Archbishop Herman (), born Grigory Fyodorovich Sadyrev-Polev (; died 6 November 1567), was the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

from 1564 to 1567. He was also a candidate for the position of

metropolitan of Moscow This article lists the metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow, spiritual heads of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since 1308, there have been 59. History The Russian Orthodox Church traces its beginnings to the Christianization of Kievan Rus' ...

. He died in Moscow and was buried in the Church of Saint Nicholas the Hospitable.

Biography

Herman took monastic vows in

Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery (Иосифо-Волоколамский монастырь, Волоцкий Успенский Иосифов монастырь in Russian language, Russian) is a monastery for men, located 17 km northeast of V ...

. Here he served under Hegumen Guriy, who would become the first archbishop of Kazan, and was engaged in copying books. Upon organizing his congregation in

, Guriy called for Herman and appointed him as the head of the Bogoroditsky Monastery in

Sviyazhsk Sviyazhsk (; ) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located at the confluence of the Volga and Sviyaga Rivers. It is often referred to as an island since the 1955 construction of the Kuybyshev Reservoir downstr ...

. The

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

attached great importance to this

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in terms of spreading

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

among the non-Russians in the Kazan region. Upon Guriy's death in 1564, Herman was elected his successor. At the insistence of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

and against Herman's will, he was appointed

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1566. When the Tsar seized land from the aristocrats and imposed repression in a policy called the ''

oprichnina The oprichnina (, ; ) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repression of the boyars (Russian aristocrats), including public executions and confiscation of their land ...

'', Herman demanded the Tsar to abolish it. Herman was banished from

in disgrace for this opposition. Herman died in Moscow in 1567. His relics were then transported to Sviyazhsk, where they are resting to this day in Bogoroditsky Monastery The Russian Church celebrates his memory on 6 November and 23 July, the day his relics were transferred from Moscow to Sviyazhsk.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German, Metropolitan 1568 deaths Metropolitans of Moscow and all Rus' Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 16th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown 16th-century Russian clergy