The actions of Vasilii's regents secured the loyalty of the young prince's uncle Konstantin. His uncle Andrei, one of the regents, also favoured his nephew. After Andrei died in 1432, his sons, Ivan of Mozhaisk and Mikhail of Vereia, rapidly concluded treaties of friendship with their cousin. Petr died without heirs. But the same actions intensified the opposition of Prince Iurii Dmitr'evich of Zvenigorod and Galich. As the oldest surviving brother of Vasilii I, he regarded himself as the senior member of the dynasty and the rightful heir. He had expressed his discontent in i425, by refusing to come to Moscow to swear allegiance to his nephew and preparing for war. But he was dissuaded from initiating hostilities by Metropolitan Fotii (Photios), an outbreak of plague and the threat of intervention by Vitovt ofLithuania.51 Iurii accepted Vasilii as grand prince, but only until the matter was referred to the khan of the Golden Horde.52
The issue was not brought before the khan until late summer 1431, after both Vitovt and Fotii had died. In June i432, Khan Ulu-Muhammed favoured Vasilii with a patent for the grand principality of Vladimir. He determined, however, that Iurii should receive the disputed principality of Dmitrov.53 When Vasilii refused to cede Dmitrov, Iurii staged a campaign against him. This action, which resulted in the defeat of Vasilii, opened the first stage of the civil war. Iurii replaced Vasilii as grand prince and issued Kolomna to his nephew as an apanage principality. Vasilii, however, retained the loyalty of his courtiers, who moved to Kolomna in support of their prince. Iurii was obliged to withdraw and return the grand principality as well as Dmitrov to
Vasilii.54
Iurii returned to Galich. But his two elder sons, Vasilii Kosoi (the Cross-Eyed) and Dmitrii Shemiaka, had not supported his decision or his subsequent agreement with Vasilii II. In September 1433, the restored grand prince launched an unsuccessful campaign against them. The renewed hostilities drew Iurii back into the conflict. After suffering another defeat in March 1434, Vasilii II fled to Novgorod, then to Tver' and Nizhnii Novgorod. In the meantime Iurii besieged Moscow and again occupied the capital. This time he received greater support, but he died suddenly in 1434.55
51 Vernadsky, Mongols, p. 295; Zimin, Vitiaz', pp. 33-7; Crummey, Formation of Muscovy, p. 69; Presniakov, Formation, p. 323.
52 Dukhovnye i dogovornyegramoty, no. 24, pp. 63-7; Zimin, Vitiaz', pp. 39-40; Alef,'Origins',
34.
53 Zimin, Vitiaz', p. 47; Vernadsky, Mongols, pp. 299-300; Presniakov Formation, pp. 325-6.
54 Presniakov, Formation, pp. 326-7; Alef, 'Origins', 31; Crummey Formation of Muscovy, p. 70; Zimin, Vitiaz', pp. 57-8, 60; Vernadsky, Mongols, p. 300.
55 Zimin, Vitiaz', pp. 62-7; Vernadsky, Mongols, p. 300; Alef,'Origins', 31; Crummey, Formation of Muscovy, p. 71; Presniakov Formation, p. 327.
The death of Iurii Dmitr'evich ended the first phase of the civil war. His son, Vasilii Kosoi, launched the second phase (1434-6). His attempt to replace his father ended in failure. Vasilii Kosoi, whose own brothers refused to fight on his behalf, could not gain sufficient support for his claim to the throne. Vasilii Vasil'evich, who had become the legitimate heir by traditional principles of seniority as well as his father's will and the khan's patent, recovered his position as well as Dmitrov and his cousin's principality, Zvenigorod. The two princes reached an accord in 1435. But in the winter of 1435-6, Kosoi attacked Galich, the seat of one of his brothers, Ustiug, and Vologda. He was captured in May 1436, blinded and sent to Kolomna. The defeated Vasilii Kosoi died in 1447/8.[129]
Vasilii II remained at peace with his relatives for the next decade. But in 1445, he was captured by the Tatars of Ulu-Muhammed's migrating horde. This situation provided an opportunity for his cousin, Dmitrii Shemiaka, Kosoi's brother, to renew his family's bid for the grand-princely throne. Dmitrii Shemiaka had not joined his brother Vasilii Kosoi against Vasilii II in 1434-6, and after Kosoi's defeat, he had recognised the seniority of Vasilii II.[130] But the relationship between the cousins was tense. They disagreed about the distribution of lands that had been ruled by another of Iurii's sons, Dmitrii Krasnoi (the Handsome), who died in 1440; about Shemiaka's participation in Vasilii's military campaigns; and about his contributions to the Tatar tribute.[131]
When Vasilii II was taken captive, Dmitrii, the senior member of the dynasty, emerged to fill the vacancy. But Ulu-Muhammed released Vasilii, who promised to pay a large ransom and returned to Moscow with a contingent of Tatars. When he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity monastery, however, Dmitrii Shemiaka began the third phase of the civil war (1446-53). He seized control ofMoscow while forces loyal to him captured Vasilii (1446). Vasilii was blinded and exiled to Uglich. Subsequently, in return for his promise to recognise Dmitrii Shemiaka as grand prince, he received Vologda as an apanage principality. [132]
Shemiaka was not, however, universally accepted as grand prince. The balance of military power had also shifted. The grand prince did not have his own army, but relied, as had his father and grandfather, on a combination of forces drawn from military units supplied by family members, independent princes, and the Tatar khans.[133] Although Vasilii II had retained the support of many of his courtiers during the first phase of the war against his uncle Iurii, he did not have the military strength to defeat him. His uncle used the military forces under his own command against Vasilii II. Other princes of north-eastern Russia remained neutral in the Daniilovich family quarrel. And Khan Ulu-Muhammed, who was preoccupied with problems associated with disintegration of the Golden Horde, did not provide military aid to enforce his decision to give the patent for the grand principality to Vasilii.
When Shemiaka seized power, he acted in alliance with Prince Ivan Andree- vich of Mozhaisk. But Prince Vasilii Iaroslavich of Serpukhov disapproved of his action and fled to Lithuania.[134] In addition, Prince Boris Aleksandrovich of Tver', who had previously remained neutral in the conflict among the princes of Moscow, favoured Vasilii in this phase of the dispute and promised his five-year-old daughter in marriage to Vasilii's seven-year-old son.[135] The Tatar tsarevichi Kasim and Iakub joined Vasilii while other supporters gathered in Lithuania and Tver'. Vasilii thus gained support from some of his relatives, independent princes and Tatars. He also won the support of Bishop Iona of Riazan', the most prominent hierarch of the Church.
Vasilii thus had forces strong enough to recapture Moscow. The grand prince triumphantly returned to his capital in February 1447.[136] The combatants concluded a peace agreement in the summer of 1447.[137] Vasilii nevertheless renewed hostilities by capturing Dmitrii's primary seat, the city of Galich, in 1450. Shemiaka fled to Novgorod and pursued the war, mainly in the northern regions of Ustiug, the Dvina land and Vychegda Perm', before returning to Novgorod where he was fatally poisoned in 1453.[138]
129
Ibid., pp. 327-8; Alef,'Origins', 32; Crummey
131
Ibid., pp. 72, 95; Alef, 'Origins', 19;
132
135
136
138