To question about western and eastern influence in Russia Governing of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (traditions and innovations)

Governing of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was marked by transformations in socio-political and spiritual life of the Russian state. One of the pressing problems of this period was the synthesis of the Eastern (Greek) and Western (Roman Catholic) influence on Russian society. On the one hand, the close contacts of Russian government with the Greek world in political, ecclesiastical and cultural fields played a leading role in shaping the ideology of the Moscow kingdom in the middle of XVII century. On the other hand, the phenomena, associated with the western influence, brought to the Russian land elements of the new / different realities. They had an impressive transformative potential, and thus seriously affected the development of Russian society and state. Greek-Russian relations in the XVII century became more lively, and during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich reached its peak. The adoption of Christianity in the form of orthodoxy, and later - of patriarchate from the Greeks, determined the cultural focusing on the Byzantine Empire. The Greek clergy were coming to Moscow, the Greeks were asked for clarification of the canonical issues. The Christian shrines were brought from the Orthodox East to Russia. Alexis had quite adopted symbols of Byzantine emperor power, remaining for all that a Russian Christian autocrat - the defender and proponent of Orthodoxy. The idea of succession of the Russian tsar's power from the Byzantine emperors was one of the postulates, which substantiated the autocratic tsar power. The image of Constantine the Great became the paradigm of imperial authority for Alexei Mikhailovich. Thus, the focus on the Greek Orthodox Church was quite traditional, and historically grounded for Russia. Western influence that came to Russia in the XVII century mostly in the form of Baroque culture, not only successfully interacted with the traditional Russian culture, but also served as a major factor in its transformation into the new stage of development. The most important difference between the medieval traditional and "new" cultures was their attitude to the religious norms and values - in this sense secular nature of the "new" culture was very important: its focus on the break with the religious thinking, the accumulation of practical knowledge, changing of attitudes to life and person. A characteristic feature of the new trends in Russian culture was its "openness" as opposed to medieval isolation. It created the need for extensive cultural contacts between Russia and the West, which were comprehensive and covered many aspects of Russian culture. Contacts between Russia and the West occurred, to a large extent, through state institutions and the royal court, were controlled and subjected to the state interests, and Western cultural values were accumulated primarily in the court and the close to the monarch environment.

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