THE REIGN OF VASSILI
From 1480 to 1533.
Alliance With Hungary.--A Traveler From Germany.--Treaty Between
Russia and Germany.--Embassage To Turkey.--Court Etiquette.--Death of
the Princess Sophia.--Death of Ivan.--Advancement of
Knowledge.--Succession of Vassili.--Attack Upon the Horde.--Rout of
the Russians.--The Grand Prince Takes the Title of Emperor.--Turkish
Envoy To Moscow.--Efforts To Arm Europe Against the Turks.--Death of
the Emperor Maximilian, and Accession of Charles V. To the Empire of
Germany.--Death of Vassili.
The retreat of the Tartars did not redound much to the glory of Ivan.
The citizens of Moscow, in the midst of their rejoicings, were far
from being satisfied with their sovereign. They thought that he had
not exhibited that courage which characterizes grand souls, and that
he had been signally wanting in that devotion which leads one to
sacrifice himself for the good of his country. They lavished, however,
their praises upon the clergy, especially upon the Archbishop Vassian,
whose letter to the grand prince was read and re-read throughout the
kingdom with the greatest enthusiasm. This noble prelate, whose
Christian heroism had saved his country, soon after fell sick and
died, deplored by all Russia.
Hungary was at this time governed by Matthias, son of the renowned
Hunniades,[6] a prince equally renowned for his valor and his genius.
Matthias, threatened by Poland, sent embassadors to Russia to seek
alliance with Ivan III. Eagerly Russia accepted the proposition, and
entered into friendly connections with Hungary, which kingdom was
then, in civilization, quite in advance of the northern empire.
[Footnote 6: See Empire of Austria, p. 71.]
In the year 1486, an illustrious cavalier, named Nicholas Poppel,
visited Russia, taking a letter of introduction to the grand prince
from Frederic III., Emperor of Germany. He had no particular mission,
and was led only by motives of curiosity. "I have seen," said the
traveler, "all the Christian countries and all the kings, and I
wished, also, to see Russia and the grand prince."
The lords at Moscow had no faith in these words, and were persuaded
that he was a spy sent by their enemy, the King of Poland. Though they
watched him narrowly, he was not incommoded, and left the kingdom
after having satisfied his desire to see all that was remarkable. His
report to the German emperor was such that, two years after, he
returned, in the quality of an embassador from Frederic III., with a
letter to Ivan III., dated Ulm, December 26th, 1488. The nobles now
received Poppel with great cordiality. He said to them:
"After having left Russia, I went to find the emperor and the princes
of Germany at Nuremburg. I spent a long time giving them information
respecting your country and the grand prince. I corrected the false
impression, conceived by them, that Ivan III. was but the vassal of
Casimir, King of Poland. 'That is impossible,' I said to them. 'The
monarch of Moscow is much more powerful and much richer than the King
of Poland. His estates are immense, his people numerous, his wisdom
extraordinary.' All the court listened to me with astonishment, and
especially the emperor himself, who often invited me to dine, and
passed hours with me conversing upon Russia. At length, the emperor,
desiring to enter into an alliance with the grand prince, has sent me
to the court of your majesty as his embassador."
He then solicited, in the name of Frederic III., the hand of Ivan's
daughter, Helen, for the nephew of the emperor, Albert, margrave of
Baden. The proposition for the marriage of the daughter of the grand
prince with a mere margrave was coldly received. Ivan, however, sent
an embassador to Germany with the following instructions:
"Should the emperor ask if the grand prince will consent to the
marriage of his daughter with the margrave of Baden, reply that such
an alliance is not worthy of the grandeur of the Russian monarch,
brother of the ancient emperors of Greece, who, in establishing
themselves at Constantinople, ceded the city of Rome to the popes.
Leave the emperor, however, to see that there is some hope of success
should he desire one of our princesses for his son, the King
Maximilian."
The Russian embassador was received in Germany with the most
flattering attentions, even being conducted to a seat upon the throne
by the side of the emperor. It is said that Maximilian, who was then a
widower, wished to marry Helen, the daughter of the grand prince, but
he wished, very naturally, first to see her through the eyes of his
embassador, and to ascertain the amount of her dowry. To this request
a polite refusal was returned.
"How could one suppose," writes the Russian historian Karamsin, "that
an illustrious monarch and a princess, his daughter, could consent to
the affront of submitting the princess to the judgment of a foreign
minister, who might declare her unworthy of his master?"
The pride of the Russian court was touched, and the emperor's
embassador was informed, in very plain language, that the grand prince
was not at all disposed to make a matter of merchandise of his
daughter--that, _after_ her marriage, the grand prince would present
her with a dowry such as he should deem proportionate to the rank of
the united pair, and that, above all, should she marry Maximilian, she
should not change her religion, but should always have residing with
her chaplains of the Greek church. Thus terminated the question of the
marriage. A treaty, however, of alliance was formed between the two
nations which was signed at Moscow, August 16th, 1490. In this treaty,
Ivan III. subscribes himself, "by the grace of God, monarch of all
the Russias, prince of Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskof, Yougra,
Viatha, Perme and Bulgaria." We thus see what portion of the country
was then deemed subject to his sway.
Ivan III., continually occupied in extending, consolidating and
developing the resources of his vast empire, could not but look with
jealousy upon the encroachments of the Turks, who had already overrun
all Greece, who had taken a large part of Hungary, and who were
surging up the Danube in wave after wave of terrible invasion. Still,
sound judgment taught him that the hour had not yet come for him to
interpose; that it was his present policy to devote all his energies
to the increase of Russian wealth and power. It was a matter of the
first importance that Russia should enjoy the privileges of commerce
with those cities of Greece now occupied by the Turks, to which Russia
had access through the Dnieper and the Don, and partially through the
vast floods of the Volga. But the Russian merchants were incessantly
annoyed by the oppression of the lawless Turks. The following letter
from Ivan III. to the Sultan Bajazet II., gives one a very clear idea
of the relations existing between the two countries at that time. It
is dated Moscow, August 31st, 1492.
"To Bajazet, Sultan, King of the princes of Turkey, Sovereign of the
earth and of the sea, we, Ivan III., by the grace of God, only true
and hereditary monarch of all the Russias, and of many other countries
of the North and of the East; behold! that which we deem it our duty
to write to your majesty. We have never sent embassadors to each other
with friendly greetings. Nevertheless, the Russian merchants have
traversed your estates in the exercise of a traffic advantageous to
both of our empires. Often they complain to me of the vexations they
encounter from your magistrates, but I have kept silence. The last
summer, the pacha of Azof forced them to dig a ditch, and to carry
stones for the construction of the edifices of the city; more than
this, they have compelled our merchants of Azof and of Caffa to
dispose of their merchandise for one half their value. If any one of
the merchants happens to fall sick, the magistrates place seals upon
the goods of all, and, if he dies, the State seizes all these goods,
and restores but half if he recover. No regard is paid to the clauses
of a will, the Turkish magistrates recognizing no heirs but themselves
to the property of the Russians.
"Such glaring injustice has compelled me to forbid my merchants to
engage in traffic in your country. From whence come these acts of
violence? Formerly these merchants paid only the legal tax, and they
were permitted to trade without annoyance. Are you aware of this, or
not? One word more. Mahomet II., your father, was a prince of grandeur
and renown. He wished, it is reported, to send to us embassadors,
proposing friendly relations. Providence frustrated the execution of
this project. But why should we not now see the accomplishment of this
plan? We await your response."
The Russian embassador received orders from Ivan III. to present his
document to the sultan, standing, and not upon his knees, as was the
custom in the Turkish court; he was not to yield precedence to the
embassador of any other nation whatever, and was to address himself
only to the sultan, and not to the pachas. Plestchief, the Russian
envoy, obeyed his instructions to the letter, and by his haughty
bearing excited the indignation of the Turkish nobles. The pacha of
Constantinople received him with great politeness, loaded him with
attentions, invited him to dine, and begged him to accept of a present
of some rich dresses, and a purse of ten thousand sequins. The haughty
Russian declined the invitation to dine, returning the purse and the
robes with the ungracious response,
"I have nothing to say to pachas. I have no need to wear their
clothes, neither have I any need of their money. I wish only to speak
to the sultan."
Notwithstanding this arrogance, Bajazet II., the sultan, received
Plestchief politely, and returned a conciliatory answer to the grand
prince, promising the redress of those grievances of which he
complained. The Turk was decidedly more civilized than the Christian.
He wrote to Mengli Ghirei, the pacha of the Crimea, where most of
these annoyances had occurred:
"The monarch of Russia, with whom I desire to live in friendly
relations, has sent to me a clown. I can not consequently allow any of
my people to accompany him back to Russia, lest they should find him
offensive. Respected as I am from the east to the west, I blush in
being exposed to such an affront. It is in consequence my wish that my
son, the sultan of Caffa, should correspond directly with the grand
prince of Moscow."
With a sense of delicacy as attractive as it is rare, Bajazet II.
refrained from complaining of the boorishness of the Russian envoy,
but wrote to the grand prince, Ivan III., in the following courteous
terms:
"You have sent, in the sincerity of your soul, one of your lords to
the threshold of my palace. He has seen me and has handed me your
letter, which I have pressed to my heart, since you have expressed a
desire to become my friend. Let your embassadors and your merchants no
longer fear to frequent our country. They have only to come to certify
to the veracity of all which your envoy will report to you from us.
May God grant him a prosperous journey and the grace to convey to you
our profound salutation--to you and to your friends; for those whom
you love are equally dear to us."
In the whole of this transaction the Turkish court appears far
superior to the Russian in the refinements and graces of polished
life. There seems to be something in a southern clime which
ameliorates harshness of manners. The Grecian emperors, perhaps, in
abandoning their palaces, left also to their conquerors that suavity
which has transmitted even to our day the enviable title of the
"polished Greek."
In the year 1503, Ivan III. lost his spouse, the Greek princess
Sophia. Her death affected the aged monarch deeply, and seriously
impaired his health. Twenty-five years had now elapsed since he
received the young and beautiful princess as his bride, and during all
these tumultuous years her genius and attractions had been the most
brilliant ornament of his court. The infirmities of age pressed
heavily upon the king, and it was manifest that his days could not
much longer be prolonged. With much ceremony, in the presence of his
lords, he dictated his will, declaring his oldest son Vassili to be
his successor as monarch, and assigning to all his younger children
rich possessions. The passion for the aggrandizement of Russia still
glowed strongly in his bosom even in the hour of death. Vassili,
though twenty-five years of age, was as yet unmarried. He decided to
select his spouse from the daughters of the Russian nobles, and
fifteen hundred of the most beautiful belles of the kingdom were
brought to the court that the prince, from among them, might make his
selection. The choice fell upon a maiden of exquisite beauty, of
Tartar descent. Her father was an officer in the army, a son of one of
the chiefs of the horde. The marriage was immediately consummated, and
all Moscow was in a blaze of illumination, rejoicing over the nuptials
of the heir to the crown. The decay of the aged monarch, however,
advanced, day by day. His death, at last, was quite sudden, in the
night of the 27th of October, 1505, at the age of sixty-six years and
nine months, and at the close of a reign of forty three years and a
half.
Ivan III. will, through all ages, retain the rank of one of the most
illustrious of the sovereigns of Russia. The excellencies of his
character and the length of his reign, combined in enabling him to
give an abiding direction to the career of his country. He made his
appearance on the political stage just in the time when a new system
of government, favorable to the power of the sovereigns of Europe, was
rising upon the ruins of feudalism. The royal authority was gaining
rapidly in England and in France. Spain, freed from the domination of
the Moors, had just become a power of the first rank. The fleets of
Portugal were whitening the most distant seas, conferring upon the
energetic kingdom wonderful wealth and power. Italy, though divided,
exulted in her fleet, her maritime wealth, and her elevation above all
other nations in the arts, the sciences and the intrigues of politics.
Frederic IV., Emperor of Germany, an inefficient, apathetic man, was
unable to restore repose to the empire, distracted by civil war. His
energetic son, Maximilian, was already meditating that political
change which should give new strength to the monarch, and which
finally raised the house of Austria to the highest point of earthly
grandeur. Hungary, Bohemia and Poland, governed by near relatives,
might almost be considered as a single power, and they were, as by
instinct, allied with Austria in endeavors to resist the encroachments
of the Turks.
Inventions and discoveries of the greatest importance were made in the
world during the reign of Ivan III. Gutenberg and Faust in Strasbourg
invented the art of printing. Christopher Columbus discovered the New
World. Until then the productions of India reached central Europe
through Persia, the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azof. On the 20th of
November, 1497, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, thus
opening a new route to the Indies, and adding immeasurably to the
enterprise and wealth of the world. A new epoch seemed to dawn upon
mankind, favorable at least to the tranquillity of nations, the
progress of civilization and the strength of governments. Thus far
Russia, in her remote seclusion, had taken no part in the politics of
Europe. It was not until the reign of Ivan III. that this great
northern empire emerged from that state of chaos in which she had
neither possessed definiteness of form nor assured existence.
Ivan III. found his nation in subjection to the Tartars. He threw off
the yoke; became one of the most illustrious monarchs in Europe,
commanding respect throughout Christendom; he took his position by the
side of emperors and sultans, and by the native energies of his mind,
unenlightened by study, he gave the wisest precepts for the internal
and the external government of his realms. But he was a rude, stern
man, the legitimate growth of those savage times. It is recorded that
a single angry look from him would make any woman faint; that at the
table the nobles trembled before him, not daring to utter a word.
Vassili now ascended the throne, and with great energy carried out the
principles established by his father. The first important measure of
the new monarch was to fit out an expedition against the still
powerful but vagabond horde at Kezan, on the Volga, to punish them for
some acts of insubordination. A powerful armament descended the Volga
in barges. The infantry landed near Kezan on the 22d of May, 1506. The
Tartars, with a numerous array of cavalry, were ready to receive their
assailants, and fell upon them with such impetuosity and courage that
the Russians were overpowered, and driven back, with much slaughter,
to their boats. They consequently retreated to await the arrival of
the cavalry. The Tartars, imagining that the foe, utterly discomfited,
had fled back to Moscow, surrendered themselves to excessive joy. A
month passed away, and on the 22d of June an immense assemblage of
uncounted thousands of Tartars were gathered in festivity on the
plains of Arsk, which spread around their capital city. More than a
thousand tents were spread upon the field. Merchants from all parts
were gathered there displaying their goods, and a scene of festivity
and splendor was exhibited, such as modern civilization has never
paralleled.
Suddenly the Russian army, horse and infantry, were seen upon the
plain, as if they had dropped from the clouds. They rushed upon the
encampment, cutting down the terrified multitude, with awful butchery,
and trampling them beneath their horses' feet. The fugitives, in
dismay, sought to regain the city, crushing each other in their flight
and in the desperate endeavor to crowd in at the gates and along the
narrow streets. The Russians, exhausted by their victory, and lured by
the luxuries which filled the tents, instead of taking the city by
storm, as, in the confusion they probably could have done, surrendered
themselves to pillage and voluptuous indulgence. They found the tents
filled with food, liquors of all kinds and a great quantity of
precious commodities, and forgetting they were in the presence of an
enemy, they plunged into the wildest excesses of festivity and
wassail.
The disgraceful carousal was briefly terminated during the night, but
renewed, with additional zest, in the morning. The songs and the
shouts of the drunken soldiers were heard in the streets of Kezan,
and, from the battlements, the Tartars beheld these orgies, equaling
the most frantic revels of pagan bacchanals. The Tartar khan, from the
top of a bastion, watched the spectacle, and perceiving the negligence
of his enemies, prepared for a surprise and for vengeance. On the 25th
of June, just at the dawn of day, the gates were thrown open, and
twenty thousand horsemen and thirty thousand infantry precipitated
themselves with frightful yells upon the Russians, stupefied with
sleep and wine. Though the Russians exceeded the Tartars two to one,
yet they fled towards their boats like a flock of sheep, without order
and without arms. The plain was speedily strewn with their dead bodies
and crimsoned with their blood. Too much terrified to think even of
resistance, they clambered into their barges, cut the cables, and
pushed out into the stream. But for the valor of the Russian cavalry
all would have been destroyed. In the deepest humiliation the
fugitives returned to Moscow.
Vassili resolved upon another expedition which should inflict signal
vengeance upon the horde. But while he was making his preparations,
the khan, terrified in view of the storm which was gathering, sent an
embassage to Moscow imploring pardon and peace, offering to deliver up
all the prisoners and to take a new oath of homage to the grand
prince. Vassili, who was just on the eve of a war with Poland, with
alacrity accepted these concessions. The King of Poland had heard,
with much joy, of the death of Ivan III., whose energetic arm he had
greatly feared, and he now hoped to take advantage of the youth and
inexperience of Vassili. A harassing warfare was commenced between
Russia and Poland, which raged for several years. Peace was finally
made, Russia extorting from Poland several important provinces.
In the year 1514, Vassili, entering into a treaty with Maximilian, the
Emperor of Germany, laid aside the title of grand prince and assumed
for himself that of emperor, which was _Kayser_ in the German language
and _Tzar_ in the Russian. With great energy Vassili pushed the work
of concentrating and extending his empire, every year strengthening
his power over the distant principalities. Bajazet II., the Turkish
sultan, the victim of a conspiracy, was dethroned by his son Selim.
Vassili, wishing, for the sake of commerce, to maintain friendly
relations with Turkey, sent an embassador to the new sultan. The
embassador, Alexeief, was authorized to make all proper protestations
of friendship, but to be very cautious not to compromit the dignity of
his sovereign. He was instructed not to prostrate himself before the
sultan, as was the oriental custom, but merely to offer his hands. He
was to convey rich presents to Selim, with a letter from the Russian
court, but was by no means to enquire for the health of the sultan,
unless the sultan should first enquire for the health of the emperor.
Notwithstanding these chilling punctilios, Selim received the Russian
embassador with much cordiality, and sent back with him a Turkish
embassador to the court of Moscow. Nine months, from August to May,
were occupied in the weary journey. While traversing the vast deserts
of Veronage, their horses, exhausted and starving, sank beneath them,
and they were obliged to toil along for weary leagues on foot,
suffering from the want both of food and water. They nearly perished
before reaching the frontiers of Rezan, but here they found horses and
retinue awaiting them, sent by Vassili. Upon their arrival at Moscow,
the Turkish embassador was received with great enthusiasm. It was
deemed an honor, as yet unparalleled in Russia, that the terrible
conquerors of Constantinople, before whose arms all Christendom was
trembling, should send an embassador fifteen hundred miles to Moscow
to seek the alliance of the emperor.
The Turkish envoy was received with great magnificence by Vassili,
seated upon his throne, and surrounded by his nobles clad in robes of
the most costly furs. The embassador, Theodoric Kamal, a Greek by
birth, with the courtesy of the polished Greek, kneeling, kissed the
hand of the emperor, presented him the letter of his master, the
sultan, beautifully written upon parchment in Arabic letters, and
assured the emperor of the wish of the sultan to live with him in
eternal friendship. But the Turk, loud in protestations, was not
disposed to alliance. It was evident that the office of a spy
constituted the most important part of the mission of Kamal.
This embassador had but just left the court of Moscow when another
appeared, from the Emperor Maximilian, of Germany. The message with
which the Baron Herberstein was commissioned from the court of Vienna
to the court of Moscow is sufficiently important to be recorded.
"Ought not sovereigns," said the embassador, "to seek the glory of
religion and the happiness of their subjects? Such are the principles
which have ever guided the emperor. If he has waged war, it has never
been from the love of false glory, nor to seize the territories of
others, but to punish those who have dared to provoke him. Despising
danger, he has been seen in battle, exposing himself like the humblest
soldier, and gaining victories against superior forces because the
Almighty lends his arm to aid the virtuous.
"The Emperor of Germany is now reposing in the bosom of tranquillity.
The pope and all the princes of Italy have become his allies. Spain,
Naples, Sicily and twenty-six other realms recognize his grandson,
Charles V., for their legitimate and hereditary monarch. The King of
Portugal is attached to him by the ties of relationship, and the King
of England by the bonds of sincere friendship. The sovereigns of
Denmark and Hungary have married the grand-daughters of Maximilian,
and the King of Poland testifies to unbounded confidence in him. I
will not speak of your majesty, for the Emperor of Russia well knows
how to appreciate the sentiments of the Emperor of Germany.
"The King of France and the republic of Venice, influenced by selfish
interests, and disregarding the prosperity of Christianity, have taken
no part in this fraternal alliance of all the rest of Europe; but they
are now beginning to manifest a love for peace, and I have just
learned that a treaty is about to be concluded with them, also. Let
any one now cast a glance over the world and he will see but one
Christian prince who is not attached to the Emperor Maximilian either
by the ties of friendship or affection. All Christian Europe is in
profound peace excepting Russia and Poland.
"Maximilian has sent me to your majesty, illustrious monarch, to
entreat you to restore repose to Christianity and to your states.
Peace causes empires to flourish; war destroys their resources and
hastens their downfall. Who can be sure of victory? Fortune often
frustrates the wisest plans.
"Thus far I have spoken in the name of my master. I wish now to add,
that on my journey I have been informed, by the Turkish embassador
himself, that the sultan has just captured Damascus, Jerusalem and all
Egypt. A traveler, worthy of credence, has confirmed this deplorable
intelligence. If, before these events, the power of the sultan
inspired us with just fear, ought not this success of his arms to
augment our apprehensions?"
Russia and Poland had long been engaged in a bloody frontier war, each
endeavoring to wrest provinces from the other; but Russia was steadily
on the advance. The embassage of Maximilian was not productive of
peace. On the contrary, Vassili immediately sent an embassador to
Vienna to endeavor to secure the aid of Austria in his war with
Poland. Maximilian received the envoy with very extraordinary marks of
favor. He was invited to sit, in the presence of the emperor, with his
hat upon his head, and whenever the embassador, during the conference,
mentioned the name of the Russian emperor, Maximilian uncovered his
head in token of respect. The great object of Maximilian's ambition
was to arm all Europe against the Turks; and he was exceedingly
anxious to secure the coöperation of a power so energetic as that of
Russia had now proved herself to be. Even then with consummate
foresight he wrote:
"The integrity of Poland is indispensable to the general interests of
Europe. The grandeur of Russia is becoming dangerous."
Maximilian soon sent another embassador to Moscow, who very forcibly
described the conquests made by the Turks in Europe, Asia and Africa,
from the Thracian Bosporus to the sands of Egypt, and from the
mountains of Caucasia to Venice. He spoke of the melancholy captivity
of the Greek church, which was the mother of Russian Christianity; of
the profanation of the holy sepulcher; of Nazareth, Bethlehem and
Sinai, which had fallen under the domination of the Turk. He
suggested, that the Turks, in possession of the Tauride--as the
country upon the north shore of the Black Sea, bounded by the Dnieper
and the Sea of Azof was then called--threatened the independence of
Russia herself; that Vassili had every thing to fear from the
ferocity, the perfidy and the success of Selim, who, stained with the
blood of his father and his three brothers, dared to assume the title
of master of the world. He entreated Vassili, as one of the most
powerful of the Christian princes, to follow the banner of Jesus
Christ, and to cease to make war upon Poland, thus exhausting the
Christian powers.
Maximilian died before his embassador returned, and thus these
negotiations were interrupted. But Russia was then all engrossed with
the desire of obtaining provinces from Poland. Turkey was too
formidable a foe to think of assailing, and the idea at that time of
wresting any territory from Turkey was preposterous. All Europe
combined could only hope to check any _further advance_ of the Moslem
cimeters. Influenced by these considerations, Vassili sent another
embassador to Constantinople to propose a treaty with Selim, which
might aid Russia in the strife with her hereditary rival. The sultan,
glad of any opportunity to weaken the Christian powers, ordered his
pachas to harass Poland in every possible way on the south, thus
enabling Russia more easily to assail the distracted kingdom on the
north. The King of Poland, Sigismond, was in consternation.
Poland was united with Rome in religion. The pope, Leo X., anxious to
secure the coöperation of both Poland and Russia against the Turks,
who were the great foe Christianity had most to dread, proposed that
the King of Poland, a renowned warrior, should be entrusted with the
supreme command of the Christian armies, and adroitly suggested to
Vassili, that Constantinople was the legitimate heritage of a Russian
monarch, who was the descendant of a Grecian princess; that it was
sound policy for him to turn his attention to Turkey; for Poland,
being a weaker power, and combined of two discordant elements, the
original Poland and Lithuania, would of necessity be gradually
absorbed by the growth of Russia.
Vassili hated the pope, because he had ordered _Te Deums_ in Rome, in
celebration of a victory which the Poles had obtained over the
Russians, and had called the Russians _heretics_. But still the bait
the pope presented was too alluring not to be caught at. In the
labyrinthine mazes of politics, however, there were obstacles to the
development of this policy which years only could remove.
Upon the death of Maximilian, Charles V. of Spain ascended the throne
of the German empire, and established a power, the most formidable
that had been known in Europe for seven hundred years, that is, since
the age of Charlemagne. Vassili was in the midst of these plans of
aggrandizement when death came with its unexpected summons. He was in
the fifty-fourth year of his age, with mental and physical vigor
unimpaired. A small pimple appeared on his left thigh, not larger than
the head of a pin, but from its commencement attended with
excruciating pain. It soon resolved itself into a malignant ulcer,
which rapidly exhausted all the vital energies. The dying king was
exceedingly anxious to prepare himself to stand before the judgment
seat of God. He spent days and nights in prayer, gave most
affectionate exhortations to all around him to live for heaven,
assumed monastic robes, resolving that, should he recover, he would
devote himself exclusively to the service of God. It was midnight the
3d of December, 1533. The king had just partaken of the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper. Suddenly his tongue was paralyzed, his eyes fixed,
his hands dropped by his side, and the metropolitan bishop, who had
been administering the last rites of religion, exclaimed, "It is all
over. The king is dead."