In 1711, Prokopovich gave a sermon on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. The Tsar of Russia, Peter I, was struck by the eloquence of this sermon, and upon his return to Kiev, Feofan Prokopovich was appointed rector of the Kiev-Mogila Academy and a professor of theology. At the same time, he also became abbot of the Kiev Brotherhood Epiphany Monastery. He entirely reformed the teaching of theology there, substituting the historical method of the German theologians for the Orthodox scholastic system.