Sylvester was born in
Kursk; he was first a
podyachy in Kursk and then
Moscow. In 1665, he entered the newly established
Slavic Greek Latin Academy of
Simeon of Polotsk (1629–1680) in the
Zaikonospassky Monastery, where he learnt Latin, poetics and rhetoric. After Simeon's death, Sylvester re-established the school. In 1687, the school and the printing press schools were merged to form the
Slavic Greek Latin Academy. Sylvester supported
Sophia () during her regency and promoted the Roman Catholic understanding of the
Eucharist, which led to theological disputes during the 1680s. In 1690, a
sobor of the
Russian Orthodox Church condemned the views of the Westernizing party. After Sophia's overthrow, Sylvester was executed for high treason against Tsar
Peter I. He was buried at the Zaikonospassky Monastery. ==See also==