If before the invasion of the Tatars, Russia consisted of large principalities (Rostov-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev, Ryazan, Smolensk, Chernigov and others), then with the beginning of vassal dependence, appanage princes were able to formalize their cities as independent hereditary feudal possessions.
And they immediately used it.
The collapse of the Old Russian state and Lithuania
Thus, full-fledged independent states appeared, the number of which soon began to be measured in tens. And although formally the eldest among the princes was considered to be Vladimir, everyone understood that the real supreme power was in the Horde. And independent princes can do whatever they want in their domains, regardless of tradition and seniority.
Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas - founder of the dynasty.
The rapid rise of Lithuania began in the 14th century. Despite its name, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was created on the ancient Russian lands and had the same relation to the indigenous ethnic Lithuania - Samogitia and Aukshaitia - as the Russian principalities to the Finno-Ugrians, who once inhabited the expanses of North-Eastern Russia.
If in the ancient Russian principalities the Rurikovichs remained in power, then in Lithuania its own dynasty of Gediminids appeared.
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The ruling surname, apparently, came from the tribal princes of the Yatvingians, who at that time had the fame of real savages and robbers.
In general, in the Middle Ages, when everyone enthusiastically cut each other, only peoples with a special character could gain the reputation of robbers. The Yatvyags just could boast of this.
The militancy of the Lithuanian Gediminids became an important factor in their politics.
Three parts of Russian lands after the invasion of the Tatars
A hundred years after the invasion of the Tatars, the Russian lands looked completely different. In the northeast there was a conglomerate of many appanage principalities under the formal authority of Moscow. However, its rulers were called the Grand Dukes of Vladimir: Moscow lands were still not prestigious enough to give the right to rule over other Russian principalities.
Moscow in the XIV century.
Rurikovichs, the old Russian dynasty, ruled in all the lands of this region. Formally, Muscovite Rus remained a vassal of the Horde. In fact, vassal obligations were ignored from the middle of the XIV century, and dependence was limited to the payment of tribute.
In the west lay the possessions of the Gediminids. Their first big acquisitions were the Polotsk and Turov principalities, which were previously ruled by the princes of the Rurik house. Together with Vilna, these territories constituted the indigenous lands of Lithuania.
In the XIV century, the power of the Lithuanian princes began to gradually spread to the neighboring Russian principalities: Kiev, Smolensk, Pereyaslavsk, Novgorod-Seversk. However, having seized these areas, Lithuania fell into vassal dependence on the Horde. Accordingly, since 1362, the Gediminovichs received khan's labels for the right to own part of Russia and paid the due tribute.
Further in the south-west were the lands of the Galician princes.
Daniil Galitsky from the Rurikovich family, a descendant of the Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh, in 1252 received from the Pope the title of "King of Russia".
With the help of the prestigious royal crown, he hoped to consolidate his power.
"King of Russia" Daniil Galitsky.
However, his heirs forgot about the title, and the next "king of Russia" was only Daniel's grandson - Yuri.
Why exactly he? Under Yuri, the Galician and Volyn principalities were united. However, at the same time, the stronger Poland and Lithuania were nearby, and Galician Rus - as the most distant, peripheral part of the Russian lands - was doomed to be torn apart by its neighbors.
Galicia, of course, was also a vassal of the Golden Horde, paid tribute to the khans and even sent troops to participate in joint campaigns with the Tatars against Poland.
Confrontation between Moscow and Lithuania
In the second half of the XIV century, the political situation in the Russian lands changed dramatically. In the east, the rise of Moscow led to the first attempt to free itself from the Tatar yoke: the Russian army of the Moscow prince Dmitry won the battle on the Kulikovo field.
Battle of Kulikovo. Artist S. Prisekin.
In the west, the expansion of Lithuania led to a conflict with Moscow. Their confrontation became the main content of Russian domestic politics for the next hundred years.
The conflict was associated with the solution of the issue of the unification of Rus. Both the old Rurikovichs and the new Gediminovichs claimed the role of head of the new unified state.
Initially, the position of the Lithuanian princes was stronger due to the number of troops and the wealth of possessions, however, in terms of legitimacy, the Moscow princes were in a more advantageous position. They were the ones who could claim to restore power by the right of dynastic succession.
Later, a religious conflict between Orthodoxy and Catholicism was added to the confrontation. But in the XIV-XV centuries, the descendants of the appanage princes - who were all Rurikovichs without exception - had a simple choice: to serve the Grand Duke from "their" dynasty or from a foreign one. Many deliberately chose “their own”.
Adventures of the title of "King of Russia"
But Galician Rus ceased to exist at the end of the XIV century. Since 1349, there was a fierce struggle between Poland and Lithuania for the lands of Galicia.
"King of Russia" Casimir III with his subjects.
The war ends in 1392 with the partition of the failed kingdom. Galicia began to belong to Poland, and Volyn went to Lithuania. At the same time, the Lithuanian princes began to be called the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and Russia. The Polish kings Louis and Casimir III also used the title "King of Russia" for some time.
The following Polish rulers, already from the Gediminovich dynasty, forgot about the Galician title. But the Hungarian kings immediately remembered him.
Using the title, they symbolized the claims to the lands of Galicia, originating from its first conqueror, King Louis. The monarch was concurrently the ruler of not only Poland, but also Hungary.
Then it was even more interesting. In the 16th century, the Austrian Habsburgs became the kings of Hungary. They did not forget about the old title and continued to use it.
"Reitan - the decline of Poland. " Artist Jan Matejko.
The title of the kings of Galicia and Lodomeria (Lodomeria is the name of the Vladimir-Volyn lands distorted by the Hungarians and Germans) has already become a real title of the crown Austrian possession.
And how did it end?
In the 15th century, great changes took place on the Russian lands. Moscow was able to subjugate most of the Russian principalities that were once part of the Old Russian state. This gave its rulers the opportunity to legally accept the title of sovereign of all Russia, announcing the continuity of their power from the Kiev Rurikovichs, and at the same time the rights to all lands that were previously part of the Kiev state.
The first sovereign of all Russia Ivan III.
Lithuania, having fallen into dependence on Catholic Poland, gradually lost possession. The appanage princes of Lithuania, using the feudal right of departure, went to the service of the Moscow Rurikovichs together with their principalities.
Already at the end of the century, the Moscow principality was completely freed from the power of the Horde, while Lithuania continued to pay tribute and receive labels from the Crimean Khanate.
Thus ended the history of the Middle Ages on the lands of Russia.
Mikhail Diunov