History of Russia

The Russia of that early and heroic time was closely connected with Western Europe. Thither came as refugees a Swedish prince and Edwin and Edward, sons of Edmund Ironside, driven from England by the cruel young Cnut the Dane. St. Olaf, King of Norway, and his two sons spent their exile at the court of Kief. Fiery Fame married the daughter of King Olaf, and his sister, Marya, married Kasimir, King of Poland. His sons took for their wives the princesses of Poland and Constantinople, of Germany and England; his eldest son, the Prince of Novgorod, married Githa, daughter of Harold, King of England. His daughters also became the wives of kings: Anna married Henry I. of France, and the first King Philip was her son; Agmunda married Andrew I. of Hungary; and Harold the Brave, Prince and King of Norway, scorned the love of the Greek Empress Zoe, and fought the infidels in Africa and Sicily to prove himself worthy of the Princess Elizabeth, for whom he wrote this poem eight hundred years ago:—

"My ships have sailed the Sicilian Sea;

Their storm-browned hulls alive with intrepid warriors

Bore us on full of hope and dreaming of glorious combat.

I saw my vessel heed my voice and dash through the waves

And cross the wide seas. Alas, no more! I love;

And she whom I love, the daughter of Russia, scorns my love

"While young I was acquainted with dangers;

The inhabitants of Drontheim felt my courage.

They were an hundred to one;

How terrible our combat!

By my sword perished their haughty chief.

Vain success! A maid of Russia scorns my love.

"One day our vessel skimmed the waves.

Suddenly the sky grew black,

The wind roared, the waves submerged our deck,

But courage and ready hands defeated death.

My heart burned with hope.

O maid of Russia, wherefore scorn my love?

"I have a dozen claims for glory.

Bold in combat; I can tame the fiery steed;

Can swim the stormy sea, can skate the glassy ice;

Can pierce the bull's-eye with my spear;

And steer the fickle boat;

And yet the maid of Russia scorns my love!

"Wilt thou deny it, maiden young and proud?

Have I not come back from the walls

Of the Southern city, the hero of an hundred fights?

'Twas there I made my arms renowned,

And left the eternal memory of my name.

Why then, O maid of Russia, scorn my love?"

Fiery Fame founded schools and monasteries, he caused the Scriptures and many books written by the holy fathers—the lives of saints and romances—to be translated into Russian, and had coins struck for him by Greek founders with his Slav name on one side and his Christian name, George, on the other. He left a curious and somewhat barbarous code of laws: an assassin was left to the vengeance of his victim's family; a money-fine was to be paid for theft, assault, or other crimes; innocence or guilt was established by the ordeal of handling red-hot iron or plunging in boiling water. The judicial duel was also a part of the code; an Arabian writer thus describes it:—

"When one Russian hath a grievance against another he summons him to the tribunal of the prince and both present themselves before him. When the prince hath given his sentence his orders are executed. If his judgment is disputed, he bids them settle the matter with their swords. He whose sword cuts the sharpest gains the cause. When the duel takes place the friends of the two adversaries appear, armed to the teeth, and close the lists. The combatants then come to blows, and the victor can impose such conditions as he pleases."

Fiery Fame also confirmed the liberties and privileges of Novgorod and founded there another Cathedral of St. Sophia, one of the most precious remains of the Russian past.

CATHEDRAL OF ST. SOPHIA, NOVGOROD

When he felt the end of his days draw nigh he summoned his children to his bedside, and said:—

"Behold, I am going to leave this world. Love one another, for you are children of the same father and the same mother. Let friendship and union reign among you; then will our Saviour abide with you, your enemies will be crushed, and you will live in peace. But if you hate each other and are divided you will come to destruction, and this country which your ancestors conquered with so much pains will be utterly overthrown."

Fiery Fame distributed among them his cities, and bade them obey their eldest brother, the Grand Prince of Kief, as they would obey their father; and he died and was buried in St. Sophia in a sarcophagus of white and blue marble sculptured with birds and trees.

Family Quarrels Among the Princes

The number of churches and monasteries in Kief in the time of Fiery Fame shows how fast Russia was changing from a pagan to a Christian state. But the fact that its religion came from Constantinople and not from Rome had a great influence upon its history.