The Empire of Russia: From the Remotest Periods to the Present TimeAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
The Empire of Russia: From the Remotest Periods to the Present Time
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Russia -- History
The Tartars haughtily entered Novgorod. Silence and desolation reigned
through its streets. They went from house to house, extorting, as they
well knew how, treasure which beggared families and ruined the city.
Throughout all Russia the princes were compelled to break down the
walls of their cities and to demolish their fortifications. In the
year 1262, Alexander was alarmed by some indications of displeasure on
the part of the grand khan, and he decided to take an immediate
journey to the Mogol capital with rich presents, there to attempt to
explain away any suspicions which might be entertained. His health was
feeble, and suffered much from the exposures of the journey. He was
detained in the Mogol court in captivity, though treated with much
consideration, for a year. He then returned home, so crushed in health
and spirits, that he died on the 14th of November, 1263. The prince
was buried at Vladimir, and was borne to the grave surrounded by the
tears and lamentations of his subjects. He seems to have died the
death of the righteous, breathing most fervent prayers of penitence
and of love. In the distressing situation in which his country was
placed, he could do nothing but seek to alleviate its woe; and to this
object he devoted all the energies of his life. The name of Alexander
Nevsky is still pronounced in Russia with love and admiration. His
remains, after reposing in the church of Notre Dame, at Vladimir,
until the eighteenth century, were transported, by Peter the Great, to
the banks of the Neva, to give renown to the capital which that
illustrious monarch was rearing there.
Yaroslaf, of Tiver, succeeded almost immediately his father in the
nominal sway of Russia. The new sovereign promised fealty to the
Tartars, and feared no rival while sustained by their swords. His
oppression becoming intolerable, the tocsin was sounded in the streets
of Novgorod, and the whole populace rose in insurrection. The movement
was successful. The favorites and advisers of Yaroslaf were put to
death, and the prince himself was exiled. There is something quite
refreshing in the energetic spirit with which the populace transmitted
their sentence of repudiation to the discomfited prince, blockaded in
his palace. The citizens met in a vast gathering in the church of St.
Nicholas, and sent to him the following act of accusation:
"Why have you seized the mansion of one of our nobles? Why have you
robbed others of their money? Why have you driven from Novgorod
strangers who were living peaceably in the midst of us? Why do your
game-keepers exclude us from the chase, and drive us from our own
fields? It is time to put an end to such violence. Leave us. Go where
you please, but leave us, for we shall choose another prince."
Yaroslaf, terrified and humiliated, sent his son to the public
assembly with the assurance that he was ready to conform to all their
wishes, if they would return to their allegiance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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