Smolensk (Part one)

At the city walls a battle took place, in which Smolensk dwellers won.
Weakened Smolensk Princedom continually was subject to attacks of Lithuanian troops. In 1248, they occupied Rudnya and Roslavl; in 1359 – minor cities of Smolensk princedom, the territory of which was approximately three times bigger than now known Smolensk oblast – Mstislavl and Bryansk.

In 1387, another horrible by its size plaque stroke the Smolensk land. In the capital of the princedom only several people remained alive; they abandoned the city and locked the gates of the fortress. For a period of time Smolensk remained desolate. But struggle for the Smolensk land did not seize. There was danger from all sides. In Onezhsk Psalm written in the end of XIV century by monk Luke Smolianin, among many miniatures there is an allegoric illustration: a raving hare in the midst of the predators ready to bite each other – a lion, a bear, a leopard and the monster-antichrist. Researchers believe that the painter of the drawing, Luke Smolianin, depicted in the image of the hare the situation of his native Smolensk princedom, claims over which at that time simultaneously were presented by Lithuania, Moscow, the Teutonic Order and Tatars.

In 1404, Lithuanian prince Vytautas after a two-month siege seized Smolensk, which for 110 years ended up under the Great Pincedom of Lithuania. An outstanding event of the Smolensk history was Smolensk’s troops’ participation in the Grunewald battle of 1410 against the knights of the Teutonic Order. At the decisive moment of the battle these troops by their bravery and heroism changed its course in favor of the united forces of the Polish kingdom and the Great Princedom of Lithuania, for which powers they fought. This is what chronicler Yan Dlugosh writes about it, “in this battle… Russian soldiers – Smolensk dwellers of three gonfalons firmly fought and were the only ones who did not flee, thus, having earned immortal fame.

Although one regiment was beaten and its gonfalon fell to the ground the other two regiments, as fits the men of war, fought in hand combat and ended up winners joining the Polish army afterwards.”

In spring of 1440, Smolensk dwellers started an uprising against the Lithuanian governor; the cause of that was the events in Lithuania and violation of rights of the Orthodox population of Lithuanian Princedom, which was more than half of its dwellers. The “Smolensk black men’s” upsurge ending in drowning of the fortress commandant in the Dnepr received the name of “the great turmoil.” Having kicked out the Lithuanian authorities, Smolensk dwellers elected Andrew Dorogobuzhskiy their voivode, and prince Yuri Mstislavskiy – their ruler-governor. And only in the next year the Lithuanians were able to recapture the city.

Since the second half of XV century the centralized Russian state growing in its might began active military operations aimed at uniting with Smolensk land. After several unsuccessful campaigns undertaken during 14 years Smolensk was seized only in 1514 by Moscow prince Vasilly III.

Since that time it became a shield of the Moscow state; a key-city to Moscow. They said that whoever possessed that key considered himself the master of the entire country. Because of that, Smolensk land more than once became an arena of fierce struggles, the tug of war that was pushed and pulled by fighting parties throughout the next centuries.

Despite the long period of time when the Smolensk land was part of the Great Princedom of Lithuania in the minds of the people a thought was confirmed that the Smolensk land is an integral part of the Moscow State. It is, for instance, depicted in folk lore. In a famous historical song “the Zemsky Council” Moscow Tsar holds council with boyars about yielding Smolensk to the Poles or, with historical justice, fighting it back. It seems, though, the Tsar had already made a firm decision: the boyars who would persuade him that Smolensk is not a Moscow possession but Lithuanian the tsar would execute; but he really enjoyed the speech of boyar Miloslavskiy who at the Council stated, “Smolensk the city is very mighty and golden treasury there is unlimited, so it is not a Lithuanian possession but a Moscow one!”

It is true that Smolensk in XVI-XVII centuries could be called a “Moscow construction.” The city fortress was founded by Boris Godunov, built by master of stonework of the Tsar Fedor Kon; defended by a Moscow boyar, voivode Shein.

The Polish-Lithuanian state did not cease the attempts to regain the Smolensk land. Before another war in 1596-1602 stone Smolensk fortress was erected. In 1608, Vasilly Shuisky appointed Moscow boyar M. B. Shein as voivode of Smolensk.

The Smolensk fortress itself was a wonder of architecture; it grew six miles long in six years; it was the safest barrier from the enemy going to Moscow, although treason could at any time open the gates of the invincible stronghold to the enemy. Voivode Shein was irreproachable in his actions during the entire 20-month exhausting siege undertaken by Polish king Sigizmund III in 1609-1611, successfully rebutting endless fierce storms and strengthening the spirit of the besieged. And even at the critical moment for Russia, which almost decided the Russian fate, when a Polish embassy came to the walls of Smolensk to proclaim Polish prince Vladislav as Russian Tsar, when Polish army entered Moscow, Smolensk did not waver.

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