The
Russian Orthodox church, along with much of Russian society, went thourgh a period of
reform in the mid-17th century. This caused a major
schism in the church, and the
reactionary opponents of the changes were known as
Raskolniks, or
Raskolniki.
The church reforms were initiated by the leader of the Russian church, Patriarch Nikon, and were singularly uncomprimising. Some of the reforms were entirely justified, such as correcting parts of the lituragy that had become corrupted over centuries of isolation from the Greek church. Others were administrative changes necessary to counter the highly organised Polish Jesuits, who were spreading Catholicism. Yet others, however, were needlessly pedantic, such as the pronounciation of the name Jesus and the method of making the sign of the cross. The educated classes generally accepted the reforms, either due to to support for modernization in general, or fear of Tsarist retribution. The peasants, however, being generally superstitious and traditionalist at heart, were outraged and chaos errupted.
The Raskolniki, who called themselves the "Old Believers" were those who resisted the reforms. From the start, things went badly for the Raskolniki; the Tsar tolerated no dissent and persecuted them tirelessly. Many, convinced the end of the world was nigh, commited mass suicide by locking themselves in burning churches.
Though Nikon himself was soon ousted, his reforms lived on, as did the Raskolniki, who continued on as a subversive element in Russian society. Further reforms to the church by Peter the Great were similarly contested. As very few of the clergy joined the movement, it futher subdivided over the issue of whether a hierarchy was necessary at all. The Bezpopovsti, or priestless sect, survived to some extent, although with no formal hierarchy they mostly disintegrated into tiny communities of believers. The Popovtsi, or priestly sect, evolved into a formal church with a parallel hierarchy to the Russian Orthodox church.