the cathedral and perished in the general conflagration (1238). Two
years later Kief also fell, with its white walls and towers embellished
by Byzantine art, its cupolas of gold and silver. All was laid in the
dust, and only a few fragments in museums now remain to tell of its
glory. The annalist describes the bellowings of the buffaloes, the
cries of the camels, the neighing of the horses, and howlings of the
Tatars while the ancient and beautiful city was being laid low.

Before 1240 the work was complete. There was a Mongol empire where had
been a Russian. Then the tide began to set toward Western Europe.
Isolated from the other European states by her religion, Russia had
suffered alone. No Europe sprang to her defense as to the defense of
Spain from the Saracens. Not until Poland and Hungary were threatened
and invaded did the Western Kingdoms give any sign of interest. Then
the Pope, in alarm, appealed to the Christian states. Frederick II. of
Germany responded, and Louis IX. of France (Saint-Louis) prepared to
lead a crusade. But the storm had spent its fury upon the Slavonic
people, and was content to pause upon those plains which to the Asiatic
seemed not unlike his own home.




CHAPTER VII

UNDER MONGOL YOKE

Amid the wreck of principalities there was one state remaining erect.
Novgorod was defended by its remoteness and its uninviting climate.
The Mongols had not thought it worth while to attempt the reduction of