The middle of the 17th century was marked in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church by an important event - the religious reform of Patriarch Nikon. Its consequences played a significant role in the future history of Russia. Having unified the ritual side of worship and thereby played a positive role, it became the cause of a religious split in society. Its most striking manifestation was the uprising of the inhabitants of the Solovetsky monastery, called the Solovetsky seat.
Reason for Reform
By the middle of the XVII century in the church life of the country there was a need to make a change in liturgical books. Those in use at that time were lists of translations of ancient Greek books that came to Russia with the establishment of Christianity. Before the advent of typography, they corresponded by hand. Often, scribes made mistakes in their work, and over the course of several centuries significant discrepancies arose with the original sources.
As a result of this, the parish and monastery clergy had different guidelines for the provision of services, and all conducted them in different ways. This state of affairs could not continue. As a result, new translations from Greek were made, and then replicated in print. This ensured uniformity in the church services conducted over them. All previous books were declared invalid. In addition, the reform also provided for a change in the fulfillment of the sign of the Cross. The former - the two-pied was replaced by the three-pied.
The emergence of a church schism
Thus, the reform concerned only the ritual side of church life, without affecting its dogmatic part, but the reaction of many sections of society turned out to be extremely negative. There was a split between those who accepted the reform and its ardent opponents, who claimed that the innovations being established destroy the true faith, and therefore they come from Satan.
As a result, the schismatics cursed Patriarch Nikon, who, in turn, gave them anathema. The case took an even more serious turn due to the fact that the reforms came not only from the Patriarch, but also personally from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (father of Peter I), and therefore, opposition to it was a rebellion against state power, and this always had sad consequences in Russia .
Solovetsky seat. Briefly about its reasons
All Russia of that period was drawn into religious strife. The rebellion, called the Solovetsky Seat, is the answer of the inhabitants of the Solovetsky Monastery located on the White Sea Islands to the authorities' attempts to force the establishment of a new reform in it. It began in 1668.
To pacify the disobedient on May 3, a detachment of archers landed on the island under the command of the tsar's governor Volokhov, but was met by cannon salvos. It should be noted that this monastery was established here not only as a center of spiritual life, but also as a powerful defensive structure - an outpost on the path of Swedish expansion.
The Solovetsky seat was also a serious problem for the government in that all the inhabitants living in the monastery, and there were 425 of them, had sufficient military skill. In addition, they had at their disposal weapons, guns and a significant amount of ammunition. Since in the case of the Swedish blockade, the defenders could be divorced from the outside world, in the cellars of the monastery always had large food supplies. In other words, to take such a fortress by force was not an easy task.
The first years of the siege of the monastery
We must pay tribute to the government, for several years it did not take decisive action and counted on a peaceful outcome of events. A complete blockade of the monastery was not established, which allowed the defenders to replenish supplies of provisions. In addition, they were joined by many other dissenters among the peasants and fugitive participants in the uprising of Stepan Razin, which was only recently suppressed. As a result, the Solovetsky seat gained more and more new supporters from year to year.
After four years of fruitless attempts to break the resistance of the rebels, the government sent a larger military formation. In the summer of 1672, 725 archers landed on the island under the command of governor Ievlev. Thus, a numerical superiority appeared on the side of the besiegers, but even it did not give any tangible result.
Intensified military operations
This could not go on for long, of course. Despite all the courage of the defenders of the monastery, the Solovetsky seat was doomed, since it is impossible for a separate, even a large group of people, to fight the entire state machine. In 1673, according to the decree of the tsar, to suppress the rebellion, the governor Ivan Mescherinov arrived at the White Sea - a decisive and cruel man. He had the strictest order to take the most active actions and put an end to monastic self-will. Another reinforcement arrived with him.
With his arrival, the situation of the besieged significantly worsened. The voivode established a complete blockade of the fortress, blocking all communication channels with the outside world. In addition, if in previous years, due to severe frosts in winter, the siege was lifted and archers went to Sumy prison before spring, now the blockade continued all year round. Thus, the Solovetsky seat was deprived of the conditions of its life support.
Attempts to storm the monastery
Ivan Mescherinov was an experienced and skilled governor and organized a siege of the fortress according to all the rules of military art. Artillery batteries were installed around the walls of the monastery, and undermines were made under its towers. He made several attempts to storm the fortress, but all of them were repulsed. As a result of active hostilities, both the defenders and the besiegers suffered significant losses. But the trouble is that the government was able to make up the losses of its troops as necessary, but the defenders of the fortress did not have it, and their number was constantly decreasing.
Betrayal of defeat
At the very beginning of 1676, an attack on the monastery was once again undertaken, but it was also unsuccessful. However, the time was approaching when this in its own way heroic Solovetsky seat would be routed. The date of January 18th became a black day in its history. A traitor named Feoktist showed Governor Meshcherinov a secret passage with which he could penetrate the monastery. He did not miss the chance, and took advantage of this. Soon, a group of archers broke into the territory of the fortress. Captured by surprise, the defenders could not provide adequate resistance, and many were killed in a short but fierce battle.
Those who survived were in for a sad fate. The governor was a cruel man, and after a short trial of the leaders of the rebellion and his active participants, he was executed. The rest ended their days in distant prison. This ended the famous Solovetsky seat. The reasons that prompted it - church reform and tough state policy aimed at its implementation, will continue to cause discord in the life of Russia for many years to come.
The growth and expansion of the Old Believers
During this period, a completely new layer of society appeared under the name of the Old Believers, or otherwise - the Old Believers. Persecuted by the government, they will go to the Volga forests, to the Urals and Siberia, and overtaken by the persecutors - to accept a voluntary death in the fire. Rejecting the power of the king and the authority of the official church, these people will devote their lives to preserving what they recognized as "ancient piety." And always an example for them will be the monks of the rebellious monastery on the White Sea.