CHAPTER I

THE MONGOLS IN RUSSIA

BY

JEREMIAH CURTIN

AUTHOR OF “THE MONGOLS, A HISTORY,” “MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF IRELAND,”

“HERO-TALES OF IRELAND,” “MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES OF THE RUSSIANS, WESTERN

SLAVS, AND MAGYARS,” “CREATION MYTHS OF PRIMITIVE AMERICA,” ETC.

BOSTON

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY

1908

THIS WORK

AS WAS ITS COMPANION VOLUME

The Mongols, A History

IS DEDICATED TO

Theodore Roosevelt

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

NOTE

In gathering material for “The Mongols” and “The Mongols in

Russia,” Mr. Curtin used the early chronicles of China, Persia, and

Russia. To obtain these chronicles he went several times to Russia

and once to the Orient.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE

Kurultai held by Ogotai.—Sarai, the Mongol capital.—Patriarchal

system of Russia.—Rurik, 862.—Death of Rurik, 879.—Oleg,

successor of Rurik.—Askold and Dir.—Oleg takes Kief.—Expedition

against Constantinople.—First Russian treaty.—Death of Oleg,

912.—Reign of Igor.—Attacks on the Byzantine Empire, 941,

944.—Murder of Igor, 945.—Olga avenges the murder of her

husband.—Reign of Olga.—Succession of Sviatoslav, 957.—Olga

receives Christianity.—The Kazars.—Sviatoslav controls

Bulgaria.—Kief attacked by Petchenegs.—Death of

Olga.—Sviatoslav divides his inheritance.—Second war with

Bulgaria.—Murder of Sviatoslav, 972.—Dispute between the sons

of Sviatoslav.—Yaropolk becomes master of Russia.—Vladimir

takes Polotsk.—Blud betrays Yaropolk.—Vladimir becomes Prince

of Kief.—Religion of Russia.—Marriage of Vladimir with Anna,

sister of the Greek Emperor.—Death of Vladimir,

1015.—Vladimir’s twelve sons.—Sviatopolk seizes power.—Murder

of Boris and Glaib.—Defeat of Sviatopolk.—Sviatopolk seeks

assistance in Poland.—Sviatopolk defeated a second

time.—Mystislav appears before Kief.—Mystislav takes

Novgorod.—Battle of Listven.—Yaroslav enters Kief.—Yaroslav

becomes Grand Prince, 1016.—Death of Mystislav, 1035.—Yaroslav

frames a code of laws.—Arranges the succession.—Death of

Yaroslav the Lawgiver, 1054.—Russia divided between the sons of

Yaroslav.—Izyaslav Prince of Kief.—Vseslav the Wizard.—Vseslav

imprisoned by Izyaslav.—Polovtsi cross the boundary of

Pereyaslavl, 1055.—Peace made by the Polovtsi.—Polovtsi defeat

the Russian princes.—Kief dissatisfied with Izyaslav.—Kief

reënstates Izyaslav.—Izyaslav driven from Kief a second

time.—Sviatoslav becomes Grand Prince.—Izyaslav’s son visits

Rome.—Polish king asks Pope Gregory to assist

Izyaslav.—Monomach and Glaib.—Polovtsi warriors employed for

the first time.—Death of Sviatoslav, 1076.—Death of

Glaib.—Polovtsi led in by Oleg and Boris.—Izyaslav, Yaropolk

and Monomach march against Oleg.—Death of Boris.—Death of

Izyaslav.—Vsevolod becomes Grand Prince, 1078.—Volodar and

Vassilko.—Chernigoff given to Monomach.—Polovtsi army sent

against Vsevolod.—Death of Roman, 1079.—Trouble in

Volynia.—Traffic with Tsargrad.—Flight of Yaropolk.—Surrender

of Lutsk.—David, son of Igor, rules Volynia.—Galitch seized

from the King of Poland.—Death of Yaropolk, 1086 1

CHAPTER II

Death of Vsevolod, 1093.—Sviatopolk, Prince of Kief.—Conflict

between Sviatopolk and the Polovtsi.—Defeat of

Sviatopolk.—Polovtsi attack Kief.—Polovtsi army led in by

Oleg.—Siege of Chernigoff.—Oleg master of Chernigoff.—Polovtsi

Khans visit Pereyaslavl to sell peace, both are killed.—Advance

of Oleg against Murom.—Itlar and Kitan, Polovtsi Khans, come to

Pereyaslavl, 1095.—Death of Izyaslav.—Murom receives

Oleg.—Mystislav seizes Oleg’s officials.—Mystislav pursues

Oleg.—Defeat of Oleg.—Princes of Russia meet at Lubetch,

1097.—David suspicious of Monomach and Vassilko.—David explains

the plot to Sviatopolk.—Capture of Vassilko.—David blinds

Vassilko.—Volodar attacks David.—Vassilko seeks

revenge.—Sviatopolk lays siege to Vladimir.—Yaroslav goes to

Hungary to find aid for Vassilko.—Koloman of Hungary lays siege

to Premysl.—Mystislav defends Vladimir.—Death of

Mystislav.—Vladimir men defeat David.—The Russian princes meet

at Vititchevo, 1100.—Monomach acts against steppe

tribes.—Defeat of the Polovtsi.—Expeditions against the

Polovtsi, 1110 and 1111.—Death of Sviatopolk, 1113.—Monomach

becomes Prince of Kief, 1113.—Monomach marches against Minsk,

1116.—Trouble in Volynia.—Monomach expels Yaroslav, and seats

Roman in Volynia.—Death of Roman.—Andrei, Roman’s

successor.—Kidnapping of Volodar.—Efforts of Vassilko to free

his brother.—Yaroslav, with Cheks, Poles and Hungarians,

attacks Vladimir, 1123.—Death of Yaroslav, 1123.—Death of

Monomach, 1125.—Mystislav succeeds Vladimir Monomach,

1125.—Yaroslav, son of Monomach, founds the principality of

Ryazan.—Mystislav frees himself of the Polovtsi

princes.—Yaroslav successor of Oleg of Chernigoff.—Vsevolod

opposes his uncle.—Yaroslav withdraws to Ryazan.—Death of

Mystislav, 1132.—Yaropolk successor of Mystislav, his

brother.—Mystislav’s sons rise against their uncle.—Vsevolod

receives Pereyaslavl from Mystislav.—Yuri Dolgoruki expels

Vsevolod.—Pskoff resolves to declare its

independence.—Sviatoslav sent to attack Pskoff.—Yuri Dolgoruki

receives Gorodok.—Vsevolod seizes Chernigoff.—Death of

Yaropolk.—Vyacheslav successor of Yaropolk, 1150.—Vyacheslav

drives Vsevolod from Kief.—Position of Monomach’s

descendants.—Vsevolod attacks his enemies separately.—Yuri

seizes Torjok 33

CHAPTER III

Death of Andrei.—Vyacheslav takes Pereyaslavl.—Vsevolod calls a

council.—Siege of Pereyaslavl by dissatisfied heirs.—Defeat of

the besiegers.—Vsevolod asks aid of Sviatosha.—Izyaslav obtains

Pereyaslavl.—Visit of Izyaslav to Yuri in Suzdal.—Position of

the descendants of Monomach and Oleg.—Death of Volodar and

Vassilko, 1124.—Quarrel between Vsevolod and

Vladimirko.—Vladimirko calls in Hungarians, 1127.—Vladimirko’s

enemies grow defiant.—Siege of Galitch.—Triumph of

Vladimirko.—Vsevolod enters Galitch (1146).—Position of

Novgorod.—Vsevolod declares Igor his successor, 1145.—Death of

Vsevolod, 1146.—Igor remains with the army and sends Sviatoslav

to Kief.—Defeat of Igor.—Capture of Sviatoslav.—Izyaslav enters

Kief.—Power returns to Monomach’s descendants.—Flight of

Sviatoslav to Chernigoff.—Sviatoslav asks aid of Yuri.—Effort

of the sons of David to crush Sviatoslav.—Rostislav of Murom

attacks Yuri’s country.—The sons of David move on

Putivl.—Flight of Sviatoslav.—Sons of David resolve to kill

Sviatoslav.—Sviatoslav reaches the forests of

Vyatichi.—Izyaslav leaves his sister’s son in Chernigoff.—Yuri

of Suzdal sends aid to Sviatoslav.—Death of Ivan, son of

Yuri.—Yuri invites Sviatoslav to meet him in Moskva (Moscow),

1146.—The name Moscow appears for the first time in history,

1146.—Izyaslav addresses his boyars.—Izyaslav sends envoys to

the sons of David.—Murder of Igor.—Glaib seizes Kursk.—Struggle

of Chernigoff princes against Izyaslav.—Rostislav deceives the

Kief people.—Novgorod assembles forces to march against

Yuri.—Izyaslav sends envoys to Sviatoslav.—Sviatoslav consults

with Yuri.—Yuri marches to Pereyaslavl.—Yuri sends a message to

Izyaslav.—The bishop begs Izyaslav to make peace.—Defeat and

flight of Izyaslav.—Izyaslav sends to Poland for aid.—Message

of Izyaslav to Vyatcheslav.—Vyatcheslav begs Yuri to make

peace.—Yuri invests Lutsk.—Yuri makes peace.—Izyaslav obtains

aid from the Polovtsi.—Vyatcheslav and Izyaslav rule Kief.—Yuri

approaches Kief.—Flight of Vyatcheslav and Izyaslav.—Izyaslav

asks aid of the King of Hungary.—Vladimirko lavishes gold on

the Hungarians and they withdraw.—Escape of Boris.—Kief

welcomes Izyaslav.—Triumph of Vyatcheslav.—Contest between

Vyatcheslav and Yuri.—Yuri attacks Vyatcheslav.—Defeat of

Yuri.—Yuri takes oath not to attack Kief while it is held by

Izyaslav and his uncle.—Return of Yuri to Suzdal.—Yuri brings

Polovtsi legions to besiege Chernigoff.—Defeat of Yuri.—Triumph

of Izyaslav and his uncle 58

CHAPTER IV

Izyaslav and the King of Hungary attack Vladimirko,

1151.—Escape of Vladimirko.—Vladimirko declares that he is

dying and begs for peace.—Izyaslav yields.—Vladimirko sends

troops to help Yuri.—Refusal of Vladimirko to fulfil

promises.—Death of Vladimirko.—Yaroslav successor of

Vladimirko.—Battle at Terebovl.—Defeat of Izyaslav.—Death of

Izyaslav, 1154.—Rostislav succeeds his brother.—Attack on

Pereyaslavl.—Death of Vyatcheslav.—Defeat of Rostislav.—Kief

men call Izyaslav to the throne.—Peace between Yuri and

Rostislav.—Yuri meets an old friend.—Yuri enters Kief,

1155.—Disaffection of Kief.—Death of Yuri, 1157.—Andrei carries

the miraculous image to Vladimir.—Founding of

Bogolyuboff.—Mystislav successor of Yuri.—Andrei marches

against Mystislav, 1169.—Destruction of Kief.—Andrei adorns

Vladimir.—History of Vladimir.—Suzdal and Rostoff jealous of

Vladimir.—Enemies of Andrei.—Methods of Andrei.—Pride of

Novgorod.—Andrei attacks Bulgar.—Triumph of Andrei.—Friendship

of the Greek Emperor and the Patriarch.—Andrei calls a

council.—Asks the Patriarch to give Vladimir a

metropolitan.—Refusal of the Patriarch.—Marriage of

Andrei.—Youth of Andrei.—Murder and burial of Andrei,

1174.—Fear of the boyars.—Execution of the murderers.—Andrei’s

two nephews chosen to succeed him.—Sviatoslav of Chernigoff

displeased; insists that the brothers of Andrei shall be

associated with the nephews.—Boyars masters in

Vladimir.—Vladimir men send for Mihalko and Vsevolod, and

install them, 1176 88

CHAPTER V

Death of Mihalko, 1176.—Men of Vladimir kiss the cross to

Vsevolod.—Vsevolod gives Rostoff to Mystislav.—Mystislav

invades Vladimir.—Battle near Yurieff.—Flight of

Mystislav.—Triumph of Vsevolod.—Burning of Moscow.—Attack on

Vladimir.—Seizure of Bogolyuboff by Glaib.—Defeat of Mystislav

and the Polovtsi.—Decision regarding prisoners.—Blinding of

Yaropolk and Mystislav.—Refusal of Glaib to receive freedom

with conditions.—Death of Glaib.—Importance of Vladimir as a

capital.—Activity of the Prince of Vladimir in Novgorod

affairs.—Defense of Novgorod against pagans.—Attempt of

Mystislav to punish Polovtsi.—Death of Mystislav.—Flight of

Roman to the steppes.—Submission of Ryazan.—Choice of Vladimir

as Prince of Novgorod.—Imprisonment of Glaib.—Efforts of

Sviatoslav to liberate his son.—Retreat of

Sviatoslav.—Preparations of Rurik to seize Kief.—Asks aid of

Yaroslav Eight Minds.—March of Yaroslav and Igor from

Chernigoff.—Allies from Lithuania.—Desire of Smolensk to force

battle.—Attack of the Prince of Vladimir on Nova-Torg.—Peace is

made.—Defeat of Mohammedans.—Death of Izyaslav, son of

Glaib.—Party struggles in Novgorod.—Trouble in Ryazan.—Address

of Big Nest to Ryazan people.—Pronsk princes ask for

assistance.—Retreat from Kolomna.—Surrender of

Pronsk.—Deceitful submission of Roman.—Attack on Kolomna by the

Prince of Vladimir.—Peace made with Ryazan.—Accusations against

Porfiri, the Chernigoff bishop.—Sviatoslav invites all princes

to join him in an expedition against the Polovtsi.—A great

victory.—Eight Minds, Prince of Galitch.—Triumph of

Sviatoslav.—March of Igor against the Polovtsi.—Defeat of

Igor.—Death of Glaib 111

CHAPTER VI

Death of Vladimir of Pereyaslavl.—Inheritance of Pereyaslavl by

the Prince of Vladimir.—Onrush of Polovtsi.—Grief of

Igor.—Escape of Igor from imprisonment among Polovtsi.—Polovtsi

raids.—Decline of Kief.—Influence of the Latins.—Death of

Yaroslav Eight Minds, 1187.—Anastasia, mistress of Eight

Minds.—Bond between Galitch and Hungary.—Vladimir, son of Eight

Minds.—Marriage of Vladimir.—Flight of Vladimir and his

family.—Reception of Vladimir by Bela III.—Seizure of

Vladimir’s property by Roman.—Assistance given Roman by Rurik

of Smolensk.—Honor given King Bela in Galitch.—Bela takes the

title Rex Galiciæ.—Andrei, son of Bela, made king in

Galitch.—Position of Andrei in Galitch.—Rostislav invited to

the throne of Galitch.—Battle outside the capital.—Death of

Rostislav.—Church trouble in Galitch.—Dispute between Rurik and

Sviatoslav.—Plans of the Kief prince.—Escape of Vladimir of

Galitch from imprisonment in Hungary.—Vladimir begs aid of

Barbarossa.—Barbarossa commands Kazimir of Poland to assist

Vladimir.—Vladimir enters Galitch with a Polish army.—Flight of

Andrei.—Decision of Chernigoff princes that war alone can

settle boundaries.—Death of Sviatoslav, 1194.—Rurik, Prince of

Kief.—Roman, son-in-law of Rurik.—Rurik feels the policy of Big

Nest.—Feast giving between Rurik and David.—Trouble between

Rurik and Big Nest.—Appeal to Nikifor, the metropolitan.—Roman

reproaches Rurik.—Roman seeks aid in Cracow.—Roman assists the

Poles.—Defeat of Roman.—Message from Big Nest and Rurik to the

descendants of Oleg.—Big Nest promises to march against

Chernigoff.—Victory of Chernigoff.—Rurik reproaches Big

Nest.—Rurik marches on Chernigoff.—Death of Vsevolod

Buitur.—Message of Rurik to the Galitch prince.—Council of

Ryazan princes.—Demand of Big Nest that Yaropolk should leave

Novgorod.—Rurik reproaches Big Nest.—Indifference of Big

Nest.—Death of Rostislav, 1198.—Death of Vladimir, son of Eight

Minds.—Struggle between Bela of Hungary and Roman.—Rule of

Roman in Galitch.—Ingvar is seated on the Kief throne.—Chermny

and Rurik bring Polovtsi against Kief, 1204.—Capture of

Kief.—Rurik again prince in Kief, 1205.—Campaign against

Polovtsi.—Rurik becomes a monk.—Rostislav prince in

Kief.—Meeting in Kief of the ruling princes.—Occupation of

Lublin 133

CHAPTER VII

Death of Roman, 1205.—Rurik, the monk, again prince in

Kief.—Quarrels in Galitch.—Escape of Roman’s widow and

children.—Desire of Andrei to establish Daniel in Galitch,

1206.—Chermny leads troops into Galitch.—Trouble with Galitch

boyars.—Recall of Andrei.—Satisfaction of Chermny.—Desire of

the boyars to get possession of Volynia.—Aid asked of Leshko by

Roman’s widow, 1211.—Disorder in Galitch and Volynia.—Trouble

in Kief.—Rule of Chermny in the Kief country, 1207.—Vassilko

and Daniel.—Desire of Alexander Bailski to rule in

Volynia.—Ingvar claims Volynia.—Vassilko receives

Brest.—Quarrels of the sons of Igor.—Big Nest marches against

Chermny.—Quarrel of Big Nest and son.—Big Nest moves on

Ryazan.—Ryazan men beg for peace.—Crossing of the Oká.—Return

of the army to Vladimir, November, 1207.—Big Nest sends

Yaroslav, his son, to Ryazan as prince, 1208.—Intrigue of

Glaib.—Burning of Ryazan and Bailgorod.—Disorder increases in

Galitch.—Expulsion of the sons of Igor.—Coming of Benedict

Bor.—Escape of Benedict Bor.—Volodislav, a boyar, promises

Galitch to Andrei of Hungary.—Reception of Daniel by

Galitch.—Triumph of Daniel.—Parting of Daniel and his

mother.—Establishment in Galitch of Roman’s widow.—Torture and

exile of Volodislav.—Triumph of Mystislav.—Return of

Volodislav.—Rule of Volodislav in Galitch.—Andrei of Hungary

and his queen.—History of Benedict Bor.—Volynia rises against

Volodislav.—Defeat of Volodislav.—The young King and Queen of

Galitch.—Volodislav dies in prison.—Latin priesthood brought

into Galitch, 1214.—Dispute between Novgorod and Big

Nest.—Mystislav the Gallant, son of Mystislav the

Brave.—Appearance of Mystislav in Novgorod.—Success of

Mystislav the Gallant.—Trouble between Big Nest and his

son.—Death of Big Nest, 1212.—Mystislav the Gallant assists

Kief.—Flight of Chermny.—Death of Chermny, father of Michael

the Martyr 161

CHAPTER VIII

Triumph of Mystislav the Gallant.—Superiority of Mystislav over

Russian princes.—Marriage of Daniel, Roman’s son.—Success of

Daniel.—Perilous position of Daniel.—Endurance of

Daniel.—Yaroslav Prince of Novgorod.—Misfortunes of

Novgorod.—Appearance of Mystislav the Gallant in Novgorod.—War

between Novgorod and Vladimir.—Reinstatement of Constantine by

Mystislav, 1215.—Battle of Lipetsk.—Departure of Yuri.—Death of

Vassili, son of Mystislav the Gallant.—Installation of Latin

priests in Galitch.—Decision of Russian princes to regain

Galitch.—Battles fought by Daniel.—Reign of Koloman and

Silomeya in Galitch.—Management of Sudislav “the

traitor.”—Hurried preparations to defend Galitch.—Seizure of

towns and cities by Leshko of Poland.—Defeat of the

Poles.—Storming of Galitch by Mystislav.—Conspiracies in

Galitch and Volynia.—Success of Daniel, son of Roman.—Troubles

in Novgorod, way to the sea cut off by Fins.—Troubles among

Lithuanian tribes 185

CHAPTER IX

The Baltic coast.—Kors and Livs.—Merchants of the 12th

century.—Visit of Meinhardt to Polotsk, 1186–7.—Attack of Kors

and Livs on the Germans.—Founding of Holm or

Kirchholm.—Conversion of pagan tribes.—Death of Meinhardt,

1196.—Victory of the Germans.—Reëstablishment of the Livonian

Church.—Decision of Rome.—Albert von Apeldern

Bukshevden.—Building of a fortress.—Founding of the city of

Riga.—Dispute between Albert, Bishop of Livonia, and the

Order.—Seizure of Polotsk territory.—Embassy sent by the bishop

to Vladimir.—Preparations of Riga for defense.—Embassy from

Riga.—Message sent by the abbot to the envoys of the

prince.—Attack on Holm by Ako.—Defeat of Ako.—Campaign of

Vladimir against Riga.—Negotiations between the bishop and

Vladimir.—Dissatisfaction of the people subject to

Riga.—Crossing of the Dvina.—Complaints of the bishop against

Pskoff and Novgorod.—Refusal of Pskoff and Novgorod to make a

treaty with Riga.—Meeting of the archbishop and

Vladimir.—Prince of Polotsk.—Return of Mystislav the Gallant to

Novgorod, 1214.—Defeat of the knights of Riga.—Cruelties of the

knights.—Fate of Kors and Livs.—Trouble in Lithuania from

Prussian refugees.—Esthonia.—Expedition of Yaroslav against

Riga.—Prince Vyachko of Kuikenos.—Siege of Yurieff.—Burning of

Yurieff by its defenders.—Capture of Yurieff.—Quarrels between

Pskoff and Novgorod.—Occupation of Pereyaslavl.—Radical changes

in Russia.—Battle on the Kalka, 1224.—Defeat of the

Russians.—Accusations against Daniel.—Death of Mystislav, 1228 206

CHAPTER X

Vladimir, son of Rurik, prince in Kief.—Trouble over the Kief

principality.—Michael of Chernigoff.—War throughout Galitch and

Volynia, from 1230 to 1240.—Escape of Daniel.—Defeat of

Michael.—Constant dissensions in Russia.—Intriguing of Galitch

boyars.—Plot against Daniel.—Riots in Galitch.—Capture of

Peremysl.—Shifting fortune of Daniel.—Schemes of

Bailski.—Yaroslav, son of Big Nest, Prince of Kief,

1237.—Capture of Kief by Michael of Chernigoff.—Desertion of

Kief in 1239.—Ruin of Pereyaslavl by the Mongols.—Triumph of

Daniel.—Mongol tempest.—Attack on Trans-Volga regions by

Mongols.—Batu, grandson of Jinghis Khan.—Advance on Ryazan by

Mongols.—Terror in Russia.—Resistance of Ryazan.—Capture of

Ryazan, and slaughter of the population.—Fury of

Kolovrat.—Attack on Vladimir.—Burning of Kolomna.—Burning of

Moscow.—Capture of Vladimir, 1238.—Slaughter and

destruction.—Struggle on the Siti.—Victory of the

Mongols.—Burning of Torjok, Tver and Yaroslavl.—Advance upon

Kief, 1240.—Flight of Michael from the capital.—Campaign of

Batu against Kief.—Defense of Kief.—Capture of Kief, and

slaughter of the inhabitants.—Capture of Ladyjin.—Assault on

Volynia.—Destruction of Brest.—Mongols in Poland, 1240.—March

on Galitch.—Flight of Boleslav of Cracow, 1241.—March of the

Mongols on Breslau.—Advance to frontiers of Bohemia and

Austria.—Demand of Batu that King Bela yield obedience.—March

of Hungarian army to meet the Mongols.—Death of Ogotai.—Terror

brought on Europe by Batu.—Mongol law.—Mongol

ceremonies.—Cruelty of Batu.—Questions regarding the Latin

religion.—Daniel crowned, 1253.—Daniel summoned to the

Horde.—Reception of Daniel by the Horde.—Promises of the papal

legate 225

CHAPTER XI

Despair of Michael of Chernigoff, 1245.—Youth of

Michael.—Return of Michael to the ruins of

Chernigoff.—Preparations to visit the Horde.—Arrival at

Sarai.—Refusal of Michael to comply with Mongol

demands.—Decision of Michael.—Execution of Michael 254

CHAPTER XII

Yaroslav prince in Vladimir.—Return of Yaroslav to

Vladimir.—Survival of Novgorod.—Victory of Alexander on the

Neva, 1240.—Indecision of Novgorod.—Attack of towns on the

Klyazma.—Return of Constantine from Mongolia, 1245.—Misfortune

of Yaroslav.—Journey through Central Asia.—The Mongol

capital.—Death of Yaroslav.—Burial of Yaroslav.—The Mongol

yoke.—Alexander Nevski.—Marriage of Alexander.—Campaign against

the Chuds and Lithuanians.—Success of Nevski.—Insolence of the

Livonian knights.—Swedish ships in the Neva.—Closing of the way

to the Baltic.—Trouble between Novgorod and Vladimir.—Capture

of Izborsk, Yurieff and Pskoff by the Livonian knights.—Arrival

of Nevski by Pskoff.—Fame of Nevski.—Raids of the

Lithuanians.—Flight of the Grand Master of the Livonian

Order.—Reception of Nevski by Pskoff.—Fame of Nevski.—Raids of

the Lithuanians.—Visit of Nevski to the Horde.—Return of Nevski

to Novgorod.—Rejection of old rules.—Confusion and disorder in

all parts of Russia.—Questions regarding succession of princes

under Mongol rule.—Embassy from Rome to convert Nevski.—Plano

Karpini.—Letter of the Pope to Nevski.—Rule of Sartak, son of

Batu.—Death of Batu.—Difficulties attending a visit to the

Horde.—Dispute between Sviatoslav and his nephew, Andrei.—Visit

of Andrei to the Horde.—Inability of Nevski to act against the

Mongols.—Death of Sviatoslav.—Visit of Alexander to the

Horde.—Punishment given Vladimir by the Mongols.—Flight of

Andrei and Yaroslav.—Victory of the Mongols.—Escape of Andrei

to Riga.—Return of Nevski to Vladimir.—Rules of Nevski in

Vladimir, 1252.—Murder of Sartak.—Seizure of the Mongol throne

by Berkai.—Visit of the Russian princes to Sarai 260

CHAPTER XIII

“Lord Novgorod.”—Novgorod “liberties.”—Insolence and unrest of

Novgorod.—Disgrace of Yaroslav.—Excitement in Novgorod.—Riot in

Novgorod.—Persistence of Nevski.—Nevski’s message to the city

of Novgorod.—Attack of Germans on Novgorod borders.—Attack of

the Swedes.—Campaign of Nevski against Fins and

Lapps.—Establishment of the Finnish boundary.—Demands of the

Mongols.—Taking of the census.—Appearance in Ryazan of

officials from the Horde.—Opposition to the census.—Trouble in

Novgorod over the census.—Murder of Mihalko.—March of Nevski to

Novgorod.—Message of Nevski to Pskoff.—Threats of the

Mongols.—Rescue of Novgorod by Nevski.—Taking of the census in

Vladimir.—Birth of Nevski’s youngest son, Daniel,

1261.—Uprisings against tax collectors.—Advance of the Knights

of Livonia on Pskoff.—Visit of Nevski to the

Horde.—Dissatisfaction at the Horde.—Death of Nevski,

1263.—Inheritance of Daniel of Moscow.—Increase in the

importance of Moscow.—Founding of Moscow.—Government of

Vladimir principality.—Life of Daniel.—Population and growth of

Moscow.—Death of Andrei, Nevski’s brother, 1304.—Struggle

between Yuri and Michael of Tver, 1308.—Struggle of Yuri and

Michael to incline Novgorod to their side.—Maxim the

metropolitan.—Visit of Yuri to the Horde.—Visit of Michael of

Tver to the Horde.—Defeat of Akinfi, a Moscow boyar.—Return of

Michael from the Horde.—Campaign against Moscow.—Complaints at

the Horde of Michael against Yuri.—Failure of Michael of Tver

to take Moscow.—Death of Tokhta, the Khan, 1312.—Succession of

Uzbek.—Visit of Russian princes to Sarai.—Conversion of Uzbek

to Islam.—Journey of Yuri to the Horde.—Kavgady, a Mongol

magnate.—Marriage of Yuri to Konchaka, sister of the

Khan.—Expulsion of Michael’s officials from Novgorod.—An

unfortunate expedition.—News of the approach of Yuri with a

large army.—Increase of defenses in Tver.—Indecision of

Michael’s allies.—Collection of tribute.—Accuracy of Michael in

regard to tribute.—Burning of towns by Yuri’s army.—Meeting of

forces, December 22, 1317.—Defeat of Yuri.—Capture of Konchaka,

Yuri’s wife.—Delight of the victors.—Attempt of Yuri to cross

the Volga with a new army.—Death of Konchaka, and trouble for

Michael.—Visit of Michael to Sarai.—Arrival of Michael at

Sarai.—Trial of Michael.—Judgment of the princes of the

Horde.—Sentence of Michael.—New trial by order of the Khan, and

a new sentence.—Kang put on Michael.—Mongol hunting

party.—Journey of twenty-five days’ duration.—Execution of

Michael 279

CHAPTER XIV

Return of Yuri with Khan’s patent.—Death of Boris, Yuri’s

brother.—Gift of land by Yuri to his brother Ivan.—Visit of

Ivan of Moscow to the Horde, 1320.—Marriage of princes.—Quarrel

of Yuri with Ryazan.—Subjection of minor princes.—Visit of

Dmitri of Tver to the Horde.—Explanation given Uzbek by Dmitri

regarding Yuri’s calumniation of his father.—Yuri summoned to

Sarai.—Defeat of the Swedes by Yuri.—Hesitation of Yuri to

visit the Horde.—Visit of Dmitri to the Horde.—Murder of Yuri

by Dmitri.—Execution of Dmitri, 1326.—Cholkhan sent to Tver by

Uzbek, 1327.—Riot in Tver; killing of Mongols.—Anger of

Uzbek.—Bloodshed throughout all Vladimir, 1328.—Flight of

Alexander to Novgorod.—March of the Khan toward Moscow.—Embassy

sent to Uzbek.—Terror throughout Russia.—Reception of Ivan by

Uzbek.—Return of Ivan, 1332.—Demand of the Khan that Alexander

should be sent to him.—Search for Alexander.—Refusal of

Alexander to visit the Horde.—Return of Alexander to

Pskoff.—Moscow the real capital of Russia.—Rule of

Ivan.—Position of Ivan.—Seizure of Torjok by Ivan to force

obedience of Novgorod.—Quarrels of Novgorod with

Ivan.—Friendship of Novgorod and Lithuania.—Rule of Gedimin’s

son in Novgorod.—Ivan Grand Prince of all Russia.—Friendship of

Uzbek.—Growth Of Moscow.—Visit of Alexander to

Sarai.—Astonishment of Uzbek.—Return of Alexander to

Russia.—Quarrels with Moscow.—Disorder in Novgorod.—Alexander

summoned to Sarai.—Trial of Alexander.—Execution of Alexander

and his son.—Death of Ivan Kalitá, 1340.—Death of Gedimin and

Uzbek, 1340.—Account of Gedimin’s dynasty.—Account of Mindog’s

activity.—Reign of Trenyat in Lithuania.—Securing of power by

Voishelk.—Viten, Dovmont and Gedimin.—Message from Bishop of

Riga to the Pope, 1323.—Arrival of envoys to baptize and crown

Gedimin.—Refusal of Gedimin.—Liberty declared to the Orthodox

Church.—Beginning of war by the Livonian Knights.—Death of

Gedimin.—Cremation of Gedimin at Vilna.—“Pagan hunts” of the

knights, 1336.—Rule of Olgerd.—Description of Olgerd 308

CHAPTER XV

Increase of Lithuania, 1340.—Simeon successor of Ivan of

Moscow.—Complaint of Simeon against Novgorod.—Outbreak in

Torjok.—March of Simeon to Torjok.—Reign of Simeon.—Trouble in

Riga territory.—Pskoff regions plundered by Olgerd.—Attack

planned by Olgerd against Simeon.—Envoys sent to Chanibek by

Simeon.—Seizure of Lithuanian envoys by Chanibek.—Victory of

the Germans over Olgerd.—Olgerd’s desire for peace.—Marriage of

Simeon.—Baptism of Olgerd.—Marriage of Olgerd and

Julianna.—Peace in Tver.—Quarrels in Ryazan.—Attack of Simeon

against Olgerd.—Death of Simeon by plague, 1353.—Death of

Feognost, 1356.—Succession of Ivan, son of Ivan Kalitá.—Alexis

successor of Feognost.—Struggle of Constantine of Suzdal to

obtain the Grand Principality.—Trouble in Ryazan.—Ivan’s

lieutenant imprisoned.—Mamat Hodja sent by the Horde to settle

boundaries between Ryazan and Moscow.—Assassination of

Mamat.—Intention of Olgerd to master all Russia.—Claims of

Olgerd.—Influence of Olgerd in Tver.—Preference of Novgorod for

Roman, Olgerd’s metropolitan.—Tradition concerning the days of

Ivan.—Death of Chanibek, 1358.—Accession of Berdibek.—Death of

Ivan the Mild, 1359.—Death of Berdibek, successor of

Chanibek.—Successor of Kulpa followed by Navrus.—Appearance of

Mamai, and division of the Horde.—Disturbance in Russia.—Abdul

Khan on the right bank of the Volga, Murat on the east.—Great

enmity of the two Hordes.—Dmitri of Moscow Grand Prince of all

Russia.—Position in Moscow when Dmitri began to reign.—Jealousy

of Abdul, the Khan, for Dmitri; trouble arising thereby.—Moscow

takes possession of Bailozero, 1363.—Success of Dmitri.—Nizni

patent obtained by Boris.—Boris summoned to Moscow.—March of

Dmitri against Nizni.—Olgerd the great enemy of

Moscow.—Condition in Tver.—Yeremi sets aside his oath to Tver,

1367.—Visit of Michael to Ryazan and Moscow.—Dmitri of

Moscow.—Detention of Michael.—Reprimand from Mongol

envoys.—Liberation of Michael.—Attack of Olgerd on Moscow,

1368.—Retreat of Olgerd.—Peace between Moscow and Tver.—Threats

of Olgerd against Dmitri.—Campaign of Tver and Lithuania

against Moscow, 1370 336

CHAPTER XVI

Visit of Michael to the Horde, 1371.—Cost of Mamai’s

good-will.—Desire of Dmitri to make war on the

Mongols.—Discouragement in Moscow.—Decision of Dmitri to visit

the Horde.—Reception of Dmitri at Sarai.—Moscow joined by

Novgorod.—War between Moscow and Tver.—March of Oleg against

Moscow.—Battle of Skornistchevo.—Defeat of Oleg.—Abakumovitch

of Torjok.—Suffering of Torjok from Mongols.—Defeat of

Olgerd.—Threats of the Mongols.—War made on Moscow by

Mamai.—Waiting for the Mongols, 1373.—Devotion of the

people.—Appointment of Michael as Grand Prince.—Michael breaks

his oath to Moscow.—March of Dmitri against Tver.—Defeat of

Tver.—Peace with severe terms.—End of war between Tver and

Moscow, 1375.—Death of Olgerd, 1377.—Murder of Keistut by his

nephew Yagello.—Attack of Mongols on Nizni Novgorod.—Killing of

Saraiko, the Mongol envoy, and his suite.—Nizni territories

doomed to fire and sword.—Advance of Dmitri to the

Oká.—Appearance beyond the Sura of Arabshah, a Mongol prince,

1377.—Nizni’s request for aid from Moscow.—Russian troops

surprised and destroyed by Mongols.—Death of Prince

Ivan.—Attack on Ryazan by Mongols.—Moscow men cut down for

aiding Mongols.—Anger of Mamai.—Mustering of Mongol forces,

1378.—Mongols cross the Voja August, 1378.—Victory of

Dmitri.—Execution of Ivan Velyaminoff, the first man put to

death publicly in Moscow, August 30, 1379.—Great work of the

metropolitan Alexis.—Church troubles in Moscow.—Mityai given

the highest church office by Dmitri.—Anger of

Cyprian.—Imprisonment of Cyprian.—Quarrel between Mityai and

Dionisi.—Mityai starts for Tsargrad, 1379.—Death of

Mityai.—Deceit of Pimen.—Confirmation of Pimen as

metropolitan.—Refusal of Dmitri to receive Pimen.—Sending of

Dionisi to Tsargrad to secure the expulsion of Pimen.—Death of

Dionisi.—Mamai rouses the Mongols to destroy Russia.—Mustering

of forces by Dmitri, 1379.—Boasting of Mamai.—Correspondence of

Oleg of Tver with Yagello of Poland.—March of Vagello to join

Mamai, 1380.—Distribution of Dmitri’s army.—Address of Dmitri

to his officers.—Examination of the battle ground by Bobrok and

Dmitri.—Description of Kulikovo.—Eagerness for

action.—Beginning of the great battle.—Enormous victory of

Russia on the field of Kulikovo 358

CHAPTER XVII

Fresh troops assembled by Mamai.—Tohtamish declared heir of

Batu.—Slaughter among Mongols.—Demand from Tohtamish that all

the Russian princes should come to Sarai.—Indignation in

Russia.—Confidence of Dmitri in his own strength.—Treachery of

Oleg.—Approach of Tohtamish’s troops.—Disorder in

Moscow.—Appearance of Ostei in the capital.—Retreat of the

Mongols.—Rebuilding of Moscow by Dmitri.—Sending of Vassili to

do homage at the Horde.—Declaration of Tohtamish.—Death of the

Nizni prince.—Revenge of Oleg of Ryazan.—Seizure of

Kolomna.—Vladimir the Brave.—Peace made between Oleg and

Dmitri.—Return of Dmitri’s son from the Horde.—Troubles of

Dmitri regarding succession.—Self-sacrifice of Vladimir the

Brave.—Death of Dmitri.—Succession of Vassili.—Visit of Vassili

to the Horde.—Marriage of Vassili.—Tamerlane, the world-shaking

Mongol.—Trouble between Tamerlane and Tohtamish.—Attack of

Tohtamish on regions belonging to Tamerlane, 1392.—Army of

Tohtamish.—Escape of Tohtamish.—Attack of Tamerlane on

Tohtamish.—Fortunate aid of Nur ed din.—Flight of

Tohtamish.—Vassili of Moscow leads an army to the Oká to

confront Tamerlane.—Withdrawal of Tamerlane.—Storming of

Astrachan.—Plans of Vitold to rule the Golden Horde.—Great army

assembled to move on the Mongols.—Battle of August 5,

1399.—Triumph of Kutlui. Defeat of Vitold.—Trouble in

Smolensk.—War between Lithuania and Smolensk.—Welcome of Yuri

in Novgorod.—Attack of Vitold on Pskoff.—Disorder in the

Horde.—Installation of Bulat Bey, Kutlin’s son.—Edigai’s march

on Moscow, 1408.—Capture of Pereyaslavl, Rostoff and

Nizni.—Eligai recalled by Bulat.—Unwillingness of Vassili to

pay tribute to the Mongols.—Installation of Jelal ed din as

Khan.—Assassination of Jelal ed din.—Dispute between the

Teutonic Order and Yagello.—Konrad von Jungingen,

1393–1407.—Battle of Tannenberg.—Defeat of the Order.—Meeting

of Yagello, Vitold and Russian boyars at Horodlo,

1413.—Predominance of Poles in upper circles of Russia.—Death

of Cyprian, 1406.—Synod assembled by Vitold, 1416.—Territory of

Vitold.—Meeting of sovereigns brought about by Vitold, at

Lutsk, 1429.—Opposition of Olesnitski.—Assembly at Vilna,

1430.—Disappointment of Vitold.—Death of Vitold, 1430.—Death of

Vassili, 1424.—Visit of Yuri to the Crimea.—War between Mongol

Khans.—Trouble caused by an heirloom.—Vassili defeated by Yuri,

his rival for the throne of Moscow.—Refusal of Moscow boyars to

serve Yuri.—Return of Vassili to power.—The Vyatka, a Novgorod

colony 392

CHAPTER XVIII

Death of Foti, 1431.—Succession of Iona.—Church divisions and

troubles.—Union of Churches.—Mohammed expelled from the Horde

by Kutchuk.—Mongol troops sent against Russia, 1445.—March of

Vassili to meet the enemy.—Defeat of Vassili. Seizure of his

person.—Return of Vassili to Moscow, 1445.—Plot of Ivan against

Vassili.—Capture of Vassili by Ivan.—Blinding of

Vassili.—Shemyaká reigns in Moscow.—Shemyaká frees

Vassili.—Defeat of Shemyaká.—Surrender of Galitch to Vassili,

1450.—Death of Shemyaká, 1453.—Influence of Vassili over Tver

and Ryazan.—Campaign of Vassili against Novgorod.—Death of

Vassili, 1462.—Influence of Poland.—The Poles plan to seize

Podolia and Volynia.—Stratagem of Polish knights.—Imprisonment

of Polish envoys by Svidrigello.—Polish king leads an army into

Volynia, 1431.—Sacking of Vladimir by Poles.—Olesnitski the

chancellor.—Lithuania acknowledges Sigismund.—Crowning of

Sigismund.—Death of Yagello.—Vladislav successor of

Yagello.—Agreement of Sigismund with Kief and Volynia.—Victory

of Sigismund.—Diet summoned by Sigismund.—Murder of

Skobeiko.—Kazimir made prince.—Entrance of Kazimir into

Vilna.—Crowning of Kazimir.—Peace between Michael and

Kazimir.—Poles seek to turn Lithuania and Russia into Polish

provinces.—Death of Svidrigello, 1415.—Peace of Thorn,

1466.—Alexander receives Kief regions from Vassili of

Moscow.—Death of Alexander, 1455.—Simeon rules in Kief till

1471.—Succession of Michael.—Plot to assassinate King

Kazimir.—Execution of Alexander’s son, Michael,

1482.—Separation of the Orthodox Church into two parts.—Death

of Kazimir IV, 1492.—Khanate of the Crimea.—Origin of the

Crimean khanate.—Raids of Mongols against Russians.—Death of

the first Khan of the Crimea.—Condition of the Crimean

khanate.—Change of Russian boundaries.—Founding of Kremnchug

and Cherkasy by Vitold 427

CHAPTER XIX

Birth of Ivan III, January 22, 1440.—Consolidation of

Russia.—Decline of Novgorod.—Martha Boretski, the Novgorod

patriot, favors Kazimir.—Defeat of the Boretski party.—Disputes

in Moscow.—Epistles of the metropolitan Philip.—Fall of

Novgorod.—Decision of Ivan of Moscow.—Prince Shuiski.—Attack on

Novgorod by Ivan.—Siege of Deman by Moscow.—Riots in

Novgorod.—Success of Moscow.—Submission of Novgorod 454

CHAPTER XX

Feofil, Archbishop of Moscow, 1471.—Marriage of Ivan of Moscow

to Sophia.—Journey of Sophia to Russia.—Trouble with the Roman

legate.—Advance of Ivan to Novgorod.—Hospitality of Novgorod

people.—Dispute between the Grand Prince and the Novgorod

people.—Trouble made by the Kazimir party in

Novgorod.—Declaration of war sent to Novgorod by Ivan.—Novgorod

begs for peace.—Discussions with peace envoys.—Hunger in

Novgorod.—Triumph in Moscow.—Insurrection in Novgorod.—Visit of

Ivan to the city.—Siege of Novgorod.—Distribution of the people

of Novgorod.—End of semi-separate existence of

Novgorod.—Importance of Ivan, even in Europe.—Fear of Ivan

causes Kazimir to rouse Ahmed against Moscow.—Friendship of

Girei, Khan of the Crimea, and Ivan of Moscow.—Ivan withdraws

from the capital.—Dissatisfaction of the people.—Letter of

Ivan’s confessor.—Ivan orders his son to Moscow.—Refusal of the

son to comply.—Lack of eagerness for battle.—Attack of Girei on

Volynia and Kief draws Kazimir’s forces southward.—Command of

Ivan for the army to withdraw from the Ugra.—Retreat of the

Mongols.—Destruction of the Horde by Mongols without bloodshed

in Russia.—Last blow given to the Golden Horde by Girei, Khan

of the Crimea.—Destruction of Sarai, and end of the Mongol yoke

in Russia 463

THE MONGOLS IN RUSSIA

CHAPTER I

EARLY HISTORY OF RUSSIA

In my history of the Mongols we have seen how Hulagu beguiled the

Assassins and slaughtered them. We have seen also how he ended the

Kalifat at Bagdad, showing no more regard for the heir of Mohammed than

for the chief of those murderers who held that marvelous mountain-land

south of the Caspian. The Kalif of Islam was trampled to death under

horse-hoofs. The chief of the Assassins was treated with insult,

endured for a time, and then slain like a wild beast.

We are now to consider an expedition planned at that Kurultai held

during Ogotai’s election, and see what was done by its leader, an

expedition which ruined large portions of Europe as far as the

Adriatic, and made Batu, the nephew of Jinghis Khan, supreme lord of

them.

The Mongols retreated from all lands west of the Carpathians and

confined themselves exclusively to that part of Europe which we know as

Russia. The West was too narrow for them, too mountainous, too much

diversified, and contained too little pastoral land. It had too much

culture, and differed too greatly from that immense open region which

stretches from the Dnieper, or more correctly from the Danube, to that

vast ocean of water which was later called the Pacific.

This region is made up of those spaces lying north of the Great Wall of

China, that largest fence ever reared by man to ward off an enemy, and

farther west by the greatest barrier raised upon earth through

creation, and also used by man as a line of defense, a fortress of

refuge, that unique mountain system extending from Eastern China to

Persia, and then, with a break, to the Caspian. From the Caspian

westward the immense space is bounded by the Caucasus and the Black

Sea, till it reaches the Danube and the mountains just north of that

river.

This vast region, or Mongol careering ground as we may call it, began

on the east at waters which are really the Pacific, and on the west

touched the Danube, which finds its source very near the Rhone and the

Rhine, both flowing into the Atlantic, since the North Sea, with its

waters, is merely a part of that ocean.

The width of this region extends from the southern boundary just given

to the Arctic, or Frozen Ocean. The entire southern part, somewhat less

than half of this entire area, was an open, treeless country,

grass-growing land and sand plains. All along on the northern side of

this southern division were great stretches of grass land, with small

groves of trees, from one acre to one hundred in area. Lands of this

kind are seen in Siberia to our day. In the center were fruitful spots,

deserts and oases. In the east, next to the center, were boundless

plains, with a greater proportion of forest toward the distant east and

toward the north, but with clear spaces everywhere. On the south, from

the Danube to the Chinese Sea, the country was open at all points.

Such was the Mongol careering ground, and after they had overrun Europe

to the Adriatic and north of it they retired to the western part of

this great open country of Eastern Europe, and made their capital at

Sarai, just east of the Volga, and perhaps two hundred miles north of

the Caspian.

But before writing of the Mongol invasion of Russia, it will be

necessary to give a somewhat detailed history of Russia previous to

that event.

It is, of course, not known when the Russians settled in their present

territory. In the first half of the ninth century they occupied a large

extent of land stretching from the Carpathians to the upper waters of

the Don and the Volga, and from the neighborhood of Lake Ladoga to a

point about half-way between Kief and the Black Sea. All this

population lived in villages which were governed in patriarchal fashion

by the heads of families. A number of village communities formed a

volost, or district, which was the largest government unit in the

country. The size of these volosts varied, according to the convenience

or the necessities of the case, but in general they were small. As the

Slavs were much attached to their village autonomy, and as there was an

inexhaustible supply of land, it was quite impossible for a large

community to subdue and absorb a weaker one, for the latter had always

the power of removing to some unoccupied district and setting up its

little republic in the wilderness.

The family system in force among the Slavs greatly favored this

process, for a family was not, as in modern times, composed of parents

and children only, but of two, three and even four generations. The

head of this family was the oldest person in it, and its size was

regulated by power of agreement among the members. There were often

forty, fifty, or a hundred persons living in one family, all obeying a

single head. A few such families formed a village, a few villages a

volost, which was sometimes as large as one of our counties. The

tendency of a society like this was altogether toward expansion. After

reaching a certain size the village community divided, one part

remaining in the old place, the other selecting a new field for its

industry. It was only at a few points favorable for trade that a large

number of people lived together—Novgorod near Lake Ilmen was the most

conspicuous example of this kind. It is evident that people living in

this manner had little power of combination and could offer but slight

resistance to invasion.

Novgorod, situated near the confluence of the different rivers, and in

direct communication with the Baltic, became a great trading point, and

was not only the most populous place in the whole country, but the

first in which civil government began. It was a market-place for the

goods of Europe and Asia, and soon rose to a position of wealth and

importance. Its government was an extension of the communal system of

the country, and was in fact a confederation of villages, held together

very loosely. Such a place offered an excellent point of attack to the

Northmen, the most enterprising and rapacious of mankind, who at that

period left no European country in peace.

In the south the Kazars, a powerful Asiatic horde, took tribute and

left the inhabitants to their own devices. This tribute was simply the

price of being let alone. In the north it was different; the

Scandinavians, who made their presence felt wherever they went, wanted

not only profit, but power. They were greedy of rule, and wished to

direct the affairs of Novgorod. This was unendurable; the citizens rose

up, drove out the strangers, and began to govern themselves as in the

old time. Theirs was no easy task, for the place was divided into

parties, or rather factions, neither one of which had the power to

govern. While affairs were in this troubled state, Gostomyal, the elder

or president of the city, rose on a certain occasion and addressed the

assembled multitude. Reminding them of their previous condition and

present peril, he said that being easily inflamed by passion they were

unfit to rule, that if they continued as they were the stranger would

surely come, bringing dishonor to their wives and daughters and slavery

to themselves, that too late they would shed bitter tears. He closed by

advising them to invite from abroad some wise, strong man to govern

according to their laws.

Under the immediate influence of this speech, a deputation was chosen

and sent to the chieftain Rurik. The gist of their message was: “Our

lands are broad and rich, but there is no order therein; do thou come

and rule over us.”

Rurik came that same year, bringing with him his two brothers, Sineus

and Truvor, and a certain force of his own, which was considerably

increased after his arrival by native recruits. Who Rurik was is still

a question among Russian historians, but it is generally conceded that

he was a Scandinavian, though efforts have been made to show that he

was from some Slav tribe on the southern coast of the Baltic.

The political history of Russia begins in 862, when these three

brothers came to rule over Novgorod lands. The great importance claimed

for this election is that an executive power, independent of all native

factions, was introduced without conquest, an event unexampled in

Western Europe, where the introduction of a foreign dynasty was

attended always by foreign conquest.

At first Rurik, the eldest brother, settled in Ladoga, and Sineus at

Bailozero. Truvor went to Izborsk to hold the Livs in check. Two years

after their coming Sineus and Truvor vanish from history, whether by a

natural death or through violence is not now known to any man. Rurik

then advanced from the Ladoga region to Novgorod. He founded several

towns, which were simply stockaded forts, centers of settlement. He

conquered Finnish tribes and sent his lieutenants to govern at needful

points. At Novgorod he built a castle, and remained in that city till

his death, which took place fifteen years later. During those years, he

extended Novgorod rule on the west to the Upper Dvina, and on the south

to the sources of the Dnieper.

Rurik died in 879 and was succeeded by Oleg, a nephew, or at least a

near relative, a man of vast plans and great resources. Soon after his

election Oleg, leaving a posadnik, or lieutenant at Novgorod, moved

toward the south with a large force composed of Varangians, Slavs, and

Fins. He had with him his ward, Igor, Rurik’s only son, then in

childhood. The new prince took possession of Smolensk, Lubetch, and all

other towns and villages which he found south of Novgorod. Whether

these places came to him by force or by agreement no chronicler tells

us. He pressed forward till he came to Kief, where he found a

principality which had its origin during the lifetime of Rurik, in the

following manner,—

Two of Rurik’s warriors, Askold and Dir, received permission to go to

Tsargrad with the view of enrolling themselves in the guard of the

Emperor. Traveling by the usual route of the Dnieper, they arrived at

Kief, which so charmed them by its beauty, and the beauty of the

surrounding country, that they at once decided to go no farther. The

inhabitants of this place were tributary to the Kazars. The two

warriors collected a number of Scandinavians and other adventurers, put

themselves in the place of the Kazars, and began their rule, which was

soon extended over tribes round about. The number of their adherents

was increased by fugitives from Novgorod, opponents of Rurik. After a

time their power became so considerable that they fitted out an

expedition against Tsargrad. As their galleys approached the city, the

Greeks invoked their patron saint, and dipped his image in the waters

of the Bosphorus. A terrible storm came upon the invaders and destroyed

the greater part of their fleet. This event, which was attributed to

divine interposition, is said to have made such an impression upon

Askold and Dir that they became Christians. This took place several

years before Oleg’s arrival at Kief.

Finding an organized rule as an obstacle in his path, Oleg was not slow

to act, and his conduct was in keeping with the Norse cunning of that

age. Leaving the greater part of his fleet behind him, he sailed up to

Kief with a few boats, in which warriors were concealed; then he sent

messengers to the rulers of Kief, saying that some of their countrymen,

merchants, were on their way to Tsargrad and would like to show them

their wares. The unsuspecting princes went on board Oleg’s boat. They

were seized by men-at-arms; then Oleg stepped forth and said: “You are

neither princes nor of princely race. I am a prince, and with me is

Igor, the son of Rurik.” And he had them put to death at once; [1] then

he took possession of Kief for Rurik’s son.

In Kief Oleg fixed himself firmly, declaring that thenceforth it should

be called the mother of Russian towns. His first care was to build

fortifications in the new territory, both to secure his own power and

to defend the country from the Asiatic tribes of the steppes. He spent

nearly thirty years, however, in gaining authority over tribes south,

east and west of the new capital, before he felt strong enough to make

an attack on Tsargrad. [2]

In 907 he set out on his famous expedition against the Eastern Empire.

A large force, composed of Slavs, Scandinavians and Fins, accompanied

him. The number of his boats, perhaps overstated, is given at two

thousand. Forty men went in each boat. When the fleet touched the

Bosphorus, the Greeks closed the Golden Horn, and also the gates of the

capital.

Oleg’s men put their craft on the shore, and then used fire and sword

around the city with such vigor that the terrified Emperors were glad

to buy peace dearly. With the peace was concluded a treaty of commerce,

the first Russian treaty known to history. Oleg nailed his shield to

one of the city gates as a mark of victory, and returned home in

triumph, bringing with him such booty as no man had seen north of the

Euxine till that day.

The effect of this exploit was very great. Oleg was surnamed “the Seer”

by his admiring subjects, who felt proud of his, and of their own fame.

He had led many of them across the Black Sea to the capital of the

Cæsars. He had roused the imagination of all. From being villagers they

had become members of a political commonwealth, able to impose terms on

one of the great powers of the earth.

Oleg was a keen diplomat rather than a warrior, a ruler who, by shrewd

management, brought many tribes under his sway without striking a blow.

He was undoubtedly the greatest politician of pagan Russia.

In 912 Oleg died. The tradition is that some years earlier he had been

warned by a wizard that the horse he was riding would cause his death.

The prince dismounted at once, sent this favorite steed away to be

cared for, and never rode him again. On being told that the horse was

dead and his bones were bleaching in the field, he resolved to go and

look at them, saying: “These wizards are always lying. The horse is

dead, and I am living.” When he came to where the bones were, he pushed

the skull with his foot, and exclaimed: “This was to be my death!” That

instant a serpent sprang out and bit him in the leg, and straightway he

sickened and died.

Igor, son of Rurik, now came to power. In 903 he had married Olga, a

maiden famed for wit and beauty, and said to be the daughter of that

Gostomyal who first proposed the election of Rurik. Igor’s reign had no

such importance as that of his predecessor. In 941, after twenty-nine

years of waiting, he made an attack on the Byzantine Empire. This

attack was a failure; a mere remnant of warriors came home from it, and

those brought no booty with them.

Igor resolved to find a cure for this failure, and set out for Tsargrad

in 944, three years later. He went by sea, with a numerous army

collected from all tribes between Lake Ladoga and the Euxine, including

even Petchenegs of the southern steppe land.

The Greek Emperor sent envoys to Igor, and as he sailed near the coast

they met him north of the Danube, where they delivered rich presents.

“Go no farther,” said they to him. “Take the same that Oleg took, even

more will be given thee.” Advised by his attendants, Igor accepted the

offer, and the following year envoys were sent by him to make a treaty

of commerce at Tsargrad. The treaty was made and the Emperor gave oath

to observe it, then he sent envoys to Kief and Igor took the oath.

Those of his men who were pagans swore by Perun, the god of thunder,

and by their weapons; those who were Christians gave oath in the church

of Elias. This treaty, more favorable to the Greeks than that made with

Oleg, contains the phrase “Russian land,” used then for the first time

in history. Toward the end of that same year, 945, Igor went to the

Drevlians, a forest tribe in the North-west, to collect tribute a

second time. Learning of his approach, the Drevlians counseled together

and said: “If a wolf attacks sheep he will devour the whole flock,

unless he is killed; so this man will ruin us, unless we destroy him.”

They seized Igor, bent down two trees, tied his feet to the top of one

and his head to the other, then let them go; thus he was torn asunder.

The Drevlians then sent envoys to Olga to justify their action, and

propose that she should marry their prince. Olga, determined to avenge

her husband, answered: “Your speech is pleasing to me. To-morrow I will

receive you in the presence of all my people. When my messengers come

in the morning, tell them that you will not go on horseback or on

foot,—that you must be carried in your boats.” When the envoys were

gone, Olga had a deep pit dug in the courtyard. Next morning she sent

for her guests, who came in their boats borne on the shoulders of men.

The Drevlians, from their lofty position, looked down proudly on the

multitude; but when they arrived at the courtyard they, with their

boats, were thrown into the pit and quickly covered with earth.

Olga, keeping secret what had taken place, sent for a guard of honor to

conduct her to the Drevlians. The first men of the tribe came; these

she had burned up in a bath-house. Then she sent a message, saying: “I

am on the road. Bring as much mead as you can to where my husband died.

I wish to weep over his grave.” She came, with a part of her army, to

where Igor was buried, and there she had a great mound raised, and

celebrated the funeral feast. The Drevlians asked, “Where are our men?”

She replied, “They are coming with my men.” The simple foresters,

satisfied with this answer, went on feasting. When they had drunk

themselves into helplessness, Olga’s warriors fell upon them and slew

great numbers.

This vengeful widow next attacked Korosten. Unable to take it by force,

she destroyed it by cunning. She sent a message to the inhabitants

saying: “You have neither mead nor skins in abundance; give me a

tribute of three pigeons, and as many sparrows from each house, and I

will leave you in peace.” The Drevlians, pleased with this moderation,

sent the birds at once. When evening came, Olga had rags steeped in oil

tied to their wings and ignited. The terrified creatures, set free,

flew to their cots and nests, and soon every house in Korosten was in

flames. The inhabitants, rushing out of the place, were either killed

or captured. This was a victory of far-reaching importance, for had

Olga failed to conquer the Drevlians, other tribes would have revolted,

and Kief would have been lost.

Olga ruled wisely and firmly till 957, when Sviatoslav, her only son,

reached manhood and succeeded his father; then she made a journey to

Tsargrad, became a Christian and was baptized under the name of Helen,

the Greek Emperor being her godfather. It is said that upon her return

she strove to introduce Christianity into Russia, but was unsuccessful,

mainly because of her son’s opposition. She, however, remained a strong

advocate of the new faith and has been canonized by the Church, as the

first Russian who ascended to the heavenly kingdom.

Sviatoslav, whose sole delight was in war, began his stormy rule by

marching against the only Slavs east of the Dnieper, who paid him no

tribute, the tribe of the Vyatichi. They were at that time tributary to

the Kazars, a tribe that had issued from Northern Asia and were known

to the Armenian historians as early as the second century. In the ninth

century they were familiar to the Byzantines as the Eastern Turks; by

the eighth century they had gained the greater part of Tauris, the

present Crimea. It is not known when they first met the Slavs, but in

the middle of the ninth century four Slav tribes paid tribute to the

Kazars. The Kazan state itself was a composite one with four religious

systems, Paganism, Mohammedanism, Judaism and Christianity. The Khan

was converted to Judaism in the eighth century, and in a letter written

by Khan Joseph to a Rabbi in Bagdad, he claimed to be ruler over nine

nations of the Caucasus and thirteen near the Black Sea.

Sviatoslav attacked Sarkel on the Don, the chief western town and

fortress of the Kazars, and captured it. Then he marched eastward to

the Volga, and sailed down the river to Itil, the Kazar capital, near

the northern shore of the Caspian. Itil, and all the towns of that

region, were seized and plundered. Next the Russian prince marched to

the foot of the Caucasus, and turned westward toward the Azoff, or “Sea

Bend,” as the Russians call it. He overcame all forces that met him on

the way, and established Tmutarakan, with its capital at the Greek town

Tamatarche, between the Azoff and the Euxine.

On his journey home from this long expedition, Sviatoslav finished what

he undertook when he started: he subjected the Vyatichi on the Oká, and

forced them to pay tribute. At this juncture the Greek Emperor,

Nikifor, threatened on one side by the Bulgarians and on the other by

the Arabs, sent envoys to Sviatoslav with much gold and many promises.

“Let the Russian prince attack the Bulgarians,” said the envoys. “Let

him take their land, let him keep it if he wishes.” Following this

suggestion, Sviatoslav, in 967, overran the greater part of Bulgaria,

and wished to remain in the country, taking Pereyaslavets on the Danube

as his capital.

But while Sviatoslav was ruling Bulgaria from his place on the Danube,

the Petchenegs, who had hitherto been kept down by the Kazars, rushed

to Kief and laid siege to it so closely that no man could enter the

city or leave it. At last means were found to inform Sviatoslav, who

hurried home with men and scattered the besiegers, driving them far out

into the steppe. Olga, his mother, then in old age, died three days

after his coming.

Sviatoslav now instated his sons as princes in Russia. He established

his eldest son, Yaropolk, in Kief; his second son, Oleg, he sent to the

Drevlians; Vladimir, the third and youngest son, went to Novgorod at

the request of its citizens, who were advised by Dobrinya, his uncle,

to demand him of his father.

Sviatoslav, now free, went back to Bulgaria, but he did not meet the

same fortune as before. The Bulgarians received him with weapons in

their hands and gave battle immediately, but they were defeated, after

a desperate struggle, and their town was taken by storm. Then appeared

a far more formidable enemy, the Byzantine Emperor, John Zimisces, with

an overwhelming army. The Russians were terrified, but Sviatoslav

strengthened them, saying: “We have no escape. Whether we will or not,

it has come to us to stand against the Greeks. Let us not bring an evil

name upon the Russian land, but leave our bones upon the field; for the

dead there is no disgrace. If we flee we shall find no hiding-place

from our shame. Stand firmly together!”

A mighty struggle began. According to the Greeks, the Russians were

overcome; according to the Russians, the Greeks yielded. Whoever gained

the victory, Sviatoslav, before leaving Bulgaria, concluded a treaty by

which he agreed not to attack Byzantine territory or permit others to

do so. The Emperor sent rich gifts to Sviatoslav and had an interview

with him, evidently thinking the friendship of such a man better than

his enmity.

Then Sviatoslav set out for Kief, sailing down the Danube and along the

Black Sea to the mouth of the Dnieper, which he ascended to the

cataracts. There the Petchenegs, informed by the Bulgarians of his

coming, defeated his army and killed him. It is stated that the

Petcheneg chief had a drinking-cup made of Sviatoslav’s skull and

ornamented with this motto: “In striving for what belonged to another,

thou hast lost thy own.” Thus ended the life of a man who was, without

doubt, the greatest warrior amongst the descendants of Rurik.

Sviatoslav was of medium height, robust, with broad breast, blue eyes

and flat nose. He wore long moustaches and had a tuft of hair on the

crown of his shaven head as a mark of his nobility. Nestor describes

him as being a man of honor who, when about to make war on a people,

always forewarned them by the words: “I march against you!”

There was now, for the first time since the death of Rurik’s brothers,

a number of princes, descendants of Rurik, in Russia. From 864 to 972,

somewhat more than a century, there had been single rule all the time,

but from 972 to 1480, that is, to the victory of Moscow over the

principalities and over the Mongols, a period of five hundred years,

there was, with only two intervals, a continual struggle between

princes for supreme power.

Sviatoslav’s three sons were born of different mothers and were soon

brought to enmity by advisers. As the tale runs, Svainald, an old

warrior who had served the two preceding princes, was the counsellor

and confidant of Yaropolk. Lyut, the son of this confidant, while

hunting in a forest, encroached on Oleg’s territory, and was killed by

the order of that prince. Svainald, to avenge his son’s death, incited

Yaropolk against Oleg, and two years after the death of Lyut, Yaropolk

invaded Oleg’s land and defeated him. While trying to escape Oleg fell

from a bridge before Ovrutch and was crushed to death by his fleeing

warriors, who fell on him. When the corpse was brought before Yaropolk,

he was grieved and wept over it.

Vladimir, on hearing in Novgorod of the battle near Ovrutch and the

death of Oleg, fled to foreign parts, but returned three years later

bringing with him strong forces.

Yaropolk, meanwhile, had made himself master in Russia, and, living in

Kief, ruled, through a lieutenant, or posadnik, in Novgorod. Vladimir

and his uncle expelled this posadnik straightway, and sent these words

by him to Yaropolk: “Vladimir is marching against thee. Be ready for

battle!”

The brothers now prepared to struggle for mastery. They began these

preparations by searching out accessions of strength wherever they

could find them. Southwest of Novgorod and northwest of Kief was the

principality of Polotsk, which included the whole Dvina region, at that

time ruled by Rogvolod, a man not of Rurik’s descendants, or family.

This prince had a daughter, Rognyeda, betrothed then to Yaropolk.

Vladimir, at the instance of Dobrinya his uncle and adviser, sent

envoys to ask for this princess. This marriage would bring with it the

assistance of Rogvolod.

Rogvolod had no wish to refuse, but he would not consent. When pressed

for an answer, he referred the affair to his daughter.

Rognyeda was very fond of her betrothed husband, and having no thought

at that time for policy, she replied that she would not marry the son

of a bondslave. Vladimir was the son of Malusha, housekeeper of the

great princess Olga, [3] his grandmother, that “wisest of women;”

Dobrinya, Vladimir’s counsellor and uncle, was Malusha’s brother and a

bondman. He had already, with wise advice and assistance, won Novgorod

for his nephew, and was now striving to win all Russia.

Enraged at Rognyeda’s taunt regarding his sister, Dobrinya gave answer

not in words, but in action. Vladimir, following his uncle’s counsel,

attacked Rogvolod straightway, killing him and his two sons in battle.

He then took Rognyeda, and with her Polotsk, which he joined to his own

lands. Vladimir’s next step was taken against Yaropolk, who shut

himself up in his capital, which he had meanwhile strengthened.

Yaropolk’s chief counsellor in Kief was one Blud, a man who in reality

wished for Vladimir’s success, and worked well in secret to help him.

Vladimir now laid siege to Kief. After the siege had gone on for a

time, Blud proved to Yaropolk that treason was rife in the capital, and

prevailed on the prince to withdraw in the night-time to Rodnya. This

place was invested soon after so closely and suffered such famine that

the phrase “Misery of Rodnya” was current for a long time in Russia. In

these straits, Blud advised agreement with Vladimir, and Yaropolk set

out for his brother’s headquarters, where the meeting was to take

place, but when near the door of his tent, two Varangians with sharp

swords sprang from behind it, and hewed the man’s head off.

Vladimir was now master. He was one of those powerful, determined

characters who found primitive states: large in person, self-willed,

shrewd, with strong impulses and limitless activity.

Russia was pagan at that time, but there were a few Christians in Kief,

and some writers think Yaropolk himself was on that side. In that case,

Vladimir’s triumph over his brother was in the first instance a victory

for primitive ideas. At all events, there came in with Vladimir a

greater activity in the ancient religion, and for some time the new

prince was its leader. After he began to reign rich statues of the gods

were set up, sacrifices were more frequent and much energy was

displayed in order to give the paganism of the Slavs a dignity and

significance equal to that of the religions by which it was surrounded.

Though the tribes inhabiting Russia had the same pagan religion, there

were many local variations. It was a religion in a more elementary

stage than that of the Aryan settlers of India, when the earliest Vedas

were composed. It was simply an aggregation of beliefs, superstitions,

customs and festivals; the elements of religion not yet grown into a

system.

Vladimir saw at last that a new religion was necessary to consolidate

the tribes under his rule. His efforts to create one were in vain, for

he could no more have created a religion by edict than he could have so

created a language. They are both growths requiring time and certain

processes. Convinced of this fact, all that was left to the Russian

prince was to change the religion of the country to one of those by

which he was surrounded, and this he resolved to do immediately. In

religion Vladimir’s action resembled that of Peter, Russia’s modern

industrial reformer, who, some centuries later, feeling that Russia

must use the appliances and methods of modern activity, or others would

use them against her, strove to introduce them himself. Vladimir

determined to find a religion himself, to bring it in himself, so that

no power outside might be master in Russia by means of it.

The account of this conversion is so characteristic that I have

translated it from Nestor, the first Russian chronicler. He says:

“About this time different missionaries came to Vladimir. First the

Mohammedans in 986, and they said: ‘You are wise and full of judgment,

but you do not know the law. Believe in our law, and revere Mohammed.’

Vladimir asked: ‘What is your faith?’ ‘We believe in God, and Mohammed

teaches us, saying: “Do not eat pork, do not drink wine.” Mohammed will

give each man seventy wives.’ Vladimir listened, for he was a lover of

women, and for him it was pleasant to hear this, but he did not like to

hear of the prohibition of wine and of pork, and he said: “In Russia,

wine is gladness; we cannot get on without that.”

“Afterward the Germans came, saying: ‘We are from the Pope, and this is

his message: “Thy land is like our land, but thy faith is not like our

faith.” Our faith is light, and we bow down before God, who made the

heavens and the earth, the stars and the moon, and created every

breathing thing; but your gods are of wood.’

“Vladimir then asked: ‘What are your commandments?’ And they answered:

‘Fasting in proportion to a man’s power, but if any one eats or drinks

let it be for the glory of God, as our teacher, Paul, declared.’ Then

Vladimir said to the Germans: ‘Go your way; our fathers did not receive

this law.’

“The Jews, hearing of these missions, came and said: ‘We have learned

that Mohammedans and Christians have come, each teaching his own faith.

Him in whom the Christians believe we crucified. We believe in the one

God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Vladimir asked: ‘What is

your law?’ and they said: ‘To be circumcised; not to eat pork or

rabbits; to observe the Sabbath.’ Then he asked: ‘But where is your

land?’ ‘In Jerusalem.’ ‘Is it indeed there?’ They answered: ‘God became

angry with our fathers and scattered them through the nations on

account of our sins, and our land was given to the Christians.’ Then

Vladimir asked: ‘How is it that you teach others when you are

yourselves outcasts rejected of God? If God loved you and your law, he

would not have scattered you through strange lands. Do you think to

bring this evil on us, too?’

“Then the Greeks sent a philosopher to Vladimir, who told him that the

Mohammedans defiled the earth, that they were cursed above all people,

and were like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, whom God destroyed

with fire from heaven and overwhelmed in the Dead Sea. That a like day

of destruction awaits the Mohammedans when the Lord shall come to judge

the earth and destroy all who work unlawful things. Vladimir said: ‘The

Jews came to me and declared that the God of the Greeks and the Germans

is the man whom they crucified.’ The philosopher replied: ‘That was

foretold by the Prophets. The Lord took upon Himself death by the cross

at the hands of the Jews, and arose from the dead on the third day and

ascended into heaven. To His executioners forty-six years were given

for repentance, but not repenting, the Romans were sent against them to

destroy their cities and scatter them over the face of the earth, where

they now wander.’ Vladimir asked: ‘For what cause did God come down

upon the earth and suffer such torments?’ The philosopher replied: ‘If

you wish, I will tell you all from the beginning.’ Vladimir answered:

‘I am glad to listen.’ And the Greek told him all from the creation of

the world.

“In 987 Vladimir called a council composed of his chief men and the

elders of the towns and said to them: ‘The Mohammedans came to me,

saying: ‘Receive our law;’ then the Germans came and praised their law.

Afterward came the Jews, and last the Greeks, with other laws; all

praised their own faith. The Greeks explained everything from the

beginning of the world, and spoke with great skill. It was wonderful to

hear them and pleasant to listen to their words. They say there is

another world, and whoever accepts their faith, after he dies he will

rise from the dead, and then he shall not die again forever; but he who

receives another law will burn in fire in the other world. To which do

you give your mind?’ They answered: ‘You know, Prince, that no one

belittles his own, but praises it. If you wish to know all religions

well, you have men, send them to examine the religion of each country,

and how each people serve God.’

“Their speech was pleasing to the prince, and to the people. They chose

good and sensible men, ten in number, and said to them, ‘Go first to

the Mohammedans and try their religion.’ They went and saw the foul

deeds of the Mohammedans, and came home. Then Vladimir said: ‘Go to the

Germans, and also to Tsargrad.’ After visiting the Germans, they

arrived at Tsargrad and stood before the Tsar. He asked the cause of

their coming, and they told him all that had happened. The Tsar was

rejoiced, and showed them great honor that day. Next morning there was

a patriarchal service. A deacon was placed near the envoys to explain

the worship of God, and they wondered greatly, and marveled, praising

the service.

“Upon their return to Kief, Vladimir called together his chief men,

with the elders of the towns, and said: ‘Behold, the men whom we sent

have returned to us. Let us hear what has taken place. Let it be spoken

before the warriors.’ The envoys said: ‘We went to the Mohammedans, we

saw how they prayed in the mosques, without girdles, and how, having

bowed down, they looked on one side and on the other like madmen. There

is no joy in their temples, but sadness and great uncleanness. Their

law is not good. We went to the Germans and saw much ceremony in their

churches; then we went to the Greeks, and when they led us into the

place where they serve their God, we knew not whether we were in

heaven, or upon earth, for in the world there is not such a sight, or

such beauty. We know not how to describe it, we only know that it is

there that God meets man. Their service is beyond the service of all

lands. We are not able to forget that beauty. A man who has tasted the

sweet will not afterward accept the bitter, hence we do not wish to

remain where we are!’

“Then the chief men said to Vladimir: ‘If the law of the Greeks were

bad your grandmother Olga would not have received it, for she was the

wisest among men.’ Vladimir asked: ‘Where shall we receive baptism?’

And they answered: ‘Where it pleaseth thee.’”

While Vladimir had decided to embrace Christianity, he had resolved at

the same time to avoid even the semblance of moral subjection to any

foreign power. He therefore set about acquiring religion by conquest.

For that purpose he led an expedition against the Crimea and captured

Kerson, [4] the capital of the ancient republic of that name, and at

that time the most flourishing city on the northern coast of the Black

Sea. Then he sent a message to the Greek Emperors, demanding their

sister Anna in marriage. They answered that their sister could not

marry a pagan. Vladimir replied that religion could be no bar, for he

had long since made up his mind not only to receive Christianity

himself, but to introduce it into his domains, and if the requisite

number of priests were sent in the suite of the princess there need be

no delay, but that if they did not consent to his proposal, he would

march on Tsargrad, and treat it as he had treated Kerson. This threat

had the desired effect, for at that time the Eastern Empire was torn

with civil war. The Emperors hastened to avert the chance of Vladimir’s

favoring their enemies, and sent the Princess Anna to Kerson. A large

number of church dignitaries accompanied her. Vladimir, with his whole

army, was baptized and the marriage was celebrated without delay. A

part of the Russian force was despatched to assist the Emperors, and

Vladimir returned to Kief, after restoring Kerson as a friendly gift to

his brothers-in-law.

On his arrival at Kief, the newly converted prince overturned the

ancient idols. Some were cut into pieces, others were cast into the

fire, but the statue of Perun (the Vedic Parjana), the god of thunder,

the Slavonic Jupiter, was tied to the tails of horses and dragged from

its height to the river. Twelve men were sent to beat it with sticks,

not because the wood could feel, but to insult the Devil, since by this

image he had seduced man. When dragged to the river the image was

hurled into the water, and Vladimir commanded men to push it out into

the current, should it touch the shore anywhere. It was borne on the

stream and carried over the cataracts, and the wind blew it far away

toward the Black Sea.

Then heralds were sent through the city saying: “Who will not be

baptized, be he rich or poor, he will be hateful to me.” Vladimir went

down with all the priests to the Dnieper. Great multitudes stood in the

water, and the priests prayed and baptized them. Nestor says: “There

was joy upon earth and in heaven, for many souls were saved that day.”

After the sacred rite the people went their way, each man to his own

home. In a like manner the inhabitants of each village and settlement

were brought to Christianity, and Vladimir ordered churches to be built

on the places where idols had been. After Kief, the turn came for the

tribes east and west, as well as north. In Novgorod, where the old

beliefs had their stronghold, the opposition was greatest, and when the

first church was built the people tore it down straightway, but a

skilful mingling of persuasion and force, together with the adhesion of

the more important citizens, carried the day, and all Russia in time

became Christian. Of course paganism lived on for many a year among the

common people, as it did in other countries, and traces of it are still

to be found in the folk-songs and different religious beliefs,

survivals which are extremely interesting to the historian and

philosopher.

This sending of an embassy of wise men to examine and report on various

religions, so that prince and people might have means of making the

best choice, was a remarkable departure from previous methods, and

stands quite alone in the history of European Christianity. It was the

exact opposite of the method used south of the Baltic,—a method which

gave such great profit to invaders.

All Slav tribes between the Elbe and the Nieman, the Baltic and Bohemia

lost independence, language, and race through the method by which

Christianity was forced on them by Germans. If there were men among the

conquered and Christianized who escaped, they were men who made

themselves useful as assistant oppressors, and thus were received into

the foreign aristocracy.

Christianity, introduced first into Kief and then into Novgorod,

extended later on the east and west of the Dnieper till, after

Yaroslav’s day, it occupied all regions held by Russian princes.

Vladimir had what the Russians love in a man: a broad nature. Occupied

with serious work, he still found time for feasts. The celebration of

victories and the consecration of churches were always accompanied by

great banquets. These festivals took the place of pagan holidays. In

all the songs of Vladimir’s time the feasts of the “Bright Sun of the

Russian land” are ever remembered. So firmly did these ballads fix

themselves in the popular mind, that not many years ago Hilferding, the

president of the Slavonic Society at St. Petersburg, collected in the

course of two months enough to fill an octavo volume of eight hundred

double columns.

Vladimir’s rule in Russia was firm and unconquerable; no enemy was able

to shake it. On the east he extended his power to all places reached by

the princes before him; on the west his possessions touched the river

San, and included the Dvina region. It is difficult to overestimate the

importance of this remarkable man’s activity, but it is by his greatest

work that Vladimir is best remembered. Before he introduced

Christianity, the different tribes had been held together by merely

material bonds; thenceforth they were united by a common faith. There

is no tie so strong as the tie of faith, and in no country has it shown

more strength than in Russia.

Vladimir died in 1015, leaving twelve sons and also a nephew, or son,

namely Sviatopolk. These sons were from various mothers, and great

trouble rose quickly among them. Sviatopolk, whom people called “the

sinful son of two fathers,” could claim Vladimir’s heritage as a nephew

of Vladimir, and son of Yaropolk. He was the only one of the heirs who

was in Kief when the prince died, and he claimed the throne at once by

virtue of his seniority.

Vladimir had preferred two of his younger sons, Boris and Glaib, to the

others, partly it may be because they were better, as he thought, and

partly also because they were born of the Greek princess, Anna, to whom

he was married as a Christian. Boris was perhaps his favorite, and this

son he wished to succeed him as Grand Prince.

Sviatopolk looked on himself no doubt as the son of Yaropolk, whom he

had reason to think of as done to death foully by Vladimir. His mother,

who not long before his birth had been the betrothed wife of Yaropolk,

may have schooled him touching his father. Of this we are not informed,

though it seems very probable. In every case, Sviatopolk acted as if

moved by keen hatred, though his motive might have been purely

ambition. Acting swiftly, he seized the throne of Kief straightway,

summoned the people, spoke fairly, and gave presents on all sides; then

he found men to slay the sons of Vladimir. First they killed Boris, and

then Glaib. Another son fled westward toward Hungary, but was followed

and killed in the Carpathians.

Yaroslav, Vladimir’s fourth son, was prince in Novgorod. This city had

been paying Kief a yearly tax of two hundred grievens. The tax, paid at

all times unwillingly, was refused altogether during Yaroslav’s rule.

Vladimir had been preparing to punish his son, and force payment on

Novgorod, when he died rather suddenly. Yaroslav, to defend Novgorod

against his father, had brought in Varangians to help him. Those men,

as is the wont of such persons, grew insolent quickly and were

offensive to Novgorod women. Certain people rose up and slew some of

those warriors. Yaroslav, to defend his men, put to death the

offenders. The very night after this deed, a message came to the prince

from his sister, Predslava, in Kief, giving notice of the death of his

father and of all that had happened in the city.

Next morning Yaroslav summoned the people of Novgorod, and with tears

in his eyes made this speech to them: “If I could, I would raise up

with gold those men who fell yesterday. My father is dead, and now

Sviatopolk is master. He is killing my brothers. Give me help to meet

Sviatopolk and avenge these murders.”

“Though some of our brothers are dead, we have men enough yet to stand

up and fight for thee,” said the people of Novgorod.

Sviatopolk, taking all of his own warriors and many Petchenegs, hurried

northward to strike down Yaroslav if possible. The two armies met near

Lubetch, and Yaroslav gained a great victory.

Sviatopolk fled to Poland, where his wife’s father, Boleslav the Brave,

was then sovereign, and Yaroslav marched into Kief, and began rule

there. The Polish king took the part of his son-in-law, and after

various efforts, in which Petchenegs of the steppe were on Sviatopolk’s

side, and Henry of Germany on Yaroslav’s, Boleslav, adding to his own

men German and Hungarian mercenaries, led in a great force against

Kief, defeated Yaroslav, and the fratricide was in power again. The

king now sent home one half of his army, but lingered behind with the

rest of it, which was scattered about for subsistence in different

towns and villages. Sviatopolk soon tired of his ally, and then the

people on whom Boleslav’s warriors were quartered rose up and slew many

of them. The Polish king left at last, bearing with him much treasure.

On the way to his own lands, he took Galitch [5] as the price for

ridding Kief of his presence. No sooner was Boleslav fairly at home,

than a fierce northern storm rushed down upon Sviatopolk.

Expecting no good to their city from Sviatopolk the Accursed, who would

surely exact the old tribute, the Novgorod people rallied round

Yaroslav, and, hiring foreign troops, took the field themselves.

Sviatopolk was beaten in the first battle, and fled to the Petchenegs,

from whom he obtained a large army. A second battle was fought and, as

fate would have it, at the place where Boris had been slain. Three

times the armies paused in the struggle, and three times they closed in

mortal combat, but, before the sun went down, Yaroslav had become

master of the field. This battle ruined Sviatopolk. He fled straightway

toward the Polish boundary, and after miserable wanderings perished. It

is unknown where death came to him, or in what manner.

Of Vladimir’s twelve sons, only three were now living, Yaroslav,

Mystislav, and Sudislav. There was also a nephew, Bryacheslav. The

throne of Kief came to Yaroslav without a rival, for since

Bryacheslav’s father had never sat on the throne, his son could not

hold it. Mystislav and Sudislav were younger brothers and were excluded

till Yaroslav’s death, unless he should give place to them. Younger

brothers, however, claimed equal shares in the common inheritance, but

these were held back by Yaroslav. He kept for himself the shares of his

brothers who were dead, and gave nothing to the survivors.

The youngest, Sudislav, took no action, but Mystislav came promptly

from Tmutarakan with an army to ask for the share that belonged, as he

thought, to him. While Yaroslav was absent in Novgorod, Mystislav

appeared before Kief, but the people there closed the gates firmly

against him. He went then to Chernigoff and took it. Yaroslav hired

warriors immediately, and with them and those he already had set out to

find and punish Mystislav.

The two brothers met at Listven, somewhat west of Chernigoff, where

Mystislav made an attack. He forced the battle at night during a

terrible thunder-storm, and, knowing his ground well, defeated

Yaroslav, who fled to Novgorod.

Though Mystislav had won, he sought only that which he held to be his

own, and which he had demanded at first; he would not take Kief from an

elder brother. He sent this message to Yaroslav: “Remain in thy Kief.

Give me what is east of the Dnieper.” On that basis they settled, and

the following year Yaroslav entered Kief with a large army.

Mystislav of Chernigoff had one son, who died in 1032. He himself died

in 1035, while out hunting.

Sudislav, Yaroslav’s youngest brother, ruled in Pskoff and did nothing

to win more dominion. But in 1035, Yaroslav put him in prison and kept

him there. The chronicler states that men calumniated Sudislav,

asserting that he was dissatisfied at not receiving a share in the

lands of his dead brothers. The nephew, Bryacheslav of Polotsk, was

more fortunate; he made himself unendurable, nay, dangerous, and, in

view of this, Yaroslav added to Polotsk the two cities of Vitebsk and

Usvyat.

While ruling in Novgorod, Yaroslav had struggled against tribute to

Kief. Now, as Grand Prince, he gave that city a charter of freedom from

tribute, and sent there as prince Vladimir, his eldest son. When

Vladimir died, some two years later, he sent Izyaslav, another son.

Because of these sons, Yaroslav quarreled with Kosnyatin, his

grand-uncle, son of Dobrinya. We have seen how Dobrinya, the uncle of

Vladimir, had made this son of Malusha, his sister, prince in Novgorod,

and somewhat later Grand Prince of Russia.

Kosnyatin was a man of distinction in Novgorod, who fought devotedly

for Yaroslav during his struggles with Sviatopolk. Kosnyatin was now

imprisoned by Yaroslav, who put him to death two years later. The cause

of this seemingly ungrateful treatment is not known, but doubtless

Kosnyatin, demanding too much for himself and for Novgorod, opposed the

prince as energetically as he had formerly fought for him. In other

words, he encroached on the sovereignty of Yaroslav, and his actions

became of the kind which rulers of states treat as criminal, and which

they meet with one answer at all times and places,—that answer is

permanent removal.

Yaroslav the Lawgiver, the man who completed the foundation of the

ancient Russian state, ascended the throne in 1016 and ruled for

thirty-eight years. This was the most prosperous period of ancient

Russia. The hordes of the steppes were kept in subjection, and about

one third of Finland added to Russia, who thus held both sides of the

water highway on the north. But Yaroslav’s claims to the title of a

great ruler rest on another basis. He was a legislator, an

administrator, a founder of cities. He framed the first code of laws,

the famous Russkaya Pravda, or Russian Right; he carried on the most

orderly government known till that day. In the restoration of

boundaries and in internal improvements his activity was not less

important. He recovered Galitch, which Boleslav of Poland had seized on

his way home from his campaign with Sviatopolk the Accursed. He founded

many towns and cities, two of which are well known in our time,

Yaroslavl on the Volga, and Yurieff, now Dorpat. Wishing Kief to rival

Tsargrad, he spent much of the revenue exacted from tributary peoples

in adorning his capital. He established the first school in the north,

at Novgorod, a school for three hundred students. He concluded more

alliances and maintained a more extended intercourse with European

sovereigns than any prince of ancient Russia. His later wars were

mostly with the Petchenegs, those robbers of the steppe who had made a

drinking-cup of his grandfather’s skull, and he at last succeeded in

crushing them so completely that they never again took up arms against

him, and even their name finally disappeared. All his children were

from one mother, Ingigerd of Sweden. One of his daughters married King

Andrew of Hungary; another became the wife of Harold Hardrada, King of

Norway; a third, Anna, married Henry I of France and took with her the

beautiful missal afterwards used in the Cathedral of Rheims at the

coronation of the French kings. When Peter the Great visited that city

in 1717, the missal was shown him as of the rarest antiquity, no one

even knowing the language in which it was written. To the astonishment

of all present, the Emperor exclaimed: “Why, this is my own Slavonic,”

and he began to read in a loud voice. This missal, a masterpiece of

penmanship, and one of the most ancient specimens of Slavonic writing,

was copied no doubt under the supervision of Yaroslav himself.

Yaroslav died in 1054. He was not such a favorite with the multitude as

his father, Vladimir, had been. He was more austere in character, a

subtle-brained ruler of men, wise and far-seeing, but unbending, better

fitted to inspire respect than love. The chronicler says of him:

“Yaroslav was in his place. He was lame, but his mind was not halt. He

was brave in war, he was a Christian, and read books.” He built many

churches, among them Saint Sophia, the admiration of Kief, and Saint

Sophia of Novgorod, a precious monument of ancient Russia.

Yaroslav, knowing well the evils of civil war, arranged the succession

as follows. The eldest son was to rule at Kief, with the title of Grand

Prince; the other sons were to have each a principality, proportioned

in accordance to his age. On the death of the Prince of Kief, he was to

be succeeded by his next brother, who, on his decease, would be

followed by the next to him, and so on to the youngest, whose heir was

the eldest son of the eldest brother, or first Prince of Kief. In the

second generation, the succession was to continue as in the first. This

system was evidently copied from that of the Slavonic households, where

it might operate well enough, because a younger brother held no

position during the life of the elder. But in the ruling family each

member governed a certain territory, and when the Prince of Kief died,

there was a change all around, each ruler moving a step higher in the

scale. The result was continual shifting, disorder, and civil war.

Yaroslav left five sons, and a number of grandsons, whose fathers were

dead. To the sons he gave principalities; to the grandsons he left

nothing; they must depend upon the kindness of their uncles; they were

really excluded from sovereignty, and became in fact common people.

Before death Yaroslav enjoined mutual love on all his sons, and on the

younger obedience to Izyaslav, the eldest, who would be to them in the

place of a father. To Izyaslav he gave Kief, saying to him: “If any of

thy brothers offend another, do thou protect the offended man.”

Besides Kief, Izyaslav was prince also in Novgorod, hence the road from

the Baltic to the Greeks was at his command.

Sviatoslav, the second son, received Chernigoff with Ryazan, Murom, and

Tmutarakan, beyond the Sea of Azoff. Vsevolod, the third son, received

Pereyaslavl, Suzdal and Bailo-Ozero; the fourth son, Vyacheslav, got

Smolensk, and the fifth, Igor, Volynia with its capital, Vladimir.

Rostislav, son of Vladimir, Yaroslav’s eldest son, who died before his

father, received from his uncles Rostoff, situated in the middle of

Vsevolod’s territory.

In this division of Russia the best principality, Kief, went to the

eldest son; the second in value, Chernigoff, to the second son, and so

on. The idea was to give each prince a place whose income corresponded

to his rank in the scale of seniority. Kief, besides its superior

income, carried with it the sovereignty of Russia.

Let us follow the working of this system. In 1057, three years after

Yaroslav’s death, died the fourth brother, Vyacheslav of Smolensk,

leaving one son. Igor of Volynia was transferred to Smolensk by his

brothers, and Rostislav, the nephew, was moved from Rostoff to Volynia.

In 1060 Igor died in Smolensk, leaving sons also. The remaining three

brothers gave Smolensk neither to Igor’s sons, nor to Rostislav, to

whom, by the established order, it would belong.

Rostislav, enraged at his uncles, found daring spirits in Novgorod to

help him, among others Vyshata, son of Ostromir, the posadnik. With

these men he set out for Tmutarakan to find warriors and win by the

sword that which, as he thought, belonged to him.

In 1058 the four surviving brothers freed their uncle Sudislav from

prison, where Yaroslav, his brother, had kept him for eighteen years.

They took from him an oath to act in no way against them. Old and

childless, he entered a monastery, and died five years later.

Rostislav now took Tmutarakan from Glaib, son of Sviatoslav. Sviatoslav

hurried to help his son, and, as Rostislav did not resist his uncle,

Glaib was put back into power very promptly. No sooner was Sviatoslav

at home, however, than Glaib was driven out a second time by Rostislav,

who now settled down firmly and with a purpose. He began at once to

extend his dominion along the Caucasus, and was rapidly gaining power

to use against his uncles, when the Greeks of the Chersonese poisoned

him, and Glaib took his old place again unhindered.

The three sons of Yaroslav were rid now of their nephew, but they had a

cousin who began to give them much trouble. This cousin was Vseslav of

Polotsk, grandson of Izyaslav, the eldest brother of Yaroslav the

Lawgiver. This Vseslav was known to be desperate in battle, and swift

beyond any man in marching. People believed him born through

enchantment, they thought him a real devil’s son, who could turn to a

gray wolf and race in one night from the Caucasus to Novgorod. This so

called “wizard,” excluded from the sovereign circle, now began war in

defense of rights which to him, the great-grandson of Vladimir the

Apostle, might indeed seem well founded.

In 1065 the wizard attacked Pskoff, meeting with no success, but the

following year he entered Novgorod, captured many people, took down the

great bell of Sophia, seized church ornaments and hurried away.

“Immense was the misery of that day,” states the chronicler. Izyaslav

and his brothers pursued Vseslav during terrible cold, for the time was

midwinter. On the road they halted at Minsk. The people had shut

themselves up in the stronghold; so they stormed the stronghold and

captured it, cutting down all defenders, sparing only women and

children as captives.

They followed Vseslav till early in March, when they overtook him, and

notwithstanding a blinding snow-storm, there was a terrible battle.

Many fell on both sides. Vseslav was defeated, but he escaped, as he

always did, because of his swiftness and “magic.”

The following summer, Izyaslav invited the “evil wizard” to a council

of peace and kissed the cross not to harm him. Vseslav, with his two

sons, passed over the Dnieper, but when he entered Izyaslav’s tent he

was seized, though a wizard, and imprisoned; his sons were imprisoned

also.

The Prince of Kief and his brothers had rest now from relatives. But

some great calamity was coming, every one felt it; there were portents

on all sides. A bloody star appeared in the sky and remained a whole

month there; the sun was as pale as the moon; a deformed fish had been

caught, enormous and dreadful to look at.

While all men were convinced that some terror was approaching, and were

waiting in fear to see what it might be, the Polovtsi, a new scourge,

appeared. They had conquered the Petchenegs and were now ready to

harass Russia. Kazars, Torks and Petchenegs had preceded them in this

office, but the Polovtsi were Russia’s direst foes thus far.

In 1055 the Polovtsi had crossed the boundary of Pereyaslavl, but made

peace and then vanished. In 1059 Vsevolod attacked a certain Tork

force, which he crushed. In 1060 a “countless host” was led against

those Tork opponents, who, informed of the movement, hurried off to the

steppe, but were followed. The princes killed many and seized numbers

more of them. The captives were settled in towns to do service. Those

Torks who succeeded in escaping died in the steppe from frost, hunger

and hardship. The Torks were now finished, as were also the Petchenegs,

but the Polovtsi succeeded both, as attackers of Russia.

In 1061 these people appeared in large numbers. Vsevolod met them

immediately, but he was vanquished. They took what they pleased and

rushed off to the steppe again. In 1068 a still greater host came. The

three Russian princes met this host, and fought bravely, but were badly

defeated and fled, Izyaslav with his brother Vsevolod to Kief; and

Sviatoslav to Chernigoff.

All men in Kief were enraged at Izyaslav. Some demanded arms, and

others a prince who would lead them successfully against the Polovtsi.

They rushed to the prison, freed Vseslav the wizard, and made him Grand

Prince immediately. Izyaslav, to save his life, hastened westward to

Poland. The Polovtsi advanced to Chernigoff, where Sviatoslav met the

plundering host and crushed it.

Seven months after his flight, Izyaslav appeared before Kief with a

numerous army commanded by Boleslav the Bold, King of Poland. Vseslav

went forth to meet him, and it is told of him that, since he could hope

for no favor from Vsevolod or Sviatoslav against Izyaslav, their

brother, the wizard became a gray wolf in the night-time and vanished.

In fact he fled. The army, deserted by its leader, returned to Kief and

sent the following message to Sviatoslav and Vsevolod: “Unless ye save

Kief from the Poles, we will burn it and go to the land of the Greeks.”

“We will warn our brother,” replied Sviatoslav, “we will not permit him

to enter the city with large forces.”

Izyaslav, warned by his brothers, came with only a part of the army,

was received and took his place as of old in the capital. As soon as he

left the Kief army, Vseslav hurried off to Polotsk and took possession

of that city.

Once well reinstated in Kief, Izyaslav attacked Vseslav, expelled him

from Polotsk, and placed there Mystislav, his own son. When that son

died he sent another one, Sviatopolk. Vseslav, meanwhile, went to the

Chuds (Fins), assembled a large force among them, and attacked

Novgorod, but he was again unsuccessful. Fresh warriors, however,

flocked to the wizard, who drove Sviatopolk from Polotsk, which he held

now successfully, and with firmness.

Izyaslav, having failed to subdue the wizard, decided to act alone, and

negotiate with him. He asked no aid from his brothers; he could not

well do so, for Sviatoslav the Strong was unfriendly, was in reality

plotting against Izyaslav, working to make himself master of Kief at

the earliest moment. Dissatisfied Kief men, and victims of Izyaslav’s

anger, found refuge with Sviatoslav, who turned now to Vsevolod, his

brother, and said: “Izyaslav is plotting with the wizard against us.

Unless we expel him from Kief at once, he will drive us both from our

places.” The two brothers took action and Izyaslav was forced to leave

Kief for the second time.

Sviatoslav became Grand Prince and gave Chernigoff to Vsevolod.

Izyaslav now went to Poland. He gave immense presents to Boleslav the

Bold and to magnates, who did naught to assist him, but in the end told

him that he would better go elsewhere. He journeyed then to Mainz and

asked aid of Henry IV, the same Emperor who went to Canossa. He gave

presents to Henry and begged help against Sviatoslav and Vsevolod.

Henry, pleased by this recognition of his power by a Grand Prince of

Russia, sent an embassy straightway to Kief to demand reinstatement for

Izyaslav.

The Polish king and Henry were enemies at this time, hence Sviatoslav

made a treaty at once with the king, and sent Oleg, his own son, with

Monomach, son of Vsevolod, to assist him. Henry’s efforts were vain, so

Izyaslav’s son visited Rome to beg aid of Gregory, the seventh of that

name, the strong Pope who forced Henry IV to stand thinly clad in the

cold at Canossa.

The Russian prince declared that his father was ready to recognize

papal supremacy, if Gregory would only restore Kief to him. The Pope

wrote at once to the Polish king, touching the gifts which he had taken

from Izyaslav before sending him out of the country.

At this juncture Henry’s ally, the Bohemian king, Vratislav, heard that

two Russian princes were coming with warriors to attack him. He asked

peace of Boleslav, and obtained it for one thousand grievens in silver.

Boleslav then directed Oleg and Monomach to return, as peace had been

concluded. They replied that they could not go back without shame,

unless they won honor. Hence they advanced to get honor. During four

months they “went through” Vratislav’s land—to “go through” means to

ravage. Vratislav then gave them a thousand grievens in silver for

peace. They made peace, and returned home with the money—and with

honor.

The Polish king, angered by Oleg and Monomach, and roused by Pope

Gregory, promised to help Izyaslav, and began an advance on Kief.

Meanwhile Sviatoslav died, and Vsevolod set out with forces to meet

Boleslav, but upon reaching Volynia he made peace, yielding in favor of

Izyaslav, who became Grand Prince for the third time, and Vsevolod

returned to Chernigoff. There was trouble on all sides, however.

In 1076, during winter, Monomach hastened to Novgorod to help Glaib

against Vseslav the wizard, who was raiding and would give no rest at

any time unless that which he claimed was assured him. Some months

later Monomach was joined by his father, Vsevolod, and they marched

against Vseslav, taking with them Polovtsi warriors, employed now for

the first time in conflicts between princes. They made an attack, but

could not crush Vseslav; he was too swift in his movements. They could

lay waste to the country, but could not conquer the wizard, or stop

him. They could only watch and then ward off the blows which he struck

at one point or another.

But from the east still greater troubles were approaching. Vladimir,

Sviatoslav, Vyacheslav and Igor, four sons of Yaroslav, were now dead,

all leaving sons to whom their uncles would give no land. After

Sviatoslav’s death in 1076, and when Vsevolod had gone to meet Izyaslav

and yield Kief to him, Boris, a son of Vyacheslav, seized the throne of

Chernigoff, but retained it only eight days. Then he sped away to

Tmutarakan, where Roman, son of Sviatoslav, was ruler. There were five

of those sons of Sviatoslav, who held good lands while their father was

Grand Prince, but after his death they were driven from the lands by

Izyaslav, their uncle. Glaib was forced to leave Novgorod and lost his

life in the north among Fins. Oleg, driven from Volynia, turned first

to Vsevolod, his uncle, but when he could get no assistance from him he

went to Tmutarakan, in search of men to aid him. Meanwhile, Izyaslav

and Vsevolod gave all disposable lands to their own sons.

Two years later, 1078, Oleg and his cousin Boris led an army of

Polovtsi and others to Chernigoff, where they attacked Vsevolod and

defeated him. Vsevolod turned then to Izyaslav for assistance, and the

two princes, with Yaropolk and Monomach, their sons, marched against

Oleg and his cousin. Boris was killed in the front of the battle, and a

spear went through the body of Izyaslav, the Grand Prince. Though these

two princes fell, the battle continued till Oleg’s forces were broken

and he was swept from the field, escaping with great difficulty. Thus

one son and one grandson of Yaroslav fell in this desperate struggle

between uncles and nephews (October, 1078).

Now Vsevolod, the last son of Yaroslav the Lawgiver, became Grand

Prince, and the difficulties before him were enormous.

As already stated, Yaroslav the Lawgiver had six sons: Vladimir,

Izyaslav, Sviatoslav, Vyacheslav, Igor and Vsevolod. Vladimir, the

eldest son, had died before his father’s death, and had left one son,

Rostislav, poisoned afterward in Tmutarakan by the Greeks of

Chersonese. Rostislav had three sons: Rurik, Volodar and Vassilko.

Rurik died early, Volodar and Vassilko lived long and caused much

trouble.

Vyacheslav, the fourth son of the Lawgiver, died Prince of Smolensk,

leaving one son, Boris, who fell, as we have seen, on the battle-field

with Izyaslav, his uncle. Igor, the fifth son, had died young, leaving

one son, David. Vsevolod, the sixth son, was now Prince of Russia. Of

Sviatoslav’s sons, four were living, Oleg, Roman, David and Yaroslav.

Seven descendants of Yaroslav the Lawgiver were excluded, besides

Vseslav, the wizard of Polotsk, who demanded equal rights with the sons

of Yaroslav, and would not give peace till he got them.

On assuming power in Kief, Vsevolod gave Chernigoff to his son

Monomach, and to Yaropolk, son of Izyaslav, he gave Volynia. He gave

nothing to any of the dissatisfied princes. This conduct roused Oleg,

whose father had been Grand Prince in Kief with the aid and consent of

Vsevolod, given either by constraint or freely. So in 1079 Oleg sent

his brother, Roman, with an army of Polovtsi to war against Vsevolod,

who met him, but made peace with the Polovtsi by giving value in hand

without fighting. As Roman had nothing to give them, save a promise of

plunder for which they must fight, the Polovtsi dropped Roman’s cause

and killed him. Then they went home, seized Oleg and gave him to the

Greeks of the Chersonese, who sent him in fetters to Rhodes in the

Archipelago. Ratibor was sent by Vsevolod as posadnik to Tmutarakan,

and he ruled there till David, son of Igor, with Vassilko and Volodar,

sons of Rostislav, came the following year, drove him out of Tmutarakan

and governed in their own way. Oleg, who had fled from his exile,

appeared a year later, confined the three princes, and put those

Polovtsi to death who slew Roman. Later on he freed the princes, who

had now to seek for lands in other places.

In 1084 Rostislav’s son’s, Vassilko and Volodar, disappeared from

Volynia, where they had been living with Yaropolk. Disappeared, but

returned with an army and drove away Yaropolk. Monomach now, at command

of his father, marched against those two princes, expelled them and

reinstated Yaropolk after much fighting and effort.

David, son of Igor, used means of another sort. He remained for a time

in Tmutarakan, then he went with warriors to the mouth of the Dnieper,

stopped all merchants trading with Tsargrad and took their wares from

them. This put an end to commerce with the Byzantine Empire. Vsevolod’s

treasury suffered immediately and he was obliged to come to terms. He

gave David a part of Volynia, and commerce with Tsargrad was free

again.

Yaropolk, deeply offended by this gift to David, which decreased his

own lands, began to enlist men and make ready for warfare. Vsevolod,

upon learning of this, sent his son, Vladimir Monomach, to attack

Yaropolk, but that prince had fled to Poland, leaving wife, mother and

treasures in Lutsk. An attack was made upon Lutsk, which surrendered to

Monomach, who captured Yaropolk’s family with attendants and treasures

and established David, son of Igor, as ruler of all Volynia.

At this time Galitch was won, as it seems, by the sons of Rostislav.

They seized it from the Polish king, who was friendly with Yaropolk.

The following year, 1086, Yaropolk came back from Poland, made peace

with Monomach and was again seated in Volynia. Still his lands could

not have been of great use to him, since soon after his coming he set

out for Zvenigorod. He was slain on the road by a man named Neradets,

who escaped and took refuge with Rurik, son of Rostislav, in Galitch.

That same year Vsevolod moved against Volodar and Vassilko, but in the

end made peace with them. After that there was rest for a time in

Volynia. But there was sharp trouble with Vseslav the wizard, who at

Vsevolod’s accession had “scorched” Smolensk, that is burned it, all

save the stronghold. Monomach hunted him swiftly with men doubly

mounted, [6] but the wizard escaped. A second hunt followed, by men

from Chernigoff and Polovtsi allies. On the way they took Minsk by

surprise, and left not a man or beast in the city.