MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Hey readers! This is the rewritten version of the original Ivangorod Prosperous: Russia's Early Rise to Power but just shortened it to Ivangorod Prosperous to not get so confusing. There are several changes that will occur between the original one and the rewritten version, in which I will eventually explain. Because of my successful attempts to post maps in my other threads, I will also try to include maps in this thread, but may not be successful in it. Without a further ado, the prologue.
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Prologue: Divergence
Fate may seem to be indifferent to the misfortunes it hands out to unwary kings and queens in all of humanity’s history. At times, it grants good fortune to any king whose aspirations for national glory of his country will be granted, and at times it grants bad fortune to other leaders whose personal goals would be frustrated. Typically, any king during the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Ages must have a surviving son in order to select him as his successor as ruler. In the event that the king can only sire daughters with his wife, a transition to a new dynasty will be inevitable. However, dynasties can rapidly change at a whim, when a king dies without any children or when a king is overthrown by disgruntled citizens resentful of his ability to rule. Sometimes new dynasties are formed by mergers of ruling royal families as intermarriage between various clans have strengthened relations between nations. Of course, fate can also dictate whether a newborn prince or princess can have live past his or her infancy or die prematurely. This is the story of a newborn prince who would be credited with giving a desperate king a much needed son.
England of 1536 was a time when King Henry VIII had already gone through one unsatisfied marriage with Catherine of Aragon, mainly due to the survival of Princess Mary who was born back in 1516 and the subsequent deaths of Mary’s other unknown siblings. It was not until his marriage to Anne Bolelyn that Henry had a chance of getting the son he needed. Indeed, three years before Anne would become pregnant with another child, she had given birth to Princess Elizabeth, for whom she will play a very different role from what she was assigned. As the newborn baby boy was brought into the world, Anne thanked God that she had finally given birth to the new heir of England. When the newborn boy didn’t respond at first, Anne grew worried. News of the birth and Anne’s worries reached the King as he went down into the room where Anne gave birth. Henry VIII prayed and pleaded for his new son to live. Finally after just three minutes of silent prayer, the baby boy began to cry. Henry laughed with joy as he saw his new son and gave another prayer of thanks.
“As I began to lose hope, the Lord has decided to give life to my newborn son. Oh, how I’ve longed for the moment when I can finally groom him to succeed me when I will finally leave this Earthly realm.” – Henry VIII in 1536.
The newborn son was named Richard Tudor, in honor of his grandfather and was not yet baptized as the English Reformation was currently underway. Henry was not sure whether or not Richard should follow the Roman Catholic faith, as his daughter Mary was baptized as, or to embrace the Protestant faith like Richard’s sister Elizabeth. It would eventually be up to Richard himself to decide when he grows up, as the Protestants haven’t gotten powerful in this stage. For most of Richard Tudor’s childhood he was tutored by John Cheke until the age of 12 when Henry VIII searched for a more, practical tutor who can teach Richard the joys of maritime exploration. It fell upon Richard Chancellor (for whom he would later play a role in the formation of the Anglo-Russian relationship) to help teach his king’s namesake son how to be a practical sailor. As a young boy, Richard Tudor grew interested in watching ships leave the Thames River for their journeys into the Mediterranean and beyond, and occasionally he earned a chance to see English soldiers marching off to war. Such interests were noticed by Chancellor, who thought of Prince Richard as a more, suitable king that can actually pay attention to the needs of England’s economy and prestige in a world where the Reformation challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. At the same time, Henry also took care of his daughters’ educational needs, often resulting in Richard joining his siblings during their learning session. Such sibling interaction was observed by the chamberlains and what really piqued their interest were Richard’s relationships with Mary and Elizabeth. As the eldest child in the family, Mary had viewed Richard with mere indifference due to their different mothers, but Elizabeth shared a great bond with her brother to the extent that he would personally preside over the decision to marry his sister off.
In contrast to the extravagant lifestyle of his father, Richard preferred to live a frugal life, having witnessed the lavish and excessive spending Henry VIII undertook in maintaining the household and the construction of 53 warships needed to defend the British Isles from any French attack. Indeed, when he would inherit the throne of England in 1547 after his father’s death, Richard not only had to find ways to replenish England’s treasury but he had to contend with a power struggle against his eldest sister. Because of his young age, Anne Bolelyn became the Queen Regent and ruled in his name until Richard was old enough to rule by himself. It would be during King Richard IV’s reign that events in the east would drag England into a fateful meeting with the exotic domain known as the Tsardom of Muscovy.
Turn for a Different Life:
In 1541, Baron Roman Yurievich Zakharyin-Koshkin and his family stayed in the town of Ryazan when a Crimean Tatar raid broke out in the outskirts of the city. As the Tatars plundered and burned the town, Baron Roman led a militia in repelling the Tatars from the outskirts of Ryazan, but an arrow struck him in the stomach. Even as a militiaman took out the arrow, the baron cried out in pain and died before he could see his family members abducted by them. One of the Crimean Tatars named Ayup gleefully dragged an eleven year old named Anastasia Zakharyina and tied her up. He saw the young girl as a potential bargaining chip for their deals with their Ottoman masters, though that prospect was short lived. A group of Don Cossacks ambushed the raiding party while they were close to the Don River and the border with the Ruthenian lands, led by an ataman named Timofey (this is OTL Yermak’s father). As Timofey’s Cossacks fought the Crimean Tatars, Ayup began to gallop away from his fellow raiders when Timofey gave chase. Even as Ayup looked back to his pursuer, he didn’t notice another group of Cossacks from a different host converging on him. The other ataman slashed Ayup’s throat and retrieved the young girl. Timofey then convinced the Cossacks of the different host to give the girl to him as she belonged to Muscovy. The other Cossacks agreed to hand her over to him and left. Timofey sadly notified the young Anastasia that her entire family was killed by the Tatars and he was the one who saved her. As young Anastasia wasn’t sure what to do next, Timofey suggested that she should live among the Don Cossacks instead of returning to Moscow, as he didn’t know if Anastasia had any relatives left. Sadly, her brother Nikita Romanovich was among the dead, as she was told. However, the tragic end of Anastasia Zakharynina would earmark the start of another chapter in her life as a young former boyar’s daughter who has now joined the Don Cossacks.
Anastasia’s life took a turn for the better when Timofey announced in 1546 that she would be arranged to marry his son, Yermak Timofeyevich. At first, Anastasia was anxious at the prospect of marrying the son of a minor Cossack ataman. Having lived as a member of a prominent boyar family, the young lady was naturally uncomfortable with a marriage to someone of lower status. During her time among the Don Cossacks, Anastasia gradually learned that most of its members were runaway serfs who dislike their lives under domineering landlords and other nobility who owned land. Such a harsh life had been a sharp contrast with the comfortable life she had led before her family’s tragic death. Her courtship with Yermak was encouraged with Timofey’s blessing, though they would not formally marry until they reached 18. Thus Anastasia and Yermak eventually got married with Timofey, the other Don Cossacks and a local Russian Orthodox priest as witnesses. Though this march was an unusual one, it would have provided the Don Cossacks with a highly rare pedigree: Yermak’s descendants would have the bloods of both Cossack and boyar. An unusual mix, albeit a possibility in the political climate of Muscovy.
Muscovy – From Lubeck to Ivangorod:
1547. On a cold night in the port of Lubeck, several hundreds of craftsmen hid inside a ship heading eastwards. Hans Schlitte, the man who was ordered by his master in Moscow to bring the craftsmen into an unknown, backwater port of Ivangorod, in order to rebuild it for proper use as a merchant port. Earlier on, the Poles and Livonians gave the order to prevent any craftsmen, regardless of origin from traveling into the cold, harsh lands of Muscovy. However, the port authorities were inside a pub, having a good time while they kept buying each other drinks. They were unaware of the ship’s movement as it began to sail under the silent night. Schlitte promised most German merchant companies a bunch of lucrative contracts on trade and finance in the coveted Oriental trade through Muscovite territory. As the ship bound for Ivangorod continued to sail, not one recon ship has ever bothered to stop Schlitte’s ship for inspection and the German craftsmen arrived in Ivangorod without any incident whatsoever. Upon inspecting the port’s appearance, it soon became clear to Schlitte and the German craftsmen as to why they were recruited to work in the port. Ivangorod was dominated by a single fortress, but the harbor itself was pitiful. Neglected ships were about to sink deeper into the bottom of the Baltic Sea and the town itself was quiet. Old Muscovy was desperate to enter the Baltic Sea trade with many other nations, and little did Ivan IV knew, Ivangorod would become the place where it all started. How a tiny port has put Russia’s place in the world, albeit at the expense of its neighbors.
Ivan IV welcomed the craftsmen into the port of his namesake and allowed the local women to present them bread and salt. One of the craftsmen explained to the Muscovite tsar that it would take almost three years to completely rebuild the port and make it impressive for merchant firms to do business in. He had a good reason to express his desperation: the Polish domains and the Livonian Order were eager to shut out their Orthodox Christian neighbor from the Baltic, as well as the Black Sea for economical purposes. While the craftsmen would work on improving the port, Ivan IV had recruited local Russian peasants to Ivangorod so they can learn the tools and skills of the trade in building a port, for future expeditions. It also helped the peasants to learn a thing or two about building a village or a city as well, in case Russia herself might want to expand beyond her borders. In 1550, Ivangorod was finally completed. Three companies from three different countries expressed interests in opening a branch in Russia, in which one of them would express an interest in seeking an overland passage into China. The Muscovy Company was founded in 1551 by Richard Chancellor (King Richard IV of England’s erstwhile tutor), who would eventually become the first unofficial English ambassador to Russia.
In addition, Chancellor gave Ivan a letter written by Richard IV, stating his country’s desire to form relations with Muscovy and to form a mutual alliance against the Catholic powers of the day. He also suggested to Ivan that he should wed his sister to cement the alliance, though Ivan was uncertain about taking up the offer of marrying a foreign princess, especially a princess who happened to be a Protestant and has a Catholic sister. Besides, there were plenty of female candidates back in Moscow for whom he would like to choose as his new wife. Even so, the idea of marrying an English princess would surely be of great benefit as she will no doubt help Ivan with building the foundations for a modern, Russian state. Such reformations are sorely needed, for Moscow is in danger of becoming overrun by hostile neighbors, all of which were dominated by Catholics and the ever fear of Catholicization runs deep in the Russian psyche. Just before he met Schlitte’s guilders, he was formally crowned Tsar of All Russias, claiming his ancestry from the rulers of Kievan Rus’ and asserting his authority over Muscovite lands. In addition, the claim of Moscow as the Third Rome was now confirmed after he took the title of Tsar.
In 1553, Ivangorod was finally completed, with Ivan IV calling for the celebration of the port’s completion. The Russian Orthodox Church gave their blessing and prayed for its success. A new church was built to commemorate Ivan III’s foundation of Ivangorod as a port, which was set to be finished in 1556 as the St. Boris and Gleb Cathedral was officially named. In the same year however, Richard IV of England would face a power struggle with the Catholic factions rallying around Princess Mary for whom they viewed her as the rightful monarch that will keep England firmly within the Catholic Church, while the Protestant factions rallied around their king. It will all begin when Mary gave a harsh rhetorical speech just outside Northumbria, condemning Richard and Elizabeth for conniving with ‘heretics’ against the Papacy. Furthermore, she also criticized Richard’s decision to establish relations with a dangerous, half-civilized wasteland like Muscovy and vowed to overthrow his rule and launch a Counter-Reformation effort to stop the Church of England from breaking their union with Rome.
Elizabeth’s Tour of Russia and Ivan IV’s Hospitality:
In September of 1551, Richard IV wrote a letter to Chancellor of the Muscovy Company on Ivan IV’s search for a potential bride. Chancellor’s response was that the number of suitable brides left were either not qualified or connected to prominent boyars whom Ivan IV considered as enemies. In what was to become the most controversial and bold move, Richard IV sent his sister Elizabeth Tudor aboard an English ship bound for Ivangorod. There, Ivan IV and his entourage would inspect Elizabeth and see if she is suitable. If Ivan isn’t convinced, Elizabeth is instructed by her brother to formally invite the Tsar for a tour of England, though that instruction was later dropped on Chancellor’s advice. Instead, Elizabeth came to Ivangorod by herself, with a letter from Richard IV to the Tsar, as he was busy preparing for the civil war against English Princess Mary. Upon arriving in Ivangorod, Elizabeth and Ivan IV formally greeted each other while the English ambassadors inspected the streltsy guards. Though he was amused by her looks, it was her dominant personality that really moved him. For the first few days of October in 1553, Elizabeth cursed her brother for setting her up with such an unbearable man like Ivan due to their different personalities. However, during a party in November of 1553, Ivan had confided in Elizabeth that he had a deep personal hatred of the nobility within his realm due to bad experiences as a young child. His parents were killed by scheming boyars, and he was helpless to stop it. Elizabeth herself may not have sympathized with Ivan’s issues, though the idea of the nobility that can actually kill their monarch was nothing short of being a heinous crime. Moreover, as Ivan added, he wanted to build a foundation for a longer lasting empire that will last for a long time but right now Russia is in need of allies. Elizabeth then proposed to Ivan that if they got married, they could easily come up with new ideas to help improve the way Russia is governed. Although serfdom would become a hot issue within future Tsars, Elizabeth suggested that their movements could be made easier by setting a time limit on how long should a landlord keep their serfs. Elizabeth was also given a tour of the Moscow Print Yard as Ivan demonstrated his use of the printing press by arranging the letter blocks to compose a message. Although printing presses were now common in Europe, Ivan’s love for literature convinced Elizabeth that she could probably invite English playwrights into Russia to spearhead the development of Russian arts and literature.
In October of 1553, Elizabeth and Ivan formally married in the St. Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Ivangorod with numerous boyars attending the wedding. However, Elizabeth herself had to formally convert to the Russian Orthodox faith in order to be eligible as Ivan’s wife and eventual Tsaritsa, which she had some trouble until Chancellor told her that by converting to Ivan’s religion, she can also be in a position to help spearhead the much needed reforms Russia desperately needed. However, Elizabeth’s conversion would eventually provide the devout Catholic English Princess Mary the proof she needed: England is in danger from falling into apostasy and heresy with the Protestants and the schismatic Orthodox Christians in a joint alliance together. The first few months of their marriage was in good condition as Ivan was taught by both his reliable boyar allies and his new English friends in the Muscovy Company on table etiquette and proper manners befitting a gentleman, especially a Tsar who cares a lot about Russia’s image abroad. True to Elizabeth’s word, she wrote back to her brother and persuaded him to bring notable playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare to Ivangorod in order to help publish Russian poems thought to have been lost.
England – Of Civil Wars and Marriages:
Back in 1551, both Richard IV and Princess Mary spent a considerable amount of time building their armies that would decide the fate of the English throne. At the same time, Richard IV’s sisters got married in the same year, with Mary’s decision to wed Philip II of Spain giving further boost to the Catholic cause in England (opponents feared that England would become a Spanish vassal) In May of 1553 Danish King Christian III visited England to sign a formal treaty of alliance with Richard IV and arranged for the young English king to marry Princess Anne of Denmark. Anne Bolelyn was thrilled with Richard IV’s choice for a bride since she was raised as a Protestant, and the bloodline of the Tudor family has now extended into the House of Oldenburg. Such connection would no doubt forge a closer bond between England and Denmark. In addition, Denmark would also promise the English Protestants aid in fighting the Spanish backed English Catholic factions supporting Mary, while the Spaniards have the Dutch Revolt on their hands.
The riots which plagued East Anglia and Northumbria were triggered by Catholic protests against increasing Reformation efforts by Richard IV to allow greater freedoms for Protestant priests and to promote the idea of a married clergy. Such proposals have naturally gone against Catholic doctrine of a celibate clergy, though there were dubious rumors of the Catholic missionaries’ behavior in the New World circling around. Furthermore, Protestant mobs have already begun to smash Catholic Churches of its images and at one point had torched a Catholic monastery. Sectarian violence around England continued on until 1553, in which both Richard IV and Mary waited until one of them made their move. On February of 1553, it would be Richard IV who will start the fight, but not in the British Isles.
The self-declared Dutch entity grew resentful at the Spanish attempts to suppress their religion. In a country where economic commerce was far more important than religious homogenization, religious tolerance was necessary. Though the Spanish Empire had gotten rich over their control of the silver mines in the New World, they never bothered to implement measures that would have kept the value of silver at a favorable level. Richard IV attempted to counter Philip II’s stern measures by signing an economical concession with the Spanish Netherlands in which Dutch merchants are free to trade with the English. This move infuriated Philip II to the extent that he began to send thirty Spanish warships to back the English fleet loyal to Princess Mary. Philip’s fleet engaged the combined Anglo-Danish fleet in what was now the Battle of Antwerp on March 2nd, 1553. Mary’s warships soon joined the Spanish fleet in deterring the Danish transport ships from entering English territory on Dover, though the Danes responded by bombarding Spanish land positions in the Spanish Netherlands. It certainly helped Richard IV’s Protestant cause when Dutch rebels pinpointed the location of the Spanish harbors in Antwerp, allowing the makeshift Dutch fleet to join the Danes and English Protestants in annihilating the Spanish warships. By March 4th, most of Mary’s warships were sunk on the bottom of the English Channel in their attempt to retreat back to England, while Philip was forced to withdraw his ships back to Spain. However, he did manage to sneak five Spanish troopships into Dover. 2,500 Spanish tercios landed in Dover by March 10th, while Richard IV rallied his armies stationed in East Anglia against Mary’s armies approaching Suffolk. The English Protestants were forced out of East Anglia and into the border with Scotland where Mary, Queen of the Scots, waited with her army. The Scottish Mary was well aware of her neighbor’s civil war which involved her namesake’s desire to launch a Counter-Reformation and decided to stay neutral. Her motive in allowing the English to destroy themselves was simple: with a weak England on Scotland’s border, the Scots could possibly expand into England. Moreover, Scottish Queen Mary also had in mind the liberation of Ireland from English occupation.
The Siege of York as it was now known began in June 19th, 1553 when English Princess Mary decided to attack the city. By capturing York, Mary would have encircled Richard IV from Northumbria and East Anglia and have the Protestants cut off from their Danish and Dutch allies. However, by July 5th, 1553, the Danish Army had attacked the Catholic stronghold in Suffolk in cooperation with a rebel Protestant force led by Thomas Wyatt. Consequently, the Spanish Army in England under the Duke of Parma’s command were now encircled from their temporary base in Kent, with Wyatt’s advance force inflicting a small defeat upon the Spaniards. As September approached, English Princess Mary’s forces were increasingly trapped in York as Wyatt’s main army began to advance northward. Though Richard IV’s army managed to rout the Catholics from York, things were about to get even more difficult. Yet as Richard IV approached the age when he can rule by himself, English Princess Mary grew even more desperate to depose him and Anne Bolelyn.
Russia – The Plan for the Conquests of the Khanates:
Russia’s trade with the Baltic grew exponentially as Ivangorod soon became the center of commerce in the Baltic, much to Poland and Livonia’s horror. Indeed in December of 1553 the Polish court arrested the port authorities in Lubeck for their failure to stop Hans Schlitte from smuggling the German guildsmen out of the port. Their subsequent executions did little to stop the Russians from using Ivangorod as their base from which they can trade with the Swedes, Danes, Dutch and the English. The Muscovy Company remained in charge of the European-Russian commercial trade, though Swedish King Eric XIV decided to pursue commercial relations with Russia instead of waging war against them, in return that Russia doesn’t target the ports in nearby Livonia and Estonia. Ivan IV agreed to Eric XIV’s deal and allowed Swedish merchant ships to ship in their goods into Ivangorod. The profits accumulated from the Ivangorod trade enabled the Tsar to build an army that would finally put an end to the troubling existence of the former Tatar khanates: the Kazan, Astrakhan and Crimean Khanates.
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Prologue: Divergence
Fate may seem to be indifferent to the misfortunes it hands out to unwary kings and queens in all of humanity’s history. At times, it grants good fortune to any king whose aspirations for national glory of his country will be granted, and at times it grants bad fortune to other leaders whose personal goals would be frustrated. Typically, any king during the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Ages must have a surviving son in order to select him as his successor as ruler. In the event that the king can only sire daughters with his wife, a transition to a new dynasty will be inevitable. However, dynasties can rapidly change at a whim, when a king dies without any children or when a king is overthrown by disgruntled citizens resentful of his ability to rule. Sometimes new dynasties are formed by mergers of ruling royal families as intermarriage between various clans have strengthened relations between nations. Of course, fate can also dictate whether a newborn prince or princess can have live past his or her infancy or die prematurely. This is the story of a newborn prince who would be credited with giving a desperate king a much needed son.
England of 1536 was a time when King Henry VIII had already gone through one unsatisfied marriage with Catherine of Aragon, mainly due to the survival of Princess Mary who was born back in 1516 and the subsequent deaths of Mary’s other unknown siblings. It was not until his marriage to Anne Bolelyn that Henry had a chance of getting the son he needed. Indeed, three years before Anne would become pregnant with another child, she had given birth to Princess Elizabeth, for whom she will play a very different role from what she was assigned. As the newborn baby boy was brought into the world, Anne thanked God that she had finally given birth to the new heir of England. When the newborn boy didn’t respond at first, Anne grew worried. News of the birth and Anne’s worries reached the King as he went down into the room where Anne gave birth. Henry VIII prayed and pleaded for his new son to live. Finally after just three minutes of silent prayer, the baby boy began to cry. Henry laughed with joy as he saw his new son and gave another prayer of thanks.
“As I began to lose hope, the Lord has decided to give life to my newborn son. Oh, how I’ve longed for the moment when I can finally groom him to succeed me when I will finally leave this Earthly realm.” – Henry VIII in 1536.
The newborn son was named Richard Tudor, in honor of his grandfather and was not yet baptized as the English Reformation was currently underway. Henry was not sure whether or not Richard should follow the Roman Catholic faith, as his daughter Mary was baptized as, or to embrace the Protestant faith like Richard’s sister Elizabeth. It would eventually be up to Richard himself to decide when he grows up, as the Protestants haven’t gotten powerful in this stage. For most of Richard Tudor’s childhood he was tutored by John Cheke until the age of 12 when Henry VIII searched for a more, practical tutor who can teach Richard the joys of maritime exploration. It fell upon Richard Chancellor (for whom he would later play a role in the formation of the Anglo-Russian relationship) to help teach his king’s namesake son how to be a practical sailor. As a young boy, Richard Tudor grew interested in watching ships leave the Thames River for their journeys into the Mediterranean and beyond, and occasionally he earned a chance to see English soldiers marching off to war. Such interests were noticed by Chancellor, who thought of Prince Richard as a more, suitable king that can actually pay attention to the needs of England’s economy and prestige in a world where the Reformation challenged the authority of the Catholic Church. At the same time, Henry also took care of his daughters’ educational needs, often resulting in Richard joining his siblings during their learning session. Such sibling interaction was observed by the chamberlains and what really piqued their interest were Richard’s relationships with Mary and Elizabeth. As the eldest child in the family, Mary had viewed Richard with mere indifference due to their different mothers, but Elizabeth shared a great bond with her brother to the extent that he would personally preside over the decision to marry his sister off.
In contrast to the extravagant lifestyle of his father, Richard preferred to live a frugal life, having witnessed the lavish and excessive spending Henry VIII undertook in maintaining the household and the construction of 53 warships needed to defend the British Isles from any French attack. Indeed, when he would inherit the throne of England in 1547 after his father’s death, Richard not only had to find ways to replenish England’s treasury but he had to contend with a power struggle against his eldest sister. Because of his young age, Anne Bolelyn became the Queen Regent and ruled in his name until Richard was old enough to rule by himself. It would be during King Richard IV’s reign that events in the east would drag England into a fateful meeting with the exotic domain known as the Tsardom of Muscovy.
Turn for a Different Life:
In 1541, Baron Roman Yurievich Zakharyin-Koshkin and his family stayed in the town of Ryazan when a Crimean Tatar raid broke out in the outskirts of the city. As the Tatars plundered and burned the town, Baron Roman led a militia in repelling the Tatars from the outskirts of Ryazan, but an arrow struck him in the stomach. Even as a militiaman took out the arrow, the baron cried out in pain and died before he could see his family members abducted by them. One of the Crimean Tatars named Ayup gleefully dragged an eleven year old named Anastasia Zakharyina and tied her up. He saw the young girl as a potential bargaining chip for their deals with their Ottoman masters, though that prospect was short lived. A group of Don Cossacks ambushed the raiding party while they were close to the Don River and the border with the Ruthenian lands, led by an ataman named Timofey (this is OTL Yermak’s father). As Timofey’s Cossacks fought the Crimean Tatars, Ayup began to gallop away from his fellow raiders when Timofey gave chase. Even as Ayup looked back to his pursuer, he didn’t notice another group of Cossacks from a different host converging on him. The other ataman slashed Ayup’s throat and retrieved the young girl. Timofey then convinced the Cossacks of the different host to give the girl to him as she belonged to Muscovy. The other Cossacks agreed to hand her over to him and left. Timofey sadly notified the young Anastasia that her entire family was killed by the Tatars and he was the one who saved her. As young Anastasia wasn’t sure what to do next, Timofey suggested that she should live among the Don Cossacks instead of returning to Moscow, as he didn’t know if Anastasia had any relatives left. Sadly, her brother Nikita Romanovich was among the dead, as she was told. However, the tragic end of Anastasia Zakharynina would earmark the start of another chapter in her life as a young former boyar’s daughter who has now joined the Don Cossacks.
Anastasia’s life took a turn for the better when Timofey announced in 1546 that she would be arranged to marry his son, Yermak Timofeyevich. At first, Anastasia was anxious at the prospect of marrying the son of a minor Cossack ataman. Having lived as a member of a prominent boyar family, the young lady was naturally uncomfortable with a marriage to someone of lower status. During her time among the Don Cossacks, Anastasia gradually learned that most of its members were runaway serfs who dislike their lives under domineering landlords and other nobility who owned land. Such a harsh life had been a sharp contrast with the comfortable life she had led before her family’s tragic death. Her courtship with Yermak was encouraged with Timofey’s blessing, though they would not formally marry until they reached 18. Thus Anastasia and Yermak eventually got married with Timofey, the other Don Cossacks and a local Russian Orthodox priest as witnesses. Though this march was an unusual one, it would have provided the Don Cossacks with a highly rare pedigree: Yermak’s descendants would have the bloods of both Cossack and boyar. An unusual mix, albeit a possibility in the political climate of Muscovy.
Muscovy – From Lubeck to Ivangorod:
1547. On a cold night in the port of Lubeck, several hundreds of craftsmen hid inside a ship heading eastwards. Hans Schlitte, the man who was ordered by his master in Moscow to bring the craftsmen into an unknown, backwater port of Ivangorod, in order to rebuild it for proper use as a merchant port. Earlier on, the Poles and Livonians gave the order to prevent any craftsmen, regardless of origin from traveling into the cold, harsh lands of Muscovy. However, the port authorities were inside a pub, having a good time while they kept buying each other drinks. They were unaware of the ship’s movement as it began to sail under the silent night. Schlitte promised most German merchant companies a bunch of lucrative contracts on trade and finance in the coveted Oriental trade through Muscovite territory. As the ship bound for Ivangorod continued to sail, not one recon ship has ever bothered to stop Schlitte’s ship for inspection and the German craftsmen arrived in Ivangorod without any incident whatsoever. Upon inspecting the port’s appearance, it soon became clear to Schlitte and the German craftsmen as to why they were recruited to work in the port. Ivangorod was dominated by a single fortress, but the harbor itself was pitiful. Neglected ships were about to sink deeper into the bottom of the Baltic Sea and the town itself was quiet. Old Muscovy was desperate to enter the Baltic Sea trade with many other nations, and little did Ivan IV knew, Ivangorod would become the place where it all started. How a tiny port has put Russia’s place in the world, albeit at the expense of its neighbors.
Ivan IV welcomed the craftsmen into the port of his namesake and allowed the local women to present them bread and salt. One of the craftsmen explained to the Muscovite tsar that it would take almost three years to completely rebuild the port and make it impressive for merchant firms to do business in. He had a good reason to express his desperation: the Polish domains and the Livonian Order were eager to shut out their Orthodox Christian neighbor from the Baltic, as well as the Black Sea for economical purposes. While the craftsmen would work on improving the port, Ivan IV had recruited local Russian peasants to Ivangorod so they can learn the tools and skills of the trade in building a port, for future expeditions. It also helped the peasants to learn a thing or two about building a village or a city as well, in case Russia herself might want to expand beyond her borders. In 1550, Ivangorod was finally completed. Three companies from three different countries expressed interests in opening a branch in Russia, in which one of them would express an interest in seeking an overland passage into China. The Muscovy Company was founded in 1551 by Richard Chancellor (King Richard IV of England’s erstwhile tutor), who would eventually become the first unofficial English ambassador to Russia.
In addition, Chancellor gave Ivan a letter written by Richard IV, stating his country’s desire to form relations with Muscovy and to form a mutual alliance against the Catholic powers of the day. He also suggested to Ivan that he should wed his sister to cement the alliance, though Ivan was uncertain about taking up the offer of marrying a foreign princess, especially a princess who happened to be a Protestant and has a Catholic sister. Besides, there were plenty of female candidates back in Moscow for whom he would like to choose as his new wife. Even so, the idea of marrying an English princess would surely be of great benefit as she will no doubt help Ivan with building the foundations for a modern, Russian state. Such reformations are sorely needed, for Moscow is in danger of becoming overrun by hostile neighbors, all of which were dominated by Catholics and the ever fear of Catholicization runs deep in the Russian psyche. Just before he met Schlitte’s guilders, he was formally crowned Tsar of All Russias, claiming his ancestry from the rulers of Kievan Rus’ and asserting his authority over Muscovite lands. In addition, the claim of Moscow as the Third Rome was now confirmed after he took the title of Tsar.
In 1553, Ivangorod was finally completed, with Ivan IV calling for the celebration of the port’s completion. The Russian Orthodox Church gave their blessing and prayed for its success. A new church was built to commemorate Ivan III’s foundation of Ivangorod as a port, which was set to be finished in 1556 as the St. Boris and Gleb Cathedral was officially named. In the same year however, Richard IV of England would face a power struggle with the Catholic factions rallying around Princess Mary for whom they viewed her as the rightful monarch that will keep England firmly within the Catholic Church, while the Protestant factions rallied around their king. It will all begin when Mary gave a harsh rhetorical speech just outside Northumbria, condemning Richard and Elizabeth for conniving with ‘heretics’ against the Papacy. Furthermore, she also criticized Richard’s decision to establish relations with a dangerous, half-civilized wasteland like Muscovy and vowed to overthrow his rule and launch a Counter-Reformation effort to stop the Church of England from breaking their union with Rome.
Elizabeth’s Tour of Russia and Ivan IV’s Hospitality:
In September of 1551, Richard IV wrote a letter to Chancellor of the Muscovy Company on Ivan IV’s search for a potential bride. Chancellor’s response was that the number of suitable brides left were either not qualified or connected to prominent boyars whom Ivan IV considered as enemies. In what was to become the most controversial and bold move, Richard IV sent his sister Elizabeth Tudor aboard an English ship bound for Ivangorod. There, Ivan IV and his entourage would inspect Elizabeth and see if she is suitable. If Ivan isn’t convinced, Elizabeth is instructed by her brother to formally invite the Tsar for a tour of England, though that instruction was later dropped on Chancellor’s advice. Instead, Elizabeth came to Ivangorod by herself, with a letter from Richard IV to the Tsar, as he was busy preparing for the civil war against English Princess Mary. Upon arriving in Ivangorod, Elizabeth and Ivan IV formally greeted each other while the English ambassadors inspected the streltsy guards. Though he was amused by her looks, it was her dominant personality that really moved him. For the first few days of October in 1553, Elizabeth cursed her brother for setting her up with such an unbearable man like Ivan due to their different personalities. However, during a party in November of 1553, Ivan had confided in Elizabeth that he had a deep personal hatred of the nobility within his realm due to bad experiences as a young child. His parents were killed by scheming boyars, and he was helpless to stop it. Elizabeth herself may not have sympathized with Ivan’s issues, though the idea of the nobility that can actually kill their monarch was nothing short of being a heinous crime. Moreover, as Ivan added, he wanted to build a foundation for a longer lasting empire that will last for a long time but right now Russia is in need of allies. Elizabeth then proposed to Ivan that if they got married, they could easily come up with new ideas to help improve the way Russia is governed. Although serfdom would become a hot issue within future Tsars, Elizabeth suggested that their movements could be made easier by setting a time limit on how long should a landlord keep their serfs. Elizabeth was also given a tour of the Moscow Print Yard as Ivan demonstrated his use of the printing press by arranging the letter blocks to compose a message. Although printing presses were now common in Europe, Ivan’s love for literature convinced Elizabeth that she could probably invite English playwrights into Russia to spearhead the development of Russian arts and literature.
In October of 1553, Elizabeth and Ivan formally married in the St. Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Ivangorod with numerous boyars attending the wedding. However, Elizabeth herself had to formally convert to the Russian Orthodox faith in order to be eligible as Ivan’s wife and eventual Tsaritsa, which she had some trouble until Chancellor told her that by converting to Ivan’s religion, she can also be in a position to help spearhead the much needed reforms Russia desperately needed. However, Elizabeth’s conversion would eventually provide the devout Catholic English Princess Mary the proof she needed: England is in danger from falling into apostasy and heresy with the Protestants and the schismatic Orthodox Christians in a joint alliance together. The first few months of their marriage was in good condition as Ivan was taught by both his reliable boyar allies and his new English friends in the Muscovy Company on table etiquette and proper manners befitting a gentleman, especially a Tsar who cares a lot about Russia’s image abroad. True to Elizabeth’s word, she wrote back to her brother and persuaded him to bring notable playwrights like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare to Ivangorod in order to help publish Russian poems thought to have been lost.
England – Of Civil Wars and Marriages:
Back in 1551, both Richard IV and Princess Mary spent a considerable amount of time building their armies that would decide the fate of the English throne. At the same time, Richard IV’s sisters got married in the same year, with Mary’s decision to wed Philip II of Spain giving further boost to the Catholic cause in England (opponents feared that England would become a Spanish vassal) In May of 1553 Danish King Christian III visited England to sign a formal treaty of alliance with Richard IV and arranged for the young English king to marry Princess Anne of Denmark. Anne Bolelyn was thrilled with Richard IV’s choice for a bride since she was raised as a Protestant, and the bloodline of the Tudor family has now extended into the House of Oldenburg. Such connection would no doubt forge a closer bond between England and Denmark. In addition, Denmark would also promise the English Protestants aid in fighting the Spanish backed English Catholic factions supporting Mary, while the Spaniards have the Dutch Revolt on their hands.
The riots which plagued East Anglia and Northumbria were triggered by Catholic protests against increasing Reformation efforts by Richard IV to allow greater freedoms for Protestant priests and to promote the idea of a married clergy. Such proposals have naturally gone against Catholic doctrine of a celibate clergy, though there were dubious rumors of the Catholic missionaries’ behavior in the New World circling around. Furthermore, Protestant mobs have already begun to smash Catholic Churches of its images and at one point had torched a Catholic monastery. Sectarian violence around England continued on until 1553, in which both Richard IV and Mary waited until one of them made their move. On February of 1553, it would be Richard IV who will start the fight, but not in the British Isles.
The self-declared Dutch entity grew resentful at the Spanish attempts to suppress their religion. In a country where economic commerce was far more important than religious homogenization, religious tolerance was necessary. Though the Spanish Empire had gotten rich over their control of the silver mines in the New World, they never bothered to implement measures that would have kept the value of silver at a favorable level. Richard IV attempted to counter Philip II’s stern measures by signing an economical concession with the Spanish Netherlands in which Dutch merchants are free to trade with the English. This move infuriated Philip II to the extent that he began to send thirty Spanish warships to back the English fleet loyal to Princess Mary. Philip’s fleet engaged the combined Anglo-Danish fleet in what was now the Battle of Antwerp on March 2nd, 1553. Mary’s warships soon joined the Spanish fleet in deterring the Danish transport ships from entering English territory on Dover, though the Danes responded by bombarding Spanish land positions in the Spanish Netherlands. It certainly helped Richard IV’s Protestant cause when Dutch rebels pinpointed the location of the Spanish harbors in Antwerp, allowing the makeshift Dutch fleet to join the Danes and English Protestants in annihilating the Spanish warships. By March 4th, most of Mary’s warships were sunk on the bottom of the English Channel in their attempt to retreat back to England, while Philip was forced to withdraw his ships back to Spain. However, he did manage to sneak five Spanish troopships into Dover. 2,500 Spanish tercios landed in Dover by March 10th, while Richard IV rallied his armies stationed in East Anglia against Mary’s armies approaching Suffolk. The English Protestants were forced out of East Anglia and into the border with Scotland where Mary, Queen of the Scots, waited with her army. The Scottish Mary was well aware of her neighbor’s civil war which involved her namesake’s desire to launch a Counter-Reformation and decided to stay neutral. Her motive in allowing the English to destroy themselves was simple: with a weak England on Scotland’s border, the Scots could possibly expand into England. Moreover, Scottish Queen Mary also had in mind the liberation of Ireland from English occupation.
The Siege of York as it was now known began in June 19th, 1553 when English Princess Mary decided to attack the city. By capturing York, Mary would have encircled Richard IV from Northumbria and East Anglia and have the Protestants cut off from their Danish and Dutch allies. However, by July 5th, 1553, the Danish Army had attacked the Catholic stronghold in Suffolk in cooperation with a rebel Protestant force led by Thomas Wyatt. Consequently, the Spanish Army in England under the Duke of Parma’s command were now encircled from their temporary base in Kent, with Wyatt’s advance force inflicting a small defeat upon the Spaniards. As September approached, English Princess Mary’s forces were increasingly trapped in York as Wyatt’s main army began to advance northward. Though Richard IV’s army managed to rout the Catholics from York, things were about to get even more difficult. Yet as Richard IV approached the age when he can rule by himself, English Princess Mary grew even more desperate to depose him and Anne Bolelyn.
Russia – The Plan for the Conquests of the Khanates:
Russia’s trade with the Baltic grew exponentially as Ivangorod soon became the center of commerce in the Baltic, much to Poland and Livonia’s horror. Indeed in December of 1553 the Polish court arrested the port authorities in Lubeck for their failure to stop Hans Schlitte from smuggling the German guildsmen out of the port. Their subsequent executions did little to stop the Russians from using Ivangorod as their base from which they can trade with the Swedes, Danes, Dutch and the English. The Muscovy Company remained in charge of the European-Russian commercial trade, though Swedish King Eric XIV decided to pursue commercial relations with Russia instead of waging war against them, in return that Russia doesn’t target the ports in nearby Livonia and Estonia. Ivan IV agreed to Eric XIV’s deal and allowed Swedish merchant ships to ship in their goods into Ivangorod. The profits accumulated from the Ivangorod trade enabled the Tsar to build an army that would finally put an end to the troubling existence of the former Tatar khanates: the Kazan, Astrakhan and Crimean Khanates.
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