The Story of Moscow

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who succeeded him in 1645, not only were the Poles driven back and other enemies conquered, but those great social and economic reforms were introduced, the working of which subsequently "westernised" Russia. Theodore during his short reign of five years successfully continued what his father had commenced. It was the claims made on behalf of his half-brother Peter that caused the hands of the clock to be set back. The story of Peter is well known, but its teaching has been often misinterpreted. To obtain the truth let the Moscow of Theodore Alexeivich

lowly he advanced towards Moscow, urging his subjects to prepare suitable apartments for himself and his mother in the spoiled ruins of the Kremlin, to store afresh the warehouses with provisions and replenish the treasury. The boyards answered that they had already prepared the palace of Ivan for himself, and a suite in the convent of the Ascension for his mother, but it was impossible to restore the Golden Palace and terem of the Tsaritsa Irene, for there was no money, carpenters were lacking, the buildings

on Moscow, when it was re-inforced by Ronashevich-Salidachni at the head of 20,000 Cossacks; Michael repulsed their attack on Moscow, but, anxious to secure his father's release, agreed to relinquish Smolensk, so a peace to endure fourteen years and six months was thereupon made. Immediately after his coronation the Tsar sent envoys to England, Germany and the Netherlands, seeking their assistance in securing peace. The English promised a loan of ￡100,000 and paid 16,000 roubles only towards it; but King James prevented Scots taking service in Poland against Russia, and the Tsar obtained his munitions of war from the English factory at Archangel. In such fashion was a respite obtained, so that undivided attention might be given to establishing good order within the Tsar's Empire. Surely no ruler started with greater disadvantages than did Michael. To the inexperience of youth must be added a lack of competent advisers. The old hereditary aristocracy had for the most part disappeared; those members who survived had taken sides with either the second impostor or the Poles, and in them he dared not trust. There remained only appointed military and civil o

olden coins upon the Tsar; the new boyard, Ivan Nikitich Romanof, will carry the crown of Monomachus; Prince Dmitri Troubetskoi, the sceptre; the new boyard, Prince Pojarski, the 'globe!' " Troubetskoi took offence that he had to cede his place to a Romanof, albeit a relative of his sovereign. The Tsar answered, "It may be that your rank is higher than that of Ivan, but he is my uncle, and you must give place to him at a time when the order of rank is not to be observed." This appeased Troubetskoi, but later, one Boris Likof, invited to the table of the Tsar, would not cede his place until the Tsar personally intervened. On the next occasion he failed to attend, although the Tsar twice sent for him. Each time he sent the same answer, "I am ready to yield my life on the scaffold, but allow a Romanof to take precedence of a Likof I will not!" Sometimes these quarrels embarrassed the Tsar on occasions of state, as when, at the reception

s forefathers. Often incapable as military leaders, this meant ruin to the state. Alexis, after sufficient experience of the disasters the system entailed, proposed the abolition of hereditary rank, and petitioned the Church to pronounce upon his finding that "precedence was an institution invented by the devil, for the purpose of destroying Christian love and of increasing the hatr

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was drugged at the instigation of the Soltikovs, and her illness represented as incurable. She, and all her relatives, were then banished to Siberia for "attempting to deceive the Tsar," and remained in exile seven years, when the Patriarch discovered the intrigue. This resulted in the fall of the Soltikovs from power, and the return of the Khlopo

went in to examine the candidates. The scrutiny finished, he returned to his own apartments, and his mother anxiously inquired upon whom his choice had fallen. To her surprise, Michael indicated the maid of one of the ladies. Martha Ivanovna could not believe her ears. She earnestly begged her son to reflect, before offending the pride and dignity of the princes, nobles and boyards by such a choice. Then she asked a definite answer, for, before the sun rose, it would have to be declared officially, before the Patriarch and the clergy assembled in the cathedral of the Assumption for that purpose. Michael answered, 'I have obeyed you and the will of God in accepting the crown. Never have I dared to act contrary to your wishes. You have always been my coun

an Stephanovich Striechnef, a poor gentleman of Mojaisk, and herself a distant relative of the lady in whose service she was. Just as her mistress was haughty, proud and ov

umbled and the virtuous protected. The citizens were pleased and shouted 'Long live Michael and Eudoxia!' and there was general rejoicing. Then the daughters of the princes, and nobles, and boyards, were presented to Eudoxia and made their homage. In her confusion and modesty she would not allow them to kiss her hand, but cordially embraced each maid. W

he forsook his thatched cottage for a suite in the palace, he carried away with him his old clothes and other things, which he hung on the wall of his new apartment, and each morning uncovered them that he might not forget his origin, and be mindful

was Artemon Sergievich Matviev, a man who had commanded a foreign regiment in the wars and married Mary Hamilton, one of a Scotch family resident in Moscow. Matviev had no daughter, but living with the family was Natalia Naryshkin, the daughter of Cyril Naryshkin, whose brother Theodore had married a Hamilton, the niece of Matviev's wife. Matviev made his house as attractive as he could to the Tsar, giving western entertainments, even to the performance of comedies and tragedies in his private theatre. Western manners prevailed among them; his wife dressed in what were called "German" clothes, and both she and her ward appeared at table although strangers might be present. When the Tsar visited Matviev, Natalia, a tall, shapely brunette, herself served him with vodka and zakuska. One day the Tsar informed Matviev that he would find a husband for this

ern, and as tsaritsa she was able to free some of the "twenty-seve

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tsaritsas, but she succeeded in going openly to church with her husband, saw plays through a latticed window, and the state reception of foreign ambassadors from a screened loge. In so short a time she accomplished much, but in 1676 her hus

beautiful churches of Moscow. To him is due that gem of Muscovite ecclesiastical architecture, the church of the Nativity and Flight, in the Mala Dmitrovka (v. page 181). With an eye for the picturesque, he laid out a pleasure-garden in the Kremlin and another on the river front by making a vaulted embankment. Further away the slopes towards the river were planted with ornamental trees; medicinal herbs were largely cultivated, and the first hot-houses appeared in Moscow. Private dwel

preservation in the destructive climate of Moscow, to some extent accounts for this; and the "terem," the outside of which may be viewed from the quadrangle on which stands the old church "Spass na Boru," is equally disappointing in this particular. Even to see the interiors the visitors must pass through the Great Palace, with which these old dwellings are now incorporated. The site occupied by the eastern end of the Great Palace is that upon which, from the founding of Moscow, the re

see plan), turn to the left on leaving the building, and walking towards the south, at the end of the

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he regiments likewise decorated; in short, this Hall of St George Pobiedonosets (the Conqueror) is the Russian Valhalla. The adjoining Hall of Alexander Nevski, is remarkable apart from its richness and beauty, for the six pictures by Müller illustrating the chief events in the life of the Saint: beyond is the Throne room-Griffins, the device of the Romanofs, conspicuous in the decorations-and next the Hall of St Catherine, the state room of the Tsaritsa. The older palaces will be reached directly from the Hall of St Vladimir, or, after passing through the personal apartments of the Tsar, by the Holy Corridor, so named because there the clergy attend to conduct the Tsar to state services in the Cathedrals. It dates from the reign of Ivan III. (15th cent.) and is, in short, a continuation of that terrace which fronts the eastern side of the Great Palace, and has its counterpart in the principal approach to every old-fashioned Russian house. The Krasn? Kriltso-how hateful the vulgar, and absolutely incorrect, translation, "Red Steps!"-is simply the state entrance to the reception rooms, in contradistinction to t

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tored on the coronation of the Emperor Paul. It was here that in 1653 the Tsaritsa Marie Ilyinichna received the Tsaritsa of Georgia, and later the Tsaritsa Natalia Kyrilevna received the homage of the Princes of Kasimof and Siberia. On the vaulted roof are representations of Olga's journey to Constantinople, Helena obtaining the true

inscription was but recently discovered. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, dates from 1393, when the Tsaritsa Eudoxia, wife of Dmitri Donskoi, erected the first structure on the side of the older Church of St Lazarus. It was destroyed by lightning in 1414, burned in 1473, fell in 1480, and in 1514 was rebuilt by Vasili Ivanovich, and probably again reconstructed early in the seventeenth century. It

ght to Moscow in 1472 by Sophia Paleologus, and one of Lupin, the centurion, the patron saint of the Romanofs. There is also an old ikonastas in the adjoining chapel of St John the Baptist. On the north side of the Verkhospasski Church, also on this third storey, is the Seventeenth Century Church of the Resurrection, on the threshold of which, if tradition may be believed, Athanasius Naryshkin was struck down by the Streltsi in 1682. It is lighter than ordinary Russian Churches, lofty, with an ogival vaulted roof and almost entirely covered with frescoes. The western door has representations of the eight Sybils. The medi?val incense-burner suspended in the centre is of foreign, probably Dutch, origin, and apart from its own attractiveness serves well to contrast the great differences in Western and Russian handicraft, for the ikonostas has some excellent relief work. The paintings at the east-end are on a gold ground, at one period a prevalent fashion with Russian ikon painters. The brilliant colouring, the lavish use of gold and silver, and the bright illumination, so unusual in Russian churches, together make this royal chapel one of the most interesting of those in

nnunciation, but these are dealt with elsewhere. Those actually within, or communicating with the Terem, are those above enumerated, and in

anced to the Kremlin crying "Death to those who oppose royalty! Death to all traitors!" Before the gates could be closed they were in the Kremlin, and with pikes, halberds, and partisans thronging the state entrance and the square of the palace itself. They wished to be sure that both Tsars were well: they wanted the lives of the Matvievs and Naryshkins if Ivan was not. Matviev momentarily saved the situation. He went with Natalia, who led the Tsars one by each hand out on to the terrace before the infuriated mob. "By God's mercy both are well as you see," he said, and added words that soothed the mob, but all too soon he retired following Natalia into the palace. Dolgorooki, the head of the Streltsi, then turned to the rioters and ordered them to be gone. He irritated them by his address; some seized him and threw him over the balustrade, and those below caught him on their pikes. Another troop, partisans of Sophia, were searching for Matviev, dragged him from the presence of the ex-Tsaritsa and near Blagovieshchenski Sobor he too was thrown on to the pikes of the Streltsi in the square below, and they were not content merely with killing now, but cut his body in morsels. Three days later, a faithful black servant

ssadors to the Muscovite Court. Here, too, Ivan "Groznoi" received the Khan's emissaries and the rusty knife his victorious enemy had sent him that he might cut his own throat; here for three days he regaled his companions after the fall of Kazan: here Boris Godunov entertained the Danish Prince, suitor for the hand of the Tsarevna Xenia; here, in 1653, Alexis received the submission of Bogdan Khmelnitski and the cession of Little Russia. Peter I. also celebrated herein his victory over Charles XII. at Poltava, and in 1767, Catherine II. confided to the delegates the celebrated "Nakaz" for the compilation of the new code of law. Its present condition closely resembles its primitive aspect, traces of Peter the Great's vandalism having been removed; the walls uncovered; the paintings restored; the windows refitted; and older furnishings substituted for the tapestry and decorations of Peter and his successors. The paintings, as the inscription states, were made in 1882 by two "brothers Bieloosov, ikon painters, peasants of the village of Palekha." Chancellor and his companions when

tal-work found elsewhere in the palaces and churches of the Kremlin. The first room reached was originally the "vestibule," but serves now as a breakfast-room; the cases contain the old seals of the Kingdom; the walls and vaulted roof covered with pictures and the stove of fine old glazed Russian tiles, a variety of faience the secret of whose manufacture has been lost. Near to this room is the Council Chamber, and, further, what originally served as the private room of the Tsars, but was latterly used as a throne room. In the bronze casket is the deed of election which appointed Mikhail Theodorovich to the throne. In the "Krasn? Ugol," or "Grand Corner," is the seat of the Tsar Alexis with a carpet before it, the handiwork of his daughters. The windo

later he prayed before the ikon of the saint whose day it might be, and then sent one of his attendants to inquire as to the health of the Tsaritsa and, later, might himself attend her in the vestibule and accompany her to matins in one of the chapels of the p

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ss and eaten alone. During Lent the Tsar Alexis made but three meals each week, and ate fish but twice, on fast days taking only a morsel of black bread and a pic

but generally the remainder of the day was spent in recreations; theatricals, music and chess were chief among these. Court pilgrims were the Muscovite equivalent of the wandering minstrels of the British courts. The Tsar Alexis particularly was interested in the recitals of 'experienced' men who had travelled in distant parts of his kingdom and liked to hear often the recollections of the grey-b

public, being always surrounded by a guard of chamber-women who carried ecrans and, arranging themselves before the Tsaritsa, screened her from the eyes of the curious. Doubtless the strict etiquette was departed from in the semi-state of the summer palaces at Kolomensk? and Preobrajensk?, and certainly the Tsaritsa Natalia failed in various ways to observe the strict seclusion of the Terem. A state procession in the days of Alexis was a wonderful pageant: on his visit to the Novo Devichi Convent he was preceded by 600 horsemen, three abreast, all dressed in cloth of gold. Grooms led the twenty-five white stallions harnessed to a coach draped with scarlet and gold: a guard of honour surrounded it; the Tsar followed in a smaller coach drawn by six white horses; boyard

mber, the Russian equivalent of "seventy times seven," derived from "sorokov," an ecclesiastical division, and also a "great gross"; the number actually in existence within the town limit is said to have been 1071. There were twenty-seven "Halls" within the Kremlin palaces; some twelve new courts of justice in the town; and eight royal residences in the suburbs. The boyard Dmitri Kaloshinim built a great church on the Devichi Pol-ye, and in addition to the academy in the Za-ikono-spasski Monastyr other schools were founded. The handicrafts of the west were generally practised, and many new trades learned and mastered, some 4300 foreigners bein

he old bell of the town; two plates recording the execution of the Streltsi. The staircase has old German suits of mail, some trophies and t

the Voievode of the period; on the left of the entrance a Russian soldier of the same,

ar Mikhail in 1619 by Fabian Smith; against the wall are the guns the monks of St Sergius used to defend the monastery at Troitsa against the Poles in 1609; below these the saddle of Prince Pojarski. Among the standards around the pillars are the sacred colours carried by Dmitri at Kulikovo, of Ivan the Terr

Trophies

the golden chain collar and piece of the "true cross." Among these insignia, most curious are the Barmi, metal collars worn at the coronation, of which one of the earliest has the eagle, lion, griffin, and unicorn-Byzantine symbols-and excellent coloured enamel, but said to have been remade by a Moscow goldsmith in the sixteenth century. The thrones include that of ivory brought to Russia in 1472 by

which the best are those of coloured enamel and niello. The loving cup presented by the patriarch Nikon to the Tsar Alexis; a ring of the unfortunate Eudoxia (w

iature conveyance of the young prince Peter, some relics of Napoleon; portraits of the sovereigns of Russia, and the model of the palace with which Catherine II. intend

ers; thirteen silver chandeliers with tapers are always burning before the ikonostas, and to this day the Tsar on visiting Moscow dismounts at this chapel before entering the Kremlin. The architecture of the wall and gate is a modification of the Russian style of the 16th century as influenced by the purely utilitarian or military style of Podolia and north-east Germany, but the spires that crown the old square towers are of a later date and are probably due to the love of the Tsar Alexis for the Gothic which he tried in vain to blend with the heavy low wooden models of early Russia. The buildings of this period are mostly characterised by the quaint mixture of Lombard and Gothic, but there is one fragment, the ruins of the archiepiscopal palace at the Krutitski, which exhibits the more ornate style then considerably fo

ut it is unlikely that it will be discovered until the old buildings themselves are in course of demolition, so this one perfect example, which is but little known and seldom visited,

many-sided Polotsi, artist, administrator, pedagogue and poet, wrote several volumes, and helped in the adaptation of old-world stories

I VOROT AND

rince Galitzin spoke Latin as fluently as a German Professor; the tsarevna Sophia was his equal in that tongue; and the princess, so far from being satisfied with the routine of the terem, amused herself in writing a tragedy and a comedy in verse, both of which were performed in Moscow. There seems to be no doubt that great liberty was accorded her; but she, unfortunate in the choice of her advisers, became ambitious, and herself was the principal f

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the different zones of the town, beyond the last ramparts far away into the forests that skirted the suburbs, the marks of his work, churches, palaces and halls, testif