CHAPTER III.

[Contents]CHAPTER III.CHAPTER III.THE MONASTERY AND ITS INDUSTRIES.After Trifon’s death the monastery continued to grow in numbers, wealth, and influence. A large conventual building was erected close beside the church; in it each of the monks had his own separate cell, but the refectory was common to them all. There was connected with the convent an entire suite of apartments for guests and pilgrims, who came to the monastery every returning season.Opposite the dwellings of the monks there were workmen’s dwellings, and in these the serving-men lived. All the buildings, as well as the church, were surrounded by a strong wall of wood. The country was unsettled and poorly governed, and it was by no means impossible that some hostile bands might find their way to the monastery in search of plunder. The monks at the monastery of Solowetski had often to defend themselves against such attacks.The church, which was built in honour of the Holy Trinity, was adorned with a tower and dome. It was decorated inside with paintings and with the gifts of pious pilgrims. It was constructed after the old Greek Church plan, which is followed throughout Russia, whether the church is large or small, or whether it is built of stone or merely of wood. Such a church has three divisions, viz.: the narthex, or outer church; the hieron, the sacred part, or church proper; and the hieraton, the sanctuary, or holy place. This division is said to be a representation of the Temple at Jerusalem. The outer church is separated from the hieron by a wall, in which are two large[21]folding doors; these are always open during Divine service. The hieraton, or sanctuary, in which the altar is placed, is in turn separated from the church, or hieron, by the iconastasis, or wall of pictures. This wall is decorated with carvings, and there are three doorways in it leading to the holy place. The middle one of these doorways is only closed with a wooden door for half of its height, but the upper half is shut off by a curtain, which can be drawn aside so that the priest as he officiates and offers incense may be seen. At other times he is hidden from the congregation. Not a pew or seat is to be found in the church. Everybody has to stand, rich and poor alike, for no distinction is made. Turning to the holy place, or towards the picture of some particular saint, the people cross themselves three times in the Greek manner, by putting three fingers, the first finger, thumb and middle finger, on the right and left shoulders, the forehead and breast, and bowing themselves very low, with their foreheads touching the ground, at the same time saying, ‘Gospodi pomilui’ (Lord, have mercy). This sentence is constantly repeated throughout the service, and it frequently happens that the more devout members of the congregation, by reason of their continual bowings to the ground, leave the church with red spots on their foreheads.All the walls inside the church are covered as completely as possible with pictures, which are either painted on the walls themselves, or are hung in frames against them. The pictures in the narthex are taken, as a rule, from the Old Testament, and those in the hieron from the New Testament. Besides these there are pictures of men and women who are recognised as saints in the Eastern Church. The older these pictures are, the holier they are esteemed. In copying them, therefore, the chief object is to give the copy an appearance of antiquity. Many of the pictures have been painted by the monks themselves, and, as a rule, they are done in very glaring colours. The heads of the saints are always surrounded by a golden glory, on the gilding of which much money is frequently expended. They are also often hung with presents, such as handkerchiefs and other personal finery, which have been offered by pilgrims whose particular saint is represented. Sometimes one sees a wreath of blown birds’ eggs hung up by the picture, a melancholy token of hopes blighted in this world. The front wall in the church, through which access to the outer church[22]is gained, is covered with a lean-to roof, and on this wall there is depicted, in order to excite the imagination and the fear of the heathen folk, on the right hand of the door the bliss of Paradise, and on the left hand the torments of Hell. Here the heathen as they stood outside the church and listened to the singing, would have made manifest to them what would be the lot of those who did not seek the help which the Church offered them, and who refused to be baptized. One thing, however, in the pictures was strange and suggestive, and might have made the heathen doubtful about the charms of Paradise, and this was, that the saints in Paradise were delineated as so fearfully emaciated that they seemed to be nothing but skin and bone, owing to the fasting and the asceticism by which they had made themselves worthy of heaven. The other folk, moreover, who were in hell, seemed to be well-favoured, lusty, and thriving, and altogether more attractive.In the middle of the courtyard, between the monastery buildings, there was a draw-well, and upon a beam placed over it there was the following inscription, which can be read backwards,Νίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν1—(Wash away uncleanness, not from the face alone)—a reminder that water is used in the administration of Holy Baptism.The monks, who year by year became more numerous, obtained by degrees still further privileges from the Czar of Russia.According to the rules of the monastery, the monks had both ‘to till the ground and to follow all such profitable employment as was practicable.’ There were people among them who had a very fair knowledge of secular affairs, and who, moreover, did not always despise the good things of the world. Accordingly, the monks summoned competent artisans andwork-peoplefrom Russia, and with their help they devised boat and ship building on the river Pasvig, and also further out in the Munkfjord at the Warehouse Inlet, where the water was clear of ice even in the winter. They had their own store of timber, and they were enabled to build comparatively large ships; in these they exported[23]the produce of the country. A great number of rafts and boats were also built, and these were sold to the Russian and Norwegian fishermen. Besides boat-building, they also had salt-pans on such a large scale that they not only provided the whole fishing population with salt, but also exported salt to the interior of Russia. In their ships they brought back in return, ‘flour, wax, drapery goods, and cordage.’ The salt-pans were probably situated on Fiskerö, where the sea-water is least mixed with fresh-water from the inland rivers.One of the most remarkable of their doings was the erection of a mill at the Kujasuga River, immediately behind the monastery. This is the only establishment which existed during the prosperous days of the monastery of which there is any trace still left. The monks must have found that it was more profitable to import corn and to grind it themselves, than to import the ground flour, as is usually done now.They had also out-houses, and must have owned a considerable herd of cattle. They had occasion to clear out and till meadows, both on Fiskerö and along the Petschenga River. Several of the meadows where the monks used to mow their hay are now overgrown with birch-trees that are more than a century old. It may not have been exclusively for the sake of the flesh that they kept these herds of cattle, because the long fasts allow the Russians only to eat sparingly of meat. It was no doubt also for purposes of trade as well as for the sake of their skins. It is expressly stated that the monks possessed a tannery, and that they tanned leather both for their own requirements, and for supplying the people of the country.They are also said to have worked mines. Possibly the monks were the first people to wash gold in the rivers in the interior of Lapland. Their most important means of support were, however, the fisheries, both the sea and the fresh-water fisheries, involving the exportation of fish. They understood how to make good use of the deed of gift, which they had obtained from the Czar Ivan Wasilievitsch. According to it, everything that was found in land or water belonged to the monks, and the inhabitants were compelled either to deliver up or sell to the monks what they did not themselves use, of course at the price which the monks saw fit to arrange. The fisheries were carried on by their own numerous servants or the lay-brothers of the monastery. Some of these lived at the monastery[24]itself, others at the Warehouse Inlet, at the mill, or in Kjörvaag, or West Bumand Fjord. By these fisheries the monks obtained such an immense quantity of fish, that they not only exported it to Vardö and Archangel, but also entered into mercantile connection with foreign towns, principally with Antwerp and Amsterdam. Information as to this is obtained from a Dutchman named Simon van Salingen, who for several years made business journeys in Finmark and Russian Lapland. He records that in the years (1562–1564) when Eric Munck was bailiff of Vardöhus, ‘the monks from the monastery in Munkfjord were in the habit of coming with their fish, train-oil, and other local produce, which they collected during the summer and winter, that they might sell them. In Munck’s service there was a youth named Philip Winterkonig, a Dutchman from Oltgensplaet, in Zeeland; but either voluntarily or otherwise, he left his master, and entered into partnership with John van Reide, Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, of Malines, and in 1564 he came in a large vessel from Antwerp to Vardö, under the impression that Munck was still bailiff there.’ He must have sailed direct to Vardö without touching at Bergen, and so he had not heard that this town had recently obtained the monopoly of the trade of Finmark. ‘When he arrived at Vardö, he found that Munck was no longer bailiff there, and that a certain James Hansen held the office in his stead. Hansen made Winterkonig and his crew prisoners, seized the ship and its cargo, and maintained that Winterkonig had forfeited his life, because he had acted in opposition to the privileges of the citizens of Bergen.’While these people were detained in custody, God vouchsafed such a rich harvest of fish that the Lapps, the Norsemen, and the monks at Munkfjord, caught so large a quantity that there were not ships, or yachts sufficient in draught, to carry the fish to Bergen.James Hansen therefore arranged with Winterkonig that he should be let off his punishment if he would load his vessels with fish, and take them to Bergen on behalf of Norway, and would also promise never again ‘to trade contrary to the privileges of the town of Bergen.’ Winterkonig readily agreed to this, and was set at liberty. At the same time some of the monks of Petschenga, who were present at Vardö, made an arrangement with Winterkonig, that next year he should come[25]to them, and lade his ship with the things which they would have ready. According to this agreement Winterkonig came to Munkfjord in 1565 with a large ship, which he loaded with fish, and then despatched back again to the ship-owners at Antwerp. He hired, on his own account, a Russian lodje (yacht), with thirteen men in order to carry the rest of his goods from Antwerp to St. Nicholas.2On the way, however, near the promontory of Tiriberka, on the Murman coast, he was overtaken by such a severe storm that he was obliged to seek a harbour of refuge. While he lay there another Russian lodje arrived, also having goods on board, which the captain sold to Winterkonig. But as soon as the Russians saw the valuable cargo which Winterkonig had on board his lodje, they were seized with a desire to possess it, and they fell on him at night, and cut the throats of his three servants and thirteen sailors while they were asleep. Winterkonig awoke and escaped to land severely wounded, but he was followed, and was shot through with an arrow from behind a tree. The robbers then hastily plundered the ship, and, as they saw another yacht approaching, they left the seventeen corpses unburied and escaped. However, they could not take everything with them, and among the things left behind were ‘four hogsheads of wine, and these remained on the beach.’The firm at Antwerp, who had not heard of the murders, directly after the big ship had arrived from Munkfjord, sent two more ships to Winterkonig, and these were laden with all sorts of goods which he had ordered. Both the ships reached Munkfjord safely in the autumn, and anchored off the Warehouse Inlet. As soon as the monks heard of this, they despatched one of the ships back to Antwerp with the news that Winterkonig and his men had been murdered on his way to St. Nicholas, and that the goods had been stolen. The other ship the monks sent, with Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, to Malmis (Kola), from which place Simonsen travelled to Moscow, in order to lay a complaint concerning the murder, and the plundering of the ship. He failed, however, to obtain an audience with the Grand-Duke, because the name of the Grand-Duke (Ivan the Cruel) was not written sufficiently large in his[26]letter of complaint, and he had to return to Kola with his object unaccomplished.In the following year, 1566, the firm at Antwerp sent Simon van Salingen with two ships to Munkfjord, where he arrived late in the spring, and they made him fetch the ship that had been left at Malmis by Cornelius Simonsen. Salingen then loaded all the three ships—partly at Munkfjord, partly at Keervagh (Kjorvaag or Kjervan, a harbour at the western entrance of the Bumandfjord on Fiskerö)—with as much fish-oil, salmon, and other goods as were suitable for export to Antwerp. He hired on his own account two lodjer from the monks, and laded them with his goods and sailed for Malmis. Here he met Cornelius Simonsen who had just returned from Moscow. They travelled, together with their goods, through Russia during the winter as far as Moscow, and traded with the inhabitants.At a later period it would seem that the monastery entered more especially into commercial connection with Amsterdam. A treaty has been found which was concluded between a firm in that town and the monks of Petschenga. The agent of the firm was named Andrew Neich. He went every year to Munkfjord with a large ship laden with barrels of salt, in order to take on board, and bring back to Amsterdam, the fish they had caught. The convent had pledged themselves ‘for six years to sell to Neich all the red fish (salmon), and not to sell to anyone else the fish taken in draught-nets or in rivers; and in like manner not to lease or sell the fishing in the sea for sjomga (salmon), cod, or cod blubber, or whale blubber, but on the contrary they were to be held bound to bring to them (the merchants), to their storehouse (factory), the fish from Kola and the river Tulom. If the chief of the monastery, or the Brothers, kept back or sold them to others, the chief of the monastery was to pay a hundred roubles.’ In addition to this, it was also arranged what the quality of the fish contracted for was to be. ‘And the Superior and convent are not to deliver any “tinda” or “waltschak” (presumably smaller kinds of sea-fish); broken, damaged, or stale salmon; damaged, stale, raw, half-dried cod; or salmon of less than 7½ lb. weight. And if any fish is delivered under 7 lb. weight, two such fish are to be taken in place of one; but of fish from Tiriberka, whether large or small, two are to be reckoned as one, and none are to[27]be accepted of less than 4 lb. weight.’ Then several other kinds of fish are mentioned. As to the price of the fish there was a still further arrangement that they were to give ‘ten roubles for 100 salmon, or twenty good jefimker’ (Dutch silver money). The period appointed for receiving the fish was from May 10 to July 20. The merchants were bound to leave salt and barrels at Kola, so that the agent at that place would deliver these to the fishermen. ‘If the fish from lack of salt, or vat, were spoilt, the Amsterdam merchants were still bound to accept them, and to pay the same price as for good fish.’ The fish were to be paid for at two terms: ‘the first term was St. Peter’s Day, and the second term July 20; the one half in roubles, and the other half in jefimker, and one jefimke was reckoned as half a rouble.’From the ship the Brothers of the monastery obtained all that they needed or required in the way of goods, partly for their own use, and partly for trading purposes with the inhabitants of those parts, or, indeed, for exporting again to St. Nicholas, Cholmogor, Wologda, and Jaroslav. Thus, no doubt, they obtained no inconsiderable supply of corn, since they had built a mill for themselves. In addition to the goods which the firm at Amsterdam had to send according to requisition, Neich was also bound to bring with him, as a donation and gift to the monastery, ‘1 pud [32 lb.] of incense, 2 pud of wax, 1 cask of red church wine, as well as two casks of brandy, and one firkin of Rhenish wine.’The monastery in its time carried on no inconsiderable whale fishery. It is distinctly stated that the monastery ‘should be free of taxation for exporting whale blubber.’ The train-oil was exported to other parts of Holland as well as to Amsterdam. The Dutch people were themselves carrying on at this time a whale-fishery, both in Norwegian Finmark, where they had a special place of resort at Sörö, and along the coast of Russian Lapland. At that time the Greenland whale was found along the Norwegian and Russian coasts, or, at any rate, a kind of whale which could be somewhat easily killed with the harpoon. A loose harpoon was mostly employed. Whenever a whale was encountered, they hurled one or more harpoons at it, and these had the owner’s name marked on them. Then the whale was allowed to go its way. Sometimes it escaped and was never seen again; but generally it died, and was thrown up on[28]the shore at one point or another, but most frequently in the Mutkatfjord, where even at the present day whales are frequently stranded high and dry.The people attached to the monastery soon got information of the reappearance of the harpooned whale, and took possession of it, for, according to their prerogatives, they alone had the right to all flotsam and jetsam.In such ways the monastic establishment, in the course of about fifty years, developed into a very important colony, which must have had an extraordinary influence in the civilization of those parts, in a wider extension of the fisheries, and in the foundation of several towns, if it had continued to prosper, and had not, as the sequel will show, come to such a sudden and unexpected end.In no respect does the improvement of the inhabitants appear to have been the object of the labours of the brotherhood. Certainly they christened or baptized the Lapps, so that they could no longer be called heathens, but that was all. Not a word is said as to any schemes for their education and civilizing. The priests of the Greek Church, even at the present day, take no trouble to teach the people. The Russian Lapps, therefore, as a rule, cannot even now either read or write, while among the Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish Lapps there are but few who cannot do both.[29]1[The inscriptionΝίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψινoccurs on the fonts at Sandbach Church (Cheshire), Rufford (Lancashire), and elsewhere in England.—Note by the Translator.]↑2A monastery on the Dvina, built by Princess Martha, in memory of her two sons who were drowned there, whose patron was St. Nicholas. It may be noted that Archangel was first founded in 1584.↑

CHAPTER III.CHAPTER III.THE MONASTERY AND ITS INDUSTRIES.

CHAPTER III.

After Trifon’s death the monastery continued to grow in numbers, wealth, and influence. A large conventual building was erected close beside the church; in it each of the monks had his own separate cell, but the refectory was common to them all. There was connected with the convent an entire suite of apartments for guests and pilgrims, who came to the monastery every returning season.Opposite the dwellings of the monks there were workmen’s dwellings, and in these the serving-men lived. All the buildings, as well as the church, were surrounded by a strong wall of wood. The country was unsettled and poorly governed, and it was by no means impossible that some hostile bands might find their way to the monastery in search of plunder. The monks at the monastery of Solowetski had often to defend themselves against such attacks.The church, which was built in honour of the Holy Trinity, was adorned with a tower and dome. It was decorated inside with paintings and with the gifts of pious pilgrims. It was constructed after the old Greek Church plan, which is followed throughout Russia, whether the church is large or small, or whether it is built of stone or merely of wood. Such a church has three divisions, viz.: the narthex, or outer church; the hieron, the sacred part, or church proper; and the hieraton, the sanctuary, or holy place. This division is said to be a representation of the Temple at Jerusalem. The outer church is separated from the hieron by a wall, in which are two large[21]folding doors; these are always open during Divine service. The hieraton, or sanctuary, in which the altar is placed, is in turn separated from the church, or hieron, by the iconastasis, or wall of pictures. This wall is decorated with carvings, and there are three doorways in it leading to the holy place. The middle one of these doorways is only closed with a wooden door for half of its height, but the upper half is shut off by a curtain, which can be drawn aside so that the priest as he officiates and offers incense may be seen. At other times he is hidden from the congregation. Not a pew or seat is to be found in the church. Everybody has to stand, rich and poor alike, for no distinction is made. Turning to the holy place, or towards the picture of some particular saint, the people cross themselves three times in the Greek manner, by putting three fingers, the first finger, thumb and middle finger, on the right and left shoulders, the forehead and breast, and bowing themselves very low, with their foreheads touching the ground, at the same time saying, ‘Gospodi pomilui’ (Lord, have mercy). This sentence is constantly repeated throughout the service, and it frequently happens that the more devout members of the congregation, by reason of their continual bowings to the ground, leave the church with red spots on their foreheads.All the walls inside the church are covered as completely as possible with pictures, which are either painted on the walls themselves, or are hung in frames against them. The pictures in the narthex are taken, as a rule, from the Old Testament, and those in the hieron from the New Testament. Besides these there are pictures of men and women who are recognised as saints in the Eastern Church. The older these pictures are, the holier they are esteemed. In copying them, therefore, the chief object is to give the copy an appearance of antiquity. Many of the pictures have been painted by the monks themselves, and, as a rule, they are done in very glaring colours. The heads of the saints are always surrounded by a golden glory, on the gilding of which much money is frequently expended. They are also often hung with presents, such as handkerchiefs and other personal finery, which have been offered by pilgrims whose particular saint is represented. Sometimes one sees a wreath of blown birds’ eggs hung up by the picture, a melancholy token of hopes blighted in this world. The front wall in the church, through which access to the outer church[22]is gained, is covered with a lean-to roof, and on this wall there is depicted, in order to excite the imagination and the fear of the heathen folk, on the right hand of the door the bliss of Paradise, and on the left hand the torments of Hell. Here the heathen as they stood outside the church and listened to the singing, would have made manifest to them what would be the lot of those who did not seek the help which the Church offered them, and who refused to be baptized. One thing, however, in the pictures was strange and suggestive, and might have made the heathen doubtful about the charms of Paradise, and this was, that the saints in Paradise were delineated as so fearfully emaciated that they seemed to be nothing but skin and bone, owing to the fasting and the asceticism by which they had made themselves worthy of heaven. The other folk, moreover, who were in hell, seemed to be well-favoured, lusty, and thriving, and altogether more attractive.In the middle of the courtyard, between the monastery buildings, there was a draw-well, and upon a beam placed over it there was the following inscription, which can be read backwards,Νίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν1—(Wash away uncleanness, not from the face alone)—a reminder that water is used in the administration of Holy Baptism.The monks, who year by year became more numerous, obtained by degrees still further privileges from the Czar of Russia.According to the rules of the monastery, the monks had both ‘to till the ground and to follow all such profitable employment as was practicable.’ There were people among them who had a very fair knowledge of secular affairs, and who, moreover, did not always despise the good things of the world. Accordingly, the monks summoned competent artisans andwork-peoplefrom Russia, and with their help they devised boat and ship building on the river Pasvig, and also further out in the Munkfjord at the Warehouse Inlet, where the water was clear of ice even in the winter. They had their own store of timber, and they were enabled to build comparatively large ships; in these they exported[23]the produce of the country. A great number of rafts and boats were also built, and these were sold to the Russian and Norwegian fishermen. Besides boat-building, they also had salt-pans on such a large scale that they not only provided the whole fishing population with salt, but also exported salt to the interior of Russia. In their ships they brought back in return, ‘flour, wax, drapery goods, and cordage.’ The salt-pans were probably situated on Fiskerö, where the sea-water is least mixed with fresh-water from the inland rivers.One of the most remarkable of their doings was the erection of a mill at the Kujasuga River, immediately behind the monastery. This is the only establishment which existed during the prosperous days of the monastery of which there is any trace still left. The monks must have found that it was more profitable to import corn and to grind it themselves, than to import the ground flour, as is usually done now.They had also out-houses, and must have owned a considerable herd of cattle. They had occasion to clear out and till meadows, both on Fiskerö and along the Petschenga River. Several of the meadows where the monks used to mow their hay are now overgrown with birch-trees that are more than a century old. It may not have been exclusively for the sake of the flesh that they kept these herds of cattle, because the long fasts allow the Russians only to eat sparingly of meat. It was no doubt also for purposes of trade as well as for the sake of their skins. It is expressly stated that the monks possessed a tannery, and that they tanned leather both for their own requirements, and for supplying the people of the country.They are also said to have worked mines. Possibly the monks were the first people to wash gold in the rivers in the interior of Lapland. Their most important means of support were, however, the fisheries, both the sea and the fresh-water fisheries, involving the exportation of fish. They understood how to make good use of the deed of gift, which they had obtained from the Czar Ivan Wasilievitsch. According to it, everything that was found in land or water belonged to the monks, and the inhabitants were compelled either to deliver up or sell to the monks what they did not themselves use, of course at the price which the monks saw fit to arrange. The fisheries were carried on by their own numerous servants or the lay-brothers of the monastery. Some of these lived at the monastery[24]itself, others at the Warehouse Inlet, at the mill, or in Kjörvaag, or West Bumand Fjord. By these fisheries the monks obtained such an immense quantity of fish, that they not only exported it to Vardö and Archangel, but also entered into mercantile connection with foreign towns, principally with Antwerp and Amsterdam. Information as to this is obtained from a Dutchman named Simon van Salingen, who for several years made business journeys in Finmark and Russian Lapland. He records that in the years (1562–1564) when Eric Munck was bailiff of Vardöhus, ‘the monks from the monastery in Munkfjord were in the habit of coming with their fish, train-oil, and other local produce, which they collected during the summer and winter, that they might sell them. In Munck’s service there was a youth named Philip Winterkonig, a Dutchman from Oltgensplaet, in Zeeland; but either voluntarily or otherwise, he left his master, and entered into partnership with John van Reide, Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, of Malines, and in 1564 he came in a large vessel from Antwerp to Vardö, under the impression that Munck was still bailiff there.’ He must have sailed direct to Vardö without touching at Bergen, and so he had not heard that this town had recently obtained the monopoly of the trade of Finmark. ‘When he arrived at Vardö, he found that Munck was no longer bailiff there, and that a certain James Hansen held the office in his stead. Hansen made Winterkonig and his crew prisoners, seized the ship and its cargo, and maintained that Winterkonig had forfeited his life, because he had acted in opposition to the privileges of the citizens of Bergen.’While these people were detained in custody, God vouchsafed such a rich harvest of fish that the Lapps, the Norsemen, and the monks at Munkfjord, caught so large a quantity that there were not ships, or yachts sufficient in draught, to carry the fish to Bergen.James Hansen therefore arranged with Winterkonig that he should be let off his punishment if he would load his vessels with fish, and take them to Bergen on behalf of Norway, and would also promise never again ‘to trade contrary to the privileges of the town of Bergen.’ Winterkonig readily agreed to this, and was set at liberty. At the same time some of the monks of Petschenga, who were present at Vardö, made an arrangement with Winterkonig, that next year he should come[25]to them, and lade his ship with the things which they would have ready. According to this agreement Winterkonig came to Munkfjord in 1565 with a large ship, which he loaded with fish, and then despatched back again to the ship-owners at Antwerp. He hired, on his own account, a Russian lodje (yacht), with thirteen men in order to carry the rest of his goods from Antwerp to St. Nicholas.2On the way, however, near the promontory of Tiriberka, on the Murman coast, he was overtaken by such a severe storm that he was obliged to seek a harbour of refuge. While he lay there another Russian lodje arrived, also having goods on board, which the captain sold to Winterkonig. But as soon as the Russians saw the valuable cargo which Winterkonig had on board his lodje, they were seized with a desire to possess it, and they fell on him at night, and cut the throats of his three servants and thirteen sailors while they were asleep. Winterkonig awoke and escaped to land severely wounded, but he was followed, and was shot through with an arrow from behind a tree. The robbers then hastily plundered the ship, and, as they saw another yacht approaching, they left the seventeen corpses unburied and escaped. However, they could not take everything with them, and among the things left behind were ‘four hogsheads of wine, and these remained on the beach.’The firm at Antwerp, who had not heard of the murders, directly after the big ship had arrived from Munkfjord, sent two more ships to Winterkonig, and these were laden with all sorts of goods which he had ordered. Both the ships reached Munkfjord safely in the autumn, and anchored off the Warehouse Inlet. As soon as the monks heard of this, they despatched one of the ships back to Antwerp with the news that Winterkonig and his men had been murdered on his way to St. Nicholas, and that the goods had been stolen. The other ship the monks sent, with Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, to Malmis (Kola), from which place Simonsen travelled to Moscow, in order to lay a complaint concerning the murder, and the plundering of the ship. He failed, however, to obtain an audience with the Grand-Duke, because the name of the Grand-Duke (Ivan the Cruel) was not written sufficiently large in his[26]letter of complaint, and he had to return to Kola with his object unaccomplished.In the following year, 1566, the firm at Antwerp sent Simon van Salingen with two ships to Munkfjord, where he arrived late in the spring, and they made him fetch the ship that had been left at Malmis by Cornelius Simonsen. Salingen then loaded all the three ships—partly at Munkfjord, partly at Keervagh (Kjorvaag or Kjervan, a harbour at the western entrance of the Bumandfjord on Fiskerö)—with as much fish-oil, salmon, and other goods as were suitable for export to Antwerp. He hired on his own account two lodjer from the monks, and laded them with his goods and sailed for Malmis. Here he met Cornelius Simonsen who had just returned from Moscow. They travelled, together with their goods, through Russia during the winter as far as Moscow, and traded with the inhabitants.At a later period it would seem that the monastery entered more especially into commercial connection with Amsterdam. A treaty has been found which was concluded between a firm in that town and the monks of Petschenga. The agent of the firm was named Andrew Neich. He went every year to Munkfjord with a large ship laden with barrels of salt, in order to take on board, and bring back to Amsterdam, the fish they had caught. The convent had pledged themselves ‘for six years to sell to Neich all the red fish (salmon), and not to sell to anyone else the fish taken in draught-nets or in rivers; and in like manner not to lease or sell the fishing in the sea for sjomga (salmon), cod, or cod blubber, or whale blubber, but on the contrary they were to be held bound to bring to them (the merchants), to their storehouse (factory), the fish from Kola and the river Tulom. If the chief of the monastery, or the Brothers, kept back or sold them to others, the chief of the monastery was to pay a hundred roubles.’ In addition to this, it was also arranged what the quality of the fish contracted for was to be. ‘And the Superior and convent are not to deliver any “tinda” or “waltschak” (presumably smaller kinds of sea-fish); broken, damaged, or stale salmon; damaged, stale, raw, half-dried cod; or salmon of less than 7½ lb. weight. And if any fish is delivered under 7 lb. weight, two such fish are to be taken in place of one; but of fish from Tiriberka, whether large or small, two are to be reckoned as one, and none are to[27]be accepted of less than 4 lb. weight.’ Then several other kinds of fish are mentioned. As to the price of the fish there was a still further arrangement that they were to give ‘ten roubles for 100 salmon, or twenty good jefimker’ (Dutch silver money). The period appointed for receiving the fish was from May 10 to July 20. The merchants were bound to leave salt and barrels at Kola, so that the agent at that place would deliver these to the fishermen. ‘If the fish from lack of salt, or vat, were spoilt, the Amsterdam merchants were still bound to accept them, and to pay the same price as for good fish.’ The fish were to be paid for at two terms: ‘the first term was St. Peter’s Day, and the second term July 20; the one half in roubles, and the other half in jefimker, and one jefimke was reckoned as half a rouble.’From the ship the Brothers of the monastery obtained all that they needed or required in the way of goods, partly for their own use, and partly for trading purposes with the inhabitants of those parts, or, indeed, for exporting again to St. Nicholas, Cholmogor, Wologda, and Jaroslav. Thus, no doubt, they obtained no inconsiderable supply of corn, since they had built a mill for themselves. In addition to the goods which the firm at Amsterdam had to send according to requisition, Neich was also bound to bring with him, as a donation and gift to the monastery, ‘1 pud [32 lb.] of incense, 2 pud of wax, 1 cask of red church wine, as well as two casks of brandy, and one firkin of Rhenish wine.’The monastery in its time carried on no inconsiderable whale fishery. It is distinctly stated that the monastery ‘should be free of taxation for exporting whale blubber.’ The train-oil was exported to other parts of Holland as well as to Amsterdam. The Dutch people were themselves carrying on at this time a whale-fishery, both in Norwegian Finmark, where they had a special place of resort at Sörö, and along the coast of Russian Lapland. At that time the Greenland whale was found along the Norwegian and Russian coasts, or, at any rate, a kind of whale which could be somewhat easily killed with the harpoon. A loose harpoon was mostly employed. Whenever a whale was encountered, they hurled one or more harpoons at it, and these had the owner’s name marked on them. Then the whale was allowed to go its way. Sometimes it escaped and was never seen again; but generally it died, and was thrown up on[28]the shore at one point or another, but most frequently in the Mutkatfjord, where even at the present day whales are frequently stranded high and dry.The people attached to the monastery soon got information of the reappearance of the harpooned whale, and took possession of it, for, according to their prerogatives, they alone had the right to all flotsam and jetsam.In such ways the monastic establishment, in the course of about fifty years, developed into a very important colony, which must have had an extraordinary influence in the civilization of those parts, in a wider extension of the fisheries, and in the foundation of several towns, if it had continued to prosper, and had not, as the sequel will show, come to such a sudden and unexpected end.In no respect does the improvement of the inhabitants appear to have been the object of the labours of the brotherhood. Certainly they christened or baptized the Lapps, so that they could no longer be called heathens, but that was all. Not a word is said as to any schemes for their education and civilizing. The priests of the Greek Church, even at the present day, take no trouble to teach the people. The Russian Lapps, therefore, as a rule, cannot even now either read or write, while among the Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish Lapps there are but few who cannot do both.[29]

Opposite the dwellings of the monks there were workmen’s dwellings, and in these the serving-men lived. All the buildings, as well as the church, were surrounded by a strong wall of wood. The country was unsettled and poorly governed, and it was by no means impossible that some hostile bands might find their way to the monastery in search of plunder. The monks at the monastery of Solowetski had often to defend themselves against such attacks.

The church, which was built in honour of the Holy Trinity, was adorned with a tower and dome. It was decorated inside with paintings and with the gifts of pious pilgrims. It was constructed after the old Greek Church plan, which is followed throughout Russia, whether the church is large or small, or whether it is built of stone or merely of wood. Such a church has three divisions, viz.: the narthex, or outer church; the hieron, the sacred part, or church proper; and the hieraton, the sanctuary, or holy place. This division is said to be a representation of the Temple at Jerusalem. The outer church is separated from the hieron by a wall, in which are two large[21]folding doors; these are always open during Divine service. The hieraton, or sanctuary, in which the altar is placed, is in turn separated from the church, or hieron, by the iconastasis, or wall of pictures. This wall is decorated with carvings, and there are three doorways in it leading to the holy place. The middle one of these doorways is only closed with a wooden door for half of its height, but the upper half is shut off by a curtain, which can be drawn aside so that the priest as he officiates and offers incense may be seen. At other times he is hidden from the congregation. Not a pew or seat is to be found in the church. Everybody has to stand, rich and poor alike, for no distinction is made. Turning to the holy place, or towards the picture of some particular saint, the people cross themselves three times in the Greek manner, by putting three fingers, the first finger, thumb and middle finger, on the right and left shoulders, the forehead and breast, and bowing themselves very low, with their foreheads touching the ground, at the same time saying, ‘Gospodi pomilui’ (Lord, have mercy). This sentence is constantly repeated throughout the service, and it frequently happens that the more devout members of the congregation, by reason of their continual bowings to the ground, leave the church with red spots on their foreheads.

All the walls inside the church are covered as completely as possible with pictures, which are either painted on the walls themselves, or are hung in frames against them. The pictures in the narthex are taken, as a rule, from the Old Testament, and those in the hieron from the New Testament. Besides these there are pictures of men and women who are recognised as saints in the Eastern Church. The older these pictures are, the holier they are esteemed. In copying them, therefore, the chief object is to give the copy an appearance of antiquity. Many of the pictures have been painted by the monks themselves, and, as a rule, they are done in very glaring colours. The heads of the saints are always surrounded by a golden glory, on the gilding of which much money is frequently expended. They are also often hung with presents, such as handkerchiefs and other personal finery, which have been offered by pilgrims whose particular saint is represented. Sometimes one sees a wreath of blown birds’ eggs hung up by the picture, a melancholy token of hopes blighted in this world. The front wall in the church, through which access to the outer church[22]is gained, is covered with a lean-to roof, and on this wall there is depicted, in order to excite the imagination and the fear of the heathen folk, on the right hand of the door the bliss of Paradise, and on the left hand the torments of Hell. Here the heathen as they stood outside the church and listened to the singing, would have made manifest to them what would be the lot of those who did not seek the help which the Church offered them, and who refused to be baptized. One thing, however, in the pictures was strange and suggestive, and might have made the heathen doubtful about the charms of Paradise, and this was, that the saints in Paradise were delineated as so fearfully emaciated that they seemed to be nothing but skin and bone, owing to the fasting and the asceticism by which they had made themselves worthy of heaven. The other folk, moreover, who were in hell, seemed to be well-favoured, lusty, and thriving, and altogether more attractive.

In the middle of the courtyard, between the monastery buildings, there was a draw-well, and upon a beam placed over it there was the following inscription, which can be read backwards,

Νίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψιν1—

(Wash away uncleanness, not from the face alone)—a reminder that water is used in the administration of Holy Baptism.

The monks, who year by year became more numerous, obtained by degrees still further privileges from the Czar of Russia.

According to the rules of the monastery, the monks had both ‘to till the ground and to follow all such profitable employment as was practicable.’ There were people among them who had a very fair knowledge of secular affairs, and who, moreover, did not always despise the good things of the world. Accordingly, the monks summoned competent artisans andwork-peoplefrom Russia, and with their help they devised boat and ship building on the river Pasvig, and also further out in the Munkfjord at the Warehouse Inlet, where the water was clear of ice even in the winter. They had their own store of timber, and they were enabled to build comparatively large ships; in these they exported[23]the produce of the country. A great number of rafts and boats were also built, and these were sold to the Russian and Norwegian fishermen. Besides boat-building, they also had salt-pans on such a large scale that they not only provided the whole fishing population with salt, but also exported salt to the interior of Russia. In their ships they brought back in return, ‘flour, wax, drapery goods, and cordage.’ The salt-pans were probably situated on Fiskerö, where the sea-water is least mixed with fresh-water from the inland rivers.

One of the most remarkable of their doings was the erection of a mill at the Kujasuga River, immediately behind the monastery. This is the only establishment which existed during the prosperous days of the monastery of which there is any trace still left. The monks must have found that it was more profitable to import corn and to grind it themselves, than to import the ground flour, as is usually done now.

They had also out-houses, and must have owned a considerable herd of cattle. They had occasion to clear out and till meadows, both on Fiskerö and along the Petschenga River. Several of the meadows where the monks used to mow their hay are now overgrown with birch-trees that are more than a century old. It may not have been exclusively for the sake of the flesh that they kept these herds of cattle, because the long fasts allow the Russians only to eat sparingly of meat. It was no doubt also for purposes of trade as well as for the sake of their skins. It is expressly stated that the monks possessed a tannery, and that they tanned leather both for their own requirements, and for supplying the people of the country.

They are also said to have worked mines. Possibly the monks were the first people to wash gold in the rivers in the interior of Lapland. Their most important means of support were, however, the fisheries, both the sea and the fresh-water fisheries, involving the exportation of fish. They understood how to make good use of the deed of gift, which they had obtained from the Czar Ivan Wasilievitsch. According to it, everything that was found in land or water belonged to the monks, and the inhabitants were compelled either to deliver up or sell to the monks what they did not themselves use, of course at the price which the monks saw fit to arrange. The fisheries were carried on by their own numerous servants or the lay-brothers of the monastery. Some of these lived at the monastery[24]itself, others at the Warehouse Inlet, at the mill, or in Kjörvaag, or West Bumand Fjord. By these fisheries the monks obtained such an immense quantity of fish, that they not only exported it to Vardö and Archangel, but also entered into mercantile connection with foreign towns, principally with Antwerp and Amsterdam. Information as to this is obtained from a Dutchman named Simon van Salingen, who for several years made business journeys in Finmark and Russian Lapland. He records that in the years (1562–1564) when Eric Munck was bailiff of Vardöhus, ‘the monks from the monastery in Munkfjord were in the habit of coming with their fish, train-oil, and other local produce, which they collected during the summer and winter, that they might sell them. In Munck’s service there was a youth named Philip Winterkonig, a Dutchman from Oltgensplaet, in Zeeland; but either voluntarily or otherwise, he left his master, and entered into partnership with John van Reide, Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, of Malines, and in 1564 he came in a large vessel from Antwerp to Vardö, under the impression that Munck was still bailiff there.’ He must have sailed direct to Vardö without touching at Bergen, and so he had not heard that this town had recently obtained the monopoly of the trade of Finmark. ‘When he arrived at Vardö, he found that Munck was no longer bailiff there, and that a certain James Hansen held the office in his stead. Hansen made Winterkonig and his crew prisoners, seized the ship and its cargo, and maintained that Winterkonig had forfeited his life, because he had acted in opposition to the privileges of the citizens of Bergen.’

While these people were detained in custody, God vouchsafed such a rich harvest of fish that the Lapps, the Norsemen, and the monks at Munkfjord, caught so large a quantity that there were not ships, or yachts sufficient in draught, to carry the fish to Bergen.

James Hansen therefore arranged with Winterkonig that he should be let off his punishment if he would load his vessels with fish, and take them to Bergen on behalf of Norway, and would also promise never again ‘to trade contrary to the privileges of the town of Bergen.’ Winterkonig readily agreed to this, and was set at liberty. At the same time some of the monks of Petschenga, who were present at Vardö, made an arrangement with Winterkonig, that next year he should come[25]to them, and lade his ship with the things which they would have ready. According to this agreement Winterkonig came to Munkfjord in 1565 with a large ship, which he loaded with fish, and then despatched back again to the ship-owners at Antwerp. He hired, on his own account, a Russian lodje (yacht), with thirteen men in order to carry the rest of his goods from Antwerp to St. Nicholas.2

On the way, however, near the promontory of Tiriberka, on the Murman coast, he was overtaken by such a severe storm that he was obliged to seek a harbour of refuge. While he lay there another Russian lodje arrived, also having goods on board, which the captain sold to Winterkonig. But as soon as the Russians saw the valuable cargo which Winterkonig had on board his lodje, they were seized with a desire to possess it, and they fell on him at night, and cut the throats of his three servants and thirteen sailors while they were asleep. Winterkonig awoke and escaped to land severely wounded, but he was followed, and was shot through with an arrow from behind a tree. The robbers then hastily plundered the ship, and, as they saw another yacht approaching, they left the seventeen corpses unburied and escaped. However, they could not take everything with them, and among the things left behind were ‘four hogsheads of wine, and these remained on the beach.’

The firm at Antwerp, who had not heard of the murders, directly after the big ship had arrived from Munkfjord, sent two more ships to Winterkonig, and these were laden with all sorts of goods which he had ordered. Both the ships reached Munkfjord safely in the autumn, and anchored off the Warehouse Inlet. As soon as the monks heard of this, they despatched one of the ships back to Antwerp with the news that Winterkonig and his men had been murdered on his way to St. Nicholas, and that the goods had been stolen. The other ship the monks sent, with Cornelius de Meyer Simonsen, to Malmis (Kola), from which place Simonsen travelled to Moscow, in order to lay a complaint concerning the murder, and the plundering of the ship. He failed, however, to obtain an audience with the Grand-Duke, because the name of the Grand-Duke (Ivan the Cruel) was not written sufficiently large in his[26]letter of complaint, and he had to return to Kola with his object unaccomplished.

In the following year, 1566, the firm at Antwerp sent Simon van Salingen with two ships to Munkfjord, where he arrived late in the spring, and they made him fetch the ship that had been left at Malmis by Cornelius Simonsen. Salingen then loaded all the three ships—partly at Munkfjord, partly at Keervagh (Kjorvaag or Kjervan, a harbour at the western entrance of the Bumandfjord on Fiskerö)—with as much fish-oil, salmon, and other goods as were suitable for export to Antwerp. He hired on his own account two lodjer from the monks, and laded them with his goods and sailed for Malmis. Here he met Cornelius Simonsen who had just returned from Moscow. They travelled, together with their goods, through Russia during the winter as far as Moscow, and traded with the inhabitants.

At a later period it would seem that the monastery entered more especially into commercial connection with Amsterdam. A treaty has been found which was concluded between a firm in that town and the monks of Petschenga. The agent of the firm was named Andrew Neich. He went every year to Munkfjord with a large ship laden with barrels of salt, in order to take on board, and bring back to Amsterdam, the fish they had caught. The convent had pledged themselves ‘for six years to sell to Neich all the red fish (salmon), and not to sell to anyone else the fish taken in draught-nets or in rivers; and in like manner not to lease or sell the fishing in the sea for sjomga (salmon), cod, or cod blubber, or whale blubber, but on the contrary they were to be held bound to bring to them (the merchants), to their storehouse (factory), the fish from Kola and the river Tulom. If the chief of the monastery, or the Brothers, kept back or sold them to others, the chief of the monastery was to pay a hundred roubles.’ In addition to this, it was also arranged what the quality of the fish contracted for was to be. ‘And the Superior and convent are not to deliver any “tinda” or “waltschak” (presumably smaller kinds of sea-fish); broken, damaged, or stale salmon; damaged, stale, raw, half-dried cod; or salmon of less than 7½ lb. weight. And if any fish is delivered under 7 lb. weight, two such fish are to be taken in place of one; but of fish from Tiriberka, whether large or small, two are to be reckoned as one, and none are to[27]be accepted of less than 4 lb. weight.’ Then several other kinds of fish are mentioned. As to the price of the fish there was a still further arrangement that they were to give ‘ten roubles for 100 salmon, or twenty good jefimker’ (Dutch silver money). The period appointed for receiving the fish was from May 10 to July 20. The merchants were bound to leave salt and barrels at Kola, so that the agent at that place would deliver these to the fishermen. ‘If the fish from lack of salt, or vat, were spoilt, the Amsterdam merchants were still bound to accept them, and to pay the same price as for good fish.’ The fish were to be paid for at two terms: ‘the first term was St. Peter’s Day, and the second term July 20; the one half in roubles, and the other half in jefimker, and one jefimke was reckoned as half a rouble.’

From the ship the Brothers of the monastery obtained all that they needed or required in the way of goods, partly for their own use, and partly for trading purposes with the inhabitants of those parts, or, indeed, for exporting again to St. Nicholas, Cholmogor, Wologda, and Jaroslav. Thus, no doubt, they obtained no inconsiderable supply of corn, since they had built a mill for themselves. In addition to the goods which the firm at Amsterdam had to send according to requisition, Neich was also bound to bring with him, as a donation and gift to the monastery, ‘1 pud [32 lb.] of incense, 2 pud of wax, 1 cask of red church wine, as well as two casks of brandy, and one firkin of Rhenish wine.’

The monastery in its time carried on no inconsiderable whale fishery. It is distinctly stated that the monastery ‘should be free of taxation for exporting whale blubber.’ The train-oil was exported to other parts of Holland as well as to Amsterdam. The Dutch people were themselves carrying on at this time a whale-fishery, both in Norwegian Finmark, where they had a special place of resort at Sörö, and along the coast of Russian Lapland. At that time the Greenland whale was found along the Norwegian and Russian coasts, or, at any rate, a kind of whale which could be somewhat easily killed with the harpoon. A loose harpoon was mostly employed. Whenever a whale was encountered, they hurled one or more harpoons at it, and these had the owner’s name marked on them. Then the whale was allowed to go its way. Sometimes it escaped and was never seen again; but generally it died, and was thrown up on[28]the shore at one point or another, but most frequently in the Mutkatfjord, where even at the present day whales are frequently stranded high and dry.

The people attached to the monastery soon got information of the reappearance of the harpooned whale, and took possession of it, for, according to their prerogatives, they alone had the right to all flotsam and jetsam.

In such ways the monastic establishment, in the course of about fifty years, developed into a very important colony, which must have had an extraordinary influence in the civilization of those parts, in a wider extension of the fisheries, and in the foundation of several towns, if it had continued to prosper, and had not, as the sequel will show, come to such a sudden and unexpected end.

In no respect does the improvement of the inhabitants appear to have been the object of the labours of the brotherhood. Certainly they christened or baptized the Lapps, so that they could no longer be called heathens, but that was all. Not a word is said as to any schemes for their education and civilizing. The priests of the Greek Church, even at the present day, take no trouble to teach the people. The Russian Lapps, therefore, as a rule, cannot even now either read or write, while among the Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish Lapps there are but few who cannot do both.

[29]

1[The inscriptionΝίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψινoccurs on the fonts at Sandbach Church (Cheshire), Rufford (Lancashire), and elsewhere in England.—Note by the Translator.]↑2A monastery on the Dvina, built by Princess Martha, in memory of her two sons who were drowned there, whose patron was St. Nicholas. It may be noted that Archangel was first founded in 1584.↑

1[The inscriptionΝίψον ἀνομήμα μὴ μόναν ὄψινoccurs on the fonts at Sandbach Church (Cheshire), Rufford (Lancashire), and elsewhere in England.—Note by the Translator.]↑

2A monastery on the Dvina, built by Princess Martha, in memory of her two sons who were drowned there, whose patron was St. Nicholas. It may be noted that Archangel was first founded in 1584.↑

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