Sign of Deliverance
While the besieged citizens of Novgorod huddled for protection in the city gaol, Archbishop John remained in his cathedral to pray.
1170
King Henry II 1154-1189
Icon ‘of the Sign’, Great Novgorod, Russia.
From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
‘Our Lady of the Sign’, the very same twelfth-century icon (albeit heavily retouched) which was raised on the walls of Novgorod in 1170. It shows the Virgin Mary at prayer with Christ as if in her womb; the ‘sign’ is the sign of Emmanuel prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. The icon was kept in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street for nearly two centuries, then moved to its own dedicated church, subsequently rebuilt as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign (the Znamensky Cathedral) in 1682. Since 1992, it has been displayed in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom at the heart of the city.
Introduction
After the death of his father Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince of Kiev, in 1157, Andrey Bogolubsky, Prince of Vladimir, Rostov and Suzdal, began to pursue his dream of ruling all Rus’. He drove Prince Mstislav II from Kiev in 1169, and in February 1170 a little matter of unpaid tribute gave him an excuse to besiege Mstislav’s son Roman in the historic city of Veliky Novgorod.
IN the winter of 1169, Andrey Bogolubsky, Prince of Vladimir, Rostov and Suzdal, sent to Novgorod in the northwest for their customary tribute. His tax-gatherers were violent, however, and not only did the people of Novgorod defend themselves with surprising determination, but they also raided the enemy camp and took back their treasure.
So the following February Andrey despatched his son Mstislav,* in command of a large army recruited from four duchies under his governance, to lay siege to the historic city. The Novgorodians hastily strengthened their fortifications, and huddled together in the city gaol; meanwhile Andrey’s noblemen, encamped before the gates, were poring over a street map, working out in a most friendly manner how they would share out Novgorod’s districts after they had won.
Not every citizen of Novgorod was quivering in the cells, however. The second night of the siege found Archbishop John,* about whom many strange tales are told, praying fervently in his cathedral before an icon of Christ.
The names can be confusing. Andrey’s sons were Yuri, Mstislav and Gleb. Mstislav II of Kiev also had three sons, Roman, Sviatoslav and Vsevolod. This Mstislav defeated Andrey’s father Yuri Dolgoruky in 1156, and the following year took his crown as Prince of Kiev. But in 1169, Andrey tasted revenge, deposing Mstislav and briefly putting his brother, also called Gleb, on the Kievan throne. Moreover, in 1172 Andrey’s son Yuri, consort of the famous Queen Tamar of Georgia, became Prince of Novgorod in place of Roman.
St John was Archbishop of Novgorod from 1165 to his death in 1186. His feast day is September 7th.
