But the Suzdal princes came to regard their territories as private, hereditary property, and, contrary to Russian custom, they divided it among their heirs. Suzdal–Vladimir thus disintegrated into small principalities (13th and 14th centuries), which nominally recognized the seniority of the grand prince of Vladimir. After the Tatar invasion (1237–40), they became subject to the Golden Horde. Prince Konstantin Vasilyevich (1332–55) attempted to rebuild the area of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod, which the Tatar khan Jani Beg had made into a new grand duchy (c. 1342). His son Dmitry was briefly the grand prince of Vladimir (1359–62). Nevertheless, the title of grand prince soon reverted to the princes of Moscow, and in 1392 Prince Vasily I Dmitriyevich of Moscow annexed the Suzdal–Nizhny Novgorod region.
Vasily I
▪ grand prince of Moscow
in full Vasily Dmitriyevich
born 1371
died February 1425, Moscow
grand prince of Moscow from 1389 to 1425.
While still a youth, Vasily, who was the eldest son of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy (ruled Moscow 1359–89), travelled to the Tatar khan Tokhtamysh (1383) to obtain the Khan's patent for his father to rule the Russian lands as the grand prince of Vladimir. Diplomatically overcoming the challenge of the prince of Tver, who also sought the patent, Vasily succeeded in his mission. But he was subsequently kept at Tokhtamysh's court as a hostage until 1386 when, taking advantage of Tokhtamysh's conflict with his suzerain Timur Lenk (Tamerlane), he escaped and returned to Moscow.
Despite the hostility caused by his flight, in 1388 Vasily led a Muscovite military contingent in Tokhtamysh's campaign against Timur Lenk in Central Asia; and after returning home he received Tokhtamysh's patent and succeeded his father as grand prince of Moscow and Vladimir (1389). Embarking on a program of aggrandizement for Moscow, Vasily (with permission from Tokhtamysh) annexed the principalities of Nizhny Novgorod and Murom, thereby increasing Moscow's control over the central Volga region. His efforts to expand westward, however, brought him into conflict with both Lithuania (with which he had maintained cordial relations, particularly after marrying the Grand Duke's daughter Sophia in 1390) and Novgorod. Although he temporarily settled the Muscovite–Lithuanian territorial disputes by placing the border between the two states along the Ugra River, his clashes with Novgorod continued intermittently from 1397 to 1417.
Vasily also remained involved in Tatar politics. In 1395 he raised an army to fight Timur Lenk, who had invaded the Russian lands after defeating Tokhtamysh. Timur Lenk retreated before engaging Vasily in battle, and during the next decade the Muscovite Grand Prince was able to make his state effectively independent of Tatar dominance. In 1408, however, Edigü, who had replaced Tokhtamysh and reorganized the Tatar khanate, laid siege to Moscow and compelled Vasily to resume his tribute payments to the Khan and again recognize Tatar suzerainty.
Vasily II
▪ grand prince of Moscow
in full Vasily Vasilyevich , byname Vasily the Blind , Russian Vasily Tyomny
born 1415
died March 27, 1462, Moscow
grand prince of Moscow from 1425 to 1462.
Although the 10-year-old Vasily II was named by his father Vasily I (ruled Moscow 1389–1425) to succeed him as the grand prince of Moscow and of Vladimir, Vasily's rule was challenged by his uncle Yury and his cousins Vasily the Squint-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka. After a long, chaotic, and bitter struggle, during which Vasily not only temporarily lost his throne both to Yury (1434) and to Dmitry Shemyaka (1446–47) but was also blinded by Dmitry (1446), Vasily recovered his position (1447) and ruled Muscovy for another 15 years.
Despite the prolonged internal discord, which finally ended in 1452, Muscovy made great strides toward becoming a large, politically consolidated, powerful Russian state during Vasily's reign. The Russian Church asserted its independence from the patriarch at Constantinople; and the state of Muscovy, in an effort to enlarge its territories, absorbed most of the neighbouring principalities. It gained suzerainty over the Grand Principality of Ryazan (1447) and the city of Vyatka (1460; now Kirov). To pursue his policy of aggrandizement without foreign interference, Vasily concluded a non-aggression pact with Lithuania in 1449. He could not, however, avoid intermittent conflict with the rival Tatar hordes bordering his lands on the south and east, one of which tried unsuccessfully to storm Moscow in 1451. Nevertheless, he welcomed individual Tatars at his court and, encouraging them to enter his service, established a vassal Tatar horde to defend his state's southeastern frontier (c. 1453). By the end of his reign he had also substantially reduced the domination of the Tatar khan, who formally remained his suzerain, over Muscovy.
Tver
▪ Russia
formerly (1931–90) Kalinin,
city and administrative centre of Tver oblast (province), western Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the upper Volga and Tvertsa rivers.
The first mention of Tver dates from 1134–35, when it was subject to Novgorod. It became part of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal in 1209, and in 1246 it became the capital of the Principality of Tver. In 1327, with its kremlin large and well fortified, Tver organized an uprising against the Tatars but was defeated. The Principality of Tver was annexed by Moscow in 1485. In the 14th and 15th centuries Tver was well known as an important crafts centre. With the construction of the Vyshny Volochok canal system between the Tvertsa and the Msta rivers in 1703–08, river trade through Tver became important. Although this route is no longer used, Tver remains the major river port of the upper Volga and is linked by the Moscow Canal to the national capital. The city was laid out in a gridiron pattern in the 18th century, and a number of historic buildings survive.
Tver is now the centre of a major flax-growing region and is also an industrial centre, with emphasis on textile manufacturing and other light industries and on the manufacture of railroad rolling stock. It was renamed Kalinin in 1931 after Mikhail Kalinin (1875–1946), a revolutionary and ceremonial head of state of the Soviet Union, but it reverted to its old name in 1990. The city was severely damaged during World War II when it was captured and occupied by the Germans in 1941. Its buildings were subsequently restored. Pop. (1989 prelim.) 451,000.
▪ historical principality, Russia
in full Principality Of Tver, Russian Tver, or Tverskoye Knyazhestvo,
medieval principality located in the region northwest of Moscow and centring on the city of Tver and including the towns of Kashin, Mikulin, Kholm, Dorogobuzh, and Staritsa. Descendants of Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich (brother of Alexander Nevsky and son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich) founded the principality in 1246. Under their rule Tver rivaled Moscow for supremacy in northeastern Russia during the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1305 Yaroslav's son Michael I was made grand prince of Vladimir (i.e., chief among the Russian princes). Yury of Moscow, however, gained the support of Öz Beg (Uzbek), khan (1313–41) of the Golden Horde, and in 1317 replaced Michael as grand prince. Michael refused to accept his loss and defeated the military force sent by Öz Beg and Yury to dethrone him. He was killed by Öz Beg in 1318.
In 1322 the patent conferring the title was again bestowed on a Tver prince, Dmitry Mikhaylovich. But he was executed (1326) by Öz Beg for killing Yury of Moscow. The patent was then passed to his brother Alexander, who held it until the Tver population revolted against Mongol officials (1327). Tver was then plundered by an expedition sent by the Golden Horde; the patent for the grand prince of Vladimir was never again bestowed upon a Tver prince.