Chapter XVII: Siege of Moscow (2)

Thus was accomplished, though not very strictly, the union of Lithuania with Poland, promised by Yagello at his crowning. Vitold acknowledged himself to be only lifelong vicegerent. There was no mention of a tribute, which had been demanded once by the late Queen Yedviga, who affirmed that Lithuania and Russia were hers as a marriage gift from Yagello. Owing to this union, Vitold now recovered completely from that Vorskla disaster.

Those two cousins, Yagello and Vitold, were remarkable men. Yagello gave away what he had for a show and a glitter. Vitold was willing to give that which he must give for help to win, what for him was the one prize, dominion; and when he had this dominion he snatched back that which he had given to those who had helped him. Poland aided Vitold in everything, with the intent of taking from him when the time came all that he might win from others through Polish assistance, while he wished to keep all that he gained, no matter how he acquired it. Vitold renewed his incursive advance upon Eastern and Northern Russia, but the first weighty blow was reserved for that active and dangerous neighbor, that unsparing foe of Lithuania and Poland, the Teutonic Order.

The apparent cause for this collision was Jmud, which Vitold, when preparing to struggle with Yagello so as to bring him to his side, had given to the Knights of the Cross in return for their aid, and which had remained pagan after Lithuania itself had been Catholicized through Yagello by contract. The Germans introduced Christianity with fire and sword into Jmud, entering that region by two sides, Livonia and Russia. The people met their attackers with reprisals and uprisings, with resistance of all kinds, and begged their prince, Vitold, to help them. He meanwhile, through policy, avoided a break with the Order, and sometimes even helped that same Order to crush his own people. But he was waiting to choose the right moment to take back his inheritance.

At this juncture there rose a dispute between the Order and Yagello, touching lands called Neumarch, or New March, which belonged to Sigismund of Hungary. Later on Neumarch was mortgaged to the Order by Sigismund, that Emperor famous for the evil of his friendship, and the virtue of his enmity, renowned also for the burning of John Huss after he had given him a safe-conduct, one of the most infamous acts recorded in the history of any country. This land touched on Poland. Its boundaries were disputed, and caused a Polish grievance. The Poles had another and greater grievance: The Order had taken from them Pomerania on the Baltic. There was hatred on both sides.

The Order felt confident of victory, and beyond any doubt would have won it had Poland been alone in the conflict. From 1393 till 1407 Konrad von Jungingen, the Grand Master, a man who was pious and peace-loving, repressed all hostile movements. But the Order grew weary of peace, and when Konrad died his cousin, Ulrich, who was as warlike as Konrad had been peace-loving, was chosen Grand Master and war was inevitable. There were many causes for conflict, but the overshadowing and great one was race ambition. The Order felt confident of victory, and chose its moment for battle.

July 15, 1410, the forces of the Order engaged those led by Vitold and Yagello at Tannenberg, and there the Order met a merciless defeat, from which it never rose as a military body. But, though utterly vanquished, the Order was able, with endurance and management, to save Eastern Prussia to the Germans, and in Königsberg, the capital of that Prussia, was crowned the first Prussian king, whose descendant is now the Emperor of Germany.

Poland, before the crowning of Yagello, had been on the verge of destruction from the Order, which counted the Poles as sure victims, and included with them the Lithuanians. By the union of Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian forces, German plans were baffled, and Poland, after the victory at Tannenberg, rose high in European estimation. But Yagello, through indecision, and because of Vitold’s plans, failed much in settling with the Order. Instead of rushing straightway from the field of victory to Marienberg, the stronghold of the Order, the Polish king appeared there only on the tenth day.

Meanwhile, Heinrich von Plauen, Komtur of the Order, had led home the remnant of the knightly army, and brought in provisions. He defended Marienberg valiantly. The siege dragged on; disease struck the armies of Yagello and Vitold. Help was marching to the Order from Germany and Livonia. Sigismund, just chosen Emperor, threatened war openly. Vitold abandoned the siege and left Marienberg, influenced, it was said, by cunning hints that by helping Poland over much he would harm his own power and position. He was followed by Prince Yanush of Mazovia, and Zemovit, his brother.

At last Yagello raised the siege and marched away from the stronghold. Many Prussian towns which had surrendered at first to Yagello returned now to the Order. War lasted till the following year, and ended with the treaty of Torun (Thorn), by which the Order retained almost all it had held previous to the battle. Jmud went, however, to Vitold, and the land of Dabryn to Yagello, but the gains were not great if compared with what they might have been.

Close relations between Vitold’s lands and those of the Polish Crown continued because of common danger from the Germans. The Order recovered considerably under its new Master. It could fall back for support upon Germany, where Sigismund befriended it. The greatest loss for the Order was Jmud, which divided Livonia from Prussia, and thus hindered contact between the two parts of the Order. Jmud prevented the union of Germanized lands on the Baltic. But a greater gain to the Poles was the act of Horodlo.

In October, 1413, Yagello, with Polish magnates, and Vitold, with Lithuanian and Russian boyars, met at the Russian town, Horodlo. At that meeting an agreement was made touching the lands under Vitold, and the land ruled by Yagello. The agreement of 1401 concerning succession was repeated. Diets which touched both political divisions were assembled at Lublin or Parchov. To effect a more intimate union, Russo-Lithuanian boyars received the same rights as Polish nobles. They were associated with Polish families in heraldry. Thus the voevoda of Vilna, Monivid, was associated with the Polish shield belonging to Leliva. A Lithuanian prince or boyar received a shield which belonged to a Polish stock. In addition, the rights of nobles in Poland, already exceptional, were extended to nobles in Lithuania and Russia, but these nobles were to be Catholic in every case. A number of great offices of the Polish kind were created. None but Catholics, however, could hold them. Thus Polish predominance in the upper circles of Russia was established directly. All heathen parts of Lithuania had been Catholicized by Yagello, but in Russia both princes and people were Orthodox. Some Lithuanian princes were Catholic, and some were Orthodox. But no man could enjoy those new rights, or hold a high office, without becoming a Catholic.

Thus the significance of the Grand Prince of Lithuania and Russia, and the Orthodox Church was diminished, for no prince or noble could hold an office created at Horodlo, or enjoy the rights of a noble of the Commonwealth, without being Catholic. In other words, two social systems and two kinds of government were confronted at Horodlo,—the Russo-Lithuanian on one side, and the Polish on the other. Vitold’s aim in church matters was to rend the church union of Russia, to separate the western provinces of Moscow. He wished that the metropolitan of all Russia should be resident in Kief, where he himself was master, and have jurisdiction in Moscow. In case that could not be effected, he wanted that Western Russia should have its own metropolitan. Hence during the fourteenth century, more than once there were two metropolitans, one in Moscow, another in Kief, and sometimes a third in Galitch. We have seen that Cyprian, at first metropolitan in the West, outlived his Moscow opponents Mityai and Pimen, and united the whole Church in Russia. Though he, like his predecessors, lived in Moscow, still he preserved the friendship of Vitold and Yagello. He often visited the West and remained for long periods; he consulted Yagello and Vitold, and generally upheld the church unity of Russia, excepting Galitch, over which he had also some influence. The last years of his life were passed mainly near Moscow, where he translated several books, and wrote others. He died September 16, 1406.

At that time there was actual collision between Vassili and Vitold; the latter, determined to have a metropolitan in the lands under him, proposed Theodosia. The Patriarch failed to accept this suggestion, and in 1408 appointed Foti, a Greek born in the Morea, as Cyprian’s successor. Vitold was very angry, and, in view of Western displeasure with Foti, decided to have a second metropolitan. His choice fell on Gregori Samblak, who was, as some declared, a nephew of Cyprian.

The Patriarch refused to confirm this division of Russia into two parts. Not getting his consent, Vitold assembled a Synod in 1416, and, through kindness and threats, secured the installation of Samblak. But Samblak, being a zealous defender of Orthodox interests, remained only three years in office. In 1419 he left Western Russia, and church unity was reëstablished.

Meanwhile Edigai, expelled from the capital of the Golden Horde, chose the Crimea as a new field of action. In 1416 he fell again upon Kief, which he plundered, robbing churches and monasteries. His was the first Crimean raid against Russia. Men said that the Knights of the Cross had some share in this raid. The Order struggled twelve years with Vitold after that terrible defeat at Tannenberg, and made peace only in 1422, at Lake Malno.

About 1420 the land ruled by Vitold stretched from the Baltic to the Euxine, and from the Western Būg to the Oká River, while his influence went far beyond those limits. Vassili, Grand Prince of Moscow, when dying, committed his young son and heir to Vitold’s protection, and after Vassili’s death the princes of Tver and Ryazan were at least morally dependent on Vitold. Pskoff and Novgorod felt his hand over them, and purchased peace with money. The Crimea Mongols, and those near the Black Sea showed fear and respect before this strong, crafty ruler.

But do what he might, he was controlled by Poland. His alliance with Yagello made him and his cousin the first powers in Europe, but no matter what Vitold accomplished, the whole profit of his action went surely to Poland.

Yagello was not weighty as a ruler. The master mind of the Polish Commonwealth of that day was Olesnitski, Archbishop of Cracow, and Chancellor. In 1410 this man had been in the king’s suite at Tannenberg, and had saved the life of Yagello, whom the Germans came very near killing. From Tannenberg began Olesnitski’s great influence. A man of high gifts, he was unbending in all that gave profit to his religion and his country. Vitold was baffled in everything which was not in favor of Polish interests as Olesnitski understood them.

Vitold, like his predecessors, accustomed to govern as he wished in his own state, could not avoid looking with disquiet at the growing power of Poland in Lithuania and Russia, and the continual decrease of the royal authority in Poland. The nobility and clergy were absorbing all the power in the country; the king was becoming a cipher. This was owing in part to the weakness of Yagello, who gave away the immense lands and wealth at his disposal without any return from them. In the union the Poles saw their one opportunity. They looked on Russia and Lithuania as fields in which to win vast wealth and influence. At this point Vitold strove earnestly to stop the advance of Poland, by becoming himself independent. The best means to this end, as he thought, was to make Lithuania and Russia a kingdom.

So in 1429 he arranged a meeting of sovereigns at Lutsk. King Yagello was there, with a great suite, and numerous prelates. Vassili of Moscow, son and heir of the Grand Prince, was present, as were the Ryazan and Tver princes. Among other rulers were the Khan of the Crimea, the Teutonic Grand Master, the papal legate, and an ambassador from Byzantium. The Emperor Sigismund forced the whole company to wait sixteen days for him. Fifteen thousand people were invited; they filled Lutsk, and all places near that city.

The leading questions were opened by Sigismund, and related to Moldavia; the Hussite wars; the union of the Eastern and Western Churches; a crusade against the Turks by all Christians. The great question, however, was the crown of Lithuania and Russia for Vitold. Yagello made no opposition, but would not act unless aided by the magnates of Poland. When the question was raised for discussion, Olesnitski made a fiery speech in opposition. The magnates were roused to the utmost, and, stopping every Polish discussion, they left Lutsk in a body. Yagello left also, without taking leave, even of Vitold. Sigismund followed soon after, agreeing, however, with Vitold on a new meeting at which the crown would be given him most surely. The other guests withdrew now, but all were invited to Vitold’s coronation in Vilna.

The Lutsk meeting lasted seven weeks, and caused an immense outlay of money. Every day one hundred barrels of mead were drunk, besides Muscat, Malvasia and wines of various other sorts. One hundred beeves, as many sheep and wild boars, nine wild bulls, and fourteen elks were consumed daily, besides all kinds of game known in those regions.

Opposition only roused Vitold, and he determined to conquer by removing every obstacle. He set about winning Polish partisans; but he could not influence Olesnitski, or bend him in any way. The Pope, Martin V, who took the side of the Poles, would not consent to the crowning, and advised them to abandon the project. Yagello offered to abdicate in favor of Vitold, but the latter refused to be caught in that manner. Olesnitski would not listen to the statement that the kingly dignity of Vitold would not affect the desired union of the countries. Vitold’s main support was Sigismund, who wished above all things to weaken Poland. He was supported also by the Northern Russian nobles, who strenuously opposed union with the Poles. The existence of this Orthodox party, schismatic, according to Catholic understanding, induced the Pope to take the Polish side firmly.

In September, 1430, the assembly met at Vilna. It was nearly the same as at Lutsk, with about the same numbers, and of equal brilliancy. Yagello, Olesnitski, and the Polish magnates were present. Those Poles who had been won over by Vitold did not oppose him, but Olesnitski was as unbending as ever. Nevertheless all preparations were made for the crowning. The assembly was only waiting for the embassy from Sigismund, which was bringing the crown and the regalia. But the embassy came not. Sigismund had sent a confidant with letters to Vilna and the ceremonial of the crowning. This man was captured on the high-road to Vilna, by the Poles, who seized all his papers and cut the crown in two. They placed armed guards at every point, and stopped Sigismund’s embassy. Unable to advance, the embassy halted at Brandenbury, and waited for orders. The Vilna assembly, after long waiting, dissolved by degrees, and departed.

Grievous disappointment destroyed Vitold’s health; a carbuncle appeared between his shoulders. Leaving Vilna for Troki, he grew faint on the way, and dropped to the ground from his saddle. He died two weeks later, October 27, 1430, in his eighty-first year.

After Gedimin and Olgerd, Vitold was the third and last of those princes who united Lithuania and Western Russia. No matter how Vitold toiled to reach the goal of his ambition, the result of his toil went to Poland. While working against union with that country, and building a state to oppose it, he was really preparing for that union, since the Polish kingdom was the only power served by his activity. In founding a state east of Poland, Vitold dispossessed the Russian princes west of Moscow, and by doing this cleared a great field for the Polish Commonwealth. He had not power sufficient to build a new, independent, political structure. He made agreements with Poland intending to break them, as he had broken those which he made with the Germans. But Vitold passed away without building his kingdom, and his agreements remained clearly written on paper. The Poles clung to those documents, and exhibited them as title-deeds to dominion, the Magna Charta of their Commonwealth.

One inheritance, however, was left to their ruin: the deposed and reduced princes of Western Russia, and the boyars who formed somewhat later that body of magnates which took to itself the political power of the Commonwealth, and reduced the crown to a plaything. And since there was no central force in the Commonwealth, that Commonwealth went to pieces. The struggle which for centuries had raged among Russian princes was repeated in Poland on a far broader scale, and with more destructive intensity.

We must now go back to events which took place in Russia during the last six years of Vitold’s life. Though the Mongol yoke weighed yet on Russia, and liberation seemed still at a distance, the weight of the yoke was not what it had been, even in the reign of Dmitri. In general, people began to look on the Mongols as neighbors whom they might, with gifts and flattery, keep in peace, and make endurable. They were no longer masters in the old sense. Their power had reached its greatest height and was declining. Wars and disturbances were unceasing among the various Horde fragments, hence a Moscow prince might favor one fragment in opposition to others, and thus in time bring it over to his side.

In 1424 the Grand Prince, Vassili, fell ill, and his illness continued half a year, till death came to him. In days preceding his illness, he had turned his main effort to securing the inheritance to his eldest son, also Vassili by name. He took every measure of prudence, and expressed so much confidence in Vitold, his father-in-law, that he made him chief guardian of this young Vassili. Vitold then took an oath to see that his grandson inherited the throne of his father. Of course the brothers of the Grand Prince knew of this oath. But Vassili did not think that active steps would be taken against his son by that son’s uncles. In his illness he turned to his brothers, Andrei and Yuri, and begged them not to oppose the will by which he had made his son Grand Prince. In commending Vassili to Vitold, one of the most powerful sovereigns of Europe, he must have intended to threaten his brothers. Vassili was the only son of the Grand Prince; the other sons born to him had died earlier, so this was a favorable condition for inheritance by the eldest from his father. But the Grand Prince himself had brothers: Yuri, Andrei, Peter, and Constantine. The eldest would not recognize his nephew as senior. In his will, therefore, Vassili gave the guardianship of his heir to Vitold, and to his own brothers, Andrei, Peter and Constantine, taking no note of Yuri.

Vassili was only ten years of age when his father died. The metropolitan invited Yuri, then in Zvenigorod, to be present in Moscow at the installation of his nephew. But Yuri hastened off to his own land beyond the Volga to prepare for hostile action. Vassili’s mother, his uncles, and some boyars sent the metropolitan to bring Yuri to peaceful methods. Yuri would not listen and, angered by his refusal, the metropolitan left Galitch without blessing that city. Straightway the plague appeared in Galitch, as the chronicler informs us. The prince hurried after the prelate, and with difficulty brought him back to give his blessing. Yuri now sent two envoys to Moscow with this message: “I will not seek the principality with violence. Let the Khan say who shall have it.”

But no one visited Sarai, and quiet reigned in Russia for a season. Yuri’s yielding was caused not so much by the metropolitan, as by fear of Vitold, who had declared that he would permit no man to offend his grandson. Meanwhile the plague spread through Russia and brought devastation to Moscow, Tver, and Novgorod. “Suddenly and without warning the victim would feel a sharp pain in the chest, or between the shoulders as though struck with a dagger; blood would flow from the mouth, intense fever would be followed by intense cold; the entrails were as though consumed by fire; tumors appeared under the arms, on the neck or hips. Death was inevitable and swift, but terrible.” The scourge continued for more than two years, and caused the death of many members of the ruling house, among others four sons of Vladimir the Brave, as well as Andrei and Peter, two uncles of Vassili.

Vitold died, as we remember, in 1430, and Svidrigello, son of Olgerd, reigned in his stead. Svidrigello was a friend of Vassili’s uncle, Yuri, and Yuri laid claim at once to the Grand Principality. The following year, after various councils and discussions, Vassili set out for the Horde; then Yuri went also to get the Khan’s judgment.

The rule of the Horde over Russia had weakened greatly, but it was strengthened anew by this quarrel. Both sides had friends at Sarai. Mindulat, an official who had looked after tribute in Moscow, was Vassili’s chief ally among the Mongols. On Yuri’s side was the Murza Tiginya, who took Yuri to the Crimea, boasting that he would make him Grand Prince in Russia. Among boyars attending Vassili, the first place was held by Ivan Vsevolojski, a man who had served Vassili’s father and grandfather. This shrewd boyar took advantage of Tiginya’s absence, and his boasting. “Tiginya says,” declared Ivan to the Mongols, “that the Khan yields to him in all things, that every Mongol magnate is his servant. If this be true, Yuri will succeed, for to him Tiginya has promised the Grand Principality.” Made indignant by these biting speeches, which were repeated to him, the Khan, Ulu Mohammed, promised to put Tiginya to death if he even tried to help Yuri. Then he began to show favor to Vassili. Of course gifts played a very large part in the question.

When Tiginya returned in the spring of 1432, and heard of the Khan’s threats, he dared not assist Yuri. The Khan appointed a day to decide the question. The Horde magnates and both princes were present. Vassili rested his claim on inheritance from his father and grandfather; Yuri on ancient custom, as proven by chronicles, and on the will of his father Dmitri. Then Vsevolojski stepped forth and began speaking: “O free Tsar, my sovereign,” said he, “grant a word to me, the servant of Vassili of Moscow, who seeks the Grand Principality by thy gift and patent. Prince Yuri seeks the same through the dead letter of ancient custom, and not, O free Sovereign, by thy document, through which our recent sovereign gave the Grand Principality to his son now reigning in Moscow by thy will, as thou, our lord, knowest.”

This speech pleased the Khan, who, well disposed toward Vassili, adjudged him the patent, and proposed that he mount a horse which Yuri was to lead by the bridle. But Vassili had no wish to humiliate his uncle.

As there was a war between Ulu Mohammed and Kutchuk Mohammed, the Khan, fearing the treason of the murza Tiginya, granted at his request an enlargement of Yuri’s domain by giving him Dmitroff, which had belonged to Peter, his brother, but afterward Vassili took this town.

A Horde envoy, named Mansur, returned with Vassili to Moscow, and enthroned him, that is, was present at the ceremony which took place in the Assumption Cathedral. This is the first account of the coronation of a Grand Prince in Moscow.

By confirming direct heirship from father to eldest son, the Khan aided greatly in assuring single rule in Moscow, and prepared for the downfall of Mongol supremacy. But a consistent policy at the Horde was at that time impossible, for each Khan had to fight for his office. A new uprising occurred soon, and this gave Yuri, the uncle, a chance to win the Grand Principality, without reference to the previous Khan’s decision.

Yuri’s chief inciter in this struggle was that same Vsevolojski, who had previously secured triumph to Vassili. This boyar had not toiled without reason. He had received Vassili’s promise to marry his daughter; such a thing being usual in those days. Princes often married daughters of boyars, and gave their own daughters in marriage to boyars. Vsevolojski was of the Smolensk princely house, and his eldest daughter had married a son of Vladimir the Brave. But Vassili’s mother was opposed to this marriage, and brought about his betrothal to Maria, the granddaughter of Vladimir. Vsevolojski was mortally offended, and passed over, or to use the phrase of the period, “went away to take service” with Yuri, and rouse him to seek the headship of Russia.

While Yuri was preparing to move on his nephew, there was a collision in Moscow, which hastened and embittered the beginning of action. Yuri’s sons, Vassili Kosói and Dmitri Shemyaká, were at a wedding in the palace of the Grand Prince. Vassili Kosói was wearing a girdle of gold set with jewels. All at once an old Moscow boyar noted the girdle, and told its whole history to Sophia, the mother of the Grand Prince. The girdle had been received by Dmitri of the Don from the Suzdal prince as a gift with his daughter Yevdokia, but at the time of the wedding Velyaminoff, commander of Moscow, put in the place of this girdle another of less value, and gave this, the real one, to Nikolai, his own son, who was married to another daughter of that same Dmitri, the Suzdal prince. This Nikolai, who later on fell at Kulikovo, gave the girdle as a gift to his daughter when she married Vsevolojski, and Vsevolojski gave it with his daughter to Prince Andrei, son of Vladimir. After Andrei’s death, his daughter was betrothed to Vassili Kosói, who received this same precious girdle with his bride.

On learning these details Sophia commanded to strip the famed girdle from Kosói. It is difficult to credit the chronicler that she would insult a guest so rudely, remembering the length of time since the first substitution had taken place. It is likely that there were other reasons of enmity, and the girdle, if the story is true, was only a pretext. In every case Kosói and his brother left the feast, burning with anger and fully determined to make Vassili and his mother pay dearly for the insult.

The Grand Prince, attacked unexpectedly by Yuri, could not collect warriors in sufficient number; he was defeated in battle, and captured. Yuri took Moscow, but in favor of the captive now appeared Yuri’s famed boyar and counselor, Morozoff, who was either bribed by friends of Vassili, or provoked by the triumph of Vsevolojski. He persuaded Yuri to give Vassili the town of Kolomna, as a portion, but barely had Vassili arrived there, when Moscow boyars and nobles rallied round him, and refused to serve Yuri. Thus became evident the devotion of men to that mode of inheritance which secured the possession of rights, lands and property in permanence. Princes from smaller places, on coming to Moscow, brought with them attendants and boyars, who drove out the old servitors. This new turn enraged Yuri’s sons greatly, so they slew Morozoff with their own hands, and escaped from Moscow. Then Yuri, being almost abandoned, retired straightway to Galitch, and Vassili came back to Moscow.

By a new treaty between Yuri and his nephew, Yuri recognized the seniority of the nephew. Vsevolojski, the old boyar, paid dearly for his treason. He was seized and blinded at command of Vassili, and his lands were confiscated. As Kosói and Shemyaká had not joined in the treaty, and had continued their warfare, Yuri himself broke that same treaty soon after it was made. With his sons he drove out Vassili, and in 1434 took the throne a second time, but that same year he died. Kosói, his eldest son, tried to succeed him, but Kosói’s brothers, Dmitri Shemyaká and Dmitri Krasni, refused to accept him as Grand Prince, preferring their cousin, Vassili. Kosói, however, did not abandon his claim, and continued the struggle.

In this conflict a great part was taken by the warlike and riotous people of Vyatka, a Novgorod colony bordering on Galitch. The princes of Galitch had completed their regiments with the wild Vyatka warriors, and these added immensely to the fierceness of the struggle. After ruinous attacks on northern districts Kosói met the Grand Prince at Sokrotin, in Rostoff regions. But there he saw the superiority of his enemy and, seeking advantage by perfidy, concluded a truce till the following morning. Vassili, relying on this truce, sent his men for provisions. Kosói then attacked him, but Vassili did not lose his head; he sent messengers quickly to all sides to collect his forces. He seized a trumpet himself, and sounded it. His men rushed in, and won a complete victory. Kosói was taken prisoner, and led to Moscow (1436). Kosói’s Vyatka warriors committed a desperate deed: The Grand Prince’s lieutenant in Pereyaslavl, Prince Bryuhati, was encamped near the junction of the Kotorosl and the Volga. Some tens of those Vyatka men sailed up in the night, and at daybreak, in a fog, crept to Bryuhati’s tent, seized him with his princess, and rushed to the boats with them. An alarm was raised quickly, but the robbers flourished axes over the prisoners, stopped pursuit, and reached the other bank of the river. From there they bargained, and got four hundred rubles as ransom. Then, keeping both captives and money, they hurried off to Vyatka. For such perfidy Kosói suffered heavily. Vassili had his eyes put out. This cruelty called for a similar deed in retaliation, which later on was committed.