Novgorod

“ With a grateful farewell to our kind guide, whose rather severe duties for our sake were now over, we moved away from the station, past heaps of cotton-bales, past hills of drifting sand, and impassive groups of Persians, Tartars, and Bukharians, and slowly mounted the long grade to the level of the upland, leaving the Fair to hum and whirl in the hollow between the rivers, and the white walls and golden domes of Novgorod to grow dim on the crest of the receding hill. ”

“ Below you spreads the deep and difficult marsh; and on the crests of a second ridge of land springs up a forest of spires and battlements, rich in all radiant hues; red walls, white towers, green domes, and golden pinnacles; here the kremlin and cathedral, there the city gate and bridge; and yonder, across the stream, the trading town, the bazar, and Yaroslav's Tower; the long and picturesque line of Novgorod the Great.
A bell of singular sweetness soothes the senses like a spell. At one stall you drink tea; no stronger liquor being sold at the convent gate. At a second stall you buy candles ”

“ Nothing harmed Novgorod more than a quarrel with Vladimir, whose prince could stop grain from reaching the city and surrounding country, and arrest Novgorod merchants wherever he found them in his own territory. But this was not sufficient to change the quarrelsome disposition of Novgorod, where factions fought with one another continually. When a posadnik displeased them, they beat him, or hurled the man from the bridge to the river. Big Nest did not interfere with their freedom. On the contrary he apparently commended it. “Love him who seems good to you, but execute bad men,” said he. ”

“ In the south, on the contrary, lay the great imperial city of Kief, the capital of the realm, and the seat of a government as arbitrary as that of Novgorod was free. Here dwelt the grand prince as an irresponsible autocrat, making his will the law, and forcing all the provinces, even haughty Novgorod, to pay a tax which bore the slavish title of tribute. Here none could vote, no assembly of citizens ever met, and the only restraint on the prince was that of his warlike and turbulent nobles, who often forced him to yield to their wishes. The government was a drifting rather than a settled one. ”

“ Novgorod claimed that northern region, claimed all of it. Wherever a foot of land presented itself Novgorod wanted that to be the land of a man in its service. This proud understanding of things was expressed by the phrase: “Who can stand against God and Lord Novgorod?” But into those northern places had entered Rostoff and Suzdal, and now they were dealing with Andrei of Vladimir.
From times before Rurik, Novgorod men had the wish for dominion, but they could not have this unless they could find a man to keep order, and be at the same time their servant. ”

“ We wish the same government in Novgorod as in Moscow.” The envoys departed. December 7 the archbishop came with the same envoys and five other men. They begged that the Grand Prince’s lieutenant should judge with the posadnik. They proposed an annual tax of half a silver grieven for each plow. “Let the Grand Prince rule the dependent cities of Novgorod through lieutenants; but not remove men from Novgorod territory, or take the lands of boyars, and not summon men from Novgorod to Moscow, or make them serve in the Lower Country.” ”

“ No fancy can take in the fact; for Novgorod is one of the largest cities in Europe, a republic older than Florence, a capital larger than London, a shrine more sacred than Kief. Her walls measure fifty miles, her houses contain eight hundred thousand souls. Yet Ivan has doomed her to the dust. Telling off ten thousand gunners of his guard, and thirty thousand Tartars from the steppe, he gives up the republic to their lust, bidding them sack and burn, and spare neither man nor maid. They rush upon the gates; they scale the wall; they seize the bridge, the Kremlin, the cathedral ”

“ We arrived at our wharf on the Volga front of the old town of Nizhni Novgorod about five o'clock in the afternoon. Above us rose the steep green hills on whose crest stood the Kremlin, containing several ancient churches, the governor's house, and so forth. On a lower terrace, to right and left, stood monasteries and churches intermingled with shops and mediocre dwellings. The only noteworthy church was that in front of us, with its picturesque but un-Russian rococo plaster decoration on red brick, crowned by genuine Russian domes and crosses of elaborately beautiful patterns. ”

“ Communicating freely with remote districts by aid of its railway and two fine waterways, protected against catastrophes of inundations by its elevated position, against the misfortune of poverty by its extensive commerce, and against the calamity of decadence by its important annual fair, Novgorod is one of the most agreeable cities in Russia to visit, because, contrary to what one generally meets with in this vast empire, everything here has an air of gaiety, of busy prosperity, and lively movement. ”

“ From those seats they cannot have defended, or raised taxes from, much of Russia, but when Sineus and Truvor died Rurik went to settle in Novgorod. That city, about a hundred and twenty miles south of Petrograd, was the chief town in the northern part of the route from north to south. Rurik seems to have built a stone fort overlooking the timber settlement and been content with a kind of tribute for his military services. Novgorod remained until centuries afterwards a jealously democratic community. ”

“ Novgorod was a commercial city—its life was in its trade with the Orient and the Greek Empire, and like the Italian cities, its politics were swayed by economic interests. Those in trade with the East through the Volga desired a Prince from one of the great families about that Oriental artery in the Southeast; while those whose fortunes depended upon the Greeks preferred one from Kief or the principalities on the Dnieper. ”

“ The Livonian Knights acted as pleased them along the Pskoff borders, and roused subject tribes against Novgorod whenever they found it possible. Soon after the battle with the Swedes, Nevski, as now we may call him, could not agree longer with Novgorod, hence he retired to Pereyaslavl with his wife, his mother, and attendants. The complaints made by Novgorod were those made against all Vladimir princes, namely: “They wish to connect Novgorod lands with their own, and that is impossible. What has gone to the Vladimir prince is his, and what is of Novgorod belongs to Novgorod. ”

“ To some of these Scandinavians the merchants of Novgorod turned for aid against the others. Bands of them had made their way into Russia and settled on the eastern shores of the Baltic. To these the Novgorodians appealed in their trouble, and in the year 862 asked three Varangian brothers, Rurik, Sinaf, and Truvor, to come to their aid. The warlike brothers did so, seated themselves on the frontier of the republic of Novgorod, drove off its foes—and became its foes themselves. ”

“ Afterwards the fair was removed to Nijni Novgorod, on the Volga, and the ancient city became of little consequence except for its historical interest."
"The Slavs founded a town there in the fourth century," said Frank. "About the year 862 the Russian monarchy had its beginning at Novgorod; in 1862 there was a millennial celebration there, and a magnificent monument was erected to commemorate it."
"This is a good place for you to tell us about the early history of Russia," said the Doctor. ”

“ Russia had made a remarkable stride forward as a nation since Rurik was invited to Novgorod a quarter-century before.
For thirty-three years Oleg held the throne. His was too strong a hand to yield its power to his ward. Igor must wait for Oleg's death. He had found a province; he left an empire. In his hands Russia grew into greatness, and from Novgorod to Kief and far and wide to the right and left stretched the lands won by his conquering sword.
He was too great a man to die an ordinary death. ”

“ Novgorodian institutions—Commerce—The national Church—Literature From the fact that no dynasty of princes could establish itself at Novgorod, that no princely band could take a place among the native aristocracy, it follows that the republic kept her ancient liberties and customs intact under the short reigns of her rulers. In all Russian cities, it is true, the country existed side by side with the prince and boyards, the assembly of citizens side by side with the prince's men, and the native militia side by side with the foreign droujina ”

“ The chief interest at this time centers about the Russian republics, Novgorod, Pskof, and Viatka. Although Novgorod did not possess the advantages of Kief, since its soil was sandy, marshy, and unproductive, the enterprise of its people made it the wealthiest and most populous city of Russia. It is recorded that it counted 100,000 inhabitants, when Rurik arrived in Russia. ”

“ Iaroslaf the Great, as a reward for their devotion, accorded them immense privileges, of which no record can be found, but which are constantly invoked by the Novgorodians, as were the true or false charters of Charles the Great by the German cities. These republicans could not exist without a prince, but they rarely kept one long. The assembly of the citizens, the vetché, convoked by the bell in the Court of Iaroslaf, was the real sovereign. The republic called herself “My Lord Novgorod the Great” (Gospodine Velikii Novgorod) . “Who can equal God and the great Novgorod?” ”

“ They let the local Russian princes govern their territories though subject to the supremacy of the "horde," wherever this moving army might be. Novgorod, isolated by its marshes and the barrenness of its neighbourhood, was left almost to itself in virtual independence. ”

“ It was this pride and her great wealth which pointed out Novgorod as a victim for Ivan’s wrath and cupidity, and the manner in which he planned and executed his evil designs on the city shows his diabolical genius at its height. Never has tyrant or despot conceived a more sinister and treacherous plot for the ruin of a great city and for the assassination of its inhabitants. ”

“ The disheartened Slavs of Novgorod came to a momentous decision. They invited these Varangians—as they are called—to come and administer their government. They said: "Our land is great and fruitful, but it lacks order and justice. Come—take possession, and govern us." With the arrival from Sweden of the three Vikings, Rurik and his two brothers Sineus and Truvor, the true history of Russia begins, and the one thousandth anniversary of that event was commemorated at Novgorod in the year 1862. ”

“ Yet these are nothing compared with the treasures of Novgorod the Great. “Men perceive that I am a rich merchant of Novgorod; but my city is far richer than I.”
The Church of this center of medieval freedom, was the close ally, the consort of the free State. The clergy, unlike that of the rest of Russia, were less Russian orthodox than Novgorodians. The Slavs of Ilmen were the last of the people obliged to accept Christianity; but from the twelfth century onward they refused to receive a Greek or a Kievan archbishop. They must have one of their own freemen. ”

“ Why did Novgorod in time of council throw Basok into the river, declaring him a spy from Prince Michael? Why also was Daniel Pistsoff slain?”
Again Michael marched against Novgorod, but this time, though he was not defeated, he suffered greatly. Approaching within fifty versts of the city and discovering that men from Pskoff, Ladoga and other places had come to help Novgorod, he withdrew. While retreating his troops lost their way amid lakes and swamps, and were forced by hunger to eat their own horses and even the rawhide of their shields. Many died of hunger and cold ”

“ Thus at bottom Russia is a field sown thick with little communistic republics, though at top it is a despotism. The government of Novgorod doubtless grew out of that of the village. The republican city has long since passed away, but the seed of democracy remains planted deeply in the village community.
All this is preliminary to the story of the Russian lawgiver and his laws, which we have set out to tell. This famous person was no other than that Yaroslaf, prince of Novgorod, and son of Vladimir the Great, whose refusal to pay tribute had caused his father to die of grief. ”

“ At Torjok he seized Sviatoslav’s boyars and took possession of their property; then he sent the following message to Novgorod: “I bow to Holy Sophia; to the grave of my father, and to all men of Novgorod. I have heard of the violence done by your princes, and I grieve for my inheritance. Do ye wish me to be prince in your city?” The Novgorod men were delighted and sent for him. Sviatoslav they confined in the bishop’s palace with all his attendants, to keep him till “Lord Novgorod” should settle with his father. ”

“ Alone among the cities the ancient Novgorod has boasted its exemption from plunder [at the hands of the Tartars] . The great city, though fallen since the days of Rurik from being the capital of an Empire, had risen to the dignity of a Republic. It had found wealth in trade; and at successive epochs had introduced the riches of Constantinople to the North, the merchandise of the great Hanse Towns to the South. It had profited by the example, and had emulated the prosperity, of the rich cities of Germany. ”

“ Such are the splendid possibilities of travel in these days.
The envoy, who visited Europe for the first time, declared that this panorama from the hill of Novgorod was one of the finest things he had seen. There could, truly, be no better preparation to enjoy it than fifteen hundred miles of nearly unbroken level, after leaving the Russian frontier; but I think it would be a "show" landscape anywhere. Why it is not more widely celebrated I cannot guess. ”