The “Third Rome” Idea among the Old Believers

Abstract. The paper addresses a scientific problem of the use of the “Third Rome”’ idea by the Old Believers in the 17th–early 18th century. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to improve our understanding of the use of Filofei of Psov’s concept in the new political and religious realities. The novelty of the approach lies in analyzing not only the old-believer’s texts but also the miscellanies. As a typical example of such miscellany the paper uses a manuscript compiled in the 1660s by Gerontius, the monk of the Solovetsky Monastery. The analysis made it possible to reveal creativeness of the author of striking publicist writings that served as a basis for the ideology of the Solovetsky Monastery uprising. The study showed not only how the miscellany’s compiler applied the “Third Rome” idea but also how the perceptions of this idea had been formed. It is concluded that the miscellany’s compiler evidently tried to give the new meaning to the formula of Filofei of Pskov: “Two Romes have fallen, the third stands, and there will be no fourth’”, taking into account the new political and religious context. The concept was spelled out by the first opponents of the church reform which allowed the next generation of Old Believers to refer to it when it was necessary, without hesitation and going into detail, as evidenced by the text of the famous “Pomorian answers”.

Keywords: Filofei of Pskov, medieval concept, 17th century, Solovetsky Monastery uprising, Gerontius of Solovki, manuscript miscellany, piety, eschatology.