Grand Duke of Vladimir

The grand duke of Vladimir was the ruler of a principality during the era of Kievan Rus' and after its collapse. It ruled territory approximately bounded by three rivers, the Volga, the Oka and the Northern Dvina. From 1157 to 1238 its capital was Vladimir, which had been founded by the Kievan prince Vladimir Monomakh in 1108. In 1151 Andrei Bogolyubskiy secretly left Vyshgorod, the domain of his father in the principality of Kiev, and migrated to Suzdal. In 1157 he became grand prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov.

The grand duke ('' velikii kniaz'', " grand prince") Yuri Dolgorukii (Yuri "Long-arms"), the seventh son of Vladimir Monomakh, began the lineage of the princes of Suzdal' and Vladimir-Suzdal'. Under their rule Vladimir-Suzdal' began the process of consolidation of Russian lands that was completed by Muscovy after it grew from within Vladimir-Suzdal. Traditionally, Vladimir-Suzdal has also been perceived as the cradle of the Great Russian language and nationality, as it gradually evolved into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

The city of Vladimir was destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1238. The second important city, Suzdal', was also destroyed by Mongols. The entire principality was then overrun by the Mongols, under Batu Khan, in 1242. He and his successors asserted suzerainty over it until 1328. During this period Vladimir became the chief town of the Russian settlements in the basin of the Oka and it clashed with the new principality of Moscow, to which it finally succumbed in 1328. It began to decay in the 14th century.

Grand dukes of Vladimir

The state of Vladimir-Suzdal (formally the Grand Duchy of Vladimir) became dominant among the various petty principalities formed after the dissolution of the Kievan Rus' state. The title of Grand Duke of Vladimir became one of the three titles (along with Kiev and Novgorod) possessed by the most important rulers among the Russian nobility. Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, but it too disintegrated into a series of petty states, the most important of which became the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which itself eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia.

In 1332 the Grand Principality of Vladimir passed to the grand dukes of Moscow.

See also

* Vladimir the Great - Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015

References

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Further reading

* Bibliography of the history of the Early Slavs and Rus'
* Bibliography of Russian history (1223–1613)
* List of Slavic studies journals

Vladimir
Lists of Russian nobility