May 13, 1564
Prince Andrei Kurbsky, a military leader and confidant of Ivan the Terrible, fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Having sided with King Sigismund, he entered into a polemical correspondence with the Russian despot-tsar, earning himself the reputation of being the first Russian dissident.
Why, Tsar, <…> have you subjected the commanders given to you by God to fight against your enemies to various executions, <…> and have you devised torments, deaths, and oppressions unheard of since the beginning of the world against your well-wishers who laid down their lives for you, accusing innocent Orthodox Christians of treason, sorcery, and other indecencies, and with zeal trying to turn light into darkness and call sweet bitter?
In his first letter, Kurbsky explained the reasons for his escape. He also accused the Tsar of tyranny and trampling on Christian morality. The Tsar was furious. This was especially so because Kurbsky was followed by a whole retinue of service personnel—his escape had been preceded by setbacks in the Livonian War and the real threat of reprisals loomed.
And again, O Tsar, I tell you this: I think you will never see my face again until the Day of Judgment. And do not expect me to remain silent about everything: until the last day of my life, I will ceaselessly, with tears, denounce you before the beginningless Trinity.
Kurbsky blamed the tsar for eliminating professional military commanders and replacing them with "hangers-on and maniacs," which resulted in the Grand Army being reduced to "sheep and hares." He compared the late period of Ivan the Terrible's reign, when he abandoned Moscow to ruin and fled from the Tatars into the forests, with the early period, when military commanders defeated the Tatars on the territory of their khanates. He blamed the absolute autocracy for this.
Ivan the Terrible, in response, succinctly and forever formulated the fundamental principle of Russian statehood: "We are free to favor our slaves, and we are also free to execute them." And he expressed surprise that the prince chose flight rather than another way to reconcile himself with his conscience:
If you are righteous and pious, why did you not wish to suffer at the hands of me, a disobedient ruler, and earn the crown of eternal life?
The correspondence spanned 15 years. Only five messages are known.
