Stages of the feudal war of the 15th century. Civil war in Muscovite Rus' (1425–1453)

During the internecine war of 1425-53. Between Vasily II and his uncle Yuri Dmitrievich, and then the latter’s sons Vasily Kosy and Dmitry Shemyaka, Moscow changed hands several times. During the wedding of Vasily II with the Serpukhov princess Maria Yaroslavna in February 1433, a quarrel between Vasily II and the Galician princes broke out; The army of Vasily II was defeated in the battle on the river. Klyazma (April 25, 1433), Vasily II fled from Moscow, which was occupied by Prince Yuri Dmitrievich. Dissatisfaction with the policies of Yuri Dmitrievich led to the departure of many service people from the city to Vasily II, who was in Kolomna. Soon Yuri Dmitrievich was forced to leave Moscow. After the new defeat of Vasily II in the battle on March 20, 1434 and the week-long siege of Moscow on March 31, the city was again occupied by supporters of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich, but after his imminent death (June 5, 1434), Vasily Kosoy declared himself heir to the Moscow throne. A month later, “having collected gold and silver, his father’s treasury and the entire city’s reserves,” Vasily Kosoy left for Kostroma. Vasily II re-entered Moscow and in January 1435 defeated the army of Vasily Kosoy. In 1436, by order of Vasily II, Dmitry Shemyaka, who arrived in Moscow, was captured, and the army of Vasily Kosoy was defeated on the river. Cherekh, Vasily Kosoy himself was brought to Moscow and blinded on May 21, 1436. In 1439, when the army of Khan Ulu-Muhammad “unknown” appeared under the walls of Moscow, Vasily II left the city, leaving Yuri Patrikeev as governor, and went to the Volga; Ulu-Muhammad burned the Moscow suburbs and, after a ten-day siege of the city, retreated, taking it completely. During the campaign against Kazan in July 1445, the wounded Vasily II was captured; power in Moscow passed to Dmitry Shemyaka. Soon after this, a fire broke out in the city, destroying almost all the wooden buildings; About 2 thousand people died, and unrest among the townspeople began. In October 1445, Vasily II was released from captivity and arrived in Moscow, accompanied by the Tatars; Dmitry Shemyaka fled to Uglich, where he gathered an army, and on February 12, 1446 captured Moscow; Vasily II was captured in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, taken to Moscow, blinded (hence the nickname Dark) and exiled to Uglich. But already in December 1446, Vasily II again occupied Moscow, and at the beginning of 1450 he inflicted a decisive defeat on Dmitry Shemyaka.

TRAGEDY "BASILI II"

If we were writing not just another chapter of a popular study of Russian PR, but a tragedy in the spirit of Shakespeare - under a completely Shakespearean title - then it would have to start with the characters...

Vasily II the Dark - Grand Duke of Moscow (1425-1462, with interruptions). He lost the throne several times, and then was blinded by Shemyaka (1446). After this he was nicknamed the Dark One. This nickname conveys tragedy and respect. The people saw him as a legitimate sovereign.

Sofya Vitovtovna is his mother. Lithuanian by nationality. Determined woman.

Yuri Galitsky - Grand Duke of Moscow (1433-1434), uncle of Vasily II.

Vasily Kosoy - Grand Duke of Moscow (1434, one month), son of Yuri Galitsky, respectively, cousin of Vasily II. He was blinded by Vasily II (1436), for which he received his unsympathetic nickname. The people didn't like him.

Dmitry Shemyaka - Grand Duke of Moscow (1446-1447), also the son of Yuri Galitsky. He blinded Vasily II himself in revenge for his brother. Was poisoned.

The circle is closed. Blinding, poisoning. Quite gloomy. But it all started with a somewhat comic episode. Shakespeare loved to insert such interludes into his tragedies. Unfortunately, Russian history was not familiar to him, otherwise instead of King Lear we would now be going to see Vasily II.

Medinsky V. R. Features of national PR. The true history of Rus' from Rurik to Peter. M., 2010

A TEXTBOOK EPISODE

But while Ivan Dimitrievich was persuading Yuri to renew his old claims, in Moscow, Yuri’s sons - Vasily Kosoy and Dimitri Shemyaka - were feasting at the grand ducal wedding. Vasily Kosoy arrived wearing a rich golden belt, set with expensive stones. The old boyar Pyotr Konstantinovich told the story of this belt to the Grand Duke's mother, Sofya Vitovtovna, a curious story: this belt was given by the Suzdal prince Dimitri Konstantinovich as a dowry for his daughter Evdokia, who was going to marry Dimitri Donskoy; the last thousand, Vasily Velyaminov, who was important at the princely wedding, replaced this belt with another, less expensive, and gave the real one to his son Nikolai, behind whom was another daughter of Prince Dimitri of Suzdal, Marya. Nikolai Velyaminov also gave the belt as a dowry for his daughter, who married our boyar, Ivan Dimitrievich; Ivan gave it as a dowry for his daughter to Prince Andrei, the son of Vladimir Andreevich, and after Andreeva’s death, having betrothed his daughter, and his granddaughter to Vasily Kosoy, he gave the groom a belt, in which he appeared at the wedding of the Grand Duke. Sofya Vitovtovna, having learned that the belt was on Kosoy, in front of everyone, took it off the prince as the property of her family, which had unlawfully passed into someone else’s. The Yuryevichs, offended by such disgrace, immediately left Moscow, and this served as a pretext for war.

SHEMYAKIN COURT

Shemyakin court (treacherous, dishonest court).

This is Sidorov's truth and Shemyakin's court.

Wed. The case of these martyrs was raised and reconsidered; the Shemyakinsk sentences were overturned and the good name and honor of these innocent victims of falsehood... were restored...

N. Makarov. Memories. Preface.

Dmitry Shemyaka (1446) blinded Vasily the Dark and seized the throne (overthrown 1450).

Wed. From this time on, in great Russia, for every judge and admirer, the Shemyakin Court was nicknamed in reproaches.

A collection of figurative words and allegories. 1904

RETURN OF THE GOVERNMENT

On July 7, 1445, in the battle of Suzdal with the sons of Ulug-Muhammad, the Grand Duke suffered an unexpected defeat, was wounded and captured. 1 Oct. In 1445 he was released from captivity with the obligation to pay a huge ransom, and Horde tribute collectors arrived with him in North-Eastern Rus'.

The incident dealt a strong blow to the authority of Vasily Vasilyevich. Part of Russian society - representatives of the nobility, Moscow merchants and even some monks of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery - began to be inclined to believe that Dmitry Shemyaka could become the best bearer of the grand-ducal rank. The organizers of the conspiracy against the Grand Duke were Dmitry Shemyaka and John of Mozhaisky. During a pilgrimage trip to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, Vasily Vasilyevich was captured by the conspirators and on February 16, 1446 he was blinded (hence his nickname - the Dark One) in Moscow, in the Shemyaki courtyard in the Kremlin. The Grand Duke's table was taken by Dmitry Shemyaka, the former Grand Duke was imprisoned in Uglich.

Faced with significant resistance and church disapproval of his actions, Shemyaka was forced to release Vasily Vasilyevich and his family from prison. At the Council of the Clergy, which met in the fall of 1446, a reconciliation of the princes took place. Soon, however, the abbot of the Kirillov Monastery Trifon freed Vasily Vasilyevich from the oath. After this, the Grand Duke began to patronize the disciples of St. Kirill of Belozersky.

From Vologda, not wanting to obey Shemyaka, Vasily Vasilyevich went to Tver to Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich, who offered him help. The union was sealed by the marriage of the daughter of the Tver prince Maria and the eldest son of Vasily Vasilyevich - John III Vasilyevich. Boyars and boyar children began to come to Tver, refusing to serve Shemyaka. The Horde princes Kasim and Yakub, the sons of Ulug-Muhammad, expelled by their brother, offered their services to Vasily Vasilyevich. On the night of Christmas 1446, the Moscow-Tver army under the command of the Moscow boyar M. B. Pleshcheev captured Moscow in a sudden raid. A new war has begun. In order to attract the appanage princes to his side, the Grand Duke made new grants to them: the brother of the Grand Duke's wife Vasily Yaroslavich Serpukhovskaya received Dmitrov, John of Mozhaisky received Bezhetsky Verkh and half of Zaozerye, the other half of Zaozerye received his younger brother Mikhail Andreevich Vereisky.

After Vasily Vasilyevich returned to Moscow, the Russian clergy actively contributed to strengthening the power of the Grand Duke for the speedy end of the feudal war. An important step in this direction was a letter sent to Dmitry Shemyaka on December 29, 1447 by Russian bishops and abbots of monasteries. Shemyaka was given an ultimatum: to “correct himself” before the Grand Duke in a short time, otherwise he would be excommunicated from the Church. At the beginning of 1448, Shemyaka and his ally John of Mozhaisk were forced to give the Grand Duke “cursed letters”, which stated that if he violated his obligations of fidelity to the Grand Duke, “do not awaken the mercy of God and His Most Pure Mother of God, and the prayers of the great miracle workers our lands,” and “blessings to all the bishop of the Russian land.”

When this agreement was violated, the clergy of the Moscow Metropolitanate began to regard Shemyaka as excommunicated from the Church, communication with whom Christians were prohibited. On the campaign against Galich, the appanage capital of Shemyaki, undertaken by Vasily Vasilyevich in the spring of 1449, the Grand Duke was accompanied by the recently installed Metropolitan Jonah and bishops. In January of the following year, Vasily Vasilyevich's troops took the city, Shemyaka fled to Veliky Novgorod, where he found help and support, military operations moved to the lands of the Russian North. Perm Bishop St., taken prisoner by Shemyaka. Pitirim refused to lift his excommunication. When the residents of Vyatka, together with the Galich prince, began to attack the lands of Vasily Vasilyevich, Metropolitan. Jonah threatened to excommunicate them from the Church, and promised the priests to deprive them of their dignity if they did not stop acting together “with Prince Dmitry Shemyaka, who was excommunicated from God’s Church.” At the same time, the saint addressed a message to Novgorod Archbishop Euthymius II and the residents of Veliky Novgorod with a demand not only to refuse Shemyaka support, but also to “neither eat nor drink” with him, since he “excommunicated himself from Christianity with his fratricide, their betrayals." After the death of Dmitry Shemyaka, who was poisoned in 1453 on the orders of Vasily Vasilyevich in Veliky Novgorod, Metropolitan Jonah forbade commemorating the Galich prince at funeral services.

Chistyakov P.P. At the wedding of Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark, Grand Duchess Sofya Vitovtovna takes away from Prince Vasily Kosoy, Shemyaka’s brother, a belt with precious stones that once belonged to the Yuryevichs, which the Yuryeviches took possession of incorrectly (fragment). 1861

This video lesson is intended for independent familiarization with the topic “Rus in the second quarter of the 15th century. Feudal war. Vasily II". From it, students will be able to learn about the causes of the war - the death of Dmitry Donskoy and the reign of Vasily I. Next, the teacher will talk about the policies of all the rulers of the second quarter of the 15th century.

Topic: Rus' in the XIV - first half of the XV centuries

Lesson: Rus' in the second quarterXV century Feudal war. VasilyII

1. Reign of VasilyI (1389-1425)

After the death of Dmitry Donskoy, the Moscow and grand ducal thrones were taken by his 15-year-old son Vasily I (1389-1425), who successfully continued his father’s policy of unifying the Russian lands. In 1392-1395. Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets, Tarusa, Suzdal and Murom were annexed to Moscow. At the same time, the Grand Duke of Moscow began a war with Novgorod, during which he captured Torzhok, Volokolamsk and Vologda. True, the following year, having been defeated by the Novgorodians, Vasily was forced to return the Dvina land, but the most important shopping centers - Torzhok and Volokolamsk - remained with Moscow.

At the same time, Vasily I, taking advantage of the new “zamyatney” in the Horde, broke off tributary relations with the Tatars and stopped paying the hateful “Horde exit” to Sarai. But in 1408, one of the former emirs of Tamerlane, Edigei, who became the khan of the Golden Horde, made a devastating raid on Rus' and forced Moscow to resume paying tribute.

In 1406-1408. An unsuccessful Russian-Lithuanian war took place, during which Smolensk fell out of Moscow’s sphere of influence for a whole century.

Rice. 1. Moscow-Lithuanian war 1406-1408.

The second half of the reign of Vasily I was not eventful, except for the new war with Novgorod (1417), as a result of which Moscow annexed Vologda.

2. Feudal war and the reign of VasilyII (1425-1462)

The process of political unification of Russian lands around Moscow was significantly influenced by the feudal war of the second quarter of the 14th century, the causes of which many historians (L. Cherepnin, A. Zimin) traditionally saw in the dynastic crisis. The essence of the problem was this: for a long time in Rus' there was a clan order of succession to the throne, but after the famous plague epidemic of 1353, during which most members of the grand ducal family died, it naturally transformed into a family order, which was not legally enshrined anywhere. Moreover, according to the will of Dmitry Donskoy (1389), his sons Vasily and Yuri were to inherit the throne in turn. However, Grand Duke Vasily I, violating his father's will, transferred the Grand Duke's throne to his 10-year-old son Vasily II (1425-1462), and not to his younger brother Yuri of Zvenigorod (1374-1434).

Rice. 2. Monument to Yuri Zvenigorodsky ()

At the same time, the greatest expert on Russian history, Professor A. Kuzmin, rightly points out the fact that the cause of this war lay not only in the dynastic crisis. Of more significant importance was the fact that the de facto ruler of Rus' under Vasily II became his grandfather, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt (1392-1430), which caused sharp rejection among many appanage princes and boyars who united around Yuri of Zvenigorod and his sons.

When studying the feudal war in Rus', historical scholarship has traditionally argued about two key issues:

1) what was the chronological framework of this war;

2) what this war was like.

In historical literature one can find completely different chronological frameworks for this war, in particular 1430-1453, 1433-1453. and 1425-1446 However, most historians (A. Zimin, L. Cherepnin, R. Skrynnikov, V. Kobrin) date this war to 1425-1453. and there are several main stages in it:

— 1425-1431 - the initial, “peaceful” period of the war, when Yuri Zvenigorodsky, not wanting to enter into an open conflict with Vytautas and Metropolitan Fitiya, tried to legally obtain a label for the great reign of Vladimir in the Golden Horde;

— 1431-1436 - the second period of the war, which began after the death of Vytautas and Metropolitan Photius and was associated with the active hostilities of Yuri and his sons Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka against Vasily II, during which the Zvenigorod princes twice occupied the Moscow throne (1433-1434). However, after the death of Yuri, who was known as an outstanding commander, Moscow troops defeated the Zvenigorod regiments at Kotorosl (1435) and Skoryatin (1436) and captured Vasily Kosoy, who was blinded.

Rice. 3. Dmitry Shemyaka’s date with Vasily II ()

— 1436-1446 - the third period of the war, marked by an unsteady truce of the parties, which ended with the capture and blinding of Vasily II (the Dark) and his abdication in favor of Dmitry Shemyaka;

— 1446-1453 - the fourth and final stage of the war, which ended with the complete victory of Vasily II and the death of Dmitry Shemyaka in Novgorod.

When it comes to assessing feudal war, there are three main approaches. One group of historians (L. Cherepnin, Yu. Alekseev V. Buganov) believed that the feudal war was a war between “reactionary” opponents (Zvenigorod princes) and “progressive” supporters (Vasily II) of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow. At the same time, the sympathies of these historians were clearly on the side of Vasily the Dark. Another group of historians (N. Nosov, A. Zimin, V. Kobrin) argued that during the feudal war the question of which branch of the Moscow princely house would lead and continue the process of unification of Rus' was decided. At the same time, this group of authors clearly sympathized with the “industrial North” and its princes, and not with the “feudal center” and Vasily II, whom they considered “outstanding mediocrity,” since they believed that with the victory of the Galician-Zvenigorod princes, Rus' could take a more progressive path ( pre-bourgeois) path of development than what actually happened. The third group of historians (R. Skrynnikov) believe that in the above concepts there is a striking discrepancy between theoretical constructs and factual material. According to these scientists, the feudal war was an ordinary princely feud, well known from past centuries.

After the end of the feudal war, Vasily II successfully continued the policy of collecting lands around Moscow, in 1454 he conquered Mozhaisk from Lithuania, in 1456 he defeated the Novgorodians near Russa and imposed on them the Yazhelbitsky Treaty, which significantly limited the sovereign status of Novgorod in external relations with foreign powers ; in 1461 the Grand Duke for the first time sent his governor to Pskov.

In addition, during the reign of Vasily the Dark, another epochal event took place: having refused to sign the Union of Florence (1439), a new metropolitan was elected in Moscow for the first time without the sanction of Constantinople - Archbishop Jonah of Ryazan (1448), and ten years later the Moscow the metropolis has become completely autocephalous, that is, independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (1458).

Rice. 4. Basil rejects the Union of Florence ()

List of literature for studying the topic "Feudal War in Rus'. Vasily II":

1. Alekseev Yu. G. Under the banner of Moscow. - M., 1992

2. Borisov N. S. Russian Church in the political struggle of the XIV-XV centuries. - M., 1986

3. Kuzmin A. G. History of Russia from ancient times to 1618 - M., 2003

4. Zimin A. A. Knight at the crossroads. Feudal war in Russia in the 15th century. - M., 1991

5. Skrynnikov R. G. State and Church in Rus' XIV-XVI centuries. - M., 1991

6. Cherepnin L.V. Formation of the Russian centralized state in the XIV-XV centuries. - M., 1960

On February 25, 1425, Grand Duke Vasily I Dmitrievich died. According to his will, drawn up in 1423, his ten-year-old son Vasily becomes the heir to the grand ducal throne under the regency of Princess Sophia Vitovtovna, her father Grand Duke Vitovt of Lithuania, as well as princes Andrei and Peter Dmitrievich. The rights of Vasily II (1425?1462) to the great reign were immediately challenged by his eldest uncle, the Galician prince Yuri Dmitrievich. A talented commander who went “far” into the “Tatar lands” and had extensive possessions (Galich, Zvenigorod, Ruza, Vyatka), Prince Yuri based his claims on the spiritual charter of Dmitry Donskoy, which provided for the transfer of power to the eldest in the family, and not from his father to my son. The advantage in the struggle for the great reign of Yuri Dmitrievich, in addition to the possession of lands that were experiencing economic growth and political influence in the vast regions of North-Eastern Rus', was also given by the fact that Vasily II ascended the throne without the sanction of the Horde khans.

The Moscow government began military operations against Yuri, but he avoided a decisive battle, preferring to prepare more thoroughly for war and enlist the support of the Horde. In an effort to avoid bloodshed, Metropolitan Photius, one of the main figures in the government of Basil II, achieved a truce. According to the agreement concluded in mid-1425, Prince Yuri promised not to “seek” a great reign, but in fact the final decision on this issue was transferred to the Horde. A trip in the fall of 1431 to the Horde by Yuri Dmitrievich and Vasily Vasilyevich brought success to the latter.

Prince Yuri, who received Dmitrov as an inheritance, did not accept defeat and, returning from the Horde, began to actively prepare for military action. The confrontation turned into a war that began in the spring of 1433. Yuri Dmitrievich and his two eldest sons, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka, set out on a campaign against Moscow. On April 25, a battle took place with Vasily II on the Klyazma River. The Grand Duke was defeated and fled with his family to Tver and then to Kostroma. Yuri Dmitrievich entered Moscow. Following the grand ducal tradition, the winner granted Vasily II the Moscow appanage of Kolomna. But the boyars and Moscow service people, who saw in Yuri only a rebellious appanage prince, began to leave for Kolomna, to their prince. Discontent among Yuri Dmitrievich's Galician entourage grew. Soon, having soberly assessed the political situation, he was forced to leave the great reign, return the throne to his nephew and conclude an agreement with him recognizing Vasily II as “the eldest brother.”

However, the war was continued by the sons of Yuri Dmitrievich, who in September 1433 defeated Moscow troops near Galich. Vasily II, having gathered significant forces, set out on a campaign against the Galician princes. The decisive battle between them took place on March 20, 1434 in Rostov and ended in the complete defeat of the troops of Vasily II. Yuri entered Moscow for the second time.

The steps then taken by Yuri Dmitrievich testify to his desire to establish the autocracy of Rus' and fight against the Horde. On June 5, 1434, Prince Yuri unexpectedly died, and the situation worsened again. In accordance with the principles that Yuri Dmitrievich defended, the grand-ducal throne now belonged to Vasily II as the eldest in the new generation of the grand-ducal family. But Vasily Kosoy, Yuri’s eldest son, declared himself the heir. Soon, however, without receiving support from his brothers, who took the side of Vasily II, he left Moscow. In May 1436, in the Rostov land, the troops of Vasily II defeated the Galician prince. Vasily Kosoy was captured and blinded, which removed him from the political scene forever. An agreement was concluded between Dmitry Shemyaka and Vasily II, according to which the Galician prince recognized himself as a “young brother”, and Vasily Vasilyevich took possession of the legacy of Vasily Kosoy - the cities of Zvenigorod and Dmitrov. It was obvious that a temporary compromise had been reached and the struggle would inevitably flare up with renewed vigor. Relations became even more strained when in 1440, after the death of Shemyaka’s younger brother Dmitry the Red, Vasily II took away most of his inheritance (Bezhetsky Verkh) and seriously reduced the judicial privileges of Dmitry Shemyaka.

Significant changes that influenced the course of the struggle for autocracy in Rus' took place in the Horde. Khan Ulu-Muhammad, having been defeated by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh, in 1436 - 1437. settled in the Middle Volga region. He used the internecine turmoil in Rus' to capture Nizhny Novgorod and conduct devastating raids deep into Russian lands. In the summer of 1445, in the battle of Suzdal, the sons of Ulu-Muhammad defeated the Russian army and captured Vasily II. Power in Moscow passed to Shemyaka.

Soon Vasily II was released by the Horde for a large ransom. Having learned about the return of Vasily II, accompanied by the Horde army, Shemyaka fled to Uglich. The military defeat, the hardships of the huge ransom, the violence of the Tatars who arrived to receive it, as well as anxiety for the fate of the country, which the Grand Duke “led” the Horde to, all this caused the emergence of broad opposition. Many Moscow boyars, merchants and clergy went over to Shemyaka’s side. A conspiracy arose against Vasily II. In February 1446, Shemyaka captured Vasily, who had come on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, brought him to Moscow and blinded him. Later this gave rise to his nickname - the Dark One.

The position of Grand Duke Dmitry Yuryevich was difficult. His reprisal against Vasily II caused indignation in Rus' and alienated many of his supporters. To raise his authority, Shemyaka tried to enlist the support of the church by issuing letters of grant to several monasteries, as well as concluding an alliance with Novgorod. The fragility of the position of the new Grand Duke forced him to enter into negotiations with Vasily the Dark. The latter swore that in the future he would not strive for grand-ducal power. In September 1446, Vasily II was released to the appanage of Vologda, granted to him by Dmitry.

Vologda became a place of concentration for supporters of the return of Vasily II. Hegumen of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Trifon absolved him of the sin of violating the oath. Prince Boris Alexandrovich of Tver provided effective assistance to Vasily II. At the beginning of 1447, the troops of Vasily II defeated Dmitry Shemyaka near Uglich, and on February 17, Vasily II returned to Moscow in triumph.

The Galician prince still tried to continue the fight, but its outcome was already a foregone conclusion. Having been defeated in the decisive battle near Galich and then near Ustyug, Shemyaka died in 1453 in Novgorod under rather mysterious circumstances. With his death the feudal war ended.

The consolidation of the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow largely depended on the success of the fight against political separatism by both the recent allies of Vasily II and former opponents. In the summer of 1445, a punitive campaign was organized against the Mozhaisk prince Ivan Andreevich as punishment, as the chronicle says, “for his failure to correct himself.” In the summer of the same 1456, Prince Vasily Yaroslavich of Serpukhov was unexpectedly captured and sent to prison. His inheritance, like Mozhaisk, became the “fatherland” of the Grand Duke.

In the same 1460, Pskov turned to Grand Duke Vasily II with a request to protect him from the Livonian Order. The son of Vasily the Dark, Yuri, was appointed to reign in Pskov and concluded a truce with the Order.

By the end of the reign of Vasily II, the territory under his rule immeasurably exceeded the possessions of the rest of the Russian princes, who by that moment had lost their sovereignty and were forced to obey him. As part of the Moscow Principality, one Vereisko-Beloozersky inheritance was preserved.

Formation of the Russian centralized state in the XIV–XV centuries. Essays on the socio-economic and political history of Rus' Cherepnin Lev Vladimirovich

§ 11. Feudal war in Rus' in the second quarter of the 15th century. (its causes and progress until the 40s of the 15th century)

In the second quarter of the 15th century. A feudal war broke out in North-Eastern Rus', which lasted for almost thirty years. The path of political development of Rus', as well as a number of countries in Western Europe, led from a system of feudal principalities to a centralized monarchy. A strong centralized government was the organ of the ruling class of feudal lords. It gave him the opportunity to exploit the working people and provided them with protection from external enemies. But at the same time, the strengthening of central power meant that the feudal lords had to sacrifice in its favor part of their material benefits and political privileges that the possession of land and dependent peasantry gave them. At a certain stage in the development of feudal society, this contradiction in the relations between individual feudal lords and groups of feudal lords and the central state power, as the body of feudal domination over the working majority of the population, develops into a major feudal war. In this war a centralized state is forged.

In Russia, as well as in Western European countries (England, France, etc.), such a war occurred in the 15th century. The strengthened grand-ducal power, based on the service boyars, the emerging nobility, supported by the townspeople, managed to suppress the resistance of the appanage princely and boyar opposition coming from the feudal centers that defended their independence.

The course of the feudal war was influenced by the class struggle. The fighting parties each tried to use class contradictions to their advantage. And the aggravation of the latter was a significant factor that forced the feudal lords to stop internal strife and rally their forces in the face of the class danger that worried them all equally. Thus, the rise of the anti-feudal movement was an essential link in the chain of those reasons that determined the path of political development of feudal society in the direction of state centralization.

In the first quarter of the 15th century. The grand princely government, which did not yet have sufficient funds to organize a centralized system of government throughout the territory annexed to Moscow, retained in a number of cases the system of appanages and even increased their number, while at the same time restricting the political rights of appanage princes. This was a step towards further state unification. By the second quarter of the 15th century. On the territory of the Moscow principality, several fiefs were formed, in which representatives of individual princely lines ruled. Earlier than others, the appanage Serpukhov principality was formed, which belonged to the descendants of Dmitry Donskoy’s cousin, Vladimir Andreevich. After the death of the latter in 1410, the territory of the Serpukhov principality was divided between his widow and five sons. Almost all of the Serpukhov princes died during the plague epidemic in 1426–1427. The only representative of the Serpukhov princely line was the grandson of Vladimir Andreevich - Vasily Yaroslavich. He owned only part of the territory that belonged to his grandfather - Serpukhov and Borovsky, as well as some other volosts. After the death of the latter, the inheritance of Dmitry Donskoy's son Andrei was divided between his two sons: Ivan (to whom Mozhaisk with its volosts passed) and Mikhail (who became the owner of Vereya with its volosts). This is how two small appanage principalities were formed: Mozhaisk and Vereiskoye. The son of Dmitry Donskoy, Peter, received the Dmitrov and Uglich principalities as an inheritance from his father.

In favorable conditions for allocation into a special appanage possession was the Galician land (with its center in Galich Mersky), which was inherited by the spiritual charter of Dmitry Donskoy (together with Zvenigorod) to his second son Yuri (who in turn had three sons - Vasily Kosoy, Dmitry Shemyak and Dmitry Red). The Galician principality was mainly located along the left tributaries of the Volga - Unzhe and Kostroma and in the Upper and Middle Vetluga basin. The lands around Galich were fertile and had a fairly dense population. Forests abounding in furs stretched along Unzha and Vetluga. Rich salt springs played a major role in the economic life of the region. The economic isolation of the Galician land contributed to its separation into a separate principality. Possessing significant material resources and maintaining a certain isolation (economic and political), the Principality of Galicia showed in the second quarter of the 15th century. pronounced separatism.

The grand ducal government, pursuing the policy of unifying Rus', sought to restrict the state rights of appanage princes. A similar tendency of the grand ducal power met with opposition from the princes of the specific centers. In the second quarter of the 15th century. An attempt to oppose the political order emerging in the Moscow principality, which contributed to the centralization of state power, was made by the Galician princes - Yuri Dmitrievich and his sons.

In 1425 c. Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich died. His ten-year-old son Vasily II Vasilyevich became the Grand Duke; in fact, supreme power passed to the boyar government, in which Metropolitan Photius played a major role. Yuri Dmitrievich did not recognize his nephew as the Grand Duke and acted as a contender for the Grand Duke's throne. Thus began a long, exhausting feudal war for Rus'.

The beginning of the feudal war coincided with other severe disasters for Rus'. The chronicles speak of a terrible epidemic (“The plague was great”) that raged in 1425 and in the following years in Veliky Novgorod, Torzhok, Tver, Volokolamsk, Dmitrov, Moscow “and in all Russian cities and villages.” At this time, many working people, urban and rural, died. And now another misfortune befell the Russian people - the princely strife, disastrous in its consequences.

As soon as Vasily I died, Metropolitan Photius that same night sent his boyar Akinf Aslebyatev to Zvenigorod for Yuri Dmitrievich, who, obviously, was supposed to take the oath to his nephew in Moscow. But Yuri refused to come to Moscow, but went to Galich, where he began to prepare for war with Vasily II. To gain time for military preparation, Yuri concluded a truce with Vasily II, after which he began to gather armed forces. According to the chronicle, the Galician prince “sent the same spring throughout his fatherland to all his people, and as if everyone from all his cities had descended upon him, and wanted to attack the Grand Duke...” It is difficult to say who the army assembled by Yuri consisted of. But judging by the expression of the chronicle - “all of all his cities,” one can think that Yuri managed to attract the inhabitants of the cities of his inheritance.

Having learned about Yuri Dmitrievich’s military preparations, the Moscow government tried to seize the initiative from him. The Moscow army marched towards Kostroma. Then Yuri retired to Nizhny Novgorod, where he fortified himself “with all his people.” It is possible that he counted on the support of those Nizhny Novgorod feudal lords who sought to restore the independence of the Nizhny Novgorod principality. Following him, the armed Moscow forces moved under the leadership, according to some sources, of the appanage prince Konstantin Dmitrievich, according to others - Andrei Dmitrievich. But there was no clash between the Moscow and Galician armies; why, the chronicles speak differently about this. Those chronicles that attribute the leadership of the Moscow armed forces to Prince Konstantin Dmitrievich indicate that Yuri, “fearing” him, fled with his army across the Sura River, and Konstantin was unable to cross the river and, after standing on its bank for several days, turned to Moscow. In those records in which Prince Andrei Dmitrievich is named as the leader of the army that pursued Yuri Dmitrievich, it is said in an unclear form that he “did not reach Prince Yury’s brother, but returned.” And in the Ustyug chronicle there is an indication that Andrei, officially speaking on the side of the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily II, secretly acted in the interests of Yuri Dmitrievich (“and Prince Ondrei, trying to his brother Grand Duke Yury, did not get there, return”). It is quite possible to admit the existence of a secret conspiracy between the brothers of the late Vasily I against their nephew.

One way or another, Yuri this time avoided the battle with the Moscow army and returned through Nizhny Novgorod to Galich. From there he sent to Moscow a proposal to conclude a truce between him and Vasily II for a year. This issue was discussed in Moscow at a special meeting under the nominal chairmanship of the Grand Duke, with the participation of his mother Sophia Vitovtovna, Metropolitan Photius, appanage princes Andrei, Peter and Konstantin Dmitrievich and a number of “princes and boyars of the land...” At the council it was decided to seek Yuri’s consent to concluding not a truce, but a lasting peace, and for this purpose sending Metropolitan Photius to Galich. This decision was agreed upon with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, with whom the Moscow government sought to maintain allied relations.

There are interesting data in the chronicles about Photius’s diplomatic trip to Galich. Wanting to demonstrate his power to the Metropolitan, Yuri Dmitrievich came out to meet him with representatives of the Galician feudal aristocracy (“with his children, and with his boyars, and with his best people”). In addition, Yuri gathered a large number of the trade and craft population of the cities of the Galician principality and local peasants and ordered them all to stand on the mountain, where the metropolitan was supposed to enter the city. “... And you collected all the mob from your cities and volosts and from villages and hamlets, and there were many of them, and placed them on the mountain from the hail from the arrival of the metropolitan, showing him many of his people.” Obviously, Yuri wanted to clearly show Photius how strong his support was among the broad masses of the local population. But the metropolitan, according to the chronicle, was not impressed by this demonstration, or he pretended that he was not at all surprised by the number of people who met him. He, judging by the chronicle, even reacted with irony to Yuri’s attempt to amaze him with the number of troops that he could field. “Even though the prince appeared, since he had many people, the saint blamed himself for this mockery.” Since many of those who met Photius were dressed in homespun clothes, the Metropolitan fixed his attention on this circumstance and mockingly remarked to the Galician prince: “Son, I haven’t seen so many people in sheep’s wool.”

What conclusions can be drawn from the above story? It is clear that, speaking against the Moscow Grand Duke, the Galician prince counted on the support of not only his boyars, but also wide circles of townspeople, and finally, the rural population. And, probably, such calculations had some real basis. The economic isolation of the Galician principality determined a certain conservatism of the residents of local cities and contributed to the preservation of elements of patriarchy in the relations between them and the Galician princes. The Galician townspeople were to a certain extent interested in preventing Moscow feudal lords and merchants from entering the Galician principality, who became their competitors by establishing trades and trades here. The seizure of land in the Galician appanage by Moscow boyars was accompanied by the deepening of serf relations here. Therefore, local peasants, dissatisfied with the strengthening of feudal oppression, probably supported the Galician princes for a certain time. Although they fought with the Moscow grand-ducal power for their own political interests, in the eyes of the peasants this struggle was perceived as a struggle to improve their situation, to return to the order that existed before the strengthening of the Moscow principality, accompanied by the growth of serfdom. It is difficult to admit that the Galician princes waged war with the Grand Duke of Moscow for almost thirty years, acting in alliance only with certain groups of feudal lords, without having a broader social base on which they could rely.

How should one evaluate the attitude of Metropolitan Photius towards the “rabble” demonstratively built in front of him by Prince Yuri? In the words of the metropolitan, quoted in the chronicles, one can feel the contempt of the spiritual feudal lord for working people, for people simply dressed and smelling of sheep's wool. But Photius’s “gloom” covered up his fear, although he diplomatically tried not to reveal his state of fear in front of Prince Yuri.

During diplomatic negotiations between the Moscow Metropolitan and the Galician prince, both sides did not immediately reach a mutual agreement. Photius insisted that Yuri formalize a peace treaty with Vasily II. Yuri agreed only to conclude a truce. The disputes became so acute that the Metropolitan even left Galich, “without blessing” Yuri “and his city,” but then, at the request of the Galician prince, he returned. In the end, Yuri promised to send his boyars to Moscow for peace negotiations and solemnly released the Metropolitan.

To formalize the agreement between Yuri and Vasily 11, the first boyars, Boris Galichsky and Daniil Cheshko, came to Moscow. Peace was concluded with the condition that the rivals would hand over the decision on who should be the Grand Duke (Yuri or Vasily) to the Horde Khan: “whom the Tsar will grant and will be the Great Prince of Vladimir and Novugorod the Great and all Rus'...” Yuri clearly wanted to return to those orders under which any prince could count on receiving from the khan a label for a great reign. If the Moscow government agreed to resolve the issue of the future Grand Duke in this way, then, obviously, it did so because it counted on a diplomatic victory over Yuri at the khan’s court. Such a victory could be achieved both with the help of money and through political influence on certain groups of Horde feudal lords.

About further inter-princely relations until the beginning of the 30s of the 15th century. There is almost no data in the chronicles. They are partly supplemented by the material of princely treaty documents. Thus, we have reached the agreement between Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich, concluded by the princes in 1428. From it we learn that even after the princely end in 1425, strife continued between Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich. The treaty of 1428 eliminates the consequences of “dislike”, “wars” between the named princes, “robberies” in the territories of the great reign and the Galician appanage, which obviously took place in the three-year period from 1425 to 1428. Conditions were worked out for the release of the “Nyatz” by the princes ( Polonyanikov). The final document states that until 1428, the grand ducal governors, volostels, villages, tiuns “were in charge of ... the fatherland” of Yuri Dmitrievich and the boyar villages in his “fatherland” (i.e., they actually ruled the Galician principality on behalf of Vasily II). By 1428, many controversial cases had accumulated (primarily land litigation), and this year the princes decided to transfer them for analysis to the court of the boyars, appointed by both Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich.

According to the treaty of 1428, Prince Yuri officially renounced all claims to grand-ducal rights, recognizing them for his nephew. However, a somewhat ambiguous formula was included in the final charter: “And we may live in our homeland in Moscow and in the Woodles according to the spiritual charter of... Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich...” This article left Yuri the opportunity to resume the question of the great reign by referring to the testamentary disposition of Prince Dmitry Donskoy , according to which the eldest son of Donskoy, Vasily I, was appointed Grand Duke, and in the event of the death of the latter, his brother next in seniority.

The final letter of 1428, drawn up after the death of the childless Prince Peter Dmitrievich, passed over in silence the question of the fate of his escheated Dmitrov inheritance. But both Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich claimed the latter. Thus, the treaty of 1428 did not stop the hostility between Yuri of Galicia and the Moscow Grand Duke. Yuri continued to count on occupying the grand-ducal table and expanding his possessions.

The new open action of the Galician prince against Vasily II took place in a slightly changed international situation. From the second half of the 20s of the 15th century. The offensive of the Lithuanian feudal lords on the northwestern Russian lands intensified. In 1428, Vitovt, at the head of the Lithuanian army and hired Tatars, made a campaign against the Pskov suburbs - Opochka, Voronach, Kotelno. This campaign is etched in the memory of Pskov residents. It is no coincidence that a special story about him was included in the Pskov chronicles. The inhabitants of Opochka heroically resisted the enemy. The Lithuanians and Tatars “began diligently to flattery the city,” and the opochans “beat them with stones, with wells, cutting them off from the fences, and beat a lot of them.” After standing near Opochka for two days and not being able to take the city, Vitovt’s soldiers retreated. Around Voronach, the Lithuanians established defects, from which stones rained down on the city (“and having eliminated the defects, great stones were thrown at the city”). Clashes between Lithuanian and Pskov troops also occurred near Kotelno, near Velia, and near Vrev. The Pskovites turned to the Moscow Grand Duke with a request to act as a mediator between them and Vytautas, but Vasily II, being busy at that time with disputes with Yuri Dmitrievich on the issue of his rights to the great reign and needing the support of Vytautas, did not provide protection to the Pskovians, although he promised to do this: “and then he had a great fight with Prince Yuryem, he was focused on his great reign, but otherwise he did not bother about all that, he was distracted.” The Novgorodians did not help Pskov either. Vitovt demanded that the Pskov government pay him 1,000 rubles and only on this condition did he make peace with Pskov.

In 1427, Vitovt concluded an agreement with the Grand Duke of Tver Boris Alexandrovich, taking from the latter an obligation to subordinate the foreign policy of the Tver Principality to the interests of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. “To be [Boris Alexandrovich] with him [Vytautas] together, at his side, and to subsidize him for everyone, without washing anyone out,” we read in the above-mentioned Lithuanian-Tver agreement of 1427.

In 1428, Vitovt organized an attack on the Novgorod land, obliging Vasily II not to provide military assistance to either Novgorod or Pskov. The Pskovites also did not respond to the Novgorodians’ call for help. Lithuanian troops approached Porkhov, surrounded it and lifted the siege from the city only after the residents of Porkhov promised to pay Vitovt 5,000 rubles. The Novgorod ambassadors, led by Archbishop Euthymius, who came to Porkhov to make peace with Vitovt, for their part agreed to pay the Lithuanian government another 5,000 rubles. According to the Tver collection, Tver military forces took part in the siege of Porkhov along with the Lithuanian army.

Around 1430, the Grand Duke of Ryazan, Ivan Fedorovich, “gave himself into the service” of Vytautas, taking upon himself the obligation to be “at one with him against everyone” and “without the great prince... Vitovt’s will not to finish with anyone, nor to subdue anyone.” In the event of a war between Vytautas and Vasily II or his “uncles” and “brothers,” the Ryazan prince had to “assist the Grand Duke Vytautas, his master, against them without cunning.” On the same conditions, the Pronsky prince Ivan Vladimirovich “finished off... with his forehead” and “was given... into the service” of Vytautas around 1430.

The above material gives us the right to draw interesting conclusions. Firstly, it is clear that political relations between the rulers of individual Russian lands were becoming strained. Considering the strengthening of the Principality of Lithuania, the princes of Tver and Ryazan hope, with the help of the latter, to weaken the Principality of Moscow and restore to some extent their, by now lost, political position in Rus'. Another thing is no less clear: the negative aspects of the feudal fragmentation that reigned in Rus' were becoming more and more clearly visible, under which, in particular, there were no conditions for the real organization of the defense of Russian lands from enemies. It is enough to carefully analyze the events of 1426–1428 to be convinced of this. When Vitovt's troops destroyed the Pskov suburbs, the Pskov residents could not obtain military support from Novgorod. And when the Lithuanian army entered the Novgorod borders, the Tver armed forces acted against the Novgorodians together with them, and the Pskovites adhered to a policy of neutrality. Finally, it is necessary to note one more circumstance: Vitovt’s policy was clearly inclined to make the rulers of individual Russian lands, among them the Grand Duke of Moscow, directly dependent on himself. This meant diminishing the leading political role of the Moscow Principality in Rus'.

At the end of the reign of Vytautas, the position of the Principality of Lithuania was greatly strengthened. On the initiative of Emperor Sigismund, who was interested in breaking the Polish-Lithuanian union, in 1429 the question was raised about Vytautas accepting the royal title, which was supposed to mean the transformation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into an independent kingdom. The act of coronation of Vytautas was already being prepared, to participate in which the princes of Moscow, Ryazan, Metropolitan Photius, the great and Livonian masters, ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor, and Tatar khans came to Lithuania (first to Troki, then to Vilno). But in 1430 Vytautas died. In Lithuania, a feudal war began between two contenders for the Lithuanian grand-ducal throne: Svidrigailo Olgerdovich (supported by the feudal lords of the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands of the Principality of Lithuania) and Sigismund Keistutovich (a candidate nominated by the Polish gentry and accepted by a significant part of the Lithuanian feudal lords). In 1432, the Principality of Lithuania was divided into two parts: “... Lithuania... planted the Grand Duke Zhigimont Kiestoutevich for the great reign in Vilni and Trotsekh... and the princes of Rousko and the boyars, planted Prince Shvitrigail for the great reign in Rouskoe...” Both princes sought to extend their power throughout Lithuania.

It was no coincidence that the beginning of the feudal war in Lithuania coincided with the intensification of hostile actions of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich of Galicia against the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily II. Until 1430, peaceful relations were maintained between the named princes. So, when in 1429 the Tatars attacked Galich and Kostroma, Vasily II sent his regiments against them under the leadership of the appanage princes Andrei and Konstantin Dmitrievich and the boyar Ivan Dmitrievich Vsevolozhsky. Under 1430, a number of chronicles contain news that Yuri Dmitrievich broke peace with Vasily II (“that same summer, Prince Yuri Dmitrievich broke peace with Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich”). Probably, the impetus for Yuri’s speech was given by the death of Vytautas and the transfer of power in Lithuania to the “brother-in-law” (brother-in-law) of the Galician prince - Svidrigailo. In 1431, Metropolitan Photius died. And in the same year, Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich went to the Horde to sort out the question of which of them should be the Grand Duke. The coincidence of all these events is quite understandable. The almost simultaneous death of Vytautas, who was presented with the spiritual will of Vasily I (who appointed his son Vasily II as Grand Duke), and Photius (this will of the signatory) gave Yuri grounds to raise the question of revising the said spiritual order. When deciding on the order of succession to the throne, Yuri sought to return to the will of Dmitry Donskoy on the transfer of the Grand Duke's table to Vasily I, and after the death of the latter to his brother (in order of seniority).

But which prince took the initiative to travel to the Horde? It is not so easy to establish this from the chronicles. In the Novgorod first chronicle and in the chronicle of Avraamka it is said in a very general form that “the princes of Rustei in Rdu Yuri Dmitrievich, Vasily Vasilyevich walked.” In somewhat more detail, but in approximately the same terms, the First Sofia Chronicle, the Typographical Chronicle and the Ustyug Chronicle tell about the visit to the Horde by Vasily II and Yuri: “That same summer in autumn, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich and Prince Yuri Dmitrievich, hiding about the great reign, went to the Horde to Makhmet" (Horde Khan). From these chronicle texts it seems possible to conclude that both princes left for the Horde at the same time. But other chronicles emphasize that Vasily II was the first to go there. So, in the Tver collection we read: “Great Prince Vasily of Moscow went to the Horde and left the Horde the next summer, and Prince Yury.” The Chronicles of Sofia II, Lvov, Ermolin also indicate that Vasily II was ahead of Yuri of Galicia: “that same summer, the great prince went to the Horde and Prince Yuri after him, declaring a great reign.” A similar version (in a more expanded form) is available in the Moscow Code, in the Voskresenskaya, Simeonovskaya, Nikonovskaya chronicles. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that on the reverse side of the contractual letter of Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich in 1428 there is a note: “And this letter was sent to the great prince in a folded form by Prince Yuri, to the Horde of Ida.” Comparing all the above evidence from sources, we can, it seems, come to the conclusion that the initiative to transfer the case of succession to the throne belonged to the Galician prince, who, as a sign of the rupture of peaceful relations with the Grand Duke of Moscow, returned to him his copy of the treaty of 1428. But Vasily II tried to warn Yuri earlier him to visit the Horde to achieve a resolution of the case in his favor. If Vasily II had not managed to do this, then Yuri would have had the opportunity to bring a Tatar detachment from the Horde to Rus', which would have caused unnecessary military complications.

Chronicles describe differently what happened in the Horde. Many of them briefly say that in 1432 the Horde Khan transferred the great reign to Vasily II, and gave Dmitrov to Yuri Dmitrievich. Some chronicles (for example, the Second Sofia, Lvov) indicate that Vasily II was “planted” in the great reign by the Horde ambassador Mansyr-Ulan who came to Rus'. According to the Pskov First and Novgorod First Chronicles, the question of who should be the Grand Duke remained unresolved in the Horde. In the Pskov First Chronicle it is written: “... the great prince Vasilei Vasilyevich came from the Horde from the tsar, and with him came his great prince Georgiy Dmitreevich, and all their boyars were kind and healthy with them, and not a single reign was taken" In short, the first Novgorod chronicle and the chronicle of Abraham say the same thing: “the princes of Rusti left the Horde without a great reign».

The Simeonovskaya, Voskresenskaya, Nikonovskaya chronicles contain a detailed account of the proceedings in the Horde of the case of Vasily II and Yuri Dmitrievich. In my other work I have already subjected this story to an analysis that I will not repeat now. I will only dwell on those points that I did not touch upon in that work. Each of the Russian princes tried to rely on one or another group of Horde feudal lords. Vasily II immediately came into contact with the Moscow “dear” Min-Bulat. Prince Yuri was patronized by the “Great Prince of Orda” Tyaginya (from the Shirinov family), who took him with him “to winter in the Crimea.” The interests of Vasily II were defended in the Horde by his boyar Ivan Dmitrievich Vsevolozhsky. In the absence of Tyagini, he tried to persuade the “Tatar princes” that if Yuri received a great reign in Rus', then with the help of his “brother” - the Lithuanian prince Svidrigail, he would help the rise of Tyagini in the Horde and the removal of other Horde princes from power. Vsevolozhsky’s agitation was a success: the Horde princes turned the khan against Tyagini. Therefore, at the time when the latter came to the Horde from Crimea and when the Khan’s trial took place in the case of the Russian princes, Vasily II had more supporters from among the Horde feudal lords than Yuri. At the trial, Vasily II motivated his rights to the great reign by the fact that it belonged to his grandfather and father and should pass in a direct line to him; Yuri Dmitrievich referred to the spiritual will of Dmitry Donskoy and to the chronicles, apparently selecting historical examples about the transfer of the grand-ducal table to the eldest in the family (“the great prince of his fatherland and his grandfather, looking for his table, Prince Yury’s chroniclers, and old lists , and the spiritual father of his Grand Duke Dmitry"). Boyar I.D. Vsevolozhsky, rejecting the arguments of Prince Yuri at the trial, diplomatically contrasted his father’s “dead letter”, as a documentary basis for occupying the right of the grand-ducal table, with another legal basis - the khan’s “salary”. This was a clever political move, designed to turn the court's decision in the interests of Vasily II. And this move turned out to be correct. The Khan passed a verdict on the transfer of the great reign to Vasily II. But then strife began in the Horde. Khan Ulug-Mukhammed was opposed by another contender for the Golden Horde table, Kichik-Mukhammed, who was supported by Tyaginya. In such a situation, the khan did not want to quarrel with Tyaginya and released the Russian princes “to their homelands,” handing over Dmitrov to Yuri, and leaving the question of the great reign unresolved.

Thus, the version of the First Pskov and First Novgorod Chronicles that at the time of their return to Rus' from the Horde, neither Vasily II nor Yuri were officially considered great princes, turns out to be correct. Only more than three months after the arrival of the indicated princes from the Horde in the Russian land and, obviously, after the end of the unrest there, the Khan’s ambassador Mansyr-Ulan appeared in Rus', confirming Vasily II on the grand-ducal table.

Meanwhile, feudal war resumed in Rus'. The troops of Vasily II occupied Dmitrov. The Galician governors were partially captured there and partially expelled from there by the Moscow army. Preparing to continue the war with the Galician prince, Vasily II at the beginning of 1433 tried to bind the appanage princes - Vasily Yaroslavich Borovsky, Ivan Andreevich Mozhaisky, Mikhail Andreevich Vereisky - with a chain of treaties (not fully extant to us). On behalf of Vasily II and the named appanage princes, a settlement was formalized with the Ryazan prince Ivan Fedorovich, who in 1430 surrendered under the patronage of Vytautas of Lithuania, and now went over to the side of the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Preparations for the continuation of the war were carried out not only by Vasily II, but also by his opponent Yuri, who established relations with some of the Moscow boyars. He was joined by the prominent Moscow boyar I. D. Vsevolozhsky, who so actively supported Vasily II in the Horde in 1432. Vsevolozhsky in 1433 fled from Moscow through Uglich (where Konstantin Dmitrievich reigned) and through Tver to Galich to Yuri Dmitrievich “and began to persuade him to a great reign.” Having betrayed Vasily II, I. D. Vsevolozhsky clearly began to test the waters in a number of feudal centers of Rus' in order to try to put together an opposition bloc against the Moscow Grand Duke. What explains such a sharp change in political course by a prominent Moscow boyar? To answer this question, it is necessary to say a few words about the general mood of the Moscow boyars of the time being studied, and then characterize I. D. Vsevolozhsky as one of the major representatives of the boyar environment.

In the paragraph devoted to the invasion of Rus' by Edigei, I raised the question of the split among the boyars, which was reflected in the chronicles about the named event. Speaking about such a split, the chronicles depict two political programs, one put forward by the “old”, the other by the “young” boyars. The first adhered to more conservative views, imagining political centralization in the form of unification on the basis of a certain equality of individual Russian principalities within the great reign of Vladimir. As for the “young” boyars, their program consisted of subjugating other Russian lands to the Moscow principality. In the field of foreign policy, the “old” boyars adhered to a moderate course, which was supposed to ensure the security of Russian lands from attacks by Horde and Lithuanian feudal lords; The “young” boyars spoke out in favor of offensive actions against the hostile neighbors of Rus'.

The ideology and political line of I. D. Vsevolozhsky were determined by the views of the “old” boyars. He occupied a prominent position at the Moscow grand-ducal court, was present at the drawing up of the spiritual letters of Vasily I, and played a major political role during the childhood of Vasily II. A number of letters of grant issued on behalf of Vasily I and Vasily II (in the first years of the latter’s reign) were signed by I. D. Vsevolozhsky. The nature of I. D. Vsevolozhsky’s internal policy can be judged by one act associated with his name. I mean the Code of Law of Grand Duchess Sophia Vitovtovna, which has come down to us as part of the so-called Lip Record of the second half of the 15th century. This code of law was published in the first years of the reign of Vasily II, when his mother Sofya Vitovtovna was the regent, and I. D. Vsevolozhsky was her right hand. Traces of the said Code of Law were preserved in the “Lip Record” in the form of the following text: “In the old days, it happened that all the courts and palace grand duchesses and appanage princes were all narrowed down by the governor of the greater, there was no judge for him; and it was the Great Princess Sophia who did it under John under Dmitrievich (Vsevolozhsk. - L. Ch.), who is the judge behind them.” From the above quote it is clear that Sofya Vitovtovna and I. D. Vsevolozhsky carried out a reform of judicial proceedings: if earlier (obviously, from the time of Dmitry Donskoy) the judge in Moscow was a “big” grand-ducal governor, now the judicial rights of appanage princes were expanded, who were able to send to the court of the “great” governor of his representatives. Such a reform was consistent with the tasks of ensuring the path of political centralization that the “old” boyars adhered to.

The moderate nature of the foreign policy program of I. D. Vsevolozhsky can be judged by his active behavior in 1432 in the Horde, where he acted in the spirit of Ivan Kalita, trying to appease the Tatar feudal lords and thereby ensure their recognition of the rights of Vasily II to the great reign.

One must think that with the establishment of Vasily II on the Grand Ducal throne, the Moscow government (in which the role of the “young” boyars increased) began to take more decisive measures to restrict the privileges of the appanage princes and the boyar aristocracy. This led I. D. Vsevolozhsky to betrayal of the Moscow Grand Duke. And one more circumstance should be mentioned. In the second chapter of the monograph, I pointed out that from about 1433 the terms “children of the boyars” and “nobles” began to be systematically used in the official materials and chronicles. This means that that layer of the ruling class (small and middle grand ducal servants, holders of land under the condition of fulfilling military duties), which was the support of the centralization policy pursued by the grand dukes, became stronger. All of the above gives the right to assert that the feudal war in question was indeed a decisive stage in the process of formation of the Russian centralized state, because during its course significant differences emerged among the ruling class, which could not be resolved without a sharp struggle.

The conclusions drawn must still be verified by analyzing one interesting story placed in a number of chronicles, which raise the question of the reasons for the aggravation of relations between Vasily II and Yuri of Galicia in 1433. The wedding of Vasily II and the sister of the Serpukhov-Borovsk prince Maria Yaroslavna is described. The grand ducal wedding was attended by the sons of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich of Galicia - Vasily and Dmitry Shemyaka. Vasily was wearing a “gold belt on a cap with stone.” This circumstance, according to the chronicler, was the reason for further princely strife (“we are writing for this reason, since much evil has begun from this”). One of the grand-ducal boyars (in different chronicles the name of either Peter Konstantinovich Dobrynsky or Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin is indicated) identified this belt as an item that supposedly belonged to the grand-ducal regalia. Dmitry Donskoy allegedly received the said belt as a dowry from Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal, whose daughter he married. At the wedding of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily Velyaminov managed to steal this belt from the Grand Duke, replacing it with another. From the thousand Vasily Velyaminov, the stolen belt went to his son Mikula, then to I. D. Vsevolozhsky, and finally to Prince Vasily Yuryevich, who appeared in it at the wedding of Vasily II. Here at the wedding it was established that the belt was stolen from the grand ducal treasury, as a result of which Sofya Vitovtovna publicly removed it from Vasily Yuryevich. After this, the latter, together with his brother Dmitry Shemyaka, “got angry,” ran to their father in Galich. Yuri “gathered with all his people to go against the Grand Duke.”

At first glance, the above story gives the impression of simple court gossip. However, there is a certain political meaning hidden in it. The main tendency of the chronicle story comes down to the ideological justification of the rights of the grand ducal power in its struggle with the appanage princely and boyar opposition. Chroniclers speaking from the position of the Moscow grand-ducal power proved the illegality of appropriation by appanage princes of regalia that did not belong to them. The golden belt appears in this story in the same role as the princely barmas, the “Monomakh cap” and other signs of princely dignity, which feudal political literature focused heavily on.

The chronicle text under consideration is interesting in one more respect. It makes it possible to reveal the connections of I. D. Vsevolozhsky and to a certain extent sheds light on his political views. The closeness of Vsevolozhsky to the Velyaminovs, from whose midst the Moscow thousanders came, is indicative. Speaking about the struggle for the post of thousand in Moscow during the reign of Semyon Ivanovich, I pointed out that V.V. Velyaminov was distinguished by a conservative political mood, that he was against the intensification of the foreign policy of the Moscow principality, and defended the line of its subordination to the Horde. The son of V.V. Velyaminov, I.V. Velyaminov, acted in alliance with Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver against Dmitry Donskoy. All this helps to understand the mood and actions of that boyar environment to which I. D. Vsevolozhsky belonged.

Yuri quickly organized a campaign to Moscow, and acted in such a way that his preparations remained unknown to Vasily II. When the Galician troops were already in Pereyaslavl, the Grand Duke received news of their attack on Moscow from the Rostov governor Peter Konstantinovich Dobrynsky. Having failed to properly prepare for the meeting of the enemy, Vasily II sent ambassadors Fyodor Andreevich Lzha and Fyodor Tovarkov to him for peace negotiations. Moscow ambassadors met with Yuri Dmitrievich when he was in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. According to Simeonovskaya and some other chronicles, Yuri “did not care for the world,” and I. D. Vsevolozhsky, who was with him, “did not give a word about the world.” Between the boyars of Yuri and Vasily II, “great fighting and inappropriate words” began. Peace negotiations turned out to be fruitless, “and so they returned and ate the Grand Duke of idleness.”

Vasily II had to quickly gather the “people” “who were then around him” (i.e., obviously, the servants of his Moscow “court”). He also attracted Moscow townspeople (“guests and others…”) into his army. With these insignificant forces, Vasily II opposed Yuri. The battle between the troops of two opponents took place on the Klyazma River, 20 versts from Moscow. The army of Vasily II was defeated, and he fled “in trepidation and great haste” to Moscow, and from there he went with his wife and mother, first to Tver, and then to Kostroma. Yuri occupied Moscow and declared himself Grand Duke.

Chronicles explain the defeat of Vasily II in different ways. The most primitive explanation comes down to the fact that Yuri had God’s help (“God help Prince Yuri”). It is also said that Vasily II did not have time to organize resistance to the enemy (“did not have time to copulate”). Finally, the chronicles place responsibility for the capture of Moscow by the Galician army on the Moscow city militia (“there was no help from the Muscovites”), reproaching its participants for drunkenness (“drink a lot from them and take honey with you, what else to drink”).

Such a deliberate desire of the chroniclers to find justification for an unprecedented fact - the expulsion of the Grand Duke from Moscow by one of his relatives - involuntarily makes us wary. Obviously, contemporaries had something to think about. And no matter what justifications the chroniclers give for what happened, one cannot deny the obvious sluggishness shown by Vasily II. In the very first military clash in which he had to participate, he showed himself to be a poor organizer and warrior. On the other hand, there is no doubt that Yuri had good organizational skills and military experience. In addition, he had significant military forces at his disposal, and the latter circumstance indicates that he enjoyed support in various social strata (I spoke about this above). Finally, it should be noted that the Moscow boyars who went over to Yuri’s side (like I.D. Vsevolozhsky) also accumulated, during the years in which they led the political life of the Moscow principality, great organizational experience and enjoyed authority among various groups of landowners and townspeople The small princely servants, although they belonged to that ascending rank of the ruling class, which was the future, did not have the same economic weight as the “old” boyars, lagged behind them in many respects militarily, and on the way to victory over them they passed through a series of defeats. The attempt of the chroniclers to shift all the blame for the surrender of Moscow to the Galician troops onto the Moscow townspeople is clearly untenable.

By agreement with Vasily II, Yuri gave him Kolomna as his inheritance. Some chronicles indicate that this was done by the Galician prince on the advice of his beloved boyar Semyon Fedorovich Morozov: “the world was brought together by Semyon Ivanovich (need: Fedorovich. - L. Ch.) Morozov, lover of Prince Yuryev,” we read in the Ermolin Chronicle. The Nikon Chronicle speaks in more detail about the role of S. F. Morozov as an intermediary between Vasily II and Yuri: “Semyon Morozov has many mighty powers from his master, Prince Yury Dmitrievich, and brought peace and love to Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich and the inheritance of Kolomna.”

According to the official material, S. F. Morozov acts as a landowner and owner of salt pans in the Galician district. His political connection with Yuri Dmitrievich is quite understandable. At the same time, he apparently belonged to that part of the boyars that was distrustful of Yuri’s actions, foreseeing their ultimately unfavorable outcome. Therefore, while maintaining closeness to the Galician prince, S.F. Morozov tries, just in case, to ensure a favorable attitude towards himself from Yuri’s political opponent, Grand Duke Vasily II, and seeks to grant the latter the Kolomna inheritance. Judging by the Nikon Chronicle, this behavior of S. F. Morozov irritated I. D. Vsevolozhsky and his supporters. “Ivan Dmitrievich is indignant about this and does not like this very much, that he gives him a sheet, and also wants to give him an inheritance; and not only Ivan Dmitreevich, but also many other boyars and slaves were furious about this and they did not like this to happen to all of them.”

In Kolomna, Vasily II began to accumulate military forces in order to recapture Moscow with their help. The Simeonovskaya Chronicle and other chronicles say that “many people began to abandon Prince Yury for the Grand Duke and went to Kolomna without ceasing.” In a number of chronicles (for example, in Ermolinskaya), the somewhat vague term “people” is deciphered; it is specifically stated that “all the Muscovites, princes, boyars, governors, boyar children, and nobles, young and old, all went to Kolomna to the Grand Duke.” It is hardly possible to unconditionally and literally accept the given chronicle version that all representatives of the ruling class rushed to Kolomna. But the chronicles are unanimous that this influx was quite large. And the chronicles here can be believed, especially when they talk about the departure of the children of boyars and nobles from Moscow to Kolomna.

What is the reason for the mass transfer of boyars and servants from Yuri to the service of Vasily II? Least of all, probably, in the authority that the latter enjoyed as a ruler. It’s hard to even say how great his initiative was in recruiting Moscow service people to Kolomna. True, the Nikon Chronicle notes that Vasily II, having come to Kolomna, “began to invite people from everywhere.” But the point was, obviously, not so much in the organizational abilities and energy of Vasily II, but in the fact that, as the Ermolinskaya Chronicle indicates, the Moscow boyars, nobles, and boyar children “were not accustomed to serving as appanage princes...” Indeed, in the Moscow principality there had long been a a stable system of land relations between local boyars and servants, on the one hand, and the grand ducal power, on the other. The arrival of appanage princes with their “court” in Moscow, whose members were, in turn, interested in land acquisitions and promotions, was supposed to introduce disorganization into this system, entail a redistribution of land funds, and an enumeration of Vasily II’s service people. Therefore, when the Moscow boyars and servants learned that their prince was not far from Moscow, in Kolomna, a stream of boyars, nobles, and boyar children moved towards him. It is no coincidence that I. D. Vsevolozhsky objected to the provision of the Kolomna inheritance to Vasily II. This was a risky move on Yuri's part. And he himself and his sons (Vasily and Dmitry Shemyaka) realized this when the Galician prince found himself isolated, and the ranks of his rival, who was in Kolomna, began to continuously increase. Yuri's sons blamed S.F. Morozov for all this and killed him as a “koromolnik” and a “liar.” But if S. F. Morozov played a role as one of the persons who contributed to the transition of a number of Moscow service people to the side of Vasily II, then the main reason for such a transition must (as indicated) be sought in the general conditions of the development of feudal land ownership and the formation of a new layer of the dominant class - the serving nobility.

From the book Book 1. New chronology of Rus' [Russian Chronicles. "Mongol-Tatar" conquest. Battle of Kulikovo. Ivan the Terrible. Razin. Pugachev. The defeat of Tobolsk and author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

Chapter 11 The war of the Romanovs with Pugachev 1773–1775 as the last war with the Horde The division of the remnants of Rus'-Horde between the Romanovs and the emerging United States

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From the book History of Russia from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century author Froyanov Igor Yakovlevich

Russian foreign policy in the second half of the 90s - early 900s. Russo-Japanese War At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Contradictions between the leading powers, which by this time had largely completed the territorial division of the world, intensified. It became more and more noticeable

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CHAPTER VI. Feudal fragmentation of Rus' in the XII - early XIII

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TO CHAPTER VI. Feudal fragmentation of Rus' IN THE XII - EARLY XIII centuries. From an article by D.K. Zelenin “On the origin of the Northern Great Russians of Veliky Novgorod” (Institute of Linguistics. Reports and communications. 1954. No. 6. P.49 - 95) On the first pages of the initial Russian chronicle it is reported

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§2. FEUDAL WAR OF THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE 15th century. The death of Vasily Dmitrievich in 1425 exposed the balance of power: in Moscow, ten-year-old Vasily II Vasilyevich (1415-1462) was proclaimed Grand Duke, and the Prince of Galicia and Zvenigorod Yuri Dmitrievich, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, refused

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4. Feudal fragmentation of Rus' Since 1068, a period of civil strife begins - power passed from hand to hand. Political collapse of Kievan Rus in the 11th–12th centuries. led to the formation of a dozen separate principalities (Kyiv, Turovo-Pinsk, Polotsk, etc.). The Kiev throne was occupied by

From the book National History (before 1917) author Dvornichenko Andrey Yurievich

The Grand Duke of Vladimir Vasily I Dmitrievich died on February 25, 1425. According to the prince’s will, his ten-year-old son Vasily became the heir under the regency of Princess Sofia Vitovtovna, her father, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, as well as princes Andrei and Peter Dmitrievich. The rights of Vasily II (1425-1462) to the great reign were immediately challenged by his eldest uncle, the Galician prince Yuri Dmitrievich. A talented commander who had extensive possessions (Galich, Zvenigorod, Ruza, Vyatka), he relied in his claims on the spiritual charter of Dmitry Donskoy, which provided for the transfer of power to the eldest in the family. Yuri Dmitrievich also had an advantage in the struggle for the great reign because Vasily II ascended the throne without the sanction of the Horde khans. The Moscow government began military operations against Yuri, but he avoided a decisive battle, preferring to enlist the support of the Horde. In an effort to avoid bloodshed, Metropolitan Photius, one of the main figures in the government of Basil II, achieved a truce. According to the agreement concluded in mid-1425, Prince Yuri promised not to “seek” the great reign himself, but to transfer the final solution to the issue to the Horde. A trip in the fall of 1431 to the Horde by Yuri Dmitrievich and Vasily Vasilyevich brought success to the latter.

Prince Yuri did not accept defeat and, returning from the Horde, began to prepare for military action. The confrontation turned into a war that began in the spring of 1433. Yuri Dmitrievich and his two eldest sons, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka, set out on a campaign against Moscow. On April 25, a battle took place with Vasily II on the river. Klyazma. The Grand Duke was defeated and fled to Tver and then to Kostroma. Yuri Dmitrievich entered Moscow. Following tradition, the winner granted Vasily II the Moscow appanage of Kolomna. The boyars and Moscow service people began to go to Kolomna to their prince. As a result, Yuri Dmitrievich was forced to return the throne to his nephew, concluding an agreement with him to recognize Vasily II as his “eldest brother.” However, the war was continued by the sons of Prince Yuri, who in September 1433 defeated Moscow troops near Galich. Vasily II set out on a campaign against the Galician princes. The decisive battle between them took place in March 1434 and ended in the complete defeat of the troops of Vasily II. Yuri entered Moscow for the second time.

The steps then taken by Yuri Dmitrievich testify to his desire to establish autocracy in Rus'. He tried to rebuild the system of relationships between the Grand Duke, his relatives and allies. Yuri even carried out a coin reform. Coins began to be issued - kopecks with the image of St. George the Victorious slaying a serpent with a spear (the serpent symbolized the Horde). Having created a coalition of princes against Vasily II, he sent his sons Dmitry Shemyaka and Dmitry the Red on a campaign against Nizhny Novgorod, where he was hiding. But in June 1434, Prince Yuri unexpectedly died, which led to an aggravation of the situation. Yuri's eldest son, Vasily Kosoy, declared himself the heir to the grand ducal power. However, the brothers did not support him and took the side of Vasily II, as a result of which Vasily Kosoy left Moscow. In May 1436, the troops of Vasily II defeated the Galician prince. Vasily Kosoy was captured and blinded, and an agreement was concluded between Dmitry Shemyaka and Vasily II, according to which the Galician prince recognized himself as a “young brother.” It was obvious that this was a temporary compromise and the struggle would flare up again. Relations became even more strained when in 1440, after the death of Shemyaka's younger brother Dmitry the Red, Vasily II took away most of his inheritance and reduced Dmitry Shemyaka's judicial privileges.

Significant changes that influenced the course of the struggle for autocracy in Rus' also occurred in the Horde. Khan Ulu-Muhammad, having been defeated by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh, in 1436-1437. settled in the Middle Volga region. He used the internecine "jam" in Rus' to capture Nizhny Novgorod and raid deep into Russian lands. In the summer of 1445, in the battle of Suzdal, the sons of Ulu-Muhammad defeated the Russian army and captured Vasily II. Power in Moscow passed to Shemyaka. Soon Vasily II was released by the Horde for a large ransom. Upon learning of his return, Shemyaka fled to Uglich. The military defeat, the hardships of the ransom and the violence of the Tatars who arrived to receive it led to the emergence of widespread opposition. Many Moscow boyars, merchants and clergy went over to Shemyaka’s side. A conspiracy arose against Vasily II. In February 1446, Shemyaka captured Vasily, who had come on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and blinded him. This gave rise to Vasily’s nickname - Dark.

Dmitry Shemyaka's position as Grand Duke was difficult. His reprisal against Vasily II caused indignation. To raise his authority, Shemyaka tried to enlist the support of the church, as well as enter into an alliance with Veliky Novgorod. The fragility of the position of the new Grand Duke forced him to enter into negotiations with Vasily the Dark. In September 1446, Vasily II was released to the inheritance of Vologda, granted to him by Dmitry, which became a gathering place for supporters of his return. Prince Boris Alexandrovich of Tver provided effective assistance to Vasily II. At the beginning of 1447, near Uglich, Dmitry Shemyaka was defeated by the troops of Vasily I, and on February 17 he returned to Moscow in triumph. The Galician prince still tried to continue the fight, but its outcome was already a foregone conclusion. Shemyaka was defeated in the battle of Galich (1450), and then of Ustyug (1451). In 1453 he died in Novgorod under rather mysterious circumstances. After his death, the internecine war ended.

The struggle for the great reign showed the inevitability of the unification of the Russian lands into one state. Its main reason was the achievement of power: which of the princes would rule in Moscow - the already recognized capital of north-eastern Rus'. At the same time, the contenders for the grand-ducal throne of Moscow had two opposing trends in the further development of the country. The Galician princes relied on trade and craft settlements and the free peasantry of the North. Vasily II supported by military service landowners of the central regions. The victory of the center over the north foreshadowed the establishment of serfdom.

Strengthening the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II largely depended on the success of the fight against political separatism. In the summer of 1445, he organized a punitive campaign against the Mozhaisk prince Ivan Andreevich as punishment “for his failure to correct himself.” Vasily II was afraid of Ivan Andreevich’s contacts with Lithuania. Moscow troops occupied Mozhaisk, the appanage was liquidated, and its territory was divided between the Grand Duke and the Serpukhov Prince Vasily Yaroslavich. In the spring of 1456, after the death of the Ryazan prince, who left his young son in the care of Vasily the Dark, Moscow governors were sent to Ryazan. In the summer of the same year, Prince Vasily Yaroslavich of Serpukhov was unexpectedly captured and sent to prison. His inheritance, like Mozhaisk, became the “fatherland” of the Grand Duke.

The largest state entity, along with the Moscow Principality, remained "Mr.

Veliky Novgorod": during the period of the "lockdown" he managed to maintain his privileges, maneuvering between the warring parties. After the death of Dmitry Shemyaka, Novgorod provided patronage to his family. In their confrontation with Moscow, part of the Novgorod boyars and clergy relied on the support of Lithuania. In 1456, Vasily The Dark One went on a campaign against Novgorod. Having defeated the Novgorod militia near Russa, Vasily II forced the Novgorodians to sign peace. In addition to the huge indemnity, the agreement concluded in Yazhelbitsy included conditions that limited the Novgorod “old times”, Novgorod was deprived of the right to foreign relations and was obliged not to continue. to provide support to the opponents of the Grand Duke, the legislative power of the veche was abolished.

In 1460, Vasily II made a “peaceful” campaign against Novgorod, during which he agreed on the payment by the inhabitants of the Novgorod land of the “black forest” - tribute to the Grand Duke. All this foreshadowed the end of Novgorod freedom. In the same 1460, Pskov turned to Grand Duke Vasily II with a request to protect him from the Livonian Order. The son of Vasily the Dark, Yuri, was appointed to the reign of Pskov and concluded a truce with the Order. By the end of the reign of Vasily II, the territory under his rule disproportionately exceeded the possessions of the rest of the Russian princes, who by that moment had lost their sovereignty and were forced to obey Moscow.

During the period of the great reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505), who became co-ruler of the Moscow state during his father’s lifetime, the “gathering of lands under the hand of Moscow” continued. Distinguished by his intelligence and great willpower, this great Moscow prince annexed Yaroslavl (1463), Rostov (1474), Tver (1485), Vyatka (1489), and abolished the independence of “Mr. Veliky Novgorod.” First, the siege and capture of the city were undertaken (1478), and then the lands of the Novgorod boyars were gradually confiscated and their owners were resettled in the central regions. Since 1476, Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde, and in 1480 the confrontation between Russian and Horde troops at one of the tributaries of the Oka (“standing on the Ugra”) ended bloodlessly, marking the symbolic liberation of Rus' from vassal Horde dependence. Ivan III actually became the creator of the Moscow state. It was he who laid the foundations of the Russian autocracy , not only significantly expanding the territory of the country (in addition to the Russians, it also included other nationalities: Mari, Mordovians, Komi, Pechora, Karelians, etc.), but also strengthening its political system and state apparatus, significantly increasing the international prestige of Moscow. The final fall of Constantinople under the blows of the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and the marriage of Ivan III to the niece of the last Roman emperor, Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologus in 1472 allowed the Grand Duke of Moscow to proclaim himself the successor of the Byzantine emperors, and Moscow as the capital of the entire Orthodox world. This was reflected in the concept of “Moscow - the Third Rome”, formulated at the beginning of the 16th century. The Moscow state under Ivan III inherits from Byzantium the state emblem - a double-headed eagle, and the Grand Duke himself in 1485 takes the title of Great Sovereign of All Rus'. Under him, our state began to be called Russia.

In an effort to elevate the grand-ducal power over the boyar-princely nobility, Ivan III consistently formed a multi-level system of service classes. The boyars, swearing allegiance to the Grand Duke, assured their allegiance with special “letters of oath.” The Moscow sovereign could impose disgrace, remove from public service, and confiscate estates. The “departure” of princes and boyars from Moscow was considered high treason, and they lost the right to own their estates.

Under Ivan III, a local system was introduced - granting service people (nobles) possession of free lands (estates) on the basis of non-inheritable personal property for performing military or civil service. Thus, in the Moscow state, in addition to appanage land ownership, three more of its forms developed: state, which included the palace appanage of the grand duke, church-monastery and local. The functions of public administration gradually became more complicated. Positions appeared state clerk - manager State yard, And clerks, were in charge of office work. From the end of the 15th century. is being drawn up Boyar Duma - the highest state advisory body to the “great sovereign”. In addition to the Moscow boyars, the Duma also included former appanage princes. In order to centralize and unify judicial-administrative activities, a new set of laws was introduced in 1497 - the Code of Laws, which established uniform tax norms and a general procedure for conducting investigations and trials. The Code of Law of Ivan III primarily protected the life and property of the feudal landowner; established (Article 57) the right of peasants to leave their feudal lord for other lands only within a strictly defined period - a week before the autumn Yuri Day (November 26) and within a week after it with mandatory payment "elderly" (ransom). With the introduction of the Code of Law, the process begins attaching peasants to the land. Legislative restrictions on servitude in cities increased the number of taxpayers (“taxpayers”) among their population.

United by Moscow “under the hand of the great sovereign,” the Russian lands experienced a rise not only in the sphere of government. It is no coincidence that Russian culture of this period is assessed in modern literature as a genuine “Russian Renaissance”.