The history of the Old Believers. XVII century. Zenkovsky S.

Only a few people, including Protopop Avvakum, refused to submit to the church Cathedral of 1666-1667, which finally and irrevocably approved the reform of the Russian Church. They were deprived of the dignity and were anathematized. But after them, more and more Russian people began to show fidelity to the ancient Russian church tradition. Thus, the powerful movement of the Old Believers developed, which came off the church and formed independent communities that did not want to submit to the will of the bishop and the states behind it and ready to uphold the right to their rites and liturgical books. Why and how this happened, which served as the background of the tragic Russian split and what role Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon and Greek patriarchs played in it, is told in the study of one of the largest historians of the Russian abroad Sergei Zenkovsky.

Sergey Zenkovsky ( 1907-1990)-historian, Slavist, researcher of the Russian schism, professor of the history of Stetson University.