THE LITHUANIAN UNION 111Dunajow near Lwow attracted one of the leading humanist circles of Europe,
Dlugosz belonged to a galaxy of intellectual giants who turned the Jagiellonian
world into a centre of international importance. As the old King told his sons,
'You have two fathers — myself and Father John.' It was an apt comment on the
happy coincidence of political power and cultural prowess. When he died on 6
June 1491, many people had good reason to mourn. (See Map 9.)
Jan Olbracht (1459-1501) occupied an unenviable position. It was not easy in
middle age to follow in such a father's footsteps, or to bolster the failing for-
tunes of his brother Aleksander in Lithuania. Both the Muscovites abroad and
the magnates at home had waited patiently for the old King's demise before
launching their calculated assault on his sons. Jan Olbracht sought refuge in
irrecoverable concessions to the nobility, notably at the famous Piotrkow Sejm
of 1496, and in the vainglorious expedition to Moldavia in 1497. Were it not for
the magnificent Barbican built in Cracow as part of the military preparations,
this last adventure would have passed deservedly into oblivion.
Aleksander (1461-1506) fared no better. As Grand Duke of Lithuania since
1492, he was the chosen target of Muscovite intrigues. Married to Helena,
daughter of Ivan III, as part of his Council's scheme to contain the first
Muscovite prince to call himself 'Sovereign of all Russia' he fell victim first to
internal subversion and then to external assault. His wife's Orthodox faith pro-
vided the pretext for trumped-up charges of religious persecution. His boyars
were threatened, bribed, or cajoled from their allegiance. His protestations were
interpreted as signs of weakness. In May 1500, the Muscovites marched. On 14
July on the banks of the Vedrosha they destroyed the Lithuanians, and captured
the commander Prince Ostrogski. Their Crimean allies raided deep into Poland,
and crossed the Vistula, taking 50,000 captives. Bryansk Sieversk, Vyazma,
Toropets, and Dorogobush were annexed. In 1501, another Lithuanian force
was annihilated near Mstislav; an auxiliary Teutonic force under Von
Plettenberg was crushed at Helmed. In 1502 the once mighty Golden Horde was
dispersed for ever. In 1503, in an open letter, Helena Ivanovna publicly defended
her husband's conduct, and denounced her father's lies and violences. It made
no difference. A truce was signed for six years, leaving all Ivan's conquests
intact. The war was to continue at intervals until 1537. In Poland, Aleksander
bowed to every wind that blew. On 25 October 1501, in anticipation of his coro-
nation, he signed a document agreed at Mielnik by the Senators of the Kingdom
with the lords of the Lithuanian Council, arrogating wide constitutional pow-
ers to themselves. It never came into effect. In 1504, the pretensions of the Senate
were angrily attacked by Archbishop Laski at the head of a party of noblemen,
who urged that pluralism among the holders of the great offices of state should
be curbed. There were demands for the recall of all Crown estates leased to sen-
ators, and for the 'execution' of all established laws relating to the privileges of
the nobility. This was the start of the so-called 'Executionist Movement' which
was to play a prominent role in Polish politics for the next sixty years. In 1505,
at the Sejm of Radom, the King withdrew his earlier concessions to the Senate,