Raskol

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Raskol (Russian раско́л, meaning 'split' or 'schism') was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into the official church and the Old Believers movement in mid-17th century, triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653 for the purpose of strengthening the church.

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The beginning

All of the members of an influential circle called the Zealots of Piety (Кружок ревнителей благочестия) stood for the elimination of local discrepancies in ecclesiastic and ritualistic practices, removal of alternative versions and correction of divine service books, and other measures towards unification of the Muscovite theological system. However, there was no unanimity among its members with regards to the ways, methods, and final goals of the proposed reform. Archpriests Avvakum, Ivan Neronov, and others thought that the Russian Church had managed to keep its "ancient piety" and proposed to conduct unification based on old Russian divine service books. Other members of the circle, such as Stephan Vonifatiyev, Fyodor Rtishchev and later Nikon himself, wanted to follow the Greek divine service standards with the subsequent unification of the Russian and Ukrainian orthodox churches under the Patriarch of Moscow and strengthening of their ties with the autocephalous Eastern orthodox churches.

With the support from the Russian tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon began the process of correction of the Russian divine service books in accordance with their modern Greek counterparts and changed some of the rituals (the two-finger sign of the cross was exchanged with the one with three fingers, "hallelujah" was to be pronounced three times instead of two etc.). These innovations were approved by the church sobors in 1654–1655. In 1653–1656, the Print Yard under Epifany Slavinetsky began to produce the corrected versions of or newly translated divine service books.

Although the reform only affected the external ritualistic side of the Russian Orthodox faith, these changes were deemed as a major event by the religious Russian people. Also, it soon became obvious that Nikon had used this reform for the purpose of centralization of the church and strengthening of his own authority. Nikon’s forcible introduction of the new divine service books and rituals caused a major discontent even among the Zealots of Piety. Some of its members stood up for the "old faith" and opposed the reforms and patriarch’s actions. Avvakum and Daniel (?) petitioned to the tsar in favor of the two-finger sign of the cross and bows during divine services and sermons. Then, they tried to prove to the clergy that the correction of the books in accordance with the Greek standards profaned the pure faith because the Greek Church had deviated from the "ancient piety" and had been printing its divine service books in Catholic print houses. Ivan Neronov spoke against the strengthening of patriarch’s authority and demanded democratization of ecclesiastic management. This conflict between Nikon and defenders of the "old faith" took a turn for the worse and soon Avvakum, Ivan Neronov and others would be persecuted.

The case brought by the defenders of the "old faith" found many supporters among different strata of the Russian society, which would give birth to the Raskol movement. A part of the "old faith" low-ranking clergy protested against the increase of feudal oppression, coming from the church leaders. Some members of the high-ranking clergy joined the Raskol movement due to their discontent over Nikon’s aspirations and his arbitrariness. Some of them, such as Archbishop Paul of Kolomna, Archbishop Alexander of Vyatka (let alone a number of monasteries), wanted to defend their feudal privileges. Feodosiya Morozova, her sister Princess Urusova, and some other courtiers openly supported or secretly sympathized with the defenders of the "old faith". Most of the support, however, came from the posad people and peasants.

The unification of such heterogeneous forces against the official church could probably be explained by the contradictory ideology of the Raskol movement. Idealization and protection of all things old, hatred towards everything new, propagation of national originality, and acceptance of martyrdom in the name of the "old faith" as the only way towards salvation were intertwined with harsh criticism of feudalism and serfdom. Different social strata were attracted to different sides of this ideology. The preachers of the Raskol preached about approaching Armageddon and coming of the Antichrist, tsar’s and patriarch’s worshiping of Satan, which ideas would find a broad response among the ordinary Russian people. The Raskol movement became a vanguard of the conservative anti-government opposition, uniting ecclesiastic and secular feudals with anti-feudal opposition. Taking sides with the defenders of the "old faith", ordinary folks thereby protested against feudal oppression, which, in their view, had been shielded and sanctified by the church.

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The hostilities

The Raskol movement gained in strength after the church sobor in 1666–1667, which had anathemized the defenders of the "old faith" as heretics and made decisions with regards to their punishment. Those members of the low-ranking clergy, who had severed their relations with the official church, became the ideologists of the Raskol. Propagation of the split with the church in the name of preservation of the "old faith" and salvation was the main postulate of their ideology. The most fanatic manifestations of the Raskol included the practice of the so-called ognenniye kreshcheniya (огненные крещения, or baptism by fire), or self-cremation. Attracted to the preachings of the Raskol ideologists, many posad people, especially peasants, fled to the dense forests of Northern Russia and Volga region, southern borders of Russia, Siberia, and even abroad, where they would organize their own obshchinas. This was a mass exodus of ordinary people, who had refused to follow the new ecclesiastic rituals and perform everyday duties in favor of their lords. In 1681, the government noted an increase among the "enemies of the church", especially in Siberia. With active support from the Russian Orthodox Church, it began to persecute the raskolniki (раскольники), i.e. 'schism-makers'. In 1670s–1680s, the exposure of certain social vices in the Russian society gained special importance in the Raskol ideology. Some of the Raskol advocates, such as Avvakum and his brothers-in-exile at the Pustozyorsk prison, turned to justification of active anti-feudal rebellions, declaring them as god’s punishment of the ecclesiastic and tsarist authorities for their actions. Some of the supporters of the Old Believers took part in Stepan Razin’s rebellion in 1670–1671. The Solovetsky Monastery Uprising in 1668–1676 started out as a movement in support of the "old faith" and then turned into a massive anti-feudal rebellion against the state authorities. The supporters of the "old faith" played an important role in the Moscow Uprising of 1682 and other anti-feudal rebellions. Many of the members of the "old faith" migrated west, seeking refuge in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which allowed them to freely practice their faith.

In the late 17th – early 18th century, the Raskol movement went into recession after the suppression of anti-feudal uprisings. The internal policy of Peter the Great weakened the movement even more due to the fact that he had ordered to ease the persecution of the Old Believers. The tsar, however, imposed bigger taxes on them. Since the 18th century, the Raskol ideology had been gradually losing its zeal for exposing the social vices. It started leaning more towards conservatism. Still, Yemelyan Pugachev’s call for struggle for the "old faith" attracted a lot of people during the rebellion under his leadership. The Old Believers would soon split into different denominations, such as the Popovtsy, Bespopovtsy and others.

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