The death of Pimen left Cyprian sole claimant of ecclesiastical sovereignty, and, in the succeeding reign, he returned to the capital and united the whole Orthodox Church of Russia and Poland under his jurisdiction. His subsequent career marks his place in the history of his country. While he may be reproached for his hasty flight from Moscow, the services which he rendered the Church and the nation cannot be overestimated. By his Christian virtues, his zeal, tempered by prudence, his discretion and ability, he preserved the existence of the Orthodox faith in Poland and Lithuania, whose rulers professed the Latin creed, favored the efforts of Rome, and viewed with jealousy the control of a foreign prelate over their Orthodox subjects. As metropolitan, Cyprian's administration was wise and energetic; he repressed disorder, corrected abuses, and strictly enforced purity of morals and discipline among the clergy. He encouraged the labors of St. Stephen and other missionaries of the Church, and established regular ecclesiastical government over the converted heathen tribes of the vast countries stretching to the Ural Mountains.
As patriot and statesman, he ably seconded the efforts of the great prince Vassili II., to recreate a free and independent Russia, conciliating the native princes, opposing the formidable pretensions of Vitoft, King of Poland, resisting, with all the power of the Church, the Tatars under Toktamuish and Tamerlane. When dying, in 1406, Cyprian wrote to the great prince and his boyars, to the clergy and the people, asking forgiveness of his offences, and giving them his benediction. Tears and lamentations followed the reading of his words at the altar of the great cathedral, and from this time metropolitans of Moscow, at the approach of death, have addressed similar farewell messages to the nation.
