thumb|316x316px|right|Strigolniki being thrown into the [[Volkhov (river)|Volkhov River from a bridge in 1375, miniature from Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible.]]
The strigolniki (; ) were followers of a Russian religious sect which appeared in the mid-14th century, known as strigolnichestvo (). They first appeared in Pskov before spreading to Novgorod and Tver. By the early 15th century, they had disappeared. Along with the Judaizers, they were one of the major sects in medieval Russia.
The origins of the name remain unclear. Some historians believe it has something to do with handicrafts that the first strigolniki were engaged in, such as cloth-cutting or hairdressing (it appears that the word strigolnik derives from the Russian root strig-, which connotes cutting or trimming). Others think the name comes from a special initiation ceremony (a specific haircut, or strizhka), performed by a deacon named Karp – a supposed founder of the sect (together with deacon Nikita), yet others think it could mean that these people refused to either grow a beard or cut their beards when they entered churches.
Active participants of the sect were tradespeople and low-ranking clergy. They renounced all ecclesiastic hierarchy and monasticism, sacraments done by Russian clergy due to recognizing the Orthodox priesthood as illegitimate: priesthood, communion, penance, and baptism, which had been accompanied by large fees ("extortions", in their view) to the benefit of the clergy. Criticizing and exposing the venality, vices, and ignorance of the priests, the strigolniki demanded the right to a religious sermon for laymen. Their sermons were full of social motifs: they reproached the rich for enslaving the free and the poor.
Beliefs
thumb|Spread of the Strigolniki|left|188x188px
There is some debate if the strigolniki were "heretical", if they were a proto-Protestant movement among Orthodox Christians, being similar to Lollardy or the Hussites, or if they merely opposed the priesthood.
The strigolniki opposed the ruling church, refusing to recognize its bishops and priests, and rejected going to Orthodox churches, instead gathering at separate meetings. They are also known to have criticized Orthodox priests whom they called "drunkards". They also repudiated ordainment, believing that simple laymen could perform church service, and the established church rituals. They also criticized the feudal order. Petrushko on the other hand argued that in the attitude of the strigolniki about the church and church hierarchy, though there are some similarities with Bogomils and Cathars, based on surviving sources they did not have a dogmatic system of theology and did not disagree with the church about Christology and on soteriology, instead most of their disagreements being with ecclesiology. Petrushko, judging by the fact that Photius believed it possible to return the strigolniki to the church, their disagreement with Orthodox dogma was not as dramatic as the Heresy of the Judaizers.
Obolensky has instead suggested that the strigolniki were born from Bogomil or Cathar missionaries in Russia during the times of Kievan Rus'.
Stephen of Perm mentioned that the strigolniki did not confess their sins to clergy but instead to the ground; however, the meaning of what Stephen meant is not clear.]]
According to an epistle by Stephen of Perm, Karp "began to tell the people: it is neither dignified to sing over the dead, nor to mention them; nor to bring offerings for the dead to the church; nor to have feasts; nor to give alms for the soul of the departed". According to the 16th-century Nikon Chronicle, the justification for this was a literal interpretation of the Gospel (Matthew 18:6): "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great milestone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea".
The strigolniki disappeared in the early 15th century due to persecution,