Solovetsky Monastery uprising

The uprising started in the summer of 1668, when the high-ranking clergy of the monastery rose in opposition to Patriarch Nikon’s ecclesiastic reform soon after his defrocking.

An estimated 450-500 rebels took part in the Solovetsky Monastery Uprising, which began under the slogan of the struggle for the "Old Faith" in connection with the Old Believers movement (see Raskol).

The uprising was supported by local peasants and workers (работные люди, or rabotniye lyudi), which would allow the monastery to withstand more than seven years of siege without experiencing any serious difficulties with food supplies and other necessities.

Beside the regular food assistance from the outside, many visiting workers, runaway soldiers, and even Streltsy made their way onto the island and joined the rebels.

The rebels had been successfully defending themselves until their betrayal by a monk named Feoktist, who showed the Streltsy an unprotected window of the monastery’s White Tower.