It was his ambition to be the father of his people, and the glory he sought was the happiness and the greatness of his country.
Southern Russia was still the theater of interminable civil war.

The provinces were impoverished, and Kief was fast sinking to decay.
Michel had a brother, Vsevelod, who had accompanied him to Moscow.

The nobles and the leading citizens, their eyes still dim with the tears which they had shed over the tomb of their sovereign, urged him to accept the crown.

He was not reluctant to accede to their request, and received their oaths of fidelity to him under the title of Vsevelod III.

His title, however, was disputed by distant princes, and an armed band, approaching Moscow by surprise, seized the town and reduced it to ashes, ravaged the surrounding region, and carried off the women and children as captives.