From the Rurik Dynasty to the first Romanov

29 Sunday May 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Ukraine

Tags

Boris Godunov, Feodor I of Russia, First Romanov, Last Rurikid, List or Rurikid princes, Michael of Russia, Regency Council, Sergei Prokovief

Viktor Vasnetsov, *The Invitation of the Varangians*: Rurik and his brothers arrive in Staraya Ladoga.

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A Timeline

From Prince Rurik (862) to Michael of Russia, the first Tsar (1613)

862, Kievan Rus’ is founded by the Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik.
1169, Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, and his father sacked Kyiv. Vladimir-Suzdal rose.
1237-1242, Kievan Rus’ was sacked by the Mongols. (See the Mongol Invasion, Wikipedia.)
until 1648, Kievan Rus’ was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1221-1263 Saint Alexander Nevsky negotiated life under the “Tatar Yoke.”
1261-1303 Daniel of Moscow (1261-1303) inherited the Duchy of Moscow.
1354, the fall of Constantinople (the Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottoman Empire)
1480, the end of the “Tatar Yoke.”

1547-1721, the Tsardom of Russia

1654, the Pereiaslav Agreement (independent Ukraine Zaporozhian Host is allied to Russia).
1721-1917, the Russian Empire, following Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa.
1547, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) (b. 1530) declared himself Tsar of all Rus’ or Russias. His claim was validated by a “Chosen Council.”
On 16 November 1581, Ivan the Terrible killed his son, the tsarevitch.
1584-1598, Feodor I of Russia, reigned from 1584 to 1598. He was feeble, intellectually and physically, so a regency council consisting of Boris Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, and Vasili Shuiski was appointed by Ivan IV to reign in his place. He married Boris Godunov’s sister Irina Godunova.
1584-1598, a regency council ruled Russia: Boris Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, Vasili Shuiski
1598-1605, Boris Godunov was the first non-Rurikid tsar. He was elected to the Tsardom by the Zemskiy Sobor.
1605, Fyodor II of Russia ascended the throne upon the death of his father, Boris Godunov. (Son of Boris Godunov and Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya).
1605, False Dmitry I was the Tsar of Russia.
1552-1612, Vasili IV, Tsar of Russia, was the last member of the Rurikid dynasty to reign (Son of Ivan Andreyevich Shuysky).
1612-1613, Fedor Mstislavsky, the leader of the Seven Boyars.
1613-1645, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) was the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613.

1721-1917, the Russian Empire

In 1721, Peter the Great was the first Emperor of all Russias.
1917, the Russian Revolution, and the fall of the House of Romanov.
1991, the collapse of the USSR, or the Soviet Union
1991, an independent Ukraine

*False Dmitry’s Agents Murdering Feodor Godunov and his Mother*, by Konstantin Makovsky (1862), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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The Last Rurikid Princes (by date)

1328-1340, Ivan I, in full Ivan Danilovich, byname Ivan Moneybag, Russian Ivan Kalita, (born 1304?—died March 31, 1340, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow (1328–40). (Son of Daniil of Russia [1263-1303])
1340-1359, Ivan II, in full Ivan Ivanovich, byname Ivan The Red, Russian Ivan Krasny, (born March 30, 1326—died Nov. 13, 1359), grand prince of Moscow and Vladimir. (Son of Ivan I)
1359–1389, Dmitry (II) Donskoy, byname of Dmitry Ivanovich, (born Oct. 12, 1350, Moscow [Russia]—died May 19, 1389, Moscow), prince of Moscow, or Muscovy (1359–1389), and grand prince of Vladimir (1362–1389), who won a victory over the Golden Horde (Mongols who had controlled Russian lands since 1240) at the Battle of Kulikovo (Sept. 8, 1380). (Son of Ivan II).
1439-1425, Vasily I, in full Vasily Dmitriyevich, (born 1371—died February 1425, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1389 to 1425. (Son of Dmitry II)
1425-1462, Vasily II, in full Vasily Vasilyevich, byname Vasily the Blind, Russian Vasily Tyomny, (born 1415—died March 27, 1462, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1425 to 1462. (Son of Vasili I).
(1462-1505) Ivan III also called Ivan the Great or Russian Ivan Veliky, or Ivan Vasilyevich, (born January 22, 1440, Moscow—died October 27, 1505, Moscow) (Son of Vasily II).
(1505-1533), Vasily III, in full Vasily Ivanovich, (born 1479—died December 3, 1533, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533) Self-proclaimed Tsar. (Son of Ivan III).
1547-1584, Ivan the Terrible, also called Ivan IV, Russian Ivan Grozny, byname of Ivan Vasilyevich, (born August 25, 1530, Kolomenskoye, near Moscow [Russia]—died March 18, 1584, Moscow) grand prince of Moscow (Son of Vasily III).
1584-1598, Feodor I of Russia, Feodor Ivanovich, Feodor I (born 31 May 1557, Moscow—died January 17, 1598, Moscow) grand prince of Moscow, reigned from 1584 to 1598. He was feeble, intellectually and physically, so a regency council, appointed by Ivan IV, the Terrible, and consisting of Boris Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, and Vasili Shuiski reigned in his place. Feodor I married Boris’s sister Irina Godunova. (Son of Ivan IV and Anastasia Romanovna).
1584-1598, a regency council ruled Russia: Boris Godunov (leader), Feodor Nikitich Romanov, and Vasili Shuiski (appointed by Ivan IV).
1598-1605, Boris Godunov was the first non-Rurikid tsar and a Tatar. He was elected to the Tsardom by the Zemskiy Sobor, a form of parliament.
1605, Fyodor II of Russia (assassinated) ascended the throne upon the death of his father, Boris Godunov (Son of Boris Godunov and Maria Skuratova-Belskaya [also assassinated])
1605-1606, False Dmitry I was the Tsar of Russia (2 other impersonators). The real Dmitry was the Son of Ivan IV the Terrible and his sixth wife, tsaritsa Maria Nagaya)
1606-1610, Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar (son of Ivan Andreyevich Shuisky) (descendant of princes of Nizhny Novgorod).
1610-1612, Fedor Mstislavsky was the leader of the Seven Boyars.
1613, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) was the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613.

Love to everyone 💕

Sergei Prokofiev’s Chanson Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78: V. The Battle on Ice

Portrait of Ivan IV by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1897 (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

The Rurikid Princes & the Tsardom of Russia

23 Monday May 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Despotism, Russia, Ukraine

≈ Comments Off on The Rurikid Princes & the Tsardom of Russia

Tags

Boris Godunov, Dmitri of Uglich, Feodor, Ivan the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Muscovie, Pereiaslav Agreement, the Rurik Dynasty, the Tsardom of Russia, Vasily II

*Ivan the Terrible meditating at the deathbed of his son* by Vyacheslav Schwarz (1861)

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TIMELINE

862, Kievan Rus’ is founded by the Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik.
1169, Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, and his father sacked Kiev. Vladimir rose.
1237-1242, Kievan Rus’ was sacked by the Mongols. (See the Mongol Invasion, Wikipedia.)
until 1648, Kievan Rus’ was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1221-1263 Saint Alexander Nevsky negotiated life under the “Tatar Yoke.”
1261-1303 Daniel of Moscow (1261-1303) inherited the Duchy of Moscow.
1354, the fall of Constantinople (the Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottoman Empire)
1480, the end of the “Tatar Yoke.”

1547-1721, the Tsardom of Russia
1654, the Pereiaslav Agreement (independent Ukraine Zaporozhian Host is allied to Russia).
1721-1917, the Russian Empire, following Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa.
1547, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) (b. 1530) declared himself Tsar of all Rus’ or Russias. His claim was validated by a “Chosen Council.”
On 16 November 1581, Ivan the Terrible killed his son, the tsarevitch.
1613, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) was the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613.

1648-1709, the Cossack Hetmanates
1648-1709, the independence of Kievan Rus’ from Hetman Bodhan Khmelnytsky (c 1595-1657) to Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1639-2 October 1709)
8 July 1709, the Battle of Poltava (Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under King Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa d. 2 October 1709

1721-1917, the Russian Empire
In 1721, Peter the Great was the first Emperor of all Russias.
1917, the Russian Revolution, and the fall of the House of Romanov.
1991, the collapse of the USSR, or the Soviet Union
1991, an independent Ukraine.

POST

Ukraine: the Pereiaslav Agreement (1654)

Let us step back a little. What happened to Kievan Rus’? It fragmented into principalities before it fell to the Mongols (See Mongol invasion, Wikipedia). Later, it was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1648, Bodhan Khmelnytsky (c 1595-1657), Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, Ukraine, led a successful insurgency that freed the Zaporozhian Host from the suzerainty of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in 1654, Bodhan Khmelnytsky allied the independent Ukraine Zaporozhian Host with the Tsardom of Russia, which would benefit Muscovy. Under the last Rurikid Princes, the prospect of a Tsardom of all Russias dwarfed regionalism and such covenants as the Pereiaslav Agreement. In short, Alexander Nevsky‘s bequest to his son Daniel was not modest. Britannica dates the fall of Kievan Rus’ to the Mongol conquest, despite its brief rise as an independent Ukraine Cossack state and the Pereiaslav Agreement.

The title of grand prince of Kiev lost its importance, and the 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended Kiev’s power.
(See Kievan Rus’, Britannica.)

The Last Rurikid Princes

Ivan IV, the Terrible, was a self-declared Tsar of all Russias. A “Chosen Council” validated his claim to the tsardom. However, by killing his son in a fit of rage, he ended the Rurik Dynasty. His predecessors initiated:

the centralisation of Russia
its independence from Mongol suzerains, and
Rus’ independence from Roman Christianity

To a large extent, all of the above occurred under the rule of Ivan III, the Great, the son of Vasily II. Ivan the Great married a Byzantine Princess, Sophia, the former Zoë. It was a second marriage, and Sophia was a Catholic. This marriage did not prevent the growth of an Eastern Orthodox Tsardom. Ivan III took back land that had been part of Kievan Rus’, but he failed to reconquer Ukraine. Ivan the Great had two sons: Dmitry, by a first marriage, and Vasily, Sophia’s son. Dmitry was crowned, but Ivan III changed his mind. Vasily II, born to Sophia Palaiologina, would succeed him. Dmitry and his mother were jailed for life.

Vassals of the Golden Horde

Before ascending the throne of a principality, a prince needed a patent from the Khan of the Golden Horde. Dmitry (II) Donskoy won the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), which brought him stature. A century later, in 1480, Ivan III ended the Mongol suzerainty. (See The Great Stand on the Ugra River, Wikipedia.) We know from earlier posts that certain khanates remained: the Crimean Khanate, 1441-1783, and the Kazakh Khanate, 1465-1847 are the best examples, but these khanates did not date to the Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus’. (See Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus’ 1237-1242, Wikipedia.) Further annexations would occur, but as of Ivan III, the princes of Rus’ had ceased to be vassals of Mongol khans.

The Centralisation of Russia

As the Duchy of Moscow grew into the Tsardom of Russia, the competition for the principality of Muscovy was fierce: uncles, brothers and impostors could contest the legitimacy of a claim, fiefs, or fiefdoms. The sorry fate of Vasili II (1415-1462), Ivan III’s father, is a testimonial to fratricidal conflicts. Vasily II’s uncle Yury (1434) and his cousins Vasily the Squint-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka (1446–47) laid claim to the throne. Vasily II was arrested and blinded by his cousin Dmitry Shemiyaka (1446). This was extreme cruelty. Despite blindness, Vasily II regained his rightful bequest, and his son, future Ivan III, provided the help blind Vasily II needed.

His son, Vasily III, annexed Pskov in 1510, the appanage of Volokolamsk in 1513, the principalities of Ryazan in 1521, and Novgorod-Seversky in 1522. He also took Smolensk away from Poland. (See Siege of Smolensk, Wikipedia.)

Territorial development between 1300 and 1547
(Grand Duchy of Moscow, Wikipedia)

The Turco-Mongol residual states and domains by the 15^th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tsar Ivan IV admires his sixth wife, Vasilisa Melentyeva, by Grigory Sedov, 1875. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Fall of the Rurikid Dynasty

As the legend goes, Varangian Viking Prince Rurik was invited to rule an East Slavic territory, where he founded Kievan Rus’. Prince Oleg would rule Novgorod, and Kyiv would be the capital. Several princes of the Rurik dynasty conquered and annexed Rus’ land’s territory. However, the principal architect of a centralised Rus’ was Ivan IV, a self-declared Tsar of all Rus’, recognized by a “Chosen Council.” (See Ivan IV, Britannica and Ivan the Terrible, Wikipedia). However, Ivan IV killed Ivanovich, his son and heir, and a Rurikid prince. Besides, Ivan Ivanovich’s mother was a Romanov, Anastasia Romanovna. Feodor I, Ivan IV’s second son with Anastasia Romanovna, would reign. Still, he was “sickly and weak.” (See Feodor I, Tsar of Russia, Wikipedia.)

Ivan IV, or the Terrible, had a third presumptive heir, his son Dmitry, born to a sixth wife. Maria Nagaya was the sixth wife. (See Ivan the Terrible, Wikipedia.) Had the Eastern Orthodox Church and the people of Rus’ recognized Dmitry Ivanovich as the legitimate heir to the Tsardom of Russia, the Rurikid Dynasty may have survived. The Eastern Church did not recognize sons and daughters born to a third or later wife. It violated its canonical laws. (See Canon Law of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Dmitry of Uglich, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

Ivan IV killed his son Ivan Ivanovich in a fit of anger. He was a Rurikid, and Boris Godunov (1557-1605) had witnessed the homicide of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan IV’s profound grief. Ivan had a second son by Anastasia Romanova. Feodor was a prince of the Rurik Dynasty, but, as we have noted, Feodor was frail. Ivan IV appointed a regency council led by Boris Godunov, the witness. A third son Dmitry (1582-1591), born to Maria Nagaya, was sent to his appanage, Uglich, where he died mysteriously at 8 years old. Dmitry may have suffered an epileptic crisis. (See Dmitry of Uglich, Wikipedia.) However, one suspects that Boris Godunov had Dmitry killed so he could reign as Tsar. Dmitry was impersonated. A False Dmitry I reigned briefly. Maria Nagaya had “recognized” him for personal gains. She renounced him. Had the genuine Dmitry ascended the throne, he would have been a prince of the Rurik dynasty, but young Dmitri was sent to Uglich. This is how Boris Godunov cleared his way to the throne, ending the Rurikid dynasty. Boris Godunov was of East Slavic and Tatar descent.

*Tsarevich Dmitry*, by Mikhail Nesterov,

*Boris Godunov Overseeing the Studies of his Son*, painting by N. Nekrasov (19^thcentury) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Boris Godunov is a legendary figure. He was portrayed in Aleksandr Pushkin‘s play Boris Godunov and in an opera by Modest Mussorgsky, also entitled Boris Godunov.

I have not discussed Ivan IV’s oprichnina, a police force that could act with impunity. Nor have I mentioned the Massacre of Novgorod. One pillaged mercilessly. But we have seen that one blinded opponents and killed the rightful heir to the throne in the quest for power. Moreover, we have travelled lightly. There were Tsaritas and interregnums. Ivan IV had two more heirs, but the death of Ivan Ivanovich doomed the Rurik dynasty. Fear of opponents led Ivan IV to surround himself with a force that eliminated accountability. Ivan the Terrible’s oprichnina was a deadly force. They terrorized Rus’. Oprichniki could rape, torture, and kill in the name of power. Another Rurik prince could not ascend the throne.

The entire episode of the oprichnina leaves a bloody imprint on Ivan’s reign, causing some doubts about his mental stability and leaving historians with the impression of a morbidly suspicious and vindictive ruler.
(See Ivan IV, Britannica)

We have another list, and more must be said about Ivan IV. This post will be continued.

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Enlightened Despotism in Russia (1 November 2018)

Daniel of Moscow‘s Descendants: Rurikid Princes

Ivan I, in full Ivan Danilovich, byname Ivan Moneybag, Russian Ivan Kalita, (born 1304?—died March 31, 1340, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow (1328–40). (Son of Michael of Russia)
Ivan II, in full Ivan Ivanovich, byname Ivan The Red, Russian Ivan Krasny, (born March 30, 1326—died Nov. 13, 1359), grand prince of Moscow and Vladimir. (Son of Ivan I)
Dmitry (II) Donskoy, byname of Dmitry Ivanovich, (born Oct. 12, 1350, Moscow [Russia]—died May 19, 1389, Moscow), prince of Moscow, or Muscovy (1359–89), and grand prince of Vladimir (1362–1389), who won a victory over the Golden Horde (Mongols who had controlled Russian lands since 1240) at the Battle of Kulikovo (Sept. 8, 1380). (Son of Ivan II)
Vasily I, in full Vasily Dmitriyevich, (born 1371—died February 1425, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1389 to 1425. (Son of Dmitry II)
Vasily II, in full Vasily Vasilyevich, byname Vasily the Blind, Russian Vasily Tyomny, (born 1415—died March 27, 1462, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1425 to 1462. (Son of Vasili I)
Ivan III also called Ivan the Great or Russian Ivan Veliky, byname of Ivan Vasilyevich, (born January 22, 1440, Moscow—died October 27, 1505, Moscow) (Son of Vasily II)
Vasily III, in full Vasily Ivanovich, (born 1479—died December 3, 1533, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. (Son of Ivan III)
Ivan the Terrible, also called Ivan IV, Russian Ivan Grozny, byname of Ivan Vasilyevich, (born August 25, 1530, Kolomenskoye, near Moscow [Russia]—died March 18, 1584, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow (Son of Vasily III)

—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

Boris Godunov – Coronation scene (Bryn Terfel; The Royal Opera)

The Decline of Kievan Rus’

12 Thursday May 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Ukraine

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Alexander Nevsky, Dissolution of Grand Duchy of Kiev, Moscovy, Novgorod, the Mongol Invasion, the Tatar Yoke, Vladimir-Suzdal

Novgorod marketplace by Apollinary Vasnetkov

Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda …

A Timeline

862, Kievan Rus’ is founded by the Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik
1169, Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir and his father sacked Kiev
in the 1240s, Kievan Rus’ is sacked by Mongols (the Mongol invasion)
1221-1263 Saint Alexander Nevsky negotiates life under “Tatar Yoke”
1261-1303 Daniel of Moscow inherits the Duchy of Moscow
1354, the fall of Constantinople (the Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottoman Empire)
1480/02, the end of the “Tatar Yoke”
1547-1721, the Tsardom of Russia
1721-1917, the Russian Empire, following Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa
the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
1547, Ivan IV (the Terrible) (b. 1530) declares himself Tsar but is recognised as Tsar of Russia
1613, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) was the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613
1648-1709, Hetmans (Cossack Hetmanates) (1648-1709): Khmelnytsly to Ivan Mazepa
1721, the birth of the Russian Empire (Peter the Great)
1917, the Russian Revolution
1917, the fall of the House of Romanov
1991, the fall of the USSR, or the Soviet Union

I have improved the timeline in Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, and the Russkaya Pravda (23 April 2022). It complements earlier posts on the history of Ukraine and indicates that the Tsardom of Russia ended in 1721 when Peter the Great became an emperor. Nicholas II, the last Tsar, was the Emperor of Russia until 1917 or the Russian Revolution.

The Dissolution of the Grand Duchy of Kiev

This post shows how the Grand Duchy of Kyiv dissolved before the Mongol Invasion. Novgorod became independent of princely rulers. Kyiv was absorbed by Vladimir-Suzdal, which in turn was absorbed by the Duchy of Moscow, but dukes and princes were Rurikid princes for several generations, including Ivan the Terrible

Novgorod

First, Kievan Rus’ lost Novgorod, which Prince Oleg had ruled.

When Kiev declined, Novgorod soon (1136) declared its independence from princely power, and, although it accepted princely protectors from various neighbouring dynasties, it remained a sovereign city until conquered by Muscovy (Moscow).
(See Novgorod, Britannica)

Territorial development between 1300 and 1547, Grand Duchy of Moscow (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Theotokos of Vladimir (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Saint Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263), (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Rise of the Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal

Second, the Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, one of the duchies that succeeded Kievan Rus’ in the late 12^thcentury, gained prominence. In 1169, a few years after losing Novgorod, Kyiv was pillaged by Andrey Bogolyubsky, the Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, from 1157 until he died in 1174. Prince Andrey’s father, Yuri I Vladimirovich (Yury Dolgorukliy), led his son on a conquest of Kyiv. This conquest was bloody, but under Andrey Bogolyubsky, Vladimir-Suzdal became the new capital of the Rus’. Moreover, Alexander Nevsky (1221 – 1263), Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kyiv (1236 – 52), and Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal (1252 – 63) defeated the Swedes on 15 July 1240 at the Battle of the Neva, protecting Novgorod from a full-scale invasion from the West. This victory earned Alexander a sobriquet, Nevsky from Neva. On 5 April 1242, his Rus’ army defeated German knights and the Estonian infantry at the Battle on the Ice. His envoys also signed a treaty between Russia and Norway in 1251. It prevented the Swedes from blocking the Baltic Sea, which hindered the movement of Rus’ people’s principalities.

He preserved Russian statehood and Russian Orthodoxy, agreeing to pay tribute to the powerful Golden Horde. Metropolite Macarius canonized Alexander Nevsky as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547.
(See Alexander Nevsky, Wikipedia.)

He also obtained an exemption for Russian from a draft of men for a planned invasion of Iran.
(See Saint Alexander Nevsky, Britannica.) ^{[1] [2]}

Moreover, Vladimir welcomed the Theotokos of Vladimir, the Virgin of Vladimir, an icon created in Constantinople and sent to Kyiv as a gift before being transferred to the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.

Vladimir-Suzdal is traditionally perceived as a cradle of the Great Russian language and nationality, and it gradually evolved into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
(See Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, Wikipedia.)

Daniel of Moscow

Third, Alexander Nevsky’s youngest son, Daniel of Moscow (1261 – 1303), born in the Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, inherited the least of his father’s patrimony, Moscow. Ironically, Moscow developed into the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The Duchy of Moscow grew by conquering or annexing neighbouring principalities. In other words, Vladimir “gradually evolved into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.” Daniel of Moscow’s successors were Rurikid Princes, including Ivan the Terrible.

Time had elapsed since Vladimir the Great, Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kyiv, and the ruler of Kievan Rus’ from 980 to 1015, converted to Christianity (988) and imposed Christianity on the entire population of Kievan Rus’. Still, Vladimir the Great ascended the throne after a fratricidal war of succession. His father, Sviatoslav I of Kyiv, did not leave clear instructions about his line of succession. Vladimir’s brother, Yaropolk, murdered his other brother, Oleg of Drelinia, and conquered Rus’. Vladimir fled to Scandanavia and returned with an army of Varangian Vikings. He reconquered Rus’ and was Prince of Kievan Rus’.

Ögedei Khan‘s Invasion of Europe (see the Crimean Khanate)

Conclusion

Kyiv declined before the Mongol Invasion. It fragmented. It would enjoy a modest degree of independence as a Ukrainian Cossack state, but Ivan Mazepa and Charles XII of Sweden lost the battle of Poltava, in 1709.

In 1238, Kievan Rus’ was sacked by Mongol invaders. Batu Khan founded the Golden Horde, later consisting of Tatars and Turkic people. Ögedei Khan, the third son of Genghis Khan, succeeded Batu Khan. Ögedei ruled briefly. He died in 1241, ending the Mongol invasion of Russia. (See Mongol Invasion and List of conflicts in Europe, Wikipedia). However, Rus’ were vassals of the Golden Horde and Ösbeg Khan, or Ös Beg, adopted Islam. Laws would no longer reflect the Norse jurisprudence of the Russkaya Pravda.

The Golden Horde would remain active until 1480 – 82, when it was defeated at the Great Stand on the Ugra River. The Crimean Khanate and the Kazakh Khanate, the “last remnants of the Golden Horde,” survived until 1783 and 1847. (See Golden Horde, Wikipedia.) In 1354, Rome north, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. After their victory, the Ottomans conquered countries neighbouring present-day Russia. When the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Empire, Greek scholars fled to Italy carrying books and initiated the Renaissance. But artists, who produced icons, headed to Muscovy. Icons would henceforth be created in Muscovy.

Kyiv would enjoy a degree of independence as a Ukrainian Cossack state, but Ivan Mazepa and Charles XII of Sweden lost the battle of Poltava in 1709. But despite the Ukrainian diaspora, Ukraine remained, and it is currently defending the territorial integrity it gained in 1991 when the USSR collapsed.

Map of Ukrainian Diaspora in the world (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda (23 April 2022)
Bodan K hmelnytsky, a Cossack Hetman (16 April 2022)
Ruthenia vs Ukraine (14 April 2022)
Ukraine: … a Genocide? (8 April 2022)
A Brief Disappearance (6 April 2022)
Ukraine: the Battle of Potlava (5 April 2022)
The War in Ukraine: la petite Russie (1 April 2022)
The Great Gate of Kiev (Kyiv) (21 March 2022)
The Art of Dionisius (9 September 2012)

____________________

^[1] Hellie, Richard. “Saint Alexander Nevsky”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Alexander-Nevsky. Accessed 11 May 2022.

^[2]According to the Encyclopedia Britannatica, [t]here is no book-length study of Nevsky in English. Information may be found in A. E. Presniakov, The Formation of the Great Russian State: A Study of Russian History in the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries (1970; Orig. pub. in Russian, 1918); and George Vernadsky, A History of Russia, vol. 3, The Mongols and Russia (1953).

Sergei Prokofiev, Dance of the Knights

The Moscow Kremlin under Prince Ivan Kalita (early XIV century) by Apollinary Vasnetsov

Ukraine: the Battle of Poltava

05 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Russian Literature, Russian Music, Ukraine, Ukraine War

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Mazepa, Tchaikovsky, Ukraine, War in Ukraine

“Onwards Ukraine,” a mural in Paris by the street artist Seth. Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

Vladimir Putin: a Dictator

It is horrific. The atrocities committed at Bucha qualify as a war crime, but although the world grieves, the world will not defend Ukraine. Ironically, our best defence, NATO and the European Union, have turned into weapons. What about the United Nations?

Vladimir Putin knows that nations will stand still for fear that he, Vladimir Putin, one man, will trigger a Third World War. Putin has allies in what President Biden has described as a fight between autocracy and democracy. But Putin leads the pack.

Now that Vladimir Putin has ceased to be a world leader to change into a “dictator,” he can no longer go anywhere except an international court of justice where he will be tried as a criminal. But who will take him there? Putin is surrounded by his military, and he is, in fact, part of the military.

Putin has betrayed his people. Russians are fleeing, and he has nearly destroyed Ukraine. He is turning Ukraine into a petite Russie, and former Soviet nations bordering the Adriatic Sea and the Baltic Sea could be attacked. Finland is afraid. It shares a border with Russia.

Mazepa and the Battle of Poltava

Ukrainians, however, are a nation and Ukraine is a country. They have heroes, perhaps the main one being the great Yvan Mazepa (Wikipedia).

Mazepa lost the Battle of Poltava to Russian emperor Peter the Great. It was the final battle. Mazepa also inspired other composers and writers, and a 1993 film features Mazepa.

Lord Byron – Mazeppa, poem (1818)
Alexander Pushkin – Poltava, poem (1828–1829)
Victor Hugo – Mazeppa, poem (1829)
Juliusz Słowacki – Mazeppa, drama (1840)
Franz Liszt – Mazeppa, symphonic poem (1851); Transcendental Étude No. 4.
Marie Grandval – Mazeppa, opera (1892)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Mazeppa, opera (1881–1883)
Michael William Balfe – The Page, cantata (1861)
Taras Shevchenko
Kondraty Ryleyev
A Ukrainian-language film by Yuri Ilyenko, loosely based on historical facts and called Молитва за гетьмана Мазепу (Molytva za hetmana Mazepu), was released in 2002.
The Italian composer Carlo Pedrotti wrote a tragic opera titled Mazeppa in 1861, on a libretto by Achille de Lauzières.

(See Mazepa, Wikipedia)

RELATED ARTICLES

The Art and Music of Russia (page)

Love to everyone 💕
Tchaikovsky’s opera is on YouTube. It cannot be inserted in a post.

The Zaparozhye Cossacks Writing a Mocking Letter to the Turkish Sultan *oil on canvas *358 × 203 cm *signed b.c.: И.Репин 1880-91

The War in Ukraine: la petite Russie

01 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine War

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Exile, Kyevan Rus', Massacre of Odessa, Mutiny on the Potemkin, resilience, The Dissolution of the USSR, The Grinbergs, The People, Tsar Nicholas II, Ukrainians as petits Russes

—ooo—

The Exodus

Crises have led several generations of Russians to move away from Russia, and the war in Ukraine is yet another crisis. As soon as Vladimir Putin threatened to wage war in Ukraine, Russians left, and tens of thousands followed in their footsteps. It’s an exodus. Opponents of the war in Ukraine who have spoken publicly and have been imprisoned are also very likely to leave Russia after they are freed. Russia will lose some of its population. They will join Russians who settled abroad after the collapse of the USSR. Vladimir Putin, who seems to be Putin alone, tramples on the freedom of two people who have close ties, making the war even uglier. Earlier, after the 1905 Revolution and the Revolution of 1917, other countries welcomed Russians. Many went to France. Most Russian aristocrats spoke French. When I lived in France it suprised me that so many of the French I met had Russian ancestry. Their family left Russia at different points in the 19^th and 20^thcenturies.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-leave-country-1.6387892

Ukraine was once called be called une petite Russie. Une petite Russie may be an area abroad where Ukrainians have chosen to live. There are numerous petites, including petites Cadies and petits Canadas, small Acadies and small Canadas. My father was brought up in a small town in the Eastern Townships where French-speaking Canadians lived in a p’tit Canada. These areas were called Canadas because English Canadians were les Anglais. But la petite Russie (Le Figaro) I am referring to is Ukraine. Ukraine is located on the shore of the Black Sea, which has been a coveted area. Russia is inland, a geographical drawback. It has compensated by being “toutes les Russies,” all the Russias, a country so large that it suggests conquests.

La petite Russie was located on the shore of the Black Sea and allowed Russia to have a navy. Russia’s port was the port of Arkhangelsk, located far to the North. Russia wants ports, which the annexation of Crimea in 2014 reflects. History repeats itself.

Kievan Rus’, the Tsardom of Russia, and the Russian Empire

Kievan Rus’ until 1574
1574-1721 Tsardom of Russia
- Ivan IV (self-declared Tsar)
- The House of Romanov (Michael of Russia, appointed Tsar…)
- 1721-1917 the Russian Empire (Peter the Great…)

Kievan Rus’ (les Russes de Kiev) is a remnant from the past (Kiev is Kyiv). Kyevan or Kyivan Rus’ ceased to be in 1574 when Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible, the Grand Prince of Moscow, declared himself Tsar of Russia or the Tsardom of Russia or Muscovy. The first tsar of Russia was Michael of Russia, Tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia. He was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov. The Tsardom of Russia was a centralized state (Moskovy) that lasted until 1721, when Peter the Great founded the Russian Empire. Under Peter the Great, the Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Muscovy gradually ceased to be a centralized Russian state. Expansion began.

*Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan*. 1885 painting by Ilya Repin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1793: the Division of Ukraine

In fact, both Russians and Ukrainians are Slavs, a large number of people who speak Slavic languages and inhabit several countries. The modern nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus’ as their cultural ancestors. (See Kievan Rus’, Wikipedia). But, eventually, Ukraine became a petite Russie as the former centralized Tsardom of Russia expanded into the Russian Empire. Ukraine was divided following a war waged in the 17^th century between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The east was controlled by Russia and the west fell under Polish control splitting Ukraine between the east, which was controlled by Russia, and the west, which fell under Polish control. splitting Ukraine between the east, which was controlled by Russia, and the west, which fell under Polish control. This divide existed until 1793, when the Russian Empire annexed western Ukraine, plunging the country into a century of “Russification.” For Russia, they claimed this was “reunification” of the Kyivan Rus’, but for Ukrainians, it was another subjugation. (See The Contentious History of Russia-Ukraine history)

The Territory of Russia in 1500, 1600 and 1689 (See Russian Tsardom, Wikipedia)

The Mutiny of the Battleship Potemkin

I will tell a story that may exemplify the relationship between the petits Russes and the grands Russes. It is the story of the mutiny on Potemkin. Potemkin was a Russian battleship that sailed on the Black Sea after 1793, but perhaps earlier, when Ukraine had been annexed to Russia. The Russian Empire now had a port south of Moscow, but the petits Russes of Potemkin rebelled against the ship’s officers.

In early June 1905, Afanasy Matyushenko and Potemkin crewman Grigory Vakulenchuk joined with other disgruntled sailors in plotting a fleet-wide mutiny. Their audacious plan called for the rank and file to rise up and strike a concerted blow against the officers. After commandeering all the navy ships in the Black Sea, the conspirators would enlist the peasant class in a revolt that would sweep Czar Nicholas II from the Russian throne.
(See History)

Potemkin was commandeered under Afanasy Matyushenko, and Grigory Vakulenchuk after conscripted crewmen were served borscht crawling with maggots. Captain Evgeny Golikov ordered crewmen to eat the borscht, which some did, but the “hard-liners stubbornly held their ground.” (See History.) Golikov called his marines, but a few men went to a turret and grabbed weapons. Golikov killed Vakulenchuk, but the crewmen, numbering 763, commandeered the ship after 30 minutes. Golikov was hiding in a stateroom. He was shot and died as soon as he was found.

Potemkin headed for Odessa, and Matyushenko showed Vakulenchuk’s dead body. When Nicholas II heard of the mutiny, he ordered his military to quell the revolt. The following day the military started firing at people standing near the shore, and mounted Cossacks went down the Richelieu steps killing civilians with their sabres. It was a massacre: a thousand Odessans died.

Potemkin went to Romania and surrendered the ship in exchange for political asylum. Most mutineers went into exile. These were petits, Russes, Ukrainians.

Conclusion

It is now as it was then. Petits Russes, Ukrainians, are fleeing their country. Could a modern-day “Tsar” want ports on the Black Sea, crushing peaceful Ukrainians? And will he then conquer other lands? Where does he go if he does not pull out of Ukraine? He has done considerable harm in Ukraine and many have suggested he is already a war criminal, which he seems to be.

Who would have thought that thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the President of the Russian Federation would compel Ukrainians, humble Russians, the Grinbergs, and tens of thousands of other Russians to leave?

RELATED ARTICLES

The Art and Music of Russia (Page)

East-Slavic tribes and peoples, 8th–9th centuries (See Kievan Rus, Wikipedia)

The furthest extent of Kievan Rus’, 1054–1132. (See Ukraine, Wikipedia)

—ooo—

Love to everyone. 💕

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Prelude in C Sharp Minor

*The Richelieu Steps, where some of the worse violence occurred during the Odessa riots and massacre.* (Photo credit: History)

The Art and Music of Russia

23 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in democracy, Russia, Ukraine War

≈ Comments Off on The Art and Music of Russia

Tags

Page on Russia, Rimsly Korsakov, The Five, Vladimir Putin, War in Ukraine

The Art and Music of Russia

My page about Russia is incomplete, but it is under construction. I have named it the “Art and Music of Russia,” but we have also discussed, briefly, the history of Russia. Posts on the history of Russia will be listed separately. I also wrote posts on Sergei Diaghilev‘s Ballets Russes. For the time being, I am not separating these posts from the “Music of Russia.” Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Prokoviev and other composers wrote the music for the ballets. Diaghilev’s ballets were produced by a team, including artists, one of whom was Pablo Picasso. The musician featured below is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of “The Five” who wrote operas and music based on folktales.

I believe that Vladimir Putin started the war in Ukraine almost single-handedly. However, many Russians support him, and soldiers obey orders. I suspect he is opposed by countries that formerly comprised the USSR. Sadly, a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor was killed in Kharkiv,

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/horrific-death-96-year-old-holocaust-survivor-killed-in-ukraine-1.5828904

So, we will have a page on Russia. Although most of the posts recorded on that page are about artists and composers, one cannot avoid referring to Russian history.

Love to everyone 💕

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov‘s Procession of the Nobles

*Cosaques sur la mer Noire* (Cossacks on the Black Sea) by Ilya Repin

The Great Gate of Kiev

21 Monday Mar 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Ukraine War

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Kyiv, Manifest Destiny, Mussorgsky, NATO, Pictures at an Exhibition, Russian Music, The Five, The Great Gate of Kiev, Vladimir Putin, War in Ukraine

“Pictures at an Exhibition: The Great Gate of Kiev (Kyiv),” by Modest Mussorgsky
Sketch of a gate in Kiev one of the Pictures at an Exhibition by Viktor Aleksandrovich Gartman (Hartman)

Not so long ago

Not so long ago, we explored the music of Russia. Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was the leader of The Five. The Five were composers who attempted to write music that was distinctly Russian. Mussorgsky had befriended architect and artist Viktor Hartmann who died of an aneurysm when he was 39. It was a shock for Mussorgsky. According to critic Vladimir Stasov, Viktor Hartmann gave two pictures to Mussorgsky, one of which was a sketch of the “Great Gate of Kiev.” The two pictures inspired Modest Mussorgsky, who composed Pictures at an Exhibition, a suite of ten pieces for the piano divided by promenades and written in 1874. The tenth and final piece of the suite is based on Hartmann’s the “Great Gate of Kiev.” (Kiev is Kyiv)

Pictures at an Exhibition is Modest Mussorgsky’s most famous composition. We seldom hear the piano suite because it must be performed by a virtuoso pianist. Remember that the ringing of bells is a characteristic of the music of Russia and Ukraine.

Vladimir Stasov’s portrait by Ilya Repin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

**Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Saint Petersburg governor at the Kremlin** (Image: SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Hartmann’s Kyiv is now being destroyed by Vladimir Putin; I cannot believe what I am seeing. This is madness on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and if I could close the sky over Ukraine, I would. Vladimir Putin is the architect of this massacre. The flying zone is an open gate because Ukraine is not a member of NATO, which, ironically, gives Putin the freedom to destroy a country. As for the United States, it is burying Manifest Destiny.

It could be that Putin remembers times that will never return. Russia was once so large that it was called “toutes les Russies,” all the Russias.

At what cost will Ukraine survive this insane invasion?

RELATED ARTICLE

Victor Hartmann & Modest Mussorgsky (8 September 2012)
(a page will soon be available)

Love to everyone 💕

**Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a concert marking the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea**
(Image: Getty Images)

Nikolay Rymsky-Korsakov

29 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Russia, Russian Music

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

East & West, Editor to The Five, Exoticism, Musical career, Naval career, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Orchestration, Procession of the Nobles, Slavic composers, Teacher Conductor Editor

Portrait of Nikolay Rymsky-Korsakov by Ilya Repin, 1893 (Wikiart.org)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 1844, near Novgorod – 21 June 1908) was one of the The Five and not the least. We know him as the composer of the Russian Easter Festival Overture. 🎶 Easter is/was a very important feast in Russia. You may have seen painted Russian eggs and a few of the 50 jewelled “Imperial” eggs Fabergé created for the Tsar’s family.

Rimsky-Korsakov was/is the most scholarly member of The Five and, consequently, their editor, Mussorgsky’s editor mainly. However, although his music exemplifies The Five’s attempt to express the Slavic roots of Russia’s music, he infuses into the music of Russia the sophisticated polyphony of European music, developed over centuries. Conversely, Russian music, the music of The Five and other Russian composers, would have a very real and important impact on western music.

Nijinsky in Scheherazade by George Barbier

Nijinsky in Scheherazade (Micheline’s Blog)

Scheherazade “combines two features typical of Russian music and of Rimsky-Korsakov in particular: dazzling, colorful orchestration and an interest in the East, which figured greatly in the history of Imperial Russia, as well as orientalism in general.” (See Scheherazade, Wiki2.org.)

“American music critic and journalist Harold C. Schonberg wrote that the operas “open up a delightful new world, the world of the Russian East, the world of supernaturalism and the exotic, the world of Slavic pantheism and vanished races. Genuine poetry suffuses them, and they are scored with brilliance and resource.” (See Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Wiki2.org.)

The quotations above point to the exotic nature of the music of the Slavic composers, The Five: the Russian East. We have heard Alexander Borodin‘s In the Steppes of Central Asia (Mongolia). 🎶 Russia reaches from Europe to the Orient. The Five used folktales, a characteristic of 19^th-century music and literature. These tales, many are fairy tales, were not necessarily Russian – Scheherazade isn’t, but they were the Russian expression of tales that overrode nationalism and belonged to a very distant past, millennia. Rimsky-Korsakov put his superior knowledge of orchestration, polyphony, blending many voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), into the service of a local idiom.

Exoticism

Besides, although the Slavic composers attempted to express the Slavic and exotic aspects of the music of Russia, Romanticism, a 19^th-century movement, was characterized by a degree of exoticism. Rimsky-Korsakov composed Capriccio Espagnol, 🎶 and Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) wrote the poem Les Djinns, published in his 1829 collection of poems, entitled Les Orientales. Yet, Hugo also wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris), published in 1831, locating France in the Middle Ages, which he considered a more genuine and national past, than the plays of Jean Racine (1639 – 1699). He also modified the alexandrine, the “noble” twelve-syllable verse borrowed from the 12th-century French Roman d’Alexandre, featuring Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia. As well, Hugo ensconced French literature into Gothic fiction, a characteristic of Romanticism.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthplace in Tikhvin (Wiki2.org.)

The Russian military clipper Almaz in New York Harbor in 1863. Rimsky-Korsakov served as a midshipman on this ship and later wrote about this cruise. (Photo and caption credit: Wiki2.org.)

A Musical Career & a Naval Career

Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 -1908) had a passion for the sea, which he had yet to see when he joined the Imperial Russian Navy. But his older brother, Voin Rimsky-Korsakov (1822 – 1871), had travelled to lands far away. Voin graduated from the School for Mathematical and Navigational Sciences in Saint Petersburg, and so would Nicolai who admired his brother. However, Nicolai would combine two careers. He would be a naval officer and a composer, and, as a musician, he would introduce the Russian East into European music. That would be his gift to classical music. As we have noted in posts about enlightened despots, Russia looked to Europe. Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers, The Five, are less European than Tchaikovsky, but they composed music where east and west interact.

“Teacher, Conductor, and Editor” (Britannica)

In 1873, Rimsky-Korsakov “assumed charge of military bands as inspector and conductor. He therefore left the naval service.” (See Britannica.)

Henceforth, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov would be a teacher of composition (1 & 2) and a conductor (3 & 4):

St. Petersburg Conservatory (1871 – 1908)
Free Music School in St. Petersburg (1874 – 1881)
Conductor of concerts at the court chapel from 1883 to 1894
Chief conductor of the Russian symphony concerts between 1886 and 1900.

We have noted that Rimsky-Korsakov differed from other members of The Five, and must note it again. Rimsky-Korsakov was very interested in the study of harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration. He delved into the European tradition, a rich tradition we can trace back to the Middle Ages. That would be his gift to The Five. Polyphony unfolded over centuries of liturgical and secular (the Madrigal and songs) compositions:

“Eager to complete his own musical education, he undertook in 1873 an ambitious program of study, concentrating mainly on counterpoint and the fugue. He ended his studies in 1875 by sending 10 fugues to Tchaikovsky, who declared them impeccable.”[1]

On 2 March 1874, Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the first performance of his Symphony No. 3. That same year, “he was appointed director of the Free Music School in St. Petersburg, a post that he held until 1881.”[2]

Rimsky-Korsakov and Slavophiles

By turning to European music, Rimsky-Kosarkok’s relationship with the four of Slavic composers became that of editor. Had he not revised and enriched Mussorgsky’s opera Khovanshchina, it may no longer be performed. We have heard at least one segment of the introduction to Khovanshchina. Dawn over the Moscow River 🎶 is magnificent. One could suspect that Rimsky-Korsakov’s editing miffed his colleagues. I doubt it. He may be best described as a big brother to brilliant composers who were less learned than he was.

Writers often need a good editor, and the same is true of musicians. Rimsky-Korsakov would not have edited Mussorgsky, had Mussorgky’s music not been the product of a genius.

We now find ourselves returning to Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes (1909 – 1929).

“In 1889 he [Rimsky-Korsakov] led concerts of Russian music at the Paris World Exposition, and in the spring of 1907 he conducted in Paris two Russian historic concerts in connection with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.”[3]

Conclusion

Russian composers are specialists in the composition of music for ballet and for opera. Their music is “programmatic,” in that it has a narrative. It therefore differs from “absolute music,” a non-representional form of music. Russian composers also love rhapsodies and contrasts. The programmatic pieces to which I have referred constitute Rimsky-Korsakov’s best-known compositions and they blend the Russian East and the fine polyphony of the European West. Favourites are:

Capriccio Espagnol (1887)
Russian Easter Festival, overture (1888)
Scheherazade (1888)

Other favourites are The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Sadko, The Snow Maiden (1882) and other folktales and tales.

But I have selected his Procession of the Nobles as today’s choice. Rimsky-Korsakov was a member of the nobility.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Emancipation Reform of 1861 (23 November 2018)
Mussorgsky and Repin: a New Dawn (19 November 2018)
Mussorgsky’s Old Castle (17 November 2018)
Alexander Borodin, Russia’s “Five” (5 November 2018)
Scheherazade, or the Power of Storytelling (31 July 2012)
Les Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky & George Barbier (27 July 2012)

Sources and Resources

A translation of Victor Hugo’s Les Djinns
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikolay-Rimsky-Korsakov

Love to everyone 💕
______________________________
[1] Nicolas Slonimsky and Richard Taruskin, “Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov”
Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikolay-Rimsky-Korsakov

[2] Loc. cit.

[3] Loc. cit.

[4] Image
Encyclopædia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikolay-Rimsky-Korsakov/media/503882/13785

Nikolai Golovanov conducts Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Procession of the Nobles”

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, detail of a portrait by V. A. Serov; in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
H. Roger-Viollet [4]

The Emancipation Reform of 1861

23 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Despotism, Russia

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

August von Haxthausen, Bloody Sunday, Bondage, Emancipation of serfs, Emperor Alexander II, Ministry of State Property, Mir or Obschchina, Redemption payments, Stolypin agrarian reforms, Zemstvo

A 1907 painting by Boris Kustodiev depicting Russian serfs listening to the proclamation of the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861 (Wiki2.org.)

Much of Russia’s history has been a grim tale of the very wealthy and powerful few ruling over a great mass of their poor and powerless compatriots.[1]

According to the writers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, serfdom in Russia did not end when Emperor Alexander II of Russia (29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881) issued the Emancipation Manifesto of 3 March 1861:

Serfdom endured well into the modern era; the years of Soviet communist rule (1917–91), especially the long dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, saw subjugation of a different and more exacting sort.[2]

Serfdom & Slavery

For our purposes, the emancipation of serfdom in Russia occurred in 1861, and it was “the first and most important of liberal reforms passed during the reign (1855-1881) of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.”[3]

Serfdom was a medieval institution and [t]he vast majority of serfs in medieval Europe obtained their subsistence by cultivating a plot of land that was owned by a lord. This was the essential feature differentiating serfs from slaves, who were bought and sold without reference to a plot of land. In theory, serfs were not slaves, but in practice, many were.[4]

Serfs & Private Estates

In Russia, serfdom dated back to 1649. In 1861, there were two types of serfs:

those living on the land of private landowners and their domestics
those living on state lands, under control of the Ministry of State Property

However, only those who worked on the land of private landowners were called serfs. They constituted 38% of the population.

The Emancipation Reform of 1861 freed 23 million serfs working on private estates as well as domestic household serfs. (See The Emancipation reform of 1861, Wiki2.org.)

Peasants: Mir or Obshchina

Altogether, three-quarters of the Russian population were peasants, a total higher than serfs who worked on the land of private landowners.

There was, in fact, a third group of peasants living on communes. These peasants lived in village communities called a Mir or an Obschchina. These were communes and they predated serfdom. Mir peasants cultivated one or two strips of land. Holding more strips would have increased a peasant’s tax burden. They belonged to 100,000 landowners. They did not belong to members of a commune, or ‘Mir,’ or Obshchina. (See The Emancipation reform of 1861, Wiki2.org.)

The Mir & the Collectivization of the USSR

These communes were idealized by August von Haxthausen in a book he published in 1847. It was also praised by Karl Marx. (See Obschchina, Wiki2.org.) Mir and Obschchina were destroyed by the Stolypin agrarian reforms (1906–1914), “the implementation of which would lead to the Russian Revolution and subsequent collectivization of the USSR.” (See Obschchina, Wiki2.org.)

Obshchina Gathering, by Sergei Korovin (Wiki2.org.)

Comments

It appears Tsar Alexandre II abolished serfdom to keep up with western European countries. Western Europe remained the model.

“My intention is to abolish serfdom … you can yourself understand that the present order of owning souls cannot remain unchanged. It is better to abolish serfdom from above, than to wait for that time when it starts to abolish itself from below. I ask you to think about the best way to carry this out.”

— Alexander II’s speech to the Marshalls of the Nobility, 30 March 1856. (See The Emancipation reform of 1861, Wiki2.org.)

I should note that:

“[m]any bureaucrats believed that these reforms would bring about drastic changes which would only affect only the ‘lower stories’ of society, strengthening the autocracy. In reality, the reforms forced the monarch to coexist with an independent court, free press, and local governments which operated differently, and more freely, than they had in the past. This new form of local government involved in each area an assembly called a zemstvo.” (See The Emancipation reform of 1861, Wiki2.org.)

The Tsar and his advisors wondered whether freed serfs should hold the land they had tilled. Given that a large number of insurrections that had taken place in western Europe in 1848, it was decided that freed serfs could own land. (See Revolutions of 1848, Wiki2.org.) However, the land was not given to them. Some serfs had money and could buy land. But, by and large, they couldn’t. Some continued to work for a landowner to earn money. Others, if not most, borrowed from the government and made redemption payments, of which they were relieved in 1905, the year of the massacre of Bloody Sunday.

“The peasants remained ‘temporarily bonded’ until they redeemed their allotments.”[5]

Ironically, redemption payments transformed former serfs into slaves. Debt bondage is a form of slavery. As for those serfs who found employment in factories, as we now, their wages were low and their working hours, very long: some 15 hours a day. Workers went on strikes, which led to Bloody Sunday.

We do not know how many people were killed on Bloody Sunday (1,000 – 4,000), but we know that the reprisals were gruesome:

“It is estimated that between October 1905 and April 1906, 15,000 peasants and workers were hanged or shot, 20,000 injured, and 45,000 sent into exile.” (See Bloody Sunday, Wiki2.org.) It was a peaceful demonstration. Workers were carrying a petition. As of Bloody Sunday, Russians ceased to see their Tsar as a father to the nation.

Conclusion

The abolition of serfdom was good in itself. As Tsar Alexander II stated ,“the present order of owning souls cannot remain unchanged.” Serfs were emancipated in 1861. Landowners could no longer own serfs, domestic or farmers. Furthermore, Russia’s economy grew after the serfs were freed. Many former serfs were working in factories, domestic serfs especially. They could not own land.

“A significant measuring stick in the growth of the Russian economy post-reform was the huge growth in non-gentry private landownership. Although the gentry land-holdings fell from 80% to 50%, the peasant holdings grew from 5% all the way to 20%.”

Yet, there was social unrest (strikes, etc.) and, after Bloody Sunday (1905), confidence in the Tsar having waned, the Bolchevik party had an opportunity to take over. We then suffered through the Cold War.

But the greatness of Russia remains. As a child, the librarian could not let me borrow certain masterpieces of French literature. Several were on the Index of prohibited books. She directed me to the Russian literature shelves of the Public Library. I read Leo Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I wish I could thank that librarian. The first piece of music I was introduced to was Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain.

This post contains many quotations. I did not want to make errors. However, I have left out the Crimean War. Russia’s defeat is a factor in the emancipation of serfs and the role Tsar Alexandre II played in liberating Bulgaria. (See The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, Wiki2.org.) Tsar Alexander II was killed by a bomb in 1881. His legs were torn off and he was otherwise fatally injured.

RELATED ARTICLES

Mussorgsky & Repin: a New Dawn (9 November 2018)
to be continued

Sources and Resources

Serfdom, Wiki2.org.
“The Emancipation of Serfs,” History Today ↩

The Emancipation Reform: the full text. ↩

http://schoolart.narod.ru/1861.html RU & EN

Love to everyone 💕

____________________

[1] “Russia,” Nicholas V. Riasanovsky, Sergey Arsentyevich Vodovozov and Others (See All Contributors) Encyclopædia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia

[2] Op. cit.

[3] The Emancipation Reform of 1861, Wiki2.org.

[4] “Serfdom,” Encyclopædia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/serfdom/media/535485/121574

[5] “Russian Empire,” The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/place/Russian-Empire/Alexander-II

“The peasants remained ‘temporarily bonded’ until they redeemed their allotments. The redemption price was calculated on the basis of all payments received by the landlord from the peasants before the reform. If the peasant desired to redeem a plot, the government paid at once to the landowner the whole price (in 5 percent bonds), which the peasant had to repay to the exchequer in 49 years. Although the government bonds fell to 77 percent and purchase was made voluntary, the great majority of landowners—often in debt—preferred to get the money at once and to end relations which had become insupportable. By 1880, 15 percent of the peasants had not made use of the redemption scheme, and in 1881 it was declared obligatory. The landowners tried, but in vain, to keep their power in local administration. The liberated peasants were organized in village communities that held comprehensive powers over their members. Nominally governed by elected elders, they were actually administered by crown administrative and police officials.” (Britannica)

—ooo—

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) wrote a Symphony based on Bloody Sunday, his Symphony No. 11, subtitled The Year 1905.

However, I have selected an excerpt from Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the Andante, or 2nd movement.

Tsar Alexander II (Wiki2.org.)

Mussorgsky & Repin: a New Dawn

19 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in American Civil War, Russia, Russian Art, Russian Music

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

Agrarian Society, Bloody Sunday, February and October Revolutions, Ilya Repin, Industrial Revolution, Modest Mussorgsky

They did not expect him by Ilya Repin, 1884 – 1888 (Wikiart.org)

“It is generally believed that by depicting various reaction of young man’s household Repin tried to show diverse but mostly positive attitude of society toward revolutionary movements of that time. Actually, under strict censorship of Czarist Russia, it was a political declaration disguised as an everyday genre scene.” (Wikiart.org.)

The Russian Revolution

In the second half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, Russia changed dramatically. The Emancipation of serfdom, in 1861, led to a major social upheaval. Ironically, several former serfs had to pay for the piece of land they had been cultivating for centuries, but more importantly, an agrarian society was industrialized. (See Industrialisation of Russia, Wiki2.org.) Many Serfs became factory workers whose working conditions were unacceptable.

Matters culminated in a massacre known as Bloody Sunday, 22 January 1905. From 3,000 to 50,000 factory workers marched towards Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace to deliver a petition (←text) to Tsar Nicholas II. Some 4,000 demonstrators, an approximate number, were gunned down or injured by the Imperial Guard. Others were arrested.

By the end of Word War I, there would no longer be a Russian Empire. Two revolutions occurred in 1917: the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks, under Vladimir Lenin, took over during the October Revolution, sometimes called the Bolshevik Coup.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) had abdicated on 2 March 1917. He and his family were executed during the night of 17 – 18 July 1918.

The painting above is immensely foreboding.

But let us listen to another part of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, its introduction.

—ooo—

Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moskva-River
Introduction to Khovanshchina