The Sect of Skhariya the Jew will…

The Sect of Skhariya the Jew will spread over Moscow in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century.

In 1480, even Grand Prince Ivan III himself invites a few prominent adherents to visit the city.

The Grand Prince's seemingly strange behavior can be explained by the fact that he has sympathized with heretics’ ideas of secularization and the struggle against feudal division.

Thus, the Judaizers enjoy the support of high-ranking officials, statesmen, merchants, Yelena Stefanovna (wife of Ivan the Young, heir to the throne) and Ivan's favorite deacon and diplomat Feodor Kuritsyn.

The latter even decides to establish his own club in 1485 that later will be considered heretical.

Kuritsyn, who is against monasteries and monasticism, expresses ideas about freedom of human will ("autocracy of the soul"), which he interprets in a much broader sense than orthodox theology allows.

Despite the growing popularity of this religious movement in Novgorod and Moscow, Ivan III is wary of the fact that it could irreversibly infiltrate broader masses of ordinary people and deprive him of ecclesiastic support in his foreign policy.

Indeed, a denial of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ will destroy Christianity, while the adherents' opposition to the clergy and the secular authorities will undermine the entire society.

This makes Ivan III renounce his ideas of secularization and ally with the clergy.