Non-possessors

The non-possessors (Russian: нестяжатели, romanized: nestyazhateli) belonged to a movement in the Russian Orthodox Church in the early 16th century that opposed ecclesiastical land-ownership.

[1][2] They were opposed to the possessors (styazhateli) led by Joseph of Volokolamsk (1439/1440–1515), whose followers were known as the Josephites and believed that monastic possessions helped monks.

[1] The non-possessors are similar to other movements in Christianity, the Spiritual Franciscans for example, in that they believed that ownership of land and the Church's possession of wealth in general had corrupted the church.

Following the Sobor of 1503, the terms non-possessors (nestyazhateli) and possessors (styazhateli) came to be used.

[5] A dispute arose as Joseph of Volokolamsk (1439/1440–1515) stressed the importance of the monasteries receiving sufficient endowments to fulfil social responsibilities, while the other party led by Nilus of Sora (1433–1508) stressed the spiritual aspects of monasticism.