In the middle of the 15th century, the beginning unification of the Russian lands around Moscow was complicated by a difficult turmoil that lasted for almost three decades.
Feud between uncle and nephew
In 1425, the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily I died. At that time, his son Vasily was ten years old. Forty years older than him was his uncle Yuri, the appanage prince Dmitrovsky and Galitsky. Older than the Grand Duke were the sons of Yuri - Vasily, nicknamed the Kosoy, and Dmitry, nicknamed Shemyaka.
Since the time of Dmitry Donskoy, the custom of direct inheritance of the throne from father to son, and not from elder brother to younger, as was customary in Kievan Rus, began to be established. But the old custom stubbornly refused to leave. Yuri believed that the Moscow and Vladimir throne, after the death of his brother and with his young nephew, belonged to him by right. He sent an ambassador to Vasily with a demand to cede power. This is how the first stage of the Feudal War (as historians called it), or Shemyakin's Troubles (such a name was given to her by her contemporaries), began.
The rati of both sides met several times, but the matter did not come to a decisive battle. In 1428, Yuri recognized the seniority of his nephew. However, in 1430-1431, two high patrons of Vasily II died one after the other: the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt (Vasily's grandfather on his mother's side) and Metropolitan Photius. Yuri tore up the agreement and suggested that Vasily bring the issue of the great reign to the court of the Khan of the Golden Horde. The khan decided the case in favor of Vasily.
According to the chronicler, the Moscow ambassador was able to present the matter in such a way that Yuri relies on some ancient Russian customs, and Vasily is looking only for the mercy of the khan, which, he says, is above all customs, and will be an obedient tributary of the Horde. Vasily II returned to Moscow with the khan's label.
Promotional video:
Enmity between brothers
On February 8, 1433, at the wedding of the Grand Duke, both Yuryevichs who attended it were insulted. This was the reason for the resumption of the struggle.
As a result of the successful actions of his uncle, Vasily II was forced to flee from Moscow, and Yuri Dmitrievich solemnly entered it as the Grand Duke. He wanted to be magnanimous towards the deposed nephew and left him his hereditary Kolomna inheritance.
Kolomna became the center of attraction for the ousted Grand Duke. Supporters gathered to him from everywhere. Many boyars and the court left Yuri in Moscow and also went to Kolomna. Seeing himself in social isolation, Yuri agreed to return the great reign to him, and he retired to his own Galich in the north.
But his sons did not accept the contract. The Moscow army was beaten, and Yuri Dmitrievich in 1434 again entered the great reign. However, he died soon after, and his younger sons refused to recognize the seniority of their elder brother Vasily. His namesake again returned Moscow without a fight. Vasily Yurievich, however, continued the war, but in 1436 he was defeated, taken prisoner and blinded (which is why he was nicknamed Kosim in history).
Temporary celebration of Shemyaka
The act of civil strife, in which Shemyaka is the second protagonist, begins after that. True, several years have passed in a state of tense peace. Shemyaka reigned peacefully in his domains. But in 1445, near Suzdal, the Moscow army was defeated by the Kazan army, and the Grand Duke was taken prisoner. He was released on the promise of a huge ransom.
Vasily returned to Russia with the Tatar Baskaks, who began to collect a ransom. It seemed that the times of Batu had returned. Many boyars, merchants, and clergymen began to leave the Moscow prince. Taking advantage of the general murmur, Shemyaka in 1446 seized the grand princely throne. Accidentally capturing Vasily II, who was hiding near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he blinded him in revenge for his brother.
However, the enthusiasm of the Muscovites who solemnly greeted Shemyaka was soon replaced by disappointment. The “Shemyakin court” remained in the historical memory as the personification of bad governance. Generosity is probably a really bad quality of a ruler. Dmitry Yurievich freed Vasily (who was nicknamed the Dark) and gave him Vologda as his inheritance.
For the second time, the residence of Vasily II became the center of attraction for all the dissatisfied. Having received freedom of external relations, Vasily the Dark attracted many appanage princes to his side. By a deft maneuver, in 1447 he managed to capture Moscow, in which at that time there were no grand ducal ("Shemyakin") troops. From that time until his death in 1462, Vasily the Dark did not miss the throne.
Dmitry Shemyaka continued to unsuccessfully fight the troops of Vasily the Dark in the northern lands, but lost everything and fled to Novgorod in 1452. Nevertheless, in Moscow, apparently, he continued to be considered dangerous. In 1453, Shemyaka died, and the chroniclers unanimously assume that he was poisoned by people sent by the Dark Ones.
Why was it a civil war
The internecine war of the mid-15th century contributed to the concentration of power in the hands of one - the Moscow - Grand Duke. This was indifferent to whoever occupied the throne. Yuri and Dmitry Shemyaka also pursued a policy of centralization. The traditional notion that Vasily II personified the tendency towards the unification of the Russian lands, and his opponents sought to preserve the old appanage order, is groundless.
The transfer of supreme power has always been conditioned by public support. So, having reigned in Moscow, Yuri found himself alone. Another time, the indignation of wide circles of the population with the Tatars, cited by Vasily II, temporarily tipped the scales in favor of Dmitry Shemyaka.
In both cases, when Yuri and his son Dmitry had full opportunity to triumph over Vasily II, they showed generosity. Whereas the grand duke who won in the end appears to be insidious (he was the first to blind his captive enemy), and in some cases a servile servant of the Tatar khans.
Yaroslav Butakov