The Old Believers in Imperial Russia by Peter T. De Simone;

Author:Peter T. De Simone;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786724229
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

This petition clearly reveals both the frustration and urgency with which the Rogozhskoe Old Believers viewed the Great Reform's lack of concern for the Old Rite. While tsarist Russia underwent sweeping reforms, the Rogozhskoe Old Believers felt that the reforms did little to alleviate the injustices against the community. Furthermore, as no signs of greater reforms for the Old Rite that would allow Rogozhskoe to reopen their altars appeared on the horizon, the community now viewed the issue as a race against time. The longer authorities delayed reform the more Rogozhskoe Old Believers feared that little would remain of their cathedrals.

As reform for the Old Rite stalled, a major concern for Rogozhskoe came from legislation still in place since 1826 that forbade any repairs to any Old Believer religious structures. Therefore, the Intercession and Nativity Cathedrals went nearly 50 years without any significant maintenance. Without any empire-wide reform for the Old Rite, by the 1870s the Rogozhskoe Old Believers fortunately established close relationships with some Moscow officials who occasionally allowed the community to obtain special permission to undertake restoration projects for the cathedrals. As described above, the restoration projects led by the trustees Dmitri Milovanov and Peter Mel'nikov from 1873 to 1874 serve as one example. After having received permission, Milovanov and Mel'nikov personally funded the restoration for the Intercession Cathedral's roof and floor; as well as the cleaning, “correcting” and varnishing of the cathedral's crosses, and 363 icons and their covers.82

Even in spite of such temporary victories, the Rogozhskoe Old Believers continued their petitions for greater reform to tsarist authorities. Under increased pressure from many Old Rite communities, the Ministry of Internal Affairs finally decided to act. In 1875 the Ministry of Internal Affairs established a committee to discuss reforms for the Old Rite, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Prince Aleksei Lobanov-Rostovskii. The committee formed to discuss the many issues facing the Old Rite, among them freedom of worship, civil rights, education, and community status. Specifically, the committee needed to determine how to include, or justify exclusion, of Old Rite reform as part of the Great Reforms. However, under his own initiative, Lobanov-Rostovskii directly reached out to the Rogozhskoe Old Believers through his contact with Ivan Shibaev; he invited Rogozhskoe to elect a commission to participate in direct discussions with the Saint Petersburg Committee in their efforts to introduce reforms for the Old Rite.

The Saint Petersburg Committee's request for Rogozhskoe's participation resulted from the efforts of Ivan Shibaev who served as one of Rogozhskoe's most prominent leaders in the Reform Era. Born in 1830 into a wealthy Rogozhskoe merchant family, Shibaev became one of the most influential champions for Old Rite reform and toleration beginning in the 1860s until his death in 1908.83 Described as having a “keen intellect and knowledge” of history, politics, and law, Shibaev often attempted to serve as intermediary between Rogozhskoe and the Tsar; he regularly traveled to or resided in Saint Petersburg for months at a time in order to gain an audience with government agents.

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