Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode 318, Patriarchs and Metropolitans of the Russian Orthodox Church, Part 2.

Last time, we covered the early Metropolitanropolitans and the first patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church,

the future Saint Job.

Today, we will discuss the most influential of the remaining leaders of the Russian church,

all the way up to the present-day patriarch, the very controversial,

Kiriel.

The first patriarch we will discuss is one whose place is disputed by some within the Russian Orthodox

Church.

Some even omit him from their list as he tried to legitimize the first false Dmitri during the time of troubles.

Ignatius is controversial for several reasons.

First, he performed the coronation of False Dmitri 1st on July 21st, 1605.

This was popular with some in Moscow, but certainly not with many in the church.

When the first false Dmitri was assassinated on May 17, 1606, Ignatius was forcibly removed from

the sea and sent to the Chudov Monastery prison. Then he backed the second

false, Dmitri. Ignatius would escape Moscow only to be attacked, beaten, and robbed at the Polish border.

His life, though, was spared by the Polish king, Sijimund the thirdrd Vasa, who thought he would be of use if he

were able to invade Muscovy and take control of the country.

To add to his controversial nature, Ignatius converted to Byzantine-right Catholicism,

which got him a post-mortem Domnacio, Memoraya, which is why he is often not counted among the

legitimate patriarchs by the Russian Orthodox Church. His successor, Hermogenes, was staunchly

opposed to the first false Dmitri, which caused him to be exiled for a brief period until he returned in 1606.

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