DEMETRIO of TESSALONICA, saint — Icon of the Novgorod school (14th century) — Petrograd, Russian Museum.
Polish men, for the most part adventurers who had accompanied him on the expedition. His marriage to Mniszek’s daughter, his failure on that occasion to observe the vigil of St. Nicholas, and, finally, numerous other improprieties aroused the indignation of the common people, which was skillfully exploited by the boyars, who saw themselves completely pushed aside. The soul of the aristocratic conspiracy was Basilio Sujskij; at dawn on 17 May 1606 D. was barbarously slaughtered in his bed, while the massacre of the Poles broke out in the city. Thus collapsed also the dream of the nuncio in Poland, Alessandro Rangoni, who had hoped, on the basis of D.’s benevolent words, to bring Russia back into the bosom of the Catholic Church.