"Do not be afraid of friends - in the worst case, they can betray you. Be afraid of the indifferent - they do not kill and do not betray, but only with their tacit consent there is betrayal and murder on earth"

in Moscow for Bolotnaya Square an ensemble of sculptures "Children - victims of the vices of adults" was installed.

"The composition was conceived and implemented by me as a symbol and a call to the struggle for the salvation of today's and future generations. I, as an artist, call with this work to look around, hear and see what is happening. And before it's too late, sane and honest people need to think. Do not be indifferent, fight, do everything to save the future of Russia."
Mikhail Shemyakin

As if from the swamp, mud, viscous mud of everyday life, these freaks crawled out, pulling their twisted arms to the viewer, trying to drag to the bottom ... Here - Drug Addiction, Prostitution, Drunkenness, Sadism. To the left of the center - 6 statues, to the right - 6 others. What about in the center?

And in the center - a figure, looking at the same time in two directions and shut up in unwillingness to listen and hear ears, standing above all the others. This is the most terrible of the vices of modernity, primarily because of it, the amount of grief, suffering, death, and catastrophes is multiplying every second in the world. And we produce this sin with every step we take, often without even noticing it.

Who is this figure? Mikhail Shemyakin put the most terrible vice of our time in the center - Indifference.

It is blind, it is deaf, there is no world around it. “The hut is on the edge”, “the matter is the side”, “they will figure it out without me”, “pass by”, “think about yourself” - these phrases today regulate all the behavior of people. “Take care of yourself, be careful ...” An occupation that does not bring money is ridiculous ... We, without hesitation, say: “Everything is fine”, forgetting that the synonyms for “norm” are “no way”, “ordinary”, “gray”, "standard", "faceless". The society of normal people is scary.

*** I do not know how to excite you in the bowels of your apartments,
How to disturb, what kind of dusts?
But I know that if the world dies tomorrow,
he will die only through your fault, indifferent!

*** When does a person become indifferent?
Then when the holy notions turn for him
In the usual set of words, in an empty sound.

Holy concepts like - Motherland, love, veteran, mercy, memory, mother.

*** The most terrible indifference is indifference to one's own mother. Indifference, resentment, misunderstanding - very often these qualities accumulate in us, and dear close person becomes a stranger. Mother . We are always indebted to her. Busy, always preoccupied with our affairs, always ready to sacrifice her peace and well-being for us, accepting our joys and sorrows as her own - no, closer than her own! But we are in a hurry, in a hurry and forget to say something to mom, kiss, take her care for us for granted, postponing gratitude for later.

It's easy to hurt your mother
She will not respond with resentment
And it will only repeat:
"Don't catch a cold, it's windy today!"

*** Indifference… but what about, the memory of those who remained in the earth forever, and who lives next to us. About the soldiers who gave us peace. Where do young people come from in Russia, clinging to themselves with vile symbols, forgetting about those 20 million who ...

The war has passed, gone around the corner,
Guards banners are in cases.
Both life and time move forward.
Only twenty million left behind.

*** Maybe adults, protecting the fragile, impressionable soul of the child, did not tell him the truth about the war, about fascism, about human grief, maybe he himself believed that these were “things of bygone days”, and now there are much more interesting and more important things to do.

There are names, and there are such dates,
They are full of incorruptible essence.
We are to blame for them on weekdays.
Do not pray for guilt on holidays.

*** And it's not the fault of man alone. People have become indifferent to small tragedies. Previously, when a child was walking down the street alone, passers-by would certainly ask if he was lost, if everything was in order. Now they just pass by. The pain threshold in society has risen. To cry, today we need to see something monstrous.

We look through crooked mirrors
And we see life as a clot of darkness,
I don't see any heat at all
No happiness, no love, no beauty.
And the kindness in those mirrors is a lie,
Pretense and pernicious evil...

So why are we looking through the mist
On false, corrupt glass?
Why see the bad in people
And talk about other people's mistakes?
Why burn with black envy,
On all the streams of hatred to pour?

We just stopped respecting
Appreciate kindness, laugh and love.
We gradually began to forget
What does it mean in the full sense of the word -
LIVE!

*** We are sometimes afraid to pay a penny to a beggar, to show even the slightest concern for the humiliated. No, don't be afraid to do good. This will make us happier and brighter. If we did something from the bottom of our hearts, sincerely took pity on a person and did not humiliate him, then we will remember his grateful look. No matter how hard it was for us from our inner experiences, we managed to find spiritual strength in ourselves, break away from them, and help someone who suffers more than us. Having passed through ourselves the pain of another person, a stranger to us, we are cured of our own pain. This is mercy, which is built on respect and a sense of compassion, belonging to a person.

A merciful attitude to everything that surrounds us: to man, to nature, to animals, birds, fish, even insects, is manifested in actions. We need to learn how to give warmth, kindness, mercy, and it will definitely return to us a hundredfold. It is important to find peace in your soul, where there will be no anger and aggression, indifference and hatred.

*** ...rallies, demonstrations of solidarity!And yet sometimes we hear: “Who needs all this? Waste of time these rallies, demonstrations of solidarity! What's the point? More voice, less voice ... ”But this is indifference. "Petty?" no, indifference is always dangerous, in any form.

*** There is such a disease: "hospitalism". A girl died in the hospital, a clever girl and a favorite of all the staff. The unfortunate "refusal" child, who was three years old, died from this disease. She is not the first and probably not the last. This disease develops because there is simply no one to caress the child, sing a song, kiss goodnight. With all the nurses' love for her, they were not up to the child when there were so many worries; the main thing is that he was fed and dry. But the entire staff was shocked. Die of neglect. Isn't it scary? That's what kids can die from.

*** And here is another case.
The hooligans stuck to the girl on the street. It was still light, there were a lot of people around. Everyone walked by and pretended not to notice anything. Only one young man came up and tried to calm down the hooligans. A fight ensued. Nobody came to help. When one of the hooligans took out a knife, the girl screamed. In response to the cry, no one came up. The hooligans wounded the young man with a knife and ran away. The ambulance did not have time to arrive. This indifference and fear of others killed the young man. And there are many such stories.

*** If at first we simply do not pay attention to someone else's grief, drown out the voice of our own conscience, convincing ourselves that we will catch up later, but for now there are already a lot of worries, then by doing so we will kill ourselves most valuable quality- ability to do good. This coarsens our heart, covers it with an impenetrable crust, through which pleas for help will no longer break through.

*** People, be good friend to a friend, be sensitive! Morality and kindness are great forces, and one must correctly understand them. Good educates and exalts a person, anger and indifference humiliate him.

"If you are indifferent to the suffering of others, you do not deserve the name of a person," said Saadi. But is it really that bad?

*** Many people like to sit at the TV and discuss the situation in the world, sympathize, groan ... But there are other people ...

veteran of the great Patriotic War all the honey collected from his apiary was sent to a military hospital for soldiers wounded in Chechnya.
- Charitable Foundation "Children's Hearts" was created to help children with congenital heart defects.
- The initiative group "Donors for Children" is focused on finding blood donors for patients of the Hematology Center of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital.
....

We take purity, simplicity from the ancients.
Sagas, dragging tales from the past.
Because good is good
Past, future and present!

Everyone wants to live in a country where it is not scary to go outside, where you can safely walk in the park in the evening, where real works of art are shown on TV, and where we will be calm for our lives, because there will be no indifferent people nearby and each person will lend a helping hand

Trees bear fruit not for themselves,
And the rivers clean waters don't drink their own
Ears do not ask for bread for themselves,
Houses do not store comfort for themselves.
We won't compare ourselves to them.
But everyone knows this loving life,
That the more generously you give to people,
The happier you live for yourself.

“The legend of Mamaev massacre”, literary work 15th century about historical events Kulikovo battle. The Tale tells of heavenly visions that foreshadowed the victory of the Russian people. Many interesting details of this heroic time are given: about the embassy of Zakhary Tyutchev to Mamai, the routes of the Russian troops from Moscow to Kolomna, the review of troops on the Maiden's Field, Dimitri Donskoy's visit to the Holy Trinity Monastery and the blessing for the battle given to him by St. Sergius, epistle of St. Sergius Prince. Dimitry on the Kulikovo field, night reconnaissance (“test of signs”) by Dimitry Donskoy and Bob-rock-Volynets, the beginning of the battle - the duel of the monk-hero Peresvet with a Tatar fighter, the exchange of clothes and the horse of the book. Demetrius with the boyar Brenk and the heroic death of the latter under the black princely banner, the search for St. Demetrius Donskoy on the battlefield after its completion: they found the prince under a cut birch “wounded by Velma”.

Comment to the text of the document

In 1980, 600 years have passed since the time when the Russian army, led by the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich, in 1380 defeated the Mongol-Tatar hordes of Khan Mamai on the banks of the Don. For the outstanding talent of the commander, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich began to be called Dmitry Donskoy, and the victory at Kulikovo Field became a turning point in the liberation struggle of the Russian people against their enemies.

The invasion of the Mongol-Tatar conquerors on Russian land began in the 13th century after they conquered Central Asia and approaches to the Caucasus. In 1223, a battle took place on the Kalka River, which flows into the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, in which the troops of the Russian princes were defeated. Chronicles write about this battle: "And there was a slaughter of evil, and there was a victory against the Russian princes, as if it had never happened since the beginning of the Russian land." The Mongol-Tatars marched across Russia to Novgorod Seversky and ravaged it, "and there was a cry and cry and sorrow in the cities and villages."

If the early raids of the Mongol-Tatars were of a reconnaissance nature and pursued mainly predatory goals, then the subsequent ones brought complete enslavement and the final conquest of Eastern Europe. In 1237-1241, the Mongol-Tatars again invaded Russian land. These campaigns were led by Batu Khan. Having passed the lands of the Ryazan principality, they destroyed everything around with fire and sword, "people are cutting like grass."

Many cities - Ryazan, Kolomna, Vladimir, Moscow, Kyiv, Pereslavl, Yuriev, Dmitrov, Tver - fell under the onslaught of enemies. Each Russian city stubbornly resisted, only after a many-day siege and the death of everyone, young and old, the Mongol-Tatars could move on. Numerical superiority, the strictest discipline and powerful siege equipment of Batu's troops made it possible to break the courageous struggle of the defenders of Russian cities, who acted in isolation due to princely turmoil and strife. The war with the Russian principalities weakened Batu's army; not so numerous, it could no longer move far into the depths of Europe. Batu more than once had to send troops to Russia in order to suppress the liberation struggle of the Russian people. The bloodless, plundered Russian land covered the countries of Europe. The vast territory of North-Eastern and Southern Russia was devastated and completely ruined. Cities were burned to the ground and the inhabitants massacred. For a long time, the craft fell into decay, many artisans were taken prisoner to the Golden Horde. Huge expanses of sown areas were abandoned, the villages were deserted. The population that escaped from the enemy fled to the western and northern outskirts. Trade relations between individual principalities were also disrupted. Annals about that time are written with bitterness: "Due to that Batu captivity, many cities still stand empty, monasteries and villages are deserted and now overgrown with forest." The words of the chronicler give an idea of ​​the scale of the national disaster: “Some flee to distant lands, while others hide in the mountains, in caves and clefts and in the abysses of the earth, while others shut themselves up in strong cities, and others flee to impenetrable islands. have". Not only the economy and culture of the Russian land fell into decay, the conquerors established the political dominance of the Horde over a significant part of the territory of Eastern Europe.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion interrupted the beginning of the XIII century natural process formation of a unified state.

The Russian princes were placed in vassal dependence on the khans of the Golden Horde, and they received letters to reign in their lands at the cost of rich gifts and humiliation. The Golden Horde rulers were forced to preserve in Russia the inherent political system the supreme rule of the Grand Duke of Vladimir. But the right to issue a charter for a great reign was in the hands of the khans, and they did not allow the strengthening of individual Russian principalities, and they killed princes who were objectionable to them at their headquarters. Khan's Baskaks sent from the Horde followed the actions of the Russian princes.

Dependence on the Golden Horde was expressed in heavy tribute, which was imposed on the population. In 1257, the Mongols conducted a census in Russia, and each urban and agricultural sector had to pay tribute to the collectors, which was first collected in kind, and later in silver. Other extortions and payments were also heavy. The struggle of the Russian people and the punitive raids of the Mongol-Tatars continued at the end of the 13th century. In 1293, among 14 other cities, Moscow was again devastated. The further history of Russia was connected with a long exhausting struggle for the liberation from the power of the Golden Horde khans, which lasted almost 250 years. This was a period when the economic life of the country was gradually reviving, and the feudal principalities, fragmented into small destinies, became large ones. political centers fighting for the creation of a unified Russian state. By the middle of the XIV century, the general rise of the Russian land was expressed in the development of the country's economy, primarily in the gradual restoration of agriculture. The population is growing in the old villages and villages. There is a gradual expansion of arable land. Deserted abandoned lands are plowed up, from where the peasants used to flee due to enemy raids. Agriculture is not only being resumed on devastated fields, new areas of land are being developed for arable land. New settlements appear on the wastelands.

In the XIV century, some villages turn into cities due to population growth and the development of handicrafts. New trade routes are being laid. The general rise affected the growth of cities, into which the influx of the peasant population increased. Around the cities, trade and craft people are populated. Development of fisheries, growth various kinds crafts contributed to an increase in domestic and foreign trade of Russian principalities with countries Western Europe- through Novgorod, Pskov and with the countries of the East along the Volga route.

By the middle of the 14th century, cities had turned not only into craft and trade centers, but powerful defensive structures were being erected in them. After a hundred-year break, the stone construction of fortifications in a number of cities resumed. Under the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich in 1367, a stone Kremlin was built in Moscow. The value of the outposts had monasteries created around Moscow since the second half of the XIV century: Danilov, Simonov, Androniev, Trinity-Sergiev. Fortification construction was carried out in many other cities of North-Eastern Russia: Pereslavl, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Murom. Stone fortifications were built in Novgorod, Pskov and their suburbs.

The general economic recovery created the preconditions for the development of culture. In the second half of the 14th century, with the growth of education special meaning receive cities in which book wealth is concentrated: Tver, Moscow, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod. During wars and fires, a huge number of books perished, and the masters who created the books perished. Only Novgorod and Pskov, where the conquerors did not reach, retained their bookishness. By the beginning of the 14th century, chronicle writing had developed in Tver, and around 1325 it began in Moscow. Chronicle works were carried out in Novgorod, Pskov, as well as in Suzdal, Rostov and other cities.

The revival of national forms of architecture and painting was expressed in the construction of temples, decorating them with fresco paintings and icons. Such cities as Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow live an intensive artistic life. Temples are being built in cities on the Oka. The 14th century was marked by the work of the great master of painting Theophanes the Greek. In the 40s of the XIV century artels of painters painted the Moscow Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals. The rise of the economy and culture was most closely interconnected with the political processes taking place in the Russian state. During the second half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century, the formation of the largest Russian principalities took place: Tver, Moscow, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal, Novgorod and Pskov lands. Between them there was a struggle for political supremacy in Russia, for the increase and strengthening of territories. The princes fought for a shortcut to the great reign of Vladimir, which gave the rights of suzerain, and put the rest of the principalities in vassal dependence.

The Golden Horde khans kindled strife between separate principalities, weakening them in the struggle and thus securing political power over the Russian lands. The Tatar khans gave the great princedom of Vladimir to the Russian princes, the safest for their power. The Nizhny Novgorod, Tver and Moscow princes especially stubbornly claimed the role of a center restoring the unity of the Russian state.

In the 60s of the XIV century there was a stubborn struggle between the princes of Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow for the right to the great reign of Vladimir. The struggle ended with the political success of the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich, secured by his marriage to the daughter of the Nizhny Novgorod prince in 1366. Already in the next year, in 1367, the long struggle between the Moscow principality and Tver for the great reign of Vladimir begins. The Lithuanian prince Olgerd intervened in this struggle, making three trips to Moscow and besieging it. The struggle of Dmitry Ivanovich with the Tver princes ended in the defeat of the Tver principality in 1375. Before the start of the struggle against the Golden Horde, the political role of the Moscow principality among the principalities of North-Eastern Russia especially increased. The Moscow princes become the conductors of the policy of rallying and uniting all the forces of the whole people in the Russian land to fight against the Mongol-Tatar conquerors. The political success of the Moscow principality in the struggle for a leading role in the unification of the Russian land is explained by the following important factors: the growth of the economy, the far-sighted policy of the Moscow princes in relation to the Golden Horde khans, who sought not to give rise to enemy invasions, the support of the church, the metropolitan, whose chair was in Moscow, particularly advantageous geographic location Moscow Principality, located on trade routes and fenced off from the steppe by the lands of neighboring principalities.

The rise of the Moscow principality, the increased economic and political upsurge in the Russian principalities did not go unnoticed in the Golden Horde. Horde rulers followed the political trends in North-Eastern Russia, intervened in princely strife. But if in Russia in the XIV century there was a consolidation of lands, there were political shifts towards the formation of a single state, then in the Golden Horde there was a gradual process of disintegration. In 1361, the territory of the Golden Horde was divided into several separate uluses, the khans of which were at enmity with each other. In the 1350-1380s, more than 25 khans were replaced on the throne of the Golden Horde. During the acute dynastic struggle between the warring groups of the Golden Horde nobility, the capital of the state, Sarai-Berke, repeatedly passed from hand to hand.

In the 1360s, in the territory to the west from the right bank of the Volga to the Dnieper, the temnik Mamai ruled, and the lands of the North Caucasus and Crimea were subject to him. Since the 1370s, the Horde has been preparing military forces and moving on to open actions against North-Eastern Russia. For Mamai, a successful campaign against Russia would mean strengthening in his own lands.

The border principalities of Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan suffered especially from enemy raids, the population and princes of which not only courageously fought against the Mongolo-Tatars, but also went on the offensive themselves. In 1365 and 1367, these raids were successfully repelled by the forces of Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod. In 1373, Mamai again plundered and burned the Ryazan lands. In 1374, the inhabitants of Nizhny Novgorod killed the ambassadors of Mamai and raised an uprising. The princes of Nizhny Novgorod in the fight against the Mongols-Tatars acted with the participation of the rati of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich.

In 1377, the soldiers of the Grand Duke and the Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, under the leadership of the governor Dmitry Volynsky, made a successful trip to the Bulgars on the Volga. In the same year, 1377, Prince Arapsha attacked Nizhny Novgorod. Together with the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod regiments, the regiments of the Moscow prince came out against him. The army crossed the Pyana River, a tributary of the Sura. Russian chronicles write about the carelessness shown by both warriors and governors, who, believing that the enemy was far away, took off their battle armor due to the heat, did not prepare weapons for battle, and the governors amused themselves by hunting. The Mongol-Tatar army, secretly led by the Mordovian princes to the rear of the Russian rati, defeated it and put the Russian soldiers to flight, many of them drowned in the Pyan River. Then the Mongol-Tatars burned Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, killed and captured many inhabitants. The following year, not only Nizhny Novgorod was subjected to a second ruin, Tsarevich Arapsha attacked Ryazan. A new big battle took place in 1378, when an army sent by Mamai led by Begich invaded the Russian borders from the Ryazan principality. Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich stood at the head of the Russian army, the Pronsky prince set out on a campaign with his army. Before the battle, the Russians and Mongol-Tatars lined up along the right and left banks of the Vozha River. Having crossed the river on August 11, the Mongol-Tatars hit the Russian army, but the Russians' rebuff was so strong that the enemies, having thrown their weapons, fled. Russian soldiers, well armed and organized, pursued the enemy for two days. Behind Vozhey, the entire enemy convoy went to the winners. Mongol-Tatars fled to the Horde. The victory over Begich's army was complete, but raids on Ryazan land continued. Military clashes in the 1370s were the preparation for the grandiose battle on the Kulikovo field. Information about the Battle of Kulikovo is represented by three groups of historical and literary works: "Chronicle Tale ...", "Zadonshchina", "The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev", called monuments of the Kulikovo cycle by specialists.

These works, united by a common theme, are different in their literary and artistic features and completeness of presentation of events. They provide valuable, albeit contradictory, information, but the facts setting out the events of 1380 are mostly reliable. The works of the Kulikovo cycle give a real picture of the political alignment of forces before the battle, the preparation for it by Mamai and the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich and further specific news: the dispatch of Russian intelligence - "watchmen", the collection and performance of the Russian army, the appointment of governors to the regiments, the course of the battle and the loss of the Russian army after the battle.

The authenticity of these events is confirmed by chronicles, synodics, and foreign sources. There are discrepancies in the chronology of individual events, clarification of details, as well as in various assessments of merits actors, participants in the battle, in the interpretation of their behavior. This can be explained by the fact that the works of the Kulikovo cycle arose at different times after the events described, in various social circles and, thus, reflected the ideological and political alignment of forces in the state.

There is no generally accepted point of view on the time of the appearance of the monuments of the Kulikovo cycle. However, it is recognized that the closest in time of writing to the events of 1380 was "Zadonshchina" - a poetic work glorifying the courage and wisdom of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and the princes loyal to him, the courage of Russian victorious warriors. The researchers of the monument note the imitation of this work "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", written two centuries earlier, which affected both the ideological content (a call for common unity in the fight against enemies), and the emotional and artistic manner of conveying the images of the main characters, and the presentation of events , and in use symbolic images nature and animals. Somewhat later, the "Chronicle Tale of the Battle on the Don" appeared, so called by the researchers because it came down to us as part of several chronicles. This work had the character of a military story. Literary critics have divided the surviving lists of this story into two editions: "Long", which arose in the 1390s, setting out in more detail the events of the Battle of Kulikovo, and "Short", which is attributed to the first decade of the fifteenth century.

The "Legend of the Mamaev Battle" was especially widespread. In this monument, much fuller, more colorful than in other works of the Kulikovo cycle, it is told about the heroic battle of 1380. The author showed Prince Dmitry Ivanovich as an experienced commander, a brave warrior. In the "Tale ..." the main idea is emphasized: only the united forces of the Russian principalities, led by the Moscow prince, can defeat enemies. The story cruelly condemns and sometimes ridicules the betrayal of the Ryazan prince and the hostility of the Lithuanian prince, who entered into an agreement with Mamai. Like most works of this time, "The Tale ..." has a religious connotation. This was expressed in the introduction of religious texts into the story, in the use of images from biblical history: the development of events and their favorable outcome are explained by the help of God. Researchers note the influence of "Zadonshchina" on the "Legend ...": individual phrases, inserts, a poetic description of the army and nature are noted. The artistic merit of the story is enhanced by the introduction of oral folk legends: night fortune-telling before the battle, the duel of Peresvet with the enemy hero.

More than 100 lists of this work have come to light. The researchers divided the extant lists into four editions (although there are discrepancies within each of them): the Basic, Common, Chronicle and Kiprianovskaya. All four editions of the "Tale of the Battle of Mamaev" go back to an older, not preserved text that arose in the 1390s, shortly after the Battle of Kulikovo. The earliest version is considered to be the Main Edition, which underlies the other three. According to most experts, it arose in the second quarter of the 15th century. The main participants in the events of 1380 are Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy. Of the church leaders, Metropolitan Cyprian, who in reality was not yet in Moscow in 1380, was especially noted as their assistant and adviser, since at that time he had hostile relations with the Moscow prince. Already after the Kulikovo events, Cyprian became a metropolitan in Moscow and took a prominent part in public life. He had a particularly close alliance with the son of Dmitry Donskoy Vasily Dmitrievich, who became the Grand Duke after the death of his father. In the main edition, the Lithuanian prince Olgerd is named an ally of Mamai, although by 1380 he was not alive and his son Jagiello ruled in Lithuania. The author, apparently, did not want to cause political complications with Lithuania, calling the prince ruling there an enemy of Moscow, and deliberately replaced his name with Olgerd, who really tried to take Moscow three times before the Kulikovo events. The introduction of Cyprian and the replacement of the name Jagiello with Olgerd is due to the time of creation of this edition, the change in the political situation by the first quarter of the 15th century.

The common edition refers to the time of creation to the 1480-1490s. She gained her name due to a more detailed / coverage of events: the inclusion of two stories in it - about the embassy of Zakhary Tyutchev to the Horde with gifts in order to defuse the political situation and prevent a clash with Mamai and about the fate of the Novgorod regiments in the Battle of Kuulikovskaya. This information is not available in other editions. The story of the Novgorodians, participants in the battle, apparently of Novgorodian origin. The chronicle edition of the "Tales ..." dates back to the beginning of the 16th century. It is included in three lists of the Vologda-Perm Chronicle. In accordance with historical reality, the Lithuanian prince Lgailo is named Mamai's ally in it. The time of creation of the Cyprian edition is the middle of the 16th century. It highlights the role and activities of Metropolitan Cyprian in the Kulikovo events, contrary to historical truth. The Cyprian edition has come down to us as part of the Nikon Chronicle and has a special, ecclesiastical coloring. In this edition, as in the Chronicle, the Lithuanian prince is named correctly - Jagiello. Comparison of literary and historical works, annalistic and act materials dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo allowed historians to reconstruct the events of 1380.

Mamai's campaign against the Russian lands was supposed, on the one hand, to strengthen his position in the Golden Horde, and on the other hand, to strengthen the weakened dominance over the Russian principalities. Mamai offered to pay tribute to the Grand Duke in significantly larger size, than was previously stipulated by the agreement of 1371 between Moscow and the Horde, but was refused. Chronicles note that the defeat on the Vozha River was not forgotten by Mamai, and he intended to avenge the defeat and loss of his troops with a new campaign.

Mamai thoroughly prepared for the campaign of 1380: a huge army gathered, political alliances were concluded. The composition of the army was heterogeneous, it included not only the Horde Tatars, but also mercenary detachments from the peoples who inhabited the lands subject to the Horde: from the Crimea, the Caucasus and the Volga region.

Chronicles call these peoples: Besermen, Armenians, Fryags, Yases, Burtases, Circassians. The number of Mamai's troops, according to some reports, reached 200 and even 400 thousand people. If these figures are exaggerated, then nevertheless it numbered in the tens of thousands of people and amounted to an unprecedentedly huge army.

Mamai forbade his soldiers to plow the land, prepare grain reserves, promising Russian booty. Mamai led not only military preparations, taking advantage of the contradictions among the Russian princes and complex relationships Russia with Lithuania, he concluded agreements with the Lithuanian prince Jagiello and prince Oleg Ryazansky, who was afraid of the strengthening of Moscow. Mamai hoped to defeat the Moscow prince with the help of the forces of his allies. The Ryazan prince Oleg, wishing to protect his principality from the defeat of the Mongols-Tatars, took a dual position: he established allied relations with Mamai and at the same time warned the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich about the impending invasion of the enemy. The Ryazan prince was waiting for the outcome of the battle and intended to join the winner.

Mamai's army, which set out on a campaign, approached the Don in August 1380 and moved towards the upper reaches of the Oka, where a meeting was to be held with the troops of Jagiello and the army of Oleg Ryazansky marching along the Ugra. In early August, it became known in Moscow about Mamai's performance. Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreevich, who arrived from Borovsk, and the Moscow governors decided to gather an army. Kolomna was chosen as the gathering place for the Russian troops. The Grand Duke sent a reconnaissance of 70 people to the steppe in order to obtain a "language" and obtain information about the movement of the enemy. The "Legend..." retained the names of only some of the soldiers sent by Dmitry Ivanovich. These are Rodion Rzhevsky, Andrey Volosaty, Vasily Tupik. Since the reconnaissance was delayed in the steppe, a second reconnaissance of 33 soldiers was sent, soon meeting Vasily Tupik, leading a captive "tongue" from the khan's entourage, who confirmed the authenticity of the news about the campaign of Mamai and his allies. The threat of an attack on Russian land was so great and formidable that the princes of many Russian principalities with their troops responded to the call to fight and hurried to the aid of the Grand Duke. Princes and governors arrived at the gathering place of Russian troops in Kolomna with their regiments from Vladimir, Kostroma, Pereslavl, Kolomna, who were subordinate to the Moscow prince. Detachments from the principalities of Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Murom, Yelets, Meshchersky gathered from the outskirts. The two eldest sons of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, Andrey of Polotsk and Dmitry Bryansky, joined the Russian army with their squads, which included Ukrainians and Belarusians. Basically, the Russian army consisted of Muscovites. There were people in the army different ages and social position. Along with the governors, boyars, princes and their squads, townspeople, artisans, merchants and peasants set out on a campaign. The Russian army had the character of a truly nationwide militia. According to some sources, the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich visited the abbot of the Trinity monastery near Moscow, Sergius of Radonezh, who sent two monks of his monastery Oslyabya and Peresvet on a campaign together with the prince. It is authentically known that Abbot Sergius sent a letter to the Grand Duke, inspiring him to fight against enemies.

At the end of August 1380, the Moscow army on a fine day went on a campaign from the Moscow Kremlin through three gates: Nikolsky, Frolovsky (Spassky), Konstantin-Eleninsky. The "Legend..." describes the farewell of warriors to their loved ones, the warriors gave the "final kiss", as before death, knowing that many would not return from the battlefield. The army was so huge that there were three roads to Kolomna. In total, over a hundred thousand Russian soldiers marched on the campaign. Prince Vladimir Andreevich of Serpukhov set off along the Brashev road. The Belozersky princes moved along the Bolvanovskaya road, on the left side of the Moscow River. Both roads led to the Brashev ferry. Prince Dmitry Ivanovich set off on the Serpukhov road.

The entire Russian army gathered in Kolomna. A review of the regiments was held and governors were placed over them. The main regiment was commanded by Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, right hand his cousin Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreevich spoke, according to left hand the Bryansk prince Gleb walked with his regiment. The advanced regiment was commanded by the Vsevolozhsky princes. After that, the Russian army crossed the Oka, near the mouth of the Lopasna River, a tributary of the Oka, and moved south, to the upper reaches of the Don. So that the Mongol-Tatars would not suddenly attack the Russian army in the steppe, a guard detachment led by Semyon Melik was sent and an ambush was set up. The captured "language" showed that Mamai was not far away and was waiting for the arrival of the troops of his allies, the princes of Lithuania and Ryazan. But the allies, apparently, it was not by chance that they did not "ripe" to Mamai, having learned about the size of the Russian army. On September 8, in the morning, the army, at the behest of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, crossed the Don. Russian soldiers deliberately cut off their retreat. Behind the tributary of the Don - the Nepryadva River - stretched twenty-kilometer Kulikovo field.

Before the start of the battle, a warrior of heroic growth left the Mongol-Tatar army. The Russian warrior Alexander Peresvet, brave and powerful, rushed towards him. The duel between them did not bring victory to either of them: striking with spears, colliding so that the earth trembled, both fell dead from their horses. The battle began at 6 o'clock in the morning. The Mongol-Tatars threw their forces into the center of the Russian army, where the boyar Mikhail Andreevich Brenk fought in the armor of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, under his black banner. Even before the start of the battle, at the suggestion of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, the boyar Mikhail Brenk dressed in the armor of the prince and thereby saved his life, but he himself died.

From the beginning of the battle, not all Russian soldiers took part in it. A large detachment of the Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreevich and the experienced Volyn governor Dmitry Bobrok took refuge in an oak forest in an ambush before the battle. The detachment had the most experienced warriors. The well-thought-out military maneuver of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich fully justified itself. The battle on the Kulikovo field was bloody, many soldiers, princes and governors were killed. Prince Dmitry Ivanovich was also wounded in battle. After two hours of battle, the Mongol-Tatars began to push the Russians, at which time the Volyn governor Dmitry Bobrok ordered the ambush regiment to set out. The brave Russian soldiers, who saw the death of their brothers from an ambush, rushed at the enemy. The Mongol-Tatars were confused and began to retreat, and then fled. Mamai also fled from the battlefield. He managed to get to the city of Kafa (Feodosia) in the Crimea, where he was killed.

Many soldiers died in the Battle of Kulikovo. After the end of the battle, when it was ordered to trumpet the collection of troops, those who remained alive gathered in their regiments and counted the dead. Among the fallen on the battlefield were dozens of governors and princes from different principalities. Semyon Melik, who fought in the guard detachment, and many others also died. Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and his voevodas mourned the dead, circling the battlefield. By order of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, the dead Russian soldiers were buried near the Nepryadva River. The Russian army returned to Moscow through the lands of the Ryazan principality. In Moscow, all the people took to the streets to solemnly greet the winners, church bells rang.

The victory at the Kulikovo field was of great historical significance. Mamai's army was defeated. It became clear that the combined forces of the Russian principalities could finally free themselves from the dependence of the Golden Horde. The Moscow principality, which led the fight against the Mongols-Tatars, became the center around which a single Russian state was formed. The news of the victory of the Russian troops over the troops of Mamai reached Italy, Byzantium, and Bulgaria.

Contemporaries understood what great value had the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Information about the events of the Battle of Kulikovo was included in the Russian chronicles, which were kept in the largest cities of the Russian state. Foreign merchants, guests of Surozh, who were on the campaign together with the Moscow army, brought the news of the victory on the Kulikovo field in different countries. The author of "Zadonshchina", a contemporary of the events of 1380, in solemnly jubilant lines expressed the significance of the victory of the Russian army: "Shibla glory to the Iron Gates, to Rome and to Kafa by sea, and to Tornav, and from there to Tsaryugrad for praise: Great Russia has overcome Mamaia on the Kulikovo field. The feat of the Russian people in the fight against the enemy, won under the leadership of Dmitry Donskoy, has become a symbol of steadfastness and courage. T.V. Dianova

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.safety.spbstu.ru were used.

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