Flano Carpini tells us that one such baskak carried off one son out of every family which had three; the same thing occurred with the unmarried men, women, and all beggars. A list was made of the remaining inhabitants and a tax levied on every human being, new-born babes of a day old included; from each a black or white bearskin, a black beaver, a sable, a marten, and a black fox. Those who could not pay were carried off into slavery. The Russian princes were required to make personal suit to the Khan that he would confirm their rank. Thus Batu summoned the Grand Duke Jaroslav of Vladimir, who had succeeded his brother Jurij II, to appear before him at Sarai with all his family. Jaroslav was further forced to go to the Great Khan at Karakorum; there he met Plano Carpini. Jaroslav died in the desert on his way home, either from exhaustion or from poison, which he is supposed to have drunk at the court of the Great Khan (1246). The adventurous Minorite saw in the Kirghiz steppes the dried bones of the Boyars of the Grand Duke, who had perished of thirst in the desert. It was necessary, in order to be successful, to spend large sums on " presents" to Tartar princes, favourites, and women. The unhappy Russian princes had also to face the machinations of their own people.

Daniel of Halicz (see the genealogical table at page 452), far from paying any tribute, fortified his towns and sought an alliance with the Pope after 1246. But in 1250 a message came from the Khan, that he was to give up Halicz. Being inadequately prepared for resistance he went thither and humbled himself by drinking the black mare's milk (kumiss) and prostrating himself before the "great princess." He was dismissed after twenty-five days and received Halicz back again as a fief. He nevertheless renewed his negotiations with Innocent IV, and promised to subordinate his church to him; he received papal legates, by whom he was crowned king in 1254. But as the crusade was preached in vain, he once more broke off his relations with Rome. He was then compelled at the command of the Great Khan to rase his fortresses, and from dire necessity he bore the Tartar yoke until his death, which occurred at Cholm in 1266.

Alexander, son of Jaroslav, who had driven out the Germans and in 1240 had conquered the Swedes on the Neva (hence the honourable title of Newskij; see Fig. 4 on the plate facing this page," Russian Crowns and Arms") was then established in Novgorod. Innocent IV sent two cardinals in 1251 to win him over to the Roman Church, but in vain. Alexander, on the other hand, went in 1254 to Sarai, accompanied by his brother Andrej (p. 513), and thence to Karakorum; the journey lasted three full years. He must have obtained an overpowering impression of the Mongol power; henceforward he remained loyal to the Tartars, and even fought with his own brother Andrej on their behalf. Only a united Russia could have resisted.

Batu Khan died in 1256. His son Sertak, who was devoted to Christianity, soon followed him to the grave, probably owing to poison, and Batu's brother Berkai (or Bereke) now mounted the throne (1257). He instituted a general census and taxation throughout Russia. The hated Baskaks now appeared for the first time in Novgorod. The popular assembly was convened. The Possadnik addressed the meeting, but when he counselled submission, the people killed him. Alexander's own son reproached his father for imposing servitude on free men. It was with the greatest difficulty that the prince induced the defiant population to allow themselves finally to be registered. In the year 1262 the towns of Vladimir,

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Susdal, and Rostov revolted against the Baskaks. Alexander hurried with presents to the Khan, but was nevertheless detained there for a year. He died on the journey home on November 14, 1263, in consequence of his privations.

A change was then produced in the life of the Tartar people. They could not permanently disregard the influence of a higher culture. Rome made great efforts to win them by missions, especially since the Mongol world, by the destruction of Bagdad in 1258, had proclaimed itself hostile to Islam. The two recently founded orders of Franciscans and Dominicans gained a name in the Church history of the East, and undertook in particular the task of converting the Tartars. John de Plano Carpini the Minorite was not the last who sought to win the Tartar Khan for the Roman faith. The Greek Church also was not without influence. Some Great Khans were superficially followers of Christianity. Kuyuk (1246-1248), had a Christian chapel near his palace; Kublai (1260-1294) regularly attended the celebration of the feast of Easter. A Greek bishopric was founded in Sarai itself. The Mongol rulers were thoroughly tolerant. Plano Carpini saw in the camp of the Great Khan Christians, Greek priests, and a Christian church. The Franciscan William of Rubruquis (Ruysbroek; Vol. II, p. 99) describes how Mangu Khan in 1254 arranged a discussion between the representatives of various beliefs; Christians, Mohammedans, and heathen performed their acts of worship in his presence. Priests. and monks were exempt from the poll-tax. The jurisdiction of the Greek Church was confirmed. Sacrilege was punishable with death. The monasteries within the dominions of the formerly abused Mongols increased in numbers and wealth.

An event of great significance then occurred: Bertai Khan turned his attention to Islam. The religious fanaticism of the Moslems then invaded Sarai, and prevented the fusion of the nations. It was one of the serious results of the miserable Fourth Crusade (p. 98), which, by the capture of Constantinople (1203) under conditions of such revolting cruelty and by the partition of the empire, had crippled the power of the Greek Church and of Greek culture without aiding the West, that Mohammedanism was able to achieve so important a victory. A Byzantium of undiminished power would have all the more certainly won the Tartars for the Orthodox faith, since the Greek form of worship impressed the Asiatics, and since their army, to the extent perhaps of three-fifths, consisted of Oriental Christians, owing to the thousands of prisoners made yearly. But a destroyed Byzantium commanded as little respect from the Tartars as the mutual hatred of the two "Christian" beliefs. The Mongols therefore adopted Islam, which from racial considerations at least appealed more closely to them and seemed to be politically more advantageous. The gulf between Europe and Russia was widened by the Mohammedan Tartars. Russia had now for the first time become a province of Asia in the true sense of the word.

The three centuries which Russia had spent under the Tartar yoke had determined its place in civilization and its development. Hitherto it had stood, if not higher, at any rate not lower, than many a Western state. But now its culture was so sapped and sank so low that, even at the present day, it has not completely recovered from the blow. The political situation, it is true, remained much in the same position; some princes were confirmed in their dominions and self-government conceded to them (see the inset to "Maps illustrating the History of Poland and Western Russia," later in this volume). But the excessive drain on the finances weighed so heavily on the country that it infallibly took from the people any

desire to work. The humiliating treatment and the feeling of absolute impotence as regards the Great Khan could not but corrupt the ideas of the people, destroy their national pride, and sap their moral fibre. This is noticeable even in the Chroniclers of the Tartar age. When in the fifteenth century one prince put out the eyes of another, the Chronicle did not utter a word of blame, as it did when Vassilko was blinded. The Russian people had thus become accustomed to scenes of horror. And these outrages were a heavier burden and lasted longer than the economic downfall.

Even after half a century the widely spread influence of the Asiatic school could be felt. The son of Daniel of Halicz already kept a Tartar body-guard (see Fig. 5 of the plate on page 467); the insubordination of the nobles cannot alone excuse this procedure. That same proud city of Novgorod, which had only submitted to the Baskaks with extreme reluctance, rejected Prince Michael in 1304 with the words: "We elected thee, indeed, but only on the condition that thou shewest us the Jarlyk" (the warrant from the Khan). Mongols were called in by Russian princes just as Petchenegs and Polovzes had been,- to help them against their own people. Russians took part in the campaigns of the Tartars, who honourably gave them a share of the spoils. The relations between Mongols and Russians rapidly became so much closer, that in the first half of the fourteenth century Tartar princes and nobles settled in Moscow. Many distinguished Russian families are of Tartar descent; but, on the other hand, we must not overlook the fact that the later Tartar immigrants were mostly descendants of Russian prisoners, so that we ought rather to speak of Slavonic blood among the Tartars than vice versa. Russia would almost have got over the depression had not, from time to time, fresh outbursts of savage barbarism inflicted new wounds on the country. The keen wish for liberty was thus kept alive. Russia obtained some partial successes politically. Hostilities between Russian princes were forbidden, since no one dared to wage war without the consent of the Khan. A still more important point was that the Grand Duke, as vassal of the dreaded Mongol, enjoyed elsewhere a greater reputation than had ever been the case. We may see in this fact the germs of the subsequent unification of Russia.

5. POLAND FROM THE TENTH CENTURY TO THE YEAR 1376

A. THE BEGINNINGS OF POLAND (TO THE YEAR 1138)

THE waves of Slavonic migration, which surged to and fro in the Far East of Europe, had from an early date come into contact with the peoples of Western Europe; but there were as yet only tribes and no large empire. The tidings first came to Constantinople in the ninth century that a large Russian empire existed in the north. A hundred years later a powerful Polish empire was discovered in the northwest. The honour of this discovery belongs to Germany. War had been raging between the two, since the middle of the eighth century, on the line of the Elbe, at the point where the Slavonic and German tribes came into contact with each other. But while the Germans won political unity through Charles the Great, assimilated Roman culture and adopted Christianity, the Slavs were still disunited, and were inimical to Western views on politics, religion, and culture. A