In 882, Kyiv captured the Novgorod prince. Oleg transferred the capital of Russia to it. Under his successors, Igor and Svyatoslav, the borders of the state expanded significantly.

The capital is Kyiv, the modern capital of Ukraine.

Kyiv is one of the oldest Russian cities.

In 882, Kyiv captured the Novgorod prince. Oleg transferred the capital of Russia to it. Under his successors, Igor and Svyatoslav, the borders of the state expanded significantly.

The sons of Svyatoslav clashed in bloody strife for great power; in this struggle, two of them, Yaropolk and Oleg, died, and their younger brother Vladimir seized the Kyiv table. For a while, Vladimir I, smart and determined statesman, who enjoyed the support of the boyars, managed to concentrate the supreme power in his hands and put an end to the feudal strife that had begun.

The reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015) was the heyday of Kievan Rus. Ruined by the military enterprises of Svyatoslav, the country was defenseless against the threat of the Pecheneg invasion and was in dire need of strong power. Having taken the reins of government and ruined the Pecheneg towers, Vladimir completed the unification of the East Slavic tribes around Kyiv, created a fairly effective state apparatus, issued laws somewhat limiting the arbitrariness of local feudal lords, etc. The introduction of Christianity in Russia by Vladimir in 988 was also the largest political act of that time, since the church actively supported the ruling class and was a strong ideological weapon in the hands of the Kievan prince.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich died in 1015, leaving behind numerous sons who craved power and "fatherlands". The immediate threat from the steppe was eliminated, the growth of trade and crafts led to the rapid growth of cities. And the boyars, who calmed down for a while after the disappearance of the Pechenegs, ceased to need the Kiev prince, completely locking themselves in their "local" interests. Attempts to free themselves from the power of Kyiv began during the life of Vladimir, when in 1015 his son Yaroslav, who was sitting in Novgorod, refused to pay the annual tribute. Enraged, Vladimir began to gather troops for a campaign against rebellious Novgorod, and only his sudden death prevented a clash between father and son. In the long-term feudal war that followed, almost all the descendants of Vladimir 1 perished, and power in the state passed to one of his surviving sons, Yaroslav.

The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) was a period of further prosperity Old Russian state and at the same time the beginning of its end. Yaroslav received a country bled dry by a long war, devastated, ready at any moment to fall apart and become easy prey for both external and internal enemies. A subtle diplomat and politician, the new Kyiv prince did not disdain either cunning or open military force in order to restore order in his state. This was not an easy task, since the feudal lords constantly rose up against him, remembering " free time"Svyatopolk the Accursed. However, Yaroslav the Wise managed, as in a clash with Svyatopolk, to achieve the support of the boyars, especially the Novgorod ones, as well as the townspeople who were tired of feudal unrest. This was the force that was able in the end to help the Grand Duke in his unifying But the struggle for the division of the country had just begun.In 1021, Yaroslav was opposed by the Polotsk prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich, who captured Novgorod; peace with him was bought at the cost of serious "trade concessions to Polotsk. In 1024, the Tmutarakan prince Mstislav Vladimirovich appeared in the Kiev region with a huge Russian-Caucasian army. In the battle of Listven, Yaroslav and his Varangian squad were utterly defeated, but Mstislav did not enter Kyiv, but occupied Chernigov and invited his brother to start negotiations. In 1026, Yaroslav had no choice but to agree to his brother's proposal for an "amicable" division of the state along the Dnieper; Kyiv and the Right Bank remained with Yaroslav, while Chernihiv and the Left Bank went to Mstislav. So for the first time after Rurik, Kievan Rus was officially divided into two parts. True, when in 1036 Mstislav Vladimirovich died without heirs, the Russian land was again united under the hand of Yaroslav the Wise, but the beginning of fragmentation on a national scale was laid.

In 1054, with the death of Yaroslav the Wise, a new, turning point in the history of Russia began, caused by the rapid economic growth of the peripheral centers and the desire of the feudal lords for political independence. According to Yaroslav's will, the Old Russian state was divided between his eldest sons into Kiev, Pereyaslav and Chernigov lands; as a result of such a division, the Grand Duke actually lost the rights to Pereyaslav and Chernihiv regions. The so-called "triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs" began, which for some time ensured the relative unity of the Russian land and even, as a result of increasingly aggravated social contradictions, caused the appearance of a legislative code - the "Pravda of the Yaroslavichs", later remade into the "Large Russian Truth". However, as expected, the unity of the sons of Yaroslav was short-lived, and discord broke out in the country with renewed vigor. By this time, the Russian land was under the threat of a new steppe invasion - the Polovtsian.

The incessant feudal clashes, raids of the Polovtsy, the constant movement of princes from city to city, the arbitrariness of princely governors - all this created an extremely tense and unstable situation in the country. Under these conditions, when the state was on the verge of collapse, continuous feudal unrest began to take on the character of a real disaster. This was understood by the most sensible part of the Russian ruling elite, among which Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh gradually began to stand out. In 1097, at the initiative of Monomakh, a feudal congress convened in the city of Lyubich, the task of which was to put an end to the princely "movements" in Russia, securing "fatherlands" for them, to condemn one of the main instigators of the unrest - Oleg Svyatoslavich and, most the main thing is to achieve unity of forces in order to resist the Polovtsy. At the congress, for the first time, a new principle of the dynastic division of the Russian land was proclaimed: "Everyone keeps his fatherland." Immediately after the Lyubich congress, however, strife broke out with renewed vigor in the country, which temporarily stopped only in 1100, when a new princely congress met in Vitichevo. And yet the significance of the congress in Lubitsch was enormous. For the first time in Russian history, the lands were forever assigned to a certain princely family, and not by the right of seniority, but by the right of inheritance from father to son, which legally guaranteed relative order, as it made the princes "sedentary" and interested them in their personal fiefdom. However, this, in turn, weakened the power of the Grand Duke, because it inevitably led to isolation and the struggle for the redistribution of land.

The grand ducal power, weakening every year, could not resolve this situation. And again, the only force that could save the country at this critical time was the boyars. Gradually, the influence of the boyars in Russia became so strong that they even began to influence the decisions of princely congresses. Their role especially increased at the end of the 11th early XII century, when the abuses of the princely tiuns began to affect not only the peasant, but also the boyar interests, since the immunity of their estates was violated. Realizing this, Monomakh tried in every possible way to win over to his side the most influential boyar grouping - the Kievan one; he achieved this primarily through his successful campaigns against the Polovtsians.

In 1113, after the death of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, a fire broke out in Kyiv. popular uprising. The townspeople and smerds drove out the tiuns, smashed the princely and boyar courts. Frightened by this, the Kiev boyars hastened to proclaim Vladimir Monomakh the Grand Duke, the only one who at that moment could put an end to the crisis. The reign in Kyiv of Vladimir II Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1113-1125) is the last stable period in the history of Kievan Rus, when the Russian princes, despising the turmoil, united around the grand-ducal table. Immediately after the reign, Monomakh issued laws that somewhat softened the position of the masses, and also made a number of concessions to the merchants. In addition, he undertook a number of successful campaigns in the steppe, defeated the Polovtsian hordes and provided the country with long-term security from nomadic raids.

Time passed, the Polovtsian danger disappeared, feudal disputes subsided, and Kievan Rus, ruled by the iron hand of Monomakh, seemed to have once again become united and monolithic. But this impression was deceptive, since with the elimination of the external threat and with the further economic growth of the peripheral centers, the need for autocracy gradually disappeared. Cities such as Chernigov, Novgorod, Smolensk, etc. grew faster and stronger, and Kyiv itself gradually faded into the background. So there was a kind of preparation for a new political form of existence of the country.

After the death of Vladimir Monomakh (1125), the unity of the Russian land was preserved for some time under his son Mstislav (1125-1132), but in 1132, after the death of Mstislav Vladimirovich, the Old Russian state broke up into 15 principalities and feudal republics, actually separated from Kyiv. However, the Kiev principality itself, although greatly reduced in size and lost its former political significance, continued to exist.

Upon the death of Yaropolk Vladimirovich (1139), Kyiv was captured by the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Olgovich. After him, his brother Igor began to rule the city, but the people of Kiev removed him and called Izyaslav, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, to their place. For almost the entire period of his reign, the last Vedas waged a stubborn struggle with the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky, who several times drove Izyaslav from his table. Under the successors of Izyaslav Vladimirovich, there was a long struggle for the Kyiv table between the princes of Smolensk and Chernigov, and the city passed from hand to hand several times, being subjected, like the whole Kyiv land, to repeated devastation. In the same period, Kyiv fell into the sphere of interests of Andrei Bogolyubsky, who captured it in 1169 and planted his brother Gleb in it, and then ruled the Kiev land with the help of his "handmaids" Rostislavichs. However, the strife continued, and gradually Kyiv lost all significance, the great reign finally moved to North-Eastern Russia, and the center of the metropolis also moved there. The Kiev principality itself, having lost all authority in the eyes of both Northern and Southern Russia, became simply one of the small numerous destinies of the Russian land.

In 1224, the Kyiv army was defeated on the river. Kalka, and in 1240 Batu ravaged the Kiev region and burned Kyiv, after which the principality fell into final decline.

In the first half of the XIV century. Kyiv became dependent on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After 1362, Olgerd's son Vladimir, who in 1392 was replaced by another Olgerdovich, Skirgaylo, established himself on the Kiev table. After the death of the latter, Vitovt actually liquidated the Kyiv inheritance, placing his governor there. Only in 1443 the Kiev principality, given to the administration of Alexander (Olelko), the son of Vladimir Olgerdovich, was restored in its relative rights. However, after the death of the latter, Casimir, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, limited the hereditary rights of the Kiev princes, giving Kyiv to Semyon Olelkovich only for life, and after his death he again planted a Lithuanian governor in the city.

At the beginning of the XVI century. Kyiv land, having lost all signs of independence, became one of the provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian state.

List of rulers

882 - 912 Oleg the Prophetic Novgorod

912 - 945 Igor I Old Kyiv

945 - 972 Svyatoslav I of Kyiv

972 - 980 Yaropolk I Svyatoslavich of Kyiv

980 - 1015 Vladimir I Svyatoslavich Saint of Kyiv

1015 - 1016 Svyatopolk I Vladimirovich Cursed of Kyiv

1016 - 1018 Yaroslav I Vladimirovich the Wise of Kyiv

1018 - 1019 Svyatopolk I Vladimirovich Cursed of Kyiv

1019 - 1054 Yaroslav I Vladimirovich the Wise of Kyiv

1054 - 1067 Izyaslav I (Dmitry) Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1068 - 1069 Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk

1069 - 1073 Izyaslav I (Dmitry) Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1073 - 1076 Svyatoslav II Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1077 - 1077 Vsevolod I Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1077 - 1078 Izyaslav I (Dmitry) Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1078 - 1093 Vsevolod I Yaroslavich of Kyiv

1093 - 1113 Svyatopolk II (Mikhail) Izyaslavich Kievsky

1113 - 1125 Vladimir II Vsevolodovich Monomakh, great. Prince Kyiv

1125 - 1132 Mstislav I Vladimirovich the Great of Kyiv

1132 - 1139 Yaropolk II Vladimirovich of Kyiv

1139 - 1139 Vyacheslav Vladimirovich of Kyiv

1139 - 1146 Vsevolod II Olgovich of Kyiv

1146 - 1146 Igor II Olgovich of Kyiv

1146 - 1149 Izyaslav II Mstislavich of Kyiv

1149 - 1151 Yuri I Vladimirovich Dolgoruky of Kyiv

1151 - 1154 Vyacheslav Vladimirovich of Kyiv

1154 - 1154 Rostislav I Mstislavich of Kyiv

1154 - 1155 Izyaslav III Davydovich of Kyiv

1155 - 1157 Yuri I Vladimirovich Dolgoruky of Kyiv

1157 - 1158 Izyaslav III Davydovich of Kyiv

1159 - 1162 Rostislav I Mstislavich of Kyiv

1162 - 1162 Izyaslav III Davydovich of Kyiv

1162 - 1168 Rostislav I Mstislavich of Kyiv

1168 - 1169 Mstislav II Izyaslavich of Kyiv

1169 - 1169 Gleb Yurievich of Kyiv

1169 - 1170 Mstislav II Izyaslavich of Kyiv

1170 - 1171 Gleb Yurievich of Kyiv

1171 - 1171 Vladimir III Mstislavich Macheshich of Kyiv

1171 - 1173 Roman I Rostislavich of Kyiv

1173 - 1173 Vsevolod III Yurievich Big Nest of Vladimir

1173 - 1173 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1174 - 1174 Yaroslav II Izyaslavich Lutsky

1174 - 1174 Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kyiv

1175 - 1175 Yaroslav II Izyaslavich Lutsky

1175 - 1177 Roman I Rostislavich of Kyiv

1177 - 1180 Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kyiv

1180 - 1182 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1182 - 1194 Svyatoslav III Vsevolodovich of Kyiv

1194 - 1202 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1202 - 1202 Ingvar Yaroslavich of Lutsk

1203 - 1203 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1203 - 1205 Roman II Mstislavich the Great Vladimir-Volynsky

1205 - 1205 Rostislav II Rurikovich of Kyiv

1206 - 1206 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1206 - 1207 Vsevolod III Svyatoslavich Chermny of Kyiv

1207 - 1210 Rurik II Rostislavich of Kyiv

1210 - 1214 Vsevolod III Svyatoslavich Chermny of Kyiv

1214 - 1214 Ingvar Yaroslavich of Lutsk

1214 - 1224 Mstislav III Romanovich Old Kyiv

1224 - 1235 Vladimir IV (Dmitry) Rurik Kievsky

1235 - 1236 Izyaslav IV Vladimirovich of Kyiv

1236 - 1238 Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir

1238 - 1240 Michael II Vsevolodovich Saint of Kyiv

1240 - 1240 Rostislav III Mstislavich of Smolensk

1240 - 1246 Michael II Vsevolodovich Saint of Kyiv

1246 - 1263 Alexander I Yaroslavich Nevsky of Vladimir

1263 - Ivan Ivanovich Putivl

1300/3 - Vladimir Ivanovich Putivlsky

1324 Svyatoslav (Stanislav) Kievsky

1324 - 1362 Fedor of Kyiv

1362 - 1395 Vladimir Olgerdovich of Kyiv

1395 - 1396 Svidrigailo (Boleslav) Olgerdovich Drutsky

1396 - 1399 Ivan Borisovich of Kyiv

1443 - 1454 Alexander (Olelko) Vladimirovich Kievsky

1454 - 1471 Semyon Alexandrovich of Kyiv

Genealogy of the Russian nobility

Arising in the second half of the 10th c. and became in the 11th century. In the second quarter of the 12th c. to its actual collapse. Conditional holders sought, on the one hand, to turn their conditional holdings into unconditional ones and achieve economic and political independence from the center, and on the other hand, by subordinating the local nobility, to establish full control over their possessions. In all regions (with the exception of the Novgorod land, where, in fact, the republican regime was established and the princely power acquired a military-service character), the princes from the house of Rurikovich managed to become sovereign sovereigns with the highest legislative, executive and judicial functions. They relied on the administrative apparatus, whose members constituted a special service class: for their service they received either part of the income from the exploitation of the subject territory (feeding), or land for holding. The main vassals of the prince (boyars), together with the tops of the local clergy, formed under him an advisory and advisory body - the boyar duma. The prince was considered the supreme owner of all lands in the principality: part of them belonged to him on the basis of personal possession (domain), and he disposed of the rest as the ruler of the territory; they were divided into dominal possessions of the church and conditional holdings of the boyars and their vassals (boyar servants).

The socio-political structure of Russia in the era of fragmentation was based on complex system suzerainty and vassalage (feudal ladder). The feudal hierarchy was headed by the Grand Duke (until the middle of the 12th century he was the ruler of the Kievan table, later the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volyn princes acquired this status). Below were the rulers of large principalities (Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Turov-Pinsk, Polotsk, Rostov-Suzdal, Vladimir-Volyn, Galicia, Muromo-Ryazan, Smolensk), even lower - the owners of the destinies within each of these principalities. At the lowest level there was an untitled serving nobility (boyars and their vassals).

From the middle of the 11th century the process of disintegration of large principalities began, which first of all affected the most developed agricultural regions (Kyiv and Chernihiv regions). In the 12th - first half of the 13th century. this trend has become universal. Particularly intense fragmentation was in the Kiev, Chernigov, Polotsk, Turov-Pinsk and Muromo-Ryazan principalities. To a lesser extent, it affected the Smolensk land, and in the Galicia-Volyn and Rostov-Suzdal (Vladimir) principalities, periods of disintegration alternated with periods of temporary unification of appanages under the rule of the "senior" ruler. Only Novgorod land throughout its history continued to maintain political integrity.

In the conditions of feudal fragmentation great importance acquired all-Russian and regional princely congresses, at which domestic and foreign policy issues were resolved (inter-princely strife, the fight against external enemies). However, they did not become a permanent, regular political institution and could not slow down the process of dissipation.

By the time of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russia was divided into many small principalities and was unable to combine forces to repel external aggression. Devastated by the hordes of Batu, she lost a significant part of her western and southwestern lands, which became in the second half of the 13th-14th centuries. easy prey for Lithuania (Turovo-Pinsk, Polotsk, Vladimir-Volyn, Kiev, Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Smolensk principalities) and Poland (Galician). Only North-Eastern Russia (Vladimir, Muromo-Ryazan and Novgorod lands) managed to maintain its independence. In the 14th - early 16th century. it was "gathered" by the princes of Moscow, who restored the unified Russian state.

Kievan principality.

It was located in the interfluve of the Dnieper, Sluch, Ros and Pripyat (modern Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions of Ukraine and the south of the Gomel region of Belarus). It bordered in the north with Turov-Pinsk, in the east - with Chernigov and Pereyaslav, in the west with the Vladimir-Volyn principality, and in the south it ran into the Polovtsian steppes. The population was made up of Slavic tribes of Polyans and Drevlyans.

Fertile soils and mild climate favored intensive farming; The inhabitants were also engaged in cattle breeding, hunting, fishing and beekeeping. Here the specialization of crafts took place early; “woodworking”, pottery and leatherworking acquired special importance. The presence of iron deposits in the Drevlyansk land (included in the Kiev region at the turn of the 9th–10th centuries) favored the development of blacksmithing; many types of metals (copper, lead, tin, silver, gold) were brought from neighboring countries. The famous trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed through the Kiev region (from the Baltic Sea to Byzantium); through the Pripyat, it was connected with the basin of the Vistula and the Neman, through the Desna - with the upper reaches of the Oka, through the Seim - with the Don basin and the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. An influential trade and handicraft layer formed early in Kyiv and nearby cities.

From the end of the 9th to the end of the 10th c. Kyiv land was the central region of the Old Russian state. Under St. Vladimir, with the allocation of a number of semi-independent destinies, it became the core of the grand ducal domain; at the same time Kyiv turned into the church center of Russia (as the residence of the metropolitan); an episcopal see was also established in nearby Belgorod. After the death of Mstislav the Great in 1132, the actual disintegration of the Old Russian state took place, and the Kievan land was constituted as a separate principality.

Despite the fact that the Kyiv prince ceased to be the supreme owner of all Russian lands, he remained the head of the feudal hierarchy and continued to be considered "senior" among other princes. This made the Kiev principality the object of a fierce struggle between the various branches of the Rurik dynasty. The powerful Kievan boyars and the trade and craft population also took an active part in this struggle, although the role of the people's assembly (veche) by the beginning of the 12th century. decreased significantly.

Until 1139, the Kyiv table was in the hands of the Monomashichs - Mstislav the Great was succeeded by his brothers Yaropolk (1132–1139) and Vyacheslav (1139). In 1139 it was taken from them by the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Olgovich. However, the reign of the Chernigov Olgoviches was short-lived: after the death of Vsevolod in 1146, the local boyars, dissatisfied with the transfer of power to his brother Igor, called Izyaslav Mstislavich, a representative of the older branch of the Monomashichs (Mstislavichs), to the Kyiv throne. On August 13, 1146, having defeated the troops of Igor and Svyatoslav Olgovich near the Olga’s grave, Izyaslav captured ancient capital; Igor, taken prisoner by him, was killed in 1147. In 1149, the Suzdal branch of the Monomashichs, represented by Yuri Dolgoruky, entered the struggle for Kyiv. After the death of Izyaslav (November 1154) and his co-ruler Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (December 1154), Yuri established himself on the Kiev table and held it until his death in 1157. The strife within the Monomashich house helped the Olgoviches take revenge: in May 1157, Izyaslav Davydovich Chernigovskii seized princely power (1157 –1159). But his unsuccessful attempt to seize Galich cost him the grand-ducal table, which returned to the Mstislavichs - the Smolensk prince Rostislav (1159-1167), and then to his nephew Mstislav Izyaslavich (1167-1169).

From the middle of the 12th century the political significance of the Kiev land is falling. Its disintegration into appanages begins: in the 1150s–1170s, the Belgorod, Vyshgorod, Trepol, Kanev, Torche, Kotelniche and Dorogobuzh principalities stand out. Kyiv ceases to play the role of the only center of the Russian lands; in the northeast and southwest, two new centers of political attraction and influence are emerging, claiming the status of great principalities - Vladimir on the Klyazma and Galich. The princes of Vladimir and Galicia-Volyn no longer seek to occupy the Kyiv table; periodically subjugating Kyiv, they put their proteges there.

In 1169–1174 Vladimir Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky dictated his will to Kiev: in 1169 he expelled Mstislav Izyaslavich from there and gave the reign to his brother Gleb (1169–1171). When, after the death of Gleb (January 1171) and Vladimir Mstislavich (May 1171), who replaced him, the Kyiv table without his consent was taken by his other brother Mikhalko, Andrei forced him to give way to Roman Rostislavich, a representative of the Smolensk branch of the Mstislavichs (Rostislavichs); in 1172 Andrey expelled Roman as well and planted another of his brother Vsevolod the Big Nest in Kyiv; in 1173 he forced Rurik Rostislavich, who had seized the Kievan table, to flee to Belgorod.

After the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1174, Kyiv fell under the control of the Smolensk Rostislavichs in the person of Roman Rostislavich (1174–1176). But in 1176, having failed in the campaign against the Polovtsy, Roman was forced to give up power, which was used by the Olgovichi. At the call of the townspeople, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich Chernigov (1176-1194, with a break in 1181) took the Kyiv table. However, he did not succeed in ousting the Rostislavichs from the Kievan land; in the early 1180s, he recognized their rights to Porosie and the Drevlyane land; Olgovichi strengthened in the Kiev district. Having reached agreement with the Rostislavichs, Svyatoslav concentrated his efforts on the fight against the Polovtsy, having managed to seriously weaken their onslaught on Russian lands.

After his death in 1194, the Rostislavichi returned to the Kievan table in the person of Rurik Rostislavich, but already at the beginning of the 13th century. Kyiv fell into the sphere of influence of the powerful Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich, who in 1202 expelled Rurik and installed his cousin Ingvar Yaroslavich of Dorogobuzh in his place. In 1203, Rurik, in alliance with the Polovtsy and Chernigov Olgovichi, captured Kyiv and, with the diplomatic support of the Vladimir prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, the ruler of North-Eastern Russia, held the Kievan reign for several months. However, in 1204, during a joint campaign of the South Russian rulers against the Polovtsy, he was arrested by Roman and tonsured a monk, and his son Rostislav was thrown into prison; Ingvar returned to the Kyiv table. But soon, at the request of Vsevolod, Roman released Rostislav and made him a prince of Kiev.

After the death of Roman in October 1205, Rurik left the monastery and at the beginning of 1206 occupied Kyiv. In the same year, Prince Vsevolod Svyatoslavich Chermny of Chernigov entered the fight against him. Their four-year rivalry ended in 1210 with a compromise agreement: Rurik recognized Kyiv for Vsevolod and received Chernigov as compensation.

After the death of Vsevolod, the Rostislavichs reasserted themselves on the Kievan table: Mstislav Romanovich the Old (1212/1214–1223 with a break in 1219) and his cousin Vladimir Rurikovich (1223–1235). In 1235, Vladimir, having been defeated by the Polovtsy near Torchesky, was taken prisoner by them, and power in Kyiv was seized first by Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, and then Yaroslav, son of Vsevolod the Big Nest. However, in 1236, Vladimir, having redeemed himself from captivity, without much difficulty regained the grand prince's throne and remained on it until his death in 1239.

In 1239–1240, Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigov and Rostislav Mstislavich Smolensky were in Kyiv, and on the eve of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, he was under the control of the Galician-Volyn prince Daniil Romanovich, who appointed voivode Dmitr there. In the autumn of 1240, Batu moved to South Russia and in early December took and defeated Kyiv, despite the desperate nine-day resistance of the inhabitants and a small squad of Dmitry; he subjected the principality to terrible devastation, after which it could no longer recover. Returning to the capital in 1241, Mikhail Vsevolodich was summoned to the Horde in 1246 and killed there. From the 1240s, Kyiv fell into a formal dependence on the great Vladimir princes(Alexander Nevsky, Yaroslav Yaroslavich). In the second half of the 13th c. a significant part of the population emigrated to the northern Russian regions. In 1299, the metropolitan see was transferred from Kyiv to Vladimir. In the first half of the 14th century the weakened Kiev principality became the object of Lithuanian aggression and in 1362, under Olgerd, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Principality of Polotsk.

It was located in the middle reaches of the Dvina and Polota and in the upper reaches of the Svisloch and Berezina (the territory of the modern Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev regions of Belarus and southeastern Lithuania). In the south it bordered on Turov-Pinsk, in the east - on the Smolensk principality, in the north - on the Pskov-Novgorod land, in the west and north-west - on the Finno-Ugric tribes (Livs, Latgales). It was inhabited by the Polochans (the name comes from the Polota River) - a branch of the East Slavic tribe of the Krivichi, partially mixed with the Baltic tribes.

As an independent territorial entity, the Polotsk land existed even before the emergence of the Old Russian state. In the 870s, the Novgorod prince Rurik imposed tribute on the Polotsk people, and then they submitted to the Kiev prince Oleg. Under the Kiev prince Yaropolk Svyatoslavich (972–980), the Polotsk land was a principality dependent on him, ruled by the Norman Rogvolod. In 980, Vladimir Svyatoslavich captured her, killed Rogvolod and his two sons, and took his daughter Rogneda as his wife; since that time, the Polotsk land finally became part of the Old Russian state. Having become the prince of Kiev, Vladimir transferred part of it to the joint holding of Rogneda and their eldest son Izyaslav. In 988/989 he made Izyaslav the prince of Polotsk; Izyaslav became the ancestor of the local princely dynasty (Polotsk Izyaslavichi). In 992 the diocese of Polotsk was established.

Although the principality was poor in fertile lands, it had rich hunting and fishing lands and was located at the crossroads of important trade routes along the Dvina, Neman and Berezina; impenetrable forests and water barriers protected it from outside attacks. This attracted numerous settlers here; cities grew rapidly, turning into trade and craft centers (Polotsk, Izyaslavl, Minsk, Drutsk, etc.). Economic prosperity contributed to the concentration of significant resources in the hands of the Izyaslavichs, on which they relied in their struggle to achieve independence from the authorities of Kyiv.

Izyaslav's heir Bryachislav (1001–1044), taking advantage of the princely civil strife in Russia, pursued an independent policy and tried to expand his possessions. In 1021, with his retinue and a detachment of Scandinavian mercenaries, he captured and plundered Veliky Novgorod, but then was defeated by the ruler of the Novgorod land, Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise on the Sudoma River; nevertheless, in order to ensure the loyalty of Bryachislav, Yaroslav ceded to him Usvyatskaya and Vitebsk volosts.

The Principality of Polotsk achieved special power under the son of Bryachislav Vseslav (1044–1101), who launched expansion to the north and northwest. Livs and Latgalians became his tributaries. In the 1060s he made several campaigns against Pskov and Novgorod the Great. In 1067 Vseslav ravaged Novgorod, but was unable to keep the Novgorod land. In the same year, Grand Duke Izyaslav Yaroslavich struck back at his strengthened vassal: he invaded the Principality of Polotsk, captured Minsk, defeated Vseslav's squad on the river. Nemiga, by cunning, took him prisoner along with his two sons and sent him to prison in Kyiv; the principality became part of the vast possessions of Izyaslav. After the overthrow of Izyaslav by the rebellious Kievans on September 14, 1068, Vseslav regained Polotsk and even a short time occupied the Kyiv grand-princely table; in the course of a fierce struggle with Izyaslav and his sons Mstislav, Svyatopolk and Yaropolk in 1069–1072, he managed to retain the Polotsk principality. In 1078, he resumed aggression against neighboring regions: he captured the Smolensk principality and ruined the northern part Chernihiv land. However, already in the winter of 1078-1079, Grand Duke Vsevolod Yaroslavich carried out a punitive expedition to the Principality of Polotsk and burned Lukoml, Logozhsk, Drutsk and the suburbs of Polotsk; In 1084 Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Chernigov took Minsk and severely destroyed the Polotsk land. Vseslav's resources were exhausted, and he no longer tried to expand the limits of his possessions.

With the death of Vseslav in 1101, the decline of the Principality of Polotsk begins. It breaks up into divisions; Minsk, Izyaslav and Vitebsk principalities stand out from it. The sons of Vseslav waste their strength in civil strife. After the predatory campaign of Gleb Vseslavich in the Turov-Pinsk land in 1116 and his unsuccessful attempt to capture Novgorod and the Smolensk principality in 1119, the aggression of the Izyaslavichs against neighboring regions practically ceased. The weakening of the principality opens the way for the intervention of Kyiv: in 1119 Vladimir Monomakh easily defeats Gleb Vseslavich, seizes his inheritance, and imprisons himself in prison; in 1127 Mstislav the Great devastated the southwestern regions of the Polotsk land; in 1129, taking advantage of the refusal of the Izyaslavichs to take part in the joint campaign of the Russian princes against the Polovtsy, he occupies the principality and at the Kiev Congress seeks the condemnation of five Polotsk rulers (Svyatoslav, Davyd and Rostislav Vseslavich, Rogvolod and Ivan Borisovich) and their expulsion to Byzantium. Mstislav transfers the land of Polotsk to his son Izyaslav, and appoints his governors in the cities.

Although in 1132 the Izyaslavichs, in the person of Vasilko Svyatoslavich (1132–1144), managed to return the ancestral principality, they were no longer able to revive its former power. In the middle of the 12th c. a fierce struggle for the Polotsk princely table breaks out between Rogvolod Borisovich (1144-1151, 1159-1162) and Rostislav Glebovich (1151-1159). At the turn of the 1150s-1160s, Rogvolod Borisovich made the last attempt to unite the principality, which, however, collapsed due to the opposition of other Izyaslavichs and the intervention of neighboring princes (Yuri Dolgorukov and others). In the second half of the 7th c. the crushing process deepens; the Drutsk, Gorodensky, Logozhsky and Strizhevsky principalities arise; the most important regions (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Izyaslavl) end up in the hands of the Vasilkoviches (descendants of Vasilko Svyatoslavich); the influence of the Minsk branch of the Izyaslavichs (Glebovichi), on the contrary, is falling. Polotsk land becomes the object of expansion of the Smolensk princes; in 1164 Davyd Rostislavich Smolensky for some time even takes possession of the Vitebsk volost; in the second half of the 1210s, his sons Mstislav and Boris established themselves in Vitebsk and Polotsk.

At the beginning of the 13th c. the aggression of the German knights begins in the lower reaches of the Western Dvina; by 1212 the Sword-bearers conquered the lands of the Livs and southwestern Latgale, tributaries of Polotsk. Since the 1230s, the Polotsk rulers also had to repel the onslaught of the newly formed Lithuanian state; mutual strife prevented them from joining forces, and by 1252 the Lithuanian princes had captured Polotsk, Vitebsk, and Drutsk. In the second half of the 13th c. for the Polotsk lands, a fierce struggle unfolds between Lithuania, the Teutonic Order and the Smolensk princes, the winner of which is the Lithuanians. The Lithuanian prince Viten (1293–1316) takes Polotsk from the German knights in 1307, and his successor Gedemin (1316–1341) subdues the Minsk and Vitebsk principalities. Finally, the Polotsk land became part of the Lithuanian state in 1385.

Chernihiv principality.

It was located east of the Dnieper between the Desna valley and the middle reaches of the Oka (the territory of the modern Kursk, Orel, Tula, Kaluga, Bryansk, the western part of the Lipetsk and southern parts of the Moscow regions of Russia, the northern part of the Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine and the eastern part of the Gomel region of Belarus ). In the south it bordered on Pereyaslavsky, in the east - on Muromo-Ryazansky, in the north - on Smolensk, in the west - on Kiev and Turov-Pinsk principalities. It was inhabited by East Slavic tribes of Polyans, Severyans, Radimichi and Vyatichi. It is believed that it received its name either from a certain Prince Cherny, or from the Black Guy (forest).

With a mild climate, fertile soils, numerous rivers rich in fish, and in the north with forests full of game, Chernihiv land was one of the most attractive areas for settlement in Ancient Russia. Through it (along the rivers Desna and Sozh) passed the main trade route from Kyiv to northeastern Russia. Towns with a significant artisan population arose early here. In the 11th-12th centuries. The Chernihiv principality was one of the richest and politically significant areas Russia.

By the 9th c. the northerners, who formerly lived on the left bank of the Dnieper, having subjugated the Radimichi, Vyatichi and part of the glades, extended their power to the upper reaches of the Don. As a result, there was a semi public education who paid tribute to the Khazar Khaganate. At the beginning of the 10th c. it recognized dependence on the Kiev prince Oleg. In the second half of the 10th c. Chernihiv land became part of the grand ducal domain. Under St. Vladimir, the diocese of Chernihiv was established. In 1024, it fell under the rule of Mstislav the Brave, brother of Yaroslav the Wise, and became a principality virtually independent of Kyiv. After his death in 1036, it was again included in the grand ducal domain. According to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, the Chernigov principality, together with the Muromo-Ryazan land, passed to his son Svyatoslav (1054-1073), who became the ancestor of the local princely dynasty of Svyatoslavichs; they, however, managed to establish themselves in Chernigov only towards the end of the 11th century. In 1073, the Svyatoslavichs lost the principality, which ended up in the hands of Vsevolod Yaroslavich, and from 1078 - his son Vladimir Monomakh (until 1094). The attempts of the most active of the Svyatoslavichs, Oleg "Gorislavich", to regain control over the principality in 1078 (with the help of his cousin Boris Vyacheslavich) and in 1094-1096 (with the help of the Polovtsy) ended in failure. Nevertheless, by decision of the Lyubech princely congress of 1097, Chernigov and Muromo-Ryazan lands were recognized as the patrimony of the Svyatoslavichs; the son of Svyatoslav Davyd (1097-1123) became the prince of Chernigov. After Davyd's death, the throne was occupied by his brother Yaroslav of Ryazan, who in 1127 was expelled by his nephew Vsevolod, the son of Oleg "Gorislavich". Yaroslav retained the Muromo-Ryazan land, which from that time turned into an independent principality. The Chernihiv land was divided among themselves by the sons of Davyd and Oleg Svyatoslavich (Davydovichi and Olgovichi), who entered into a fierce struggle for allotments and the Chernigov table. In 1127-1139 it was occupied by the Olgovichi, in 1139 they were replaced by the Davydovichi - Vladimir (1139-1151) and his brother Izyaslav (1151-1157), but in 1157 he finally passed to the Olgovichi: Svyatoslav Olgovich (1157-1164) and his nephews Svyatoslav (1164-1177) and Yaroslav (1177-1198) Vsevolodichi. At the same time, the Chernigov princes tried to subjugate Kyiv: Vsevolod Olgovich (1139-1146), Igor Olgovich (1146) and Izyaslav Davydovich (1154 and 1157-1159) owned the Kiev grand prince's table. They also fought with varying success for Veliky Novgorod, the Turov-Pinsk principality, and even for distant Galich. In internal strife and in wars with neighbors, the Svyatoslavichs often resorted to the help of the Polovtsy.

In the second half of the 12th century, despite the extinction of the Davydovich family, the process of fragmentation of the Chernigov land intensified. It includes Novgorod-Seversk, Putivl, Kursk, Starodub and Vshchizh principalities; the principality of Chernigov proper was limited to the lower reaches of the Desna, from time to time also including the Vshchizh and Starobud volosts. The dependence of the vassal princes on the Chernigov ruler becomes nominal; some of them (for example, Svyatoslav Vladimirovich Vshchizhsky in the early 1160s) show a desire for complete independence. The fierce feuds of the Olgoviches do not prevent them from actively fighting for Kyiv with the Smolensk Rostislavichs: in 1176–1194 Svyatoslav Vsevolodich rules there, in 1206–1212/1214, intermittently, his son Vsevolod Chermny. They are trying to gain a foothold in Novgorod the Great (1180–1181, 1197); in 1205 they manage to take possession of the Galician land, where, however, in 1211 a catastrophe befell them - the three princes of the Olgovichi (Roman, Svyatoslav and Rostislav Igorevich) were captured and hanged by the verdict of the Galician boyars. In 1210, they even lose the Chernigov table, which for two years passes to the Smolensk Rostislavichs (Rurik Rostislavich).

In the first third of the 13th c. The Chernigov Principality breaks up into many small destinies, only formally subordinate to Chernigov; Kozelskoe, Lopasninskoe, Rylskoe, Snovskoe, then Trubchevskoe, Glukhovo-Novosilskoe, Karachevo and Tarusa principalities stand out. Despite this, Prince Mikhail Vsevolodich of Chernigov (1223-1241) does not stop his active policy towards neighboring regions, trying to establish control over Novgorod the Great (1225, 1228-1230) and Kiev (1235, 1238); in 1235 he took possession of the Galician principality, and later the Przemysl volost.

The waste of significant human and material resources in civil strife and in wars with neighbors, the fragmentation of forces and the lack of unity among the princes contributed to the success of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. In the autumn of 1239, Batu took Chernigov and subjected the principality to such a terrible defeat that it actually ceased to exist. In 1241, the son and heir of Mikhail Vsevolodich, Rostislav, left his fiefdom and went to fight in the Galician land, and then fled to Hungary. Obviously, the last Chernigov prince was his uncle Andrei (mid-1240s - early 1260s). After 1261, the Principality of Chernigov became part of the Principality of Bryansk, founded in 1246 by Roman, another son of Mikhail Vsevolodich; the Bishop of Chernigov also moved to Bryansk. In the middle of the 14th century The Principality of Bryansk and Chernihiv lands were conquered by the Lithuanian prince Olgerd.

Muromo-Ryazan principality.

It occupied the southeastern outskirts of Russia - the basin of the Oka and its tributaries Proni, Osetra and Tsna, the upper reaches of the Don and Voronezh (modern Ryazan, Lipetsk, northeast of Tambov and south Vladimir regions). It bordered on the west with Chernigov, on the north with the Rostov-Suzdal principality; in the east, its neighbors were the Mordovian tribes, and in the south, the Cumans. The population of the principality was mixed: both Slavs (Krivichi, Vyatichi) and Finno-Ugric peoples (Mordva, Muroma, Meshchera) lived here.

Fertile (chernozem and podzolized) soils prevailed in the south and in the central regions of the principality, which contributed to the development of agriculture. Its northern part was densely covered with forests rich in game and swamps; The locals were mainly engaged in hunting. In the 11th-12th centuries. a number of urban centers arose on the territory of the principality: Murom, Ryazan (from the word "cassock" - a marshy swampy place overgrown with shrubs), Pereyaslavl, Kolomna, Rostislavl, Pronsk, Zaraysk. However, in terms of economic development, it lagged behind most other regions of Russia.

Murom land was annexed to the Old Russian state in the third quarter of the 10th century. under the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. In 988-989 St. Vladimir included it in the Rostov inheritance of his son Yaroslav the Wise. In 1010, Vladimir allocated it as an independent principality to his other son Gleb. After the tragic death of Gleb in 1015, it returned to the Grand Duke's domain, and in 1023-1036 it was part of the Chernigov inheritance of Mstislav the Brave.

According to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, the Murom land, as part of the Chernigov principality, passed in 1054 to his son Svyatoslav, and in 1073 he transferred it to his brother Vsevolod. In 1078, having become the great prince of Kiev, Vsevolod gave Murom to Svyatoslav's sons Roman and Davyd. In 1095 Davyd ceded it to Izyaslav, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, receiving Smolensk in return. In 1096, David's brother Oleg "Gorislavich" expelled Izyaslav, but then he himself was expelled by Izyaslav's elder brother Mstislav the Great. However, by decision of the Lyubech Congress, Murom land, as a vassal possession of Chernigov, was recognized as the patrimony of the Svyatoslavichs: it was given to Oleg "Gorislavich", and a special Ryazan volost was allocated from it for his brother Yaroslav.

In 1123, Yaroslav, who occupied the Chernigov throne, handed over Murom and Ryazan to his nephew Vsevolod Davydovich. But after being expelled from Chernigov in 1127, Yaroslav returned to the Murom table; from that time, the Muromo-Ryazan land became an independent principality, in which the descendants of Yaroslav (the younger Murom branch of the Svyatoslavichs) established themselves. They had to constantly repel the raids of the Polovtsy and other nomads, which diverted their forces from participating in the all-Russian princely strife, but by no means from internal strife associated with the process of fragmentation that had begun (already in the 1140s, the Yelets principality stood out on its southwestern outskirts). From the mid-1140s, the Muromo-Ryazan land became an object of expansion from the Rostov-Suzdal rulers - Yuri Dolgoruky and his son Andrei Bogolyubsky. In 1146, Andrei Bogolyubsky intervened in the conflict between Prince Rostislav Yaroslavich and his nephews Davyd and Igor Svyatoslavich and helped them capture Ryazan. Rostislav kept Moore behind him; only a few years later he was able to regain the Ryazan table. In the early 1160s, his great-nephew Yuri Vladimirovich established himself in Murom, who became the founder of a special branch of the Murom princes, and from that time the Murom principality separated from Ryazan. Soon (by 1164) it fell into vassal dependence on the Vadimir-Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky; under the subsequent rulers - Vladimir Yuryevich (1176-1205), Davyd Yuryevich (1205-1228) and Yury Davydovich (1228-1237), the Principality of Murom gradually lost its significance.

The Ryazan princes (Rostislav and his son Gleb), however, actively resisted the Vladimir-Suzdal aggression. Moreover, after the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1174, Gleb tried to establish control over the entire North-Eastern Russia. In alliance with the sons of Pereyaslav prince Rostislav Yuryevich Mstislav and Yaropolk, he began a struggle with the sons of Yuri Dolgoruky Mikhalko and Vsevolod the Big Nest for the Vladimir-Suzdal principality; in 1176 he captured and burned Moscow, but in 1177 he was defeated on the Koloksha River, was captured by Vsevolod and died in 1178 in prison.

Gleb's son and heir Roman (1178-1207) took the vassal oath to Vsevolod the Big Nest. In the 1180s, he made two attempts to dispossess his younger brothers and unite the principality, but the intervention of Vsevolod prevented the implementation of his plans. progressive crushing Ryazan land(in 1185–1186 the Principalities of Pronsk and Kolomna separated) led to intensified rivalry within the princely house. In 1207, Roman's nephews Gleb and Oleg Vladimirovich accused him of plotting against Vsevolod the Big Nest; Roman was summoned to Vladimir and thrown into prison. Vsevolod tried to take advantage of these strife: in 1209 he captured Ryazan, put his son Yaroslav on the Ryazan table, and appointed Vladimir-Suzdal posadniks to the rest of the cities; however, in the same year, the Ryazanians expelled Yaroslav and his proteges.

In the 1210s, the struggle for allotments intensified even more. In 1217, Gleb and Konstantin Vladimirovich organized in the village of Isady (6 km from Ryazan) the murder of six of their brothers - one brother and five cousins. But Roman's nephew Ingvar Igorevich defeated Gleb and Konstantin, forced them to flee to the Polovtsian steppes and occupied the Ryazan table. During his twenty-year reign (1217-1237), the process of fragmentation became irreversible.

In 1237 the Ryazan and Murom principalities were defeated by the hordes of Batu. Prince Yuri Ingvarevich of Ryazan, Prince Yuri Davydovich of Murom and most of the local princes perished. In the second half of the 13th c. Murom land fell into complete desolation; Murom bishopric at the beginning of the 14th century. was moved to Ryazan; only in the middle of the 14th century. Murom ruler Yuri Yaroslavich revived his principality for a while. The forces of the Ryazan principality, which was subjected to constant Tatar-Mongol raids, were undermined by the internecine struggle between the Ryazan and Pronsk branches of the ruling house. From the beginning of the 14th century it began to experience pressure from the Moscow principality that had arisen on its northwestern borders. In 1301 Moscow Prince Daniil Alexandrovich captured Kolomna and captured Ryazan Prince Konstantin Romanovich. In the second half of the 14th century Oleg Ivanovich (1350–1402) was able to temporarily consolidate the forces of the principality, expand its borders and strengthen the central government; in 1353 he took Lopasnya from Ivan II of Moscow. However, in the 1370s–1380s, during the struggle of Dmitry Donskoy with the Tatars, he failed to play the role of a “third force” and create his own center for the unification of the northeastern Russian lands. .

Turov-Pinsk principality.

It was located in the basin of the Pripyat River (the south of the modern Minsk, the east of the Brest and the west of the Gomel regions of Belarus). It bordered in the north with Polotsk, in the south with Kiev, and in the east with the Chernigov principality, reaching almost to the Dnieper; the border with its western neighbor - the Vladimir-Volyn principality - was not stable: the upper reaches of the Pripyat and the Goryn valley passed either to the Turov or Volyn princes. The Turov land was inhabited by the Slavic tribe of the Dregovichi.

Most of the territory was covered with impenetrable forests and swamps; Hunting and fishing were the main occupations of the inhabitants. Only certain areas were suitable for agriculture; there, first of all, urban centers arose - Turov, Pinsk, Mozyr, Sluchesk, Klechesk, which, however, in terms of economic importance and population could not compete with the leading cities of other regions of Russia. The limited resources of the principality did not allow its owners to participate on an equal footing in the all-Russian civil strife.

In the 970s, the land of the Dregovichi was a semi-independent principality, which was in vassal dependence on Kyiv; its ruler was a certain Tur, from which the name of the region came. In 988-989 St. Vladimir singled out the “drevlyansk land and Pinsk” as an inheritance for his nephew Svyatopolk the Accursed. At the beginning of the 11th century, after the revelation of Svyatopolk's conspiracy against Vladimir, the Principality of Turov was included in the Grand Duchy domain. In the middle of the 11th c. Yaroslav the Wise passed it on to his third son Izyaslav, the ancestor of the local princely dynasty (Turov's Izyaslavichi). When Yaroslav died in 1054 and Izyaslav occupied the grand prince's table, Turovshchina became part of his vast possessions (1054–1068, 1069–1073, 1077–1078). After his death in 1078, the new Kyiv prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich gave the Turov land to his nephew Davyd Igorevich, who held it until 1081. In 1088 it was in the hands of Svyatopolk, the son of Izyaslav, who in 1093 sat on the grand prince's table. By decision of the Lyubech Congress of 1097, Turovshchina was assigned to him and his offspring, but soon after his death in 1113, it passed to the new Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh. Under the division that followed the death of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125, the Principality of Turov passed to his son Vyacheslav. From 1132 it became the object of rivalry between Vyacheslav and his nephew Izyaslav, son of Mstislav the Great. In 1142-1143 it was owned for a short time by the Chernihiv Olgovichi (Great Prince of Kyiv Vsevolod Olgovich and his son Svyatoslav). In 1146-1147 Izyaslav Mstislavich finally expelled Vyacheslav from Turov and gave him to his son Yaroslav.

In the middle of the 12th c. the Suzdal branch of the Vsevolodichis intervened in the struggle for the Turov Principality: in 1155, Yuri Dolgoruky, having become the great Kiev prince, put his son Andrei Bogolyubsky on the Turov table, in 1155 - his other son Boris; however, they failed to hold on to it. In the second half of the 1150s, the principality returned to the Turov Izyaslavichs: by 1158, Yuri Yaroslavich, the grandson of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, managed to unite the entire Turov land under his rule. Under his sons Svyatopolk (until 1190) and Gleb (until 1195), it broke up into several destinies. By the beginning of the 13th century. the principalities of Turov, Pinsk, Slutsk and Dubrovitsky took shape. During the 13th century the crushing process progressed inexorably; Turov lost its role as the center of the principality; Pinsk began to acquire more and more importance. Weak petty rulers could not organize any serious resistance to external aggression. In the second quarter of the 14th c. The Turov-Pinsk land turned out to be an easy prey for the Lithuanian prince Gedemin (1316–1347).

Smolensk principality.

It was located in the Upper Dnieper basin (modern Smolensk, southeast of the Tver regions of Russia and the east of the Mogilev region of Belarus). It bordered Polotsk in the west, Chernigov in the south, Rostov-Suzdal principality in the east, and Pskov-Novgorod in the north earth. It was inhabited by the Slavic tribe of Krivichi.

The Smolensk principality had an extremely advantageous geographical position. The upper reaches of the Volga, the Dnieper and the Western Dvina converged on its territory, and it lay at the intersection of two major trade routes - from Kyiv to Polotsk and the Baltic states (along the Dnieper, then dragged to the Kasplya River, a tributary of the Western Dvina) and to Novgorod and the Upper Volga region ( through Rzhev and Lake Seliger). Here, cities arose early, which became important trade and craft centers (Vyazma, Orsha).

In 882, Prince Oleg of Kyiv subjugated the Smolensk Krivichi and planted his governors in their land, which became his possession. At the end of the 10th c. St. Vladimir singled her out as an inheritance to his son Stanislav, but after some time she returned to the grand ducal domain. In 1054, according to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, the Smolensk region passed to his son Vyacheslav. In 1057, the great Kyiv prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich handed it over to his brother Igor, and after his death in 1060 he divided it between his two other brothers Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. In 1078, by agreement between Izyaslav and Vsevolod, the Smolensk land was given to Vsevolod's son Vladimir Monomakh; soon Vladimir moved to reign in Chernigov, and the Smolensk region was in the hands of Vsevolod. After his death in 1093, Vladimir Monomakh planted his eldest son Mstislav in Smolensk, and in 1095 his other son Izyaslav. Although in 1095 Smolensk land was for a short time in the hands of the Olgovichi (Davyd Olgovich), Lyubech congress In 1097, he recognized it as the patrimony of the Monomashichs, and the sons of Vladimir Monomakh, Yaropolk, Svyatoslav, Gleb and Vyacheslav, ruled in it.

After the death of Vladimir in 1125, the new Kyiv prince Mstislav the Great allocated Smolensk land to his son Rostislav (1125–1159), the ancestor of the local princely dynasty of the Rostislavichs; henceforth it became an independent principality. In 1136 Rostislav achieved the creation of an episcopal see in Smolensk, in 1140 he repelled an attempt by the Chernigov Olgoviches (the great Kiev prince Vsevolod) to seize the principality, and in the 1150s he entered the struggle for Kyiv. In 1154 he had to cede the Kyiv table to the Olgoviches (Izyaslav Davydovich of Chernigov), but in 1159 he established himself on it (he owned it until his death in 1167). He gave the Smolensk table to his son Roman (1159-1180 with interruptions), who was succeeded by his brother Davyd (1180-1197), son Mstislav Stary (1197-1206, 1207-1212/1214), nephews Vladimir Rurikovich (1215-1223 with a break in 1219) and Mstislav Davydovich (1223–1230).

In the second half of the 12th - early 13th century. Rostislavichi actively tried to bring under their control the most prestigious and richest regions of Russia. The sons of Rostislav (Roman, Davyd, Rurik and Mstislav the Brave) waged a fierce struggle for the Kiev land with the older branch of the Monomashichs (Izyaslavichs), with the Olgoviches and with the Suzdal Yuryevichs (especially with Andrei Bogolyubsky in the late 1160s - early 1170s); they were able to gain a foothold in the most important regions of the Kiev region - in Posemye, Ovruch, Vyshgorod, Torcheskaya, Trepolsky and Belgorod volosts. In the period from 1171 to 1210, Roman and Rurik sat down at the Grand Duke's table eight times. In the north, Novgorod land became the object of expansion of the Rostislavichs: Davyd (1154–1155), Svyatoslav (1158–1167) and Mstislav Rostislavich (1179–1180), Mstislav Davydovich (1184–1187) and Mstislav Mstislavich Udatny (1210–1215 and 1216–1218); in the late 1170s and in the 1210s, the Rostislavichs held Pskov; sometimes they even managed to create appanages independent of Novgorod (in the late 1160s and early 1170s in Torzhok and Velikiye Luki). In 1164-1166 the Rostislavichs owned Vitebsk (Davyd Rostislavich), in 1206 - Pereyaslavl Russian (Rurik Rostislavich and his son Vladimir), and in 1210-1212 - even Chernigov (Rurik Rostislavich). Their success was facilitated by both the strategically advantageous position of the Smolensk region and the relatively slow (compared to neighboring principalities) process of its fragmentation, although some destinies (Toropetsky, Vasilevsky-Krasnensky) were periodically separated from it.

In the 1210s–1220s, the political and economic importance of the Smolensk Principality increased even more. The merchants of Smolensk became important partners of the Hansa, as their trade agreement of 1229 (Smolenskaya Torgovaya Pravda) shows. Continuing the struggle for Novgorod (in 1218–1221 the sons of Mstislav the Old Svyatoslav and Vsevolod reigned in Novgorod) and Kiev lands (in 1213–1223, with a break in 1219, Mstislav the Old sat in Kyiv, and in 1119, 1123–1235 and 1236–1238 – Vladimir Rurikovich), Rostislavichi also intensified their onslaught to the west and southwest. In 1219 Mstislav the Old captured Galich, which then passed to his cousin Mstislav Udatny (until 1227). In the second half of the 1210s, the sons of Davyd Rostislavich, Boris and Davyd, subjugated Polotsk and Vitebsk; the sons of Boris Vasilko and Vyachko vigorously fought the Teutonic Order and the Lithuanians for the Dvina.

However, from the end of the 1220s, the weakening of the Smolensk principality began. The process of its fragmentation into destinies intensified, the rivalry of the Rostislavichs for the Smolensk table intensified; in 1232, the son of Mstislav the Old, Svyatoslav, took Smolensk by storm and subjected it to a terrible defeat. The influence of the local boyars increased, which began to interfere in princely strife; in 1239 the boyars put Vsevolod, the brother of Svyatoslav, who pleased them, on the Smolensk table. The decline of the principality predetermined failures in foreign policy. Already by the mid-1220s, the Rostislavichs had lost the Podvinye; in 1227 Mstislav Udatnoy ceded the Galician land to the Hungarian prince Andrei. Although in 1238 and 1242 the Rostislavichs managed to repulse the attack of the Tatar-Mongol detachments on Smolensk, they could not repulse the Lithuanians, who in the late 1240s captured Vitebsk, Polotsk and even Smolensk itself. Alexander Nevsky drove them out of the Smolensk region, but the Polotsk and Vitebsk lands were completely lost.

In the second half of the 13th c. the line of Davyd Rostislavich was established on the Smolensk table: it was successively occupied by the sons of his grandson Rostislav Gleb, Mikhail and Theodore. Under them, the collapse of the Smolensk land became irreversible; Vyazemskoye and a number of other destinies emerged from it. The Smolensk princes had to recognize vassal dependence on the great prince of Vladimir and Tatar Khan(1274). In the 14th century under Alexander Glebovich (1297–1313), his son Ivan (1313–1358) and grandson Svyatoslav (1358–1386), the principality completely lost its former political and economic power; Smolensk rulers unsuccessfully tried to stop the Lithuanian expansion in the west. After the defeat and death of Svyatoslav Ivanovich in 1386 in a battle with the Lithuanians on the Vekhra River near Mstislavl, the Smolensk land became dependent on the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, who began to appoint and dismiss the Smolensk princes at his own discretion, and in 1395 established his direct rule. In 1401, the Smolensk people rebelled and, with the help of the Ryazan prince Oleg, expelled the Lithuanians; Smolensk table was occupied by the son of Svyatoslav Yuri. However, in 1404 Vitovt took the city, liquidated the principality of Smolensk and included its lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Pereyaslav principality.

It was located in the forest-steppe part of the Dnieper left bank and occupied the interfluve of the Desna, Seim, Vorskla and the Northern Donets (modern Poltava, east of Kiev, south of Chernihiv and Sumy, west of Kharkov regions of Ukraine). It bordered on the west with Kiev, in the north with the Chernigov principality; in the east and south, its neighbors were nomadic tribes (Pechenegs, Torks, Polovtsy). The southeastern border was not stable - it either moved forward into the steppe, or retreated back; the constant threat of attacks made it necessary to create a line of border fortifications and settle along the borders of those nomads who were moving to a settled life and recognized the power of the Pereyaslav rulers. The population of the principality was mixed: both the Slavs (Polyans, northerners) and the descendants of the Alans and Sarmatians lived here.

The mild temperate continental climate and podzolized chernozem soils created favorable conditions for intensive agriculture and cattle breeding. However, the neighborhood with warlike nomadic tribes, which periodically devastated the principality, had a negative impact on its economic development.

By the end of the 9th c. on this territory a semi-state formation arose with a center in the city of Pereyaslavl. At the beginning of the 10th c. it fell into vassal dependence on the Kiev prince Oleg. According to a number of scholars, the old city of Pereyaslavl was burned by nomads, and in 992 Vladimir the Holy, during a campaign against the Pechenegs, founded a new Pereyaslavl (Pereyaslavl Russian) at the place where the Russian daring Jan Usmoshvets defeated the Pecheneg hero in a duel. Under him and in the first years of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, Pereyaslavshchina was part of the grand ducal domain, and in 1024-1036 it became part of the vast possessions of Yaroslav's brother Mstislav the Brave on the left bank of the Dnieper. After the death of Mstislav in 1036, the Kyiv prince again took possession of it. In 1054, according to the will of Yaroslav the Wise, Pereyaslav land passed to his son Vsevolod; from that time on, it separated from the Kiev principality and became an independent principality. In 1073, Vsevolod handed it over to his brother, the great Kievan prince Svyatoslav, who, possibly, planted his son Gleb in Pereyaslavl. In 1077, after the death of Svyatoslav, Pereyaslavshchina again fell into the hands of Vsevolod; an attempt by Roman, the son of Svyatoslav, to capture it in 1079 with the help of the Polovtsians ended in failure: Vsevolod entered into a secret agreement with the Polovtsian Khan, and he ordered Roman to be killed. After some time, Vsevolod transferred the principality to his son Rostislav, after whose death in 1093 his brother Vladimir Monomakh began to reign there (with the consent of the new Grand Duke Svyatopolk Izyaslavich). By decision of the Lyubech congress of 1097, the Pereyaslav land was assigned to the Monomashichi. Since that time, she remained their fiefdom; as a rule, the great princes of Kiev from the Monomashich family allocated it to their sons or younger brothers; for some of them, the Pereyaslav reign became a stepping stone to the Kiev table (Vladimir Monomakh himself in 1113, Yaropolk Vladimirovich in 1132, Izyaslav Mstislavich in 1146, Gleb Yurievich in 1169). True, the Chernigov Olgovichi tried several times to put it under their control; but they managed to capture only the Bryansk Estate in the northern part of the principality.

Vladimir Monomakh, having made a number of successful campaigns against the Polovtsy, secured the southeastern border of Pereyaslavshchina for a while. In 1113 he transferred the principality to his son Svyatoslav, after his death in 1114 - to another son Yaropolk, and in 1118 - to another son Gleb. According to the will of Vladimir Monomakh in 1125, Pereyaslav land again went to Yaropolk. When Yaropolk left to reign in Kyiv in 1132, the Pereyaslav table became a bone of contention within the Monomashich family - between the Rostov prince Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky and his nephews Vsevolod and Izyaslav Mstislavich. Yuri Dolgoruky captured Pereyaslavl, but reigned there for only eight days: he was expelled by the Grand Duke Yaropolk, who gave the Pereyaslav table to Izyaslav Mstislavich, and in the next, 1133, to his brother Vyacheslav Vladimirovich. In 1135, after Vyacheslav left to reign in Turov, Pereyaslavl was again captured by Yuri Dolgoruky, who installed his brother Andrei the Good there. In the same year, the Olgovichi, in alliance with the Polovtsy, invaded the principality, but the Monomashichs joined forces and helped Andrei repel the attack. After the death of Andrei in 1142, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich returned to Pereyaslavl, who, however, soon had to transfer the reign to Izyaslav Mstislavich. When in 1146 Izyaslav occupied the Kyiv throne, he planted his son Mstislav in Pereyaslavl.

In 1149, Yuri Dolgoruky resumed the struggle with Izyaslav and his sons for dominion in the southern Russian lands. For five years, the Principality of Pereyaslav turned out to be either in the hands of Mstislav Izyaslavich (1150–1151, 1151–1154), or in the hands of the sons of Yuri Rostislav (1149–1150, 1151) and Gleb (1151). In 1154, the Yurievichs established themselves in the principality for a long time: Gleb Yuryevich (1155–1169), his son Vladimir (1169–1174), brother of Gleb Mikhalko (1174–1175), again Vladimir (1175–1187), grandson of Yuri Dolgorukov Yaroslav Krasny (until 1199 ) and the sons of Vsevolod the Big Nest Konstantin (1199–1201) and Yaroslav (1201–1206). In 1206, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vsevolod Chermny from the Chernigov Olgovichi planted his son Mikhail in Pereyaslavl, who, however, was expelled in the same year by the new Grand Duke Rurik Rostislavich. From that time on, the principality was held either by the Smolensk Rostislavichs or the Yuryevichs. In the spring of 1239, the Tatar-Mongol hordes invaded Pereyaslav land; they burned Pereyaslavl and subjected the principality to a terrible defeat, after which it could no longer be revived; the Tatars included him in the "Wild Field". In the third quarter of the 14th c. Pereyaslavshchina became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Vladimir-Volyn principality.

It was located in the west of Russia and occupied a vast territory from the upper reaches of the Southern Bug in the south to the upper reaches of the Nareva (a tributary of the Vistula) in the north, from the valley of the Western Bug in the west to the Sluch River (a tributary of the Pripyat) in the east (modern Volynskaya, Khmelnitskaya, Vinnitskaya, north of Ternopil, north-east of Lvov, most of the Rivne region of Ukraine, west of Brest and south-west of Grodno region of Belarus, east of Lublin and south-east of Bialystok voivodeship of Poland). It bordered in the east with Polotsk, Turov-Pinsk and Kiev, in the west with the Principality of Galicia, in the northwest with Poland, in the southeast with the Polovtsian steppes. It was inhabited by the Slavic tribe Dulebs, who were later called Buzhans or Volynians.

Southern Volyn was a mountainous area formed by the eastern spurs of the Carpathians, the northern one was lowland and wooded woodland. variety of natural and climatic conditions promoted economic diversity; The inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, and cattle breeding, and hunting, and fishing. The economic development of the principality was favored by its unusually favorable geographical position: the main trade routes from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from Russia to Central Europe passed through it; at their intersection, the main urban centers arose - Vladimir-Volynsky, Dorogichin, Lutsk, Berestye, Shumsk.

At the beginning of the 10th c. Volyn, together with the territory adjacent to it from the south-west (the future Galician land), became dependent on the Kiev prince Oleg. In 981, St. Vladimir annexed to it the Peremyshl and Cherven volosts, which he had taken from the Poles, pushing the Russian border from the Western Bug to the San River; in Vladimir-Volynsky, he established an episcopal see, and made the Volyn land itself a semi-independent principality, transferring it to his sons - Pozvizd, Vsevolod, Boris. During the internecine war in Russia in 1015-1019 polish king Boleslav I the Brave returned Przemysl and Cherven, but in the early 1030s they were recaptured by Yaroslav the Wise, who also annexed Belz to Volhynia.

In the early 1050s, Yaroslav placed his son Svyatoslav on the Vladimir-Volyn table. According to Yaroslav's will in 1054, he passed to his other son Igor, who held him until 1057. According to some sources, in 1060 Vladimir-Volynsky was transferred to Igor's nephew Rostislav Vladimirovich; he, however, did not last long. In 1073, Volhynia returned to Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, who had taken the Grand Duke's throne, and gave it to his son Oleg "Gorislavich" as an inheritance, but after the death of Svyatoslav at the end of 1076, the new Kyiv prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich took this region from him.

When Izyaslav died in 1078 and the great reign passed to his brother Vsevolod, he planted Yaropolk, the son of Izyaslav, in Vladimir-Volynsky. However, after some time, Vsevolod separated the Przemysl and Terebovl volosts from Volyn, transferring them to the sons of Rostislav Vladimirovich (the future Galician principality). The attempt of the Rostislavichs in 1084-1086 to take away the Vladimir-Volyn table from Yaropolk was unsuccessful; after the murder of Yaropolk in 1086, Grand Duke Vsevolod made his nephew Davyd Igorevich Volhynia ruler. The Lyubech congress of 1097 secured Volyn for him, but as a result of the war with the Rostislavichs, and then with the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (1097–1098), Davyd lost it. By decision of the Uvetichi Congress of 1100, Vladimir-Volynsky went to Svyatopolk's son Yaroslav; Davyd got Buzhsk, Ostrog, Czartorysk and Duben (later Dorogobuzh).

In 1117, Yaroslav rebelled against the new Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh, for which he was expelled from Volhynia. Vladimir passed it on to his son Roman (1117–1119), and after his death to his other son Andrei the Good (1119–1135); in 1123, Yaroslav tried to regain his inheritance with the help of the Poles and Hungarians, but died during the siege of Vladimir-Volynsky. In 1135, Prince Yaropolk of Kyiv installed his nephew Izyaslav, son of Mstislav the Great, in place of Andrei.

When in 1139 the Olgoviches of Chernigov took possession of the Kiev table, they decided to oust the Monomashichs from Volhynia. In 1142, Grand Duke Vsevolod Olgovich managed to plant his son Svyatoslav in Vladimir-Volynsky instead of Izyaslav. However, in 1146, after the death of Vsevolod, Izyaslav seized the great reign in Kyiv and removed Svyatoslav from Vladimir, allocating Buzhsk and six more Volyn cities as his inheritance. From that time on, Volhynia finally passed into the hands of the Mstislavichs, the eldest branch of the Monomashichs, who ruled it until 1337. Izyaslav Mstislav (1156–1170). Under them, the process of fragmentation of the Volyn land began: in the 1140s–1160s, the Buzh, Lutsk and Peresopnytsia principalities stood out.

In 1170, the Vladimir-Volyn table was taken by the son of Mstislav Izyaslavich Roman (1170-1205 with a break in 1188). His reign was marked by economic and political gain principalities. Unlike the Galician princes, the Volyn rulers had an extensive princely domain and were able to concentrate significant material resources in their hands. Having strengthened his power within the principality, Roman in the second half of the 1180s began to pursue an active foreign policy. In 1188 he intervened in civil strife in the neighboring principality of Galicia and tried to seize the Galician table, but failed. In 1195 he came into conflict with the Smolensk Rostislavichs and ruined their possessions. In 1199 he managed to subjugate the Galician land and create a single Galicia-Volyn principality. At the beginning of the XIII century. Roman extended his influence to Kyiv: in 1202 he expelled Rurik Rostislavich from the Kiev table and placed his cousin Ingvar Yaroslavich on him; in 1204 he arrested and tonsured a monk, Rurik, who was newly established in Kyiv, and restored Ingvar there. Several times he invaded Lithuania and Poland. By the end of his reign, Roman had become the de facto hegemon of Western and Southern Russia and styled himself "King of Russia"; nevertheless, he failed to put an end to feudal fragmentation - under him, old and even new appanages continued to exist in Volhynia (Drogichinsky, Belzsky, Chervensko-Kholmsky).

After the death of Roman in 1205 in a campaign against the Poles, there was a temporary weakening of princely power. His successor Daniel already in 1206 lost the Galician land, and then was forced to flee from Volhynia. The Vladimir-Volyn table turned out to be the object of rivalry between his cousin Ingvar Yaroslavich and cousin Yaroslav Vsevolodich, who constantly turned to the Poles and the Hungarians for support. Only in 1212 Daniil Romanovich was able to establish himself in the Vladimir-Volyn principality; he managed to achieve the liquidation of a number of destinies. After a long struggle with the Hungarians, Poles and Chernigov Olgoviches, in 1238 he subjugated the Galician land and restored the united Galicia-Volyn principality. In the same year, while remaining its supreme ruler, Daniel handed over Volhynia to his younger brother Vasilko (1238–1269). In 1240 Volhynia was ravaged by the Tatar-Mongol hordes; Vladimir-Volynsky taken and plundered. In 1259 the Tatar commander Burundai invaded Volyn and forced Vasilko to demolish the fortifications of Vladimir-Volynsky, Danilov, Kremenets and Lutsk; however, after an unsuccessful siege of the Hill, he had to retreat. In the same year, Vasilko repulsed the attack of the Lithuanians.

Vasilko was succeeded by his son Vladimir (1269–1288). During his reign, Volyn was subjected to periodic Tatar raids (especially devastating in 1285). Vladimir restored many devastated cities (Berestye, etc.), built a number of new ones (Kamenets on Losnya), erected temples, patronized trade, and attracted foreign artisans. At the same time, he waged constant wars with the Lithuanians and Yotvingians and intervened in the feuds of the Polish princes. This active foreign policy was continued by Mstislav (1289–1301), the youngest son of Daniil Romanovich, who succeeded him.

After death ca. 1301 childless Mstislav Galician Prince Yuri Lvovich again united the Volyn and Galician lands. In 1315 he failed in the war with the Lithuanian prince Gedemin, who took Berestye, Drogichin and laid siege to Vladimir-Volynsky. In 1316, Yuri died (perhaps he died under the walls of besieged Vladimir), and the principality was divided again: most of Volyn was received by his eldest son, the Galician prince Andrei (1316–1324), and the Lutsk inheritance was given to his youngest son Lev. The last independent Galician-Volyn ruler was Andrey's son Yuri (1324-1337), after whose death the struggle for the Volyn lands between Lithuania and Poland began. By the end of the 14th century Volyn became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Galician principality.

It was located on the southwestern outskirts of Russia east of the Carpathians in the upper reaches of the Dniester and Prut (modern Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil and Lvov regions of Ukraine and the Rzeszow province of Poland). It bordered in the east with the Volyn principality, in the north - with Poland, in the west - with Hungary, and in the south it rested on the Polovtsian steppes. The population was mixed - Slavic tribes occupied the Dniester valley (Tivertsy and streets) and the upper reaches of the Bug (Dulebs, or Buzhans); Croats (herbs, carps, hrovats) lived in the Przemysl region.

Fertile soils, mild climate, numerous rivers and extensive forests created favorable conditions for intensive agriculture and cattle breeding. The most important trade routes passed through the territory of the principality - the river from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (through the Vistula, the Western Bug and the Dniester) and the land route from Russia to Central and South-Eastern Europe; periodically extending its power to the Dniester-Danube lowland, the principality also controlled the Danube communications between Europe and the East. Here, large shopping centers arose early: Galich, Przemysl, Terebovl, Zvenigorod.

In the 10th-11th centuries. this region was part of the Vladimir-Volyn land. In the late 1070s - early 1080s, the great Kyiv prince Vsevolod, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, separated the Przemysl and Terebovl volosts from it and gave it to his grand-nephews: the first Rurik and Volodar Rostislavich, and the second - to their brother Vasilko. In 1084–1086, the Rostislavichs unsuccessfully tried to establish control over Volhynia. After the death of Rurik in 1092, Volodar became the sole owner of Przemysl. The Lubech congress of 1097 assigned him the Przemysl, and Vasilko the Terebovl volost. In the same year, the Rostislavichi, with the support of Vladimir Monomakh and the Chernigov Svyatoslavichs, repelled an attempt by the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatopolk Izyaslavich and the Volyn prince Davyd Igorevich to seize their possessions. In 1124 Volodar and Vasilko died, and their inheritances were divided among themselves by their sons: Przemysl went to Rostislav Volodarevich, Zvenigorod to Vladimirko Volodarevich; Rostislav Vasilkovich received the Terebovl region, allocating a special Galician volost from it for his brother Ivan. After the death of Rostislav, Ivan annexed Terebovl to his possessions, leaving a small inheritance of Berlad to his son Ivan Rostislavich (Berladnik).

In 1141, Ivan Vasilkovich died, and the Terebovl-Galician volost was captured by his cousin Vladimirko Volodarevich Zvenigorodsky, who made Galich the capital of his possessions (now the Galician principality). In 1144, Ivan Berladnik tried to take Galich from him, but failed and lost his Berladsky inheritance. In 1143, after the death of Rostislav Volodarevich, Vladimirko included Przemysl in his principality; thus, he united under his rule all the Carpathian lands. In 1149-1154 Vladimirko supported Yuri Dolgoruky in his struggle with Izyaslav Mstislavich for the Kyiv table; he repulsed the attack of Izyaslav's ally the Hungarian king Geyza and in 1152 captured Izyaslav's Upper Pogorynya (the cities of Buzhsk, Shumsk, Tihoml, Vyshegoshev and Gnojnitsa). As a result, he became the ruler of a vast territory from the upper reaches of the San and Goryn to the middle reaches of the Dniester and the lower reaches of the Danube. Under him, the Galician principality became the leading political force in Southwestern Russia and entered a period of economic prosperity; his ties with Poland and Hungary were strengthened; it began to experience a strong cultural influence of Catholic Europe.

In 1153 Vladimirko was succeeded by his son Yaroslav Osmomysl (1153–1187), under whom the Principality of Galicia reached the peak of its political and economic power. He patronized trade, invited foreign artisans, built new cities; under him, the population of the principality increased significantly. Yaroslav's foreign policy was also successful. In 1157, he repelled an attack on Galich by Ivan Berladnik, who settled in the Danube and robbed Galician merchants. When in 1159 the Kyiv prince Izyaslav Davydovich tried to put Berladnik on the Galician table by force of arms, Yaroslav, in alliance with Mstislav Izyaslavich Volynsky, defeated him, expelled him from Kyiv and transferred the Kievan reign to Rostislav Mstislavich Smolensky (1159–1167); in 1174 he made his vassal Yaroslav Izyaslavich Lutsky prince of Kiev. Galich's international prestige increased enormously. author Words about Igor's regiment described Yaroslav as one of the most powerful Russian princes: “Galician Osmomysl Yaroslav! / You sit high on your gold-forged throne, / propped up the Hungarian mountains with your iron regiments, / blocking the way for the king, closing the gates of the Danube, / the sword of gravity through the clouds, / rowing courts to the Danube. / Your thunderstorms flow across the lands, / you open the gates of Kyiv, / you shoot from the father’s golden throne of the saltans behind the lands.

During the reign of Yaroslav, however, the local boyars intensified. Like his father, he, in an effort to avoid fragmentation, handed over cities and volosts to the holding not of his relatives, but of the boyars. The most influential of them ("great boyars") became the owners of huge estates, fortified castles and numerous vassals. The boyar landownership surpassed the princely in size. The strength of the Galician boyars increased so much that in 1170 they even intervened in the internal conflict in the princely family: they burned Yaroslav's concubine Nastasya at the stake and forced him to take an oath to return his legitimate wife Olga, the daughter of Yuri Dolgoruky, who had been rejected by him.

Yaroslav bequeathed the principality to Oleg, his son by Nastasya; he allocated the Przemysl volost to his legitimate son Vladimir. But after his death in 1187, the boyars overthrew Oleg and elevated Vladimir to the Galician table. Vladimir's attempt to get rid of the boyar guardianship and rule autocratically already in the next 1188 ended with his flight to Hungary. Oleg returned to the Galician table, but soon he was poisoned by the boyars, and Volyn Prince Roman Mstislavich occupied Galich. In the same year, Vladimir expelled Roman with the help of the Hungarian king Bela, but he gave the reign not to him, but to his son Andrei. In 1189 Vladimir fled from Hungary to German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, promising him to become his vassal and tributary. By order of Frederick, the Polish king Casimir II the Just sent his army to the Galician land, at the approach of which the boyars of Galich overthrew Andrei and opened the gates to Vladimir. With the support of the ruler of North-Eastern Russia, Vsevolod the Big Nest, Vladimir was able to subjugate the boyars and hold on to power until his death in 1199.

With the death of Vladimir, the family of the Galician Rostislavichs ceased, and the Galician land became part of the vast possessions of Roman Mstislavich Volynsky, a representative of the older branch of the Monomashichs. The new prince pursued a policy of terror in relation to the local boyars and achieved its significant weakening. However, shortly after the death of Roman in 1205, his power collapsed. Already in 1206, his heir Daniel was forced to leave the Galician land and go to Volhynia. A long period of unrest began (1206-1238). The Galician table passed either to Daniel (1211, 1230–1232, 1233), then to the Chernigov Olgoviches (1206–1207, 1209–1211, 1235–1238), then to the Smolensk Rostislavichs (1206, 1219–1227), then to the Hungarian princes (1207-1209, 1214-1219, 1227-1230); in 1212-1213 the power in Galich was even usurped by the boyar - Volodislav Kormilichich (a unique case in ancient Russian history). Only in 1238 Daniel managed to establish himself in Galicia and restore a single Galicia-Volyn state. In the same year, while remaining its supreme ruler, he allocated Volhynia to his brother Vasilko.

In the 1240s, the foreign policy situation of the principality became more complicated. In 1242 it was devastated by the hordes of Batu. In 1245, Daniil and Vasilko had to recognize themselves as tributaries of the Tatar Khan. In the same year, the Chernigov Olgovichi (Rostislav Mikhailovich), having entered into an alliance with the Hungarians, invaded the Galician land; only with great effort, the brothers managed to repel the invasion, having won a victory on the river. San.

In the 1250s, Daniel launched an active diplomatic activity to create an anti-Tatar coalition. He concluded a military-political alliance with the Hungarian king Bela IV and began negotiations with Pope Innocent IV on a church union, a crusade of European powers against the Tatars and recognition of his royal title. In 1254 the papal legate crowned Daniel with a royal crown. However, the inability of the Vatican to organize a crusade removed the issue of union from the agenda. In 1257, Daniel agreed on joint actions against the Tatars with the Lithuanian prince Mindovg, but the Tatars managed to provoke a conflict between the allies.

After Daniel's death in 1264, the Galician land was divided between his sons Leo, who received Galich, Przemysl and Drogichin, and Shvarn, to whom Kholm, Cherven and Belz passed. In 1269, Shvarn died, and the entire Galician principality passed into the hands of Leo, who in 1272 transferred his residence to the newly built Lvov. Leo intervened in internal political strife in Lithuania and fought (though unsuccessfully) with the Polish prince Leshko Cherny for the Lublin volost.

After the death of Leo in 1301, his son Yuri reunited the Galician and Volhynian lands and took the title "King of Russia, Prince of Lodimeria (i.e. Volhynia)". He entered into an alliance with the Teutonic Order against the Lithuanians and tried to achieve the establishment of an independent church metropolis in Galicia. After the death of Yuri in 1316, Galicia and most of Volhynia were given to his eldest son Andrei, who was succeeded in 1324 by his son Yuri. With the death of Yuri in 1337, the senior branch of the descendants of Daniil Romanovich died out, and a fierce struggle began between Lithuanian, Hungarian and Polish pretenders to the Galician-Volyn table. In 1349-1352, the Polish king Casimir III captured the Galician land. In 1387, under Vladislav II (Jagiello), it finally became part of the Commonwealth.

Rostov-Suzdal (Vladimir-Suzdal) Principality.

It was located on the northeastern outskirts of Russia in the basin of the Upper Volga and its tributaries Klyazma, Unzha, Sheksna (modern Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, most of Moscow, Vladimir and Vologda, southeast of Tver, west of Nizhny Novgorod and Kostroma regions); in the 12th–14th centuries the principality was constantly expanding in the eastern and northeastern directions. In the west, it bordered on Smolensk, in the south - on Chernigov and Muromo-Ryazan principalities, in the northwest - on Novgorod, and in the east - on Vyatka land and Finno-Ugric tribes (Merya, Mari, etc.). The population of the principality was mixed: it consisted of both Finno-Ugric autochthons (mainly Merya) and Slavic colonists (mainly Krivichi).

Most of the territory was occupied by forests and swamps; fur trade played an important role in the economy. Numerous rivers abounded with valuable species of fish. Despite the rather harsh climate, the presence of podzolic and soddy-podzolic soils created favorable conditions for agriculture (rye, barley, oats, garden crops). Natural barriers (forests, swamps, rivers) reliably protected the principality from external enemies.

In 1 thousand AD. the upper Volga basin was inhabited by the Finno-Ugric tribe Merya. In the 8th–9th centuries an influx of Slavic colonists began here, who moved both from the west (from the Novgorod land) and from the south (from the Dnieper region); in the 9th century Rostov was founded by them, and in the 10th century. - Suzdal. At the beginning of the 10th c. Rostov land became dependent on the Kiev prince Oleg, and under his closest successors it became part of the grand ducal domain. In 988/989 St. Vladimir singled it out as an inheritance for his son Yaroslav the Wise, and in 1010 he transferred it to his other son Boris. After the assassination of Boris in 1015 by Svyatopolk the Accursed, direct control of the Kiev princes was restored here.

According to the will of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, Rostov land passed to Vsevolod Yaroslavich, who in 1068 sent his son Vladimir Monomakh to reign there; under him, Vladimir was founded on the Klyazma River. Thanks to the activities of the Rostov Bishop St. Leonty, Christianity began to actively penetrate into this area; St. Abraham organized the first monastery here (Bogoyavlensky). In 1093 and 1095 Vladimir's son Mstislav the Great sat in Rostov. In 1095, Vladimir singled out the Rostov land as an independent principality for his other son Yuri Dolgoruky (1095–1157). The Lyubech congress of 1097 assigned it to the Monomashichs. Yuri moved the princely residence from Rostov to Suzdal. He contributed to the final approval of Christianity, widely attracted settlers from other Russian principalities, founded new cities (Moscow, Dmitrov, Yuryev-Polsky, Uglich, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Kostroma). During his reign, the Rostov-Suzdal land experienced an economic and political flourishing; the boyars and the trade and craft layer intensified. Significant resources allowed Yuri to intervene in the princely civil strife and spread his influence to neighboring territories. In 1132 and 1135 he tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to control Pereyaslavl Russian, in 1147 he made a campaign against Novgorod the Great and took Torzhok, in 1149 he began the fight for Kyiv with Izyaslav Mstislavovich. In 1155, he managed to establish himself on the Kievan grand-ducal table and secure the Pereyaslav region for his sons.

After the death of Yuri Dolgoruky in 1157, the Rostov-Suzdal land broke up into several destinies. However, already in 1161 Yuri's son Andrei Bogolyubsky (1157-1174) restored its unity, depriving his three brothers (Mstislav, Vasilko and Vsevolod) and two nephews (Mstislav and Yaropolk Rostislavichs) of their possessions. In an effort to get rid of the guardianship of the influential Rostov and Suzdal boyars, he moved the capital to Vladimir-on-Klyazma, where there was a numerous trade and craft settlement, and, relying on the support of the townspeople and the squad, began to pursue an absolutist policy. Andrei renounced his claims to the Kyiv table and accepted the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir. In 1169-1170, he subjugated Kyiv and Novgorod the Great, transferring them respectively to his brother Gleb and his ally Rurik Rostislavich. By the early 1170s, the Polotsk, Turov, Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Murom and Smolensk principalities recognized dependence on the Vladimir table. However, his campaign in 1173 against Kyiv, which fell into the hands of the Smolensk Rostislavichs, failed. In 1174 he was killed by boyars-conspirators in the village. Bogolyubovo near Vladimir.

After the death of Andrei, the local boyars invited his nephew Mstislav Rostislavich to the Rostov table; Suzdal, Vladimir and Yuryev-Polsky received Mstislav's brother Yaropolk. But in 1175 they were expelled by the brothers of Andrei Mikhalko and Vsevolod the Big Nest; Mikhalko became the ruler of Vladimir-Suzdal, and Vsevolod became the ruler of Rostov. In 1176 Mikhalko died, and Vsevolod remained sole ruler all these lands, behind which the name of the great Vladimir principality was firmly established. In 1177, he finally eliminated the threat from Mstislav and Yaropolk, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Koloksha River; they themselves were taken prisoner and blinded.

Vsevolod (1175-1212) continued the foreign policy of his father and brother, becoming the chief arbiter among the Russian princes and dictating his will to Kiev, Novgorod the Great, Smolensk and Ryazan. However, already during his lifetime, the process of crushing the Vladimir-Suzdal land began: in 1208 he gave Rostov and Pereyaslavl-Zalessky as inheritance to his sons Konstantin and Yaroslav. After the death of Vsevolod in 1212, a war broke out between Konstantin and his brothers Yuri and Yaroslav in 1214, ending in April 1216 with Constantine's victory in the Battle of the Lipitsa River. But, although Constantine became the great Prince of Vladimir, the unity of the principality was not restored: in 1216-1217 he gave Yuri Gorodets-Rodilov and Suzdal, Yaroslav - Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and his younger brothers Svyatoslav and Vladimir - Yuryev-Polsky and Starodub . After Constantine's death in 1218, Yuriy (1218–1238), who had taken the Grand Duke's throne, endowed his sons Vasilko (Rostov, Kostroma, Galich) and Vsevolod (Yaroslavl, Uglich) with lands. As a result, the Vladimir-Suzdal land broke up into ten specific principalities - Rostov, Suzdal, Pereyaslav, Yuriev, Starodub, Gorodet, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Kostroma, Galicia; the Grand Prince of Vladimir retained only formal supremacy over them.

In February-March 1238, North-Eastern Russia fell victim to the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Vladimir-Suzdal regiments were defeated on the river. City, Prince Yuri fell on the battlefield, Vladimir, Rostov, Suzdal and other cities were subjected to a terrible defeat. After the departure of the Tatars, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich occupied the grand-ducal table, who transferred to his brothers Svyatoslav and Ivan Suzdal and Starodub, to his eldest son Alexander (Nevsky) Pereyaslav, and to his nephew Boris Vasilkovich the Rostov principality, from which the Belozersky inheritance (Gleb Vasilkovich) separated. In 1243, Yaroslav received from Batu a label for the great reign of Vladimir (d. 1246). Under his successors, brother Svyatoslav (1246–1247), sons Andrei (1247–1252), Alexander (1252–1263), Yaroslav (1263–1271/1272), Vasily (1272–1276/1277) and grandsons Dmitry (1277–1293) ) and Andrei Alexandrovich (1293–1304), the crushing process was on the rise. In 1247, the Tver (Yaroslav Yaroslavich) principalities were finally formed, and in 1283, the Moscow (Daniil Alexandrovich) principalities. Although in 1299 the metropolitan, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, moved to Vladimir from Kyiv, its importance as the capital gradually declined; from the end of the 13th century the grand dukes stop using Vladimir as a permanent residence.

In the first third of the 14th century Moscow and Tver begin to play a leading role in North-Eastern Russia, which enter into rivalry for the Vladimir Grand Duke's table: in 1304/1305–1317 it was occupied by Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, in 1317–1322 by Yuri Danilovich of Moscow, in 1322–1326 by Dmitry Mikhailovich Tverskoy, in 1326-1327 - Alexander Mikhailovich Tverskoy, in 1327-1340 - Ivan Danilovich (Kalita) of Moscow (in 1327-1331 together with Alexander Vasilyevich Suzdalsky). After Ivan Kalita, it becomes the monopoly of the Moscow princes (with the exception of 1359-1362). At the same time, their main rivals - the Tver and Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes - in the middle of the 14th century. also take the title of great. The struggle for control over North-Eastern Russia during the 14th–15th centuries. ends with the victory of the Moscow princes, who include the disintegrated parts of the Vladimir-Suzdal land into the Moscow state: Pereyaslavl-Zalesskoe (1302), Mozhaiskoe (1303), Uglichskoe (1329), Vladimirskoe, Starodubskoe, Galicia, Kostroma and Dmitrovskoe (1362–1364), Belozersky (1389), Nizhny Novgorod (1393), Suzdal (1451), Yaroslavl (1463), Rostov (1474) and Tver (1485) principalities.

Novgorod land.

It occupied a vast territory (almost 200 thousand square kilometers) between the Baltic Sea and the lower reaches of the Ob. Its western border was the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipsi, in the north it included Lakes Ladoga and Onega and reached the White Sea, in the east it captured the Pechora basin, and in the south it neighbored the principalities of Polotsk, Smolensk and Rostov-Suzdal (modern Novgorod, Pskov, Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, most of the Tver and Vologda regions, Karelian and Komi autonomous republics). It was inhabited by Slavic (Ilmen Slavs, Krivichi) and Finno-Ugric tribes (Vod, Izhora, Korela, Chud, All, Perm, Pechora, Lapps).

The unfavorable natural conditions of the North hindered the development of agriculture; grain was one of the main imports. At the same time, huge forests and numerous rivers favored fishing, hunting, and fur trade; The extraction of salt and iron ore was of great importance. Since ancient times, the Novgorod land has been famous for its various crafts and the high quality of handicrafts. Its favorable location at the crossroads from the Baltic Sea to the Black and Caspian ensured her the role of an intermediary in the trade of the Baltic and Scandinavia with the Black Sea and the Volga region. Craftsmen and merchants, united in territorial and professional corporations, represented one of the most economically and politically influential strata of Novgorod society. Its highest stratum, large landowners (boyars), also actively participated in international trade.

Novgorod land was divided into administrative districts - pyatins, directly adjacent to Novgorod (Votskaya, Shelonskaya, Obonezhskaya, Derevskaya, Bezhetskaya), and remote volosts: one stretched from Torzhok and Volok to the Suzdal border and the upper reaches of the Onega, the other included Zavolochye (onega interfluve and Mezen), and the third - the land to the east of the Mezen (Pechora, Perm and Yugra regions).

Novgorod land was the cradle of the Old Russian state. It was here that in the 860s-870s a strong political formation arose, uniting the Slavs of the Ilmen, Polotsk Krivichi, Meryu, all and partly Chud. In 882 Prince Oleg of Novgorod subjugated the Polans and the Smolensk Krivichi and moved the capital to Kyiv. Since that time, Novgorod land has become the second most important region of the Rurik dynasty. From 882 to 988/989 it was ruled by governors sent from Kyiv (with the exception of 972–977, when it was the inheritance of St. Vladimir).

At the end of the 10th-11th centuries. Novgorod land, as the most important part of the grand princely domain, was usually transferred by the Kiev princes to the eldest sons. In 988/989 St. Vladimir installed his eldest son Vysheslav in Novgorod, and after his death in 1010, his other son Yaroslav the Wise, who, having taken the throne in 1019, in turn passed it on to his eldest son Ilya. After Elijah's death c. 1020 Novgorod land was captured by the Polotsk ruler Bryachislav Izyaslavich, but was expelled by the troops of Yaroslav. In 1034 Yaroslav handed over Novgorod to his second son Vladimir, who held it until his death in 1052.

In 1054, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise, Novgorod fell into the hands of his third son, the new Grand Duke Izyaslav, who ruled it through his governors, and then planted his youngest son Mstislav in it. In 1067 Novgorod was captured by Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk, but in the same year he was expelled by Izyaslav. After the overthrow of Izyaslav from the Kiev table in 1068, the Novgorodians did not submit to Vseslav of Polotsk, who reigned in Kyiv, and turned for help to Izyaslav's brother, Prince Svyatoslav of Chernigov, who sent his eldest son Gleb to them. Gleb defeated the troops of Vseslav in October 1069, but soon, obviously, he was forced to transfer Novgorod to Izyaslav, who returned to the grand prince's table. When in 1073 Izyaslav was again overthrown, Novgorod passed to Svyatoslav of Chernigov, who received the great reign, who planted his other son Davyd in it. After the death of Svyatoslav in December 1076, Gleb again took the throne of Novgorod. However, in July 1077, when Izyaslav regained the Kievan reign, he had to cede it to Svyatopolk, the son of Izyaslav, who returned the Kievan reign. Izyaslav's brother Vsevolod, who became Grand Duke in 1078, retained Novgorod for Svyatopolk and only in 1088 replaced him with his grandson Mstislav the Great, son of Vladimir Monomakh. After the death of Vsevolod in 1093, Davyd Svyatoslavich again sat in Novgorod, but in 1095 he came into conflict with the townspeople and left the reign. At the request of the Novgorodians, Vladimir Monomakh, who then owned Chernigov, returned Mstislav (1095–1117) to them.

In the second half of the 11th c. in Novgorod, the economic power and, accordingly, the political influence of the boyars and the trade and craft layer increased significantly. Large boyar land ownership became dominant. The Novgorod boyars were hereditary landowners and were not a service class; possession of land did not depend on the service of the prince. At the same time, the constant change of representatives of different princely families on the Novgorod table prevented the formation of any significant princely domain. In the face of the growing local elite, the prince's position gradually weakened.

In 1102, the Novgorod elites (boyars and merchants) refused to accept the reign of the son of the new Grand Duke Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, wishing to keep Mstislav, and the Novgorod land ceased to be part of the Grand Duke's possessions. In 1117 Mstislav handed over the Novgorod table to his son Vsevolod (1117–1136).

In 1136 the Novgorodians revolted against Vsevolod. Accusing him of bad management and neglect of the interests of Novgorod, they imprisoned him with his family, and after a month and a half they expelled him from the city. From that time on, a de facto republican system was established in Novgorod, although the princely power was not abolished. The supreme governing body was the people's assembly (veche), which included all the free citizens. The veche had broad powers - it invited and dismissed the prince, elected and controlled the entire administration, resolved issues of war and peace, was the highest court, introduced taxes and duties. The prince from a sovereign ruler turned into the highest official. He was the supreme commander in chief, could convene a council and issue laws if they did not contradict customs; embassies were sent and received on his behalf. However, when elected, the prince entered into contractual relations with Novgorod and gave an obligation to govern “in the old way”, appoint only Novgorodians as governors in the volosts and not impose tribute on them, wage war and make peace only with the consent of the veche. He did not have the right to remove other officials without trial. His actions were controlled by an elected posadnik, without whose approval he could not make judicial decisions and make appointments.

The local bishop (lord) played a special role in the political life of Novgorod. From the middle of the 12th century the right to elect him passed from the Metropolitan of Kiev to the veche; the metropolitan only sanctioned the election. The Novgorod lord was considered not only the main clergyman, but also the first dignitary of the state after the prince. He was the largest landowner, had his own boyars and military regiments with a banner and governors, certainly participated in peace negotiations and inviting princes, and was a mediator in internal political conflicts.

Despite the significant narrowing of princely prerogatives, the rich Novgorod land remained attractive to the most powerful princely dynasties. First of all, the senior (Mstislavichi) and junior (Suzdal Yuryevich) branches of the Monomashichs competed for the Novgorod table; Chernigov Olgovichi tried to intervene in this struggle, but they achieved only episodic successes (1138–1139, 1139–1141, 1180–1181, 1197, 1225–1226, 1229–1230). In the 12th century the preponderance was on the side of the Mstislavich clan and its three main branches (Izyaslavichi, Rostislavichi and Vladimirovichi); they occupied the Novgorod table in 1117-1136, 1142-1155, 1158-1160, 1161-1171, 1179-1180, 1182-1197, 1197-1199; some of them (especially the Rostislavichs) managed to create independent, but short-lived principalities (Novotorzhskoe and Velikolukskoe) in the Novgorod land. However, already in the second half of the 12th century. the positions of the Yurievichs began to strengthen, who enjoyed the support of the influential party of the Novgorod boyars and, in addition, periodically put pressure on Novgorod, blocking the supply of grain from North-Eastern Russia. In 1147, Yuri Dolgoruky made a trip to the Novgorod land and captured Torzhok, in 1155 the Novgorodians had to invite his son Mstislav to reign (until 1157). In 1160, Andrei Bogolyubsky imposed on the Novgorodians his nephew Mstislav Rostislavich (until 1161); in 1171 he forced them to return Rurik Rostislavich, who had been expelled by them, to the Novgorod table, and in 1172 to transfer him to his son Yuri (until 1175). In 1176 Vsevolod the Big Nest managed to plant his nephew Yaroslav Mstislavich in Novgorod (until 1178).

In the 13th century Yuryevichi (Vsevolod's Big Nest line) achieved complete predominance. In the 1200s, the Novgorod throne was occupied by the sons of Vsevolod Svyatoslav (1200–1205, 1208–1210) and Konstantin (1205–1208). True, in 1210 the Novgorodians were able to get rid of the control of the Vladimir-Suzdal princes with the help of the Toropetsk ruler Mstislav Udatny from the Smolensk Rostislavich family; The Rostislavichs held Novgorod until 1221 (with a break in 1215-1216). However, then they were finally ousted from the Novgorod land by the Yurievichs.

The success of the Yurievichs was facilitated by the deterioration of the foreign policy situation of Novgorod. In the face of the increased threat to its western possessions from Sweden, Denmark and the Livonian Order, the Novgorodians needed an alliance with the most powerful Russian principality at that time - Vladimir. Thanks to this alliance, Novgorod managed to defend its borders. Called to the Novgorod table in 1236, Alexander Yaroslavich, the nephew of the Vladimir prince Yuri Vsevolodich, defeated the Swedes at the mouth of the Neva in 1240, and then stopped the aggression of the German knights.

The temporary strengthening of princely power under Alexander Yaroslavich (Nevsky) was replaced in the late 13th - early 14th century. its complete degradation, which was facilitated by the weakening of external danger and the progressive disintegration of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. At the same time, the role of the veche also declined. In Novgorod, an oligarchic system was actually established. The boyars turned into a closed ruling caste that shared power with the archbishop. The rise of the Moscow principality under Ivan Kalita (1325–1340) and its formation as the center of the unification of Russian lands aroused fear among the Novgorod leaders and led to their attempts to use the powerful Lithuanian principality that had arisen on the southwestern borders as a counterweight: in 1333, for the first time, he was invited to the Novgorod table the Lithuanian prince Narimunt Gedeminovich (although he only lasted a year on it); in the 1440s, the Grand Duke of Lithuania was given the right to collect irregular tribute from some Novgorod volosts.

Although 14-15 centuries. became a period of rapid economic prosperity of Novgorod, largely due to its close ties with the Hanseatic Trade Union, the Novgorod leaders did not use it to strengthen their military-political potential and preferred to pay off the aggressive Moscow and Lithuanian princes. At the end of the 14th century Moscow launched an offensive against Novgorod. Vasily I captured the Novgorod cities of Bezhetsky Verkh, Volok Lamsky and Vologda with adjacent regions; in 1401 and 1417 he tried, though unsuccessfully, to seize Zavolochye. In the second quarter of the 15th c. Moscow's offensive was suspended due to the internecine war of 1425–1453 between Grand Duke Vasily II and his uncle Yuri and his sons; in this war, the Novgorod boyars supported the opponents of Vasily II. Having established himself on the throne, Vasily II imposed tribute on Novgorod, and in 1456 went to war with him. Having suffered a defeat at Russa, the Novgorodians were forced to conclude a humiliating Yazhelbitsky peace with Moscow: they paid a significant indemnity and pledged not to enter into an alliance with the enemies of the Moscow prince; the legislative prerogatives of the veche were abolished and the ability to conduct an independent foreign policy. As a result, Novgorod became dependent on Moscow. In 1460, Pskov was under the control of the Moscow prince.

In the late 1460s, the pro-Lithuanian party led by the Boretskys triumphed in Novgorod. She achieved the conclusion of an alliance treaty with the great Lithuanian prince Casimir IV and an invitation to the Novgorod table of his protege Mikhail Olelkovich (1470). In response, Moscow Prince Ivan III sent a large army against the Novgorodians, which defeated them on the river. Shelon; Novgorod had to annul the treaty with Lithuania, pay a huge indemnity and cede part of Zavolochye. In 1472 Ivan III annexed the Perm Territory; in 1475 he arrived in Novgorod and massacred the anti-Moscow boyars, and in 1478 liquidated the independence of the Novgorod land and included it in the Muscovite state. In 1570 Ivan IV the Terrible finally destroyed Novgorod's liberties.

Ivan Krivushin

GREAT KIEV PRINCES

(from the death of Yaroslav the Wise to the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Before the name of the prince - the year of his accession to the throne, the number in brackets indicates at what time the prince occupied the throne, if this happened again.)

1054 Izyaslav Yaroslavich (1)

1068 Vseslav Bryachislavich

1069 Izyaslav Yaroslavich (2)

1073 Svyatoslav Yaroslavich

1077 Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1)

1077 Izyaslav Yaroslavich (3)

1078 Vsevolod Yaroslavich (2)

1093 Svyatopolk Izyaslavich

1113 Vladimir Vsevolodich (Monomakh)

1125 Mstislav Vladimirovich (Great)

1132 Yaropolk Vladimirovich

1139 Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (1)

1139 Vsevolod Olgovich

1146 Igor Olgovich

1146 Izyaslav Mstislavich (1)

1149 Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky) (1)

1149 Izyaslav Mstislavich (2)

1151 Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky) (2)

1151 Izyaslav Mstislavich (3) and Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (2)

1154 Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (2) and Rostislav Mstislavich (1)

1154 Rostislav Mstislavich (1)

1154 Izyaslav Davydovich (1)

1155 Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky) (3)

1157 Izyaslav Davydovich (2)

1159 Rostislav Mstislavich (2)

1167 Mstislav Izyaslavich

1169 Gleb Yurievich

1171 Vladimir Mstislavich

1171 Mikhalko Yurievich

1171 Roman Rostislavich (1)

1172 Vsevolod Yurievich (Big Nest) and Yaropolk Rostislavich

1173 Rurik Rostislavich (1)

1174 Roman Rostislavich (2)

1176 Svyatoslav Vsevolodich (1)

1181 Rurik Rostislavich (2)

1181 Svyatoslav Vsevolodich (2)

1194 Rurik Rostislavich (3)

1202 Ingvar Yaroslavich (1)

1203 Rurik Rostislavich (4)

1204 Ingvar Yaroslavich (2)

1204 Rostislav Rurikovich

1206 Rurik Rostislavich (5)

1206 Vsevolod Svyatoslavich (1)

1206 Rurik Rostislavich (6)

1207 Vsevolod Svyatoslavich (2)

1207 Rurik Rostislavich (7)

1210 Vsevolod Svyatoslavich (3)

1211 Ingvar Yaroslavich (3)

1211 Vsevolod Svyatoslavich (4)

1212/1214 Mstislav Romanovich (Old) (1)

1219 Vladimir Rurikovich (1)

1219 Mstislav Romanovich (Old) (2), possibly with his son Vsevolod

1223 Vladimir Rurikovich (2)

1235 Mikhail Vsevolodich (1)

1235 Yaroslav Vsevolodich

1236 Vladimir Rurikovich (3)

1239 Mikhail Vsevolodich (1)

1240 Rostislav Mstislavich

1240 Daniel Romanovich

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Lysenko P.F. Turov land, IX–XIII centuries Minsk, 1999
Pogodin M.P. Ancient Russian history before the Mongol yoke. M., 1999. T. 1–2
Aleksandrov D. N. Feudal fragmentation of Russia. M., 2001
Mayorov A.V. Galicia-Volyn Rus: Essays on socio-political relations in the pre-Mongolian period. Prince, boyars and city community. SPb., 2001



: Kerosene - Coaye. A source: vol. XV (1895): Kerosene - Koaye, p. 262-266 ( index)

Kiev principality- K. the principality was formed in the land of the meadows. Already around the tenth century. it included the Drevlyane land, which subsequently only briefly separated from the Kiev region. The borders of the K. principality changed frequently. The eastern and northern borders were comparatively more stable. The first went along the Dnieper, and K. belonged to the principality on the left bank of the corner between the lower reaches of the Desna and the Dnieper and a narrow strip of land to the mouth of the Koran River. In the northeast, the border ran along the Pripyat River, sometimes crossing it and capturing part of the Dregovichi region. The western border was subject to fluctuations: either it followed the Sluch River, or it reached the Goryn River and even crossed it. The southern border was even more changeable; sometimes it reached the Southern Bug and crossed the Ros River, sometimes it retreated to the Stugna River (under St. Vladimir and at the end of the 11th century). Approximately, the K. principality occupied most of the current Kiev province, the eastern half of Volhynia, and small segments in the western part of the provinces of Chernigov and Poltava. The lands of the Drevlyans and the northern part of the land of the glades were covered with forests; only south of the Stugna did the country take on a steppe character. The Dnieper River plays a huge role in the history of the Polyana tribe. The position of the country on the great waterway from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, where the Dnieper receives its two most important tributaries - the Pripyat and the Desna, is due to the early development of culture here. On the banks of the Dnieper, traces of Stone Age settlements are found in large numbers. Coin hoards indicate that trade has flourished on the Dnieper coast for a long time. In the 9th-10th centuries, the meadows carried on extensive trade with Byzantium and the East. There are also indications of early trade relations between the Dnieper region and Western Europe. Due to their favorable geographical position, the meadows were more cultured than the neighboring Slavic tribes and subsequently subjugated them. It can be thought that in earlier times the meadows were divided into small communities. Around the 8th century they fell under the power of the Khazars. The fight against foreigners was supposed to cause the formation of a military class of vigilantes, whose leaders receive power over the community. These chiefs-princes are, at the same time, big merchants. As a result, the princes of more important shopping centers acquire significant funds that enable them to increase the contingent of their squad - and this allows them to subjugate the less powerful neighboring communities. Simultaneously with the expansion of the territory, the princes within the community were seizing judicial and administrative functions. The expansion of princely power took place among the glades, apparently gradually, without a strong struggle; at least in historical time we see no antagonism between the prince and the people.

When the K. principality was formed - we do not have reliable information. Arab writers of the tenth century. report, based, obviously, on a source of an earlier time, that the Russians have three states, one of which has its capital Big city Cuiabu. The initial chronicle conveys a number of legends about the formation of the K. principality, which the chronicler tries to connect with each other. Thus, the story turned out that Kyiv, founded by Kiy and his brothers (see Kiy), after their death was occupied by the Varangians Askold and Dir (see), who were killed by Oleg. The personality of Oleg, to which the chronicler dates several legends, is already historical, since Oleg concluded a trade agreement with the Greeks. Igor and Olga, who ruled Kiev after Oleg, are also historical figures, although several legends are also associated with their names in the annals. Regarding the origin of the first K. princes, the opinions of researchers differ: some consider them Varangians, others attribute to them a native origin. The chronicler says that Oleg subjugated the neighboring Slavic tribes to Kiev. Be that as it may, but by the middle of the tenth century. the possessions of the K. princes already occupied a vast territory. True, the conquered tribes had little connection with the center; the princes limited themselves to collecting tribute from them and did not interfere in their internal routines; the tribes were ruled by their local princes, some of which we find in the annals. To maintain their power and to collect tribute to K., the princes had to undertake distant campaigns; often such campaigns were undertaken for the sake of prey. Particularly remarkable in this regard are the campaigns of Igor's son, Svyatoslav: he went to the Volga, destroyed the Khazar kingdom and, finally, transferred his activities to the Danube, to Bulgaria, from where he was ousted by the Byzantines. For such enterprises, the princes needed a significant squad. This squad was distinguished by a diverse composition and was not at all tied to the ground. The warriors served only the prince; in turn, the princes value the squad, do not spare property for it, consult with it. With the frequent absence of princes, the Polyana land enjoyed largely self-government. The interests of the princes, as major merchants, coincided with the interests of the more prosperous part of the population, which also carried on significant trade. For the sake of trade interests, the princes undertake campaigns, conclude trade agreements (the agreements of Oleg and Igor with the Greeks). One of the main concerns of the K. princes was to retain the diverse parts of their state. To this end, Svyatoslav already distributes, during his lifetime, various areas for the management of his sons: he puts Yaropolk in Kyiv, Oleg - in the Drevlyane land, Vladimir - in Novgorod. After the death of Svyatoslav, a struggle for possession of the entire state begins between his sons. The winner of this struggle was his youngest son, Vladimir of Novgorod, who also took possession of Kiev (see St. Vladimir). Thanks to lively relations with Byzantium, the Christian faith began to spread early in Kyiv. Under Igor, there was already a Christian church here and part of the princely retinue consisted of Christians, and Igor's widow, Olga, herself was baptized. Vladimir, seeing the growth of Christianity in his land, was baptized and baptized his sons. Like his father, during his lifetime, Vladimir distributed various volosts to his numerous sons to manage. After his death, a struggle began between the brothers, and one of them, Yaroslav of Novgorod, again managed to unite almost all Russian lands in his hands. And this prince, following the policy of his father and grandfather, distributes volosts to his sons. Dying, he bequeaths to K. the principality, i.e., the lands of Polyanskaya and Drevlyanskaya, to his eldest son Izyaslav; at the same time, he transfers to him the right of seniority over the brothers (1054). In other areas, the princes are gradually imbued with the interests of the population, which, in turn, gets used to a certain branch of the princely family. One K. region was an exception in this respect, due to the right of seniority assigned to K. to the prince, and the wealth of the region, the possession of which was very tempting for the princes. All the princes who can rely on law or force claim to be on the K. table. With the multiplication of the princely family, the definition of seniority became very difficult and constantly gave rise to wrangling. Strong princes "got" a table for themselves, not embarrassed by any ancestral accounts. The population also did not take into account tribal rights and sought to have princes from their favorite branch. Already under Izyaslav (see), complications occurred, he was expelled from Kyiv several times and returned there again. After him, Kyiv passed to the eldest of the living Yaroslavichs, Vsevolod, and then to the son of Izyaslav, Svyatopolk-Mikhail. When at the Lyubech Congress it was decided that everyone should own what his father owned, K. the table, after the death of Svyatopolk, was to go to Svyatopolk's son, Yaroslav, and if you stick to seniority, David Svyatoslavich. But the people of Kiev did not like either the Svyatoslavichs or Svyatopolk and called for the reign of Vsevolod's son, Vladimir Monomakh, who acquired their favor. From that time (1113) for 36 years, K. the table was in the hands of one branch: Monomakh passes it on to his son, Mstislav, and the last to his brother, Yaropolk. This transfer takes place with the consent of the population. After the death of Yaropolk, Kyiv was captured by force by the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Olgovich (see. ) and manages to stay here until death (1146); but his attempt to transfer the table to his brother Igor was unsuccessful - the people of Kiev killed Igor (see) and called the prince from the Monomakhovich family, Izyaslav Mstislavich (see). Izyaslav had to endure the struggle with his uncle, Yuri of Suzdal. Yuri expelled him several times, but in the end Izyaslav prevailed, although he had to accept his uncle, Vyacheslav, as co-rulers. The Kievans in this struggle adhere to such a policy: whenever Yuri is in K. land with a strong army, they advise Izyaslav to leave and accept Yuri, but as soon as Izyaslav returns, with allies, they gladly meet him and assist him. Only after the death of Izyaslav and Vyacheslav, Yuri managed to settle more firmly in Kyiv. Then there is again the struggle for Kyiv between Izyaslav Davidovich of Chernigov (see) and Rostislav of Smolensk. Rostislav managed to stay in Kyiv with the help of his nephew Mstislav Izyaslavich, to whom he gave K. the suburbs of Belgorod, Torchesk and Trepol. Thus, the K. principality began to fragment. Mstislav, having taken K. the table after Rostislav, gave his sons the suburbs of Vyshgorod and Ovruch. K. princes became weaker and weaker. Meanwhile, the strong Prince of Vladimir Andrei Yuryevich Bogolyubsky made a claim to Kyiv (see). Andrey did not even think of occupying K.'s table himself; for him it was only important to deprive him of the importance of the senior table and transfer the political center to the northeast, to his volost (see Vladimir Grand Duchy). He sent a large army of himself and his allies to Kyiv. Kyiv was taken and plundered (1169); Andrei planted his younger brother Gleb in it, and after his death he gave K. the principality to one of the Rostislavichs, Roman. Andrei treated the Rostislavichs arrogantly, as if they were his assistants; hence the clashes that Andrey's death put an end to. The intervention of the princes from the northeast in K. affairs stopped for a while. The princely table passed from hand to hand until the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich entered into an agreement with the Rostislavichs: Svyatoslav sat in Kyiv, and gave the Rostislavichs the Belogorod, Vyshegorod and Ovruch appanages, that is, most of the K. land. Not having enough power to support the importance of the Grand Duke, Svyatoslav played, in comparison with Vsevolod of Suzdal, a secondary role; but in his almost 20-year reign of K., the land rested a little from strife. After his death, K. the table was taken by Rurik Rostislavich. His relatives received inheritances in K. land; his son-in-law, Roman Mstislavich, owned cities in Porosye. Vsevolod of Suzdal demanded from Rurik "parts in the Russian land" and precisely those cities that Roman owned. Rurik did not dare to resist the powerful prince. Vsevolod, in fact, did not need these cities at all; he gave one of them, Torchesk, to the son of Rurik, his son-in-law. The goal of the Suzdal prince was to quarrel Rurik with Roman. Indeed, there was a feud between them. A few years later, Roman became a prince of Galicia and, having great strength, could take revenge on Rurik: he invaded K. land and found support in the people of Kiev and black hoods. Rurik had to give in and be content with the Ovruch lot. Roman did not stay in Kyiv; K. the table lost all meaning, and Roman gave it to his cousin, Ingvar Yaroslavich. Having united with the Olgovichi and the Polovtsy, Rurik again took possession of Kiev, which was again completely plundered (1203). Roman forcibly tonsured Rurik, but after the death of Roman (1205), Rurik threw off his monastic cassock and again reigned in Kyiv. Now he had to fight with the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Svyatoslavich; The Olgovichi never left a claim on the K. table. Vsevolod Svyatoslavich managed to capture Kyiv, and plant Rurik in his place in Chernigov, where he died. Vsevolod could not resist in Kyiv, which was captured by Mstislav Romanovich, who died in the first clash between the Russians and the Mongols on the Kalka River. The struggle for Kyiv between the Monomakhoviches and the Olegovichs begins again; country and city are ruined. Princes are quickly replaced on the K. table until the invasion of the Tatars.

In the specific period (from the middle of the 11th to the middle of the 13th century), three components can be distinguished in the K. principality: the land of the glades, which is called Russia, the Russian land par excellence, the land of the Drevlyans, which closely adjoined the principality, and the southern outskirts - Porosye - inhabited by nomads of Turkic origin, known under the common name of black hoods. In the history of the K. land, the land of the glades played the most prominent role. There were most cities here, and the population took the most active part in the political life of the country. It was concentrated mainly in the northern wooded half, since here it was more secure from the raids of the steppes, and the economy of that time flourished more in the wooded areas, from where furs, honey, and wax were obtained (beekeeping was beekeeping). The Drevlyans (see) submitted to the meadows only after a stubborn struggle, the memory of which was preserved in the legends recorded in the annals; they apparently lost their local government early, but, even being closely connected with Kiev, they still showed little interest in the affairs of the entire principality. The Drevlyansk territory suffered the least from both the steppe nomads and princely strife. The black hoods formed the line of the border guards in the south; they were ruled by their own khans, retained their religion, way of life and mixed little with the Russian population. Their number was constantly increasing by new settlers; from the middle of the 12th century. they already play a prominent role in the political history of the Principality. With the fragmentation of the K. principality in the land of the Drevlyansk and Porosye, two significant inheritances were formed - Ovruch and Torchesky. The largest number of cities at that time was located in the northern part of the K. region, that is, in the land of the meadows. Opposite Kyiv, near the present village of Vigurovshchina, lay Gorodets, 15 versts above Kyiv along the Dnieper - Vyshgorod, 10 versts south-west of Kyiv - Zvenigorod, 20 versts west of Kyiv - Belgorod; beyond the Dnieper, south of Kyiv - Sakov, at the confluence of the Stugna into the Dnieper - Trepol, in its upper reaches - Vasilev (current Vasilkov), on the Dnieper, against Pereyaslav - Zarub, at the mouth of the Ros - Rodnya, later Kanev, higher along the Ros - Yuryev . In the western part of the K. land there were cities: Zvizhden, Michsk (present-day Radomysl), Kotelnitsa, Vruchiy (Ovruch), Iskorosten, Vvyagl (present-day Novgorod-Volynsk) and Korchesk (present-day Korets).

In the specific-veche period, a prince stands at the head of the K. of the earth. The people of Kiev do not consider it possible to exist without a prince: they are ready to call on even an unloved prince, if only not to remain, at least temporarily, without a prince at all. But at the same time, they recognize the right to call on pleasing princes and depose objectionable princes. They do not always manage to exercise this right, but the princes themselves allow it. Treaties (rows) with a prince in K. land are rare; relations are based on mutual trust between the prince and the people. The prince governs with the help of combatants. Over time, the squad acquires a local character; there is news from the middle of the 12th century that warriors own the land. The population is very reluctant to accept princes from other volosts, who bring with them someone else's squad. After the death of such princes, the population usually robs and beats the newcomers. The prince gathers the veche, but it can convene without his call. There were no designated meeting places. The suburbs, although treated as separate communities, almost always join in the decision of the older city; only Vyshgorod sometimes shows signs of independence. The veche to some extent controls the management of the prince and his officials, decides on the issue of war, if the convocation of the zemstvo militia - "wars" - is connected with this, over which the thousands commanded during the campaign. The army was composed of a squad, hunters of the Zemstvo militia and black hoods. Trade continues to play an important role in the life of the Principality. Princes take care of the protection of trade routes and often equip military expeditions for this purpose. A prominent role belongs to the clergy, especially since Kyiv is the spiritual center of the Russian land. The K. region, in addition to the metropolis, included two more bishoprics: Belgorod and Yuryev (later Kanev), which appeared in the 2nd half of the 12th century.

In the autumn of 1240, Batu took Kyiv, which was then owned by Daniel of Galicia. Since then, we have very little data on the fate of K. land. This gave some scientists a reason to assert that after the Tatar invasion, the princely land was empty, the population went north, and only later did new colonists from the west, the ancestors of the current Little Russian population of the country, come here. This opinion, which is based more on a priori assumptions and philological conjectures, does not meet with confirmation in the few information about the history of the earth that reached us during the period from the second half of the 13th to the beginning of the 14th century. K. land, no doubt, suffered greatly from the Tatars, but hardly more than other Russian lands. Batu gave ruined Kyiv Suzdal prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, and in the 40s. 13th century the boyar of this prince sits in Kyiv. In 1331 K. prince Fedor is mentioned. Around this time, the K. principality became part of the Lithuanian-Russian state. Regarding the date of this event, opinions differ: some accept the date of Stryikovsky - 1319-20, others attribute the conquest of Kyiv by Gediminas to 1333, and finally, some (V. B. Antonovich) completely reject the fact of the conquest of Kyiv by Gediminas and attribute it to Olgerd, dating 1362 year. There is no doubt that after 1362 the son of Olgerd, Vladimir, was sitting in Kyiv, who was distinguished by his devotion to Orthodoxy and the Russian people. Vladimir, it seems, did not like either Jagiello or Vitovt, and in 1392 he was replaced by another Olgerdovich, Skirgail. But Skirgailo was also imbued with Russian sympathies; under him, Kyiv becomes the center of the Russian party in Lithuanian state. Skirgailo soon died, and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vitovt did not give Kyiv to anyone, but appointed a governor there. Only in 1440 was K.'s inheritance restored; Vladimir's son Olelko (Alexander) was appointed prince. After his death, Grand Duke Casimir did not recognize the patrimonial rights of his sons to K. land and gave it only as a lifetime fief to the eldest of them, Simeon. Both Olelko and Simeon rendered many services to the Kiev principality, taking care of its internal structure and protecting it from Tatar raids. Among the population, they enjoyed great love, so that when, after the death of Simeon, Casimir did not transfer the reign to either his son or brother, but sent the governor of Gashtold to Kiev, the people of Kiev put up armed resistance, but had to submit, although not without protest. At the beginning of the 16th century, when Prince Mikhail Glinsky raised an uprising with the aim of tearing away the Russian regions from Lithuania, the people of Kiev reacted sympathetically to this uprising and assisted Glinsky, but the attempt failed and K. land finally became one of the provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian state.

In the Lithuanian period of the K., the principality extended eastward to Sluch, in the north it passed beyond the Pripyat (Mozyr district), in the east it went beyond the Dnieper (Oster district); in the south, the border either retreated to Ros, or reached the Black Sea (under Vitovt). At this time, the principality was divided into povets (Ovruch, Zhytomyr, Zvenigorod, Pereyaslav, Kanev, Cherkasy, Oster, Chernobyl, and Mozyr), which were ruled by governors, elders, and derzhavtsy appointed by the prince. All the inhabitants of the povet were subordinate to the governor in military, judicial and administrative respects, paid tribute in his favor and bore duties. The prince had only supreme power, expressed in leadership in the war by the militia of all districts, the right to appeal to him to the court of the governor and the right to distribute land property. Under the influence of the Lithuanian order, the social system also began to change. According to Lithuanian law, the land belongs to the prince and is distributed to them for temporary possession under the condition of bearing public service. Persons who have received plots of land on such a right are called "zemyans"; thus, from the 14th century, a class of landowners was formed in K. land. This class is concentrated mainly in the northern part of the principality, which is better protected from Tatar raids and more profitable for the economy, due to the abundance of forests. Below the zemyans were the "boyars", assigned to povet castles and carrying out service and various duties due to their belonging to this class, regardless of the size of the plot. Peasants ("people") lived on the lands of the state or zemyanskie, were personally free, had the right to move and carried duties in kind and monetary tributes in favor of the owner. This class is moving south to the uninhabited and fertile steppe povets, where the peasants were more independent, although they risked suffering from Tatar raids. From the end of the 15th century, groups of military people, designated by the term "Cossacks" (see), were distinguished from the peasants from the end of the 15th century to protect themselves from the Tatars. In the cities, a bourgeois class begins to form. In the last period of the existence of the K. principality, these estates are only beginning to be designated; there is still no sharp line between them; they finally form only later.

Literature. M. Grushevsky, "Essay on the history of the Kiev land from the death of Yaroslav to the end of the XIV century" (K., 1891); Linnichenko, "Veche in the Kiev region"; V. B. Antonovich, "Kyiv, Its Fate and Significance from the 14th to the 16th Centuries" (monographs, vol. I); Sobolevsky, "On the question of the historical fate of Kyiv" ("Kiev University News", 1885, 7). Moreover, the history of the Kiev land is devoted to many articles and notes in "Kiev Antiquities", "Readings in the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler" and "Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy".

After a period of active “gathering” of lands and “bailing” of tribes by the Kiev princes in the 10th - first half of the 11th century. the general border of Russia in the west, south and southeast stabilized. In these zones not only no new territorial additions take place, but, on the contrary, some possessions are lost. This was connected both with internal civil strife, which weakened the Russian lands, and with the appearance of powerful military-political formations on these borders: in the south, such a force was the Polovtsy, in the west - the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland, in the north-west at the beginning of the 13th century. a state was formed, as well as two German orders - the Teutonic and the Order of the Sword. The main directions where the expansion of the common territory of Russia continued were the north and northeast. The economic benefits of developing this region, a rich source of furs, attracted Russian merchants and fishermen, along whose routes a stream of settlers rushed to new lands. The local Finno-Ugric population (Karelians, Chud Zavolochskaya) did not seriously resist the Slavic colonization, although there are separate reports of skirmishes in the sources. The relatively peaceful nature of the penetration of the Slavs into these territories is explained, firstly, by the low density of the indigenous population, and secondly, by the various natural “niches” that were occupied by local tribes and settlers. If the Finno-Ugric tribes gravitated more towards dense forests, which provided ample opportunities for hunting, then the Slavs preferred to settle in open areas suitable for agriculture.

Specific system in the XII - early XIII century

By the middle of the XII century. The Old Russian state broke up into principalities-lands. In the history of fragmentation, two stages are distinguished, separated by the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the 1230s–1240s. to the lands of Eastern Europe. The beginning of this process is defined by researchers in different ways. The most reasoned opinion seems to be that the tendency towards fragmentation has been clearly manifested since the middle of the 11th century, when after the death of Yaroslav the Wise (1054), Kievan Rus was divided among his sons into separate possessions - appanages. The eldest of the Yaroslavichs - Izyaslav - received the Kiev and Novgorod lands, Svyatoslav - the Chernigov, Seversk, Muromo-Ryazan lands and Tmutarakan. Vsevolod, in addition to Pereyaslav land, received Rostov-Suzdal, which included the north-east of Russia to Beloozero and Sukhona. Smolensk land went to Vyacheslav, and Galicia-Volyn - to Igor. Somewhat isolated was the Polotsk land, which was owned by the grandson of Vladimir Vseslav Bryachislavich, who actively fought with the Yaroslavichs for independence. This division was subjected to repeated revision, and even smaller destinies began to form within the existing territories. Feudal fragmentation is fixed by the decisions of several congresses of princes, the main of which was the Lyubech congress of 1097, which established "each and keep his fatherland", thereby recognizing the independence of the possessions. Only under Vladimir Monomakh (1113–1125) and Mstislav Vladimirovich (1125–1132) was it possible to temporarily restore the primacy of the Kiev prince over all Russian lands, but then fragmentation finally prevailed.

Population of principalities and lands

Kievan principality. After the death of the Kiev prince Mstislav Vladimirovich and independence of Novgorod in 1136, the direct possessions of the Kiev princes narrowed to the limits of the ancient lands of the glades and drevlyans on the right bank of the Dnieper and along its tributaries - the Pripyat, Teterev, Ros. On the left bank of the Dnieper, the principality included lands up to Trubezh (the bridge across the Dnieper from Kyiv, built by Vladimir Monomakh in 1115, was of great importance for communication with these lands). In the annals, this territory, like the entire Middle Dnieper region, was sometimes referred to in the narrow sense of the word "Russian land". Of the cities, in addition to Kyiv, Belgorod (on Irpen), Vyshgorod, Zarub, Kotelnitsa, Chernobyl, etc. are known. The southern part of the Kiev land - Porosye - was an area of ​​​​a kind of "military settlements". There were a number of towns on this territory, which began to be built back in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, who settled captive Poles here (). The powerful Kanev forest was located in the Ros basin, and the fortified towns (Torchesk, Korsun, Boguslavl, Volodarev, Kanev) were erected here thanks to the support that the forest provided against nomads, at the same time, strengthening this natural defense. In the XI century. the princes began to settle in Porosie Pechenegs, Torks, Berendeys, Polovtsy, who were captured by them or voluntarily entered their service. This population was called black hoods. Black hoods led a nomadic lifestyle, and in the cities that the princes built for them, they took refuge only during Polovtsian attacks or for wintering. For the most part, they remained pagans, and apparently got their name from the characteristic headdresses.

hood(from Turkic - "kalpak") - the headdress of Orthodox monks in the form of a high round cap with a black veil falling over the shoulders.

Perhaps the steppe people wore similar hats. In the XIII century. black hoods became part of the population of the Golden Horde. In addition to the cities, Porosye was also fortified by ramparts, the remains of which survived at least until the beginning of the 20th century.

Kiev principality in the second half of the XII century. became the subject of a struggle between numerous contenders for the Kyiv Grand Duke's table. It was owned at various times by the Chernigov, Smolensk, Volyn, Rostov-Suzdal, and later Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volyn princes. Some of them, sitting on the throne, lived in Kyiv, others considered the Kiev principality only as a controlled land.

Pereyaslav principality. Pereyaslavskaya, adjacent to Kievskaya, covered the territory along the left tributaries of the Dnieper: Sula, Pselu, Vorskla. In the east, it reached the upper reaches of the Seversky Donets, which was here the border of the Russian settlement. The forests that covered this area served as protection for both Pereyaslavsky and Novgorod-Seversky principalities. The main fortified line went east from the Dnieper along the border of the forest. It was made up of cities along the river. Sule, the banks of which were also covered with forest. This line was strengthened by Vladimir Svyatoslavich, and his successors did the same. The forests stretching along the banks of the Psel and Vorskla provided the Russian population with an opportunity already in the 12th century. advance south of this fortified line. But progress in this direction was not great and was limited to the construction of several cities, which were, as it were, outposts of the Russian settled way of life. On the southern borders of the principality also in the XI-XII centuries. settlements of black hoods arose. The capital of the principality was the city of Pereyaslavl South (or Russian) on Trubezh. Voin (on the Sula), Ksnyatin, Romen, Donets, Lukoml, Ltava, Gorodets stood out from other cities.

Chernihiv land located from the middle Dnieper in the west to the upper reaches of the Don in the east, and in the north to the Ugra and the middle reaches of the Oka. In the principality, a special place was occupied by the Seversk land located along the middle Desna and the Seim, the name of which goes back to the tribe of the northerners. In these lands, the population was concentrated in two groups. The main mass held on the Desna and the Seimas under the protection of the forest, here were the largest cities: Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Lyubech, Starodub, Trubchevsk, Bryansk (Debryansk), Putivl, Rylsk and Kursk. Another group - Vyatichi - lived in the forests of the upper Oka and its tributaries. At the time under review, there were few significant settlements here, except for Kozelsk, but after the invasion of the Tatars, a number of cities appeared on this territory, which became the residences of several specific principalities.

Vladimir-Suzdal land. From the middle of the XI century. the northeast of Kievan Rus is assigned to the branch of the Rurikids, originating from Vsevolod Yaroslavich. By the end of the century, the territory of this inheritance, which was ruled by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh and his sons, included the vicinity of Beloozero (in the north), the Sheksna basin, the Volga region from the mouth of the Medveditsa (the left tributary of the Volga) to Yaroslavl, and in the south it reached the middle Klyazma. The main cities of this territory in the X-XI centuries. there were Rostov and Suzdal, located between the Volga and Klyazma rivers, so during this period it was called the Rostov, Suzdal or Rostov-Suzdal land. By the end of the XII century. as a result of successful military and political actions of the Rostov-Suzdal princes, the territory of the principality occupied much more extensive areas. In the south, it included the entire Klyazma basin with the middle course of the Moskva River. The extreme southwest went beyond Volokolamsk, from where the borders went to the north and northeast, including the left bank and the lower reaches of the Tvertsa, Medveditsa and Mologa. The principality included the lands around the White Lake (to the source of the Onega in the north) and along the Sheksna; retreating somewhat south of the Sukhona, the boundaries of the principality went to the east, including the lands along the lower Sukhona. The eastern borders were located along the left bank of the Unzha and the Volga to the lower reaches of the Oka.

The development of the economy here was greatly influenced by relatively favorable natural and climatic conditions. In the Volga-Klyazma interfluve (Zalessky Territory), mainly covered with forest, there were open areas - the so-called opolya, convenient for the development of agriculture. Sufficiently warm summers, good moisture and fertility of the soil, forest cover contributed to relatively high and, most importantly, stable yields, which was very important for the population of medieval Russia. The amount of bread grown here in the 12th - first half of the 13th century made it possible to export part of it to the Novgorod land. Opolya not only united the agricultural district, but, as a rule, it was here that cities appeared. Examples of this are the Rostov, Suzdal, Yuryev and Pereyaslav opoles.

To the ancient cities of Beloozero, Rostov, Suzdal and Yaroslavl in the XII century. a number of new ones are added. Vladimir is rapidly rising, founded on the banks of the Klyazma by Vladimir Monomakh, and under Andrei Bogolyubsky, it became the capital of the whole earth. Yury Dolgoruky (1125–1157), who founded Ksnyatin at the mouth of the Nerl, Yuryev Polskaya on the river, was especially active in urban planning. Koloksha - the left tributary of the Klyazma, Dmitrov on Yakhroma, Uglich on the Volga, built the first wooden one in Moscow in 1156, transferred Pereyaslavl Zalessky from Lake Kleshchina to the Trubezh, which flows into it. He is also attributed (with varying degrees validity) the foundation of Zvenigorod, Kideksha, Gorodets Radilov and other cities. The sons of Dolgoruky Andrey Bogolyubsky (1157–1174) and Vsevolod the Big Nest (1176–1212) pay more attention to the expansion of their possessions to the north and east, where the rivals of the Vladimir princes are Novgorodians and Volga Bulgaria, respectively. At this time, the cities of Kostroma, Velikaya Salt, Nerekhta arose in the Volga region, somewhat to the north - Galich Mersky (all associated with salt mining and salt trading), further to the northeast - Unzha and Ustyug, on Klyazma - Bogolyubov, Gorokhovets and Starodub. On the eastern borders, Gorodets Radilov on the Volga and Meshchersk became strongholds in the wars with Bulgaria and the Russian colonization of the middle.

After the death of Vsevolod the Big Nest (1212), political fragmentation led to the emergence of a number of independent principalities in the Vladimir-Suzdal land: Vladimir, Rostov, Pereyaslav, Yuryevsky. In turn, smaller destinies appear in them. Thus, Uglich and Yaroslavl separated from the principality of Rostov around 1218. In Vladimirsky, the Suzdal and Starodub principalities were temporarily distinguished as destinies.

Main part Novgorod land covered the basin of the lake and the rivers Volkhov, Msta, Lovat, Shelon and Mologa. The extreme northern Novgorod suburb was Ladoga, located on the Volkhov, not far from its confluence with Lake Nevo (Ladoga). Ladoga became a stronghold of the northwestern Finno-Ugric tribes subordinate to Novgorod - Vodi, Izhora Korela () and Emi. In the west, the most important cities were Pskov and Izborsk. Izborsk - one of the oldest Slavic cities - practically did not develop. Pskov, on the other hand, located at the confluence of the Pskov with the Velikaya River, gradually became the largest of the Novgorod suburbs, a significant trade and craft center. This allowed him to subsequently gain independence (finally, the Pskov land, which stretched from Narva through Lake Peipus and Pskov to the south to the upper reaches of the Great, separated from Novgorod in the middle of the 14th century). Prior to the capture by the order of the sword-bearers of Yuryev with the district (1224), the Novgorodians also owned the lands to the west of Lake Peipsi.

To the south of Lake Ilmen was another of the most ancient Slavic cities of Staraya Russa. Novgorod possessions to the southwest covered Velikiye Luki, on the upper reaches of the Lovat, and in the southeast the upper reaches of the Volga and Lake Seliger (here, on a small Volga tributary of the Tvertsa, Torzhok arose - an important center of Novgorod-Suzdal trade). The southeastern Novgorod borders adjoined the Vladimir-Suzdal lands.

If in the west, south and southeast Novgorod land had fairly clear boundaries, then in the north and northeast during the period under review there is an active development of new territories and the subordination of the indigenous Finno-Ugric population. In the north, the Novgorod possessions include the southern and eastern coasts (Tersky coast), the lands of Obonezhye and Zaonezhye up to. The north-east of Eastern Europe from Zavolochye to the Subpolar Urals become an object of penetration by Novgorod fishers. The local tribes of Perm, Pechora, Yugra were connected with Novgorod by tributary relations.

In the Novgorod lands and in their immediate vicinity, several regions arose where iron ore was mined and iron was smelted. In the first half of the XIII century. on Mologa, the city of Zhelezny Ustyug (Ustyuzhna Zheleznopolskaya) arose. Another area was located between Ladoga and Lake Peipsi in the lands of the Vodi. Iron production also took place on the southern coast of the White Sea.

Polotsk land, which was isolated before everyone else, included the space along the Western Dvina, Berezina, Neman and their tributaries. Already from the beginning of the XII century. an intensive process of political fragmentation was going on in the principality: independent Polotsk, Minsk, Vitebsk principalities, appanages in Drutsk, Borisov and other centers appeared. Some of them in the east come under the authority of the Smolensk princes. Western and northwestern lands (Black Russia) from the middle of the XIII century. depart for Lithuania.

Smolensk principality occupied the territories of the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Western Dvina. Of the significant cities, in addition to Smolensk, Toropets, Dorogobuzh, Vyazma are known, which later became centers of independent destinies. The principality was an area of ​​developed Agriculture and a supplier of bread for Novgorod, and since its territory was the most important transport hub, where the upper reaches largest rivers Eastern Europe, the cities conducted a brisk intermediary trade.

Turov-Pinsk land was located along the middle reaches of the Pripyat and its tributaries, the Ubort, Goryn, Styr, and, like the Smolensk, had Russian lands on all its borders. The largest cities were Turov (the capital) and Pinsk (Pinesk), and in the XII - early XIII centuries. Grodno, Kletsk, Slutsk and Nesvizh arose here. At the end of the XII century. the principality broke up into Pinsk, Turov, Kletsk and Slutsk destinies, which were dependent on the Galician-Volyn princes.

In the extreme west and southwest, independent Volyn and Galician lands, at the end of the XII century. united into one Galicia-Volyn principality. Galician land occupied the northeastern slopes of the Carpathian (Ugric) mountains, which were a natural border with. The northwestern part of the principality occupied the upper reaches of the San River (a tributary of the Vistula), and the center and southeast - the basin of the middle and upper Dniester. Volyn land covered the territory along the Western Bug and the upper reaches of the Pripyat. In addition, the Galicia-Volyn principality owned lands along the Seret, Prut and Dniester rivers up to, but their dependence was nominal, since the population was very small here. In the west, the principality bordered on. During the period of fragmentation in the Volyn land, there were Lutsk, Volyn, Beresteisky and other destinies.

Muromo-Ryazan land until the 12th century was part of the Chernigov land. Its main territory was located in the basin of the Middle and Lower Oka from the mouth of the Moskva River to the outskirts of Murom. By the middle of the XII century. the principality broke up into Murom and Ryazan, from which Pronskoe later stood out. The largest cities - Ryazan, Pereyaslavl Ryazansky, Murom, Kolomna, Pronsk - were centers of handicraft production. The main occupation of the population of the principality was arable farming, grain was exported from here to other Russian lands.

A separate position stood out Tmutarakan Principality located at the mouth of the Kuban, on the Taman Peninsula. In the east, his possessions reached the confluence of the Bolshoi Yegorlyk with the Manych, and in the west they included. With the onset of feudal fragmentation, Tmutarakan's ties with other Russian principalities gradually faded.

It should be noted that the territorial fragmentation of Russia had no ethnic grounds. Although in the XI-XII centuries. the population of the Russian lands did not represent a single ethnic group, but was a conglomeration of 22 different tribes, the boundaries of individual principalities, as a rule, did not coincide with the boundaries of their settlement. So, the area of ​​​​settlement of the Krivichi turned out to be on the territory of several lands at once: Novgorod, Polotsk, Smolensk, Vladimir-Suzdal. The population of each feudal estate most often formed from several tribes, and in the north and northeast of Russia, the Slavs gradually assimilated some of the indigenous Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes. In the south and southwest, elements of nomadic Turkic-speaking ethnic groups poured into the Slavic population. The division into lands was largely artificial, determined by the princes, who allotted certain destinies to their heirs.

It is difficult to determine the level of population of each of the lands, since there are no direct indications of this in the sources. To some extent, in this matter, one can focus on the number of urban settlements in them. According to M.P. Pogodin’s rough estimates, in the Kiev, Volyn and Galician principalities, according to the annals, more than 40 cities are mentioned in each, in Turov - more than 10, in Chernigov with Seversky, Kursk and the land of the Vyatichi - about 70, in Ryazan - 15, in Pereyaslavl - about 40, in Suzdal - about 20, in Smolensk - 8, in Polotsk - 16, in Novgorod land - 15, total in all Russian lands - more than 300. If the number of cities was directly proportional to the population of the territory, it is obvious that Russia to south of the line of the upper reaches of the Neman - the upper reaches of the Don was an order of magnitude higher in population density than the northern principalities and lands.

In parallel with the political fragmentation of Russia, church dioceses were being formed on its territory. The boundaries of the metropolis, whose center was in Kyiv, in the XI - the first half of the XIII century. completely matched with common borders Russian lands, and the borders of the emerging dioceses basically coincided with the borders of specific principalities. In the XI-XII centuries. the centers of the dioceses were Turov, Belgorod on the Irpen, Yuriev and Kanev in Porosie, Vladimir Volynsky, Polotsk, Rostov, Vladimir on the Klyazma, Ryazan, Smolensk, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl South, Galich and Przemysl. In the XIII century. Volyn cities were added to them - Holm, Ugrovsk, Lutsk. Novgorod, which was originally the center of the diocese, in the XII century. became the capital of the first archdiocese in Russia.

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The geographical position of which we will consider further existed from 1132 to 1471. Its territory included the lands of the Polyans and Drevlyans along the Dnieper River and its tributaries - the Pripyat, Teterev, Irpen and Ros, as well as part of the left bank.

Kiev principality: geographical location

This territory bordered on Polotsk land in the northwestern part, and Chernihiv was located in the northeast. Western and southwestern neighbors were Poland and the Principality of Galicia. The city, built on the hills, was ideally located militarily. Speaking about the peculiarities of the geographical position of the Kiev principality, it should be mentioned that it was well protected. Not far from it were the cities of Vruchiy (or Ovruch), Belgorod, and Vyshgorod - they all had good fortifications and controlled the territory adjacent to the capital, which provided additional protection from the western and southwestern sides. From the southern part, it was covered by a system of forts built along the banks of the Dnieper, and nearby well-defended cities on the Ros River.

Kiev principality: characteristics

This principality should be understood as a state formation in Ancient Russia, which existed from the 12th to the 15th century. Kyiv was the political and cultural capital. It was formed from the separated territories of the Old Russian state. Already in the middle of the 12th century. the power of the princes from Kyiv had significant significance only within the borders of the principality itself. The all-Russian significance was lost by the city, and the rivalry for control and power lasted until the invasion of the Mongols. The throne passed in an incomprehensible order, and many could claim it. And also, to a large extent, the possibility of obtaining power depended on the influence of the strong boyars of Kyiv and the so-called "black hoods".

Public and economic life

The location near the Dnieper played a big role in economic life. In addition to communication with the Black Sea, he brought Kyiv to the Baltic, in which Berezina also helped. The Desna and the Seim provided communication with the Don and Oka, and the Pripyat with the Neman and Dniester basins. Here was the so-called route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", which was a trade route. Thanks to fertile soils and a mild climate, agriculture developed intensively; cattle breeding, hunting were widespread, the inhabitants were engaged in fishing and beekeeping. Crafts were divided early in these parts. "Woodworking" played a rather significant role, as well as pottery and leather crafts. Due to the presence of iron deposits, the development of blacksmithing was possible. Many types of metals (silver, tin, copper, lead, gold) were delivered from neighboring countries. Thus, all this influenced the early formation of trade and craft relations in Kyiv and the cities located next to it.

Political history

As the capital loses its all-Russian significance, the rulers of the strongest principalities begin to send their proteges - "handmaids" to Kyiv. The precedent in which, bypassing the accepted order of succession to the throne, Vladimir Monomakh was invited, the boyars subsequently used to justify their right to choose a strong and pleasing ruler. The principality of Kiev, whose history is characterized by civil strife, turned into a battlefield, where cities and villages suffered significant damage, were ruined, and the inhabitants themselves were captured. Kyiv saw the time of stability during the periods of Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich Chernigov, as well as Roman Mstislavovich Volynsky. Other princes who quickly replaced each other remained more colorless for history. The principality of Kiev suffered greatly, the geographical position of which allowed it to defend itself well for a long time, during the Mongol-Tatar invasion in 1240.

Fragmentation

The Old Russian state initially included tribal principalities. However, the situation has changed. Over time, when the local nobility began to be forced out thanks to the Rurik family, principalities began to form, which were ruled by representatives from the younger line. The established order of succession to the throne has always caused discord. In 1054, Yaroslav the Wise and his sons began to divide the principality of Kiev. Fragmentation was an inevitable consequence of these events. The situation escalated after the Lyubechensky Cathedral of Princes in 1091. However, the situation improved thanks to the policies of Vladimir Monomakh and his son Mstislav the Great, who managed to maintain integrity. They were able to once again place the Kiev principality under control of the capital, the geographical position of which was quite favorable for protection from enemies, and for the most part only internal civil strife spoiled the position of the state.

With the death of Mstislav in 1132, political fragmentation set in. However, despite this, Kyiv for several decades retained the status of not only a formal center, but also the most powerful principality. His influence has not disappeared completely, but has significantly weakened compared to the situation at the beginning of the 12th century.