430 years to the Russian patriarchal see: the life of the first primates of the church in the Presidential Library’s materials

February 5, 2019 marks the 430th anniversary of the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia. On this day in 1589, Metropolitan Job became the first patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, and the Russian Orthodox Church itself gained independence by withdrawing from submission to the See of Constantinople. The Presidential Library ‘s portal features a variety of digital copies of rare publications on the history of the patriarchate in our country.

By its complete independence, the Russian church had been going on for six centuries since the Christianization of Rus’ in the 10th century. The material is reflected in the tenth volume of the History of the Russian Church (1881), written by Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Macarius and available on the Presidential Library's portal: “The first period, which lasted two and a half centuries (988–1240), was a period of its complete dependence on the patriarch of Constantinople, but together with its full unity ... The second period, which lasted three and a half centuries (1240–1588), was for the Russian church its gradual transition to independence... From 1589, a new period began for the Russian church, the period of its independence, which can also be called the period of its gradually reunification of its separate parts”.  

The first steps towards independence were made in the XV century. The lords of the See of Constantinople in agreement with the Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria patriarchs confer special rights on our metropolis: now they did not need to go to Constantinople to be appointed to the Russian priesthood; they were elected at home. In many ways, this intermediate success was due to the dramatically changing geopolitical climate in the world: the Ottoman Turks seize the Byzantine Empire. This is detailed in the study of the master of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy of F. V. Chetyrkin "The lives of the most holy patriarchs of Moscow and All Rus’: 1589–1700" (1892): "When in the half of the 15th century the Greek or Byzantine empire fell under the arms of Mahomet II; when the Christian dynasty of the Greek emperors disappeared; when Mohammedanism became the dominant religion of the Byzantine Empire and St. To Sophia, the cross of Christ was replaced by the Muslim crescent, and the Christian faith sometimes became only tolerable and sometimes persecuted, and the Greek patriarchs themselves had to seek the protection of the great princes and tsars from Russia”.

In addition, the value of Russia as a powerful Christian state grew steadily. Here is what Metropolitan Macarius writes in the aforementioned History of the Russian Church: “Orthodox Russia, under the control of its orthodox powerful sovereigns, became the main representative and sole protector of Orthodoxy all over the world: this is how the Russians themselves understood it; all the Orthodox people of the East and the South, who moaned under the yoke of the Gentiles and looked for cover, help and consolations, also looked at it”.

Time passed by, and the general understanding of the need to create a Russian patriarchate grew stronger from year to year. The presence in one country or another of the primate of the church of such dignity meant strengthening not only the welfare of the state, but also strengthening the foundations of religion in general. Church Law Specialist N. A. Zaozersky in his book “The Basic Principles of the Establishment of the Patriarchate Desirable for the Russian Church” (1906), which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal, quotes Matthew Blastares, a famous Byzantine 14th-century canonist.

The first of the Russian rulers, who began to actively fight for the right of the Russian Orthodox Church to autocephaly, was the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Feodor Ivanovich. In the mid 80s of the XVI century, he received the patriarch of Antioch Joachim in Moscow, and he supported his idea. Moreover, Joachim agreed to become a kind of mediator in the negotiations on this issue with Constantinople and the heads of other local churches. Following it, the Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremiah II himself comes to Russia. As a result, he agrees to provide the long-awaited independence. Many historians report that Feodor Ivanovich insisted that the head of Constantinople himself should head the Russian Orthodox throne. However, Jeremiah refused. Anyone can read about this in the book of Archimandrite Joseph (in the world by Ivan Levitsky) “Brief Information on All-Russian Patriarchs” (1871).

Jeremiah II confessed then that he did not know Russian well and local customs. That is why, he believed, the Russian man should be the patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’.

February 2, 1589 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, in the Pokhvaliny predel, where traditionally they elected the metropolitan, in the presence of the head of the Ecumenical Church, they chose three candidates for the patriarchal throne: Metropolitan of Moscow Job, Archbishop of Novgorod Alexander and Archbishop of Rostov Varlaam. All of them already in the royal palace were presented to Feodor Ivanovich. The final choice fell on Job.

The solemn ceremony of the enthronement of the first patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ took place three days later. It is described in detail by Archimandrite Joseph in the book “Brief Information on All-Russian Patriarchs”.

Before leaving Moscow, Patriarch Jeremiah II left the Letter, which confirmed the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia. This was followed by a kind of wave of recognition. At the Constantinople Councils of 1590 and 1593, the patriarchs of all churches of the Eastern rite approved the patriarchal rights of Job and all his successors for all times. In addition, the head of the Russian church received the fifth place after the heads of the Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem thrones.

In 1721, the patriarchate in Russia was abolished. Emperor Peter I created the Theological Board, which was then renamed the Holy Government Synod. In the XIX century, it was located in St. Petersburg in the building on Senate Square, 3, where the Presidential Library is now housed.

The patriarchate was restored in our country on November 11, 1917 by the decision of the All-Russian Local Council.