The Stoglav Synod (russian: Стоглавый Собор; also translated as ''Hundred Chapter Synod'' or ''Council of a Hundred Chapters'') was a church council (''sobor'') held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 1551, with the participation of

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Ivan IV, Metropolitan Macarius, and representatives of the

Boyar Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. It convened in January and February 1551, with some final sessions as late as May of that year. Its decrees are known as the '' Stoglav''.

In 1551, the Tsar summoned a synod of the Russian Church to discuss the ritual practices that had grown up in Russia which did not conform with those of the Greek Church. The decrees issued by the Synod, known as the Stoglav, rule that they were all correct. This unilaterial decision shocked many of the Orthodox. The monks of
Athos Athos may refer to: Fictional or mythical characters * Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père * Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology * Athos Fadiga ...
protested and the Russian monks there regarded the decisions of the synods as invalid.

Decisions

The Stoglav Synod was called under the government’s initiative which aspired to support the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in struggle against anti- feudal heretical movements and simultaneously to subordinate its secular authority. The Stoglav Synod proclaimed the inviolability of

properties and the exclusive jurisdiction of church courts over ecclesiastical matters. At the demand of the church hierarchy the government cancelled the tsar's jurisdiction over ecclesiastics. In exchange, members of the Stoglav Synod made concessions to the government in a number of other areas (prohibition for

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

to found new large villages in cities, etc.). By decisions of the Stoglav Synod, church ceremonies and duties in the whole territory of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

were unified, and norms of church life were regulated with the purpose of increasing the educational and moral level of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

to ensure they would correctly fulfill their duties, such as creation of schools for preparation of priests. In particular, the Sobor forbade the tradition of

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...

and other shortcuts in liturgy. The church authorities' control over the activities of book writers,

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

painters, and others, was firmly established. The decisions of the Stoglav Synod that approved the native Russian rituals at the expense of those accepted in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and other Orthodox countries were cancelled by the

Moscow Sobor of 1666–1667 The Great Moscow Synod () was a Pan-Orthodox synod convened by Tsar Alexis of Russia in Moscow in April 1666 in order to depose Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. The council condemned the famous Stoglav of 1551 as heretical, because it had dogmatized ...

,Church Court in the Resolutions of the Stoglavy Sobor
leading to a great schism of the Russian church known as the

Raskol The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...

Church code

The synod produced a church code named ''The Synodal Code of the Russian Orthodox Church Synod''. It was phrased as a record of questions of the

to the

with their answers. By the end of the 16th century the text of the Code was divided into 100 chapters (or "Sto glav" in Russian), and had become commonly referred to as the '' Stoglav''. Accordingly, since these times the Sobor acquired the name "Stoglav Synod". The ''Stoglav'' was the basic code of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

as well as a guide to the everyday life of the Muscovite clergy. There are many hand-written editions of the ''"Stoglav"''.Jack Kollmann, ''The Moscow Stoglav ('Hundred Chapters') Church Council of 1551'' (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1978).

References

{{Reflist 16th-century church councils Russian Orthodox Church in Russia 1551 in Russia History of the Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church councils