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 nobles, 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 nobility, named Adachef who, in
1551, as Minister of the Interior, gave to Russian cities the first
municipal 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 nobles.
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 nobles 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 God 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 compassionate
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 nobles, was that it drew him closer to the
people. This was shown in 1506, when he convoked the three orders,
nobles, 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 nobles and the people. The former dreaded that
the people might rise and avenge the czar, and the people were afraid
that the nobles would once again usurp the government. The nobles 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 assistance;" "Twenty men of the village
of Kolmenskoe;" "Eighty of Matveiché." 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 title 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 assembled (p. 118)
delegates of those two classes to confer with representatives of the
merchants of Moscow and Smolensk, about the war with Poland. Ivan
addressed the assembly 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 God 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.
They were not permitted to buy from anybody else, until the goods (p. 119)
of the czar were sold.
At the beginning of his reign, in 1551, Ivan was preparing an
expedition to Kazan, and in June of the following year he descended
the Volga and laid siege to that city. It was captured after a brave
defense, when a number of the people were massacred and the rest sold
as slaves. This conquest was followed by that of Astrakhan in 1554;
the Volga from its source to its mouth was thereafter a Russian river.
The Cossacks of the Don also submitted to him.
The European countries bordering on Russia dreaded that country's
growing power. Ivan, after his coronation, sent to western Europe to
engage a number of engineers and mechanics; these men were stopped on
the road, and none of them ever reached Moscow. Sigismund of Poland
even threatened to kill the British merchants on the Baltic,
"because," he said, "if the Muscovite, who is not only our present
adversary, but the eternal enemy of all free countries, should provide
himself with guns, bullets, and munitions; and, above all, with
mechanics who continue to make arms, hitherto unknown in this barbaric
country, he would be a menace to Europe." Ivan, on the other hand, was
equally anxious that the Russians should possess all the advantages of
Europe's superior civilization. This, added to the inherited hostility
between the two countries, caused many wars.
While Ivan was pursuing his conquests in the south, he was attacked by
Gustavus Wasa, Sweden's famous king, who entertained the same fears as
the King of Poland. The war ended by a commercial treaty whereby (p. 120)
Swedish merchants might trade with India and China by way of Russia,
and those of Russia with Holland, England, and France by way of
Sweden. This war had scarcely ceased before envoys of the Livonian
Order arrived to request a renewal of the truce. Ivan demanded tribute
for Iourief which he claimed as his "patrimony." This was refused, and
war was declared. It was owing to Ivan that this brotherhood was
dissolved and its territory divided. In 1566, a truce was proposed by
Poland.
It was on this occasion that he called the assembly referred to on
page 116. The war continued. Ivan was attacked also by Sultan Selim II
of Turkey, in 1569, and the Khan of the Crimea marched straight upon
Moscow, set fire to the suburbs, and destroyed the capital except the
Kremlin. He carried off a hundred thousand prisoners. (1571.) As he
withdrew, he wrote to Ivan: "I burn, I ravage everything on account of
Kazan and Astrakhan. I came to you and burned Moscow. I wished to have
your crown and your head, but you did not show yourself; you declined
a battle and you dare call yourself a Czar of Moscow! Will you live at
peace with me? Yield me up Kazan and Astrakhan. If you have only money
to offer me, it will be useless were it the riches of the world. What
I want is Kazan and Astrakhan! As to the roads to your empire, I have
seen them--I know them." The khan made another invasion the next year,
1572, but was defeated.
In the same year Sigismund Augustus II of Poland died. There was a
party at Warsaw that proposed to elect Ivan's son, but the czar (p. 121)
wanted Poland for himself. He failed in the attempt, and the Duke
of Anjou, brother of the King of France, was chosen. He did not like
the people and fled; his place was filled by Stephen Batory, Governor
of Transsylvania, a young, capable, and energetic noble. Batory took
in his service a number of trained German and Hungarian soldiers, and
took Polotsk after a brave defense. He also captured several other
towns, but was repulsed at Pskof.
Ivan sought the mediation of Pope Gregory XIII, and a truce was
concluded in 1582; Ivan ceded Polotsk and all Livonia.
Ivan, in his manhood, was a man of violent temper. He was never seen
without an iron-tipped staff, which he used freely and recklessly upon
the people around him. Nobody, whatever his rank, was safe from
corporal punishment. He killed his eldest son Ivan with a blow, and
suffered from remorse ever afterward. He left a lasting impression
upon Russia by his reforms. He made a law whereby neither church nor
convents could acquire new lands. He was wonderfully well educated,
considering the neglect of his early youth, and tolerant of religious
opinions. A Presbyterian and a Lutheran church were built at Moscow
with his consent, but in deference to the opposition of the people,
they were removed to the suburbs. He was also the founder of the
_streltsi_ or national guard.
Ivan died in 1584, after a reign of forty-one years.
XIV--RUSSIA UNDER IVAN THE TERRIBLE. (p. 122)
The reign of Ivan the Terrible is remarkable, first, because it is the
beginning of Russia as we know it in our time; and also because it
occurred at a time when Great Britain was exploring the Atlantic, and
preparing the way for the wonderful expansion of the English-speaking
race, which culminated in the great North American Republic. It was
under this reign, in 1558, that Russia's invasion of Asia began, and
with it a movement eastward, which has not yet ceased.
It is interesting, therefore, to study the condition of the Russian
people at this important period. Although, as we have seen, the Tartar
yoke did not influence the people directly, because there was no
intercourse between victor and vanquished, the indirect influence was
great, owing to the adoption of Tartar habits or customs by the dukes
and nobles, during their visits to the khan. During this time
intercourse with Europe ceased; hence, in the 16th and 17th centuries,
Russia was more Asiatic than European, although the Russians hated the
victors. Who can say how much influence this has exerted upon Russia's
conquests in Asia?
Among the old Slavs, the family was the unit from which the State was
built up, and this was confirmed under the Tartar yoke. There is (p. 123)
some similarity between the Empire of Russia and that of China, for
there, too, the family is the unit. In both countries the Emperor is
not only the master, he is also considered as the father and high
priest of his people. Their persons and property are the emperor's, to
do with as he pleases. But in Russia there was a nobility descended
from the former dukes; in China there was none, except the descendant
of Confucius. Yet in Russia these lords, many of whom traced their
descent to Rurik, became in time the slaves of the czar. They
prostrated themselves before him, as they had seen the courtiers of
the khan do. When they presented a petition, they expressed it by the
word _tchélobitié_, which means "beating of the forehead," showing
that they performed what is known in China as the _kowtow_. In
addressing the czar, they said, "Order me not to be chastised; order
me to speak a word!" The Grand Dukes of Moscow considered their
territory and the people on it, as their own private property. They
had learned this from the khans. The palace, a mixture of oriental
splendor and barbarism, showed the influence of the Tartars.
The people of Russia were divided into classes, the lowest of which
were the slaves or _kholop_, prisoners of war, men who had sold
themselves, or who were born in slavery. Above them were the peasants,
born on the estate of a noble, but still known as free men. Then came
the peasants who farmed the land of an owner, but these were few. Much
of the land was owned by the several mirs or villages, but in the
course of time they were assigned to gentlemen, who were able to serve
in the army without pay, being supported by the revenues derived (p. 124)
from these villages. Gradually these gentlemen looked upon the land of
the mir as their own property, but the peasants never did lose the
conviction that the mir was the real proprietor. In Ivan's time and
later, the mir and not the individual, was held responsible for the
tax to the czar, for the free labor furnished to the lord, and for his
dues. The mir, therefore, was absolute master over every inhabitant of
the village, and this power was vested in the _starost_. The peasant
gradually descended into a beast of burden, who was not even a human
being, but merely a productive force for the benefit of the State and
of the lord.
A Russian town consisted, first of the _kremlin_, a fortress of wood
which, when required, was defended by "men of the service"; then came
the suburbs, built around the kremlin, and inhabited by the people.
They were governed by a _voïevod_ or governor, appointed by the czar,
or by a starost or mayor, elected by the nobles, priests, and
privileged citizens. The principal duty of the citizens was to pay the
taxes, and therefore they were forbidden to leave the city. Under the
Czar Alexis, the penalty for such offense was death.
The merchants did not form a separate class. They are known in Russian
as _gosti_ or guests, thus showing that, notwithstanding the old and
honorable record of Novgorod and Kief, the Tartar yoke and subsequent
arbitrary rule of the grand dukes had ruined trade or left it in the
hands of aliens. Ivan the Terrible called them the moujiks of commerce.
Fletcher, an Englishman who spent many years in Moscow under Ivan IV,
gives the following curious pen picture: "Often you will see them (p. 125)
trembling with fear, lest a boyard should know what they have to sell.
I have seen them at times, when they had spread out their wares so
that you might make a better choice, look all around them,--as if they
feared an enemy would surprise them and lay hands on them. If I asked
them the cause, they would say to me, 'I was afraid that there might
be a noble or one of the sons of boyards here: they would take away my
merchandise by force.'"
The Russian women were kept secluded in women's quarters as they are
in China, but they remained a member of their own family. A wife's
duty was "to obey her husband as the slave obeys his master," and she
was taught to think of herself as her master's property. He had the
right to punish her as he did his children or his slaves. The priest
Silvester advises the husband not to use sticks that are too thick or
tipped with iron, nor to whip her before his men, but to correct her
moderately and in private. No Russian woman dared object to being
beaten. A Russian proverb says: "I love you like my soul, and I dust
you like my jacket."
The men wore oriental tunics or robes, and a long beard; the women
painted their faces. Ivan the Terrible said that to shave the beard
was "a sin that the blood of all the martyrs could not cleanse. Was it
not to defile the image of man created by God?"
There was a general belief in magic and witchcraft; sorcerers were
burned alive in a cage. Ivan, although in advance of his age, was not
free from superstition. The art of medicine was, of course, still in
its infancy, and those who practiced it were in constant danger (p. 126)
of their lives, because if they did not cure a patient, they might
suffer for it.
Both the nobles and the people were addicted to the vice of
drunkenness. No one paid any attention when a person, rich or poor,
young or old, fell down in the street from the effects of drink. This
is what the priests said of this vice: "My brethren, what is worse
than drunkenness? You lose memory and reason like a madman who does
not know what he is doing. The drunkard is senseless; he lies like a
corpse. If you speak to him he does not answer. Think of his poor soul
which grows foul in its vile body which is its prison.... To drink is
lawful and is to the glory of God, who has given us wine to make us
rejoice."
The Metropolitan of Moscow, until a Patriarch was appointed, was
supposed to be the head of the Church, but the czar held the real
power. There were two classes of priests: The Black Clergy lived as
monks in monasteries, some of which were exceedingly wealthy; they
were forbidden to marry, and the bishops were appointed from among
them. The White Clergy lived among the people and were compelled to
marry. Most of them were grossly ignorant. The same Englishman quoted
before, Mr. Fletcher, says of these priests: "As for exhorting or
instructing their flock, they have neither the habit of it nor the
talent for it, for all the clergy are as profoundly ignorant of the
Word of God as of all other learning."
The revenues of the Empire consisted of a tax on every sixty measures
of corn; of a house-tax, or tax on every fire; the customhouse (p. 127)
dues, and what remained of the municipal taxes after paying expenses;
of a tax on public baths; the farming out of lands belonging to the
crown; the fines and confiscations in the "Court of the Brigands;" and
finally of the tribute paid by thirty-six towns and their landed
possessions "belonging to the Crown."
The Courts of Justice belonged to the Middle Ages; tortures were
applied similar to those employed by the Spanish Inquisition. A wife
who murdered her husband "was buried alive up to her neck." Heretics
were burned at the stake; sorcerers were burned in an iron cage, and
coiners had liquid metal poured down their throats. A noble who killed
a moujik was fined or sometimes whipped; but he might kill as many
slaves as he pleased, because they were his property.
The Russian infantry, so famous under the early Norsemen, had given
way to cavalry, in imitation of the Tartars. The Imperial Guard was
composed of 8,000 young nobles. The "men-at-arms" were mounted, but
received no pay beyond the revenue of their lands, which they held in
return for their military service. The army numbered about 80,000,
and, with a levy among the peasants, could be brought up to 300,000.
There was, besides, the irregular cavalry of the Don Cossacks, and of
the Tartars. Such infantry as there was, consisted of peasants from
the crown lands, churches, and convents; the national guard, and
foreign soldiers or officers.
[Illustration: Feodor] (p. 128)
XV--FEODOR, THE LAST OF RURIK'S DESCENDANTS. (p. 129)
Ivan the Terrible left two sons, Feodor, the son of Anastasia Romanof,
and Dmitri, a child, the son of his seventh wife. Feodor was neither a
strong-minded nor a very able man. He was married to Irene Godounof,
and, following the usual custom, his wife's relations held the
principal offices of the government. Gradually the czar's authority
passed into the hands of Prince Boris Godounof, Irene's brother, a
very ambitious and unscrupulous man. Wizards had foretold that Boris
would be czar, but that his reign would last only seven years, and he
did all he could to aid his destiny.
He first caused Feodor's half-brother, Dmitri, to be sent with his
mother and her relations to Ouglitch, where they would be out of the
way. He also caused the Metropolitan to be dismissed, and had a friend
appointed in his place. He aroused the higher nobles against him, and
then made an effort to make friends with the smaller nobility,--at the
expense of the poor peasants. According to law, these people were
free; that is, when the contract with a landowner expired, they could
move where they pleased, and the large owners could offer better terms
than those who held small estates. But without labor, the land was (p. 130)
worthless and Russia, at the time, was so sparsely populated, that
every hand counted. The object of the government was not to open up
new lands, so as to create prosperity, but to provide for its current
wants by seeing that the taxes were paid, and that the army was kept
up to its standard. How could the men-at-arms, that is the small
nobility, defray their own expenses while serving, if their revenues
failed from lack of labor? Boris Godounof, therefore, made a law
forbidding peasants to go from one estate to another. They were tied
to the ground, and this was the first step to make serfs of them. The
peasants did object; they had been accustomed to change service on St.
George's day, and that day remained for many years one of deep sorrow.
There was no rebellion, but a great many fled, and joined the
Cossacks. After some years the law was changed so that peasants were
permitted to change from one _small_ estate to another.
Another change under Feodor's reign was the appointment of a Patriarch
as the head of the Greek Church under the czar. He was placed above
the several Metropolitans, and thus the Church secured more unity.