Church Schism

raskol

to break - the church divided/broke

the century of the first, very minor schism

15th

the self perception of the Russian orthodox church changes to a feeling of pride and uncompromising after

the Byzantine Empire made an agreement with the Catholics

centralization also occurs in the church

principalities can no longer have their own religious differences

options for religious unifications with Ukraine

-make corrections based on Greek texts

-make corrections based on Ancient Russian texts

the Greeks were led by

Patriarch Nikon

the ancient Russians were led by

Archpriest Avvakum

in the 17th century, this develops, showing the declining importance of the church as secular authority increases

secularization

Nikon is supported by the

tsar

Nikon begins his reforms in

1653

the ultimate split is on the issue of how to

unify/verify

starovery

old believers

staroobriadtsy

old ritualists

these differences are all

formal

Old believers are persecuted and so they

move to the Urals, burn themselves alive when the government attempts to penetrate the settlements

The raskol never

ended

The interpretations of the schism

-the schism is only outwardly religious and had a lot to do with socioeconomic factors, because the old believers were wealthy merchants and were protesting against gentry privileges

-reaction to centralization as the church loses autonomy

-the old believers belonged to old muscovite culture in which form was very important; the schism ended muscovite culture because the old believers lost