The Story of Moscow

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residents, yet be beloved of the Muscovites, must have possessed abilities of no mean order. Boris was a great man to whom historians have done scant justice. He is described as inordinately ambitious and accused of unscrupulousness in his methods, but the court in which he was schooled may be adduced in extenuation of

aved Moscow. At that time the Tsar held territory in Europe larger than that ruled by any of his contemporaries; the conquests of Yermak in Asia brought as much more under his dominion. Enemies, active, watchful, virulent, were ever ready to harass its rulers. Poles and Swedes expected Moscow sooner or later, to fall to them, and lost no opportunity to effect the overthrow of the Russians. Tartars and others kept up predatory wars and, within

. When the Shooiskis, the Belskis, the Mstislavskis and others did not please him he forced them from power. Mstislavski had to become a monk; Shooiski, who tried to get together a party among the merchants, was banished to a distant town; Dionysius, the metropolitan, was deposed, and a nominee of Godunov's succeeded to the primacy of the church. When, in 1586, Batory, King of Lithuania died, Boris Godunov put forward Theodore as candidate for the crown of Poland. But the Poles would have no ruler wh

lier demolished and its site utilised for the present existing boulevards. Its style was that of the wall around the Donskoi Monastery built in 1591 to commemorate the victory of the Muscovites under Mstislavski against 150,000 Krim-Tartars advancing on the city under the leadership of

OR-THE O

ign ambassadors with even greater pomp and magnificence than his predecessors. Not only were these guests provided with a fitting residence and

roused late at night, the news given him, and his aid requested on behalf of Dmitri's mother believed to be poisoned. Horsey gave the messenger the small vial of sallet oil the Queen (Elizabeth) had given him as a specific against all poisons and ills. An inquiry was ordered when Boris Godunov was suspected of having instigated

nny to wreak vengeance on the son in hope of saving a generation to come from such suffering as the past had endured. It may be that Boris Godunov plotted for his removal, but it is known that Boris was anxious for Theodore to have a son to succeed to the throne, and, probably, had then little intentio

t the migrations of a people, nomadic by habit, still accustomed to change masters frequently by moving from one estate to another at seed time and harvest. The tendency of the powerful was to

hurches. If not successful in this, it was hoped that the recountal of the patriarch's sufferings and indignities at the hands of infidels, might induce the Romans to make a league with Spain against the Turks. According to Giles Fletcher the Pope's emissaries did nothing more than inveigh against England; but with the destruction of the Spani

tired to the Novo Devichi convent mourning her bereavement and blaming herself that through her the

Council convened for the purpose of appointing a ruler, unanimously chose Boris Godunov. It was impossible that the throne could escape him. He hung back, wishful to have an expression of the desire of the people of Moscow, as well as of the delegates. The people required him. They went to the Novo Devichi convent, whither he had gone, begged him to

origin: he was not of royal descent, was no Tsar. Nor could he win popularity. His first act was to conclude an honourable peace wi

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voured and majesticalle withal; affable in behaviour and yet of great courage, wyse, politick, grave; merciful, a lover of virtue and goodness, a hater of wicked men, and a s

earful atrocities. Men were entrapped, killed and eaten. It is said that some mothers killed and ate their own children; pies of human flesh were sold openly; many thousand corpses remained unburied in the streets

find employment for the poor he caused the belfry tower of Ivan Veliki to be constructed, and did his utmost to win the l

F THE AS

survived from Boris Godunov's day, the church of the Assumption he built on the Pokrovka. Like other churches of medi?val Moscow, its chief entrance is by steps to a second storey, but unlike them it is carried much higher and appears more like a c

their lawful sovereign." Even Mstislavski, who tried to stop the advance, had no soldiers to help him; his men "had not hands to fight, only feet with which to run away." Shooiski was better able to rally his men, and he defeated Dmitri at Dobryvichi. Boris then thou

xpecting to die, he nominated his son Theodore his successor. After confiding the youth to the care of his friend Basmanov, to

ident to his supporters that neither officers nor men would fight on behalf of the Godunovs. Rather than become a victim of tre

s. Boris sent him a prisoner to the monastery on the White Lake. He escaped, wandered about for some time, and at Novgorod Severski was well received by the inhabitants, to whom he revealed himself as the supposed murdered Dmitri, and promised all who helped him suitable rewards if he should obtain his own rights. Then he threw off his cowl and joined a band of Zaporogians; learned of them how to ride and fight. As a soldi

epief's story, but refused to recognise him officially, though he allowed his subject

oe Mesto, and none dare stay the treason, not even the Patriarch would venture! The boyards Mstislavski, Vasili Shooiski, Belski and others, went out to argue with the citizens, but they were met with cries of "The day

nds of the Godunovs were then imprisoned, their dwellings pillaged and destroyed. Belski, from his known antipathy to the Godunovs, became the counsellor of the mob. Some time later the partisans of Dmitri made a fresh attack on the Kremlin. The object of their fury on this occasion was the Patriarch. He was celebrating mass in

to put them to death in an adjoining room, and then strangled the Tsarina herself. Theodore made a struggle for life, fighting savagely, but he was struck down. Xenia was spared; Dmitri who had heard of her beauty ordered Mossolski to find a

the Moskva was taken as an omen of ill, and later in the day, by an unlucky coincidence, at the moment when the clergy were prostrate before the Holy ikons, the foreign musicians sounded a fanfare. When Dmitri prostrated himself before the tomb of Ivan

rodigality that frightened the more staid of the Moscow citizens. In three months he is said to have spent more than seven million roubles, and the display of riches was the wonder of foreign visitors to his court. He rode Arabs, dressed his servants like nobles, and built and furnished a palace that surpassed anything seen in Moscow. It wa

of Basmanov, was tortured and condemned to death. At the last moment he was pardoned, but w

een hitherto closed against all but the faithful. Dmitri upbraided the clergy for their intolerance. "With us," said he, "there is only the outward observance, we ignore the spirit of our religion. You fast, you prostrate yourselves before relics, you worship the Holy ikons, but you do not understand the spirit of religion. You consider yourselves the most upright people on the earth, and meanwhile you do not even live as do Christians. You lack charity: you are little inclined to good works. Why

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y did but little swerve from their duty. After he grew to know the Russians' false pranks, he provided himself with a guard of Livonians, and afterwards also of Asmaynes and other strangers.... He yet further determined to have also a hundred musketeer

oscow like a simple citizen. He took the cannon out of the town to test various pieces "and might then have turned them on the town"; he liked to watch mimic battles, and laughed when the Muscovites were routed by the foreign soldiers. He ate meat during Lent and veal at any tim

two rumours; one, among the boyard and clergy, to the effect that with the help of the newly arrived Poles "Dmitri" intended to massacre the boyards and introduce the Roman faith; to the common people it was represented that the Poles were ill-treating the Tsar. On the night of the 17th of May the soldiers secured the entrances to the Kremlin; and on the morning of the 18th, Shooiski, with a cross in one hand and a drawn sword in the other, obtained an entrance through the Redeemer Gate, made straight for the Cathedral of the Assumption and, prostrating himself before the ikon of Mary of Vladimir, called upon those around him in the name of God to attack the cursed heretics. The alarm bell rang; Basmanov met some boyards who, with swords drawn, demanded that "Dmitri" should be given them. They killed h

"mummeries" in celebration of the wedding, were dragged out on to the Grand Square and

rone. Vasili Shooiski was fifty years of age, he lacked energy, and his rule satisfied no one. Pretenders sprang up everywhere; at one time there were seventeen people claiming to be "Dmitri"; others took the name of Peter; all claimed to be sons of Ivan. Fighting men took their part. Cossacks, Zaporogians, and others, wanted war for the booty it brought. The nobles led a war in the south; in the east the Tartars thought the time opportune for action; Finns tried to recover their independence; Swedes a

anti-foreign reaction. Dmitri exiled a bishop named Hermogen, an able, devout man, uncompromising

Shooiski, a nephew of the Tsar, saved the situation. He refused overtures made by Liapunov, and this voievode consequently separated his following from that of the revolutionaries and joined Shooiski. Bolotnikov had then to fall back on Tula, and he wrote to Mniszek that unless "Dmitri" was produced, their cause would be lost. He was found, but too late to save Bolotnikov, who was drowned; another leader was hanged

village ten miles to the north of Moscow. Here he held his court, and enticed the Muscovites by promises. Nobles and citizens alike essayed to be on good terms with both Shooiski, the "half-Tsar," and the impostor, the "little Tsar," spending their time at both courts, and earning the name of Pereletsi (birds-of-passage) by their frequent changes of residence. The townsmen were so demoralised that they were ready for whomsoever should succeed, yet gave little as

ely, keeping the besiegers at bay for sixteen months. In September 1609 Sigismund himself laid siege to Smolensk. The people refused to submit; the voievode Shein defended the town so well that Sigismund found it necessary to call all Poles to his banner. Zapieha very reluctantly left Troitsa and

e Muscovites beat their foreheads in the dust before his majesty, and begged that his son Vladislas would take the throne of the Tsars, making only one condition, namely, that he

ould choose him in preference to Vladislas. Moscow was in uproar; the inhabitants knew not what to do. On one hand the proclamation of Jolkievski promised peace, abundance, and prosperity; on the other, the impostor with more specious promises held fast those who had already paid court to him. Some suggested that neither candidate should be accepted, but a new Tsar elected by th

restore Shooiski to power. For the time being the Council was content to enforc

y with their negotiations that Jolkievski left Gonsievski in command and returned to Smolensk, taking Shooiski with him. The Patriarch alone remained inexorable. He protested against the Polish occupation and refused all attempts at compromise. More, he was unceasing in his attempts to awaken the Muscovites to their duty, to their religion, their country and themselves. His attitude was most irritating to the boyards favouring the Poles and to the officers of the garrison, for the indo

was accomplished, withdrew to Kaluga. Soon afterwards he was murdered;

the town, he answered, "If I were to do it, not only would God and Muscovites curse me, but the earth would open and swallow me." Others were not so honest. The King was besieged by applicants for favours and rew

. They excited indignation, and at last Liapunov started out from Riazan with an army and arrived before Moscow

the advance guard of the Russian army, had just arrived on the Sretenka when the Poles and Germans fell ruthlessly upon the citizens. The massacre lasted an hour or more, some seven thousand being killed. The alarm bells were ringing, and the crowd at last was chased from the Kitai Gorod when the Poles who followed further were driven back by the cannon of Pojarski. The Poles and foreigners had then to entrench themselves and, to clear the neighbourhood, the Poles fired the town. The conflagration spread rapidly and lasted three days. The Russians abandoned the burning town; the Bielo Gorod was destroyed, and much of the Kitai Gorod also; the dwellings and warehouses of the foreign merchants were consumed, and the "English factory" lost several of its members. Some went into the cellars and were suffocated, the survivors made a dash for the Kremlin, and were helped over the wall by the Poles, where their posi

eaders had been united and vigilant, success might have been theirs. Day by day the situation became more dangerous for the beleaguered Poles-obliged to make frequent sorties for food, and losing men on each occasi

with the Poles in the Kremlin. Zapieha revictualled the garrison; Sweden threatened Novgorod, and called the heir-apparent Tsar of Russia; a fresh usurper found a following at Pskov; Cossacks, Poles and brigands of different nationalities overran the country, pillaged towns and burned villages, and during that winter of 1611-12 food was so scarce that "men devoured each other." There was no Sovereign recognised, no chief authori

ens of Nijni-Novgorod to tears. He called on the faithful "to assert their unity, join together to defend the pure and true reli

Orthodox! If we wish to save our country, do not fear to sacrifice our goods, to sell our possessions, aye, even to pledge our w

isanship, had sought favours of no one, and was willing to fight for the general good. These provincials were undoubtedly in earnest; a three days' fast was enjoined and made obligatory for all, even suckling babes. When the troops began to gather together, in the spring o

for an assembly general at Yaroslavl to elect a tsar, fearing without a sovereign the Rus

the followers of the "little Tsar" and secure the throne for Marina and her son. From the west, Khodkevich came with reinforcements and provisions to the relief of Struss. Pojarski arrived on

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victory Pojarski and Troubetskoi joined forces and formed a provisional administration. The defenders of the Kremlin were in despair. They were short of food and ammunition, and the fact that 300 Poles had forced their way through the Russian ranks and joined the garrison was in no way advantageous. Soon they deserted the Kitai Gorod and took refuge in the Kremlin, holding it a month longer in hope that relief would reach them. The usual horrors of a long siege were manifest; not only did they devour everything that was eatable, but even gnawed at their own flesh and disinterred corpses. The boyards with their wives and families were sent out of the Kremlin and at last the Poles were compelled

tionship to the old royal line-if unanimity was necessary, no candidate had so good a chance of securing it as had the young Romanof. On February 21st, 1613, the electors met around the Lobn? Mesto in the Grand Square. The crowd shouted lustily

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of the peasant Sussanin who, in the district of Kostroma, gave his "life for the Tsar" by leading astray in the forest the murderous band searching for him. Historians now say that he had no opportunity of so doing, but the fact remains that

ppointment of a Tsar, but the Muscovites entered upon