Stefan Yavorsky

Background

His preaching made him well known in Kiev. The tsar ordered him to remain in Moscow, and in April he was made archbishop of Ryazan and Murom. He lived in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Ryazan, rarely returning to Ukraine.

Initially supporting Peter's reforms, he later opposed them as they restricted church rights. Yavorsky died the following year; shortly before his death, suspected of involvement in a publication accusing Peter of being the Antichrist, he was interrogated at home by members of the Synod and Senate. It is possible that only his death saved him from punishment.