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Chapter 23 The Eastern SlavsWords, Terms and People to Know

• Yaroslav• Dmitry• Volga• Dnieper• Ivan the Great• Ivan the Terrible• Vladimir I• Sophia• Mongols

• Oleg

• Varangians

• Kiev

• Boyars

• Czar

• Oprichnina

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The Eastern Slavs500 A.D.—1035 A.D.

Feudalism andTransitions

3. Describe the conditions that gave rise to feudalism, as well as political, economic and social characteristics of feudalism, in Asia and Europe.

4. Explain the lasting effects of military conquests during the

Middle Ages including:a. Muslim conquests;b. The Crusades;c. The Mongol invasions.

Winston Churchill, in a radio broadcast in October 1939:

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

"A peculiar feature of Russian Orthodox churches is the presence ofonion-shaped domes on top of the cupolas. In the early history of theRussian Church, especially in Kiev, the first capital, the domes ofthe churches followed the typical Byzantine rounded style, but later,especially after the Mongol Period, Russian churches tended toward the onion domes, which, in many places, became quite stylized. Historiansare not in agreement as to the origin of this particular style, butsome point to the possible influence of Persia on this peculiar feature of Russian church architecture, while others argue that since this style was more popular in the far North of Russia, it had a practical application, in that the shape was particularly suited to shed the large amounts of snow common in the region."

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• Chapter 23 in a Nutshell

• A visual representation of the

Rise of Russia to 1725

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Former Soviet Region Former Soviet Region Compared in Latitude & Compared in Latitude &

Area with the United Area with the United StatesStates

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Topography & biomes of Topography & biomes of RussiaRussia

  The wider area of the Urals, showing the transition of temperate forest, taiga (conifers), , steppe and semi-desert.

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Run Time: [21:14] Russia's challenging climate and its varied landforms provide the themes of this program.

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Section One: Describes the influences that transformed the early Slav agricultural settlements into trading centers• I. Early Eastern Slavs

– A. 500 A.D. Eastern Slavs move toward the Volga River.

• 1. settled in villages made up of 25 related families • 2. land, animals, tools and seed belonged to village• 3. oldest male governed with help of council• 4. by 600 Eastern Slavs controlled all land as far east

as the Volga (see next slide)

• 5. practiced slash-and-burn agriculture• 6. forests provides all the timber they needed

– (a.) homes called izaba (one room log cabin) were built partly underground and were surrounded by a wall and a stockade.

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VOLGA The Volga River, the largest and longest river system is Europe is the location of the first Rus settlements. It rises in the hills just northwest of Moscow, and then flows 2,300 miles (3,700 km) to the east and southeast before emptying into the Caspian Sea.

More than 200 tributaries merge with the main river, including the Kama, Samara and Oka. And in fact, the Volga and its tributaries occupy a watershed covering about 560,000 sq. mi. (1,450,000 sq. km), which is almost 41% of the European landmass.

When a series of canals were finished in the early 19th century - canals that eventually linked the Volga and the Baltic Sea - economic development along the river increased dramatically

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I. Cont.

• 7. worshipped many gods and honored nature

– (a.) Volos (Veles)—protected cattle and sheep– (b.) Perun the god of thunder and lightening– (c.) Great Mother—goddess of land and harvest– (d.) Built wooden images on high ground

outside village– (e.) Use slow moving rivers as roads for trade– (f.) By end of 800s East Slavs had many trading

towns along riverbanks– (g.) Eastern Slavs relied on Viking warriors to

protect their trade routes ( Called Vikings Varangians)

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Run Time: [05:52] Kiev was at a strategic point leading to the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople, and it

was key that the Vikings have a presence here.

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KIEV & THE BIRTH OF RUSSIA, from 800 a.d.

IN KIEV, A HEROIC STATUE OF KIEV’S VIKING FOUNDERS

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Varangian routes and towns to Constantinople and to the Caspian Sea

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Section Two: discusses the emergence of a Rus state.

II. Kievan Rus

A. 862 Varangian named Rurik becomes prince of Novgorod

• B. 882 Rurik’s Varangian friend Oleg becomes first Grand Prince of Kiev and establishes the state of Kievan Rus

• C. Kiev was southern most town on the Varangian trading route. To get their goods to Byzantium Rus traders used boats

– 1. control of Kiev by these Viking warriors helped controlled trade with Byzantium

– 2. Kiev protected merchant ships from attack by people of the steppe

Rurik and his brothers

Truvor and Sineus arrive in Ladoga

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Russian Russian BoyarsBoyars–Boyars were upper nobility in Russia from the 10th through 17th cent. The boyars originally obtained influence and government posts through their military support of the Kievan princes. Their power and prestige, however, soon came to depend almost completely on landownership. The boyars occupied the highest state offices.

Never confuse a Russian Boyar with…

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II. Cont. • 3. Kiev Rus state really a group of small

territories ruled by the Grand Prince of Kiev Grand Prince of Kiev who helped local princes called Boyars (wealthy landowning nobles)– (a.) Grand Prince collected tribute from

Princes who in turn collected it from the people in their territory

– (b.) an assembly (veche) handled daily concerns. freemen could call a meeting

Prince Igor Exacting Tribute from the Drevlyans, by Klavdiy Lebedev (1852-1916).

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II. Cont.

• D. Vladimir I and the Eastern Orthodox Church

– 1. 988 Vladimir chose Eastern Christianity as the country’s official religion

– 2. Eastern Orthodox Church brings Byzantine culture to Kievan Rus

Icon of Saint Vladimir, Novgorod, 16th century

emissaries sent to Constantinople reported …"And we went into the Greek lands, and we were led into a place where they serve their God, and we did not know where we were, on heaven or on earth; and do not know how to tell about this. All we know is that God lives there with people and their service is better than in any other country. We cannot forget that beauty since each person, if he eats something sweet, will not take something bitter afterwards; so we cannot remain any more in paganism.“ (Primary Chronicle, trans. George Kalbouss)

Around 987, the pagan Prince Vladimir of Kiev sent envoys to neighboring lands to find out about other religions. Some say that he (1.) rejected Islam because of its ban on alcohol, (2.) Judaism because its loss of Jerusalem demonstrated loss of divine support, and (3.) finally Catholicism because the Eastern Orthodox churches were more beautiful. Some historians say that Vladimir's real motive was to ally his land with its most powerful neighbors through religion, a decision which led to his adoption of Orthodox Christianity.

Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir

1890, a painting by Viktor Vasnetsov

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II. Cont. – 3. learn to read and write in Cyrillic alphabet– 4. architecture reflects Byzantine influences– 5. acceptance of eastern orthodoxy separates

Kievan Rus from the rest of western Europe

• E. Yaroslav the Wise (known as such as a result of his interest in learning)

– 1. son of Vladimir I– 2. becomes Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019

• (a.) brings scholars from Byzantium• (b.) encouraged artisans• (c.) developed closer ties with west thru marriage• (d.) organized Kievian Rus laws based on old Slavic

customs and Byzantine law.– (1.) crimes against property more serious than against

people– (2.) no death penalty

Forensic facial reconstruction

Sculptural portrait of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (977 or 978 - 1054), ruler of the Kievan Rus. Facial reconstruction from the cranium by Soviet anthropologist and sculptor Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov, 1939.

Seen here listening to towns people is Yaroslav. Yaroslav granted Novgorod Yaroslav's Justice, believed to have been the first written code of laws in Kievan Russia. Later, Yaroslav's successors took it as a basis to create the Russian Justice, the oldest Russian code of laws.

The Law Of Iaroslav

1.  If a man kills a man, the brother is to avenge his brother; the son, his father; or the father, his son; or nephews, their uncles; and if there is no avenger [the murderer pays] forty grivnas fine. (1) If [the killed man] is a Kievan Russian, whether a temporarily de-classed person (2) or a merchant, or a sheriff, or an agent of the prince, or a serf, or even a Novgorodian Russian, the fine is forty grivnas.

2.  If a man is bleeding or is blue from bruises, he does not need any eyewitness [to justify retaliation].  If he has no sign [of injury] he is to produce an eyewitness; if he cannot, the matter ends there.  If he cannot avenge himself he is to receive three grivnas [from the perpetrator]  while his physician is to get an honorarium. (3)

3.  If a person hits another with a stick, or a rod, or a fist, or a bowl, or a drinking horn, or the dull side of a sword, he is to pay twelve grivnas fine.  If the offender is not hit back [by his victim], he must pay, and there the matter ends.

4.  If a person strikes another with an unsheathed sword, or with the hilt of a sword, he pays twelve grivnas for the offence.

5.  If a person hits [another's] arm and the arm is severed or shrinks, he pays forty grivnas fine. And if he hits the leg [but does not sever it], and then he [the victim] becomes lame, let both [parties] reach an agreement.

6. And if a finger is cut off, three grivnas for the offence.

7. For the moustache twelve grivnas; and for the beard twelve grivnas.

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II. Cont.

• F. Decline of Kievan Rus• 1. 1054 after Yaroslav’s death

fighting for control of the throne breaks out and people from the steppes attack Kievan frontier regions

• 2. stoppage of trade caused Kievan Rus to decline and revert to merely farming land and peasantsSaint Nestor the Chronicler (c. 1056 - c. 1114, in Kiev) was the reputed author of

the Primary Chronicle, (the earliest East Slavic chronicle), the Life of the Venerable Theodosius of the Kiev Caves the Life of the Holy Passo Bearers, Boris and Glb, and of the so-called Reading. His works are the only source of information about this time.

Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1169 sacks Kiev. The city declines from then onward.

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STEPPE

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THE STEPPE: great for growing grain; easy travel; great for invasions!

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The Mongols Invade The Mongols Invade RussiaRussia

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MONGOL CAVALRY WAS FAST, FURIOUS, AND INVINCIBLE!

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Section Three: describes the effected of the Mongol invasions on the Rus states.

• III. The Mongol Conquest (The Golden Horde)– A. 1240 Mongols from central Asia take control of

Rus states– B. people pay tribute to the Khan, and serve in

Mongol armies– C. The Church

• 1. Eastern Orthodox Church remained strong during Mongol rule

• 2. monks found monasteries deep in northern forests

• 3. towns and villages grow up around monasteries• 4. Mongol conquest isolated the Rus Church

– (a.) Church develops local rituals and practices

Saint Basil's Cathedral Moscow Kazan Cathedral, Moscow

after its reconstruction in 1993.

A basqaq (official in the Mongol Empire in charge of taxes and administration) from the Horde to a Rus' city.

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III. Cont.

– D. Daily Life• 1. great differences between rich and poor

remain• 2. Peasants were subsistence farmers• 3. peasant men wore white tunics• 4. Rich merchants and boyars wore tall fur hats

and robes called caftans.• 5. women wore blouses, skirts and headdresses

with decorations that indicated the region she came from

Armiak (aka ermiak, labamakh, ormiak, riabik, sermiak, kharapai, yarmiak) is a heavy cloth coat mainly worn by men and put on over a caftan, a fur coat, a sheepskin jacket or a sheepskin coat in bad weather at any season and upon the road. It became known in Russia from the 16th century.

It was made of armiachina (i.e. camel's-hair cloth) of natural colours, such as white, yellow-brownish, or pea-green; or of homemade union cloth of black, white, grey, or brown colour; or sometimes of thick cloth dyed dark-blue. In the late 19th – early 20th century the armiak was sewn of dense factory-made cloth. It was robe-like, broad and long (to the ankles) and single-breasted, with a deep right to left wrap over, broad straight sleeves and a large collar.

Russian kaftans of tsar Peter the Great, 1680-90

This girl, in traditional Russian clothing, is presenting a loaf of bread symbolizing welcome or hospitality. In the traditional "bread and salt" ceremony, a cellar of salt was placed upon the loaf of bread (usually presented upon an embroidered towel) during celebrations of welcome and marriage. This tradition is still sometimes practiced. The

traditional dress worn by this girl is called as sarafan and the traditional cap is called a kokoshnik.

Russian clothing is unique and special to its history and geography. Holiday headwear would consist of the kokoshnik (a head-dress) which would be embroidered with river pearls, golden threads, and a hanging meshwork of pearl or mother-of-pearl. The forms would vary from locality to locality with a distinct separation of married women and maidens. The main distinction was married women, according to the ancient eastern Slav customs, could not uncover her hair while in public or when doing housework. A maiden could plait her hair or go about bareheaded.

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Section Four: discusses the reigns of Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible

• IV. The Rise of Moscow– A. Moscow (Muscovy) was founded in 1147– In 1156, Yuri Dolgoruki fortified Moscow with wooden walls and a moat.

Although the settlement probably existed earlier, Dolgoruki is often called "The

Founder of Moscow". – B. Most people settled near the Kremlin

(fortress)– C. Princes of Moscow cooperated with the

Mongols– D. Moscow expands in size and power– E. Throne inherited thus preventing power

struggle– F. Muscovite metropolitan lived in Moscow

creating a second center of the Eastern Orthodox Church

• 1. people obeyed the prince as a leader chosen by God

– G. 1380 the Price of Moscow, Dmitry, attacked and defeated the Mongols in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380)

Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoi or

Dimitri of the Don

During the early years of Dmitriy's reign was construction

of the first stone Moscow Kremlin, completed in 1367.

The graphic shows an early 20th century rendering of the holy man (starets) Sergius (later sainted) blessing Prince Dmitry as he set forth to battle the Khanate of the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo Field in 1380. Dmitry ascended the ducal throne of Moscow as a mere lad of 9, but was encouraged by Sergius to launch a holy crusade against the infidel. Dmitry's defeat of Mamai did not free Muscovy/Russia, but it marked a psychological turning point, proving that the Horde could, in fact, be defeated. 1907 painting by Ernst Lesser.

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Run Time: [05:02] Moscow has many famous landmarks; Red Square and St Basils just to name two. Then there is the city's incredible history; revolution, war and reform, all within the past century. But modern Muscovites are writing their own history and it is certainly not based on the old communist model.

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IV. Cont.– H. Ivan the Great

• 1. Ivan III becomes prince of Moscow in 1462. In 1480 ended Mongol control of Muscovy

Ivan III Tearing the Great Khan’s Letter Ivan III Tearing the Great Khan’s Letter Requesting More Tribute in 1480.Requesting More Tribute in 1480.

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• 2. Married Sophia, niece of last Byzantine emperor and tied Moscow to the glory of Byzantium

• 3. Church believed it meant Moscow had taken Byzantium’s place as center of Christianity

• 4. used two headed eagle of Byzantium on royal seal

• 5. raised the walls that still guard Kremlin

• 6. called himself czar• 7. dies in 1505 after having consolidated

church and state

–I. Ivan the Terrible

Sophia Palaiologina her Greek name Zoe was changed to Sophia. In 1469

The head on the left (West) symbolizes Rome, the head on the right (East) symbolizes Constantinople. The cross and orb in the claws symbolize, respectively, spiritual and secular authority.

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IV. Cont. • 1. Ivan IV Crowned Czar in 1547• 2. hated boyars—begins killing people for going against

his wishes—breaks power of boyars.• 3.Orders peasants not to leave their land and in this

way took the first step in turning free peasants into serfs.

• 4. defeats Mongols in 1552 at their capital of Kazan the struggle for years (until 1556) using gunpowder against their bows.

• 5. 1558-- attacks Livonia and loses, Ivan blames the boyars

• 6. 1564 —lives in a monastery gives up throne– (a.) people plead for his return and give him authority to

punish traitors and take their land– (b.) loyal supporters form the Oprichnina

(Oprichnina is actually the name of the administrative area under the total control of Ivan and his secret police, the opricnhiki. )

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Ivan's throne (ivory, metal, wood)

oprichnina,  private court or household created by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible (1565) that administered those Russian lands (also known as oprichnina) that had been separated from the rest of Muscovy and placed under the tsar’s direct control. The term also refers generally to the economic and administrative policy that divided the Russian lands into two parts and established the new court.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/430289/oprichnina

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• 1. The oprichniki played a central role in Ivan's oprichnina; (oprichnina, a territory within Muscovy governed solely and absolutely by him. He also wanted the power to deal with traitors as he wished). Under pressure from the church and the people, the Council of Boyars agreed. The opricnhiki, were the soldiers and ministers, the police and the bureaucrats who enforced Ivan’s will. Drawn mainly from the lower levels of the military and society, each member was questioned and their past checked. Those that passed were rewarded with land, property and payments. The result was a cadre of individuals whose loyalty to the Tsar was without question, and which included very few boyars.

The Oprichnina of Ivan IV

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• 2.Upon his return,Ivan divided the country into two: the oprichnina and the zemschina. The former was to be his private domain, constructed from any land and property he wished and run by his own administration, the oprichniki. Estimates vary, but between one third and one half of Muscovy became oprichnina. Situated mainly in the north, this land was a piecemeal selection of wealthy and important areas, ranging from whole towns, of which the oprichnina included about twenty, to individual buildings. Moscow was carved up street by street, and sometimes building by building. Existing landowners were often evicted, and their fates varied from resettlement to execution. The rest of Muscovy became the zemschina, which continued to operate under the existing governmental and legal institutions, with a puppet Grand Prince in charge

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• 3. Their numbers grew from 1000 to 6000 between 1565 - 72, and included some foreigners. The oprichniks precise role is unclear, partly because it changed over time, and partly because historians have very few contemporary records from which to work. Some commentators call them bodyguards, while others see them as a new, hand-picked, nobility designed to replace the boyars. The oprichniks have even been described as the 'original' Russian secret police, an ancestor of the KGB. (Soviet Era Secret Police)

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• 4. The oprichniki are often described in semi-mythical terms, and it's easy to see why. They dressed in black: black clothes, black horses and black carriages. They used the broom and the dog's head as their symbols, one representing the 'sweeping away' of traitors, and the other 'snapping at the heels' of their enemies; it is possible that some oprichniks carried actual brooms and severed dogs heads. Answerable only to Ivan and their own commanders, these individuals had free run of the country, oprichnina and zemschina, and a prerogative to remove traitors. Although they sometimes used false charges and forged documents, as in the case of Prince Staritsky who was executed after his cook 'confessed', this was normally unnecessary.

The Nazgûl (The The Black Riders Lord of the Rings Tolkein may have gotten the idea from the

Oprichnina

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• 5. Having created a climate of fear and murder, the oprichniki could just exploit the human propensity to 'inform' on enemies; besides, this black clad corps could kill anyone they wished.

• The stories associated with the oprichniks range from the grotesque and outlandish, to the equally grotesque and factual. People were impaled and mutilated, while whipping, torture and rapes were common. The Oprichniki Palace features in many tales: Ivan built this in Moscow, and the dungeons were supposedly full of prisoners, of which at least twenty were tortured to death everyday in front of the laughing Tsar.

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• 6. The actual height of this terror is well documented. In 1570 Ivan and his men attacked the city of Novgorod, which the Tsar believed was planning to ally with Lithuania. Using forged documents as a pretext, thousands were hanged, drowned or deported, while the buildings and countryside were plundered and destroyed. Estimates of the death toll vary between 15,000 and 60,000 people. A similar, but less brutal, sacking of Pskov followed this, as did the execution of zemschina (any area outside of the control of the oprichnina) officials in Moscow.

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• 7. Ivan alternated between periods of savagery and piety, often sending great memorial payments and treasure to monasteries. During one such period the Tsar endowed a new monastic order, which was to draw its brothers from the oprichniks. Although this foundation did not turn the oprichniki into a corrupted church of sadistic monks (as some accounts might claim), it did became an instrument interwoven in both church and state, further blurring the organization's role. The oprichniks also acquired a reputation in the rest of Europe: Prince Kurbsky, who had fled Muscovy in 1564, described them as “…children of darkness...hundreds and thousands of times worse than hangmen." (Bonney, The European Dynastic States, Oxford, 1991, pg. 277).

Andrey Mikhailovich Kurbsky was an intimate friend and then a leading political opponent of the Russian tsar

One of Ivan's advisors, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, defected to the Lithuanians, headed the Lithuanian troops and devastated the Russian region of Velikiye Luki. This treachery deeply hurt Ivan.

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• 8. Like most organizations that rule through terror, the oprichniki also began to cannibalize itself. Internal quarrels and rivalries led many oprichniki leaders to accuse each other of treason, and increasing numbers of zemschina officials were drafted in as replacements. Leading Muscovite families attempted to join, seeking protection through membership. Perhaps crucially, the oprichniki did not act in a pure orgy of bloodshed; they achieved motives and aims in a calculating and cruel manner making them, for a time, an effective instrument of Ivan’s autocratic state.

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IV. Continued

• 7. encouraged art and learning and establishes link between Moscow and the west-England & Holland in particular

–When he died in 1584 he left no suitable heir. He had killed his eldest of three sons in a fit of rage, his middle son was feeble-minded, and his youngest son was still a baby. As a result 25 years after Ivan’s death Muscovy was in chaos ushering in Russia’s “Time of Troubles.”

. In 1581 an enraged Ivan struck and killed his eldest son, namesake, and heir to the throne, a scene immortalized by the great 19th-century artist Ilya Repin in his painting Ivan the Terrible and the Death of His Son.

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Essay Questions Chapter 23Pick one of the possible essay questions to

prepare for tomorrow’s test

• 1. Explain how the Eastern Orthodox Church became the official church of the Kievan Rus state.

• 2. Relate in an essay what Ivan the Terrible did to earn his nickname and explain why, despite his failings, many Muscovites thought Ivan the Terrible was a great ruler?

• 3. What do you think are the drawbacks of the slash-and-burn farming techniques used by the Eastern Slavs living near the Volga in the early 600s?