; cupola and fourdomés,the former is of copper gilt, the latter
- of tin or iron pairited grëên. We" afcended a new belfry, built
by the emprefs Elizabeth, ivhiéh is ribt1 an1 inelegant piece of
'architeifture : it commands' a fîne'ViéW Of the adjacent country,
whifch is gently'waving, richly cultivated, producing
' much' grain, arid thiéklÿ ttrëwêd 'vyith Villages. The archimandrite
or abbot of the mbhàftëiÿ being âbfènt, 'We could
not obtain' permiffion to fee the library, ^hi'ch Occafioned
fbnae regret, ' BecaUfe, accbrdirig to Brifching,* it Contains ’a
Curious Collection of books*.
In the' principal church V fèw ' tombs' drëw riiy Attention.
T h e hrtt^was'that' of Maria qüéèn h f1 Livonia, probably
the dnly'periori whohver bore thàt title, an Crnpty honour,
which iheJmay truly be fàid to have purchafed at a dear
rate. Maria, lineally defcendëd fromïëân Vâffilievitch I.
was a relation of Ivan II. as will plainly appear by the folldw-
irig gehealBgical table.,;
Ivan VaffiHevitch I.
A __
Vaffili Ivanovitch. Andrew Ivahovitcli of
V _ . : . Staritra, died 1537.
Ivan VaflifievJtcK II. J
V olodimir Andrevitch,
died 1570.
n Maria, maried to Magnus.
1 | Eudokia.
She efpoufed in 1 5 7 3 Magnus duke o f Holftein t, at that
time
* Bufching’ s Erd-befchreibting. V. I. by Several ' different appellations. He is
p, 8 55- . .. . .. . .. j . 4 fdmetimes ftyled king o f Livonia, from h>s
f This Magnus was fon o f .0 hr Lilian III. mock-iovereignty in that country; l o c king
of Denmark and Is known in hiftbry times duke of Holftein, from "his inheriting
time titular, king of Livonia, who was raifed to that dignity, CJfAP,
by Ivan Vaffilievitch II. in a very extraordinary manner. V1’
Livonia, bordering upon Ruffia, Sweden, and Poland, and '
reciprocally claimed and poflefled by thofe three powers
was, in the middle of the iixteenth century, partly free,
partly fubjett to. Poland, and partly to the Swedes, when the
tzar made an irruption into that province, and conquered a
fmall portion. Well acquainted, however, with the averiion
of the natives to the Ruffian, fceptre, he declared, that he had
entered their country with no interefted views, ; that he. had
no other ambition than to refcue them from the Swediih
yoke ; that he hirnfelf renounced all right of conqueft,
would ftyle himielf their protedlor; and propofed that they
ihould ele£t for their fovereign Magnus, \yhofe brother, Frederic
II. king of Denmark, had fome preteniions to Livonia.
This propofal being cheerfully complied with by a great
party among the natives, the tzar difpatched an embaffy to
Magnus, who accepted the proffered crown, repaired without
delay to Mofcow, where lie was,formally initalled in his new
dignity, upon condition of efpoufing Maria, and of paying
an annual tribute to the tzar.
Magnus, however, was ftill only a titular fovereign, being
oppofed hy the Swedes, who maintained a large army in
Livonia, and not unanimouily acknowledged even by the
natives. After a fruitlefs attempt to take poffieffion of his
crown, he continued to difplay his mock-dignity at Mofcow.
“ Wick, Bifhop ofCourland, Adminiftrator
“ o f the biihoprick o f Reval, Heir o f Nor-
“ way, Duke o f Schlefwick, Holftein, Stor-
“ mar, and Ditmarfh, Count o f Olden-
“ burgh and Delmenhurft.” T itle s, as the
hiftorian remarks, which could not procure
him a fmall fum o f money without his
bond. HolbergJ'V. II,.p. 4S8»w
a portion o f that duchy uponijhe deceafe o f
his father; and biihop o*f ./Efel, from his
^changing his part o f H.ol&ein for the
bifliopricks o f rihfel and. Courland, which
lie fecularifed. Holberg, the Daniih hiito-
ri.ah> mentions a bond for 1500 marks,
which was thus ftgned. “ We Magnus, by
“ the grace o f God, Lord o f ALfel and