Bringing Moscow spiritual authority to the North

23/3/13 William Brumfield , special to RBTH Once a bulwark of the Muscovite state in the Russian North, today the Savior Prilutsky Monastery is both a historical site and center of worship. The 14th century was critical in many ways for the formation of the Muscovite state that would become the center of Russia. One of the most important accomplishments was the development of monastic institutions that not only elevated the propagation of the faith and the quest for a spiritual life but also advanced the interests of the Moscow principality as the primary defender of Russian Orthodoxy.