Explore the event that split the
Russia Orthodox Church forever – the Great Schism or Raskol.
Russia found time to recover under
the reign of Tsar Michael Romanov, but divisions later appeared during the
reign of his son Alexis Mikhailovich Romanov. This division, however, came not
from any rival to the throne; but rather, a division in one of the greatest
institutions in Russia – the Russian Orthodox Church. His desire to reform the
country led to his appoint of one of the most controversial Patriarchs of the
Russian Orthodox Church – Nikon. Their reforms led to what became known as the
Raskol or the Schism or simply the Split.
The Start of the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church had been
part of Russian history and culture since the time of Kievan Rus during the 10th
century. It was and still Russia’s major religion. Russia Orthodox Church began
when Olga, widow of the Prince of Kiev, became known as the first Christian
ruler of Kiev.
In 988, Prince Vladimir adopted the
Greek Orthodox Church of the powerful Byzantine Empire as his religion and that
of his people. The decision came from the result of a search for a state
religion. He found Judaism a religion for nationless and defeated people (when
Jews wandered in diaspora across Europe without a place they could call home).
He felt Islam to be too strict with its limitations in actions as well as food
and beverages (especially ban on alcohol). For Vladimir, Catholicism lack the
grandeur and greatness he aspired. And so he landed with the Orthodox Church
whose magnificent artworks and churches incited awe to onlookers. From that
point on, he led the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church.
About six hundred years later, under
Tsar Feodor and his chief adviser Boris Godunov, the Russian Orthodox Church
had been granted its own Patriachate. However the position never became strong,
especially during the Time of Troubles. It only became a formidable,
influential, and powerful position under the Patriarch Filaret, the father of
the reigning Tsar Michael Romanov. By the time of Filaret’s death in 1633, the
position of Patriarch became one of the most important position in the land and
the Russian Orthodox Church stood as one of the most vital institution of the
land.
Problems of the Russian Orthodox Church
The Church, nevertheless, faced
problems. After the Time of Troubles, morality and discipline disintegrated within
the clergy, prompting some followers to be dismayed and questioned their
beliefs and even some went as far as rejecting the religion. Moreover, after
600 years since taking its roots, modification had made to many rituals and
practices of the Russian Orthodox Church. For instance, the church practiced
the Mnogoglasie, where multiple parts
of the mass were sang simultaneously. In effect, it made the mass shorter but
it sounded irritating and also chaotic.
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| Russian Skomorkhi in the 18th Century |
Attempts had been made to address
some of this problems. Patriarch Iosif (Joseph) acted against the practice of Mnogoglasie. But a huge wave of
opposition from peasants, nobles and clerics forced the Patriarch to back down.
But reforms soon returned with the support of the new Tsar.
Tsar Alexei
Tsar Alexei or Alexis Mikhailovich
Romanov ascended to the throne in 1645. He ruled as the second Romanov Tsar and
intended to build a more powerful Russia from the foundations of peace and
stability brought by his father Tsar Michael. Well-educated, young, and very
passionate for reforms, he became involved in solving numerous problems of Russian
society including the church. He welcomed intelligent reform minded men like
Ivan Neronov of Kazan, Archpriest Avvacum, and the Archmandrite of the
Novospassky Monastery, Nikon. Alexis moved towards reform of the church by
banning the skomorokhi. In 1649, the
creation of the Sobonoye Ulozheniye
(the basic law of Russia until the 19th century) gave the state powers to
intervene in church affairs including the prosecution of clerics accused of
criminal and administrative crimes such as corruption. In February 1651, Alexis
banned the mnogoglasie and replaced
it with the edinoglasie, where parts
of the service were done one at a time and not simultaneously in a terrible
ruckus of sounds. Opposition sounded but not strongly as would be fighting the
greatest power in the land. But it took another man’s strength to truly
institute reforms that Alexis wanted.
Patriarch Nikon and His Reforms
Nikon, one of the Zealots of Piety
(a reform minded organization), became the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church in 1652. Born in Nizny Novgorod, northeast of Moscow, he took his vows
in the frigid coast of the White Sea, in the Anzesky Skit Monastery. In 1646,
he went to Moscow and got introduce to the young Tsar Alexis. In 1649, he
became the Metropolitan of Novgorod, the second highest position in the Russian
Orthodox Church. In 1650, he showed remarkable talent in leadership and
administration when he controlled riots that flared in Novgorod and brought
back order. Alexis knew he needed Nikon. He then offered him the position of
Patriarch but Nikon, an ambitious and overbearing man, gave conditions before
accepting the position. He wanted his power to be above that of Tsar. He wanted
the state to back off from Church affairs by suspending state authority as
mentioned in the Sobonoye Ulozheniye.
He also gave a term for himself, three years as patriarch. If the Tsar support
satisfied him, he would continue.
Reforms immediately began under
Nikon. His reforms aimed in re-aligning the Russian Orthodox Church to its
Greek or Byzantine roots. He believed that modification made by the Russian
Orthodox Church for the past centuries had made the rituals of the church
heretical, especially after hearing reports from other Orthodox Churches. A
report made by a Russian traveler from his exploits from 1649 to 1653 mentioned
followers of Greek Orthodox priest burned Russian Liturgical books as
heretical. In 1649, the visiting Patriarch of Antioch Paisos also commented
about the difference of Russian liturgy and rituals compared to other Greek
Orthodox Churches. For Nikon, it meant that Russian Orthodox Church had
deviated far from its roots and became heretical. In 1654, he made numerous
correction in the religious text of the church. He used the state monopoly of
the printing press in order to standardize the printing and contents of the
said text.
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| Patriarch Nikon |
Alexis supported much of Nikon’s
reform. For him, realigning of the Russian Orthodox Church to its Greek origin
would made Russia indeed the leading and only free Eastern Orthodox Church. It
would bring huge prestige and increase the authority of Russia in the Orthodox
Church and even in the world stage.
Nikon also increased the powers of
the patriarch and its wealth. He wanted to revive the power that the former
Patriarch Filaret had. In 1653, he took on the title of Veliky Gosudar or Great Sovereign, a title only previously used by
the Patriarch Filaret. He also expanded the lands owned by the Patriarch hence
increasing his wealth tremendously. Nikon played a key role in court of Tsar
Alexis because of this. He became the most powerful man in Russia next only to
the Tsar.
The Great Schism (Raskol)
A split, however, followed as a
result of Nikon’s reforms. A group of traditionalist opposed the reforms and
became known as the Staroobriadtsy or
the Old Believers. They wanted to maintain the old centuries old practices of
the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1654, Pavel, Bishop of Kolomna, criticized the
reforms. Some members of the Zealots of Piety, like Ivan Neronov and Avvacum
showed their opposition in many of Nikon’s reforms, such as the changing of
signing of the cross. Neronov, in particular, said that a holy icon in his
church had told him to oppose Nikon’s reforms. Both man deemed Nikon’s reforms
as heretic. Both of them paid a huge price. Neronov found himself incarcerated
in an isolated far flung monastery. Avvacum, meanwhile, suffered exile to
Siberia along with his family. His children passed away due to hardship.
Avvacum himself suffered beating and hunger in the hands of his wardens. Others
followed to oppose the reforms even though they knew they could lose their
position, freedom, and even lives.
Natural events that happened next flared
up further opposition. Tsar Alexis won victories against the Poles in 1654.
However, back in the capital city, a plague broke out, killing thousands.
Hysteria and panic rampaged across the city causing order to breakdown.
Soldiers, especially the Streltsy, failed to maintain peace because they
themselves suffered from the plague. Many started to believe that the plague
had been brought by the heretic reforms of Nikon. Nikon’s popularity dwindled,
exacerbated by his evacuation of Moscow alongside the royal family under the
orders of Tsar. The plague began to subside in 1655.
Split between Nikon and the Tsar
Nikon drastically changed after the
plague. He became even more arrogant, domineering, and even a huge spender. He
built a new Patriachal palace and two new monasteries. He became an authoritarian
leader of the church as well as the state. He humiliated high ranking officials
and nobles in public. At one time, he even rampaged in front of the Tsar,
breaking foreign art works in front of the altar during a service. In 1656, he
declared all those who did not conform to the reforms as heretics. This brought
him more notoriety as well as enemies.
Nikon began also to lose favor in
the eyes of the Tsar. In winter of 1655, Alexis faced the prospects of war
against Sweden. His advisors urged him to negotiate and opted for dialogues.
Nikon said otherwise and pushed for armed confrontation. By this time, Tsar
Alexis, even though he knew Nikon’s fiery attitude, listened to the Patriarch
and declared war. The decision soon caused Alexis to regret listening to Nikon.
In 1656, the Russian army faced stalemate against the Swedes and in a deal,
Russia lose all its latest conquest. His frustration of Nikon became even more
inflamed with reports of the Patriarch’s huge wealth gained from Patriarchal
lands. As a result, Tsar Alexis knew, Nikon had loss touch and had to go.
A split between Nikon and Tsar
Alexis followed. In 1657, the two quarreled over the appointment of important
church positions and authority of the state over church affairs. The Tsar, who
had matured as a result war, wanted to re-impose the absolute rule of the Tsar,
but Nikon opposed it. Tsar Alexis then began to snub the Patriarch. First, he
did not invite him in important state banquets. He also stopped addressing the
Patriarch as the Great Sovereign as agreed in 1653. By June 1658, Tsar Alexis
went further to show his discontent towards Nikon by refusing to attend masses
officiated by Nikon. As a retaliation, Nikon withdrew to the New Jerusalem
Monastery awaiting the apology of the Tsar and also delaying state affairs as
many government decision must pass him.
The Tsar reacted otherwise to Nikon’s
assumptions. Alexis appointed an “interim” Patriarch, Piturim. He then began to
disregard Nikon in state affairs. He also took control of Nikon’s source of
wealth by confiscating Patriarchal lands. Finally, the Tsar plotted to remove
Nikon from his post. But to do so, he needed the consensus of the Church.
The Tsar convened a synod of the
Russian Orthodox Church in early 1660 to discuss the removal of Nikon from his
post. He presided the synod and presented two witness, which he deemed to have
heard Nikon resigning from his position. But a monk named Epifani Slavinetsky
defended Nikon and discredited the witnesses’ statements. As a result, the
synod failed to meet Tsar Alexis’ expectation.
Alexis then planned a much larger
synod to meet his wants. He called for a Great Synod of all Eastern Orthodox Church
to be conducted in Moscow, aimed in removing Nikon. The Synod had been planned
for 1666. But before that, Alexis looked for easier alternative. He look
towards the greatest adversary of Nikon, the archpriest Avvacum. The Tsar
authorized the return of Avvacum to Moscow in 1660, but lack of coordination
and contact resulted for a long delay and the exiled archpriest only returned
in 1664. Alexis hoped for Avvacum to denounce Nikon publicly but still accept
the reformation of the Church. Alexis suffered yet another disappointment.
Avvacum did condemned Nikon but refused to accept the reforms and continued to
label it as heretic. It continued to enflamed the division between the reformed
Russian Orthodox Church and the Old Believers. Alexis once again ordered
the arrest of Avvacum.
The Great Synod of Moscow
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| Defrocking of Patriarch Nikon by Segey Miloradovich |
Although the Synod deposed Nikon,
they maintained the integrity of his reforms. They declared the one true form
of the Russian Orthodox to be the reformed one. In addition the Synod also made
the power of the Tsar above the Church, hence it justified the contents of the Sobonoye Ulozheniye. The Synod ended the
conflict between Alexis and Nikon but not the conflict between the Old
Believers and the reformed church.
The Old Believers
The Old Believers continued their
opposition regardless of the Synod’s decision. Many Old Believers started to
believe and spread rumors that the Tsarist Regime embodied the Anti-Christ. For
the following years up to 1690’s, many Old Believers tragically and
dramatically self-immolated themselves with their church instead of submitting
to the reforms.
Some Old Believers took the courage
to rebel against the government. The Solovetsky Monastery, which looked like a
fortress, rejected the reforms and started an armed uprising. Government forces
besiege the monastery from 1668 and lasted until 1676 ending with the death of
the defenders.
Even within the nobility, some opposed
and became Old Believers. The most prominent was Feodosia Morozova. She kept
following the long Russian tradition of Orthodox Church and for it, Tsar Alexis
had her and her sister arrested. His arrest became the subject of the powerful
painting of Vasily Surikov in the 19th century, the Boyarina Feodosia
Morozova. It depicted Morozova being carried away in a sled but defiantly
raised her hands with her two fingers cross depicting the traditional singing
the cross. The two suffered torture, assault, and hunger. In 1675, the two
passed away, locked up in a dungeon in the Pafnutev Monastery in Borovsk.
The
great lengths of courage and steadfastness of the Old Believers captured the
respect and empathy of many Russians. It had the same impact when Romans persecuted
the Christians. Many Russians admired the strength of Old Believers to accept
torture and hardship just to protect what they deemed as the correct and true
way of practicing the Orthodox Church. Many Old Believers fled rather than
being captured. They fled east to Siberia while some headed north towards the
Arctic. They stayed in isolated communities where they felt that the government
could not reach and where they could continue to practice the traditional
Russian Orthodox religion. The persecution of the Old Believers continued even
after the reign of Alexis.
Persecution only began to waiver as
the government started to become secular from the Tsar Peter the Great, who had
no strong sentiments or interest to the church. And so, the Old Believers
continued to live on. By 1720, Old Believers encompassed one-sixth of the
population of the Russian Empire. Even today, there are still Old Believers
within modern Russia.
Summing Up
The Raskol of the Split had a profound impact in Russia. First, it caused the Russian Orthodox Church to be divided into two major factions – the reformed Orthodox Church and the Old Believers. It also cemented the authority of the state above the church, thus weakening its influence to the Russian society and the Tsars. The Raskol created a split that continued in Russia even to this day.
Explore also:
Bibliography:
Julicher, Peter. Renegades,
Rebels, and Rogues Under the Tsars. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland
& Company, Inc., 2003.
Moss, Walter. A History of Russia
Volume I: To 1917. London: Anthem Press, 2005.
Taruskin, Richard. Stravinsky and
the Russian Traditions Volume II. Los Angeles, California: University of
California, 1996.
Ziegler, Charles. The History of
Russia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009.
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