seventeenth century, the Mordvin homeland had become central Russian territory and the Mordvins there a minority; those fleeing eastward were soon overtaken by the Russian advance. By the end of the nineteenth century, all Mordvins were listed as Russian Orthodox and were considered “sufficiently russified” not to require special schools or translations in their language. Yet the language-based 1897 census recorded 1,023,841 Mordvins.
Under the Soviets, despite their dispersion, lack of a common language, and a weak national self- consciousness, the Mordvins achieved significant cultural progress. While attempts to forge a common language failed, both Erzia and Moksha became literary languages widely used in education and publishing. In 1934, the Mordvins acquired their own Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (26,200 square kilometers) with its capital in Saransk, albeit the majority were Russians and most Mordvins were left outside. However, by the late 1930s, national revival was halted as the elite was decimated in the purges and Soviet nationality policy shifted to emphasizing the Russian language and culture. The Mordvin population, which had slowly risen to 1,456,300 in 1939, continued to erode, dropping to 1,153,500 in the last Soviet census of 1989.
Since perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Mordvins have been trying to stage a national revival. However, despite new freedoms, conditions are unfavorable. Less than 30 percent of the Mordvins live in their republic, where they are a minority and among the poorest. The new national organizations are narrowly based and suffer from separatist demands from militant Erzias. However, hope is still to be found in their relatively
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large number, the support of fellow Finno-Ugrians abroad, and the world community’s concern for endangered cultures and languages. See also: FINNS AND KARELIANS; NATIONALITIES POLICIES, SOVIET; NATIONALITIES POLICIES, TSARIST
Iurchenkov, Valerii. (2001). “The Mordvins: Dilemmas of Mobilization in a Biethnic Community.” Nationalities Papers 29(1):85-95. Kreindler, Isabelle. (1985). “The Mordvinian Languages: A Survival Saga.” In Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Soviet National Languages, ed. Isabelle Kreindler. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Lallukka, Seppo. (1990). The East Finnic Minorities in the Soviet Union. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemia.
(1632-1675), aristocratic martyr of the Old Believers.
Feodosya Morozova, one of the most remarkable characters of the seventeenth century, was born on May 21, 1632, to Prokopy Sokovnin, a relative of Tsaritsa Maria Miloslavskaya, and his wife Anisya. In 1649 Feodosya was married to Gleb Morozov, brother of the famous Boris Morozov, favorite and tutor of Tsar Alexei Mikhaylovich.
In 1650 Morozova’s only child Ivan was born. When her husband died in 1662, one of Muscovy’s largest properties came under her control. It is not clear when Morozova first made contact with the Old Believers, who refused Patriarch Nikon’s church reforms of the middle of the century. Nikon’s most ardent opponent, Archpriest Av-vakum, returned in February 1664 from his banishment in Siberia to Moscow and took up residence in Morozova’s home. Tsar Alexei ordered the confiscation of her possessions in August 1665, but on the insistence of the tsaritsa they where returned in October 1666.
During the second exile of Avvakum after 1666, Morozova continued her correspondence with the Archpriest and made her house a meeting place for the Old Believers. She prepared writings against the “Nikonian heresy” and missed no opportunity to raise her voice against the official church. Besides the exiled Avvakum, a certain Melanya was of great importance to Morozova. She put herself under the authority of Melanya, whom she regarded as her spiritual “mother,” and sought her teaching and advice. At the end of 1670 Morozova took the veil and chose the religious name Feodora.
With the death of Tsaritsa Maria Miloslavskaya in 1669, the Old Believers lost a valuable protectress. When Morozova refused to attend the wedding of the tsar with his second wife Natalya Naryshkina on January 22, 1671, she deeply offended the sovereign. In November 1671 she was arrested along with her sister, Princess Evdokia Urusova. Morozova’s estate and landstocks were distributed among the boyars, while all the valuables were sold and proceeds paid into the state treasury. Her tweny-one-year-old son died shortly after her arrest-of grief, as Avvakum noted.
The tsar tried repeatedly to convince Morozova and Urusova to return to the official church, but both refused categorically, even under severe torture. As long as Morozova was imprisoned in or around Moscow, she was able to maintain communication with the Old Believers. A strong, proud, and impressive personality of highest rank, she attracted many noblewomen, who flocked to the monastery to see her. Although she was relocated several times, her numerous admirers persisted in visiting her. Finally, at the end of 1673 or in the beginning of 1674, the alarmed tsar had her transferred to the prison of Borovsk, some 90 kilometers away from Moscow, where she was soon joined by her sister. The two women were held under severe conditions in an earthen hole. In April 1675 the situation worsened, as they were put on starvation rations. Urusova died on September 11 that year, and Morozova on November 1.
Soon after her death, Morozova’s life and martyrdom were described by a contemporary, possibly her elder brother. This remarkable literary document is known as the Tale of Boyarina Moro-zova. See also: AVVAKUM; NIKON; OLD BELIEVERS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Michels, Georg. (1995). “Muscovite Elite Women and Old Belief.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 19:428-450. Ziolkowski, Margaret, ed. (2000). Tale of Boiarynia Mo-rozova: A Seventeenth-Century Religious Life. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
(1590-1661), lord protector and head of five chancelleries under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Boris Ivanov syn Morozov was an important, thoughtful leader, but he also stands out as an exceptionally greedy figure of the second quarter of the seventeenth century. His cupidity provoked uprisings in early June 1648 in Moscow and then in a dozen other towns, forcing Tsar Alexei to convoke the well-known Assembly of the Land of 1648-1649, the product of which was the famous Law Code of 1649.
Morozov in some ways personified the fact that early modern Russia (Muscovy) was a service state. He was not of princely (royal) origins; his ancestors had been commoners who rose through service to the ruler of Muscovy. Thus his patronymic would have been Ivanov Syn (son of Ivan), rather than Ivanovich, which would have been the proper form were he if noble origin.
By 1633 Morozov was tutor to the heir to the throne, the future Tsar Alexei. He and Alexei married Miloslavskaya sisters. After Alexis came to the throne, Morozov became head of five chancelleries (prikazy, the “power ministries”: Treasury, Alcohol Revenues, Musketeers, Foreign Mercenaries, and Apothecary) and de facto ruler of the government (Lord Protector). He observed that there were too many taxes and came up with the apparently ingenious solution of canceling a number of them and concentrating the imposts in an increased tax on salt. Regrettably Morozov was not an economist and probably could not comprehend that the demand for salt was elastic. Salt consumption plummeted-and so did state revenues-while popular discontent rose.
As Morozov took over the government, he brought a number of equally corrupt people with him. They abused the populace, provoking a rebellion in June 1648. The mob tore one of his cocon-spirators to bits and cast his remains on a dung heap. Another was beheaded. Tsar Alexei intervened on behalf of Morozov, whose life was spared on the condition that he would leave the government and Moscow immediately. This arrangement helped to calm the mob. Morozov was exiled on June 12 to the Kirill-Beloozero Monastery, but he returned to Moscow on October 26. He never again played an official role in government, though he was one of Alexis’s behind-the-scenes advisers throughout the 1650s.
Morozov’s greed led him to appropriate vast estates for himself. They totalled over 80,000 desi-atinas (216,000 acres) with over 55,000 people in 9,100 households; this made him the second wealthiest Russian of his time. (The wealthiest individual was Nikita Ivanovich Romanov, Tsar Mikhail’s uncle, who led the opposition to
