The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of

Vladimir-Suzdal The Principality of Suzdal, from 1157 the Grand Principality of Vladimir, commonly known as Vladimir-Suzdal, or simply Suzdalia, was a medieval principality that was established during the disintegration of Kievan Rus'. In historiography, the ...

. The title was passed to the

prince of Moscow The Grand Prince of Moscow (), known as the Prince of Moscow until 1389, was the ruler of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Moscow principality was initially established in the 13th century as an appanage within the Vladimir-Suzdal grand prin ...

in 1389.

Overview

The monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal's title, ''veliky

knyaz A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...

'' or ''velikii kniaz'' (, ) is variously translated into English as "

grand duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

" or "

grand prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) (; ; ; ; ) is a hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. Grand duke is the usual and established, though not litera ...

". Consequently, Vladimir-Suzdal has been interchangeably described as a "grand principality" or "grand duchy". Linguist Alan Timberlake (2000) found that the first time the phrase ''velikȳi knęz'' shows up in the '' Suzdalian Chronicle'' (in the '' Laurentian'', '' Radziwiłł'' and ''LPS'' manuscripts) is under the year 1186, where it is applied to Vsevolod Yurievich. In his early reign from 1177 to 1186, he is simply referred to as "prince Vsevolod" (''knęz (zhe) Vsevolod''). From 1157 to 1238, the principality's capital was Vladimir on the Klyazma, which had been founded in 1108. In 1151

Andrey Bogolyubsky Andrey Yuryevich Bogolyubsky (, lit. Andrey Yuryevich of Bogolyubovo; died 28 June 1174) was Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal from 1157 until his death. During repeated internecine wars between the princely clans, Andrey accompanied his father Yuri D ...

secretly left

Vyshgorod Vyshhorod (, ; ) is a city in Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine, situated immediately north of the capital Kyiv, and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It is on the right (western) bank of the Dnieper river and, as the location of the Kyiv Hydroe ...

, the domain of his father in the

Principality of Kiev The inner Principality of Kiev was a medieval principality centered on the city of Kiev. The principality was formed during the process of political fragmentation of the Kievan Rus' in the early 12th century. As a result of that process, the e ...

, and migrated to Suzdal. In 1157 he became prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov. He sacked Kiev in 1169, installing his younger brother

Gleb Gleb (; ) or Hlib (, ) is a Slavic male given name derived from the Old Norse name ''Guðleifr'', which means "heir of god." According to another version, the name Gleb comes from the name Olaf. It is popular in Russia due to an early martyr, Saint ...

as new grand prince of Kiev. The city of Vladimir was sacked by a

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

in 1238. The second important city,

Suzdal' Suzdal (, ) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located along the Kamenka tributary of the Nerl River, north of the city of Vladimir. As of the 2021 Census, its popu ...

, was also destroyed by Mongols. The entire principality was then overrun in 1242 by the Mongols under

Batu Khan Batu Khan (–1255) was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire established after Genghis Khan's demise. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis Khan. His '' ulus'' ruled over the Kievan ...

, founder of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( 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 division of ...

. The state of

(formally the grand principality of Vladimir) became dominant among the various petty northeastern Rus' principalities left after the dissolution of the Kievan Rus' state. The title of Grand Prince of Vladimir became one of the three titles (along with Kiev and Novgorod) possessed by the most important rulers among the Rus' nobility. In the forest region, Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, but it too disintegrated into a series of petty states. By the 14th century, Vladimir-Suzdal had splintered into various appanage principalities including Nizhny Novgorod (Novgorod-Suzdal),

Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...

and Moscow (Muscovy) who all claimed the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir, and sought to gain the favour of the Tatar-Mongol khan of the

to secure it. In the early 14th century, the khan awarded the title to

Yury of Moscow Yury (Georgy) Danilovich (; 1281 – 21 November 1325) was Prince of Moscow from 1303 to 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1318 to 1322. He contested the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir with his uncle Mikhail of Tver. As Yury's father ...

to counterbalance the strength of

; and after the

Tver Uprising of 1327 The Tver Uprising of 1327 () was a popular uprising against the Golden Horde by the people of the Principality of Tver. Their prince, Aleksandr, eventually fled to Pskov. The Tatars dispatched a punitive force led by Ivan I of Moscow and Alek ...

, which the Muscovites helped put down,

Özbeg Khan Giyasuddin Muhammad Uzbek Khan, better known as Özbeg (1282–1341), was the longest-reigning Khan (title), khan of the Golden Horde (1313–1341), under whose rule the state reached its zenith. He was succeeded by his son Tini Beg. He was the s ...

named Ivan "Kalita" of Moscow the new grand prince of Vladimir. By the mid-14th century and especially during the

Great Troubles The Great Troubles (, as found in Rus' chronicles), also known as the Golden Horde Dynastic War, was a war of succession in the Golden Horde from 1359 to 1381. This era, which followed shortly after the Black Death had ravaged the cities of the ...

(1359–1382), the khan's alliance with Moscow made the latter militarily and administratively powerful enough to economically and demographically devastate its rivals, notably Tver. The khans therefore started awarding the grand princely title to Moscow's rivals. In 1353, of

Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal The Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal (), also known as Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod (also spelt ''Nizhnii''), was a principality formed in 1341. Its main towns were Nizhny Novgorod, Suzdal, Gorokhovets, Gorodets, and Kurmysh. Nizhny Novgorod wa ...

unsuccessfully tried to obtain the title of grand prince of Vladimir, and in 1371 it was awarded to

Mikhail II of Tver Mikhail Alexandrovich () (1333 – August 26, 1399) was Grand Prince of Tver and briefly held the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir. He was one of only two Tver princes after 1317 (the other was his father, Aleksandr) to hold the grand princely ti ...

. But by that time it was too late for the Golden Horde to curb the rise of Muscovy.

Tokhtamysh Tokhtamysh ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: توقتمش; ; ; – 1406) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1380 to 1395. He briefly succeeded in consolidating the Blue and White Hordes into a single polity. Tokhtamysh belonged to the House of Bo ...

allowed

Vasily I of Moscow Vasily I Dmitriyevich (; 30 December 137127 February 1425) was Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow from 1389. He was the heir of Dmitry Donskoy, who reigned from 1359 to 1389. He entered an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1392 a ...

to succeed his father

Dmitry Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol ...

as grand prince of Vladimir in 1389.

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Bibliography

* (e-book). * * {{Cite journal , last1=Timberlake , first1=Alan , date=2000 , title=Who Wrote the Laurentian Chronicle (1177–1203)? , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24003133 , journal=Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie , publisher=Universitätsverlag WINTER , volume=59 , issue=2 , pages=237–265 *

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

Russian monarchy

Overview

List

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography