Patriarch Iov and the Russian bishops of the last quarter of the 16th – early 17th century

The article deals with the internal factors of the Russian episcopate’s formation in the 16th century. It was established that the belonging to the influential church groups had played the most important role till the last quarter of the 16th century. There were three - the monks’ community of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius monastery, the Kirillo-Belozerskii monastery, the Iosifo-Volockii monastery. The period, when Simon (the monk of the Holy Trinity- St. Sergius monastery) was the metropolitan, was characterized by the increase of the number of the bishops from this monastery (1495-1511). The metropolitan Daniil (1522-1539) who was from the Iosifo-Volockii monastery strengthened the position of this monastery. The metropolitan Makarii (1542-1563) tried to strike a balance between these two groups. The patriarch Iov (1586-1605) didn’t belong to the influential church groups. That’s why their influence on the governing of the Russian church was minimized. The bishops were appointed from about 15 monasteries. It was connected, on the one hand, with the attempt of Iov and his ally the Godunovs to weaken the “aristocratic” monasteries, on another hand - with the death of the last capable representative of the dynasty in 1584. For a long time the dynasty supported these influential monasteries and others.