From the very beginning of the Christianization of Russian lands in the 9th-10th centuries. their church hierarchy was part of the structures of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The head of the Russian Church was the Metropolitan of Kiev, whose candidacy was approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Until the XIV century. the metropolitan see, with rare exceptions, was occupied by Greek clergy.
Internal strife and Mongol invasions led in the 2nd half of the XIII century. to the fall of Kyiv. In 1299, Metropolitan Maxim moved his residence to North-Eastern Rus', to Vladimir, although he retained the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv. Beginning with the successor of Maxim, Metropolitan Peter, the primates of the Russian Church lived mainly in Moscow, which gradually became the center of the gathering of Russian lands.
The entry of the South Russian lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland, as well as the relocation of the Kyiv metropolitans to the northeast, led to a series of internal church-administrative conflicts. In the middle of the XV century. The Western Russian Metropolis was formed, the head of which bore the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia. The first hierarchs living in Moscow began to bear the title of "Metropolitans of All Rus'". From 1448 they were elected by a council of Russian bishops, without approval in Constantinople. Thus, the Russian Church received de facto independence (autocephaly), although not legally fixed.
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the establishment of the independent status of the Moscow Metropolis from Constantinople, the Russian Church became the most influential and numerous of the local churches. What is especially important - it was located on the territory of the last independent state, where Orthodoxy was official religion. Beginning with the time of Ivan the Terrible, Moscow sovereigns assumed the title of tsars, presenting themselves as the successors of the Byzantine emperors-caesars. There was a growing understanding of the need to raise the status of the Russian Church to patriarchy.
However, the erection of the Moscow Metropolis to the degree of patriarchate at that time was hampered by tense relations with the Church of Constantinople. Its primates were offended by Rus' for the unilateral transition to autocephaly and did not want to officially recognize it. At the same time, without the consent of the Constantinople and other Eastern patriarchs, the independent proclamation of a Russian metropolitan as a patriarch would be illegal. If the tsar in Moscow could be installed independently, by the power and authority of the Orthodox state, then it was impossible to establish a patriarchy without first resolving this issue by the leading cathedras. Historical circumstances were favorable for the completion of the program of autocephaly of the Russian Church through the establishment of the patriarchate only towards the end of the 16th century, during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. An important role in the negotiations on this issue was played by the actual ruler of Rus' at that time - the brother of Tsarina Irina Boris Godunov, the future tsar.
The first stage of preparation for the establishment of the patriarchate in the Russian Church was associated with the arrival in Moscow of Patriarch Joachim of Antioch in 1586. This event became the impetus for the work of Godunov's diplomats in acquiring the patriarchal dignity for the primate of the Russian Church. Joachim first came to Western Rus', and from there he went to Moscow for financial assistance. And if in the Commonwealth the patriarch had to witness a new onslaught of Catholics on Orthodoxy and an almost complete decline church life Metropolis of Kyiv, then in Moscow he was met with great honor and pomp.
The main purpose of the Patriarchal visit was to collect donations. The see of Antioch, as well as other Orthodox churches under Ottoman rule, had a gigantic debt for those times - 8,000 gold pieces. The Russians were very interested in the appearance of Joachim in Moscow: for the first time in history, an Eastern patriarch came to Moscow. In the minds of Godunov and his entourage, this unprecedented episode almost instantly and unexpectedly brought to life a project designed to put into practice the idea of establishing the Moscow Patriarchate.
In 1587, at the initiative of Godunov, the loyal Job, formerly the Archbishop of Rostov, replaced the metropolitan see of Dionysius, who was associated with political opponents of Boris Fedorovich.
Meanwhile, the Church of Constantinople was going through a period of turmoil and financial difficulties. The new Patriarch Jeremiah II, shortly after his election, went to the Russian lands for money.
On July 11, 1588, he arrived in Moscow, where he was greeted with great honors and placed in the Ryazan Compound. After 5 days, Jeremiah was received by Tsar Fedor Ivanovich and Tsarina Irina. They presented the Greek hierarch with silver, money, and sables. Jeremiah handed over to the tsar and tsarina the relics brought to Moscow, including part of the relics of Emperor Constantine. After the solemn reception, negotiations between Jeremiah and Boris Godunov took place. Here it turned out that Jeremiah was not ready to discuss the agreements of 1586 between the Russian government and Patriarch Joachim of Antioch on the establishment of the Patriarchate in Rus' and came only "for the sake of alms to the church building." The Patriarch of Constantinople insisted that he could not resolve such an important issue without a conciliar discussion. Finding himself virtually under house arrest in the Ryazan Compound, Jeremiah made concessions, offering Moscow limited autocephaly. At the same time, it was necessary to commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople at divine services and receive consecrated chrism from him. But by that time, the Russian Church had already been virtually autocephalous for a century and a half.
However, Jeremiah continued to search for a compromise: he himself was ready, tired of the endless hardships in Constantinople, to remain patriarch in Rus'. In this case, the Russian side offered Jeremiah a residence in Vladimir, while Metropolitan Job would remain in Moscow with the sovereign. Jeremiah agreed to become a Russian patriarch only on condition that he be placed in the capital. Negotiations between Godunov and Jeremiah lasted almost half a year. In mid-January 1589, Jeremiah promised to appoint a Russian patriarch in Russia and to bless the further appointment of a patriarch in Rus' by a council of Russian bishops; the king had to let him go to Constantinople.
On January 17, 1589, Fyodor Ivanovich convened the Boyar Duma together with the Church Council: 3 archbishops, 6 bishops, 5 archimandrites and 3 cathedral monastery elders arrived in Moscow. The tsar announced that Jeremiah did not want to be patriarch in Vladimir. Fyodor Ivanovich decided to ask Jeremiah's blessing for the appointment of Job as the patriarch of Moscow. On the same day, the Duma was assembled with the Consecrated Council, and the sovereign turned to Job, asking the metropolitan for an opinion on the establishment of the patriarchate. Job replied that he, along with all the bishops and the Consecrated Council, "placed the pious sovereign, the tsar and the Grand Duke, at will."
On January 23, Patriarch Jeremiah and members of the Consecrated Council, with the exception of Metropolitan Job, arrived at the Assumption Cathedral. In the chapel in honor of the Praise of the Mother of God, the traditional place for the election of candidates for metropolitans, three candidates for the patriarchate were elected. Then all the bishops participating in the elections, headed by Jeremiah, arrived at the palace. Here the Patriarch of Constantinople reported to the tsar about the candidates, and Fyodor Ivanovich chose Job. Only after this, the elected Patriarch of Moscow was called to the palace, and he met Jeremiah for the first time. Here, in the royal chambers, the naming of Job as patriarch took place. In the Dormition Cathedral of the Kremlin, Jeremiah and the betrothed Patriarch Job served a short prayer service. Three days later, the ceremony of setting the first Russian patriarch took place there; Jeremiah, with a host of bishops, performed over Job a complete episcopal consecration.
In early February, Jeremiah spent several days in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, with the beginning of Great Lent, he again asked to be released to Constantinople, but Godunov, referring to the difficulties of the journey in winter, persuaded him to wait for some more time. This was necessary in order to prepare for Jeremiah's signing a document on the establishment of the Patriarchate in Moscow - the so-called Legislative Charter. A characteristic detail of this charter, drawn up in the royal office, is the mention of the consent of all the Eastern patriarchs to the establishment of a patriarchate in Moscow. In fact, such consent had not yet been obtained at that time.
The next stage in the approval of the Moscow Patriarch was to be his inclusion in a fairly high place in the patriarchal diptychs - the official list of the heads of Orthodox churches. The Russians claimed that the Moscow Patriarch would be commemorated in the diptych third, after the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria, before the Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem. After signing the letter, Jeremiah, having received generous gifts from the king, left Moscow in May 1589.
Fulfilling the promises made in Moscow, in May 1590 he convened a council in Constantinople, at which he spoke about the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia. The Council recognized this act and approved the patriarchal rank for the primates of the Russian Church. He brought the conciliar charter to Moscow in next year Metropolitan Dionysius of Tarnovo was also handed over to the tsar on June 20. Under the text of the verdict of the Council of the Eastern Hierarchs are 106 signatures (including the signatures of three patriarchs, there is no signature of the Alexandrian primate, because the Alexandrian see was then vacant). Their modern handwriting analysis has shown that at least 66 of the signatures are fake. There is no need to doubt the fact that Patriarch Jeremiah held a council on raising the Moscow cathedra to the rank of patriarch, but it must be admitted that the number of participants in the council was significantly less than the number of signatures under the council's verdict. Probably, Jeremiah went for forgery in order to receive alms from Russia as soon as possible and wanted to create a more representative impression of the cathedral than it really was.
In 1593, in Constantinople, in the presence of the Moscow ambassador G. Afanasiev, a new council of Eastern hierarchs was held, in which the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria (who also temporarily ruled the See of Antioch) and Jerusalem took part. The Council, agreeing with the elevation of the primate of the Russian Church to the rank of patriarch, confirmed the fifth place of the Russian Church in the diptych of Orthodox churches.
In 1589 an important change took place in the position of the Church. The Russian Orthodox Church, which had previously been a metropolis, was elevated to the rank of Patriarchate.
From the time of the Council of Chalcedon, the Patriarchs were the Primates of the five primordial episcopal sees - Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Their official list determined the "rank of honor" local churches. Back in the ninth century. there was an idea that Universal Orthodoxy is concentrated within five Patriarchates (four after the separation of the Churches). However, the political realities of the XVI century. revealed a discrepancy between the position of the Moscow kingdom as the Third Rome - the patron and support for all Orthodox Churches, including the Eastern Patriarchs themselves - and the hierarchical metropolitan dignity of the church head of Moscow Rus'. The Constantinople and other Eastern Patriarchs were in no hurry to crown the Russian Metropolitan with the Patriarchate, pursuing the goal of maintaining the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Rus'.
In the proper sense, the ecclesiastical independence of Rus' began as early as the middle of the 15th century, from the time of St. Jonah, who began a series of Russian metropolitans who were elected and installed in Rus' independently, without intercourse with the Patriarch of Constantinople. However, the dissimilarity of the hierarchical title of the Russian Primate with the Eastern Patriarchs placed him, compared with the latter, a step lower in church administration. As a result, with actual independence, the Russian metropolitan remained nominally dependent on the Patriarch, and the Russian metropolis continued to be considered part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In 1586, taking advantage of the arrival in Moscow of Patriarch Joachim of Antioch, Tsar Theodore Ivanovich, through his brother-in-law Boris Godunov, began negotiations on the establishment of a Patriarchate in Rus'. Patriarch Joachim agreed to the king's desire, but at the same time stated that such an important matter could not be resolved without consultation with other Patriarchs. He promised to submit the tsar's proposal to the consideration of the Eastern Patriarchs. The following year, an answer was received stating that the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch agreed with the desire of the king and sent for the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem to resolve the issue in a conciliar manner. For the appointment of the Patriarch, it was planned to send the Primate of Jerusalem to Moscow. But the unexpected arrival in Moscow in July 1588 of Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople to collect donations in favor of his Patriarchate ruined by the Sultan hastened the resolution of the issue. Boris Godunov entered into lengthy and difficult negotiations with him about the Russian Patriarchate. Initially, Jeremiah was offered to transfer the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarchal Throne to Russia. After some hesitation, Jeremiah agreed to this, but opposed his residence in Vladimir (as suggested by the Russian side), considering it not honorable enough. “What kind of patriarch will I be,” he said, “if I don’t live under the sovereign.” After that, Jeremiah was asked to appoint Metropolitan Job of Moscow to the rank of Patriarch, to which Jeremiah agreed. On January 26, 1589, in the Assumption Cathedral, Metropolitan Job was appointed to the Moscow Patriarchs.
Having approved the establishment of the Patriarchate in Moscow with his letter, Jeremiah was released with rich gifts. At the same time, the sovereign expressed his desire that the blessing of other Eastern Patriarchs be received for the approval of the Russian Patriarchate. In 1590, a Council was convened in Constantinople with the participation of the Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem and many persons from the Greek clergy. The Council approved the order made by Jeremiah on the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia and the Russian Patriarch, by virtue of honor, determined the last place after the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Moscow was unhappy with this. It was expected here that the All-Russian Patriarch, in accordance with the significance of the Russian Church and the greatness of the Russian state, would take at least the third place among the Eastern Patriarchs. However, the new Council, held in Constantinople in February 1593, accurately confirmed the decisions of the Council of 1590 and sent its decision to Moscow. At the same time, the Russian Church was granted for the future the right to elect its Patriarchs by a council of Russian bishops.
With the elevation of the Russian Metropolitan to the rank of Patriarch, a significant change took place in the advantages of the honor of the Russian Primate in comparison with the Eastern Patriarchs. Now, in hierarchical dignity, he has become completely equal to the other Patriarchs. As for the rights of the Patriarch to govern the Church, there have not been and could not have been any significant changes in this regard. The Russian Primate, even in the rank of metropolitan, exercised in his Church the same power as the Eastern Patriarchs used within their Patriarchates. Thus, the former administrative rights of the metropolitan passed to the Russian Patriarch. He possessed the highest administrative supervision over the entire Russian Church. In the event that diocesan bishops violated the rules of church order and deanery, the Patriarch had the right to instruct them, write letters and letters, and call them to account. He could make general orders concerning the whole Church, convene bishops to Councils, at which he was of paramount importance.
The establishment of the Patriarchate was a major ecclesiastical and political success for the Moscow government. The change in the status of the Russian Church in 1589 was a recognition of its increased role in the Orthodox world.
On January 23 (February 2), 1589, Metropolitan Job was named Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
Until the establishment of the patriarchate, the Russian Church was headed by metropolitans. Until the middle of the XV century. it belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and did not have independent control. After the fall of Byzantium, the Moscow Metropolis gained ecclesiastical independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1448, the Council of Russian Bishops, independently of Constantinople, elevated Bishop Jonah of Ryazan to the chair of Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus', thus marking the beginning of Russian autocephaly Orthodox Church. In 1586, Patriarch Joachim of Antioch visited Moscow, and in 1588, Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople, who agreed with the idea of establishing the Moscow Patriarchal Throne.
On January 23 (February 2), 1589, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, in the Pokhvalsky aisle - the traditional place for the election of candidates for metropolitans, in the presence of the Patriarch of Constantinople and members of the Consecrated Council, the election of candidates for the patriarchate was made.
Then all those participating in the elections arrived at the palace, where Jeremiah II presented three candidates to Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich: Metropolitan Job of Moscow and All Rus'; Archbishop Alexander of Novgorod and Archbishop Varlaam of Rostov. Here, in the royal chambers, Job was named patriarch.
On January 26 (February 5), 1589, Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople, with a host of bishops, enthroned the first Russian Patriarch Job.
Before leaving Moscow, Patriarch Jeremiah left behind a “Laid Letter” signed by him and the clergy accompanying him, confirming the fact of the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia.
At the Councils of Constantinople in 1590 and 1593, which were attended by the eastern patriarchs, it was decided to recognize and confirm everything that was done by Patriarch Jeremiah in Moscow; in connection with the establishment of the Russian patriarchate, to approve the patriarchal rights in Russia personally for Patriarch Job and for all his successors for all time and to recognize the Russian patriarch as the fifth place after the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
About the rights of the Russian patriarch and the limits of his jurisdiction, the conciliar letters said that he would have "patriarchal dignity and honor, and be combined and measured with other Patriarchs for all eternity ...".
In 1721, during the reign of Peter I, the patriarchate was abolished; the emperor established the Spiritual College, later renamed the Holy Governing Synod - government agency supreme ecclesiastical authority.
On October 28 (November 11), 1917, by the decision of the All-Russian Local Council, the patriarchate was restored.
Lit .: Hierodeacon Nikolai (Letunovsky). To the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate [Electronic resource] // Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. 2001-2019. URL : http://www.mepar.ru/library/vedomosti/27/385/ ; Macarius (Veretennikov). Patriarchate in Rus' // Church Bulletin. No. 11 (312). June 2005;Moscow Patriarchate 1589-1700 // Russian Orthodox Church, 988-1988. Essays on the history of I-XIX centuries. M., 1988. Issue. 1; Petrushko V. Establishment of the Patriarchate in the Russian Church. Holy Patriarch Job [Electronic resource] // Orthodoxy. Ru. 1999-2008. URL : http://www.pravoslavie.ru/arhiv/040310103305.htm.
See also in the Presidential Library:
Macarius (Mikhail Petrovich Bulgakov). History of the Russian Church. SPb., 1881. T. 10: The period of independence of the Russian Church. Patriarchy in Russia. Book. 1 ;
Metropolitan Tikhon elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' // On this day. November 18, 1917;
Metropolitan Filaret was elevated to the patriarchal throne // On this day. July 4, 1619;
Shpakov A. Ya. The state and the church in their mutual relations in the Muscovite state from the Union of Florence to the establishment of the patriarchate: the reign of Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark. Kyiv, 1904. Part 1.
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From the book of the historian of the Russian church Anton Kartashev (1875-1960) "Essays on the history of the church in 3 hours, Part 2", an excerpt from the chapter "Institution of the Patriarchate."
The question of the patriarchate literally flared up in Moscow as soon as the news came out that Patriarch Joachim of Antioch appeared on the border of Rus', who, as we know, traveled through Lvov and Western Rus' to the very important point her life, on the eve of the sad memory of the Brest Cathedral, and was involved in active actions to defend Orthodoxy. The appearance of an Eastern patriarch on Russian soil was an unprecedented fact in the entire history of the Russian Church.
Muscovites also have a sense of habitual reverence for their fathers in faith, heirs of glory ancient church, and a thirst to show their piety and the splendor of the kingdom. Arose together and a direct calculation to do a big thing - to start negotiations on the establishment of the patriarchate. This is what they started.
Anton KartashevThe meeting of the patriarch was magnificent, unlike "none" in Poland and the West. Rus'. This alone could not but flatter the Eastern patriarchs and please them. By order from Moscow, the Smolensk governor was ordered to meet the patriarch "honestly", to deliver him all the comforts, food, and accompany him to Moscow with honorary guards. On June 6, 1586, Patriarch Joachim arrived in Smolensk and from there forwarded his letter to Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. This patriarch had already written to Ivan IV before and received 200 gold pieces from him. Letter from Patr. Joachim was full of Byzantine, i.e., immoderate praises to the Muscovite tsar: “if anyone sees the sky and the sky of heaven and all the stars, if he does not see the sun, he is nothing, but when he sees the sun, he will rejoice zealously and glorify the creator and. The sun is our faithful Christians in these days - your royal mercy is one between us. Proceeding from this, the Muscovite tsar could easily pose the question: is it time, finally, for the "sun of faithful Christians" to have a patriarch by his side?
The tsar sent honorary ambassadors to meet the guest, to Mozhaisk, to Dorogomilovo. 17th VI Patr. Joachim entered Moscow and was placed on the Nikolsky sacrum in Sheremetev's house.
On June 25 there was a ceremonial reception of the patriarch by Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. But characteristically, Mr. Dionysius did not visit or greet the patriarch. This could not have happened without an agreement with the secular authorities. The metropolitan clearly wanted to make the eastern beggar feel that he is a Russian metropolitan, the same autocephalous head of his church as the patriarch. Antioch, but only the head of a larger, free and strong church - and therefore the patriarch should be the first to bow to him. And since the patriarch wants to circumvent this by bowing to the tsar, the Russian metropolitan is the first "does not break his hat."
The patriarch, according to the honorable custom, was dragged to the palace in the royal sleigh (although it was also summer) - dragged. The tsar received him in the "Signed Golden Chamber", sitting on the throne, in royal vestments, among dressed up boyars and ranks according to the rank of receiving ambassadors. The king got up and walked a sazhen from the throne to meet. The patriarch blessed the king and presented him with the relics of various saints. He immediately handed over to the tsar a letter of recommendation handed to him by Patriarch Theoliptus of the KPl together with Patriarch Sylvester of Alexandria, about helping Joachim to cover the debt of the See of Antioch in 8,000 gold pieces.
The king invited the patriarch to his place for dinner on the same day! A very great honor for the Moscow rank. In the meantime, the patriarch was instructed to go to the Assumption Cathedral to meet with the metropolitan. This was deliberate in order to overwhelm the guest with official pomp and brilliance and to reveal the Russian saint "in the pulpit", surrounded by an innumerable host of clergy, in golden brocade vestments with pearls, among icons and shrines overlaid with gold and precious stones. The poor titled guest must have felt his smallness before the real head of a really (and not nominally) great church. The patriarch was greeted with an honorable meeting at the southern doors. He was led to venerate icons and relics. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Dionisy with the clergy stood in the middle of the church on the pulpit, ready to begin the liturgy. Like a king, according to ceremonial, he descended from the pulpit a fathom towards the patriarch and hastened to be the first to bless the patriarch. The dumbfounded patriarch, well understanding the offense inflicted on him, immediately declared through an interpreter that this should not be done, but he saw that no one wanted to listen to him, that there was no place and no time to argue, and fell silent. As the document says, “he said a little that it was more convenient for the metropolitan to accept a blessing from him in advance, and he stopped talking about that.” The patriarch listened to the liturgy, standing without vestments at the rear pillar of the cathedral. The royal dinner after mass and the royal gifts were only the gilding of a pill for the distressed patriarch. The figure of the Russian metropolitan, which flashed before the patriarch like Olympian majesty, again hid from him, and he must have felt that there was no need to argue against the height of the Russian metropolitan. And the king must be paid for the gifts. So the Moscow diplomats created the "atmosphere" for the question of the Russian patriarchate. And led the whole thing secular power. The patriarchs were drawn to her, they expected favors from her and received them. She had to pay with her. The Russian hierarchy was spared the risk of diminishing and falling into the position of humble petitioners. She didn't ask for anything. She seemed to have everything. And the eastern hierarchs themselves had to feel their duty to her and give her the appropriate title of patriarch.
Immediately after this day, negotiations began between the tsarist government and Patriarch Joachim about the patriarchate. They were conducted secretly, that is, without written documents, perhaps out of fear that the Polish authorities would somehow come out against this before the KPl Patriarch. In the Boyar Duma, the tsar made a speech that, after a secret agreement with his wife Irina, with his “brother-in-law, close boyar and stable boy and governor of the courtyard and governor of Kazan and Astrakhan, Boris Fedorovich Godunov”, he decided to raise the following question: “From the beginning, from the ancestors our, Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow sovereigns - tsars and great pious princes, our pilgrims were delivered metropolitans of Kiev, Vladimir, Moscow and all Russia, from the patriarchs of Tsargrad and ecumenical. Then, by the grace of the Almighty God and the most pure Mother of God, our Intercessor, and the prayers of the great miracle workers of the entire Russian kingdom, and at the request and prayer of our forefathers, the pious tsars and great princes of Moscow, and on the advice of the patriarchs of Tsaregrad (?), Metropolitans began to be especially delivered in the Moscow state, according to the verdict and election of our forefathers and the entire consecrated cathedral, from the archbishops of the Russian kingdom even to our kingdom. Now, by His great and inexpressible mercy, God has granted us to see the coming to Himself of the great Patriarch of Antioch; and we give glory to the Lord for this. And we would still ask for mercy from Him, so that he would arrange a Moscow Russian patriarch in our state, and would advise on this with holy patriarch Joachim, and to order with him about the blessing of the Moscow Patriarchate, to all the patriarchs. Boris Godunov was sent for negotiations to the patriarch.
In the "Collection of the Synod Library" Boris Godunov's speeches to Patriarch Joachim and his answers are given as follows. Godunov suggests to Joachim: “Would you advise on this with the Most Reverend Holy ecumenical patriarch Constantinople, and the Most Holy Patriarch would advise on such a great deed with you with all the patriarchs ... and with the archbishops and bishops and with the archimandrites and with the abbots and with the whole consecrated cathedral. Yes, and to the holy mountain, and to the Sinai they would tell about it, so that God would give such a great deed in our Russian state settled down to the piety of the Christian faith, and thinking about it, they would announce to us how it would be more convenient for that business to take place. Patriarch Joachim, according to the presentation of this document, thanked on behalf of himself and other patriarchs of the Tsar of Moscow for all the alms for which the Eastern churches pray for him, admitted that it would be “beautiful” to establish a patriarchate in Russia, promised to consult with the rest of the patriarchs: “that is a great thing , the whole cathedral, and without this advice it is impossible for me to do that thing».
The last words sound strange. Almost all official documents about this case are tendentious. And here we involuntarily sense a hidden offer from Muscovites to Joachim (perhaps with a promise to pay them the 8,000 gold coins they are looking for), without delay, to appoint a patriarch himself, and then look for confirmation later.
The negotiations ended quickly. Joachim received something and promised to contribute to the cause among his eastern brethren.
The Patriarch was allowed to visit the Chudov and Trinity-Sergius monasteries, where he was received with honor and gifts on July 4 and 8.
On July 17, he was again honorably received at parting by the tsar in the golden chamber. The king here declared his alms to the patriarch and asked for prayers. There was not a word about the patriarchate. It hasn't been made public yet. From here, the guests were sent to the Annunciation and Archangel Cathedrals for parting prayers. But in the Cathedral of the Assumption and to the Metropolitan. The Patriarch did not visit Dionysius and did not have any farewell to the Metropolitan. Joachim's resentment is quite understandable. But Dionysius' stubborn negligence of the patriarch is not entirely clear to us. We have to resort to hypotheses. Maybe it was just by reconnaissance on the way back to Moscow (in Lithuania or already within Russia) that Patriarch Joachim spoke of the Moscow metropolitans (unlike the Kiev-Lithuanian ones) as autocephalous and not for the benefit of the church independent of the Greeks . Here Dionysius, with the permission of the king, made such a demonstration to an arrogant Greek. Moscow knew how to distribute diplomatic roles...
Or maybe “oversalting” in the diplomacy of Met. Dionysius belonged to him personally, and not to the royal policy, and even in spite of it. Politics was led by Boris Godunov. Dionysius belonged to the party of Godunov's opponents. The latter had his favorite among the hierarchy to replace Dionysius, the Staritsky hegumen Job, whom he marked as a candidate for the patriarchate. Dionysius could suspect that the intriguing Boris, for the sake of his favorite, would agree before the Greeks to some shadow of dependence on them, for the sake of acquiring a magnificent patriarchal title. Hence the sharp demonstration of Dionysius for the sake of preserving perfect autocephaly and the dignity of the Russian Church. In the next 1587, Metropolitan. Dionysius and archp. Krutitsy Varlaam, as open opponents of Boris, was overthrown by the latter, and in place of Dionysius, Boris's chosen one, Job, was appointed metropolitan.
On August 1, the patriarch left for Chernigov with an honorary escort. To “push” the Moscow plan, together with Patriarch Joachim, the clerk Mikhail Ogarkov was sent (who wanted to redeem his son from Turkish captivity along the way).
Ogarkov brought rich monetary and material gifts to the patriarchs of the KPl and Alexandria.
In the CPel, the Russians' claim could only evoke a negative reaction. The old and bitter story for the Greeks was raised with the emergence of the Bulgarian and Serbian patriarchates. The East resorted to the tactics of silence and delay. There was no response for a whole year. But the CPel, foreseeing the necessity of making concessions to the Russians, decided at least to exploit them well. This year, dozens of Eastern metropolitans, archbishops, abbots, hieromonks, monks went in a stream through Chernigov and Smolensk to Moscow for alms.
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