The book contains the results of the author's searches in the field of "non-possessive" bookishness, and special attention is paid to the works of Vassian Patrikeev. The book is debatable. The heroes of the book are Neil Sorsky, Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim the Greek, Joseph Volotsky, Metropolitan Daniel. Textology and historical sociology, church history and canon law complement each other in research search. Contrary to historiographic tradition, the author rejects the attribution to Vassian of such treatises as "The Answer of the Cyril Elders" and "The Debate with Joseph Volotsky," and offers a different interpretation of the program of Vassian and his few followers. According to the author, the teachings of the "non-possessors" were not secularization, the council of 1503 hardly discussed the "non-possessory" programs, Vassian Patrikeev did not propose to seize the monastery lands in favor of the emerging service class, but advocated a less radical reform - the transfer of management of the monastery lands into the hands of the episcopate.