Why was Archpriest Avvakum burned alive?
In April 1682, the Arctic city of Pustozersk shook. Flames roared in a wooden log cabin: flame tongues devoured the dry figure of Avvakum and three of his followers. Thus, according to the investigative documents of the time, they executed the rebellious priest, who was not afraid to speak out against the church and the tsar.
Avvakum was always distinguished by the strictness of his views. In 1648, he settled in Moscow, where he became a member of a circle of zealots of piety. The archpriest advocated the correction of church books according to Old Russian canons and following the old rules. For example, he believed that one should cross oneself with two fingers, symbolically recalling the nature of Christ – man and God.
In 1652, Patriarch Nikon carried out a church reform: the Orthodox Christians had to cross themselves with three fingers, corresponding to the number of hypostases of the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The changes also affected other church rituals and texts. Those who rejected the innovations were recognized as heretics. Thus, Avvakum and his supporters found themselves outside the law. He did not change his beliefs and continued to criticize Nikon until, in 1666, he was defrocked and sent to Pustozersk.
As a notorious criminal, Avvakum was kept in an earthen pit. Hellish cold in winter, stifling heat in summer, knee-deep water in spring – the archpriest spent 15 years in these conditions. While in prison, he wrote his hagiography: these pages became the first autobiography in Russian literature. He did not renounce his beliefs, although he was asked to do so by both Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his heir Fyodor Alexeevich.
