The Poles and the Hungarians took advantage of the intestine broils that attended the dismemberment of the Russian monarchy, and made several successful inroads. The Tartars likewise made different irrup tions into Russia, and at length, under the Khan Batii completely overran it, and made themselves masters of Kief and Novg6rod. Although the khan did not himself assume the nominal dignity, he may be said to have been sovereign, as he placed on the throne any of the native princes whom he pleased. Among a succession of these, Alexander Yaroslavitch, prince of Novgorod was by far the most distinguished. He was installed Great Duke of Russia by the Tartar Khan in 1252, and continued to reign till 1264. A victory which he had gained over the Livonians and the Swedes in 1240, on the banks of the river Neva, procured him the honourable sirname of Nevski'. He is one of the tutelary saints of the Russo-Greek church, and his memory is held at this day in the greatest veneration. After him followed a number of other princes, as Yaroslaf III. Vassilii I. Dmitrii II. An drei III. Daniel, Georgii, Dmitrii, Alexander II. &c. &c. whose times, like the past, had been disturbed by internal commotions, and trifling warfares.
In 1328, Ivan Danilovitch, sirnamed Kalita, receiv ed the principalities of Vladimir and Moscow from theTartar Khan, and Moscow was then declared to be the capital of all Russia. This city had been founded in 1147, but was greatly improved, especially the Kremle by Ivan, who also established the dignity of me tropolitan, and founded the cathedrals of the Assump tion, of St. Michael, and of the Transfiguration in this city. He was succeeded in 1353 by Ivan II. whose reign which had been tranquil, termina ted with his death, by the plague, in 1358. An in trigue of ten years followed, and was accompanied with its common evils. About the year 1362 Dmitrii ob tained the great principality from Ilildir, Khan of the Tartars. After a reign of about two years he was depos ed, and it was given to the true heir Dmitrii Donskoi.
Dmitrii Donskoi was son of Ivan II. His reign lasted twenty-six years with fame and glory. He is not reckoned to have had great talents, but many vir tues, and to have been beloved of his subjects. He became so powerful as to have received the homage of almost all the Russian princes. Proud of the increase of his own power, and despising the weakness of his rivals, he refused to pay tribute fo the Tartars. War was the consequence between him and Mamai, the khan. A dreadful battle was fought on the Don, in which Dmitrii, after various success, was ultimately successful, and hence received the sirname Donskoi. He had the misfortune, however, to see Moscow taken and burned by the Tartars under Tachtamish, in the year 1382, when most of the inhabitants perished by fire, water, or the sword, and the rest were made pri soners. He died in 1389, and was succeeded by his son Vassilii (II.) During his reign the Tartars made another incursion into Russia, under the famous Ti mur, or Tamerlane, who, after having subdued all the neighbouring Tartar hordes, extended his conquests to the Russian territories, took Moscow by assault, and carried off immense plunder. During this sove reign's reign Russia three times experienced the hor rors of the plague, and oftener than once was exposed to famine. Vassilii died in 1425, and was succeeded by his son Vassilii Iii. sirnamed the Blind, who twice lost his throne, was re-established upon it, and died after a reign or thirty-seven years.
The latter end of the fifteenth century forms a splen did epoch in the history of Russia. From .1462 to 1505 reigned the famous prince Ivan Vassilievitch, who, in a second marriage, espoused Sophia, daughter of Thomas Paleologus. At her instigation he shook off the Tartar yoke, attacked their territories, and made himself master of Kazan,where lie was solemnly crowned. This last event took place about the year 1470, and led to a complete emancipation from the dominion of the Tartars. He extended his territories immensely, and subjected Novgorod after a seven years siege, and there obtained immense treasures. In his reign, the knowledge of gun-powder, and the art of casting cannon were introduced into Russia by Aristotle of Bologna, who, along with other foreign ers, was employed to recoin the Russian money. Aris totle, Solarius, and others, at a vast expense, enclosed the Kremles of Moscow and NovgOrod with thick walls, for the sake of greater security. After a reign of for ty-three years, Ivan was murdered or died, in the 60th year of his age.
In the year 1505, his son Vassilii IV. sirnamed the Courageous, ascended his father's throne. The Tar tars not only revolted, but with a mighty force entered Russia, and carried their arms even to the gates of Moscow, and forced the sovereign to make presents and give a promise of renewed allegiance. Soon after wards, however, Vassilii recovered Kazan, as well as Pskof, a town which possessed considerable commerce and wealth. Under his reign all the principalities of
Russia were united, and they have ever since remained under the dominion of one sovereign. After a reign of twenty-eight years Vassilii died, and was succeeded by his son Ivan (IV.) Vassilievitch, who was after wards sirnamed the Terrible, and by foreigners the Tyrant. As he was only three years old, the queen mother was appointed regent during his minority, an office for which she did not possess the requisite •alents. She died in 1538, and afterwards when Ivan had attained his seventeenth year, he assumed the reins of government, secured the domestic tranquillity of his dominions, made himself master of the king doms of Kazan and Astrachan, and liberated forever his country from the thraldom of the Tartars. In the year 1750 the inhabitants of Novgorod were suspected of having formed a' conspiracy for surrendering the city and the surrounding territory into the hands of the king of Poland, and they dearly felt. the effects of Ivan's vengeance; 25,000 of those who were implicated in the plot, having suffered by the hands of the execu tioner. With justice, therefore, this monarch was nam ed the Terrible or the Tyrant. He was at great pains, however, to adopt measures for the improvement and civilization of his people. and his new code of laws called the S'oodebnik, is well known even at this clay. He sent an embassy to the emperor of Germany, on purpose to request him to permit a number of German' artists, mechanics, and literary characters to establish themselves in Russia; but in consequence of measures taken by the jealous inhabitants of Lubeck, few of them reached Moscow. Ivan engaged in a war with Sweden, for the possession of Finland, in which he reaped little advantage. He invited some English men to Moscow, who, when on a voyage of discovery, had landed on the shores of the White Sea, near the situation of Archangel, and treated them in the kindest manner. In consequence of this, and of his great esteem for the English, a new commerce was esta blished between Russia and England. In the reign of Ivan Siberia was also conquered by the brave Yermak with his band of plunderers, and afterwards presented to the Tsar, a title which, according to some accounts, he was the first to assume. But he also endured reverses. In his time, Russia was invaded by the Tartars, and even Moscow was plundered, and com pletely burned, and above 120,000 citizens, besides women and children and foreigners, were also burned or buried in the ruins. The Livonians, Poles, and Swedes, having united in a league against the Russians, gained great advantages over them; but peace after wards ensued. Soon after these events the tsar was defeated in an engagement with the Tartars, and died in the year 1584, when his eldest sun Pheodor, a weak prince, became possessor of the throne. He had married the sister of Boris Goclimof, a man of great ambition, immense riches, and considerable talents, and who ho aimed at the imperial dignity, which he ulti mately attained. The young prince Dmitrii, only brother of Pheodor, suddenly disappeared, and it is generally supposed that he was assassinated by order of Boris. Pheodor soon afterwards died, in 1598; and it was strongly suspected that he had been poi soned by his brother-in-law. With him ended the family of Rurik, a dynasty which had possessed the sovereign power in Russia ever since the establish ment of the principality by that Varagian chief. As there was now no hereditary successor to the vacant throne, by the artifice and intrigues of his partisans, Boris Godimof, succeeded in his place of being elected tsar ; an honour of which he proved himself not unworthy, if we could overlook the means by which he ascended the throne, In every way he endeavoured to advance the interests of his nation, and to improve the state of his people, as by the extension of com merce, and the encouragement of arts and sciences and manufactures. He made himself respected abroad, and received ambassadors from almost all the powers of Europe, and concluded an advantageous alliance with Sweden. His reigit, however, was rendered unhappy by one of the most dreadful famines on record, and by the successful operations of Otrepief, a monk, who represented himself as the murdered the son of the late tsar, and the heir of the crown. Boris, unable to resist the torrent of public opinion in favour of his rival, is said to have taken poison, which caused his death in the year 1605. Though his son Pheodor was placed upon the throne by the principal nobility, yet the party of the false Dmitrii, as lie is generally called, was so strong that the new tsar was dethroned, within six weeks after his accession, and with his mother and sister was sent to prison.