A 17th-Century Russian Community Living in 21st-Century Alaska

[RZM]

12. Old Believers originated a little before Peter's time

In the 1660s (Peter was born in 1672). They were a negative reaction to liturgical reforms intended to bring Russian Orthodox practices in line with the rest of the Orthodox world. A big one was the number of fingers you use to sign the cross. They were known to commit mass suicides rather than adopt the new practices.

Peter also reformed the church, but his changes were mainly administrative and part of his quest to enhance the power of the state. Peter essentially put the state in charge of the church by abolishing the office of Patriarch (basically the Russian Pope) and replacing it with a government-appointed body (the synod). This was in the 1720s.