from other Russian princes, which increased Moscow's wealth. The seat of the Russian Orthodox Church was also moved to Moscow, which later gave it the status as the spiritual center. Ivan I defeated Tver and secured the grand princely title for his sons Simeon ( r.  1340–1353 ) and Ivan II ( r.  1353–1359 ). Following the death of Ivan II, the title

16848-460: The latter annexed Smolensk. The peaceful years of his long reign were marked by the continuing expansion to the east (annexation of Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal , 1392) and to the north (annexation of Vologda , Veliky Ustyug , and Perm of Vychegda , 1398). Nizhny Novgorod was given by the Khan of the Golden Horde as a reward for Muscovite's help against a rival. The reforms of St. Sergius triggered

17010-546: The latter is rising in prominence. The two are initially friends, but Nikon begins his reforms soon thereafter, forcing several dissenting members of the clergy to undergo shearings, markings, and exile. Avvakum himself is also seized, and is exiled with his family to Siberia. Avvakum extensively describes his first exile to Tobolsk and his experience on the forced expedition to Dauria , led by Afanasy Pashkov. Pashkov orders that Avvakum be beaten, but Avvakum's prayer alleviates his pain. The travelers become so hungry that they eat

17172-401: The latter's death. Although Simeon had to contend with three rival princes for the grand princely title, Özbeg had approved his father's will in 1339, indicating that he supported Simeon's succession to the grand princely throne. Simeon received the patent a few months later. As a result, the princes of Moscow continued to hold the title almost uninterruptedly. At the start of Simeon's reign,

17334-430: The moment they are sent away. Avvakum is also able to sense the devils summoned by the shaman invited by Pashkov: That evening this peasant sorcerer brought out a live ram close by my shelter and started over conjuring it, twisting it this way and that, and he twisted its head off and tossed it aside. Then he started galloping around and dancing and summoning devils, and after considerable shouting he slammed himself against

17496-448: The name became common by the 15th century; the vernacular Rus was transformed into Ros(s)iya or Rus(s)iya , and borrowed from Greek : Ρωσία , romanized :  Rosía or Latin : Russia . In the 1480s, the scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name Rosia ( Росиа ), and Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre "of Russian lordship" ( Росийскаго господства , Rosiyskago gospodstva ). In

17658-411: The need for accurate copying of sacred documents, it also approved of traditional Russian liturgical practices that differed from contemporary Greek ones. During the reign of Aleksei Mikhailovich (r. 1645–1676), the young tsar and his confessor , Stefan Vonifatiev, sponsored a group, mainly composed of non-monastic clergy and known as the Zealots of Piety . These included the archpriest Avvakum as

17820-495: The neighbouring principalities and republics. Another factor responsible for the expansion of the Grand Principality of Moscow was its favourable dynastic situation, in which each sovereign was succeeded by his son, while rival principalities were plagued by dynastic strife and splintered into ever-smaller polities. The only lateral branch of the House of Moscow, represented by Vladimir of Serpukhov and his descendants,

17982-432: The new Patriarch of Constantinople. The numerous changes in both texts and rites occupied approximately 400 pages. Old Believers present the following as the most crucial changes: Today's readers might perceive these alterations as trivial, but the faithful of that time saw rituals and dogmas as strongly interconnected: church rituals had from the beginning represented and symbolized doctrinal truth. The authorities imposed

18144-463: The new khan, Özbeg , staying there for two years. In his absence, the Novgorodians launched a revolt against Mikhail's governors and sent an appeal to Yury, who was confirmed as prince in 1315. However, Mikhail was able to convince the khan to summon Yury and remove him from the political scene. Mikhail was able to establish his authority in Novgorod once again, but in 1317, Yury returned with

18306-470: The next several decades.   In 1653, Avvakum and his family were exiled to Tobolsk, Siberia. In 1655, they were moved to Yeniseysk , from which Avvakum departed with A.F. Pashkov's expedition to Dauria on the Chinese border, traveling past Lake Baikal to Nerchinsk . In 1664, Avvakum returned to Tobolsk, remaining for two years before being permitted to return to Moscow in 1664. Several months later he

18468-467: The northern areas of Ryazan and direct access to Vladimir . It was also provided with a river network that facilitated trade. Yury ( r.  1303–1325 ) began his reign with a struggle against Tver for succession to the grand principality. According to traditional succession practices, the throne was to be passed to Andrey 's eldest cousin, Mikhail of Tver . As Daniel had died before he could become grand prince, his descendants were barred from

18630-556: The number of Old Believer bishops in Russia reached ten and they established their own episcopate, the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy . Not all popovtsy Old Believers recognized this hierarchy. Dissenters known as beglopopovtsy obtained their own hierarchy in the 1920s. The priestist Old Believers thus manifest as two churches which share the same beliefs, but which treat each other's hierarchy as illegitimate. Popovtsy have priests, bishops and all sacraments , including

18792-460: The old rites and books and those who wished to stay loyal to them at the synod of 1666. From that moment, the Old Believers officially lacked all civil rights. The State had the most active Old Believers arrested, and executed several of them (including Archpriest Avvakum) some years later in 1682. After 1685, a period of persecutions began, including both torture and executions. Government oppression could vary from relatively moderate, as under Peter

18954-535: The old rites. First appearing in 1800, the Edinovertsy come under the omophorion of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate – Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , abbreviated as ROCOR – have come into communion under different circumstances and retain being old believers in the traditional context and retain the use of the pre-Nikonite rituals. Alexander Dugin , sociologist and

19116-406: The other Orthodox churches. The unrevised Muscovite service-books derived from a different, and older, Greek recension than that which was used in the current Greek books, which had been revised over the centuries, and contained innovations. Nikon wanted to have the same rite in the Russian tsardom as those ethnically Slavic lands, then the territories of Ukraine and Belarus, that were then part of

19278-526: The political and religious center of Russia, but Ivan vastly expanded the domain of the grand prince with the " gathering of the Russian lands ". After Novgorod's boyar class turned to Lithuania for support, Ivan's army defeated the Novgorodian army in 1471, after which Ivan took an oath of allegiance from Novgorod, but left its system of government in place. After the Novgorodian authorities attempted to turn to Lithuania again, Ivan's army marched against

19440-421: The poor dear started in on me, saying, "Will these sufferings go on a long time, Archpriest?" And I said, "Markovna, right up to our very death." And so she sighed and answered, "Good enough, Petrovič, then let's be getting on." Avvakum frequently relies on prayer and God's grace to survive the many trials he is put through and to conquer the forces he encounters. For instance, Avvakum and his family are saved from

19602-420: The possibility that differences have developed over time. He urged Nikon to use discretion in attempting to enforce complete uniformity with Greek practice. Nevertheless, both patriarch and tsar wished to carry out their reforms, although their endeavors may have had as much or more political motivation as religious; several authors on this subject point out that Tsar Aleksei, encouraged by his military success in

19764-429: The princes of Moscow and Tver began after Mikhail of Tver became the grand prince in 1304. Yury ( r.  1303–1325 ) contested the title and was later made grand prince in 1318 by the khan of the Golden Horde , who held suzerainty over the princes. However, Yury lost the title four years later. Ivan I ( r.  1325–1340 ) won back the title of grand prince and was able to collect tribute for

19926-416: The principality of Bryansk returned to Moscow's sphere of influence after the pro-Moscow Dmitry Romanovich was once again installed as prince. As a demonstration of his political sympathies, Dmitry had his daughter married to Simeon's younger brother Ivan . In 1352, Simeon marched into the neighboring principality of Smolensk , located to the west of Moscow, and was able to extend his authority there with

20088-402: The printing of new editions of the Russian psalter , missal , and a pamphlet justifying his liturgical changes. The new psalter and missal altered the most frequently used words and visible gestures in the liturgy, including the pronunciation of Christ's name and making the sign of the cross . In addition, the overbearing manner in which he forced the changes through turned Avvakum and others of

20250-564: The reforms in an autocratic fashion, with no consultation of the subject people. Those who reacted against the Nikonite reforms would have objected as much to the manner of imposition as to the alterations. Changes were also often made arbitrarily in the texts. For example, wherever the books read 'Христосъ' [ Christ ], Nikon's assistants substituted 'Сынъ' [meaning the Son ], and wherever they read 'Сынъ' they substituted 'Христосъ'. Another example

20412-424: The reforms of Nikon. They recognized ordained priests from the new-style Russian Orthodox church who joined the Old Believers and who had denounced the Nikonite reforms. In 1846, they convinced Ambrose of Belaya Krinitsa (1791–1863), a Greek Orthodox bishop whom Turkish pressure had removed from his see at Sarajevo , to become an Old Believer and to consecrate three Russian Old Believer priests as bishops. In 1859,

20574-573: The religious center of the country, and he died in 1326. Peter was succeeded by Theognostus , who, like his predecessor, pursued policies that supported the rise of Moscow. During the first four years of his tenure, the Dormition Cathedral was completed and an additional four stone churches were constructed. Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige. Simeon ( r.  1340–1353 ) succeeded his father as prince upon

20736-454: The removal of the pro-Lithuanian prince, who was likely replaced with either Dmitry's son or nephew. As a result, Simeon was able to temporarily halt the eastward expansion of Lithuania. He was also able to force Novgorod to make a treaty with Moscow, in which the city recognized Simeon as its prince and agreed to grant him additional tax revenues. Although the khan, Jani Beg , was prepared to support Simeon in his conflict with Lithuania, he

20898-500: The resources needed to maintain his position, a policy reflected in his sobriquet, Kalita ( lit.   ' moneybag ' ). As grand prince, Ivan collected tribute from not only his own possessions but also from other Russian princes. The khan at the start of Ivan's reign was content with allowing the Muscovite prince to enjoy undisputed supremacy. As a result, Ivan was able to use the funds he acquired to develop Moscow. He also had access to Novgorod's wealth, which helped him to pay

21060-399: The sentiments of the Ruthenian revival, others, most notably Avvakum, "felt that homespun truths were sufficient and suspected foreigners of [cunning], which would adulterate the simple, strong native faith." When Nikon became the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia in 1652, he initiated ambitious reforms, entrusting "Jesuit-trained scholars from Ukraine and White Russia with a critical review of

21222-645: The shaman to be channeling devils, and prays for the demise of Pashkov's men. However, recalling the previous kindness of Eremej, he is overcome by pity, and asks the Lord to pardon him. Pashkov's men are decimated but Eremej is spared, and a vision of Avvakum appears to Eremej to lead him back home from the wilderness. Pashkov is nonetheless angry with Avvakum for his malignant prayers. Avvakum concludes his description of Pashkov's military expedition thus: "Ten years he tormented me, or I him — I don't know. It will be sorted out on Judgement Day." Avvakum also extensively describes

21384-567: The so-called Studite Typicon to Russia. This typicon (essentially, a guide-book for liturgical and monastic life) reflected the traditions of the urban Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople . The Studite typicon predominated throughout the western part of the Byzantine Empire and was accepted throughout the Russian lands. At the end of the 14th century, through the work of Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus',

21546-519: The supremacy of Moscow over the Russian principalities. The traditional divide and conquer strategy of the Mongols failed, and the following period is characterized by a lack of support from the Horde. Although Moscow recognized the khan as its suzerain in the early years of the "Tatar yoke", despite certain acts of resistance and disobedience, it refused to acknowledge the khan's suzerainty in 1374–1380, 1396–1411, 1414–1416 and 1417–1419, even despite

21708-485: The territory of the principality had increased almost three-fold and included the entire Moskva River along with its tributaries , allowing Moscow to become self-sufficient. Its southern border included a large stretch of the Oka , from Serpukhov to the east of Kolomna, which gave it some protection from Tatar incursions. To the east, there was a dense forest zone which functioned as a natural barrier. Moscow also had access to

21870-513: The textbooks and anti- raskol treatises and catecheses, including, for example, those by Dimitry of Rostov . The critical evaluation of the sources and of the essence of the church reforms began only in the 1850s, with the groundbreaking work of several church historians, Byzantinists , and theologians, including S. A. Belokurov , A. P. Shchapov , A. K. Borozdin, N. Gibbenet and, later, E. E. Golubinsky , A. V. Kartashev , A. A. Dmitriyevsky, and Nikolai F. Kapterev . The last four were members of

22032-508: The theme of endurance: The poor Archpriestess tottered and trudged along, and then she'd fall in a heap — fearful slippery it was! Once she was trudging along and she caved in, and another just as weary up into her and right there caved in himself. They were both shouting, but they couldn't get up. The peasant was shouting "Little mother, my Lady, forgive me!" But the Archpriestess was shouting, "Why'd you crush me, father?" I came up, and

22194-556: The throne to his son Vasily I without bothering to obtain the Khan's sanction. Vasily I (1389–1425) continued the policies of his father. After the Horde was attacked by Tamerlane , he desisted from paying tribute to the Khan but was forced to pursue a more conciliatory policy after Edigu 's incursion on Moscow in 1408. Married to the only daughter of the Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania , he attempted to avoid open conflicts with his powerful father-in-law, even when

22356-655: The throne, Simeon's cousin Konstantin took advantage of the power struggle in Sarai and took control of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets . Simeon attempted to dislodge his cousin, and in 1343, he convinced the boyars of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to switch allegiance, but Jani Beg returned the boyars to Konstantin and confirmed him as prince. In 1352–1353, the Black Death reached Russia , which killed Simeon along with his sons. The ruling family of Moscow remained small as

22518-486: The title. Yury decided to contest Mikhail's claim to the title, but ultimately the decision went to Toqta , the khan of the Golden Horde , who held suzerainty over the principalities and later confirmed Mikhail as the grand prince in 1305. In 1306, Yury established his authority over Ryazan with support from the khan as part of the Tatars' strategy to adjust the balance of power in the conflict between Moscow and Tver. Mikhail of Tver attempted to consolidate his power and

22680-616: The trials he experienced during various exiles in Siberia. The text is remarkable for its style, which blends high Old Church Slavonic with low Russian vernacular and profanity. The Life is considered "one of medieval Russia's finest literary works" and was regarded highly by both Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the 17th century, the Russian Church underwent significant reforms spearheaded by Patriarch Nikon and supported by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich . The resulting split in

22842-553: The tribute; however, relations with Novgorod worsened following the election of a new archbishop in 1330, which paved the way for a pro-Lithuanian faction in the city. At the beginning of Ivan's reign, the new Russian Orthodox metropolitan, Peter , moved his residence to Moscow in 1325. During Peter's tenure in Moscow, Ivan laid the foundation for the Dormition Cathedral , which was built using stone. Peter had intended to make Moscow his burial place, and therefore

23004-659: The tsar continued to enforce his reforms. In 1666, the Great Moscow Synod summoned by Tsar Alexei anathematized all who refused to abide by Nikon's changes. A trial of the Zealots was held and leading Old Believers, Avvakum among them, were exiled beyond the Arctic Circle to Pustozersk on the Pechora River , in today's Nenets-Autonomous Okrug , 27 km from Naryan-Mar . The reforms and their enforcement prompted outright rebellions that continued over

23166-539: The tsar the three pestilences that come of the schism in the Church: the plague, the sword, and division." He writes of being mindful that his wife and children bear the punishment as a consequence of his dissent, but he also writes of his wife's insistence that he remain true to the faith. In response to his doubt, the Archpriestess Nastasya Markova hardens his resolve: "Now stand up and preach

23328-458: The tsar's authority, a series of church councils officially endorsed Nikon's liturgical reforms. The Old Believers fiercely rejected all innovations, and the most radical among them maintained that the official Church had fallen into the hands of the Antichrist . The Old Believers, under the leadership of Archpriest Avvakum Petrov (1620 or 1621 to 1682), publicly denounced and rejected all ecclesiastical reforms. The State church anathematized both

23490-482: The victory did not bring any short-term benefits; Tokhtamysh in 1382 sacked Moscow hoping to reassert his vested authority over his vassal, the Grand Prince, and his own Mongol hegemony, killing 24,000 people. Nevertheless, Dmitri became a national hero. The memory of Kulikovo Field made the Russian population start believing in their ability to end Tatar domination and become a free people. In 1389, he passed

23652-620: Was a child, and a nun, Maria. Avvakum married a merchant's daughter, Nastasya Markovna, at age 17, became a deacon at 21, a priest at 23, and an Archpriest in Yurevyets at 28. By his own account, Avvakum appears to be a passionate, faithful man, who was nonetheless often harsh and unforgiving in his religious zeal. Before the Nikonian reforms, he dealt harshly with harlequins ( skomorokhi ), lechery, and unbelievers. His zeal causes continuous conflicts with local boyars and officials. Eventually, Avvakum flees to Moscow, where he encounters Nikon as

23814-437: Was a medieval Russian principality . Its capital was the city of Moscow . Moscow became a separate principality when Daniel ( r.  1263–1303 ), the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky , received the city and surrounding area as an appanage on his father's death. By the end of the 13th century, Moscow was one of the leading principalities within the grand principality of Vladimir , alongside Tver . A struggle between

23976-497: Was burned has been commemorated by an ornate wooden cross. Avvakum's autobiography recounts hardships of his imprisonment and exile to the Russian Far East , the story of his friendship and fallout with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich , his practice of exorcising demons and devils, and his boundless admiration for nature and other works of God. Numerous manuscript copies of the text circulated for nearly two centuries before it

24138-609: Was confirmed as the prince of Novgorod in 1307, but Yury retained control of Pereyaslavl and was able to gain control of Nizhny Novgorod . Mikhail marched against Moscow in 1308, but the Muscovites were able to stand their ground. Mikhail also failed to win the support of the Church, and when he launched an expedition to Nizhny Novgorod, his army was stopped by Metropolitan Peter in Vladimir. After Toqta died in 1312, Mikhail visited Sarai to renew his patent and pay respects to

24300-470: Was firmly anchored to the Moscow principality. The situation changed with the ascension of Vasily I's successor, Vasily II (r. 1425–1462). Before long his uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod , started to advance his claims to the throne and Monomakh's Cap . A bitter family conflict, the Muscovite War of Succession (1425–1453), erupted and rocked the country during the whole reign. After Yuri died in 1432,

24462-505: Was first printed in 1861. The Life of the Archpriest Avvakum , originally titled The Life Written By Himself ( Russian : Житие́ протопопа́ Авваку́ма, им сами́м напи́санное ) is a hagiography and autobiography written by the Old Believer and prototope (archpriest) Avvakum Petrovich. The text discusses Avvakum's struggle against Patriarch Nikon's reforms during the Schism of the Russian Church and extensively details

24624-404: Was forced to resume paying tribute following a Tatar invasion. Vasily II ( r.  1425–1462 ) consolidated his control of Moscow after an internal struggle. His reign also saw the declaration of de facto autocephaly by the Russian Church. Ivan III ( r.  1462–1505 ) absorbed nearly all of the Russian states and laid the foundations for a centralized state, leading to

24786-478: Was formed in Moscow in the second half of the 14th century, and would be led by Andrei Rublev , one of the most celebrated Russian icon painters. Among his most notable works is The Trinity , which dates to the early 15th century. The first original Russian school, the Suzdal school, was merged with the Moscow school in the early 15th century. Igor Grabar said it could be distinguished by "a general tone, which

24948-431: Was given the title of grand prince. Özbeg divided the principalities of Vladimir and Novgorod between Aleksandr of Suzdal and Ivan, and upon Aleksandr's death in 1331, Ivan became the sole grand prince. Aleksandr of Tver eventually returned to Tver and was given a full pardon and reinstated as prince by the khan. However, Aleksandr was soon recalled to Sarai in 1339, where he was executed. The death of Aleksandr marked

25110-420: Was in line with Muscovy's newly developed imperial aims, allowing Russia to position itself at the center of the whole Orthodox world instead of remaining a marginal religious entity. From 1653 to 1656, Nikon's reforms changed the manner of making the sign of the cross (from the dvoeperstie , the two-fingered cross, to the troeperstie, the three-fingered cross), introduced new liturgical vestments modeled in

25272-435: Was once more exiled with his family to Mezen. He was permitted to return to Moscow for the Great Moscow Synod of 1666-1667, but was finally exiled to Pustozersk alongside his fellow Old Believers Lazar, Fyodor, and Epifany. From 1670 onward, they were condemned to life "on bread and water" in a dugout , where they lived until they were burned alive on 14 April 1682.  During his imprisonment, Avvakum wrote his autobiography;

25434-402: Was tantamount to a declaration of independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople (1448). Ivan III ( r.  1462–1505 ) succeeded his father and his reign has been considered to mark the end of the appanage period and the beginning of a new period in Russian history known as Muscovite Russia . At the start of Ivan's reign, Moscow was already

25596-454: Was temporarily lost until Dmitry ( r.  1359–1389 ) regained it, after which Moscow was elevated to a grand principality . He also inflicted a milestone defeat on the Tatars in 1380, which greatly increased Moscow's prestige. As the Golden Horde declined, its hegemony was increasingly challenged. Vasily I ( r.  1389–1425 ) focused on enlarging his principality, but

25758-492: Was then allowed to return to Moscow again for the Church Council of 1666–67, but due to his continued opposition to the reforms, he was exiled to Pustozyorsk , above the Arctic Circle, in 1667. For the last fourteen years of his life, he was imprisoned there in a pit or dugout (a sunken, log-framed hut). He and his accomplices were finally executed by being burned in a log house  [ ru ] . The spot where he

25920-438: Was unable to take it. The main bone of contention between Moscow and Vilnius was the large city of Smolensk . In the 1350s, the country and the royal family were hit by the Black Death . Dmitry Ivanovich was aged nine when his parents died and the title of Grand Duke slipped into the hands of his distant relative, Dmitry of Suzdal . Surrounded by Lithuanians and Muslim nomads, the ruler of Moscow cultivated an alliance with

26082-452: Was unwilling to provide unlimited support to Moscow, for fear that it would become too strong. He permitted the grand prince to enjoy the traditional rights of the throne and to maintain his nominal authority over other princes, but he interfered in Moscow's relations with Suzdal, supported anti-Muscovite elements in Ryazan, and contributed to Tver's fragmentation. When Jani Beg first occupied

26244-420: Was wholly under his own control. In 1649, a Greek delegation, headed by Patriarch Paisios of Jerusalem , arrived in Moscow and tried to convince the tsar and Nikon that current Greek liturgical practices were authentically Orthodox and that Russian usages that differed from them were local innovations. This led to a heated debate between the visiting Greeks and many Russian clerics who believed that, by accepting

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