Prince of Moscow

This article is about the princes of Moscow until 1547. For the title created by Napoleon, see Prince de la Moskowa.

The Prince of Moscow (Russian: князь Московский, romanized: knyaz Moskovskiy), later known as the Grand Prince of Moscow (великий князь Московский, velikiy knyaz Moskovskiy), was the title of the ruler of the Principality of Moscow, initially a part of the grand principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. By the late 14th century, the grand principality was inherited by the prince of Moscow;^[1] the monarch bore the title of grand prince of Vladimir and Moscow and later the title of grand prince of Vladimir, Moscow and all Russia.^[2][3]

History

The grand principality of Vladimir-Suzdal fell apart into feuding appanages over the course of the 13th century. The princes of Moscow were descendants of Daniel.^[4] As Daniel never became grand prince of Vladimir before he died in 1303,^[5] this meant that according to traditional succession practices, his descendants were izgoi: his son and successor Yury of Moscow had no legitimate claim to the throne of Vladimir.^[5] This is why Tokhta Khan granted Mikhail of Tver the grand princely title when Andrey of Gorodets died the next year (27 July 1304).^[5] Nevertheless, the princes of Moscow managed to play towards the favour of the Mongol khans of the Golden Horde in order to be awarded the grand princely title through a yarlik by the second quarter of the 14th century, in disregard of dynastic traditions.^[6] The Horde sought to use Moscow to weaken the Principality of Tver (the strongest principality),^[7] but by the second half of the 14th century, when the Horde got embroiled in a decades-long war of succession known as the Great Troubles, the Muscovite princes managed to grow too powerful, and the khans were too late to start awarding the yarlik of grand prince of Vladimir to the princes of Tver instead in order to keep Moscow in check.^[8] Dmitry Donskoy passed the grand principality to his son Vasily I in his 1389 will,^[9] thus usurping the right of the khan to choose the grand prince.^[10]

List of princes

Name	Lifespan	Reign start	Reign end	Notes	Family	Image
Daniel Даниил Александрович	1261 – 4 March 1303	1283	4 March 1303	Son of Alexander Nevsky and Maria	Yurievichi
Yury Юрий Данилович	1281 – 21 November 1325	4 March 1303	21 November 1325	Son of Daniel Elder brother of Ivan I	Daniilovichi
Ivan I Иван I Даниилович Калита	1288 – 1340	1332	31 March 1340	He was a successor of Alexander of Suzdal as Grand Prince of Vladimir and a successor of Yury of Moscow as Grand Prince of Moscow	Daniilovichi
Simeon Семён Иванович Гордый	7 November 1316 – 27 April 1353	31 March 1340	27 April 1353	Son of Ivan I and Helena	Daniilovichi
Ivan II Иван II Иванович Красный	30 March 1326 – 13 November 1359	27 April 1353	13 November 1359	Son of Ivan I and Helena Younger brother of Simeon of Moscow	Daniilovichi
Dmitry Donskoy Дмитрий Иванович Донской	12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389	13 November 1359	19 May 1389	Son of Ivan II and Alexandra Vasilyevna Velyaminova	Daniilovichi
Vasily I Василий Дмитриевич	30 December 1371 – 27 February 1425	19 May 1389[11]	27 February 1425[11]	Son of Dmitry I and Eudoxia Dmitriyevna	Daniilovichi
Vasily II Василий Васильевич (Василий Тёмный)	10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462	27 February 1425	30 March 1434	Son of Vasily I and Sophia of Lithuania. Deposed Regent: Sophia of Lithuania (1425–1432)	Daniilovichi
Yury of Zvenigorod Юрий Дмитриевич	26 November 1374 – 5 June 1434	31 March 1434	5 June 1434	Son of Dmitry I and Eudoxia Dmitriyevna Younger brother of Vasily I	Daniilovichi
Vasily the Squint of Zvenigorod Василий Юрьевич (Василий Косой)	1421 – 1448	5 June 1434	1435	Son of Yury of Zvenigorod and Anastasia of Smolensk	Daniilovichi
Vasily II the Dark Василий Васильевич (Василий Тёмный)	10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462	1435	1446	Restored	Daniilovichi
Dmitry Shemyaka Дмитрий Юрьевич (Дмитрий Шемяка)	1400s – 17 July 1453	1446	26 March 1447	Son of Yury of Zvenigorod and Anastasia of Smolensk, brother of Vasily the Squint First to use the title of Ospodar of all the Rus'	Daniilovichi
Vasily II the Dark Василий Васильевич (Василий Тёмный)	10 March 1415 – 27 March 1462	27 February 1447	27 March 1462	Restored Co-ruler: Ivan (since 1449)	Daniilovichi
Ivan III the Great Иван Васильевич (Иван Великий)	22 January 1440 – 6 November 1505	5 April 1462	6 November 1505	Son of Vasily II and Maria of Borovsk Co-rulers: Ivan the Young (1471–1490), Dmitry the Grandson (1498–1502), Vasily (since 1502)	Daniilovichi
Vasily III Василий Иванович	25 March 1479 – 13 December 1533	6 November 1505	13 December 1533	Son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue	Daniilovichi
Ivan IV the Terrible Иван Васильевич	25 August 1530 – 28 March 1584	13 December 1533	26 January 1547	Son of Vasily III and Elena Glinskaya Regent: Elena Glinskaya (1533–1538)	Daniilovichi

See also

• List of Russian monarchs
• Family tree of Russian monarchs

References

1. Fennell 2022, p. 306, in the conversion of the principality of Moscow into the grand principality of Vladimir and Moscow.
2. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. (29 September 2005). Russian Identities: A Historical Survey. Oxford University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-19-534814-9.
3. Filjushkin 2006, pp. 193–201.
4. Martin 2007, pp. 193, 428.
5. Martin 2007, p. 193.
6. Martin 2007, pp. 193–194, 221.
7. Halperin 1987, p. 71.
8. Halperin 1987, p. 100.
9. Fennell 2022, But the most vivid proof of the assimilation of the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow is to be found in Dmitry Donskoy's will of 1389 in which he bequeaths Vladimir to his eldest son.
10. Langer, Lawrence N. (15 September 2021). Historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1942-6.
11. Martin 2007, p. 222.

Bibliography

• Fennell, John (23 September 2022). The Emergence of Moscow, 1304-1359. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-34758-8.
• Filjushkin, Alexander (2006). Tituly russkikh gosudarey Титулы русских государей [The Titles of Russian Rulers] (in Russian). Moscow, St. Petersburg: Al'yans-Arkheo. ISBN 9785988740117.
• Alef, Gustave (1959). "The Political Significance of the Inscriptions on Muscovite Coinage in the Reign of Vasili II". Speculum. 34 (1): 1–19. doi:10.2307/2847975. JSTOR 2847975.
• Halperin, Charles J. (1987). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. Indiana University. p. 222. ISBN 9781850430575. (e-book).
• Martin, Janet (2007). Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-36800-4.