44 



KfSSIA 



milled ; but new difficulties arose, and, after having 

 preached a national war 'against tlie pope ami his 

 allies the Novgorodians,' Ivan took possession of 



eity (1481), decapitated numbers of boyars and 

 rich people, and trang]iorte<l 8000 Novgorodians 

 int<i tin- cities of eastern Russia. The colonies of 

 Novgorod (Vyatka, Dvina) were conquered next, 

 and in I4!"> the H unseat ic market of Novgorod was 

 pillaged by Ivan 's men, and all the goods taken to 

 Moscow. Novgorod thus lost both its independ- 

 ence and its trade. 



The Tartar-Mongols being divided at this time, 

 the Russians took advantage of the fact to refuse 

 tribute ; and when thereupon the khan of the 

 < ...I. Irn Horde, stimulated by I'asimir's promises of 

 support, marched against Moscow, an army of 

 150,000 men was sent to meet him on the Oka, 

 Both armies stood therefor months inactive, till, 

 finally, the Tartars, seeing no support from 

 Lithuania, and probably learning that Sarai 

 had been plundered by a straggling band of 

 Russians, suddenly retreated to ravage Lithuanian 

 territory. This retreat is considered as the libera- 

 tion of KU-MU from the Tartar-Mongol yoke 

 (1480). 



Kussia's chief enemy, however, was Lithuania, 

 united at that time with Poland. It stood at the 

 very gates of Moscow, keeping garrisons in towns 

 150 mill's distant from the Russian capital, and 

 always ready to employ the Tartars against the 

 Russians. A protracted war ensued, with the 

 result that several princes on the upper Oka and 

 Desna (tributary to the Dnieper) surrendered to 

 Ivan. Smolensk, however, remained under the 

 Lithuanians. Vassili III. (1505-33) followed his 

 father's policy. He continued the war with 

 Lithuania, and retook Smolensk. He annexed 

 Kya/an and Novgorod-Syeversk, and conquered, 

 by taking advantage of its internal dissensions, 

 the last north-western republic, Pskov. The 

 vetcJie was abolished, its bell taken to Moscow, and i 

 300 wealthy families transported to east Russia. 



Vassili's son, Ivan IV. (1533-84), was pro- 

 claimed Great Prince when he was only three I 

 years old. His reign is still the subject of the , 

 most contradictory estimates by historians. The \ 

 fact is that by that time the boyars of Moscow. 

 reinforced by all the dethroned princes and their 

 descendants,' had grown all-powerful. Not only 

 the laws were issued by the boyar iluma (council) 

 in the name of 'the Great Prince and the boyars,' ; 

 but their authority within the palace overshadowed 

 that of the prince. In his childhood Ivan IV.. 

 though surrounded with adulation at official 

 reception-, was kept in neglect and almost hunger. 

 Hu-sia was like to become another Poland ruled 

 by the rival parties of nobles. During the first 

 years of his reign Ivan ruled with their support 

 and under the influence of the priest Sylvester and 

 the minor noble Adashc\. The Mates general were ; 

 convoked twice (1549 and 1550), the code (<SWe6ni) 

 of his grandfather was revised, and church mailers 

 were settled in 'The Hundred Articles' i.s'/oy/i/ri 



by a council. Kazan was conquered in I .">.">_'. 

 and Astrakhan two years later. But within the 

 palace affairs stood at their worst. Ivan's two 

 iid \i-ers, grown very powerful, were gained over 

 to a party hostile to Ivan and favourable to his 

 cousin, and when Ivan fell ill (1553) he \\itm--scd 

 during his sufferings the intrigues of his adu-ci-. 

 Once recovered, he exiled them. At the same 

 time a mighty feudal prince, Andrei Knrli-ki. 

 openlv went over to t lie sen ice of Lithuania, while 

 other' Uiyars maintained a secret understanding 

 with Poland to place on the throne a ruler who 

 might l>e their tool. Ivan IV. liegan most cruelly 

 to jHTseeiite the boyars, and his cruelty soon 

 attained the pitch of real madness. No less than 



3470 victims, out of whom 986 are mentioned by 

 name, were inscribed by Ivan IV. himself in Ins 

 prayer-book, and among them are whole families 

 ' with sons and daughters. 'as well as 1505 No\ goro 

 dians. 'whose name-. Almighty, Thou knowi-i.' 

 Ivan's historical |M.-ition appeals very much like 

 that of Louis M. ; it was the myal power struggling 

 against the feudal oligarchy; hut the struggle took 

 a truly Asiatic character of refined cruelty, mingle, I 

 with orgies ami acts of monastic devotion. In 

 order U> carry on the struggle more successfully 

 Ivan gave lif>erties to the towns and later on 

 divided all Russia into two parts the country as 

 a whole and, on the other hand, what he claimed as 

 hisown partof the country (o/jnVcA /<(( -the latter 

 having the right of oppressing the former, peasants 

 and lioyars alike. Ivan IV. was the first autocrat 

 in Russia, and he assumed the title of tstir (errone- 

 ously spelt <':ur, <|.v.i, which is the name given 

 in the Russian translations of the ISihle to the 

 kings of .Imlea and the Roman emperors. Con- 

 trary to the advice of his hoyars, hut with the 

 approval of the states-general, tie carried on a long 

 and protracted war against Livonia, successful at 

 the beginning. Imt most disastrous when Livonia 

 was supported by th" new ly- elected king of Poland, 

 Stephen Itathory. At the. same time the khan 

 Devlet ( ihirei, crossing the ( Ika w it li 1 'JO, 000 men, 

 appeared liefore Moscow, and burned it suburbs. 

 The Kreml only resisted, and the khan retreated 

 ravaging the country and carrying away count- 

 less prisoners. By the end of Ivan's reign Silieria 

 (<j.v.) was conquered by hands of Cossacks under 

 Wimak, and (he Knglish opened the trade by sea 

 with Archangel. 



Ivan IV., who had himself killed his elde-t son 

 in a (it of rage, left but a feeble-minded son, Feodor 

 (1584-98), during whose reign the lioyars re- 

 covered their former power. Feodor's brother-in- 

 law, Boris Goilunotr. was nominated regent, and 

 the old struggles between rival parties began 

 afresh. Godunoh". though an able administrator, 

 was generally hated by lioth the boyars and the 

 people of Moscow, and he endeavoured to gain 

 popularity among the minor nobility, in the in- 

 terests of whom he promulgated (l.~>97) a law 

 which ultimately, especially after the' law of 1648, 

 developed into serfdom. I mil that time the 

 peasants remained free nominally, at least. They 

 were free to settle wherever they were offered the 

 most advantageous conditions, and once a year (on 



St I. ge's day) they were entitled to abandon their 



farms and to' remove elsewhere if they had suc- 

 ceeded in finding better terms, and had contracted 

 no debts with the landowner. Boris Godunoff 

 abolished that right of free removal, thus attach 

 ing the peasants to the land, and the institution, 

 developing into full serfdom, became the curse of 

 Russia for tlie next 270 years. To secure the 

 throne for himself and his dynasty. Codunolf lirst 

 exiled Feoilor and his mother to Ugliteh, and later 

 on sent as-as-ins t<> murder the seven years' old 



child Dmitri in 1591. After F lor's death the 



iluniii of Uiyars proclaimed Moris (iodunoff (1598- 

 1605) tsar of Kn-sia. but he reigned six years only. 



The most extraordinary thing then happened in 

 Russia. A young man, supposed to lie Grigoriy 

 Otrepieff a runaway monk from a Moscow monas- 

 tery who had afterwards spent seseial yeats among 

 theXaporogiaii Cossacks appeared in Poland under 

 the name of the assassinated Dmitri. The Jesuit* 

 and some of the Polish nobilitv at once sup- 

 ported him; also King Sigismund ; and when he 

 appeared, with an army of Polish volunteers, under 

 the walls of a Hussian frontier fortress, he was 

 received as the very son of Ivan IV. All over 

 Kussia the |M'oplc rose to support the pretender. 

 The mother of the murdered Dmitri recognised 



