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City of publication: Moscow
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ISBN: 978-5-373-04665-7 Size: 45 MB
Description
In the proposed publication, the reader can familiarize himself with the most interesting episodes of the “History of the Russian State,” written by the writer and historiographer N. M. Karamzin on behalf of Alexander I. Creating a picture of the life and way of life of Rus' - from the ancient Slavs to the Time of Troubles - the author relies on extensive historical material. Karamzin devoted over two decades to his multi-volume book. In 1816–1829 it was first printed, and Russian society I became acquainted with the history of my own homeland with great interest.
But five years before the start of the publication of “History,” in 1811, at the request of Emperor Alexander’s sister, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, Karamzin created a treatise (Note) “On the Ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations" Emphasizing that “the present is a consequence of the past,” Karamzin analyzes the events of Russian life and evaluates the results of the ten-year activity of Alexander I. This assessment was quite critical, and, obviously, that is why Karamzin’s treatise was not published in the 19th century. More than a hundred years have passed, before he saw the light. We present this interesting document by Karamzin for the information of readers.
The book is richly illustrated, which creates a more comprehensive picture of the events and heroes of the era described.
For those who are interested in the history of our Motherland, for the general reader.
Knowledge national history is important and necessary for every person, and well-written history books can influence national identity. Such works include “The History of the Russian State,” which was written by N. M. Karamzin. Emperor Alexander I himself supported his work and gave him the title of historiographer of Russia. To work on such a voluminous work, which included many volumes, Karamzin used many historical sources. In particular, chronicles were used that have not survived to this day. For this reason, this book can be considered the only source of information regarding certain historical events.
From the book, readers will be able to learn about how the formation took place Russian state. The author talks about ancient times, about the peoples who then inhabited the territory of Russia. He describes the time of Rurik's arrival, shows what the relationship was different nations between themselves. The book talks about the first princes, and the author talks not only about positive results their rule, but in some cases gives negative assessments. Next we'll talk about Tsarist Russia. Karamzin planned to set out the story before the Romanovs’ accession, but he didn’t have time quite a bit. The narrative ends at events that are dedicated to the interregnum of 1611–1612.
This edition also includes a book in which the historian writes about the activities of Emperor Alexander I, sums up the first years of his reign, talks about significant events in the lives of Russian people that happened during this time. The publication of this work became possible only a hundred years after it was written, since the author was quite critical in his assessments at some points. One cannot underestimate the importance of a voluminous work, which combines the features of documentary and epic presentation, making it a great pleasure to read.
On our website you can download the book “History of the Russian State” Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.
Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich - famous Russian writer, journalist and historian. Born on December 1, 1766 in Simbirsk province; grew up in the village of his father, a Simbirsk landowner. The first spiritual food of the 8-9 year old boy was ancient novels, which developed his natural sensitivity. Even then, like the hero of one of his stories, “he loved to be sad, not knowing what,” and “could play with his imagination for two hours and build castles in the air.” In the 14th year, Karamzin was brought to Moscow and sent to the boarding school of the Moscow professor Schaden; He also visited the university, where one could then learn “if not science, then Russian literacy.” He owed Schaden a practical acquaintance with German and French languages. After finishing classes with Schaden, Karamzin hesitated for some time in choosing an activity. In 1783 he tried to enroll in military service, where he was enrolled while still a minor, but then he retired and in 1784 became interested in secular successes in the society of the city of Simbirsk. At the end of the same year, Karamzin returned to Moscow and through his fellow countryman, I.P. Turgenev, gets closer to Novikov’s circle. Here, according to Dmitriev, “Karamzin’s education began, not only as an author, but also as a moral one.” The influence of the circle lasted 4 years (1785 - 88). The serious work on oneself that Freemasonry required, and with which Karamzin’s closest friend, Petrov, was so absorbed, was, however, not noticeable in Karamzin. From May 1789 to September 1790, he traveled around Germany, Switzerland, France and England, stopping mainly in big cities like Berlin, Leipzig, Geneva, Paris, London. Returning to Moscow, Karamzin began publishing the Moscow Journal (see below), where Letters of a Russian Traveler appeared. "Moscow Journal" ceased in 1792, perhaps not without connection with the imprisonment of Novikov in the fortress and the persecution of the Masons. Although Karamzin, when starting the Moscow Journal, formally excluded “theological and mystical” articles from its program, after Novikov’s arrest (and before the final verdict) he published a rather bold ode: “To mercy” (“As long as a citizen can calmly, without fear fall asleep, and let all those under your control freely direct their lives according to their thoughts;...as long as you give everyone freedom and do not darken the light in their minds; as long as your trust in the people is visible in all your deeds: until then you will be sacredly honored... nothing can disturb the peace of your power") and barely did not come under investigation on suspicion that the Masons sent him abroad. Most Karamzin spent 1793 - 1795 in the village and prepared two collections here called "Aglaya", published in the fall of 1793 and 1794. In 1795, Karamzin limited himself to compiling a “mixture” in the Moskovskiye Vedomosti. “Having lost the desire to walk under black clouds,” he set out into the world and led a contented distracted life. In 1796, he published a collection of poems by Russian poets, entitled "Aonids". A year later, the second book “Aonid” appeared; then Karamzin decided to publish something like an anthology on foreign literature (“Pantheon of Foreign Literature”). By the end of 1798, Karamzin barely got his Pantheon through the censorship, which forbade the publication of Demosthenes, Cicero, Sallust, etc., because they were republicans. Even a simple reprint of Karamzin’s old works encountered difficulties from the censorship. Thirty-year-old Karamzin apologizes to his readers for the fervor of the feelings of a “young, inexperienced Russian traveler” and writes to one of his friends: “there is a time for everything, and scenes change. When the flowers in the Paphos meadows lose their freshness for us, we stop flying like marshmallows and shut ourselves up in a philosophical study dreams... Thus, soon my poor muse will either go into complete retirement, or... she will translate Kant’s metaphysics and Plato’s Republic into poetry.” Metaphysics, however, was as alien to Karamzin’s mental makeup as mysticism. From the messages to Aglaya and Chloe, he moved not to philosophy, but to historical studies. In the Moscow Journal, Karamzin won the sympathy of the public as a writer; Now in the "Bulletin of Europe" (1802 - 03) he appears in the role of a publicist. The “Historical eulogy to Empress Catherine II”, compiled by Karamzin in the first months of the reign of Emperor Alexander I, also has a primarily journalistic character. During the publication of the magazine, Karamzin became more and more interested in historical articles. He receives, through Comrade Minister of Public Education M.N. Muravyov, the title of historiographer and 2000 rubles of an annual pension, in order to write full story Russia (October 31, 1803). Since 1804, having stopped publishing the "Bulletin of Europe", Karamzin plunged exclusively into compiling history. In 1816, he published the first 8 volumes of the “History of the Russian State” (their second edition was published in 1818-19), in 1821 - the 9th volume, in 1824 - the 10th and 11th. In 1826, Karamzin died before finishing the 12th volume, which was published by D.N. Bludov on papers left behind by the deceased. During all these 22 years, compiling history was Karamzin's main occupation; He left it to his literary friends to defend and continue the work he had begun in literature. Before the publication of the first 8 volumes, Karamzin lived in Moscow, from where he traveled only to Tver to Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna (through her he gave the sovereign his note “On Ancient and New Russia” in 1810) and to Nizhny, during the occupation of Moscow by the French. He usually spent the summer in Ostafyevo, the estate of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky, whose daughter, Ekaterina Andreevna, Karamzin married in 1804 (Karamzin’s first wife, Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova, died in 1802). Karamzin spent the last 10 years of his life in St. Petersburg and became close to royal family, although Emperor Alexander I, who did not like criticism of his actions, treated Karamzin with restraint since the submission of the “Note”, in which the historiographer turned out to be plus royaliste que le roi. In Tsarskoe Selo, where Karamzin spent the summer at the request of the empresses (Maria Feodorovna and Elizaveta Alekseevna), he more than once had frank political conversations with Emperor Alexander, passionately rebelled against the sovereign’s intentions regarding Poland, “did not remain silent about taxes in Peaceful time, about the absurd provincial system of finance, about formidable military settlements, about the strange choice of some of the most important dignitaries, about the Ministry of Education or Eclipse, about the need to reduce the army fighting only Russia, about the imaginary repair of roads, so painful for the people, finally, about the need to have firm laws, civil and state." On the last question, the sovereign answered, as he could have answered Speransky, that he would "give fundamental laws to Russia", but in fact this is the opinion of Karamzin, like other advice from the opponent of the "liberals" and "servilists", Speransky and Arakcheev, "remained fruitless for the dear fatherland." The death of Emperor Alexander shocked Karamzin's health; half-ill, he visited the palace every day to talk with Empress Maria Feodorovna, moving from memories of the late sovereign to discussions about the tasks of the future reign. In the first months of 1826. Karamzin survived pneumonia and decided, on the advice of doctors, to go to Southern France and Italy in the spring, for which Emperor Nicholas gave him cash and placed a frigate at his disposal. But Karamzin was already too weak to travel and died on May 22, 1826.
N.M. Karamzin
History of Russian Goverment
PREFACE
Chapter I. ABOUT THE PEOPLES WHO FROM ANCIENT TIMES RESIDENTED IN RUSSIA. ABOUT THE SLAVS IN GENERAL
Chapter II. ABOUT THE SLAVS AND OTHER PEOPLES,
WHO CONSTITUTED THE RUSSIAN STATE
Chapter III. ABOUT THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL CHARACTER OF THE ANCIENT SLAVS
Chapter IV. RURIK, SINEUS AND TRUVOR. G. 862-879
Chapter V. OLEG RULER. G. 879-912
Chapter VI. PRINCE IGOR. G. 912-945
Chapter VII. PRINCE SVYATOSLAV. G. 945-972
Chapter VIII. GRAND DUKE YAROPOLK. G. 972-980
Chapter IX. GRAND DUKE VLADIMIR,
NAMED BASILI IN BAPTISM. G. 980-1014
Chapter X. ON THE STATE OF ANCIENT RUSSIA
Chapter I. GRAND DUKE SVYATOPOLK. G. 1015-1019
Chapter II. GRAND DUKE YAROSLAV OR GEORGE. G. 1019-1054
Chapter III. RUSSIAN TRUTH, OR YAROSLAVOV’S LAWS
Chapter IV. GRAND DUKE IZYASLAV,
NAMED DEMITRIUS IN BAPTISM. G. 1054-1077
Chapter V. GRAND DUKE VSEVOLOD. G. 1078-1093
Chapter VI. GRAND DUKE SVYATOPOLK-MIKHAIL. G. 1093-1112
Chapter VII. VLADIMIR MONOMAKH,
NAMED BASILI IN BAPTISM. G. 1113-1125
Chapter VIII. GRAND DUKE MSTISLAV. G. 1125-1132
Chapter IX. GRAND DUKE YAROPOLK. G. 1132-1139
Chapter X. GRAND DUKE VSEVOLOD OLGOVICH. G. 1139-1146
Chapter XI. GRAND DUKE IGOR OLGOVICH
Chapter XII. GRAND DUKE IZYASLAV MSTISLAVICH. G. 1146-1154
Chapter XIII. GRAND DUKE ROSTISLAV-MIKHAIL MSTISLAVICH. G. 1154-1155
Chapter XIV. GRAND DUKE GEORGE, OR YURI VLADIMIROVICH,
NAMED LONG-ARMED. G. 1155-1157
Chapter XV. GRAND DUKE IZYASLAV DAVIDOVICH OF Kyiv.
PRINCE ANDREY OF SUZDAL,
NICKNAMED BOGOLYUBSKY. G. 1157-1159
Chapter XVI. GRAND DUKE ROSTISLAV-MIKHAIL IS IN Kyiv FOR A SECOND TIME.
ANDREY IN VLADIMIR SUZDAL. G. 1159-1167
Chapter XVII. GRAND DUKE MSTISLAV IZYASLAVICH OF Kyiv.
ANDREY SUZDAL, OR VLADIMIRSKY. G. 1167-1169
Chapter I. GRAND DUKE ANDREY. G. 1169-1174
Chapter II. GRAND DUKE MICHAEL II [GEORGIEVICH]. G. 1174-1176
Chapter III. GRAND DUKE VSEVOLOD III GEORGIEVICH. G. 1176-1212
Chapter IV. GEORGE, PRINCE OF VLADIMIR.
KONSTANTIN ROSTOVSKY. G. 1212-1216
Chapter V. CONSTANTINE, GRAND DUKE
VLADIMIRSKY AND SUZDAL. G. 1216-1219
Chapter VI. GRAND DUKE GEORGE II VSEVOLODOVICH. G. 1219-1224
Chapter VII. THE STATE OF RUSSIA FROM THE 11TH TO THE 13TH CENTURIES
Chapter VIII. GRAND DUKE GEORGE VSEVOLODOVICH. G. 1224-1238
Chapter I. GRAND DUKE YAROSLAV II VSEVOLODOVICH. G. 1238-1247
Chapter II. GRAND DUKES SVYATOSLAV VSEVOLODOVICH,
ANDREY YAROSLAVICH AND ALEXANDER NEVSKY
(one after the other). G. 1247-1263
Chapter III. GRAND DUKE YAROSLAV YAROSLAVICH. G. 1263-1272
Chapter IV. GRAND DUKE VASILY YAROSLAVICH. G. 1272-1276.
Chapter V. GRAND DUKE DMITRY ALEXANDROVICH. G. 1276-1294.
Chapter VI. GRAND DUKE ANDREY ALEXANDROVICH. G. 1294-1304.
Chapter VII. GRAND DUKE MIKHAIL YAROSLAVICH. G. 1304-1319
Chapter VIII. GRAND DUKES GEORGE DANIILOVITCH,
DIMITRY AND ALEXANDER MIKHAILOVICH
(one after the other). G. 1319-1328
Chapter IX. GRAND DUKE JOHN DANIILOVICH,
NAMED KALITA. G. 1328-1340
Chapter X. GRAND DUKE SIMEON IOANNOVICH,
CALLED PROUD. G. 1340-1353
Chapter XI. GRAND DUKE JOHN II JOANNOVICH. G. 1353-1359
Chapter XII. GRAND DUKE DMITRY KONSTANTINOVICH. G. 1359-1362
Chapter I. GRAND DUKE DMITRY IOANNOVICH,
NAMED DON. G. 1363-1389
Chapter II. GRAND DUKE VASILY DIMITRIEVICH. G. 1389-1425
Chapter III. GRAND DUKE VASILY VASILIEVICH THE DARK. G. 1425-1462
Chapter IV. THE STATE OF RUSSIA FROM THE INVASION OF THE TATARS TO JOHN III
Chapter I. THE GOVERNOR, THE SOVEREIGN GRAND DUKE
JOHN III VASILIEVICH. G. 1462-1472
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1472-1477
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1475-1481
Chapter IV. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1480-1490
Chapter V. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1491-1496
Chapter VI. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1495-1503
Chapter VII. CONTINUATION OF JOHN'S REGION. G. 1503-1505
Chapter I. GOVERNOR GRAND DUKE VASILY IOANNOVICH. G. 1505-1509
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF VASILIEV'S STATE. G. 1510-1521
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF VASILIEV'S STATE. G. 1521-1534
Chapter IV. STATE OF RUSSIA. G. 1462-1533
Chapter I. GRAND DUKE AND TSAR JOHN IV VASILIEVICH II. G. 1533-1538
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF THE REGION OF JOHN IV. G. 1538-1547
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF THE REGION OF JOHN IV. G. 1546-1552
Chapter IV. CONTINUATION OF THE REGION OF JOHN IV. G. 1552
Chapter V. CONTINUATION OF THE REGION OF JOHN IV. G. 1552-1560
Chapter I. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1560-1564
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1563-1569
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1569-1572
Chapter IV. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1572-1577
Chapter V. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1577-1582
Chapter VI. THE FIRST CONQUEST OF SIBERIA. G. 1581-1584
Chapter VII. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF JOHN THE TERRIBLE. G. 1582-1584
Chapter I. THE REIGN OF THEODOR IOANNOVICH. G. 1584-1587
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF THEODOR IOANNOVICH. G. 1587-1592
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF THEODOR IOANNOVICH. G. 1591 - 1598
Chapter IV. STATE OF RUSSIA AT THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY
Chapter I. THE REIGN OF BORIS GODUNOV. G. 1598-1604
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF BORISOV'S REIGN. G. 1600-1605
Chapter III. THE REIGN OF THEODOR BORISOVICH GODUNOV. G. 1605
Chapter IV. REIGN OF THE FALSE DMITRY. G. 1605-1606
Chapter I. THE REIGN OF VASILY IOANNOVICH SHUISKY. G. 1606-1608
Chapter II. CONTINUATION OF BASILI'S REIGN. G. 1607-1609
Chapter III. CONTINUATION OF BASILI'S REIGN. G. 1608-1610
Chapter IV. THE OVERTHROWING OF BASILI AND THE INTERREGNUM. G. 1610-1611
Chapter V. INTERREGONUM. G. 1611-1612
PREFACE
History, in a sense, is the sacred book of peoples: the main, necessary; a mirror of their existence and activity; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of ancestors to posterity; addition, explanation of the present and example of the future.
Rulers and Legislators act according to the instructions of History and look at its pages like sailors at drawings of the seas. Human wisdom needs experience, and life is short-lived. You should know how from time immemorial rebellious passions excited civil society and in what ways the beneficial power of the mind curbed their stormy desire to establish order, harmonize the benefits of people and give them the happiness possible on earth.
But an ordinary citizen should also read History. She reconciles him with the imperfection of the visible order of things, as with an ordinary phenomenon in all centuries; consoles in state disasters, testifying that similar ones have happened before, even worse ones have happened, and the State was not destroyed; it nourishes a moral feeling and with its righteous judgment disposes the soul towards justice, which affirms our good and the harmony of society.
Here is the benefit: how much pleasure for the heart and mind! Curiosity is akin to man, both the enlightened and the wild. At the glorious Olympic Games, the noise fell silent, and the crowds remained silent around Herodotus, reading the legends of the centuries. Even without knowing the use of letters, peoples already love History: the old man points the young man to a high grave and tells about the deeds of the Hero lying in it. The first experiments of our ancestors in the art of literacy were devoted to Faith and Scripture; Darkened by a thick shadow of ignorance, the people greedily listened to the tales of the Chroniclers. And I like fiction; but for complete pleasure one must deceive oneself and think that they are the truth. History, opening the tombs, raising the dead, putting life into their hearts and words into their mouths, re-creating Kingdoms from corruption and imagining a series of centuries with their distinct passions, morals, deeds, expands the boundaries of our own existence; by its creative power we live with people of all times, we see and hear them, we love and hate them; Without even thinking about the benefits, we already enjoy the contemplation of diverse cases and characters that occupy the mind or nourish sensitivity.
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“The History of Karamzin” is one of the greatest monuments of Russian national culture.
The first volume of “History of the Russian State” includes 10 chapters: I - About the peoples who lived in Russia since ancient times, II - About the Slavs and other peoples, III - About the physical and moral character of the ancient Slavs, IV - Rurik, Sineus and Truvor, V - Oleg the Ruler, VI - Prince Igor, VII - Prince Svyatoslav, VIII - Grand Duke Yaropolk, IX - Grand Duke Vladimir, X - About the state Ancient Rus'. The first volume of this set contains comments, an index of names, an index of geographical and ethnic names, an index of literary and documentary sources, church holidays and events, and a list of abbreviations used in indexes.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
"History of Russian Goverment"
Volume I
Preface
History, in a sense, is the sacred book of peoples: the main, necessary; a mirror of their existence and activity; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of ancestors to posterity; addition, explanation of the present and example of the future.
Rulers and Legislators act according to the instructions of History and look at its pages like sailors at drawings of the seas. Human wisdom needs experience, and life is short-lived. One must know how from time immemorial rebellious passions agitated civil society and in what ways the beneficial power of the mind curbed their stormy desire to establish order, harmonize the benefits of people and give them the happiness possible on earth.
But an ordinary citizen should also read History. She reconciles him with the imperfection of the visible order of things, as with an ordinary phenomenon in all centuries; consoles in state disasters, testifying that similar ones have happened before, even worse ones have happened, and the State was not destroyed; it nourishes a moral feeling and with its righteous judgment disposes the soul towards justice, which affirms our good and the harmony of society.
Here is the benefit: how much pleasure for the heart and mind! Curiosity is akin to man, both the enlightened and the wild. At the glorious Olympic Games, the noise fell silent, and the crowds remained silent around Herodotus, reading the legends of the centuries. Even without knowing the use of letters, peoples already love History: the old man points the young man to a high grave and tells about the deeds of the Hero lying in it. The first experiments of our ancestors in the art of literacy were devoted to Faith and Scripture; Darkened by a thick shadow of ignorance, the people greedily listened to the tales of the Chroniclers. And I like fiction; but for complete pleasure one must deceive oneself and think that they are the truth. History, opening the tombs, raising the dead, putting life into their hearts and words into their mouths, re-creating Kingdoms from corruption and imagining a series of centuries with their distinct passions, morals, deeds, expands the boundaries of our own existence; by its creative power we live with people of all times, we see and hear them, we love and hate them; Without even thinking about the benefits, we already enjoy the contemplation of diverse cases and characters that occupy the mind or nourish sensitivity.
If any History, even unskillfully written, is pleasant, as Pliny says: how much more domestic. The true Cosmopolitan is a metaphysical being or such an extraordinary phenomenon that there is no need to talk about him, neither to praise nor to condemn him. We are all citizens, in Europe and in India, in Mexico and in Abyssinia; Everyone’s personality is closely connected with the fatherland: we love it because we love ourselves. Let the Greeks and Romans captivate the imagination: they belong to the family of the human race and are not strangers to us in their virtues and weaknesses, glory and disasters; but the name Russian has a special charm for us: my heart beats even stronger for Pozharsky than for Themistocles or Scipio. The World History with great memories decorates the world for the mind, and the Russian one decorates the fatherland where we live and feel. How attractive are the banks of the Volkhov, Dnieper, Don, when we know that in ancient times happened on them! Not only Novgorod, Kyiv, Vladimir, but also the huts of Yelets, Kozelsk, Galich become curious monuments and silent objects - eloquent. The shadows of past centuries paint pictures before us everywhere.
In addition to the special dignity for us, the sons of Russia, its chronicles have something in common. Let us look at the space of this only Power: thought becomes numb; Rome in its greatness could never equal her, dominating from the Tiber to the Caucasus, the Elbe and the African sands. Isn’t it amazing how lands separated by eternal barriers of nature, immeasurable deserts and impenetrable forests, cold and hot climates, like Astrakhan and Lapland, Siberia and Bessarabia, could form one Power with Moscow? Is the mixture of its inhabitants less wonderful, diverse, diverse and so distant from each other in degrees of education? Like America, Russia has its Wild Ones; like other European countries it shows the fruits of long-term civic life. You don’t need to be Russian: you just need to think in order to read with curiosity the traditions of the people who, with courage and courage, gained dominance over a ninth part of the world, discovered countries hitherto unknown to anyone, bringing them into common system Geography, History, and enlightened by the Divine Faith, without violence, without the atrocities used by other zealots of Christianity in Europe and America, but the only example of the best.
We agree that the acts described by Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy are more interesting for anyone who is not Russian, representing more spiritual strength and a lively play of passions: for Greece and Rome were people's Powers and more enlightened than Russia; however, we can safely say that some cases, pictures, characters of our History are no less curious than the ancients. These are the essence of the exploits of Svyatoslav, the thunderstorm of Batu, the uprising of the Russians at Donskoy, the fall of Novagorod, the capture of Kazan, the triumph of national virtues during the Interregnum. Giants of the twilight, Oleg and son Igor; the simple-hearted knight, the blind Vasilko; friend of the fatherland, benevolent Monomakh; Mstislavs Brave, terrible in battle and an example of kindness in the world; Mikhail Tversky, so famous for his magnanimous death, the ill-fated, truly courageous, Alexander Nevsky; The young hero, the conqueror of Mamaev, in the lightest outline, has a strong effect on the imagination and heart. The reign of John III alone is a rare treasure for history: at least I don’t know a monarch more worthy to live and shine in its sanctuary. The rays of his glory fall on the cradle of Peter - and between these two Autocrats the amazing John IV, Godunov, worthy of his happiness and misfortune, the strange False Dmitry, and behind the host of valiant Patriots, Boyars and citizens, the mentor of the throne, High Hierarch Philaret with the Sovereign Son, a light-bearer in the darkness our state disasters, and Tsar Alexy, the wise father of the Emperor, whom Europe called Great. Either all of New History should remain silent, or Russian History should have the right to attention.
I know that the battles of our specific civil strife, rattling incessantly in the space of five centuries, are of little importance to the mind; that this subject is neither rich in thoughts for the Pragmatist, nor in beauty for the painter; but History is not a novel, and the world is not a garden where everything should be pleasant: it depicts the real world. We see majestic mountains and waterfalls, flowering meadows and valleys on earth; but how many barren sands and dull steppes! However, travel is generally kind to a person with a lively feeling and imagination; In the very deserts there are beautiful species.
Let us not be superstitious in our lofty concept of the Scriptures of Antiquity. If we exclude fictitious speeches from the immortal creation of Thucydides, what remains? A naked story about the civil strife of the Greek cities: crowds commit villainy, are slaughtered for the honor of Athens or Sparta, just as we have for the honor of Monomakhov or Oleg’s house. There is not much difference if we forget that these half-tigers spoke in the language of Homer, had Sophocles’ Tragedies and statues of Phidias. Does the thoughtful painter Tacitus always present to us the great, the striking? We look with tenderness at Agrippina, carrying the ashes of Germanicus; with pity for the bones and armor of Varov's Legion scattered in the forest; with horror at the bloody feast of the frantic Romans, illuminated by the flames of the Capitol; with disgust at the monster of tyranny devouring the remnants of Republican virtues in the capital of the world: but the boring litigation of cities about the right to have a priest in this or that temple and the dry Obituary of Roman officials take up many pages in Tacitus. He envied Titus Livy for the wealth of the subject; and Livy, smooth and eloquent, sometimes fills entire books with news of conflicts and robberies, which are hardly more important than the Polovtsian raids. - In a word, reading all the Stories requires some patience, which is more or less rewarded with pleasure.
A historian of Russia could, of course, say a few words about the origin of its main people, about the composition of the State, present the important, most memorable features of antiquity in a skillful picture and start thorough a narrative from John's time or from the 15th century, when one of the greatest state creations in the world took place: he would have easily written 200 or 300 eloquent, pleasant pages, instead of many books, difficult for the Author, tedious for the Reader. But these reviews, these paintings do not replace chronicles, and whoever has read only Robertson’s Introduction to the History of Charles V still does not have a thorough, true understanding of Europe in middle times. It is not enough that an intelligent person, looking around the monuments of centuries, will tell us his notes: we must see the actions and the actors ourselves - then we know History. The boastfulness of the Author's eloquence and bliss Will the readers be condemned to eternal oblivion of the deeds and fate of our ancestors? They suffered, and through their misfortunes they created our greatness, and we don’t even want to hear about it, or know who they loved, who they blamed for their misfortunes? Foreigners may miss what is boring for them in our ancient History; But aren’t good Russians obliged to have more patience, following the rule of state morality, which places respect for ancestors in the dignity of an educated citizen?.. This is how I thought and wrote about Igor, O Vsevolodakh, How contemporary, looking at them in the dim mirror of the ancient Chronicle with tireless attention, with sincere respect; and if, instead alive , whole represented the only images shadows , in excerpts, then it’s not my fault: I couldn’t supplement the Chronicles!
Eat three kind of stories: first modern, for example, Thucydides, where an obvious witness talks about incidents; second, like Tacitov, is based on fresh verbal traditions at a time close to the actions described; third extracted only from monuments like ours until the 18th century. (Only with Peter the Great do verbal legends begin for us: we heard from our fathers and grandfathers about him, about Catherine I, Peter II, Anna, Elizabeth, much that is not in the books. (Here and below are notes by N. M. Karamzin. )) IN first And second the mind and imagination of the Writer shines, who chooses the most curious, blossoms, decorates, sometimes creates, without fear of reproof; will say: that's what I saw , that's what I heard- and silent Criticism does not prevent the Reader from enjoying the beautiful descriptions. Third the genus is the most limited for talent: you cannot add a single feature to what is known; you cannot question the dead; we say that our contemporaries betrayed us; we remain silent if they remain silent - or fair Criticism will block the lips of a frivolous Historian, obliged to present only what has been preserved from centuries in the Chronicles, in the Archives. The ancients had the right to invent speeches in accordance with the character of people, with circumstances: a right that is invaluable for true talents, and Livy, using it, enriched his books with the power of mind, eloquence, and wise instructions. But we, contrary to the opinion of Abbot Mably, cannot now orbit History. New advances in reason have given us the clearest understanding of its nature and purpose; common taste established unchanged rules and forever separated the Description from the Poem, from the flower beds of eloquence, leaving it to the former to be a faithful mirror of the past, a faithful response to the words actually spoken by the Heroes of the Ages. The most beautiful fictitious speech disgraces History, which is dedicated not to the glory of the Writer, not to the pleasure of the Readers, and not even to moralizing wisdom, but only to the truth, which itself becomes a source of pleasure and benefit. Both Natural and Civil History does not tolerate fiction, depicting what is or was, and not what is to be could. But History, they say, is filled with lies: let’s say better that in it, as in human affairs, there is an admixture of lies, but the character of truth is always more or less preserved; and this is enough for us to make up our minds general concept about people and actions. The more demanding and stricter the Criticism; it is all the more inadmissible for the Historian, for the benefit of his talent, to deceive conscientious Readers, to think and speak for Heroes who have long been silent in their graves. What remains for him, chained, so to speak, to the dry charters of antiquity? order, clarity, strength, painting. He creates from a given substance: he will not produce gold from copper, but must also purify copper; must know the price and properties; to reveal the great where it is hidden, and not to give the small the rights of the great. There is no subject so poor that Art cannot mark itself in it in a way that is pleasing to the mind.
Until now, the Ancients serve as models for us. No one has surpassed Livy in the beauty of storytelling, Tacitus in power: that’s the main thing! Knowledge of all the Rights in the world, German erudition, Voltaire's wit, not even the most profound thought of Machiavellian in the Historian do not replace the talent to depict actions. The English are famous for Hume, the Germans for John Müller, and rightly so (I am speaking only about those who wrote the entire History of Nations. Ferreras, Daniel, Maskov, Dalin, Mallet are not equal to these two Historians; but while zealously praising Müller (the Historian of Switzerland), experts do not praise his Introduction, which can be called a Geological Poem): both are worthy collaborators of the Ancients, - not imitators: for every century, every people gives special colors to the skillful Writer of Genesis. “Do not imitate Tacitus, but write as he would write in your place!” There is a rule of genius. Did Muller want to, by frequently inserting moral issues into the story? apophegma, be like Tacitus? Don't know; but this desire to shine with intelligence, or to appear thoughtful, is almost contrary to true taste. The historian argues only to explain things, where his thoughts seem to complement the description. Let us note that these apothegms are for thorough minds either half-truths or very ordinary truths that do not have much value in History, where we are looking for actions and characters. There is skillful storytelling duty writer of everyday life, and a good individual thought - gift: the reader demands the first and thanks for the second when his demand has already been fulfilled. Didn’t the prudent Hume think so too, sometimes very prolific in explaining reasons, but stingily moderate in his reflections? A historian whom we would call the most perfect of the New Ones, if he were not excessively shunned England, did not unduly boast of impartiality and thus did not cool his elegant creation! In Thucydides we always see the Athenian Greek, in Libya we always see the Roman, and we are captivated by them and believe them. Feeling: we, our enlivens the narrative - and just as gross passion, the consequence of a weak mind or a weak soul, is unbearable in the Historian, so love for the fatherland will give his brush heat, strength, charm. Where there is no love, there is no soul.
I turn to my work. Not allowing myself any invention, I sought expressions in my mind, and thoughts only in monuments: I sought spirit and life in smoldering charters; I wanted to unite what had been faithful to us for centuries into a system, clear by the harmonious rapprochement of parts; depicted not only the disasters and glory of war, but also everything that is part of the civil existence of people: the successes of reason, art, customs, laws, industry; was not afraid to speak with importance about what was respected by his ancestors; I wanted, without betraying my age, without pride and ridicule, to describe the centuries of spiritual infancy, gullibility, and fabulousness; I wanted to present both the character of the time and the character of the Chroniclers: for one seemed to me necessary for the other. The less news I found, the more I valued and used what I found; the less he chose: for it is not the poor, but the rich who choose. It was necessary either not to say anything, or to say everything about such and such a Prince, so that he would live in our memory not just as a dry name, but with some moral physiognomy. Diligently exhausting materials of ancient Russian History, I encouraged myself with the thought that in the narration of distant times there is some inexplicable charm for our imagination: there are sources of Poetry! Doesn't our gaze, in contemplating the great space, usually tend - past everything close and clear - to the end of the horizon, where the shadows thicken, fade and impenetrability begins?
The reader will notice that I am describing the actions not apart, by year and day, but copulating them for the most convenient impression in memory. The historian is not a Chronicler: the latter looks only at time, and the former at the nature and connection of actions: he may make a mistake in the distribution of places, but must indicate his place to everything.
The multitude of notes and extracts I made frightens me. Happy are the Ancients: they did not know this petty labor, in which half the time is lost, the mind is bored, the imagination withers: a painful sacrifice made reliability, but necessary! If all the materials were collected, published, and purified by Criticism, then I would only have to refer; but when most of them are in manuscripts, in the dark; when hardly anything has been processed, explained, agreed upon, you need to arm yourself with patience. It is up to the Reader to look into this motley mixture, which sometimes serves as evidence, sometimes as an explanation or addition. For hunters, everything is curious: an old name, a word; the slightest feature of antiquity gives rise to considerations. Since the 15th century I have been writing less: the sources are multiplying and becoming clearer.
A learned and glorious man, Schletser, said that our History has five main periods; that Russia from 862 to Svyatopolk should be named nascent(Nascens), from Yaroslav to the Mughals divided(Divisa), from Batu to John oppressed(Oppressa), from John to Peter the Great victorious(Victrix), from Peter to Catherine II prosperous. This idea seems to me more witty than thorough. 1) The century of St. Vladimir was already a century of power and glory, and not birth. 2) State shared and before 1015. 3) If according to the internal state and external actions of Russia it is necessary to mean periods, then is it possible to mix at one time the Grand Duke Dimitri Alexandrovich and Donskoy, silent slavery with victory and glory? 4) The Age of the Impostors is marked by more misfortune than victory. Much better, truer, more modest, our history is divided into the oldest from Rurik to John III, on average from John to Peter, and new from Peter to Alexander. The Lot system was a character first era, autocracy - second, change in civil customs - third. However, there is no need to put boundaries where places serve as living tracts.
Having willingly and zealously devoted twelve years, and best time of my life, for the composition of these eight or nine Volumes, I can, out of weakness, desire praise and fear condemnation; but I dare say that this is not the main thing for me. The love of fame alone could not have given me the constant, long-term firmness necessary in such a matter, if I had not found true pleasure in the work itself and had not had the hope of being useful, that is, of making Russian History more famous for many, even for my strict judges .
Thanks to everyone, both living and dead, whose intelligence, knowledge, talents, and art served as my guidance, I entrust myself to the condescension of good fellow citizens. We love one thing, we desire one thing: we love the fatherland; We wish him prosperity even more than glory; We wish that the solid foundation of our greatness never changes; may the rules of the wise Autocracy and the Holy Faith strengthen the union of parts more and more; May Russia bloom... at least for a long, long time, if there is nothing immortal on earth except the human soul!
December 7, 1815. On the sources of Russian history until the 17th century
These sources are:
I. Chronicles. Nestor, monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, nicknamed father Russian History, lived in the 11th century: gifted with a curious mind, he listened with attention to the oral traditions of antiquity, folk historical tales; saw monuments, graves of Princes; talked with nobles, elders of Kyiv, travelers, residents of other Russian regions; read the Byzantine Chronicles, church notes and became first chronicler of our fatherland. Second, named Vasily, also lived at the end of the 11th century: used by Prince David of Vladimir in negotiations with the unfortunate Vasilko, he described to us the latter’s generosity and other modern deeds of southwestern Russia. All other chroniclers remained for us nameless; one can only guess where and when they lived: for example, one in Novgorod, Priest, dedicated by Bishop Nifont in 1144; another in Vladimir on the Klyazma under Vsevolod the Great; the third in Kyiv, a contemporary of Rurik II; the fourth in Volynia around 1290; the fifth was then in Pskov. Unfortunately, they did not say everything that might be of interest to posterity; but, fortunately, they did not make it up, and the most reliable of the foreign chroniclers agree with them. This almost continuous chain of Chronicles goes up to the statehood of Alexei Mikhailovich. Some have not yet been published or were printed very poorly. I was looking for ancient lists: the best of Nestor and his successors are the Haratei, Pushkin and Trinity, XIV and XV centuries. Notes are also worthy Ipatievsky, Khlebnikovsky, Koenigsbergsky, Rostovsky, Voskresensky, Lvovsky, Archivsky. In each of them there is something special and truly historical, introduced, one must think, by contemporaries or from their notes. Nikonovsky most distorted by the insertions of meaningless copyists, but in the 14th century it reports probable additional news about the Tver Principality, then it is already similar to others, but inferior to them in serviceability, - for example, Archivsky .
II. Degree book, composed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible according to the thoughts and instructions of Metropolitan Macarius. It is a selection from the chronicles with some additions, more or less reliable, and is called by this name for what is indicated in it degrees, or generations of sovereigns.
III. So called Chronographs, or General History according to the Byzantine Chronicles, with the introduction of ours, very brief. They have been curious since the 17th century: there are already many detailed modern news that is not in the chronicles.
IV. Lives of the Saints, in the patericon, in prologues, in menaions, in special manuscripts. Many of these Biographies were composed in modern times; some, however, for example, St. Vladimir, Boris and Gleb, Theodosius, are in the Charatean Prologues; and the Patericon was composed in the 13th century.
V. Special descriptions: for example, the legend of Dovmont of Pskov, Alexander Nevsky; modern notes by Kurbsky and Palitsyn; news about the Pskov siege in 1581, about Metropolitan Philip, etc.
VI. Rank, or distribution of Voivodes and regiments: begin from the time of John III. These handwritten books are not rare.
VII. Pedigree book: printed; The most correct and complete one, written in 1660, is kept in the Synodal Library.
VIII. Written Catalogs of metropolitans and bishops. - These two sources are not very reliable; they need to be checked against the chronicles.
IX. Epistles of the saints to princes, clergy and laity; the most important of these is the Epistle to Shemyaka; but in others there is also much that is memorable.
X. Ancients coins, medals, inscriptions, fairy tales, songs, proverbs: the source is meager, but not entirely useless.
XI. Certificates. The oldest authentic one was written around 1125. Archival New Town certificates and Soul recordings princes begin in the 13th century; This source is already rich, but there is still a much richer one.
XII. A collection of so-called Article lists, or Ambassadorial affairs, and letters in the Archive of the Foreign Collegium from the 15th century, when both incidents and methods for describing them give the Reader the right to demand greater satisfaction from the Historian. - They are adding to this property of ours.
XIII. Foreign contemporary chronicles: Byzantine, Scandinavian, German, Hungarian, Polish, along with news from travelers.
XIV. State papers of foreign archives: I mostly used extracts from Koenigsberg.
Here are the materials of History and the subject of Historical Criticism!
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