Ivan the Terrible by Robert Payne & Nikita Romanoff

Author:Robert Payne & Nikita Romanoff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cooper Square Press
Published: 1975-01-29T16:00:00+00:00

1 Ivan Cheliadnin owned vast estates—in the province of Beloozero alone he owned 120 villages. On every estate there were men trained for military duty who were called up in the event of war.

2 The first text comes from Matthew, V, 22, the second from Galatians, VI, 7.

Massacre

LORD NOVGOROD THE GREAT—such was the proud name the citizens of Novgorod gave to their rich and beautiful city with its gilded domes and white-walled churches, its huge warehouses, and fleets of merchant ships. Novgorod, meaning “new city,” was one of the most ancient cities in Russia, having come into existence long before there was a settlement in Moscow. For six hundred years it was an independent principality ruling over a vast area of northern Russia, acquiring over the centuries so much wealth, so much prestige, and so many settled habits and traditions that it had come to be regarded as the chief city of Russia, sending its ambassadors to half the kingdoms of Europe and trading with all of them. To the cultivated Novgorodians tyranny was anathema, and they conducted their affairs through an elected council. Only when they were at war did they permit a prince to rule over them, and even then the councillors met regularly and decided upon all issues concerning the business of the city.

The city took the shape of two half-moons lying on the banks of the swift-flowing Volkhov River a few miles north of Lake Ilmen. On one side was the red-walled Kremlin dominated by the six domes of the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Archbishop’s palace; on the other side was the Market Side teeming with huddled streets, where most of the working population lived. Moats, high walls, and watch towers protected the city, and a wide wooden bridge connected the two half-moons.

At the end of the fifteenth century Ivan III sent a large army against Novgorod and conquered it. He confiscated many of its treasures, divided the lands belonging to the See of St. Sophia among his nobles, and expelled most of the nobles and merchants of the city. All together nearly three million acres of arable land were granted to the Muscovite nobility on condition that they serve the Grand Prince of Moscow. Nevertheless Novgorod succeeded in retaining its original character; the monks, the workmen, the common people had not been uprooted, and in many subtle ways they succeeded in conquering their conquerors. Novgorod preserved its separateness and individuality.

In the eyes of Ivan IV, who knew Novgorod well, for he had visited the city several times, the separateness and individuality of the Novgorodians smacked of treason. They were a people who spoke their minds, and they complained bitterly about the exactions of the Muscovite army in its wars against Livonia. Special levies and special taxes were raised to support the army; the army was usually billeted in Novgorod before it set out against Livonia; trade with foreign countries came to a standstill while the wars were being fought. It appeared that the

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