1676. 22 January (1 February) The troops of Aleksei Mikhailovich, under the command of voevoda (military commander) I. A. Meshcherinov, storm the Solovetsky Monastery.
In the history of the Russian church schism of the seventeenth century a special place is occupied by the "Solovetskoe sidenie" — the years-long armed resistance of the monks to the tsar’s forces. This event was the tragic finale of the dispute over liturgical rites, which turned the holy house into an impregnable fortress and the monks into warriors.
"Bogomolie propalo": the beginning of the conflict.
The cause of the confrontation was the brotherhood’s refusal to accept Patriarch Nikon’s church reform. The conflict matured over a long period: even before active hostilities there had been clashes in the monastery between supporters of the new and old faiths. The sotnik Volokhov, sent by the authorities, complained that the monks lived "negligently and wilfully," failed to show reverence to the holy objects, and served not according to the statute. It came to the point that Volokhov burst into the church during the Cherubic hymn, began to beat the monks and tear their garments from them, crying that their "bogomolie propalo" (devotion is lost).
However, breaking the resistance proved not to be simple. The monastery was well supplied: defectors reported that the community’s stocks of bread and salt would suffice for fifteen years. The blockade in the first years was ineffective: despite prohibitions, local peasants and monks from other sketes brought the besieged fish, butter and even barrels of wine.
"The strange" war (1672–1674).
The first serious assault on the siege took place in the summer of 1672, when the streltsy golova Klimentii Ievlev arrived under the monastery walls with a detachment of 725 men. The insurgents met the demand to surrender "with great ignorance" and refused to admit the tsar’s men. Ievlev, lacking a sufficient supply of powder and lead for a storming attack, confined himself to a scorched-earth tactic: he burned barns and boats and destroyed fish traps and supplies of firewood around the monastery, after which he withdrew to the Sumskoi ostrog.
In 1673 the siege was taken over by the voevoda Ivan Meshcherinov, who received siege artillery at his disposal. In 1674 he moved to active operations: he constructed earthen fortifications ("gorodki") around the monastery and began artillery bombardment. However, the severe climate favored the besieged: with the onset of October cold the voevoda was compelled each year to lift the siege, dismantle his fortifications, and retire to winter quarters.
Internal drama: from prayer to revolt.
The principal driving force of the defense was Archimandrite Nikanor. This fanatical elder personally walked the ramparts, sprinkled the cannons with holy water and declared: "Matushki moi galanochki! Nadezhda u nas na vas, vy nas oboronite!" Nikanor urged the shooters to aim at the voevoda, believing that with the death of the "pastyr’" the armed men would scatter like sheep.
Within the monastery a painful schism unfolded. The moderate part of the brotherhood, led by the former archimandrite Iosif and the elder Gerontii, did not wish to break with the tsar and continued to pray for him, regarding the sovereign as Orthodox. However, power was seized by a radical party led by Nikanor and lay sotniks — Isachko Voronin and Samko.
The radicals forbade prayer for the tsar, and the priests who refused to submit were declared heretics. Dissenters, including Gerontii, were thrown into prison. An atmosphere of spiritual anarchy prevailed in the monastery: the insurgents ceased to attend church, confessed one another, plundered the treasury and declared that "we can live without priests." Ultimately Gerontii and some other monks fled the monastery to Meshcherinov, unwilling to take part in the revolt while retaining fidelity to the old rites.
The storming in the blizzard.
The denouement came in the winter of 1675–1676. Meshcherinov, having returned with reinforcements (approximately 1,000 streltsy), this time violated custom and did not withdraw to winter quarters, continuing the blockade in the bitter cold. An attempt at storm on 23 December failed, but the outcome of the siege was decided not by gunpowder but by treachery.
A defector, the monk Feoktist, indicated to the voevoda the fatal vulnerability of the fortress: a hole in the wall only carelessly filled with stones. Exploiting this, Meshcherinov planned a daring night operation.
On the night of 22 January a violent storm and blizzard arose. The elements lulled the vigilance of the guards. Under cover of the weather the streltsy removed the stones in the indicated spot and penetrated the interior of the perimeter. The besieged slept, suspecting nothing; the sentries on the towers did not notice the enemy. The tsar’s soldiers broke the locks and opened the gates, admitting the main forces.
The awakening of the defenders was dreadful. Some attempted to resist with weapons in hand but perished in the unequal fight. The principal instigators of the uprising — Nikanor and the sotnik Sashko — were seized and soon executed. The other participants in the uprising were sent to ostrogs (Kolskii ostrog and Pustozerskii ostrog), while those who agreed to confess and submit to the sovereign and the Church were pardoned and left in the monastery.
Thus the Solovetsky Monastery fell; its defense became a symbol of the desperate but doomed resistance of old Russia to the changes advancing upon it.
Time: 17th century, 1672–1674, 1675–1676, 23 December 1675, 22 January 1676, 1672, 1674, 1673
Persons: Iosif, Gerontii, Klimentii Ievlev, Nikon, Volokhov, Sashko, Isachko Voronin, Samko, Ivan Meshcherinov, Nikanor, Feoktist
Geographical names: Sumskoi ostrog, Solovetsky Monastery, Kolskii ostrog, Pustozerskii ostrog
Events, processes: Siege of the Solovetsky Monastery, Russian church schism, Solovetskoe sidenie, Church reform, Storming of the Solovetsky Monastery
Organizations, institutions: Russian Orthodox Church, streltsy detachment, tsar’s troops
