For a territorial definition of a group of principalities in Russia, which settled between the Volga and Oka in the 9th-12th centuries, historians adopted the term "North-Eastern Russia". By it was meant the lands located within Rostov, Suzdal, Vladimir. Synonymous terms reflecting the unification of state formations in different years were also applicable - the Rostov-Suzdal Principality, the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, and also the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. In the second half of the XIII century, Russia, which was called the North-East, actually ceases to exist - many events contributed to this.
Grand Dukes of Rostov
All three principalities of North-Eastern Russia united the same lands, only capitals and rulers changed in different years. The first city built in these parts was Rostov the Great, in the annals of the mention of it are dated 862 AD. e. Until its founding, Meria tribes and all tribes belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples lived here. The Slavic tribes did not like this picture, and they - Krivichi, Vyatichi, Ilmen Slovenes - began to actively inhabit these lands.
After the formation of Rostov, which was one of the five largest cities under the rule of the Kiev prince Oleg, mentions of Merya and Vesy began to appear less frequently in chronicles. For some time Rostov was ruled by the proteges of the Kiev princes, but in 987 the principality was already ruled by Yaroslav the Wise - the son of Vladimir, Prince of Kiev. Since 1010 - Boris Vladimirovich. Until 1125, when the capital was transferred from Rostov to Suzdal, the principality passed from hand to hand to the Kiev rulers, then had their own rulers. The most famous Rostov princes - Vladimir Monomakh and Yuri Dolgoruky - did a lot to ensure that the development of North-Eastern Russia led to the prosperity of these lands, but soon the same Dolgoruky moved the capital to Suzdal, where he ruled until 1149. But he erected numerous fortresses and cathedrals in the style of the same fortress structure with weighted proportions and squat. Under Dolgoruky, writing and applied art developed.
The legacy of Rostov
The significance of Rostov was, nevertheless, quite significant for the history of those years. In the annals of 913-988. the expression “Rostov Land” is often found - a territory rich in game, crafts, crafts, wooden and stone architecture. In 991, one of the oldest dioceses in Russia - Rostov - was not formed here by chance. At that time, the city was the center of the principality of North-Eastern Russia, conducted intensive trade with other settlements, artisans, builders, gunsmiths flocked to Rostov ... All Russian princes tried to have a fighting army. Everywhere, especially in the lands separated from Kiev, a new faith was propagated.
After the move of Yuri Dolgoruky to Suzdal Rostov, Izyaslav Mstislavovich ruled for some time, but gradually the influence of the city finally came to naught, and it was rarely mentioned in the annals. The center of the principality for half a century is transferred to Suzdal.
The feudal nobility erected mansions for themselves, while artisans and peasants vegetated in wooden huts. Their dwellings looked more like cellars, household items were mostly wooden. But in the rooms lit by torches, unsurpassed products, clothes, and luxury goods were born. All that the nobility wore on itself and with which it decorated its towers was done by the hands of peasants and artisans. The wonderful culture of North-Eastern Russia was created under the thatched roofs of wooden huts.
Rostov-Suzdal principality
In that short period, while Suzdal was the center of North-Eastern Russia, only three princes managed to rule the princedom. In addition to Yuri himself, his sons - Vasilko Yuryevich and Andrei Yuryevich, nicknamed Bogolyubsky, and then, after the capital was transferred to Vladimir (in 1169), Mstislav Rostislavovich Bezokiy ruled for a year in Suzdal, but he did not play a special role in Russian history. All the princes of North-Eastern Russia came from the Rurikovich, but not everyone was worthy of a kind.
The new capital of the principality was somewhat younger than Rostov and was originally referred to as Szudal. It is believed that the city got its name from the words "build", or "create." The first time after the formation of Suzdal was a fortified fortress and ruled by princely governors. In the early years of the XII century, a certain development of the city was outlined, while Rostov began to slowly but surely decline. And in 1125, as already mentioned, Yuri Dolgoruky left the once-great Rostov.
Under Yuri, who is better known as the founder of Moscow, there were other important events for the history of Russia . So, it was during the reign of Dolgoruky that the North-Eastern principalities were forever isolated from Kiev. A huge role in this was played by one of the sons of Yuri - Andrei Bogolyubsky, who sacredly loved his father's estate and could not imagine himself without her.
The fight against the boyars and the choice of a new capital of Russia
The plans of Yuri Dolgoruky, in which he saw his eldest sons as rulers of the southern principalities, and the youngest as rulers of Rostov and Suzdal, never came true. But their role was in some ways even more significant. So, Andrew declared himself as a wise and visionary ruler. His wayward character tried in every possible way to restrain the boyars included in his council, but even here Bogolyubsky showed his will by moving the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, and then Kiev itself was captured in 1169.
However, the capital of Kievan Rus did not attract this person. Having conquered both the city and the title of “Grand Duke”, he did not stay in Kiev, but planted in him the governor of his younger brother Gleb. He also assigned Rostov and Suzdal an insignificant role in the history of those years, since by that time Vladimir was the capital of North-Eastern Russia. It was this city that Andrei chose as his residence in 1155, long before the conquest of Kiev. From the southern principalities, where he ruled for a while, he took to Vladimir the icon of the Vyshgorod Mother of God, which he greatly esteemed.
The choice of capital was very successful: for almost two hundred years this city held the palm in Russia. Rostov and Suzdal tried to regain their former greatness, but even after the death of Andrei, whose seniority as the Grand Duke was recognized in almost all Russian lands, except perhaps Chernigov and Galich, they did not succeed.
Feuds
After the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky, the Suzdalians and Rostovites turned to the sons of Rostislav Yuryevich - Yaropolk and Mstislav - in the hope that their rule would return the cities to their former glory, but the long-awaited unification of North-Eastern Russia did not come.
In Vladimir, the younger sons of Yuri Dolgoruky ruled - Mikhalko and Vsevolod. By that time, the new capital had substantially strengthened its significance. Andrei did a lot for this: he successfully developed the construction, during the years of his reign the famous Assumption Cathedral was erected, he even sought the establishment of a separate metropolis in his principality in order to isolate himself from Kiev in this.
Under the rule of Bogolyubsky, Northeastern Russia became the center of the unification of Russian lands, and subsequently the core of the great Russian state. After the death of Andrei, Smolensk and Ryazan princes Mstislav and Yaropolk, the children of one of the sons of Dolgoruky Rostislav, tried to seize power in Vladimir, but their uncles Mikhail and Vsevolod turned out to be stronger. In addition, they were supported by Prince Chernigov Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. The internecine war lasted more than three years, after which Vladimir secured the status of the capital city of North-Eastern Russia, leaving both Suzdal and Rostov the inheritance of subordinate principalities.
From Kiev to Moscow
The northeastern lands of Russia totaled by that time many cities and weights. So, the new capital was founded in 990 by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich as Vladimir-on-Klyazma. About twenty years after its founding, the city, part of the Rostov-Suzdal principality, did not cause much interest among the ruling princes (up to 1108). At this time, another prince, Vladimir Monomakh, took up his fortification. He assigned the city the status of a stronghold of North-Eastern Russia.
Nobody could conceive that this small settlement will eventually become the capital city of Russian lands. Many more years passed before Andrei turned his attention to him and transferred the capital of his principality there, which will remain for almost two hundred years.
From the moment that the great princes began to be called Vladimir, and not Kiev, the ancient capital of Russia lost its key role, but interest in it did not disappear among the princes. Everyone revered honor for Kiev. But from the middle of the XIV century, the once-outlying city of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality - Moscow - gradually but surely began to rise. Vladimir, like Rostov, and then Suzdal, lost his influence. This was facilitated by the move to the White Stone Metropolitan Peter in 1328. The princes of North-Eastern Russia fought among themselves, and the Moscow and Tver rulers did their best to win the advantage of the main city of Russian lands from Vladimir.
The end of the XIV century was marked by the fact that the local owners received the privilege of being called the Grand Dukes of Moscow, so Moscow's advantage over other cities became obvious. The Grand Duke of Vladimir Dmitry Donskoy was the last to bear this title, after which all the rulers of Russia were called the Grand Dukes of Moscow. Thus ended the development of North-Eastern Russia as an independent and even dominant principality.
Crushing the once powerful principality
After the metropolitan moved to Moscow, the Principality of Vladimir was divided. Vladimir was handed over to Suzdal Prince Alexander Vasilievich, Veliky Novgorod and Kostroma were taken under his rule by Moscow Prince Ivan Danilovich Kalita. Even Yuri Dolgoruky dreamed of realizing the unification of North-Eastern Russia with Veliky Novgorod - in the end, it happened, but not for long.
After the death of Suzdal Prince Alexander Vasilievich, in 1331, his lands passed to the Princes of Moscow. And 10 years later, in 1341, the territory of the former Northeast Russia was again redistributed: Nizhny Novgorod passed to Suzdal, like Gorodets, but the Vladimir principality was forever left to the Moscow rulers, who by that time, as already mentioned, also wore Great title. So the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality arose.
The campaign of the princes from the south and center of the country to North-Eastern Russia, their militancy, contributed little to the development of culture and arts. Nevertheless, new temples were erected everywhere, during the design of which the best techniques of decorative and applied art were applied. A national icon-painting school was created with bright colorful ornaments characteristic of that time, combined with Byzantine painting.
Capture of Russian lands by the Mongol-Tatars
Civil wars brought many misfortunes to the peoples of Russia, and the princes fought among themselves constantly, but a more terrible disaster came with the Mongol-Tatars in February 1238. All Northeast Russia (the cities of Rostov, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Vladimir, Suzdal, Uglich, Tver) was not just ruined - it was almost burned to the ground. The army of Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated by the Temun Burundai detachment, the prince himself died, and his brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was forced to submit to the Horde in everything. The Mongol-Tatars only formally recognized him as the oldest over all Russian princes, in fact they were the ones who ruled everything. In the total rout of Russia only Veliky Novgorod managed to survive .
In 1259, Alexander Nevsky conducted a census in Novgorod, developed his own government strategy and strengthened his positions in every way. Three years later, tax collectors were killed in Yaroslavl, Rostov, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl and Vladimir, North-Eastern Russia froze again in anticipation of a raid and ruin. We managed to avoid this punitive measure - Alexander Nevsky personally went to the Horde and managed to prevent trouble, but died on the way back. It happened in 1263. It was only through his efforts that the principality of Vladimir managed to maintain a certain integrity, but after the death of Alexander it fell apart into independent destinies.
The liberation of Russia from the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars, the revival of crafts and the development of culture
Those were terrible years ... On the one hand, the invasion of North-Eastern Russia, on the other, the incessant skirmishes of the surviving principalities for the ownership of new lands. Everyone suffered: both rulers and their subjects. Liberation from the Mongol khans came only in 1362. The Russian-Lithuanian army under the command of Prince Olgerd defeated the Mongol-Tatars, forever displacing these warlike nomads from the Vladimir-Suzdal region, Muscovy, the Pskov region and the Novgorod region.
The years spent under the enemy yoke had disastrous consequences: the culture of North-Eastern Russia fell into complete decline. The ruin of cities, the destruction of temples, the extermination of a significant part of the population and, as a result, the loss of certain types of crafts. For two and a half centuries, the cultural and commercial development of the state stopped. Many monuments of wooden and stone architecture perished in the fire or were taken to the Horde. Many technical methods of construction, locksmithing and other crafts were lost. Many monuments of writing disappeared without a trace, chronicles, applied art, painting fell into complete decline. It took almost half a century to restore the little that was saved. But then the development of new types of crafts went rapidly.
The peoples of the ravaged lands managed to maintain their unique national appearance and love of ancient culture. In some ways, the years of dependence on the Mongol-Tatars led to the appearance of new types of applied art new to Russia.
The unity of cultures and lands
After liberation from the Iga, more and more Russian princes came to a difficult decision for them and advocated the unification of their possessions into a single state. The centers of revival and freedom of love and Russian culture became Novgorod and Pskov lands. It was here that the able-bodied population began to flock from the southern and central regions, carrying with them the old traditions of their culture, writing, architecture. Of great importance in the unification of Russian lands and the revival of culture was the influence of the Moscow Principality, where many ancient documents, books, and works of art were preserved.
The construction of cities and temples, as well as defensive structures, began. Tver became almost the first city in North-Eastern Russia, where stone construction began. We are talking about the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration in the style of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. In each city, along with defensive structures, churches and monasteries were built: the Savior on Iln, Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki, Basil on the Hill in Pskov, the Epiphany in Zapskov and many others. The history of North-Eastern Russia found its reflection and continuation in these buildings.
Feofan Grek revived painting , Daniil Cherny and Andrei Rublev - the famous Russian icon painters. Masters of jewelry reconstructed the lost shrines, many artisans worked on the restoration of the technique of creating national household items, jewelry, clothes. Many of those centuries have survived to this day.