In the second quarter of the 15th century, an internecine (or, according to Soviet terminology, feudal) war broke out in Russia between the Moscow prince Vasily Vasilyevich II, his uncle and cousins. There are three prerequisites for this serious political and dynastic crisis: the struggle between the two orders of succession to the throne, the ambiguity of the will of Dmitry Donskoy on the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, and, finally, the personal confrontation of the warring parties.
The conflict over the succession to the throne began in the years of the reign of Vasily Dmitrievich, the eldest son of Dmitry Donskoy. Then the brother of the ruler, Konstantin Dmitrievich, opposed the fact that the Grand Duchy of Vladimir went to his son. However, the ruler still managed to overcome the resistance of his brother and transfer the throne to Vasily II.
Beginning of civil strife
The feudal war lasted for quite a long time - from 1425 to 1453. It was a time of serious upheavals not only for the Moscow principality, but also for the northern Russian lands in general. The cause of the crisis was the ambiguous interpretation of the article of Dmitry Donskoy's spiritual diploma on the succession to the throne.
The son of this ruler, Vasily Dmitrievich, dying, handed over the throneto his eldest heir Vasily II. However, his brother, Yuri Dmitrievich Galitsky, or Zvenigorodsky, referring to his father's will, began to claim the throne of the Grand Duke. However, at first he concluded a truce in 1425 with his infant nephew, which, however, did not last long.
A few years later, the Galician ruler demanded trial in the Horde. Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich went to the khan, who, after a long dispute, gave the Grand Duchy to the Moscow prince, whose uncle did not accept this decision and entered into open confrontation with his nephew.
First stage of struggle
The impetus for the beginning of the clashes was the scandal during the wedding of Vasily Vasilyevich to Princess Maria Yaroslavna of Borovskaya. The eldest son of Yuri Dmitrievich, Vasily Kosoy (the prince received such a nickname after being blinded in 1436), appeared at the ceremony in a belt that was considered to belong to Dmitry Donskoy. Vasily II's mother publicly ripped off this important detail of his costume, which led to the Prince's break with Moscow.
Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka (who was the brother of the latter) fled to their father, who began hostilities against his nephew. The latter was defeated, and Yuri Galitsky occupied the capital in 1434, but died unexpectedly in the same year.
Second period of civil strife
After the death of his father, Prince Vasily Kosoy made an attempt to settle in Moscow, but his brothers Dmitry Shemyaka and Dmitry Krasny did not support him. Both concluded an agreement with Vasily II, who returned to the capital andoccupied the Grand Duke's table.
Vasily Yurievich Kosoy continued the fight. He started a fight against his cousin. He managed to enlist the support of the North, where he recruited his troops. However, he was defeated by Vasily II, was captured and blinded in 1436. Therefore, he received the nickname Oblique, under which he entered the history of medieval Russia.
The third stage of the war: the confrontation between Vasily II and Dmitry Shemyaka
Vasily Kosoy was blinded, and this aggravated relations between Vasily Vasilyevich and Dmitry Yuryevich. The situation became more complicated due to the fact that the Moscow prince was defeated in a battle with the Kazan Tatars and was captured in 1445. His opponent took advantage of this and occupied Moscow. However, Vasily II paid a large ransom and soon returned to his principality, and Dmitry Shemyaka was expelled from the capital.
However, he resigned himself to defeat and orchestrated the kidnapping of his cousin. Vasily II was blinded, for which he received the nickname Dark. He was exiled first to Vologda and then to Uglich. His opponent again became the ruler in Moscow, but the population of the principality no longer perceived him as their legitimate ruler.
The fourth period of civil strife: the defeat of Dmitry Shemyaka
Meanwhile, Vasily II, using public support, left the place of his imprisonment and entered into an alliance with Prince Boris Alexandrovich of Tver on a joint fight against a common enemy. Together, the Allies achievedthe second expulsion of Prince Dmitry from Moscow in 1447.
Thus, Vasily II achieved the final victory, but his opponent for some time made attempts to overthrow him from the throne. In 1453, Dmitry Yurievich died in Novgorod, and this date is considered the end of the feudal war in Russia.
The significance of civil strife in the political history of the Moscow Principality of the 15th century
The dynastic crisis had far-reaching consequences in establishing a new principle of succession to the throne. The fact is that in Russia for a long time the order of inheritance of the great reign along the lateral line dominated, i.e. inheritance passed to the eldest in the family. But gradually, starting from the XIV century, from the time of the reign of Ivan Danilovich, the throne invariably went to the eldest son of the previous Grand Duke.
The rulers themselves from generation to generation, by will, invariably handed over the Grand Duchy of Vladimir to their sons. However, this new principle was not formalized legally. However, until the second quarter of the 15th century, the issue of succession to the throne did not arise with such acuteness as after the death of Dmitry Donskoy in 1389. The victory of Vasily II finally approved the order of succession to the throne in a direct descending line - from father to son.
Since then, the rulers of Moscow officially appointed their eldest sons as their successors. This formalized the dynastic new rule of succession to the grand ducal throne, the essence of which was that from now on, the sovereigns themselves appointed their heirs in their wills, and theirdecisions could no longer be challenged on the basis of tribal law.
