Protestants at the court of the Ivan the Terrible

• Main Author: Vyacheslav Valentinovich Shaposhnik
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Theological Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (Saint-Petersburg, Russia), 2016-12-01
• Series: Религия, церковь, общество
• Subjects: ivan the terrible; protestants; matvei bashkin; the elder artemius; feodosius kosoy; jan rokita; duke magnus; dr. bomelius
• Online Access: http://rcs-almanac.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/%D1%88%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%88%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA.pdf

The article discusses two main issues. Firstly, it examines the Russian heretical movements which were traditionally seen in the national historiography as simular to the reformist movements in Western Europe. Secondly, the text deals with the role of several immigrants from Europe present at court of Ivan the Terrible who were Protestants. Among Russian heretics attention is paid to Matvei Bashkin, elder Artemius, Feodosius Kosoy. The views of these people could be considered similar to the reformists’ only at a stretch, although some correspondence with the ideas of the Western European Protestants might be detected. Besides, in connection with this issue attention is paid to the role of Dr. Bomelius at the Royal court of Danish Duke Magnus (nominal king of Livonia) and Ivan the Terrible’s controversy with Jan Rocita. The author concludes that the position of Protestants in Russia under Ivan the Terrible’s rule was better in comrapison with the Catholics’. Protestants in Russia were allowed to have their own churches and hold services, and some of them had considerable influence at court. At the same time, propaganda of Protestant ideas among local population was prohibited. Russian citizens, whose views were differnt from the Orthodox, were considered heretics and were subject to serious punishment.