Yury Dmitrievich
40-475: [REDACTED] Vasily II Vasilyevich [REDACTED] Dmitry II Shemyaka [REDACTED] Vasily II Vasilyevich [REDACTED] Mäxmüd of Kazan (1445–8) [REDACTED] Dmitry II Shemyaka (1439; 1445–53) [REDACTED] Ulugh of Kazan (1437–45) The Muscovite War of Succession , or Muscovite Civil War , was a war of succession in the Grand Duchy of Moscow (Muscovy) from 1425 to 1453. The two warring parties were Vasily II ,
80-489: A big enough army to fight against Vasily. In 1448, Vasily started military action, which included mostly Northern lands up to Veliky Ustyug and with some interruptions continued till 1452, when Shemyaka was finally defeated and fled to Novgorod. In 1453, he was poisoned there following a direct order of Vasily. Subsequently, Vasily managed to remove all local princes who previously supported Shemyaka. In particular, Ivan Mozheysky had to flee with their family to Lithuania , and
120-469: A number of supporters in Moscow, Dmitry recalled him from exile and gave him Vologda as an appanage. That proved to be a mistake, as Vasily II quickly assembled his supporters and regained the throne. Vasily II's final victory against his cousin came in the 1450s, when he captured Galich-Mersky and poisoned Dmitry. The latter's children managed to escape to Lithuania . These events finally put to rest
160-622: A traitor. Meanwhile, Yuri's claim was inherited by his sons who decided to continue the fight. They managed to defeat Vasily II, who had to seek refuge in the Golden Horde. After Yuri died in 1434, Vasili the Cross-Eyed entered the Kremlin and was proclaimed new Grand Duke. Dmitry Shemyaka, who had his own plans for the throne, quarreled with his brother and concluded an alliance with Vasily II. Together they managed to banish Vasily
200-653: The Principality of Mozhaysk was made a part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Similarly, the Principality of Serpukhov was made a part of the Grand Duchy, and the Principality of Vereya remained after the war the only independent state in Moscow lands. Halperin (2001) observed: 'During the Muscovite civil war both sides simultaneously sought the assistance of the Khan, and excoriated their opponents for doing exactly
240-742: The Rus' principalities subjugated by the Golden Horde . In the 13th–15th centuries, the Khan of the Golden Horde appointed the Great Prince, who in the 14th century resided in Moscow. In the 13th century the medieval Rus' consisted of a set of relatively small and weak principalities, fighting and making alliances against each other. The larger states (like the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Republic of Novgorod ) progressively conquered or absorbed
280-676: The Vyatka lands, and the republican governments of Novgorod and Pskov . In the meantime, Constantinople fell to the Turks, and the patriarch agreed to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope in the Council of Florence . After the death of Photius in 1431, he was replaced by Isidore as metropolitan, a nominee of Byzantium, who took part in the Council of Florence. Upon his return to Moscow, he
320-451: The "Tverian Land" (Тферськая земля) and "Muscovite Land" (Московская земля) were equals within a larger "Rus' Land", and went as far as having foreigners say that grand prince Boris Aleksandrovich of Tver was 'the greatest prince of the Rus' Land'. Vasily II of Moscow Vasily II Vasilyevich ( Russian : Василий II Васильевич ; 10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462), nicknamed
360-608: The Blind or the Dark ( Russian : Тёмный ), was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1425 until his death in 1462. He succeeded his father, Vasily I , only to be challenged by his uncle Dmitry Shemyaka . During this time, Moscow changed hands several times. At one point, Vasily was captured and blinded by Dmitry in 1446. The final victory went to Vasily, who was supported by most people. Due to his disability, he made his son Ivan III his co-ruler in his late years. Vasily II
400-519: The Cross-Eyed from the Kremlin in 1435. The latter was captured and blinded, which effectively removed him from the contest for the throne. During Vasily II 's reign, the Golden Horde collapsed and broke up into smaller Khanates . Now that his throne was relatively secure, he had to deal with the Tatar threat. In 1439, Vasily II had to flee the capital, when it was besieged by Ulugh Muhammad , ruler of
440-416: The Grand Duchy of Moscow had become a major regional power, and the Moscow princes aimed to conquer the remaining lands around Moscow and to append them to their Grand Duchy. When Dmitry Donskoy wrote his will just before he died in 1389, he appointed his 17-year-old son Vasily Dmitrievich as successor, with the provision that if Vasily were to die childless, his 14-year-old son Yury Dmitrievich would be
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#1732772291182480-589: The Khan of the Golden Horde , plundered the Ryazan lands, before being defeated by a much larger army sent by Vasily. In 1445, Ulugh Muhammad conquered Nizhny Novgorod, was defeated in a skirmish near Murom , but won the second battle in Suzdal , capturing, among other prominent Muscovites, Vasily II. Vasily was released after negotiations, having promised to pay an enormous ransom . This resulted in an increase of taxes and, consequently, in discontent, which strengthened
520-426: The Muscovite principality". He argued that "the death rate in the Moscow family was so high that the dynasty barely maintained itself. When the inheritors to the family patrimony increased sharply at the end of the fourteenth century, an internecine struggle was foreordained. This element helps explain the stability and strength of Moscow in the fourteenth century." The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' of 1236–1241 left
560-616: The army formed in Vyatka, which had supported Yuri Dmitrievich for a long time, and joined Vasily. Vasily Yuryevich plundered Veliky Ustyug and with the army went south again. In early 1436, he lost a battle in Skoryatino , close to Rostov, to Vasily II, and was captured. Subsequently, when the Vyatka people continued to attack the lands belonging to the Grand Prince, Vasily II ordered to have Vasily Yuryevich blinded. Vasily Yuryevich
600-462: The end of 1446, when Dmitry Shemyaka was out in Volokolamsk , the army of Vasily II entered Moscow. Vasily then started to chase Shemyaka and Mozheysky, who had to retreat, with both armies ravaging and plundering the country. In 1447, they asked for peace, and agreed to accept the superiority of Vasily. Nevertheless, Dmitry Shemyaka continued resistance, trying to attract the allies and to collect
640-529: The nascent Kazan Khanate . Six years later, he personally led his troops against Ulugh Muhammad, but was defeated and taken prisoner . The Russians were forced to gather an enormous ransom for their prince, so that Vasily II could be released some five months later. During that time, the control of Moscow passed to Dmitry Shemyaka. Keeping in mind the fate of his own brother, Dmitry had Vasily II blinded and exiled him to Uglich , in 1446; hence, Vasily II's nickname, "the blind". As Vasily II still had
680-518: The opportunity to advance their own claims to the throne. These claims were based on the Testament of Dmitry Donskoy , Yuri's father and Vasily II's grandfather, who had stated that if Vasily I died Yuri would succeed his appanage. However, Dmitri had written the testament when Vasily I had no children of his own, and it might be argued that this provision had been made only for the case of Vasily I's childless death. Vasily II's claim
720-597: The party of Dmitry Shemyaka. In early 1446, Vasily was captured by Shemyaka in the Trinity Sergius Lavra , brought to Moscow, blinded, and then sent to Uglich . Shemyaka started to reign as the Prince of Moscow. In the fall of 1446 he traveled to Uglich to seek peace with Vasily. They made a deal, Vasily gave an oath of allegiance and promised not to seek the Great Princedom any more, and in return he
760-557: The principle of collateral succession , which was a major cause of medieval internecine struggles, and was a definitive victory for the principle of succession from father to son as against the previous practice. This also paved the way for political centralization of power, which was popular in the country at the time. Now that the war was over, Vasily II eliminated almost all of the small appanages in Moscow principality, so as to strengthen his sovereign authority. His military campaigns of 1441–1460 increased Moscow's hold over Suzdal ,
800-537: The same thing.' In 1977, Halperin had observed that the Muscovite War of Succession weakened Muscovy so much that its old rival, the Principality of Tver , once again felt strong enough to challenge its sole claim to represent the "Rus' Land" (русская земля). Although the Word of Praise ( pokhval'noe slovo ) to Boris of Tver never claimed the myth of the Rus' Land exclusively for itself instead, it did suggest that
840-503: The smaller ones. One bigger principality, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, grew due to a series of clever policies and became the biggest one in central Rus'. In 1380 Dmitry Donskoy , the prince of Moscow, even managed to fight the troops of Golden Horde in the Battle of Kulikovo and win. Whereas formally Moscow remained dependent on the Horde, and the Khan needed to approve position of the Prince,
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#1732772291182880-551: The son of Yury, in public. Both sons of Yury, Vasily and Dmitry, left for Galich. They plundered Yaroslavl , ruled by an allied of Vasily II, allied with their father, collected an army, and defeated the army of Vasily II. Subsequently, Yury Dmitrievich entered Moscow, declared himself the Great Prince, and sent Vasily II to Kolomna . Eventually, however, he did not prove himself as an efficient head of state, having alienated some Muscovites who fled to Kolomna, and even alienating his own sons. Eventually, Yury allied with Vasily II against
920-501: The son of the previous Grand Prince of Moscow Vasily I , and on the other hand his uncle, Yury Dmitrievich , the Prince of Zvenigorod , and the sons of Yuri Dmitrievich, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka . In the intermediate stage, the party of Yury conquered Moscow, but in the end, Vasily II regained his crown. According to Alef (1956), it was "the only struggle for succession in Moscow's history", as well as "the only civil war within
960-589: The sons of Yury and returned the Moscow Princedom to Vasily II, who, in his turn, started to persecute former supporters of Yury. Vasily then sent an army against his cousins, sons of Yury, Vasily Yuryevich and Dmitry Shemyaka, in 1433. His army was defeated in a major battle on the Klyazma [ ru ] (25 April 1433), in which troops of Yury were fighting against Vasily. Vasily conquered Galich, and Yury openly joined his sons. The army of Vasily II
1000-617: The south and encountered Vasily II in Kostroma. The two armies were stationed on two banks of the Kostroma River and could not start fighting immediately. Before the fight started, the two cousins concluded a peace treaty. Vasily Yuryevich recognized Vasily II as the Great Prince and got Dmitrov . However, he only spent a month in Dmitrov and subsequently moved to Kostroma and further to Galich and to Veliky Ustyug . In Veliky Ustyug,
1040-648: The successor. Vasily died in 1425 and left several children. Allegedly, he appointed his oldest son Vasily Vasilyevich , as the next Grand Prince (known as Vasily II). Yury challenged this appointment, arguing that he should have received the crown because of the provisions written in Donskoy's will. In 1425, Yuri and Vasily agreed to present their succession dispute to khan of the Golden Horde , but this led to nothing. In 1428 Yury Dmitrievich formally conceded, under pressure from Metropolitan Photius , who personally travelled to Galich. However, in 1431 Yury decided to seek
1080-466: The throne, taking inspiration from his uncle Dmitry, and began issuing coins with the title. The Muscovites began developing an identity of the grand prince as the sovereign and the ruler of all the Russian lands, and Vasily positioned himself as the defender of Orthodoxy. In his later years, the blind prince was greatly helped by Metropolitan Jonah, boyars, and then by his older son Ivan III who
1120-648: The throne, which was disputed by his uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod . Sophia was buried in the Ascension Convent ; the sarcophagus was moved in 1929 to the Cathedral of the Archangel by Soviet authorities. She and Vasili I had at least nine children, five boys (of which only one survived to mature adulthood) and four girls: This biographical article about a member of the Lithuanian nobility
1160-481: The title of Prince of Moscow with the Khan of the Horde. In 1432, Yuri and Vasily travelled to Sarai together to seek the judgement of Khan Ulugh Muhammad (Ulu-Mehmet). The Khan awarded the princely throne to Vasily, but confirmed Yuri's appanage ( udel ) of Galich , and additionally granted Yuri the town of Dmitrov . The formal pretext to start a war was found in 1433, when during the marriage feast of Vasily his mother, Sophia of Lithuania , insulted Vasily Yuryevich,
1200-660: The wife of Vasily I from 1391 to 1425. She was regent for her son Vasily II from 1425 to 1432. Her father was Vytautas , the grand duke of Lithuania . She was the daughter of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania and his first wife, Anna . On 21 January 1391, while her father was engaged in the Lithuanian Civil War , she married Vasili I of Moscow . She was the longest serving consort of Russia. After Vasili's death in 1425 she became regent for their ten-year-old son Vasili II . Her father supported Vasili's claim to
1240-466: Was defeated and captured by his enemies in 1433. Upon being proclaimed the grand prince of Moscow, Yuri pardoned his nephew and sent him to reign in the town of Kolomna . That proved to be a mistake, as Vasily II immediately started to plot against his uncle and gather all sort of malcontents. Feeling how insecure his throne was, Yuri resigned and then left Moscow for his northern hometown. When Vasily II returned to Moscow, he had Vsevolzhsky blinded as
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1280-532: Was dismissed and imprisoned by Vasily, who was opposed to any agreement with western Catholicism. In 1448, a council of Russian bishops elected Jonah as the metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church , which was tantamount to declaration of independence from the patriarch of Constantinople . This move further strengthened Moscow's reputation among Orthodox states. Vasily also adopted the title of sovereign of all Russia when he returned to
1320-548: Was driven out of Moscow; he also lost Zvenigorod to Vasily II and was left landless, forced to flee to Novgorod . In 1435, Vasily managed to collect an army in Kostroma and moved in the direction of Moscow. He lost a battle on the bank of the Kotorosl River to Vasily II and fled to Kashin . He then managed to conquer Vologda and built up a new army with the support of Vyatka . With this new army he moved again to
1360-800: Was finally defeated in the Battle of Mogza [ ru ] (20 March 1434), close to Rostov . Yury became the Prince of Moscow again, but suddenly died, and his son, Vasily Yuryevich , became his successor. At this point, Vasily II was in Nizhny Novgorod and was preparing to travel to the Horde to leave a complaint with the Khan. The brothers of Vasily Yuryevich — Dmitry Shemyaka and Dmitry Krasny — refused to lend him any support. Anticipating that Vasily would not be able to keep Moscow for long, they preferred to ally with Vasily II so that eventually they could get additional lands from him. Indeed, Vasily gave Rzhev and Uglich to Dmitry Shemyaka and Bezhetsky Verkh to Dmitry Krasny. Vasily Yuryevich
1400-406: Was known after that as Vasily Kosoy. He lived until 1448, but chronicles do not mention him between 1436 and 1448; apparently he was imprisoned all this time. At the same time Vasily II released Dmitry Shemyaka, who had been exiled to Kolomna, and concluded a treaty with him similar to the treaty he previously concluded with Vasily Kosoy, returning Shemyaka all his lands. In the early 1440s Vasily II
1440-513: Was mostly busy with the wars against the Khanate of Kazan . The Khan, Ulugh Muhammad , besieged Moscow in 1439. Dmitry Shemyaka, despite being under the oath of allegiance, failed to appear in support of Vasily. After the Tatars left, Vasily chased Shemyaka, forcing him to flee to Novgorod again. Subsequently, Shemyaka returned to Moscow and confirmed his allegiance. In 1444, Tatars led by Mustafa ,
1480-539: Was released and got Vologda in his possession. In Vologda, Vasily traveled to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery , and the hegumen released him from the oath. Vasily immediately started preparations for the war against Shemyaka. In addition, Shemyaka and his ally, Prince Ivan of Mozhaysk , ruled inefficiently, did not manage to attract allies, and nobility started to defect from Moscow to Vologda. Vasily also managed to ally with Kazan Tatars. In
1520-425: Was styled as co-ruler since the late 1450s. On Vasily II's death in 1462, Ivan III succeeded him as the grand prince of Moscow. Vasily's daughter Anna was married to a prince of Ryazan . Sophia of Lithuania Sophia Vitovtovna of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Sofija Vytautaitė , Russian : Софья Витовтовна , romanized : Sofya Vitovtovna ; 1371 – 1453) was the grand princess of Moscow as
1560-521: Was supported by Vytautas, his maternal grandfather. Upon Vytautas' death in 1430, Yuri went to the Golden Horde , returning with a license to take the Moscow throne. But the Khan did not support him any further, largely due to the devices of the Smolensk princeling and Moscow boyarin Ivan Vsevolzhsky. When Yuri assembled an army and attacked Moscow, Vasily II, betrayed by Vsevolzhsky,
1600-464: Was the youngest son of Vasily I of Moscow by Sophia of Lithuania , the only daughter of Vytautas the Great , and the only son to survive his father (his elder brother Ivan died in 1417 at the age of 22). On his father's death Vasily II was proclaimed Grand Duke at the age of 10. His mother acted as a regent. His uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod (the prince of Galich-Mersky ), and his two sons, Vasily Kosoy ("the Cross-Eyed") and Dmitry Shemyaka , seized on
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