Ivan the Terrible (79 page)

31
Zimin,
Oprichnina Ivana Groznogo
, p. 478.

32
Ibid., p. 99. Veselovsky, ‘Poslednye udely’ pp. 113ff.

33
Vedro
, pl.
vedra
, pail, Russian liquid measure; Bastr: A kind of wine, known in English as bastard from the Bastardo grapes from Portugal. Information kindly supplied by Professor W.F. Ryan.

34
Karamzin, op. cit., IX, ch. 1, p. 28 of notes, n. 145. Veselovsky, op. cit., p. 127, suggests that because both the Vorotynskys were exiled with their wives and families, Ivan's grievance was not of a service nature but possibly an accusation of witchcraft.

35
Kurbsky,
History
, p. 183. However, it is also striking that the Church accepted the forcible tonsure of the faithful. The Kurliatevs were later executed.

36
Esper, ‘A Sixteenth-Century Russian Arms Embargo’, passim.

37
Zimin,
Oprichnina
, p. 102

38
See S.N. Bogatyrev, ‘Battle for Divine Wisdom: The Rhetoric of Ivan IV's Campaign against Polotsk’, in E. Lohr and M. Poe, eds,
The Military and Society in Russia 1450–1917
, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 2002, pp. 325–63.

39
Karamzin, op. cit., IX, ch. 1, p. 25.

40
Zimin,
Reformy
, p. 101.

41
N.S. Stromilov, ‘Aleksandrovskaia Sloboda’,
Chtenia
, bk 2, pt VI, 1883, pp. 1–118.

42
Veselovsky, ‘Poslednye udely’, p. 115; Karamzin, op. cit., IX, ch. 1 p. 14, n. 86.

43
But Skrynnikov in
Sviatiteli i vlasti
says she was forcibly shorn a nun, p. 196. See also Skrynnikov,
Tsarstvo terrora
, pp. 162–3.

44
Skrynnikov,
Tsarstvo terrora
, p. 175.

45
Zimin,
Oprichnina,
p. 103, n. 2.

46
Karamzin, op. cit., IX, ch. 1 p. 14, nn. 84 and 85.

47
The printing in Church Slavonic of various ecclesiastical texts (books of hours, psalters, service books etc.) had already begun in Lithuania, initiated by Francis Skarina of Polotsk, and copies were widespread in Russia. Kukushkina,
Kniga v Rossii
, pp. 151ff.

48
Ibid., pp. 164–5.

49
The grave of Archbishop Vasily of Novgorod, the first to wear the cowl in Russia, was opened in 1946 and the white cowl was found.

50
Skrynnikov,
Tsarstvo terrora,
p. 179;
PSRL
, XXXIV, Piskarevsky Chronicle, pp. 190ff.

51
S.O. Schmidt, ‘Mitropolit Makarii i pravitel'stvennaia deiatel'nost' ego vremeni’ in
Rossia Ivana Groznogo
, pp. 239ff. The Tale of the White Cowl probably originated in the circle of Archbishop Gennadii of Novgorod, and may have been written by Dmitri Gerasimov, his agent in Rome. See A.V. Kartashev,
Ocherki po istorii russkoi tserkvi
, I, YMCA, Paris, 1959, pp. 389ff.; for a translated partial text see S.A. Zenkovsky, ed.,
Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles and Tales
, New York, 1963, pp. 267ff. Schmidt says that a new approach to the study of Makarii is necessary, as after his death his personality and his achievements were often distorted.

52
Schmidt, op. cit., p. 245.

1
See Kurbsky,
History
, pp. 2–3, and pp. 181–2 for dancing in masks and drinking to the health of the Devil. And see W.F. Ryan,
The Bathhouse,
pp. 38–9 and pp. 46–7 for more general remarks on Christmas and Midsummer festivities with cross-dressing, mumming, wearing masks, etc.

2
Karamzin,
Istoria
, IX, ch. 1, pp. 13ff. see also Kurbsky,
History
, pp. 180ff. They were both killed on 31 January 1564. See also Schlichting, ‘A Brief Account’, p. 215, n. 43.

3
Schlichting, op. cit., pp. 216–17.

4
Skrynnikov,
Tsarstvo terrora
, p. 180.

5
See Kurbsky,
History,
pp. 207–9. The Sheremetevs are not mentioned in the
Sinodiks
. See Veselovsky, ‘Sinodik opal'nykh’, in
Issledovania
, p. 471. Ivan men'shoi (minor) was killed in battle much later. Skrynnikov does not accept the reliability of Kurbsky.'s description (op. cit., p.189, n. 34).

6
His ability to read and write is disputed by E. Keenan, and his ability to write in Cyrillic characters by Inge Auerbach. Historians of Russia as distinct from literary experts mostly reject Keenan's theories, see, for example, most recently, V.V. Kalugin,
Andrey Kurbsky i Ivan Groznyy
, Moscow 1998, pp. 18ff. There is no need here to go into the arguments pro and con., but see ibid., pp. 157–8, 252–3 and Foreword, p. xxx.

7
Kurbsky wrote a number of religious works which were eventually published in Lithuania.

8
Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p. 265. A fourteenth-century ancestor of Kurbsky's was known as Vasily Groznyi, Grand Prince of Iaroslavl', another example of the positive use of Groznyi. See
Skazania Kniazia Kurbskogo,
ed. N. Ustrialov, 3rd edn, St Petersburg, 1868, pp. viiff. K. Stählin,
Der Briefwechsel Iwans des Schrecklichen mit dem Fürsten Kurbski
, Leipzig, 1921, p.8.

9
See for a sensible survey of Kurbsky's early life, N.E. Andreyev, ‘Kurbsky's Letters to Vassian Muromtsev’, reprinted in
Studies in Muscovy, Western Influence and Byzantine Inheritance,
Variorum Reprints, London 1970, pp. 414–36.

10
However, it is worth noting the opinion of Catherine II on this point. In the Hermitage copy of the MS of the correspondence Catherine notes: ‘It is clear that Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbsky was among those who refused to take the oath to his young son when Ivan was ill, because he distrusted the Zakhar'ins, and wanted the Staritsa prince to rule because he was a good general’, Stählin, op. cit., p. 8. Kurbsky himself denies this: ‘Indeed, I did not think of this, for he in truth was not worthy to rule’, Kurbsky,
Correspondence,
pp. 211–13.

11
Kurbsky is not mentioned in Filiushkin's detailed study of those close to Ivan in 1553–4, but this may be because he was a soldier (
voevoda
) and not in court service, Filiushkin,
Istoria odnoi mistifikatsii
, p. 85.

12
Kurbsky,
History
, p. 137: ‘abo sam itti … abo tebya, lyubimago moego, poslati …’ This does suggest that there was a degree of affection between the Tsar and Kurbsky; it is unlikely that the prince simply invented this phrase, nor that he forgot it.

13
Attempts to reconstruct Kurbsky's motives and actions have been made by a number of historians; I am basing myself largely on Skrynnikov,
Tsarstvo terrora
, Andreyev, Schlichting, Floria, and Auerbach.

14
Andreyev, op. cit., p. 431.

15
This is considered by Andreyev as possibly meant to apply to the Tsaritsa Maria Temriukovna.

16
Skazania Kniazia Kurbskogo,
ed. N. Ustrialov, Appendix.

17
Skrynnikov, op. cit., pp.184–5; Skrynnikov suggests that the money represents payment by Lithuania to Kurbsky for services rendered.

18
Kurbsky,
Correspondence,
Ivan to Kurbsky, p. 23. All quotations from the correspondence are taken from this edition though I have very occasionally diverged from Fennell's text.

19
Skazania Knaza Kurbskogo,
ed. N. Ustrialov, pp. vii–xix. See also Kalugin,
Andrei Kurbsky
, p. 340. Kurbsky attempted to recover his belongings and there is a list of them in the Lithuanian archives including the sapphire ring which he recovered and lost again.

20
‘Strong in Israel’ is a phrase frequently used by Kurbsky to describe the virtuous boyars at the Russian court. According to W.F. Ryan, it originates with the Song of Solomon 3: 7 where the guards around Solomon's bed are described as ‘of the valiant in Israel’ (King James's Bible; ‘sil'nykh izraelevykh’ in OCS Bible). The image of Russia as the new Israel was the source of many edifying tales which could be put before the Tsar such as the Biblical models of Joshua and Gideon.

21
It is possible that Kurbsky was afraid that he was going to be accused of heresy and magic practices, which would undoubtedly have meant torture and death.

22
According to Fennell, in Kurbsky,
Correspondence,
p. 8, note 2, this is a marginal note in some copies of the text.

23
The reference to the priests of Cronus suggests that Kurbsky is alluding to the ‘Saturnalia’ indulged in by Ivan, with their pagan connotation.

24
The capture of Shibanov gave rise to a romanticized tale of the faithful servant, who intercepted the Tsar outside the palace in the Kremlin to announce his mission; Ivan leant forward and ordered Shibanov to read Kurbsky's missive out loud, leaning in the meantime on his pointed staff with which he pinned Shibanov's foot to the ground. Shibanov remained motionless in spite of the pain.
Poslania Ivana groznogo,
ed. D.S. Likhachev and Ya. S. Lur'e, ANSSR, 1951, notes to the letter to Teterin, p. 585.

25
They are also used by Kurbsky himself in his later
History,
pp. 9ff., who ascribes Ivan's evil character to his conception, ‘in transgression and concupiscence’ and goes on to describe his cruel tendencies as a boy.

26
I have of course drawn on it in my account of his childhood, but with some caution.

27
Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p. 127.

28
Eli was the father of Samuel, Samuel 1: 1–3.

29
A reference to the Tsar's decisive voice in matters of
mestnichestvo
.

30
Ibid., p. 91.

31
Ibid., p. 49. Did Adashev and Sylvester really dictate to Ivan what shoes he should wear?

32
A reference to the Empress Eudoxia, who had opposed St John Chrysostom; and also perhaps a reference to Kurbsky's failure to buy presents for Ivan's children, see note 37 below. Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p. 95.

33
See above, ch. VI, p. 103. See also C. Pouncy, ‘“The Blessed Sil'vestr”’, p. 555.

34
Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p.p 93 and 115, n. 5;
PSRL
, XIII, pt 2, pp. 205 and 501.

35
Ibid., p. 191.

36
For the truce, see Chapter VIII, above, p. 130. It is worth repeating, as I am using Kurbsky's letter so extensively, that I do not accept Professor E. Keenan's view that the Kurbsky–Groznyi correspondence is a seventeenth-century forgery (see Foreword). I do not, for instance, see how a seventeenth-century forger of this correspondence could know that Kurbsky was on a private visit to Pskov at precisely this time. See Kurbsky,
Correspondence,
p. 119.

37
For a perceptive analysis of the ideological gulf separating Ivan and Kurbsky, see Inge Auerbach, ‘Die politische Vorstellungen des Fürsten Andrej Kurbski’,
JGOE
, Bd 117, 1969, pp. 170–86. Her discussion ranges beyond the dialogue of 1564, and will be returned to later.

38
Ivan would be familiar with the story of the
Iliad
in various versions including the History of the Destruction of Troy.

39
Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p. 106, ‘vol'ny byli podovlastnykh zhalovati i kazniti, a ne sudilis' s nimi i ni pered kem’.

40
Ibid., pp. 12–13, Ivan to Kurbsky.

41
There is a difference which is often overlooked between absolute legislative power and absolute executive power.

42
Floria,
Ivan Groznyi
, p. 111.

43
Henry was able to use parliamentary Acts of Attainder to dispose of his enemies, which he had no difficulty in steering through Parliament. See for instance the execution of Anne Boleyn and her ‘lovers’.

44
See above, ch. I, p. 13.

45
‘Taina Tainykh’, ed. and tr. R.D. Bulavin,
Pamiatniki literatury drevnei Rusi, konets XV – pervaia polovina XVI veka,
Moscow, 1984, p. 543. That Ivan was acquainted with this text is suggested by his remark to Kurbsky,
Correspondence,
p. 143, ‘Where will one find a just man who has grey eyes? For your countenance betrays your wicked disposition’, a direct reference to a warning in the
Secretum secretorum
not to trust a man with grey eyes. An alternative reading gives
zekry
for
sery
, which is closer to pale blue, see Kurbsky,
Correspondence
, p. 143 and n. 4.

46
Ibid., ‘build’ p. 47.

47
Ibid., pp. 59–61. Eccles. 10: 16; Is. 3: 12; and Ecclesiasticus 25: 24.

48
One little incident is revealing: Herberstein heard that when Russian envoys returned from abroad, all valuable gifts they had been given by the rulers to whom they had been accredited were confiscated for the Tsar. This had happened to two envoys and their secretary who had received heavy gold necklaces and chains, Spanish gold coins and other valuable presents from Charles V, and from his brother Ferdinand, and when they returned to Moscow the Grand Prince deprived them of the chains, and gold and silver goblets and most of the Spanish coins. ‘When I asked one of these envoys', writes Herberstein, ‘whether this was true, one of them, fearing to betray his master, firmly denied it, and the other said that his master merely asked him to bring the imperial presents so that he could see them.’ Later writes Herberstein, ‘One of these men avoided me, trying to avoid telling a lie if he continued to deny this story, or the danger of accidentally admitting its truth.’ The determination to interpret Vasily's justified decision to see at least, maybe even to sieze, what were probably actually presents to him as a tyrannical abuse is based on prejudice. The presents which the envoys took abroad with them were provided by the Tsar, and it was tsarist financial policy to monopolize all gold and silver and particularly all coins (
Zapiski o Moskovii
, p. 74).