 That period was marked by the happenings of the Schism of the Russian Church, caused by Patriarch Nikon's reforms, which resulted to de-canonizations (and later re-canonizations) of some saints, such as of Anna of Kashin and Maxim the Greek.Following Peter I's western-influenced church reforms and centralization of the state in 1721 the Russian Church partially lost its independence from the state.The highest church organ was now the Most Holy Synod, a type of Council of Church Affairs, featuring non-clergical officials.