Strigolniki

The strigolniki (Russian: стригольники; sg стригольник, strigolnik)

were followers of a Russian religious sect which appeared in the mid-
14th century, known as strigolnichestvo (Russian:
стригольничество).[1] They first appeared in Pskov before spreading to
Novgorod and Tver.[2] By the early 15th century, they had
disappeared.[3] Along with the Judaizers, they were one of the major
sects in medieval Russia.[1][4]

The origins of the name remain unclear. Some historians believe it has
something to do with handicrafts that the first strigolniki were engaged
in, such as cloth-cutting or hairdressing (it appears that the word
strigolnik derives from the Russian root strig-, which connotes cutting or
trimming). Others think the name comes from a special initiation
ceremony (a specific haircut, or strizhka), performed by a deacon named
Karp – a supposed founder of the sect (together with deacon Nikita), yet
others think it could mean that these people refused to either grow a
beard or cut their beards when they entered churches.
Strigolniki being thrown into the
Active participants of the sect were tradespeople and low-ranking clergy. Volkhov River from a bridge in
They renounced all ecclesiastic hierarchy and monasticism, sacraments 1375, miniature from Illustrated
done by Russian clergy due to recognizing the Orthodox priesthood as Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible.
illegitimate: priesthood, communion, penance, and baptism, which had
been accompanied by large fees ("extortions", in their view) to the
benefit of the clergy. Criticizing and exposing the venality, vices, and ignorance of the priests, the
strigolniki demanded the right to a religious sermon for laymen. Their sermons were full of social motifs:
they reproached the rich for enslaving the free and the poor.[5] They were opposed by a number of high-
level Russian bishops.[6]

Beliefs
There is some debate if the strigolniki were "heretical", if they were a
proto-Protestant movement among Orthodox Christians, being similar to
Lollardy or the Hussites, or if they merely opposed the priesthood.[7][8]
The strigolniki movement has been suggested to have had iconoclastic
tendencies, though it is not clear if they came out against the use of
icons, it is clearer that they came out against monasticism.[9][10]

The strigolniki opposed the ruling church, refusing to recognize its

Spread of the Strigolniki bishops and priests,[11] and rejected going to Orthodox churches, instead
gathering at separate meetings.[12] They are also known to have
criticized Orthodox priests whom they called "drunkards".[13] They also
repudiated ordainment, believing that simple laymen could perform church service, and the established
church rituals.[14] They also criticized the feudal order.[14] The nature of the movement is seen from the
words of Stephen of Perm: "Of the strigolniki illiterate people say: those neither steal nor collect
wealth".[14]
Karetnikova suggested that the strigolniki were a response to changes in the Russian Orthodox Church,
wanting to return from ritualism to the simplicity of New Testament Christianity, emphasizing the spiritual
meaning of the sacraments and basing their views primarily on scripture, seeing it as their ultimate
authority.[15] Petrushko on the other hand argued that in the attitude of the strigolniki about the church and
church hierarchy, though there are some similarities with Bogomils and Cathars, based on surviving sources
they did not have a dogmatic system of theology and did not disagree with the church about Christology
and on soteriology, instead most of their disagreements being with ecclesiology. Petrushko, judging by the
fact that Photius believed it possible to return the strigolniki to the church, their disagreement with
Orthodox dogma was not as dramatic as the Heresy of the Judaizers.[16]

M. V. Pechnikov argued that the strigolniki merely rejected the Orthodox priesthood, simony and
confession to clergy, while not denying the sacraments of the church nor most dogma.[8]

Obolensky has instead suggested that the strigolniki were born from Bogomil or Cathar missionaries in
Russia during the times of Kievan Rus'.[17]

Stephen of Perm mentioned that the strigolniki did not confess their sins to clergy but instead to the ground;
however, the meaning of what Stephen meant is not clear.[16][8]

History
According to an epistle by Stephen of Perm, Karp "began to tell the people:
it is neither dignified to sing over the dead, nor to mention them; nor to bring
offerings for the dead to the church; nor to have feasts; nor to give alms for
the soul of the departed".[14]

Deacon Karp found many followers in Pskov, but had to move to Novgorod
to avoid persecution. Some scholars argue that the archbishop of Novgorod,
Vasily Kalika (1330–1352), ignored the heresy, but that his successors,
Moisei (1325–1330; 1352–1359) and Aleksei (1359–1388), took firm
measures against the heretics. Beginning in 1382, the sect was opposed by
Archbishop Dionysios of Suzdal. In epistles addressed to the clergy and the
inhabitants of Novgorod and Pskov, the leadership of the church attempted to
discredit the movement and prove its right to earn its income.[14] The
strigolniki faced persecution, being driven from towns or simply killed.[14]
Metropolitan Photius wrote
In 1375, enraged citizens of Novgorod threw three heretics from the bridge
about his opposition to the
into the Volkhov River.[18] According to the 16th-century Nikon Chronicle,
strigolniki.[16]
the justification for this was a literal interpretation of the Gospel (Matthew
18:6): "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it
were better for him to have a great milestone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the
sea".[4] The chronicles mention that "the heretic strigolniki were beaten; deacon Nikita and Parishioner
Karp and a third man with them were thrown from the bridge".[14]

Stephen of Perm wrote a letter to Nilus of Constantinople in 1382 about the strigolniki.[8]

However, the teachings of the strigolniki lived on. They spread widely in Novgorod, in Pskov, and also in
Tver, where bishops Feodor Dobry and Yevfimiy Vislen came forward with support for the movement. In
the early 15th century, Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia, denounced the teachings of the
strigolniki.[5][13]
The strigolniki disappeared in the early 15th century due to persecution,[9] as well as due to disagreement
among the strigolniki.[3] The last mention of the strigolniki was in 1487.[8]

See also
Non-possessors
Protestantism in Russia
Spiritual Christianity

References
1. Pattison, George; Emerson, Caryl; Poole, Randall A. (13 June 2020). The Oxford Handbook
of Russian Religious Thought (https://books.google.com/books?id=Eb_1DwAAQBAJ).
Oxford University Press. p. 679. ISBN 978-0-19-879644-2.
2. B. A. Rybakov, Strigolniki: Russkie Gumanisty XIV Stoletiia (Moscow: Nauk, 1993); David M
Goldfrank, "Burn, Baby, Burn: Popular Culture and Heresy in Late Medieval Russia," The
Journal of Popular Culture 31, no. 4 (1998): 17–32.
3. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. (29 September 2005). Russian Identities: A Historical Survey (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=T6Qb2vqUa9YC). Oxford University Press. p. 53.
ISBN 978-0-19-534814-9.
4. Moss, Walter G. (1 July 2003). A History of Russia Volume 1: To 1917 (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=vU94ipGVq4MC). Anthem Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-85728-752-6.
5. N. A. Kazakova and Ia. S. Lur'e, Antifeodal'nye ereticheskie dvizheniia na Rusi XIV-nachala
XVI veka (Moscow and Leningrad, ANSSSR, 1955), esp. pp. 34-71.
6. Robinson, Michael D. (14 June 2019). Christianity: A Brief History (https://books.google.com/
books?id=pJafDwAAQBAJ). Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-5326-1831-4.
7. Belich, James (2022-07-19). The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of
Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=FytaEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA218). Princeton
University Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-691-22287-5.
8. "СТРИГОЛЬНИКИ • Большая российская энциклопедия - электронная версия" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20221007102305/https://bigenc.ru/religious_studies/text/4168932).
bigenc.ru. Archived from the original (https://bigenc.ru/religious_studies/text/4168932) on
2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
9. Michalski, Sergiusz (2013-01-11). Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant Image
Question in Western and Eastern Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=PM2sDPFP9
dEC&pg=PT214). Routledge. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-134-92102-7.
10. Michalski, Sergiusz (2013-01-11). Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant Image
Question in Western and Eastern Europe (https://books.google.com/books?id=PM2sDPFP9
dEC). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-92102-7. "in the middle of the fourteenth century the
Strigolniki heresy broke out in Russia, chiefly in the cities in the north of the country, which
gave this movement a proto-Reformation character"
11. Petrushko 2019 p. 456.
12. Голубинский Е. Е. История русской церкви. Том 2: От нашествия монголов до
митрополита Макария включительно. Период второй, Московский. Университетская
типография, 1900. (https://viewer.rusneb.ru/ru/rsl01004495596?page=406) — С. 398
13. Crummey 2014, p. 126.
14. Robinson, Michael D. (14 June 2019). Christianity: A Brief History (https://books.google.com/
books?id=pJafDwAAQBAJ). Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-1-5326-1831-
4.
15. Каретникова М. С., Русское богоискательство. Национальные корни евангельско-
баптистского движения
16. Petrushko 2019 pp. 456–57.
17. Crummey 2014, p. 125.
18. Some scholars see this as an execution after the heretics were condemned by Archbishop
Aleskei (r. 1359–1388), but others see it as a lynching. See B. A. Rybakov, Strigolniki, 4-11.

Sources
Crummey, Robert O. (6 June 2014). The Formation of Muscovy 1300 - 1613 (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=MMwFBAAAQBAJ). Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-317-87200-9.

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