When the Nizhny Novgorod Suzdal principality became part of. Great Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes. Prince of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Konstantin Vasilievich

The Suzdal-Vladimir Principality as the forerunner of Moscow. Its creator St. Andrey Bogolyubsky. His sons. St. Gleb and Izyaslav Those examples of peace that were shown by Vladimir Monomakh, saints Mstislav, Vsevolod, Rostislav; such terrible victims of civil strife as St. Igor;

Tver and Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes

On the previous pages we talked about the Moscow princes. But in the XIV-XV centuries. Some appanage princely branches still declared themselves in the political arena, of which the Tver and Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes had the greatest authority. Here is a brief summary of the most famous of them.

TVER PRINCE

The Tver princes descended from the brother of Alexander Nevsky - Yaroslav, the son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodich, the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest.

Yaroslav Yaroslavich(d. 1271). Yaroslav, contrary to traditional ideas, took possession of Tver not in 1247, as was believed, but probably after 1255; before that, he reigned for some time in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. In 1258, together with his brothers Alexander and Andrei, Yaroslav traveled to the Horde. After the death of Alexander Nevsky in 1263, Yaroslav argued about the great reign with his brother Andrei, the brothers again went to the Horde, and Yaroslav returned from there as the Grand Duke. Vladimir, Tver, and Novgorod were in his hands. He helped the Novgorodians in the fight against the German danger, but they did not tolerate his interference in the internal affairs of the city and in 1270 expelled the supporters of the Grand Duke, and then denied him the right to power, inviting Dmitry Alexandrovich to reign. Yaroslav went to war against Novgorod, but through the mediation of Metropolitan Kirill II the warring parties were reconciled.

In 1271, Yaroslav died while returning from a trip to the Horde.

From the daughter of the Novgorod boyar Ksenia Yuryevna, Yaroslav had a son, Mikhail, who took the Tver table.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 448-454.

Mikhail Yaroslavich(1271-1318). Son of Yaroslav Yaroslavich. He became the Grand Duke of Tver after the death of his brother Svyatoslav (between 1282-1285). Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich of Vladimir (died in 1304) bequeathed the great reign to Mikhail, but he had a rival - Yuri Danilovich of Moscow. However, Mikhail got the label. In 1305 and 1307 he approached Moscow twice. The events of 1307 are believed to have been reflected in the famous postscript to the Pskov Apostle: “This same summer there was a battle on the Russian land: Mikhail and Yuri about the princedom of Novgorod. Under these princes, strife spreads and grows, our lives are ruined...” The Tver and Moscow princes argued for the possession of Novgorod, which traditionally recognized the power of the Grand Duke of Vladimir. In subsequent years, conflicts arose more than once between Mikhail and Yuri. In 1316, both princes went to the Horde. This time the great reign went to Yuri Danilovich. Some time later, having probably decided to put an end to his dangerous rival, he went to war against Tver, but in the battle of Bortenev in December 1317, Mikhail defeated Yuri. Among the prisoners was Yuri’s wife, Konchak (Agafya), sister of Khan Uzbek. She died in captivity. This was probably credited to Mikhail when, following Yuri, he again went to the Horde. Under the influence of his nobleman Kavgady, who accused Mikhail of withholding tribute due to the Horde, the khan detained the Tver prince and forced him to accompany him on a campaign against North Caucasus, and on November 22, 1319, Mikhail was executed.

Mikhail was married to Anna, the daughter of a Rostov prince, with whom he had four sons and a daughter.

Lit.: Copy. 2. P. 457-468; Cherepnin. Formation of the Russian state. pp. 460-472; Kuchkin V. A. Stories about Mikhail Tverskoy. M., 1974.

Dmitry Mikhailovich Terrible Eyes(1299-1325). The eldest son of Mikhail Yaroslavich, Dmitry succeeded his father in the reign of Tver. He had to pay tribute to Yuri Danilovich of Moscow for transfer to the Horde. When Yuri withheld part of the tribute, Dmitry hastened to the Horde to denounce the Grand Duke. During his next trip to the Horde, Dmitry, on November 21, 1324, killed Yuri, who had arrived there. Angered by Dmitry's arbitrariness, the khan ordered his execution (this happened on September 15 of the following year), but he gave the label for the great reign of Vladimir not to Yuri's brother, Ivan Kalita, who was also in the Horde in those days, but to Dmitry's brother, Alexander.

Dmitry was married to Maria, daughter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 468-471.

Alexander Mikhailovich(1301-1339). When in 1322 Alexander’s brother Dmitry went to the Horde to inform the khan about the Moscow prince’s concealment of tribute, Yuri hastened to take the silver to the khan. But Alexander attacked him on the way and took the silver. After the murder of Yuri of Moscow in the Horde, the label for the great reign was transferred to Alexander.

Three years later, in 1327, the Khan's ambassador Cholkhan arrived in Tver (in chronicles he is called Shevkal, in songs he was transformed into Shchelkan). The people of Tver could not stand the oppression of the Tatars and rebelled. The Tatars were killed, and Cholkhan died during a fire in the grand-ducal palace he captured. Punishers came to Tver, led by the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita and Tatar commanders. Alexander had to flee from Tver to Novgorod, and from there to Pskov. Then Kalita and Alexander's brothers approached Pskov, demanding the extradition of Alexander. The Pskovites were ready to fight for the prince, but Metropolitan Theognost excommunicated them from the church, and Alexander, in order not to cause trouble to his intercessors, was forced to leave for Lithuania. In 1337, after repeated calls from the khan, he went to the Horde and received a label for the Tver principality. However, during his next trip to the Horde, Alexander was executed by order of the khan.

From his marriage to an unknown woman, Alexander had at least six sons and two daughters, one of whom, Maria, became the wife of Semyon the Proud, and the other, Ulyana, became the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd.

Source: The Tale of Shevkal // PLDR: XIV - mid-XV centuries.” pp. 62-65.

Lit.: Copy. 2. P. 471-472; Cherepnin. Formation of the Russian state. pp. 475-508.

Vasily Mikhailovich(1319-1368). When Vasily’s elder brother, Konstantin, who succeeded Alexander Mikhailovich, died in the Horde in 1346, Vasily went to the Horde, where, not without difficulties (his nephew was Vsevolod Alexandrovich Kholmsky), he became the Grand Duke of Tver in 1348. However, he received the label only in 1352. This became the reason for new clashes between him and Vsevolod. The warring princes turned in 1357 to Metropolitan Alexei, to Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich the Red and, finally, to the Horde. Only in 1359 did uncle and nephew reconcile. But since the beginning of the 60s. The authority of Vasily’s other nephew, Mikhail Alexandrovich of Mikulin, increases, and he becomes the Grand Duke of Tver. Vasily last years spends in his inheritance - in Kashin.

Lit.: Copy. 2. P. 479-484; Cherepnin. Formation of the Russian state. pp. 534-537.

Mikhail Alexandrovich(1333-1399). The fourth son of Alexander Mikhailovich. He reigned in Mikulin (a city on the Shosha River, south of Tver), from 1365 he became the Grand Duke of Tver. In the summer of 1367 he had to fight with Vasily Mikhailovich (discussed above) and cousin- Eremey Konstantinovich. His opponents approached Tver, they did not take the city, but its surroundings were devastated. Mikhail went to Lithuania for help (his sister Ulyana was the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd) and “with the Lithuanian army” moved towards Kashin, in the end the warring parties came to a truce. In 1368, Mikhail went to Moscow at the invitation of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, but there he was unexpectedly arrested, released after some time, and the princes sealed their reconciliation with a kiss on the cross. But already in the fall of the same year, Dmitry Ivanovich moved his regiments to Tver, Mikhail had to resort to the help of Olgerd, and the Lithuanian prince proceeded to the outskirts of Moscow. Fearing new attacks, Mikhail hastened to build a wooden Kremlin in Tver. Relations with Moscow remained tense. In August 1370, Mikhail again had to flee to Lithuania; Dmitry Ivanovich’s troops took Zubtsov and Mikulin. Mikhail turns to the Horde for support.

In subsequent years, he twice sought the label for the great reign, but both times Dmitry Ivanovich did not recognize the label and even made attempts to capture his opponent. In 1375, the Moscow army besieged Tver, Mikulin, Zubtsov, Staritsa and other Tver cities were taken. Mikhail had to reconcile with the Grand Duke and declare his renunciation of claims to the great reign. During the invasion of Tokhtamysh, Mikhail was able to pay off the Tatars, and then went to the Horde, hoping to receive the desired label from the new khan. But Tokhtamysh only gave him a label for the Tver principality.

Mikhail was married to Evdokia (daughter of the Suzdal prince?), from whose marriage he had at least six sons.

Lit.: Copy. 2. P. 485-497; Cherepnin. Formation of the Russian state. pp. 557-582.

Boris Alexandrovich(born after 1398-1461). After Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tver table was occupied by his son Ivan (1399-1425), and then by his grandson, Alexander. Both Alexander and the latter’s son Yuri did not reign for long: one for several months, the other for several weeks; both of them died from the epidemic. Since 1426, the great-grandson of Mikhail Alexandrovich, Boris, begins to be mentioned as the Grand Duke of Tver.

Given the complexity of relations with Moscow, Boris entered into an agreement with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas. But Vytautas was connected by close ties with the great princes; Vasily Dmitrievich was married to his daughter Sophia, and after his death Sophia became regent of the young Vasily Vasilyevich. In the future, Boris still sought to maintain friendly relations with the Lithuanian princes. Tver did not stand aside during the feudal war of the 15th century. (see about her in the biography of Vasily II Vasilyevich); in 1433, Vasily Vasilyevich took refuge here with his mother and wife; Ivan Mozhaisky, a participant in Vasily’s arrest, and Vasily Kosoy sought protection here. Between 1437-1440 Boris concludes an agreement with Vasily Vasilyevich on joint actions against the Tatars, Poles, Lithuanians and Germans, supports Vasily’s actions against Novgorod, and in 1444 and 1446. he himself marches on Novgorod and captures Torzhok.

In 1446, Vasily Vasilyevich, blinded by Shemyaka, came to Boris from Kostroma. He was received with honor; Vasily's son Ivan is engaged to Boris's daughter Marya, and then the allied princes together recapture Moscow from Shemyaka. In 1452, Ivan Vasilyevich (the future Grand Duke Ivan III) married Maria Borisovna, and in 1454 the Moscow and Tver princes again entered into an agreement under which they pledged to support each other in every possible way.

Boris Alexandrovich was married twice. From his second marriage he had two sons; Alexander died as an infant, and Mikhail succeeded his father.

In 1486, the Grand Duke went on a campaign against Tver. The Tver princes and boyars began to go over to Ivan's side, and Mikhail was forced to leave for Lithuania forever. Since 1486, Tver became part of the Moscow state.

Source: Monk Thomas “A Word of Praise” // PLDR: Second half of the 15th century. pp. 268-333.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 507-515.

SUZDAL PRINCE

The Suzdal princes descend from Alexander Nevsky's brother Andrei, whose son Vasily reigned in Suzdal from 1305 to 1309.

Konstantin Vasilievich(d. 1355). Son of Vasily Andreevich, nephew of Alexander Nevsky. Konstantin Vasilyevich began to reign in Suzdal in 1332, after the death of his brother Alexander. After the death of Ivan Kalita and the departure from Nizhny Novgorod to the throne of Semyon Ivanovich, Konstantin began to reign, in addition to Suzdal, also in Nizhny Novgorod, and in 1350 he made the latter his capital city. In 1353, Konstantin tried to challenge the right to the great reign from Ivan Ivanovich, but was not successful.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 400-404.

Dmitry Konstantinovich(1324-1383). After the death of Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich, the Horde Khan Nauruz intended to give the label to the eldest of Constantine’s sons, Andrei, but he ceded this right to Dmitry. When in 1364 Dmitry's son, Vasily Kirdyapa, brought his father a label for the great reign from the new Khan Azis, Dmitry abandoned it in favor of Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow, and the Grand Duke, in turn, helped in the fight against his brother Boris, who occupied Nizhny Novgorod. Not daring to resist further, Boris went to Gorodets, and Dmitry handed Suzdal over to his son Vasily. In subsequent years, Dmitry pursued an active policy in the east: he repelled the attack of the Horde prince Bulat-Temir in 1367, and in 1370 he sent his brother Boris and son Vasily against the Khan of Volga Bulgaria Asan. In 1374 and 1375 Tatars came to Nizhny Novgorod, and in 1375 Dmitry himself sent his sons Ivan and Vasily to Kazan. In 1378, the Tatars attacked Nizhny Novgorod and burned it. Naturally, in 1382, during Tokhtamysh’s campaign against Moscow, the Nizhny Novgorod principality, weakened by Tatar raids, was unable to resist, and Dmitry even sent his sons to the khan as hostage allies.

Lit.: Copy. 2. P. 408-417; Cherepnin. Formation of the Russian state. pp. 552-556, 582-585, 587-593.

Boris Konstantinovich(d. 1394). Dmitry Konstantinovich's brother, in 1365, as stated above, tried, contrary to seniority, to sit in Nizhny Novgorod, but, fearing Dmitry's allied Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, he gave in and went to reign in his Gorodets.

Subsequently, the brothers lived in peace, and Boris participated in all of Dmitry’s military actions. After his death, Boris became the Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, while Suzdal remained with his nephews - Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon. In 1387, they took Nizhny Novgorod from Boris, which he received again from Tokhtamysh only in 1389. In 1392, the Nizhny Novgorod principality was annexed into the Grand Duchy of Vladimir by the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily. He ordered Boris, his wife and children to be “tied with iron chains and held in a great fortress.” Boris died in prison.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 417-422.

Vasily Dmitrievich Kirdyapa(d. 1403). As mentioned above, Vasily Kirdyapa took part in many of his father’s military actions. In 1382-1386. Kirdyapa was in the Horde as a hostage. Moreover, during the siege of Moscow by Tokhtamysh, it was Vasily and his brother Semyon who convinced the townspeople to open the gates. Moscow was burned and ravaged by the Tatars who violated the agreement. But Tokhtamysh detained Vasily even before 1386, then he fled, was caught, returned to the khan and released by him only in 1387. Having received Gorodets from the khan, Vasily, united with his brother Semyon, took it from his uncle in the same year Boris Nizhny Novgorod. But when in 1392 Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich acquired the Nizhny Novgorod principality under the khan's label, he expelled Vasily from Suzdal. He went to the Horde to ask for the khan's label for his previous possessions, but did not achieve it, reconciled with Vasily Dmitrievich and received Shuya from him as an inheritance. From the son of Vasily - Yuri - came the line of princes Shuisky.

Lit.: Copy. 2. pp. 424-426.