Patriarch Nikon of Moscow

Lore & Background

Nikon was born to a Mordvin peasant farmer named Mina. His mother died soon after his birth, and his stepmother mistreated him. He later married, became a parish priest, and through his eloquence attracted Moscow merchants who invited him to serve in the capital. He joined the Zealots of Piety, a group seeking to renew Russian Orthodox piety after the Time of Troubles. Nikon launched bold reforms, consulting Greek prelates and scholars from Constantinople and Kiev, who convinced him that Muscovite service-books were heterodox. He ordered house-to-house searches for new-fangled icons, had their eyes gouged out, and threatened severe penalties. He also forbade tent-like churches and demolished old uncanonical ones. His building program included the Valday Iversky Monastery, New Jerusalem Monastery, and Kiy Island Monastery.

Reader's Guide

Nikon's significance lies in his role as a reformer whose actions triggered the Raskol, a permanent schism in the Russian Orthodox Church between the official church and the Old Believers. His liturgical changes, based on consultation with Greek and Kievan scholars, aimed to align Russian practices with contemporary Greek ones, though later research suggests the unrevised Muscovite books were older and more venerable. His legacy is the enduring division of the Old Believers and the assertion of patriarchal authority against the state.

Did You Know?

• Nikon was born to a Mordvin peasant farmer and ran away from home at age 12 to become a novice at Makaryev Monastery.
• He was severely beaten by mobs during a riot in Novgorod but resolved the matter by leading a religious procession.
• Nikon ordered soldiers to gouge out the eyes of icons he considered heretical and carry them through town in derision.
• He founded the Valday Iversky Monastery, New Jerusalem Monastery, and Kiy Island Monastery.