Two more unexpected twists of fate. Balyazin Voldemar

Grand Dukes of Moscow Ivan III and Ivan IV

The reign of Ivan Vasilyevich (1462-1505) was the most important stage in the process of creating a unified Russian state. This is the time of the formation of the main territory of Russia, its final liberation from the Mongol yoke and the formation of the political foundations of a centralized state. Ivan III was a major statesman, a man of great political ideas and decisive undertakings. Clever, far-sighted, prudent and persistent, but cautious and cunning, he was a worthy successor to his father's work. Ivan Vasilyevich was nicknamed the Great for a long time.

Karamzin writes the following about the forty-three-year reign of this prince: “The people are still stagnant in ignorance, in rudeness; but the government is already acting according to the laws of the enlightened mind. The best armies are arranged, the Arts are called upon, which are most necessary for the success of military and civil; The embassies of the Grand Dukes rush to all the famous Courts; Foreign embassies one after another appear in our capital: the Emperor, the Pope, the Kings, the Republics, the Tsars of Asia greet the Monarch of Russia, glorious in victories and conquests from the great-grandfathers of Lithuania and Novgorod to Siberia. Dying Greece denies us the remnants of its ancient greatness: Italy gives the first fruits of the arts born in it. Moscow is adorned with magnificent buildings. The earth opens its bowels, and we extract precious metals from them with our own hands. Here is the content of the brilliant History of John III, who had the rare happiness of ruling for forty-three years and was worthy of it, ruling for the greatness and glory of the Russians.

Almost half a century of his reign passed under the sign of the struggle for the reunification of the Russian lands. Ivan III is called "the collector of the Russian land." He annexed many native Russian lands to Moscow, repelled the invasion of Lithuania, liberated the country from the Mongol-Tatar yoke (“Standing on the Ugra” 1480). His second wife Sophia, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, helped Ivan obtain the rights and regalia of Constantinople monarchs and contributed to the country's conversion to European culture. The new political and religious position of the Muscovite state gave rise to the idea of ​​considering Moscow the “third Rome” (considering Rome and Constantinople as the first and second, respectively).

During the reign of Ivan III, Yaroslavl (1463), Novgorod (1478), Tver (1485), Vyatka, Perm and other cities and lands were annexed to Moscow. Under Ivan III, large-scale construction began in Moscow, the international prestige of the Russian state grew, and the title Grand Duke of “All Rus'” was formalized.

Within the state, like Yaroslav, Ivan III, “having glorified Russia with weapons and politics,” tried to “approve her internal improvement with general civil laws, in which she had the necessary need.” To this end, "he issued his own Code, written very clearly, thoroughly." The Code of Laws of Ivan III regulated legal proceedings in Rus'. “The chief judge was the Grand Duke with his children: but he gave this right to the Boyars, Okolnichs, Viceroys, the so-called Volostels and local Children of the Boyars, who, however, could not judge without the Starosta, Dvorsky and the best people elected by citizens.”

Ivan III managed to change the whole face of the state - to turn it from a strong principality into a powerful centralized state. As N. M. Karamzin wrote: “From now on, our history accepts the dignity of a true state, describing no longer senseless princely fights, but the action of the Kingdom, acquiring independence and greatness. Diversity of power disappears with our allegiance; a strong power is formed, as if new to Europe and Asia, which, seeing it with surprise, offer it a famous place in their political system. Already our alliances and wars have an important goal: every special enterprise is a consequence of the main thought, striving for the good of the fatherland.

Karamzin devotes a whole 6 volume to the description of the reign of Ivan III, starting from his youth and ending with the death of the ruler. Assessing the activities of Ivan as an autocrat, N. M. Karamzin writes about him this way: “John, born and raised as a tributary of the steppe Horde, became one of the most famous sovereigns in Europe, honored, caressed from Rome to Constantinople, Vienna and Copenhagen, not yielding primacy to the Emperors , nor proud Sultans; without teaching, without instructions, guided only by the natural mind, he gave himself wise rules in foreign and domestic politics; restoring the freedom and integrity of Russia by force and cunning, destroying the kingdom of Batyevo, crowding, cutting off Lithuania, crushing the freedom of Novgorod, seizing appanages, expanding the possessions of Moscow to the deserts of Siberia and Norwegian Lapland, invented the most prudent, on far-sighted moderation, based for us a system of war and peace, which his successors had only to follow constantly in order to assert the greatness of the state. ... tearing apart the veil between Europe and us, surveying the thrones and kingdoms with curiosity, did not want to interfere in alien affairs; accepted alliances, but with the condition of a clear benefit for Russia; he was looking for tools for his own plans, and did not serve as a tool for anyone, always acting as is characteristic of a great, cunning monarch, who has no passions in politics, except for a virtuous love for the lasting good of his people. The consequence was, - says Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, - that Russia, as an independent power, majestically exalted its head on the borders of Asia and Europe, calm inside, and not afraid of external enemies.

That is why Karamzin believes that “John III is one of the very few Sovereigns elected by Providence to decide for a long time the fate of peoples: he is a Hero not only of Russian, but also of World History.”

After the death of Ivan III, power passed to his son Vasily. Karamzin speaks of his reign as follows: “The reign of Basil seemed only a continuation of Ioannov. Being, like his father, a zealot of the Autocracy, firm, adamant, although less strict, he followed the same rules in foreign and domestic politics; decided important matters in the council of the Boyars, disciples and associates of the Ioannovs; asserting his own opinion by their opinion, he showed modesty in the actions of the Monarchist power, but he knew how to command; he loved the benefits of peace, not fearing war and not missing an opportunity for acquisitions important for state power; less famous for military happiness, more dangerous for enemies cunning; He did not humiliate Russia, he even exalted it, and after John he still seemed worthy of autocracy. But Vasily did not rule for long, in connection with his death, power passed to the young Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible.

The reign of Ivan the Terrible by Karamzin is described in volumes 8-9 of the History of the Russian State. The eighth volume of the "History" ends in 1560, breaking the reign of John IV into two parts, the line between which was the death of Empress Anastasia. With the death of the queen, the beginning that restrained the unbridled temper of the king disappeared, and the dark time of atrocities, cruelties, and a tyrannical regime began. During the years of unrest, when the autocracy was shaken, Russia also perished.

N. M. Karamzin described the life of Ivan the Terrible consistently and in great detail, analyzing the prerequisites for the further life of the tsar. Such prerequisites were the difficult childhood of Ivan Vasilyevich.

Tsar Ivan was born in 1530. From nature, he received a lively and flexible mind, thoughtful and a little mocking, a real Great Russian mind. But the circumstances amidst which Ivan's childhood passed, early spoiled this mind, gave it an unnatural, painful development. Ivan was orphaned early, in the fourth year he lost his father, and in the eighth he lost his mother. Russia has never had such an underage ruler. After the death of his father, power was in the hands of his mother Elena and several boyars, who had a strong influence on the mind of the ruler. Soon Elena dies, and Ivan is left alone among strangers, without his father's supervision and maternal greetings.

Thus, N. M. Karamzin says that Ivan the Terrible from childhood saw himself among strangers. A feeling of orphanhood, abandonment, loneliness was preserved in his soul early and deeply and for the rest of his life, a feeling of orphanhood, abandonment, loneliness, about which he repeated at every opportunity: "My relatives did not care about me." Hence his timidity, which became the main feature of his character.

According to Karamzin, a picture emerges quite clearly that John's childhood passed in an unnatural, abnormal environment that did not contribute to the balanced, healthy development of the child. In childhood, serious illnesses were laid in the soul of John, which developed and aggravated, due to the prevailing circumstances, in the future.

Following historical facts, N. M. Karamzin also describes the wedding of the young tsar - “in 1546, sixteen-year-old Ivan suddenly spoke to them that he planned to marry, but before marrying, he wants to fulfill the ancient rite of his ancestors, to get married to the kingdom . John ordered the metropolitan and the boyars to prepare for this great celebration, as if confirming the holy union between the sovereign and the people with the seal of faith. Meanwhile, noble dignitaries, devious, clerks traveled around Russia to see all the noble girls and present the best brides to the sovereign: he chose young Anastasia from among them. The personal virtues of the bride justified this choice.

Karamzin notes in his work that what is noteworthy about these events is that Ivan the Terrible “was the first of the Moscow sovereigns who saw and vividly felt in himself a king in the true biblical sense, the anointed of God. This was a political revelation for him, and from that time on his royal "I" became for him an object of pious worship. But neither John's piety nor sincere love for his wife could tame his ardent, restless soul, impetuous in the movements of anger, accustomed to noisy idleness, to dishonest amusements. He loved to show himself as a king, but not in the deeds of a wise government, but in punishments, in the unbridled whims; played, so to speak, with favors and disgrace; multiplying the number of favorites, still more multiplying the number of outcasts; he was self-willed in order to prove his independence, and still depended on the nobles, for he did not work in the dispensation of the kingdom and did not know that a sovereign, truly independent, is only a virtuous sovereign.

Karamzin writes that “Russia has never been ruled worse: the Glinskys did what they wanted in the name of the young sovereign; enjoyed honors; wealth and indifferently saw the infidelity of private rulers; they demanded servility, not justice. Strong characters require a strong shock in order to overthrow the yoke of evil passions and strive with lively zeal on the path of virtue. To correct John, Moscow had to burn down!

It is impossible, according to the descriptions of contemporaries, to describe or imagine this disaster, people with scorched hair, with black faces wandered like shadows among the horrors of the vast ashes: they were looking for children, parents, the remains of the estate; they couldn't find it and howled like wild animals. And the tsar with the nobles retired to the village of Vorobyevo, as if in order not to hear and not to see this popular despair.

“In this terrible time, when the young tsar was trembling in his Sparrow Palace, and the virtuous Anastasia was praying, some amazing man appeared there, by the name of Sylvester, the rank of priest, originally from Novgorod, approached John with a raised, threatening finger, with the air of a prophet , and with a persuasive voice he told him that the judgment of God thunders over the head of the frivolous and malicious tsar, that the fire of heaven has incinerated Moscow.

Opening the holy scripture, this man pointed out to John the rules given by the Almighty to the assembly of the kings of the earth; conjured him to be a zealous executor of these charters; even gave him some terrible visions, shook his soul and heart, took possession of the imagination, mind of the young man and produced a miracle: John became a different person; shedding tears of repentance; stretched out his right hand to the inspired mentor, demanded from him the strength to be virtuous and accepted it.

“The humble priest, without demanding either a high name, or honor, or wealth, stood at the throne in order to affirm and encourage the young crowned bearer on the path of correction, entering into a close alliance with one of John’s favorites, Alexei Fedorovich Adashev, a wonderful young man who is described as earthly an angel: having a tender, pure soul, good morals, a pleasant mind, a love of goodness, he sought John's mercy not for his own personal benefits, but for the benefit of the fatherland, and the king found in him a rare treasure, a friend that the autocrat needed in order to know better people, the state of the state, the true needs thereof. Sylvester aroused in the king a desire for good, Adashev made it easier for the king to do good. Here begins the era of the glory of John, a new, zealous activity in government, marked by happy successes for the state and great intentions. Both modern Russians and foreigners who were then in Moscow depict this young, thirty-year-old crowned bearer as an example of pious, wise, zealous monarchs for the glory and happiness of the state, ”says an intelligent contemporary, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, who was then already a noble dignitary of the court.

In a word, at that time Russia had a good tsar, whom the people loved and who worked for the good of the state. “In general, wise moderation, philanthropy, the spirit of meekness and peace have become the rule for royal power. Very few of the former Courtiers - and the most evil ones - have been removed; others have been curbed or corrected.”

“Exposing the tormentor of Russians” - this is how Karamzin himself succinctly defined the content of the 9th volume of the main work of his life. And the first, artistically and historically the brightest and most profound chapters of the volume, the author called even shorter (it sounded like a sentence of a historian and thinker): "Ivashka's atrocities" (!). Those close to the historian joked (and there was a considerable amount of truth in this!) that it took Karamzin four years to complete the history of the despot-tsar, for it was just as difficult for him to describe his crimes as it was for the disenfranchised subjects of Grozny to endure them.

Karamzin undertook to denounce despotism, living in the conditions of a despotic society, undertook to comprehend its essence, main features and character, while going far beyond the specific era he describes.

Having described the beginning of mass repressions (in 1560), conceived by a suspicious, power-hungry and vindictive tsar, describing the first executions committed by the tormentor, clearly revealing the connection of times, Karamzin writes: “The voice of an inexorable conscience disturbed the troubled dream of the tsar’s soul. Blood flowed, victims wailed in the dungeons; there is no correction for the tormentor, blood drinking does not quench, but increases the thirst for blood: it becomes the fiercest of passions, inexplicable to the mind, for there is madness - the execution of peoples and the tyrant himself. The people, the author notes, “pityed the innocent, cursing the caresses, the new royal advisers; but the king was angry and wanted to calm the insolence with cruel measures.

Karamzin has more than enough pictures of the incredible cruelty of the tsar. But - what are the reasons for it (one of the deep thinkers of Russia of that time, Alexander Turgenev, close to the Decembrists, noted: “A truly formidable tyrant, which no nation has ever had, either in antiquity or in our time - this Ivan is presented to us by Karamzin with the greatest fidelity and definitely Russian, and not a Roman tyrant!")?

Karamzin writes: “History will not solve the question of man's moral freedom; but, assuming it in his judgment of deeds and characters, he explains both, firstly, by the natural properties of people, and secondly, by circumstances or impressions of objects that act on the soul. John was born with ardent passions, with a strong imagination, with a mind even sharper than firm or solid. Poor upbringing, spoiling his natural inclinations, left him a way to correct himself in faith alone ... Friends of the fatherland and good in extraordinary circumstances knew how to touch her with saving horrors, to strike his heart; they stole the young man from the nets of bliss, and with the help of the pious, meek Anastasia, they led him onto the path of virtue. The unfortunate consequences of John's disease have upset this beautiful union, weakened the power of friendship, made a change.

The sovereign has matured: passions ripen along with the mind, and pride acts even stronger in perfect years ... ".

Ordinary envious people, who do not tolerate anyone above themselves, did not doze off, praised the wisdom of the king and said: “Now you are already a true autocrat, the anointed of God; You alone govern the earth: you open your eyes and see freely on the whole kingdom.

“Among the new favorites of the sovereign, Malyuta Skuratov-Belsky, the boyar Alexei Basmanov, his son, Kravchy Fedor, Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky, Vasily Gryaznoy, were ready for anything to satisfy their ambition. By the sympathy of evil, they stepped forward and crept into the soul of John, pleasing to him with some kind of lightness of mind, artificial gaiety, boastful zeal to fulfill, to warn his will as divine, without any consideration with other rules that curb both good kings and good servants. royal, the first - in their desires, the second - in the fulfillment of them. The old friends of Ioannov expressed love for the sovereign and for civil virtue; new ones - only to the sovereign, and seemed all the more amiable.

The terror of Grozny was brewing gradually, accumulating over the years; Karamzin writes: “The tsar decided to be strict and became a tormentor, to whom we can hardly find an equal in the Tacitus chronicles themselves!” It is appropriate to make two remarks here. Firstly, the Tacitus chronicles preserved for future generations stories about the atrocities of "glorious" emperors, such as Nero, Caligula, Tiberius and others like them; how good is the “monarchism” of Karamzin, who directly indicates that the “native” autocrat of Moscow, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, surpassed these Roman tyrants in fierce cruelty! And, secondly, we recall a long-standing poem by the same Karamzin, who angrily accused the Roman people of the "time of Tacitus" that he, the people, meekly endured that "which cannot be tolerated without meanness ...".

And now - the bacchanalia of murders! They executed the former associates of Ivan IV, his trusted advisers, who, for one reason or another, aroused the royal wrath; executed, tortured, tortured and exiled to the North, to Solovki (not in the 20th century did these terrible islands acquire such an evil reputation!), to remote prisons and monasteries of relatives, friends, children and wives of "traitors" to the tsar.

The noble prince Dmitry Obolensky-Ovchinin, offended by the boorish arrogance of the young favorite of Tsar Fyodor Basmanov, said to the newly-minted favorite: “We serve the tsar with useful works, and you with vile deeds of Sodom!” Karamzin writes: “Basmanov brought a complaint to the tsar, who, in a frenzy of anger, plunged a knife into the heart of the unfortunate prince at dinner; others write that he ordered him to be strangled.” And further: “Boyar Prince Mikhailo Repnin was also a victim of generous courage. Seeing in the courtyard an obscene game, where the king, intoxicated with strong honey, danced with his favorites in masks, this nobleman wept with grief. John wanted to put a mask on him; Repnin pulled it out, trampled it underfoot and said: “Should the sovereign be a buffoon? At least I, a boyar and an adviser to the Duma, cannot be mad.” The king drove him out and a few days later ordered to kill him, standing in the holy temple at prayer; the blood of this virtuous man stained the platform of the church.”

And here is another very important observation of Karamzin: “Pleasing the unfortunate disposition of the soul of Ioannova, crowds of informers appeared. They eavesdropped on quiet conversations in families, between friends; they looked at faces, guessed the secret of thoughts, and vile slanderers were not afraid to invent crimes, for the sovereign liked the denunciations and the judge did not demand true evidence ... Moscow froze in fear. It is curious to see how this sovereign, a zealous follower of the Christian law until the end of his life, wanted to agree with his divine teaching with his unheard-of cruelty: he justified it in the form of justice, arguing that all its martyrs were traitors, sorcerers, enemies of Christ and Russia; then he humbly blamed himself before God and people, called himself a vile killer of the innocent, ordered to pray for them in holy churches, but consoled himself with the hope that sincere repentance would be his salvation and that he, laying down his earthly greatness, in the peaceful monastery of St. Cyril of Belozersky over time will be an exemplary monk. So John wrote to Prince Andrei Kurbsky and to the heads of the monasteries he loved, as evidence that the voice of an implacable conscience disturbed the cloudy sleep of his soul, preparing it for a sudden, terrible awakening in the grave!

But what did this devout Orthodox Christian do with Metropolitan Philip, one of the few church hierarchs close to the tsar who dared to openly condemn his atrocities? In the midst of the executions, the tsar enters the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, he is met by the metropolitan, determined “by the duty of his dignity” to intercede for all those doomed to execution, all who will be beheaded, burned at the stake, wheeled, impaled. Karamzin narrates as follows: “Be quiet,” Grozny interrupts him, barely restraining his anger. “I tell you one thing - be silent, holy father, be silent and bless us. “Our silence,” Vladyka answered, “imposes sin on your soul and inflicts death. "My neighbors," Philippa the Terrible interrupts, "stand on me, they are looking for harm to me. What do you care about our royal plans?"

Metropolitan Philip was exiled to a remote monastery not far from Tver, and then strangled by the tsar’s henchman and executioner Malyuta Skuratov (it was announced that Vladyka Philip died of “unbearable heat” in his cell…).

The denunciation of "Ivashkin's atrocities" is on the rise with the historiographer; and Karamzin’s overture of the “tragedy of horrors” sounds the pages devoted to the introduction of the oprichnina, as the tsar called his special personal squad, the name of which, until then unknown in Russia, is associated with the division of the state into two parts proclaimed by Ivan the Terrible. He declared one of them his unlimited personal property (a management model already unthinkable for most European countries of that era!), He called it “oprichnina” from the word “away” (outside), in contrast to the other - the Zemshchina, as Ivan IV called the rest of state, left (purely nominally) in the jurisdiction of the "boyars zemstvo".

Oprichniki were, as Karamzin insistently emphasizes many times, people ready for anything, personally devoted to the despot and despising any norms of human morality. The king chose his own! The historian notes: “Soon they saw that John was betraying all of Russia as a sacrifice to his oprichniki: they were always right in the courts, but there was no trial or justice against them. The oprichnik or pitcher - that's how they began to call them, as if the monsters of pitch darkness - could safely crowd, rob a neighbor and, in case of a complaint, took a penalty from him for dishonor.

The oprichnina is truly the foundation of the system of power of the tsar-destroyer, the diabolical invention of his quirky mind, which left such a terrible mark on the history of the Moscow and Russian state and, thanks to this, caused so many imitations covered only by other names (more on that below!). Separate, smash the people, set one part of it against another, inciting the wildest base animal instincts, sowing hatred, fear everywhere and breeding countless hordes, millions of spies, executioners, scammers and flatterers ... Here is that hellish method of turning a people into a crowd, only using which and it is possible to “twist” society by killing the best sons of the country, and only by exterminating the bearers of courage, conscience and reason of the people, can one bring the survivors to their knees, mercilessly dumbing them down.

The author likens the tyranny of Grozny to the most difficult trials that fell to the Russians during the specific period and time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke: because she believed that God sends plagues, earthquakes, and tyrants.”

It would seem that in describing the tyranny of Grozny (and this was the first time this had been done with such thoroughness), Karamzin dealt a blow to the autocracy, which he consistently defended. The historian removes this apparent contradiction by reasoning about the need to study the past in order not to repeat its vices in the future: “The life of a tyrant is a disaster for mankind, but his history is always useful for sovereigns and peoples: to instill disgust for evil is to instill love for virtue - and the glory of time when, armed with the truth, a descriptor can put such a ruler to shame in the autocratic government, so that there will be no more like him in the future.

So, describing the personalities of the Moscow tsars Ivan III and Ivan IV, Karamzin, as it were, contrasts them with each other. Karamzin characterizes Ivan III as a great ruler who, during his reign, managed to turn Moscow Rus' into a single strong state that Europe could not ignore. Karamzin describes his grandson Ivan the Terrible as a great and wise sovereign in the first half of his reign, a merciless tyrant in the second, who weakened Rus' with his rule. Ivan the Terrible appears before us as the "fierce grandson" of the "reasonable autocrat" Ivan III.

The reign of Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuisky

“A cruel reign often prepares a weak reign: the new Crown-bearer, afraid of becoming like his hated predecessor and wanting to win common love, easily falls into the other extreme, into a detriment harmful to the State.” It is this reign that Karamzin sees in the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor.

“Guessing that this twenty-seven-year-old Sovereign, condemned by nature to the eternal infancy of the spirit, will depend on the Nobles or Monks, many did not dare to rejoice at the end of tyranny, so as not to regret it in the days of anarchy, intrigues and troubles of the Boyars, less destructive for people, but still most disastrous for the great Power, arranged by the strong, indivisible power of the Tsar ... Fortunately for Russia, Fedor, fearing power as a dangerous excuse for sins, entrusted the helm of the State to a skillful hand, ”writes Karamzin.

Real power passed to two boyars: Fyodor's uncle Nikita Romanov and his brother-in-law Boris Godunov. Here is how Karamzin describes Boris Godunov: “This famous husband was then in the full bloom of life, in full strength of body and soul, having 32 years from birth. With majestic beauty, commanding appearance, quick and deep meaning, seductive sweet speech surpassing all nobles (as the Chronicler says), Boris did not have only ... virtue; wanted, knew how to do good, but only out of love for glory and power; saw in virtue not an end, but a means to an end; if he had been born on the throne, he would have deserved the name of one of the best crowned bearers in the world; but born a subject, with an unbridled passion for dominance, could not overcome temptations where evil seemed to him a benefit - and the curse of centuries drowns out the good glory of Borisov in history.

Boris had a huge influence on the weak king. In this he was helped by his sister Irina, Fedor's wife. Irina did a lot to create a lasting alliance between the king, who was unable to rule, and his brother, who was striving for power.

On the activities of Godunov at the stage of the reign of Fyodor Karamzin speaks as follows: "In matters of foreign policy, Boris followed the rules of the best times of the Ivanovs, expressing prudence with determination, caution in respecting the integrity, dignity, greatness of Russia."

“This is how the external, peaceful and ambitious policy of Russia acted during the first years of Fedorov’s reign or Godunov’s reign, not without cunning and not without success, more cautiously than boldly,” Karamzin writes further, “threatening and enticing, promising, and not always sincerely. We did not go to war, but we prepared for it, strengthening ourselves everywhere, strengthening the army everywhere.

However, positively evaluating Godunov's actions in governing the state, Karamzin characterizes him as a two-faced lover of power: “arrogant Boris wanted to appear modest: for this he conceded first places in the Council to other oldest nobles; but, sitting in it in fourth place, with one word, with one look and movement of the finger, he blocked the mouth of contradiction ... Godunov clearly ruled self-rule and magnified himself before the throne, covering with his arrogance the weak shadow of the Crown-bearer.

Karamzin writes that such an attitude towards Godunov was characteristic of Tsar Fyodor's entourage: “They regretted Fedorova's insignificance and saw in Godunov a predator of the Tsar's rights; they remembered in him the Chetovo Mughal tribe and were ashamed of the humiliation of the Rurik sovereign heirs. Flatterers listened to him coldly, enemies with attention, and they easily believed that son-in-law Malyutin, temporary worker Ivanov, is a tyrant, although also timid!

It was not easy for representatives of noble boyar families to humble their pride and see the rapid rise of the tsar's favorite, very young, of Tatar origin and not noble. Karamzin writes: “By the most public good deeds, the happiest successes of his reign, he intensified envy, sharpened its sting, and prepared for himself the disastrous necessity to act in horror.”

Having gained strength, Godunov brutally cracked down on opponents who tried to remove him by organizing a conspiracy against him. From that time on, Godunov became an autocratic ruler in the Muscovite state. Everything was calm inside the kingdom. Fedor was only listed as tsar. In fact, Godunov managed all state affairs, covering the weak shadow of the crowned bearer with his colorful figure. He supported the importance of Fedor as a king at the height at which it was beneficial to him. “Inwardly rejoicing at this derogatory inaction of the Tsar, the cunning Godunov all the more tried to elevate Irina in the eyes of the Russians, with her sovereign name alone, without Fedorov, issuing gracious decrees, forgiving, pitying, consoling people, so that with common love for her, combined with the respect and gratitude of the people assert your present greatness and prepare the future.”

On May 15, 1591, the prince died under unclear circumstances. The official investigation was conducted by the boyar V. I. Shuisky. Trying to please Godunov, he reduced the causes of what happened to Nagikh's "neglect", as a result of which Dmitry accidentally stabbed himself with a knife while playing with his peers. The prince was seriously ill with "epilepsy" (epilepsy). Giving such a child a knife in the hands, in fact, was a crime. It is possible that Godunov himself was involved in Dmitry's death: after all, it was enough to allow the sick child to play with a knife through the prince's mother. No matter how hard Godunov tried to show his innocence in the death of Dmitry, the conviction grew stronger among the people that it was he who did it. And the people, despite all the good deeds and favors that the cunning ruler did for him, could not forgive him for the martyrdom of the prince, the last offspring of the royal house. The same melodramatic villain was made of Boris Godunov and Karamzin. Subjected to a passion that harms the historian most of all, he speaks affirmatively of the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri, as of the Godunov affair, as if there could no longer be any doubt about it.

On January 6, 1598, Tsar Fedor died, and on February 17, the Zemsky Sobor elected his brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, to the kingdom. He was supported because the activities of the temporary worker were highly appreciated by his contemporaries. However, Karamzin perceives the accession to the kingdom of Boris and the future of Russia in his reign ambiguously: “Only the name of the Tsar has changed; sovereign power remained in the hands of the one who had long had it and ruled happily for the integrity of the State, for the internal structure, for external honor and security in Russia. So it seemed; but this ruler, endowed with human wisdom, reached the throne by villainy... The Heavenly Execution threatened the criminal King and the unfortunate Kingdom.”

The reign of Boris began successfully. “The first two years of this reign seemed to be the best time for Russia since the 15th century or since its restoration: it was at the highest level of its new power, secure in its own strength and the happiness of external circumstances, and internally ruled with wise firmness and with extraordinary meekness. Boris fulfilled the vow of the royal wedding and rightly wanted to be called the father of the people, reducing their hardships; the father of the orphans and the poor, pouring out unparalleled bounties on them; friend of mankind, without touching people's lives, without staining the Russian land with a single drop of blood, and punishing criminals only with exile.

However, truly terrible events soon broke out. In 1601, there were long rains, and then early frosts broke out and, according to a contemporary, "beat the scum of the strong all the work of human deeds in the fields." The next year, the crop failure was repeated. A famine began in the country, which lasted three years. The price of bread has increased 100 times. Boris Godunov forbade selling bread more than a certain limit, even resorting to the persecution of those who raised prices, but did not achieve success. In an effort to help the starving, he spared no expense, widely distributing money to the poor.

But bread became more expensive, and money lost its value. Boris ordered the royal barns to be opened for the starving. However, even their supplies were not enough for all the hungry, especially since, having learned about the distribution, people from all over the country reached out to Moscow, leaving the meager supplies that they still had at home. There were cases of cannibalism. People began to think that this was God's punishment. There was a conviction that the reign of Boris is not blessed by God, because it is lawless, achieved by untruth. Therefore, it cannot end well.

This is how Karamzin perceives the disasters that have befallen Russia: “Boris did not seduce the Russians with his good deeds: for the thought, terrible for him, dominated the souls of the thought that Heaven would execute the Kingdom for the iniquity of the Tsar.” The historian blames Godunov for the death of Dmitry, in the eyes of Karamzin, only legitimate autocrats were the bearers of state order. Boris usurped power by killing the last member of the royal dynasty, and therefore providence itself in his future reign doomed him to death.

Karamzinsky Godunov is a completely dual person, like Grozny: he is both wise and limited, and a villain and a virtuous person, and an angel and a demon. “He was not, but he was a tyrant; he did not go mad, but acted villainously like John, eliminating his collaborators or executing ill-wishers, ”writes Karamzin. The historian sees the positive results of Godunov's activity "in the truth of the Borisov courts, in generosity, in love for civic education, in jealousy for the greatness of Russia, in a peaceful and healthy policy."

He wisely rules the state and, accepting the crown, swears that there will be no beggars and wretched in his kingdom and that he will share the last shirt with the people. And he honestly keeps his promise: he does everything for the people that was only in his means and strength to do.

And yet the people want to love him—and they cannot love him! He attributes to him the murder of the prince: he sees in him the deliberate culprit of all the disasters that have befallen Russia.

Summing up the reign and reign of Godunov, and again emphasizing the duality of his personality, Karamzin writes: “the name of Godunov, one of the most intelligent rulers in the world, has been and will be pronounced with disgust for centuries, to the glory of moral unswerving justice.” The historian blames him for all the troubles that have befallen the state; “If Godunov temporarily improved the State, elevated it in the opinion of Europe for a while, then didn’t he plunge Russia into the abyss of misfortune, almost unheard of - he betrayed the Poles and vagabonds as prey, summoned a host of avengers and impostors to the theatre, exterminating the ancient Tsarsky tribe? Didn’t he, finally, most of all contributed to the humiliation of the throne, sitting on it as a holocaust?

If, before writing the History of the Russian State, Karamzin rated Boris’s personality very highly in connection with his royal services to the state, then in the History, “the ratio changes and the criminal conscience makes all the efforts of the state mind useless. The immoral cannot be useful to the state,” Karamzin believes.

After the death of Boris Godunov, the era of imposture began - "stateless time" - contributing to the destruction of statehood in Rus' and the spread of the Time of Troubles. Disappointed in the reign of False Dmitry, the people, to whom the reign of False Dmitry did not bring anything but a new bondage, revolted, as a result of which the impostor was executed.

On May 19, 1606, the boyar Vasily Shuisky was “shouted out” to the kingdom at the Execution Ground, and in June he was solemnly married in the Assumption Cathedral.

Karamzin immediately evaluates the personality of this tsar negatively: “Vasily, the flattering courtier Ioannov, at first a clear enemy, and then a shameless saint and still a secret malevolent Borisov, having reached the crown with the success of deceit, could only be the second Godunov: a hypocrite, and not a hero of virtue, which happens the main force of the rulers, and the peoples in emergency dangers.

However, unlike Godunov, Shuisky “was not a sanctuary; stained only with hateful blood and having earned the astonishment of the Russians by a brilliant deed, showing in the deposition of the Pretender both cunning and fearlessness, always captivating for the people. A plus for the people was the fact that he “ascended the throne from the place of execution, and covered the signs of cruel torture on himself with the royal mantle. This memory did not harm, but contributed to the general goodwill towards Vasily: he suffered for the fatherland and faith! ..».

Having learned about his election, all other cities and regions willingly supported Moscow and swore allegiance to Shuisky, as a legitimate sovereign. Thus began the reign of Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky auspiciously. And he wanted the good for Russia and tried. But Shuisky was not a bright and original personality, he was not distinguished by talents, and his deeds, seemingly good, did not have the resonance he was counting on.

Shuisky began his reign with a series of letters full of lies and slander. His reign was very unhappy and full of riots and rebellions, as well as wars with external (mainly Poles) enemies. One of the main events in Rus' during his reign was the civil war led by Bolotnikov.

Only in the autumn of 1607, with great difficulty, did the Shuisky government succeed in suppressing the peasant uprising, but then they had to fight a new impostor, False Dmitry II, who defeated (1608) the voivode Shuisky near Bolkhov and settled in Tushino. In order to be able to fight him, Shuisky called on Swedish troops for help, for which he had to give Korela (Kexholm) with the district to the Swedes. Shuisky kept in power only with the help of his nephew M. Skopin-Shuisky, a talented commander, very popular among the people. It was he, together with the people's militia, who managed to free him in the beginning. 1610 north and most of the Zamoskovskiy Krai from the troops of the "Tushino thief" and his allies (Poles). After the unexpected death of Skopin-Shuisky, the Polish king Sigismund III began direct military operations against Russia and defeated Shuisky's troops near the village. Klumina. The failures of the government in the fight against the interventionists, the dissatisfaction of the nobles and part of the boyars with its foreign policy led to a rebellion of the nobles, led by Z. Lyapunov.

“The throne revealed to contemporaries a weakness in Shuisky: dependence on suggestions, a tendency both to gullibility, which malice desires, and to incredulity, which cools zeal. But the throne also revealed to posterity the extraordinary firmness of Vasilyeva’s soul in the struggle with the irresistible Doom: having tasted all the sorrow of the unfortunate state, captured by lust for power, and knowing that the crown is sometimes not a reward, but a punishment, Shuisky fell with greatness in the ruins of the State! - Karamzin writes about the short reign of Vasily Shuisky and continues - “he had a desire, he only had no time to become an educator of the fatherland ... and in what century! under what terrible circumstances!

In July 1610, Shuisky was deposed and forcibly tonsured a monk. “This is what Moscow did with the Crown-bearer, who wanted to win her and Russia’s love by subordinating his will to the law, State frugality, impartiality in rewards, moderation in punishments, tolerance of public freedom, zeal for civic education - who was not amazed in the most extreme disasters, showed fearlessness in revolts, readiness to die faithful to the dignity of the Monarch, and was never so famous, so worthy of the throne, as he was overthrown from it by treason: drawn to the cell by a crowd of villains, the unfortunate Shuisky was alone truly magnanimous in the rebellious capital ... ”- with these words Karamzin sums up the reign of Vasily Shuisky.

So, in the last two volumes of the History, Karamzin again contrasts two personalities - Boris Godunov, a man who had a rare mind, courageously opposed state disasters and passionately desired to earn the love of his people, and Vasily Shuisky, who did not have exceptional data for reign, a weak ruler who gave his power to the boyars.



N.M. Karamzin. History of Russian Goverment

IVAN III. THE FALL OF NOVGOROD

From now on, our History accepts the dignity of a truly state, describing no longer the senseless fights of the Princes, but the deeds of the Kingdom, acquiring independence and greatness. Diversity of power disappears with our allegiance; a strong Power is formed, as if new to Europe and Asia, which, seeing it with surprise, offer it a famous place in their political system. Already our alliances and wars have an important goal: every special enterprise is the result of a main thought striving for the good of the fatherland. The people are still stagnant in ignorance, in rudeness; but the government is already acting according to the laws of the enlightened mind. The best armies are arranged, the Arts are called upon, which are most necessary for the success of military and civil; The embassies of the Grand Dukes rush to all the famous Courts; Foreign embassies one after another appear in our capital: the Emperor, the Pope, the Kings, the Republics, the Tsars of Asia greet the Monarch of Russia, glorious in victories and conquests from the great-grandfathers of Lithuania and Novgorod to Siberia. Dying Greece denies us the remnants of its ancient greatness: Italy gives the first fruits of the arts born in it. Moscow is adorned with magnificent buildings. The earth opens its bowels, and we extract precious metals from them with our own hands. Here is the content of the brilliant History of John III, who had the rare happiness of ruling for forty-three years and was worthy of it, ruling for the greatness and glory of the Russians.

John, in the twelfth year of his life, married Mary, Princess of Tver; on the eighteenth he already had a son, also named John, nicknamed young, and on the twenty-second he became Sovereign. But in the years of ardent youth, he expressed the caution inherent in the minds of mature, experienced, and natural to him: neither at the beginning nor after did he like daring courage; waited for an opportunity, chose the time; he did not quickly rush to the goal, but moved towards it with measured steps, fearing both frivolous ardor and injustice, respecting the general opinion and rules of the century. Appointed by Fate to restore the autocracy in Russia, he did not suddenly undertake this great deed and did not consider all means permitted. Moscow Governors ruled Ryazan; her young Prince, Vasily, was brought up in our capital: John, in one word, could have annexed his land to the Grand Duchy, but did not want to, and sent sixteen-year-old Vasily to rule in Ryazan, giving him his younger sister, Anna. He also recognized the independence of Tver, concluding an agreement with his brother-in-law, Mikhail Borisovich, as a brother and equal to him the Great Prince; did not require any eldership for himself; gave his word not to intervene House of the Holy Savior, not to take either Tver or Kashin from the Khan, approved the boundaries of their possessions, as they were under Mikhail Yaroslavich. The son-in-law and brother-in-law agreed to act together against the Tatars, Lithuania, Poland and the Germans; the second pledged not to have any contact with the enemies of the first, with the sons of Shemyaka, Vasily Yaroslavich Borovsky and with the Mozhaiskys; and the Grand Duke promised not to patronize the enemies of Tver. Mikhail Andreevich Vereisky, according to treaty letters, ceded some places from his Lot to John and pleaded himself junior in relation to the smallest of his brothers; in other matters, he retained all the ancient rights of the Sovereign Prince.

The Pskovites insulted John. Vasily the Dark, shortly before his death, gave them as governors, without their will, they accepted Prince Vladimir Andreevich, but they did not like him and soon kicked him out: they even cursed and pushed him off the porch at Veche. Vladimir went to complain to Moscow, where the Boyars of Pskov followed him. For three days the Grand Duke did not want to see them; on the fourth he listened to apologies, forgave and graciously allowed them to choose a Prince for themselves. The Pskovites elected Prince Zvenigorodsky, Ivan Alexandrovich: John confirmed him in this dignity and did even more: he sent an army to them to punish the Germans for breaking the peace: for the inhabitants of Derpt then put our merchants in prison. This war, as usual, had no important consequences. The Germans with great shame fled from the advance detachment of the Russian; and the Pskovites, having several cannons in their possession, laid siege to Neuhausen and, through the Master of Livonia, soon concluded a truce for nine years, with the condition that the Bishop of Derpt, according to ancient letters, pay some kind of tribute to the Grand Duke, without oppressing the inhabitants of the Russian settlement in this city , nor our churches. Voivode Ioannov, Prince Fyodor Yurievich, returned to Moscow, showered with gratitude from the Pskovites and gifts, which consisted of thirty rubles for him and fifty for all the Boyars who were with him.

The Novogorodtsy did not take part in this war and even clearly favored the Order: to their annoyance, the Pskovites abandoned their Archbishop, wanted to have their own special Hierarch and asked the Grand Duke about it. Even Novgorod was in friendly relations with Moscow and obeyed its Sovereign: the prudent John answered the Pskovites: “In a matter so important, I must learn the opinion of the Metropolitan and all Russian Bishops. You and your older brothers, Novogorodtsy, my fatherland, complain about each other; they demanded from me the Governor to humble you with weapons: I did not order them to think about this civil strife, nor to delay your Ambassadors on the way to me; I want silence and peace; I will be a righteous judge between you." Having said, he did the work of a peacemaker. The Pskovites returned the church lands to Archbishop Jonah and by mutual oaths confirmed the ancient fraternal alliance with the Novogorodtsy. A few years later, the Pskov clergy, being very dissatisfied with the rule of Jonah, accused of carelessness and greed, wanted to solve all church affairs according to the Nomocanon without his knowledge and, with the consent of civil officials, wrote a letter of judgment for themselves; but the Grand Duke again stood up for the ancient rights of the Archbishop: the charter was destroyed, and everything remained as it was.

For three years, John ruled peacefully and calmly, without laying down the name of the tributary of Ordinsky, but no longer demanding gracious labels from the Khan for the dignity of the Grand Duke and, most likely, not paying tribute, so that Tsar Akhmat, the ruler of the Volga Uluses, decided to resort to arms; joined all forces and wanted to go to Moscow. But happiness, favoring John, raised the Horde to the Horde: the Crimean Khan, Azi-Girey, met Akhmat on the banks of the Don: a bloody war began between them, and Russia remained in silence, preparing for important deeds.

In addition to external dangers and enemies, young John had to overcome the general despondency of hearts, some kind of relaxation, the slumber of spiritual forces within the State. According to the Greek chronologists, the seventh thousand years had elapsed from the creation of the world: superstition was waiting for the end of it and the end of the world. This unfortunate thought, dominating in the minds, instilled in people indifference to the glory and good of the fatherland; they were less ashamed of the state yoke, less captivated by the thought of independence, thinking that everything would not last long. But sadness had the stronger effect on hearts and imagination. Eclipses, imaginary miracles horrified the common people more than ever. They assured us that Lake Rostov howled terribly every night for two whole weeks and did not allow the surrounding inhabitants to sleep. There were also important, real disasters: because of the extreme cold and frost, bread disappeared in the fields; two years in a row, deep snow fell in the month of May. An ulcer called in the annals iron, was still looking for victims in Russia, especially in the Novgorod and Pskov possessions, where, according to the calculation of one Chronicler, 250,652 people died in two years; in Novgorod alone 48402, in monasteries about 8000. In Moscow, in other cities, in villages and on the roads, many people also died from this infection.

Grieving along with the people, the Grand Duke, moreover, had the misfortune to mourn the untimely death of his young, tender wife, Mary. She died suddenly: John was then in Kolomna: his mother and the Metropolitan buried her in the Kremlin Church of the Ascension (where since the time of Vasily Dimitrievich they began to bury the Princesses). This unexpected death was attributed to the action of poison, solely because the body of the deceased suddenly swelled in an unusual way. They suspected the wife of Nobleman Alexei Poluevktov, Natalya, who, serving Mary, once sent her belt to some fortune-teller. Evidence so false did not convince the Grand Duke of the truth of the supposed villainy; however, for six years Alexey Poluevktov did not dare to show himself before his eyes.

The chroniclers also reckon among the sad cases of this time that the virtuous, zealous High Hierarch Theodosius left the Metropolis. The reason is remarkable. Piety, nourished by the thought of the imminent end of the world, contributed to the immoderate reproduction of churches and clergy: every rich person wanted to have his own church. Idle-lovers went to the deacons and priests, seducing the people not only with gross ignorance, but also with depraved life. The Metropolitan thought to stop the evil: weekly he gathered them, taught them, tonsured widows into monks, deprived the dissolute of their dignity and punished them without mercy. The consequence was that many churches were empty without Priests. There was a murmur against Theodosius, and this Shepherd, strict, but not very firm in his soul, with sorrow refused to rule. The Grand Duke called to Moscow his brothers, all the Bishops, spiritual dignitaries, who unanimously elected the Suzdal hierarch, Philip, as Metropolitan; and Theodosius was imprisoned in the Chudov Monastery and, taking one leper into his cell, followed him until the end of his life, washing his scabs himself. The Russians felt sorry for such a pious Shepherd and feared that Heaven would not execute them for insulting the holy man.

Finally, John undertook military actions to dispel his sadness and arouse the spirit of cheerfulness in the Russians. Tsarevich Kasim, being a faithful servant of Vasily the Dark, received from him in the Lot on the banks of the Oka a Meshchera town, named since that time Kasimov lived there in abundance and tranquility; had relations with the Kazan nobles and, secretly invited by them to overthrow their new Tsar, Ibrahim, his stepson, demanded troops from John, who gladly saw the opportunity to appropriate power over the dangerous Kazan, in order to calm our eastern borders, subject to the inflow of its predatory, warlike people . Prince Ivan Yuryevich Patrekeev and Striga-Obolensky set out from Moscow with regiments: Kasim showed them the way and thought to suddenly appear under the walls of Ibrahim's capital; but the numerous army of Kazan, led by the Tsar, was already standing on the banks of the Volga and forced the Moscow Governors to go back. In this unsuccessful autumn campaign, the Russians suffered a lot from bad weather and rains, drowned in mud, abandoned their armor, killed their horses, and themselves, having no bread, ate meat during fasting (which could only happen then in a terrible extreme). However, they all returned alive and well. The tsar did not dare to chase after them, but sent a detachment to Galich, where the Tatars could not do important harm: for the Grand Duke managed to take measures, occupying all the border cities with military squads: Nizhny, Murom, Kostroma, Galich.

1468 Immediately, another army of Moscow with Prince Simeon Romanovich went from Galich to the Cheremis land (to the present Vyatka and Kazan provinces) through dense forests, already filled with snow, and into the most severe frosts. The command of the Sovereign and the hope of enriching themselves with booty gave the soldiers the strength to overcome all difficulties. For more than a month they walked through the forest deserts, not seeing either villages or the path before them: not people, but animals still lived on the wild banks of Vetluga, Usta, Kuma. Entering the land of Cheremis, abundant in grain and livestock - ruled by their own Princes, but subject to the Tsar of Kazan - the Russians destroyed everything that they could not take as prey; slaughtered livestock and people; they burned not only the villages, but also the poor inhabitants, choosing any as captives. Our right to war was still ancient, barbaric; any villainy in the enemy country was considered lawful. - Prince Simeon reached almost Kazan itself and, having shed a lot of blood without a battle, returned with the name of the winner. - Prince Ivan Striga-Obolensky expelled the Kazan Robbers from the Kostroma region. Prince Daniil Kholmsky beat another gang of them near Murom: only a few fled into dense forests, leaving their horses behind. Muromets, Nizhny Novgorod devastated the banks of the Volga within the Ibragimov Kingdom.

John still wanted a most important feat in order to make up for the first failure and humble Ibrahim; gathered all the Princes, Boyar, and he himself led the army to the border, leaving his younger brother, Andrei, in Moscow. According to the ancient custom of our Princes, he took with him his ten-year-old son in order to accustom him to military affairs in advance. But this trip did not take place. Upon learning of the arrival of the Lithuanian, Kazimirov Ambassador, Jacob the Pisar, that is, the Secretary of State, John ordered him to be in Pereslavl and go back to the King with an answer; and he himself, unknown for what, returned to Moscow, sending from Vladimir only a small detachment to Kichmenga, where the Kazan Tatars burned and robbed the villages. Leaving the intention to personally lead the army, John gave the command to the Governors to go to the banks of the Kama from Moscow, Galich, Vologda, Ustyug and Kichmenga with the children of Boyars and Cossacks. The chief commanders were Runo of Moscow and Prince Ivan Zvenets Ustyugsky. Everyone united in the land of Vyatka, near Kotelnich, and walked along the banks of the Vyatka River, the land of Cheremis, to Kama, Tamluga and the Tatarsky ferry, from where they turned Kama to Belaya Volozhka, destroying everything with fire and sword, killing, capturing the defenseless. Having overtaken 200 armed Kazanians in one place, the Moscow generals were ashamed to act against them with all their might and chose hunters who exterminated this crowd, capturing two of its chiefs. There were no other battles: the Tatars, accustomed to falling into foreign lands, did not know how to defend their own. Having intercepted many rich merchant ships on the Kama, the Russians with noble booty returned through the great Perm to Ustyug and Moscow. - On the other hand, the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod, Prince Fyodor Khripun-Ryapolovsky, with the Moscow squad, went to Kazantsev and, having met a detachment of the Tsar's bodyguards on the Volga, beat him to the ground. Among the captives sent to John, in Moscow, was the famous Prince of Tatar, Khozyum Berdey.

But the Kazanians, meanwhile, arrogated to themselves dominance over Vyatka: their strong army; having entered its borders, it so frightened the inhabitants that they, not having great zeal for the Sovereigns of Moscow, without resistance declared themselves subjects of Tsar Ibrahim. This easy conquest was fragile: Kazan could not fight Moscow.

1469 In the following spring, John undertook to deal the most important blow to this Kingdom. Not only the Grand Duke's Court with the Boyar children of all cities and all Destinies, but also Moscow merchants, together with other residents of the capital, armed themselves under the special command of Prince Peter Vasilyevich Obolensky-Nagogo. Prince Konstantin Alexandrovich Bezzubtsev was appointed the chief leader, and Nizhny Novgorod was appointed the junction. Regiments boarded ships in Moscow, Kolomna, Vladimir, Suzdal, and Murom. Dmitrovtsy, Mozhaytsy, Uglitsy, Rostovtsy, Yaroslavtsy, Kostromichi sailed the Volga; others Okoyu, and at one time converged at the mouth of these two majestic rivers. Such a famous ship militia was a curious sight for northern Russia, which had not yet seen the like.

Already the Chief Governor, Prince Konstantin, having made general orders, was preparing to move on; but John, suddenly changing his mind, wrote to him so that he would remain in Nizhny Novgorod until the time and only with light detachments made up of hunters would disturb the enemy land on both sides of the Volga. The chroniclers do not say what prompted John to do so; but the reason seems clear. Tsarevich Kasim, the culprit of this war, died: his wife, Ibragimov's mother, undertook to persuade her son to friendship with Russia, and the Grand Duke hoped to achieve his goal and humble Kazan without important military efforts. It didn't happen that way.

The governor announced to the princes and officials the will of the Sovereign: they unanimously answered: “we all want to execute the infidels” - and with his permission they immediately set off, according to the then expression, seek military honor having more zeal than prudence; they raised their sails, weighed anchor, and the harbor was soon empty. The governor was left in Nizhny with almost no troops and did not even choose a chief commander for them. They themselves saw the need for this: they sailed to the place of the old Nizhny Novgorod, sang a prayer service there in the Church of the Transfiguration, distributed alms, and in the general council chose Ivan Run as their leader. They were not ordered to go to Kazan; but Runo did his own thing: without wasting time, he hurried to the Tsar's capital and, leaving the courts before dawn, swiftly struck at her settlement with a cry and a trumpet sound. The morning dawn scarcely illuminated the sky; Kazanians were still sleeping. The Russians entered the streets without resistance, robbed, slaughtered; they released the Moscow, Ryazan, Lithuanian, Vyatka, Ustyug, Perm captives who were there and set fire to the suburbs from all sides. Tatars with their most precious possessions, with their wives and children, locking themselves in their houses, were a victim of the flames. Having turned into ashes everything that could burn, the Russians, tired, burdened with prey, retreated, boarded ships and went to Korovnichiy Island, where they stood for a whole week without doing anything: by which Runo brought suspicion of treason to himself. Many thought that he, taking advantage of the horror of the Tatars, could enter the city through the flames and smoke of the suburbs, but by force he led the regiments from the attack in order to secretly take payback from the Tsar. At least no one understood why this Governor, having the glory of reason unusually, wasted his time; why does it not act or go away with booty and captives?

It was easy to foresee that the Tsar would not doze off in his burned-out capital: finally, the Russian prisoner, running out of Kazan, brought news to ours that Ibrahim had united all the regiments of the Kama, Syplinsky, Kostyatsky, Belovovolzhsky, Votyatsky, Bashkirsky and was preparing the next morning step on the Russians with horse and ship army. The governors of Moscow were in a hurry to take action: they selected young people and sent them with large ships to Irikhov Island, not ordering them to go to the bottleneck of the Volga; but they themselves remained on the shore to hold off the enemy, who had actually left the city. Although the young people did not obey the Governor and, as if on purpose, stood in a narrow channel, where the enemy cavalry could shoot at them, they courageously repulsed them. The governors just as successfully had a battle with the Kazan boats and, having driven them to the city, connected with their large ships near Irikhov Island, glorifying the victory and the Sovereign.

Then the chief Governor, Prince Konstantin Bezzubtsev, from Nizhny Novgorod arrived to them, having learned that, contrary to John's intention, they approached Kazan. Until now, success served as their excuse: Konstantin wanted something more important: he sent messengers to Moscow, with news of what had happened, and to Vyatka, with the order that its inhabitants immediately go to him near Kazan. He did not yet know their deceit. John, having sent the main army to Nizhny in the spring, at the same time ordered Prince Daniil Yaroslavsky with a detachment of the Boyarsky Children and with the regiment of Ustyuzhans, and another Voivode, Saburov, with the Vologdas, to sail on ships to Vyatka, to take there all the people fit for military affairs, and with them go to the Tsar of Kazan. But the rulers of the Vyatka cities, dreaming of their ancient independence, answered Daniil Yaroslavsky: “We told the Tsar that we would not help either the Grand Duke against him, or him against the Grand Duke; We want to keep our word and stay at home.” They then had Ambassador Ibragimov, who immediately let Kazan know that the Russians from Ustyug and Vologda were coming to its borders with small forces. Having refused to help Prince Yaroslavsky, the Vyatchanes also refused Bezzubtsev, but they only invented another pretext, saying: "When the brothers of the Grand Duke go against the Tsar, then we will go." After waiting in vain for about a month for the Vyatka Regiments, having no news from Prince Yaroslavsky and beginning to suffer a lack of food supplies, Voevoda Bezzubtsev went back to Nizhny. On the way he met the widowed Queen of Kazan, Ibragimov's mother, and said that the Grand Duke had let her go with honor and mercy; that the war will cease and that Ibrahim will satisfy all the requirements of John. Reassured by her words, our Governors settled down on the shore to celebrate Sunday, serve mass and feast. But suddenly the Kazan army, ship and cavalry, appeared. The Russians barely had time to prepare. They fought until the very night; Kazan ships retreated to the opposite bank, where the cavalry stood, shooting arrows at ours, who did not want to fight on a dry path, and spent the night on the other side of the Volga. The next morning, neither of them thought of resuming the battle; and Prince Bezzubtsev safely sailed to the Lower.

Prince Yaroslavsky was not so happy. Seeing the disobedience of the Vyatchans, he decided to go without them in order to unite with the Moscow army in the vicinity of Kazan. Notified of his campaign, Ibrahim blocked the Volga with ships and placed cavalry on the shore. A battle took place, memorable for mutual courage: they grabbed hands, cut themselves with swords. The chief of the Leaders of Moscow fell dead; others were wounded or taken prisoner; but Prince Vasily Ukhtomsky overcame the multitude with courage: he grappled with the Ibragimov ships, smashed the enemies with a dagger and drowned them in the river. The Ustyuzhans, together with him, showing rare fearlessness, made their way through Kazantsev, reached Nizhny Novgorod and let John know about it, who, as a sign of special favor, sent them two gold coins and a few coats. Ustyuzhans gave money to his Priest, saying to him: “Pray to God for the Sovereign and the Orthodox army; and we are ready to continue to fight like this.”

1469 Deceived by the flattering promises of Ibragim's mother, dissatisfied with our Governors, John undertook a new campaign in the same autumn, handing over leadership to his brothers Yuri and Andrei. The whole Court of the Grand Duke and all the Princes Servicemen were with them. Chroniclers name Prince Ivan Yuryevich Patrekeyev among the most notable Voivodes. Daniil Kholmsky led the advanced regiment; a large army went by dry route, another sailed along the Volga; both approached Kazan, defeated the Tatars in a sortie, took away water from the city and forced Ibragim to make peace at will Sovereign of Moscow: that is, to fulfill all his requirements. He restored freedom to our captives taken for forty years.

This feat was the first of the famous successes of the reign of Ioannov: the second had even more favorable consequences for the power of the Grand Duke in Russia. Vasily the Dark returned Torzhok to the Novogorodtsy: but other lands taken from them by the son of Donskoy, Vasily Dimitrievich, remained with Moscow: still not sure of the firmness of John's character and even doubting it, according to the first actions of this Prince, marked by moderation, peacefulness, they decided to be bold , hoping to seem terrible to him, to humiliate the pride of Moscow, to restore the ancient rights of their liberty, lost by the excessive compliance of their fathers and grandfathers. With this intention they set to work: they seized many revenues, lands and waters of the Princes; they took an oath from the inhabitants only in the name of Novgorod; they despised John's Vicars and Ambassadors; by the power of the Vech, noble people were taken into custody in Gorodische, a place not subject to people's rule; made insults to the Muscovites. The sovereign several times demanded satisfaction from them: they were silent. Finally, the Novogorodsky Posadnik, Vasily Ananyin, arrived in Moscow with ordinary zemstvo affairs; but there was no word in answer to Joan's complaints. “I don’t know anything,” the Posadnik said to the Boyars of Moscow, “Veliky Novgorod did not give me any orders about that.” John released this official with the following words: “Tell the Novogorodtsy, my fatherland, that they, having admitted their guilt, correct themselves; did not intervene in my lands and waters, my name kept honestly and menacingly in the old days, fulfilling the vow of the cross, if they want patronage and mercy from me; say that patience comes to an end and that mine will not continue.

At the same time, the Grand Duke wrote to the Pskovites loyal to him, so that in case of further obstinacy of the Novogorodtsy, they would prepare to act together with him against these disobedient. His viceroy in Pskov was then Prince Feodor Yuryevich, the famous Voevoda, who, with the Moscow squad, defended this region in the last war with the Germans: out of excellent respect for his person, the Pskovites gave him the right of judgment in all twelve their suburbs; and until then the Princes judged and dressed only in seven: others depended on the people's power. The boyar of Moscow, Selivan, presented the Pskovites with a letter to Ioannov. They themselves had various annoyances from the Novogorodtsy; however, following the promptings of prudence, they sent an embassy to them with a proposal to be peacemakers between them and the Grand Duke. “We don’t want to bow to John and we ask for your intercession,” the local rulers answered, “but if you are conscientious and friends to us, then arm yourself for us against the autocracy of Moscow.” The people of Pskov said: "we will see" - and let the Grand Duke know that they were ready to help him with all their might.

1470 Meanwhile, according to the chroniclers, there were terrible signs in Novgorod: a strong storm broke the cross of the St. Sophia Church; the ancient Kherson bells in the monastery on Khutyn themselves made a sad sound; blood appeared on the tombs, and so on. Quiet, peace-loving people trembled and prayed to God: others laughed at them and imaginary miracles. The frivolous people more than ever dreamed of the delights of freedom; wanted a close alliance with Casimir and received from him the Governor, Prince Mikhail Olelkovich, whose brother, Simeon, then reigned in Kyiv with honor and glory, like the ancient Princes of the Vladimirov tribe as the Chroniclers say. Many lords and knights of Lithuania came with Mikhail to Novgorod.

At this time, Vladyka Jonah of Novgorod died: the people elected Protodeacon Fiophilus to the Archbishop, who could not go to Moscow to be ordained without the consent of Ioannov: the people of Novgorod, through their Boyar, Nikita, asked the Grand Duke, his mother and the Metropolitan. John gave dangerous letter for the arrival of Feofilov. to the capital and, peacefully releasing the Ambassador, said to him: “Theophilus, chosen by you; will be received with honor and appointed to the Archbishopship; I will not violate the ancient customs in anything and I am ready to favor you as my fatherland, if you sincerely admit your guilt, not forgetting that my ancestors were called the Grand Dukes of Vladimir, Novgorod and all Rus'» 1471 The ambassador, returning to Novgorod, announced to the people about the gracious disposition of John. Many citizens, the most distinguished officials and the betrothed Archbishop Theophilus wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. to stop a dangerous feud with the Grand Duke; but soon a rebellion broke out, such as had not happened in this people's State for a long time.

Contrary to the ancient customs and customs of the Slavs, which removed the female sex from any participation in citizenship affairs, the proud, ambitious wife, the widow of the former Posadnik Isaac Boretsky, the mother of two sons already grown up, named Martha, undertook to decide the fate of the fatherland. Cunning, eloquence, nobility, wealth and luxury gave her a way to influence the government. People's officials converged in her magnificent or, in that time, wonderful to feast at home and consult about the most important matters. So, St. Zosima, Abbot of the Solovetsky monastery, complaining in Novgorod about the grievances of the Dvina residents, especially the local clerks of the Boyarskys, had to seek the patronage of Martha, who had rich villages in the Dvina land. At first, deceived by slanderers, she did not want to see him; but later, having learned the truth, she showered Zosima with caresses, invited her to dinner with the most distinguished people, and gave land to the Solovetsky Monastery. Still not satisfied with universal respect and the fact that the Grand Duke, as a sign of special mercy, granted her son, Dimitry, to the noble rank of the Boyar of Moscow, this proud wife wanted to free Novgorod from the power of Ioannova and, according to the Chroniclers, to marry some To the nobleman of Lithuania, in order to rule with him, in the name of Kazimirov, over his fatherland. Prince Mikhail Olelkovich, having served her as a tool for some time, lost her favor and with annoyance went back to Kyiv, having robbed Rusa. This case proved that Novgorod could not expect either zeal or fidelity from the Princes of Lithuania; but Boretskaya, having opened her house to noisy hosts, glorified Casimir from morning to evening, urging citizens of the need to seek his protection against the oppression of John. Among the zealous friends of the Posadnitsa was the Monk Pimen, the Archbishop's Keymaker: he hoped to take the place of Jonah and poured money into the people from the treasury of the Saint, which he had plundered. The government found out about this and, having imprisoned this treacherous Monk, exacted 1,000 rubles fine from him. Excited by ambition and malice, Pimen slandered the elected Vladyka Theophilus, Metropolitan Philip; wished to join the Novgorod Diocese to Lithuania and, caressing himself with the thought of receiving the rank of Archbishop from Gregory of Kyiv, Isidore's disciple, helped Marfa with advice, intrigues, and money.

Seeing that the Embassy of the Boyar Nikita made an impression among the people that was contrary to her intention, and disposed many citizens to a friendly rapprochement with the Sovereign of Moscow, Martha undertook to act decisively. Her sons, caresses, like-minded people, surrounded by a large host of bribed people, appeared at the Veche and solemnly said that the time had come to deal with John; that he is not the Sovereign, but their villain; that Veliky Novgorod is its own ruler: that its inhabitants are free people and do not fatherland Princes of Moscow; that they need only a patron; that this patron will be Casimir and that not the Metropolitan of Moscow, but the Metropolitan of Kyiv should give the Archbishop of Hagia Sophia. A loud exclamation: “We don’t want John! long live Casimir! served as the conclusion of their speech. The people rejoiced. Many took the side of the Boretskys and shouted: "May Moscow disappear!" The most prudent dignitaries, the old Posadniks, the Thousands, the Living people, wanted to reason with their frivolous fellow citizens and said: “Brothers! what are you thinking? change Rus' and Orthodoxy? to succumb to a foreign King and demand a Saint from the Latin heretic? Remember that our ancestors, the Slavs, voluntarily summoned Rurik from the Varangian land; that for more than six hundred years his descendants lawfully reigned on the throne of Novogorodsk; that we owe the true Faith to Saint Vladimir, from whom the Grand Duke John descends, and that Latinism has been hated for us until now. Marfina's like-minded people did not let them speak; and her servants and mercenaries threw stones at them, rang Veche bells, ran through the streets and shouted: “We want for the King!” Others: “We want Orthodox Moscow, Grand Duke John and his father, Metropolitan Philip!” For several days the city presented a picture of terrible unrest. The betrothed Vladyka Theophilus zealously resisted the efforts of Martha's friends and told them: "Either do not betray Orthodoxy, or I will never be the Shepherd of apostates: I am going back to the humble cell, from where you brought me to the disgrace of rebellion." But the Boretskys prevailed, took control of the government and destroyed the fatherland, as a victim of their personal passions. It happened what the Lithuanian conquerors had long wished for and how Novgorod sometimes frightened the Sovereigns of Moscow: he succumbed to Casimir, voluntarily and solemnly. The action is lawless: although this region had special charters and liberties given to it, as you know, by Yaroslav the Great; however, it was always a part of Russia and could not go over to foreigners without treason or without violating the fundamental state laws based on Natural Law. Numerous embassies went to Lithuania with rich gifts and with a proposal that Casimir should be the Head of the Novogorod State on the basis of the ancient charters of its civil freedom. He accepted all the conditions, and wrote a letter of the following content:

« Fair The King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania entered into a friendly alliance with Theophilus, appointed by the Lord, with the Posadniks, the Thousands of Novogorodsky, with the Boyars, Zhyty people, merchants and with the whole of Veliky Novgorod; and for the agreement there were Posadnik Afanasy Evstafievich, Posadnik Dimitry Isakovich (Boretsky) in Lithuania ... from the people of Zhitykh Panfil Selifontovich, Kirill Ivanovich ... To know you, honest King, Veliky Novgorod according to this letter of the cross and keep your Viceroy of the Greek Faith on the Settlement, together with the Butler and Tiun, who should have no more than fifty people with him. The governor to judge with the Posadnik in the Archbishop's court both Boyars, living people, junior citizens, and rural residents, in accordance with the truth, and not demand anything except the judicial legal fee; but he will not intervene in the court of the Tysyachsky, Vladyka and monasteries. The butler to live in the Gorodishche in the palace and collect your income together with the Posadnik; and Tiune to deal with our bailiffs. If the Sovereign of Moscow goes to war against Veliky Novgorod, then you, sir, the honest King, or in your absence, the Rada of Lithuania, give us an ambulance. - Rzhev, Velikiye Luki and Kholmovsky churchyard remain the lands of Novogorodsk; but they pay tribute to you, honest King. - Novogorodets is sued in Lithuania according to yours, Litvin in Novgorod according to our laws without any oppression ... In Ruse you will have ten salt pans; but for the judgment you receive there and in other places, which has been established from ancient times. You, honest King, do not withdraw people from us, do not buy either villages or slaves and do not accept them as a gift, neither to the Queen, nor to Panama of Lithuania; and we do not conceal legal fees. Ambassadors, Governors and your people do not take a cart in the land of Novogorodskaya, and its volosts can only be controlled by our own officials. - In Luki there will be yours and our Tiun: Toropetsky should not be judged in the Novgorod possessions. In Torzhok and Voloka, have Tiun; Posadnik will be there from our side. - Lithuanian merchants trade with the Germans only through Novogorodsk. The German court is not subject to you: you cannot shut it up. - You, honest King, should not touch our Orthodox Faith: where we want, we will consecrate our Vladyka there (in Moscow or in Kyiv); and Roman churches should not be erected anywhere in the land of Novogorodskaya. - If you reconcile us with the Grand Duke of Moscow, then out of gratitude we will give you all the national tribute collected annually in the Novgorod regions; but in other years do not demand it. - In approval of the agreement, kiss the cross to Veliky Novgorod for all your Principality and for the entire Rada of Lithuania really, no clue and our ambassadors kissed the cross Novogorodsk soul to the honest King for Veliky Novgorod.

And so this frivolous people still desired peace with Moscow, thinking that John would be afraid of Lithuania, would not want bloodshed, and cowardly retreat from the ancient Principality of Russia. Although the Viceroys of Moscow, having witnessed the triumph of Martha's champions, no longer had any part in the government there, they lived quietly in the settlement, notifying the Grand Duke of all incidents. Despite their apparent retreat from Russia, the Novogorodtsy wanted to appear moderate and just; they asserted that it depended on John to remain a friend of Hagia Sophia; they expressed their courtesy to the Boyars, but they sent the Prince of Suzdal, Vasily Shuisky-Grebenka, to command in the Dvina land, fearing that the Moscow army would not take possession of this important country for them.

Still wanting to use the last peace-loving means, the Grand Duke sent a prudent official, Ivan Fedorovich Tovarkov, to Novgorod, with the following exhortation: “People of Novgorod! Rurik, St. Vladimir and the great Vsevolod Yurievich, my ancestors, commanded you; I inherited this right: I favor you, I keep you, but I can also execute you for impudent disobedience. When were you citizens of Lithuania? Now you are servile to the infidels, violating sacred vows. I did not burden you with anything and demanded the only ancient legal tribute. You have betrayed me: the punishment of God is upon you! But I still hesitate, not loving bloodshed, and I am ready to pardon if you return with repentance under the shadow of the fatherland. At the same time, Metropolitan Philip wrote to them: “I hear about your rebellion and your schism. It is disastrous even for a single person to deviate from the path of the right: it is even more terrible for a whole people. Tremble, but the terrible sickle of God, seen by the prophet Zechariah, will not come down on the head of the disobedient sons. Remember what Scripture says: flee sin like a warrior; run away from charms, as if from the face of a serpent. Sia charm there is Latin: it catches you. Didn't the example of Constantinople prove its disastrous effect? The Greeks reigned, the Greeks were famous for their piety: they united with Rome and now serve the Turks. Hitherto you have been whole under the strong hand of John: do not deviate from saint of old and do not forget the words of the apostle: Fear God, but honor the Prince. “Humble yourself, and may the God of peace be with you!” - These exhortations were useless: Martha and her friends did what they wanted in Novgorod. Frightened by their impudence, prudent people grieve in their homes and were silent at the Veche, where the slanderers or mercenaries of the Boretskys yelled: “Novgorod is our Sovereign, and the King is our patron!” In a word, the Chroniclers compare the then state of this popular power with ancient Jerusalem, when God is preparing to betray it into the hands of Titov. Passions dominated the mind, and the Council of Governors seemed to be a host of conspirators.

The Ambassador of Moscow returned to the Sovereign with the assurance that not words and not letters, but one sword could humble the Novogorodtsy. The Grand Duke expressed grief: he was still thinking, consulted with his mother, with the Metropolitan, and called the brothers, all the Bishops, Princes, Boyars and Voivods to the capital. On the appointed day and hour, they gathered in the palace. John came out to them with a sad face: he opened the State Duma and offered her the betrayal of the Novogorodtsy for trial. Not only the Boyars and Governors, but also the saints answered unanimously: “Sir! take up arms!" Then John uttered the decisive word: “Let there be war!” - and also wanted to hear the opinion of the Council about the most favorable time for its beginning, saying: “Spring has already come: Novgorod is surrounded by water, rivers, lakes and impassable swamps. The Great Kyazyas, my ancestors, were afraid to go there with the army in the summer, and when they went, they lost a lot of people. On the other hand, haste promised benefits: the Novogorodtsy were not ready for war, and Casimir could not soon give them help. We decided not to delay, in the hope of the mercy of God, the happiness and wisdom of John. Already this Sovereign enjoyed a general power of attorney: Muscovites were proud of him, praised his justice, firmness, insight; called the favorite of Heaven, the Ruler of God's Chosen; and some new feeling of state greatness took root in their souls.

John sent folding charter to the Novogorodtsy, declaring war on them with a calculation of all their insolence, and in a few days arranged a militia: he convinced Mikhail of Tverskoy to act at the same time with him and ordered the Pskovites to go to Novgorod with the Moscow Governor, Prince Feodor Yuryevich Shuisky; Ustyuzhans and Vyatchans to the Dvina land under the command of two Governors, Vasily Fedorovich Obrazts and Boris Slepy-Tyutchev; To Prince Daniil Kholmsky with the Boyarsky children from Moscow to Ruse, and to Prince Vasily Ivanovich Obolensky-Striga with the Tatar cavalry to the banks of Msta.

These detachments were only advanced. John, following his custom, distributed alms and prayed over the tombs of the Saints and his ancestors; Finally, having received a blessing from the Metropolitan and the Bishops, he mounted his horse and led the main army from the capital. With him were all the Princes, the Boyars, the nobles of Moscow and the Tatar Tsarevich Daniyar, the son of Kasimov. The son and brother of the Grand Duke, Andrei the Lesser, remained in Moscow: the other brothers, Princes Yuri, Andrei, Boris Vasilyevich and Mikhail Vereisky, leading their squads, went in different ways to the Novgorod borders; and the Governors of Tver, Prince Yuri Andreevich Dorogobuzhsky and Ivan Zhito, united with John in Torzhok. A terrible devastation began. On the one hand, Voivode Kholmsky and the Grand Duke's army, on the other, the Pskovites, having entered the land of Novogorodskaya, exterminated everything with fire and sword. Smoke, flames, bloody rivers, moaning and wailing from the east and west rushed to the banks of the Ilmen. The Muscovites expressed an indescribable frenzy: the Novogorodtsy-traitors seemed to them worse than the Tatars. There was no mercy for poor farmers or women. The chroniclers note that Heaven, favoring John, then dried up all the swamps; that from May to the month of September not a single drop of rain fell on the ground: the ripples hardened; the army with convoys everywhere had a free path and drove cattle through forests, hitherto impassable.

The Pskovites took Vyshegorod. Kholmsky turned Rusa into ashes. Not expecting a war in the summer and an attack so friendly and strong, the Novogorodtsy sent to tell the Grand Duke that they wished to enter into negotiations with him and demanded from him dangerous letter for their officials who are ready to go to his camp. But at the same time, Martha and her like-minded people tried to assure their fellow citizens that one happy battle could save their freedom. They hurried to arm all the people, willingly and unwillingly; artisans, potters, carpenters were dressed in armor and put on horses; others on ships. The infantry was ordered to sail by Lake Ilmen to Ruse, and the cavalry, which was much more numerous, to go there by the shore. Kholmsky stood between Ilmen and Rusa, on Korostyn: the Novogorodsk infantry secretly approached his camp, left the courts and, without waiting for the cavalry, swiftly attacked the deafening Muscovites. But Kholmsky and his comrade, Boyarin Feodor Davidovich, made up for their negligence with courage: they laid down 500 enemies in place, scattered the rest, and with the hardness of heart characteristic of the then age, ordered to cut off the noses and lips of the captives, sent them deformed to Novgorod. The Muscovites threw into the water all the armor, helmets, shields of the enemy, taken as booty by them, saying that the army of the Grand Duke is rich in its own armor and has no need for treacherous ones.

The Novogorodtsy attributed this misfortune to the fact that their cavalry army did not unite with the infantry and that special Archbishop's Regiment renounced the battle, saying: “Vladyka Theophilus forbade us to raise a hand against the Grand Duke, and ordered us to fight only with the unfaithful Pskovites.” Wanting to deceive John, the Novgorod officials sent a second Ambassador to him, with the assurance that they were ready for peace and that their army had not yet acted against Moscow. But the Grand Duke already had news of Kholmsky's victory and, standing on the shores of Lake Kolomna, ordered this Voivode to follow Shelon towards the Pskovites and together with them to Novgorod: Mikhail Vereisky to besiege the town of Demon. At the very time when Kholmsky was thinking of crossing to the other side of the river, he saw an enemy so numerous that the Muscovites were amazed. There were 5,000 of them, and Novogorodtsev from 30,000 to 40,000: for the friends of the Boretskys still managed to recruit and send several Regiments to strengthen their cavalry army. But the Governors of Ioannov, saying to the squad: “The time has come to serve the Sovereign; we will not be afraid of three hundred thousand rebels; for us the truth and the Lord Almighty”, rushed on horseback to Shelon, from a steep bank and in a deep place; however, none of the Muscovites doubted to follow their example; nobody drowned; and everyone, safely moving to the other side, rushed into battle with an exclamation: Moscow! The Novogorodsky Chronicler says that his compatriots fought courageously and forced the Muscovites to retreat, but that the Tatar cavalry, being in an ambush, upset the first by an accidental attack and decided the matter. But according to other news, the Novogorodtsy did not stand for an hour: their horses, pierced by arrows, began to knock down the riders; horror gripped the cowardly governor and the inexperienced army; turned the rear; they galloped without memory and trampled each other, persecuted, exterminated by the victor; having tired the horses, they rushed into the water, into the marsh mud; did not find a way in their forests, drowned or died from wounds; others galloped past Novgorod, thinking that it had already been taken by John. In the madness of fear, the enemy seemed to them everywhere, the cry was heard everywhere: Moscow! Moscow! Over a space of twelve miles, the regiments of the Grand Dukes drove them, killed 12,000 people, took 1,700 prisoners, including two of the most distinguished Posadniks, Vasily-Kazimir with Dimitry Isakov Boretsky; Finally, exhausted, they returned to the battlefield. Kholmsky and Boyarin Feodor Davidovich, announcing the victory with a trumpet sound, dismounted from their horses, kissed the images under the banners and glorified the mercy of Heaven. The boyar's son, Ivan Zamyatnya, hastened to inform the Sovereign, who was then in Yazhelbitsy, that one vanguard of his army had decided the fate of Novgorod; that the enemy is exterminated, and the Moscow army is intact. This herald handed John a letter of agreement between Novogorodtsev and Casimir, found in their convoy between other papers, and even introduced him to the person who wrote it. With what joy the Grand Duke listened to the news of the victory, with such indignation he read this illegal charter, a monument to the Novogorod betrayal.

Kholmsky no longer saw the enemy rati anywhere and could freely devastate villages right up to the Narova or the German borders. The Demon town surrendered to Mikhail Vereisky. Then the Grand Duke sent dangerous letter to Novogorodtsy with their Boyar, Lukoy, agreeing to enter into agreements with them; arrived in Rusa and showed an example of severity: he ordered to cut off the heads of the noblest captives, Boyars Dmitry Isakov, Marfin son, Vasily Selezenev-Guba, Kipriyan Arbuzeev and Jeremiah Sukhoshchok, Archbishop Chashnik, zealous benefactors of Lithuania; Vasily-Kazimer, Matvey Selezenev and others were sent to Kolomna, bound in chains; some in Moscow dungeons; and the rest he let go to Novgorod without any punishment, combining mercy with a storm of revenge, distinguishing the main active enemies of Moscow from weak people who served them only as a tool. Having thus decided the fate of the captives, he encamped at the mouth of Shelon.

On this very day, a new victory crowned the arms of the Grand Duke in the remote limits of Zavolochye. The Moscow Governors, Obrazets and Boris Slepoy, leading the Ustyuzhans and Vyatchans, on the banks of the Dvina fought with Prince Vasily Shuisky, a faithful servant of Novogorodskaya freedom. His army consisted of twelve thousand Dvina and Pechersk inhabitants: Ioannov only four. The battle went on all day with great fury. Having killed three Dvina banner-bearers, the Muscovites took the Novogorodskaya banner and defeated the enemy by evening. Prince Shuisky, wounded, could hardly escape in a boat, fled to Kolmogory, from there to Novgorod; and the Governors of Ioannov, having taken possession of all the Dvina land, brought the inhabitants into the citizenship of Moscow.

About two weeks passed after the Battle of Shelon, which produced indescribable horror in Novogorodtsy. They hoped for Casimir and eagerly awaited news from their Ambassador, sent to him through Livonia, with a strong demand that the King hasten to protect them; but this Ambassador returned and announced with sorrow that the Master of the Order had not let him into Lithuania. There was no time to have help, no strength to resist John. Another inner betrayal was revealed. Someone named Upadysh, secretly benevolent to the Grand Duke, with his like-minded people hammered 55 cannons in Novgorod with iron in one night: the rulers executed this man; despite all the misfortunes, they wanted to defend themselves: they burned out the suburbs, sparing neither churches nor monasteries; they established a permanent guard: day and night, armed people walked around the city to curb the people; others stood on the walls and towers, ready to fight the Muscovites. However, the peace-loving ones began to show more courage, proving that stubbornness is useless; they clearly accused Martha's friends of adherence to Lithuania and said: “John is before us; and where is your Casimir? The city, constrained by the Grand Duke's detachments and filled with many newcomers who sought refuge there from the Muscovites, suffered a shortage of food supplies: the cost increased; there was no rye at all on the market: the rich ate wheat; and the poor cried out that their rulers had madly annoyed John and started the war without thinking about the consequences. The news of the execution of Dimitry Boretsky and his comrades made a deep impression both among the people and among the officials: until now, none of the Grand Dukes had dared to solemnly execute the paramount proud Boyars of Novogorodsky. The people reasoned that times had changed; that Heaven patronizes John and gives him courage along with happiness: that this Sovereign is just: punishes and has mercy; that it is better to be saved by humility than to perish from stubbornness. Noble dignitaries saw a sword over their heads: in this case, rare ones sacrifice personal security to a rule or way of thinking. The most zealous of the Marfins' friends, those who hated Moscow out of a zealous love for the freedom of their fatherland, wanted to earn John's forgiveness by silence or the language of moderation. Even Martha tried to act on the minds and hearts, inciting them against the Grand Duke: the people saw in her the main culprit of this disastrous war; he demanded bread and peace.

Kholmsky, the Pskovites and John himself were preparing to surround Novgorod from different sides in order to make the final blow: there was not much time left for reflection. The dignitaries and citizens unanimously proposed to the betrothed Archbishop Theophilus to be an intercessor for peace. This reasonable Monk with many Posadniks, Thousands and Zhitoy people of all five ends set off on ships by Lake Ilmen to the mouth of Shelon, to the camp of Moscow. Not daring to suddenly appear to the Sovereign, they went to his nobles and asked for their intercession: the nobles asked for John's brothers, and the brothers for John himself. After a few days, he allowed the Ambassadors to stand before his face. Theophilus, along with many spiritual persons and the most distinguished officials of the Novgorod, having entered the tent of the Grand Duke, fell on their faces, was silent, shed tears. John, surrounded by a host of Boyars, looked formidable and stern. “Lord, the Great Prince! - said Theophilus: - quench your anger, calm your rage; spare us criminals, not for our prayer, but for your mercy! Extinguish the fire that scorches the country of Novogorodskaya; hold back the sword that sheds the blood of its inhabitants!” John took with him from Moscow one scholar in the annals of Dyak, named Stefan the Bearded, who was to reckon before the Novogorod Ambassadors all their ancient betrayals; but the Ambassadors did not want to justify themselves and demanded only mercy. Here the brothers and Governors of Ioannov struck with their foreheads for the guilty people; prayed for a long time, relentlessly. Finally, the Sovereign uttered a word of magnanimous forgiveness, following, as the Chroniclers assure, the suggestions of Christian philanthropy and the advice of Metropolitan Philip to pardon the Novogorodtsy if they repent; but we see here the action of a personal character, a cautious policy, the moderation of this Sovereign, whose rule was: don't reject the good for the better, not entirely correct.

For their guilt, the Novogorodsk people promised to contribute 15,500 rubles or about eighty pounds of silver to the treasury of the Grand Duke, at different times, from September 8 to Easter: they returned to John the lands adjacent to Vologda, the banks of Pinega, Mezen, Nemyuga, Vyi, Poganaya Sura, Pili mountains, places ceded to Vasily the Dark, but then taken away by them; pledged at the appointed times to pay the Sovereigns of Moscow black, or people's tribute, also to the Metropolitan's court fee; they swore to place their Archbishops only in Moscow, at the tomb of St. Peter the Wonderworker, in the House of the Mother of God; not have any relationship with the King of Poland, nor with Lithuania; not to accept the local princes and enemies of John; Prince Mozhaisky, sons of Shemyaka and Vasily Yaroslavpch Borovsky; abolished the so-called Veche charters; recognized the supreme judicial power of the Sovereign of Moscow, in case of disagreement between his Viceroys and the Novogorodsk dignitaries; they promised not to issue judgment letters in the future without the approval and seal of the Grand Duke, and so on. Returning Torzhok and his new conquests in the Dvina land to them, John, as usual, kissed the cross, assuring that he would rule Novygorod in accordance with its ancient charters, without any violence. These mutual conditions or obligations are depicted in six letters written at that time, dated August 9 and 11, in which the young son of John, like his father, is also called the Grand Duke of all Russia. Having reconciled Novgorod with the Pskovites, John notified his commanders that the war had stopped; affectionately treated Theophilus and all the Ambassadors; he released them with mercy and ordered Boyar Feodor Davidovich to follow them, to take the oath from Novogorodtsy at Veche. Having given his word to forget the past, the Grand Duke left alone Martha Boretskaya herself and did not want to mention her in the contract, as if out of contempt for her weak wife. Having fulfilled his intention, having punished the rebels, having overthrown the shadow of Kazimirova from the ancient throne of Ryurik, he returned to Moscow with honor, glory and rich booty. Son, brother, nobles, soldiers and merchants met him 20 miles from the capital, the people for seven, the Metropolitan with the clergy in front of the Kremlin on the square. Everyone greeted the Sovereign as a winner, expressing joy.

Even Novgorod remained a power of the people; but his freedom was already the only mercy of John and was bound to disappear at the beckoning of the autocrat. There is no freedom when there is no power to protect it.

SECOND TRIP TO NOVGOROD

Thus, as far as the Tiber, the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea and the borders of India, embracing in his mind the state system of the Powers, this Monarch prepared the celebrity of his external Policy by affirming the internal composition of Russia. - The last hour of Novogorodskaya liberty has struck! This important incident in our history is worthy of detailed description. There is no doubt that John sat on the throne with the idea of ​​justifying the title of Grand Dukes, who since the time of Simeon the Proud were called Sovereigns of all Rus', wanted to introduce perfect autocracy, to destroy the Destinies, to take away from the Princes and citizens the rights that disagree with it, but only at a convenient time, in a decent way, without a clear violation of solemn conditions, without bold and dangerous violence, right and firm: in a word, with observation with all his usual care. Novgorod betrayed Russia by joining Lithuania; his army was scattered, his citizens were in horror: the Grand Duke could then conquer this region; but he thought that the people, accustomed for centuries to the benefits of freedom, would not suddenly give up her charming dreams; that internal riots and rebellions would entertain the forces of the Muscovite State needed for external security; that old habits must be weakened by new ones and constrain liberty before it is destroyed, so that citizens, yielding right after right, become familiar with the feeling of their impotence, pay too dearly for the remnants of freedom, and finally, tired of the fear of future oppression, tend to prefer the peaceful tranquility of unlimited Sovereign power. John forgave the Novogorodtsy, having enriched his treasury with their silver, having established the supreme power of the Prince in matters of judgment and in Politics; but, so to speak, did not take his eyes off this people's Power, tried to increase in it the number of people devoted to him, harbored disagreement between the Boyars and the people, was a defender of innocence in justice, did a lot of good and promised more. If his governors did not satisfy all the just complaints of the plaintiffs, then he blamed the lack of the ancient laws of Novogorodsk, wanted to be there himself, to investigate on the spot the cause of the main displeasures of the people, to curb the oppressors, and (in 1475) indeed, called by younger citizens, went to the banks of the Volkhov , entrusting Moscow to his son.

This journey of John - without an army, with one chosen, noble retinue - had the appearance of a peaceful, but solemn grandeur: the Sovereign announced that he was going to establish the calm of Novgorod, whose noble dignitaries and citizens traveled to him daily, from the Tsna River to Ilmen, to meet with greetings and with gifts, with complaints and with justification: the old Posadniks, the Thousands, the people of the Zhitye, the Viceroy and the Butler of the Grand Dukes, the Abbots, the Archbishop's officials. For 90 miles from the city, Vladyka Theophilus, Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Shuisky-Grebenka, Posadnik and Tysyachsky, Powerful, Archimandrite of the Yuriev Monastery and other paramount people were waiting for John, whose gifts consisted in barrels of wine, white and red. They had the honor to dine with the Sovereign. Behind them came the headmen of the streets of Novogorodsky; after the Boyars and all the inhabitants of Gorodische, with wine, with apples, wine berries. Countless crowds of people met John in front of Gorodische, where he listened to the Liturgy and spent the night; and the next day he treated Vladyka, Prince Shuisky, Posadnikov, Boyars to dinner, and on November 23, 1475, he entered Novgorod. There, at the gates of Moscow, Archbishop Theophilus, fulfilling the sovereign command, with all the Kliros, with icons, crosses and in rich hierarchal vestments, received him, blessed and led him into the church of Sophia, in which John bowed to the coffins of the ancient Princes: Vladimir Yaroslavich, Mstislav the Brave - and welcomed by all the people, expressed gratitude to him for his love; dined with Theophilus, had fun, spoke only gracious words, and, having taken from the owner as a gift 3 sets of Ypresian cloth, one hundred shipbuilders (Nobiles, or double gold coins), a fish tooth and two barrels of wine, he returned to his palace on Gorodishche.

The day of feast was followed by the days of judgment. From morning to evening, the Grand Duke's Palace was not closed to the people. Some wanted only to see the face of this Monarch and, as a sign of zeal, bring gifts to him; others sought justice. The fall of the Powers of the People is usually foreshadowed by brazen abuses of power, the failure to comply with laws: this was also the case in Novgorod. The rulers had neither the love nor the power of attorney of the citizens; cared only about their own benefits; traded in power, crowded out personal enemies, slurped relatives and friends; they surrounded themselves with crowds of servants in order to drown out the complaints of the oppressed with their screams at the veche. Entire streets, through their attorneys, demanded the Sovereign's protection, blaming the first dignitaries. “They are not judges, but predators,” the petitioners said and reported that the Powerful Posadnik, Vasily Ananin, and his comrades came by robbery to Slavkov and Nikitin Street, took away a thousand rubles of goods from the inhabitants, killed many to death. Others complained about the robbery of the elders. John, still following the ancient custom of Novogorodsky, let the Vech know that it would put guards on the accused; he ordered them to appear in court and, having himself heard their excuses, he decided - in the presence of the Archbishop, the most distinguished officials, the Boyars - that the complaints were just; that guilt has been proven; that criminals are deprived of their liberty; that a severe execution would be their retribution, and an example for others. Turning his eyes at the same moment to the two Boyars of Novogorodsky, Ivan Afanasyev and his son, Eleutherius, he said angrily: “Get out! you wanted to betray the fatherland to Lithuania.” The warriors of Ioannov fettered them with chains, also Posadnik Ananyin and the Boyars, Fyodor Isakov (Marfin's son), Ivan Loshinsky and Bogdan. This action of autocracy amazed the Novogorodtsy; but they all kept their eyes downcast and silent.

The next day, Vladyka Theophilus and many Posadniks appeared in the Grand Duke's Palace, with an air of deep sorrow, praying to John to order the imprisoned Boyars to be bailed out, restoring their freedom. “No,” the Sovereign answered Theophilus: “you, our pilgrimage, and the whole of Novgorod know that these people have done much harm to the fatherland and are now disturbing it with their machinations.” He sent the main criminals chained to Moscow; but, out of respect for the petition of the Archbishop and the Vech, he released some, less guilty, ordering them to collect a fine from them: which was the formidable court of the Grand Duke. The feasts for the Sovereign began again and lasted about six weeks. All the most distinguished people treated him to sumptuous meals: the Archbishop three times; others once, and gave money, precious vessels, silk fabrics, cloth, birds of prey, barrels of wine, fish teeth, and so on. For example, Prince Vasily Shuisky presented three halves of cloth, three damask, thirty shipbuilders, two gyrfalcons and a falcon; Vladyka - two hundred shipbuilders, five sets of cloth, a stallion, and a barrel of wine and two mead for seeing off; at another time, three hundred sailors, a golden ladle with pearls (weighing a pound), two horns bound with silver, a silver bowl (weighing six pounds), five forty sables and ten sets of cloth; Vasily Kazimer - a golden ladle (weighing a pound), one hundred shipbuilders and two gyrfalcons; Yakov Korob - two hundred shipbuilders, two gyrfalcons, a fish tooth and a set ore-yellow cloth; a noble widow, Nastasya Ivanova, 30 shipbuilders, ten sets of cloth, two forty sables and two teeth. Moreover, the Gracious Posadnik, Thomas, who was elected to replace the deposed Vasily Ananin, and Tysyachsky Esipov, presented the Grand Duke on behalf of all of Novgorod a thousand rubles. On Christmas Day, John gave dinner to the Archbishop and the first officials, who feasted in the palace until late at night. Many more noble officials prepared feasts; but the Grand Duke announced that it was time for him to go to Moscow, and only accepted from them the gifts appointed for him. The chronicler says that there was not a single wealthy person left in the city who did not offer something to John and was not himself graciously gifted, either with precious clothes, or damask, or a silver goblet, sables, a horse, and so on. - The Novgorodians never showed such zeal towards the Grand Dukes, although it did not come from love, but from fear: John caressed them, as the Sovereign can caress his subjects, with an air of mercy and friendly indulgence.

The Grand Duke, feasting, was also engaged in state affairs. The ruler of Sweden, Sten Stoor, sent his nephew, Orban, to him with a proposal to restore the peace broken by the Russians falling into Finland. John treated Orban, accepted from him a stately stallion as a gift and ordered the Archbishop to approve a truce with Sweden for several years in the name of Novgorod according to the ancient custom. - The ambassadors of Pskov, having presented gifts to John, begged him not to make any changes in the ancient charters of their fatherland; and Prince Yaroslav, the local Governor, having arrived in Novgorod himself, complained that Posadniks and citizens did not give him all the legitimate income. The Grand Duke sent the Boyars, Vasily China and Morozov there to tell the Pskovites to satisfy the requirements of the Viceroy in five days, or they would deal with the irritated Sovereign. Yaroslav got everything he wanted. - After spending nine weeks in Novgorod, John left with a lot of silver and gold, as it is said in the annals. His military squad stood in the monasteries around the city and sailed in abundance; she took what she wanted: no one dared to complain. Archbishop Theophilus and the noblest officials accompanied the sovereign to the first camp, where he dined with them, he seemed cheerful, pleased. But the fate of this people's Power was already decided in his mind.

The imprisonment of six Novogorodsky boyars, exiled to Murom and Kolomna, left a sad impression on their many friends: they complained about the autocracy of the Grand Duke, contrary to the ancient charter, according to which Novogorodets could be punished only in his own fatherland. The people were silent, expressing indifference; but the most distinguished citizens took their side and dressed up the Embassy to the Grand Duke: the Archbishop himself, three Posadniks and several Living people came to Moscow to beat with their brows for their unfortunate Boyars. Twice Vladyka Theophilus dined in the palace, but he could not beg John and left with sorrow during Holy Week, not wanting to celebrate Pascha with the sovereign and the Metropolitan.

1477 Meanwhile, the decisive court of the Grand Duke fell in love with many Novogorodsk residents so that the next year some of them went to Moscow with complaints; behind them are the defendants, noble and ordinary citizens, from Posadniks to farmers: widows, orphans, nuns. Others were called by the Sovereign himself: no one dared to disobey. “From the time of Rurik (the Chroniclers say) there has not been a similar case: Novogorodtsy did not go to Kyiv or Vladimir to sue: John knew how to bring them to this humiliation.” He hasn't done everything yet: it's time to finish what he started.

The clever justice of John captivated the hearts of those who sought the truth and loved it: oppressed weakness, slandered innocence found in him a defender, a savior, that is, a true Monarch, or a judge who was not involved in the low motives of the individual: they wanted to see the judicial power in his hands alone. Others, either envious of the strength of their fellow citizens, or caressed by John, inwardly favored the autocracy. These numerous friends of the Grand Duke, perhaps by themselves, and perhaps, in agreement with him, they conceived the following trick. Two of them, the official Nazarius and clerk Vecha, Zechariah, in the form of Ambassadors from the Archbishop and all compatriots, appeared before John (in 1477) and solemnly named him Sovereign Novgorod instead of Mister, as the Grand Dukes were previously called in relation to this people's Power. As a result, John sent Boyar, Feodor Davidovich, to Novogorodtsy to ask what they mean by the name Sovereign? whether they want to swear to him full Sovereign, the only legislator and judge? Do they agree not to have Tiuns, except for the Princes, and to give him the Court of Yaroslav, the ancient place of Vech? The astonished citizens answered: “We did not send it to the Grand Duke; it's a lie". There was general excitement. They tolerated the autocracy exercised by John in matters of judgment as emergency, but the thought was horrified that this emergency would already law that ancient proverb: Novgorod sued by its own court, will lose its meaning forever and that the Moscow Tiuns will decide their fate. The ancient Veche could no longer place itself above the Prince, but at least it existed in name and appearance: the Court of Yaroslav was the sanctuary of people's rights: to give it to John meant solemnly and forever rejecting them. These thoughts outraged even the most peaceful citizens, who were disposed to obey the Grand Duke, but in pleasing to their own inner sense of good, not blindly, not under the edge of a sword, ready to execute anyone at the wave of an autocrat. Marfina's oblivious like-minded people arose as if from a deep sleep and told the people that they foresaw the future better than they did; that friends or servants of the Moscow Prince are traitors, whose triumph is the coffin of the fatherland. The people went berserk, looking for traitors, demanding revenge. They seized one famous husband, Vasily Nikiforov, and brought him to the veche, accusing him of being with the Grand Duke and taking an oath to serve him against the fatherland. “No,” Vasily answered: “I swore to John only in fidelity, in goodwill, but without betrayal of my true Sovereign, Veliky Novgorod; without treason to you, my masters and brothers. This unfortunate man was hacked to pieces with axes; they also killed Posadnik, Zakharia Ovin, who went to Moscow to sue and himself denounced Vasily Nikiforov to the citizens; they also executed his brother, Kozma, in the Archbishop's court; many others were robbed, put in prison, calling them counselors of John; others fled. Meanwhile, the people did not do the slightest harm to the Ambassador of Moscow and his numerous retinue: dignitaries honored them, kept them for about six weeks, and finally released them in the name of Vech with such a letter to John: “We bow to you, our lord, Grand Duke; a Sovereign we don't call. The judgment of your Governors will be on the Settlement in the old days; but we will not have your court, nor your Tiuns. Courtyards of Yaroslavl we don't give. We want to live under an agreement sworn in Korostyn by you and us (in 1471). Who asked you to be Sovereign Novogorodsky, you yourself know those and executions for deceit; we here also execute these false traitors. And we beat you, Lord, with your forehead, so that you keep us in the old days, according to the kiss of the cross. So they wrote and spoke even more strongly at the Veche, not hiding the idea of ​​once again succumbing to Lithuania, if the Grand Duke did not renounce his demands.

But John did not like to yield and no doubt foresaw the refusal of the Novogorodtsy, wishing only to have an appearance of justice in this discord. Having received their bold answer, he sadly announced to Metropolitan Gerontius, mother, Boyars that Novgorod, arbitrarily giving him the name of the Sovereign, locks himself in, makes him a liar before the eyes of the whole Russian land, executes people loyal to their legitimate Monarch as villains, and threatens to betray the most holy oaths, Orthodoxy, and the fatherland a second time. The Metropolitan, the Court and all of Moscow agreed that these rebels should feel the full burden of the Tsar's wrath. Prayer began in the churches; handed out alms to monasteries and almshouses; sent a messenger to Novgorod with folding diploma, or with a declaration of war, and the regiments gathered under the walls of Moscow. Slow in important plans, but quick in execution, John either did not act, or acted decisively, with all his might: there was not a single place left that would not send warriors to the service of the Grand Duke. Among them were also residents of the regions of Kashin, Bezhetskaya, Novotorzhskaya: for John annexed to Moscow part of these Tver and Novogorod lands.

Having entrusted the capital to the young Grand Duke, his son, he himself set out with the army on October 9, despising the difficulties and inconveniences of the autumn campaign in marshy places. Although the Novogorodtsy took some measures for defense, they knew their weakness and sent to demand dangerous letters from the Grand Duke for Archbishop Theophilus and Posadnikov, who were to go to him for peace negotiations. John ordered to stop this messenger in Torzhok, as well as another; dined in Voloka with his brother, Boris Vasilyevich, and was met by the eminent Tver nobleman, Prince Mikulinsky, with a courteous invitation to call in Tver, taste the bread and salt of his Sovereign, Mikhail. Instead of refreshments, John demanded regiments, and Mikhail did not dare to disobey, having prepared, in addition, all the necessary food supplies for the Moscow army. The Grand Duke himself walked with selected regiments between the Yazhelbitskaya road and Mstoy; Tsarevich Daniyar and Vasily Obrazets according to Zamsta; Daniil Kholmsky before John with the Boyarsky Children, Vladimirites, Pereslavlians and Kostromitians; behind him are two Boyars with Dmitrovtsy and Kashintsy; on the right side Prince Simeon Ryapolovsky with Suzdal and Yuryevtsy: on the left - the brother of the Grand Duke, Andrey the Lesser, and Vasily Saburov with Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich and Bezhichan; with them is also the Governor of mother Ioannova, Semyon Peshek, with her Court; between the roads of Yazhelbitskaya and Demonskaya - Princes Alexander Vasilyevich and Boris Mikhailovich Obolensky; the first with Koluzhans, Aleksins, Serpukhovs, Khotunichis, Muscovites, Radonezhs, Novotorzhtsy; the second with Mozhaytsy, Volochany, Zvenigorodtsy and Ruzhany; on the road Yazhelbitskaya - Boyar Feodor Davidovich with the Children of the Boyar Court of the Grand Duke and Kolomentsy, also Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Obolensky with all his brothers and many of the Children of the Boyars. On November 4, the Tver regiments, led by Prince Mikhail Feodorovich Mikulinsky, joined the army of Ioannov.

In Eglin, on November 8, the Grand Duke demanded to himself the detained Novogorodskys hazards(i.e. sent for dangerous letters): The headman of Danislavskaya street, Fyodor Kalitin, and citizen Zhitoy, Ivan Markov. They humbly hit him with their foreheads, calling him Sovereign. John ordered them to give a pass for the Ambassadors of Novogorodsk. - Meanwhile, many noble Novogorodtsy arrived in the Moscow camp and entered the service of the Grand Duke, either foreseeing the inevitable death of their fatherland, or fleeing the malice of the local people, who persecuted all the Boyars suspected of secret ties with Moscow.

On November 19, in Palina, John again arranged an army to start enemy operations: he entrusted the vanguard to his brother, Andrei the Less, and three of the bravest Governors: Kholmsky with the Kostromitians, Feodor Davidovich with the Kolomentsy, Prince Ivan Obolensky-Striga with the Vladimirites; in the right hand he ordered his brother, Andrei the Great, to be with the Tver Voevoda, Prince Mikulinsky, Grigory Nikitich, Ivan Zhit, Dmitrovtsy and Kashintsy; in left brother, Prince Boris Vasilyevich, with Prince Vasily Mikhailovich Vereisky and with his mother's Voivode, Semyon Peshko: and in his own regiment of the Grand Duke - to the most noble Boyar; Ivan Yuryevich Patrikeev, Vasily Obrazets with Borovichi, Simeon Ryapolovsky, Prince Alexander Vasilyevich. Boris Mikhailovich Obolensky and Saburov with their squads, also to all Pereslavl and Muromets. The advance detachment was supposed to take Bronnitsy.

Still not satisfied with the large number of his rati, the Emperor was waiting for the Pskovites. The local Prince Yaroslav, hated by the people, but long patronized by John, was even in open war with the citizens who dared not expel him, and drunkenly having a battle with them in the middle of the city, he finally left by decree of the Sovereign. The Pskovites wanted Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Shuisky as their governor: John sent him to them from Torzhok and ordered them to immediately arm themselves against Novgorod. Their usual prudence did not change in this case either: the Pskovites offered the Novogorodtsy to be intercessors for them with the Grand Duke; but received in response: "Either enter into a special close alliance with us as free people, or we will do without your petition." When the Pskovites, fulfilling John's order, declared war on them by letter, the Novogorodtsy changed their minds and wanted them to send officials with them to the Grand Duke; but the Dyak of Moscow, Grigory Volnin, having arrived in Pskov from the Sovereign, forced them to immediately mount their horses and take to the field. Meanwhile, a fire broke out there: the citizens informed John in writing about their misfortune, called him Tsar of Russia and gave him to understand that it is not the time to fight people who shed tears on the ashes of their dwellings; in a word, they avoided the campaign in every possible way, foreseeing that Pskov might not be able to resist the fall of Novgorod. Excuses were in vain: John ordered, and Prince Shuisky, taking siege weapons - cannons, squeaks, crossbows - with seven Posadniks led the Pskov army, which was to stand on the banks of the Ilmen, at the mouth of the Shelon.

On November 23, the Grand Duke was in Sytin when they informed him of the arrival of Archbishop Theophilus and the most distinguished dignitaries of the Novogorodskys. They came. Theophilus said: Sovereign Prince Great! I, your pilgrimage, Archimandrites, Abbots and Priests of all seven Councils beat you with our foreheads. You laid the wrath on your own behalf, to Veliky Novgorod; your fire and sword walk on our land; Christian blood is shed. Sovereign! have mercy: we beg you with tears: give us peace and free the Boyars of Novogorodsky, imprisoned in Moscow! And Posadniki and Zhitye people said this: Sovereign Prince Great! The staid Posadnik Foma Andreev and the old Posadniks, the staid Tysyachsky Vasily Maksimov and the old Thousands, the Boyars, Zhitye, merchants, black people and the whole of Veliky Novgorod, your fatherland, free men, beat you with their foreheads and pray for the peace and freedom of our Boyar prisoners. Posadnik Luka Fedorov said: “Sire! the petition of Veliky Novgorod before you: command us to speak with your Boyars. John did not answer a word, but invited them to dine at his table.

The next day, the Novogorodsky Ambassadors were with gifts from Brother Ioannov, Andrei the Less, demanding his intercession. John ordered the Boyar, Prince Ivan Yurievich, to speak with them. Posadnik Yakov Korob said: “We wish the Sovereign to accept Veliky Novgorod, free men, and take away his sword.” - Feofilakt Posadnik: "We wish the Boyars of Novogorodsky to be released." - Luka Posadnik: “We wish the Sovereign to go to his fatherland, Veliky Novgorod, for every four years, and take a thousand rubles from us; that the Viceroy judge him with the Posadnik in the city; and what they do not manage, the Grand Duke himself will decide, having come to us in the fourth year; but let him not call those who are suing to Moscow!” - Yakov Fedorov: “May the Sovereign not order his Viceroy to intervene in the special courts of the Archbishop and Posadnik!” - Living people said that the subjects of the Grand Dukes are calling them to court to the Viceroy and Posadnik in Novgorod, but they themselves want to sue only Gorodische; that this is unfair and that they are asking the Grand Duke to subject both of them to the Novogorodsk court. - Posadnik Yakov Korob concluded with these words: “Our petition before the Sovereign: let him do what God puts on his heart!”

On the same day, John ordered Kholmsky, Boyar Feodor Davidovich, Prince Obolensky-Striga and other Voivodes under the general command of his brother, Andrei the Less, to go from Bronnitsy to Gorodishche and occupy the monasteries so that the Novogorodtsy would not burn them out. The governors crossed Lake Ilmen on the ice and in one night occupied all the surroundings of Novogorodsk.

On November 25, the Grand Duke Boyars, Ivan Yuryevich, Vasily and Ivan Borisovich, gave an answer to the Ambassadors. The first said: "The Great Prince John Vasilyevich of All Rus' to you, his pilgrim Vladyka, Posadniks and Living people, responds to your petition in this way." - Boyar Vasily Borisovich continued: “You yourself know that you offered us, me and my son, through the dignitary Nazarius and Dyak Vechevy, Zakharia, to be your Sovereigns; and we sent our Boyars to Novgorod to find out what is meant by this name? But you locked yourself up, reproaching us, the Grand Dukes, with violence and lies; besides that, they did us many other annoyances. We endured, waiting for your correction; but you have been more and more deceitful, and we have drawn the sword, according to the word of the Lord: if your brother sins against you, rebuke him in private; if he does not listen, take two or three witnesses with you: if he does not listen to them, tell the Church; If you start to be careless about the Church, you will be like a pagan and a publican. We sent to you and said: calm down and we'll pity you. but you did not want it and became, as it were, alien to us. And so, putting our trust in God and in the prayer of our ancestors, the Grand Dukes of Russia, we go to punish insolence. - Boyar Ivan Borisovich spoke further in the name of the Grand Duke: “You want the freedom of your Boyars, condemned by me; but you know that all Novgorod complained to me about their lawlessness, robberies, murders: you yourself, Luka Isakov, were among the plaintiffs; and you, Grigory Kiprianov, on behalf of Nikitina Street; and you, Vladyka, and you, Posadniks, were witnesses to their exposure. I thought of executing criminals, but I gave them life, for you begged me to do so. Is it proper for you to mention these people now?” - Prince Ivan Yuryevich concluded with these words the answer of the Sovereigns: "If Novgorod really wants our mercy, then he knows the conditions."

The Archbishop and the Posadniks went back with the Grand Ducal Bailiff for their safety. - On November 27, John, having approached Novgorod with his brother Andrei the Lesser and with the young Vereisky Prince, Vasily Mikhailovich, settled down at the Paozerskaya Trinity on the banks of the Volkhov, three versts from the city, in the village of Loshinsky, where there was once the house of Yaroslav the Great, called Rakomlei; ordered his brother to stand at the monastery of the Annunciation, Prince Ivan Yuryevich in Yuryev, Kholmsky in Arkadievsky, Saburov at St. Panteleimon, Alexander Obolensky at Nikola on Mostishchi, Boris Obolensky on Sokovo at Epiphany. Ryapolovsky on Pidba, Prince Vasily Vereisky on Lisya Gorka, and Boyar Feodor Davidovich and Prince Ivan Striga on Gorodische. On November 29, brother Ioannov, Prince Boris Vasilyevich, came with the regiment and stood on the banks of the Volkhov in Krechnev, the village of the Archbishop. - On November 30, the Sovereign ordered the Governors to release half of the people to collect food supplies until December 10, and on the 11th to be there for everyone, everyone in their place; and on the same day he sent a messenger to tell the Governor of Pskov, Prince Vasily Shuisky, to hurry to Novgorod with a firearm.

The Novogorodtsy at first wanted to show fearlessness; they allowed all foreign merchants to leave for Pskov with goods: they fortified themselves with a wooden wall on both sides of the Volkhov; they blocked this river with ships; elected Prince Vasily Shuisky-Grebenka as a commander and, having no friends or allies, not expecting help from anywhere, pledged to be unanimous among themselves by an oath, showing that they hope in the extreme for the most despair and are ready to repel an attack, as once their ancestors repelled a strong army of Andrei Bogolyubsky. But John did not want bloodshed, in the hope that they would submit, and took measures to deliver everything needed to his large army. Fulfilling his command, the rich Pskovites sent a convoy with bread, wheat flour, rolls, fish, honey and various goods for free sale to him: they also sent bridgemen. The Grand Duke's camp looked like a noisy marketplace, abundance; and Novgorod, surrounded by regiments of Moscow, was deprived of any communication. The surroundings also presented a miserable sight: the soldiers of Ioannov did not spare the poor inhabitants, who in 1471 safely hid from them in the forests and swamps, but at that time died there from frost and hunger.

On December 4, Archbishop Theophilus came to the Sovereign for the second time with the same officials and begged him only for peace, not mentioning anything else. The boyars of Moscow, Prince Ivan Yurievich, Feodor Davidovich and Prince Ivan Striga let them go with the same answer that the Novogorodtsy know how to beat the Grand Duke with their brows. - On this day, Tsarevich Daniyar came to the city with the Governor, Vasily Obraztsom, and the brother of the Grand Duke, Andrei the Elder, with the Tver Governor: they settled in the monasteries of Kirillov, Andreev, Kovalevsky, Bolotov, On Derevenitsa and at St. Nikola on Ostrovka.

Seeing the multiplication of forces and the inflexibility of the Grand Duke - having neither the courage to dare a decisive battle, nor reserves to withstand a long-term siege - threatened by sword and hunger, the Novogorodtsy felt the need to yield, wished only to prolong time and without hope of saving liberty, hoped to save by negotiations at least some of her right. On December 5, Vladyka Theophilus, with the Posadniks and with the Zhyty people, hitting the Grand Duke with his forehead in the presence of his three brothers, said in the name of Novgorod: “Sire! We, the guilty ones, await your mercy: recognize the truth of the Embassy of Nazariev and Dyak Zacharias; but what power do you want to have over us?” John answered them through the Boyars: “I am pleased that you admit your guilt and testify to yourself. I want to rule in Novgorod, as I rule in Moscow.” – The Archbishop and Posadniki demanded time for reflection. He dismissed them with the command to give a decisive answer on the third day. - Meanwhile, the Pskov army arrived, and the Grand Duke, placing it in Biskupitsy, in the village of Fedotino, in the Trinity Monastery on the Varangians, ordered his famous artist, Aristotle, to build a bridge under Gorodische, as if for an attack. This bridge, made with amazing speed on ships across the Volkhov River, earned the praise of Ioannov with its hardness and beauty.

On December 7, Theophilus returned to the camp of the Grand Duke with the Posadniks and with the elected representatives from the five ends of Novogorodsky. John sent the Boyars to them. The Archbishop was silent: only Posadniks spoke. Yakov Korob said: “We wish the Sovereign to order his Viceroy to judge together with our Powerful Posadnik.” - Theophylact: "We offer the Sovereign an annual tribute from all the volosts of Novogord, from two hryvnias." - Luke: “Let the Sovereign keep the Viceroys in our suburbs; but let the judgment be according to the old days.” - Yakov Fedorov beat with his forehead so that the Grand Duke would not take people out of the possessions of Novogorodsk, would not intercede in the fatherlands and lands of the Boyars, would not call anyone to court in Moscow. Finally, everyone asked that the Sovereign not require the Novogorodtsy to his service and instruct them solely to protect the northwestern borders of Russia. The boyars reported this to the Grand Duke and left him with the following answer: “You, our pilgrimage, and the whole of Novgorod recognized me as Sovereign; and now you want me to tell you how to rule you?” - Theophilus and the Posadniks beat their foreheads and said: “We don’t dare indicate, but we only want to know how the Sovereign intends to rule in his Novgorod homeland: for we do not know Moscow customs. The Grand Duke ordered his Boyar, Ivan Yuryevich, to answer as follows: “Know that in Novgorod there will be neither the Veche Bell nor the Posadnik, but there will be only the power of the Sovereign: that both in the country of Moscow, and here I want to have volosts and villages; that the ancient lands of the Grand Dukes, taken away by you, are now my property. But condescending to your prayer, I promise not to take people out of Novgorod, not to intervene in the Boyars' homelands and leave the court in the old days.

A whole week has passed. Novgorod did not send an answer to John. On December 14, Theophilus appeared with officials and said to the Boyars of the Grand Duke: “We agree not to have either Vech or Posadnik; we only pray that the Sovereign quench his anger forever and forgive us sincerely, but with the condition not to take the Novogorodtsy to the Nizov land, not to touch the property of the Boyars, not to judge us in Moscow and not to call us to serve there. The Grand Duke gave his word. They demanded an oath. John replied that the Sovereign did not swear. “We are satisfied with the oath of the Boyars of the Grand Dukes or his future Viceroy of Novogorodsky,” said Theophilus and the Posadniks: but even that was refused; asked dangerous letter: and that one was not given to them. The boyars of Moscow announced that the negotiations were over. Here the love for ancient freedom was strongly revealed for the last time at the Veche. The Novogorodtsy thought that the Grand Duke wanted to deceive them and for this he did not take an oath to faithfully fulfill his word. This thought especially shook the Boyars, who did not stand for either the Veche Bell or the Posadnik, but stood for their fatherlands. "We want a fight! - exclaimed thousands: - we will die for liberty and Hagia Sophia! But this outburst of generosity produced nothing but noise, and had to give way to composure of reason. For several days the people listened to the debate between the friends of freedom and peaceful citizenship: the former could promise him one glorious death in the midst of the horrors of hunger and futile bloodshed; others life, safety, tranquility, the integrity of the estate: and these finally prevailed. Then Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Shuisky-Grebenka, hitherto a faithful defender of the free Novogorodtsy, solemnly resigned the rank of their Governor and went into the service of the Grand Duke, who received him with special mercy.

On December 29, the ambassadors of the Vech, Archbishop Theophilus and the most distinguished citizens, again arrived in the Grand Duke's camp, although they did not have fear, expressed humility and prayed that the Sovereign, putting aside his anger, would tell them verbally how he favors his Novgorod homeland. John ordered to let them in and spoke like this: “My mercy has not changed; what I promised, I promise now: oblivion of the past, judgment in the old days, integrity of private property, dismissal from the Nizov service; I will not call you to Moscow; I will not withdraw people from the country of Novogorodskaya. The ambassadors bowed their heads and went out; and the Grand Duke Boyars reminded them that the Sovereign demands volosts and villages in their land. The Novogorodtsy offered him Luke the Great and Rzhev Empty: he did not take it. Ten more volosts of the Archbishop's and monasteries were offered: I didn't take even those. “Choose, then, what you yourself) please,” they said: “we rely in everything on God and on you.” The Grand Duke wanted half of all the volosts of the Archbishops and monasteries: the Novogorodtsy agreed, but persuaded him not to take land from some poor monasteries. John demanded a correct inventory of the volosts and, as a sign of mercy, took only ten from Theophilovs: which, together with the monastic ones, amounted to about 2700 obezh, or taxes, except for the lands of Novotorzhsky, also given to him. Six days have passed in the negotiations.

On January 8, 1478, Vladyka Theophilus, the Posadniks, and the Zhitye people prayed to the Grand Duke to lift the siege: for the cramped conditions and lack of bread had caused diseases in the city so that many died. John ordered his boyars to agree with them on tribute and wanted to take seven money from each farmer; but agreed to reduce this tribute three times. “We wish another favor,” said Theophilus: “we pray that the Grand Duke does not send us his scribes and tributaries, who usually crowd the people; but let him believe the conscience of Novogorodskaya: we ourselves will number the people and hand over the money to whom we order; and whoever hides even a single soul, let him be executed.” John promised.

On January 10, the Boyars of Moscow demanded from Theophilus and Posadnikov that the Yaroslav court be immediately cleared for the Grand Duke and that the people take an oath of allegiance to him. The Novogorodtsy wanted to hear the oath: the Sovereign sent her to them in the Archbishop's chamber with his clerk. On the third day, Vladyka and their dignitaries told the Boyars Ioannov: “The Court of Yaroslav is the legacy of the Sovereigns, the Grand Dukes: when they want to take it, and with the area, let their will be done. The people have heard the oath and are ready to kiss the cross, expecting everything from the Sovereigns, as God puts in their hearts and having no other hope. The clerk of Novogorodsky wrote off this oath, and the Lord and the Five Ends approved it with their seals. On January 13, many Novogorodsk boyars, living people and merchants swore allegiance to the camp of Ioannov. Then the Sovereign ordered them to be told that their suburbs, Zavolochan and Dvinyan, would henceforth kiss the cross in the name of the Grand Dukes, without mentioning Novgorod; so that they would not dare to take revenge on their fellow earthmen who were in his service, nor on the Pskovites, and in the event of disputes over lands, they would wait for a decision from the Viceroys, not appropriating any self-willed justice. The Novogorodtsy promised and, together with Theophilus, asked the Sovereign to deign verbally and loudly declare his mercy to them. John, raising his voice, said: "I forgive and from now on I will favor you, my pilgrimage, and our fatherland, Veliky Novgorod."

On January 15, the ancient Veche collapsed, which to this day still gathered at Yaroslav's Court. The nobles of Moscow, Prince Ivan Yuryevich, Feodor Davidovich and Striga-Obolensky, having entered the Archbishop's chamber, said that the Sovereign, heeding the prayer of Theophilus, the entire sacred Cathedral, the Boyars and citizens, forever forgets their guilt, especially out of respect for the petition of his brothers, with the condition that Novgorod, having given a sincere vow of fidelity, did not betray him either in deed or in thought. All the noblest citizens, Boyars, Living people, merchants kissed the cross in the Archbishop's house, and the Dyaks and the military officials of Ioannov took an oath from the people, from the Boyar servants and wives at the five ends. The Novogorodtsy gave John that charter, by which they agreed to stand against him unanimously and which was sealed with fifty-eight seals.

On January 18, all the Boyars of Novogorodsky, the Children of the Boyarskys and the Living people beat their foreheads to John so that he would accept them into his service. They were told that this service, in addition to other duties, orders each of them to notify the Grand Duke of any evil intentions against him, not excluding either brother or friend, and requires modesty in the secrets of the Sovereign. They promised both. - On this day, John allowed the city to have free communication with the surroundings; On January 20, he sent a messenger to Moscow to his mother (who had tonsured her hair in Inokini without him), to the Metropolitan and to his son with the news that he led Veliky Novgorod with all his will, the next day, he admitted the local Boyars, Zhity people and merchants with gifts and sent his Viceroys, Prince Ivan Striga and his brother, Yaroslav, to occupy the Court of Yaroslav; but he himself did not go to the city, for diseases were rampant there.

Finally, on the 29th of January, on Thursday of the Butter Week, he arrived at Sophia Church with his three brothers and with Prince Vasily Vereisky, listened to the Liturgy, returned to Iaozerye and invited all the most distinguished Novogorodtsy to dinner. The archbishop before the table presented him with a panagia overlaid with gold and pearls, a struf egg bound with silver in the form of a goblet, a cornelian cup, a crystal barrel, a silver bowl of 6 pounds and 200 shipbuilders, or 400 chervonets. The guests drank, ate and talked with John.

On February 1, he ordered to take into custody the Merchant Starosta, Mark Pamfiliev, on February 2, the glorious Martha Boretskaya with her grandson Vasily Feodorov (whose father died in the Murom dungeon), and after from the living people - Grigory Kiprianov, Ivan Kuzmin, Akinf with his son Roman and Yuri Repekhov, take them to Moscow and describe all their estate to the treasury. These people were the only victims of the formidable Muscovite autocracy, either as its open, irreconcilable enemies, or as well-known friends of Lithuania. No one dared to stand up for them. On February 3, the Viceroy of the Grand Duke, Ivan Obolensky-Striga, found all the written agreements concluded by the Novogorodtsy with Lithuania, and handed them over to John. Everything was calm; but the Grand Duke sent two other Viceroys to the city, Vasily China and Boyar Ivan Zinovievich, to maintain silence, ordering them to occupy the Archbishop's house.

On February 8, John listened to the Liturgy a second time in the St. Sophia Church and dined in his camp with brother Andrei the Lesser, with the Archbishop and the most distinguished Novogorodtsy. On February 12, Vladyka Theophilus presented the Sovereign with gifts before mass: a chain, two charms, and a golden ladle, weighing about nine pounds; a gilded mug, two cups, a bowl and a silver belt, weighing thirty-one pounds and a half, and 200 shipmen. - February 17, early in the morning, the Grand Duke went to Moscow; at the first camp, in Yamny, he treated the Archbishop, the Boyars and the Living people of Novogorodsky to dinner; received from them several barrels of wine and mead; he himself gave everyone away, let him go with mercy to Novgorod and arrived in the capital on March 5. Following him, the glorious Veche bell of Novogorodsky was brought to Moscow and hung on the bell tower of the Assumption Cathedral, on the square. - If you believe the legend of the modern historian, Dlugosh, then John acquired immortal wealth in Novgorod and loaded 300 carts with silver, gold, precious stones, found by him in the ancient treasury of the Bishop or from the Boyars, whose estate was described, in addition to countless silk fabrics, cloths, furs and so on. Others value this booty at 14,000,000 florins: which is no doubt an increase.

So Novgorod submitted to John, having for more than six centuries been known in Russia and in Europe as the Power of the people, or the Republic, and really having the image of Democracy: for the Civil Veche appropriated to itself not only the legislative, but also the supreme executive power; elected, replaced not only the Posadnikovs, the Thousands, but also the Princes, referring to the charter of Yaroslav the Great; gave them power, but subordinated it to its supreme; accepted complaints, judged and punished in important cases; even with the Moscow Sovereigns, even with John concluded conditions, mutual affirmed by an oath, and in violation of these, having the right of revenge or war; in a word, it ruled as an assembly of the people of Athens or the Franks on the field of Mars, representing the face of Novgorod, which was called Sovereign. Not in the government of the free German cities - as some Writers thought - but in the primitive composition of all the Powers of the people, from Athens and Sparta to Unterwalden or Glaris, one should look for examples of the Novogorod political system, reminiscent of that deep antiquity of peoples when they, choosing dignitaries together for wars and courts, reserved the right to watch over them, overthrow them in case of inability, execute them in case of treason or injustice, and decide everything important or extraordinary in general councils. We saw that the Princes, Posadniks, Thousands in Novgorod judged litigations and led the army: so the ancient Slavs, so once all other peoples did not know the difference between military and judicial power. The heart or main composition of this Power was the Firemen, or Living people, that is, homely people, or owners: they are also the first warriors, as the natural defenders of the fatherland; came out of them Boyars or citizens famous for merit. Trade produced merchants: they, as less capable of military affairs, occupied the second degree; and the third - free, but the poorest people, called black. citizens Junior appeared in modern times and stood between merchants and black people. Each degree undoubtedly had its own rights: it is likely that the Posadniks and the Thousands were elected only from the Boyars; and other dignitaries from Zhity, merchants and Junior citizens, but not from black people, although the latter also participated in the judgments of the Vech. Former Posadniks, in contrast to the Powerful, or real, being called old, mostly respected until the end of life. - The mind, strength and lust for power of some Princes, Monomakh, Vsevolod III, Alexander Nevsky, Kalita, Donskoy, his son and grandson, curbed the freedom of Novogorodskaya, but did not change its main charters, by which it had been kept for so many centuries, temporarily constrained, but never giving up their rights.

The history of Novgorod is the most curious part of ancient Russia. In the wildest places, in a harsh climate, founded, perhaps, by a crowd of Slavic fishermen, who in the waters of Ilmen filled their nets with abundant fishing, he knew how to rise to the level of a famous Power. Surrounded by weak, peaceful Finnish tribes, he learned early to dominate the neighborhood; conquered by the brave Varangians, he borrowed from them the spirit of the merchants, enterprise and navigation; expelled these conquerors and, being a victim of internal disorder, conceived the Monarchy, in the hope of obtaining silence for the success of civil society and strength to repel external enemies; thus he decided the fate of the whole of Northern Europe and, having given life, giving Sovereigns to our fatherland, reassured by their power, strengthened by crowds of courageous Varangian aliens, he again wanted ancient liberty: he became his own legislator and judge, limiting the power of the princely: he fought and merchants; back in the 10th century he traded with Tsaremgrad, back in the 12th century he sent ships to Lubeck; through dense forests he opened his way to Siberia and, with a handful of people, having conquered the vast lands between Ladoga, the White and Kara seas, the Obiya River and present-day Ufa, he planted there the first seeds of citizenship and the Christian Faith; handed over Asiatic and Byzantine goods to Europe, in addition to precious works of wild nature; reported to Russia the first fruits of the European craft, the first discoveries of the Benevolent Arts; famous for his cunning in trade, he was also famous for his courage in battles, proudly pointing to his walls, under which lay the numerous army of Andrei Bogolyubsky; to Alta, where Yaroslav the Great with the faithful Novogorodtsy defeated the wicked Svyatopolk; to Lipitsa, where Mstislav the Brave with their retinue crushed the militia of the Princes of Suzdal; on the banks of the Neva, where Alexander humbled the arrogance of Birger, and on the Livonian fields, where the Order of the Sword-bearers so often deflected the banners before St. Sophia, turning to flight. Such reminiscences, nourishing the people's ambition, produced the well-known proverb: who is against God and Veliky Novgorod? Its inhabitants also boasted that they were not Mogul slaves, like other Russians: although they paid tribute to the Orda, they paid the Grand Dukes, not knowing the Baskaks and never being subject to their tyranny.

The annals of the Republics usually present us with a strong action of human passions, outbursts of generosity, and often a touching triumph of virtue amid the rebellions and disorder inherent in popular rule: so the annals of Novgorod in their unartificial simplicity show features that captivate the imagination. There, the people, moved by disgust to the villainies of Svyatopolk, forget the cruelty of Yaroslav I, who wants to retire to the Varangians, cuts the boats prepared for his flight, and says to him: “You killed our brothers, but we are going with you against Svyatopolk and Boleslav; you have no treasury: take everything we have.” Here Posadnik Tverdislav, unjustly persecuted, hears the cry of the murderers sent to plunge a sword into his heart, and orders to carry himself sick to the city square, so that he will die before the eyes of the people, if he is guilty, or will be saved by his protection, if he is innocent; triumphs and forever enters a monastery, sacrificing all the pleasures of ambition and life itself to the tranquility of fellow citizens. Here the worthy Archbishop, holding a cross in his hand, appears in the midst of the horrors of internecine warfare; raises the hand of those who bless, calls the Novogorodtsy his children, and the sound of weapons is silent: they humble themselves and fraternally embrace each other. In battles with foreign enemies, the Posadniks, the Thousands, died in front for Hagia Sophia. The Saints of Novgorod, elected by the voice of the people, by universal respect for their personal qualities, excelled others in pastoral and civic virtues; exhausted their treasury for the common good; built walls, towers, bridges, and even sent a special regiment to the war, which was called Sovereign, being the main guardians of justice, internal improvement, peace, zealously stood for Novgorod and were not afraid of either the wrath of the Metropolitans or the revenge of the sovereigns of Moscow. We also see some constant rules of generosity in the actions of this often frivolous people: such was not to be arrogant in success, to show moderation in happiness, firmness in disasters, to give shelter to exiles, to faithfully fulfill agreements, and the word: Novogorodskaya honor, Novogorodskaya soul sometimes served instead of an oath. - The Republic is supported by virtue and without it falls.

The fall of Novgorod was marked by the loss of military courage, which decreases in the trading powers with an increase in wealth, disposing people to peaceful pleasures. This people was once considered the most warlike in Russia, and where they fought, they won there, in internecine and external wars: this was the case until the XIV century. Fortunately saved from Batu and almost free from the yoke of the Moghuls, he more and more succeeded in the merchant class, but weakened his valor: this second era, flourishing for trade, disastrous for civil freedom, begins from the time of John Kalita. Wealthy Novogorodtsy began to buy off silver from the Princes of Moscow and Lithuania; but liberty is saved not by silver, but by the willingness to die for it: whoever pays off admits his impotence and beckons the Lord to him. The militias of Novogorodsk in the 15th century no longer present us with either an ardent spirit, or art, or brilliant successes. What, besides disorder and cowardly flight, do we see in the last decisive battles for freedom? It belongs to a lion, not a lamb, and Novgorod could only choose one of the two Sovereigns, Lithuanian or Moscow: fortunately, Vitovtov's heirs did not inherit his soul, and God bestowed John on Russia.

Although it is natural for the human heart to be benevolent to Republics based on indigenous rights, liberty is dear to him; although her very dangers and worries, nourishing generosity, captivate the mind, especially the young, inexperienced; although the Novogorodtsy, having popular government, a common spirit of trade and ties with the most educated Germans, no doubt differed in noble qualities from other Russians, humiliated by the tyranny of the Moghuls: however, History should glorify the mind of John in this case, for statesmanship ordered him to strengthen Russia by a solid connection of parts into a whole, so that it achieves independence and greatness, that is, so that it does not die from the blows of the new Batu or Vitovt; then Novgorod would not have survived either: having taken its possessions, the Sovereign of Moscow put one facet of his Kingdom on the banks of the Narova, a threat to the Germans and Swedes, and the other beyond the Stone Belt, or the Ural ridge, where fabulous antiquity imagined sources of wealth and where they really were in in the depths of the earth, abundant in metals, and in the darkness of forests filled with sables. - Emperor Galba said: "I would be worthy to restore the freedom of Rome, if Rome could use it." The Russian historian, loving both human and state virtues, can say: "John was worthy to crush the fragile liberty of Novogorodskaya, for he wanted the solid good of all Russia."

Here it falls silent special History of Novgorod. Let us add to it the rest of the news about his fate in the reign of John. In 1479, the Grand Duke went there, replaced Archbishop Theophilus, as if for a secret connection with Lithuania, and sent him to Moscow, where he died six years later in the Chudovskaya monastery as the last of the famous people's rulers; his successor was Hieromonk Trinity, named Sergius, chosen by lot of three spiritual persons: how did the Grand Duke want to show respect for the ancient custom of Novogorodtsy, depriving them of the right to have own Saints. This Archbishop, not loved by the citizens, after a few months returned to the Trinity Convent due to illness. His place was taken by the Chudovsky Archimandrite Gennady. - The spirit of freedom could not suddenly disappear in the people who had enjoyed it for so many centuries, and although there was no general rebellion, yet John saw displeasure and heard the secret complaints of the Novogorodtsy: the hope that liberty could be resurrected still lived in their hearts; their natural obstinacy was often revealed; malicious intentions were revealed. In order to eradicate this dangerous spirit, he resorted to a decisive means: in 1481 he ordered noble people to be taken into custody there: Vasily Kazimer with his brother Yakov Korob, Mikhail Berdenev and Luka Fedorov, and soon all the main Boyars, whose property, movable and immovable, described to the Sovereign. Some, accused of treason, were tortured: they themselves denounced each other; but, sentenced to death, they announced that their mutual denunciations were slander, forced by torment: John ordered them to be sent to dungeons; to others, obviously innocent, he gave estates in the regions of Moscow. Among the richest citizens, then imprisoned, the Chronicler names glorious wife Anastasia and Boyar Ivan Kozmin: at the first in 1476 the Grand Duke feasted with his court; and the second went to Lithuania with thirty servants, but, being dissatisfied with Casimir, he returned to his homeland and thought at least to die there in peace. - In 1487, 50 of the best merchant families were transferred from Novgorod to Vladimir. In 1488, the Viceroy of Novogorodsky, Yakov Zakharyevich, executed and hanged many living people who wanted to kill him, and sent to Moscow more than eight thousand Boyars, eminent citizens and merchants who received land in Vladimir, Murom, Nizhny, Pereslavl, Yuryev, Rostov, Kostroma; and to their lands, to Novgorod, they sent Muscovites, service people and guests. With this resettlement, Novgorod was forever pacified. The corpse remained: the soul disappeared: other inhabitants, other customs and mores, characteristic of the Autocracy. John in 1500, with the consent of the Metropolitans, distributed all the Novogorodsk church estates on the estate to the Children of the Boyars.

Konstantin Ryzhov - Ivan III

Brockhaus-Efron - Ivan III

S. F. Platonov - Ivan III

V. O. Klyuchevsky - Ivan III

Ivan III and the unification of Russia. Trips to Novgorod. Battle on the Shelon River 1471. Marriage of Ivan III with Sophia Paleolog. Strengthening autocracy. Campaign to Novgorod 1477-1478. Annexation of Novgorod to Moscow. The end of the Novgorod vech. Conspiracy in Novgorod 1479. Resettlement of Novgorodians. Aristotle Fioravanti. Campaign of Khan Akhmat. Standing on the Ugra 1480. Vassian of Rostov. The end of the Horde yoke. Accession of Tver to Moscow 1485. Accession of Vyatka to Moscow 1489. Union of Ivan III with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray. Wars with Lithuania. The transition of the Verkhovsky and Seversky principalities to Moscow.

Wishing to legitimize the new order of succession to the throne and take away from the hostile princes any pretext for confusion, Vasily II called Ivan the Grand Duke during his lifetime. All letters were written on behalf of the two Grand Dukes. By 1462, when Vasily died, 22-year-old Ivan was already a man who had seen a lot, with a developed character, ready to solve difficult state issues. He had a tough temper and a cold heart, he was distinguished by prudence, lust for power and the ability to steadily move towards the chosen goal.

Ivan III at the Monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod

In 1463, under pressure from Moscow, the Yaroslavl princes ceded their fiefdom. Following that, Ivan III began a decisive struggle with Novgorod. Moscow has long been hated here, but it was considered dangerous to go to war with Moscow on your own. Therefore, the Novgorodians resorted to the last resort - they invited the Lithuanian prince Mikhail Olelkovich to reign. At the same time, an agreement was also concluded with King Casimir, according to which Novgorod came under his supreme power, retreated from Moscow, and Casimir pledged to protect him from the attacks of the Grand Duke. Upon learning of this, Ivan III sent ambassadors to Novgorod with meek but firm speeches. The ambassadors reminded that Novgorod was Ivan's fatherland, and he did not demand from him more than what his ancestors demanded.

The Novgorodians expelled the Moscow ambassadors with dishonor. Thus it was necessary to start a war. On July 13, 1471, on the banks of the Shelon River, the Novgorodians were utterly defeated. Ivan III, who arrived after the battle with the main army, moved to get Novgorod with weapons. Meanwhile, there was no help from Lithuania. The people in Novgorod became agitated and sent their archbishop to ask the Grand Duke for mercy. As if condescending to the increased intercession for the guilty metropolitan, his brothers and boyars, the Grand Duke declared his mercy to the Novgorodians: "I give up my dislike, calm the sword and thunderstorm in the land of Novgorod and let go full without payback." They concluded an agreement: Novgorod renounced communication with the Lithuanian sovereign, ceded part of the Dvina land to the Grand Duke and undertook to pay a “penny” (indemnity). In all other respects, this agreement was a repetition of the one concluded under Basil II.

In 1467, the Grand Duke became a widower, and two years later he began to woo the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Princess Sophia Fominichna Paleolog. The negotiations dragged on for three years. On November 12, 1472, the bride finally arrived in Moscow. The wedding took place on the same day. The marriage of the Moscow sovereign with the Greek princess was an important event in Russian history. He opened the way for the relations of Muscovite Rus with the West. On the other hand, together with Sophia at the Moscow court, certain orders and customs of the Byzantine court were established. The ceremony became more majestic and solemn. The Grand Duke himself rose in the eyes of his contemporaries. They noticed that Ivan III, after marrying the niece of the Byzantine emperor, appeared as an autocratic sovereign on the Moscow grand-ducal table; he was the first to receive the nickname Terrible, because he was a monarch for the princes of the squad, demanding unquestioning obedience and severely punishing disobedience.

He rose to a regal inaccessible height, before which the boyar, prince and descendant of Rurik and Gediminas had to reverently bow down on a par with the last of the subjects; at the first wave of the formidable Ivan, the heads of seditious princes and boyars lay on the chopping block. It was at that time that Ivan III began to inspire fear with his very appearance. Women, contemporaries say, fainted from his angry look. The courtiers, with fear for their lives, had to amuse him in their leisure hours, and when he, sitting in armchairs, indulged in a nap, they stood motionless around, not daring to cough or make a careless movement so as not to wake him. Contemporaries and immediate descendants attributed this change to the suggestions of Sophia, and we have no right to reject their evidence. Herberstein, who was in Moscow during the reign of Sophia's son, said about her: "She was an unusually cunning woman, at her suggestion, the Grand Duke did a lot."

Sofia Paleolog. Reconstruction from the skull of S. A. Nikitin

First of all, the gathering of the Russian land continued. In 1474, Ivan III bought from the Rostov princes the remaining half of the Rostov principality that they still had. But a much more important event was the final conquest of Novgorod. In 1477, two representatives of the Novgorod veche arrived in Moscow - Nazar from Podvoi and Zakhar, a clerk. In their petition, they called Ivan III and his son sovereigns, while before all Novgorodians called them masters. The Grand Duke seized on this and on April 24 sent his ambassadors to ask: what kind of state does Veliky Novgorod want? The Novgorodians at the veche answered that they did not call the Grand Duke the sovereign and did not send ambassadors to him to talk about some new state, the whole of Novgorod, on the contrary, wants everything to remain unchanged, according to the old days. Ivan III came to the metropolitan with the news of the perjury of the Novgorodians: "I did not want a state with them, they themselves sent it, and now they are locking themselves up and accusing us of lying." He also announced to his mother, brothers, boyars, governors and, with the general blessing and advice, armed himself against the Novgorodians. Moscow detachments were dispersed throughout the Novgorod land from Zavolochye to Narova and were supposed to burn human settlements and exterminate the inhabitants. Novgorodians had neither the material means nor the moral strength to defend their freedom. They sent Vladyka with ambassadors to ask the Grand Duke for peace and truth.

The ambassadors met the Grand Duke in the Sytyn churchyard, near Ilmen. The Grand Duke did not accept them, but ordered his boyars to show them the guilt of Veliky Novgorod. In conclusion, the boyars said: "If Novgorod wants to beat with his forehead, then he knows how to beat him with his forehead." Following this, the Grand Duke crossed the Ilmen and stood three miles from Novgorod. The Novgorodians once again sent their ambassadors to Ivan, but the Moscow boyars, as before, did not allow them to reach the Grand Duke, uttering the same mysterious words: "If Novgorod wants to beat with his forehead, then he knows how to beat him with his forehead." Moscow troops captured the Novgorod monasteries, surrounded the whole city; Novgorod turned out to be closed on all sides. Again the lord went with the ambassadors. The Grand Duke did not allow them this time either, but the boyars now announced him bluntly: “There will be no veche and a bell, there will be no posadnik, the Novgorod state will be held by the Grand Duke in the same way as he holds the state in the Lower Land, and govern in Novgorod to his governors". For this, they were encouraged by the fact that the Grand Duke would not take away the land from the boyars and would not withdraw the inhabitants from the Novgorod land.

Six days passed in excitement. The Novgorod boyars, for the sake of preserving their estates, decided to sacrifice their freedom; The people were unable to defend themselves with weapons. Vladyka with ambassadors again came to the camp of the Grand Duke and announced that Novgorod agreed to all conditions. The ambassadors offered to write an agreement and approve it from both sides with a kiss of the cross. But they were told that neither the Grand Duke, nor his boyars, nor the deputies of the cross would kiss. The ambassadors were detained, the siege continued. Finally, in January 1478, when the townspeople began to suffer severely from hunger, Ivan demanded that he be given half of the sovereign and monastic volosts and all Novotorzhsky volosts, no matter whose they were. Novgorod agreed to everything. On January 15, all the townspeople were sworn in full obedience to the Grand Duke. The veche bell was removed and sent to Moscow.

Marfa Posadnitsa (Boretskaya). Destruction of the Novgorod veche. Artist K. Lebedev, 1889

In March 1478, Ivan III returned to Moscow, successfully completing the whole thing. But already in the autumn of 1479, he was given to know that many Novgorodians were sent with Kazimir, calling him to him, and the king promises to come with regiments, and communicates with Akhmat, Khan of the Golden Horde, and calls him to Moscow. Ivan's brothers were involved in the conspiracy. The situation was serious, and, contrary to his custom, Ivan III began to act quickly and decisively. He hid his real intention and started a rumor that he was going to the Germans, who were then attacking Pskov; even his son did not know the true purpose of the campaign. Meanwhile, the Novgorodians, relying on Casimir's help, drove out the grand ducal governors, resumed the veche order, elected the posadnik and the thousandth. The Grand Duke approached the city with the Italian architect and engineer Aristotle Fioravanti, who placed cannons against Novgorod: his cannons fired accurately. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke's army captured the settlements, and Novgorod found itself under siege. Riots broke out in the city. Many realized that there was no hope for protection, and hurried in advance to the camp of the Grand Duke. The leaders of the conspiracy, being unable to defend themselves, sent to Ivan to ask for a "savior", that is, letters for free passage for negotiations. “I saved you,” answered the Grand Duke, “I saved the innocent; I am your sovereign, open the gate, I will go in - I will not offend anyone.” The people opened the gates. Ivan entered the church of St. Sophia, prayed, then settled in the house of the newly elected posadnik Efrem Medvedev.

Meanwhile, informers presented Ivan with a list of the main conspirators. According to this list, he ordered to seize and torture fifty people. Under torture, they testified that Vladyka was in collusion with them, and Vladyka was seized on January 19, 1480, and taken to Moscow without a church trial, where he was imprisoned in the Miracle Monastery. The archbishop's treasury went to the sovereign. The accused said nothing else, and so another hundred people were captured. They were tortured and then they were all executed. The property of the executed was described to the sovereign. Following that, more than a thousand families of merchants and boyar children were sent and settled in Pereyaslavl, Vladimir, Yuryev, Murom, Rostov, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod. A few days later, the Moscow army drove more than seven thousand families from Novgorod to Moscow land. All immovable and movable property of the resettled became the property of the Grand Duke. Many of the exiles died on the way, as they were driven out in the winter, not allowing them to pack up; the survivors were settled in different settlements and cities: Novgorod boyar children were given estates, and Muscovites were settled in the Novgorod land instead. In the same way, instead of the merchants exiled to the Moscow land, others were sent from Moscow to Novgorod.

N. Shustov. Ivan III tramples the khan's basma

Having dealt with Novgorod, Ivan III hastened to Moscow; news came that the khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat, was moving towards him. In fact, Rus' was independent from the Horde for many years, but formally the supreme power belonged to the Horde khans. Rus' grew stronger - the Horde weakened, but continued to be a formidable force. In 1480, Khan Akhmat, having learned about the uprising of the brothers of the Grand Duke and agreeing to act in concert with Kazimir of Lithuania, marched on Moscow. Having received news of the movement of Akhmat, Ivan III sent regiments to the Oka, and he himself went to Kolomna. But the khan, seeing that strong regiments were stationed along the Oka, took a direction to the west, to the Lithuanian land, in order to penetrate into the Moscow possessions through the Ugra; then Ivan ordered his son Ivan and brother Andrei the Lesser to hurry to the Ugra; the princes carried out the order, came to the river before the Tatars, occupied fords and ferries. Ivan, a man far from being brave, was in great confusion. This is evident from his orders and behavior. He immediately sent his wife, along with the treasury, to Beloozero, giving the order to run further to the sea if the khan took Moscow. He himself was very tempted to follow, but was held back by his entourage, especially Vassian, Archbishop of Rostov. After spending some time on the Oka, Ivan III ordered to burn Kashira and went to Moscow, ostensibly for advice with the metropolitan and the boyars. He ordered Prince Daniil Kholmsky, on the first dispatch from him from Moscow, to go there together with the young Grand Duke Ivan. On September 30, when the Muscovites were moving from the settlements to the Kremlin to the siege seat, they suddenly saw the Grand Duke, who was entering the city. The people thought that it was all over, that the Tatars were following in the footsteps of Ivan; Complaints were heard in the crowds: “When you, sovereign Grand Duke, reign over us in meekness and quietness, then you rob us in vain, and now you yourself have angered the tsar, without paying him an exit, but you betray us to the tsar and the Tatars.” Ivan had to endure this insolence. He drove to the Kremlin and was met there by the formidable Vassian of Rostov. “All Christian blood will fall on you because, having betrayed Christianity, you run away, not putting up a fight with the Tatars and not fighting with them,” he said. “Why are you afraid of death? neither a man, nor a bird, nor a call; give me, an old man, an army in my hands, you will see if I bow my face before the Tatars! Ashamed, Ivan did not go to his Kremlin courtyard, but settled in Krasnoye Selo. From here he sent an order to his son to go to Moscow, but he decided the best. incur a father's wrath than ride from the shore. “I’ll die here, but I won’t go to my father,” he said to Prince Kholmsky, who persuaded him to leave the army. He guarded the movement of the Tatars, who wanted to secretly cross the Ugra and suddenly rush to Moscow: the Tatars were beaten off the coast with great damage.

Meanwhile, Ivan III, having lived for two weeks near Moscow, somewhat recovered from fear, surrendered to the persuasion of the clergy and decided to go to the army. But he did not reach the Ugra, but stopped in Kremenets on the Luzha River. Here again fear began to overcome him, and he was about to decide to end the matter amicably and sent Ivan Tovarkov to Khan with a petition and gifts, asking for a salary, so that he would retreat away. Khan answered: "Ivan is favored; let him come to beat with his forehead, as his fathers went to the Horde to our fathers." But the Grand Duke did not go.

Standing on the river Ugra 1480

Akhmat, who was not allowed to cross the Ugra by the Moscow regiments, boasted all summer: "God give you winter: when all the rivers stop, there will be many roads to Rus'." Fearing the fulfillment of this threat, Ivan, as soon as the Ugra became, on October 26, ordered his son and brother Andrei with all the regiments to retreat to Kremenets in order to fight with united forces. But even now Ivan III did not know peace - he gave the order to retreat further to Borovsk, promising to fight there. But Akhmat did not think of taking advantage of the retreat of the Russian troops. He stood on the Ugra until November 11, apparently waiting for the promised Lithuanian assistance. But then severe frosts began, so that it was impossible to endure; the Tatars were naked, barefoot, skinned, in the words of the chronicler. The Lithuanians never came, distracted by the Crimean attack, and Akhmat did not dare to pursue the Russians further north. He turned back and went back to the steppes. Contemporaries and descendants perceived standing on the Ugra as a visible end to the Horde yoke. The power of the Grand Duke increased, and at the same time the cruelty of his character increased markedly. He became intolerant and quick to punish. The further, the more consistently, bolder than before, Ivan III expanded his state and strengthened his autocracy.

In 1483, the prince of Vereya bequeathed his principality to Moscow. Then came the turn of Moscow's longtime rival, Tver. In 1484, Moscow learned that Prince Mikhail Borisovich of Tverskoy had struck up a friendship with Kazimir of Lithuania and married the latter's granddaughter. Ivan III declared war on Mikhail. Muscovites occupied the Tver volost, took and burned the city. Lithuanian assistance did not appear, and Mikhail was forced to ask for peace. Ivan gave peace. Mikhail promised not to have any relationship with Casimir and the Horde. But in the same 1485, Michael's messenger was intercepted in Lithuania. This time the reprisal was faster and harsher. On September 8, the Moscow army surrounded Tver, on the 10th the settlements were lit, and on the 11th, the Tver boyars, having abandoned their prince, came to the camp to Ivan and beat him with their foreheads, asking for service. Mikhail Borisovich fled to Lithuania at night. Tver swore allegiance to Ivan, who planted his son in it.

In 1489, Vyatka was finally annexed. The Moscow army took Khlynov almost without resistance. The leaders of the Vyatchans were beaten with a whip and executed, the rest of the inhabitants were taken out of the Vyatka land to Borovsk, Aleksin, Kremenets, and the landlords of the Moscow land were sent in their place.

Ivan III was just as lucky in the wars with Lithuania. On the southern and western borders, petty Orthodox princes with their estates passed under the authority of Moscow every now and then. The princes Odoevsky were the first to be transferred, then Vorotynsky and Belevsky. These petty princes constantly entered into quarrels with their Lithuanian neighbors - in fact, the war did not stop on the southern borders, but in Moscow and Vilna they maintained a semblance of peace for a long time. In 1492, Casimir of Lithuania died, the throne passed to his son Alexander. Ivan III, together with Mengli Giray, immediately began a war against him. Things went happily for Moscow. The governors took Meshchovsk, Serpeisk, Vyazma; Vyazemsky, Mezetsky, Novosilsky princes and other Lithuanian owners, willy-nilly, transferred to the service of the Moscow sovereign. Alexander realized that it would be difficult for him to fight at once with Moscow and with Mengli Giray; he planned to marry Ivan's daughter, Elena, and thus arrange a lasting peace between the two rival states. Negotiations proceeded sluggishly until January 1494. Finally, a peace was concluded, according to which Alexander ceded to Ivan the volosts of the princes who had passed to him. Then Ivan III agreed to marry his daughter to Alexander, but this marriage did not bring the expected results. In 1500, the strained relationship between the father-in-law and the son-in-law turned into a clear enmity over new transitions to the side of Moscow of the princes, henchmen of Lithuania. Ivan sent a charter to his son-in-law and then sent an army to Lithuania. The Crimeans, according to custom, helped the Russian rati. Many Ukrainian princes, in order to avoid ruin, hastened to be transferred under the authority of Moscow. In 1503, a truce was concluded, according to which Ivan III retained all the conquered lands. Soon after, Ivan III died. He was buried in Moscow in the Church of Michael the Archangel.

Konstantin Ryzhov. All the monarchs of the world. Russia

Grand Duke of Moscow, son of Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark and Maria Yaroslavovna, b. Jan 22 1440, was co-ruler of his father in the last years of his life, ascended the grand prince's throne until the death of Vasily, in 1462. Having become an independent ruler, he continued the policy of his predecessors, striving for the unification of Rus' under the leadership of Moscow and for this purpose destroying the specific principalities and the independence of the veche regions, as well as entering into a stubborn struggle with Lithuania because of the Russian lands that joined it. The actions of Ivan III were not distinguished by particular decisiveness and courage: cautious and prudent, who did not have personal courage, he did not like to take risks and preferred to achieve the intended goal with slow steps, taking advantage of favorable occasions and favorable circumstances. By this time, Moscow's strength had already reached a very significant development, while its rivals had noticeably weakened; this gave a wide scope to the cautious policy of Ivan III and led it to major results. Separate Russian principalities were too weak to fight the Grand Duke; there were not enough funds for this struggle and led. the principality of Lithuania, and the unification of these forces was hindered by the consciousness of their unity already established in the mass of the Russian population and the hostile attitude of the Russians towards Catholicism, which was taking root in Lithuania. Novgorodians, seeing the growth of Moscow's power and fearing for their independence, decided to seek protection from Lithuania, although in Novgorod itself a strong party was against this decision. Ivan III at first did not take any decisive action, limiting himself to exhortations. But the latter did not act: the Lithuanian party, led by the Boretsky family (see the corresponding article), finally gained the upper hand. First, one of the serving Lithuanian princes, Mikhail Olelkovich (Alexandrovich), was invited to Novgorod (1470), and then, when Mikhail, having learned about the death of his brother Semyon, the former governor of Kyiv, went to Kyiv, an agreement was concluded with the king of Poland and led. book. Lithuanian Casimir, Novgorod surrendered under his rule, with the condition that Novgorod customs and privileges be preserved. This gave the Moscow chroniclers a reason to call the Novgorodians "non-pagans and apostates of Orthodoxy." Then Ivan III set out on a campaign, gathering a large army, in which, in addition to the rati, he actually led. prince, there were auxiliary detachments of his three brothers, Tver and Pskov. Casimir did not help the Novgorodians, and their troops, on July 14, 1471, suffered a decisive defeat in the battle near the river. Sheloni from the Governor Ivan, Prince. Dan. Dm. Kholmsky; a little later, another Novgorod army was defeated on the Dvina by Prince. You. Shuisky. Novgorod asked for peace and received it, under the condition of payment led. prince 15,500 rubles, the cession of part of Zavolochye and the obligation not to enter into an alliance with Lithuania. After that, however, the gradual restriction of Novgorod liberties began. In 1475, Ivan III visited Novgorod and judged the court here in the old way, but then the complaints of the Novgorodians began to be accepted in Moscow, where they were tried, calling the accused for the Moscow bailiffs, contrary to the privileges of Novgorod. The people of Novgorod tolerated these violations of their rights without giving any pretext for their complete destruction. In 1477, however, Ivan came up with such a pretext: the Novgorod ambassadors, Nazar from Podvoi and the veche clerk Zakhar, introducing themselves to Ivan, called him not “master”, as usual, but “Sovereign”. An inquiry was immediately sent to the people of Novgorod, which state they want. In vain were the answers of the Novgorod vech that it did not give its envoys such a commission; Ivan accused the Novgorodians of denial and inflicting dishonor on him, and in October he set out on a campaign against Novgorod. Encountering no resistance and rejecting all requests for peace and pardon, he reached Novgorod itself and laid siege to it. Only here the Novgorod ambassadors found out the conditions under which he led. the prince agreed to pardon his fatherland: they consisted in the complete destruction of independence and veche government in Novgorod. Surrounded on all sides by the Grand Duke's troops, Novgorod had to agree to these conditions, as well as to the return to. to the prince of all Novotorzhsky volosts, half of the lords and half of the monasteries, having only managed to negotiate small concessions in the interests of the poor monasteries. On January 15, 1478, the Novgorodians swore an oath to Ivan on new terms, after which he entered the city and, having captured the leaders of the party hostile to him, sent them to Moscow prisons. Novgorod did not immediately come to terms with its fate: the following year, an uprising took place in it, supported by the suggestions of Casimir and Ivan's brothers - Andrei Bolshoi and Boris. Ivan III forced Novgorod to submit, executed many of the perpetrators of the uprising, imprisoned Bishop Theophilus and evicted more than 1,000 merchant families and boyar children from the city to the Moscow regions, resettling new residents from Moscow in their place. New conspiracies and unrest in Novgorod led only to new repressive measures. Ivan III applied the system of evictions to Novgorod especially widely: in 1488 alone, more than 7,000 living people were deported to Moscow. Through such measures, the freedom-loving population of Novgorod was finally broken. Following the fall of Novgorod independence, Vyatka also fell, in 1489 forced by the governors of Ivan III to complete obedience. Of the veche cities, only Pskov still retained its old structure, achieving this by complete obedience to the will of Ivan, who, however, gradually changed the Pskov order: thus, the governors elected by the veche were replaced here by exclusively appointed leaders. prince; the decrees of the veche on smerds were canceled, and the people of Pskov were forced to agree to this. One after another, the specific principalities fell before Ivan. In 1463, Yaroslavl was annexed by the local princes ceding their rights; in 1474, the princes of Rostov sold to Ivan the half of the city that still belonged to them. Then the turn came to Tver. Book. Mikhail Borisovich, fearing the growing power of Moscow, married the granddaughter of the Lithuanian prince. Casimir and concluded with him, in 1484, an alliance treaty. Ivan III started a war with Tver and fought it successfully, but at the request of Michael he gave him peace, on the condition of renouncing independent relations with Lithuania and the Tatars. Having retained its independence, Tver, like Novgorod before, was subjected to a number of oppressions; especially in border disputes, the Tverites could not get justice for the Muscovites who seized their lands, as a result of which an increasing number of boyars and boyar children moved from Tver to Moscow, led to the service. prince. Out of patience, Michael started relations with Lithuania, but they were open, and Ivan, not listening to requests and apologies, in September 1485 approached Tver with an army; most of the boyars were transferred to his side, Mikhail fled to Kazimir and Tver was attached to the led. principality of Moscow. In the same year, Ivan received Vereya according to the will of the local prince Mikhail Andreevich, whose son, Vasily, even earlier, frightened of Ivan's disgrace, fled to Lithuania (see the corresponding article).

Within the Moscow principality, appanages were also destroyed and the importance of appanage princes fell before the power of Ivan. In 1472 Ivan's brother died, prince. Dmitrovsky Yuri, or Georgy (see the corresponding article); Ivan III took all his inheritance for himself and did not give anything to the other brothers, violating the old order, according to which the escheat inheritance was to be divided between the brothers. The brothers quarreled with Ivan, but reconciled when he gave them some volosts. A new clash occurred in 1479. Having conquered Novgorod with the help of his brothers, Ivan did not give them participation in the Novgorod volost. Dissatisfied with this already, the brothers of the Grand Duke were even more offended when he ordered one of his deputies to seize the prince who had left him. Boris boyar (Prince Iv. Obolensky-Lyko). The princes of Volotsk and Uglitsky, Boris (see the corresponding article) and Andrei Bolshoi (see the corresponding article) Vasilyevich, having communicated with each other, entered into relations with the discontented Novgorodians and Lithuania and, having gathered troops, entered the Novgorod and Pskov volosts. But Ivan III managed to suppress the Novgorod uprising. Casimir did not give help to his brothers. Prince, they alone did not dare to attack Moscow and remained on the Lithuanian border until 1480, when the invasion of Khan Akhmat gave them an opportunity to reconcile with their brother profitably. Needing their help, Ivan agreed to make peace with them and gave them new volosts, and Andrei Bolshoi received Mozhaisk, which previously belonged to Yuri. In 1481 Andrei Menshoi, younger brother Ivan, died; owed him 30,000 rubles. during his lifetime, he left him his inheritance by will, in which the other brothers did not receive participation. Ten years later, Ivan III arrested Andrei the Great in Moscow, who a few months earlier had not sent his army to the Tatars on his orders, and put him in close imprisonment, in which he died, in 1494; all his inheritance was taken. prince over himself. The inheritance of Boris Vasilyevich, after his death, was inherited by his two sons, of whom one died in 1503, leaving his part to Ivan. Thus, the number of destinies created by Ivan's father was greatly reduced by the end of Ivan's reign. At the same time, a new beginning was firmly established in the relationship of specific princes to the great ones: the will of Ivan III formulated the rule that he himself followed and according to which escheatable destinies were to be transferred to led. prince. This rule eliminated the possibility of concentrating inheritances in someone else's hands past the led. prince and, consequently, the significance of specific princes was undermined to the root.

The expansion of Moscow's possessions at the expense of Lithuania was facilitated by the internal unrest that took place in Great Britain. principality of Lithuania. Already in the first decades of the reign of Ivan III, many service princes of Lithuania passed to him, retaining their estates. The most prominent of them were the princes Iv. Mich. Vorotynsky and Iv. You. Belsky. After the death of Casimir, when Poland elected Jan-Albrecht as king, and Alexander took the throne of Lithuania, Ivan III began an open war with the latter. Made by Lithuanian led. prince, an attempt to stop the struggle by a family alliance with the Muscovite dynasty did not lead to the expected result: Ivan III agreed to the marriage of his daughter Elena with Alexander no earlier than by making peace, according to which Alexander recognized him as the title of sovereign of all Rus' and all acquired by Moscow in land war time. Later, the most kindred union became for John only an extra pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of Lithuania and demanding an end to the oppression of the Orthodox (see the corresponding article). Ivan III himself, through the mouths of ambassadors sent to the Crimea, explained his policy towards Lithuania in the following way: “There is no lasting peace with our Grand Duke with Lithuanian; him of his fatherland, of all the Russian land." These mutual claims already in 1499 caused a new war between Alexander and Ivan, successful for the latter; by the way, on July 14, 1500, Russian troops won a big victory over the Lithuanians near the river. Buckets, at which the hetman of the Lithuanian prince was taken prisoner. Konstantin Ostrozhsky. The peace concluded in 1503 secured for Moscow its new acquisitions, including Chernigov, Starodub, Novgorod-Seversk, Putivl, Rylsk and 14 other cities.

Under Ivan, Muscovite Rus', strengthened and united, finally threw off the Tatar yoke. Back in 1472, Khan of the Golden Horde Akhmat undertook, at the suggestion of the Polish king Casimir, a campaign against Moscow, but he took only Aleksin and could not cross the Oka, behind which Ivan's strong army had gathered. In 1476, Ivan, as they say - as a result of the admonitions of his second wife, led. Princess Sophia, refused to pay further tribute to Akhmat, and in 1480 the latter again attacked Rus', but at the river. The Ugry was stopped by the army led. prince. Ivan himself, however, even now hesitated for a long time, and only the insistent demands of the clergy, especially the Rostov Bishop Vassian (see the corresponding article), prompted him to personally go to the army and then interrupt the negotiations that had already begun with Akhmat. All autumn, Russian and Tatar troops stood one against the other on different sides of the river. eels; finally, when it was already winter and severe frosts began to disturb the poorly dressed Tatars of Akhmat, he, without waiting for help from Casimir, retreated, on November 11; the following year, he was killed by the Nogai prince Ivak, and the power of the Golden Horde over Russia collapsed completely.

Memorial in honor of standing / piya on the river Ugra. Kaluga region

Following that, Ivan undertook us, that is, letters for free passage for negotiations. stupid actions in relation to another Tatar kingdom - Kazan. In the first years of the reign of Ivan III, his hostile attitude towards Kazan was expressed in a number of raids carried out on both sides, but did not lead to anything decisive and was interrupted at times by peace treaties. The troubles that began in Kazan, after the death of Khan Ibrahim, between his sons, Ali Khan and Mohammed Amin, gave Ivan the opportunity to subordinate Kazan to his influence. In 1487, Muhammad-Amin, expelled by his brother, came to Ivan, asking for help, and after that he led the army. the prince besieged Kazan and forced Ali Khan to surrender; in his place was planted Mohammed-Amin, who actually became a vassal to Ivan. In 1496, Muhammad-Amin was overthrown by the Kazanians, who called the Nogai prince. Mamuka; not getting along with him, the Kazanians again turned to Ivan for the tsar, asking only not to send Mohammed-Amin to them, and Ivan III sent the Crimean prince Abdyl-Letif, who had come to his service shortly before, to them. The latter, however, already in 1502 was deposed by Ivan III and imprisoned at Belo-ozero for disobedience, and Kazan received again Mohammed-Amin, who in 1505 seceded from Moscow and started a war with her, attacking Nizhny Novgorod. Death did not allow Ivan to restore the lost power over Kazan. With two other Muslim powers - the Crimea and Turkey - Ivan III maintained peaceful relations. The Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, himself threatened by the Golden Horde, was a loyal ally of Ivan III both against it and against Lithuania; with Turkey, not only was trade profitable for the Russians on the Kafa market, but from 1492 diplomatic relations were also established, through Mengli Giray.

A. Vasnetsov. Moscow Kremlin under Ivan III

The nature of the power of the Moscow sovereign under Ivan underwent significant changes, which depended not only on its actual strengthening, with the fall of appanages, but also on the appearance of new concepts on the ground prepared by such strengthening. With the fall of Constantinople, Russian scribes began to transfer to the Moscow Prince. then the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe king - the head of Orthodoxy. Christianity, which was previously associated with the name of the Byzantine emperor. This transfer was also facilitated by the family environment of Ivan III. By his first marriage, he was married to Maria Borisovna of Tverskaya, from whom he had a son, John, nicknamed Young (see the corresponding article); this son Ivan III called led. prince, seeking to consolidate the throne for him. Marya Borisovna d. in 1467, and in 1469, Pope Paul II offered Ivan the hand of Zoe, or, as she became known in Russia, Sophia Fominishna Paleolog, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. The ambassador led book. - Ivan Fryazin, as the Russian chronicles call him, or Jean-Battista della Volpe, as his name was in reality (see the corresponding article), - finally arranged this matter, and on November 12, 1472, Sophia entered Moscow and married Ivan. Along with this marriage, the customs of the Moscow court also changed dramatically: the Byzantine princess informed her husband of higher ideas about his power, outwardly expressed in an increase in splendor, in the adoption of the Byzantine coat of arms, in the introduction of complex court ceremonies, and distant led. book. from the boyars.

Moscow coat of arms at the end of the 15th century

The latter were hostile, therefore, to Sophia, and after the birth of her son Vasily in 1479 and the death of Ivan the Young in 1490, the cat. there was a son Dimitri (see the corresponding article), two parties clearly formed at the court of Ivan III, of which one, consisting of the most noble boyars, including the Patrikeyevs and Ryapolovskys, defended the rights to the throne of Dimitri, and the other - mostly ignoble children boyars and clerks - stood for Vasily. This family strife, on the basis of which hostile political parties clashed, was also intertwined with the question of church politics - about measures against the Judaizers (see the corresponding article); Demetrius' mother, Elena, tended to heresy and refrained Ivan III from taking harsh measures against her, while Sophia, on the contrary, stood for the persecution of heretics. At first, the victory seemed to be on the side of Demetrius and the boyars. In December 1497, a conspiracy by Basil's followers on the life of Demetrius was discovered; Ivan III arrested his son, executed the conspirators and began to beware of his wife, who was caught in relations with the fortune tellers. 4 Feb. 1498 Demetrius was crowned king. But already in the following year, disgrace befell his supporters: Sem. Ryapolovsky was executed, Iv. Patrikeyev and his son were tonsured monks; soon Ivan, not yet taking away his grandson's lead. reign, announced the son led. prince of Novgorod and Pskov; finally, 11 Apr. 1502 Ivan clearly put Elena and Dimitri in disgrace, putting them in custody, and on April 14 he blessed Vasily with a great reign. Under Ivan, deacon Gusev compiled the first Sudebnik (see). Ivan III tried to raise Russian industry and the arts, and for this purpose he called in masters from abroad, of whom the most famous was Aristotle Fioravanti, the builder of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral. Ivan III mind. in 1505

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Built under Ivan III

The opinions of our historians about the personality of Ivan III differ greatly: Karamzin called him great and even opposed him to Peter I, as an example of a cautious reformer; Solovyov saw in him mainly "the happy descendant of a number of intelligent, industrious, thrifty ancestors"; Bestuzhev-Ryumin, combining both of these views, was more inclined towards Karamzin; Kostomarov drew attention to the complete absence of moral greatness in the figure of Ivan.

The main sources for the time of Ivan III: "Full collection. Ross. Letop." (II-VIII); Nikonovskaya, Lvovskaya, Arkhangelsk annals and the continuation of Nestorovskaya; "Coll. G. Gr. and Dog."; "Acts Arch. Exp." (vol. I); "Acts ist." (vol. I); "Additional to historical acts" (vol. I); "Acts of Western Russia" (vol. I); "Memorial. diplomatic relations" (vol. I). Literature: Karamzin (vol. VI); Solovyov (vol. V); Artsybashev, "The Narrative of Russia" (vol. II); Bestuzhev-Ryumin (vol. II); Kostomarov, "Russian history in biographies" (vol. I); R. Pierliug, "La Russie et l" Orient. Mariage d "un Tsar au Vatican. Ivan III et Sophie Paléologue" (there is a Russian translation, St. Petersburg, 1892), and his own, "Papes et Tsars".

V. Mn.

Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron

Importance of Ivan III

The successor of Vasily the Dark was his eldest son Ivan Vasilyevich. Historians look at it differently. Solovyov says that only the happy position of Ivan III, after a number of clever predecessors, gave him the opportunity to boldly conduct extensive enterprises. Kostomarov judges Ivan even more severely - he denies in him any political abilities in Ivan, denies in him human dignity. Karamzin, on the other hand, evaluates the activities of Ivan III in a completely different way: not sympathizing with the violent nature of Peter's transformations, he puts Ivan III above even Peter the Great. Bestuzhev-Ryumin treats Ivan III much more fairly and calmly. He says that although much was done by Ivan's predecessors and that therefore it was easier for Ivan to work, nevertheless he is great because he was able to complete old tasks and set new ones.

The blind father made Ivan his escort and, during his lifetime, gave him the title of Grand Duke. Growing up in a difficult time of civil strife and unrest, Ivan early acquired worldly experience and a habit of business. Gifted with a great mind and strong will, he brilliantly conducted his affairs and, one might say, completed the collection of Great Russian lands under the rule of Moscow, forming a single Great Russian state from his possessions. When he began to reign, his principality was surrounded almost everywhere by Russian possessions: the lord of Veliky Novgorod, the princes of Tver, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Ryazan. Ivan Vasilyevich subjugated all these lands either by force or by peace agreements. At the end of his reign, he had only heterodox and foreign neighbors: Swedes, Germans, Lithuanians, Tatars. This circumstance alone was to change his policy. Earlier, surrounded by the same as himself, the rulers, Ivan was one of the many specific princes, albeit the most powerful; now, having destroyed these princes, he has become a single sovereign of an entire nation. At the beginning of his reign, he dreamed of inventions, as his specific ancestors dreamed of them; in the end, he had to think about protecting the whole people from his infidel and foreign enemies. In short, at first his policy was specific, and then this politics became national.

Having acquired such significance, Ivan III could not, of course, share his power with other princes of the Moscow house. Destroying other people's destinies (in Tver, Yaroslavl, Rostov), ​​he could not leave specific orders in his own family. To study these orders, we have a large number of spiritual testaments of the Moscow princes of the XIV and XV centuries. and from them we see that there were no permanent rules that would establish a uniform order of ownership and inheritance; all this was determined each time by the will of the prince, who could transfer his possessions to whomever he wanted. So, for example, Prince Semyon, the son of Ivan Kalita, dying childless, bequeathed his personal inheritance to his wife, in addition to his brothers. The princes looked at their land holdings as articles of their economy, and they divided movable property, private land holdings, and state territory in exactly the same way. The latter was usually divided into counties and volosts according to their economic significance or historical origin. Each heir received his share in these lands, just as he received his share in each article of movable property. The very form of the spiritual letters of the princes was the same as the form of the spiritual testaments of persons; in the same way, letters were made in the presence of witnesses and with the blessing of the spiritual fathers. According to wills, one can well trace the relationship of princes to each other. Each specific prince owned his own inheritance independently; the younger specific princes had to obey the elder, like a father, and the elder had to take care of the younger ones; but these were moral rather than political duties. The significance of the elder brother was determined by purely material quantitative predominance, and not by an excess of rights and power. So, for example, Dmitry Donskoy gave the eldest of five sons a third of all property, and Vasily the Dark - half. Ivan III no longer wanted to be content with an excess of material resources alone and desired complete dominance over his brothers. At the first opportunity, he took the inheritance from his brothers and limited their old rights. He demanded from them obedience to himself, as to the sovereign from his subjects. Drawing up his will, he severely deprived his younger sons in favor of their elder brother, Grand Duke Vasily, and, in addition, deprived them of all sovereign rights, subordinating them to the Grand Duke as simple service princes. In a word, everywhere and in everything, Ivan looked at the Grand Duke as an autocratic and autocratic monarch, to whom both his service princes and simple servants were equally subordinate. The new idea of ​​a people's sovereign sovereign led to changes in palace life, to the establishment of court etiquette ("rank"), to greater splendor and solemnity of customs, to the assimilation of various emblems and signs that expressed the concept of the high dignity of grand ducal power. So, together with the unification of northern Rus', a transformation took place Moscow appanage prince to the sovereign-autocrat of all Rus'.

Finally, having become a national sovereign, Ivan III learned to himself a new direction in the foreign relations of Rus'. He threw off the last remnants of dependence on the Golden Horde Khan. He began offensive operations against Lithuania, from which Moscow until then had only defended itself. He even made claims to all those Russian regions that the Lithuanian princes had owned since the time of Gediminas: calling himself the sovereign of "all Rus'", by these words he meant not only northern, but also southern, and western Rus'. Ivan III also pursued a firm offensive policy with respect to the Livonian Order. He skillfully and decisively used the forces and means that his ancestors had accumulated and which he himself created in the united state. This is the important historical significance of the reign of Ivan III. The unification of northern Rus' around Moscow began a long time ago: under Dmitry Donskoy, its first signs were discovered; it happened under Ivan III. With full right, therefore, Ivan III can be called the creator of the Muscovite state.

Conquest of Novgorod.

We know that during the last period of independent Novgorod life in Novgorod there was a constant enmity between the better and the lesser people. Often turning into open strife, this enmity weakened Novgorod and made it easy prey for strong neighbors - Moscow and Lithuania. All the great Moscow princes tried to take Novgorod under their own hand and keep their service princes there as Moscow governors. More than once, for the disobedience of the Novgorodians to the Grand Dukes, the Muscovites went to war against Novgorod, took a payback (indemnity) from it and obliged the Novgorodians to obedience. After defeating Shemyaka, who hid in Novgorod, Vasily the Dark defeated the Novgorodians, took 10,000 rubles from them and forced them to swear that Novgorod would obey him and would not accept any of the princes hostile to him. Moscow's claims to Novgorod forced the Novgorodians to seek alliance and protection from the Lithuanian grand dukes; and those, for their part, tried at every opportunity to subjugate the Novgorodians and took from them the same payoffs as Moscow, but in general did not help well against Moscow. Placed between two terrible enemies, the Novgorodians came to the conclusion that they themselves could not protect and maintain their independence and that only a permanent alliance with one of their neighbors could prolong the existence of the Novgorod state. Two parties were formed in Novgorod: one for an agreement with Moscow, the other for an agreement with Lithuania. For Moscow, the common people stood for the most part, for Lithuania - the boyars. Ordinary Novgorodians saw the Moscow prince as an Orthodox and Russian sovereign, and the Lithuanian prince as a Catholic and a stranger. To be transferred from subordination to Moscow to subordination to Lithuania would mean for them to change their faith and nationality. The Novgorod boyars, headed by the Boretsky family, expected from Moscow the complete destruction of the old Novgorod system and dreamed of keeping it in alliance with Lithuania. After the defeat of Novgorod under Vasily the Dark, the Lithuanian party in Novgorod gained the upper hand and began to prepare for liberation from the Moscow dependence established under the Dark, by passing under the patronage of the Lithuanian prince. In 1471, Novgorod, led by the Boretsky party, concluded an alliance treaty with the Lithuanian Grand Duke and King of Poland, Kazimir Yagailovich (otherwise: Jagiellonchik), according to which the king undertook to defend Novgorod from Moscow, give the Novgorodians his governor and observe all the liberties of Novgorod and the old days.

When Moscow learned about the transition of Novgorod to Lithuania, they looked at it as a betrayal not only of the Grand Duke, but also of the faith and the Russian people. In this sense, Grand Duke Ivan wrote to Novgorod, urging the people of Novgorod to lag behind Lithuania and the Catholic king. The Grand Duke gathered a large council of his military leaders and officials, together with the clergy, announced at the council all the Novgorod lies and treason, and asked the council for opinions on whether to immediately start a war with Novgorod or wait for winter when the Novgorod rivers, lakes and swamps freeze . It was decided to fight immediately. The campaign against the Novgorodians was given the appearance of a campaign for the faith against apostates: just as Dmitry Donskoy armed himself against the godless Mamai, so, according to the chronicler, the faithful Grand Duke John went against these apostates from Orthodoxy to Latinism. The Moscow army entered Novgorod land by different roads. Under the command of Prince Daniel Kholmsky, she soon defeated the Novgorodians: first, one Moscow detachment on the southern banks of the Ilmen defeated the Novgorod army, and then in a new battle on the river. Shelon, the main forces of the Novgorodians suffered a terrible defeat. Posadnik Boretsky was captured and executed. The road to Novgorod was open, but Lithuania did not help Novgorod. Novgorodians had to humble themselves before Ivan and ask for mercy. They renounced all relations with Lithuania and pledged to be persistent with Moscow; in addition, they paid the Grand Duke a huge payback of 15.5 thousand rubles. Ivan returned to Moscow, and internal unrest resumed in Novgorod. Offended by their rapists, the Novgorodians complained to the Grand Duke about the offenders, and Ivan personally went to Novgorod in 1475 for trial and justice. The justice of the Moscow prince, who did not spare strong boyars at his trial, led to the fact that the Novgorodians, who suffered insults at home, began to travel from year to year to Moscow to ask Ivan for court. During one of these visits, two Novgorod officials titled the Grand Duke "sovereign", while earlier the Novgorodians called the Moscow prince "master". The difference was great: the word "sovereign" at that time meant the same thing as the word "master" now means; Sovereign then called their master slaves and servants. For the free Novgorodians, the prince was not a "sovereign", and they called him the honorary title "master", just as they called their free city "master Veliky Novgorod". Naturally, Ivan could seize on this occasion in order to put an end to Novgorod liberty. His ambassadors asked in Novgorod: on what basis did the Novgorodians call him a sovereign and what kind of state do they want? When the Novgorodians renounced the new title and said that no one was authorized to call Ivan the sovereign, Ivan went on a campaign against Novgorod for their lies and denial. Novgorod did not have the strength to fight Moscow, Ivan laid siege to the city and began negotiations with the Novgorod lord Theophilus and the boyars. He demanded unconditional obedience and announced that he wanted the same state in Novgorod as in Moscow: I will never be, there will not be a posadnik, but be a Moscow custom, just as sovereigns, grand dukes keep their state in their Moscow land. Novgorodians thought for a long time and finally reconciled: in January 1478 they agreed to the demand of the Grand Duke and kissed his cross. The Novgorod state ceased to exist; the veche bell was taken to Moscow. The family of the boyars Boretsky was also sent there, headed by the widow of the mayor Martha (she was considered the leader of the anti-Moscow party in Novgorod). Following Veliky Novgorod, all Novgorod lands were subordinated to Moscow. Of these, Vyatka offered some resistance. In 1489, Moscow troops (under the command of Prince Daniel Shchenyaty) conquered Vyatka by force.

In the first year after the subjugation of Novgorod, Grand Duke Ivan did not impose his disgrace on the Novgorodians "and did not take drastic measures against them. When in Novgorod they tried to rise up and return to the old days - just a year after surrendering to the Grand Duke - then Ivan began with the Novgorodians The lord of Novgorod Theophilus was taken and sent to Moscow, and in return Archbishop Sergius was sent to Novgorod. and their lands were taken over by the sovereign and distributed to the Moscow service people, whom the Grand Duke settled in large numbers in Novgorod pyatiny.Thus, the Novgorod nobility completely disappeared, and with it the memory of Novgorod liberty disappeared. from the boyar oppression, of which peasant tax communities were formed on the Moscow model.In general, their situation improved b, and they had no motivation to regret the Novgorod antiquity. With the destruction of the Novgorod nobility, Novgorod trade with the West also fell, especially since Ivan III evicted German merchants from Novgorod. So the independence of Veliky Novgorod was destroyed. Pskov has so far retained its self-government, in no way departing from the will of the Grand Duke.

Subordination of appanage principalities by Ivan III

Under Ivan III, the subjugation and annexation of specific lands continued actively. Those of the petty princes of Yaroslavl and Rostov who, before Ivan III, still retained their independence, under Ivan all transferred their lands to Moscow and beat the Grand Duke with their foreheads so that he would accept them into his service. Becoming Moscow servants and turning into boyars of the Moscow prince, these princes retained their ancestral lands, but not as destinies, but as simple estates. They were their private property, and the Grand Duke of Moscow was already revered as the "sovereign" of their lands. Thus, all small destinies were collected by Moscow; only Tver and Ryazan remained. These "great principalities", once at war with Moscow, were now weak and retained only a shadow of their independence. The last Ryazan princes, two brothers - Ivan and Fedor, were the nephews of Ivan III (the sons of his sister Anna). Both their mother and they themselves did not leave Ivan's will, and the Grand Duke, one might say, himself ruled Ryazan for them. One of the brothers (Prince Fedor) died childless and bequeathed his inheritance to his uncle the Grand Duke, thus giving half of Ryazan to Moscow voluntarily. Another brother (Ivan) also died young, leaving a baby son named Ivan, for whom his grandmother and her brother Ivan III ruled. Ryazan was in the complete power of Moscow. Obedient to Ivan III and Prince of Tver Mikhail Borisovich. The Tver nobility even went with the Muscovites to conquer Novgorod. But later, in 1484-1485, relations deteriorated. The prince of Tver made friends with Lithuania, thinking of getting help from the Grand Duke of Lithuania against Moscow. Ivan III, having learned about this, started a war with Tver and, of course, won. Mikhail Borisovich fled to Lithuania, and Tver was annexed to Moscow (1485). So the final unification of northern Rus' took place.

Moreover, the unifying national policy of Moscow attracted to the Moscow sovereign such service princes who did not belong to northern Rus', but to the Lithuanian-Russian principality. The princes of Vyazemsky, Odoevsky, Novosilsky, Vorotynsky and many others, who were sitting on the eastern outskirts of the Lithuanian state, abandoned their Grand Duke and transferred to the service of Moscow, subordinating their lands to the Moscow prince. It was the transition of the old Russian princes from the Catholic sovereign of Lithuania to the Orthodox prince of northern Rus' that gave the Moscow princes a reason to consider themselves sovereigns of the entire Russian land, even the one that was under Lithuanian rule and although not yet united with Moscow, but should, in their opinion, , to unite in the unity of faith, nationality and the old dynasty of St. Vladimir.

Family and court affairs of Ivan III

The unusually rapid success of the Grand Duke Ivan III in collecting Russian lands was accompanied by significant changes in Moscow court life. The first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver, died early, in 1467, when Ivan was not even 30 years old. After her, Ivan left a son - Prince Ivan Ivanovich "Young", as he was usually called. At that time, relations between Moscow and Western countries were already being established. For various reasons, the pope was interested in establishing relations with Moscow and subordinating it to his influence. It was from the pope that the suggestion was made to arrange the marriage of the young Moscow prince with the niece of the last Constantino-Polish emperor, Zoya-Sophia Paleolog. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), the brother of the murdered Emperor Constantine Palaiologos, named Thomas, fled with his family to Italy and died there, leaving the children in the care of the pope. The children were brought up in the spirit of the Union of Florence, and the pope had reason to hope that by marrying Sophia to the Moscow prince, he would be able to introduce the union into Moscow. Ivan III agreed to start courtship and sent ambassadors to Italy for the bride. In 1472 she came to Moscow and the marriage took place. However, the pope's hopes were not destined to come true: the papal legate who accompanied Sophia had no success in Moscow; Sophia herself did nothing to contribute to the triumph of the union, and thus the marriage of the Moscow prince did not entail any visible consequences for Europe and Catholicism [* The role of Sophia Palaiologos was thoroughly studied by prof. V. I. Savvoy ("Moscow Tsars and Byzantine Basils", 1901).].

But it had some consequences for the Moscow court. Firstly, he contributed to the revival and strengthening of Moscow's relations with the West, which began in that era, with Italy in particular. Together with Sophia, Greeks and Italians arrived in Moscow; they came later. The Grand Duke kept them as "masters", entrusting them with the construction of fortresses, churches and chambers, the casting of cannons, and the minting of coins. Sometimes diplomatic affairs were entrusted to these masters, and they traveled to Italy with instructions from the Grand Duke. Traveling Italians in Moscow were called by the common name "fryazin" (from "friag", "franc"); Ivan Fryazin, Mark Fryazin, Antony Fryazin, etc. acted in this way in Moscow. Of the Italian masters, Aristotle Fioaventi, who built the famous Assumption Cathedral and the Palace of Facets in the Moscow Kremlin, was especially famous. In general, under Ivan III, the Kremlin was built and decorated anew by the labors of the Italians. Next to the "Fryazh" masters, Ivan III also worked with German ones, although in his time they did not play the first role; only "German" doctors were issued. In addition to the masters, foreign guests appeared in Moscow (for example, the Greek relatives of Sophia) and ambassadors from Western European sovereigns. (By the way, the embassy from the Roman emperor offered Ivan III the title of king, which Ivan refused). For the reception of guests and ambassadors at the Moscow court, a certain "rite" (ceremonial) was developed, completely different from the rank that was observed before at the receptions of the Tatar embassies. And in general, the order of court life under the new circumstances has changed, it has become more complicated and ceremonial.

Secondly, Moscow people attributed to the appearance of Sophia in Moscow great changes in the character of Ivan III and confusion in the princely family. They said that, as Sophia came with the Greeks, the earth became confused, and great disturbances came. The Grand Duke changed his treatment of those around him: he began to behave not as simply and accessible as before, demanded signs of attention to himself, became exacting and easily scorched (imposed disfavor) on the boyars. He began to discover a new, unusually lofty idea of ​​his power. Having married a Greek princess, he seemed to consider himself the successor of the disappeared Greek emperors and hinted at this succession by adopting the Byzantine coat of arms - the double-headed eagle. In a word, after his marriage to Sophia, Ivan III showed great lust for power, which the Grand Duchess herself later experienced. At the end of his life, Ivan completely quarreled with Sophia and alienated her from himself. Their quarrel took place over the issue of succession to the throne. The son of Ivan III from his first marriage, Ivan Molodoy, died in 1490, leaving the Grand Duke a small grandson Dmitry. But the Grand Duke had another son from his marriage to Sophia - Vasily. Who was to inherit the throne of Moscow: grandson Dmitry or son Vasily? First, Ivan III decided the case in favor of Dmitry and at the same time imposed his disgrace on Sophia and Vasily. During his lifetime, he crowned Dmitry to the kingdom (namely, to the kingdom, and not to the great reign). But a year later, relations changed: Dmitry was removed, and Sophia and Vasily again entered mercy. Vasily received the title of Grand Duke and became co-ruler with his father. During these changes, the courtiers of Ivan III endured: with disgrace to Sophia, her entourage fell into disfavor, and several people were even executed by death; with disgrace against Dmitry, the Grand Duke also raised a persecution of some boyars and executed one of them.

Remembering everything that happened at the court of Ivan III after his marriage to Sophia, the people of Moscow condemned Sophia and considered her influence on her husband more harmful than useful. They attributed to her the fall of old customs and various novelties in Moscow life, as well as the damage to the character of her husband and son, who became powerful and formidable monarchs. However, one should not exaggerate the significance of Sophia's personality: if she had not been at the Moscow court at all, the Moscow Grand Duke would still have realized his strength and sovereignty, and relations with the West would still have begun. The whole course of Muscovite history led to this, by virtue of which the Grand Duke of Moscow became the sole sovereign of the mighty Great Russian people and a neighbor of several European states.

Foreign policy of Ivan III.

During the time of Ivan III, there were already three independent Tatar hordes within present-day Russia. The Golden Horde, exhausted by strife, lived out its days. Next to her in the XV century. the Crimean Horde was formed in the Black Sea region, in which the dynasty of the Gireys (descendants of Azi-Girey) was established. In Kazan, the Golden Horde natives founded, also in the middle of the 15th century, a special horde, uniting Finnish foreigners under the Tatar rule: Mordovians, Cheremis, Votyaks. Taking advantage of disagreements and constant internecine strife among the Tatars, Ivan III gradually succeeded in subordinating Kazan to his influence and making the Kazan khan or "tsar" his assistant (at that time Muscovites called khans tsars). Ivan III formed a strong friendship with the Crimean Tsar, since both of them had a common enemy - the Golden Horde, against which they acted together. As for the Golden Horde, Ivan III stopped all relations dependent on it: he did not give tribute, did not go to the Horde, did not show respect to the khan. It was said that once Ivan III even threw to the ground and trampled the Khan's "basma" with his foot, i.e. that sign (in all likelihood, a golden plate, a "token" with an inscription), which the khan handed over to his ambassadors to Ivan, as proof of their authority and power. The weak Golden Horde Khan Akhmat tried to act against Moscow in alliance with Lithuania; but since Lithuania did not give him reliable assistance, he limited himself to raids on the Moscow borders. In 1472, he came to the banks of the Oka and, having plundered, went back, not daring to go to Moscow itself. In 1480 he repeated his raid. Leaving the headwaters of the Oka to his right, Akhmat came to the river. Ugra, in the border areas between Moscow and Lithuania. But even here he did not receive any help from Lithuania, and Moscow met him with a strong army. On the Ugra, Akhmat and Ivan III began to face each other - both in indecision to start a direct battle. Ivan III ordered to prepare the capital for a siege, sent his wife Sophia from Moscow to the north and himself came from the Ugra to Moscow, fearing both the Tatars and his own brothers (this is perfectly shown in the article by A. E. Presnyakov "Ivan III on the Ugra" ). They were at odds with him and inspired him with suspicion that they would betray him at the decisive moment. The prudence of Ivan and his slowness seemed cowardly to the people, and ordinary people, preparing for a siege in Moscow, openly resented Ivan. The spiritual father of the Grand Duke, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, exhorted Ivan not to be a "runner", but to stand bravely against the enemy, both in word and in a written "message". However, Ivan did not dare to attack the Tatars. In turn, Akhmat, standing on the Ugra from summer to November, waited for snow and frost and had to go home. He himself was soon killed in strife, and his sons died in the fight against the Crimean Horde, and the Golden Horde itself finally disintegrated (1502). Thus ended the "Tatar yoke" for Moscow, which gradually subsided and in its last days was nominal. But the troubles from the Tatars did not end for Rus'. Both Crimeans and Kazanians, and Nagai, and all the small nomadic Tatar hordes close to the Russian borders and "ukrainians" constantly attacked these ukrainians, burned, ravaged dwellings and property, took away people and cattle with them. With this constant Tatar robbery, the Russian people had to fight for about three more centuries.

The relations of Ivan III to Lithuania under Grand Duke Kazimir Yagailovich were not peaceful. Not wanting to strengthen Moscow, Lithuania sought to support Veliky Novgorod and Tver against Moscow, raised the Tatars against Ivan III. But Casimir did not have enough strength to wage an open war with Moscow. After Vytautas, internal complications in Lithuania weakened her. The strengthening of Polish influence and Catholic propaganda created many discontented princes in Lithuania; they, as we know, went into Moscow citizenship with their estates. This further diminished the Lithuanian forces and made it very risky for Lithuania (vol. I); nym open clash with Moscow. However, it became inevitable after the death of Casimir (1492), when Lithuania elected a Grand Duke separately from Poland. While the son of Casimir, Jan Albrecht, became the king of Poland, his brother Alexander Kazimirovich reigned in Lithuania. Taking advantage of this division, Ivan III started a war against Alexander and ensured that Lithuania formally ceded to him the lands of the princes who had transferred to Moscow (Vyazemsky, Novosilsky, Odoevsky, Vorotynsky, Belevsky), and in addition, recognized him as the title of "sovereign of all Rus'" . The conclusion of peace was secured by the fact that Ivan III gave his daughter Elena in marriage to Alexander Kazimirovich. Alexander himself was a Catholic, but he promised not to force his Orthodox wife to become Catholic. However, it was difficult for him to keep this promise because of the suggestions of his Catholic advisers. The fate of the Grand Duchess Elena Ivanovna was very sad, and her father demanded in vain that Alexander treat her better. On the other hand, Alexander was offended by the Moscow Grand Duke. Orthodox princes from Lithuania continued to ask for Ivan III to serve, explaining their unwillingness to remain under the rule of Lithuania by the persecution of their faith. So, Ivan III received the prince of Belsky and the princes of Novgorod-Seversky and Chernigov with huge estates along the Dnieper and Desna. War between Moscow and Lithuania became inevitable. It went from 1500 to 1503, and the Livonian Order took the side of Lithuania, and the Crimean Khan took the side of Moscow. The case ended with a truce, according to which Ivan III retained all the principalities he had acquired. It was obvious that Moscow at that moment was stronger than Lithuania, just as it was stronger than the Order. The Order, despite some military successes, also concluded a not particularly honorable truce with Moscow. Before Ivan III, under pressure from the west, the Moscow principality yielded and lost; now the Moscow Grand Duke himself begins to attack his neighbors and, increasing his possessions from the west, openly claims to annex to Moscow all Russian lands in general.

Fighting with his Western neighbors, Ivan III sought friendship and alliances in Europe. Under him, Moscow entered into diplomatic relations with Denmark, with the emperor, with Hungary, with Venice, with Turkey. The strengthened Russian state gradually entered the circle of European international relations and began its communication with the cultural countries of the West.

S. F. Platonov. Full course of lectures on Russian history

Unification of Russia under Ivan III and Vasily III

These are the new phenomena that are noticed in the territorial gathering of Rus' by Moscow from the middle of the 15th century. The local societies themselves are beginning to openly turn to Moscow, dragging their governments with them or being carried away by them. Thanks to this gravitation, the Moscow gathering of Rus' acquired a different character and an accelerated course. Now it has ceased to be a matter of conquest or private agreement, but has become a national-religious movement. A short list of the territorial acquisitions made by Moscow under Ivan III and his son Vasily III is enough to see how this political unification of Rus' accelerated.

From the middle of the 15th century and free cities with their regions, and principalities quickly become part of the Moscow territory. In 1463, all the princes of Yaroslavl, the great prince with appanage, beat Ivan III with a brow about accepting them into the Moscow service and renounced their independence. In the 1470s, Novgorod the Great with its vast area in Northern Rus' was conquered. In 1472, the Perm land was brought under the hand of the Moscow sovereign, in part of which (along the Vychegda River) the beginning of Russian colonization was laid back in the 14th century, during the time of St. Stephen of Perm. In 1474, the princes of Rostov sold to Moscow the half of the Rostov principality that remained behind them; the other half had been acquired by Moscow even earlier. This deal was accompanied by the entry of the princes of Rostov into the Moscow boyars. In 1485, Tver, besieged by him, swore allegiance to Ivan III without a fight. In 1489, Vyatka was finally conquered. In the 1490s, the princes Vyazemsky and a number of petty princes of the Chernigov line - Odoevsky, Novosilsky, Vorotynsky, Mezetsky, as well as the now mentioned sons of Moscow fugitives, the princes of Chernigov and Seversky, all with their own possessions, which captured the eastern strip of Smolensk and most of Chernigov and Seversky lands, recognized over themselves, as already mentioned, the supreme power of the Moscow sovereign. In the reign of Ivanov's successor [Vasily III], Pskov with its region was annexed to Moscow in 1510, in 1514 - the Smolensk principality, captured by Lithuania at the beginning of the 15th century, in 1517 - the principality of Ryazan; finally, in 1517 - 1523. the principalities of Chernigov and Seversk were included in the number of direct possessions of Moscow, when the Seversky Shemyachich expelled his Chernigov neighbor and comrade in exile from his possessions, and then he himself ended up in a Moscow prison. We will not list the territorial acquisitions made by Moscow in the reign of Ivan IV outside the then Great Russia, along the Middle and Lower Volga and in the steppes along the Don and its tributaries. It is enough what was acquired by the father and grandfather of the tsar [Vasily III and Ivan III] in order to see how much the territory of the Moscow principality expanded.

Apart from the shaky, unfortified Trans-Ural possessions in Yugra and the land of the Vogulis, Moscow ruled from the Pechora and the mountains of the Northern Urals to the mouths of the Neva and Narova and from Vasilsursk on the Volga to Lyubech on the Dnieper. At the time of Ivan III's accession to the Grand Duke's table, the territory of Moscow hardly contained more than 15,000 square miles. The acquisitions of Ivan III and his son [Vasily III] increased this territory by at least 40 thousand square miles.

Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog

Ivan III was married twice. His first wife was the sister of his neighbor, the Grand Duke of Tver, Marya Borisovna. After her death (1467), Ivan III began to look for another wife, farther and more important. Then the orphan niece of the last Byzantine emperor Sophia Fominichna Paleolog lived in Rome. Despite the fact that the Greeks since the time of the Florentine union have greatly lowered themselves in Russian Orthodox eyes, despite the fact that Sophia lived so close to the hated pope, in such a suspicious church society, Ivan III, having overcome religious disgust in himself, ordered the princess from Italy and married her in 1472.

This princess, then known in Europe for her rare fullness, brought to Moscow a very subtle mind and acquired a very important significance here. Boyars of the 16th century they attributed to her all the innovations that were unpleasant to them, which since that time have appeared at the Moscow court. An attentive observer of Moscow life, Baron Herberstein, who twice came to Moscow as the ambassador of the German emperor under Ivanov's successor, after hearing a lot of boyar talk, notices about Sophia in his notes that she was an unusually cunning woman, who had a great influence on the Grand Duke, who, at her suggestion, did a lot . Even the determination of Ivan III to throw off the Tatar yoke was attributed to her influence. In boyar tales and judgments about the princess, it is not easy to separate observation from suspicion or exaggeration, guided by hostility. Sophia could only inspire what she herself valued and what was understood and appreciated in Moscow. She could bring here the traditions and customs of the Byzantine court, pride in her origin, annoyance that she was marrying a Tatar tributary. In Moscow, she hardly liked the simplicity of the situation and the arrogance of relations at court, where Ivan III himself had to listen, in the words of his grandson, "many reproachful and reproachful words" from obstinate boyars. But in Moscow, and without her, not only Ivan III had a desire to change all these old orders, which were so inconsistent with the new position of the Moscow sovereign, and Sophia, with the Greeks she brought, who had seen both Byzantine and Roman views, could give valuable instructions on how and by what means samples to introduce the desired changes. She cannot be denied influence on the decorative setting and backstage life of the Moscow court, on court intrigues and personal relationships; but she could act on political affairs only by suggestions that echoed the secret or vague thoughts of Ivan III himself. The idea that she, the princess, by her Moscow marriage makes the Moscow sovereigns the successors of the Byzantine emperors with all the interests of the Orthodox East, which held on to these emperors, could be especially intelligibly perceived. Therefore, Sophia was valued in Moscow and valued herself not so much as the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but as a Byzantine princess. In the Trinity Sergius Monastery, a silk veil is kept, sewn by the hands of this Grand Duchess, who embroidered her name on it. This veil was embroidered in 1498. At the age of 26, Sophia, it seems, was time to forget about her girlhood and her former Byzantine title; however, in the caption on the veil, she still calls herself the “Tsarina of Tsaregorodskaya”, and not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, and this was not without reason: Sophia, as a princess, enjoyed the right to receive foreign embassies in Moscow.

Thus, the marriage of Ivan III and Sophia acquired the significance of a political demonstration, which declared to the whole world that the princess, as the heiress of the fallen Byzantine house, transferred his sovereign rights to Moscow as to the new Constantinople, where she shares them with her husband.

New titles of Ivan III

Feeling himself in a new position and still close to such a noble wife, the heiress of the Byzantine emperors, Ivan III found the former Kremlin environment cramped and ugly, in which his undemanding ancestors lived. Following the princess, craftsmen were sent from Italy, who built a new Assumption Cathedral for Ivan III. A faceted chamber and a new stone palace in place of the former wooden choirs. At the same time, in the Kremlin, at the court, that complex and strict ceremonial began to start, which communicated such stiffness and stiffness of Moscow court life. In the same way as at home, in the Kremlin, among his court servants, Ivan III began to act with a more solemn step in external relations, especially since then, by itself, without a fight, with the Tatar assistance, the Horde fell from the shoulders yoke that weighed over northeastern Russia for two and a half centuries (1238 - 1480). Since that time, in Moscow government, especially diplomatic, papers, a new, more solemn language has appeared, magnificent terminology is being formed, unfamiliar to Moscow clerks of specific centuries.

By the way, for political concepts and tendencies barely perceived, they were not slow to find a suitable expression in new titles, which appear in acts with the name of the Moscow sovereign. This is a whole political program that characterizes not so much the real as the desired situation. It is based on the same two ideas, extracted by the Moscow government minds from the events that took place, and both of these ideas are political claims: this is the idea of ​​the Moscow sovereign as a national ruler all Russian land and the idea of ​​him as a political and ecclesiastical successor of the Byzantine emperors.

A lot of Rus' remained with Lithuania and Poland, and, however, in relations with Western courts, not excluding Lithuanian, Ivan III for the first time dared to show the European political world the pretentious title of sovereign all Rus', previously used only in household use, in acts of internal administration, and in the contract of 1494 even forced the Lithuanian government to formally recognize this title.

After the Tatar yoke fell from Moscow, in relations with unimportant foreign rulers, for example, with the Livonian master, Ivan III titles himself king all Rus'. This term, as you know, is an abbreviated South Slavic and Russian form of the Latin word Caesar, or according to the old spelling tssar, as from the same word in a different pronunciation, kesar came from the German Kaiser. The title of the tsar in acts of internal administration under Ivan III was sometimes, under Ivan IV, usually combined with a title similar in meaning autocrat is a Slavic translation of the Byzantine imperial title αυτοκρατωρ. Both terms in Ancient Rus' did not mean what they began to mean later, they expressed the concept not of a sovereign with unlimited internal power, but of a ruler who was not dependent on any third-party external power, who did not pay tribute to anyone. In the then political language, both of these terms were opposed to what we mean by the word vassal. Monuments of Russian writing before the Tatar yoke are sometimes called tsars, giving them this title as a sign of respect, not in the sense of a political term. Tsars for the most part Ancient Rus' until the middle of the 15th century. called the Byzantine emperors and khans of the Golden Horde, the independent rulers most known to her, and Ivan III could take this title only by ceasing to be a tributary of the khan. The overthrow of the yoke eliminated the political obstacle to this, and the marriage with Sophia provided a historical justification for this: Ivan III could now consider himself the only Orthodox and independent sovereign left in the world, as the Byzantine emperors were, and the supreme ruler of Rus', which was under the rule of the Horde khans.

Having acquired these new pompous titles, Ivan III found that now it was not more convenient for him to be called in government acts simply in Russian as Ivan, the sovereign of the Grand Duke, but began to be written in church book form: "John, by the grace of God, sovereign of all Rus'." To this title, as a historical justification, is attached a long series of geographical epithets denoting the new limits of the Muscovite state: "The Sovereign of All Rus' and the Grand Duke of Vladimir, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Perm, and Yugorsky, and Bulgarian, and others", i.e. lands. Feeling himself both in terms of political power, and in terms of Orthodox Christianity, and finally, in terms of marriage relationship, the successor of the fallen house of the Byzantine emperors, the Moscow sovereign also found a clear expression of his dynastic connection with them: from the end of the 15th century. Byzantine coat of arms appears on his seals - a double-headed eagle.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. Russian history. Full course of lectures. Excerpts from lectures 25 and 26

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Historians assess the personality and activities of Ivan III in different ways.
N.M. Karamzin puts Ivan III in a very high place. In his opinion, this is a figure not only in Russian, but also in world history. Not possessing the attractive properties of Monomakh or Dmitry Donskoy, he "stands, like a sovereign, on the highest step of greatness." His caution cannot fail to captivate us, sometimes it even seems to be timidity and indecision (behavior on the Ugra River, in view of the hordes of Khan Akhmet), but it is prompted by prudence, thanks to it, Ivan's "creation" acquired the proper strength, stability and outlived him. Ivan III left behind "a state, amazing in space, strong in peoples, even stronger in the spirit of government." He created today's Russia.
CM. Solovyov: “A happy descendant of a number of smart, hardworking, thrifty ancestors, John III ascended the throne of Moscow, when the work of collecting North-Eastern Rus' could be considered already over, the old building was completely shaken in its foundations, and a last, already light blow was needed. to crush him. Using the means received from his ancestors, his happy position in relation to neighboring states, he finishes the old and at the same time necessarily begins a new one. This new is not the result of his activity alone; but John III has an honorable place among the collectors of the Russian land, among the founders of the Muscovite state; John III is credited for the fact that he knew how to use his means and happy circumstances in which he was throughout his life. When using his means and his position, John was a true descendant of Vsevolod III and Kalita, a true prince of northern Rus': prudence, slowness, caution, a strong aversion to decisive measures that could win a lot, but also lose, and at the same time steadfastness in bringing to the end once begun, composure - these are the distinguishing features of the activity of John III.
N.N. Kostomarov: “He was a man of strong temper, cold, reasonable, with a callous heart, power-hungry, unswerving in pursuit of his chosen goal, hidden, extremely cautious; in all his actions one can see gradualness, even slowness; he was not distinguished by either courage or bravery, but he knew how to use circumstances admirably; he never got carried away, but he acted decisively,
when he saw that the matter had matured to the point that success was undoubted. The taking of lands and, perhaps, their permanent attachment to the Muscovite state was the cherished goal of his political activity; following his forefathers in this matter, he surpassed all of them and left an example of imitation to his descendants for a long time.
DI. Ilovaisky: “Ivan III seems to us the founder of that truly state system, to which the whole Russian land has now submitted and to which it owes its subsequent greatness. The stern, despotic, extremely cautious and generally unattractive character of this first Muscovite tsar, which was formed even under the heavy impressions of the princely civil strife and the shameful barbarian yoke that had lost their meaning, cannot belittle his extraordinary state mind and great merits in the eyes of the historian. And if from St. Vladimir to Peter I, which of the Russian sovereigns is worthy of the name of the Great, then this is Ivan III.

Questions:

1. Compare these scores and highlight the main idea of ​​each.
2. Which of the positions seems to you more reliable and reasonable, corresponding to historical realities?
3. How can you explain the difference in estimates?

"The Russia of Olegov, Vladimirov, Yaroslavov
perished in the Mongol invasion.
Russia today was formed by John.

N.M. Karamzin about Ivan III

March 27 is one of the most fateful dates in the history of our Fatherland. On this day in 1462, Ivan III the Great ascended the throne of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. His long (until 1505) reign amounted to a whole era, the main content of which was the creation of the Russian empire or, as A. Toynbee wrote, "the Russian universal state."

Initial data

... Only a few years have passed since the end of a long dynastic war between descendants. The principality was devastated both by the actions of rivals and by Tatar raids. The struggle was fought with unprecedented ferocity, as evidenced by the blinding of Ivan's father, Vasily II, by his cousin.

By this time, in addition to the Principality of Moscow, on the territory of North-Eastern Rus' there were several more formations that had signs of states: the great principalities of Tver and Ryazan, the city republics (with a certain stretch) of Veliky Novgorod and Pskov. All-Russian patriotism was still very weak: the inhabitants of the Ryazan Principality felt themselves first of all as Ryazanians and only then as Russians, the same feeling was also felt among the Tverichi, Novgorodians and Pskovians. In fact, the only institution that united the country was the Orthodox Church, or rather, the Moscow Metropolis.

However, the success of Moscow in the creation of the Russian centralized state, begun by the descendants of Daniil Alexandrovich, was still far from predetermined (however, like the unification of the country in general).

Two Russias - two images of the state

On the territory of the former "empire of Rurikovich" there was another center that offered an alternative to the Moscow initiative - Vilna, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which had already swallowed up the western and southern Russian lands.

If the Moscow model of unification was a centralized state with a strong power of the ruler, then the Lithuanian one was a federation with a weak central power and a strong power of the highest aristocracy represented by the descendants of the Lithuanian Gedemin and the Russian Rurik, while maintaining the traditional structure of principalities and lands. Because of this, Vilna could have been more attractive for the Russian princes, including the Danilovichs' "handmaids", than Moscow. But this attractiveness was partly offset by the fact that Catholicism was the state religion in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In addition, the northeastern lands formally still remained dependent on the Great Horde, although the main threat from the East was not it, but the Kazan Khanate that arose on the territory of the Volga Bulgaria. And that's why.

The Great Horde of Khan Akhmat consisted of those Tatars who continued to be in line with the steppe tradition. Raids and demands for tribute could be expected from them, but the steppe remained their habitat, and they did not show a desire to live in the forest region.

In contrast to the Horde, Ulug-Mohammed, the founder of the Kazan Khanate, settled among the forests and fields, conquered the local agricultural and artisan population, and in 1440 captured Nizhny Novgorod, which he tried to keep. That is, this group of Tatars changed their traditional habitat, and its goal in the war with the Russians was not only tribute, but also territories. Therefore, she became more dangerous.

With the combined efforts of Vilna and Kazan, North-Eastern Rus' was threatened with division.

imperial building

By 1505 the situation had qualitatively changed. It can be characterized by the words of Karl Marx: “Amazed Europe, at the beginning of Ivan’s reign, barely knowing about the existence of Muscovy, squeezed between the Tatars and Lithuanians, was stunned by the sudden appearance of a huge empire on its eastern borders, and Sultan Bayezid himself, before whom Europe trembled, for the first time heard the arrogant speeches of a Muscovite”.

During the period from 1462 to 1505, Veliky Novgorod, Vyatka land, the Grand Duchy of Tver, half of the Grand Duchy of Ryazan, half of the principality of Rostov (the second half was already behind Moscow), Bryansk land, part of Smolensk land, the principalities of Novgorod-Severskoye and Chernigov, "Verkhovsky lands" (small principalities located in the upper reaches of the Oka). As a result of the last three acquisitions, the Muscovite state went beyond the borders of North-Eastern Rus' and entered the territory of the ancient "Russian land". The border was established about 30 kilometers from Kyiv.

It was very significant that these principalities voluntarily passed from the ON under the hand of Moscow, which showed the end of the “Vilna alternative”. The northwestern border was "hardened" by the construction of the Ivangorod fortress on the right bank of the Narva. Livonia, through the Dorpat bishopric, was placed in vassal dependence on Moscow. Subsequently, more than 50 years of non-payment of tribute gave a formal reason for the confiscation of the fief from a vassal who did not fulfill his duties.

The Great Horde was defeated, although its remnants continued their agony for another 20-30 years. A Moscow protectorate was established over the Kazan Khanate (even correspondence between Kazan and Crimea went through Moscow, where clerks checked the Khan's letters and only then sent them to the addressee).

By these acts, Moscow declared itself to be heiress of the Golden Horde, i.e. presented their Eurasian claims. The army of the governor Semyon Kurbsky and Fyodor Ushaty in the winter of 1499-1500. crossed the Northern Urals and went to the lower reaches of the Ob. A step was taken towards the development of Siberia.

Part of the steppe aristocracy brought Tatar military prowess and loyalty to the word in the service of Moscow and the cause of building a new Eurasian empire. Tatar regiments participated in all military operations of Ivan III; Tsarevich Daniyar was one of his best commanders, and the outcome of "standing on the Ugra" in 1480 was decided by a raid of the Moscow-Tatar cavalry under the command of Prince Nozdrevaty and Tsarevich Nur-Daulet-Girey. Considering himself a defender of the faith, Ivan at the same time never demanded that the serving Tatars convert to Orthodoxy, adhering to the tradition of Eurasian religious tolerance.

At the same time, while building the building of the empire, Ivan Vasilyevich was cool about attempts to involve himself in disputes about the Byzantine inheritance, made by the West and motivated by his marriage in 1472 to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Zoya (Sofya Fominichna) Paleolog.

So, offering Moscow to participate in the anti-Turkish league, the Senate of Venice tempted: "The Eastern Empire, captured by the Ottomans, should, after the termination of the imperial family in the male tribe, belong to your illustrious power by virtue of your successful marriage". Ivan thanked the Senate for such an interesting proposal, but refused - Moscow did not need a war with Turkey.

Political handwriting

Analyzing his political activity, one is amazed at the purposefulness, perseverance and fine precision of actions to achieve the set goal. Let's take for example the campaign against Novgorod in 1471, "standing on the Ugra" in 1480 and the annexation of Tver in 1485.

In 1470, Novgorod invited the Lithuanian prince Mikhail Olelkovich into himself - a gesture clearly anti-Moscow. Although the Lithuanian left Novgorod a few months later, not getting along with the boyars, a dangerous precedent was created that could not be left unpunished. Ivan gave the character of an all-Russian religious event to the punitive campaign against the northern city. The chronicler directly wrote that the Muscovites went to Novgorod "not like against Christians, but like against a pagan and an apostate of Orthodoxy." Having defeated the Novgorodians at Shelon, Ivan occupied the city. Since the decision to invite the Lithuanian prince was taken collectively by the boyars, the punishment was collective: a large fine was imposed on the city, four posadniks were executed, four more were sent to Kolomna for imprisonment, "medium" people were punished with money, "small" people were released just like that. As a result, the former unity of the Novgorodians was split, and the pro-Moscow party strengthened.

Khan Akhmat in the summer of 1480 approached the Ugra River with a large army and camped there in anticipation of the approach of his ally, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Casimir. Ivan correctly assessed the situation and organized a strike on Lithuania by the Crimean Khan. In addition, with the help of Moscow, ferment arose among the Orthodox Lithuanian-Russian princes. Akhmat waited in vain for an ally for several months; his men and their horses were starving. Meanwhile, the Moscow-Tatar cavalry was thrown into the raid on the ulus of Akhmat. The Horde began a retreat, which, under pressure from another Moscow-Tatar detachment, turned into a flight. Our losses in the entire more than six-month campaign were minimal.

If in relation to Novgorod Ivan applied collective repressions, then with Tver he acted differently. In 1485, the Grand Duke of Tverskoy, Mikhail Borisovich, in violation of the Moscow-Tver agreement in force, “set up a row” with Kazimir. This "known happened" in Moscow. Ivan the Third declared the Prince of Tver a traitor and moved troops to Tver. The boyars began to go over to the side of the strongest, but the merchant and artisan brethren (“black hundreds”) decided to defend their city. However, on the third day of the siege, the defenders of the fortress found that their prince had fled. Then the townspeople opened the gates. Ivan entered the city with only a small guard. There were no reprisals against the townspeople: they were fulfilling their duty to the prince, and betrayal of Moscow was his personal fault.

In determining the fate of Tver, Ivan showed both foresight and respect for the former rival of Moscow: the reign was preserved, but the heir to the Moscow throne, Grand Duke Ivan Molodoy, son of Ivan III from his first marriage, became the prince of Tver. This decision was positively received by the people of Tver, especially since the mother of the new prince was the sister of Mikhail who had fled. And about the last ruler of independent Tver, the local chronicler wrote sadly: “Prince Mikhail Borisovich. Played on the lud. Betrayed Tver. Fled to Lithuania. I will add that in a similar situation with Wales, the British did the same. And still the heir to the English throne bears the title of Prince of Wales.

Ivan the Third was a contemporary of Louis XI and Ferdinand of Aragon. All three did the same thing: they united their country (Russia, France and Spain, respectively), using different methods and means (from a stick to a carrot). Ivan solved the most difficult problem, and the results he got were more significant. In addition, there was neither the cruelty of Louis, nor the religious fanaticism of Ferdinand. However, the assessment given to Ivan the Third by Pushkin (“the calmer of storms, the reasonable autocrat”) is clearly not enough. He is a brilliant politician, the standard of a sovereign.

Ivan Vasilievich

What kind of person was he?

A portrait of Ivan has been preserved. There is a description of his appearance left by the Venetian Contarini: a tall, thin, handsome man, inspiring sympathy.

With the idea of ​​​​his character is more difficult. On the male and female lines, Ivan had two great grandfathers: Dmitry Donskoy and Vitovt of Lithuania. Both were warriors, personally led the troops, took part in the battles. Ivan III, apparently, never drew his sword in battle. Moreover, he carried out only strategic leadership, leaving the solution of operational-tactical issues to his generals, i.e. was a type of statesman, ruler, but not a warrior, a knight.

G.V. Vernadsky believed that, judging by his appearance, Ivan Vasilyevich was more like his Lithuanian ancestor (Dmitry Donskoy was inclined to be overweight, “he was burly”) and, therefore, one should expect that his character was inherited by him. The judgment is not perfect, but we know that Ivan was a restrained, closed person, showing little emotion both in anger and in joy, who loved his first wife and respected his second, was tough, sometimes cruel, but this cruelty was not natural, like, say, y, but the cruelty of the ruler necessary at that time.

Ivan III, I think, was the most important statesman of Russia in the last 550 years of our history. At first glance, he is not very offended by the attention of historians, but in the mass consciousness he was eclipsed by the myths of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. Why did it happen?

Quite possibly, due to the fact that Ivan III the Great did not commit any striking acts in the form of the execution of his own son or public repentance for his sins; he only fulfilled his laborious duty as a ruler, performed brilliantly, and, as you know, "everything of genius is simple." It was this seeming simplicity that misled both contemporaries and descendants. In addition, according to the most advanced people, he made an unforgivable mistake by depriving Novgorod of veche freedom. Apparently, they believed and believe that Ivan should have extended the veche order to Moscow.

Much more can be written about Ivan III: about his administrative activities (the creation of orders, the Sudebnik of 1497), about urban planning (the construction of the Kremlin, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Palace of Facets, churches and fortresses), about the fight against the anti-system in the form of the heresy of the “Judaizing”, about his family problems, etc. I only wanted to write a panegyric (praise) to a politician...