. A thousand years of Russian history. ad succeeded in persuading the Patriarch of Con-stantinople, who was idsiting Moscow to collect money, toconsecrate the Metropohtan of Moscow as Patriarch. Upto that time there had been two Metropolitans in Russia—theone at Kiev, owing allegiance to Poland, and the other atMoscow, under the Patriarch of Constantinople, who himselfwas subject to the Sultan. This ecclesiastic, at the time ofhis visit, was a fugitive, and the wealth of Moscow inclinedhim to accede to the Tsars request to confer on the Metro-pohtan of Moscow the dignity of the Patriarchate. T
. A thousand years of Russian history. ad succeeded in persuading the Patriarch of Con-stantinople, who was idsiting Moscow to collect money, toconsecrate the Metropohtan of Moscow as Patriarch. Upto that time there had been two Metropolitans in Russia—theone at Kiev, owing allegiance to Poland, and the other atMoscow, under the Patriarch of Constantinople, who himselfwas subject to the Sultan. This ecclesiastic, at the time ofhis visit, was a fugitive, and the wealth of Moscow inclinedhim to accede to the Tsars request to confer on the Metro-pohtan of Moscow the dignity of the Patriarchate. The man chosen for this honour was in the pay of BorisGodounov, and, as it was he who suggested offering the crown 56 THE PERIOD OF TROUBLE 57 to his patron, it is not surprising that the Boyars were lothto acknowledge their debt of gratitude, and gave only ahalf-hearted support to his candidature. In consequence ofhis persistent refusal to accept the crown, the National Councilwas called and, owing to pressure brought to bear on its. Jewelled Saddle of Boris Godounov (1598-1605). members and bribery by the Imperial nun, Boris was electedTsar of All the Russias. If the new Tsar had been born to his position, his person-ahty, his great gifts and administrative powers, would havemade him a first-rate ruler; but the crime upon which hisassumption of power had been based influenced all his futureactions : fear of the Boyars, fear of the relations of themurdered Tsarevitch and his mother, turned Boris Godounov 58 A THOUSAND YEARS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY into a despot. Although liis tyranny did not make itselfgononilly felt, and was not so sanguinary as that of Ivan theTerrible, it was quite bad enough. The Boyars in generaland the family of the late Tsarevitchs mother—tlie Romanoffs—in particular, to their undoing, felt his iron grip. Exileand torture were freely used for the crushing of any possiblerivals, and a system of espionage was introduced. For fourteen years Boris Godounov
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1915
