But what has all this to do, it may be asked, with
the aforementioned Volkerwanderung, or migration of
peoples, during the Dark Ages? More than may
at first sight appear. Some of the so-called migrations
were, I suspect, not at all migrations in the ordinary
sense of the term, but rather gradual changes, such
as those which have taken place, and are still taking
place, in Northern Russia. A thousand years ago
what is now known as the province of Yaroslavl was
inhabited by Finns, and now it is occupied by men
who are commonly regarded as pure Slays. But it
would be an utter mistake to suppose that the Finns
of this district migrated to those more distant regions
where they are now to be found. In reality they
formerly occupied, as I have said, the whole of Northern
Russia, and in the province of Yaroslavl they have
been transformed by Slav infiltration. In Central
Europe the Slavs may be said in a certain sense to
have retreated, for in former times they occupied the
whole of Northern Germany as far as the Elbe.
But what does the word “retreat” mean
in this case? It means probably that the Slays
were gradually Teutonised, and then absorbed by the
Teutonic race. Some tribes, it is true, swept
over a part of Europe in genuine nomadic fashion, and
endeavoured perhaps to expel or exterminate the actual
possessors of the soil. This kind of migration
may likewise be studied in Russia. But I must
leave the subject till I come to speak of the southern
provinces.
CHAPTER XI
LORD NOVGOROD THE GREAT
Departure from Ivanofka and Arrival at Novgorod—The
Eastern Half of the Town—The Kremlin—An
Old Legend—The Armed Men of Rus—The
Northmen—Popular Liberty in Novgorod—The
Prince and the Popular Assembly—Civil Dissensions
and Faction-fights—The Commercial Republic
Conquered by the Muscovite Tsars—Ivan the
Terrible—Present Condition of the Town—Provincial
Society—Card-playing—Periodicals—“Eternal
Stillness.”
Country life in Russia is pleasant enough in summer
or in winter, but between summer and winter there
is an intermediate period of several weeks when the
rain and mud transform a country-house into something
very like a prison. To escape this durance vile
I determined in the month of October to leave Ivanofka,
and chose as my headquarters for the next few months
the town of Novgorod—the old town of that
name, not to be confounded with Nizhni Novgorod—i.e.,
Lower Novgorod, on the Volga—where the
great annual fair is held.
For this choice there were several reasons. I
did not wish to go to St. Petersburg or Moscow, because
I foresaw that in either of those cities my studies
would certainly be interrupted. In a quiet, sleepy
provincial town I should have much more chance of
coming in contact with people who could not speak
fluently any West-European languages, and much better
opportunities for studying native life and local administration.
