POSSEVIXO
442
POSSEDIUS
1583, married in 1585 Gunilla Bjelke, who became for
rans what the former queen had been for the CathoKcs.
Slum afterwards Possevino was sen! on a similar er- rand to Poland and Russia. The czar, Ivan Vasili- vitch II (1533 1584), called the Terrible, had vastly aggrandized his empire in all directions. In l""s<> he the conquest of Livonia. Here he met Ste- phen Bathori, king of Poland (1575-1585), who de- feated him and compelled him to retreat. To Btop the Polish invasion the czar invoked the mediation of pope
\ ill. Possevino was sent to the headquarters of the king of Poland al Wilna. Bathori con receive the envoys of the czar, bin rejected their con- ditions. Hereupon Possevino sel on bis way to the in- terior of Russia under an escorl of Cossacks. The czar received him at Stacilza, and gave him a solemn audi- ence, lug. 8. Ivan sat mi bis throne, surrounded with Oriental pomp, dressed in a long robe interwoven with golden threads and covered with pearls and jewels; he bore a kind of tiara on bis bead, and held a golden sec]. ire in his left band. Senators, bojars, and annv- officers filled the rooms; gold and precious stones glit- tered everywhere. The rest was in accordance. After five days of feasting the negotiations commenced; dur- ing the whole proceedings the czar gave frequent evi- dence of astuteness and duplicity. Possevino subordi- nated bis intervention to the following conditions: free
lirough Russia for the apostolic nuncios and missionaries; free exercise of the Roman Catholic wor- ship for foreign merchants, and admission of Catholic priests to administer to them the sacraments. Finally. as the czar himself had proposed an alliance against the 'lurks, the papal envoy hinted at the fusion of the two churches as being the besl means to bring it to pass. Possevino was brimful of hope, while the czar gave only evasive answers. Thus a month elapsed in resultless debate, when the news of the siege of Pleskau I Pskov),
ssion of which city would have opened Russia to the Poles, brought matters to a rapid conclusion. Ivan consented to the admission of Roman Catholic merchants, and Possevino repaired to the Polish camp. Through bis exertions a congress of plenipotentiaries of both belligerents was held al Porchau. in which the presided. Bathori demanded the cession oi the whole of Livonia, and as Possevino knew thai the king of Poland would nol swerve from bis purpose, hi prevailed on the Russians to consent, Bui when the i tnanded also the town of Weliki, and the life of
the Russian envoy was at stake, the papal legate bad to pledge his own life to obtain their signature. At last peace was concluded, dan. 15, 1582< When Posse- vino. aft< r a truly triumphal journey, reached Moscow, he found the court in consternation and the czar beside himsell : he bad killed his son w itb a blow- of his golden sceptre. Five weeks alter i be conclusion oi the peace a conference was held in the Kremlin, when the czar declined the proposal of a fusion of the churches, but consented to the passage of the missionaries, and grant- ed religious freedom to foreign merchants and priests. During these latter negotiations [van al one time bad lifted his sceptre, still red with bis son's blood. agaffisl the Jesuit. Failing to intimidate Possevino, he laid a snare for him, trying to prevail on him to kiss the band of the patriarch: bis purpose was to make believe that bad submitted to the patriarch. But the clerical diplomatist remained faithful to his task, and succeeded.
lb- was scarcely returned when he was sent to Livo- nia and Transylvania to combat Protestantism, which was fasl gaining ground in those proi inces. Posses ino held a confi rence witb the sectarians at Hermannstadt, 1 I i-ion I,,- in, r, ased the important e of
ges "I bis order in those parts, and founded a
seminary at Clausenburg. In 1583 be took bis seat, in his qualit) of a papal nuncio, al the great Diel of War- saw. As Possevino se^ era! times interposed bi
tion between Poland and the German empire, he was, as could lie expected, accused of partiality by both par- ties. The general ol bis order. Agnaviva, hereupon in- sisted on his being recalled, and Gregory XIII com- plied with the demand. Possevino was glad to leave bis political toil-. lb- journeyed about as a simple missionary in Livonia. Bohemia, Saxony, and Upper Hungary. While thus engagi d be was called to Padua to bold lecturo: tin n he became acquainted with the
young count of Sales, whom be prevailed upon to leave the law for the Church, and who became St. Francis de Sales, Alter four y< ars sp nt at Padua, be was called to Rome, where be took some pains in trying to recon- cile Henry IV witb the pope. 'Ibis directii n ol his z< al displeased the Spanish party and bi- superiors, and be was sent to Bologna as rector of the college. He was at Venice wheri Paul Vput the city under interdict; ami here was a new case of mi diation for the old man. He died al 1 t rrara I i b. 26, 1611. Among bis works are, Del Sacrifizio delF Alton (Lyons, 1563, 8vo): date Cristiano (Rome, 1569, 12mo), written at Pius V"s request, when this pontiff senl troops t,, Charles l\ against the Huguenots : — Moscovia, seu </< rebus Mos- coviticis (Wilna, 1586, 8vo; Cologne, 1587-95, fol. ; Ital. transl. 1596, 4to): — Judicium <!. quatuor scriptoribus (Rome, 1592, 12mo; Lyons. 1593, 8vo). The four au- thors are Le None. .lean Bodin, Duplessis-Momay, and Machiavelli. Possevino was ben- misled by his zeal against the Protestants; ami as to Machiavelli, be refuted him without reading his works: / selecta </< ration* Studiorum (Rome, 1"''.':;. 2 vols, fob: new ed. witb comet, and addit.. Cologne, 1607, 2 vols, fob): — Apparatus sun/- (Venice, 1603 6, •"> vol-, fol.; Cologne, 1607, •_' vols, fol.); this is the greatest cat- alogue of ancient ami modern authors that bad been seen at that time. Although be bad especially in view the interest of the Roman ( latholic ( Ihurch, yet be did not, like Bellarmin, Sixtus of Siena, and others, confine bis task to the enumeration of ecclesiastical writers bis plan includes the profane too. lb- treats of nearly eight thousand writers- their lives, works, influence, editions: r//,, ,/; Lodovico Gonzaga, Ducer di Necers, ra, Duchessa di Mantova (1604, 4to . See Ranke, Bist qftke Papacy, i. 434 sq. ; ii,21 sq.; Alzog, Kirchengesch. ii. -'ill. 425, 466; Mosheim, Eccles. /J is/. vol. iii: Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, -. \.