Background
Joseph Volotsky came from a family of a rich votchinnik and owner of the Yazvishche village in Volokolamsk Principality. He learned to read and write at the local monastery and then took the tonsure at the Borovsk Monastery in 1459. Upon the death of its abbot St. Paphnutius of Borovsk, Joseph Volotsky took his place and attempted to introduce a strict monastic charter. The monks, however, rebuffed his idea, and he had to leave the monastery for good. After having lived in a few other monasteries, Joseph got disappointed with their lax morals and founded his own cloister in 1479 near Volokolamsk, which would become known as Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery. According to Joseph's charter, a monk's chief virtue was absolute obedience to his abbot. All aspects of a monk's life at the monastery were regulated and controlled.
Initially, Joseph Volotsky was connected with the appanage princes of Volokolamsk (brothers of Ivan III) and defended the right of local ecclesiastical and secular feudals to oppose the authority of the grand prince. Later in his life, he severed his relations with the opposition and took the side of the grand prince, sealing this alliance by transferring Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery to the patronage of Vasili III in 1507.
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