Yuri II Dmitrievich - the Grand Duke, the son of the famous Dmitry Donskoy, became the Galician and Zvenigorod prince in the middle of the 15th century, in 1433 and 1434 he was the prince of Moscow. During the times of feudal fragmentation and the Troubles of the Kalitich family in Russia, there were several figures who canonized their century. Yuri Galitsky is rightfully considered one of them.
Childhood
The future prince was born in 1374 in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, baptized by Sergius of Radonezh himself. He was the second son in the family of Dmitry Donskoy, who was destined to win the Battle of Kulikovo six years later.
Dmitry Donskoy (you can see his image below in the article), the great-grandson of Ivan Kalita, who added to the Rurik tree, is known in history as a great commander, conqueror of lands, fighter against the Tatar-Mongol horde. The mother of the future Grand Duke Evdokia was an educated girl, which was a rarity in those days. For her piety, glorification of family values and love forhusband and children, she was later canonized and canonized as Euphrosyne of Moscow.
The parents' marriage was a happy, infrequent case in Russia, so the children grew up in prosperity, love and care. Little is known about Yuri Dmitrievich's childhood years, because the ancient chronicles of those times did not reflect the realities of family life and depicted mainly exploits, victories and defeats, and turmoil in relations between princes.
Time of the Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo took place in 1380. In the event that Grand Duke Dmitry falls on the battlefield, his place, according to his will, passed to his son Vasily, who at the time of the battle was 9 years old, son Yuri 5, he was second in line to the throne. Before the start of the campaign, the family arrived in Moscow, where they were to remain under the care of the boyar Fyodor Andreyevich Sviblov until the outcome of the battle was known.
On October 1, 1380, returning from the Battle of Kulikovo, Dmitry Donskoy lined up his remaining army along the Yauza and led a religious procession along the Andronnikov Monastery to the Frolovskaya Tower, where he was met at the gate by the princess with two little princes.
The Heir is part of the tribute to the Horde
In 1382, the new Horde Khan Tokhtamysh went to Moscow. He wanted not only to resume the collection of tribute, but also to return power over the Russians. Having learned about the approaching khan's army, many boyars took their families out. Prince Dmitry left to gather an army in Kostroma, leaving the princess with three sons in the capital. Perhaps the princely family could not leave Moscow, becausethat a few days before the arrival of Khan, Efrosinya gave birth to her third son, Andrei.
Tokhtamysh plundered and burned the city and set his sights on other cities, but Dmitry decided to start paying tribute again and return all the tributes not previously paid to stop the khan. One thing remained unchanged - Dmitry Donskoy and his sons remained the Grand Dukes, recognized by the Golden Horde people. So, in 1383, the prince equipped a convoy with tribute, sending his eldest son Vasily to the camp of the enemy as a hostage, a living tribute. Thus, the place on the throne automatically passed to Yuri, the middle son.
However, after 4 years, Vasily escaped from the Tatar-Mongolian captivity and reached Russia in a roundabout way through Lithuania. In the annals, he is described as a sluggish, weak-willed young man, and Yuri, on the contrary, appears educated, inclined to manage people and loving military leadership. The fact that the father preferred his eldest son, the heir to the throne, his second junior prince, sowed the first seeds of strife between the brothers, and from that moment an invisible struggle for the grand throne of Yuri Galitsky and his brother Vasily began.
Nevertheless, in 1939, on the eve of his death, Prince Dmitry Donskoy writes a new will, in which he proclaims his 18-year-old son Vasily as his heir, and Yuri as his successor. At that time, the throne was passed from brother to brother, for 600 years of the monarchy, it was the second son who inherited the throne after the death of the first, and not the children of the ruling prince. In addition, Prince Vasily did not have a wife and children, and his prospects for starting a family were unclear at that time. Easy to rulethe Horde could intervene, placing the princes on the lands she needed, also according to the will in the event of dynastic disputes, the decision remained with mother Euphrosyne.
Beginning of reign
According to the will, Prince Yuri from the Rurikovich tree got the cities of Galich and Zvenigorod with all the surrounding villages. The boy at that time was 15 years old, but he was already known as the specific prince of a rich land, inhabited for the most part by Finno-Ugric tribes. There was a large s alt mine in Galich, but Yuri chose Zvenigorod as the capital of his possessions.
The possessions of the young prince were fortified with fortresses, because the lands were restless. Zvenigorod was a city on the border with Lithuania, and Tatars and Cheremis constantly raided Galich. The lands around the city were swampy, uninhabited. However, Prince Galitsky assigned the title of border cities to the cities, built monasteries, erected tower fortresses and, despite the ingratitude of the region, developed trade and fishing. Many noble merchants and boyars lived in Galich.
Victory for Russia
Prince Yuri reliably closed the northern borders and helped his brother Vasily I to centralize the Russian cities around Moscow. The brothers signed a military alliance, according to which the troops of the county prince were to go to war as soon as the grand duke called them. In Zvenigorod, Yuri rebuilds not only fortresses. In the Kremlin, he is building a new princely palace, and next to it is the Assumption Cathedral (pictured below). All buildings from the time of Yuri Galitsky are pre-Mongolian architecture from the time of Ivan Kalita, painted by Andrey Rublev.
In 1393, the prince annexed Torzhok to the Moscow principality, and later Kazan, Kremenchug, the Great Bulgar. His campaigns against the Tatar-Mongols played a big role, therefore, under Khan Tamerlane, who subjugated the Horde, Russia stopped paying tribute. Taxes will resume again in 1408, when, under the rule of Khan Edigey, the Horde will restore its independence and subjugate Moscow again.
Private life
Prince Yuri Galitsky was married to Princess Anastasia, daughter of Yuri Svyatoslavovich, who was Prince of Smolensk. Thus, he had the opportunity to subjugate the Smolensk region, because at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries the city went to Lithuania, although it always remained the key to the Moscow lands. Such a possession could strengthen the position of the prince.
Yuri Dmitrievich and Anastasia had four sons: the eldest - Vasily, nicknamed Oblique (he is shown in the photo below), Ivan, who became a monk, Dmitry Bolshoy, nicknamed Shemyaka and Dmitry Menshoy, nicknamed Red, both younger sons are named in honor of his grandfather, Dmitry Donskoy.
The Grand Duke's Throne
Basily I died in 1425. In the period from 1406 to 1423, he wrote 3 wills, in which he transferred the throne to his son Vasily Vasilyevich. At the time of his father's death, the boy was 10 years old. Thus, the Grand Duke more than once tried to defend the right to the throne according to the formula “from father to son”, while Prince Yuri believed that the brother had no right to change the doctrine of their father, which read “from brother to brother” and change the principle succession from"by seniority" to "by blood". An additional complication was the princes, who, after the death of the ruler, relied on the lands promised during their lifetime.
Thus, Moscow, torn from all sides, remained for a time in the possession of three persons: the widow of the Grand Duke Sophia Vitovtovna, the Lithuanian princess, boyar Ivan Dmitrievich Vsevolozhsky and Metropolitan Photius. Photius turned out to be the most influential, and it was he who called on Yuri Galitsky to Moscow to swear allegiance to Vasily II. The specific prince was given a condition: he could renounce the throne of Moscow and continue to reign quietly in his lands, or try to compete for the main princely throne, but in this case he would be severely punished. The rights for power were divided only into “black” and “white”, he, Yuri Dmitrievich, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, did not receive any compromise. However, he believed that, at the behest of his father, the throne belongs to him by right, so he decided to fight for his rights, unleashing a feudal war with enemies.
Feudal War
The positions of Yuri Galitsky at the beginning of the internecine strife were extremely difficult. Its capital Zvenigorod was squeezed between Moscow and Lithuania, which Sofya Vitovtovna turned against the prince, for her son Vasily II. In addition, the city was not a powerful fortress capable of defense. Therefore, the prince, along with the main forces of his military company, moved to Galich. He called up troops from his fatherlands ready to go against Moscow, and concluded a temporary peace with his nephew until the summer of 1425. However, Vasily, having gathered an army, moved to Kostroma, and Yuri had tomove to Nizhny Novgorod. Then the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir sent a squad there under the command of his younger brother Yuri Andrey Dmitrievich, but he could not reach the Volga.
Metropolitan Photius tried to reconcile the princes by gathering them in Kostroma. The peace agreement was extended, and the Vladimir and Novgorod lands were to be added to the possessions of Yuri Dmitrievich. However, during the negotiations, Prince Galitsky realized what the weakness of his nephew was: Vasily II still did not have a label from the Horde Khan. The young ruler believed that due to the continuation of the policy of Dmitry Donskoy, Yuri was not honored by the khans, and Lithuania, which was an ally of the Horde, did not like him.
The weakening of the power of the Grand Duke
In the second half of 1425, the situation for Vasily II was complicated by several factors. An epidemic of smallpox spread across the country, bringing with it many deaths. Relations with Lithuania became more complicated due to the division of Pskov and the Serpukhov possessions. However, in the spring of 1428, the Grand Duke concluded with his uncle, who at that time was already 54 years old, an end (agreement), according to which Yuri Galitsky recognized himself as the “younger brother” of his nephew and again became second in line in the right of succession to the throne. But the final formula, which stated that all princes should live in their destinies, gave Yuri the right to challenge his nephew's right to reign in the Horde. In 1430, without waiting for the answer of the Horde, he breaks the peace treaty and again, pursued by his nephew, flees to Nizhny Novgorod.
By 1431 Vasily II's positions were weakening. His Lithuanian grandfather Vitovt is dying, andthen Metropolitan Photius (pictured below), who for all these years actually headed the Moscow government. In the autumn of the same year, the Grand Duke is going to the Horde to Khan Ulu-Mohammed, in order to finally confirm his authority. In 1432, the Horde confirmed the status of the reign of Vasily II, giving Yuri a label for Dmitrov. However, upon his return, the nephew took away the new estate from his uncle.
Scandal in Moscow
In 1433, a scandal broke out at the wedding of Vasily II with Princess Maria of Serpukhov. Among the guests were two cousins, the sons of Yuri Galitsky, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka (pictured in the photo below). One of the boyars recognized the belt of Dmitry Donskoy on Vasily Kosom - a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation among the grand dukes. Sofya Vitovtovna tore off the belt from the guest, and the brothers went to their father in Galich, robbing villages and villages along the way.
Galician army in the same year came to Moscow. On April 25, on the banks of the Klyazma, Yuri Galitsky defeated his nephew and sent him to reign in Kolomna. However, the boyars and nobles refused to serve the new ruler and followed Vasily. There was also no support from the Galician boyars. Thus, by the autumn of 1433, Yuri voluntarily left the capital and returned to his native Galich. Basil returned to his throne and for the second time concluded the end with his uncle.
Second Chance for the Throne
However, the eldest sons did not recognize such an agreement, and Vasily II directed hisarmy that was defeated on the Kusi River. The sons invited their father to take the Moscow throne again, but Yuri Dmitrievich decided this time to remain true to the agreement. However, the nephew did not appreciate such generosity and went to war with his uncle. The troops converged in the spring of 1430 near Rostov. The Galichs won, Vasily II fled to Novgorod, and in the second coming to power, Yuri Galitsky did not make his previous mistakes. He began to establish family and friendly relations with the boyars, initiated a monetary reform. He did not rule for long and on June 5 he was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, like all the glorious princes of the Rurik family.
