Dmitry Donskoy - one of the most famous princes of Russia, became famous thanks to his military exploits, in particular, the victory over the Golden Horde in the Battle of Kulikovo. The Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy did a lot to unite the Russian lands.
It was decided to unite the Russian lands around Moscow. This was the beginning of the struggle to overthrow the Mongol yoke. The sons of Dmitry Donskoy continued the work of their father in collecting Russian lands. After his death, the eldest son Vasily inherited the throne, and later, after the reign of Vasily I, a serious struggle began for the throne of the Grand Duke.
Dmitry Donskoy
Dmitry Donskoy was a great Russian commander who became famous for his military victories.
The Russian prince was named Donskoy for the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo. In that battle, Dmitry showed courage, courage and talent as a commander. This battle was a turning point in the relationship between the Russian principalities and the Golden Horde. After her, the Russians stoppedpay tribute to the Mongols.
It was also during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy that the Moscow principality became the political center of Russia. This became an important starting point in all of Russian history.
Dmitry Donskoy won several strategically important victories over the Golden Horde. However, Russia still occupied a subordinate position in relation to the Mongol Khanate.
During the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, a white-stone Kremlin was built in Moscow. Prior to this, Moscow was built of wood.
Family life of Dmitry Donskoy
The prince married, on the recommendation of Patriarch Sergius of Radonezh, Evdokia, the daughter of the Suzdal prince. The couple lived together for 22 years.
The family life of Dmitry Donskoy was calm and prosperous. His wife, Princess Evdokia Dmitrievna, was a good and faithful woman and, having lost her husband, sought to raise children in reverence for her father and with the memory of his exploits. Before his death, the prince bequeathed to his wife to take care of the children and instruct them. And he instructed the children to love, respect and obey their mother, as well as to live peacefully and in harmony with each other, to strive to resolve conflicts peacefully.
There were only twelve children of Dmitry Donskoy: four daughters and eight sons. At the same time, two sons died in infancy, and another son died at an early age, leaving no offspring.
For that time it was normal. Infant mortality was high.
The other five sons of Dmitry Donskoy grew up strong and ambitious. But nevertheless, despitedisputes and the division of principalities, none of them raised weapons against each other.
The most significant and striking characters in history were the sons of Dmitry Donskoy Vasily I and Yuri.
Heir
Vasily I Dmitrievich was the eldest son of Prince Dmitry and Princess Evdokia. Vasily the First continued his father's activities to strengthen the territory of the Russian principalities, as well as to expand it.
Prince Vasily very early began his princely and military activities. At the age of twelve, the young heir went with his father to the Horde, but there he was captured by the Mongol Khan Tokhtamysh. This was during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy. Khan demanded a ransom from Dmitry, but he refused to pay. Therefore, Vasily spent more than three years in captivity of the Horde.
During the Khan's hunt, he nevertheless managed to escape from captivity along with his retinue.
Prince Vasily was hiding from the Khan in Lithuania, where he met his future wife Sophia.
After his stay in Lithuania, the prince returned to Moscow.
Before his death, Dmitry Donskoy appointed Vasily as his heir.
Internal policy of the heir
The main trend of Vasily's domestic policy was to strengthen the positions of the Moscow prince. The principalities of many specific princes acquired the status of counties. Feudal land ownership developed actively. And the district princes themselves were subordinate to the Moscow prince. Reforms were also introduced in judicial policy. Some questions and disagreements between the feudal lords were now resolved centrally by the princelyvicegerents.
Also, Vasily I redeemed labels for other principalities, expanding the territory of his own. For example, the Nizhny Novgorod principality, Tarusa, Gorodets and others. Buying labels from representatives of the Golden Horde, the prince also entered into military skirmishes with the princes. For example, Prince Boris of Nizhny Novgorod tried to defend his ancestral right to the principality after Vasily bought the label, but was defeated.
Relations between the principalities of Moscow and Novgorod were tense, sometimes even hostile.
The prince also took care of establishing internal trade routes between his principalities, which contributed to the development and economic prosperity.
What external events accompanied the reign of Basil I
Dmitry Donskoy, despite his victories and exploits, did not put an end to the Tatar yoke. Therefore, Basil's policy was to try to establish peaceful relations with the Horde. However, in the Horde itself, events were taking place at that time that were important for building relations with Russia.
During the reign of Vasily the First, constant skirmishes and wars took place between the Tatars, which greatly influenced the possibility of expanding the territory of Muscovite Russia. Takhtamysh at that time united the Golden Horde, which had previously split into two khanates, and challenged Timur, the ruler of the Central Asian part of the Tatar population, to whom, by the way, he owed his influential position in Sarai. Having attacked the border lands of Timur, he provoked a big battle. In this battle, Timur wonvictory, and Tokhtamysh stepped back.
Timur did not usurp the territories of the Golden Horde, confining himself to plundering it.
It was these events that influenced Prince Vasily to receive a label to reign in Nizhny Novgorod.
In 1395 Tokhtamysh repeated his invasion of Timur's lands. Again there was a big battle, which, despite the initial successes of the Horde, nevertheless ended in their next defeat.
This time Timur did not confine himself to plundering the Horde, but went far into the territory of Russia. At the same time, part of the troops stepped into the territory of the Ryazan principality. Prince Vasily gathered his army near Kolomna, waiting for Timur's attack. But in the end, Timur turned south, towards Azov, plundered Saray and other cities of the Horde.
As a result, Tokhtamysh fled to Lithuania.
Events in Lithuania
Also, around this time, Smolensk was captured by Vitovt, the Lithuanian prince. Vasily at the same time acted on the side of his father-in-law. Because of the old rivalry with the Principality of Ryazan, Vasily the First supported Lithuania in its raids on Ryazan.
As a result, Vitovt defeated the Ryazan principality and annexed it to his state.
When Tokhtamysh fled to Lithuania, Vitovt decided to restore him to the throne on the condition that the Horde would become a vassal of Lithuania.
Therefore, Lithuania has declared a crusade against the Horde. Basil I also at that time took the side of the Lithuanians, pulling back part of the Horde forces to his troops.
As a result, the battle was lost for Lithuania due to the numerical superiority of the Tatars.
Interacting withVitovt in a related way, Vasily solved many problems, such as avoiding bloody skirmishes between the principalities.
However, there were also disadvantages of such interaction, which consisted in the cession of many southwestern Russian lands to Lithuania. Vitovt also had the opportunity to intervene in the internecine affairs of the Russian principalities, which played a certain role after the death of Vasily I in determining the role of the heir to the throne of the Grand Duke.
War between Vytautas and Vasily
After the defeat of the Lithuanian side, the Ryazans made an attempt to recapture Smolensk, but it ended in failure, but weakened Vitovt.
In the light of these events, Vasily, in order to prevent the strengthening of Ryazan, which competes with Moscow, participated in the return of Smolensk to Lithuania.
And Vitovt, recovering from defeat, attacked the Pskov region, capturing the city of Kolozha.
Prince Vasily in this situation felt the danger that hung over Moscow in the person of Vitovt, and declared war on him.
The war lasted from 1406 to 1408, but the decisive battle never happened. As a result, the princes concluded a peace treaty, stopping the claims of the Lithuanian prince to the Russian lands.
Until his death, the Russian and Lithuanian princes no longer clashed. In any case, not a single chronicle mentions any clashes between Russia and Lithuania after the famous standing on the Ugra.
Relations with the Horde after 1408
After 1408, due to civil strife and unrest in the Golden Horde, which weakened it, Vasily stopped going there and payingtribute.
He began to pursue foreign policy more boldly, giving shelter to the sons of Tokhtamysh, who were out of place in the Horde, and also ignored the accession of the new Khan Kutluev in the Horde, not coming to him for the oath.
However, Edigei did not like this policy, and he decided to regain influence over Moscow with the help of a sudden raid. The Tatars suddenly approached Moscow, cunningly distorting their intentions for the messenger. Until recently, Moscow thought that Edigey was going to Lithuania.
Therefore, when it became clear that it was necessary to fight, there was no time to gather an army, and Vasily fled to Kostroma, leaving the capital in the care of Vladimir, brother of Dmitry Donskoy.
Tatars sacked many nearby towns, but Moscow fought back by fortifying its walls. Edigey took a wait-and-see position, sending for reinforcements to Tver, subordinate to him. But the prince of Tver did not want to participate in the battle against Moscow, he walked with the squad very slowly, in the end he did not reach his destination.
Meanwhile, Vasily was collecting tribute in the north of Russia in order to pay off Edigey. The ransom was expensive, 3000 rubles for the retreat, which crippled the economic state of Muscovite Russia.
Results of the reign of Basil the First
Vasily the First could not liberate Russia from the subordinate position of the Golden Horde. Despite military victories and some attempts to boycott the power of the khan, the prince eventually continued to pay tribute. But after the exile of Edigey, when he was overthrown, Kerimberdey reigned on the throne.
The result of the domestic policy of Vasily the First wasexpansion of territories subject to Moscow.
Yuri Dmitrievich Zvenigorodsky
The second oldest son of Dmitry Donskoy, Yuri, reigned in Zvenigorod, equipping it for himself and strengthening it. The prince patronized representatives of art, building temples and palaces on the territory of his city.
During his reign, two stone cathedrals were built in Zvenigorod, Uspensky and Rozhdestvensky, and the Zvenigorod town was also erected.
Also, Yuri Dmitrievich was famous as a successful warrior. With his retinue, he participated in various military campaigns. One of his most successful military projects was a campaign against the Volga Bulgaria, from which he returned with riches.
Yuri Zvenigorodsky was married to the daughter of the Prince of Smolensk Anastasia Yurievna and had four sons.
Zvenigorod prince during the life of Vasily lived in harmony with his brother, obeying him and cooperating, recognizing his superiority. Yuri was a pious husband and an exemplary Christian.
However, a sense of justice was also present in him, however, as well as ambition. That is why he did not want to recognize the right of the young Vasily to the grand throne.
Testament of Basil I and controversial issues
Prince Vasily had five sons, but four died at an early or young age. The only heir left is Prince Vasily II.
After the death of Vasily Dmitrievich, Princess Sophia could not fulfill the role of the ruler, because her authoritybrother-in-law was weak.
Vasily, by various tricks, agreed with the brothers that they would not claim the throne of the Grand Duke. Everyone except Yuri signed the contract.
It was decided to transfer the throne to Prince Vasily II, although at the time of the death of Vasily I he was only ten years old. However, the Lithuanian ruler Vytautas supported his grandson at the throne.
After the death of Vasily, the throne was transferred to his son, and metropolitan Photius, by order of Sophia and her entourage, sent an invitation to Moscow to take the oath to the new Grand Duke through a messenger to Prince Yuri.
Yuri did not agree to take the oath, and this led to the struggle for the great reign in Russia.
Struggle for power after the death of Vasily I
In 1419, Vasily I forced the brothers to sign an agreement on renunciation of the throne of Moscow. Yuri was the only brother who did not succumb to persuasion and did not give up his claims to the principality.
After the death of Vasily I, the throne was to be taken by his son Vasily II, but Yuri did not cede his legal right to inherit the throne and went to war against Vasily. But this civil strife was quickly resolved, since Vitovt was on the side of Vasily II.
Only after the death of Vitovt, Yuri resumed his claims to the throne and suggested that Prince Vasily go to the Khan to personally resolve their dispute. The dispute was resolved in favor of Vasily II, to whom the khan gave a label to Moscow and its suburbs.
Only in 1433, Yuri was still able to occupy Moscow, invading there with his troops and defeating Vasily II.
He is Vasily IIgave Kolomna as inheritance, eventually reconciling with him.
However, Vasily Vasilyevich did not want to put up with defeat. Many of the boyars, previously subject to Yuri, as well as his sons, fled to Kolomna. He, realizing that his position is fragile, decided to return the throne.
At the same time, an agreement was signed that Yuri recognizes the primacy of Vasily II and renounces the throne of Moscow. In the future, he remained true to his promise even when his sons defeated Vasily II and invited him to take the throne.
However, the Galicians participated in the battle, so Vasily, seeing this as a violation of obligations, moved to Galich. Yuri was forced to flee and gather troops for a retaliatory attack. He enlisted the support of the Vyatchans and other principalities, which added military power to his squad. In the battle that took place on the Mozga River, Vasily II was finally defeated and, in turn, fled.
Results of the reign of Yuri Dmitrievich
Yuri Zvenigorodsky did a lot to establish and develop autocracy in Russia, increasing the distance between the boyars and the prince.
Also, Yuri Dmitrievich carried out a monetary reform, coins began to be issued with the image of George the Victorious, who struck a snake with his spear, which symbolized the victory over the Mongols. However, getting rid of the yoke of the Golden Horde did not happen during the reign of Yuri, which was short-lived. He died in 1434.
