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 subsequent history of Russia. Having unified the ceremonial side of worship and thus playing 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 the liturgical books. Those in use at that time were lists from translations of ancient Greek books that came to Russia along with the establishment of Christianity. Before the advent of printing, they were copied by hand. Often scribes made mistakes in their work, and over several centuries significant discrepancies with primary sources have arisen.
As a result of this - the parish and monastery clergy had different guidelines for the celebration of services, and everyone conducted them differently. This state of affairs could not continue. As a result there werenew translations from Greek were made, and then replicated in print. This ensured the uniformity of the church services held on them. All previous books were declared invalid. In addition, the reform provided for a change in the making of the sign of the cross. The former - double-fingered was replaced by triple-fingered.
The emergence of a church schism
Thus, the reform touched 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 argued that the innovations being installed destroy the true faith, and therefore they come from Satan.
As a result, the schismatics cursed Patriarch Nikon, who, in turn, anathematized them. The matter 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 her was a rebellion against state power, and this always had sad consequences in Russia.
Solovki seat. Briefly about its reasons
All Russia of that period was drawn into religious strife. The rebellion, called the Solovetsky seat, is the response of the inhabitants of the Solovetsky monastery located on the islands of the White Sea to the attempts of the authorities to forcefully root the installation of a new reform in it. It began in 1668.
Forpacification of the recalcitrant on May 3, a detachment of archers landed on the island under the command of the tsarist governor Volokhov, but was met with cannon volleys. It should be noted that this monastery was founded 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 a serious problem for the government also because all the inhabitants living within the walls of the monastery, and there were 425 of them, had sufficient military skills. In addition, they had weapons, cannons and a significant amount of ammunition at their disposal. Since in the event of a Swedish blockade, the defenders could be cut off from the outside world, large food supplies were always stored in the cellars of the monastery. In other words, taking 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 their provisions. In addition, they were joined by many other schismatic peasants and fugitive participants in the uprising of Stepan Razin, which had only recently been suppressed. As a result, the Solovetsky seat gained more and more 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 the governorIevlev. Thus, a numerical superiority appeared on the side of the besiegers of the fortress, but even this did not give any tangible result.
Intensification of hostilities
It couldn't go on like this 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 with the entire state machine. In 1673, by decree of the tsar, governor Ivan Meshcherinov, a determined and cruel man, arrived on the White Sea to suppress the rebellion. He had the strictest order to take the most active action and put an end to monastic self-will. More reinforcements arrived with him.
With his arrival, the situation of the besieged has deteriorated significantly. The governor established a complete blockade of the fortress, blocking all channels of communication with the outside world. In addition, if in previous years, due to severe frosts in winter, the siege was lifted and the archers went to the Sumy jail until 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 Meshcherinov was an experienced and skillful governor and organized the siege of the fortress according to all the rules of military art. Artillery batteries were installed around the walls of the monastery, and tunnels were made under its towers. They made several attempts to storm the fortress, but they were all repulsed. As a result of active hostilities, both the defenders and the besiegerssuffered significant losses. But the trouble is that the government had the opportunity to replenish the losses of its troops as needed, but the defenders of the fortress did not have it, and their number was constantly decreasing.
The betrayal that caused the defeat
At the very beginning of 1676, an attack on the monastery was once again launched, but it also turned out to be unsuccessful. However, the hour was approaching when this in its own way heroic Solovetsky seat would be finally defeated. The date of January 18 became a black day in his history. A traitor named Feoktist showed the governor Meshcherinov a secret passage that could enter the monastery. He did not miss the opportunity, and took advantage of it. Soon a detachment of archers broke into the territory of the fortress. Taken by surprise, the defenders were unable to offer adequate resistance, and many were killed in a short but fierce battle.
Those who remained alive met a sad fate. The governor was a cruel man, and after a short trial, the leaders of the rebellion and its active participants were executed. The rest ended their days in distant jails. This ended the famous Solovetsky sitting. The reasons that prompted him - the church reform and the tough state policy aimed at its implementation, will bring discord into the life of Russia for many years to come.
Growth and expansion of the Old Believers
During this period, a completely new layer of society appears under the name of the Old Believers, or otherwise - the Old Believers. Pursued by the government, they will go to the Volga forests,to the Urals and Siberia, and those overtaken by the pursuers - to accept voluntary death in the fire. Rejecting the power of the king and the authority of the established church, these people will devote their lives to the preservation of what they recognized as "ancient piety." And the monks of the recalcitrant monastery on the White Sea will always be an example for them.
