North-Eastern Rus principalities - 13th century

The Principality of Yaroslavl (russian: Ярославское княжество, Yaroslavskoye knyazhestvo) was a Rus' principality with its capital in the city of

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

. It existed from 1218 until 1463 (''de jure'' until 1471) when it became part of the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

History

Foundation

The Principality of Yaroslavl separated from the Grand Duchy of

Vladimir-Suzdal Vladimir-Suzdal (russian: Владимирско-Су́здальская, ''Vladimirsko-Suzdal'skaya''), also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir (1157–1331) (russian: Владимиро-Су́здальс ...

when the sons of Konstantin Vsevolodovich divided his lands upon his death. Vsevolod Konstantinovich inherited the lands around Yaroslavl on both banks of the Volga River with its feeders — the

Mologa Mologa (russian: Моло́га) was a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, formerly situated at the confluence of the rivers Mologa and Volga, but now submerged under the waters of the Rybinsk Reservoir. Mologa existed at least since the 12th cen ...

, the Yukhot', the Ikhra, the Sit', the

Sheksna The Sheksna (russian: Шексна́) is a river in Belozersky, Kirillovsky, Sheksninsky, and Cherepovetsky Districts of Vologda Oblast in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Volga. It is long, and the area of its basin .

and

Lake Kubenskoye Lake Kubenskoye (russian: Кубенское озеро) is a large and shallow lake in Vologda Oblast of Russia, situated at the height of 110.1 metres above mean sea level, stretching for 54 km from north-west to south-east. The lake area i ...

. In 1238 the city was sacked by the

Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, destroying numerous southern cities, including the largest cities, Kiev (50,000 inhabitants) and Chernihiv (30,000 inhabitants), with the only major cities escaping destr ...

. In the

Battle of the Sit River The Battle of the Sit River was fought in the northern part of the present-day Sonkovsky District of Tver Oblast of Russia, close to the selo of ''Bozhonka'', on March 4, 1238 between the Mongol Hordes of Batu Khan and the Rus' under Grand Prin ...

on March 4, 1238, Vsevolod Konstantinovich was killed and the Russians defeated. As the result, the Mongol-Tatar Yoke established upon the Principality of Yaroslavl and all the Nort-East Rus' lands. In 1262 the uprising against the Mongol tribute collectors ended in killing of all the local tatars. The vindictive attack was prevented by

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...

, who went to the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

for negotiations.

During the Mongol-Tatar Yoke

Later the sons of Vsevolod Konstantinovich ruled in the principality. Vasilii Vsevolodovich stayed in power from 1238-1249. His brother Konstantin Vsevolodovich ruled after his death. On 3 July, 1257, the battle of Tugova gora ended with another defeat of Russians, Konstantin Vsevolodovich was killed. Then a group of princes decided Vasilii's son-in-law should be ruler: Fedor Rostislavich Cherni, son of the ruler of Smolensk. His second wife was Anna, a daughter to the warlord

Mengu-Timur Munkh Tumur or Möngke Temür ( mn, ᠮᠦᠨᠺᠬᠲᠡᠮᠦᠷ, Мөнхтөмөр; russian: Мангутемир, Mangutemir) (?–1280), son of Toqoqan Khan and Köchu Khatun of Oirat (daughter of Toralchi Küregen and granddaughter of Qu ...

. In 1332

Ivan I of Moscow Iván I Danilovich Kalitá (Russian: Ива́н I Данилович Калита́; 1 November 1288 – 31 March 1340 or 1341Basil Dmytryshyn, ''Medieval Russia:A source book, 850-1700'', (Academic International Press, 2000), 194.) was Grand Du ...

burnt down Yaroslavl under the Khan's orders. Then he forced the prince, Vasilii Davidovich Groznii to marry his daughter Yevdokia. Vasilii tried to be independent, adopting the title

Grand prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

and allying with

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

but the Khan ordered him to stay loyal to Moscow. The last Grand Prince of Yaroslavl was Aleksandr Fedorovich Brukhatii who was forced to sign away the succession to

Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...

. Having emerged from the

Principality of Rostov Vladimir-Suzdal (russian: Владимирско-Су́здальская, ''Vladimirsko-Suzdal'skaya''), also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir (1157–1331) (russian: Владимиро-Су́здальс ...

, in 14th–15th centuries it dissipated into ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

'' (1978), vol. 30, p. 559 and was ultimately incorporated into

Notes

Sources

Medieval Russia Subdivisions of Kievan Rus' {{Russia-hist-stub