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History of the Church of Russia

A. N. Mouravieff, tr. Blackmore, 1842

12. Joasaph II., Seventh Patriarch, A.D. 1667

In the mean time the prelates who remained in Moscow continued to be occupied in regulating the affairs of the Church; and the first thing they did was to elect as patriarch of all Russia the archimandrite of the Trinity Lavra, the meek Joasaph, a man who by the great gentleness of his disposition disarmed all hostility. Although the arbitrary acts of the late patriarch had been condemned, and the high-sounding name of his Jerusalem Monastery disallowed, and the estates which had been transferred to it taken away, still the faith of Nikon was acknowledged to have been pure, and his correction of the books was confirmed as canonical and agreeable to the spirit of the Orthodox Church; the vain glosses of the Monk Capito and the Popes Lazarus, Habbakuk, and Nicetas, respecting the position of the fingers, and the correct form of the Cross, the Name of Jesus, the Creed, and the Double Alleluia, and all their objections against the book put forth by authority of the Patriarch Nikon, under the title of the Skrijál or Table, were rejected and condemned. A new book which was composed for the refutation of their errors, entitled the Staff of Rule, served as the means of the temporary conversion of Nicetas, who confessed his errors and was absolved from the anathema of the Council under which the rest continued to lie. The acts themselves of the Council of the Hundred Chapters, which had been the foundation of the vain subtleties in question, were annulled by the decision of the Patriarchal Council of Moscow, the authority of which was not far short of being Œcumenical¹; for the representatives both of the Greek and of the Russian Churches were present at it: and so in the early ages the smaller or local synods were always liable to be corrected by those that were greater or Œcumenical. Besides this, many constitutions were passed relating to the internal and external discipline of the Church, and various customs which had crept in irregularly were reformed, as for instance, that of rebaptizing converts from the Latin Church, the prohibiting widower priests to serve Churches, and some undue privileges which had been conferred on the archimandrites of great monasteries.

The Pontifical which had been brought to Nikon by the blessed Athanasius Patellarius patriarch of Constantinople, was collated in the Council with other ancient Greek copies, as were also all the Directories and Office-Books, and were unanimously acknowledged to be correct. At the same time in consideration of the need caused by the increasing extent of the kingdom, the Council decided to raise certain dioceses to the dignity of metropolitan sees, as those of Astrachan, Tobolsk, and Riazan, and to form a fresh one at Bielogorod for the newly-settled townships of the Ukraine; to restore the suppressed sees of Nijgorod and Vladimir; to make Perm separate, as it had been before, from Viatka, forming at the same time a distinct diocese for Archangel. The ancient towns of Chernigoff, Pskoff, and Kolomna, had the honour of being advanced to be archbishoprics; while the metropolitans of Novogorod, Kazan, Rostoff, and Riazan, were relieved of some part of their burden by the appointment of bishops-vicars to assist them, who took their titles from Kargopol, Oustiog, Oufa, Ouglich, Tamboff and Voronege. It was also proposed to erect new bishoprics at Tomsk and on the Lena on account of their great distance from the metropolitan city of Tobolsk. Such important changes and establishments in the Church remained as a lasting memorial of this Council, in which for the last time the Greek Church shewed by the personal presence of her highest dignitaries the kindly interest she took in the Russian Church, which had originally derived from her the blessing of spiritual illumination.

When the Council was terminated Paisius patriarch of Alexandria took his leave, and was followed the next year by Macarius of Antioch, both loaded with alms, honours, and presents. But although one of the teachers of false doctrine, the Priest Nicetas, had been converted from his errors, and another of them, Paul, the ex-bishop of Kolomna, was confined by decree of the Council in the monastery of Paleostroff, still the rest continued to be actively at work as before, nor could be silenced, although some of their number had been punished, and others banished to Siberia. The unsound decisions of the Hundred Chapter Council gave them a hold upon the opinion of the people, as did also the old printed books of the patriarchs, and the custom which had crept in not more than a century before of making the sign of the Cross with the fingers in a wrong position; while in the mean time it was not every one who could discern the propriety of the reforms made by the Council which had been just held.

The ancient Lavra of Solovetsky, which not long before in time of war had volunteered to contribute 50,000 silver roubles to assist the state, and had repelled since then fresh incursions of the Swedes, now set a deplorable example of error; and it was this very circumstance of military strength and resources of the monastery which became the cause and means of its revolt. Some Streltses and Cossacks who had been sent for the defence of the island had brought thither with them the tares of schism, and having joined themselves with some of the religious and with some of the exiles who were there, they prevailed over the well-disposed portion of the fraternity. The spark had long lain concealed and smothering; at last it burst out into a flame. Even as far back as the year 1556 the books of divine service which had been sent to the Lavra were thrown aside, and all the offices continued according to the old fashion. Soon after the council of Moscow the schism shewed itself by the insubordination of the bursar and treasurer who headed the brotherhood against the Archimandrite Bartholomew. They addressed to the Tsar a petition filled with vain subtleties, which is held even to the present day in great esteem amongst the Sectaries, and refused to receive their new Archimandrite Joseph. However the rebellious Bursar Sabbatius was removed from the Lavra, as was also the exiled prince Lvoff who had formerly been at the head of the printing establishment in Moscow, and in that capacity had favoured the corruption of the church books, and had spread his infection through the monastery. Letters of exhortation were addressed to them by the Tsar to no purpose; and a detachment of the military which was sent afterwards proved too weak to produce any effect on 1,600 rebels, who had established themselves in the Lavra, and were provided with cannon, stores, and a military chest: in the mean time their teachers of false doctrine went about all the neighbouring coasts, and spread heresy and anarchy in the government of Olonetz, where many nests were formed of those schismatics who are called Pomorians. It was not till ten years later that the Tsar’s general, Nescherinoff, after a long siege, succeeded in taking the Lavra by storm, and so restored it to the Orthodox party, when the evil had already struck deep root in all the surrounding districts, and had extended itself even into the distant Siberia.

The affairs of the state were not in a more flourishing condition than those of the Church during this second period of the reign of Alexis. The benevolences obtained from the monasteries, like those of the Trinity and Solovetsky, could not cover the extraordinary expenses of the ruinous war in Poland. The consequence of this was that a change took place in the coinage, and the introduction of the new copper money excited first murmurs among the people, and eventually an insurrection, which brought back to mind the first revolt of the Streltses. The Swedish war which had been so unprofitable to Russia terminated in our restoring all those provinces which had been subdued by our arms in the course of six years. But the Polish war still continued with an alternation of successes and defeats to both sides. Little Russia itself fell away for a time from the Muscovite sceptre by the treason of the Hetman Vitofsky, who had been elected contrary to the just claims of Youry son of Kmelnitsky. Deluding himself with the dream of entire independance for the Ukraine, he suffered himself to be captivated by deceitful promises on the part of Poland of civil and religious liberty, and purpled with blood that rich country, the re-union of which to Russia had been effected without the shedding of so much as one single drop. The Poles and the brigands of the Crimea seized the opportunity offered by the disordered state of the Ukraine, to pillage sometimes as allies of Vitofsky, at others as those of Youry. Youry himself made his appearance in the field as claimant for his father’s hetmanship², was acknowledged by Russia, betrayed her, and finally terminated his strange and stormy career in the flower of his age by taking the monastic vows; while he left the hetmanship of the Zaporog horde first to Seter, then to Opar, and afterwards to Doroshenko. The most experienced generals of the Tsar, Troubetskoy, Romodanofsky, and Sheremetieff, lost several battles owing to disputes about precedence, while there was a contention between the two Ukraines. But when the Zaporog Cossacks beyond the Falls fell away, then those who were settled on the Russian side remained devotedly attached to the Tsar of Moscow, under the command of their brave Ataman Samki, and the new hetman of that part of the Ukraine, Bruchovetsky.

The ecclesiastical hierarchy, of which Kieff was the centre, had been in no less deplorable a state of disorder since the death of Silvester Kossoff, in consequence of intestine divisions. Dionysius Boloban bishop of Loutsk having with the consent of the Tsar been appointed metropolitan in Pereyaslavla refused to receive consecration from the patriarch of Moscow, and in consequence, Methodius, who had been ordained bishop of Mistislavla, was sent to Kieff to act as guardian of the metropolitan see. Dionysius died at Korsoun; and upon this the clergy assembled at Chigirin, and elected in his room Joseph Toukalsky, bishop of Mogileff, as the new metropolitan, out of consideration for the persecutions which he had suffered at the hands of the Uniates. But the hetman of the Ukraine on the other bank of the Dnieper for his part favoured the claims of Anthony bishop of Vinnitsa. Besides these there appeared afterwards a third candidate for the chair of Kieff in the person of Joseph archbishop of Lvoff, who confided in the protection of Poland, and some years afterwards in consequence of having had his ambition disappointed, went over with all his diocese to the Unia.

Joseph was very unfortunate at Chigirin, where he was metropolitan only in name: the distinguished Polish general, Chernetsky, took him prisoner, together with the Archimandrite Youry Kmelnitsky, and when he regained his liberty after a three years’ imprisonment, he no longer dared to go to Kieff, but remained in Wilna till the conclusion of the truce of Androusoff. By this Smolensk and Chernigoff were apportioned to Russia, but the Principality of Lithuania to Poland; the Ukraine was divided between the two powers, and broken up into two hetmanships. When this took place, the metropolitan attached himself to the brave hetman of Chigirin Doroshenko, and gave him the support of his presence. The truce shook the confidence of the clergy of Little Russia, and although the Tsar Alexis declared himself the defender of orthodoxy against the Unia, and demanded that the persecutions should cease, still Kieff itself, by the terms of the treaty, was after two years to pass again under the yoke of Poland, and the Tsar’s commanders had violated the rights and privileges of the Ukraine, so that even the Hetman Bruchovetsky himself deserted Russia before his death.

In the mean time, the archimandrite of the Pechersky, Innocentius Gizel, in vain demanded by a synodal letter the election of a new metropolitan; for the two senior bishops, Lazarus of Chernigoff and Methodius of Mistislavla, were in Moscow at the trial of the patriarch, and the clergy of the Ukraine were obliged occasionally to have recourse to the Metropolitan Joseph in Chigirin. The guardian of the see, Methodius, soon after his return to Kieff, was taken prisoner by the Hetman Doroshenko, and deprived of his rank by the Metropolitan Joseph. He escaped from imprisonment by flying to Moscow, but there he was convicted of holding criminal correspondence with the Hetman Bruchovetsky, and ended his days in the Novospassky monastery. Lazarus, archbishop of Chernigoff, succeeded to his office and held it during the hetmanship of Mnogogreshny, and under the brave Samuelovich, who at length succeeded in uniting the government of both the Ukraines in his own person. So desperate was the state of Kieff, that the hetman and the guardian proposed to transfer the metropolitan chair from the ancient capital of orthodoxy to Pereyaslavla or Chernigoff, while the Metropolitan Joseph, in order to rid himself if possible of his two rivals, of Vinnitsa and Lvoff, obtained letters of confirmation from Methodius patriarch of Constantinople. He died however in Chigirin, after having first lost his protector the hetman Doroshenko, who was at length subdued by the arms of Russia, while the greater part of the Ukraine on the other side the Dnieper, with Kamenets-Podolsky, was in the hands of the Turks whom he had called in, and the new king of Poland, the valiant John Sobiesky, was contending, with the assistance of the hetman of the Ukraine, against their immense hosts.

But the protection of King John did not procure, after the death of Joseph, the metropolitan chair of Kieff for the archbishop of Lvoff, nor did his own traitorous desertion of orthodoxy bring him any personal advantage. The Uniates had already their own Metropolitan Cyprian in Polotsk. Equally unsuccessful were the intrigues of the other competitor Anthony of Vinnitsa; Lazarus archbishop of Chernigoff, an experienced and virtuous pastor, continued to discharge the duties of the see of Kieff, in conjunction with Innocentius Gizel, the learned archimandrite of the Pechersky, till the election of a new metropolitan.

At that period when the Hetman Doroshenko was endeavouring to obtain a complete independance both of Russia and Poland, and was still maintaining himself in Chigirin with the Metropolitan Joseph, and all the efforts of the Tsar were turned upon the Ukraine, there appeared another insurgent leader of Cossacks of quite a different spirit and character named Stenka Razin. Having collected a band of desperadoes, he made marauding expeditions with them about the Volga, the Oural, and the shores of the Caspian sea, took Saratoff and Astrachan, and slew there the voivode in command and the Metropolitan Joseph. The number of his followers was increased by a false report which he caused to be spread abroad—that the Tsarevich Alexis, who had died not long before, was still alive and in his camp together with the Patriarch Nikon, whom he pretended to have freed from his confinement. His failure in the siege of Simbirsk was the point at which Razin’s good fortune left him. The ataman of the forces of the Don finished what had been begun by the voivodes of the Tsar, took the insurgent chieftain himself prisoner, and brought him to Moscow, where he was executed.

This was the last violent shock the government of Alexis received: during the remaining years of his reign, both the internal and external affairs of the kingdom gradually assumed a settled aspect. With the exception of his expeditions into the Ukraine against Doroshenko, and the incursions of the Crimeans, the Tsar was at peace with his neighbours, and sent his embassies to all the European powers, and even to China, for the purpose of settling our eastern boundaries, which were continually being enlarged. Sweden was well inclined to preserve peace, Poland that had been our enemy for so many years, had been much enfeebled during the reign of John Kasimir, a prince who experienced more misfortunes than any of his predecessors. The last of the house of Vasa, he voluntarily abdicated his throne, as if he had foreseen the future partition of his dominions between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. His successor Michael Vishnevetsky immediately sought to establish for himself a connection with Moscow by ceding Kieff in perpetuity, while the truce of Androusoff was converted into a peace under the glorious conqueror of the Turks, the King John Sobiesky, who was elected after the death of Michael, although Theodore, the son of the Tsar Alexis, had been one of the candidates for the Polish throne. But another and more permanent throne was preparing for Theodore, that of Moscow, and a glorious successor in the person of his younger brother Peter, who was about this time born. The Tsar Alexis, after the death of his first consort Maria, united himself in marriage with Natalia, the adopted daughter of the Boyar Matfeëff, who was herself of the family of the Narishkins, and the happy fruit of this marriage was the Great Peter. For his colossal genius was prepared the task of completing that orderly settlement of the empire which had been begun by his father, and great was the joy which was manifested by all Russia at his birth, as if she had had a presentiment who it was that was then given to her.

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