A man of brilliant abilities, an adventurer, a great ambitious man, a brave man, a cunning politician - this is how Prince Glinsky is often characterized. Indeed, he was an extraordinary person. The owner of untold we alth, personally acquainted with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Mikhail Glinsky ended his life in a Moscow dungeon on the orders of his own niece.
Doctor, military man and head of the princely family
It is believed that the family of the princes of Glinsky traces its lineage to the Golden Horde Khan Mamai, one of whose sons converted to Christianity, having received the city of Glinsk as an inheritance from the Lithuanian prince. There is no written evidence for this, so many historians view this version as just a beautiful legend.
For the first time, the Glinskys, Ivan and Boris, are mentioned in a letter of 1437, but they did not become the most famous representatives of the family. In 1470, Mikhail Lvovich was born into this princely family, who, in his early youth, came to the court of Maximilian of Habsburg, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, where he received a Western European education.
Later Mikhail Glinsky graduated from the oldest university in Bologna and became a certified doctor. Here, in Italy, he converted to the Catholic faith, after which he served in the armies of AlbrechtSaxony and Maximilian of Habsburg. For military merits, the emperor awarded Glinsky with the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Russian-Lithuanian wars at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries
The experience gained in those years was useful to Mikhail Glinsky upon his return to Lithuania. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania experienced at the end of the 15th century. not the best of times. Poland sought to conclude a union with him, and Muscovy claimed the lands of the Slavs, which were part of Lithuania. Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellonchik preferred to make concessions to Ivan III instead of uniting with the Kingdom of Poland.
Russian-Lithuanian wars have been going on for several centuries. The next stage of the centuries-old military conflict began in 1500, after the princes of Belsky, Mosalsky, Shemyachich, Mozhaisky, Trubetskoy and Khotetovsky went over to the side of Ivan III. As a result, Lithuania lost significant territories on the border with Muscovy. Ivan III did not wait until Prince Alexander went on a campaign, but he himself launched an offensive.
Princely Counselor
After the capture of Hetman Ostrozhsky near Dorogobuzh, Lithuania began to rely not so much on military action as on diplomacy. Alexander Jagiellonchik raised money to bribe Shikh-Ahmet, Khan of the Great Horde, in the hope that he would attack the Moscow principality. In parallel, he negotiated with the Livonian Order and the Crimean Khan.
At this time, Prince Alexander brings Mikhail Glinsky closer to him. Contemporaries, even those who were not among his friends, noted that he was a proud, physically strong, active and courageous man. But most importantly, he had insight and was able to give practical advice. It was just such a person that the Grand Duke needed in those circumstances.
Lithuanian court marshal, that is, the manager of the grand ducal court, - such was the position received by Glinsky in 1500. Moreover, he becomes the closest adviser to Alexander Jagiellonchik, much to the displeasure of the princely council. Hatred and envy towards him only intensified after several victories he won over the Tatars.
Conflict with Zaberezinsky
In a short time, Mikhail Glinsky becomes the most influential nobleman at the Lithuanian court, which could not but disturb the representatives of the old aristocratic families. Yan Zaberezinsky was especially hostile. This enmity was based on a personal conflict, which we know about from Notes on Moscow Affairs, compiled by Sigismund Herberstein, the envoy of the German emperor.
He wrote that when Zaberezinsky was governor in Troki (Trakai), Glinsky sent a servant to him for food for the royal horses. However, the governor not only did not give oats, but also ordered the messenger to be beaten. Mikhail Glinsky, using his influence on the Grand Duke, ensured that Yan Zaberezinsky lost two posts, including the voivodship - an unprecedented case at that time.
Despite the later reconciliation, the former Troksky governor harbored a grudge for the time being. A suitable opportunity for revenge presented itself after the death of AlexanderJagiellonchik in August 1506, Sigismund, the younger brother of the late prince, was elected the new ruler of Lithuania. At the same time, Yan Zaberezinsky began to spread rumors about Glinsky's intentions to seize power in Lithuania, in fact, he accused him of high treason.
Rebellious Kind
Under the influence of rumors, Sigismund deprived the three Glinsky brothers of all their posts, and he was in no hurry to satisfy the insistent demand of the eldest of them, Prince Mikhail, to resolve the case with his opponents in court. Then the brothers, together with friends and servants, in February 1508 revolted, the beginning of which was the murder of Jan Zaberezinsky in his own estate.
Grand Duke Vasily III hastened to take advantage of the situation by inviting the Glinskys to his service. The moment was right, because in 1507 another Russian-Lithuanian war began, which had not yet brought victory to the Moscow army. Thus, the Glinsky rebellion became an integral part of the protracted military conflict.
The brothers accepted the proposal of Vasily III and from that time acted together with the Moscow governors. The war ended with the signing of a peace treaty in the autumn of the same year, which, in particular, stipulated the right of the Glinsky brothers to leave for Moscow along with their property and their supporters.
In the service of Vasily III
Just like Alexander Jagiellonchik in his time, the Grand Duke of Moscow often used the advice of Glinsky, experienced in European politics. Basil III hoped that with the help of a new subject he would be able toannex the lands of Lithuania to their possessions.
In 1512, a new Russian-Lithuanian war began, at the beginning of which the Moscow army unsuccessfully besieged the border Smolensk. In 1514, Prince Glinsky took over the business, having agreed with Vasily III that the annexed city would later become his hereditary possession. He really took Smolensk, however, not so much by siege as by bribery, but the "Muscovite" did not keep his promise.
The ambitious Lithuanian prince could not forgive such an insult, and from now on he decides to return to the service of Sigismund again. Nevertheless, the escape he had planned was discovered in 1514, and Glinsky was thrown into prison. He deftly avoided the execution that threatened him, turning to the metropolitan with a request to accept him back to the Orthodox faith.
New imprisonment
In 1526, Vasily III married the niece of the disgraced Glinsky, Princess Elena, who soon persuaded her husband to release her uncle from imprisonment. The Lithuanian prince again begins to play a prominent role in the Moscow court. In his will, Vasily III even appointed him guardian of his young sons, one of whom was the future Ivan the Terrible.
After her husband's death in 1533, becoming regent, Elena Glinskaya shocked Moscow with an open relationship with Prince Ivan Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky. Among the boyars, as well as the people, who had previously not been too fond of the second wife of Vasily III, a murmur began. Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky denounced his niece for the unworthy behavior of a widow, for which he paid with new imprisonment.
It's hard to say what motivated him - an infringed lust for power or adherence to moral standards, only this time he did not come out of the dungeon. The following year, Prince Glinsky died in prison at the age of 64.
