Solovetsky seat: date, reasons

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. Unifying the ritual side of the services and thus playing a positive role, it became the reason for the religious split in society. The most striking manifestation of this was the insurrection of the Solovetsky monastery population , which was called the Solovetsky Sitting.

Reason for reform

By the middle of the 17th century, the church life of the country was ripe for a change in the liturgical books. Those at that time in use were lists from translations of ancient Greek books that came to Russia along with the establishment of Christianity. Before the advent of printing, they corresponded by hand. Often in their work, copyists made mistakes, and for several centuries there were significant differences with primary sources.

As a result of this - the parish and monastic clergy had various manuals for performing services, and all conducted them in different ways. Such a state of affairs could not continue. As a result, new translations were made from Greek, and then printed out in print. This ensured the uniformity of the church services conducted by them. All previous books were declared invalid. In addition, the reform provided for a change in the performance of the sign of the cross. The former - the two-fingered was replaced with three-fingered.

The emergence of the church schism

Thus, the reform touched only the ceremonial side of church life, without affecting its dogmatic part, but the reaction of many layers 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 that were being installed destroyed the true faith, and consequently they came from Satan.

As a result, the schismatics cursed Patriarch Nikon, who in turn gave them an anathema. The matter took an even more serious turn due to the fact that the reforms proceeded not only from the Patriarch, but personally from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ( Peter the Great 's father ), and consequently, the resistance to it was a riot against state power, and it always had sad consequences in Russia .

Solovetsky sitting. Briefly on its causes

All of Russia of that period was caught up in religious strife. The revolt, called the Solovetsky Sitting, is the answer of the inhabitants of the Solovetsky Monastery, which was on the islands of the White Sea, to the authorities' attempts to root the new reform in it. It began in 1668.

To subdue the recalcitrant on May 3, a detachment of streltsy, commanded by the tsar's voevoda Volokhov, landed on the island, but was greeted with cannon volleys. 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 Solovki seat represented a serious problem for the government also by the fact that all the residents living in the monastery, and there were 425 of them, had sufficient military skill. In addition, they had weapons, guns and a considerable amount of ammunition. Since in the case of the Swedish blockade the defenders could be detached from the outside world, then in the basement of the monastery there were always large stores of food. In other words - to take such a fortress by force was not a task from the lungs.

The first years of the siege of the monastery

We must give credit to the government, for several years it did not take decisive action and counted on the peaceful outcome of events. The complete blockade of the monastery was not established, which allowed the defenders to replenish provisions. In addition, they were joined by many other schismatics among the peasants and runaway members of the Stepan Razin uprising, which only recently was suppressed. As a result, the Solovetsky seat from year to year acquired new supporters.

After four years of fruitless attempts to break the resistance of the rebels, the government sent a more numerous military formation. In the summer of 1672, 725 archers landed on the island under the command of Voevoda Ievlev. Thus, on the side of the besieged fortress a numerical superiority appeared, but even he did not give any tangible result.

The intensification of hostilities

Of course, it could not last for so long. 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, according to the decree of the tsar, voevoda Ivan Mescherinov, a resolute and cruel man, came to suppress the riot on the White Sea . He had the strictest command to take the most active steps and put an end to monastic self-will. With him came another reinforcement.

With his arrival, the situation of the besieged deteriorated considerably. The voevoda established a complete blockade of the fortress, covering all channels of communication with the outside world. In addition, if in previous years due to severe frosts in the winter the siege was removed and the streltsy were sent to spring in the Sumy prison, now the blockade continued all year round. Thus the Solovki seat was deprived of the conditions of its life support.

Attempts to storm the monastery

Ivan Mescherinov was an experienced and skilful voivode 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 undermining its towers. They 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 had the opportunity to make up for the losses of its troops as needed, and the defenders of the fortress did not have it, and their number was constantly decreasing.

Betrayal, which was the cause of defeat

At the very beginning of 1676 the attack on the monastery was again launched, but it was also unsuccessful. However, the hour was approaching when this heroic Solovetsky seat would be completely destroyed. The date of January 18 became a black day in its history. The traitor named Feoktist, showed the voevode Meshcherinov a secret passage, which could be penetrated into the monastery. He did not miss the opportunity, and took advantage of this. Soon a detachment of streltsy broke into the territory of the fortress. Caught off guard, defenders could not provide adequate resistance, and many were killed in a short but fierce battle.

Those who survived, waited for the sad fate. The governor was a cruel man, and after a brief trial of the leaders of the insurrection and his active participants, he was executed. The rest ended their days in distant jails. This concludes the famous Solovetsky seat. The reasons that prompted him - the church reform and strict state policy aimed at its implementation, will continue to disrupt Russia's life for many years to come.

Growth and expansion of the Old Believers

In this period there is a completely new layer of society called Old Believers, or otherwise - Old Believers. Persecuted by the government, they will go to the Volga forests, to the Urals and Siberia, and overtaken by the pursuers - to take voluntary death on fire. Rejecting the power of the king and the authority of the official church, these people will devote their lives to preserving what was recognized as "ancient piety." And always an example for them will be the monks of a recalcitrant monastery on the White Sea.