death he retained the sovereignty without having been inaugurated, merely changing his name of Gabriel to that of Vasiley.
The Grand Duke Ivan had by Sophia a daughter, Helena, whom he united to Alexander, Grand Duke of Lithuania, afterwards proclaimed king of Poland. The Lithuanians hoped that the discords of these princes, which had already been very severe, would be arranged by this marriage; but far more grievous quarrels arose out of it. For at the nuptials it was agreed that a temple should be built in accordance with the Russian religion in an appointed spot in Vilna, and that certain matrons and virgins of the same religion should be attached to it; but as after some little time this was neglected to be done, Alexander’s father-in-law took it up as a pretext of war against him, and having levied a triple army proceeded to attack him. The first army he sent southward, towards the province of Severa, the second westward against Toropetz and Bicloi, and the third he placed between them, towards Dorogobusch and Smolensko; thus supplying reserves for his army by which he could bring the most effective assistance to that portion of it against which he might observe a disposition in the Lithuanians to make an attack. But after both armies had reached a certain river called Vedrosha,[1] the Lithuanians under the command of Constantine Ostroski, who was surrounded by a numerous staff of noblemen and chiefs, gained information from some prisoners respecting the number of the enemy and of their leaders, and entertained great hope of routing them. Moreover, as the stream intercepted the conflict, both parties made search for a ford by which they could cross it. Some Russians, however, first reached the bank and challenged the Lithuanians to the combat; but the latter resisted, and routed them, and following in pursuit drove
- ↑ The Vedrosha is a very small river which flows into the Osma, an affluent of the Dnieper.
