Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

The
Mongo
supre¬
macy.
90 RUSSIA [msTOKr
SviatoslafE, slain by the Petchenegs; Vladimir, who caused
the country to be Christianized; and Yaroslaff his son,
the legislator. During the second period, in which we
find Russia weakened and divided into apanages, we
have only two noteworthy princes among a score of
unimportant persons,—Vladimir Monomakh and Andrew.
The death of Andrew, whose murderers wTere not
brought to justice, was followed by many petty wars.
The only event, however, of any importance for a con¬
siderable time is the battle of Lipetsk (near Pereiaslavl
Zaliesski) in 1215, in which George, son of Vsevolod,
brother of Andrew, was defeated by the combined troops
of Novgorod, Pskoff, and Smolensk. In 1220 we hear of
Nijni-Novgorod being founded. A prince of consider¬
able importance was Roman of Volhynia, to whom the
inhabitants of Galicia offered the government of their
principality, but he was superseded by another Vladimir,
and did not get the crown till after a great deal of
hard fighting. He is said by Kadlubek, the Polish
historian, to have acted with ferocious cruelty. In 1205
he was killed in a battle with the Poles. In 1224 we
have the first invasion of Russia by the Mongols. Daniel of
Galicia was one of the last of the Russian princes to make
his submission to Batu (1238). He died in 1264. In
the 14th century the principality of Galicia was lost in
the Polish republic, having been annexed to Lithuania. It
joined the fortunes of that state in its union with Poland
at the time of the marriage of Jagiello with Jadwiga.
We now come to the third division of our subject—
Russia under the yoke of the Mongols, viz., from 1238 to
1462. This is indeed a dreary period, in which the
political and material development of the country wTas
delayed by its complete enslavement. The first occasion
on which the Russians came into contact with their
Mongolian invaders was in 1224, when, in company
with their allies, the Polovtzes, they suffered a complete
defeat on the banks of the Kalka, near where it flows
into the sea of Azoff, and adjoining the site of the
present town of Mariupol. On this occasion, however,
the Mongols only marched a little way up the river
Dnieper, and retired after devastating the country. In
1238 they reappeared, and after destroying Bolgari, the
capital of the Finnish Bulgarians on the Volga, advanced
against Ryazan, which was plundered and burned, with
adjoining cities. They then defeated the army of Suzdal,
at Kolomna, on the Oka; after which they burned Moscow,
Suzdal, 1 aroslavl, and other important towns. The grand-
duke Yuri of Suzdal had encamped on the river Sit, almost
on the frontiers of the territory of Novgorod. He was
there defeated and was decapitated on the field of battle,
while his nephew Vasilko had his throat cut for refusing
to serve Batu. After taking Tver and advancing within
fifty leagues of Novgorod, the Mongols turned south and
occupied the two following years (1239—1240) in ravaging
southern Russia. They then burned Pereiaslavl and
Tchernigoff, and Mangu, the grandson of Jenghiz Khan,
directed his march against KieS. The noise of the great
host proceeding to the capture of the fated city is graphic¬
ally described. by the chronicler. The city was taken and
given up to pillage, not even the graves being respected.
Volhynia and Galicia followed the fate of the other prin¬
cipalities, and all Russia was now under the yoke of the
Mongols, except the territory of Novgorod.
The subsequent movements of these barbarians in
Hungary and Moravia cannot be described here. It will
suffice to say that soon afterwards Batu turned eastwards.
He next founded on the Volga the city of Sarai (the
Palace), which became the capital of the powerful Mon¬
golian empire, the Golden Horde. Here also congregated
the remains of the Petchenegs, the Polovtzes, and other
tribes, and to these barbarians Russia was for a long time
tributary. In 1272 the Mongolian hordes embraced
Islam. Yaroslaff, who entered into his territory of Suzdal
after the death of his brother Yuri, found his hereditary
domains completely devastated. He had commenced re¬
building the. ruined town, when he was summoned by
Batu to do him homage in his new capital of Sarai. This
however, was not considered sufficient, and the poor prince
was obliged to betake himself to the court of the great
khan, which was at the further end of Asia, on the banks
of the river Amur. His title was confirmed, but on his
return he died of the fatigues of the journey. He was
succeeded in Suzdal by his son Andrew (1246-1252).
His other son Alexander reigned at Novgorod the Great,
and gained the surname of Nevski from his celebrated
victory over the Swedes in 1240. He and Dmitri Donskoi
are the only great figures of this period of national abase¬
ment. Alexander Nevski has become consecrated in the
memories of the people, and is now one of the leading
Russian saints. In spite, however, of his services to the
people of Novgorod, he afterwards quarrelled with them
and retired to Pereiaslavl Zaliesski. But the citizens were
soon glad to betake themselves to his help. On being
invaded by the German Sword-bearing Knights, who had
established themselves in Livonia in the year 1201, and
an army of Finns, Alexander was summoned, like another
Camillus, and defeated the enemy on Lake Peipus in what
was called the “Battle of the Ice” in 1242. He entered
Novgorod in triumph with his prisoners. In spite of all
this brilliant success, Alexander was unable to resist the
power of the Golden Horde, and was obliged to go to
Sarai to do homage to the khan. He was accompanied
by his brother Andrew. The ceremony was always
attended by many degrading acts of submission on the
part of the tributary prince. In 1260 the Novgorodians,
who had so long preserved the liberty of their republic
uninjured, consented to submit to the khan and pay
tribute; Alexander died before reaching Vladimir on his
return from one of these humiliating journeys. A great
part of western Russia was now consolidated by the
Lithuanian princes into a state, the capital of which was
Vilna and the language White Russian. To this many of
the western provinces of Russia gravitated, and by the
marriage of the Polish heiress Jadwiga with Jagiello of
Lithuania these provinces went to Poland and were not
reannexed to Russia till a much later period. The eastern
portion of Russia grouped itself round Moscow, which is
first heard of in the chronicles in 1147. We find four con¬
siderable eastern states—Ryazan, Suzdal, Tver, and Moscow.
For a century after its foundation we hear nothing of this
city, the name of which is certainly Finnish. We are told
that it was burned by the Mongols in 1237, and that a
brother of Alexander Nevski was killed there in 1248, in
a battle against the Lithuanians. We have seen that the
political centre of the country has constantly changed.
From Novgorod it went to Kieff, from Kieff to Vladimir,
the capital of Suzdal, and from Vladimir to Moscow; we
shall soon find that owing to the vigorous policy of its
rulers this principality became the nucleus of the great
Russian empire, and gathered round it the adjacent states.
Its true founder was Daniel, a son of Alexander Nevski,
who added to it the cities of Pereiaslavl Zaliesski and
Kolomna. At his death in 1303 he was the first to be
buried in the church of St Michael the Archangel, where
all the Russian sovereigns were laid till the days of Peter
the Great. Since that time, with the exception of Peter
II., they have been interred in the church of the Petro-
pavlovski fortress at St Petersburg. Daniel was followed
on the throne by his sons Yuri and Ivan in succession. Yuri
Danilovich (1303-1326) took possession of Mozhaisk. The