Simeon Ivanovich Gordiy (the Proud) (Семён Иванович Гордый in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

) (7 September 1317 – 27 April 1353) was Prince of Moscow and

Grand Prince 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 ...

. Simeon continued his father's policies aimed to increase the power and prestige of his state. Simeon's rule was marked by regular military and political standoffs against the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

. His relationships with neighboring Russian principalities remained peaceful if not passive: Simeon stayed aside from conflicts between subordinate princes. He had recourse to war only when war was unavoidable. A relatively quiet period for Moscow was ended by the Black Death that claimed the lives of Simeon and his sons in 1353.

Biography

In 1340 Simeon, the eldest son of

Ivan Kalita 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 D ...

, was stationed in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. Upon receiving news of his father's death, Simeon and his brothers Andrey and

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

left for the

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

to seek

Uzbeg Khan The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak m ...

's patent (''yarlyk'') for taking over the title of Grand Prince. Rivals Konstantin of Tver and Konstantin of Suzdal also paid their homage to the Khan, claiming seniority over Moscow princes.Curtin, p. 336 Simeon won the patent through bribing the Khan's retinue;Karamzin, ''1340'' princes of

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 ...

and Suzdal had to agree to his seniority; Uzbeq also extended his benevolence to Simeon's issue. He was also granted the ceremonial title () by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

,Anton Kartashev. History of the Russian church
/ref> which can be loosely translated as seneschal or

stolnik Pantler (, , russian: сто́льник, ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. Stolnik in Crown of Poland In the Crown of Poland und ...

. In the same 1340 Simeon engaged in his first military standoff with

Veliky Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

. Simeon claimed his right to collect taxes in the Novgorodian town of

Torzhok Torzhok (russian: Торжо́к) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Tvertsa River along the federal highway M10 and a branch of the Oktyabrskaya Railway division of the Russian Railways. The town is famous for its folk craft of ...

. Torzhok

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars wer ...

locked up Simeon's tax collectors and called for help from Novgorod. Simeon and metropolitan

Theognostus Theognostus (russian: Феогност; died 11 March 1353) was a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople who served as Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'. Life Theognostus was born in Constantinople and later in his life became P ...

hastily organized a coalition of princes against Novgorod, claiming that "They ovgorodiansmake war and peace with whomever they please, consulting no one. Novgorod regards not all Russia, and will not obey her Grand Prince", referring to Novgorod incursions into Ustyuzhna and Beloe Ozero.Curtin, p. 337 As the coalition forces approached Novgorodian lands, the people of Torzhok revolted against the boyars and sided with Muscovite troops.

accepted the fact and ceded all taxes from Torzhok area, estimated at 1,000 roubles in silver annually, to Simeon who agreed to honor the existing civic charter.Karamzin, ''1340'' In 1341, shortly after the dismissal of the Muscovite coalition army, Algirdas (then prince of

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

, allied with prince of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

) besieged

Mozhaysk MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. ( rus, Можа́йск, p=mɐˈʐajsk) is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to th ...

. News of the death of

Gediminas Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...

forced Algirdas to quit the campaign before Simeon could arrange a military response.Karamzin, ''1341''

, Simeon's sovereign, died soon afterwards; his successor,

Jani Beg Jani Beg ( fa, , tt-Latn, Canibäk), also known as Djanibek Khan, was a Khan of the Golden Horde from 1342 to 1357, succeeding his father Öz Beg Khan. Reign With the support of his mother Taydula Khatun, Jani Beg made himself khan after eli ...

, secured the control of the Horde through killing his brothers. Simeon and Theognostus had to travel to the Horde again. Jani Beg reassured Simeon in his rights and let him go, but kept Theognostus hostage to extort money from the church; eventually, Theognostus was released for 600 roubles.Karamzin, ''1342'' In 1333, Simeon married Aigusta (Anastasia), sister of Algirdas.Basil Dmytryshyn, ''Medieval Russia:A source book, 850-1700'', (Academic International Press, 2000), 193. After her death in 1345, Simeon married Eupraxia of Smolensk, but soon sent her back to her family, claiming that Eupraxia was cursed since wedding and "appears to be dead each night". Eupraxia remarried Prince Fominsky, and Simeon married Maria of Tver; their four sons died in infancy.Karamzin, ''1353'' Throughout the 1340s Lithuanian and Swedish military campaigns and internal political disarray decreased the influence of the Novgorod Republic. Simeon, whose title of Grand Prince obliged him to protect Novgorod, was reluctant to do so, as if expecting the weakened republic to collapse for his own benefit. In 1347, when Novgorodians called for help against the Swedes, Simeon dispatched his brother Ivan and

Constantine of Rostov Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

; the envoys refused to fight for the Novgorodians.Karamzin, ''1347'' Simeon himself was busy with offsetting the Lithuanians' influence in the Horde, meanwhile harboring two renegade Lithuanian princes as potential claimants to the Lithuanian crown.Curtin, p. 338 He manipulated Jani Beg into believing that increasing Lithuanian influence became the most important threat to the Horde.Curtin, p. 339 Jani Beg eventually concurred with Simeon's envoys (of Mongolian ethnicity) and

extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

Lithuanian envoys to Simeon's mercy. Simeon preferred to sign a truce with Algirdas, releasing the prisoners and securing marriages between Lithuanian princes and Russian brides. The marriage of pagan Algirdas to Orthodox

Uliana of Tver Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver (russian: Юлиания Александровна Тверская; – 17 March 1391) was a daughter of Prince Alexander of Tver and Anastasia of Halych (daughter of Yuri I of Galicia). She was the second wif ...

, unlawful from the viewpoint of the church, was nevertheless approved by Theognostus; it gave birth to Jogaila.Karamzin, ''1349'' In 1351–1352 Simeon raised arms against Algirdas over control of small towns in

area. This conflict, again, did not develop into an open war as Algirdas preferred negotiations to fighting. Although the first round of talks was broken by Lithuanians, Simeon secured the disputed towns for Moscow. This campaign was his last act of Simeon's life.Curtin, p. 340 The Black Death was recorded in present-day southern Russia and Ukraine as early as 1346. It hit

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

in 1349, Pskov in the beginning of 1352 and Novgorod in August 1352; by the end of the year two thirds of Pskov were reported dead. The same pattern repeated in Lithuania and north-eastern Russia.Karamzin, ''1352'' In 1353

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

arrived in Moscow, killing Theognostus, Simeon, his two sons, Simeon Simeonovich, Ivan Simeonovich and his brother Andrey who survived Simeon by six weeks. Before his death in 1353, Simeon took monastic vows and took the name of Sozont. He installed

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

as Metropolitan of Moscow, successor to the late Theognostus, and secured a profitable estate for Maria. Simeon’s will is considered to be the first usage of paper in Russia, as

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

was used previously. Simeon is buried in the

Archangel Cathedral The Cathedral of the Archangel (russian: Архангельский собор, Arkhangel'skiy sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the G ...

of the Moscow Kremlin.

Issue

With Aigusta of Lithuania

*Vasili Simeonovich (12 April 1337 – 1338) *Vasilisa Simeonova (died 20 April 1369), married ''Prince Mikhail Vasilievich of Kashin'' *Konstantin Simeonovich (born and died in 1341) *A daughter who married ''Aleksandr of Lithuania'', son of Karijotas of Poland

With Maria of Tver

*Daniil Simeonovich (15 December 1347 – died young) *Mikhail Simeonovich (1348 – died young) *Ivan Simeonovich (1351 – March 1353), died at the same time as his father of the

*Simeon Simeonovich (1352 – March 1353), died at the same time as his father of the

Notes

References