JUDAIZERS. - This was the name given in Russia toward the end of the 15th century (1487-1503) to the deniers of the Trinity, frequent especially in Novgorod but also present at the court of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (1462-1505). Perhaps they had arrived there with the wife of his son born of his marriage to Elena, a native of Moldavia, while those of Novgorod spread as far as Kiev and then into the Balkans.
Their books were for the most part the work of Jews, such as the Logic of Aristotle, which bears the influence of Moses Maimonides, or the astrological work The Six Wings, which goes back to the French Jew Bonfils of Tarascon. They also made use of cabalistic writings. Their concern was to procure direct translations from Hebrew of the Sacred Books into Old Slavonic, which for that time meant a great novelty. For this reason the J. brought something original to Russian culture. Gennadius (v.), Archbishop of Novgorod, immediately denounced the J. to the Metropolitan of Moscow, but he succeeded in having his severe methods accepted only at the third Synod (1504) held against the J., whose leaders were condemned to death. Gennadius was supported by Joseph of Volokolamsk, who was in turn opposed by certain circles in Moscow and by some hermits living near the Sorus River, notably by Nil Sorsky. The Russian Church rejected, together with the heresies of the J., their cultural novelties. It may be, however, that the version of the Bible edited by Gennadius was due to the work of the J. The victory over the J. also meant a tighter isolation of Russia from the West.
Bibliography
Alberto M. Ammann