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The Muscovite Widowed Clergy and the Russian Church Reforms of 1666-1667

Abstract:In seventeenth-century Russia all parish priests and deacons had to be married. Widowers were in an anomalous position. Prior to 1667, clergymen who outlived their wives were suspended from office and either tonsured or demoted to minor orders, or if a priest insisted upon remarrying, he had to renounce holy orders altogether. This harsh rule was revised by the Moscow Church Council of 1666-67, which decreed that clergymen should be allowed to retain their benefices after the loss of their wives if they had a special license from their bishop. This article assesses the impact of this reform on the lives of the seventeenth-century widowed clergy and reveals that although the changes were initially greeted with great joy by parish priests, in the long-term the reform proved disappointing to both the hierarchy and lower clergy alike.