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Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 1st
Edition Chattopadhyay & Banerjee Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Chattopadhyay & Banerjee
ISBN(s): 9788120336087, 8120336089
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 86.26 MB
Year: 2009
Language: english
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 BALTIC PROVINCES

To understand the difficulties of the situation in the north Baltic

region, it will be necessary to describe it somewhat in detail. In the
tenth century the Russian coast on the Baltic belonged to the Polotsk
principality, to Pskoff and to Novgorod. The western part, that which
had the Dvina River for its artery, belonged to the Polotsk princes;
north and east of that were the Pskoff possessions, and last of all
those of Novgorod.

The Polotsk coast was inhabited by tribes known collectively as Kors

and Livs. Later on, their territory was called by the Germans Korland
and Livland. The part belonging to Pskoff was occupied by Chud, or
Fin tribes. The Russians gave no collective name to these regions,
but called each group by its own name; a good proof that they were
left in great part to themselves.

Though all those tribes paid tribute to Pskoff, Polotsk or Novgorod,

they were not disturbed in their mode of living. During almost a
century and a half the Russian princes built no forts or strongholds in
that country. From Polotsk to the sea there were but few places.
Gersiké and Kuikenos were the capitals of those lands which
belonged to Polotsk. At the beginning of the eleventh century, the
Polotsk region was ruled by Prince Vsevolod, whose wife was a
Lithuanian. In Kuikenos was Prince Vyacheslav. The country was left
mainly to the care of its inhabitants. They paid tribute and kept
landing-places and portages. After the manner of primitive people,
they had many disputes among themselves, but in those disputes
the Russian princes meddled little; their main interest was to receive
tribute, and have an open road to the sea. Christianity was spreading
gradually, though no great effort was made to change the primitive
religion.

At the beginning of the twelfth century, Bremen merchants [207]visited

the Baltic coast of Russia and established small landing-places and
villages. One of these was called Dalen, another Holm, a third Ikskul.
The latter was on the Dvina about twenty-five miles from its mouth,
and was simply the native village of Ikeskola; here the Germans built
a small fort with a warehouse. They knew well that this coast
belonged to Russia, and was a part of the Polotsk principality, and
their thought was how to get possession of it.

To Vladimir, Prince of Polotsk, came one day a man of God, an old

monk, Meinhardt by name. He had, he said, devoted all his life to
God, and, being in the Polotsk country, wished to work for God there.
He thought it his duty to bow down before Vladimir, who held all that
region of the Dvina, and to beg permission to preach the word of
God among the pagan tribes of the Baltic coast. Vladimir received
him kindly and gave the desired permission.

Ten years passed. Suddenly it was announced throughout the

Polotsk principality that the Kors and Livs were attacking the
Germans. In the course of those ten years wonderful things had
happened. When the monk Meinhardt went from Prince Vladimir to
Ikeskola with a greeting from the prince, the people listened to his
words willingly; he was himself astonished at the success of his
preaching. His flock increased rapidly. People came from far and
near to be baptized; they came by families and then by whole
villages. He built a church in Ikeskola and one also in Holm.

But, strangely enough, this monk knew how to build fortresses.

Besides being a spiritual leader, he was a warrior of much skill.
During his first winter in the country, 1186–1187, Ikeskola was
attacked by a neighboring tribe. Meinhardt armed his spiritual
children with clubs and axes, and set out against the enemy. He
made an ambush and gained a great victory. After that, conversion
went on still more rapidly. The monk meanwhile persuaded the
people to build a stone fortress. He brought in German masons and
mechanics, and the following summer he built two large castles with
towers, in fact regular fortresses, at Ikeskola and Holm.

Besides merchants and mechanics, warriors began to appear in the

country, and Meinhardt invited in Latin monks to assist [208]him in his
spiritual labors. He sent one of these monks, Dietrich, to convert
people in the neighborhood of Aa River. This man was acquainted
with medicinal plants and could heal the sick; but he was greatly
disliked. The people were suspicious of him. Finally he was seized
and condemned to be burned alive, but his life was spared through
soothsaying. Before burning him, the people placed a spear on the
ground and led a horse up to it; the horse crossed it with the “foot of
life.” The people would not believe, they demanded a second trial;
the result was the same. They freed the monk, and thereafter
Meinhardt kept him near his person,—not as a preacher, but as an
adviser.

Of the most important elders of his church, Meinhardt formed a

body-guard. Among those men he chose certain ones who were to
act as spies and inform him of every secret. These he distinguished
above others, and rewarded. He sent them to persuade the people,
and by degrees the most stubborn yielded.

Meanwhile German commerce flourished. From Holm, or Kirchholm,

as Meinhardt called the place after his church was built, and Ikeskola
new villages were founded. Taking the name of the Livs, the whole
country was now called by the Latinized term Livonia, and the
churches were mentioned as “the Church of Livonia.” It might seem
that this work was one that could never be undone. But all at once
there was a tempest—a wild revolt throughout the whole country. A
thing unheard of, a spectacle unique in Christianity was presented to
the eyes of the “Apostle of Livonia,” as disciples called Meinhardt,
when those same people who had received baptism from him sprang
into the Dvina, washed themselves clean of his apostolic touch,
dived in the water “to purify their persons.” “Behold!” shouted they to
him. “We have cleansed ourselves from German baptism.” And
looking at the waves of the river rushing toward the sea, they added:
“Be off from us, far away. Go to the place whence thou hast come.”
In this manner the whole country gave back its baptism to the
German monk.

Meinhardt began to threaten. He would sail away; he would find a

legion of defenders of Christ and bring them back on countless
ships. Then they would see how God punished apostates, they
would see the awful power of Christ’s vicar on earth, by whom he,
Meinhardt, had been deputed. This threat alarmed the people;
[209]they became tearful and begged him not to leave them. Instead
of going himself, he sent Dietrich.

Why did the people rise? “Because they differed little from beasts,
were wild and rude. There had been great religious excitement, and
this uprising was simply a reaction.” This is the explanation of certain
historians, but a further statement should be added: The monk had
begun to enforce obedience to the Archbishop of Bremen, and to
demand tithes for “the church.” The “Apostle of Livonia” was a
faithful servant of the Archbishop of Bremen. He was made Bishop
of Livonia in subjection to Bremen in 1188, and died in 1196.

The monk Berthold, an abbot of the Cistercian Order, appointed to fill

Meinhardt’s place, heard that the people were considering whether
to burn him in the church or drown him in the river. He shut himself
up in Kirchholm, but he had warriors clad in steel from head to foot,
with heavy swords at their sides, and sitting on mighty horses, such
as the people had never seen till that day. These were the “Knights.”
People sent to ask why this man of God had brought those warriors
into the country. “To punish apostates,” was the answer.

The bishop now prepared for a serious uprising. He left Holm and
encamped at the mouth of the river Rigje. People began to gather
from far and near, crowds of half-naked men, armed with sharp
sticks, clubs and axes. The more they increased, crowd after crowd,
the more they gathered courage. The knights let the natives
assemble in the greatest possible number—they did not hasten to
begin the battle, but when at last they did rush forward, they had not
long to struggle for victory. It was impossible to stop the onrush of
the conquerors. The bishop, Berthold, in pursuing the people, was
carried away by excitement. He lost control of his spirited horse and
became separated from his men. The Livs immediately surrounded
him, and chopped him into small bits.

The triumph on the German side was complete, and they made a
terrible use of it. It might be said that the warriors of the cross
became executioners. The people begged for mercy, and promised
to submit to baptism again, and to receive into the villages the
priests who had been driven out. But in vain did they plead. All were
sentenced to death. Separate divisions of knights passed
[210]through the country, and in every village dealt out dreadful
punishment to “apostates.”

The youthful Livonian church was thus reëstablished. Then the

Western crusaders, considering their holy work finished, and their
sins absolved, reëmbarked and sailed away home. But all at once,
and most unexpectedly, there was a new outburst of rage and
indignation through the whole country. The natives rushed at the “vile
strangers,” killing or beating them, and looting their homes. They
intended to act in like manner with all foreigners, but the merchants
gave them great presents, and bought their good-will. Those who
had been re-baptized sprang a second time into the river, and a
second time washed themselves clean of the German religion.

When this news reached Bremen and Rome, they decided to delay
no longer, but acquire Livonia in permanence. To do this they
needed a military brotherhood warring for Christ.

The Germans appeared now in a triple character: as a military order

to strike down opposition; as merchants to extend trade; as a church
to bring all to the faith. As their leader stood forth Albert von
Apeldern Bukshevden, and to aid in subjecting Livonia the Pope
gave him permission to found a new knightly order, the members of
which would spend their lives in extending the Livonian church.
Albert visited the chief German cities, enlisted knights, and collected
contributions for his great “patriotic work.” His knights wore a white
mantle on which was a red cross and a red sword. In Russia they
were called “Bearers of the Sword.” They took the name willingly,
and called themselves “Brothers of the Sword.”

Albert’s first work was to build a fortress at the mouth of the river,
and then began the city of Riga at the village Rigje. In two years
there was a fortress and a cathedral. The people received him
unwillingly. Being a keen politician, he opened negotiations with the
natives, and, when their elders went to him to conclude peace, he
seized them and threatened to send them to Germany. This threat
brought the elders to terms, and Albert obtained of their sons thirty
as hostages. These were sent to Bremen to be educated.

Soon a dispute arose between Albert, the sovereign Bishop of

Livonia, and the Order, which wished on its part to rule the
conquered [211]country. It was finally settled by the Pope, who divided
the land into three parts. One third was to go to the bishop; one third
to the metropolitan of the city of Riga, and one third to the Order. But
the Order would not live in the same city with the bishop, so they
erected a castle,—Wenden. This castle and the city which grew up
around it became the capital of the Order. Here lived the “Grand
Master,” as the Germans entitled him. In every direction castles of
barons and knights sprang up like mushrooms. In proportion as the
people were conquered and converted, they were turned into slaves
and forced to build strongholds for their masters. The material
reward for saving souls was all the land and all the people.

Albert put to death unsparingly those who refused to be baptized. In

villages where the people tried to free themselves of their enslavers,
the Germans killed whole crowds of prisoners—in some cases the
entire male population—and consumed the village with fire. In other
places, where they went into servitude meekly, they were taken on
campaigns against regions not yet subjected. The bishop favored
quarrels between tribes, and by skilful management used one tribe
to subdue another. Thus also did he rouse tribes against Russia;
inspire them not to pay tribute to Pskoff or Novgorod, and promise to
liberate them with German assistance. He even helped them in their
raids against the Russians.

Why did Polotsk princes permit intruders to seize their ancient

possessions? Were no efforts made to drive them out? There were.
Prince Vsevolod, assisted by Lithuanians, advanced to attack Riga,
but when he saw from a distance the tower and walls of the city he
turned back. Afterward Vladimir went from Polotsk to Ikeskola. The
Germans, taken by surprise, carried out gifts to him, and he left
without interfering with the city. He went to Holm, but that city could
not be taken by surprise. Reinforcements hurried up from Riga, and
Vladimir left, merely taking tribute. Albert, the wily bishop, expressed
no astonishment that the Polotsk prince had come. On the contrary,
he explained that the tribute paid by the tribes to Polotsk was in his
eyes a sacred matter. In the future, he would himself undertake to
forward it to Polotsk. Vladimir discovered that his rights had not been
assailed and would not be. As to the Germans baptizing the Kors,
[212]Livs and Chuds, it was done by his permission given to
Meinhardt.

In 1206, Albert, now archbishop, felt the need of further

explanations, hence he sent an embassy to Vladimir. At that time a
general uprising was feared. One of the elders, Ako, was rousing the
whole country against the German intruders. It was reported that the
Polotsk prince was coming to assist the oppressed people. In fact
many elders of the tribes had begged Vladimir to aid them. There
was a great movement in Polotsk, and the prince was making ready
for a campaign, when the embassy arrived. At the head of the
embassy was Theodoric, with gifts and pleasant words. Vladimir
decided to receive the envoys, but only in presence of the elders,
who had come with complaints against the archbishop. The
reception, which began with gifts, came near ending in a hand to
hand encounter. When Vladimir asked why they came, the abbot
answered, “To strengthen peace and friendship.” The elders, on
hearing this statement, raised such a terrible outcry that the prince
hastened to end the reception, requesting the envoys to await his
decision.

Theodoric immediately sent a letter of warning to Albert, and Riga

began at once to prepare for defense; the Grand Master and knights
were occupied day and night. Vladimir heard of this, and lost all hope
of seizing Riga by surprise. After consulting with his warriors, he
decided to invite the bishop to Polotsk to examine with him the
complaints made by the elders. He dismissed the Riga embassy,
and with them sent his own embassy. When they reached Kuikenos
the Polotsk embassy stopped; only one member of it went with the
abbot to declare the wish of the prince to Albert.
While the envoys were waiting Albert’s reply, they summoned all who
had complaints to make to meet at Kuikenos. The elders who had
been in Polotsk were already there, and many people came from
both sides of the river. The envoys were waiting impatiently for the
bishop, when he sent this haughty answer to their invitation. “Envoys
do not summon ruling personages to whom they are sent, but
appear themselves with obeisance.” The people who had assembled
turned now to the Polotsk envoys, asking what they were to do. The
envoys could give no advice. Thinking there was no further help from
Polotsk, the unfortunate [213]adherents of Ako attacked Holm, where
they were cut down like sheep. A few of the insurgents were left alive
to form a spectacle in Riga, whither they were driven in chains to be
executed. The archbishop had not considered it necessary to be
present at this battle. After mass, while the abbot was still in the
cathedral, a knight brought him Ako’s bloody head as a token of
victory.

The bishop found it needful to visit Europe often. He had to go to

Rome; he had to make explanations to the Bremen archbishop; he
had to see his friend, the Danish king, who was looking for his share
of profit by conversion; he had also to select German colonists and
craftsmen. While he was absent on one of these journeys, the
people rose up to avenge Ako. They went again to Vladimir, who
consulted with his warriors. “Delay not,” said they; “the blood of
these people will fall on us.” A campaign was decided upon, but the
new campaign was more unsuccessful than the first and brought
more woe on the ill-fated people. Vladimir found Riga strongly
fortified. He tried to take Holm, but failed. Suddenly news came from
Riga that a great fleet was approaching. When Vladimir heard of this,
he withdrew from Holm. The fleet was that of the Danish king, who
had stopped at Riga, but only to sail farther. Vladimir, by his
weakness, had again brought destruction on the people. The
conversion of the Kors and Livs was now completed to the remotest
corner of the country. All begged for mercy, all promised to accept
baptism and the priests. The kind and faithful pastor pacified his
bishopric, until no dissenting voice was heard.

The bishop raised no question with Vladimir. He acted as though no

attack had been made. But he opened negotiations on another
subject. He pointed out that the Lithuanians were robbers, and
quarrelsome, and proposed an alliance between himself and
Vladimir. In 1210 he sent an envoy, Rudolph, to Polotsk on this
business. In Polotsk they failed, it seems, to understand that the
alliance was not so precious to Albert as the recognition by treaty
that the two contracting parties had equal rights to carry on and
conclude such a treaty, a recognition, as it were, of his own
sovereignty. On one side it was arranged that the Livs should pay
the Polotsk prince an annual tribute, or the Riga archbishop would
pay it for them; on the other side, Vladimir [214]permitted free trade
on the Dvina River. Thus did Albert settle with the capital city of
Polotsk, and with its ruling prince.

As for the petty princes of Gersiké and Kuikenos, they were treated
more unceremoniously. Wenden Castle stood on the high bank of
the river Aa, and commanded the whole region. This castle was the
residence of the Grand Master. Vyachko, Prince of Kuikenos, the
unfortunate neighbor of such barons and counts, did not deceive
himself. He knew that his fate was an evil one. The knight, Von
Lenewerden, broke into Kuikenos, occupied the place with his men,
declared the inhabitants prisoners, and put Vyachko in irons. On
hearing of this, the archbishop summoned both Vyachko and Von
Lenewerden to Riga, and reconciled them. He restored Vyachko’s
property, and persuaded him, as protection for the future, to have a
German guard in his town. Soon after a band formed of Lithuanians
and Kors, occupied in sea robbery, attacked Riga on a sudden. That
day Riga hardly saved itself. The assailants fought desperately. The
Riga men, wearied almost beyond endurance, considered their
destruction as certain; but aid came unexpectedly, and the assailants
departed. They made a great fire on the seacoast, threw their dead
into it, and sailed away from Riga.

At every report of trouble in Riga, the people of the country were

encouraged to rise against their enslavers. Vyachko now rebelled.
He sent to Vladimir, the Polotsk prince, asking him to take advantage
of the trouble, and of the absence of the archbishop. Meanwhile he
destroyed the garrison brought into his city. When the archbishop
returned and learned of this act of “his assistant,” as he considered
Vyachko, he moved with the whole Order against “the rebel.” They
took everything that could be taken, and then burned the city. Thus
did Vyachko part with Kuikenos, his birthplace. The people escaped
to swamps and forests. Higher up the river was Gersiké. Albert had
long threatened Vsevolod, its petty prince, and accused him of
friendship for Lithuanians, saying that instead of guarding Riga from
Lithuanians, he made it easy for them to cross the Dvina. The
archbishop now thought it important that he should take possession
of Gersiké and thus in the eyes of the Livs become their defender
against Lithuanians. The hostility between these people and the
Lithuanians, who were related to them by race, seemed
unappeasable. [215]

Albert surprised Gersiké. Vsevolod succeeded in crossing the river

and hiding in the forest, but his wife and family were captured;
everything of value was taken, and the town burned. The archbishop
was magnanimous; he sent to Vsevolod, saying that if he wished
peace and his family he must come to Riga. Vsevolod went
immediately. He called Albert father, and asked for his family. “I will
restore them,” said the archbishop, “but art thou willing to give thy
principality forever to the Riga Cathedral?” Vsevolod thought that the
archbishop meant to rob him, but when Albert explained that he
would give his possessions back as a gift to him, with his wife and
children, Vsevolod agreed to everything. Thus did Germans settle
with the petty princes.

Their success with Polotsk was more than incredible.

When the archbishop had concluded his treaty with Vladimir of

Polotsk, he strove to form just such relations with Pskoff and
Novgorod. His policy was diplomatic and cautious. He roused the
tribes subject to Novgorod by the report that the Germans had come
to free them from tribute. But after Pskoff and Novgorod warriors
went through the country beyond Odempe, and even as far as the
sea, all action stopped and the tribes settled back into obedience.

Albert now complained more and more to Pskoff and Novgorod of

robber attacks upon commerce from “unruly” subjects of Russia. He
said that it was indispensable in self-defense to put down Tolova and
Torma. If he could keep the country in his power, he could collect
and send the tribute to Pskoff and Novgorod.

Vladimir, the Pskoff prince, liked Riga and the Germans so well that
he had given his daughter to Dietrich, a brother of Albert, but for this
friendship the Pskoff people dismissed him. He then went to Riga,
where Albert received him gladly, and gave him land.

When Vladimir of Polotsk saw that Pskoff and Novgorod would make
no treaty with the archbishop, he was greatly concerned. He was
uncertain how it was best to act against his insolent neighbor, but at
last he decided to write to him touching various questions. Albert
replied that he had nothing against a friendly meeting, but where
could they meet? He could not expect the Polotsk prince to come to
him, nor could he go to Polotsk. Kuikenos [216]now belonged to the
lands of the Order. There still remained ruined Gersiké. And in that
city, in 1213, they had a notable meeting.
The Prince of Polotsk had much to discuss with the master of
Livonia. Albert, however, would not touch upon anything that
Vladimir really wanted, and turned stubbornly to the question of how
they were to act toward a common enemy. He proposed that they act
as allies, and pointed out the great good to come from this
coöperation. He said that the treaty already concluded was too
narrow; it required broadening. Vladimir was a simple man and
expressed his thought to the wily archbishop with artless words. On
a sudden he said to him: “Wilt thou at last stop baptizing my Kors
and Livs; wilt thou leave my people in peace? They are mine
absolutely, not thine. If I wish to baptize them, I will do so, if not let
them remain unbaptized.” The archbishop was astounded. Appealing
to the command of God: “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing
them,” he asked the Polotsk prince which command should be
honored, that of God, or of man. The simple and good-natured
Vladimir replied: “That of God,” and said no more about baptism.

“Tribute is another thing,” continued Albert. “God himself established

that all who are under authority shall pay tribute to their rulers.
Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s.” Recently this
tribute had been stopped, but the archbishop declared that he was
not to blame. The Livonians were now begging him to free them from
the yoke of Russia. This was not pleasant for Vladimir to hear. He
began with angry words to threaten. He would burn Riga; he would
not let his land be trampled by foreign intruders; he would level their
cities to the earth. The meeting came very near ending in a battle,
and nothing was accomplished.

After Vladimir’s return to Polotsk, he grew very sad. His warriors said
not a word, but he heard the reproach: “Think what thou hast done in
giving the Germans such power. What answer canst thou render to
God for their crimes?” The people were silent, but the prince saw
that they were thinking day and night of how they could avoid falling
into the power of the foreigner. In this sorrow Vladimir continued, till
at last every one was roused and made happy by the great success
of Novgorod. [217]

About the time that Mystislav the Gallant came back to Novgorod in
1214, the insolence of the tribes incited by the archbishop had
become unendurable. Mystislav at once led his warriors into that
country, and went twice from side to side through the whole region.
When he had finished the people bowed down to him, and began as
before to send tribute to Novgorod. In 1216 Mystislav left Novgorod,
but an example had been given, and Vladimir of Polotsk recovered
his courage. Soon there was at Polotsk an immense congregation of
warriors,—many Russians and a multitude of Livs. The army was
ready to move, but as Vladimir was about to embark he stumbled in
stepping from the shore to the boat, fell into the water, and died
suddenly. That ended the expedition.

Saved from Polotsk, the knights did not escape defeat from
Novgorod. They had subjected again the places won by Mystislav,
but Novgorod recovered them.

With the death of Vladimir of Polotsk, that principality ceased, as one

might say, to exist. In that region Russians and Lithuanians had so
assimilated that they were difficult to distinguish.

Vladimir was without a successor. After his death, where the German
domain ended, the Lithuanian began. There was now an
independent Livonia, and the Germans were seeking to include that
region where they had built the castle of Fellin, a region which the
Danes admired as the Revel coast. This was the Estland, or the
Esthonia of Rome.

After Mystislav the Gallant had shaken the power of the Vladimir
principality by the battle of Lipetsk, and vanished forever from
Novgorod, there was an interval of quiet, beginning with 1218, which
greatly favored the Germans in their efforts to obtain Esthonia. But
the Danish king was equally anxious to get possession of this
country, or, according to his biographer, he wanted to purify his
conscience from sin and show his devotion to the Riga Mother of
God; therefore he disembarked on the coast of Livonia a numerous
army.

The Danes and the Riga Germans now did their best to excel each
other at baptizing. Villages and settlements trembled at the
appearance of the “cross-bearers.” Wherever there was a battle the
conquerors became executioners, and in retaliation, whenever a
soldier of the cross fell into the hands of the natives, they burned
[218]him alive as an offering to their god; sometimes they flayed a
cross out of the flesh of his back before burning him.

From the castle of Fellin and along the Revel coast regions, the
country had gibbets thickly planted over it. From dread of the terrible
sword and gibbet of the intruder, the people were anxious for
baptism. The Riga Germans had many priests, the Danes only a
few; but when the Danes lacked priests they used lay baptism. They
collected the people in a crowd, and baptized them all together. It
happened frequently that when the German knights came, people
fell on their knees and cried: “We are baptized already.” There were
cases where the two crowds of missionaries met, and one took its
converts from the other by force of arms. The hatred of the baptizers
for each other became so great that the archbishop went to Rome to
complain of the Danes, but he found there envoys from the Danish
king on a similar errand. The Pope confirmed the Revel coast to the
Danish king; afterward, however, the whole land went to Riga.

The Kors and Livs had not been able to save themselves under the
protection of Polotsk, neither were these tribes protected by
Novgorod. In five or six years, that is between 1218 and 1224, their
evil fate was settled. During that period princes changed several
times in Novgorod; and the Pskoff men gravely considered in their
meetings the question of making an alliance with Riga. Complaint
against Novgorod was general. “Our Novgorod brothers,” said they,
“come to take tribute of rebellious tribes and then go home quickly;
when they are gone we suffer doubly on their account. A bad peace
with Germans is better than such brotherly assistance.”

At this period Lithuanians were troubled greatly by refugees of their

own stock, who had been driven out of Prussia. These people, urged
by the Livonian knights, made raids against Novgorod. Warring
continually with its new enemy, Novgorod was not able to properly
defend its possessions on the coast, and so asked aid of Yuri of
Vladimir. Yuri sent Sviatoslav, his brother, with troops. There was a
battle at Wenden, the knights were defeated, and the castle was
besieged, but the Grand Master succeeded in bringing in
reinforcements, and the Russians, satisfied with their booty,
withdrew.

The Letts, who were obedient to the Germans and under their
[219]lead, now threatened Pskoff. The whole country about there,
called Esthonia by the Germans, consisted of warring fragments now
under German, and now under Russian command. Odempe,
Izborsk, and Yurieff passed from hand to hand. The people suffered
from the Russians because they yielded to the Germans, and from
the Germans because they went back to the Russians. It would be
impossible to count all the campaigns and raids of that troubled time.

The archbishop was hated for his cruelty. Populations whom he

came to convert were filled with terror by his presence; they
submitted to baptism, but they washed it away quickly when he was
gone.
To their assistance came the Novgorod prince, Yaroslav, son of Big
Nest. When on his way to Riga, envoys came to him from the Sea-
Fins, from the island of Izel, and begged him to defend them from
the Danes. The country from Izborsk and Yurieff toward Fellin
seemed free of the enemy. It remained to drive the Danes from the
Revel coast, strengthen Revel and build a stone fortress there.
When Yaroslav approached Fellin, a fearful sight met his eyes;
traces of the terrible knights were everywhere; villages had been
burned; in places the earth was red with blood; there were gibbets
with bodies swinging from them. The knights had retaken Fellin, and
the Russian garrison had been slaughtered. Yaroslav and his forces
went through the country to the sea, approached Kolivan and
besieged the castle of Revel for nearly a month. The Danes
defended the place valiantly. At that stage, Yaroslav took counsel of
the Novgorod men, and decided to abandon the siege for a large
tribute in gold. The Pskoff people considered this ending of the
campaign inglorious, and blamed their “brothers of Novgorod” for
their selfish conduct. But even this campaign did not shake the faith
of the people in their Russian defenders.

Yurieff and the country around struggled against the knights till
completely exhausted. While waiting for promised reinforcements
from Novgorod, a few Russian champions and native people fought
with the whole force of Livonian knights. This party of brave men was
led by the most insignificant prince of all Russia, that Prince
Vyachko, from whom the archbishop had taken his native place,
Kuikenos. His name, however, had [220]acquired great notoriety
among the Germans, for he was their most irreconcilable enemy.
From Kuikenos, Vyachko had gone to Yurieff, and there he gave the
Germans no peace. He strengthened the place, and made savage
raids on all sides. At last the archbishop decided, cost what it might,
to take Yurieff, that hateful den where all the “malefactors and
traitors” had assembled, as well as many of the bitterest enemies of
the church in Livonia, and where they were commanded by that
prince who, from the beginning, had been the root of all evil.

The archbishop himself took part in this campaign, bringing with him
a multitude of knights from various parts of Germany. The Knights of
Livonia assisted with all their strength. The place was surrounded
and besieged. In addition to the usual engines of war, the Germans
had a movable tower as high as the walls of the city. Under cover of
this tower, they began to dig a tunnel. Meanwhile they entered into
negotiations with Vyachko, offering him a free escape with all the
Russians, horses and arms, if he would surrender the fortress and
with it the natives who had found shelter within its walls. Vyachko
gave an answer which the archbishop called shameless and
insolent, and in Russian style.

After the refusal of terms, the siege continued with redoubled force.
The knights complained of the great loss inflicted upon them by the
garrison of the fortress, which day after day, made desperate sallies.
At last, fearing that relief might come to the besieged, the Germans
determined to storm the place. Next morning at daybreak, a fierce
assault was made, but it was repulsed. Later on the besieged made
an opening in the wall just opposite the tower, and hurled out blazing
stuff to burn down the structure. The besiegers rushed to extinguish
the fire, and in the general excitement and uproar certain knights
made their way through the opening in the wall. Once inside, they
spared no one; a terrible struggle ensued. Meanwhile the place was
fired by its defenders, who had sworn to perish to the last man in
case of defeat. The Germans captured but one man, who later on
was sent to Novgorod, with a message that Yurieff was taken.

When this messenger arrived, and announced that help was not
needed, that all had perished, there was great sadness in the city, for
the warriors were on the eve of marching to relieve the besieged.
[221]

Not long after this, Pskoff, still fighting with Novgorod, made a
friendly alliance and treaty with Riga. This happened when Novgorod
men were continually sending away Prince Yaroslav and recalling
him. It is not to be wondered at that while there was such internal
dissension and disagreement between Novgorod men themselves,
and between Novgorod and Pskoff, the Germans succeeded in
Esthonia. Whatever the peace terms were between Pskoff and Riga,
the Germans had become an acknowledged and independent power
on the Baltic coast of Russia.

Yaroslav, about this time, went to Pereyaslavl on the Alta, and Yuri of
Vladimir, who had married the daughter of Chermny, gave Novgorod
to his brother-in-law, Michael. Thereupon Yaroslav, opposing Yuri,
drove Michael from Novgorod, and conquered Chernigoff.

Remembering how he had been driven from Pereyaslavl by

Chermny, Yaroslav occupied that region which once had belonged to
him. Remembering also how on a time he had been invited to reign
in Galitch, he extended his views beyond Kief to Carpathian Russia.
But a slight failure in the South caused him to return to Pereyaslavl
Beyond the Forest, not taking his eye for a moment, however, from
Novgorod. Working now against Yuri, he strove to incite him to
quarrel with his nephews, Vassilko and Vsevolod, sons of
Constantine, the first of whom was Prince of Rostoff, the second
Prince of Yaroslav on the Volga.

Ten years had passed since the death of Big Nest in 1212,—years
filled with strife, disorder and conflict. A second ten years had begun.
That which had troubled Russia in the past threatened in the future,
with the end not in sight. And so it continued until a thunderbolt fell,
as it were from the sky, “a punishment for the sins of many
generations, and for all the injustice and lawlessness committed from
one generation to another. The anger which was preparing on high,”
as the chronicler says, “and was delayed by the long suffering of
God, burst forth at last.”

And now comes the period of vast and radical changes in Russia.

These changes were caused indirectly by the Polovtsi in 1224, who,

fearing greatly the dauntless Mongols, who were attacking them,
appealed to the Christian princes. “They have seized our country,”
said the Polovtsi. “To-morrow they will seize yours.” Mystislav the
Gallant, taking advantage of this opportunity to [222]crush a possible
future enemy, persuaded other princes of Southern Russia to join
him in aiding the Polovtsi. Basti, Khan of these idolatrous Polovtsi,
embraced Orthodoxy to cement the alliance with the Russians, and
the army moved forward without delay. Upon reaching the lower
Dnieper, the Russians, under Mystislav the Gallant, Daniel, Prince of
Volynia, Mystislav, Grand Prince of Kief, Oleg of Kursk, Mystislav of
Chernigoff, Vladimir of Smolensk, and Vsevolod, for a short time
Prince of Novgorod, were met by envoys from the Mongols, who
tried to persuade them to abandon the cause of the Polovtsi, saying:
“The Mongols have nothing against the Russians. It is the pagans
whom we wish to destroy. We are as the Russians in that we worship
the one God. Profit by our offer, and avenge yourselves upon the
enemy who has warred against you in the past.” The envoys were
seized and put to death immediately, and the Russians continued
their march.

At the Kalka, a small stream flowing into the Sea of Azoff, they
encountered the Mongol forces, led by two great commanders,
Subotai and Chepé. Mystislav the Gallant, Daniel of Volynia, and
Oleg of Kursk, wishing to win for themselves all the glory of the
victory, rushed forward without the aid of the Prince of Kief, and even
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