The Seventeenth Book of the Chronicles of Gregorias
OOC
Brother Mikhail had become accustomed to sneaking around the Monastery at night. For it was at night that he often received messages of what happened in the outside world. His family kept him informed about what was going on, which was good. Father Boris was a minor scion of the Chelyadnin, and given current politics, well, it was always an advantage to know what was happening. These last months he had been forced to tread extremely carefully, but now he hoped that was no longer to be the case, if the rumours were true.
He shivered. It was definitely autumnal. He would remember to wear a heavier habit next time he was outside at night. This would have caused suspicions, save that the Monastery’s gate-wardens had long since been bribed. It helped that no one liked Father Boris, and the gate-wardens were quite prepared to aid the Master Chronicler for suitable recompense.
It was now quite dark, the last light having fled some time before. He waited. He did not, in fact, have too long to wait, before he discerned by the poor moonlight a figure making his way towards him. The figure was familiar, even though he did not know the man’s name. They spoke no words, but both exchanged scroll-tubes, and then the figure departed. Mikhail shivered again, but this time not from the cold, before stowing the tube in his habit and making his way back to the gates.
As he approached he heard a noise, a woman was arguing with one of the gate-wardens. Inwardly Mikhail cursed. It would not do well to be seen do something un-monkish as taking a night stroll. He resolved to wait for the matter to go away, but then on sudden impulse continued on. The woman was Anna someone-or-other, the gate-warden was called Yevgeni. They both heard him approach about the same time.
“Oh brother, you have to help me!” Anna wailed and ran over to him, falling to her knees at his feet and grabbing his habit, imploring, and sobbing. Mikhail looked up to Yevgeni in askance.
Yevgeni shrugged, “She’s been asking to see you for a while,” was all he said.
Mikhail looked at the crying figure. “What is it?” he asked softly.
“My daughter … the Father’s man … took her.” Well, that explains this pretty little mess.
“Why come to me?” he then asked.
Anna sniffed, and controlled her tears. “’Cause we in the village know that the Chief Writers are our friends,” she replied, swallowing.
Mikhail sighed. Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish that my predecessors remembered that peasants were peasants and not friends! “I make no promises,” he said, a little sharper than he intended.
“Oh bless you brother, bless you,” Anna said, and then got up and ran back to the village, still teary-eyed but much more at peace.
Mikhail shook his head, and walked back into the Monastery and went to his cell, where he opened the scroll-tube and read his news. Very shortly he was back at the gate. “Wake your colleagues, and ask if Brothers Ivan, Petr, and Timofey could meet me here as a matter of urgency,” he told Yevgeni. Things were about to change.
Tsar Vasili signed peace with Poland at the Treaty of Polotsk because of the severe difficulties he was facing domestically. On the Swedish frontier the area around Kexholm remained unstable and this forced Lord Shuiski to remain there with a large army. At the other end of the realm the city of Astrakhan remained controlled by Tartar rebels. Here it was a greater threat appeared in the autumn of the Year of Our Lord 1509, a Tartar in Astrakhan claimed to be the younger son of the last Tartar Khan. Although many Tartar notables were unconvinced he was convenient to their aims. Aware of the dangerous nature of Tartar independence Tsar Vasili made peace with the realm of Poland-Lithuania to concentrate all Russian might against these rebels. So in the spring of the Year of Our Lord 1410 he sent Lord Glinski to Astrakhan at the head of a large army. Until this time Lord Chelyadnin had been in charge of the Russian forces in the area.
Lord Glinski made short work of the Tartar forces, destroying them utterly in two battles. The Tartars were disorganised and ill commanded: Lord Glinski and others remarked later that all fight seemed to have gone out of the Tartar people. He then invested the city of Astrakhan, and quickly the town was recaptured. There continued to be unrest for the rest of the rest of the year, but through a careful process of investigation Lord Glinski was able to identify the leaders of the revolt, and located the whereabouts of the false Khan. The leading instigators were put to death, others were sent to various places of the realm so their discontent could not trouble the rule of law.
In the course of this Lord Glinski became aware of serious problems in the province. First and foremost of these were the boyars who cleaved to the river faction. These boyars abused their Tartar subjects greatly, and sought vengeance on them when they returned to their estates in the summer of that year. This provoked a number of uprisings, which Lord Glinski of course put down harshly. Even so, after this he instituted an extra-ordinary court that held boyars responsible for uprisings on their estates. This helped curb such abuses, but when news of this was reported to Moskva there was uproar.
Lord Vasili Chelyadnin, older brother of Lord Andrei Chelyadnin, was in the front ranks of the river boyars. When his agents reported the actions of Lord Glinski he travelled to Moskva in great haste and presented them to Tsar Vasili as a clear case of Lord Glinski usurping the rights of the Tsar and the boyar alike. Tsar Vasili was deeply troubled by this news, and sent an immediate summons for Lord Glinski to return to Moskva. As replacement he sent Lord Repnin to Astrakhan. Tsar Vasili muttered deeply of possible treachery, and it was said that Lord Vasili Chelyadnin predicted the fall of the steppe-boyars.
I should perhaps enlighten the reader on Lord Vasili Chelyadnin, since he is so central to the events that I am describing. The Chelyadnin first came to prominence in the time of the first Vasili about a hundred years ago. Through loyal service the family was rewarded with estates in the new conquered lands around Tambow. Through skilful marriage they managed to extend their lands, and during the Tartar War of Tsar Ivan were granted extensive estates all along the Volga. Contingents of their troops were vital in the seizing of the Tsaritsyn in the Ottoman war. Lord Vasili Chelyadnin had been responsible for this mobilisation, for he ever had an eye open for the main chance. He acted first for himself, and then for family. His loyalty to the Tsar and to the realm and to his faith was minute, but he was careful to keep this hidden for a long time. Within the river boyars he was a vocal voice, and he had some skill at public debate, though he was inclined to bluster where fact and faculty deserted him as they occasionally did. Finally he was no general, though he understood this fact and usually left command of any forces to his more capable younger brother. This did not at times stop his meddling, or his understanding of military realities, as I will make plain.
Lord Glinski had not acted as he had without a thought for consequence. During his time in Astrakhan he compiled a dossier on each of the river boyars, listing their incompetentcies and petty cruelties. He also detailed their military failures, for since a boyar’s primary duty is the defence of the realm such failings are critical. When he received the summons from Tsar Vasili like any obedient subject he obeyed. He was not, however, inactive. He had sent messengers to others of the steppe boyars, and so by the time he arrived in Moskva there was a huge crowd and great excitement. The streltsi kept peace through the sword, and some died as a result, though the killings were few when one considers the tension at the time.
In court Tsar Vasili asked Lord Vasili Chelyadnin to detail the charges against Lord Glinski. This Lord Chelyadnin did, coming to each of his grievances in turn. Some of what he repeated was pure fabrication, and I will not sully my work with repeating the words of a craven liar. He did have one valid point of complaint: that Lord Glinski had no authority to proclaim the special decree as he had done. In this Lord Chelyadnin had the support of many boyars, for none desired the greater scrutiny in their affairs that these measures signified.
In his defence Lord Glinski listed each and every river boyar offence: how they promoted instability to the detriment of the realm, their refusal to honour their tax commitments, their military ineptitude and insubordination. At the end of his account explained how his actions were the only way by which order could have been restored in Astrakhan and the surrounding lands. He also had much support, but he did not admit that he had exceeded his authority.
Tsar Vasili did not at that time pronounce his judgement. He commanded that Lord Glinski remain in Moskva until he made it, and so put him under house arrest. Meanwhile he commanded that the rest of the boyars disperse and be about their business. Many wondered what all of this meant, but they received no answer for several months. Unsurprisingly, with the realm divided against itself thus nothing was done to relieve the tensions that resulted. In vain did either side plead for Tsar Vasili to make his decision. Neither did he consult with any boyar on the matter, nor ask the advice of any cleric.
Over the following winter much attention was given how to repay the loans that the state had been forced to take to pay for the war. Given the state of the realm it was acknowledged that immediate repayment was not an option, and so negotiations begun with the German bankers to have the loan extended. This they agreed to in return for greater payments and an opening of Russian markets. News of this further incensed nearly every boyar. Lord Vasili Chelyadnin called it giving away the realm’s rights. Lord Glinski when he heard this retorted that if the river boyars bothered paying their taxes no such humiliation was needed. Blood was once again spilled, and still Tsar Vasili did nothing to prevent the growing hostility between the factions. Boyars now went everywhere armed and with guards, and between the towns attacks by bandits increased on boyar estates.
Extend loan. Mercantilism –1
Not even Tsar Vasili was completely blind to the resulting turmoil, and so he summoned all parties to court for Easter in the Year of Our Lord 1511. There he pronounced his judgement. Lord Glinski, by thine actions in the course of thy duty thou didst exceed the bounds of thine competency, and so did usurp our rights. We recognise that thou didst so in the name of order, but we condemn thee for this course that was taken without our consent. For this thou shalt loose a number of thine estates, which we will presently list. Moreover those estates shall be turned over to those that informed us of thine offence against our rule. However, in recognition of services rendered and of thine ultimate loyalty to us we shall not seek further redress against thee. Moreover, we need thee elsewhere in our realm. Thus thou art to be made voevode of Farther Siberia, where thou shalt further our interests there.
Lord Glinski listened to this pronouncement gravely, ignoring the smile of victory on Lord Chelyadnin’s lips. My liege, he replied, I am ever loyal to your wishes. I only ask to be given time to set the affairs of my estates remaining to me in order, since I have been absent for a long time and will be away for ever longer.
Tsar Vasili, pleased at Lord Glinski’s acquiescence of his decision was happy to allow this small privilege, and told him that he would only be expected to depart in the spring of the following year. Many boyars though were deeply unhappy at this pronouncement. The expropriation of some of the estates was regarded as being a just punishment and well deserved the banishment to ends of Siberia was seen to be purest folly. To send one of the foremost generals of the realm to a place so far distant when the realm was surrounded by hostile powers was described publicly as lunacy.
In contrast Lord Chelyadnin publicly praised Tsar Vasili for his wisdom and mercy, but in his words showed no bitterness towards Lord Glinski. In gratitude he also ‘gave’ to Tsar Vasili a small though profitable estate of his: even though the estate was only a grant to him from the Tsar in the first place! Tsar Vasili seemed oblivious to this insult and was gracious to Lord Chelyadnin, placing him in his confidence and making him president of the council.
There was great discontent at this, for not only did the steppe boyars and others grumble about the treatment of Lord Glinski – though Lord Glinski himself was careful not to say anything on the matter – but also about the fact that many of their equally just complaints against the river boyars had been ignored. Discontent remained, and though matters were a little less unsettled than before the judgement there was a sense of threat throughout the summer.
Not all the steppe boyars were happy at surrendering to the river boyars’ apparent victory, and there were many boyars who were unaligned that were equally appalled at what had happened. Among this latter group was Lord Repnin, who was in charge of the army garrisoning Astrakhan. He found the disrespect offered to him by the river boyars to be infuriating and dangerous. Through commissioning a number of officers in his army from the ranks of those most opposed to the river boyars he gathered a group that was committed to removing the tyranny of Lord Chelyadnin that was now beginning to manifest.
Lord Vasili Chelyadnin, having secured himself in power, now showed utter inability to use it wisely. He only appointed fawners and hangers-on, enriching himself and his family in the process. He lorded it over his fellow council members, and treated many boyars as if they were nothing more than peasants. To Tsar Vasili, however, he played the part of a loyal and devoted subject, and none could persuade the Tsar to see Lord Chelyadnin for what he truly was. Lord Chelyadnin was not entirely stupid however, and kept an ear out for dissent. Thus he came to hear of the activities of Lord Repnin, and so he accused him of treason.
When news of this reached Lord Repnin the time had come to act. He spoke to his officers, and they were in agreement that the parlous state of the realm could not stand. Leaving the command of the army to some of these Lord Repnin and others departed quickly to Moskva accompanied by their personal guards. The army meanwhile moved to occupy the states of the river boyars, and thus deprive them of their power-base.
This precipitated a crisis, and Tsar Vasili responded by giving Lord Chelyadnin nearly total power. Lord Chelyadnin summoned out the streltsi and sent assassins to kill Lord Glinski. Lord Glinski had been following events, and was prepared. The assassins failed, and he to began to move on Moskva with his personal following. Lord Chelyadnin tried to mobilise the river-boyars, but now many abandoned him. He had neglected them in power, and they were angry at the occupation of their estates. In desperation Lord Chelyadnin hired mercenaries and combined them with the streltsi and advanced to meet the boyars who had now converged.
Lord Andrei Chelyadnin commanded these forces in the battle, but Lord Vasili had given his brother a nearly an impossible task. The streltsi were forces of law and order on the streets of Moskva, but were no match for the battle-hardened followings of the boyars. The mercenaries were also of uneven quality. The entire force was routed within the course of the afternoon. Both brothers were captured, and the boyars, led by Lord Glinski advanced on Moskva. There they came across Tsar Vasili hiding in a cupboard: an offence to his dignity. Moskva was in disorder, but order was soon restored, and then the boyars set about how best to restore the order of the kingdom.
In council it was decreed that the Tsar had proved woefully deficient, and that henceforth he would govern with a council of boyars that would play a full part in the governance of the realm: not merely accede to an advisory role. Tsar Vasili was always to be accompanied by a quorum of this council. Moreover Lord Vasili Chelyadnin was convicted of treason and killed. Lord Andrei Chelyadnin was sent to Farther Siberia, and the family estates broken up. Lord Glinski’s estates were restored, and many of the decisions made by Lord Chelyadnin were reversed. Through such measures was the peace of the realm to be restored.
Step aside IN Nobles challenge King’s right to rule (Aristocracy –1 Centralisation –1 VP –10)
So I, Brother Mikhail, end this Seventeenth Book of the Chronicles of Gregorias and the second by my hand.
) You could use shorter sentences, not every Brother would be verbose. One Brother could write in the first person, another could write in the third. Another could add his own little comments to the events. One Brother may be admire the aristocracy, and another may hate it. Try to give each Brother a 'personality', then write him from that POV.
