IVAN III SUBDUES NOVGOROD
On January 22, 1440, Ivan III, son of Vassili the Blind, was born. This
future solidifier of Russia passed his youth in the turmoil and terror
of civil dissension, during which his father was imprisoned and
blinded. When restored to power the sightless sovereign hastened to
secure the inheritance to Ivan, making him his associate, with the
title of Grand Prince. By the accounts given us, Ivan, while still a
stripling, took active part in his father’s principality. He campaigned
more than once against Mongols, at first under veteran commanders. At
the age of nineteen, he repelled a Horde invasion, and won a victory of
importance. On coming to the throne in 1462, at the age of twenty-two,
he had had much experience both in civil and military labors. His great
mental gifts and exceptional will power were felt soon by all who had
to deal with him. Ivan was cold, imperious and calculating. He acted
always on the lines sharply drawn by the history of Moscow, hence the
policy of Russia in his time presented three vital problems: to
consolidate Russia under Moscow; to struggle with the Mongols till
Russia should be free of the humiliating yoke; to settle relations with
Lithuania and Poland.
In consolidating Russia, Ivan’s great achievement was the union of
Novgorod, with all its immense lands, to Moscow. We have seen that
Novgorod was declining, and that Vassili’s expedition in 1456 proved
clearly that the end of the Commonwealth was imminent. Complaints that
there was no justice, that the poor suffered from the rich; the hatred
of the poor for those above them; factions; warring parties; want of
zeal in those who governed; the decline of a warlike spirit; love of
gain dominating all things; these taken together proclaimed the
approaching downfall. But we must remember also that the ruling cause
was still the power of Moscow and the unavoidable and dominant
necessity for Moscow to annex Novgorod.
Moscow had reached such strength that Novgorod unassisted could not
meet her. Hence there rose a large party in Novgorod which sought an
alliance with Moscow’s main enemy, Kazimir IV, “the Grand Prince of
Lithuania and Russia and King of Poland.” Kazimir’s Novgorod partisans
hoped to find in him a preponderant protector and ally. But the king
was a Catholic, and that turned many men from him. Especially opposed
were the Russian clergy, and among them Iona the archbishop, who
enjoyed the love and respect of the people. Hence only after Iona’s
death in 1470 did the Kazimir party set to work with decision and
openly. Nothing shows the decay of the Novgorod Commonwealth as does
the absence of capable men at that period of peril. In that most
dangerous time a woman appeared, who, by energy, ability and devotion
to the city, towered above all her contemporaries. This woman was
Martha, the wife of Isaac Boretski, a former posadnik. Boretski had
left much wealth to his widow and his sons, Dmitri and Feodor. The
elder of these sons had been posadnik. Martha, thinking to save the
independence of Novgorod, sought to throw the city into the arms of
Kazimir, King of Poland, thus betraying the cause of Russia, and of
Orthodoxy. At her house on the bank of the Volkof, partisans of an
alliance with Kazimir met to feast and discuss means of struggling
against the power of Moscow. As soon as Iona had favored the men of
this party by dying, they summoned a man whom we have mentioned
already, namely, a great-grandson of Olgerd, Michael, son of Alexander,
and brother of Simeon, the Kief prince. Michael came with his personal
following. At this time the Kazimir party had, as candidate for
archbishop, Pimen, the key-keeper of the recent archbishop Iona. Pimen,
having had charge of the treasury of the Sophia Cathedral, had taken
church money in the time of Iona and had given it to Martha, for the
purchase of partisans. Martha’s adherents, determined on breaking with
Moscow, wished that Iona’s successor should be ordained, not by Philip,
metropolitan of Moscow, but by Gregory of Kief, a pupil of Isidor,
erstwhile metropolitan of Moscow, a man who was looked on as recreant
by the Orthodox. Pimen was willing, but his partisans met failure, and
could only make him one of three candidates. Not on Pimen did the
choice fall, but on Feofil. When dispute rose as to who should ordain
him, the choice went to Moscow, and an envoy was sent to the Grand
Prince to secure a safe-conduct for Feofil. Thus the Boretski party was
defeated.
Meanwhile various disputes rose with Moscow. Novgorod men began openly
to break the last treaty. Ivan was thinking of annexation to quell the
unruly, and called on Pskoff to prepare to advance unless the Novgorod
people would correct themselves. He received the Novgorod envoy with
favor, and gave a safe-conduct to Feofil.
The Boretskis began now to kindle dissensions between the boyars and
the people, to rouse men through bribery, drink and persuasion of all
kinds. Especially useful was the report that Ivan was inciting Pskoff
against Novgorod. The bells were sounded, and a mob gathered speedily:
“We will not have the Grand Prince of Moscow,” cried the people, “We
will have Kazimir!” The Moscow party, which was composed mainly of
medium and well-to-do people, declared that it was impossible for
Orthodox men to join a king who was a Catholic. From shouts the affair
went to blows. The boyar youth and the mob stoned their opponents and
frightened enough of them to secure a majority at the Assembly. Thus
the Boretski party determined in assembly to recognize the Polish king
as Prince of Novgorod, and they sent him an embassy at the head of
which were two former posadniks, Dmitri Boretski, and Afanasi
Astafievitch. This embassy concluded a treaty with Kazimir on almost
the same basis as previous treaties with Moscow, adding only one
article, namely: “The king’s representative must be an Orthodox
Christian, and never a Catholic. He must not have more than fifty
attendants in Novgorod.”
When Ivan of Moscow heard of this treaty, he acted with calculation and
prudence. Before he undertook a campaign he sent envoys repeatedly to
Novgorod. With them he sent letters, in which he said that Novgorod had
formerly supported Saint Vladimir’s descendants, and never Lithuanian
princes. He invited them to change their plans now, and promised them
favor. At the same time the metropolitan Philip wrote epistles to the
Novgorod people. He counseled them not to betray their religion, not to
go over to the Latins. He pointed to the example of the Byzantine
Empire, which remained strong while it clung to its religion, but fell
under Turks when it turned to the Latins. He wrote also to the clergy,
boyars and merchants, beseeching them to stand firmly for the Orthodox
faith, and restrain men from all evil courses.
Thus Moscow touched the most sensitive chord in the Russians, and for
the first time gave that alliance of Novgorod with Kazimir the aspect
of treason. These remonstrances influenced a great many people. The
Boretskis, however, were more active and determined than most men, and
outshouting all others, they declared: “We are not an inheritance of
Moscow! We are free! We are for the king!”
War was now unavoidable. Great disasters, according to popular belief,
are preceded by wonders. The fall of Novgorod had also its admonishing
marvels: A storm broke the cross on St. Sophia. Blood appeared on the
graves of two archbishops whom the people had loved. In the Hutin
monastery a bell sounded, though no man rang it. In the church of
Yevfimia tears dropped from the eyes of an image of the Virgin. A holy
hermit went to Novgorod to a feast at the mansion of Martha; all at
once, while sitting at the table, he became terrified. At the moment he
did not speak of it, but afterward he explained to an anchoret that
among the boyars present he had seen some who appeared to be headless,
and he mentioned their names. Later the heads of those same boyars were
cut off in the struggle with the Grand Prince.
Ivan, calculating every step carefully, acted with decision and with
unbending resolve against Novgorod. At first he took counsel with his
mother, the metropolitan Philip, and intimate boyars. They advised him
to trust in God firmly, to advance against Novgorod and punish it for
its treason. After this small, or preliminary council, he summoned a
great one, at which appeared his brothers, the bishops of Russia, the
subordinate princes, boyars, voevodas, and nobles. Explaining to them
the disobedience and treason of Novgorod, he asked: “Shall I march
against the place straightway?”
Summer was coming, and the Novgorod country abounded in rivers, lakes,
swamps and morasses; former Grand Princes rarely made the march during
summer, but the great council, like the small one, decided to confide
in the Lord and the Holy Virgin, and march with all promptness, making
a holy war against the allies of the Pope and the Poles.
On this, as on every occasion, appeared the old rivalry of Novgorod and
Suzdal, and the perfect sympathy of Moscow with the consolidation of
Russia, under the leadership of its Grand Prince. To this was now added
great indignation at Novgorod, for deserting its Orthodox connections.
Resting on this sympathy, which even rose to enthusiasm, Ivan sent
general commands to move against the city. Notice was given to
Novgorod, and troops were requested of Tver and Pskoff. Ivan ordered
the campaign as follows: He despatched the boyar, Boris Slaipets, to
Vyatka, to attack the Dvina region with warriors from Vyatka. Vassili
Obrazets, the Ustyug voevoda, was to join him. To Novgorod, Ivan sent
two divisions, one under Holmski with orders to march against Russa and
then, joining Pskoff forces, to attack Novgorod’s western boundary;
another, under Striga Obolenski, was to attack on the east side. The
Grand Prince himself, after giving large alms and praying at the grave
of his father, received a blessing from the metropolitan, and on June
20 marched out of Moscow with the main army. With him went Stephen
Vorobati, a man deeply read in Russian chronicles, who could remind
Novgorod of all its former treaties.
Ivan left Moscow to the care of two of his brothers, and took three
with him. At Torjok the Tver forces joined him.
Nature itself seemed to favor the expedition. The summer was
unaccountably dry; every soft place had become passable. Warriors and
wagons moved over ground on which ordinarily no one could go at that
season of the year.
How did Novgorod meet these men moving from three sides? All hope in
Kazimir was illusive. Drawn off by other questions, the king took no
part whatever in the war between Novgorod and Moscow. Prince Michael,
the son of Alexander, who might have helped, received news of the death
of his brother, and left immediately, taking his troops with him. He
passed through the country like an enemy, extorting taxes with
violence, and robbing towns till he touched the boundary.
There was in Novgorod another man hostile to Moscow, Prince Shuiski, a
descendant of those Suzdal princes who had lost their lands somewhat
earlier. Shuiski was despatched to the Dvina. The envoys seeking Pskoff
aid received nothing; for the Pskoff men had already yielded to
Moscow’s demands, and sent troops to act against Novgorod. Obliged to
depend upon their own strength and resources, the Novgorod men did not
falter. They equipped a considerable army, and noting Ivan’s blunder in
strategy, took advantage of it. His troops, though numerous, were
scattered, and were advancing along various roads, without much
precaution. The city thought to defeat them in detail by acting with
swiftness, and by concentrating forces.
The Novgorod troops marched at once against Holmski, who had taken and
burned Russa, and was advancing slowly, while waiting for Pskoff men.
Their plan was to crush Holmski before he could be reinforced by the
Pskoff army, and then to rout the latter. Meanwhile, the Novgorod horse
were moving along the west bank of Lake Ilmen. A part of the warriors
had debarked on its southern border, near Korostyno, but the Moscow
guard noted this movement quickly, and despatched couriers to Holmski,
who struck on the Novgorod foot at once. They fought bravely, but were
scattered, because the horsemen, though near, could not help them. The
troops sent by the archbishop excused themselves, saying: “We were sent
against Pskoff, and not to fight Moscow.” The victors learned also that
Novgorod forces, embarked at the mouth of the Pola, were sailing toward
Russa, so the Moscow men turned to this town and dispersed the warriors
who landed there, thus baffling Novgorod’s plan against Holmski. The
Novgorod infantry was scattered and crushed, but the cavalry was
uninjured and numerous, forty thousand in all, as reckoned by Moscow,
while Holmski’s division was less than one fourth of that number.
The Moscow voevodas laid siege to Deman, the town nearest Russa, not
wishing to leave it behind them. But the Grand Prince, on hearing of
victory, sent them to Sheloni, where they joined Pskoff men; and to
Deman he sent Prince Vereiski. At Sheloni Prince Holmski found the
Novgorod horse on the opposite bank of the river. They intended
apparently to fall on the Pskoff men, who had at last entered Novgorod
regions, and were plundering and taking everything before them.
Seeing the preponderance on their side, the Novgorod men, keeping up
the old custom, began to boast of their strength, and ridicule their
opponents. The sight of this well-armed and active body confused the
Moscow troops somewhat, but only for a moment. They had made many
campaigns, and were under trained leaders, while the defenders of the
city were potters, carpenters and tanners, who had hurried to arms
quickly under threat of losing their houses, or being drowned in the
river. If they were trained it was only in boxing, or fighting with
bludgeons, not in handling sharp weapons and horses. Obedience and
concord were wholly unknown to them, and they had no experienced
leaders.
When the Moscow voevodas reached the ford, they cried to those under
them, “Brothers, it is better for us to lay down our lives with honor
than to go back defeated.” With these words they urged their horses
down the steep bank, and were the first to plunge into the river. After
them rushed the whole army, wading and swimming to the opposite side,
and with shouts of “Moscow! Moscow!” they hurled themselves against the
enemy.
The city men, answering with “Holy Sophia!” “Great Novgorod!” rushed to
the onset. The Moscow troops had a difficult task before them, but the
attackers showed judgment; they struck mainly the horses. Thus, though
the Novgorod men struggled desperately, the men of Moscow were
overcoming them, for the rearing and plunging of their wounded beasts
caused dreadful confusion in the ranks. Then a division attacked their
rear, and this gave a decisive victory to Moscow.
A large number of Novgorod men fell or were captured; the remainder
rushed wildly through forests or galloped home to the city. Among the
captives were many boyars and some former posadniks; with these men
were the sons of Martha Boretski.
The treaty between King Kazimir and Novgorod was found in the deserted
camp and sent to the Grand Prince, together with news of the triumph.
The Moscow camp was filled with delight and rejoicing. Ivan moved now
to Russa, and there the captives were brought to receive judgment. The
prisoners of importance he met with stern severity. Of those who would
have given Novgorod to Kazimir four were beheaded: Dmitri Boretski,
Vassili Selezneff, Yeremi Suhoscheka, and Cyprian Arbuzieff. Other
notable persons, among them Vassili Kazimir and Matthew Selezen, were
removed to Kolomna and kept there in irons; still others he sentenced
to imprisonment in Moscow; unimportant people were dismissed to their
families.
From Russa, Ivan moved toward the mouth of the Sheloni. Meanwhile
Holmski conquered all the west to the German boundary.
Moscow troops were now approaching Novgorod from various directions, to
force the people to open the gates to them. Chaos reigned in the city.
There was heard on all sides the wail of widows and orphans mourning
for the men who had perished. The Boretskis, however, encouraged the
people, and roused them to desperate effort. On the walls and the
towers guards were changed frequently, both night and day. The
defenders burned monasteries and houses near the city. A courier was
sent to King Kazimir, imploring his immediate assistance. But the
courier came back soon. The Livonian Grand Master had barred the way to
him. Meanwhile a certain Upadysh had spiked guns on the walls of the
city and straightway had suffered death for treason. Great numbers of
people had come from the country to Novgorod; and now disease appeared.
Communication with the world was interrupted, and hunger was
approaching. To complete the disaster, evil news came from Dvina
regions: The voevodas of Moscow had scattered the Novgorod army; Prince
Shuiski, its leader, was wounded severely; the inhabitants had taken
the oath to the Grand Prince.
The Novgorod adherents of peace and alliance with Moscow attacked the
opponents for listening to women and destroying the Commonwealth. The
Assembly sent envoys to Ivan. From the five ends of the city went five
notable persons, and five ex-posadniks. At the head of those ten was
the archbishop. The envoys sailed over the Ilmen to Korostyno, but were
not admitted at once to an audience. When the Grand Prince saw them,
the archbishop asked him to give pardon to Novgorod, and not take its
territory.
Ivan listened kindly, and agreed to stop bloodshed. The question of
peace he committed to boyars. August 9 and 11, 1471, papers were signed
by which Ivan seemed to acknowledge the old-time conditions, and almost
repeat the peace clauses framed by Vassili, his father. To these was
added only the bond not to join Lithuania deceitfully and to have the
archbishop ordained always in Moscow, at the tomb of the first
metropolitan, Peter. The Grand Prince returned the towns won from the
city and its districts. Novgorod agreed to pay an indemnity of fifteen
thousand five hundred rubles. Ivan’s voevoda was to take the oath from
all Novgorod to observe this new treaty. After the oath had been given,
Ivan went to Moscow.
Thus the Grand Prince conquered Novgorod, sparing it this first time,
and seeming not to entirely deprive it of independence. With his usual
caution, he did not bring men to despair; he left his final blow for
another day. A wise man might have foreseen easily that such a day was
inevitable, and in the near future. Ivan had the strength to wait for
it.
How pleasing and how popular the victory was in Moscow was shown by the
welcome which that city gave the Grand Prince at his coming. People in
thousands went a number of versts from the city to greet him. The
metropolitan and the clergy met him with banners and crosses. His son
and attendants were waiting one day’s journey from the city.
While men of Moscow were rejoicing in this way, an evil fate seemed to
frown upon Novgorod. After all the reverses and plunders a new
misfortune came to that place. Among people from outside who had fled
to the city were families from Russa. After peace was made, they took
boats and were sailing homeward by Lake Ilmen when a dreadful tempest
rose and drowned nearly all of them. It is said that seven thousand
died in the water. In Novgorod itself there were fires which raged with
great havoc.