Joseph Volotsky - Struggle Against Non-possessors

Struggle Against Non-possessors

During the Church Sobor of 1503, Joseph Volotsky and his supporters (Josephites) managed to scrap the project of elimination of monastic landownership, proposed by the nestiazhateli, or non-possessors (those who opposed monastic landownership), in the persons of the so-called Transvolgan elders led by Nil Sorsky and Vassian Patrikeyev. Joseph Volotsky addressed a number of epistles to the nestyazhateli, in which he tried to prove the legality of monastic landownership and justify the rich décor of churches. Eventually, Joseph Volotsky gained the upper hand and the monasteries preserved their landholdings.