The Story of Russia Part 5

Ivan had reasonable cause for thinking that Akhmet would be displeased, and collected an army of 150,000 men on the Oka, where he took up a strong position. He had been right in his conjecture, for Akhmet gathered an army and in due time arrived on the opposite bank of the river. Ivan had time to reflect. He did not much fancy risking a decisive battle, and returned to Moscow to consult his mother, the boyards, and the priests. All urged him to fight, and finally he came back to the camp, convinced that scheming and plotting were more in his line. All this time the two armies lay within earshot, exchanging complimentary remarks, with no casualties. The khan offered to (p. 102) pardon Ivan on condition that he should come and hold his stirrup; or, if he were too tired, if he should send some high officer to do it in his name. Ivan shook his head. Meanwhile the priests at Moscow were growing impatient, and the Archbishop Va.s.sian sent him a warm letter.

It happened that Akhmet was quite as prudent as Ivan; but when the winter came and the Oka, instead of a barrier, became an easy crossing, Ivan ordered the retreat. Just then the two armies, led by such brave commanders, were seized with a panic, and away they fled in opposite directions. (1480.) The honors were with Ivan, because he did not have so far to run as Akhmet, who did not stop until he reached Sara. It is not stated why Ivan received no surname from this great battle.

The following year, 1481, Ivan had sufficiently recovered to show the courage he possessed. There was a disturbance in Novgorod, where the people did not appreciate the n.o.bility of his character. He ordered some of the boyards to be tortured and put to death, and _eight thousand_ citizens were forcibly packed off to Souzdal.

In fear of his doughty enemy Akhmet, Ivan made friends with the Khan of the Crimea, calculating that if the former should attack him again, he would have to look out for his rear. Akhmet, however, seemed to have had enough of it, and Ivan, who was on bad terms with Lithuania and Poland, suggested to his friend that a raid into those territories might pay. The Khan of the Crimea took the hint; he penetrated as far as Kief which he captured and pillaged. (1482.) The famous monastery of the Catacombs was almost destroyed; but Ivan had the (p. 103) satisfaction of knowing that his two enemies had other things to think of, instead of annoying him.

In 1487 war broke out with Kazan. A Russian army marched against it, but Ivan did not take command. As a result, the city was taken and the khan, who had a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of czar, was brought a prisoner to Moscow. Fearing that he would unite the other Tartars against him if he annexed the territory at once, he appointed a nephew of his friend, the Khan of the Crimea, but placed Russian soldiers in the fortress, while he added the t.i.tle of Prince of Bulgaria to his own. Other Tartar princes sent envoys to protest against the arrest. Ivan did not receive them in person, and refused to release the prisoner, but he ordered the envoys to be treated with great honor and gave them so many presents, that they returned in great good humor.

In 1492, the King of Poland died, leaving that kingdom to his eldest son Albert, and Lithuania to his second son Alexander. Ivan was justly indignant that he had not been remembered in the will. He sent envoys to Bajazet II, Sultan of Turkey, to the Kings of Hungary and Moldavia, and to his old friend the Khan of the Crimea, to secure their a.s.sistance or at least their kind neutrality. Of the services of the Khan of the Crimea he felt a.s.sured.

He began by discovering a Polish plot against his life at Moscow, and appealed to the religious prejudices of the Lithuanian n.o.bles belonging to the Greek Church, omitting to mention his little arrangement with the infidel sultan. When Alexander sent envoys to negotiate terms of peace, Ivan's deputies said to them: "Lithuania (p. 104) has profited by the misfortunes of Russia to take our territory, but to-day things are changed." They were right. When peace was concluded in 1494, Ivan's frontier in the west was extended.

The marriage of Alexander to Ivan's daughter seemed to end the hostility between the two countries, but nothing was further from the schemes of the wily grand duke. He stipulated that she should have a Greek chapel in the palace, and warned her never to appear in a Catholic church, and always to wear the Russian national dress. Soon after the wedding Ivan complained that his daughter was forced to wear Polish costumes, and that the Greek Church was being persecuted. These were to him ample cause for war, the more so since he had good reason to count upon his friends, the priests and boyards of the Greek Church. When the war broke out, cities where the majority of the people belonged to that church, opened their gates to his army, and Alexander was badly defeated in the battle of Vedrocha. This war added another slice to Ivan's territory.

Alexander in his distress made an alliance with the Livonian Order and with the Great Horde at Sara; but Ivan's old friend, the Khan of the Crimea, made a raid in Gallicia and Volhynia, and the Lithuanians were defeated at Mstislaf; but they compelled the Russians to raise the siege of Smolensk. Meanwhile Ivan had serious trouble. In 1495, he ordered the merchants of several Hanseatic towns to be arrested at Novgorod, and incidentally had goods to the value of $200,000,--an immense sum in those days,--carried to Moscow. This caused the (p. 105) foreign merchants to leave for safer places; but the Livonian Order invaded his territory, and in the battle of Siritza, they crushed a Russian army of 50,000 men, but the following year, 1502, they were defeated at Pskof.

Toward the end of his life he was in doubt about his successor, because his eldest son was dead. At first he thought of making his grandson Dmitri, his heir; but he changed his mind, sent his daughter-in-law and grandson to prison and proclaimed his second son Va.s.sili his heir. He died in 1505, after a reign of forty-three years.

It was under his direction that a new code of laws, the Oulogenia, was prepared.

XII--RUSSIA BECOMES AN AUTOCRACY. (p. 106)

Va.s.sili, Ivan's son, showed a great resemblance to his father. He did not evince any greater love for his near relatives, as one of his first acts was to put his nephew Dmitri in prison, where he died. One of his brothers who did not like his manners, tried to escape, but was brought back and severely punished.

The republic of Pskof, and the dukedoms of Riazan and Novgorod-Seversky were still enjoying some degree of liberty, which Va.s.sili did not approve. At Pskof, the grand duke was represented by _a namiestnik_, or ducal delegate; the people, citizens and peasants, n.o.bles and lower cla.s.ses, quarreled constantly among themselves, but united to quarrel with the delegate. Va.s.sili determined to put an end to this. He came to Novgorod to hold court, and summoned the magistrates of Pskof to appear before him, and when they arrived he ordered their arrest. A merchant of Pskof heard of it and, hurrying home, told the people. Immediately the bell was rung to convoke the vetche, and the ma.s.ses called for war with Moscow. More prudent counsels prevailed when messengers arrived from the prisoners, imploring their friends not to try a useless resistance and to avoid the shedding of blood. A leading citizen was sent to Va.s.sili to (p. 107) offer him submission; he was dismissed with the answer that one of the _diaks_ or secretaries would come to Pskof to let the people know the terms. When that officer arrived, he was admitted in the vetche, where he informed his hearers that Va.s.sili imposed two conditions, namely, that Pskof and the towns subject to it must receive his delegates, and that the vetche must be abolished and the great bell, used to convoke it, must be taken down. Twenty-four hours were asked to deliberate.

Before the time expired, the vetche met for the last time, when the first magistrate addressed the delegate. "It is written in our chronicles," he said, "that our ancestors took oaths to the grand duke. The people of Pskof swore never to rebel against our lord who is at Moscow, nor to ally themselves with Lithuania, with Poland, nor with the Germans, otherwise the wrath of G.o.d would be upon them, bringing with it famine, fires, floods, and the invasion of the infidels. If the grand duke, on his part, did not observe his vow, he dared the same consequences. Now our town and our bell are in the power of G.o.d and the duke. As for us, we have kept our oath." The great bell was taken to Novgorod, and Va.s.sili visited "his patrimony."

Three hundred wealthy families were transported to other cities and replaced by as many families from Moscow. When he departed from Pskof, he left a garrison of 5,000 guards and 500 artillerymen. That was the end of the last republic in Russia. (1510.)

In 1521, it was the turn of Riazan whose duke was accused of having entered into an alliance with the Khan of the Crimea. He was summoned to Moscow, where he was arrested, but he managed to escape. His dukedom, however, was annexed to Moscow. Two years later, in 1523, (p. 108) the Duke of Novgorod-Severski was put in prison for underhand dealing with Poland, and that dukedom was added to Va.s.sili's territories. This rounded up Va.s.sili's possessions in Central Russia.

The grand duke continued his father's policy toward Lithuania. When Alexander died, he tried to become Grand Duke of Wilna, but the King of Poland was too quick for him. War broke out, but neither gained any important advantage, and in 1509 a _perpetual peace_ was concluded wherein Va.s.sili renounced all claims upon Kief and Smolensk. The "perpetual peace" lasted three years. Va.s.sili then went to the other extreme, by declaring that "as long as his horse was in marching condition and his sword cut sharp, there should be neither peace nor truce with Lithuania." In 1514, the Russian army besieged and took Smolensk, but in the same year they were badly defeated in the battle of Orcha.

The two grand dukes tried to involve as many allies as they could. The Khan of the Crimea, the useful friend of Va.s.sili's father, had become the son's enemy; Va.s.sili offset him by an alliance with the Khan of Astrakhan. When Sigismund tried to secure the help of Sweden, Va.s.sili sought that of Denmark; and when his enemy set the Dnieper Cossacks at him, the grand duke induced the Teutonic Order to invade Poland. After Sigismund was defeated at Smolensk, the Emperor of Germany and the Pope offered to mediate; the latter advised Va.s.sili to let Lithuania alone, and to turn his attention toward Constantinople. Negotiations commenced in 1520, but it was six years later before a truce was (p. 109) concluded. On this occasion Va.s.sili made a speech in which he praised Emperor Charles V, and Pope Clement VII,--but Lithuania lost Smolensk.

It was during this war that the part.i.tion of Poland was first mentioned.

Va.s.sili did not neglect the east, even while engaged in the west.

Kazan had expelled the nephew of the Khan of the Crimea whom Ivan III had appointed, and elected a Khan hostile to Russia. Two expeditions were sent against the city but nothing was effected. When this khan died, Va.s.sili succeeded in installing a friendly prince, but he was overthrown and a relative of the Khan of the Crimea took his place. He prepared a great invasion of Russia in 1521, and did gain a decided victory on the Oka, after which he ravaged the territory of the grand duke. Va.s.sili was compelled to humble himself before the khan, in order to save Moscow; he made him presents and in the treaty signed by him, called himself the khan's tributary. When the khan withdrew, he was attacked in Riazan and the treaty was taken away from him. The invasion was, however, a calamity for the grand dukedom, which was devastated by fire, and a host of women and children were carried off, to be sold as slaves at Astrakhan and Kaffa.

The following year Va.s.sili collected a large army on the Oka and challenged the Khan of the Crimea to come and give battle. The offer was declined with the remark that he knew the way into Russia, and that he was not in the habit of consulting his enemies as to when and where he was to fight.

Hoping to profit by the quarrels among the Tartars, Va.s.sili sent an expedition to Kazan in 1523, and again in 1524, but both were (p. 110) unsuccessful. Kazan owed its wealth to a fair, which attracted a host of merchants. Va.s.sili thought that he would destroy his enemy's prosperity by establis.h.i.+ng a rival fair. Accordingly one was opened at Makarief, and this time the grand duke's expectations were realized.

This was the origin of the world-famous fair at Nishni Novgorod, whither it was transferred afterwards.

Va.s.sili made a long stride forward in the direction of autocracy. He consulted neither boyard nor priest. He deposed the Metropolitan and banished him to a monastery. Prince Kholmski, who was married to one of Va.s.sili's sisters, was thrown into prison for failing to show abject respect. When one of the boyards complained that "The grand duke decided all the questions, shut up with two others in the bedchamber," the n.o.ble was promptly arrested, condemned to death, and executed. He interrupted the objection of a high n.o.ble with, "Be silent, lout!" His court displayed great splendor, but it was semi-Asiatic. The throne was guarded by young n.o.bles called _ryndis_, dressed in long caftans of white satin, high caps of white fur, and carrying silver hatchets.

Like his father, he tried to attract artists and learned men, and exchanged emba.s.sies with most of the European Courts. He extended the frontiers of his empire, but ruthlessly suppressed free thought. It has been claimed that the Slav is fit only for an absolute government.

The history of Russia contradicts the statement. The idea of autocracy was Asiatic and was imported with the Tartar yoke.

XIII--IVAN IV, THE TERRIBLE. (p. 111)

When Va.s.sili died in 1533, he left two infant sons, Ivan and George, the elder three years old. His widow, Helena Glinski, a.s.sumed the regency. She was a woman remarkable for spirit and beauty, and showed her courage in ruthlessly suppressing every attempt of high n.o.bles to contest her authority. She sent her husband's brother George to prison, and let him die there. One of her own uncles, who had been in her confidence, showed too much ambition and suffered the same fate.

Andrew, another brother of Va.s.sili, tried to make his escape; he was promptly brought back and placed in confinement. This caused an unimportant war with Poland, ending in a truce in 1537. The Tartars of Kazan and the Crimea were frequently defeated. But Helena was cordially hated by the great n.o.bles at Moscow; she was poisoned, and died in 1538.

Ivan, the oldest son and heir, was then eight years old. It must be placed to the credit of his mother that he had learned to read, for the children were sadly neglected after her death, and it was the boy's princ.i.p.al solace and occupation. In later years Ivan wrote of this time, "We and our brother Iouri (George) were treated like strangers, like the children of beggars. We were ill-clothed, cold (p. 112) and hungry." What impressed the child especially, was that when foreign envoys arrived he was placed upon the throne and the same n.o.bles who showed him such contemptuous indifference, were respectful and even servile on such occasions. He noticed, too, that when these proud n.o.bles needed anything, it was necessary that the papers should be signed by him. All this set the child thinking, and being a manly, bright boy, he came to the conclusion that, after all, he was the real master.

After many quarrels among themselves, Andrew Chouski, the head of a n.o.ble family, had become all-powerful; all important offices were occupied by his favorites and friends. Ivan noticed it all, but said nothing. He was thirteen years old when, after the Christmas celebration of 1543, he suddenly summoned the boyards before him, and in a threatening tone sternly accused them of their misdeeds. "There are among you many guilty ones," he said, "but this time I am satisfied with making one example." He ordered the guards to seize Andrew Chouski, and had him then and there torn to pieces by dogs.

After this terrible punishment, he ordered the arrest of the most disobedient n.o.bles, who were transported to distant places.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ivan IV]

The thirteen-year-old boy then a.s.sumed the government, relying chiefly upon his mother's relations, the Glinskis. In 1547, at the age of seventeen, he directed the Metropolitan to crown him, not as Grand Duke but as Czar. In a Bible printed in the Slavonic language, he had read of the _Czar_ Nebuchadnezzar, the _Czar_ Pharaoh, David, _Czar_ of Israel, etc. He knew, besides, that the former masters of the (p. 114) grand dukes, the khans, had been addressed by that t.i.tle. Perhaps it was because he wished it to be known that he considered himself the equal of any Tartar ruler; perhaps because he desired to have a t.i.tle superior to that of the n.o.bles who descended from former grand dukes, and who inherited the rank without the power; at any rate Ivan IV was crowned as the first Czar.

Young as he was, and since his thirteenth year beyond control, Ivan's life had been the reverse of good. But when, soon after the coronation, he married Anastasia Romanof, he made an earnest effort to reform. The relatives of his mother and of his wife, the Glinskis and the Romanofs, enjoyed his favor at this time.

There was much suppressed dissatisfaction among the n.o.bles, and many plots were hatched against him. In the year of his coronation, a fire swept wooden Moscow, and about 1,700 people perished in the flames.

Ivan ordered an investigation, and withdrew to Vorobief. Crowds gathered in the thoroughfares, when mysterious persons appeared among them declaring that the Glinskis had set the city on fire. Soon after shouts were heard, "It is the Princess Anne Glinski who, with her two sons, has bewitched the city; she has taken human hearts, plunged them in water, and with this water has sprinkled the houses. This is the cause of the destruction of Moscow!" A mob collected and made for the palace of the Glinskis and one of them, George, was stabbed. They went on to Vorobief, where they demanded the life of Ivan's uncle. The czar's own life was in danger and the mob had to be dispersed by force.

Ivan did not forget this, and terrible was his vengeance upon the (p. 115) boyards. At this time he gave his confidence to two men, one a priest named Silvester, who had the reputation of being a very honest man; the other, a member of the smaller n.o.bility, named Adachef who, in 1551, as Minister of the Interior, gave to Russian cities the first munic.i.p.al liberties. Ivan showed an unusual interest in the people; it was under his orders that a new code of laws (Soudebnik) was prepared, and many reforms were made in the Church.

This rather increased than diminished the hostility of the n.o.bles.

Ivan's favorites, Silvester and Adachef had grown ambitious and the former especially was overbearing. He openly opposed the czar, and tried to sow discord between him and his wife. When Ivan's favorite son died, Silvester told him that it was a punishment from heaven for his disobedience. The two men tried to procure the dismissal of the Glinskis and Romanofs, and for that purpose made friends with the boyards whom Ivan suspected. In 1553, the czar fell dangerously ill; he called in the boyards and ordered them to swear loyalty to his infant son Dmitri. They refused. He was informed that the n.o.bles were conspiring with his cousin Vladimir, whose mother was distributing money in the army. He was in terror for the lives of his wife and son.

Once he said to the boyards who had remained faithful, "Do not, I pray you, forget that you have sworn an oath to my son and to me; do not let him fall into the hands of the boyards; fly with him to some foreign country, whithersoever G.o.d may guide you." Ivan recovered but he never could forget the anguish of those days.

Ivan's character at this time was far from bad. He was only twenty (p. 116) years old, and on several occasions showed that he was compa.s.sionate instead of cruel. It was only natural that his nature should be perverted, surrounded as he was by men of whom he was suspicious.

Still, such a change could only be gradual. The immediate consequence of the conduct of his n.o.bles, was that it drew him closer to the people. This was shown in 1506, when he convoked the three orders, n.o.bles, priests, and people, to discuss public affairs.

His first act, after his recovery, was to banish his former favorites.

Silvester was ordered to the monastery of St. Cyril, and Adachef was sent to Livonia. Soon afterwards the Czarina Anastasia died; there was a strong suspicion that she had been poisoned. To add to his bitterness, Prince Andrew Kourbski, a descendant of Rurik and a great friend of Silvester and Adachef, permitted 15,000 Russians to be defeated by the Poles with whom Ivan was at war. Kourbski deserted to the King of Poland.

It appears that Ivan at this time feared for his life, for he withdrew to a neighboring castle with his friends, servants, and treasures.

From there he wrote his abdication in two letters, one addressed to the Metropolitan, the other to the people of Moscow. This action struck terror among the n.o.bles and the people. The former dreaded that the people might rise and avenge the czar, and the people were afraid that the n.o.bles would once again usurp the government. The n.o.bles and priests consulted and decided to beg Ivan's pardon and to submit to any punishment he might impose. Ivan consented to return to Moscow (p. 117) but on his own terms. This was accepted. After his arrival in the capital he established a special guard of one thousand men who had a dog's head and a broom hanging from their saddles, to show that they were ready to bite and ready to sweep the czar's enemies from off Russian soil.

It was then that Ivan began to earn the surname of The Terrible, which has clung to him ever afterwards. We have his own record in a letter to the Monastery of St. Cyril, in which he asks the prayers of the Church for the victims of his vengeance. He appears to have kept a careful account, as we read, "Kazarine Doubrofsky and his two sons, with ten men who came to their a.s.sistance;" "Twenty men of the village of Kolmenskoe;" "Eighty of Matveiche." It amazes us to read, "Remember, Lord, the souls of thy servants, to the number of 1,505 persons, Novgorodians." The boyards lived in a state of terror; few among them knew how long they would keep their heads on their shoulders. Neither rank nor t.i.tle was a safeguard. The Archbishop of Moscow was dismissed, and probably murdered. Alexander, George's widow, and Ivan's sister-in-law, went to the scaffold. Prince Vladimir and his mother, Ivan's uncle and grand-aunt, were also executed. It was on this occasion that the "Novgorodians, to the number of 1,505 persons" were put to death, because Ivan suspected them of a plot to open the gates to the King of Poland. In 1571, there was another wholesale execution, in which several of Ivan's latest favorites were victims.

The burden of his wrath fell upon the boyards. It may have been for the purpose of humiliating them and the Churchmen that he a.s.sembled (p. 118) delegates of those two cla.s.ses to confer with representatives of the merchants of Moscow and Smolensk, about the war with Poland. Ivan addressed the a.s.sembly in person, and it was decided that the war should continue.

It was under his reign that British traders accidentally discovered the White Sea and the mouth of the Dwina. They came overland to Moscow where they were well received and secured several privileges. Ivan was anxious to conclude an offensive-defensive alliance with Elizabeth of England, and proposed an agreement to furnish each other with an asylum if either of them should be compelled to fly from the country through being defeated by an enemy or the rebellion of their subjects.

Elizabeth did not fancy such an alliance, and declined the offer of an asylum, "finding," as she declared, "by the grace of G.o.d no dangers of the sort in her dominions." Ivan never ceased recurring to, and pleading for, such an agreement, thus showing his ever present suspicions.

After commercial intercourse was established with England, and British traders settled in Moscow, Ivan continued to show them his favor. He was himself the greatest merchant of Russia. The furs which he received from Siberia were sold to the foreign merchants at the fairs.

His agents went into the provinces where they compelled the people to sell him furs, wax, honey, etc., at such prices as he chose to pay, and the foreign merchants had to buy them from him at a high price. He also bought the imported goods and sold them to Russian merchants.