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98 the monarch's trust and dependence upon his counsel; his opposition to the Monastery Court, established by Alexis, and his sturdy assertion of the prerogatives of the Church, excited the tsar's displeasure, who began to chafe under the arrogance of his favorite, and to resent his assumption of authority; palace intrigues undermined his position, the tsaritsa joined his adversaries, and, jealous of his influence over her husband, artfully fomented the growing coolness between them. By carefully-contrived and skilfully-veiled slights Nikon's impetuous disposition was incited to bursts of furious indignation, rendered the more violent by the tsar's apparent indifference and tardy response to his complaints, and Alexis, himself by no means patient, grew weary of his intolerant and inconvenient friend. An open rupture was inevitable; at a state reception a follower of the patriarch was abused and struck by a noble of the court; Nikon's demand for reparation was ignored, admittance to the monarch denied, and the supercilious demeanor of the boyars, encouraged by Alexis's indifference, soon roused the hot anger of the impatient prelate to explosion. While yet smarting at this indignity, he was soon after reproached, at the altar, by a powerful lord, for his pride and presumption, whereupon, perhaps hoping by extreme measures to revive the sympathy of his former friend and protector, he doffed his pontifical robes for the simple garb of a monk, laid down his pastoral staff, and renounced his office. Humbling himself before the people, he proclaimed his sins and unworthiness, sent his abdication to the tsar, craved permission to retire, and, covering his head with his mantle, sat down upon the altar steps to await a reply. Alexis was troubled, but sent no responsive message. Nikon's enemies triumphed, and, broken in spirit, he departed on foot to