Yuri II Dmitrievich - the Grand Duke, the son of the famous Dmitry Donskoy, became the Galician and Zvenigorod prince in the middle of the 15th century, in 1433 and 1434 he was the prince of Moscow. During the feudal fragmentation and the Time of Troubles of the Kalitich family in Russia, there were several figures who canonized their century. One of them is rightfully considered Yuri Galitsky.
Childhood
The future prince was born in 1374 in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, baptized by Sergius of Radonezh himself. He was the second son in the family of Dmitry Donskoy, who six years later was destined to win the Battle of Kulikovo.
Dmitry Donskoy (you can see his image below in the article), the great-grandson of Ivan Kalita, who supplemented the Rurikovich tree, is known in history as a great commander, conqueror of lands, a fighter with the Tatar-Mongol horde. The mother of the future Grand Duke Evdokia was an educated girl, which in those days was very rare. For her piety, the glorification of family values and love for her husband and children, she was later canonized and canonized as Efrosinya of Moscow.
Parents' marriage was happy, a rare case in Russia, so the children grew up in abundance, love and care. Little is known about the childhood of Yuri Dmitrievich, because the ancient chronicles of those times did not reflect the realities of family life and captured mainly feats, victories and defeats, confusion between the princes.
Kulikovo battle time
The Battle of Kulikovo took place in 1380. In the event that Grand Duke Dmitry falls on the battlefield, his will was transferred to his son Vasily, who was 9 years old at the time of the battle, and his son Yuri 5, he was second in line to the throne. Before the start of the campaign, the family arrived in Moscow, where they had to remain under the care of the boyar Fedor Andreevich Sviblov until the outcome of the battle was known.
On October 1, 1380, returning from the Battle of Kulikovo, Dmitry Donskoy built his remaining army along the Yauza River and held a procession along the Andronnikov Monastery to the Frolov Tower, where he was met at the gates by the princess with two little princes.
Heir - part of the tribute to the Horde
In 1382, the new Horde khan Tokhtamysh went to Moscow. He wanted not only to resume collecting tribute, but also to return power over the Russians. Upon learning of the impending Khan's army, many boyars took their families out. Prince Dmitry went to gather troops in Kostroma, leaving the princess with three sons in the capital. Perhaps the princely family could not leave Moscow, because a few days before the arrival of Khan Efrosinya gave birth to a third son, Andrei.
Tokhtamysh looted and burned the city and set his sights on other cities, but Dmitry decided to start paying tribute again and return all the tributes not paid before to stop the khan. One thing remained unchanged - Dmitry Donskoy and his sons remained great princes recognized by the Golden Horde people. So, in 1383, the prince equipped a convoy with a tribute, sending his eldest son Vasily to the enemy camp as a hostage, a living tribute. Thus, the seat on the throne automatically passed to Yuri, the middle son.
However, after 4 years, Vasily escaped from the Tatar-Mongol captivity and reached Russia in a roundabout way through Lithuania. In the annals, he is described as a languid, weak-character young man, and Yuri, on the contrary, appears educated, inclined to manage people and loving general affairs. The fact that the father preferred the eldest son, the heir to the throne, his second youngest prince, sowed the first sprouts of strife between the brothers, and from that moment the invisible struggle for the princely throne of Yuri Galitsky and his brother Vasily began.
Nevertheless, in 1939, on the eve of his death, Prince Dmitry Donskoy wrote a new testament, in which he proclaimed his heir to the 18-year-old son Basil, and his successor - Yuri. At that time, the throne was passed from brother to brother, for 600 years of the monarchy it was the second son who inherited the throne after the death of the first, and not the children of the ruling prince. In addition, Prince Vasily did not have a wife and children, and his prospects for creating a family were unclear at that time. The Horde could easily intervene in the board, placing the princes on the lands she needed, and according to the will in the case of dynastic disputes, the decision was left to mother Euphrosyne.
The beginning of reign
According to the will, Prince Yuri from the tree of the Rurikovich got the cities of Galich and Zvenigorod with all the surrounding villages. The boy at that time was 15 years old, but he was already known as the prince of the rich land, inhabited mostly by Finno-Ugric tribes. There was a large salt industry in Galich, but Yuri chose Zvenigorod as the capital of his possessions.
The possessions of the young prince were fortified, because the lands were turbulent. Zvenigorod was a border city with Lithuania, and Tatars and Cheremis constantly raided Galich. The lands around the city were swampy, uninhabited. However, Prince Galitsky secured the title of border town, built monasteries, erected tower fortresses and, despite the inadequacy of the region, developed trade and fishing. In Galich lived many noble merchants and boyars.
Victories for Russia
Prince Yuri reliably closed the northern borders and helped his brother Vasily I centralize the Russian cities around Moscow. The brothers signed a military alliance, according to which the troops of the county prince were to go to war as soon as the grand duke called them. In Zvenigorod, Yuri rebuilds not only fortresses. In the Kremlin, he is building a new princely palace, and next to it is the Assumption Cathedral (pictured below). All the buildings of the times of Yuri Galitsky are pre-Mongolian architecture of the times of Ivan Kalita, painted by Andrei Rublev.
In 1393, the prince annexed Torzhok to the Moscow principality, and later - Kazan, Kremenchug, and Great Bulgar. A large role was played by his campaigns against the Tatar-Mongols, therefore, under Khan Tamerlane, who subjugated the Horde, Russia stopped paying tribute. Taxes will resume again in 1408, when, under the reign of Khan Edigey, the Horde will regain its independence and again subjugate Moscow.
Personal life
Prince Yuri Galitsky was married to Princess Anastasia, daughter of Yuri Svyatoslavovich, who was Prince of Smolensk. Thus, he had the opportunity to subjugate Smolensk region, because in the late 14th - early 15th centuries the city moved to Lithuania, although it always remained the key to the Moscow lands. Such possession could strengthen the position of the prince.
Yuri Dmitrievich and Anastasia had four sons: the eldest - Vasily nicknamed Kosoy (he is depicted in the photo below), Ivan, who became a monk, Dmitry Bolshoi nicknamed Shemyak and Dmitry Menshoy nicknamed Krasny, both younger sons are named after his grandfather, Dmitry Donskoy.
Grand princely throne
Basil I died in 1425. In the period from 1406 to 1423, he wrote 3 wills in which he transferred the throne to his son Vasily Vasilyevich. At the time of the death of his father, the boy was 10 years old. Thus, the Grand Duke repeatedly tried to assert the right to the throne according to the formula “from father to son”, while Prince Yuri believed that his brother did not have the right to change the doctrine of their father, which read “from brother to brother” and change the principle succession from "by seniority" to "by blood". An additional difficulty was made by the princes, who, after the death of the ruler, relied on the lands promised during their lifetime.
Thus, torn from all sides, Moscow remained temporarily in the possession of three persons: the widow of Grand Duke Sophia Vitovtovna, the Lithuanian Princess, boyar Ivan Dmitrievich Vsevolozhsky and Metropolitan Photius. Photius turned out to be the most influential, and it was he who urged Yuri Galitsky to swear allegiance to Vasily II in Moscow. The specific prince was given the condition: he could abandon the Moscow throne and continue to quietly reign in his lands, or try to compete for the main princely throne, but in this case he would be severely punished. Rights for power were divided only into “black” and “white”, he, Yuri Dmitrievich, the son of Dmitry Donskoy did not receive any compromise. However, he believed that at the behest of his father, the throne belongs to him rightfully, so he decided to fight for his rights, unleashing a feudal war with his enemies.
Feudal war
The positions of Yuri Galitsky at the beginning of internecine strife were extremely complex. His capital, Zvenigorod, was squeezed between Moscow and Lithuania, which Sofia Vitovtovna opposed the prince for her son Vasily II. In addition, the city was not a powerful fortress capable of defense. Therefore, the prince, together with the main forces of his military company, moved to Galich. He drew troops from his homeland, ready to go against Moscow, and made a temporary peace with his nephew until the summer of 1425. However, Vasily, collecting the army, moved to Kostroma, and Yuri had to retreat to Nizhny Novgorod. Then the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir sent a squad there under the command of the younger brother of Yuri Andrei Dmitrievich, but he could not reach the Volga.
Metropolitan Photius tried to reconcile the princes, collecting them in Kostroma. The peace agreement was extended, and Vladimir and Novgorod lands were to be added to the possessions of Yuri Dmitrievich. However, during the negotiations, Prince Galitsky realized the weakness of his nephew: Vasily II still had no label from the Horde Khan. The young ruler believed that because of the continuation of the policy of Dmitry Donskoy, Yuri did not have honor among the khans, and Lithuania, which was an ally of the Horde, did not like him.
The weakening of the power of the Grand Duke
In the second half of 1425, the situation for Vasily II was complicated by several factors. An epidemic of smallpox passed through the country, which brought with it many deaths. Relations with Lithuania were complicated due to the division of Pskov and Serpukhov possessions. However, in the spring of 1428, the Grand Duke concluded with his uncle, who at that time was already 54 years old, the completion (agreement), according to which Yuri Galitsky recognized himself as the "younger brother" of his nephew and again became the second in line in the law of succession. But the completion formula, which stated that all princes should live in their inheritance, gave Yuri the right to challenge the nephew's right to reign in the Horde. In 1430, without waiting for the Horde's response, he breaks off the peace treaty and again, driven by his nephew, fled to Nizhny Novgorod.
By 1431, the position of Basil II was weakening. His Lithuanian grandfather Vytautas dies, and then Metropolitan Photius (pictured below), who actually led the Moscow government all these years. In the fall of the same year, the Grand Duke gathered in the Horde to Khan Ulu-Muhammed, to finally confirm his authority. In 1432, the Horde confirmed the status of the reign of Vasily II, giving Yuri a label on Dmitrov. However, upon his return, his nephew took the unclean’s new estate from his uncle.
Scandal in Moscow
In 1433, a scandal broke out at the wedding of Vasily II with Serpukhov princess Maria. Among the guests were two cousins, the sons of Yuri Galitsky, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka (shown in the photo below). One of the boyars recognized Dmitry Donskoy’s belt on Vasily Kos, a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation among the great princes. Sofya Vitovtovna tore off the belt from the guest, and the brothers left for their father in Galich, robbing along the road of the village and village.
The Galician army in the same year marched to Moscow. On April 25, on the banks of the Klyazma, Yuri Galitsky defeated his nephew and sent him to reign in Kolomna. However, the boyars and nobles refused to serve the new ruler and followed Basil. There was no support from the Galician boyars either. Thus, by the fall of 1433, Yuri voluntarily left the capital and returned to his native Galich. Basil returned to his throne and again concluded with his uncle the completion.
Second chance for the throne
However, the elder sons did not recognize such an agreement, and Basil II sent his army against them, which was defeated on the Kushi River. Sons invited his father to take the Moscow throne again, but Yuri Dmitrievich decided this time to remain faithful to the contract. However, the nephew did not appreciate such generosity and went to war on his uncle. The troops came together in the spring of 1430 near Rostov. Galichi won, Vasily II fled to Novgorod, and in the second coming to power, Yuri Galitsky did not make his previous mistakes. He began to establish family and friendly relations with the boyars, introduced monetary reform. He did not rule for long and on June 5 was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, like all the glorious princes of the Rurikovich clan.