Grand Principality of Chernigov: 1419 to 1435
From the Primary Chronicle:
And it was in the Year of the Five (for in that year, by miraculous coincidence, all the countries of Europe were made up of but five provinces) that Grand Prince Liberace, the first of that name, decided to expand the Principality. For he conceived that the Principality should be the protector not just of the Rus' of Kiev and Chernigov, but rather should be the protector of all who considered themselves Rus', or Polan, or even some who were left over from the great Mongol hordes which had previously terrorized the area, but which had civilized themselves and settled down to stay. And the inspiration for this may indeed have come from the Grand Vizier Douglas, who indeed arrived at the court not long before, and was thereafter influential with the Velikiy Knyaz, in all he did.
And in January of that year, indeed, upon the Ninth Day of that very month, the Knyaz declared that the Prince of Tver had begun to treat certain merchants from Chernigov which had arrived to trade in Tula poorly, subjecting them to humiliation, before arresting them on pretext. And with the declared aim of protecting all merchants from Chernigov, as well as from Poland and Muscowy and Cuman, etc., he declared war upon the Prince of Tver. And craftily, he did not send the armies into the snows of winter, but instead insulted the prowess of the Tverians, and allowed them to march into Mozyr province. There, in the First and Second Battles of Mogilev were the armies of Tver repulsed. Then did the might of Chernigov fall upon the Tverian lands. The cities of Tula and Kursk were besieged, and the armies of Chernigov did roam the lands of the Prince of Tver, defeating the armies of Tver where they met. And Kursk and Tula did fall by the end of the Winter of that year.
And in the next spring, the armies of Chernigov went into Tver and besieged Smolensk, and Velikije Luki. And all the while they did that, the armies of Tver tried to gain back the city of Tula. And all summer and fall did the armies contend across the lands, with neither side able to gain an advantage. And in that terrible winter did thousands die from the bite of General Winter, while they sat huddled around the cities of Tula, of Smolensk, and of Velikije Luki. First to fall was Tula, retaken from Chernigov in February, but hardly a month passed before Smolensk was forced to yield to the armies of the Velikiy Knyaz. And then did the armies march again to Tula. And all summer and fall did they stay encamped there, until again, facing winter, Tula yielded. But Great Luki continued to resist, even when the armies of Polotsk joined the siege. It was not until April of 1422 that the city finally fell, and then, it insisted upon yielding not to the armies of Chernigov, but only to the armies of Polotsk! And there was great dismay in the court of the Velikiy Knyaz, for Liberace had counted upon being able to liberate the people of Welikia from their dire straits under the Prince of Tver. Then were the armies of Chernigov reminded that the fortunes of war are not always kind, for in a great battle before the gates of Tver itself were they beaten back. Then did the Grand Prince and the Prince reach terms, and Chernigov consented itself that it now brought enlightened protection to the peoples of Smolensk, and of Kursk, and most importantly, of that merchant center, Tula.
And during that war, the diplomats had not been idle. For Knyaz Liberace traded emissaries with the Herzog of Silesia (for so he styled himself, though many considered him but a graf), and they did agree to divide the lands of the Poles among themselves, again for the purpose of protecting the Polans from their enemies and their negligent and dissolute leaders. And thus barely had the ink dried on the instrument of peace with Tver when Liberace declared war upon Poland, and sent his troops into Podolia (and this was in September of that same year). Then the armies of Chernigov allowed the armies of the Poles to chase them around, until again, during winter the Poles found themselves suffering from privation, and were easily defeated in the Battle of Chernigov. And then did the armies of the Knyaz go forth into Poland that spring. And they besieged Brest Litovsk, and they besieged Lublin, and they besieged Czernowitz. And the armies of Chernigov roamed the provinces and learned much about warfare in the forests around Krakow, how they could stand up to the fearsome Polish cavalry there. And Brest Litovsk fell in February, and Czernowitz fell in August, and then, facing siege before Lwow and Krakow, the Poles sued for merciful peace. And the Knyaz Liberace I, in his mercy, did but take ownership of Volyn and Podolia. And well it was that he was merciful, for in that winter did the court of the Horde to the East have to declare itself bankrupt, driven to financial ruin by its own warring efforts. And the lesson was not lost upon the Knyaz, who himself owed the moneylenders much, and who had spent freely on the wars.
And the people looked around at their land, and this is what they saw:
Merchants regularly plied trade in Tula, though on occasion were they displaced by the aggressive actions of other merchants. Still, the income from trading in Tula, combined with the tolls and rents from the merchants of other states trading there, fueled the efforts of the Knyaz to improve his armies, and his institutions. And in the cities of Tula, and Smolensk, and Kursk, and in the cities of Brest Litovsk and Czernowitz the bailiffs were promoted to Collectors of Tax, officers of the Knyaz who reported directly to him, ensuring that the tax receipts did get through. And for a full year was there peace in Chernigov.
And after his armies rested, the Knyaz looked south, to the gold mines of Krementjug. For these produced great wealth, and the Knyaz took pity upon the peoples of the land, who toiled for the remnants of the Horde that ran Crimea. And in 1426 did Liberace declare his intent to free Krementjug from the cruel rule of the Tatars of Crimea. And the armies of Chernigov marched into those lands. But they were speedily repulsed, for the Tatars are not easy and slothful as warriors. And they took the war into Ukraina, and they defeated the armies of Chernigov there, and besieged Kiev. And then the Knyaz took counsel of his Vizier, and after listening to much sage advice, he pulled back his armies, and took out another loan from the moneylenders, and built up his armies stronger, with more cavalry, and these new armies raised the siege of Kiev with sword and the thunder of hooves. And other armies marched into Krementjug, and into Crimea itself. And they besieged the Katherine of the Slavs, and they besieged even Kherson itself. And thereafter did the armies of Chernigov spend three full years before the walls of the cities of the Tatars, a stubborn people, who would not yield easily their cities.
But in the end, they were forced into submission. And Krementjug was taken from them, and liberated, and became readily and gladly a part of Chernigov. But the Knyaz refused to take more, for the citizens of Kaffa, and of Kerch, were Greek, and had different traditions, and he forsaw strife if they joined his realm. And the citizens of Azow also wanted his rule, but he had agreed with the Khan of the Horde that Donets River would remain between them in that area. So, he hardened his heart against their pleas, and he took only money and Krementjug, and left those lands. And this was June of 1429.
But again, the war had imposed additional costs. Loans had been taken. Promotions had to be made. Merchants had been sitting idle, while the minds of the government were on war. So there were those who counseled the Knyaz to wait, and bide, and recover.
But the Knyaz was not Velikiy Knyaz for nothing. And he consulted with the Vizier Douglas, and he declared war upon Moldavia. For Jedisan's people also wanted his protection. And he wanted a port, from which his merchants could sail. And so the armies of Chernigov pounded across the Dnieper. And the armies of Moldavia had been spread far and wide, for they had allied themselves with Venice, and with Sicily, and with others, and they had conquered Albania, and they had taken their armies to Rome, and they left themselves with not enough troops to stave off defeat. And so the fall of the city of Ochakov to the troops of Chernigov in August of 1430 was but prelude to the peace that followed in the following February. And the peoples of Jedisan did joyfully acknowledge the promotion of the bailiff of the city to the Knyaz' own tax collector. And the sun shone bright on Chernigov.
And again did the nobles counsel peace and stability. And for a while did Liberace listen to them. But the generals clamored to finish the job left undone in Tver, and the Vizier whispered into the ear of the Knyaz, though what exactly he said no one ever knew. And after some 18 months had passed, the armies of Chernigov again marched into Tver, and into Welikia, and into Polotsk. And this time, the armies of Tver were no where to be found, for they had been dissipated in war against Prussia, and against Polotsk, which they had annexed, and which had been the pretext the Knyaz needed to justify his war. And the cities of Tver slowly fell to the armies of Liberace. And when Vitebsk fell on the last day in May of 1434, the Prince of Tver was finally humbled. And it is said that Velikiy Knyaz Liberace I rode to the gates of Tver, and encamped himself there in a tent of gold, with his armies and his subordinants on either side. And the Prince of Tver walked out the gates on his knees in supplication, and begged of Liberace peace, and mercy. And he called him "Tsar" which is Basileus, or Emperor. And this had never been claimed by Liberace himself. But when the Prince of Tver said it, the people took it up, and they proclaimed loudly that Liberace was their Tsar. And he spared the Prince, and left him a vassal in his city, and took the provinces of Welikia and Polotsk, and he returned to Chernigov, hailed as Tsar of all the Rus' and the Poles.
And this was on the First of July, of 1434. And ever since is that day celebrated. And the Tsar Liberace stood in the balcony of his palace, and he waved, and the people cheered. And if they noted the shadow covered man in the back of the balcony, they did not speak of it. For Grand Vizier Douglas was rumored to be powerful, and yet no one could accuse him of doing aught wrong. And certain it was that Chernigov's fortunes had started their rise after his arrival. But some wondered about it, for they heard reports of other, similar shadows: behind the Basileus himself in Constantinople, and behind the Duke in Flanders. And they wondered what would happen when there were no more princes left without a shadow...
