Travellers on the Narva–Tallinn highway near the village of Kõrkküla can hardly miss an unusual historic landmark. Just a few metres from the road stands an old cross made of limestone.
Two inscriptions survive on its sides, one in German and the other in Old Russian. Time has severely weathered the text, but its wording has been reconstructed.
The German inscription reads:
“On 4 February 1590, during the Russian attack on the Swedish camp, the nobleman Vasily Rosladin was killed.”
The Old Russian text, reconstructed by philologist Alexey Gippius, reads:
“In the year 7198, on the feast day of Isidore of Pelusium, 4 February, the servant of God Vasily Rosladin, son of Vladimir, was killed at this place.”
The monument is shaped like a Maltese cross. The side bearing the Old Russian inscription faces east.
A Memorial Cross, Not a Grave
There is no burial beneath the cross. In Rus’, crosses of this kind were known as memorial crosses. They were erected where people had died, particularly along roads and on battlefields.
The name of the deceased was usually inscribed on the cross so that travellers could pray for their soul. The cross commemorating Vasily Rosladin was probably erected by his relatives.
But why was a Russian nobleman in a Swedish camp, fighting against the Russian army?
Russian Noblemen in Swedish Service
To understand the circumstances of this story, we need to return to the events of the Livonian War.
Following successful Swedish military campaigns, Ivan the Terrible had lost most of his Livonian possessions by 1581. The Swedes had driven Russian troops out of Livonia, but not all Russian noblemen left the region.
In 1584, Swedish sources mention members of the Nasakin, Baranov, Golovachev and Rosladin noble families entering Swedish service.
Their reasons may have varied. Some fled Ivan the Terrible’s persecution, as Prince Andrey Kurbsky did. Others, having surrendered fortresses, were reluctant to return to Russia, where they might be accused of treason. Still others wanted to retain their estates in Livonia, which had become their new home after years of warfare.
After Sweden’s conquest of Ingria in 1617, another wave of Russian noblemen entered Swedish service.
The term “bajor” was used at the Swedish court to refer to Russian noblemen. It is thought to derive from the Russian word “boyar”. Most of these men, however, were not powerful boyars but members of the lesser landed nobility.
The Three Rosladin Brothers
Swedish sources report that three Rosladin brothers — Pyotr, Fyodor and Vasily — arrived in Narva from Russia in June 1582. They entered the service of the renowned Swedish military commander Pontus De la Gardie.
The exact reason for their departure from Russia is unknown.
The Russian historian S. B. Veselovsky suggested that Pyotr Rosladin may have been a first cousin of the military commander Vasily Vasilyevich Rosladin-Kvashnin. This commander took part in the Livonian War: in 1558 he was deputy commander of the Left-Hand Regiment, in 1561 he commanded at Rakvere, and in 1563 he participated in the capture of Polotsk.
During the oprichnina period, between 1570 and 1573, Vasily Vasilyevich Rosladin-Kvashnin was executed on Ivan the Terrible’s orders. According to Prince Andrey Kurbsky, two of the commander’s younger brothers died in German Livonia.
No information survives about whether they had children. Pyotr Rosladin and his brothers are not mentioned in the Velvet Book of the Russian nobility. Veselovsky believed that the names of members of disgraced families may have been omitted from genealogical records.
It is possible that the disgrace that befell the entire Rosladin family prompted the brothers to enter Swedish service.
Estates in Estonia and the Rosladins’ Position
Initially, Russian noblemen in Swedish service received monetary salaries. From 1584, they began to receive land in Estland, and later in Sweden, Finland and Ingria.
At first, these estates were often on islands, particularly Hiiumaa. The Swedish authorities probably preferred to keep former Russian subjects away from the Russian border.
Records of the 1586 land survey of Estland mention that Vasily Rosladin owned land on the island of Hiiumaa. He had received it from Pontus De la Gardie and King John III of Sweden.
After Hiiumaa returned to the direct administration of the Swedish king in 1589, the Russian bajors were granted estates elsewhere in Estland, including Läänemaa.
Another Russian nobleman in Swedish service, Kesary Baranov, owned the village of Väike-Keskküla in Läänemaa. The village came to be called Kasari in his honour. Today, the largest river in western Estonia also bears the name Kasari.
In 1590, Pyotr Rosladin, by then a colonel in the Swedish army, received land in the Lihula district from the king. He built Väike-Rõude Manor there.
Pyotr was apparently married to Anna Nasakina, daughter of Leonty Nasakin, who had also entered Swedish service. Records in the Swedish National Archives indicate that the Rosladin brothers were granted the villages of Järise and Saue in southern Läänemaa.
It is also known that Vasily Rosladin was in Lihula with four companions in October 1589.
The Battle near Kõrkküla
In 1590, the truce between Sweden and Russia ended. On the orders of Boris Godunov, who effectively governed the state under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the Russian army launched a campaign to recapture the fortresses lost during the Livonian War.
The campaign’s targets were Korela, Oreshek, Koporye, Yam, Ivangorod and Narva.
In January 1590, Russian troops led by Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich marched from Novgorod towards Yam. The fortress was captured on 27 January. The main forces then advanced towards Ivangorod and Narva.
Narva and Ivangorod were defended by a Swedish garrison of around 1,600 men under Karl Horn. A Swedish field army of approximately 5,000 men, commanded by Göran Boije, was also stationed nearby.
Learning of the Russians’ considerable numerical superiority, Boije left a small detachment outside Narva and withdrew with his main forces to the village of Koila, approximately 25 kilometres from Rakvere.
The Russian advance regiment, commanded by Prince Dmitry Khvorostinin, defeated the Swedish blocking force near Narva and continued further into Estland.
On 4 February, Göran Boije received news that a Russian force of up to 10,000 men was approaching. The Swedish commander marched out to meet the enemy. A battle took place near the village of Kõrkküla, ending in a Swedish victory.
According to Boije, the Swedes pursued the retreating Russians for about three miles, as far as Aa Manor, and captured many Russians and Tatars.
However, the Swedish army also suffered losses. Among those killed were Hans Maydell, Otto Wrangel and Vasily Rosladin.
It is not known for certain whether Vasily died in battle or was taken prisoner. If he fell into Russian hands, his position as a man who had served against his own country was probably extremely precarious.
The Siege of Narva and Ivangorod
Meanwhile, the Russian army began besieging Narva and Ivangorod. For 17 days, Russian troops bombarded the Swedish fortifications and opened several breaches in Narva’s walls.
On 18 February, the streltsy launched an assault on the town. The Swedes repelled the attack, although the garrison suffered heavy losses.
Realising that a continued siege could cost the lives of the remaining defenders, Narva’s commandant agreed to negotiations. On 25 February 1590, a one-year truce was concluded in the Russian camp. Under its terms, Ivangorod, Koporye and Yam were returned to Russia.
The Fate of the Rosladin Brothers
The brothers’ story continued for several more years.
In the winter of 1591, the Swedish commander Moritz Grip crossed the Narva River and invaded Russian territory. His target was Novgorod. However, severe weather prevented the Swedish army from maintaining its supplies, forcing it to retreat.
The return march proved disastrous: a substantial part of the army died of cold and starvation. Fyodor Rosladin was among those who did not return from the campaign.
A letter from the Swedish senior lieutenant Johan de la Blanck reports that Fyodor died in March 1591 while the Swedish force was returning to Estland. The same letter mentions the military service of the Swedish bajors Vasily Nasakin and his sons, as well as Grigory and Menshov Baranov.
Military clashes between Russian and Swedish forces continued in the border regions in the years that followed. After the death of King John III of Sweden, his son Sigismund III Vasa concluded a temporary peace with Russia.
The war finally ended with the Treaty of Teusina, signed in May 1595. The two sides proclaimed an “eternal peace”, although subsequent events showed that it would be short-lived.
The exact date of Pyotr Rosladin’s death is unknown. He had probably died by 1608, when the Rosladins’ Väike-Rõude Manor was transferred to another owner.
Fritz Rosladin
In 1600, Pyotr and Anna Rosladin adopted a Swedish boy who was given the name Fritz Rosladin.
Fritz rose rapidly through the military ranks. Before the age of thirty, he had become a colonel in the Swedish army, and in 1625 he was granted Swedish nobility.
In 1628, Fritz Rosladin was killed defending Stralsund. With his death, the male line of the Rosladin family in Sweden came to an end.
A Memory Preserved by the Roadside
Today, the memorial cross near Kõrkküla recalls a little-known chapter in the history of Estonia and the Livonian War. It tells the story not only of one man’s death, but also of Russian noblemen caught between two states and two armies.
The cross has stood beside the road for more than four centuries. It does not mark a grave, but preserves the memory of a man who died at this very place.
Angelio treats Estonia’s historic cemeteries, monuments and places of remembrance with care and respect. You can learn more about the historic cemeteries of Ida-Virumaa and arrange grave care at angelio.ee.