THE TRANSYLVANIAN VICTOR 325
diplomat, Antoni Possevini, to see what could be arranged. In 1581, Possevini
met Bathory in Wilno, and later proceeded to Moscow. Ivan showed interest in
his shaven face and in the Pope's good fortune in being carried around in a lit-
ter. He refused to discuss religion. The unity of Christ was not enhanced.^11
The siege of Pskov assumed legendary proportions. Outside the walls the
attacking force numbered some 170,000 knights and servants. As the Russian
winter advanced they built themselves an entire town of wooden houses, com-
plete with regular streets and a market-place. An early breach was not to be
exploited. Inside the city, a local gunsmith called Dorofei was visited by the
Virgin Mary, who told him where the cannon should be placed and assured him
that the town would not fall. Elsewhere, an anonymous chronicler was relating
the course of events for posterity:
The siege of Pskov began in the year 7089, in the month of August and the 18th day, on
the feast of the holy martyrs Frol and Laurel. Then it was that the Lithuanian people
started to cross the river and to appear before the city with their regiments ... The King
himself came before Pskov. In that same month of August on the 26th day, on the feast
of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalya, this man, the Lithuanian king, drew close with
all his many forces, like a wild boar from the wilderness...^12
In due course, the 'much-proud Lithuanian King Stepan' left the 'evil-hearted
and greatly-proud Chancellor - Pole', Zamoyski, in charge.
The Peace of Yam Zapolski was signed in the presence of Possevini on 15
January 1582, whilst the siege continued. Muscovy abandoned the whole of
Livonia with Polotsk, Velizh, and Ushviata. At Pskov, a fierce winter froze cav-
alrymen dead in their saddles; but Zamoyski remained in place until the Tsar's
commissioners arrived to surrender the keys of the Livonian castles. He moved
off on 4 February for Dorpat, where he relieved the Muscovite garrison after
twenty-four years of occupation. To the Poles it appeared a famous victory. To
the chronicler of Pskov, it looked like an act of divine intervention:
And so, by the great and ineffable grace of the Holy Trinity, of our helpers and suppli-
ants from the whole family of Christ, and of the most holy, heavenly powers; by the
prayers and intercessions of the great miracle-workers, including the miracle-worker
Nikolai, pre-eminent in miracles, whose saintly vision thrice manifested the Holy Trinity
at sunrise; by the founders and defenders of the God-preserved city of Pskov, by the lead-
ers in Christ of the True Faith of the whole Russian land, and by the Orthodox Tsar and
Grand Duke of noble root; by the prayers of the true-believing and God-loving Grand
Duchess Olga, baptized by Helen, of her saintly grandson, the true-believing Grand
Duke Gabriel Vsevolod, of our reverend father Efrosin, of the miracle-workers of Pskov,
and of all the saints; by our Lord the Tsar, the true-believing Grand Duke, Ivan
Vasil'evitch, beloved of Christ, who holds all Russia in his patrimony; indeed, by all the
wonders which God performed, the city of God with all its people was saved from the
Lithuanian King, and from all his host.
Then, on the fourth day of February, the Polish Hetman and Lord Chancellor moved off
from Pskov with all his array to the Lithuanian land. In the city of Pskov, the gates were
opened. And I, having completed this story in all its fullness, have brought it to its end.^13