Original subtitles

TV Channel Russia presents

TV Channel Russia

'Moskino' Production Company

Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

Supported by Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation

present

Maria Andreeva as Sophia Paleologue

Evgeny Tsyganov as Ioann III

Nadezhda Markina as the Grand Princess

Pyotr Zaichenko as the Metropolitan

Boris Nevzorov as Grigory Mamonov

Giuliano Di Capua as Ivan Fryazin

Director of Photography Denis Alarcon Ramirez

Art Director Evgeny Kachanov

Costumes by Natalya Saltykova

Make-up by Anastasia Esadze

Edited by Igor Litoninsky

Music by Artem Vasilyev

Produced by Ekaterina Zhukova Maria Ushakova

Directed by Alexei Andrianov

SOPHIA

Episode 3

The policy of Ioann the Third,

aimed at strengthening the Moscow principality

and uniting the Russian lands,

provoked resistance and rejection not only among the neighboring princes

but also among the younger brothers of Ioann.

Novgorod rebelled.

Governor's widow, Marfa Boretskaya,

led the uprising for the separation of Novgorod from Moscow

and rapprochement with the Lithuanian King Casimir.

We have inspected the walls.

Everything from the Borovitsky Gate to Sviblovo District

has either come down, or shall do so soon.

We need to tear it all down and build again.

Same of the Cathedral.

Repairs are impossible.

What shall we do, Sire?

Rebuild anew.

The walls, the church. All of us together.

What do you mean by “together”?

As decreed by His Majesty Ioann, the Grand Prince of Moscow,

from this day forth, a new tax shall be imposed

to rebuild the Assumption Cathedral,

One half of a silver grivna

from every homestead,

every year, until the first prayer service

is held at the restored temple.

Ioann Vasilievich.

Half a grivna from every homestead.

I cannot collect that.

You shall collect it if you put a mind to it.

And if you do not -

then I will send you to where your brothers are.

But my house has split apart as well.

And mine, too: the roof caved in

and killed three of my servants...

Does anyone else wish to complain?

And here is for you

my special favor.

You will be paying twice as much as all others.

The people shall give half a grivna -

and you shall give a whole grivna.

Have mercy, Sire!

It’s impossible to endure this!

If you deprive the people of all they have,

they will rebel.

And while you build your cathedral,

we will be hunting down our runaway serfs!

You should ease the taxes!

Pray, ease the taxes, Ioann Vasilievich.

-Ease the taxes, Sire. Please.

-And I will give you money, as much as you need.

Forgive me, Ioann Vasilievich, I will go now.

-Damn, God forgive me. What a disgrace!

-Whoever else agrees, rise and leave.

-I agree. I shall give whatsoever is required.

-I agree.

-I agree. -I agree.

-I agree. -I agree.

Well, if that be your will, then I agree too.

What are you doing?

This is for the child.

Your house is so full of unrest.

She wants you to protect your home.

Do you think it is a girl?

A girl.

Let your brothers go.

You have shown strength.

Now show mercy.

This is what I think:

first show strength, and then show strength too.

Let us talk no more of this.

I shall decide by myself.

-The Grand Princess is sending this to her sons.

-For the Princes Andrei and Boris

from their Mother, Grand Princess Maria Yaroslavna.

Now, what do you think you are doing, my dear friend,

poking your huge hands into the Princes' meal, eh?

I will take it to them myself.

Halt there. Who are you?

-Jonah. Humble monk from the Chudov Monastery.

I beheld the temple in ruins. And came to render aid.

-The temple may be in ruins.

But the cellar is intact. What were you doing in there?

I brought bread... to the prisoners...

o lift their spirits...

-Are these shackles?

-I donned them on the very day I was ordained.

To punish my failing flesh.

For it is said: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus”.

And it is also said: “Take my yoke upon you,

and learn of me, for my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light”.

-Are you in command here?

-Yes!

-Change the guard.

Let me go down to the cellar to see your brothers.

What for?

I shall tell them that you are no enemy of theirs.

But I am the one.

Your power is great. They are weak.

You are strong. Do not be afraid to let them go.

Your brothers are not your foes.

You heard, the other day our fellow Miron got into a fight with a boyar.

Well, Miron he drinks like a fish.

Hear that, someone's knocking. Open the door.

Gleb!

Gleb!

-Let's go. Are you the one who has the keys?

-The Guard Commander does.

-We're now going to set my brothers free, Fyodor Davydych.

-Then why did we imprison them?

-When it is needed we imprison people, and when it is needed we set them free.

I came to help.

Here are cloaks and weapons.

-What is it, Boris?

-I am not going.

I did not do Ioann any harm.

No,you did.

That monk...

So what is this, then?

Traitors, in my own home?

Cutting down guards like pigs.

And tomorrow you may find me dead too.

Find my brothers!

If you fail, I will skin you alive!

-Still know how to row, Andrei Vasilievich?

-Who is your master?

- A Servant of God.

He thinks you should not go home.

Better head straight to Novgorod.

-There are people waiting for you on the other side.

They'll give you horses.

-And slit our throats.

No, Prince, your throats are needed...

God be with you.

-He called himself “Jonah, a monk from the Chudov Monastery”.

-I have been there. They do not have a monk by that name.

-We found a boat and the tracks. They were given horses.

-Send your people. To Ruza, Uglich, Zvenigorod.

Let it be known that the Grand Prince of Moscow is summoning his brothers.

And if they do not heed the summons, he will come for them himself.

-Dear God, Sire, do you want war?

-Let us have war! It is treason to rise against the Prince of Moscow!

-And you go around the boyars' estates, look among the servants

Kuritsyn, offer a reward. In gold.

And find me that monk!

Let us go downstream.

Along the creek.

If you, Boris Vasilievich, are afraid, let us part our ways here.

We get caught together, we die together.

-I am not afraid. I am just doubtful.

-Your own brother is wiping his feet against you.

And you are doubtful.

-And you are not? -And I am not!

One third of the late Yuri's land is rightfully mine!

If I stay silent today, tomorrow my brother will want the last shirt off my back.

And the day after, he will covet my wife!

-He has got a wife already.

-Better if he hasn't!

-Andrei Vasilievich, when was the last time you counted your men?

Do you have a wish to go to war against the Grand Prince of Moscow?

Yes, I do.

Will you go to the Horde?

To Novgorod. Are you with me?

I don't know.

I did no wrong for the Grand Prince.

Well, it is high time to...

Well, it is high time to... It is not right for brother to go against brother, Andrei Vasilievich.

It is not right for brother to go against brother, Andrei Vasilievich.

That would mean the war.

Exactly.

But I was not the one who started that war,

nor were you.

I’m asking again, are you with me?

You go where you wish, but I shall go to Novgorod.

I swear to God, I will have justice.

-Farewell. -Wait,

I am with you.

Ah, so the quiet mouse comes to his senses.

Work harder!

-No signs of either Andrei or Boris.

They have not been sighted in Uglich, Rzhev, Ruza...

Their men - unaware of the events - are all at their homes.

-They should have gone to the Horde...

-My Prince, your brothers would never go to the Horde.

It's your own flesh and blood.

That is a vile deed, betraying one's own people, the fellow Christians,

-to those cursed infidels...

-Why would you be defending my brothers?

It's a girl!

-Grand Prince!

Your wife has birthed the child before her time.

-I'll throttle you...

Do not fear Moscow.

There will be no war.

Today, desolation and waste rule over Moscow.

The earth has quaked, and the houses have fallen.

Their main church

has crumbled into tiniest stones.

For now, Moscow does not have money.

Moscow never has money.

But when they go to war, they find it somewhere.

-And we shall find money too.

Novgorod is a free city, after all!

- A free city!

And we are not alone! Pskov is behind us.

Who does not know Prince Vasili Vasilievich, of House Shuyskiy?

Here he is, look at him.

The people of Pskov, they know how to go to war.

And they will help us.

Pskov is, of course, strong.

There are others apart from Pskov.

This is Pan Przemyslaw.

Ambassador of Casimir, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland.

Look around, Pan.

The free people of Novgorod wish to know

who will help them,

should they march against Moscow.

I have here... a message... from King Casimir...

to the free people of Novgorod.

If the people of Novgorod

stand up against the Prince of Moscovia,

His Majesty Casimir, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland,

will support them

-with the entirety of his military force.

-It's generous.

And what is the price for such gracious aid?

Novgorod will be freed from Moscow

and become a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania!

And it's all because we are free people!

-Free people!

Rebellion, Grand Prince.

In Novgorod.

Murder and treason.

They gathered a square full of people...

And decided to reject your power,

and do without your guidance.

And pay taxes no longer.

And those who stood with you, and against them, and your

scribes and service men that you sent there from Moscow...

They killed them all, right there in the square.

They trampled them with their feet.

-Who started this? -No-one deed.

They just called their veche meeting... And right there in the square...

dealt with them all... fell upon them in a mob.

-Who spurred them on?

A mob cannot do without someone spurring it on.

There is such a person.

Marfa Semyonovna. The widow of Isaac Boretsky.

She is... the way they call it... their ringleader.

She has raised the most ruckus.

“The Moscow law is not our law...”

“And Grand Prince Ioann is not our liege...”

-Oh, I know this Marfa!

She's the richest widow in Novgorod.

That husband of hers, Governor Boretsky

- he was killed.

-Fyodor Vasilievich, find me the Oath Charter.

-Already done, Grand Prince.

Under the Oath Charter of the Anno Mundi 6964,

drawn up in the village of Yazhelbitsy,

the free people of Novgorod solemnly promise:

to acknowledge the sovereign power of the Grand Prince of Moscow...

Signatures follow.

-Sire, allow me to go to Novgorod!

-Settle down, will you!

You go, Fyodor Davydych.

Tell them my will.

-Make them give up Marfa,

and all those who have slaughtered my men.

By their own volition.

-I shall do as you ask, Ioann Vasilievich.

-They will not give her up.

They are afraid of her.

She has more spirit in her than five men.

-Well, Fyodor Davydych will hardly be afraid of a woman...

Women, Ioann Vasilievich, they come in different kinds.

Sometimes it is not shameful to be afraid of one.

-If you find them there,

pray tell them that it is not yet too late to come back.

-Who is “them”?

-My brothers.

-I will.

-And you come back too.

Well, Sire, that is not in my hands,

that is in God's hands.

Fine, enough! Enough!

See? Hear them yelling?

They have gotten the wind of Boyar Khromyi coming in person.

Do you wish to go outside to greet them?

-They still remember me.

They do. They remember you.

And that prince of yours, too -

They remember everyone who came to rob our city.

I can see that.

You certainly lead your life as if you've been robbed...

The Grand Prince of Moscow

has sent me to have a word about your treason.

Do you know who killed the Moscow boyars?

The people killed them.

The veche meeting.

They fell upon them, and tore them apart.

If you wish to punish someone, punish them all.

-The boyars were not mine.

They answered to the Grand Prince of Moscow.

And if the Prince wills it,

all your people will suffer for this.

Well, here he is. Here he is.

Khromyi! I remember you!

Bow down, Boyar.

Bow down to whom?

To the free people.

I see no free people here.

I see no one but fools and drunks.

Seize him!

Seize him!

Wait!

Stop! You will only make it worse...

There is no right in killing ambassadors.

Oh, we will not kill him... Not now.

Enough!

Stop this!

Killing ambassadors is forbidden, Marfa Semyonovna.

Greetings to you, Prince Andrei Vasilievich.

Greetings to you as well, Boris Vasilievich.

Greetings to you, Boyar.

I see that nobody here wishes to talk to us.

No, they do not, boyar.

Novgorod follows its own path now.

You had better turn back and go to Moscow.

While you are still alive.

He tells the truth.

Go home, My Good Man, lest the mob tear you apart.

And when you see your Grand Prince Ioann,

show him this.

Good morning.

They say that we might have a war?

They say that pigs might fly.

I know that Novgorod is the city of commerce.

And people who do commerce cherish their independence.

It is only by force that you shall ever reclaim Novgorod.

Are you urging me to go to war?

No.

But if you do go to war, I will know that you are right.

Sinora,

[speaking Italian]

You should use my language when you speak to my wife.

Yes, Sire. Annushka has fever again.

See how things fare for you, Fyodor.

You hardly got here, and now you need to return.

You, however, have made quite a nest for yourself here, Boris Vasilievich.

Well, where else would my brother and I go?

Not to the Horde, surely.

You should go to Moscow.

To Ioann's cellar?

Ioann Vasilievich asked me to tell you this:

it is not too late to go back.

Come with me, Boris Vasilievich.

Come with me now;

let Prince Andrei start his rebellion alone.

I shall not leave Andrei.

-Do hurry, Fyodor Davydych.

King Casimir is coming here.

-Is he, really?

Well, we shall see who will come in the end.

Could be King Casimir.

Could be someone else.

You cannot really guess ahead.

War is such a thing...

-Take care of our daughter.

Take care of yourself.

-And you take care of yourself.

For the sake of our family.

The people of Novgorod do not wish to submit to the Grand Prince of Moscow.

They want to serve King Casimir of Lithuania!

So let us go to them and teach them a lesson!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

God is with us!

God is with us!

We left just in time.

-Did we really leave, Andrei Vasilievich?

We fled.

We fled. And now we shall have to spend the rest of our life in hiding,

And now we shall have to spend the rest of our life in hiding,

like lowly thieves.

-Well, you might have to.

Not me.

Do not falter, this is merely the beginning.

-Novgorod is not alone in suffering under Ioann.

We shall find even more allies.

-You are right, Brother.

Many more allies are eager to help us slaughter each other.

So that they could move in to rule over our lands.

Ah, I see you have already sided with him, Boris Vasilievich.

Why not give your domain away to Ioann,

and then bow before the Grand Prince until your brow begins to bleed...

The spite is breaking you through, Brother.

But it's a poor adviser.

Does it? Well, give me your own advice, please do...

Casimir's Castle

Is this war?

Yes, Your Majesty.

To gain victory over Ioann,

we need to strike him from two ends.

King Casimir will strike from the west.

And the Great Ahmed Khan bin Küchük will strike from the south.

We shall crush the Moscovites like a rotten nut.

And you shall have Novgorod.

The Prince of Moscow intends to wage war with Novgorod himself.

This war will weaken both sides, whereupon I shall make my move.

So Novgorod is as good as mine.

Nothing shall be yours without permission from Akhmed Khan.

With all due respect, Muhammad Hajji,

I am not certain if I can agree.

So, what shall I tell my liege?

Am I to tell him that the Grand Duke of Lithuania

is rebuffing our alliance?

We have known each other for many years now.

Can you seriously believe I could have rebuffed the Great Khan?

But war is an expensive business.

And I shall not muster enough troops for two wars.

Would the Great Khan perhaps consider helping me take Novgorod right now?

His Horde is numberless.

The Great Khan needs time to rally the loyal kin.

And there you have it.

I need time as well.

All of us are the slavers of time.

So, again, what shall I tell the Great Khan?

Tell the Great Khan

that it is a tremendous honor to be his ally.

Tell the Great Khan that I agree.

Letter for Prince Shuyskiy!

News from the Lithuania border, My Prince.

Good news!

-Peace be with you, Prince.

When shall we go to battle? We are too tired of sitting here.

-Do not be in such a hurry to die;

mayhap you will not be needed.

The Duke of Lithuania is now encroaching on Moscow from the back.

-We had better not sit here longer than winter;

else my wifey will start missing me.

-Oh, she won't, and if she does,

she'll give you a warmer welcome.

They say Moscow's gone mad...

devastating the lands worse than them at the Horde.

We’ll fight ‘em back.

Go on, go on,

ain't right for us to be walking here.

Ioann Vasilievich,

we can strike them tomorrow.

If we advance from three directions at once,

we will break through somewhere at least. Mmm?

We will not be advancing anywhere.

Why linger, Sire?

During war time, the fastest is the luckiest.

Let us lay siege.

We’ll cut off all the roads.

Drag all the ships that will come to them ashore,

and turn them to our use.

Before long, they will go starving.

And the sight of bread makes the wildest dogs tame.

Ioann Vasilievich, what siege?

This is Novgorod.

With the grub that they have,

we shall have to wait till winter.

In a hurry to go home, are you, Fyodor Davydych?

Or maybe you forgot how to wage war?

-Is the Grand Prince in good health?

-Oh, yes.

But he will not be coming back for a while.

-What have you done, with your stupid war!

My sweet child...

-My sweet Ulyana, God will see us through.

I cannot keep the walls manned with three hundred warriors.

There are fights flaring every day.

Casimir lied to us.

He promised to help but did not.

You should not think this way.

Counting, eh?

Oh, I did count.

There are twenty days on horseback from Grodno to here.

If Casimir were willing, he would have travelled here thrice over.

Casimir will come.

And if he does not, we will fend just fine for ourselves.

-How to?

How will we fend for ourselves?

I have given you all my men; they have nothing left to eat.

They have no food to give their children!

We are the free city of Novgorod.

I live for my free people, and I shall die for my free people.

And you, Vasili Vasilievich,

instead of wailing like a scared wench,

get your men in order.

And if you are tired of fighting, we are not keeping you.

If war makes you weary, go ahead, go home,

curl up in front of a hearth.

Does this mean you do not need me any more?

Just so.

For the Lord's sake, Grand Prince, I beg of you.

Spare Novgorod.

Grant these traitors your forgiveness.

You are the Prince of Pskov, aren't you?

What do you have to gain from this?

Novgorod is my neighbor.

I want it to be spared. Please.

If you show mercy, both Pskov and Novgorod shall swear loyalty to you.

What makes you think I believe you?

I did not come to you empty-handed.

Bring her in!

Marfa Semyonovna Boretskaya.

People say that you do not fear anything.

I fear God alone.

And all that I do is to serve Him.

And now I will show you how to serve me.

I will spare your city.

And it will obey my will.

You will not change anything, Ioann Vasilievich.

You cannot take free will away from people.

And my people shall be free

as long as the great bell summons the veche to the main square.

The Grand Prince is here!

Come and see!

Come and see!

See? I have brought you a gift.

I do see, Ioann Vasilievich.

Long live Grand Prince Ioann!

Why is my wife not greeting me?

She has not come outside for a long, long time.

Ever since we buried your daughter.

...He should have brought pretty wenches...

-We have done a great deed.

The Novgorod Freemen is over.

It has recognized the power of the Moscow throne.

The people of Novgorod are now our friends.

What's your name?

-Denis.

I'm a scribe at the estate.

And who would you be?

-Alexei, son of Stepan.

We are foes no more.

And the people of Novgorod shall live among us.

And serve the domain of Moscow, as we do serve it.

I ask that you show them love as though they were your kin.

Read this.

Should any of the men in my service

build a homestead in Novgorod,

the Grand Prince of Moscow shall grant him a special boon:

fifty silver rubles.

The Moscow treasury

now has enough silver to mint some five hundred silver coins,

like this.

Do we have your permission?

You do.

You shall receive orders from Kuritsyn.

Thank you, my Prince.

Hold a moment, Fryazin.

My wife is grieving.

She refuses to eat, has not spoken to anyone for a month now.

You were the one who brought her from Rome,

who taught her our tongue,

You know how people are in Italy.

Would you tell me what to do?

I am from Bologna. She is from Greece.

I have nothing to tell you, Sire.

And furthermore,

every woman grieves in a different way.

When grief is strong, even the smallest joy seems great.

What might bring joy to the princess?

Books. Give her the books.

Has she been reading?

No, Sire. Not a single one.

Annushka!

Do not cry for me, Mother.

My heart bleeds with pain and longing.

God will heal all your pain, Mother.

How can He heal me,

when my only joy is to be with you.

You can be with me.

In my dreams?

No. At the temple.

You are singing.

No.

Annushka came to me in my dreams.

I spoke to her.

And she laughed.

She is free of sin, her soul is in paradise.

She said that I might see her at the Temple.

I saw that Temple...

An enormous Orthodox Cathedral...

So beautiful

that all the children's souls are drawn to it...

And where was that temple?

I do not know.

It's not located in some place, nor in some city.

It is just here, in my head.

It means it can be built, doesn't it?

You will let me build a temple?

Yes, I will.

Hm, aren't you afraid of trusting me on this?

I will trust you on this after you would eat at least anything.

We will be bringing stone from beyond Moscow

on the sleds all summer.

We would need to pick up the bricks left over

from the old ruined church.

And we need to make some new ones too...

and...

Are you in good health, Sophia Fominishna?

I am, Your Grace.

We... Came to ask you...

Please halt the work, Your Grace.

Allow us to make some changes here.

I will hire Italian masters.

The best that there are.

Italians?

Are Russians not good enough?

The laws of beauty are the same for all peoples.

Is that hubris speaking within you, Sophia Fominishna?

The Apostles listened to our Lord Jesus in caves.

And we are to build a temple following the all the rules,

in the image of the Ascension Cathedral in Vladimir.

Everything will follow he church canon.

Did I not promise a temple to you?

You did not promise it to me, you promised it to everyone.

-So bless it.

As for them being the Romans...

Well.

Knowing their craft is all that matters.

A bird is known by its flight, a man is known by his work.

I will think on it.

Rome

Call for him.

You have been entrusted with a special mission.

Go to Moscovia with the architect Fioravanti.

Your Sister Zoe

has betrayed the interests of the True Church.

I hope you will be more grateful.

Do you remember how you promised

to take revenge upon the Paleologues?

But Andreas is missing, and Zoe is in Moscovia.

He is already found.

The Pope is sending him to Moscovia with the architects.

-To Moscovia?

Keep your promise.

-Do I have to go to Moscovia?

And I shall reward you handsomely.