Russian Orthodox Church in the 15th Century

Timeline

1. 1448Moscow · MoscowThe 1439 Council of Florence prompted the Moscow church to reject union with Rome. In 1448 Jonah (Jonah) was elected metropolitan by a Russian council of bishops without awaiting appointment by the patriarch of Constantinople, marking the de facto autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church and laying the institutional foundation for its independent development in the 15th century.
2. 1461–1470Moscow · MoscowBetween 1461 and 1470 Theophanes and Philip I successively served as metropolitans of Moscow; the church and the grand princely regime worked in close cooperation: the metropolitan provided religious legitimacy for Ivan III's wars of unification and presided over major ceremonies and diplomatic marriage alliances; church courts handled land and marriage disputes, the monastery network expanded into newly annexed principalities, and Orthodoxy became the core bond of cultural identity in northeastern Rus.
3. c. 1472–1500Moscow and the monasteries of Rus · RussiaAfter Sophia Palaiologina arrived in Moscow in 1472, monks and scholars developed the theological discourse of "Moscow as the Third Rome," emphasizing Russia's mission to guard the Orthodox faith after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. In the late 15th century the church patronized a flourishing of icon painting, manuscripts, and architecture; centers such as the Sergius—Radonezh Monastery became spiritual and cultural hubs, and church institutions became deeply fused with the Rus state form.