Confederates praying in the name of all the Cosacks that His Majesty would please to pardon them promising That thereupon you would return home and act no more mischief but serve the Czar with all Fidelity without occasioning any difference between His Majesty and the King of Persia as also without taking any thing upon the Volga or the Caspian Sea Whereupon those two Cosacks having taken an Oath in the name of the whole Body and sent to His Majesty Seven persons to implore his pardon which was granted and your Forces being permitted to go with safety from Astracan to the River Don the place of your dwelling notwithstanding all this thou Villain hast forgot the Grace and Favor of the great Czar and hast by the way exercised on the Volga great robbery and coming to Tzaretsa beaten the Waywood and committed enorm outrages An. 7178 alias 1670. Thou Villain together with thy Companions forgetting the Fear of God and deserting the Holy Catholick Apostolick Church didst when you were upon the Don speak blasphemous words against our Lord Christ and prohibit to build Churches and to perform Divine Service in those that were in being driving away all the Priests and making such people as would marry instead of practising the usual Ceremonies of Marriage to go round about a Tree Thou Villain also slighting the Grace of the great Czar vouchsafed to thee and thy Associates hast afresh rebelled against His Majesty and returned to the River Volga acting the like villainies with Robbing and Killing as formerly and particularly plundering and putting to death some honest antient Cosacks that refused to joyn with you and to approve of your Actions Thou hast likewise killed and cast into the Water those that by the great Czar were sent with Letters of Pardon to the Captain Cornelius Jacolowitz and to other Donsky Cossacks and caused the rest to be so beaten that they died of it Marching from the River Don with thy confederate Cossacks and coming to the Town of Tsaretza thou hast fraudulently perswaded the people of that place that the Czar's Army was coming to put them all to the sword whereas on the contrary his Majesties Army went to assist that Town against thee and thy villainous practices upon which ungrounded perswasion the said Town surrendred themselves to thee and received thee amongst them Entring into it thou hast put to the sword the Commander Turgonova and all those Citizens that would not be partakers in your villanies and thrown them into the water and thereupon thou didst march out against the Army of the Great Czar and by fraud rout the same and didst fling into the water their Colonel Jwan Lapatin and their Lieutenant-Colonel Tedor Jeckschym and others after having put them to very great torments Besides thou hast taken away the Czar's Boats laden with Rye and robbed many Merchants and after that thou didst march to the Town Tzornojaar and there kill the Governor Jwan Sergeof and all Officers and many Moscovian Soldiers Coming before Astracan thou madest some of thy villanous Cossacks enter into it and by them induce the Soldiers to deliver up the Town and the Bojar and Waywood into thy hands which was done accordingly the Astracan soldiers thereupon joyning themselves with thee and upon thy Orders pulling the Bojar Kneas Jwan Simonowitz Prosorofsky out of the Church whom thou didst cast down headlong from a high Steeple commanding also his Brother together with many Noble-men Officers Soldiers and Merchants after grievous Tortures to be put to death and robbing the Houses of God Churches and Monasteries as also the Czar's Treasure and many Houses of the principal Citizens and burning all the Papers of State in the Chancery with the addition of such scoffings as cannot be parallel'd Moreover thou hast caused without any shame many Priests Monks and Nuns to be stripp'd naked and many other people besides Thou hast also commanded most inhumanly to be beaten very many to make them confess where they had hid their Treasure without sparing little children Further thou hast put to death some of the chief Merchants of the King of Persia and many other Merchants strangers Perfians Indians Turkish Armenians and Boucharen who upon the account of Traffick were at that time in Astracan robbing them of their Goods and occasioning matter of discontent to the Great Chach of Persia Again thou Villain hast been insatiable of Blood and continued to spill the most innocent and thou hast not scrupled to hang up by their Leggs upon the Wall both the innocent Children of the Bojar Kneas Jwan Simonowitz Prosorofsky and after great Torture to worry the one and so to beat the other that thou thoughtest he could not live And thou hast also caused the Clerks that served the Great Czar and would not consent to thy designs to be put to painful deaths commanding them to be hanged up by their Ribs Besides Thou Villain after having killed in Astracan many good people hast delivered many Wives and their Daughters to be abused by your confederate miscreants commanding also the Priests that they should marry none at the Metropolitan's Order scoffing at the Church of God and the Ordinances of the Holy Apostles and annulling the Sacrament of Marriage and throwing such Priests as refused to comply with thee into the water Thou Villain hast also robbed the Treasure of the Great Czar in Astracan and after an effusion of much blood thou didst march out of that City to Tsarietza and thence up the River to Tsaratof whose Inhabitants surrendred themselves unto thee and there thou didst rob the Corn-Moneys of his Majesty and great store of Provision putting to death the Waywode Koesmakotesin and many Noble men From Saratof Thou Villain persisting in thy malitious designs didst come to the Town Samarof which also was surrendred to thee and whence thou didst carry away the Czar's Treasure putting to the sword the Governour Jwan Alsienofsky and many Noble-men and Citizens that would not take your part From Samarof thou Miscreant didst proceed to the Town Simbierske to which thou laidst a Siege and tookst it by storm doing much mischief there Thou didst also send to many other Towns some of thy villanous Companions by false Writings bearing them in hand that the Eldest Son of our Great Czar of Glorious memory our Czarawitz Alexis Alexewitz Great Duke of the Greater Lesser and the White Russia was yet living and that thou by Order of his Majesty wast come to put to death as Traytors all Bojars Councellors Noble men and Officers being in his Majesties service whereas on the contrary the said Son of our Great Czar departed this mortal life and pass'd into the everlasting Rest of Heaven and that in his Pallace in the presence of his Lord Father in the year 7178 alias 1670. the 17th of January his Corps being buried in Mosco in the Cathedral of S. Michel amongst his Progenitors the very next day after his death likewise in the presence of his Lord
RAZIN the Rebell his Brother A RELATION Concerning the Particulars of the REBELLION Lately raised in MUSCOVY BY Stenko Razin Its Rise Progress and Stop together with the manner of taking that REBEL the Sentence of Death passed upon him and the Execution of the same Published by Authority In the SAVOY Printed by Tho. Newcomb 1672. A RELATION Concerning the Particulars of the Rebellion lately raised in Muscovy by Stenko Razin THere are two sorts of Cosacks some are call'd Saporogsky and others Donsky The former do from antient times belong to the Dominions of the King of Poland and have their ordinary abode in the Isles of the River Borysthenes or Nieper At a good distance from the Town Kiof in the same River is to be found a Rock from which the Water falling with great violence maketh above Fifty Isles and this Rock whence the Water falls is called Poroch and giveth to those Cosacks which are seated in those Isles that lie behinde the Poroch the name of Saporogsky Their business is to be watchful against the Incursions of the Tartars and other enemies of the Kingdom of Poland The Name of Cosack is said to be derived from the Sclavonian word Cosa which signifieth Spirit and it is thought that that name was given to that people by reason of their Agility or Nimbleness The Donsky-Cosacks are those that have their habitation upon the famous River Don antiently called Tanais and belong to the Czar or Emperor of Muscovy and Russia to whom they yield a voluntary rather than a compelled obedience They are by the said Czar endowed with many Priviledges enjoying their own Laws and chusing their own Governor They have so great Priviledges that if any Slave run away from a Russian Nobleman or other great Person and come unto these Cosacks the Proprietors loose their claim to them Of these Donsky-Cosacks was Stenko Razin the Person that four years since rose up in Rebellion against the great Czar Alexis Michalowitz The reason or rather pretence of that Insurrection was the death of the said Razin's Brother inflicted by the Bojar Kneas Jurge Dolgeroek For in the year 1665. he was with an Army in the Field about the Town Kiof against the Polanders having under him among others a Troup of Donsky-Cosacks Autumn being come in and that Troup esteeming to have done good service against the enemy desired to be dismissed by the said Commander Dolgeroek who possibly standing yet in need of their service would not consent to it Whereupon these Cosacks unwilling to hearken to the command of their General but following the perswasions and example of their chief Officer which was the Brother of Stenko Razin did disband and went every one to his home Dolgeroek being extreamly offended thereat gave order that this Ring-Leader should be taken which being done he commanded him presently to be hanged This is the cause pretended by Razin when he was upon the Rack of his raising this Rebellion to revenge the death of his Brother innocently executed as he understood it But that this was but a meer pretext is sufficiently apparent in regard that this Insurrection was made not onely against the Czar but also against the King of Persia from whom he never could alledge to have received any injury So that nothing but his malicious and rebellious temper hath impelled him to this infamous undertaking The beginning of his villanous attempt was his robbery upon the River Volga An. 1667 where he took several great Boats laden with Commodities belonging partly to Cloisters and Ecclesiasticks partly to private Merchants of Jereslaf Wologda and other places Thence he went to the Town Jayck which he took by force assisted by his Cosacks Soon after he proceeded to the Caspian Sea and from thence he returned to the Volga where he did great mischief in giving interruption to Fishing and in ruining many Houses Thence he marched to the Town Teock and further to the Frontiers of Persia where he did great damage to the Subjects both of the great Czar of Muscovy and the Chach of Persia The Inhabitants of a certain small Persian Town being informed of his approach betook themselves to a Neighboring Fort for security Whereupon Stenko sent them word that they had no reason to fear and invited them to return assuring them That he and his Men were not come to do them any hurt but for Money to buy Provision and other Necessaries for his Troups They came back with great confidence to their Town and opened their Shops where Stenko and his Soldiers bought what they needed and paid for what they bought that time but afterwards he gave a sign to his Cosacks that passing over the Market-place when he should put his Cap into a certain posture they should fall upon and kill all the Inhabitants which was executed accordingly and practised in several other places upon the Borders of Persia To stop these cruel actions the Kneas Jwan Simonewitz then Waywode or Governor of Astracan sent some Troups against him Whereupon Stenko finding himself too weak and apprehending a bad issue asked pardon to which the said Governor returned this answer That if he would desist from his violence and robbery he doubted not but the great Czar would shew him Mercy He came with his companions to Astracan almost all sick and swelled because having been a little before upon a certain Island in the Caspian Sea beset by the Persians they had been necessitated to drink Salt-water And he at length received pardon from the Czar for his crimes and promised That he and his Company would henceforth serve him with all faithfulness nor exercise any robbery on the Volga or the Caspian Sea or elswhere Stenko being recovered shewed his generosity to the Inhabitants of Astracan For as he was walking thorough the Streets he scattered among the people store of Ducats and other Coyn he had robbed and thereby was applauded by all which then sufficiently manifested his aim And so he with his associates went away to their own Countrey about the River Don where he began to act afresh his villainy in Ecclesiastical Matters driving away many Priests and hindring Divine Service and intruding himself into Church affairs For a pattern of the glorious Ceremonies which this Cosack-Pope introduced take this that instead of the usual Ceremonies of Marriage performed by the Priests in Russia he made the contracted couple to goe several times round about a Tree dancing and thus they were married after Stenko's mode He also cast out blasphemous words against the Saviour of the World and scrupled not forthwith to break that Oath of Fidelity which a little before he had sworn to the Great Czar and put to death divers ancient Cossacks that had more integrity than to combine with him in his rebellion The like he acted upon the Waywode of the same place and upon those that had been sent by the Czar with Letters of Grace and Pardon and others From the River Don he return'd
he that was so perfidious to his Prince deserved no better recompence He was laid hold on about Tzarietza and carried that long way of Two hundred Miles to Mosco entertained all along with the hopes that he should speak with the Great Czar himself and before him by word of Mouth plead his own cause he always imagining that he had many things to say very important for the Czar to know His Brother Frolko was extreamly sad on the way and it seems of a better nature than Stenko whom he charged with all he had done And Stenko seeing his Brother at a certain time more than usually troubled comforted him by representing that coming into the City of Mosco they should receive great honor thousands of people and the greatest of the Land being doubtless ready to meet and to see them Stenko coming within a mile of Mosco the Waggon met him that had been made to bring him into the City according to his deserts In the hind-part of it was erected the Gallows himself was stripped of his Silken habit which he had worn hitherto and an old ragged Sute put upon him and so he was placed in the Waggon under the Gallows with an Iron-Chain about his Neck fastned to the top of the same Both his hands were locked fast to the Side-beams of the Gallows and his Legs divaricated His Brother Frolko was with an Iron-Chain fastned to the Waggon and went a foot on the side of it Thus entred Stenko with his Brother into the City of Mosco Thousands of People of great and mean condition beholding them and so fulfilling his Prophesie of the honor he should have in entring this Town And though he comforted his Brother with this honor yet himself standing in the Waggon looked on no body but held his Face continually downward They were both put to the torture but what they there confessed is not well known onely that Stenko did very much lament the death of his Brother who by the command of Kneas Jurge Dolgeroek had formerly been hanged His Brother Frolko behaving himself most pittifully under the torture Stenko went about to comfort him again and said That he must remember the good things he had enjoyed that he had lived so long among his Friends with great credit and reputation and had commanded thousands and therefore he was now to bear this hard fortune with patience The Russes use this manner of Torture they shave the Crown of the Head of a Malefactor and drop cold Water upon it which they say causeth very great pain It is related That when the Crown of Stenko and his Brother was shaved Stenko said to his Brother I have often heard that none is shaved for a Priest but he must be Learned we are both unlearned and yet they do us the honor of shaving our Crown Four days after that he was brought in he was with his Brother carried to the place of Execution in the Cittadel The Sentence of Death was read before him wherein were expressed the Principal Villanies he had committed He seemed not at all concerned and spoke not a word but stooped And when the Executioner was going to do his office he crossed himself several times directing his face towards a certain Church called Pretsietse Bogorodietse Casaneche that is The most Holy Mother of God of Casan And thereupon he bowed his head thrice towards three several places of the people assembled saying Prostie that is Forgive me And presently he was laid down between two Beams and his Right Arm cut off to the Elbow and his Left Leg to the Knee After this his Head was cut off with an Hatchet All which was done with great speed in a very short time and Stenko gave not the least sigh nor shewed any sign of sense His Brother coming to the place of Execution cryed out That he had the Czar's word a manner of expression when a person hath any secret to reveal which is to be manifested to none but to the great Czar alone Being asked what it was he said It was to be told to none but to the Czar Whereupon he was reprieved and they say That he hath discovered the place of the Treasure digged under Ground by his Brother Stenko This was the end of Stenko Razin his Deputy Sjorte-Ous whom he had left to command in Astracan is said to have raised new commotions putting to Death the Metropolite and others that are contrary to his design God Almighty give to the great Czar Alexis Michaelewitz the Victory over all his Enemies Arch. Angel Sept. 23 23. 1671. on Board of the Ship the Queen Esther The Sentence of Death read before STENKO RAZIN on the Place of Execution June 6. 1671. THou Villain and Renegado Rebel Donsky-Cosack Stenko Razin in the year 7175 alias 1667. abandoning the fear of God and forgetting thy Duty and Oath whereby thou art bound to His Majesty the great Czar Alexis Michaelowitz Emperor and Defendor of the Greater and Lesser and the White Russia hast Rebelled against His said Majesty and having raised other Cosacks hast marched with them to the River Volga there to act thy Villainous Designs And coming there thou hast done great mischief to much people taking the Nasaisky great Boats laden with Salt-fish and Salt belonging to the Patriarch Cloysters and others As also the Boats of many Merchants Which Violence and Robbery thou hast acted as far as to the very Walls of Astracan Again Thou Villain hast betwixt Astracan and the Sorneiner Robbed Killed and Thrown into the Water the Waywood of the great Czar Simon Bellemisch who was sent to speak with thee The like villainy thou hast committed upon the Muscovian Officer Susover that was likewise dispatched to thee for the same end When out of Astracan to the Town Jayck were sent a Waywood and two Russian Colonels with some Soldiers to confer with you in an amicable way and to perswade you to desist from your Villainous attempts and to beg his Majesties pardon thou didst hang both the Colonels and betake thy self with thy Cosacks to Sea from Jayck and return from Sea into the Volga ruining all places of Fishery and burning the habitations of the Tartars Thou Villain hast also been under the Town Tarchi and hast exceedingly endamaged the adjacent places as also part of the Dominions of the King of Persia Being upon the Caspian Sea thou didst rob the Subjects of Persia and take away the Goods of Merchants and their lives also Thou hast also ruined several Towns in Persia and thereby caused great difference between the Two Empires Besides the Soldiers of Astracan upon thy orders have killed their Colonel and joyned themselves to thee doing great mischief in many places An. 7177 alias 1669. The Governor of Astracan Kneas Jwan Simonewitz Prosorofsky sent against you the Waywood Kneas Simon Leibof with His Majesties Army who had girt you all about which thou Villain seeing didst dispatch to that Waywood two of thy chief