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388 at his capital. Meanwhile another movement was going on in the West. In the year 1392, Lithuania was brought into connection with Poland; eighteen years later, its prince, Vitovt, defeated the Teutonic knights, and so stayed the encroachments of Germany and the papal influence. In order to strengthen his independence both politically and ecclesiastically, Vitovt requested the patriarchs of Constantinople to appoint a metropolitan for Kiev. This would have involved the independence of Moscow and its metropolitan. But the patriarch would not comply. Then Vitovt convoked a synod of his orthodox bishops, which elected a Bulgarian, Gregory Tsamblak, to the new office.

Gregory was orthodox according to the Greek standard. But Vitovt sent him to the council of Constance, which was then in session. A little later the metropolitan Photius seized a favourable moment for visiting both Vitovt and Yagello the King of Poland. The death of Photius was followed by a time of miserable dissentions at Moscow. Vitovt died, and his successor, Svidrigailo, sent Gerasimus, the bishop of Smolensk, to Constantinople to be appointed metropolitan of Kiev. For some reason not easy to divine, the patriarch Joseph consented. He may have thought that the disorderly condition of Moscow unfitted that new metropolis to be the seat of a primate. But he may also have had some foresight of the inevitable consequence of the removal of the metropolitan so far beyond the reach of Constantinople. There does not seem to have been any formal act on the part of the patriarch to put the central and eastern parts of Russia under the new metropolitan. Nevertheless, the appointment of Gerasimus as metropolitan of Kiev while the see of Moscow was vacant could not but imply a transference of the ecclesiastical centre of gravity. Joseph could not recognise any independent Church of Lithuania. To the patriarch of Constantinople both Russia proper and the Western provinces on its border were but parts of the one holy orthodox Church.