Raskol

Leading Russian Church officials had noticed a number of discrepancies between Russian and Greek sermons, rites and books, and in 1652 Patriarch Nikon convened a synod to study these matters. A second synod was convened in 1666 where a number of reforms were issued to correct this as well as condemning much of the traditions of the past. This led to a great schism - raskol - where the those who opposed these changes came to be known as Old Believers or raskolniki.