CHAPTER VII.
THE SWAY OF THE TARTAR PRINCES.
From 1238 to 1304.
Retreat of Georges II .-- Desolating March of the Tartars .-- Capture of Vladimir .-- Fall of Moscow .-- Utter Defeat of Georges .-- Conflict at Torjek .-- March of the Tartars Toward the South .-- Subjugation of the Polovtsi .-- Capture of Kief .-- Humiliation of Yaroslaf .-- Overthrow of the Russian Kingdom .-- Haughtiness of the Tartars .-- Reign of Alexander .-- Succession of Yaroslaf .-- The Reign of Vassuli .-- State of Christianity .-- Infamy of Andre .-- Struggles with Dmitri .-- Independence of the Principalities .-- Death of Andre.
The king, Georges, fled from Moscow before it was invested by the enemy, leaving its defense to two of his sons.

Retiring, in a panic, to the remote northern province of Yaroslaf, he encamped, with a small force, upon one of the tributaries of the Mologa, and sent earnest entreaties to numerous princes to hasten, with all the forces they could raise, and join his army.
The Tartars from Moscow marched north-west some one hundred and fifty miles to the imperial city of Vladimir.

They appeared before its walls on the 2d of February.

On the evening of the 6th the battering rams and ladders were prepared, and it was evident that the storming of the city was soon to begin.

The citizens, conscious that nothing awaited them but death or endless slavery, with one accord resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible.