tery of St. Cyril, and finally, a great assemblage of monks and ecclesiastics. While at dinner, a broad girdle worked with gold, silver, and precious stones, was brought [to the grand duke?] as it were by way of a present, with which he girded himself. Afterwards were brought to him some selgi of Pereaslav,—that is, little fishes from the Lake of Pereaslav, not unlike herrings, and indeed they are called by the same name. It is thought that the reason for presenting that kind of fish is, because Pereaslav was never separated from Russia or the monarchy.
The barma is a sort of collar of broad form, of coarse silk, beautifully worked on the outside with gold and all kinds of gems. It was taken by Vladimir from a certain Genoese named Capha.[1] The hat which Vladimir Monomach used and left behind him, and which is adorned with precious stones and plates of gold, and curiously worked with certain vibrating spirules, is called in their language Schapka. Hitherto, I have spoken of the prince who holds the greater part of Russia. The other parts of Russia are held singly by Sigismund King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. But in speaking of the kings of Poland who have derived their
- ↑ The Sviatǔi Barmi, i.e., Holy Barmi, as it is called (spelt by Herberstein barma), was worn by the czars of Russia at their coronation up to the time of Peter the Great. It is now preserved in the Imperial Museum at Moscow. Various are the accounts given of its first introduction into Russia. Some say, though there is no certainty in the story, that in the year 1114, the Grand Duke Vladimir ravaged Thrace, and carried off a vast booty. The Emperor Constantine, alarmed at his progress, sent him many valuable presents, and among others the barmi. It appears, however, from printed state documents, that the barmi was certainly known in the fourteenth century. The Grand Duke John Danielovich Kalita, by his will in 1328, bequeathed it to his younger sons John and Andrew. It would seem from the wording of the various bequests of the barmi, that it was attached to the dress, and always kept with it. Antiquaries are at variance as to the origin of the word; some have derived it from the Greek βαρημα—heaviness, as implying the burden of duty and responsibility undertaken by the newly inaugurated monarch; but this is mere conjecture.
