The Prince of Moscow (Russian: князь Московский, romanized: knyaz Moskovskiy), later known as the Grand Prince of Moscow (великий князь Московский, velikiy knyaz Moskovskiy), was the title of the ruler of the Principality of Moscow, initially a part of the grand principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. By the late 14th century, the grand principality was inherited by the prince of Moscow; the monarch bore the title of grand prince of Vladimir and Moscow and later the title of grand prince of Vladimir, Moscow and all Russia.
History
The grand principality of Vladimir-Suzdal fell apart into feuding appanages over the course of the 13th century. The princes of Moscow were descendants of Daniel. As Daniel never became grand prince of Vladimir before he died in 1303, this meant that according to traditional succession practices, his descendants were izgoi: his son and successor Yury of Moscow had no legitimate claim to the throne of Vladimir. This is why Tokhta Khan granted Mikhail of Tver the grand princely title when Andrey of Gorodets died the next year (27 July 1304). Nevertheless, the princes of Moscow managed to play towards the favour of the Mongol khans of the Golden Horde in order to be awarded the grand princely title through a yarlik by the second quarter of the 14th century, in disregard of dynastic traditions. The Horde sought to use Moscow to weaken the Principality of Tver (the strongest principality), but by the second half of the 14th century, when the Horde got embroiled in a decades-long war of succession known as the Great Troubles, the Muscovite princes managed to grow too powerful, and the khans were too late to start awarding the yarlik of grand prince of Vladimir to the princes of Tver instead in order to keep Moscow in check. Dmitry Donskoy passed the grand principality to his son Vasily I in his 1389 will, thus usurping the right of the khan to choose the grand prince.
List of princes
| Name | Lifespan | Reign start | Reign end | Notes | Family | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daniel
| 1261 – 4 March 1303 | 1283 | 4 March 1303 | Son of Alexander Nevsky and Maria | Yurievichi |  |
Yury
| 1281 – 21 November 1325 | 4 March 1303 | 21 November 1325 | Son of Daniel Elder brother of Ivan I | Daniilovichi |  |
Ivan I
| 1288 – 1340 | 1332 | 31 March 1340 | He was a successor of Alexander of Suzdal as Grand Prince of Vladimir and a successor of Yury of Moscow as Grand Prince of Moscow | Daniilovichi |  |
Simeon
| 7 November 1316 – 27 April 1353 | 31 March 1340 | 27 April 1353 | Son of Ivan I and Helena | Daniilovichi |  |
Ivan II
| 30 March 1326 – 13 November 1359 | 27 April 1353 | 13 November 1359 | Son of Ivan I and Helena Younger brother of Simeon of Moscow | Daniilovichi |  |
Dmitry Donskoy
| 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389 | 13 November 1359 | 19 May 1389 | Son of Ivan II and Alexandra Vasilyevna Velyaminova | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily I
| 30 December 1371 – 27 February 1425 | 19 May 1389 | 27 February 1425 | Son of Dmitry I and Eudoxia Dmitriyevna | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily II
| 10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462 | 27 February 1425 | 30 March 1434 | Son of Vasily I and Sophia of Lithuania. Deposed Regent: Sophia of Lithuania (1425–1432) | Daniilovichi |  |
Yury
| 26 November 1374 – 5 June 1434 | 31 March 1434 | 5 June 1434 | Son of Dmitry I and Eudoxia Dmitriyevna Younger brother of Vasily I | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily
| 1421 – 1448 | 5 June 1434 | 1435 | Son of Yury of Zvenigorod and Anastasia of Smolensk | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily II
| 10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462 | 1435 | 1446 | Restored | Daniilovichi | |
Dmitry
| 1400s – 17 July 1453 | 1446 | 26 March 1447 | Son of Yury of Zvenigorod and Anastasia of Smolensk, brother of Vasily the Squint First to use the title of Ospodar of all the Rus' | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily II
| 10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462 | 27 February 1447 | 27 March 1462 | Restored Co-ruler: Ivan (since 1449) | Daniilovichi | |
Ivan III
| 22 January 1440 – 6 November 1505 | 5 April 1462 | 6 November 1505 | Son of Vasily II and Maria of Borovsk Co-rulers: Ivan the Young (1471–1490), Dmitry the Grandson (1498–1502), Vasily (since 1502) | Daniilovichi |  |
Vasily III
| 25 March 1479 – 13 December 1533 | 6 November 1505 | 13 December 1533 | Son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue | Daniilovichi |  |
Ivan IV
| 25 August 1530 – 28 March 1584 | 13 December 1533 | 26 January 1547 | Son of Vasily III and Elena Glinskaya Regent: Elena Glinskaya (1533–1538) | Daniilovichi |  |
See also
References
- Fennell 2022, p. 306, in the conversion of the principality of Moscow into the grand principality of Vladimir and Moscow.
- Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. (29 September 2005). Russian Identities: A Historical Survey. Oxford University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-19-534814-9.
- Filjushkin 2006, pp. 193–201.
- Martin 2007, pp. 193, 428.
- ^ Martin 2007, p. 193.
- Martin 2007, pp. 193–194, 221.
- Halperin 1987, p. 71.
- Halperin 1987, p. 100.
- Fennell 2022, But the most vivid proof of the assimilation of the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow is to be found in Dmitry Donskoy's will of 1389 in which he bequeaths Vladimir to his eldest son.
- Langer, Lawrence N. (15 September 2021). Historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1942-6.
- ^ Martin 2007, p. 222.
Bibliography
- Fennell, John (23 September 2022). The Emergence of Moscow, 1304-1359. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-34758-8.
- Filjushkin, Alexander (2006). Tituly russkikh gosudarey Титулы русских государей [The Titles of Russian Rulers] (in Russian). Moscow, St. Petersburg: Al'yans-Arkheo. ISBN 9785988740117.
- Alef, Gustave (1959). "The Political Significance of the Inscriptions on Muscovite Coinage in the Reign of Vasili II". Speculum. 34 (1): 1–19. doi:10.2307/2847975. JSTOR 2847975.
- Halperin, Charles J. (1987). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. Indiana University. p. 222. ISBN 9781850430575. (e-book).
- Martin, Janet (2007). Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-36800-4.