Why weren’t there any orthodox crusades or orthodox orders?

by Ivan_Krasnov

To my knowledge, there weren’t any orthodox knight orders, while there were some attacks on orthodox lands. Why weren’t any established?

Kghp11

I assume you’re referring to Orthodox Christianity? A somewhat similar question was asked four years ago, answered by u/Rhodis : https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4yvmnk/why_was_there_no_orthodox_equivalent_to_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

SgtBANZAI

There were differences in ways military Orthodox formations were organized - it wasn't uncommon for experienced warriors to become monks after concluding their military service, and enlisting as both clergy and military garrison into different Orthodox monasteries, which was especially widespread on territories which would be later incorporated into united Russia. Their continued military endeavours weren't uncommon, and in 16th century these fortress monasteries become very important centers of military production. They were built and reinforced with possibility of enemy siege in mind, and often had to endure prolonged periods of warfare - such as siege of Tikhwin in 1613 (although it's out of scope of Medieval times which usually involve crusade-related topics).

Why weren’t there any orthodox crusades

From the purely technical point of view, there were. Conquests of former Tatar territories by Russian Tsardom were often encouraged by the church and bore heavy religious context (despite political reasons obviously being much more decisive). There is at least one known instance of Orthodox crusade aimed at other Christians - beginning stages of Thirteen Years War of 1654-1667. Russian invasion of Polish-Lithuanian lands was framed as holy war aimed to "liberate" old Orthodox lands from "Catholic infidels". Tsar Alexei Romanov himself justified this campaign as rightful retaliation against "misdeeds of Polish kings" and encouraged soldiers "to stand firmly for the Orthodox faith and counter any mischief brought upon state of Moscow".

Sources:

  1. I. B. Babulin, "Smolensk campaign and battle of Shepeleviche, 1654".
  2. O. A. Kurbatov, "Siege of Tikhwin, 1613".