The birth of an idea

The historical necessity of establishing a patriarchate in Russia had to be realized in specific events that have their own explanation. More precisely, a number of circumstances had to come into a certain combination in order for the fifth and first patriarchal cathedra to arise in the Universal Orthodox Church. If we delve into these circumstances, we may discover the secret springs of historical action.

A long time passed after the coronation of the Grand Duke of Moscow with the royal crown, decade after decade, but the Russian Orthodox Church continued to be meekly satisfied with the fact that at its head stood a metropolitan – nominally one of the great multitude of metropolitans, above whom towered the figures of the four patriarchs: Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch – who lived in the possessions of the Ottoman Empire.

The eastern policy of Ivan the Terrible was replaced by the western one, the war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and then with the united Polish-Lithuanian state (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) intensified the struggle between Orthodoxy and Catholicism in the vast disputed territories – and the Jesuits justified their mission as the vanguard of the papal idea by the fact that the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was dependent on the slave of the Sultan – the Patriarch of Constantinople. It was even more difficult for the Orthodox clergy in the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – Ukraine, Belarus, and partly Lithuania – because the Metropolitan of Kiev was not only nominally, but also actually subordinate to Constantinople! However, the years passed, and nothing changed in Orthodoxy.

It is easy to assume that Ivan the Terrible, who plunged the country into Great Ruin, feared and periodically massacred even his closest supporters, was deeply alien to the idea of strengthening the authority of the Moscow high priest (he changed and harassed the Moscow metropolitans in much the same way as he harassed his wives). But then the Terrible Tsar died.

On May 31, 1584, Fyodor Ioannovich was crowned on the Moscow throne. The Patriarch of Constantinople was sent 1000 rubles of alms for the commemoration of the soul of the deceased tsar. Rich gifts were also sent to the heads of other Orthodox churches, Greek and Slavic, in order of seniority: to the Patriarch of Jerusalem – 900 rubles for commemoration and 82 rubles for the health of the new tsar and queen, etc. The Moscow government did not forget the famous Orthodox monasteries with its alms, but its envoys nowhere mentioned a word or a hint about their desire to establish a patriarchal throne in Moscow. Everything went on as before.

And suddenly, in 1586, it turned out that the idea of establishing a patriarchate in Russia was extremely preoccupied by the Moscow authorities, secular and ecclesiastical, beginning with Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Metropolitan Dionysius. Prominent secular and ecclesiastical historians (including S. M. Solovyov, Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and Kolomna, and Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy N. F. Kapterev) unanimously describe these events, without going into their background and mixing in their stories two completely different sources: the article list of the Ambassadorial Department, which documented what happened in 1586 [1], and the historical and journalistic legend, compiled after the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia. under the conditions of the undivided rule of Boris Godunov [2].

The list of articles tells us that Patriarch Joachim of Antioch, having passed through Galicia and established a church brotherhood there, appeared on the western border of Russia, in Smolensk, and appealed to Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich with a request for permission to visit Moscow. He was the first patriarch to visit Russia, although after the fall of Constantinople there were many Eastern metropolitans, archbishops and other clergymen who came here for alms. It is not surprising that the Moscow government appointed three honorable meetings for Joachim: in Mozhaisk, in the village of Mamonovo near Moscow, and at Dragomilov at the entrance to the capital.

The Patriarch and his retinue were accommodated (as we shall see, not by chance) in the vast house of the boyar F. V. Sheremetev at the Nikolsky Crossroads and abundantly supplied with everything necessary. What is especially noticeable is that the patriarch very quickly received an audience with the sovereign. On June 17, Joachim entered Moscow, and on June 25, the all-powerful ambassadorial clerk Andrei Yakovlevich Shchelkalov was already waiting on the porch of the royal chambers for the metropolitan sleigh that had brought the patriarch to the Kremlin.

Solemnly greeted by the courtiers, Joachim was escorted to the Golden Chamber and appeared before the throne of the Moscow sovereign, surrounded by a brilliant retinue of boyars and okolnichi. Fyodor Ioannovich, in full royal vestments, descended from the throne to meet his guest for a whole fathom [3], received his blessing and asked about his health, then took his credentials on behalf of the Patriarch of Constantinople Theoliptus (which Joachim had prudently stocked upon) and gifts – particles of holy relics. Finally, Fyodor Ioannovich invited his guest to dinner, but first he sent him to the Dormition Cathedral, where Dionysius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, was going to serve the Liturgy.

The Patriarch entered the cathedral through the southern doors, met by the metropolitan boyar, butler and sacrist. The metropolitan himself stood motionless in the middle of the cathedral in his specially arranged place, surrounded by a magnificent retinue of Russian clergy in robes embroidered with pearls.

The contrast between the luxurious clothes of the Russians and the vestments of the impoverished Greeks was striking. When Joachim venerated the icons and went to the metropolitan's seat, Dionysius came out to meet him by one fathom – no more than the Emperor – and was the first (!) to bless the Patriarch. Joachim "spoke lightly that it was good for the metropolitan to receive a blessing from him in advance, and ceased to talk about it," broken by the obvious inequality of wealth and power between the Moscow primate and the Eastern alms-seeker. Without a murmur, the Patriarch of Antioch took the place of honor allotted to him in the cathedral on the right side, at the rear pillar, and stood there for the entire Liturgy, which was served by Metropolitan Dionysius.

The demonstration of the Russian clergy is interpreted by all historians in the sense that Dionysius and his entourage (either of their own free will, as S. M. Solovyov believes, or "by the permission of the Emperor and his advisers," as Macarius thinks) decided to emphasize the discrepancy between the real and nominal meanings of the Moscow Metropolitan and the Eastern Patriarchs. In turn, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich immediately had the idea of establishing the Moscow Patriarchate: "thinking" about this with his wife Tsarina Irina, after consulting with the boyars, the Tsar gave a corresponding instruction to Patriarch Joachim.

Researchers have ignored the fact that different sources tell about the demonstration of Metropolitan Dionysius and the proposal of Tsar Fyodor. The list of articles that recorded the incident in the Assumption Cathedral does not mention a word about the desire of the secular authorities to have a patriarch in Moscow. The document only notes that on July 1, Joachim asked the Tsar for permission to visit the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin (the residence of the Metropolitan) and the Trinity-Sergius Monastery; On July 4 and 8, the Patriarch was received with honor in each of them and received gifts from the monastery authorities.