Text 2
The thirteenth century was a time of trial for Novgorod. At the very beginning of the century a permanent military danger arose on the western borders of the Novgorod lands, from the Teutonic order of knights who had settled on the Baltic. On the north-western borders no less dangerous a threat was posed by Swedish aggression. In 1238 in the course of the Tatar – Mongol invasion the forces of the horde began their incursions into the territory of Novgorod. Baty’s army besieged the Novgorod town of Torzhok for a month, annihilating its heroic defenders. However, the defence of Torzhok saved Novgorod. Torzhok was conquered in March; by this time the supplies of fodder for the cavalry were exhausted, and this frightened the Tatars, as it created a real danger that they would lose the horses which were their main means of military transport. The Tatar forces, having come within about a hundred kilometres of Novgorod, returned to their southern steppes.
After this the Novgorodians managed to concentrate their military forces for the defence of their western borders, where in 1240 Aleksandr defeated the Swedes in the Battle on the River Neva for which he received the epithet “Nevskii”; and in
1242 he vanquished an army of Teutonic knights on the ice of Lake Chud. This victory was not, however, a decisive one. It was only after a bloody battle at Rakovor (Rakver in Estonia) in 1269 that peace was established on the western borderlands.
At the same time the Tatar–Mongol invasion had had an impact on Novgorod. The traditional system of trade and cultural links with the devastated Russian principalities was destroyed. The building of stone churches was halted until the
1290s. The construction of a stone kremlin in place of the wooden one was begun only in 1302.
Significant changes took place in the relationship between boyar Novgorod and the princes. Previously the principle of ‘freedom to choose the princes’ had lain at the basis of this relationship; but now the Novgorodians automatically recognised as their prince the man whom the khans of the Golden Horde confirmed as the head of the Rus princes (‘the grand prince’). However, in so far as the main sphere of activity of the grand prince lay outside Novgorod, he came to be represented by governors whom he appointed. Thus the participation of the grand prince in Novgorod affairs was minimal, and this strengthened the boyar republican system.
The behaviour of Grand Prince Aleksandr Nevskii, who required Novgorod to pay tribute to the Mongols even though it had not been conquered by them, and who destroyed some of the boyars’ republican prerogatives, provoked the indignation of the Novgorodians, and after Aleksandr’s death they set about reorganising the system of government. In an agreement concluded with his brother, Grand Prince Iaroslav Iaroslavich, in the 1260 s, the prerogatives which the Novgorodians had previously obtained were confirmed: the prince did not have the right to collect state revenues from the territory of the Novgorod lands (the Novgorodians did that themselves, thereby controlling the state budget); he did not have the right to own any landed estates on the territory of the Novgorod state on a private-property basis; and he also had no right to pronounce judicial decisions without the sanction of the posadnik. In the same agreement the prince undertook to refrain from those infringements of the law which had been permitted by his late brother.
After this the functions of the prince in the judicial sphere were restricted even further. If previously all judicial matters had come under his jurisdiction, then at the end of the thirteenth century there was organised a commercial court which came under the jurisdiction of the thousander (a Novgorod boyar), and an episcopal court, which had particular authority over the large group of the population who lived on lands belonging to ecclesiastical institutions.
This situation led to yet another significant reorganisation. From the end of the thirteenth century an immense amount of monastery construction took place in Novgorod. The wealthy boyar families founded monasteries, acted as their patrons and endowed them with considerable wealth, primarily in the form of landholdings. However, in so far as this entire system of landed possessions came within the jurisdiction of the archbishop as head of the Church, the boyars fully realised that any future extension of monastery landholdings might turn the archbishop from a spiritual pastor into the real head of the state, since ‘he who controls wealth, holds power’. For that reason a reform was introduced, which resulted in the creation of the office of archimandrite – the head of the entire Novgorod black clergy.
The archimandrite, who acquired as his residence the St George monastery, 4 kilometres outside Novgorod, was in charge of the hegumens (abbots) of the monasteries of the five administrative districts (‘ends’) of Novgorod. In ecclesiastical and canonical matters the archimandrite was of course subordinate to the archbishop; he was not, however, appointed by the archbishop, but was elected at the boyar veche (assembly), like the posadniki and other state officials, and he was accountable for his economic activity not to the archbishop, but to the boyar authorities. In other words, the boyar corporation exercised full control over the secular activity of the archimandrite, and it could remove him from office if he turned out to be awkward or incompetent. The boyar groups made full use of this right.
In the last third of the thirteenth century important changes took place in the political system of Novgorod. The boyars, in an attempt to reduce rivalry in the struggle for control of the highest offices of state, created an institution in which the interests of all the territorial groupings were represented. The merchants’ organisation acquired its own special administrative system, headed by a thousander who was also elected for a specified period.
In the early 1290s a very important reform of the republican administration was implemented. In essence this amounted to the annual election of the head of state (the posadnik); the head of the merchantry and the free artisan population (the thousander); and the head of the black clergy (the archimandrite).
It would be difficult to think of a better way of controlling the activity of the highest state leaders. With these new forms of state organisation in place, Novgorod entered the fourteenth century.
Vocabulary exercises
I. Give English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
Тевтонский ордер, время испытаний, опасная угроза, монгольское нашествие, героический защитник, осажденный город, в ходе нашествия, сосредоточить силы, западная граница, южные степи, тевтонский рыцарь, кровавая битва, русские княжества, заложить основы, золотая орда, назначит правителя, вызвать возмущение, набеги, собирать государственные доходы, судебное решение, частнособственническая основа, попасть под юрисдикцию, судебное дело, тысяцкий, Чудское озеро, суд архиепископа, суд тысяцкого, церковные учреждения, огромное количество, солидное состояние, монастырское землевладение, духовный пастырь, черное духовенство, купечество.
II.Give Russian equivalents of the following words and word combinations:
permanent danger, pose a threat, settle on the Baltic, incursions, besieged town, annihilate defenders, supply of fodder, vanquish an army, western borderlands, cultural links, devastated lands, Russian principalities, means of transport, bloody battle, lay at the basis, pay tribute, provoke indignation, reorganize the system, conclude an agreement, obtain prerogative, collect revenues, state budget, private-property basis, refrain from infringements, judicial matters, commercial court, thousander, episcopal court, ecclesiastical institutions, found a monastery, endow with wealth, landholding, black clergy, be in charge of, be subordinate to smb., be accountable for smth., exercise full control over, to turn out incompetent, secular activity, reduce rivalry, in essence.
I. Arrange the following words in pairs of synonyms:
trial, vanquish, allow, decisive, impact, confirm, restrain, possess, test, awkward, incursion, devastate, prerogative, halt, raid, great, annihilate, blow, exterminate, restrict, violation, substantially, patron, obtain, claim, appoint, resentment, own, exhausted, worn out, supply, provision, inconvenient, carry out, ruin, sponsor, defeat, permit, resolute, refrain, stop, nominate, privilege, indignation, achieve, infringement, limit, immense, implement, in essence.
Comprehension exercises
I. Have a talk based on the text.
1. What military danger arose on the western borders of the Novgorod lands?
2. What circumstances made the Tatars return to the steppes?
3. How did prince Alexander receive the title Nevsky?
4. What events strengthened the boyar republican system?
5. How was the Novgorodians’ indignation provoked?
6. What prerogatives were confirmed for the Novgorodians?
7. How were prince’ functions in the judicial sphere restricted?
8. What kind of reorganization took place in relationship with ecclesiastical institutions?
9. How were the matters arranged in ecclesiastical institutions?
10. What changes took place in the political system of Novgorod?
II. Complete the following sentences using the text:
1. At the very beginning of the century a permanent military danger arose on the western borders of the Novgorod lands, from…
2. … created a real danger for the Tatars to lose the horses which were their main means of military transport.
3. Alexander received the epithet “Nevskii” after he…
4. The behaviour of Grand Prince Aleksandr Nevskii, who … provoked the indignation of the Novgorodians.
5. The prerogatives which the Novgorodians had previously obtained were as follows…
6. At the end of the thirteenth century there was organised a commercial court which …, and an episcopal court which ….
7. In ecclesiastical and canonical matters the archimandrite was of course subordinate to …; he was accountable for ….
8. The boyars, in an attempt to reduce rivalry in the struggle for control of the highest offices of state, created ….
9. The boyars fully realised that any future extension of monastery landholdings might turn the archbishop from a spiritual pastor ….
10. The reform of the republican administration amounted to the annual election of ….
I. Identify the main idea of the text, make up a title for each paragraph and make a summary of the text.