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Accounts of the Mongol Invasion
of Russia
Map 1: The Kievan Rus
city-states in 1237 on the eve of the Mongol Invasion
INTRODUCTION
The Mongols
The Mongols originated as a group of nomadic herding tribes in Northeastern
Asia (modern-day Mongolia; see map 2). In the 13th century they began an
unprecedented expansion across the Eurasian plain under the leadership of
“Ghengis Khan,” a title that literally means "Universal Ruler," before
his death in 1227. The Mongol conquest of Northern Rus in 1237-38 was part
of a larger scheme--the conquest of Europe--devised by Ghengis Khan's successors
at a [council] in 1235. Led by Batu Khan, believed to be Ghengis' illegitimate
grandson, the Mongols, using Chinese technicians and Turkish manpower, encountered
little or no opposition from the feuding princes of Rus. They captured and
devastated the cities (see maps 1 & 3) of Ryazan, Moscow, Suzdal, and
Vladimir, as well as other smaller towns and cities. They took some of the
inhabitants captive, massacred others, and forced those who survived to pay
tribute. In 1240, after two years of rest, Batu Khan ordered his forces west.
Employing tactics of seige and massive assault, the Mongols overran Pereiaslavl
and Chernigov and took Kiev in December of 1240. The Mongol capture of Kiev
symbolized the end of the Kievan state, which had been on the decline for
quite some time. In these invasions the Mongols brought a huge force, estimated
at between 120,000-140,000 men, but most were not Mongols—most were probably
of Turkic descent (i.e. Polovtsy and others), though certainly all the commanders
would have been Mongols. Some historians estimate that as much as 5
percent of the Russian population could have been killed in this invasion
and conquest, which inaugurated a period in Russian history known as
the "Mongol Yoke" (or "Tartar Yoke"--see below for explanation) that technically
lasted until 1480.
Map 2: The
Mongol Empire in 1227 at the time of Ghengis Khan's death
The Text
The source of the first two accounts is the "Laurentian Chronicle"
(Lavrentiivskyi litopys). One of the oldest compendiums of Kievan Rus’
chronicles, it is named after the monk Lavrentii, who copied it in 1377. It
contains earlier chronicles, including one that describes events until 1305.
Lavrentii was copying the chronicles of earlier monks whose names
we do not have, and the earlier accounts have been lost. They had been entered
as "diary entries" of events at or near the date of their occurrence, and
the monks who wrote them probably witnessed the events they describe. At
the very least they might be thought of as "journalistic" accounts or second-hand
reports of what happened. The chronicle was discovered in 1792 at a monastery
and published in its entirety in 1846 as the Polnoe Sobranie Russkikh
Letopisei (Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles). The latter two
selections were written by travelers to the Tartars sent by Pope Innocent
IV. The general "Description of the Mongol 'Tartars' (1243) comes from an
anonymous Hungarian bishop. "An eyewitness account of Kiev in 1246" was written
six years after the Mongols had sacked the city by a Franciscan friar, Giovanni
de Plano Carpini, Pope Innocent IV's envoy to the Mongol/Tartar Khan.
The friar left Lyon, France, in April 1245, passed through Kiev in February
1246, and, after visiting the eastern Mongol capital of Karakorum, passed
through Kiev again on his return in 1247.
Map 3: The path of the Mongol invasion in 1237-38
The Tartars
These and other such texts most often refer to the Mongols as "Tartars,"
which is what Russians (and Europeans in general) called the Mongols. The
term “Tartar” originated with the Chinese in the 8th century. The Tartars
were one of the numerous tribes inhabiting the steppe region to the north
of China (see map 2), but since they were the dominant tribe at that time
the Chinese called them all “Tartars.” The Mongols are a separate group
that emerged later in the same region, actually defeating and assimilating
with the Tartars and other groups as well. But the name "Tartar" (also
sometimes spelled "Tatar") stuck, especially when Marco Polo and other Western
travelers to China brought it back with them to Europe. As a result
we often see the terms "Mongol" and "Tartar" used interchangeably, although
technically Mongol is more correct. To complicate matters further, in the
late 13th century the Mongols/Tartars converted to Islam, so thereafter they
are also referred to as "Mohammedans," a derogatory term for the Christian
monks writing these chronicles. {NOTE: in reading these texts, do not
get bogged down in the details of all the names of places and people, but
rather pay attention to the main themes. For example, how does religion inform
these accounts? In the emissaries' description of the Mongols, is there room
for cultural misunderstanding or misrepresentation, i.e. regarding accusations
of cannibalism, etc.?}.
MONGOL CONQUEST OF NORTHERN RUS in 1237-1238
(written by a Russian Eastern Orthodox monk at or near the date of the
event described)
It happened in 1237. That winter, the godless Tartars, under the leadership
of Batu, came to Riazan principality from the East through the forests.
Upon arriving they encamped at Onuza, which they took and burned. From here
they dispatched their emissaries--a woman witch and two men--to the princes
of Riazan demanding a tithe from the princes and complete armor and horses
from the people. The princes of Riazan, Iurii Igorevich and his brother Oleg,
did not allow the emissaries to enter the city, and [together with] the Murom
and Pronsk princes [they] moved against the Tartars in the direction of Voronezh.
The princes replied: "When we are gone, everything will be yours." . . . The
princes of Riazan sent a plea to Prince Iurii of Vladimir, begging him to
send aid or to come in person. Prince Iurri, however, did not go; neither
did he listen to the plea of the princes of Riazan, as he wanted to fight
the Tartars alone. . . .
The princes of Riazan, Murom, and Pronsk moved against the godless and
engaged them in a battle. The struggle was fierce, but the godless Mohammedans
emerged victorious with each prince fleeing toward his own city. Thus angered,
the Tartars now began the conquest of the Riazan land with great fury. They
destroyed cities, killed people, burned and took [people] into slavery. On
December 6, [1237], the cursed strangers approached the capital city of Riazan,
besieged it, and surrounded it with a stockade. The princes of Riazan shut
themselves up with the people of the city, fought bravely, but succumbed.
On December 21 the Tartars took the city of Riazan, burned it completely,
killed Prince Iurii Igorevich, his wife, slaughtered other princes, and of
the captured men, women, and children, some they killed with their swords,
others they killed with arrows and [then] threw them into the fire; while
some of the captured they bound, cut and disemboweled their bodies. The Tartars
burned many holy churches, monasteries, and villages, and took their property.
Then the Tartars went toward Kolomna. From Vladimir, Grand Prince Iurii
Vsevolodovich sent his son, Prince Vsevolod, against them; with him also
went Prince Roman Igorevich of Riazan with his armies. Grand Prince Iurii
sent his military commander, Eremei Glebovich, ahead with a patrol. This
group joined Vsevolod's and Roman Igorevich's forces at Kolomna. There they
were surrounded by the Tartars. The struggle was very fierce and the Russians
were driven away to a hill. And there [the Tartars] killed Prince Roman Igorevich
Riazanskii, and Eremei Glebovich, the military commander of Vsevolod Iurievich,
and they slaughtered many other men. Prince Vsevolod, with a small detachment,
fled to Vladimir. The Tartars [then] went toward Moscow. They took Moscow
and killed the military commander Phillip Nianka, and captured Vladimir, the
son of Prince Iurii; they slaughtered people old and young alike, some they
took with them into captivity; they departed with a great amount of wealth.
When Grand Prince Iurii Vsevolodovich heard about this . . . he entrusted
the rule of Vladimir to a bishop, Princes Vsevolod and Mstislav, and his
own military leader Peter Osliadiukovich, while he himself went toward the
Volga with [three of] his nephews . . . They made their camp on the Siti.
There the Grand Prince awaited the arrival of [two of] his brothers . . .
with their soldiers, and he himself began to collect an army. . . .
On Tuesday, February 3 [1238] . . . the Tartars approached Vladimir.
The inhabitants of Vladimir, with their princes and military commanders
shut themselves up in the city. The Tartars came to the Golden Gates, brought
with them Prince Vladimir, the son of the Grand Prince Iurii Vsevolodovich,
and inquired: "Is the Grand Prince Iurii in the city?" But the inhabitants
of Vladimir began to shoot at them. They, however, shouted: "Do not shoot!"
And, having approached very close to the gates, they showed the inhabitants
of Vladimir their young Prince Vladimir, son of Iurii, and asked: "Do you
recognize your young Prince?" As a result of privation and misfortune his
face was sad and he looked weak. Vsevolod and Mstislav stood atop the Golden
Gates and recognized their brother Vladimir. Oh, how sad and tearful it is
to see one's brother in such a condition! Vsevolod and Mstislav, with their
boyars and all the inhabitants, wept as they looked at Vladimir. And
the Tartars departed from the Golden Gates, circled the entire city, examined
it, and encamped at Zremany in front of the Golden Gates and about the entire
city; and there were many of them. . . .
After they made camp around Vladimir, the Tartars went and occupied the
city of Suzdal. . . . They brought a multitude of prisoners into their camp,
approached the city of Vladimir on Saturday, and from early morning till evening
they built scaffolds and set up rams, and during the night they surrounded
the entire city with a fence. In the morning, the princes, Bishop Mitrophan,
military leader Peter Osliadiukovich, and all the boyars and the people
realized that their city would be taken and they all began to weep. . . .
On Sunday, February 8, . . . early in the morning the Tartars began to hit
the city [walls] with rams, and began to pour great stones into the center
of the city from far away, as if by God's will, as if it rained inside the
city; many people were killed inside the city and all were greatly frightened
and trembled. The Tartars broke through the wall at the Golden Gates, also
from the Lybed [side] at the Orininy and the Copper Gates, and from the Kliazma
[direction] at the Volga Gates, and in other places; they destroyed the whole
city, threw stones inside and . . . entered it from all sides like demons.
Before dinner they took the city which they set on fire; and there they killed
Prince Vsevolod with his brother, many boyars and people, while other
princes and all the people fled into the middle city. Bishop Mitrophan and
the Grand Duchess with her son and daughters, daughters-in-law, grandchildren,
boyars and their wives, and many people fled into a church, locked
the church gates, and climbed inside the church to the choir loft. The Tartars
took this city too, and began to search after the princes and their mother,
and found that they were inside the church. . . . The Tartars broke the
gates of the church and slaughtered those who were inside and resisted. And
they began to ask the whereabouts of the princes and their mother and found
they were in the choir loft. They began to entice them to come down. But
they did not listen to them. The Tartars then brought many fire logs inside
the church and set it on fire. Those present in the choir loft, praying,
gave their souls to God; they were burned and joined the list of martyrs.
And the Tartars pillaged the holy church, and they tore the miracle-making
icon of the Mother of God.
From here the Tartars advanced against Grand Prince Iurii; some went toward
Rostov, while others went toward Iaroslavl, which they took; some went along
the Volga and toward Gorodets and burned everything along the Volga up to
Merski Golich. Some went toward Pereiaslavl and took that city and slaughtered
its people. And from there they set the entire countryside and many cities
on fire: Iuriev, Dmitrov, Volok, Tver, where they also killed Iaroslav's son;
and there was not a town till Torzhok which was not occupied by the Tartars.
In February [1238] in the Rostov and Suzdal principalities alone, they took
fourteen cities in addition to villages and churchyards.
At the end of February, a messenger brought the news to Grand Prince Iurii
Vsevolodovich [and his brothers and nephews] that the city of Vladimir had
been captured, the bishop, grand dukes, princes, and all the inhabitants
had been burned and some slaughtered. "And they killed your eldest son Vsevolod,
and his brothers, inside the city and now they go toward you." . . . Iurii
waited for his brother Iaroslav, but he did not come. And the prince ordered
that his military leader strengthen his people and prepare them to fight,
and sent a brave man, Dorofei Semenovich, with 3,000 men, to gather information
about the Tartars. But hardly had they left when he returned with these words:
"Lord! The Tartars have surrounded us."
When he heard this, Prince Iurii with his brother Sviatoslav and [three
of] his nephews and their men, mounted their horses and advanced against
the heathens. Grand Prince Iurii Vsevolodovich began to organize his regiments
when suddenly the Tartars arrived at Siti. Prince Iurii forgot all about
fear and advanced to meet them. Regiments met and there ensued a major battle
and fierce slaughter; blood flowed like water. Because of God's will, the
Tartars defeated the Russian princes. Grand Prince of Vladimir, Iurii Vsevolodovich,
was killed then as were many of his military leaders and boyars and
soldiers. . . .
MONGOL CAPTURE of KIEV in 1240 (written by
a Russian Eastern Orthodox monk at or near the date of the event described)
In this year [1240] Batu Khan approached and surrounded the city of Kiev
with a great multitude of soldiers. The Tartar force besieged it and it was
impossible for anyone either to leave the city or to enter it. Squeaking
of wagons, bellowing of camels, sounds of trumpets and organs, neighing of
horses, and cry and sobs of an innumerable multitude of people made it impossible
to hear one another in the city. The entire country was overflowing with the
Tartars. The Kievans then captured a Tartar by the name of Tavrul, and he
named all the great princes who were with Batu, and spoke of his innumerable
strength. And he had with him the following of his brothers and of his strong
military leaders: Urdiuy, Baydar, Biriuy, Kaydar, Bechar, Mengay, Kailug,
[and] Kuiuk; but he [Kuiuk] returned [to Mongolia] when he learned of the
death of the [Great] Khan. [The Great] Khan did not belong to the Batu family,
but was his first and great leader. Batu Khan mourned him because the latter
liked him very much. Other military leaders [of Batu Khan at Kiev] and great
princes included: Butar, Aydar, Kilemet, Burunday, Batyr, who captured the
Bulgar and Suzdal lands, and a great number, countless, other military leaders.
Batu ordered that many wall-destroying rams be brought to Kiev and placed
near the Polish Gate, because that part was wooded. Many rams hammered the
walls without interruption day and night and the inhabitants were frightened,
and there were many killed and blood flowed like water. And Batu sent the
following message to the inhabitants of Kiev: "If you surrender to me, you
will be forgiven; if, however, you are going to resist, you will suffer greatly
and will perish cruelly." The inhabitants of Kiev, however, did not listen
to him, but calumniated and cursed him. This angered Batu very much and he
ordered [his men] to attack the city with great fury. And thus with the aid
of many rams they broke through the city walls and entered the city, and the
inhabitants ran to meet them. It was possible to hear and see a great crash
of lances and clatter of shields; the arrows obscured the light and because
of this it was impossible to see the sky, but there was darkness from the
multitude of Tartar arrows, and there were dead everywhere and everywhere
blood flowed like water. [Kiev's] military leader Dmitri was severely wounded
and many strong men were killed. The inhabitants [of Kiev] were defeated,
and the Tartars climbed on the walls and because of great exhaustion they
remained there. The night came. During the night the inhabitants [of Kiev]
built a new fortification around the Church of the Virgin Mary. When morning
came the Tartars attacked them and there was a bitter slaughter. Some people
fainted and [some] fled to the church steeple with their possessions; and
the church walls collapsed from the weight and the Tartars took the city
of Kiev on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, [1240]. They brought the wounded
military leader Dmitri before Batu, and Batu ordered that he not be killed
because of his bravery. And Batu began to inquire about Prince Daniel [of
Galicia, Poland], and they told him that the Prince had fled to Hungary.
Batu left his own military leader in Kiev and he himself went toward Vladimir
in Volyn.
DESCRIPTION of the TARTARS (1243) (written
by an anonymous Hungarian Catholic bishop)
But concerning their manners and superstitions, of the disposition and stature
of their bodies, of their country and manner of fighting etc., he protested
the particulars following to be true: namely, that they were above all men,
covetous, hasty, deceitful, and merciless: notwithstanding, by reason of the
rigor and extremity of punishments to be inflicted upon them by their superiors,
they are restrained from brawling, and from mutual strife and contention.
The ancient founders and fathers of their tribes, they call by the name of
gods, and at certain set times they do celebrate solemn feasts unto them,
many of them being particular, but four only general. They think that all
things are created for themselves alone. They esteem it none offence to exercise
cruelty against rebels. They are hardy and strong in the breast, lean and
pale-faced, rough and hug-shouldered, having flat and short noses, long and
sharp chins, their upper jaws are low and declining, their teeth long and
thin, their eye-brows extending from their foreheads down to their noses,
their eyes inconstant and black, their countenances writhen [twisted/contorted]
and terrible, their extreme joints strong with bones and sinews, having thick
and great thighs, and short legs, and yet being equal unto us in stature:
for that length which is wanting in their legs, is supplied in the upper parts
of their bodies. Their country in old time was a land utterly desert and
waste, situated far beyond Chaldea, from whence they have expelled lions,
bears, and such like beasts, with their bows, and other engines. Of the hides
of beasts being tanned, they use to shape for themselves light but yet impenetrable
armor. They ride fast bound unto their horses, which are not very great in
stature, but exceedingly strong, and maintained with little provender [hay
or feed for livestock]. They used to fight constantly and valiantly with javelins,
maces, battle-axes, and swords. But especially they are excellent archers,
and cunning warriors with their bows. Their backs are slightly armed, that
they may not flee. They withdraw not themselves from the combat till they
see the chief standard of their General give back. Vanquished, they ask no
favor, and vanquishing, they show no compassion. They all persist in their
purpose of subduing the whole world under their own subjection, as if they
were but one man, and yet they are more than millions in number. They have
60,000 couriers, who being sent before upon light horses to prepare a place
for the army to encamp in, will in the space of one night gallop three day's
journey. And suddenly diffusing themselves overran a whole province, and
surprising all the people thereof unarmed and not provided for, dispersed,
they make such horrible slaughters, that the king or prince of the land
invaded, cannot find people sufficient to wage battle against them, and to
withstand them. They delude all people and princes of regions in time of
peace, pretending that for a cause, which indeed is no cause. Sometimes they
say that they will make a voyage to Colen, to fetch home the three wise kings
into their own country; sometimes to punish the avarice and pride of the
Romans, who oppressed them in times past; sometimes to conquer barbarous
and Northern nations; sometimes to moderate the fury of the Germans with
their own meek mildness; sometimes to learn warlike feats and stratagems
of the French; sometimes for the finding out of fertile ground to suffice
their huge multitudes; sometimes again in derision they say that they intend
to go on pilgrimage to St. James of Galicia. In regard of which sleights
and collusions certain indiscreet governors concluding a league with them,
have granted them free passage through their territories, which leagues notwithstanding
being violate, were an occasion of ruin and destruction unto the governors.
AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT of KIEV in 1246 (written
by a Franciscan Catholic friar, Giovanni de Plano Carpini)
The Mongols attacked Russia, where they made great havoc, destroying cities
and fortresses and slaughtering men; and they laid siege to Kiev, the capital
of Russia; after they had besieged the city for a long time, they took it
and put the inhabitants to death. When we were journeying through that
land we came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on
the ground. Kiev had been a very large and thickly populated town, but
now it has been reduced almost to nothing, for there are at the present time
scarce two hundred houses there and the inhabitants are kept in complete slavery.
Going on from there, fighting as they went, the Tartars destroyed the whole
of Russia. . . .
These men, that is to say the Tartars, are more obedient to their masters
than any other men in the world, be they religious or seculars; they show
great respect to them nor do they lightly lie to them. They rarely or never
contend with each other in word, and in action never. Fights, brawls, wounding,
murder are never met with among them. Nor are robbers and thieves who steal
on a large scale found there; consequently their dwellings and the carts in
which they keep their valuables are not secured by bolts and bars. If any
animals are lost, whoever comes across them either leaves them alone or takes
them back without any difficulty. They show considerable respect to each
other and are very friendly together, and they willingly share their food
with each other, although there is little enough of it. They are also long-suffering.
When they are without food, eating nothing at all for one or two days, they
do not easily show impatience, but they sing and make merry as if they had
eaten well. On horseback they endure great cold and they also put up with
excessive heat. Nor are they men fond of luxury; they are not envious of
each other; there is practically no litigation among them. No one scorns
another but helps him and promotes his good as far as circumstances permit.
Their women are chaste, nor does one hear any mention among them of any shameful
behavior on their part; some of them, however, in jest make use of vile and
disgusting language. Discord among them seems to arise rarely or never, and
although they may get very drunk, yet in their intoxication they never come
to words or blows.
Now that the good characteristics of the Tartars have been described, it
is time for something to be said about their bad. They are most arrogant to
other people and look down on all, indeed they consider them as naught, be
they of high rank or low born. . . . They are quickly roused to anger with
other people and are of an impatient nature; they also tell lies to others
and practically no truth is to be found among them. At first indeed they
are smooth-tongued, but in the end they sting like a scorpion. They are full
of slyness and deceit, and if they can, they get round everyone by their
cunning. They are men who are dirty in the way they take food and drink and
do other things. Any evil they intend to do to others they conceal in a wonderful
way so that the latter can take no precautions nor devise anything to offset
their cunning. Drunkenness is considered an honorable thing by them and when
anyone drinks too much, he is sick there and then, nor does this prevent
him from drinking again. They are exceedingly grasping and avaricious; they
are extremely exacting in their demands, most tenacious in holding on to
what they have and most [stingy] in giving. They consider the slaughter of
other people as nothing. In short, it is impossible to put down in writing
all their evil characteristics on account of the very great number of them.
Their food consists of everything that can be eaten, for they eat dogs,
wolves, foxes, and horses and, when driven by necessity, they feed on human
flesh. For instance, when they were fighting against a city of the Kitayans,
where the emperor was residing, they besieged it for so long that they themselves
completely ran out of supplies and, since they had nothing at all to eat,
they thereupon took out one of every ten men for food. They eat the filth
which comes from mares when bring forth foals. Nay, I have even seen them
eating lice. They would say, "Why should I not eat them since they eat the
flesh of my son and drink his blood?" I have also seen them eat mice.
They do not use tablecloths or napkins. They have neither bread nor herbs
nor vegetables nor anything else, nothing but meat, of which, however, they
eat so little that other people would scarcely be able to exist on it. They
make their hands very dirty with the grease of the meat, but when they eat
they wipe them on their leggings or the grass or some other such thing. It
is the custom for the more respectable among them to have small bits of cloth
with which to wipe their hands at the end when they eat meat. One of them
cuts the morsels and another takes them on the point of a knife and offers
them to each, to some more, to some less, according to whether they wish to
show them greater or less honor. They do not wash their dishes, and, if occasionally
they rinse them with the meat broth, they put it back with the meat into
the pot. Pots also or spoons or other articles intended for this use, if
they are cleaned at all, are washed in the same manner. They consider it
a great sin if any food or drink is allowed to be wasted in any way; consequently
the do not allow bones to be given to dogs until the marrow has been extracted.
They do not wash their clothes nor allow them to be washed, especially from
the time when thunderstorms begin until the weather changes. They drink mare's
milk in very great quantities if they have it; they also drink the milk of
ewes, cows, goats and even camels. They do not have wine, ale, or mead unless
it is sent or given to them by other nations. In the winter, moreover, unless
they are wealthy, they do not have mare's milk. They boil millet in water
and make it so thin that they cannot eat it but have to drink it. Each one
of them drinks one or two cups in the morning and they eat nothing more during
the day; in the evening, however, they are all given a little meat, and they
drink the meat broth. But in the summer, seeing they have plenty of mare's
milk, they seldom eat meat, unless it happens to be given to them or they
catch some animal or bird when hunting.
They also have a law or custom of putting to death any man and woman they
find openly committing adultery; similarly if a virgin commits fornication
with anyone, they kill both the man and the woman. If any is found in the
act of plundering or stealing in the territory under their power, he is put
to death without any mercy. Again, if anyone reveals their plans, especially
when they intend on going to war, he is given a hundred stripes on his back,
as heavy as a peasant can give with a big stick. If any of the lower class
offend in any way, they are not spared by their superiors, but are soundly
beaten. There is no distinction between the son of a concubine and the son
of a wife, but the father gives to each what he will; and if they are of a
family of princes, then the son of concubine is a prince just the same as
the son of a legitimate wife. When a Tartar has many wives, each one has her
own dwelling and her household, and the husband eats and drinks and sleeps
one day with one, and the next with another. One, however, is chief among
the others and with her he stays more often than with the others. In spite
of their numbers, they never easily quarrel among themselves.
The men do not make anything at all, with the exception of arrows, and they
also sometimes tend the flocks, but they hunt and practice archery, for they
are all, big and little, excellent archers, and their children begin as soon
as they are two or three years old to ride and manage horses and to gallop
on them, and they are given bows to suit their stature and are taught to shoot;
they are extremely agile and also intrepid. Young girls and women ride and
gallop on horseback with agility like the men. We even saw them carrying
bows and arrows. Both the men and the women are able to endure long stretches
of riding. They have very short stirrups; they look after their horses very
well, indeed they take the very greatest care of all their possessions. Their
women make everything, leather garments, tunics, shoes, leggings, and everything
made of leather; they also drive the carts and repair them, they load the
camels, and in all their tasks they are very swift and energetic. All the
women wear breeches and some of them shoot like the men.
Secondary Sources (from which these readings were derived): Basil
Dmytryshyn, Medieval Russia: A Source Book, 900-1700, 2nd ed. (New
York, 1973); Warren Walsh, Readings in Russian History (Syracuse, NY,
1948); George Vernadsky, ed., A Source Book for Russian History From Early
Times to 1917, v. 1 (New Haven, 1972); Margaret L. King, et. al., Documents
Set. Western Civilization: A Social and Cultural History (Volume 1: Prehistory-1750),
Prentice Hall, 2000.
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