The ''Book of One Hundred Chapters'', also called ''Stoglav'' (''Стоглав'') in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

("Hundred chapters"), is a collection of decisions of the Russian church council of 1551 that regulated the

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 ...

and ecclesiastical life in the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

, especially the everyday life of the Russian clergy. The book is shaped in the form of answers to some 100 questions posed by

Ivan IV of Russia Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Iva ...

. A constant theme running through the chapters is the Byzantine ''

symphonia Symphonia ( Greek ) is a much-discussed word, applied at different times to the bagpipe, the drum, the hurdy-gurdy, and finally a kind of clavichord. The sixth of the musical instruments enumerated in Book of Daniel, (verses 5, 10 and 15), tran ...

'' (harmony) between the ' priesthood' and the '

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

'. The ''Book of Hundred Chapters'' canonized the native Muscovite rituals and practices 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 Eastern Orthodox countries. As a result this church code was never accepted by the

Russian monks Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

residing on Mount Athos. In the mid-17th century, the Old Believers championed the ''Stoglav'' in order to undermine

Patriarch Nikon Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...

's authority and his ecclesiastical reforms. The

Great Moscow Synod 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 t ...

of 1667 condemned the ''Stoglav'' and its practices as

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

and banned the book from usage for 200 years. This contributed 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 ...

. There are at least 100 manuscripts of the ''Stoglav'', all of them produced by the Old Believers. The official church historians of the 18th and 19th centuries (such as

Platon Levshin Plato II or Platon II (29 June 1737 – 11 November 1812) was the Metropolitan of Moscow from 1775 to 1812. He personifies the Age of Enlightenment in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was born at Chashnikovo near Moscow as Platon Levshin (russian ...

) discarded these texts as spurious. Their authenticity was reasserted by historian Ivan Belyayev in 1863.

References

{{Muscovite Constitution Russian Orthodox Church in Russia 1551 in Russia 1551 books Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church History of the Russian Orthodox Church it:Stoglav