Filaret (Fedor), Nikitić Romanov, Patriarch of Moscow

FILARET (FEDOR), NIKITIĆ ROMANOV, patriarch of MOSCOW. — He was one of the boyars, or grandees, at the court of the last Rurikid, Teodoro (1584–98). Boris Godunov forced F. to become a monk. The “false Demetrius” appointed him metropolitan of Rostov (1605). In this capacity he adhered to the false second Demetrius. He then went to King Sigismondo Wasa of Poland to induce him to have his son Ladislao crowned tsar of Russia (1611). Sigismondo had F. arrested in Poland, and he was able to return to Russia only in 1619, where in the meantime his son Michele had been crowned tsar. That same year F. was made patriarch of Moscow.

He worked for the reform of the patriarchal administration. At a synod he ordered that all Latins who had passed over to the dissident Russian Church be rebaptized. In general, F. fought Western influence, and in Poland he supported the new schismatic hierarchy against the Easterners united with Rome. F. took part in the government under the title of grand lord (velikij gosudar). With cautious moderation, F. brought to completion a profound reform of the liturgical books. In this he compares favorably with Patriarch Nikon, the future reformer of the Russian liturgy. He died in 1633.