The Girl in the Tower is set in 14th-century Russia, a politically fractured region of principalities paying tribute to the Golden Horde, a powerful Mongol khanate that ruled over a huge swath of Eastern Europe and Asia for nearly three centuries, from the 1240s until 1502 (Szczepanski, Kallie. “The Golden Horde: The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire.” ThoughtCo.com, 14 May 2025). This period was marked by two intersecting historical trends: the rising power of the Grand Principality of Moscow and the internal decay of the Horde itself. Under ambitious leaders like the historical Dmitrii Ivanovich (portrayed in the novel), Moscow began consolidating its influence and challenging Mongol authority. At the same time, the Golden Horde was experiencing an era of intense civil war known as the “Great Troubles.” This instability led to a rapid succession of khans and weakened the Horde’s central control over its vast territories (Szczepanski). 

This historical power vacuum is the direct catalyst for the novel’s central conflict. The breakdown of Mongol authority in Russia allowed Tatar bandits, like those who burn villages and abduct children in the novel, to operate with impunity along the borders of Muscovy. The novel’s characters are acutely aware of this political reality, with Sasha observing that within the Horde, “The khans come and go like leaves now” (25). Dmitrii’s campaign to hunt these bandits is a reflection of a real historical imperative for Muscovite princes to secure their borders against the chaos spilling from the fragmenting Mongol empire, setting the stage for Russia’s eventual push for independence.

This political shift is mirrored by the shift in Russia from early spiritual beliefs to Orthodox Christianity. The world of medieval Russia that Vasya inhabits is defined by what scholars term dvoeverie, or “dual faith.” This concept describes the complex coexistence of Orthodox Christianity with much older pagan traditions. Following the official conversion of Kievan Rus’ in 988 CE, the church worked to supplant paganism, but pre-Christian beliefs endured for centuries, creating a syncretic spiritual landscape. These older beliefs were animistic, centered on a pantheon of household and nature spirits, collectively known as chyerti (Ivanitz, Linda J. Russian Folk Belief. M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1989).  

This tension between the institutional church and folk tradition is the central driver of the novel. Vasya embodies the old ways, leaving offerings for the domovoi (hearth spirit) and respecting the bannik (bathhouse spirit). In contrast, figures like Konstantin represent a rigid orthodoxy that condemns these spirits as demonic and their followers as witches. The uneasy blending of these two worlds is evident in daily life; for example, Princess Olga’s Christian ladies treasure her “strange stories from the north” about figures like Morozko the frost-demon (10), yet they simultaneously fear ghosts and invoke God’s protection. Vasya’s conflict is both personal and cultural, placing her at the center of a historical struggle between an ancient, nature-based spirituality and the monolithic power of the organized church that sought to erase it.