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Daniel Alexandrovich (1276-1303)

The first Moscow appanage prince, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

1293 - Dudenev's army - the ruin of Moscow.

1299 - The transfer of the metropolitan see from Kyiv to Vladimir, the approach of the spiritual center.

1301 – conquest of Kolomna.

1302 - annexation of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.

1303 - the conquest of Mozhaisk.

Meaning: the Moscow river becomes the internal river of the principality. The growth of the territory of the principality in 2 times.

He founded the Danilovsky Monastery, where the first archimandrite in the Moscow Principality was established.

Yuri Danilovich (1303-1325)

He entered the struggle for possession of a label for the Great Vladimir reign.

The struggle with the Tver principality for the label.

1318 - transfer of the label to the Moscow princes.

1325 - Yuri Danilovich was killed by the prince of Tver in the Horde. The label for the Great Vladimir reign goes to Tver.

Ivan Kalita (1325-1340)

He laid the foundations for the political and economic power of Moscow. Significantly replenished the treasury of the Moscow principality.

1326 - The transformation of Moscow into a religious center

1327 - suppressed the uprising in Tver - the abolition of the Basques, the assumption by the Moscow prince of the functions of the Basques. Cessation of raids for 40 years.

Buying shortcuts to reign in the Horde:

Beloozero

He built the oak Kremlin in Moscow (1339).

Resumed stone construction:

Assumption Cathedral

Cathedral of the Archangel

Simeon the Proud (1340-1353)

The first became known as the "Grand Duke of All Russia".

Led a policy of annexation of neighboring lands. Successfully fought with Novgorod and Lithuania. He began to conduct a more independent sending of tribute to the Horde.

1352 - the strongest plague epidemic. The Horde stop taking tribute - there is no one to take from. A significant weakening of the Russian lands after the plague, which slowed down the process of fighting against the yoke.

Ivan Krasny (Meek)

(1353-1359)

Separation of Mozhaisk.

1354 - resumed the label.

1354 - Alexy is appointed metropolitan.

Dmitry Donskoy (1359-1389)

During the reign of Dmitry, Moscow established its leadership position in the Russian lands. Canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church

1.Fight with Lithuania

1368, 1370, 1372 - Olgerd's campaigns against Moscow.

1372 - peace treaty

2. Fight against Tver

1371 - “I’m not going to the label, I won’t let Mikhail go to Vladimir, but you, ambassador, the path is clear.”

1375 - Mikhail of Tver recognizes the seniority of Moscow over Tver

3.Fight the Horde

1377 - battle on the river Pyana

1378 - battle on the river Vozha

1380 - Battle of Kulikovo. Strengthening Moscow as a national center. The yoke has been seriously undermined, the system of labels has disappeared.

1382 - Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow

4. He began to mint the Moscow coin - money.

5. Testament.

Introduced the order of direct inheritance.

The struggle against the yoke is bequeathed

1364 - Vladimir

1362-1382 - Kaluga

1364 - Kostroma, Starodub

1367 - construction of the white-stone Kremlin in Moscow.

Basil I (1389-1425)

Entered into an alliance with Lithuania, married Sofya Vitovtovna.

1399 - Battle of Vorskla. A terrible defeat from Edigey, the death of Vsevolod Bobrok and Dmitry Serpukhovsky.

1395 - Tamerlane's campaign against Russia.

1408 - siege of Moscow by Yedigei

He annexed the lands of Komi, Murom, Gorodets, Tarusa, Vologda to the Moscow Grand Duchy.

"Renaissance" in church building.

Trinity Cathedral of the Sergius Monastery

Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Andronnikovsky Monastery

Cathedral of the Assumption on the town in Zvenigorod.

Cathedral of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery

Creation of the first major all-Russian annalistic code - 1408 - Trinity Chronicle.

Vasily II the Dark

(1425-1462)

He ascended the throne at the age of ten.

Feudal War (1433-1453)

1445 - captivity of Vasily II by the Horde, released for a large ransom.

1446 - Vasily is blinded by Shemyaka and exiled to Vologda.

1453 - Shemyaka poisoned in Novgorod, the end of the Feudal War.

1439 - Union of Florence (Signed by Isidore, his subsequent suspension)

1448 - Autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church.(Metropolitan Jonah)

1456 - Treaty of Yazhelbitsky with Novgorod.

Suzdal (1451), Tula lands, Northern regions of the Vologda land.

Ivan III (1462-1505)

Vasily III

(1505-1533)

The final formation of a single state.

He led an active policy of uniting the lands around Moscow.

1471 - battle on the river Shelon

1478 - the second campaign against Novgorod, its final annexation.

1485 - campaign against Tver

1489 - the conquest of the Vyatka and Arsk lands.

Wars against Lithuania:

1487 - 1494 - Withdrawal to Moscow of the lands of the upper reaches of the Oka.

1500 - 1503 - Peace treaty of 1508 - Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Rylsky, Bryansk lands.

1510 - annexation of the Pskov Republic.

1512 - 1514 - the capture of Smolensk

1521 - the final abolition of the Ryazan principality. Completion of the unification of lands around Moscow. Along with the term "Muscovy", the term "Russia" begins to appear.

The overthrow of the yoke and the establishment of autocracy:

1480 - the establishment of autocracy.

1472 - Marriage of Ivan III to Zoya Paleolog.

1478 - Ivan III refuses to pay tribute.

1480 - standing on the river. Acne. The final overthrow of the yoke and the establishment of autocracy.

Sudebnik of Ivan III (1497):

New court system

The introduction of the division of the country into counties, camps and volosts

Criminal articles have become more stringent and harsh

St. George's Day is fixed, the elderly and its dimensions. 1st step to enslavement.

Confirmation of servility, its sources, the impossibility of converting the Black Hundreds and becoming a serf for debts.

Calendar reform (1498):

Novgorod the Great (1471-1478)

Tver lands (1485)

Vyatka (1489)

Karelian

Komi-Zyryansky

Komi-Perm

Yugra

Nenets

Rostov the Great(1474)

Pskov(1510)

Smolensk(1514)

Ryazan(1521)

Novgorod - Seversky, Chernigov, Rylsky, Gomel, Putivl, Yelets, Upper Oka, Odoevsky, Vorotynsky

Changing the face of Moscow, its transformation into the capital of a great power.

1485 - 1495 - Construction of new fortifications (Solari, Ruffo)

Cathedral Ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin:

Assumption Cathedral - Fioravanti - the tomb of metropolitans and patriarchs, the main ceremonial temple

Archangel Cathedral - Aleviz Novy - the tomb of the great princes, a funeral cult

Cathedral of the Annunciation - Pskov masters - house church of the princes, the repository of the treasury

Church of the Deposition of the Robe - Pskov masters - home church of metropolitans and patriarchs.

The Faceted Chamber - Solari, Ruffo - a building for ceremonial receptions and meetings

Church of St. John of the Ladder, Ivan the Great Bell Tower - Bon Fryazin

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Introduction

Daniel of Moscow

Yuri Daniilovich

Mikhail Tverskoy1

Ivan I Kalita

Semyon Proud

Ivan II the Red

Dimitry Donskoy

Basil I

Daniel of Moscow

Ivan I Kalita

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The process of formation of a unified Russian state took place approximately from the beginning of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th century. And there are three periods:

I period (k. XIII (n. XIV) -mid. XIV centuries) During this period, two processes take place:

1) the formation of large feudal centers in northeastern Russia (Tver, Moscow principalities, etc.);

2) selection of the strongest of them - the future core and political center in the formation of a centralized state.

II period (2nd half of the XIV-50s of the XV centuries) The first stage ends with the fact that the Moscow principality became the strongest. Based on this, it is in the 60-70s. 14th century defeated its main opponents: Tver, Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality. By this time, the Moscow principality had accumulated so many human, material and political resources that it needed minimal support in the struggle for unification. And his opponents were forced to seek outside help. The third forces were the Horde and Lithuania. Moscow began to unite the lands around itself. The accession of the principalities meant the loss of their state sovereignty. Moscow stands at the head of the struggle against the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

III period (the reign of Ivan III and partially the reign of Vasily III.) During this period, the process of territorial unification continues. This process is associated with endless wars with Lithuania, because. Russian lands began to pass back under the rule of Moscow.

In the context of this work, we are especially interested in the first period of the formation of the Russian state, and in particular the domestic and foreign policy of the first Moscow princes.

However, it is necessary to understand the question of why exactly the Moscow principality became the center that united hitherto scattered lands.

There are different points of view on the reasons for the rise of Moscow. Ilovaisky finds the following reasons for the rise of the Muscovite state, the growth of Moscow: Geographical position, giving political and commercial benefits; The personalities of the Moscow princes and their policies (the princes of the Tatars themselves made a weapon for the rise of power, as can be seen from the struggle between Tver and Moscow); The policy of the Tatars determined in favor of Moscow; Sympathy of the boyars and the clergy; Correctness of succession to the throne in Moscow.

Platonov identifies the following reasons: 1. Geographical position, which gave the Moscow principality population and funds; 2. The personal abilities of the first Moscow princes, their political dexterity and thriftiness, the ability to take advantage of circumstances, which the Tver princes did not have, despite the identical advantageous position of the Tver principality and Moscow.

The main condition for the rise of Moscow, according to Solovyov, is the middle position of her position, which gave political, commercial and ecclesiastical advantages.

Geographical position

The Moscow principality occupied a fairly advantageous central position in relation to other Russian lands. The river and land routes passing through its territory gave Moscow the importance of the most important junction of trade and other ties between the Russian lands. Moscow became in the fourteenth century. a major trade and craft center. Moscow craftsmen gained fame as skillful masters of foundry, blacksmithing and jewelry. It was in Moscow that Russian artillery was born and received its baptism of fire.

Trade relations of Moscow merchants "surozhans" and "cloth workers" stretched far beyond the borders of Russian lands. Covered from the northwest of Lithuania by the Principality of Tver, and from the east and southeast of the Golden Horde by other Russian lands, the Principality of Moscow was less subject to sudden devastating raids of the Golden Horde. This allowed the princes of Moscow to gather and accumulate strength, gradually create superiority in material and human resources, in order to act as organizers and leaders of the unification process and the liberation struggle. The geographical position of the Moscow Principality predetermined its role as the ethnic core of the emerging Great Russian people. All this, combined with the purposeful and flexible policy of the Moscow princes in relations with the Golden Horde and other Russian lands, ultimately led to Moscow's victory for the role of leader and political center in the formation of a unified Russian state.

Economic factor

1. Strengthening the link between the city and the countryside. Development of commodity-money relations.

At the beginning in the XIV century, intensive development of agriculture begins. Agricultural production is characterized in this period by the increasing spread of the arable system, which requires constant cultivation of the land. But the rise of agriculture was due not so much to the development of tools as to the expansion of sown areas through the development of new and previously abandoned lands.

Since the peasant always deals with only one plot, which rests from sowing only after a year (two-field system) or two (three-field system), then the need arises for fertilizing the fields. An increase in the surplus product in agriculture makes it possible to develop animal husbandry, as well as to sell grain to the side.

The ever-increasing need for agricultural implements necessitates the development of handicrafts. As a result, the process of separation of handicraft from agriculture is going deeper and deeper. It entails the need for exchange between the peasant and the artisan, that is, between town and country. This exchange takes place in the form of trade, which in this period increases accordingly. Local markets are created on the basis of exchange. The natural division of labor between individual regions of the country, due to their natural characteristics, forms economic ties on the scale of the whole of Russia. The establishment of these ties also contributed to the development of foreign trade. All this urgently demanded the political unification of the Russian lands, that is, the creation of a centralized state. Nobles, merchants, artisans were interested in this.

2. Strengthening economic ties.

In the XIV-XV centuries, the Russian economy is on the rise. The strengthening of economic ties also required the political unification of the Russian lands. However, unlike the West, where this factor was decisive, it was not so here (a single all-Russian market was formed only in the 17th century).

Political factor

Another factor that led to the unification of the Russian lands was the intensification of the class struggle, the intensification of the class resistance of the peasantry. The rise of the economy, the possibility of obtaining ever greater surplus product induce the feudal lords to intensify the exploitation of the peasants. Moreover, the feudal lords strive not only economically, but also legally to secure the peasants for their estates and estates, to enserf them. Such a policy aroused the natural resistance of the peasantry, which took on various forms. Peasants kill feudal lords, seize their property, set fire to estates. Such a fate often befalls not only secular, but also spiritual feudal lords - monasteries. Robbery directed against the masters sometimes acted as a form of class struggle. The flight of peasants takes on a certain scale, especially to the south, to lands free from landlords. Under such conditions, the feudal lords are faced with the task of keeping the peasantry in check and bringing serfdom to an end. This task could be solved only by a powerful centralized state.

These two reasons played a leading role in the unification of Russia. Without them, the process of centralization could not have achieved any significant success. At the same time, in itself, the economic and social development of the country in the XIV-XVI centuries. could not yet lead to the formation of a centralized state.

Although economic ties during this period reached a significant development, they were still not wide enough, deep and strong enough to bind the whole country together. This is one of the differences between the formation of the Russian centralized state and similar processes in Western Europe. There, centralized states were created in the course of the development of capitalist relations. In Russia, in the XIV-XVI centuries. there could still be no question of the emergence of capitalism, of bourgeois relations.

The same must be said about the development of class relations, the class struggle. No matter how great its scope was in this period, nevertheless this struggle did not acquire such forms as it already had in the West or at a later time in Russia (peasant war led by Bolotnikov, Razin in the 17th century). Even for the beginning of the XVI century. predominantly outwardly imperceptible, latent accumulation of class contradictions is characteristic.

Ideological factor

The Russian Church was the bearer of the national Orthodox ideology, which played an important role in the formation of powerful Russia. In order to build an independent state and bring foreigners into the fence of the Christian church, for this Russian society had to strengthen its moral strength. Sergius devoted his life to this. He is building a trinity temple, seeing in it a call to the unity of the Russian land, in the name of a higher reality.

Foreign policy factor

At the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV century, the international position of Russia was significantly complicated by the increased danger from the Horde and other Asian conquerors, as well as increased pressure on the lands from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In this regard, the desire of the progressive people of that time to unite into a single powerful state was understandable.

Foreign policy of the first Moscow princes

Daniel of Moscow

Daniil of Moscow (date of birth unknown - 1303) the first independent Moscow prince. In the early 90s, Daniel annexed Mozhaisk to the Rostov Principality, and in 1300 he conquered Kolomna from Ryazan.

In 1285, the Lithuanians attacked the possessions of the Bishop of Tver, the Oleshnya volost (north-west of Mozhaisk), they were rebuffed by the Tverians, Muscovites, Volochans (residents of Volok Lamsky), Novotorzhtsy, Dmitrovtsy, Zubtsov and Rzheviches (residents of Tver Zubtsov and located not far from Smolensk Rzhev). In the list of participants in the rebuff, the mention of dragees and Novotorzhets attracts attention. Volok Lamsky and Torzhok were the possessions of Novgorod and the Grand Duke of Vladimir, who at that time was Dmitry Alexandrovich. The participation of the inhabitants of these two territories in common hostilities against the Lithuanians indirectly indicates that a complete reconciliation took place between the brothers Daniel and Dmitry, they began to coordinate their actions against a common enemy. The events of 1288 confirm the conclusion made. That year there was a quarrel between the new Prince of Tver, Mikhail Yaroslavich, and the Grand Duke Dmitry Alexandrovich. The prince of Tver began to prepare for war. Upon learning of this, Dmitry "called his brother Andrea Alexandrovich and Danil and Dmitry Borisovich and all the princes, who are under him, and go to Tfari with them." The Allies devastated the neighborhood of Tver's Kashin, and another Tver city - Ksnyatin - was burned. Mikhail Yaroslavich was forced to make peace. Danila, who helped Dmitry Alexandrovich, is Daniil Moskovsky. In 1288, he took the side of his elder brother, breaking his former alliance with Tver. In the future, his relationship with her first became friendly again, then cooled again. But relations with the more powerful older brother, the Grand Duke of Vladimir Dmitry, became stronger and stronger.

This was especially evident in 1293. In that year, Andrei Aleksandrovich Gorodetsky began a new war against Dmitry. Supported by a number of Russian princes, he once again went to Sarai with complaints about the Grand Duke. Khan Tokhta, who had occupied the throne of the Horde not long before, provided Andrei with great military assistance. Tokhta's brother Tudan was sent to Russia, whom the Russians called Duden. That coalition of princes, which included Daniil of Moscow and which was guided by Nogai, was also preparing for the fight. Having learned about Andrei's trip to Tokhta, one of the representatives of the coalition, Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, at the beginning of 1293 also went to the Tatars, but to the Tatars of Nogai.

Andrei and Dyuden appeared in Russian lands before their opponents. They captured Suzdal, plundered Vladimir, tearing out even the floor patterned copper plates in the Assumption Cathedral, took Yuryev Polskaya and moved to Pereyaslavl, where Dmitry was staying. Pereyaslavtsy left the city in advance, Dmitry himself with a retinue drove off to Volok Lamsky, and from there went to Pskov. Having stood for many days at the depopulated Pereyaslavl, the Tatars and their Russian allies “went to Moscow, and the Moscow seducer Danilo, and so entered Moscow, and did the same, like Suzhdal, and Volodimer, and the other city, and taking Moscow all and volosts, and villages. This was the second capture of Moscow by the Tatars after Batu in the 13th century. It shows that, unlike the events of eleven years ago, in 1293 Daniil Alexandrovich was not an adversary, but an ally of his older brother Dmitry. His other ally was Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, who, returning from Nogai, hoped to get to Tver through Moscow, but near Moscow he was met by “nikii popin”, who warned that there were Tatars in Moscow, led the prince to the “path of peace”, and this safe dear Michael reached his capital city.

The military support of Duden led to the fact that Andrei Alexandrovich became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Andrei's opponent Dmitry died in 1294. Only the hereditary Pereyaslavl Zalesky remained behind him, which he passed on to his son Ivan. It seemed that after the death of the eldest of the sons of Alexander Nevsky, the coalition led by him would fall apart. However, the events of subsequent years show that even under the new conditions, the Moscow-Pereyaslav-Tver union continued to operate and was a formidable force.

In 1296, a large Tatar detachment headed by Nevryuy was sent to the Russian lands, apparently called upon to resolve in favor of the Horde the accumulated contradictions between the Russian princes. A large congress of Russian princes and nobility took place in Vladimir. Its participants were divided into two parties. At the head of one stood the Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich. He was supported by Yaroslavl Prince Fyodor Rostislavich and Rostov Prince Boris Konstantinovich. The opposition was made up of Daniil of Moscow, Mikhail of Tverskoy and the Pereyaslavites. Contradictions at the congress threatened to develop into an armed strife, but prudence prevailed, the parties agreed on the division of principalities and went home.

The news of subsequent events was preserved not by chronicles, but by a record on a parchment service minae of the 12th century. A deacon of the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral named Skoren recorded that in 6804, on the 10th indiction, the Novgorodians expelled the governors of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich “and sent the Novgorodians for Prince Danilya to Muskvou, calling him to the table in Novgorod on their fatherland. And the prince sent his son before himself to his place in the name of Ivan. And the prince of Daniel himself. The record is dated between September 1, 1296 and February 28, 1297, and since it was made in the old November menaion, we can assume that the events indicated in the record took place in November 1296. The expulsion of the governors of the Grand Duke from Novgorod meant a break between the Novgorodians and Andrei Alexandrovich. Taking such a decisive step, they should have expected equally decisive steps from Grand Duke Andrei. And if so, then the Novgorodians were obliged to enlist the support of the opponents of the Grand Duke. Their choice fell on Daniel of Moscow. The choice is very significant. It testifies that it was the Moscow prince who was recognized as the most influential and strong opponent of Andrei Alexandrovich. True, in the record, Daniel's invitation to reign in Novgorod is legally justified: he was called "to his father". Daniil's father, Alexander Nevsky, indeed, reigned in Novgorod for many years. But on this basis, Novgorod could also be considered the fatherland of another son of Alexander - Andrei. In addition, he could be considered the father of the Prince of Tver Mikhail Yaroslavich, whose father Yaroslav Yaroslavich also occupied the Novgorod throne for a long time. Therefore, the legal justification of Skorenya clearly obscured the true reasons for inviting the Novgorod prince to their table as one of the most powerful princes of North-Eastern Russia already at the end of the 13th century.

Daniil accepted the invitation of Novgorod, but he himself, for reasons unknown to us, did not go there. He sent his son Ivan. This is the earliest news about the political activities of Ivan - the future Ivan Danilovich Kalita. Daniil was kept in Moscow by something. Skoren began to write "And the prince of Danilia himself", but did not finish it, without revealing the riddle.

What Skoren' didn't write down is partly revealed by a letter sent by Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver to Archbishop Kliment of Novgorod. In it, the Tver prince recalled his alliance with Novgorod, directed against the Grand Duke Andrei and the Tatars. And he began the letter with the words: “So, father, I tell you: with your brother, with your elders, with Danil, I am alone and with Ivan.” Ivan is little Ivan Kalita sent to reign in Novgorod, therefore, the message to the Novgorod lord was written at about the same time as Skornya's entry. But the recognition of Mikhail Yaroslavich that Daniil Alexandrovich is his elder brother is direct evidence of the leading role of the Moscow prince in the Moscow-Pereyaslav-Tver political and military alliance. It makes completely understandable the reasons why the Novgorodians invited Daniil of Moscow to their table.

At the end of 1296 or the beginning of 1298, Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich returned from the Horde. His first thought was to fight with Pereyaslavl, Moscow and Tver. He immediately gathered troops and set out on a campaign. However, at Yuriev, the Moscow and Tver regiments blocked his path. “And little by little the battle was not between them, and taking the world, and going to your own places.” Judging by the fact that Andrei's son Boris acted in Novgorod in May 1299, a clause on Daniel's refusal from Novgorod was included in the peace conditions. Nevertheless, even if for a short time, but the Moscow prince, even without being the Grand Duke of Vladimir, ruled in Novgorod, as evidenced by the seals of Daniel found there mentioned above.

In the summer of 1300, the Sarai Khan Tokhta won a decisive victory over Nogai. Nogai himself was killed. The dual power ended in the Horde, and this was immediately reflected in Russian affairs. In the autumn of 1300, a congress of Russian princes was convened in Dmitrov. There has been a big change in their relationship. The coalition of opponents of Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich broke up. The prince of Tver quarreled with Pereyaslavsky and went over to the side of Prince Andrei. But Daniel of Moscow did not change his positions. True, the loss of the Tver ally did not allow the Moscow prince to pursue his former active policy in North-Eastern Russia. His attention turned to the Ryazan principality, which was not part of the system of northeastern principalities. At the end of 1300, Daniel defeated the Ryazan prince Konstantin near Pereyaslavl Ryazan and captured him. The victory intensified the foreign policy activities of the Moscow prince. When his ally Ivan Dmitrievich Pereyaslavsky died on May 15, 1302, Daniel entered into a dispute over his inheritance with the Grand Duke himself. Ivan had no heirs, and according to the norms of those times, the escheated principality was to become the property of the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Andrei Alexandrovich sent his governors to Pereyaslavl, and he himself went to the Horde in order to secure Pereyaslavl for himself and receive military assistance there. In the absence of the Grand Duke, Daniel acted decisively and quickly. Based on Ivan's will, according to which Pereyaslavl passed to Moscow, he expelled Andreev's governors from the city and took possession of it. In the spring of 1303, Andrei Alexandrovich returned from the Horde, but he no longer found his younger brother alive. Daniel died on March 5, 1303.

Yuri Danilovich

YURI Danilovich (turn of the 1270-1280s - November 21, 1325), Prince of Moscow (from 1303) and Grand Duke of Vladimir (from 1317), the eldest son of Moscow Prince Daniil Alexandrovich. He annexed Mozhaisk to the Moscow principality. Since 1304, he fought for the Vladimir grand prince's table with the Tver prince Mikhail Yaroslavich. In this struggle, he received the support of Metropolitan Peter, in 1314 he entered into an alliance with Novgorod against Tver. For about two years he lived in the Golden Horde, married a Tatar Konchaka, the sister of Khan Uzbek, after which he received a label for a great reign. At the end of 1317 he was defeated by Mikhail Yaroslavich, fled to Novgorod, then to the Horde, where at the end of 1318 he achieved the execution of Mikhail. In 1322 he led the campaign of the Novgorodians against Sweden, in 1323 he concluded the peace of Orekhov. Killed in the Horde by Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich of Tver.

Mikhail Tverskoy

Mikhail Yaroslavich - Grand Duke of Tver. Born in 1271, took the throne around 1285; in 1286 he successfully pursued the Lithuanians who attacked the Tver land. In 1288, because Mikhail "did not want to bow to the Grand Duke Dmitry", the latter appeared with a large army in the Tver land, devastated the surroundings of Kashin, and reached Tver itself, but peace was concluded here and Mikhail lived in harmony with Dmitry until the death of the latter (1294). But from the very first years of the reign of his brother Andrei, a struggle opens, several times stopped by the clergy. In 1301, Tverskoy went to the aid of the Novgorodians against the Swedes, who built the Landskrona fortress on the Neva, against Okhta, but returned halfway, having learned that this fortress had already been burned by the Novgorodians and their allies. In the same year, he participated in the congress of princes in Dmitrov, where they probably talked about Pereyaslavl. Since 1304, when, after the death of Grand Duke Andrei, many of his boyars left for Tver, a long struggle between Moscow and Tver began because of the great reign. Having received a label from the Khan in 1304, Mikhail went with a large army to Moscow, but, not being able to take it, returned, making peace with Yuri. In 1308 he again went to Moscow, fought under the city and "do a lot of evil." Following then, Mikhail Yaroslavich was invited to Novgorod to resolve disputes that had arisen there over Tver possessions in the Novgorod region and settled the matter without returning the lands. But in 1314, the Novgorodians, taking advantage of Tversky's stay in the Horde, where he went to receive a label from the new Khan Uzbek, drove out his governors and invited Yuri Danilovich to their place. Returning M. defeated the Novgorodians near Torzhok, took from them a payback of 5,000 hryvnias in silver, as well as from the inhabitants of Torzhok, and executed the main perpetrators of the indignation, while continuing at the same time not to let grain convoys pass to Novgorod. In 1316, Mikhail Yaroslavich again rose against the Novgorodians with all the Nizov land, but it did not come to a battle. The following year, Yuri, who received a label for a great reign and married the sister of Uzbek, Konchak, rose against him, using the assistance of the Novgorodians, but suffered a terrible defeat at the village of Bortenev (1318), after which peace was concluded; Mikhail Yaroslavich, fearing the Tatars, agreed to concessions. In 1319 he was executed by order of the khan, accused of concealing tribute and poisoning the captive Konchaka. From his marriage with Anna Dmitrievna Rostovskaya, Mikhail had the sons of Dmitry the Terrible Eyes, Alexander, Konstantin, Vasily and a daughter, Fedor.

Ivan I Kalita

In relation to the Horde, the Moscow prince led the traditional policy of his father and grandfather. In the Horde, he invariably received great honors from Khan Uzbek, who was his brother-in-law. The Uzbek listened to the opinion of Ivan Danilovich, who knew how to direct events in his favor. In 1339, “according to his thought,” the khan summoned the Russian princes to the Horde, including Alexander of Tver, who was soon subjected to a painful execution. Kalita knew well the predatory Golden Horde orders, carefully collected a “way out” from the Russian lands and was ready to meet the monetary harassment of the Tatars in order to collect another additional request in their favor. But it is in vain to see in Kalita some zealous worshiper before the Horde. The heaviest monetary requisition was still easier than the devastating Tatar raids. In any case, Moscow enjoyed complete and unprecedented peace under Kalita: “... and from there the silence was great for 40 years, and the filth ceased to fight the Russian land and kill Christians, and rested and relieved Christians from great languor and many hardships and from violence Tatar".

Ivan Danilovich considered himself not only Moscow, but also the Grand Duke of "All Russia." He imperiously dictated his conditions to Novgorod and did not bow to the Novgorodians' pleas for peace. Having occupied Torzhok, he devastated the Novgorod lands during several winter months. Even distant Pskov experienced the heavy hand of the Grand Duke, who achieved the temporary expulsion of Alexander Mikhailovich Tverskoy from it. The possessions of the Moscow prince began to noticeably move towards the Far North. In 1337, the Moscow army went to the region of the Northern Dvina, which belonged to Novgorod. At that time, the Dvina region remained in Novgorod possession, but Ivan Danilovich was already in charge of the Pechera and favored "... the falconers of the Caves who go to the Pechera" with various benefits.

Kalita laid the foundations for Moscow's might. He was the first to unite the Russian lands around her. After a long period of time, he was the first authoritative prince, whose influence extended to the entire North-Eastern Russia.

Semyon Proud

SEMEN Ivanovich Proud (1316 - April 27, 1353), Russian statesman, Grand Duke of Moscow (since 1340) and Vladimir (since 1341), eldest son of Ivan Kalita. In foreign policy, he was guided by the Horde, fought with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He strengthened his influence in Novgorod by making a successful campaign against Torzhok in 1341. All children died in infancy (Ivan and Semyon, like Prince Semyon himself, died in 1353 from the plague).

Ivan II the Red

IVAN II Ivanovich Krasny (March 30, 1326 - November 13, 1359), Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow (since 1353), second son of Ivan Kalita, father of Dmitry Donskoy. In 1340-1353 he was a specific prince of Zvenigorod and Ruz. After the death of his brother, Semyon the Proud, he headed the Moscow principality; defended the right to the Grand Duke's throne in the fight against the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod prince Konstantin Vasilyevich. He continued the policy of his father and brother to unite the Russian lands.

Dmitry Donskoy

Dimitri Ivanovich, Grand Duke of All Russia, the son of Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich, from his 2nd wife Alexandra, was born in 1350. After the death of his father (1359), Dmitry, with his brother Ivan (died in 1364), remained a minor. The Russian princes went to the Horde to petition for a great reign; Khan Navruz gave a label to the Suzdal prince Dimitri Konstantinovich. Young Dmitry was in the Horde in 1361, and maybe even earlier. In the Horde there were "hush". Khan Navruz was killed, two khans appeared: in the horde of Murat, beyond the Volga - Avdul, ruled by Temnik Mamai. Attorneys of the Grand Duke Dimitri Konstantinovich, who had already sat down on the table in Vladimir, and the prince of Moscow, for whom, of course, the boyars acted, went to Murat. Murat gave a label to the prince of Moscow; Suzdal did not yield. Then the boyars laid siege to Pereyaslavl, where the prince of Suzdal locked himself up; Pereyaslavl was taken, Dmitry reigned in Vladimir (1362). In 1363, Khan Avdul sent his label to Dmitry, who accepted it. Murat was offended by such a recognition of another khan and again gave the label to Demetrius of Suzdal, who appeared in Vladimir. The Moscow troops, with whom there were also princes, expelled him and devastated the Suzdal region. During this struggle, the prince of Rostov had to submit to Moscow and the princes of Galicia and Starodubsky lost their possessions. Soon, the prince of Suzdal not only made peace with Moscow, but also asked for his help, when, after the death of his brother Andrei, his other brother, Boris, took possession of Nizhny Novgorod. The Metropolitan sent St. Sergius to reconcile the princes, and when Boris resisted, the churches were locked in Nizhny. Boris went to Gorodets; in Nizhny village Demetrius (1364). Then he married the daughter of the Nizhny Novgorod prince Evdokia. Then Moscow was fortified with a stone wall (Kremlin). The Grand Duke, according to the chronicle: "He brought all the princes under his authority, and those who did not obey his will began to encroach on those." So he intervened in the quarrel of the Tver princes, who were arguing among themselves about the escheat inheritance of Prince Simeon Konstantinovich. Initially, they were judged by the lord of Tver and decided in favor of the Grand Duke of Tver, Mikhail Alexandrovich. The princes turned to the mediation of the metropolitan, and Mikhail - to the Kalitov Olgerd, and although, apparently, the matter was settled, but in 1369 Grand Duke Dmitry called Mikhail for trial in Moscow and imprisoned him and all his boyars. They were released by the Tatar ambassador; then Mikhail again turned to Olgerd, who came with the army and, having defeated the Moscow regiments at Lake Trostenskoye (in the current Ruza district), approached Moscow. An agreement was concluded that was beneficial for Mikhail. In 1370 Dmitry attacked the Tver regions; Michael turned to the Horde to Khan Mohammed-Sultan, a protege of Mamai, and received from him a label for the great prince; but Dmitry Khan did not obey. Mikhail called Olgerd for the third time, who, however, had no luck near Moscow, reconciled with the Grand Duke and gave his daughter to his cousin Vladimir Andreevich. Mikhail again went to the Horde, received a label; but Dmitri did not accept the yarlyk, taunted the ambassador and won him over to his side. Nevertheless, Dmitry went to the Horde, having previously made a will, in which he disposed of his hereditary possessions, without mentioning the great reign. In the Horde he was received favorably. Michael again turned to Olgerd, who came, was defeated near Lubutsk and made peace (1372). Mikhail did not put up; Dmitry went to Tver, with a militia of many princes, laid siege to the city and forced Mikhail to conclude an agreement with which he forever refused to lead. reign. In the same year, Dmitry Donskoy defeated Oleg Ryazansky, with whom there were disputes about boundaries, and drove him out of the capital city; but he soon returned and made peace with him. Having humbled neighboring strong princes, the Grand Duke could boldly begin actions against the Tatars. In the then troubled time for the Horde, various princes, acting on their own, made attacks on the Russian land; they were sometimes repulsed, and sometimes they inflicted defeats on the Russians. In 1377 Prince Arabshah (Arapsha) from the Blue Horde (between the Caspian and Aral Seas) attacked the Suzdal region. Dmitry sent an army to help his father-in-law; due to the negligence of the Russian princes, their militia was defeated on the river. Drunk (in the current Nizhny Novgorod province). Then the Tatars plundered the Nizhny Novgorod region and raided the Ryazan region. Arabshah proclaimed himself Khan of the Golden Horde, but soon died (his coins were found in the Kazan province). In 1378, Dmitry managed to break on the river. Rodna (in the Ryazan province) sent by Mamai to Murza Begich. Thus, Dmitry protected his recent enemy Oleg. In revenge for this, Mamai gathered a large army (1380). Donskoy, having received a blessing from St. Sergius, who released two monks to fight: Weak and Peresvet, met Mamai on the Kulikovo field, between the river. Nepryadva and Don (Tula province, Epifansky district). With him were many Russian princes and two sons of Olgerd, Andrei and Dimitri. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello entered into an alliance with Mamai, but did not have time for the battle. Oleg Ryazansky expressed his obedience to Mamai. On September 8, a famous battle took place, the success of which was facilitated mainly by the timely appearance from an ambush of a detachment led by Volynsky-Bobrok and Prince Vladimir Andreevich. Dmitry distinguished himself not only as a commander, having drawn up a plan in advance, but also showed personal courage. Mamai died on the way back; Tokhtamysh, a protege of Tamerlane, appeared in the Horde; he went to punish Dmitry (1381). His unexpected attack forced Donskoy to retire to Kostroma. Moscow was taken, though by deceit. Russia again submitted to the Tatars, but the people's spirit had already revived. Submitting to the Tatars, Dmitry Donskoy firmly held the other princes: he removed Mikhail’s attempt to get a label in the Horde, he subdued Oleg with weapons, devastated the land of Ryazan, kept the Novgorodians in obedience. Dmitry concluded an agreement with his cousin Vladimir Andreevich, by which the latter recognized Vasily Dmitrievich as the elder brother, Yuri as an equal brother, and the rest as younger, waiving his rights to the great reign. In his last will (1389), Dmitry not only manages hereditary possessions, but also blesses his eldest son Vasily with a great reign. Dmitry died in 1389. After him, children remained: Vasily, Yuri, Andrei, Peter, Ivan and Konstantin. Terrible with the princes, Dmitry strictly kept the boyars: Velyaminov, the son of the last thousand, was executed in Moscow for assisting Mikhail of Tver. In this regard, Dmitry Ivanovich is a worthy predecessor of Grand Duke John Vasilyevich. The posterity kept the memory of him as the winner of the Tatars;

Basil I

Vasily I Dmitrievich - Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow, eldest son of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. Born in 1371, he ascended the throne in 1389. Both by his nature and by the conditions that had been created partly even under his father, Vasily could have little influence on the policy of the great reign. After the Tokhtamyshev pogrom in 1382, sent by his father to the Horde to represent in a dispute at the grand-ducal table with Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, Vasily was kept there as a hostage for the 8,000th debt of the Moscow Grand Duke. After spending two years in the Horde, he fled from there to Moldavia and through Lithuania, where he saw Vitovt and where his marriage to Sofya Vitovtovna was resolved (concluded in 1391), accompanied by a Polish-Lithuanian retinue, he returned to Moscow only in January 1387 In 1389, his father, dying, bequeathed to him to obey his boyars, whose influence on Vasily was documented. Having received the Vladimir principality as a fiefdom under Donskoy's will, he was placed on the grand prince's table in Vladimir by the khan's ambassador. The death of Donskoy opened the way to the metropolitan see in Vladimir for Cyprian, a noble Bulgarian who was appointed to the Russian metropolis in 1387 and recognized in Lithuania before he was admitted to Moscow; with this, the national policy of the cathedra, which was definitely and sharply pursued by Metropolitan Alexei, was cut short, and the opposite idea, supported by the political predominance of Vytautas, was put forward, the idea of ecclesiastical rapprochement between Catholic Lithuania and Greek Orthodoxy. The Western policy of Moscow thus submitted to the views of Vitovt. But in the East, thanks to the experience of the 80s and the skillful policy of the Moscow boyars in the Horde, Vasily opened up the possibility of success in the territorial collection of specific Russian lands, which had taken a solid path since his time. The acceptance of the great reign with the approval of the Horde provided Vasily with a diplomatic victory over the claims of his uncle Vladimir Andreevich, who had left Moscow for Novgorod, where he apparently did not find strong support. In the same 1389, an agreement was concluded (Collection of State Letters and Treaties, vol. I, No. 35), recognizing for Vasily the price of a territorial concession to his uncle (Volok-Lamsky and Rzhevo) the grand ducal power and the subordinate position of his uncle. One clause of the agreement provided for the possibility of expanding (Murom, Tarusa and "other places") Vasily's possessions. With secured peace on the western border (agreement with Veliky Novgorod in 1390, marriage to Sophia in 1391) Vasily in 1392 went to the Horde, where Moscow money and, perhaps, the danger from the impending Tamerlane brought him a label on the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duchy, Gorodets, Meshchera, Murom and Tarusa. The Nizhny Novgorod prince Boris Konstantinovich failed to defend either his rights, confirmed by the Horde in 1389, or the city: Nizhny Novgorod was taken by the Moscow boyars as a result of the betrayal of the local boyars, with Vasily Rumyants at the head; Moscow governors settled there. After the death of Boris Konstantinovich in captivity (1393), Vasily had to fight for his acquisition with Boris's nephew, Semyon Dmitrievich; in 1401 he managed to bring him to renounce his claims to the inheritance. By the death of Semyon in 1402, the Nizhny Novgorod issue was resolved in a sense favorable for Moscow for a long time. The invasion of Tamerlane, which touched the East Russian south, but did not penetrate to Moscow, in 1395 upset the Tokhtamyshev Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga and threw out the Tatar masses from there along the Volga up to the Kama, threatening the Russian border in the East (the 1000th detachment of Tsarevich Eityak went with Semyon Dmitrievich to Nizhny Novgorod in 1395; in the Kazan and Mordovian lands, he found shelter and support in the subsequent time). The Moscow prince was given the task of defending the ethnographic border, and subsequently the colonization offensive to the East. In his hands was the key to the trade movement down the Volga and a new source of influence on Veliky Novgorod: with the strengthening of Moscow power on the Volga, Veliky Novgorod had to fear more for its Dvina and other "lands", so loosely connected with the metropolis and economically looking more to the South, than to the West. Immediately after the annexation of the Nizhny Novgorod principality, Vasily demanded from Veliky Novgorod a black forest, a princely state and a metropolitan court (cancelled by veche in 1385 and not restored, contrary to the demand of Metropolitan Cyprian, in 1391) and supported the unfulfilled demand by a military expedition to Torzhok, Volok-Lamsky and Vologda. Novgorod responded with an attack on Ustyug and Beloozero, but then asked for peace, which was concluded "in the old days" (1393), with the payment of black boron and indemnity and with the rejection of the decision to cancel the metropolitan court. An attempt to tear off its "lands" from Veliky Novgorod soon became possible - at the cost of national humiliation. The year 1395 was critical for Moscow in this sense: only an accident saved it from the ruin of Tamerlane; Vitovt launched an offensive to the east, taking Smolensk and sending an army to Ryazan, where one of the Smolensk princes took refuge. Basil not only did not come to the defense of the Russian regions, but together with Metropolitan Cyprian ended up in 1396 in Smolensk visiting Vitovt, where negotiations (on church affairs in Lithuania) were successfully conducted by the metropolitan. After Vitovt defeated the Ryazan land, he was honorably received by Vasily Dmitrievich on Moscow territory, in Kolomna. Here, joint actions were decided against Veliky Novgorod, which concluded an agreement with the Germans that was undesirable to Vitovt and indifferent to Moscow. The embassy of Vasily demanded in 1397 in Novgorod the cancellation of this agreement, but to no avail. But at the same time an invitation was sent to the Dvina to secede from Novgorod and kiss the cross to Moscow. The Dvinians accepted the offer. Volok-Lamsky, Torzhok, Bezhetsky Verkh and Vologda were taken away from Novgorod, but in 1398 the Novgorodians returned what had been taken away, and Vasily had to make peace again “in the old way”: Vitovt was already busy with another plan (restoring Tokhtamysh in the Horde and an alliance with him against Moscow) and “spread the world” with Vasily. The defeat of Vitovt on the Vorskla in 1399 freed Vasily's hands; Moscow troops in 1401 again fought in Zavolochye, on the Dvina, etc. But out of fear of Vitovt, who had recovered from the defeat and turned again to the Russian northeast, and here the matter ended in 1402 with peace. In 1403, Vasily did not even dare to take on the service, with a fiefdom, one of the Smolensk princes fleeing from Vitovt. Pskov also sought support against Vitovt. In 1406, the peace with Lithuania was broken, an army was sent to Vyazma, Vasily himself went against Vitovt to the Plav River, but it did not come to a battle, and a truce was concluded for a year. Troubles in Lithuania extended the year by two attempts to get out of the influence of Vitovt's policy. In 1408 (July), Vasily took over the unfortunate rival of Jagaila, Svidrigail, with the princes of Zvenigorod, Putivl, Przemysl and Minsk and the boyars of Chernigov, Bryansk, Starodub and Roslavl, giving Svidrigail the cities of Vladimir, Pereyaslavl and others. Vitovt responded to this with a campaign to the Ugra River, where the Moscow regiments with V. Dmitrievich also marched; standing ended this time in eternal peace. Vitovt's interests did not lie here, but from the east a Tatar thunderstorm approached Moscow. In November 1408, the leader of the Horde rati, Yedigei, approached Moscow through Ryazan and Kolomna, stopping in the village. Kolomenskoye and from there devastated Moscow cities up to Nizhny Novgorod within a month. Moscow was freed from the siege for 3,000 rubles, Edigei was recalled by the khan in view of the applicant for the khan's throne who appeared in the Horde. Edigei's letter to Vasily, who had taken refuge in Kostroma, explains the reasons for the expedition to the "ulus" (as the Tatars called Russia) by the withdrawal of Russia from obedience to the Horde after it was defeated by Tamerlane in 1395. Under the influence of a circle of young boyars, with treasurer Ivan Fedorovich Koshka at the head (Collection State Letters and Treaties, vol. II, No. 15), the Moscow government stopped sending an embassy to the Horde and paying tribute, nevertheless, collected (the chronicler talks about one “cultural” expense of the princely court under 1404 - the construction of a tower clock in Moscow with a fight , “chasnik of a chudnago and self-voiced”). Edigei's campaign again aroused the claims of the Nizhny Novgorod princely family to the inheritance taken from her; her worries in the Horde convinced Vasily of the need for personal opposition to them. Simultaneously with him (1412), Prince Ivan Mikhailovich of Tver went to the Horde, at the call of the Khan. Vasily Dmitrievich won the Nizhny Novgorod case against the new Khan Kerimberdey; the heir princes resigned themselves and came to Moscow (1416). In 1419 Vasily appoints his son Vasily as his successor; an attempt to get a written consent to this from the brothers caused the protesting departure of the younger, Konstantin, but he was not going to the Tatars, but to Novgorod: the Horde had no reason to refuse a serviceable tributary. Vasily Dmitrievich's relationship with Vitovt also tended to maintain eternal peace. In vain were the appeals of the Pskovians to Moscow's intercession (1423-1425). Dying, Vasily entrusted Vitovt with the protection of the grand-ducal rights of his ten-year-old son. The assassination attempts on Veliky Novgorod were abandoned at that time. Of the 5 sons of Vasily Dmitrievich, four died during his lifetime (three in infancy); daughter Anna in 1411 was married off to the son of the Byzantine emperor Manuel Palaiologos, Ivan.

Domestic policy of the first Moscow princes

Daniil of Moscow's domestic policy

Chronicles and other written sources have preserved for us news about the political, military and diplomatic activities of the first Moscow prince. According to a number of his actions, it can be seen that he was an independent and outstanding ruler, who by the end of his life had achieved considerable power, which had an impact not only on the development of his own principality, but also on the development of inter-princely relations throughout North-Eastern Russia. Much less known are the internal policies of the first Moscow prince, his economic and urban planning activities, and relations with the church. However, archaeological research in Moscow, which has been expanding in recent years, shows that in the second half of the 13th century. there is an intensive expansion of the urban area, increasing and improving ceramic production. These are signs of a certain economic upsurge, falling on the reign of Prince Daniel. His name is also associated with the first, recorded in the annals, construction outside the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. We are talking about the Danilov Monastery. Although the sources do not contain a direct date for its laying or completion of construction, and completely different and inconsistent years are named in the literature, there is reason to believe that the construction took place in 1298-1299, when the confrontation between Moscow and Vladimir sharply decreased and for the Moscow prince the opportunity has come to engage in peaceful constructive deeds.

Ivan I Kalita

Ivan Danilovich - Moscow prince from 1325, Moscow Grand Duke 1328 - 1340; son of the Moscow prince Daniil Alexandrovich. By the time of the reign of Ivan 1 Kalita, the expansion of the territory of the Moscow principality and the strengthening of the importance of Moscow, which became the basis for the unification of Scattered Russia into a single state with a single government, with a single leadership, belong. Leading a cautious policy towards the Golden Horde and using the khans as a tool to carry out his plans, Ivan I Kalita weakened the Tver principality, which competed with Moscow.

Contemporaries note that under Kalita, “the silence is great” for 40 years, the Tatar raids stopped. He dictated his conditions to Novgorod, Pskov, sent his tributaries to the Pechora, his influence extended to the entire North-Eastern Russia. Ivan Danilovich considered himself the Grand Duke of "All Russia".

The internal policy of Ivan I Kalita, which contributed to the expansion of Moscow settlements and settlements, led to the fact that Moscow during the time of his principality became a major craft center. Kalita achieved the transfer of the Russian metropolitans from Vladimir to Moscow and thereby strengthening the ecclesiastical and ideological influence of the Moscow metropolitans who supported the Moscow princes. The Kremlin under Ivan 1 Kalita was significantly expanded and surrounded by a solid oak wall (1339), the first stone churches were built in it, including the Assumption Cathedral, which became the burial place of the metropolitans, and the Archangel Cathedral, where the Moscow princes were buried. The stone buildings erected under Ivan I Kalita have not survived to us, as they were replaced by new ones under Ivan III. The wealth of the Moscow prince is emphasized by his nickname "Kalita", which means "money bag".

According to the will of Ivan 1 Kalita, the Moscow principality was divided between his sons Semyon, Ivan and Andrei; Kalita's heir was his eldest son Semyon Proud.

The reign of Ivan 1 Kalita was distinguished by another feature that was precious to Muscovites. “Grand Duke Ivan Danilovich sat down in the great reign of all Russia,” the chronicler writes, “and from now on there was great silence for 40 years, and the Tatars stopped fighting the Russian land, and Christians rested from the great languor and burden, from Tatar violence, and there was silence greatness over all the earth." The entry was made many years after the death of Kalita, who had reigned for 15 years, at least a quarter of a century after his death. But let's listen to a contemporary review, written immediately after the death of Ivan Kalita and, perhaps, enthusiastic:

“About this, the princes of the great Ivan, the prophet says:“ Lately, in the deserted land in the west, the Caesar will rise, loving the truth; judgment is not for bribes, nor for filthy countries; at the same time, the silence of the greatness in the Russian land will shine in his days of truth, ”just as it was during his reign. This is the great Prince Ivan, who had a just judgment beyond measure ... to the godless heresies who died under his power, to many books written by his command, jealous of the orthodox Caesar of the Greek Manuel, love the hierarchal dignity. This is how the scribes wrote in the “deserted” land, giving the first case of the Moscow akanya in our written sources.

Sometimes the activities of Kalita appear to us in dark colors. He is considered the main inspirer of the defeat of Tver, which defended the rights and dignity of the Russian people against the Tatar rapists. However, contemporaries assessed the activities of Kalita in their own way. They saw in him a direct successor to the policy of Alexander Nevsky, who sought an agreement with the Golden Horde for the sake of the Russian land, which was not yet ready for a decisive struggle against the Tatars, which Dmitry Donskoy, the grandson of Kalita, would soon carry out with him on the Kulikovo field. Contemporaries saw the devastation of the Russian land, the fires and destruction of Tver, Torzhok, Kashin and other cities, countless prisoners driven away by Tatar slavery. And among the destroyed cities, “the Lord God of Prince Ivan Danilovich and his city Moscow and all his fatherland will keep and intercede.” Under him, Moscow became a city of glorious "meekness", free from the continuous threat of Tatar invasions, and this should have been extremely conducive to the growth and wealth of the city. The predominance of Moscow over Tver, which Yuri was so eager for, was finally achieved under his younger brother.

The great reign did not last long with the prince of Tver. Alexander Mikhailovich stood at the head of the Tverites, who dealt with the Tatars who raped in Tver. As punishment, the Tatar army devastated Tver and forced Alexander to flee to Pskov. “The Lord, the great Savior, the merciful philanthropist, with his mercy, interceded for the right-believing prince, the great Ivan Danilovich and his city of Moscow and all his homeland from foreigners, filthy Tatars.” This time, Moscow was saved at the cost of ruining Tver. Favorable to the Moscow prince, the chronicler is silent that Tver was ravaged with the help of Kalita, who went to the Horde and returned with a large Tatar army. In 1328, Ivan Danilovich again went to the Horde and returned with a label for a great reign, which ended up in hands that knew how to firmly hold the received good. Moscow firmly became the capital of North-Eastern Russia.

Under Kalita, Moscow became the spiritual center of the entire Russian land, the permanent residence of Russian metropolitans. It is difficult to overestimate the political significance of the transfer of the metropolitan see from Vladimir to Moscow. An old tradition associated for Russian people the notion of a "royal city" with the place where both the sovereign and the metropolitan lived. Magnificent divine services on the occasion of the appointment to the bishops, when the highest hierarchs from other cities gathered in the capital, constant relations with Constantinople and with the princely capitals in Russia, meetings and farewells of metropolitans and bishops, in a word, brilliant church ceremonies.

Conclusion

By the middle of the XVI century. finally formed the national Great Russian state. At the top of the state hierarchical pyramid is royal power, which is not limited either politically or legally. Royal power is limited only by the canon, that is, the basic church rules and secular customs. The word “king” as a title was fixed in the middle of the 16th century, the word “autocrat” was introduced into official circulation at the beginning of the 17th century. The means of obtaining power were inheritance and election.

The essence of the supreme power was not expressed in legislation and was not subject to the action of state-established norms. The tsar himself issued statutes, decrees, lessons and lawsuits. The king was recognized as the highest source of state power.

The body, which is approved in the literature under the name “Boyar Duma”, was defined in the legal documents of the era as “the thought”, “the sovereign’s top”, “chamber”, “boyars, roundabout and thought people”, etc. In the XV-- beginning 16th century The Duma exists as an advisory and legislative institution.

The formation of the state apparatus was carried out according to the principle of parochialism, largely taken over from the Polish-Lithuanian state tradition. Localism, based on the criteria of nobility of origin (the higher the origin of the applicant, the higher the position in the state hierarchy he can occupy), turned the boyars into a closed corporation, reduced the quality of state leaders and replaced national interests with estates.

The fight for the championship

At that time, the title of Vladimirsky gave its owner almost unlimited power on the territory of all Russian northeastern lands. Its bearer was considered the dominant ruler and had the right to dispose of all the military forces available to his vassals at his own discretion, and could also judge them and collect tribute from the lands subject to him. In addition, there was another privilege: despite the loss of the great reign, he completely retained his own ancestral lands.

The khans, in turn, had their own interests here. Giving a label for the reign of Vladimir, they demanded from the applicant for him unquestioning service to the interests of the Golden Horde. That is why the most powerful princes did not always become the supreme rulers of the Russian lands, since the khans sought to put a ruler without initiative and obedient to them in this place. But even in the hands of the Grand Duke most loyal to the Horde, the label did not remain for a long time. In this regard, the Khans pursued such a policy that invariably led to internecine struggle at once by several representatives of different branches of the Rurikovich. In 1304, Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow also entered into a similar confrontation.

A new stage of strife

Moscow's main rival was Tver, represented by Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich, who was the cousin uncle of all the Danilovich brothers. His principality at that time was considered the most powerful, and the proof of this was the numerous successes he achieved in the ongoing internecine struggle. By the way, Moscow then, like the rest of the Russian northeastern lands, was inferior to him in almost everything.

A new round of internecine strife began in 1304, after the death of Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich. If his brother, the Moscow prince Daniel, had not died before him, then this place would have been taken by the eldest son Yuri. But in this situation, it turned out to be the grandson of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, who became the first of the ancient Russian rulers who received a label from the khan. To do this, the prince went to the Horde with the hope of obtaining this title, and with it Pereslavl.

Decision of Khan Uzbek

With the same purpose, Prince Yuri followed Mikhail of Tverskoy. But, by the way, the second of them had practically no chance. The fact is that Daniil of Moscow did not have a label for a great reign, so his sons could not claim such a high title. By the way, this was clearly stated in the then patrimonial law. But, despite this, he was wary of rivalry from the young prince of Moscow, and therefore sent his people to detain him in Suzdal.

As it is written in the annals, it all ended with the fact that in 1305 Mikhail Yaroslavich nevertheless received the khan's label for the great reign of Vladimir. So, the choice of the Golden Horde fell on the eldest of the relatives, but he never received authority regarding Pereslavl. Such uncertainty caused another outbreak of hostility between Mikhail Tverskoy and Yuri Moskovsky.

Label for a great reign

In 1315, the Khan of the Horde, having responded to the numerous complaints of Mikhail of Tver, summoned the Prince of Moscow to him. Yuri Danilovich stayed there for about two years and during this time managed to win the trust and favor of Uzbek so much that in 1317 the ruler decided to marry his sister Konchaka to him, who in the Orthodox manner began to be called Agafya. The wedding gift for the young was the label, which he presented to Prince Yuri. From that moment on, Mikhail Yaroslavich lost his title of Grand Duke of Vladimir.

In the same year, from Sarai-Berke, Yuri Danilovich, with his wife and the Tatar army under the command of Kavgadai, set off on the return journey. Judging by what happened next, the newly minted Prince of Vladimir was given very broad powers. I must say that Mikhail Tverskoy really did not want to part with power, but at the same time he was afraid of any complications in relations with the Horde. Therefore, after short negotiations, the former Prince of Vladimir was forced to cede the title and return to his fiefdom.

War with Tver

The reign of Yuri Danilovich began with the fact that, despite all the concessions of Mikhail, he nevertheless went to war against Tver. In 1318, he gathered his entire army and, with the support of the Horde of Kavgadai, approached almost the gates of the city. It was assumed that Tver would be attacked simultaneously from two sides: from the southeast it would be attacked by Yuri Danilovich, who commanded the Suzdal and Moscow army, and from the northwest it would be attacked by the Novgorodians. But this plan was never carried out. The fact is that the Novgorodians did not come up in time, and later they made peace with Mikhail, turning their troops back. Seeing this state of affairs, Kavgadai and the Suzdal people wanted to catch up with them and bring them back.

Such activities of Yuri Danilovich and his Horde ally led to the fact that the Moscow prince was left face to face with the Tver army. In the annals on this occasion it is said that then a "great slaughter" took place. As expected, Yuri lost this battle and fled with the remnants of his army, and Mikhail Yaroslavich captured many warriors, as well as his wife Agafya (Konchaka), who soon died in captivity. There is no exact information about the reasons for her death. After that, under the terms of the peace treaty, both princes were to go to the Horde.

Execution of Mikhail Tverskoy

From the very beginning it was clear that the khan would not forgive the prince for such arbitrariness. Mikhail Yaroslavich tried to reconcile with his old enemy and regain the favor of the Horde. The ambassador Oleksa Markovich, sent by him to Moscow, was killed on the orders of Yuri Danilovich himself, after which the prince, together with Kavgadai, hurried to the khan. Upon arrival, they accused Mikhail of treason, concealment of tribute and the death of Princess Agafya. The Khan's court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. On November 22, 1318, he was executed.

A document has been preserved - "Tver Tales", written by the confessor of Prince Mikhail himself. In it, a certain abbot Alexander calls Yuri of Moscow a tool in the hands of the khan. He claims that the prince actually acted at the trial as an accuser of Mikhail Yaroslavich. I must say that the people always revered the deceased as a hero, so in 1549 he was canonized as a saint by the decision of the second Moscow Council.

New confrontation

After the execution of the prince of Tver, the reign of Yuri Danilovich remained relatively calm for another two years. In 1321 it became clear that big problems could not be avoided. The fact is that the sons of Mikhail began to come out from under his obedience, the eldest of whom, Dmitry Tverskoy, openly began to express his claims to a high title. This conflict between the two princes led the Tatars to once again go to war against Russia. In addition, it was necessary to collect tribute for the khan. Against this, a real uprising rose in Rostov, so Yuri Danilovich had to use military force.

In the end, the tribute was nevertheless collected, but for some reason the prince did not transfer it into the hands of Kavgadai. Instead, in the winter of 1321, with all his belongings, he went to Novgorod to his younger brother. In the annals there is no explanation for this act of the prince. Historians suggest that this was done quite deliberately, and part of the funds raised was spent on the war with the Swedes. For their part, the Horde considered withholding tribute a great crime. Dmitry Mikhailovich Tverskoy, nicknamed Terrible Eyes, immediately took advantage of the situation that had arisen, and in the fall of 1322 Uzbek gave him the label, thereby depriving his former son-in-law of power.

And again Prince Moscow Yuri Danilovich

You can briefly describe his future life as follows: at first he was forced to flee, since his worst enemies, the sons of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, now received unlimited power. At first he hid in Pskov, and then in Novgorod, where he lived from 1322 to 1324.

Yuri Danilovich, whose foreign policy clearly demonstrated to everyone that he never recognized the supremacy of Dmitry Tverskoy, actively participated in all international affairs, and this was still the prerogative of the Grand Duke. In addition, it was he who fought with the Swedes and concluded with them the so-called Treaty of Orekhovets, which determined the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Also, on his orders, the Oreshek fortress was erected on the site of the exit of the Neva River from Lake Ladoga, which became the most important defensive object and in subsequent years more than once saved Russian lands from the threat of being seized by foreign conquerors.

In general, Yuri Danilovich's foreign policy was peaceful, as he tried to live in peace with both the Swedes and the Golden Horde. However, if necessary, he could conduct successful military operations. An example of this is his trip to Ustyug. Here he defended the interests of the Novgorodians, who suffered from numerous predatory raids by the Ustyugians.

The murder of Yuri Danilovich

Dmitry Tverskoy, having learned that after the campaign against Ustyug, the prince went to the Horde, hurried after him. He was sure that Yuri Danilovich would slander him in the same way as his father. Both princes had to stay in the Horde for quite a long time, waiting for the khan's sentence. Soon they were joined by the brother of Dmitry Tverskoy, Alexander. It is assumed that he brought the debt to the Saransk usurers in order to take new loans from them.

In 1325, namely on November 22, it was exactly 7 years since the day Mikhail of Tverskoy, the father of Dmitry and Alexander, died on the Horde land. For the brothers, this black date was not only but also revenge. The fact is that the day before there was a meeting of two irreconcilable enemies - Dmitry the Terrible Eyes and Yuri Danilovich. Whether it was a fatal accident or everything was rigged is unknown. Only it says that Dmitry Mikhailovich killed Yuri Danilovich, hoping for the favor of Tsar Uzbek and for inheriting the place and salary of the deceased prince. The famous Russian historian V. N. Tatishchev, who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, suggested in his writings that this was nothing more than revenge for his father.

Pay

Dmitry Mikhailovich, having committed lynching, hoped that the khan would forgive him such a trick, since it is known that by that time Prince Yuri Danilovich had long been out of favor with the ruler of the Horde. However, as a real despot, Uzbek could forgive his subjects a lot, but not arbitrariness. Therefore, the first thing he ordered was to send the body of the murdered Moscow prince to his homeland, and ordered the arrest of the killer himself.

The verdict of the Khan had to wait almost a year. As a result, Dmitry Tverskoy was sentenced to death. Either by a strange coincidence, or by the whim of Khan Uzbek himself, only the prince was deprived of his life on his birthday - September 15, 1326, when he was only 28 years old. As the chronicle says, another Russian prince, Alexander Novosilsky, was also executed with him. Most likely, they were close friends and together they prepared the murder of Yuri Danilovich.

Strengthening the Moscow principality

Summing up the results of the reign, we can say that Yuri Danilovich, who was completely focused on centralization and the creation of a strong state, did not lose any of the lands once inherited from his father. On the contrary, he even managed to multiply them. For example, in 1303 he annexed the Principality of Mozhaisk, two years later Pereslavl-Zalessky, and in 1311 Nizhny Novgorod, where his brother Boris subsequently ruled. In 1320, Yuri of Moscow went to war against the Ryazan prince Ivan Yaroslavich in order to annex Kolomna to his possessions.

Excerpts from "Instructions". Father's and grandfather's table. Peace on Russian soil. Laws. strife. By prayer man overcomes the devil. Basil the Great. Honor the old. Campaigns against the Polovtsy. Congress of princes in the city of Lyubech. How to study native history. Grand Duke. Monomakh. Hiking. Drink and feed the beggar. Vocation of Vladimir Monomakh for a great reign. Orthodox culture. Doubts. Cap of Monomakh. Vladimir.

"Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich" - Svyatoslav. National Defense Organization: White clergy who served in urban and rural churches. Working with terms. "Baptism of the people of Kiev". Klykov V. Work with chronology. Subject: Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Black clergy who lived in monasteries. Fortress lines. "The overthrow of the idol of Perun." Lesson plan: Perun. Back in 980, Vladimir tried to adapt paganism to the needs of the state. Vasnetsov V.M. Metropolitan

"Names of Russian princes" - After the death of Rurik. Foreign policy. Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Years of government. Prince Vladimir Monomakh. Princess Olga. Olga took over the reins. Vladimir established the first schools in Russia. Prince Rurik. A lot of money. Alexey Komnin. Svyatoslav I Igorevich. Prince Oleg. Expanding the boundaries of the state. Formation of the Russian state. Monomakh. Son of Rurik. After the murder of Yaropolk I. Princes of Russia. Rurik.

"Activities of the first Russian princes" - Prince Igor (912-946) and Princess Olga (945-957). Prince Svyatoslav ruled jointly with his mother until 957. Domestic policy. Political activity of the first Russian princes. Foreign policy. Repetition. Prince Oleg (882-912). Princess Olga, after the death of her husband, ruled on behalf of Svyatoslav. Kyiv prince who died during the collection of tribute. Residents of East Slavic cities were forced to invite the Varangians.

"Old Russian princes" - Vasily Yuryevich Kosoy. Rurik is the founder of Russia. Vsevolod III Yurievich Big Nest. Yuri Danilovich, Prince of Moscow and Grand Duke of Vladimir. Olga. Dmitry Shemyaka, son of Yuri Dmitrievich, grandson of Dmitry Donskoy. Ivan I Danilovich Kalita, Prince of Moscow, second son of Prince Daniel. Svyatoslav Igorevich. Jagiello, Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1377-1392, King of Poland from 1386. ?Yuri Dmitrievich, second son of Dmitry Donskoy.

"Rurik Dynasty" - Desire. heir to the royal throne. Name of a Lithuanian prince. Kazan orphan. How Ivan the Terrible is connected with the royal dynasty of the Romanovs. Historians. Decline of the Rurik dynasty. How Ivan the Terrible explained the reason for the introduction of the oprichnina. Metropolitan name. Authorities. Healthy lifestyle. Ivan Vasilievich changes his profession. Items. Names of the three sons of Ivan the Terrible. Basil III. Your own story. Ivan IV. Ivan the Terrible.

Daniil Alexandrovich is a general description of political activity. Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow: foreign policy. Daniil Galitsky: foreign policy

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Daniil Alexandrovich is a general description of political activity. Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow: foreign policy. Daniil Galitsky: foreign policy

Prince

Politics

Earth

culture

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

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