Vasily 2 Dark: the years of government, biography

Moscow Prince Vasily 2 Dark rules in an era when his principality gradually became the core of a single Russian state. For the period of the reign of this Rurikovich, there is also a large internecine war between him and his relatives - the aspirants for power in the Kremlin. This feudal conflict was the last in the history of Russia.

A family

The future prince Vasily 2 Dark was the fifth son of Basil I and Sophia Vitovtovna. On the maternal side the child was a representative of the Lithuanian ruling dynasty. On the eve of his death, Vasily I sent a letter to his father-in-law Vitovt, in which he asked to protect a young nephew.

The first four sons of the Grand Duke died in childhood or youth from frequent illness then, which is known in the annals as "mor". Thus, the heir of Basil I remained Basil the Dark One. From the state point of view, the presence of a single offspring was only a plus, because it allowed the ruler not to divide his power among the numerous children. Because of this specific custom, Kievan Rus was already lost and Vladimir-Suzdal land suffered for many years.

Political situation

The Moscow princedom was doubly necessary to remain united because of foreign policy threats. Despite the fact that the grandfather of Basil II Dmitry Donskoi defeated the Mongol-Tatar army on the Kulikovo field in 1380, Russia remained dependent on the Golden Horde. Moscow remained the main Slavic Orthodox political center. Its rulers were the only ones who could resist the khans, if not on the battlefield, then with the help of compromise diplomacy.

From the west, the Eastern Slavic principalities were threatened by Lithuania. Until 1430, Vytautas, the grandfather of Basil II, ruled in it. For decades of fragmentation of Rus, the Lithuanian rulers were able to annex the western Russian principalities (Polotsk, Galich, Volyn, Kiev) to their possessions. Under Basil I, Smolensk lost its independence. Lithuania itself increasingly focused on Catholic Poland, which led to an unavoidable conflict with the Orthodox majority and Moscow. Basil II needed to balance between dangerous neighbors and maintain peace within his state. Time has shown that he did not always succeed in this.

Conflict with Uncle

In 1425, Prince Vasili Dmitrievich died, leaving a ten-year-old son on the throne. The Russian princes recognized him as their chief ruler in Russia. Nevertheless, despite the expressed support, the position of little Basil was extremely shaky. The only reason why no one dared to touch him was his grandfather - the powerful Lithuanian sovereign Vytautas. But he was quite an old man and died in 1430.

Then came a whole chain of events that led to a major internecine war. The main culprit of the conflict was Uncle Vasily II Yuri Dmitrievich - the son of the legendary Dmitry Donskoy. Before his death, the winner Mamaia traditionally bequeathed his youngest offspring to his inheritance. Realizing the danger of this tradition, Dmitry Donskoy confined himself to giving Yuri small towns: Zvenigorod, Galich, Vyatka and Ruza.

The children of the deceased prince lived in peace and helped each other. However, Yuri was known for his ambition and love for power. According to his father's will, he was to inherit the entire Moscow principality in the event of the premature death of his elder brother Vasily I. But he had five sons, the youngest of whom became the ruler of the Kremlin in 1425.

All this time, Yuri Dmitrievich remained an unimportant Zvenigorod prince. The Moscow rulers managed to preserve their state and increase it due to the fact that the order of succession was legalized, according to which the throne passed from father to elder son, bypassing younger brothers. In the XV century, this order was a relative innovation. Prior to this, in Russia power was inherited according to the law of lefthand, or the law of precedence (that is, the uncles took precedence over their nephews).

Of course, Yuri was a supporter of the old order, because they allowed him to become a legitimate ruler in Moscow. In addition, his rights were backed by a reservation in his father's will. If you remove the particulars and personalities, then in the Moscow principality under Basil II two inheritance systems collided, one of which was to sweep the other. Yuri only waited for a convenient moment to declare his claims. With the death of Vitovt, this opportunity presented itself to him.

Court in the Horde

In the years of the Tatar-Mongol rule, the khans issued labels for the reign, which gave the Rurikovich the right to occupy this or that throne. As a rule, this tradition did not interfere with the ordinary succession to the throne, unless the challenger was bold to the nomads. The advisers of the khan's decisions were punished by the fact that they were attacked by a bloodthirsty horde.

The descendants of Dmitry Donskoy still received labels for the reign and paid tribute, even though the Mongols also began to suffer from their own civil strife. In 1431, the grown up Basil the 2 Dark went to the Golden Horde to obtain his permission to rule. At the same time, Yuri Dmitrievich went to the steppe with him. He wanted to prove to the khan that he has more rights to the throne of Moscow than his nephew.

The lord of the Golden Horde Ulu-Muhammed resolved the dispute in favor of Vasily Vasilyevich. Yuri suffered his first defeat, but was not going to concede. In words, he recognized his nephew as his "older brother" and returned to his native destiny in order to wait for a new opportunity to strike. Our history knows many examples of perjury, and in this sense Yuri Dmitrievich was not very different from many of his contemporaries and predecessors. At the same time, Vasily violated his promise. At the Khan's court, he promised his uncle to compensate the city of Dmitrov, but he did not do so.

Start of internal strife

In 1433, the eighteen-year-old Moscow prince played a wedding. The wife of Basil II was Maria, the daughter of the specific ruler of Yaroslav Borovsky (also from the Moscow dynasty). Numerous relatives of the prince were invited to the celebrations, including the children of Yuri Dmitrievich (he himself did not appear, but remained in his Galich). Dmitry Shemyaka and Vasily Kosoy will still play their serious role in the internecine war. While they were guests of the Grand Duke. In the midst of the wedding, a scandal broke out. The mother of Basil II Sofya Vytovtovna saw on Vasili Kos a girdle that allegedly belonged to Dmitry Donskoy and was stolen by a servant. She ripped the garment from the boy, which caused a serious quarrel between relatives. The insulted sons of Yuri Dmitrievich immediately retreated and left for their father, en route to the pogrom in Yaroslavl. The episode with a stolen belt became the property of folk folklore and a popular story in legends.

The household quarrel was the reason that the prince of Zvenigorod sought to begin a serious war against his nephew. After learning about the incident at the feast, he gathered a loyal army and went to Moscow. The Russian princes again prepared to pour the blood of their subjects to suit their personal interests.

The army of the Grand Duke of Moscow was defeated by Yuri on the shore of the Klyazma. Soon the uncle occupied the capital. Vasily received in compensation Kolomna, where, in fact, was in exile. Finally, Yuri fulfilled his old dream of his father's throne. However, having achieved the desired, he made several fatal errors. The new prince went on a conflict with the capital's boyars, whose influence in the city was extremely high. The support of this class and their money were then very important attributes of power.

When the Moscow aristocracy realized that its new ruler had begun to squeeze old people out of office and replaced them with their candidacies, dozens of key supporters fled to Kolomna. Yuri was isolated and was cut off from the capital's army. Then he decided to go to the world with his nephew and agreed to return him to the throne after several months of reign.

But Vasily was not much more intelligent than his uncle. Returning to the capital, he began frank repression against those boyars who supported Yuri in his claims to power. The opponents made the same mistakes, not taking into account the sad experience of their opponents. Then the sons of Yuri declared war against Basil. The Grand Duke was again defeated near Rostov. His uncle again became the Moscow ruler. However, a few months after the next castling Yuri died (June 5, 1434). There were persistent rumors circulating in the capital that he had been poisoned by someone from his entourage. Under the will of Yuri, the prince became his eldest son Vasily Kosoy.

Vasily Kosoy in Moscow

During the reign of Yuri in Moscow Vasily Vasilievich 2 was on the run, unsuccessfully fighting against his sons. When Kosoy informed his brother Shemyake that he now ruled in Moscow, Dmitry did not accept this change. He made peace with Basil, according to which, if success of the Shemyak coalition was received by Uglich and Rzhev. Now the two princes, who were formerly adversaries, united their armies in order to expel the eldest son of Yuri Zvenigorodsky from Moscow.

Vasily Kosoy, learning about the approach of enemy troops, fled from the capital to Novgorod, after taking with him his father's treasury. He proknyazhil in Moscow only one summer month in 1434. On the run, the exile collected the army for the money and went with her towards Kostroma. At first it was defeated near the Kotorosli River near Yaroslavl, and then again in the Battle of the River Cherekh in May 1436. Basil was taken prisoner by his namesake and barbarically blinded. It was because of his injury that he received the nickname Kosoy. The former prince died in confinement in 1448.

War with the Kazan Khanate

For a while in Russia peace was established. The Grand Duke of Moscow, Vasily II, tried to prevent a war with his neighbors, but he failed to do so. The cause of the new bloodshed was the Kazan Khanate. By this time, the single Golden Horde was divided into several independent uluses. The largest and most powerful was the Kazan Khanate. Tatars killed Russian merchants and periodically organized marches on border areas.

In 1445, an open war broke out between the Slavic princes and the Kazan khan Mahmud. July 7, near Suzdal, a battle took place, in which the Russian squad suffered a crushing defeat. Mikhail Vereisky and his cousin Vasily the Dark were captured. The years of the reign of this prince (1425-1462) were full of episodes when he was completely deprived of power. And now, being in the Khan's captivity, he was briefly divorced from the events at home.

The hostage of the Tatars

While Vasily remained a hostage to the Tatars, Dmitry Shemyaka, the second son of the deceased Yuri Zvenigorodsky, was the ruler of Moscow. During this time he acquired numerous supporters in the capital. Meanwhile, Vasily Vasilyevich persuaded the Kazan khan to let him go free. However, he had to sign a bonded contract, according to which he had to pay a huge indemnity and, worse still, give the Tatars some of their cities for feeding.

This caused a wave of outrage in Russia. Despite the murmur of many residents of the country, in Moscow again began to rule Basil 2 Dark. The policy of concessions to the Horde could not but lead to disastrous consequences. In addition, the prince came to the Kremlin at the head of the khan army, which was given to him by the Tatars, so as to surely return the throne.

Dmitry Shemyaka, after the return of the opponent, retired to his Uglich. Very soon, Moscow supporters began to flock to him, among whom were boyars and merchants, dissatisfied with the behavior of Basil. With their help the coal prince organized a coup, after which he again began to rule in the Kremlin.

In addition, he enlisted the support of certain princes, who before that had refrained from the conflict. Among them was the governor of Moscow, Ivan Andreevich and Boris Tverskoy. These two princes helped Shemyaka treacherously captivate Vasily Vasilyevich in the sacred walls of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. On February 16, 1446, he was blinded. The reprisal was justified by the fact that Vasily conspired with the hated Horde. In addition, he himself once ordered to blind his enemy. Thus Shemyaka took revenge for the fate of his elder brother Vasily Kosoy.

After blinding

After this episode, Vasily 2 the Dark One was sent for the last time. To put it briefly, his tragic fate added to him supporters among the wavering aristocracy. Blinding also formed the majority of princes outside the Moscow state, who became ardent opponents of Shemyaka. This was used by Basil the Dark One. Why the Dark One got his nickname is known from the chronicles, which explain this epithet blindness. Despite the injury, the prince remained active. His son Ivan (future Ivan III) became his eyes and ears, helping in all public affairs.

On the orders of Shemyaka Vasily was kept with his wife in Uglich. Maria Yaroslavna, like her husband, did not lose heart. Supporters began to return to the exiled prince, a plan for the capture of Moscow was ripe. In December 1446, Basil, along with the army occupied the capital, it happened at the time when Dmitry Shemyaka was away. Now the prince finally became firmly established in the Kremlin until his death.

Our history knew many internecine strife. More often than not, they ended not in compromise, but in the complete victory of one of the parties. In the middle of the XV century, the same thing happened. Shemyaka gathered the army and prepared to continue the struggle with the Grand Duke. A few years after Vasily's return to Moscow, on January 27, 1450, there was a battle near Galich, which historians consider the last internecine battle in Russia. Shemyaka suffered an unconditional defeat and soon fled to Novgorod. This city often became a shelter for exiles from the Rurik dynasty. Residents did not extradite Shemyaka, and he died his death in 1453. However, it is possible that he was secretly poisoned by Vasily's agents. Thus ended the last feud in Russia. Since then, the princes had neither the means nor the ambitions to oppose the central government.

Peace with Poland and Lithuania

At a young age, Prince Vasily 2 Dark did not differ in foresight. He did not spare his subjects in the event of war and often made strategic mistakes, which caused the bloodshed. Blinding greatly changed his character. He became humble, calm and, maybe, even wise. Finally firmly established in Moscow, Vasily took up the device of peace with his neighbors.

The main danger was represented by the Polish king and the Lithuanian prince Casimir IV. In 1449, a treaty was concluded between the rulers, by which they recognized the established borders and promised not to support the rivals of a neighbor inside the country. Kazimir, like Vasily, faced the threat of internecine war. His main opponent was Mikhail Sigismundovich, who relied on the Orthodox part of Lithuanian society.

Agreement with the Novgorod Republic

In the future, the reign of Basil the Dark continued in the same vein. Due to the fact that Novgorod shelter Shemyaku, the republic found itself in isolation, which, under the agreement, was supported by the Polish king. With the death of the rebellious prince, ambassadors arrived in Moscow with a request to abolish the trade embargo and other decisions of the prince, because of which the life of the townspeople was greatly complicated.

In 1456 the Jazhelbitsk peace was concluded between the parties. He fixed the vassal position of the Novgorod Republic from Moscow. The document once again de jure confirmed the leading position of the Grand Duke in Russia. Later the contract was used by the son of Vasily Ivan III to join the rich city and the entire northern region to Moscow.

Results of the Board

The last years of his life, Vasily the Dark, spent in relative calm and silence. He died in 1462 from tuberculosis and improper treatment from this scourge. He was 47 years old, 37 of whom he (with interruptions) was a Moscow prince.

Basil managed to eliminate small possessions within his power. He increased the dependence on Moscow of other Russian lands. When he was an important church event. By order of the prince, the bishop of Iona was elected metropolitan. This event marked the beginning of the end of the dependence of the Moscow Church on Constantinople. In 1453, the capital of Byzantium was taken by the Turks, after which the actual center of Orthodoxy moved to Moscow.