It was while this contest was at its height that the new invaders attracted the attention of Arnulf; and, in the year 892, finding himself in a desperate plight, he persuaded the Hungarians to join him in an invasion of Moravia. Svatopluk fought gallantly against his enemies, and more than once repelled them from his dukedom; but, in 894, he was finally defeated by the combined forces of his opponents. Then comes in a story which illustrates in a startling manner the Bohemian feeling that no military successes could atone for acts of cruelty and treachery. Although Svatopluk was undoubtedly fighting for the independence of his country, he was seized, according to this legend, with so extreme a fit of penitence for his crimes, that he fled from the battle to a secret place in the mountains, where he killed his horse, buried his sword in the ground, and lived and died a hermit. What gives a still stranger flavour to the legend is the cause which Cosmas assigns for the Duke’s penitence; for this cause was not his persecution of Methodius, but his ingratitude to Arnulf. The ruin of the Moravian dukedom speedily followed. According to one tradition, Wiching, Svatopluk’s German bishop, was used by Arnulf to stir up division between the sons of Svatopluk. If so, he must undoubtedly have used his influence in favour of the younger Svatopluk, and against Mojmir, the champion of the Slavonic ritual. But, whatever the cause of division, the fact of the civil war is undoubted; and all the enemies of the country took advantage of it. In 896 the Hungarians again invaded Moravia, and this time with much greater success. The struggle was, however, continued for a few years longer, during which the Emperor endeavoured to assist Mojmir; but at last, in 907, Mojmir was killed in battle, and the old dukedom of Moravia was completely destroyed. [Illustration: TOMB OF ST. LUDMILA.]