SECTION TWO

GREAT PRINCIPALITIES OF SUZDAL-NIZHNY NOVGOROD, TVER AND RYAZAN WITH THEIR ALLITIES

SUZDAL-NIZHNY NOVGOROD GRAND PRINCIPALITY

Before proceeding to a chronological and biographical review of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod sovereign princes for the Tatar period of Russian History, let us say a few words about the fate of the main centers of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality before the appearance of the Tatars, in order to have, so to speak, an integral, to some extent, idea of ​​these centers.

Suzdal, now a district town of the Vladimir province, stands on the left bank of the Kamenka River, which flows into the Nerl (and the Nerl into the Klyazma); it is located on level ground and is surrounded on all sides by fields; the earthen rampart surrounding the Kremlin, as the main part of the city is called to this day, has a length of 700 sazhens; this rampart is separated from the mainland by a moat, filled, of course, with water. In addition, the city is surrounded on three sides by the river Kamenka1052.

Regarding the time of the founding of the city, we do not find any indications in the annals. There are local legends, local later storytellers about the founding of the city: so, and it is still not uncommon to find in Vladimir and Suzdal the manuscript "On the God-saving city of Suzhdal", compiled by Anania Fedorov, the sacristan of the Nativity of the Mother of God monastery in Vladimir,1053, around 1770. Metropolitan Eugene points to its lists are in the libraries of Chancellor Count Rumyantsev and Count Tolstoy. The three sons of Afetov, according to this manuscript, San, Aveskhasan and the wise Asan, left the southern countries for the northern ones; San and Aveskhasan even reached the Varangian Sea and built Novgorod there, and the younger, wise Asan, stopped on the banks of the Kamenka River and built a city here, which, according to his wise judgment, as he judged (?), called Suzhdal. Anania immediately offers his opinion about the origin of the name of the city, namely from the words dry dol, dry dol, by location. According to local legend, the city was originally set on the river. Nerl, three versts from the place on Kamenka, where he was later transferred. The reason for the transfer of the city was the swampy area on the river. Nerl. However, a village still remained at this place, which is now called Kideksha because they first wanted to found a city here, but they threw it (throw - Kideksha) because of the dampness of the area and moved it three miles away to the river. Kamenka in a dry valley, why, and the city is called Suzdal, Suzdal. Some, finally, derive the name Suzhdal from the fact that here the princes judged the people1054.

If domestic lovers of antiquity distorted the matter in this way, what can be said about foreigners? We mean the famous Hungarian chronicler, the so-called Notary of King Bela: he says that the Ugrians, under the command of the voivode Alma, a relative of Attila, in 884 set off from Scythia, entered Suzdal and, crossing the Dnieper in the vicinity of Kiev, decided to take over Russia and etc. etc. 1055 Tatishchev has news that in 982 "Vladimir (saint) went to the field and, having conquered the land of Poland, established the city of Suzdal." Tatishchev refers to Strikovsky, while the latter admits that Suzdal is unknown to him.

Leaving all these fables aside, however, it must be said that in the tenth century. Suzdal already existed: in the first half of the 11th century. he is already mentioned in the annals; it is impossible to admit that the city, mentioned in the annals in the first quarter of the 11th century, was not even at the end of the 10th century! So, in Nestor 1057 we read under 1024: "In the same summer, I got up in Judgment, I beat the old child according to the devil's teachings and demons, saying, as if to hold a gobino"; led. book. Yaroslav found it necessary to personally pacify this rebellion, and therefore "come Suzhdal." In the ancient Suzdal Assumption Church there was an inscription about the time of the foundation of the city; due to dilapidation, this church was demolished and a new one was put in its place, in which the mentioned inscription of the old church was also reproduced; this inscription reads: "In the summer of 6505 (997), Grand Duke Vladimir, having come to the city of Suzdal and baptizing the Suzdal land, founded in the Kremlin of this city the first church of the Most Holy Theotokos of her honorable and glorious Assumption"1058. It should be noted, however, that Vladimir came to the Suzdal land in 987 (according to other news - in 990), and in 997 he came to Novgorod, and not to the Suzdal land; moreover, inscriptions similar to the one above were invented, it seems, in modern times.

But to whom did Suzdal belong until it was personally replaced by its own princes?

Karamzin says that the children of Yaroslavov, fulfilling his will, divided the state among themselves. The area of ​​Izyaslavov, beyond Novgorod, stretched from Kiev to the south and west to the mountains of the Carpathians, Poland and Lithuania. The prince of Chernigov took the still distant Tmutorokan, Ryazan, Murom and the country of the Vyatichi; Vsevolod, except for Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Suzdal, Beloozero and the Volga region, or the banks of the Volga. Karamzin is based, in this case, on one chronicle of the 15th century. and on the Novgorod chronicle of Pope John 1059. Although the more important lists of chronicles published by the Archaeographic Commission speak only of Pereyaslavl (southern), which Vsevolod got1060, nevertheless, the news cited by Karamzin from the annals of the 15th century. (Synod. Bibl. No. 349) that Vsevolod received Rostov, Suzdal, etc., must be recognized as reliable, since the history of the Rostov-Suzdal land shows that this latter was constantly in the power of the descendants of Monomakh1061.

The son of Monomakh Izyaslav, expelled from Smolensk by David Svyatoslavich, after the misadventures in the Chernigov region, ran in 1096 to Murom, and here he had to defend the city that accepted him from his godfather, Oleg Svyatoslavich, who rightly considered Murom his fatherland; Izyaslav, preparing for the battle with Oleg, called on troops from Rostov, Suzdal and Bilaozero1062, in the battle that took place on September 6, Izyaslav fell; Oleg, after that, took Murom, Suzdal and Rostov. Brother Izyaslav, who was then sitting in Novgorod, sent ambassadors to Oleg to tell him not to occupy someone else's volost and go back to Murom; Mstislav promised at the same time to reconcile him with his father. Oleg not only did not leave the cities he occupied, but also thought to take Novgorod: he sent his brother Yaroslav to Novgorod with a guard detachment, and he himself settled in a field near Rostov; Mstislav, in turn, also spoke out against Oleg, sending himself ahead of Dobrynya Raguilovich with a guard detachment; Yaroslav hurried to inform Oleg about this, who went to Rostov, and Mstislav, meanwhile, came to the Volga, continuing the attack on Oleg, who headed for Suzdal. Upon learning that Mstislav continued to pursue him, Oleg ordered to set fire to Suzdal, which was almost completely destroyed by fire. Oleg, after that, fled to Murom. Mstislav sincerely wished for peace and for this purpose he was sent with his godfather, but the latter was cunning: he agreed to peace and at the same time prepared to inadvertently attack Mstislav, who had dismissed his regiments. However, the Novgorodians, Rostovites and Belozersk managed to gather in time for the latter; in addition, he received news that his father sent his brother Vyacheslav with the Polovtsy to help him ... The battle took place on the fifth of the second week of Great Lent, on the river. Kolokshe; Mstislav, "preide Fire", prevailed, and Oleg fled to Murom; here he left his brother Yaroslav, and he himself fled further, to Ryazan, to which Mstislav pursued him. The latter, having secured here from Oleg the word that he would "turn to his brethren with prayer," returned to Suzdal, and from here he went to his Novgorod1063.

The Rostov-Suzdal land was often visited by Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, whose father, according to the will of Yaroslav, besides southern Pereyaslavl, got: Rostov, Suzdal, Beloozero and the Volga region. Here Monomakh set up a city and named it after himself - Vladimir (on the Klyazma), and in Suzdal he founded the church of the Blessed Virgin Ave.1064. But, without going into details, we only note that we then see in the Rostov-Suzdal land of Yuri Vladimirovich (Dolgoruky), his son Vasilko in 1149, then his other son Andrei, who lived in the city of Bogolyubov founded by him (and his capital was the city of Vladimir). But after the death of his father, in 1157, he was recognized as the Grand Duke of both Rostov and Suzdal, in which Yuri's deputies sat until that year; we will not dwell on the events in the Rostov-Suzdal land after the murder of Andrey - on the election of his nephews, Yaropolk and Mstislav Rostislavich, in the evening, on the two-time call by Vladimirians from Chernigov Mikhail (Mikhalok) Yuryevich, who took with him his younger brother Vsevolod (Big Nest ), about the battle of Mikhail with Mstislav of Suzdal and Rostov, about his occupation of Vladimir, from where Yaropolk fled to Ryazan, and Mstislav to Novgorod; finally, we will not talk about the circumstances of Vsevolod Yuryevich's reign in Vladimir and his recognition as a prince, after the battle on the Yuryevsky field, Rostov and Suzdal, as well as about the succession, after his death, of his sons, Konstantin and Yuri: the story of these events is too much would take places, but for our purpose, a brief indication of the fate of the city before the conquest of Russia by the Tatars is sufficient. We only note that Konstantin Vsevolodovich, having taken the throne of the Grand Duke, gave his brother Yuri, until that time the Grand Duke, first Gorodets, and then Suzdal. After the death of Constantine, Yuri for the second time occupied the Grand Duke's table, and Suzdal was united with the Grand Duchy.

After the departure of the Tatars from northeastern Russia, in 1238, the eldest of the remaining brothers, led, settled in Vladimir. book. Yuri, who fell in the battle with the Tatars on the river. City, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich; then this latter gave to his younger brothers: Svyatoslav - Suzdal, and Ivan - Starodub1065. It must be assumed, as we will now see, that Svyatoslav owned Suzdal until the time when he had to take the grand prince's table, that is, until 1246 inclusive, when his elder brother Yaroslav died. As can be seen from the chronicles1066, Yaroslav, before his last trip to the Horde (in 1245), and perhaps even earlier, ordered about the destinies that should be given to his sons: "And their brothers," that is, Yaroslav's children, Svyatoslav "planted in the city, as if his brother, the great prince Yaroslav Vsevolodich, did not change (did not change) his words," as the annals say. Suzdal with its suburbs, Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod, as can be seen from subsequent events, Svyatoslav gave to his nephew, Andrei Yaroslavich. We have already spoken about Svyatoslav in his own place1067, and therefore here we will only note that in 1248, when Andrei and Alexander Yaroslavichs were in the Horde, he was driven from the grand-ducal table by his youngest nephew, Moscow Prince Mikhail Khorobrit (Brave), who fell in the same year in the battle with the Lithuanians. The youngest of the sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Andrei1068, entered the idle grand-ducal table. Who sat in Suzdal since 1248, it is impossible to say with certainty: it can be assumed that there was either the eldest son of Andrei, if he was in years of 1069, or his governor, and Svyatoslav was content with Yuryev of Poland. We will see the further transition of Suzdal from hand to hand in a biographical review of the Suzdal princes.

Now we could go straight to the biographical list of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes - but according to the plan we have adopted - to convey to the reader a brief story of this or that principality before the Tatar invasion and at the same time convey, albeit briefly, the history of the main centers of the principalities, otherwise - the main cities them, we must say a few words about Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets on the Volga, which were part of the Andreev inheritance and then separated, as well as a few words about other cities of the principality.

The entire Rostov-Suzdal land bore the name Nizovskaya land, or Niza, given to it by the Novgorodians, in accordance with the geographical position of this land and Novgorod the Great. So the Novgorodians call this land in their agreements with the Grand Dukes of Vladimir and then Moscow; also sometimes called her, according to the Novgorodians, and the great princes. Thus, Novgorod on the Volga and the Oka is called Nizhny only in relation to Veliky Novgorod, as lying below the latter, on the Niza, in the Nizovskaya land1070.

Foundation of Nizhny Novgorod led. book. Yuri is attributed to 1212, 1220, 1221, 1222. and even to an earlier year - 1199, which is shown in the inscription of the Nizhny Novgorod Archangel Cathedral, made, however, in 1816.1071 However, this inscription, as well as others like it, must be treated very carefully: in such cases too there is a lot of room for personal considerations and a natural desire to more definitely restore their native antiquity, in the absence of positive data for that. The local historian of his native city1072 says that in 1199 Yuri was not yet a Grand Duke, and in 1212, although he occupied the Grand Duke's table, he was immediately drawn into an internecine war with his brother Konstantin. The year 1220 also cannot be considered the year of foundation of Nizhny Novgorod, because Yuri, having entered the Grand Duke's table for the second time after the death of his elder brother Konstantin (d. 1219), first sent his troops, at the request of Ingvar Ryazan, to the Polovtsians, and then to the Bulgarians . This last campaign continued throughout the summer of 1220, and the winter passed in negotiations with the Bulgarian ambassadors. Thus, the local historian concludes, it must be assumed that the initial fortifications of Nizhny Novgorod began in 1221 and were completed in 1222. Perhaps this was the case; but we have no reason to disregard the direct evidence of the chronicles that in 1221 Yuri founded a city at the mouth of the Oka, which he called Nizhny Novgorod1073. It goes without saying that the city grew gradually and that its fortifications could have been completed before and after 1222.

In the east and southeast, the new acquisitions of the Grand Duke of Vladimir bordered on the lands of the Mordovian tribes, of which the most numerous was the Erznya tribe, which had, so to speak, its capital, Erzemas, now Arzamas, and lived in the current Nizhny Novgorod province along the rivers: Volga, Oka , Kudma, Drunk, Teshe, Sura and Alatyr. The entire Mordva occupied the space from the mouth of the Oka to the upper reaches of pp. Sura, Ravens or Voronezh and Tsny1074. Further from the Mordovians, to the east, lived a more developed and trading people - the Bulgarians. With these peoples often came into hostile clashes, first the great princes of Vladimir, and then the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod. So, Andrei Bogolyubsky, in the winter of 1172, sent his son Mstislav with the children of the princes of Ryazan and Murom to the Bulgarians. But "the path was not loved by all this people, for bad weather there is a winter to fight the Bulgarians, and it’s not going to go like that." However, the voivode of Andrei Bogolyubsky, Boris Zhidislavich, who held the entire outfit in this campaign, took six villages and the seventh - the city1075. According to Tatishchev and the Notes of Catherine II, the city devastated by Boris Zhidislavich stood on the site of present-day Nizhny Novgorod. The city was located on the Dyatlovy Gory1076.

In the newly founded city, Yuri set up the first church in the name of Archangel Michael, first wooden, and in 1227 - stone. According to other reports, the stone church erected by Yuri was a cathedral church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord, founded in 1225.1077

The city founded by Yuri was very important both in trade and political terms. On the one hand, two huge rivers, along which Nizhny Novgorod, the Oka and the Volga, are located, connect the Russian south and the foreign southeast with the northeast of Russia, from where merchants from Bukhara, Khiva, and Transcaucasia went to Russia; on the other hand, it was an important strategic point for observing the Mordovians and, in general, their eastern neighbors1078.

Of course, the Mordovians understood what danger threatened her from the side of the newly founded city, and every hour she had to expect thunderstorms from this point. This storm was not slow to break over her. Four years after the founding of the city (in 1226) led. book. Yuri sent his brothers, Svyatoslav and Ivan, to the Mordovians, who destroyed many villages, took countless full and returned home "with a great victory"1079. This circumstance brought the Mordovians to their senses: the hitherto scattered Mordovian tribes rallied and chose a common head, Purgas, as can be seen from subsequent clashes between the Russians and the Mordovians.

Purgas wanted to destroy the newly established city and generally push the Russians to the west; but Yuri vigilantly followed the movements of the Mordovians. In 1228, he again sent to the Mordovians, this time, his nephew, Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov; but the campaign was unsuccessful, "for the weather they would not be" from the rains, which is why the Grand Duke turned the rati back. Judging by the bad weather, this campaign was in the autumn, and on January 14 of the same year, the Grand Duke himself set out on a campaign against the Mordovians with his brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, with his nephews, Vasilko and Vsevolod Konstantinovich, and with Prince Yuri Davidovich of Murom1080. In retaliation for this campaign, in April of the following 1229, Purgas besieged Nizhny Novgorod, but the Nizhny Novgorod people gave him a strong rebuff, and he limited himself only to burning the fortifications (probably some settlements), and the monastery and the church outside the city were burned down by the Mother of God. In the same year, Purgas was defeated by his fellow tribesman, Yuriev's rotnik (sworn), the son of Puresha, who, with the assistance of the Polovtsy, exterminated the remnants of the Purgas Mordovians and all the still mysterious "Purgas Russia". Purgas himself "barely leaked"1081.

For the next three years, the Mordovians lived in peace. But in 1232 her peace was disturbed: in the winter of the aforementioned year he led. book. For some reason, Yuri sent his son Vsevolod to the Mordovians with other princes who brutally devastated the Mordovian land1082. The Mordovian land did not have time to recover well from this blow, when a formidable cloud broke out over it in 1237, and then in 1238 over Russia: the Tatars found and enslaved both the Mordovians and Russia. From the annals it is not clear that Nizhny Novgorod suffered anything from the Tatars; it is believed that he somehow escaped ruin.

After leaving the Tatars led. book. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich endowed his brothers with his destinies: Svyatoslav received Suzdal, and consequently Gorodets with Nizhny Novgorod, as suburbs of Suzdal1084. In 1247, Svyatoslav, as the eldest in the family, occupied the grand prince's table, and gave his volosts to Yaroslav's son, Andrei Yaroslavich1085, from whom the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets1086. It should be noted, however, that Gorodets was in the possession of Andrei Alexandrovich until his death1087 and then already passed into the family of Andrei Yaroslavich.

Speaking about the main centers of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, we would not say everything if we had not dedicated, as promised above, at least a few lines to the Volga Gorodets, which had its own independent princes.

Volzhsky Gorodets, or Radilov Gorodets, now the village of Gorodets in the Balakhna district, 15 versts from the county town, stands on the Volga, which is why it was called Volzhsky. In the annals we meet him already in 1172; the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky Mstislav, whom his father sent at that time to the Bulgarians, then stayed there. In 1176, Mikhail Yurievich died in Gorodets; in 1216, after the Battle of Lipitsa, the defeated Yuri Vsevolodovich, according to the peace made with his victorious brother, Konstantin, received from the latter Gorodets Radilov, and then Suzdal1089, finally died there in 1263 Alexander Nevsky1090.

A. S. Gatsisky in his "Nizhny Novgorod Chronicle" published by him says that Gorodets Volzhsky was founded in 1164 by the Grand Duke of Pskov Yuri, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavich1091. We do not know where Mr. Gatsisky got the news about the time of the founding of the Volzhsky Gorodets. Of course, if this Gorodets is mentioned in the chronicles as early as 1172, then we can assume that it existed in 1164. But we do not know the Grand Duke of Pskov, George, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavich. Perhaps Mr. Gatsisky meant here the son of Vsevolod not Yaroslavich, but Vsevolod Yuryevich, that is, the Grand Duke of Vladimir, brother Konstantin? But we do not find news about whether Yuri Vsevolodovich1092 was ever in Pskov, not to mention the fact that in 1164 he was not yet in the world.

As for towns that did not play prominent roles, we will not talk about Yuryevets Povolzhsky (aka Povolsky), or Berezhets, etc. About Shuya, who only gave the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod surnames with additions to the personal nicknames of the princes, it was necessary to talk many, but in the end it would be impossible to determine its meaning, since brief fabulous stories about it are not the same as about other old cities (in order to give at least a not very clear idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe meaning of the city): it was some kind of collective name for all the Suzdal princes proper, starting with Kirdyapa and Semyon Dimitrievich.

So, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality was owned by the offspring of Andrei Yaroslavich, who had three sons: Yuri, Vasily and Mikhail. Of these, the eldest, after the death of his father (d. 1264), settled in Suzdal, the middle one - in Nizhny Novgorod, where his offspring ruled hereditarily, and the youngest - in Gorodets. This, however, is only an assumption that in this way, and not otherwise, the destinies were divided, or, rather, that they all owned destinies: since the offspring of Vasily established themselves in Nizhny Novgorod, which from 1350 even became the main city of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality , then it is natural to assume that Vasily settled in Nizhny, his elder brother - in Suzdal, and Mikhail - in Gorodets. But, as we will see from the biography of the mentioned princes, they indicate that Nizhny Novgorod was in the possession of the Moscow princes ... We, for our part, reject this last opinion, but nevertheless it seems strange why there is no news about the Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod princes during the time in which the Moscow princes sat on the aforementioned destinies? Where were these Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod princes? True, we will see that Andrei Alexandrovich died in Gorodets in 1304, that he came and stayed here earlier than the year mentioned ... Where was Mikhail, who died later than his cousin?

It remains to be noted, for the preface to this chapter, that for some time Gorodets and Yuryevets were owned by Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsko-Borovsky (Brave), but it is not known from when and until what time. There is an agreement (No. 38 in the SGGID) led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich with Vladimir the Brave, and according to this agreement, the Grand Duke gives Vladimir Gorodets and Uglich in return for Volok and Rzheva. Is it possible to understand Gorodets Volzhsky here? The letter is attributed to an earlier year than 1405. But in the spiritual letter of Vladimir the Brave himself (d. 1410) it is said that he gives his children, Semyon and Yaroslav, Gorodets on the Volga, that Gorodets and Uglich are exempted from tribute, - and in the contract of Vasily Yaroslavich of Borovsk-Serpukhov (grandson of Vladimir the Brave) with led. book. Vasily the Dark says that the latter did not give the first Uglich with volosts, Gorodets with volosts, etc. 1093 It would be desirable for us to make, so to speak, a synchronistic-parallel table of the princes of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality - but as the reader sees, this cannot be done with confusion news both about the princes themselves and about their genealogy.

Now we turn to the biographical sketches of the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod.

Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich b. 1196 d. 1253

Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who sat until 1238 in Yuryev Polsky alone, received in the aforementioned year from his brother, led. book. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, also Suzdal, and consequently the suburbs of this latter, Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod. Upon the death of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (d. 1246), he, as the eldest in the family, took the throne of the grand duke, and gave Suzdal to his nephew, Andrei Yaroslavich1094.

Andrey Yaroslavich 1238 d. 1264

Andrei Yaroslavich owned Suzdal, first as a specific prince until 1248, and then until 1252 and as a grand prince1095. In 1252, Andrei was forced to flee to Sweden, from the Tatars brought by his brother Alexander, while the latter occupied the grand prince's table. When, in 1256, Andrei returned to the Suzdal land, Alexander Nevsky wanted to give him Suzdal, but was afraid to do so without the will of the khan, angry with Andrei. However, in the same year, Alexander managed to reconcile the khan with his brother, and then, of course, Andrei Yaroslavich came into possession of Suzdal. In 1259, Andrei returned to Suzdal from Novgorod the Great, where he was with his brother Alexander Nevsky and the Tatars who were counting the Novgorod land. He owned this latter, as well as its suburbs, until his death, that is, until 1264.

After the death of Andrei Yaroslavich, we see in one of the suburbs of Suzdal, Gorodets, his nephew, Andrei Alexandrovich. It must be assumed that the son of Nevsky received Gorodets soon after the death of Andrei Yaroslavich and sat there until his death, that is, until 1304, at least we know that he died in Gorodets. Then, probably, Nizhny Novgorod was given to him. In any case, we see that in Nizhny Novgorod, in the year of the death of Andrei Alexandrovich, the people beat, by decision of the veche, his boyars. How would the boyars of Prince Gorodets get to Nizhny Novgorod if the latter did not own it? And he began to own it, it is more natural to assume, from the same time as Gorodets. Andrey himself lived in Gorodets, where he died and was buried, and in Nizhny, obviously, his boyars disposed of, and they must have disposed of very abruptly, why the people, who had previously suffered resentment and oppression of the boyars out of fear of their prince, after the death of the latter, unbridled and he gave free rein to the passion that boiled in his heart - to take revenge on his oppressors, and, by the decision of the veche, he took revenge. Let us note here, by the way, that this episode from the history of Nizhny Novgorod indirectly indicates that after Andrei Alexandrovich there were no children left: otherwise the people would have seen them as avengers for the boyars and would not have dared, probably, to resort to personal reprisals against those close to them. his prince's people. From the annals we know that Mikhail Andreevich, returning from the Horde in 1305, therefore, long after the death of Andrei Alexandrovich, stopped in Nizhny Novgorod and executed the eternals who had beaten the boyars of Andrei Alexandrovich. But does this mean that Mikhail punished the Vechnikov for the boyars of his father, Andrei Alexandrovich, and not his cousin, that is, the same Andrei Alexandrovich? No, Mikhail could punish the vechniks only because they showed their will through an organ of power that had already become obsolete - a veche, which, if it met in some places and sometime in northeastern Russia, nevertheless, had completely random. The very trip of Mikhail to the Horde, as we shall see, is explained by his desire to procure in the Horde the return to Suzdal of its suburbs, which became escheated after the death of a childless prince. - The transition of the Andreev boyars from Gorodets to Tver is motivated by our historians by the fact that these boyars were looking for a better position than what they should have been in after the death of their prince, who occupied the grand prince's table, with his children, princes of appanages: they understood well that upon the death of Andrei Alexandrovich, the grand prince's table will be occupied by the prince of Tver. However, is this explanation correct? It seems to us that, on the contrary, if there were children left after Andrei Alexandrovich, then his boyars would prefer to stay with them, since the prospect of serving the new prince, who was not connected with them by any interests of their previous life, could not smile at them: it is known how unfriendly Those boyars looked at such deserters, who were considered patrimonial under their prince and tried to push back from the latter newcomers who rubbed themselves into their midst. So, after the death of Andrei Yaroslavich, the Suzdal suburbs were occupied by Andrei Alexandrovich (see a little higher), and Suzdal remained to the share of the children of the former, where Yuri Andreevich sat, who, however, mostly lived in Veliky Novgorod.

Yuri Andreevich 1264 mind. 1279

Yuri Andreevich, whose time of birth has not reached us, appears on the historical stage in 1267.

In 1266, the Lithuanian prince Dovmont came to Pskov; the Pskovites accepted him and declared him their prince, without the consent of the lords. book. Yaroslav Yaroslavich (Tver). The latter wanted to punish the Pskovites and for this purpose brought his regiments to Novgorod; Novgorodians, however, did not allow Yaroslav to start an internecine war. Leaving Novgorod, the Grand Duke left his nephew, Dimitri Alexandrovich, there; but a year later, or a little more, Dimitri Alexandrovich was no longer there: in 1267, and according to other news - in 1268, we see Yuri Andreevich there1097. In the said year, "the people of Novgorod and their prince Yury had thought, they wanted to go to Lithuania": they had already arrived in Dubrovna1098; but then there was a strife: some wanted to go to Lithuania, others - to Polotsk, and still others - beyond the river. Narova (i.e., on the Livonian knights). The latter gained the upper hand, and the army went after Narova, to Rakovor1099. They could not take the city and, having lost seven people under it, including “a good man, Fyodor Sbyslavich,” they limited themselves only to the devastation of the enemy’s land: “they spent a lot of their land,” as the chronicle1100 puts it. But the Novgorodians did not want to limit themselves to this: in the same year they called Dimitry Alexandrovich from Pereyaslavl 1101 to their aid, sent ambassadors to the Grand Duke asking for help, and Yaroslav Yaroslavich "in his own place" let go to them (in autumn) with the Tver regiments of his sons their own, Svyatoslav and Mikhail. On January 23, 1268, the princes came to Rakovor: Dimitry Alexandrovich, Svyatoslav and Mikhail Yaroslavich, Konstantin Rostislavich of Smolensk (married to Evdokia, daughter of A. Nevsky), some Yaropolk, Prince. Pskov, Pskov prince Dovmont and other princes, among whom was Yuri Andreevich of Suzdal. The united princes went to Rakovor in three ways and met with the Germans on the river. Skittles. Here gathered, says the chronicle, the whole German land; the battle was extremely bloody: "it was, says the chronicler, a terrible massacre, as if neither father nor grandfather was seen." The Novgorodians took over in 1102. About the fate of Yuri Andreevich in this battle, a completely unflattering review of the chronicler has come down to us: Yuri "shoulders", that is, he showed the rear to the enemy, fled from the battlefield. However, the chronicler doubts what to ascribe to this act of Yuri, and therefore notices: "or the transfer (intercourse with the enemy, treason) was in him, then God knows" ... Novgorodians with princes pursued "God's nobles", as they called the knights, in three ways, for 7 versts, to the city itself. It was February 18th. On the way back, they saw another German regiment, as it is called in the Russian chronicles, "the iron regiment of the great pig", which crashed into the Novgorod convoy. Night suspended hostilities; waited for the morning - but the Germans fled at night. "Novgorodians stood for (ko) steh 3 days" 1103. The Germans, however, did not want to leave this defeat without revenge, and in the next 1269, at the beginning of the second half of May1104, they approached Pskov, under which they stood for ten days, but could not do much harm to the city; they even fled when Yuri Andreyevich came to the aid of Pskov with the Novgorodians, so that the "God's nobles" were forced to make peace with the Novgorodians "with all the will of Novgorod"1105.

Yuri Andreevich died on March 8, 1279. 1106 It is not known whether Yuri was married; but, in any case, the descendants after him do not show either annals or genealogies.

Mikhail Andreevich 1264-1305

After the death of Yuri, the second son of Andrei Yaroslavich, Mikhail, settled in Suzdal.

There is reason to believe that Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod remained in the hands of Andrei Alexandrovich until his death, that is, until 1304, which we just talked about, we also talked about the fact that he was buried in Gorodets, in the Mikhailovsky Church that after his death, his Gorodets boyars went to Tver to his uncle, Mikhail Yaroslavich, who was supposed to take the grand prince's table1108 - that his boyars in Nizhny Novgorod, by decision of the veche, were killed by the Nizhny Novgorod mob. We know that the people did not like Andrei Alexandrovich, as a restless prince, who, by his search for the grand prince's table, caused much harm to the Russian land, on which he brought the Tatars. During the life of the prince, the inhabitants of Nizhny Novgorod, of necessity, had to silently endure the grievances of his boyars, and after his death they beat them in 1304. to Nizhny Novgorod and beat the evemen" 1109.

Mikhail Andreevich married an unknown named Ordynka in 1305. 1110 From this marriage, some attribute his son Vasily to him, probably on the basis of the Nikon Chronicle, in which, under 1309, it is said: "Great Prince Vasilei Mikhailovich of Suzdal repose." Not to mention the fact that according to other news1111 in 1309 Vasily, the son of Andrei, and therefore the brother of Mikhail, died, the above news from the Nikon chronicle is refuted by another place in the same chronicle1112. Under 1365, the named chronicle says: "The same summer, Prince Dmitry Kostyantinovich of Suzdal, grandson Vasiliev, great-grandson of Mikhailov, great-great-grandson of Andreev, great-great-great-grandson of Alexander Yaroslavich, came to Novgorod Nizhny to reign with his mother with Elena"; in the same place, below, it says: "settlement (Tatar ambassadors) in the Novgorod principality of Prince Boris Kostyantinovich, grandson of Vasiliev, great-grandson of Mikhailov, great-great-grandson of Andreev Alexandrovich." According to this news, Vasily is the son of Mikhail and the grandson of Andrei, but not Yaroslavich, but Alexandrovich. Mikhail, as we already know, married in the Horde in 1305, therefore, Vasily, if he was his son, in the year of his death, that is, in 1309, was four years old, even if we assume that he was born in the first year of Michael's marriage. Could, one wonders, a 4-year-old child have a son (Konstantin)? - Obviously, Vasily was not the son of Mikhail, who died childless, but his brother1113, and that place in the Nikon Chronicle, where Vasily is called Mikhailovich, must be attributed to Vasily Andreevich, and not Mikhailovich, who did not exist at all.

Vasily Andreevich 1264 mind. 1309

After the death of Mikhail, his brother, Vasily Andreevich, settled in Suzdal, about whom only one news reached us that he died in 1309.1114

Vasily Andreevich had two sons, Alexander and Konstantin. Alexander, after the death of his father, occupied Suzdal. Some, on very, however, shaky grounds, believe that in the first years of his reign, Alexander did not own Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, which he supposedly belonged to. book. Vladimirsky, Yuri Danilovich. It is believed that Lower Alexander received almost after the occupation of the Grand Duke's table by Ivan Kalita, in 1328.1115

Alexander Vasilyevich 1309 mind. 1332

The eldest son of Vasily Andreevich, Alexander, begins to be mentioned in chronicles from 1327. This year (August 15) in Tver, the Tatar detachment and its leader, Shevkal, were exterminated. Shortly after this event, Ivan Danilovich Kalita went to the Horde, from where he returned already in the winter with five temniki, who, together with the Moscow prince, were to punish the Tver prince Alexander on the orders of Khan Uzbek. Alexander Vasilyevich Suzdalsky1116 also participated in the campaign to Tver. But the prince of Tver fled to Pskov. The following year, Ivan Danilovich, together with the brother of the fugitive prince, Konstantin Mikhailovich, again went to the Horde. Khan recognized Konstantin as the prince of Tver, but demanded both from him and from Kalita that they deliver the fugitive prince of Tver to him. In 1329 Ivan Danilovich arrived in Novgorod, from where he marched to Pskov1117. In addition to Konstantin of Tver, Alexander Vasilyevich of Suzdal also participated in this campaign.

At the end of the reign of Alexander Vasilyevich, the assumption of the founder of Nizhny Novgorod was fulfilled: St. Dionysius built the Monastery of the Ascension, known as the Nizhny Novgorod Caves in 1119.

Alexander Vasilievich died in 1332 1120

From a marriage with an unknown person, he had a daughter, Anastasia, who was his second wife. book. Tversky Boris Alexandrovich.

Konstantin Vasilyevich 1309 mind. 1355

After the death of Alexander, his brother, Konstantin, settled in Suzdal, but also, as some, however, on shaky grounds, believe - without suburbs, that is, without Nizhny and Gorodets. Until 1340, Semyon the Gordy allegedly owned Nizhny Novgorod1121. Since the indicated year, Konstantin Vasilyevich has just begun to be mentioned in the annals. This year, the khan, angry with something at Ivan Alexandrovich, the prince of Smolensk, perhaps because the prince of Smolensk entered into an alliance with Gediminas and, it seems, wanted to achieve complete independence from the Tatars, as Karamzin1122 explains, sent a Tatar army to Smolensk army under the command of Tovlubiy, with whom the then Ryazan prince, Ivan Korotopol, who was then in the Horde, went. Ivan Kalita, by order of the khan, also had to detach his regiments to help Tovlubiy; Kalita himself did not go, however, to Smolensk, but sent henchman princes there: Konstantin of Rostov, Ivan Yaroslavich of Yuryev-Polish and others, among whom was Konstantin Vasilyevich of Suzdal1123.

After the death of Ivan Danilovich, the princes of the North-East. Rus went to the Horde; went (from Nizhny Novgorod, according to Nik. years.) and the son of Kalita, Semyon. Some of them, by tribal seniority, could hope to receive grand ducal dignity, like Konstantin Vasilievich of Suzdal and Konstantin Mikhailovich of Tver; but Ivan Danilovich, even during his lifetime, put the interests of his house, in relation to the Horde, on solid ground; in addition, the Moscow prince was stronger and richer than the rest of the princes of northeastern Russia: the khan approved the grand ducal dignity for Semyon, "and all the princes of Russia were given under his hand." Konstantin Vasilyevich, according to some reports, then received the entire Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality. The princes who were in the Horde, including Konstantin Vasilievich, in the same 1340, were supposed to join their regiments with those of Moscow and take part in the Grand Duke's campaign against Novgorod land1124.

In the following year, 1341, Khan Uzbek died, and his son Chanibek ascended the Khan's throne over the corpses of his brothers; Russian princes, including Konstantin Vasilyevich, in 1342 hurried to the Horde - to introduce themselves to the new khan1125. Two years later (in 1344) Semyon Ivanovich with his brothers, Ivan and Andrei, again went, for no one knows why, to the Horde; in the annals it is noted that "and all the princes of Rustia were then in the horde", and therefore Konstantin Vasilyevich1126.

We said above that the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod and Tver princes could be rivals to the Moscow princes. But both Kalita and his son Semyon, bought by the grace of the khan, sat firmly on the grand prince's table, and their rivals could not lay claim to the grand duke's dignity. Ambitious Konstantin, seeing that the house of the princes of Moscow was irrevocably established in the great reign, striving for primacy and dominance over other princely houses, feared for the independence of the Suzdal principality, which had already lost its former significance in many respects, and therefore decided to found a new independent principality, which at least and did not surpass Moscow in brilliance and grandeur, but - at least - could be equal to it in this respect. To this end, in 1350 he transferred his throne from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod; peacefully subjugated part of the Mordovian lands and peacefully populated them with Russians, withdrawn by him from the Suzdal volost proper and called from other principalities. People went willingly, because Constantine gave them the freedom to choose places as they wished; the newcomers settled along the Volga, Oka and Kudma in the current counties of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorbatovsky. In the same 1350, Constantine founded (and finished in 1352) the Church of the Divine Transfiguration, the main shrine of the Nizov land, and placed in it the ancient image of the Savior, painted in Greece and until that time in Suzdal. Only the chair of bishops, called from 1276 Suzdal, Novgorod, i.e., Nizhny Novgorod, and Gorodets, still remained in Suzdal1127.

In addition to Nizhny, Suzdal and Gorodets, the new grand principality included three suburbs: Berezhets at the mouth of the Klyazma, Yuryevets on the Volga and Shuya, so that the borders of the principality were separated from the independent Mordovians by pp. Teshey and Vadom, and from the Murom and Starodub principalities - Okoy and Klyazma; all the Volga region from Yuryevets to the mouth of the Sura and the coast of this latter to pp. Kishi and Algash also belonged to Konstantin, and from these rivers the border passed along the banks of Pyana to the river. Wada; from the actual Gorodetskaya or Belogorodskaya volost, as it is still called now, Konstantin's possessions went to the west, occupying the current Shuisky and Suzdal uyezds and the northern part of Vyaznikovsky; Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was separated from the Vladimir-Moscow lands by the same lines that now separate Suzdal uyezd from Vladimir and Yuryevsky 1128.

Regarding Berezhets, Yuryevets and Shuya, the following should be noted. We positively know that Shuya was part of the Suzdal Principality proper; but to whom Berezhets and Yuryevets belonged in those days when there were separate princes in Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, we do not find positive indications of this anywhere. It must be assumed that they adjoined those centers to which they were closer, so Yuryevets probably adjoined Gorodets, and Berezhets - Nizhny Novgorod.

At the end of April 1353, the leader died. book. Semyon Ivanovich, and the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke found a moment convenient for openly presenting his rights to the great reign of Vladimir, since Semyon's successor was his brother Ivan, a weak man both in spirit and body. "The chronicle says that Prince Ivan Ivanovich of Moscow and Prince Kostyantin of Suzdal Vasilyevich stole away about the great reign." The Novgorodians, who suffered a lot from the Moscow princes, naturally took the side of Konstantin: they sent Semyon Sudakov to the khan as an ambassador, who was supposed to petition the Horde for the confirmation of Konstantin in grand ducal dignity. But "the tsar will not listen to them, he will give a great reign to Prince Ivan Ivanovich" 1129. Constantine could not forgive Ivan for this and prevented him from punishing the Novgorodians for their intrigues in the Horde. However, in 1355 "the great prince Ivan Ivanovich took love with Prince Kostyantin Vasilyevich of Suzdal"1130. Shortly before his death, Konstantin Vasilyevich entered into family ties with the Lithuanian princely house: as we will soon see, his son Boris married the daughter of Olgerd.

Konstantin Vasilyevich died on November 21, 1355, having taken the monastic image and schema, and was buried in the church of St. Spas. According to the chronicle, he "ruled 15 years honestly and menacingly, harrowed his homeland from strong princes and from the Tatars"1131.

Konstantin Vasilyevich was married twice: a) to the daughter of the Greek (Mankup) Prince Vasily Anna, mentioned only in the Word on the life and death of the vel. book. Dimitry Ivanovich Donskoy1132; b) on Elena, known to us only by name. Some people think that from his first marriage Constantine had only one son, Andrew, while the other sons were born from his second wife1133; others, on the contrary, attribute all children to the second marriage.

Be that as it may, Konstantin Vasilyevich had four sons: Andrei, Dimitri (in monasticism - Thomas, and in schema - Theodore), Boris and another Dimitri, nicknamed the Nail, the ancestor of the extinct princes of the Nogtevs.

Andrei Konstantinovich 1323 mind. 1365

Andrei Konstantinovich is not mentioned in the chronicles until 1355, that is, until the death of his father1135. Under the named year, noting the death of Konstantin Vasilyevich, the chronicles say that in the same winter Andrei went to Tsar Chanibek: "and the king honored him and granted him and gave him the table of his father, the reign of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets" 1136. Andrei Konstantinovich returned from the Horde in the summer, already in the next 1356, 1137, "with honor and with a reward."

The news reached us that in the same 1356 led. book. Ivan Ivanovich and Andrey Konstantinovich were going on a date in Pereyaslavl, that Ivan Ivanovich generously endowed his younger brother and let him go in peace1138. The reasons for this congress are not indicated in the annals, but one can guess about them. We already know that the father of Andrei Konstantinovich, after the death of Proud, laid claim to the grand duke's table and, consequently, turned out to be a rival to Ivan Ivanovich. Probably, due to his mild and peaceful nature, Ivan Ivanovich did not want the strife to continue and was the first to take a step towards reconciliation.

Andrei Konstantinovich, having become the head of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, gave inheritances to his younger brothers: Dimitri - Suzdal, Boris - Gorodets with the Volga region and the banks of the Sura, and the youngest, Dimitri Nail, seems to have received no inheritance and lived in Suzdal1139.

In the first years of the reign of Andrei Konstantinovich, unrest occurred in the Horde: one khan killed another and took his place. So, in 1359 Khan Berdibek, the son of Chanibek, was killed; his successor Kulpa reigned a little more than half a year and was killed by Navrus. In these "warlike times" Andrei Konstantinovich was in the Horde, perhaps to introduce himself to the new khan, "and God barely saved him from the mountain of death at the hands of the filthy." In the same year, all the Russian princes, and therefore Andrei Konstantinovich, went to the Horde to the new Khan Navrus "and bish the tsar about the division of their reign"; khan "humble them and set them apart for their principalities": each of the princes received his fatherland1140.

Almost at the same time, the Zhukotinsky princes complained to the Horde about the Novgorod robbers, who robbed and beat many Tatars in Zhukotin. Khidyr, who recently took the place of Navrus, through three ambassadors with whom the Zhukotians arrived in Russia, demanded that the Russian princes extradite the robbers. In the winter of 1360, princes gathered in Kostroma: Dimitri Konstantinovich, then Grand Duke of Vladimir, his elder brother, Andrei of Nizhny Novgorod, and Konstantin of Rostov. At this congress it was supposed to extradite the robbers, which was carried out1141.

In the next 1361, all the princes went to the new Khan Khidyr: Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, Dimitri Konstantinovich, led. book. Vladimir, his elder brother Andrey, Konstantin Rostov and Mikhail Yaroslavl (actually Molozhsky). Demetrius of Moscow left the Horde earlier than other princes, under whom "there was ... a hush of greatness in the horde": Khidyr, "quiet and meek and humble", was killed by his eldest son Temir-Khozei, who, in turn, was also killed . In this turmoil, "zamyatne", according to the characteristic expression of the chronicle, the Russian princes had a bad time, and they hurried to move away from the stormy and bloody scene. Andrey Konstantinovich also went home, but on the way he was attacked by some Tatar prince Ryatakoz. Andrei, however, whether having fought back or managed to escape from this prince, arrived safely in Nizhny Novgorod1142.

In order for subsequent events to present themselves to us in a clearer light, we must go back a little.

In 1359, Khan Kulpa was killed by Navrus, who occupied the Khan's throne. The Russian princes, of course, had to introduce themselves to the new khan, - Andrey of Nizhny Novgorod also introduced himself. Navrus offered him the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, but Andrei, due to his meek nature, “for that did not come,” which is why Navrus transferred the grand ducal dignity to the younger brother Demetrius, following Andrei1143.

But the triumph of Dimitri Konstantinovich was short-lived. In 1361, the murderer of his father Khidyr, Khan Temir-Khozya, fled from the temnik Mamai, who rebelled against him, and was killed; in the lower reaches of the Volga, two khans appeared: in Sarai - Murat, and on the right bank of the Volga - Avdul, the creature of Mamai. Dimitri of Moscow first received a label for a great reign from Murat, and then did not refuse the same label offered to him by Avdul. Murat, annoyed at this act of the Moscow prince, sent with Prince. Ivan Belozersky, an ambassador to Dimitri Konstantinovich, who was given a label for a great reign. But the Moscow prince expelled Dimitri Konstantinovich from both Vladimir and Suzdal. Then the rivals made peace; the Suzdal prince went to Nizhny Novgorod, to his elder brother Andrey1144. This was already in 1363.

The end of the ten-year reign of Andrei Konstantinovich was overshadowed by the disasters that befell Nizhny Novgorod: "Byst (in 1364), the chronicle says, the pestilence was great in Novegrad in the lower and throughout its county, and on Sarah and Kish"; people spit blood, "and iron sickness one day, or two, or three days, and few remained, and so I died." The survivors did not have time to bury the dead, as 50, 100 or more people died per day. Another disaster was a terrible drought, so that not only the forests, but also the marshes caught fire of their own accord; for three months the air was saturated with smoke and burning; small rivers dried up completely, and fish fell asleep in large ones: "became, says the chronicler, fear and horror on all people and great sorrow" 1145.

In the same 1364, Andrei Konstantinovich, feeling the approach of death, took the monastic rank, and on June 2 of the following 1365 he died, having accepted the schema, and was buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral. Having brought these facts to the pages of his everyday life, the chronicler characterizes this prince in the following way: "Depart, meek and quiet, and humble and many-virtuous Prince Andrei Kostyantinovich of Suzdal and Novgorod Nizhnyago and Gorodetsky"; and earlier, speaking of Andrei's acceptance of the monastic rank, the same chronicler remarked about him: "he is spiritually strong and many-virtuous"1146.

Andrei Konstantinovich was married, according to some reports, to Anastasia, unknown by origin, and according to others, to a Tveryanka, the daughter of Ivan Kiyasovsky and mother Anna1147. Be that as it may, we do not see his offspring either from chronicles or genealogies1148.

Dimitri Konstantinovich senior b. 1324 d. 1383

Dimitri Konstantinovich the Elder, the second son of Konstantin Vasilyevich, not mentioned in the annals until 1359, was born, for some reasons, in 1323 or 1324.1149

After death led. book. Ivan II Ivanovich (d. 1359), the princes of Suzdal, Andrei and Dimitri Konstantinovich, went to the Horde, where the new Khan Navrus, the murderer of his predecessor Kulpa, gave the grand princely rank to Andrei Konstantinovich of Nizhny Novgorod - but the latter "did not come", why khan and gave the grand-princely table to Andrey's younger brother, presumably more ambitious, Dimitry Konstantinovich, prince of Suzdal, and gave it "not according to the fatherland, not according to the grandfather"1150. In the spring of 1360, Dimitri Konstantinovich left the Horde and a week before Peter's Day entered Vladimir1151, and on July 12, under him, Metropolitan Alexy was installed there by Metropolitan Alexy as archbishop of Novgorod and Pskov Alexy1152. At the same time, Dimitri Konstantinovich sent his deputies to Novgorod, whom the Novgorodians, who wanted to see Dimitriev's father still in the great reign, received with honor, "planted" at their place and "gave a court", "complaining with the prince"1153. Finally, in the same winter of 1360, Dimitri Konstantinovich was in Kostroma at a princely congress. But we have already spoken of this congress in our place.

Meanwhile, in the Horde, as the chronicle puts it, a great turmoil arose: Khidyr came from behind the Urals, seduced the Horde nobles, killed, with the help of the latter, Khan Navrus and sat in his place. After the Kostroma congress, the princes hurried to the Horde to the new khan: Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, Dimitri and Andrei Konstantinovichi, Konstantin of Rostov and Mikhail of Molozhsky. What was happening then in the Horde and what was the result of the trip of the princes there - we already talked about this in the biography of Andrei Konstantinovich1155, and therefore we will move away from these events a little further.

In 1364, the son of Dimitri Konstantinovich Vasily, nicknamed Kirdyap, returned from the Horde and brought to his father from Khan Azis a label for a great reign. But, knowing the strength of Moscow and the impotence of the khans, Dimitri Konstantinovich refused the label in favor of the prince of Moscow. Meanwhile, in the following 1365, Andrei Konstantinovich died, and Nizhny Novgorod, according to seniority, was to be occupied by Dimitri Konstantinovich, but his younger brother Boris warned him: when Dimitri Konstantinovich with his mother and the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets Bishop Alexy approached Nizhny Novgorod, Boris didn't let them in. Then the older brother went to the Grand Duke and asked him for help: the Grand Duke sent Abbot Sergius to Nizhny Novgorod to reconcile the brothers with an invitation from Boris to Moscow; Boris did not want to go, and Sergius, as he was punished by Metropolitan Alexy, decided to close all the Nizhny Novgorod churches; however, Boris, it seems, opposed this as well; at least there was some reason why the metropolitan expelled the possessions of Boris, that is, Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod, from the diocese of the Suzdal Bishop Alexy, so that the Nizhny Novgorod prince was left without a shepherd. Then the Grand Duke gave his former rival an army, with which Dimitri Konstantinovich went to the Lower. Only now Boris Konstantinovich saw that it was difficult for him to fight with his brother, and therefore, with a submissive head, he met the latter in Berezhets, beat him with his forehead, yielding Nizhny Novgorod, and left for his Gorodets. Dimitri Konstantinovich, having occupied Nizhny, let the Moscow troops go home in 1156.

Thus, the former rivals now found themselves, as it were, in a friendly alliance. This union was soon sealed by a close union of property: on January 18, 1366, led. book. Dimitri Ivanovich married Evdokia, daughter of Dimitri Konstantinovich; the wedding was played in Kolomna in 1157.

Boris Konstantinovich, as just said, went to Gorodets. Suzdal remained; the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod gave it to his eldest son Vasily, nicknamed Kirdyape1158.

By the same year, there is a lonely standing chronicle that the Novgorod fellows, "ushkuyniki", or, as the Nikon chronicle sometimes calls them, "young noblemen", led by the governor: Osip Varfolomeevich, Vasily Fedorovich, Vasily Abakumovich, in 200 ushki , sailed to Nizhny Novgorod and robbed the Tatar, Armenian, Besermen and other guests here and left with great booty1159.

In the next 1367, at the beginning of summer, there was again a raid on the Volga, within its flow along the Nizhny Novgorod principality, but not from their own side, but from the side of the Horde native, Prince Bulak-Temir (Bulat-Temir, Pulad-Temir) , during the Horde's "zamyatna" who took possession of the middle course of the Volga; he plundered the parishes of Boris Konstantinovich along the Volga to Sundovak and headed for Nizhny Novgorod. Dimitry Konstantinovich and his brothers opposed him, and he fled across the river. I'm drunk. Pursuing the fugitives, the Russian princes beat many of them; many Tatars drowned in the river. Drunk1160.

Regarding the relationship Dimitri Konstantinovich had with his foreign neighbors, the chronicles provide little information. Judging by facts such as Bulat-Temir's attack, they appear hostile. But Bulat-Temir should not be taken into account here: he was a temporary neighbor, and already because, beaten by the Nizhny Novgorod princes, he fled to the Horde (where he was killed by Khan Azis), he appears as a wandering leader of a band of robbers. Another thing is a more settled neighbor, like the Bulgarian prince Asan (or Osan). Annalistic news about the collision of Dimitri Konstantinovich with this Asan has been preserved, but at the will of the khan. In the autumn of 1370, Constantine sent his brother Boris and son Vasily against him with a large army; the king's ambassador Achikhozha was on the campaign with the princes; Asan sent his people to meet them with a petition and many gifts; they took advantage of the gifts, but they imprisoned some Saltan, Bakov's son (or Saltan-Bakov's son?) in the Bulgarian principality, and returned home1161.

Two years after this campaign, Dimitri Konstantinovich, fearing, of course, attacks both from his own (ushkuiniki) and from foreigners, “lay the Lower Stone in Novgorod”1162.

Then, for two years, no news about Dimitri Konstantinovich is found in the annals. In 1374, one and a half thousand Tatars, led by several ambassadors, came to Nizhny Novgorod. Dimitri Konstantinovich with his wife, brothers, children and boyars was at that time at the christening of his son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Moscow, against whom, it seems, the aforementioned Tatars (probably the vanguard) were going, since Dimitri Ivanovich was at peace at that time with Mama. The Nizhny Novgorodians killed both the Tatars and several ambassadors, and they took the senior ambassador, named Saraika, alive along with his squad and locked them up in the fortress. Upon returning from his son-in-law, Dimitry Konstantinovich ordered the Tatars to be dispersed in different places; but Saraika managed to break through to the bishop's court and set it on fire; the Tatars fired at the citizens from there, wounded many, put many on the spot; they also shot at Bishop Dionysius, but unsuccessfully: only one arrow caught his mantle. The people, however, overcame the Tatars and killed them all. The Tatars did not want to leave this unpunished and soon passed the banks of the Kishi with fire and sword, robbed all the drunkenness, people or slaughtered, like, for example, the boyar Parfeniy Fedorovich, or taken into captivity1163. In the same way, Mamai, who supported Mikhail of Tver, did not want to leave unpunished the fact that Dimitri Konstantinovich, with his son Semyon and brother Boris Gorodetsky, participated in the same 1375 (July and August), led the campaign. book. Dimitry Ivanovich to Tver. The Tatars approached Nizhny Novgorod and asked: “Why did they go to the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver?” Then they plundered the Nizhny Novgorod land and went to the Horde with a large crowd. But a little earlier than the Tatars, when Dimitri Konstantinovich was on a campaign near Tver, Novgorod was again attacked and ruined by his ushkuyniki. This time, however, their robberies along the Volga did not go unpunished: they reached Astrakhan and were received by the local ruler Salchey as a hospitable host: he treated the ushkuins to the point that they were "bysha piani, like they are dead." In this form, by order of Salchey, they were all slaughtered1164.

Dimitri Konstantinovich, in the following winter, 1376, in revenge, it seems, for the ruin of the Nizhny Novgorod volosts in 1375, decided to undertake a campaign against the Bulgarians, "recksha to Kazan." He asked for help from his son-in-law, and Dimitri Ivanovich sent his army under the leadership of Prince. Dmitry Mikhailovich Volynsky, and Dimitri Konstantinovich put up a large army, headed by his children, Vasily and Ivan. On March 16, the Russians approached Kazan; Kazanians went out of the city to fight: some began to shoot, others "out of the city thundered through the forest, frighteningly Russian regiments"; some shot from crossbows, while others rode on camels, "like Russian horses." But all these tricks did not reach their goal: the Russians strongly rushed at the Bulgarians, as one person - they could not withstand the onslaught and, pursued and beaten by the Russians, fled to the city. Villages, winter quarters and Bulgarian ships were destroyed by fire. Then the Bulgarian princes, Asan and Makhmet-Saltan, finished off the Grand Duke and his father-in-law with two thousand rubles, and they were given 3,000 rubles for the soldiers; in addition, they undertook to accept the daraga and the customs officer of the Grand Duke1165, therefore, they were subject to tribute.

In 1377, from the Blue Horde (from the Blue or Aral Sea), some prince Arapsha came across the Volga to the Mamaev Horde, "a ferocious and great warrior, courageous and strong." It is not known what kind of relationship he had with Mamai, but that it was not without his knowledge that he went as an army to Nizhny Novgorod, this is undoubtedly. Dimitri Konstantinovich informed his son-in-law about the danger that threatened him, who came to his father-in-law to help with numerous regiments. But the rumors about Arapsha suddenly ceased, and the Grand Duke, leaving his regiments in Nizhny, returned to Moscow. Soon, however, there were rumors again that the Tatars were in the field and that the Arapsha was hiding near Wolf Waters. Dimitri Konstantinovich sent his son Ivan and some prince Semyon Mikhailovich from Suzdal with a large army, which, having joined with the Moscow army, went beyond the river. I'm drunk. The princes found out that Arapsha was located on the Wolf Waters, very far away, and therefore they behaved carelessly: they put armor, shields and helmets on wagons; horns, sulits and spears were not brought into combat form, and others were not even impaled on the poles: “And when you ride your ports off your shoulders, and the loops are unfastened, like a disheveled bathhouse, it’s sultry at that time”; but the main thing is that everything "honey piaxy dopian and fishing is active, creating fun for yourself." Excited by strong drinks, the soldiers boasted that each of them would go out to a hundred Tatars; princes, governors and boyars also had fun, drank "and for those who are active, imagining being at home." Meanwhile, the Mordovian princes secretly led the Tatars on them, who, divided into five detachments, hit the Russians and surrounded them "in the rear, beating, piercing and cutting"; pycskie in disorder rushed to the river. Drunk; the Tatars pursued them and beat them, among other things they killed Prince. Semyon Mikhailovich and many boyars. Book. Ivan Dimitrievich, having galloped to the river, rushed into it on a horse and drowned; many boyars, governors, servants and ordinary soldiers also drowned with him. Tatars "stash on bones". Thus ended the battle on the river. Drunk. "In truth, the proverb is still called: drunken drunk," notes the chronicler. It was August 2nd. Leaving here full of military booty in general, the Tatars set out in exile to Nizhny Novgorod. Dimitri Konstantinovich had nothing to think about defense under such circumstances, and he went to Suzdal; many of the citizens also left along the Volga to Gorodets. On August 5, the Tatars were already in Nizhny, killed the inhabitants who remained there, and set the city, churches and monasteries on fire. How large and how richly built the city was, shows, among other things, the fact that in the described attack of the Tatars 32 churches burned down, according to the news of the Nikon Chronicle. For two days the Tatars ruled in the city; then, leaving him, they began to devastate the Nizhny Novgorod volosts with fire and sword and take away full. Soon Vasily Dimitrievich Kirdyapa arrived in Novgorod from Suzdal and sent to look for the corpses of his brother Ivan and Prince. Semyon Mikhailovich. At the same time, Arapsha plundered and set fire to all Zasurye. Thus, the Nizhny Novgorod principality was extremely devastated and weakened. Probably, this circumstance gave the Mordovians the courage to attack the Nizhny Novgorod district in the same year, beat many people, take full and burn the villages left after the Tatar raid. But the Mordovians did not go in vain: Boris Konstantinovich caught up with the "filthy" Mordovians near the Pyana River and beat her badly, and many Mordovians drowned in the river1167.

This is not enough: in the winter of the same 1377, Dimitri Konstantinovich sent brother Boris and son Semyon to the Mordovians with his regiments; the Grand Duke of Moscow also sent his army under the command of the governor Fyodor Andreevich Svibl. Russian rati made a complete devastation of the Mordovian land: as the chronicle says, "creating their land all empty"; the villages were plundered and set on fire, some of the inhabitants were exterminated, others, especially the best, were taken into captivity; there were few who managed to get rid of the Russian sword or full. Irritation against the filthy and insidious Mordovians was so strong that in Nizhny they betrayed the prisoners to various executions; by the way, some of them were taken to the Volga, dragged across the ice and poisoned by dogs.

In the next 1378, the Mamaev Tatars, as some think, in revenge for the ruin of the Mordovian lands subject to Mamai, exiled again attacked Nizhny Novgorod at a time when the prince was not in the city: the inhabitants of the region fled, the citizens of Nizhny also fled across the Volga. Dimitri Konstantinovich, having come from Gorodets, saw that his capital could not resist the Tatars, and therefore sent the last payback from the city; the Tatars did not take the payback, but burned the city. Leaving, they took away full, made war on the Birch field and the whole district1169.

Then, for Dimitri Konstantinovich, four or more calm years passed, if one can judge calmness by the absence of any annalistic news about the Nizhny Novgorod prince during the indicated time. Even such a brilliant event as the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, it seems, did not touch the Nizhny Novgorod princes at all. However, the local historian, pointing to the last devastation of Nizhny Novgorod by the Tatars, as to the time from which the Nizhny Novgorod prince, from an ally of Moscow, becomes again a seeker of Khan's favors, as the first proof of his position, points to the fact that in 1380 Dimitri Konstantinovich, although and sent his regiments against Mamai, but neither he nor his children participated in the Battle of Kulikovo. But we do not know on what the local historian is based1170.

In 1382, a terrible, menacing cloud began to approach Moscow, which did not bode well for other principalities either: a new Khan Tokhtamysh, the conqueror of Mamai, was advancing on Russia. Wanting to save his land from the Tatar ruin, Dimitri Konstantinovich sent his sons, Vasily and Semyon, to meet Tokhtamysh, who had already caught up with him near the Ryazan border. They were with the regiments of the khan all the time of his stay within Russia. Returning to the Horde, Tokhtamysh, after the ruin of the Ryazan land, sent an embassy to Dimitri Konstantinovich, headed by his brother-in-law Shikhmat (Shakhomat); with this embassy, ​​he also released the youngest son of Konstantinov, Semyon, and took the eldest, Vasily Kirdyapa, with him to the Horde, probably as a hostage. In the next 1383, Boris Gorodetsky went to the Horde with gifts, and a few months later his son, Ivan, followed him. Dimitri Konstantinovich was already so decrepit that he could not go to the Horde personally, but sent his son Semyon there1172.

Shortly after that, namely, on July 5 of the same 1383, Dimitri Konstantinovich, who was named Thomas at baptism, and Theodore upon taking the monastic image, died and was buried in the stone church of St. Spas on the right side, next to his father. Speaking of his death, the chronicles note that he was in the great reign (Vladimir) for two years, and in his fatherland in the great reign (Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod) - 19 years, and "alive for all years 61" 1173.

Dimitri Konstantinovich was married to Anna, known to us only by name1174, from whose marriage he had three sons: Vasily Kirdyapa, Ivan and Semyon1175, and two daughters, of whom the eldest, Maria, was for Nikolai Vasilyevich Velyaminov, and the youngest, Evdokia, for Dimitri Ivanovich Donskoy.

Boris Konstantinovich 1340 mind. 1394

Upon the death of Dmitry Konstantinovich, Boris took the throne of the grand duke, of course, having received a label on him from the khan; Gorodets, as his former inheritance, remained with him, and Suzdal, as we shall see, with his nephews, Vasily and Semyon Dimitrievich.

No news has come down to us about the time and place of Boris Konstantinovich's birth; judging, however, by the time of his marriage, he was born before 1340. For the first time in the annals, he is mentioned precisely in connection with his marriage to his daughter. Prince of Lithuania Olgerd in 1354 1176

Upon the death of the eldest of the Konstantinovichs, Andrei, the Nizhny Novgorod table was to be occupied by his brother Dimitri, who was next in seniority; but Boris warned him: he occupied Nizhny Novgorod before Demetrius, and when this latter approached Nizhny Novgorod, he did not let him into the city. Dimitri Konstantinovich turned for help to his son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Moscow, who, through hegumen Sergius, wanted to reconcile the brothers and called Boris to Moscow. "Princes are judged only by God," Boris replied with dignity to the call of the Grand Duke. But the Moscow regiments, which Dimitri Konstantinovich received as help from his son-in-law and led to Nizhny Novgorod, forced Boris to reconcile: he ceded Nizhny Novgorod to his elder brother, and he himself had to be content with his former Gorodetsky lot1177. This was in 1365.

The brothers, judging by their subsequent relationship to each other, reconciled sincerely and walked, as they say, hand in hand. In 1367, on the banks of the Volga, within the Nizhny Novgorod principality, the Horde prince Bulak-Temir ran, who had taken possession of Bulgaria before that, devastated the Gorodets volosts and wanted to go to Nizhny Novgorod, but the reconciled brothers drove him across the river. Drunk1178.

Bulak-Temir fled to the Horde and was killed there by Khan Azis, and in Kazan (Bulgaria) we see another prince, Asan. In 1370, Dimitri Konstantinovich, by order of the khan, sent Prince Boris Konstantinovich to this prince, who put in place of Asan some Saltan, Bakov's son (or Saltan-Bakov's son), although he took gifts from Asan1179. Probably with a strategic goal, as a guard post for monitoring the eastern neighbors, Boris Konstantinovich laid, in 1372, on the banks of the river. Suras of the city of Kurmysh (in the north-eastern corner of the current Simbirsk province.).

In 1375, along with his older brother, Boris Konstantinovich took part in the campaign of Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow against Tver in 1180, and more than a year later (in 1377) he beat the Mordovians on the banks of the Pyana, who plundered the Nizhny Novgorod district. It seemed to Dimitri Konstantinovich that this lesson was not enough for the Mordovians, and in the same year he sent his son Semyon and brother Boris1181 to her. In 1382, as we have already seen, Tokhtamysh ran into Moscow, who, passing the Nizhny Novgorod principality and not extending his actions to Tver, went through Ryazan both to Moscow and back, and ruined the latter on the way back, despite the fact that that the prince of Ryazan showed him the way to Moscow. Perhaps, in gratitude for mercy, the princes of Tver and Gorodets went to the Horde in the same year. The latter, however, foreseeing the imminent death of his brother, may have had the intention to petition for securing Nizhny Novgorod for himself. Boris Konstantinovich, according to the annals, went with gifts; after him went to the Horde and his son, Ivan. The next year, 1383, Dimitri Konstantinovich died when Boris was still in the Horde. Khan, expressing regret over the death of his ulusnik, gave the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality to Boris, who sat on the reign with his sons and nephews, according to the chronicle, "in peace and love", although subsequent events do not justify the last note of the chronicler, according to at least in relation to his nephews1182, who occupied the Suzdal principality.

Then, until 1386, the chronicles say nothing about Boris; under the same year they mark his trip to the Horde, from where he returned in the autumn of the same year1183.

At the time when Boris Konstantinovich was in the Horde, his nephew, Vasily Dimitrievich Kirdyapa, was also there, taken by Tokhtamysh back in 1382 on his way back from Moscow, to which Kirdyapa, together with his brother Semyon, accompanied the khan. Missing, probably, his native nest and burdened by a semi-servile life, Kirdyapa fled from the Horde, but on the way he was caught by some Horde ambassador, who brought him back to the Horde, where Vasily received "great exhaustion from the king." But he managed to appease the khan with something, since the latter released him in 1387 and, moreover, with a grant: Gorodets gave him. In the same year, Kirdyapa and his brother Semyon decided to take Nizhny Novgorod from their uncle: they gathered their Suzdal and Gorodets regiments, asked for help from Dimitri Ivanovich Donskoy and approached Nizhny Novgorod; after standing here for eight days, they forced their uncle to retreat from the Lower and be content with Gorodets. Having experienced the inconstancy of happiness and the vicissitudes of fate, the uncle, as if seeing the future, remarked to his nephews: "My dear sons! Now I am crying because of you, then you will cry because of your enemies"1184.

In 1389, Dimitry Ivanovich Donskoy died, and Boris went to the Horde to petition for the return of Nizhny Novgorod. But he did not find Tokhtamysh in the Horde, as he went on a campaign to the Persian border against Temir-Aksak (Tamerlane). Boris caught up with him, walked with him for 30 days and, finally, was released by the khan back to Saray. Upon his return from the campaign, the khan let him go, giving him the Nizhny Novgorod principality in 1185.

There is later news that Boris Konstantinovich, having occupied the Nizhny Novgorod table for the third time, imprisoned Vasily Kirdyapa in a dungeon in Gorodets, Semyon's wife and children, who managed to escape, put him in custody in Nizhny, in the palace of Yuri, the founder of Nizhny Novgorod1186.

But this time, Boris himself did not have long to dominate Nizhny. In 1392 led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich folded a kiss on the cross to him and went to the Horde "with much honor and gifts." Wishing to take Nizhny Novgorod away from Boris, he "killed the princes of the tsar, so that Tsar Takhtamysh would grieve." The latter, of course, Vasily Dimitrievich, it goes without saying, wised it up more than anyone else and achieved his goal - he received the Nizhny Novgorod reign. Accompanied by the Khan's ambassador, Vasily went to Russia; from Kolomna, he went to Moscow, and the Horde ambassador with his boyars and the khan's label was released to Nizhny Novgorod. Boris Konstantinovich, having learned about this, called his boyars and said to them on this occasion: "My Lord and brothers, boyars and friends! Remember, Lord, the kiss of the cross to me and our love and assimilation to you." The eldest of the boyars, Vasily Rumyanets, who later turned out to be a traitor to his master, said on behalf of his comrades to the prince: "Do not grieve, do not grieve, lord prince, all of us are of one mind to you, and prepare for you lay down your heads and shed your blood." This Rumianec was in contact with Vasily Dimitrievich, to whom he promised to betray his master ... Meanwhile, the Moscow boyars with the khan's ambassador approached Nizhny Novgorod, whom Boris did not want to let into the city. Rumyants told his prince that they had come to confirm peace and love, and that he, the prince, "raises battle and army himself." The same Rumyyanets, when the ambassador and the boyars entered the city, declared to the prince: “Lord, prince! After some time, the Grand Duke arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. He planted Dimitry Aleksandrovich Vsevolozhsky as his viceroy here, and ordered Boris Konstantinovich with his wife, children and his entourage to be dispersed in different cities "and chains of iron ties, and keep them in the great fortress." After that, an ambassador appeared from Tokhtamysh, who called Vasily Dimitrievich to the Horde. The Khan received him extremely graciously, like none of the previous princes, and approved Nizhny and Gorodets "completely" for him, as well as Meshchera and Tarusa. It seems that some historians (Karamzin) explain the courtesy and generosity of the Khan, not without reason, by the fact that Tokhtamysh was afraid that Vasily Dimitrievich would go over to the side of his enemy, Tamerlane1187.

According to some reports, Boris Konstantinovich died in 1393, and according to others - and this seems to be more accurate - in 1394 on May 12, 1188 in captivity (in Suzdal), where his wife also died, in 1393. His ashes first rested in Suzdal Nativity of the Mother of God Cathedral, and then, it is not known when and by whom, it was transferred to Gorodetsky Mikhailovsky Cathedral in 1189.

Boris was married, from 1354, led by his daughter. book. Lithuanian Olgerd, which some of the genealogies call Maria, and others - Agrippina. Perhaps both are true, in which case one of the names must be considered monastic. From his marriage to this Olgerdovna, he had two sons: Daniil and Ivan, nicknamed the Tight Bow.

So, with Boris Konstantinovich, the independent existence of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality ended, and, according to our goal and our plan, we should have stopped here. But, firstly, we need to report the news, how many of them have come down to us, about the youngest of the Konstantinovich brothers, Dimitry Nogt, since he lived in the flourishing time of the independent existence of the principality and hardly, even if together with his brother, did not owned Suzdal; secondly, we must report the biographies of the children descended from the Konstantinoviches, since some of them lived during the independent existence of the principality, and some even owned it, although not for long and not independently; finally, thirdly, it should be noted that, from 1393 until the year of the death of Vasily Dimitrievich, the latter could not always call Nizhny Novgorod his own, and therefore this latter sometimes again passed into the hands of individual princes. So, in the second spiritual testament, dated to 1423, Vasily Dimitrievich (d. 1425) says: “And God will give us Novgorod Nizhny, and I bless the son of my prince Vasily with the New City of Nizhny” ... Obviously, Nizhny Novgorod was not in his hands: it was probably owned by the son of Alexander the Belly, Semyon, and, moreover, with the permission of the Grand Duke himself. Only in his last, third spiritual testament, written before his death, Vasily Dimitrievich disposes of Nizhny Novgorod as property: "And I bless my son, Prince Vasily, with my thoughts, with the New City of Nizhny at all" 1190.

Dimitry Konstantinovich Nail 1350 - 1375 (?)

Dimitri Konstantinovich, the youngest of the four sons of Konstantin Vasilievich, is found in some chronicles only twice: in 1367, together with his older brothers, led. book. Dimitri and Boris Konstantinovich, he went out against Bulat-Temir, who was ruining the Borisov volosts along the Volga, and in 1375 he went along with the led. book. Moscow Dimitri Ivanovich to Tver. These reports, however, are being questioned.

Dimitry Nail died, no one knows when, with the monastic name of Dionysius. His wife, named Maria, in monasticism Marina, died and was buried in Suzdal, in a women's monastery, which is now the parish church of St. Alexander of Perth1192.

Dimitri Konstantinovich had only one son, Yuri, known to us exclusively from pedigrees, through whom he is considered the ancestor of the extinct princes of the Nogtevs. From nowhere it is not clear that this Yuri had any inheritance, and therefore we will not talk about him, like his offspring. But, of course, he had volosts.

Vasily Dimitrievich Kirdyapa 1350 d. 1403

The eldest son of Demetrius-Thomas Konstantinovich Vasily, nicknamed Kirdyapa, begins to be mentioned in chronicles from the second half of the 14th century.

After the death of Andrei Konstantinovich (d. 1365), the Nizhny Novgorod throne was to be occupied by the brother next in seniority; Dimitri-Foma; but Boris, who occupied Nizhny Novgorod, warned him, and Dimitri, according to some news,1194 first sent his sons, Vasily and Semyon, to negotiate with Boris and to the Horde to receive a label. Boris did not let his nephews into the city, and Vasily went further, to the Horde, and Semyon to Suzdal, to his father. Kirdyapa returned from the Horde with the khan's ambassador in the same year and brought his father a label for the great reign of Vladimir, which he refused in favor of the prince of Moscow1195.

Dimitri Konstantinovich, having renounced the great reign of Vladimir, achieved his fatherland with the help of the Moscow regiments. Having occupied Nizhny Novgorod, he gave Gorodets to his brother Boris, who had been in it before, and Suzdal to his son Vasily1196.

Then, in the course of ten years, that is, until 1376, Vasily Kirdyapa is mentioned only twice: on the occasion of his campaign in 1367 against Bulat-Temir, whom he pursued along with his father and uncle, and in 1370 to Kazan against Prince Asan1197.

In 1376, Dimitri Konstantinovich again gathered an army against the Bulgarians and asked for help from his son-in-law, the Grand Duke, who sent the Moscow army under the command of Prince. Dimitry Mikhailovich Volynsky. At the head of the Nizhny Novgorod army were brothers, Vasily Kirdyapa and Ivan1198. However, here we will not convey the details of this campaign, since we have already spoken about it in the biography of Dimitri Konstantinovich.

In the next 1377, the Russian regiments were beaten by the Tatars on the banks of the river. Drunk, and the youngest of the sons of Dimitri Konstantinovich, Ivan, drowned. Vasily Kirdyapa did not participate in this campaign; he was in Suzdal, from where, shortly after the drunken battle, he arrived in Nizhny Novgorod and ordered the search for the body of his drowned brother.

The Battle of Kulikovo, in which the princes of Nizhny Novgorod did not participate, did not go unpunished for Moscow. In 1382, the new Khan Tokhtamysh went to punish the Moscow prince for the defeat of Mamai, although this latter was his enemy: probably, Tokhtamysh only wanted to maintain the authority of the khan in general in the eyes of the Russian princes. The Ryazan prince, in order to save his land from the Tatar ruin, came to Tokhtamysh with services: he showed him the way to Moscow. The same sense of self-preservation seemed to guide the Nizhny Novgorod prince: Dimitri Konstantinovich warnedly sent his sons, Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon, to the Horde, who, not finding the khan in the Horde - "because his greyhound march" - caught up with him near the Ryazan border at Sernach was escorted from here to Moscow itself. The Muscovites did not want to open the gates to the khan, in spite of all the beliefs of the Tatars in their safety; finally, the Nizhny Novgorod princes-brothers came to them for negotiations and - voluntarily or involuntarily - swore to the inhabitants of Moscow in the good intentions of the khan and were the cause of terrible bloodshed. On the way back from Moscow, Tokhtamysh let Semyon go home, and took Vasily Kirdyapa with him, presumably, as an amanat1200. Until 1386, Kirdyapa languished in the Horde; Finally, he could not stand it and ran. But on the road he was caught and again taken to the Horde, where he received from the khan "a great great" in 1201. However, he managed, apparently, to propitiate the khan, who in 1387 let him go, giving him Gorodets. In the same year1202, with the help of the Moscow regiments given to him by Dimitry Donskoy, he, together with his brother Semyon, took away Nizhny Novgorod from his uncle Boris, and Boris had to be content with Gorodets alone1203.

When Boris left Nizhny, he told his nephews that now he was crying because of them, but the time would come when they too would cry because of their enemies. And this prediction came true. In 1393 led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich bought a label for the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod (then again in the hands of Boris), which was taken for the Grand Duke. But Boris's nephews still remained in Suzdal, and Vasily Dimitrievich not only needed to secure a new idea from them, but also to round it off by joining Suzdal to it. And so, in the same 1393, he went to the army against Vasily Kirdyapa and his brother Semyon. How this campaign ended is unknown. According to Tatishchev, the events of 1393-1394. can be explained very conveniently and, moreover, plausibly. The fact is that Tatishchev, under 1394, has news that Vasily Dimitrievich went to Nizhny Novgorod against Vasily Kirdyap and his brother Semyon "and brought them out, gave them the city of Shuya," etc. From this news, subsequent events can be very conveniently explained the consideration that the brothers, as the oldest now in the family of the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, were very dissatisfied with such an insignificant lot as Shuya. It is this discontent that can explain the annalistic news of the same 1394 that Vasily and Semyon Dimitrievich fled to the Horde to Tokhtamysh to seek their fatherland (of course, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality), which he led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich sent a chase after them, but the brothers eluded her1204.

Meanwhile, Semyon Dimitrievich, not despairing of achieving the pursued goals, busied himself in the Horde about his affairs, served the khans "without rest", his brother Vasily Kirdyapa, it seems, reconciled with the Grand Duke; at least, from the time of his flight from Suzdal to the Horde, he was never mentioned in the annals until his death, which followed in Gorodets, in 1403. He was buried in the Nizhny Novgorod Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral1205.

From a marriage with an unknown Vasily Kirdyapa had four sons: Ivan, Yuri, Fedor and Daniel.

Ivan Dimitrievich 1300 mind. 1377

About the second son of Dimitri-Foma Konstantinovich, only three chronicles have come down to us. In 1367, together with his father, uncle Boris and brothers, he pursued Bulat-Temir1206, in 1376 he participated in a campaign against the Bulgarians to Kazan1207; then, he participated, on August 2, 1377, in the battle with the Tatars at the river. Drunk, in which he drowned, pursued by the Tatars. His body was soon found by order of his elder brother Vasily Kirdyapa in the river and buried in the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral of the Savior in 1208.

It is not known whether Ivan Dimitrievich was married, but in any case he did not leave offspring.

Judging by the fact that Ivan Dimitrievich went on a campaign in 1377 from Suzdal, it must be assumed that he either owned Suzdal together with his brothers, or had possessions in general in the Suzdal volost.

Semyon Dimitrievich 1355 mind. 1402

The youngest son of Dimitry-Foma Konstantinovich, Semyon, begins to appear on the pages of chronicles from 1375, although there is every reason to believe that he participated in the persecution of Bulat-Temir in 1367. 1209 In 1375, together with his father and uncle Boris, he participated led on a hike. book. Dimitry Ivanovich on Tver1210. Two years after this campaign, Mordovians, after the defeat of the Russian Tatars at the river. Drunk, she ruined the Nizhny Novgorod district, and the Nizhny Novgorod regiments, together with the Moscow regiments, went to the Mordovian land, which "I created all the empty." In this campaign, Boris Konstantinovich and his nephew, Semyon Dimitrievich1211, were at the head of the Nizhny Novgorod regiments.

Then, for five years, the chronicles say nothing about Semyon Dimitrievich.

We have already said above that his father sent him along with his elder brother to meet Tokhtamysh, who in 1382 undertook a campaign against Moscow, that the brothers "did not find him (Khan in the Horde) and gnash after him for several days, and changing his path on Sernach and comprehended him in Ryazan" 1212. But we will not repeat here what has already been said a little above; we will only say that on the way back from Moscow, Tokhtamysh, leaving Vasily Kirdyap with him, let Semyon go to his father, along with his brother-in-law Shikhmat, who probably had to tell Dimitri Konstantinovich the kind word of the khan for his good behavior. Soon afterwards, the princes hurried to the Horde, probably with gifts and assurances of loyalty and devotion to the khan: the Moscow prince sent his son Vasily; Boris Konstantinovich and Semyon Dimitrievich came from the Nizhny Novgorod princes instead of their father, who, due to painful old age, could not personally introduce himself to the Khan.

Vasily Kirdyapa, as we have seen, was released from the Horde in 1387 by the khan who gave him Gorodets. But Kirdyapa did not want to be content with Gorodets alone: ​​he wanted to have Nizhny Novgorod. In the same year, 1387, having asked for military assistance from Grand. book. Dimitri Ivanovich, he, together with his brother Semyon, approached Nizhny Novgorod with Suzdal and Gorodites and forced Uncle Boris to give him the main table of the principality, and himself be content with Gorodets alone1214.

After the death of Dimitry Donskoy (d. 1389), Boris Konstantinovich again procured a label in the Horde for the Nizhny Novgorod principality. Previously, he could not bother about him, it seems, because his nephews found support in their son-in-law, the Moscow prince. We have already talked about how Boris Konstantinovich, after occupying Nizhny Novgorod, disposed of his nephews in his biography. But this time Boris himself did not retain Nizhny for a long time: in 1392 he led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich took Nizhny from him, having a label on him from the Khan, "caught princes and princesses in a tal" (prisoner of war), and Prince. Semyon fled to the Horde. In what position were Boris's nephews at the time when Nizhny passed to Vasily Dimitrievich is unknown. Judging by the chronicle reports that the Grand Duke "caught princes and princesses in a tal", it must be assumed that, except for Semyon, all the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod were taken and sent somewhere to prison. But there is lonely news that in 1393 the Grand Duke went to Nizhny to see Vasily and Semyon Dimitrievich. We have already expressed our considerations about this campaign in the biography of Vasily Kirdyapa1215.

However, Vasily Kirdyapa seems to have calmed down, having lost all hope of returning his fatherland, and Semyon Dimitrievich still did not want to give up his dreams. In 1395, having gathered large forces, he, together with the Tatars (Kazan), headed by Tsarevich Yentyak (Gentyak, Eytyak, Yektyak), approached the Lower and stood here for a long time. In Nizhny there were governors: Vladimir Danilovich, Grigory Vladimirovich and Ivan Likhor. Semyon and Yentyak stood for a long time and finally made peace: the Christians kissed the cross, and the Tatars "drank their company according to their faith." But the Rotniks broke their oath: on October 25, they broke into the Lower and plundered it. "I do not create flattery, but the Tatars; and the tongue is not free in them, but I can’t do it with them," justified Prince. Semyon. The Tatars stood in Nizhny Novgorod for two weeks; finally, having heard that the Grand Duke's army was coming against them, "returning to their land in Kazan", or, better, they did not return, but - according to other news - they fled, Semyon also fled to the Horde1216. Four years later, Semyon Dimitrievich must have again wanted to make an attempt to seize Nizhny Novgorod, which was also known in Moscow: in 1399, Vasily Dimitrievich sent a chase after him to Kazan, "but did not steal" him1217.

In 1401, Vasily Dimitrievich sent his governor, Ivan Andreevich Uda and Fyodor Glebovich, to find and bring to Moscow Semyon Dimitrievich, or his family (which means that Semyon's wife managed to escape from prison), or, finally, his boyars. The governors went to the Mordovian land and found Semyon Alexandra's wife there in a place or village called Tsybirtsy, took her with her children and, robbed, brought her to Moscow, where she was imprisoned in the courtyard of the boyar Beleut. Semyon Dimitrievich, who was then hiding in the Horde, having learned about the captivity of his family, sent a petition to the Grand Duke, asking him for a fear (dangerous letter) for arriving in Moscow. Having reconciled with the Grand Duke, Semyon Dimitrievich went with his family to Vyatka and there, five months after his arrival, he died in 1402 on December 21, 1402. "This same Prince Semyon Dmitreevich of Suzdol from Nizhny Novgorod, raised many misfortunes and endured many languor in the Horde and in Russia, laboring to achieve his fatherland, and for 8 years without resting in a row in the Horde served as the 4th king: the first - Takhtamysh, the 2nd - Askak-Temir, 3rd - Temir-Kutluy, 4th - Shadibek; and all that, raising an army against the Grand Duke Vasily Dmitreevich of Moscow, how would he find his fatherland, the reign of Novgorod the Lower, and Suzdal and Gorodets; and for that You have lifted a lot of work, and you have endured many misfortunes and troubles, not having your own haven and not finding rest for your feet, and you are not nothing. So the chronicle depicts the vain worries and efforts of Semyon Dimitrievich about the return of his fatherland.

From his marriage with Alexandra, known to us only by name, Semyon Dimitrievich had an unknown number of children, of whom we know only one of his son Vasily, Prince Shuisky1219.

The struggle of the Grand Duke with the princes of Suzdal, presumably, was very fierce, as it caused some interference in it by the clergy, namely Cyril, hegumen of the Belozersky monastery, whose representatives, according to the place they occupied, were honored not only by ordinary people, but also by high-ranking persons and even Russian princes and tsars. Epistle of Abbot Cyril to Vel. book. Vasily Dimitrievich 1220 that he reconciled with the Suzdal princes has no date, but, judging by the content, it must undoubtedly refer to the time when Semyon Dimitrievich lived and acted. “The embarrassment is great,” Abbot Kirill heard, which is why he writes to the Grand Duke, “between you and your relatives, the princes of Suzhdal. You, sir, tell your truth, and they tell theirs; and in that, sir, there is great bloodshed between you peasants. Ino, sir, see truly what their righteousness will be before you, and you, sir, act on yourself with your humility; and in what your righteousness will be before them, and you, sir, stand behind yourself in righteousness. , lord, beaten with a brow, and you, lord, for God's sake, would grant them according to their measure, later, lord, I heard that until now you were in need, and from that, lord, they forbade them. Lord, for God's sake, show them your love and salary, so that they do not perish in error in the Tatar countries, but they would not die there.

From subsequent biographies, we will see that - whether as a result of this message, or for some other reason - some kind of deal took place between the Grand Duke and the princes of Suzdal, as a result of which the descendants of Kirdyapa calmly owned the Suzdal volost and were even called Grand Dukes. We know about Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhat (see his biography) from an official document that he was in cooperation with the Grand Duke, but then took peace with him. However, as we will see below, the Suzdal princes sometimes went over to the side of the enemies of the Grand Duke, the children of Boris Konstantinovich, who sought Nizhny and Gorodets.

Daniel Borisovich 1370-1418

No news has come down to us about the time and place of Daniil Borisovich's birth. For the first time, although nameless, he is mentioned in the annals under 1392. The Grand Duke, having taken Nizhny Novgorod from Boris Konstantinovich in that year, ordered both Boris himself and his wife and children to be separated in different cities1221. It is not known when Daniel was released from prison and where he later wandered or lived. It must, however, be assumed that he lived for a long time in the Horde, but, having achieved nothing there, like his cousins, the children of Dimitri Konstantinovich, he moved to Bulgaria to the Kazan Tatars.

While Daniil's cousins, the children of Vasily Kirdyapa, having submitted to the Grand Duke, owned their fatherlands under the latter's hand, the old stepfather of Nizhny Novgorod, as the chronicles call Daniil1222, had nothing, although, as the eldest among the cash Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes, he could occupy the main table of the principality. He achieved this latter, as we shall see in a moment.

In 1411, Daniel and his brother Ivan Tugoy Luk, seeking a fatherland, went to Nizhny Novgorod with the Bulgarian, Zhukotinsky and Mordovian princes. Vasily Dimitrievich sent against them his brother, Peter Dimitrievich, and with him the Rostov, Yaroslavl and Suzdal (Kirdyapin) princes. The battle took place at Lyskov on January 15: "There was a slaughter of evil between them," the chronicler remarks; many people fell on both sides; here fell, by the way, and one of the Suzdal princes, Daniel, the son of Vasily Kirdyapa. The Borisovichs have gained the upper hand, but it is not clear that their cause has benefited from this victory; at least, the chronicles say nothing directly about whether they took possession of the fatherland or not. In the same year, Daniil Borisovich (in the annals added: "Nizhny Novgorod"; but does this mean that he took possession of Nizhny Novgorod? ..), "secretly hiding from everyone, bring Tsarevich Talych to himself"; with this Talych, he sent his boyar, Semyon Karamyshev, to exile Vladimir: Vladimir was terribly devastated and ruined; the cathedral church is robbed; the keykeeper, the priest Patricius, a Greek by birth, who locked himself in the temple and hid the church treasures, having broken the doors, they took him out of the church and subjected him to terrible torments (they put him on a hot frying pan, tore off his skin, etc.) in order to extort from him where the church riches were hidden, - but in vain!.. It was July 3rd, 1223.

That the victories of Daniil Borisovich did not benefit him is evidenced by the fact that he and his brother again went to the Horde to petition for a label for the Nizhny Novgorod principality. In the annals we find the news that the brothers left the Horde from Zeleni-Saltan, who, in anger at the Grand Duke, granted them the Nizhny Novgorod principality. But what did this award mean for the Grand Duke? Vasily Dimitrievich in the same year went to the Horde himself "with a lot of wealth." But Zeleni-Saltan, fortunately for him, was then killed by his brother Kerimberdey, who assured the Moscow prince of his friendship for him and of the inalienable belonging of the Nizhny Novgorod principality to him. Nevertheless, the Borisovich brothers, it seems, still wanted to continue the struggle, having occupied Nizhny Novgorod. At least, there is news that in 1414 Grand Duke Yuri Dimitrievich of Galicia was sent against them to Nizhny Novgorod, who drove them across the river. Sura 1225.

Under such circumstances, the Nizhny Novgorod princes had no choice but to submit to the Grand Duke. But they were not soon convinced of this: only in 1416 did they come to Moscow and reconcile with the Grand Duke, but not for long, since in the winter of the next 1418 they fled from Moscow, no one knows where. This ends the chronicle news about Daniil Borisovich.

Daniil Borisovich had the only son Alexander, nicknamed Vzmetnya, from a marriage with an unknown origin to us Maria (in monasticism - Marina), who died later than her husband, in the reign of Vasily Vasilyevich1227.

Ivan Borisovich Tight onion r. 1370 mind 1418

Ivan Borisovich, nicknamed the Tight Bow, the younger of the two sons of Boris Konstantinovich, was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1370, and was baptized there by Metropolitan Alexy.

The public activity of this prince begins very early, from the age of 12. In 1383, after the ruin of Moscow by Tokhtamysh, Boris Konstantinovich went to the khan with gifts, and after a while his son, Ivan, also went there. Together with his father, who received in the Horde, after the death of his older brother, the great reign of Nizhny Novgorod, and his cousin, Semyon Dimitrievich, Ivan Borisovich left the Horde on November 8 of the same year1228. Three years later (in 1386), even before Vasily Kirdyapa left the Horde, where he was kept as an amanat, Boris Konstantinovich for some reason sent Ivan to the Khan1229. Perhaps he foresaw the danger on the part of his nephews if they began to act against him together, and in this case, did Boris bother to have Kirdyapa detained in the Horde? ..

After this trip to the Horde, in the course of 15 years, Ivan Borisovich is mentioned in the chronicles only once, and then without a name, in 1392, when the Grand Duke took away Nizhny Novgorod from Boris, Boris himself, his wife and children ordered him to be divorced cities. When Ivan Borisovich was released from prison is unknown1230.

In the biography of brother Ivanov, we have already talked about the battle between the Borisoviches and the grand-ducal brother Peter at the village. Lyskov, in 1411, and that in 1412 the brothers obtained a label from Khan Zeleni-Saltan for the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod, that this did not lead to anything1231, which, nevertheless, the brothers, in 1414, did another attempt to achieve his goal, but again without success1232. The struggle was beyond the power of the Borisoviches, and so, in 1416, they, as well as Ivan Vasilyevich, the son of Kirdyapa, came to Moscow. But even before them, two years later, the son of Ivan Borisovich Alexander1233 arrived in Moscow. However, for some reason, the Borisovichs could not get along in peace with the Grand Duke: in 1418, in the winter, they fled from Moscow to no one knows where. It is only known that Ivan Borisovich died in the same year in Nizhny and was buried in the Nizhny Novgorod Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior in 1235.

It is not known to whom Ivan Borisovich was married. As for his offspring, the pedigrees disagree on this issue: some of them consider him childless, while others give him the son of Alexander the Belly and the grandson of Semyon. Those pedigrees in which he is listed as childless consider Alexander Ivanovich the grandson of Vasily Kirdyapa. It's hard to sort out this confusion! However, without solving the question positively, we will present those facts and considerations that speak for and which are against the origin of Alexander the Brukhaty from Ivan Borisovich.

It is known that Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhaty - it doesn't matter yet, whether Borisov's grandson, or Vasiliev - was married since 1418 to his daughter led. book. Vasily Dimitrievich, Vasilissa1236. But he died in the same 1418. In the Trinity Chronicle 1237 we read: "Prince Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhatoy Suzhdalskaya, son-in-law of the Grand Duke, reposed (1418); the prince is great to give his daughter Vasilisa for her friend's husband, for Prince Alexander Vzmetnya Danilovich of Suzhdal and Nizhny Novgorod." If Alexander Brukhaty was the son of Ivan Borisovich, then could, according to canonical rules, Alexander Danilovich Vzmeten, his cousin, marry his widow? This is the first; secondly: in one list of the genealogy book we read: “And Prince Danilov, the son of Borisovich, Prince Alexander, his nickname is Vzmeten, is childless, and the daughter of Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich Vassa was behind him, and before that she was behind Prince Alexander Ivanovich behind Brukhaty , for Prince Vasiliev, grandson of Kirdyapin "1238. This marriage of Vzmetnya to the widow of a second cousin's nephew is canonically possible. Finally, in the charter of the Grand Duke Alexander Ivanovich of Nizhny Novgorod to the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery on the release of the people assigned to the last Gorokhov Monastery from duties and duties indefinitely, we read the following confirmation note from another prince: his brother, the sovereign of our prince Alexander Ivanovich, was granted by Archimandrite Philip with his brother in the same zho "1239. It seems to us undoubted that here under Fedor Yuryevich one must understand the son of Yuri Vasilyevich, the grandson of Kirdyapa; this Fedor Yuryevich - and we do not know another such prince of Suzdal - indeed, is a cousin of the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod Alexander Ivanovich mentioned in the letter, if the latter is considered the grandson of Vasily Kirdyapa.

But, on the other hand, in the annals, and most importantly, in official documents similar to the above, we find indications that, in turn, force us to trace the origin of Alexander the Belly from Ivan Borisovich. So, in the annals we read 1240: "The same summer (6924). Having arrived to the Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich in Moscow, the princes of the New Town of Nizhny Novgorod, the great prince Ivan Vasilyevich, Dmitriev's grandson, Prince Ivan Borisovich, and his son (of course, Ivan Borisovich?) Prince Alexander in advance of his arrival two years in advance" (that means, back in 1414). Finally, in a letter of commendation led. book. Vasily Vasilyevich and his mother, Sofya Vitovtovna, to the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery in the village of Mordysh, we read: grandson1241, Prince Semyon Alexandrovich, they gave seven to the holy Savior (Mordysh) ... for the wake of his parents, after the Grand Duke Konstantin and after his forefather, and after Prince Boris, and after the prince after Ivan, and after his (of course, Semyon) fathers , after the prince after Alexander, and after his mother, after the princess after Vasilisa, and after him after the prince after Semyon ... "1242. Another similar document led. book. Vasily Vasilyevich gives the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, in addition to the same Mordysh, a wild boar and digging up the river. Nerli, according to his "sister, after the prince after Semyon Alexandrovich, and (still gives) that Prince Ivan Borisovich dug up the Nerl River" ... 1243 The descending and ascending relationship of Alexander Ivanovich is obvious here.

Who and what to believe? We must give preference to official documents. As for the close relationship between Vasilissa's husbands, necessity suggests that this, so to speak, canonical inconvenience was somehow eliminated. But what can be said about the letter of Alexander Ivanovich, confirmed by Fedor Yuryevich Kirdyapin, who calls this letter of Alexander the letter of his brother? If Belly is recognized as descending from Boris, then he was a second cousin not to Fyodor Yurievich, but to his father, Yuri Vasilyevich. In view of the double indication of the origin of Alexander the Belly from Boris, which we find in the letters led. book. Vasily Vasilyevich, one has to admit for the time being the words of Fedor Yuryevich: his brother, either in a figurative sense, or a copyist's mistake.

Ivan Vasilyevich 1390 mind. 1417

We have already said above that the Suzdal princes, the children of Kirdyapa, entered into a deal with the vel. book. Vasily Dimitrievich and sat quietly in their parish. But their cousins, the children of Boris Konstantinovich, continued to fight the Grand Duke for Nizhny Novgorod. As we will see now, the Kirdyapins, although not all of them, seem to have entered into some kind of deals with their uncles and violated the established relationship with the Grand Duke. At least, this is known about Ivan Vasilyevich.

In 1412, the Borisovichs obtained from Zeleni-Saltan a label for the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod. Even in the previous year, they came to Nizhny with the princes of Kazan, Zhukotinsky and Mordovian and defeated the Moscow army in the battle of the village of Lyskovo. Now they were marching with a label and managed to occupy the Lower or its outskirts. But Zeleni-Saltan was then killed by his brother Kerimberdey, who patronized the Moscow prince. In the winter of 1414, Vasily Dimitrievich sent his brother Yuri, Prince. Galician; there were: Daniil and Ivan Borisovich, Ivan Vasilyevich and Vasily Semenovich, the grandson of Dimitri-Foma Konstantinovich. Yuri drove them across the river. Sura, but did not further pursue1244.

Now these princes must have realized that they could not return the old, and in 1416 they really came to Moscow. In the following year, 1417, Ivan Vasilyevich died, and a year after his death, the Borisovichs fled from Moscow1245.

It is not known whether Ivan Vasilievich had children. Some genealogies give him a son, Alexander the Belly and a grandson of Semyon, but in the previous biography we pointed out those official documents that in this case greatly undermine the reliability of these genealogies.

Yuri Vasilievich XIV-XV centuries.

Yuri Vasilievich, the second of the four sons of Kirdyapa, is known to us only by genealogy, as the first prince of Shuisky and as the father of sons: Vasily, Fedor and childless Ivan, the princes of Shuisky. Vasily Yurievich had two sons: Vasily, nicknamed Pale, who was governor under Ivan III in Pskov, and then in Nizhny Novgorod1246, and Mikhail; the middle of the three sons of Vasily Pale, Ivan the Great (unlike Ivan the Lesser, nicknamed Horseradish), nicknamed Osprey, was the founder of a special branch of the Shuisky princes, the princes Skopin-Shuisky. The famous hero of the Time of Troubles, Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky, is the great-grandson of this Ivan Skopa. The second son of Vasily Yurievich, Mikhail Vasilyevich, had two sons: the childless Ivan and Andrei, the grandfather of Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky1247.

The children of Yuri Vasilyevich, Vasily and Fedor, lived in the most turbulent time of the 15th century, when there was a stubborn struggle between the leaders. book. Vasily Vasilyevich and contenders for the grand prince's table, the princes of Galicia. Taking advantage of the turmoil, the Yurievichs, who fled from their homeland to Novgorod the Great, where the eldest of the brothers, by the way, in 1445 fought off the Germans besieging Yam (Yamburg), being invited by Shemyaka, concluded an agreement with him, according to which "when God gives he (Shemyaka) to get his fatherland a great reign", they should receive independent possession of Nizhny Novgorod, Suzdal, Gorodets and even Vyatka, with the right of direct communication with the Horde. This agreement also determined the relationship of the princes to each other: Vasily in relation to Shemyaka becomes a son, and Fedor becomes a brother, in relation to Ivan, the son of Shemyaka, Vasily is an equal brother, and Fedor is the youngest; Shemyaka does not intervene in the fatherland of the Yurievichs; in addition, the latter say to Shemyaka: “And what, Lord, in our disbelief did your princes serve and your boyars buy in our fatherland in Suzdal from us and from our brothers and from our boyars and from the monasteries of the volost and village, or in Novgorod, and on Gorodets, or that the great prince gave in a purchase, and he submitted his letters bought: otherwise they didn’t buy everything”; they should be returned those villages and other places that the book sold. Ivan Mozhaisky, holding their fatherland. But led. book. Vasily Vasilyevich got the better of Shemyaka, and the Yurievichs, having concluded an agreement, had to humble themselves before him1248.

Fedor and Daniil Vasilievich XIV-XV centuries.

Of the two younger sons of Vasily Kirdyapa, Fedor is known to us only from pedigrees that consider him childless, and about the youngest, Daniel, the chronicles convey only one fact: he, being in the ranks of the grand ducal troops, participated, in 1411, in the battle of . Lyskov with his own relatives, the children of Boris Konstantinovich. In this battle, he fell, leaving no offspring.

Vasily Semenovich

About Vasily Semenovich, the appanage prince of Shuisky, the only son of Semyon Dimitrievich, the grandson of Dimitri-Foma Konstantinovich, only chronicle news reached us that in 1414 he was in Nizhny Novgorod together with Daniil and Ivan Borisovich, who had previously received a label on their fatherland from Zeleni-Saltan, and Ivan Vasilyevich, the son of Kirdyapa, when the grand-ducal brother Yuri Dimitrievich of Galicia went against them, who then drove these princes across the river. Sura 1250. His further fate is unknown. Of the six unemployed sons of Vasily Semenovich, Alexander, nicknamed Glazaty, was the ancestor of the faded princes Glazaty; through one of his sons, Ivan Barbash, Alexander is also considered the ancestor of the extinct princes Barbashins; another son of Vasily Semenovich, Ivan, nicknamed Humpbacked, was the ancestor of the extinct princes Gorbatykh1251, of the other sons of Vasily Semenovich, two can be noted: Andrei, nicknamed Lugvitsa, who fell in battle at Sukhodrov, and Vasily, nicknamed Grebenka, a former prince and governor in Pskov and Novgorod the Great without the consent of Moscow and then transferred to the service of led. book. Ivan III in 1477 1252

Alexander Danilovich Vzmeten 1400-1419

The only son of Daniil Borisovich, Alexander, nicknamed Vzmeten, is mentioned in the annals only once, on the occasion of his marriage to the widow of Prince. Alexander Ivanovich Belly, who died in 1418. There were no offspring after him1253.

Alexander Ivanovich Brukhaty 1414 mind. 1418

We have already spoken about the origin of Alexander Ivanovich Belly in the biography of Ivan Borisovich (Tight bow). Here we note only what we find about him in the annals and some official documents.

In 1414, we find Daniel and Ivan Borisovich in Nizhny Novgorod, who in 1412 obtained a label from Zeleni-Saltan, Ivan Vasilyevich Kirdyapin and Vasily Semenovich. They were sent by the Grand Duke Yuri Dimitrievich of Galicia, who drove the princes gathered in the Lower for the river. Sura. Further, under 1416, the annals speak of the arrival of Nizhny Novgorod princes in Moscow; "Prince Ivan Borisovich also arrived, and his son Alexander arrived two years ahead of him", which means - in 1414 and most likely after Yuri Dimitrievich's campaign to Nizhny Novgorod. As you can see, Alexander Ivanovich was on strike with the rest of the Suzdal princes against Vasily Dimitrievich, but shortly before 1414, and maybe even in this very year, he managed to reconcile and even intermarry with the Grand Duke, marrying, in 1418, his daughter Vasilisa. The matter of marriage began, probably, earlier than 1418, and even before the marriage, perhaps in the form of a dowry, Alexander Ivanovich received Nizhny Novgorod and was written as the Grand Duke. So, in a letter of commendation to his Spaso-Evfimiev monastery (Suzdal) about the release of the people of the Gorokhovets monastery assigned to him from duties and duties,1254 he calls himself the Grand Duke, and at the end of the letter we find the following postscript: original) if the Grand Duke Alexander Ivanovich took peace with the Grand Duke, "that is, Vasily Dimitrievich. In 1418 he died, leaving his son Semyon, who, presumably, was also considered the ruler of Nizhny Novgorod. This assumption is indicated by the fact that Vasily Dimitrievich, in his spiritual letter dated 1423, still does not consider Nizhny Novgorod completely his own: at all". Only in his last spiritual letter, dated to 1424, Vasily Dimitrievich disposes of Nizhny as property: "And I bless my son, Prince Vasily, with my inventions, with the New City of Nizhny at all," etc. 1255

From the biographical sketches of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes, we see that until the middle of the 14th century. chroniclers rarely mention Nizhny Novgorod, since until that time it was only a suburb of Suzdal. N. Novgorod begins to rise from 1350, when Konstantin Vasilyevich transferred his residence to it and when the principality began to be called great. Those lands that were part of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, with the exception of the Mordovian lands acquired after 1350, first formed the specific principality of Suzdal with its suburbs: Gorodets on the Volga, Nizhny Novgorod and Shuya. As an appanage, the Suzdal principality existed for several more than a hundred years, that is, from 1238, when Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich received Suzdal as an appanage from his elder brother, led. book. Yaroslav, until 1350, when Konstantin Vasilievich moved his residence to Nizhny Novgorod. Since that time, the latter begins to overshadow Suzdal; the principality begins to be called the Nizhny Novgorod or Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duchy, and the princes - great. As a great principality, the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality did not last long, with only a little over 40 years, that is, until 1392, when it was taken away. book. Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich from Boris Konstantinovich, who should be considered the last Grand Duke of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod. Although after Boris, as we have seen, there were princes in Nizhny Novgorod who were called great, but these princes were, so to speak, accidental: they occupied Nizhny Novgorod, and then for a short time, only when they accidentally possessed the power to occupations of their former fatherland, or received Nizhny Novgorod, even with the title of Grand Duke, from the hands of led. book. Moscow. But the very receipt of the grand ducal dignity from the hands of another prince indicates the subordinate position of the last Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes.

Occupied the territory along the river. Irmes, the middle course of the Nerl Klyazminskaya River, the lower reaches of the Klyazma and Oka, the middle course of the Volga from the lower reaches of the Unzha River to the lower reaches of the Sura River.

Its main centers were Suzdal, Yuryevets, Gorodets. The capital is Nizhny Novgorod.

Story

The Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality was formed in 1341, when the Khan of the Golden Horde, Uzbek, divided the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, transferring Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the Suzdal prince Konstantin Vasilyevich. The rise of Nizhny Novgorod in the lane. floor. 14th century led to the transfer there from Suzdal of the capital of the newly formed principality. The development of feudal land ownership and trade, especially in the Volga region, support from the Horde and Novgorod allowed the princes of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality Konstantin Vasilyevich and his son Dmitry to fight the Moscow princes for the great reign of Vladimir. Dmitry in 1360 and 1363 captured the great reign, but not for long. From 1364 to 1382 he acted already as an ally of the Moscow prince. In 1382, the princes of Nizhny Novgorod took part in Tokhtamysh's attack on Moscow.

The existence of appanages in the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality (the main one being Gorodetsky) and the pressure of the Horde contributed to the aggravation of feudal contradictions. The orientation of a part of the Nizhny Novgorod princes towards the Mongol-Tatars contradicted the unifying aspirations of Moscow. In 1392, the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily I Dmitrievich captured Nizhny Novgorod. Since that time, the Moscow grand princes held the Volga region in their hands, although the princes of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, with the help of the Mongol-Tatars, sometimes sought the return of Nizhny Novgorod (1395, 1411-14, 1440s).

Relations with the Golden Horde

After the assassination of Khan Dzhanibek in 1357, turmoil began in the Golden Horde, indicating the beginning of the collapse of a single state. From 1357 to 1380 more than 25 khans were on the throne of the Golden Horde.

Separate Horde feudal lords strengthened their possessions in the territories directly bordering the southeastern borders of the principality. The response was the construction of guard fortresses on the Kish and Sara rivers, outposts in the middle reaches of the Pyana River. In 1372, the city of Kurmysh was founded on the eastern border of the principality.

The Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal squads periodically organized military campaigns on the territory of the Saransk khans. The largest campaign was organized in 1370 against the possessions of the Bulgar prince Khasan (Osan).

K ser. 1370s in the Golden Horde, the influence of Temnik Mamai strengthened, who began to send detachments to the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region. In 1377-78. The Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality suffered a series of crushing defeats. In the battle on the Pyan River, the army of Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich was defeated, and Nizhny Novgorod was burned by troops led by Arapsha.

Despite the weakness, the principality sent its squads to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380) on the side of Dmitry Donskoy.

Chronology

• 1341 - The principality of Gorodets passed to the brother of Alexander Vasilyevich, Konstantin Vasilyevich, then to the son of Konstantin Vasilyevich, Andrei Konstantinovich.
• 1350 - Konstantin Vasilyevich moved the capital to Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1356 - Andrei Konstantinovich gave Suzdal as an inheritance to his brother, Dmitry Konstantinovich.
• 1359 - Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal received a label to rule the Grand Duchy of Vladimir.
• 1362 - the Grand Duchy of Vladimir was transferred to Dmitry Donskoy (at that time he was 12 years old).
• 1363 - Dmitry Suzdalsky returned Vladimir to himself, but not for long.
• 1365 - after the death of Andrei, Dmitry Konstantinovich became the Grand Duke.
• 1366 - reconciliation of Dmitry Donskoy and Dmitry Suzdalsky, marriage of Dmitry Donskoy with Dmitry Suzdalsky's daughter Evdokia.
• 1376 - a joint campaign with Moscow against the Bulgar under the command of Dmitry Bobrok.
• 1377 - Ivan Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry of Suzdal, died in the battle on the Pyan River.
• 1380 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality took part in the Battle of Kulikovo on the side of Dmitry Donskoy. Almost the entire army of Dmitry Konstantinovich died in the battle (including about 100 boyars).
• 1382 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, under the leadership of Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich, joined the army of Tokhtamysh in order to attack Moscow. Semyon and Vasily persuaded the Muscovites to open the gates, and subsequently participated in the sacking of Moscow. Vasily Tokhtamysh was taken to the Horde.
• 1383 - the death of Dmitry Suzdal, the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal by label became his brother Boris Konstantinovich.
• 1387 - Vasily Kirdyapa, son of Dmitry Suzdal, left the Horde with a label to reign.
• 1392 - Vasily I Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Donskoy, captured Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1393 (according to other sources 1395, according to Solovyov 1399) - Semyon, the son of Dmitry Suzdal, tried to return Nizhny Novgorod by force. The attempt turned out to be successful, but Prince Eityak, who was walking with them as an ally, killed both the remaining defenders of the city and the attackers. At this time, Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich bought a label for reigning, and gave Semyon and Vasily Shuya as inheritance. Vasily Kirdyapa, dissatisfied with this decision, left for the Horde in 1394, but did not succeed there. Semyon died in Vyatka in 1402, Vasily died in Gorodets in 1403.
• 1408 - Edigey wiped Gorodets off the face of the earth.
• 1445 - Ulu-Mohammed used Nizhny Novgorod as a stronghold in the war with Vasily II the Dark.
• 1446-47 - Fedor and Vasily, the sons of Yuri Vasilyevich Shuisky, the grandchildren of Vasily Dmitrievich Kirdyapa, with the help of Dmitry Shemyaka, regained the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, but after the defeat, the Shemyaki went over to the side of Moscow.

«YU.V.SOCHNEV ESSAYS ON THE HISTORY OF NIZHNY NOVGOROD AND THE NIZHNY NOVGOROD TERRITORY OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD Nizhny Novgorod ~3~ About the author: Sochnev Yuri Vyacheslavovich is a Nizhny Novgorod historian who studies...»

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But there is another somewhat forgotten point of view, expressed at the time by A.E. Presnyakov, attributing the formation of the principality to the events of 1328. 102 In their constructions, these researchers relied on chronicle information that the Suzdal diocese arose in 1347, in connection with the appointment of Nathanael to its cathedra. However, the clarification of the actual date of the formation of the new Russian diocese - 1330, in our opinion, should be taken into account when resolving the above issue. It appears that in Abramovich T.The. Princes Shuisky and the Russian throne. L. Ed. Leningrad State University, 1991. P. 21; Kuchkin V.A. Formation of the state territory of North-Eastern Russia in the X-XIV centuries.

M., 1984. S.205.

100 Nasonov A.N. Mongols and Russia. M.; L., 1940. S.97-98.

101 Kuchkin V.A. Formation of the state territory of North-Eastern Russia in the X-XIV centuries. pp.217-218.

102 Presnyakov A.E. Formation of the Great Russian state. Pg, 1918. S.261.

~ 61 ~ In the light of new information, the opinion of A.E. Presnyakov does not look unambiguously outdated.

Little is known about the fate of the first Suzdal bishop.

By 1351, chronicles report that Metropolitan Theognost “bless Daniel as a bishop at Suzhdal; An addition in the work of V.N.

Tatishchev under 1351: “The Bishop of Suzdal Daniel, although he had more sat down, being angry with Prince Alexander, did not give him that. He began to prohibit his boyars and not let him into the church, and for that excommunicate him, the metropolitan. But after a short time, for the request of the prince, bless him, Metropolitan Feognast, to serve the packs, and the priat of the former rank of bishopric. The location of this information V.N. Tatishchev under 1351 was inspired by the annalistic report about the renewal of Daniel, although his excommunication, of course, occurred much earlier. We believe that the turn in the fate of the Suzdal bishop was associated with the death of Prince. Alexander Vasilyevich in 1332, and the transfer of the Suzdal table to his brother, Konstantin105.

Theoretically, one can talk about the possibility of contradictions between the new prince and the bishop, but the conflict with Ivan Kalita, who again received PSRL, is more plausible. T.7. Resurrection chronicle. M., 2001. P. 215; Rogozhsky chronicler. M., 2000.

T.15. Stb. 60.

104 Tatishchev V.N. Collected works. T.5. Russian history. Part 3. M., 1996. P. 104.

105 Claims of Nizhny Novgorod archivist B.M. Pudalova (See: Russian lands of the middle Volga region (second third of the 13th - first third of the 14th century). Nizhny Novgorod, 2004. Note 210) to determine the historical date or some evaluative conclusions that are mandatory for other researchers are not clear . Pudalov's opinion is just Pudalov's opinion, which so far does not refute the authority and preferences of other famous researchers of Russian annalistic texts. The year 1332, as the date of the death of Alexander of Suzdal, was taken by A.E. Presnyakov (Formation of the Great Russian state. P. 139) and A.N. Nasonov (History of Russian Chronicle XI - early XVIII. M.,

1969. P. 170). In addition, the exact establishment of this date is absolutely not important for the subject of our study.

~ 62 ~ own order Vladimir, N. Novgorod and Gorodets106. Using the support of the Moscow prince for promoting his political interests, Theognost begins to form his own metropolitan fund of lands in North-Eastern Russia107. In a conflict with the Bishop of Suzdal, Theognost, who, according to many historians, was distinguished by a significant “love of money”, no doubt supported Ivan Kalita.

In 1341, "sitting in Novgorod in Nizhny on Gorodets on the reign of the great Konstantin Vasilyevich Suzhdalsky"108.

This event in North-Eastern Russia completed the formation of the fourth Grand Duchy. Having received a label from Khan Uzbek for the rich Volga lands, the Suzdal prince began to lay claim to the Grand Duchy of Vladimir and became the main competitor of the Moscow prince Semyon Ivanovich. But in church administration, a significant part of his lands, as before, due to belonging in the past to the grand ducal possessions, were subordinate to the metropolitan, who had his actual residence in Moscow. In 1340, in the first year of Semyon Ivanovich's reign, Metropolitan Theognost appointed a monk of the Moscow Annunciation Monastery, Alexei109, who was also designated as the successor to Theognost on the metropolitan throne, as governor of the Vladimir diocese. His competence extended to the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod lands. The main goal of these actions was a promising PSRL. T.3. Novgorod First Chronicle of the Senior and Junior Editions. M., 2000.

107 Veselovsky S.B. Feudal landownership in North-Eastern Russia. T.1. M., 1947.

108 PSRL. T.15. Stb. 54.

109 Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T.2. The second period, Moscow, from the invasion of the Mongols to Met. Macarius included. First floor. volumes. M., 1997.

~ 63 ~ the consolidation of the metropolitan see in Moscow, which formally was still considered located in Vladimir, and the disruption of the plans of Semyon Ivanovich's opponents to establish themselves in the main capital city of North-Eastern Russia.

The Metropolitan's retention of control over church structures in his lands, which in political reality meant the Moscow authorities, did not suit the Suzdal prince Konstantin Vasilievich, and prompted him to take decisive action, information about which was reflected in hagiographic sources. An embassy was sent to Constantinople in order to obtain permission to create their own diocese and a candidate for elevation to the rank of bishop, and possibly metropolitan. In 1340, Patriarch John XIV Kaleka appointed John Bishop of Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets110. From his life we ​​learn that he ruled his diocese for 25 years.

Being in advanced years, he left the episcopal chair, accepted the schema and lived for 9 years at rest in the monastery.

This time, the replacement of the cathedra was carried out bypassing Metropolitan Theognost. It is possible that the bishop of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, appointed in this way, was more dependent on the patriarch than on the metropolitan, i.e. the stauropegal right of the patriarch was extended to him. In any case, relying on the authority of the patriarch made it possible for Bishop Ivan to feel quite independent in relation to Theognost. In the acts of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the XIV century. many examples of clashes between neighboring bishops over

Life of John of Suzdal - RSL. OR. F.242. (Collected by G.M. Pryanishnikov) - No. 60.

L.265; Anania Fedorov. Historical collection about the God-saved city of Suzhdal // Vremennik of the Imperial Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities (VOIDR). M., 1855. Book 22. Department 2. P.126.

~ 64 ~ competence or because of the possession of disputed cities and territories that became the subject of proceedings of the Synodal Court, and other disorders resulting from deviations from canonical rules. Political instability in Byzantium, the processes of decentralization in political formations in Eastern and North-Eastern Europe, formally recognizing its spiritual primacy, could not but affect the state of local church administration, especially in territories remote from the metropolis.

Apparently, the appointment of John was not recognized by the metropolitan in Moscow. Theognost himself claimed to manage church affairs in the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod lands, but at the same time he could not formally cancel the decision of the patriarch. It is known that the Grand Duke Semyon Ivanovich did not give up his attempts to return Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. In 1343, in the Horde, before the new Khan Dzhanibek, he tried to take the Volga cities from Konstantin Vasilyevich. However, the Khan strongly supported the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod prince, despite the support of the Moscow side by the Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets boyars. In 1347, by the decision of Theognost, Nathanael111 was appointed bishop of Suzdal, and after his death, as already noted above, in 1351

Daniel was renewed as a bishop. But these bishops, proteges of the metropolitan and the prince of Moscow, were clearly not at the court of Konstantin Vasilyevich and, probably, were not accepted by him.

As can be seen from the life of Euthymius of Suzdal, in 1352 Bishop John blessed Euthymius, a native of the Nizhny Novgorod Ascension-Caves Monastery, to create the Spassky

PSRL. T.15. Stb.57-58; T.7. P.210.

~ 65 ~ male monastery in Suzdal112. Thus, with the appointment of Nathanael as metropolitan to the cathedra in Suzdal, a kind of dual power arose in the administration of the Suzdal diocese.

The appointment of Nathanael in 1347 became possible after Patriarch John the Kalek was defrocked in February of the same year, and Isidore Bucharis was erected in his place113. The new patriarch, in response to the requests of Metropolitan Theognost and Semyon Ivanovich, supported by generous donations for the repair of the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, liquidated the Galician Metropolis and again appointed Theognost the Metropolitan of "All Russia". Theognost was even called the patriarchal exarch, i.e.

vicegerent, and this is a higher title than metropolitan114.

Along with the title of Theognost, he received episcopal rights for church institutions in the region that had previously been under the direct jurisdiction of the patriarch, which resulted in the appointment of Nathanael to Suzdal. But Nizhny and Gorodets were still officially supposed to remain under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan. The actions of the latter were undoubtedly supported by Semyon Proud, their interests in this case coincided. In our opinion, the appearance in 1347 of the yarlyk of Khansha Taidula, which refers to the judicial immunity of the clergy, is also connected with the attempts of the Moscow side to eliminate the uncontrolled Bishop of Suzdal John, in our opinion. It seems quite the Life of Euthymius of Suzdal. - RGB. OR. F.242. (Collected by G.M. Pryanishnikov), No. 60.

L.23 rev. - L.27 about.

113 Lebedev A.P. Historical essays on the state of the Byzantine-Eastern Church from the end of the 11th to the middle of the 15th century. SPb., 1998. S.207-208.

114 See: Sochnev Yu. V. Political struggle of the XIV century. Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow princes and a brief collection of labels issued by the Horde khans to Russian metropolitans // Issues of archival and source studies in higher education. Collection of materials of the scientific-practical conference (December 7, 2007). Issue IV. Arzamas: AGPI,

2008. P.54; Barsov T.V. Patriarch of Constantinople and his power over the Russian Church. SPb., 1878. S.293-294.

~ 66 ~ it is probable that the recipient of the yarlyk was Bishop John of Suzdal, referred to in the khan's charter as the metropolitan115.

Information about the metropolitan status of the Suzdal lords was preserved in late sources, and the lack of mention of this in the chronicles that have come down to us is explained by the peculiar “centralizing” activity of the metropolitans, who, as is known, starting with Peter, were all allies of the Moscow princes in collecting Russian lands under their hand.

Despite attempts by Soviet historiography to deny the obvious, this conclusion is generally accepted. The role and significance of metropolitan power in social and political processes was already clear to contemporaries and descendants of these historical figures. It is no coincidence that the compiler of the Nikon Chronicle, reporting on the residence of Metropolitan Feognost in Moscow, adds: “… it is sweet to many a few other princes, even if the city of Moscow is the metropolitan’s name in itself living”116. Subsequently, the influence of Metropolitans Cyprian and Photius on the formation of the all-Russian chronicle led not only to the approval of the Moscow-centric version of the development of Russian lands in the medieval period, but also to the disappearance of significant layers of information from it that contradicted the official concept.

Only thanks to the local veneration of St. John, the memory of his high ecclesiastical and hierarchical position was preserved in Suzdal. In the well-known work of Anania Fedorov "Historical collection of the God-saved city of Suzhdal", See: Sochnev Yu. V. Political struggle of the XIV century. … S.51-60; as well as the previous essay 3 - S.34-46.

116 PSRL. T. 10. 1885. Stb., 195.

~ 67 ~ written in the 18th century, it is noted that on the local ancient icons that were in the cathedral church, in the bishops' sacristy, in the Pokrovsky convent and some other churches, “the saints of Christ and the wonderworkers John and Theodore, bishops of Suzhdalstia, are depicted and depicted on the chapters having white hoods, hedgehogs, according to the current church custom, in such white hoods, the most venerable bishops are of the noblest cities (like a metropolitan) ”117.

HER. Golubinsky made a selection and review of historical information about this headdress of the highest church hierarchs.

Noting that the origin of the white hood and the tradition associated with it “still remains a question,” a well-known church historian wrote: “The special head covering of our bishops was and still is the white hood, which currently serves as a distinction for metropolitans.”118 At the beginning of the 17th century. information about the history of the Suzdal department that is interesting for the subject under consideration was reflected in his work on Russia by the Dutchman Solomon Neugebauer. Describing the lands of central Russia, he writes: “The Suzdal Principality with a city and a fortress of the same name. It contains the residence of the Bishop. It is adjacent to the Rostov and Vladimir Principalities. It once occupied the first place among the Principalities of Russia and was the Metropolis of the cities lying around it; but when the Principality of Moscow grew stronger and the capital was transferred to it, then it became secondary.”119

VOIDR. M., 1855. Book 22. Department 2. P.126.

118 Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T.1. Period one, Kievan or pre-Mongolian. First floor. volumes. M., 1901. Reprint. M., 1997.S.585-586.

119 Neugebauer Solomon. Muscovy, about its origin, location, localities, customs, religion and state structure. Statistical and geographical description ~ 68 ~ For skeptics who idealize intrachurch relations in the medieval period, we would like to specially note that in the period under consideration, the practice of appointing the highest hierarchs of the church, bypassing the local metropolitan, which violated canonical rules, was in reality quite common. As an example, let us mention the Bishop of Rostov Fedor under Andrey Bogolyubsky, the cases with the installation of Metropolitans Theodoret and Roman during the time of Metropolitan Alexy, and then Cyprian, etc.120 Even in the first half of the 17th century, in the conditions of the emerging autocratic the hierarch, with the help of gifts and promises, tried to regain his rank, seeking in this way to again receive the appointment from the Patriarch of Constantinople, in opposition to the decision of the head of the Russian Church. This is evidenced by the letter of Patriarch Philaret to the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery, Archimandrite Raphael dated June 17, 1632, which reflected the investigative case of the monk Aifinogen. From the protocols of interrogations given in the document, it follows that this disgraced hierarch Aifinogen Kryzhenovsky, who is under supervision in the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky Monastery, was in the past the cellar of St. Nicholas of the Ugreshsky Monastery. “In humility” he was sent to the Caves Monastery for treason to Patriarch Filaret Nikitich. The guilt of the patriarchal traitor is described as follows: “but it is not true: that he sent a letter and four forty sables to the Pasha of Tur, and the pasha forced the Russian state into captivity at the beginning of the 17th century (translated by N. Rudnev) // Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. 1836. No. 9. P. 624.

120 See: Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T.1. Period one, Kievan or pre-Mongolian. First floor. volumes. M., 1901. Reprint. M., 1997. S. 439-440; T.2. Period II, Moscow. First floor. volumes. M., 1904. Reprint. M., 1997. S.179-192; S. 211 Patriarch Kiril of Tsaryagrad write a letter of farewell, so that he would be allowed, so that he would continue to be in the archbishops; and he was appointed archbishop by a heretic metropolitan, and at his command he served everything according to Rome and did his will…”.

Here, in connection with the subject under consideration, it should be clarified that the conceptual line that dominated in Soviet historiography about the latent conflict between the top church leadership and the Moscow princes does not reflect historical realities, but was predetermined by atheistic tasks that constituted one of the mandatory methodological foundations of historical research.

To some extent, the influence of the Soviet concept remains on modern historiography. It seems that the approach to resolving many complex problems and plots of the history of the Russian Church in the Middle Ages should change, the alignment of forces in the political and church confrontation was largely determined by the conflict between the Moscow princes in alliance with the metropolitan with the local princes and the church hierarchs who supported them. And in relation to the history of the church in the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod lands, this is of decisive importance. However, let us return to the consideration of the events that took place after 1347.

The new appointment to Suzdal in 1351 that followed after Nathanael, Daniel, apparently, was caused by the desire of Prince Semyon Ivanovich and Metropolitan Theognost to find such a figure on

Russian Historical Library. T.2. Stb.511.

~ 70 ~ episcopal chair, which would satisfy the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke Konstantin Vasilyevich, because Daniel was in some way an associate of his brother Alexander. But, judging by the life of Euthymius of Suzdal, Konstantin Vasilyevich preferred his protege, John, to Daniel.

Thus, the dual power in the management of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod diocese was preserved. Daniel died in 1362.

It is known about John that he died on October 15, 1374 and was buried in the rank of bishop in the cathedral church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Suzdal. But there is no information about him and his activities after 1352. It is possible that he retired after the death of Konstantin Vasilyevich. This idea was expressed by one of the church historians, Metropolitan Philaret.

In the annals there are several references to the next Bishop of Suzdal, Alexei. According to the Rogozhsky chronicler, he was appointed to the chair in Suzdal by Metropolitan Alexy in 1363. Under the same year, in the same chronicle article, but before information about the appointment, we find more messages about him:

“The same summer, Prince Dmitry Kostyantinovich from Suzhdal arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, and with him his mother, Princess Olena, and Vladyka Alexei. His brother, the young Prince Boris, did not yield to his reign, but he again returned home and departed for Suzhdal.

Further, again under the same year: “The same autumn ... in Novgorod in Nizhny, God showed His mercy to the princes on Ondrey, Vladyka singing mass in the church, bless Prince Andrei with the cross and at that hour tacos went from the cross of myrrh”122.

PSRL. T.15. Stb. 74-75.

~ 71 ~ Recall that Alexei's official title is Bishop of Suzdal, but we see him in the capital of the independent Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality in Nizhny Novgorod, next to Grand Duke Andrei Konstantinovich. Probably, in fact, Alexei managed church affairs not only in Suzdal, but also in the Nizhny Novgorod lands, which were formally under the control of the metropolitanate. The latter could be subordinated to him by the metropolitan as an exarch, i.e. metropolitan administrator. A similar situation, but already under the subsequent bishop Dionysius, is mentioned by canonical sources123.

Bishop Alexei was a participant in the conflict over Nizhny Novgorod between the brothers Konstantinovich - Dmitry and Boris. The extent of Alexei's involvement in the conflict is not very clear, but in the course of the conflict, and perhaps as a result, the metropolitan deprives the Suzdal ruler of the right to rule Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, and takes them back under his control. In the Novgorod IV chronicle under 1365 we read; “Metropolitan Alesya was taken away by the bishopric of Novgorod from Vladyka Alexei…”124. This measure was intended to create conditions for measures of church influence on the obstinate Prince Boris. The death of Bishop Alexei in the annals is dated in two ways - 1364 or 1365. According to chronicles, after him the Suzdal department remained free until 1374, i.e.

almost 9-10 years old. This state of affairs seems unlikely. Why?

Russian Historical Library (RIB). T.6. Monuments of Old Russian 123 canon law. Part 1. SPb., 1908. Stb.280, 288.

124 PSRL. T.4. Part 1 Issue 1. Novgorod IV chronicle. Pg., 1915. S.292.

~ 72 ~ Firstly, it was contrary to the canonical rules, according to which the episcopal see must be replaced within 3 months after the death or departure of the bishop.

Secondly, the absence of a bishop in the face of confrontation with Moscow was extremely unfavorable for the political interests and goals of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes.

Thirdly, it gave rise to a lot of inconvenience in the activities of the parish clergy in the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, which would inevitably have a negative impact on the daily life of rural and urban residents. This circumstance also could not suit the princely power.

By the time under consideration, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets were already firmly in the hands of the princely dynasty of Konstantinovich, and it was they who could determine the candidacy of a new bishop. HER. Golubinsky, characterizing the situation with the appointment of bishops in the post-Mongolian period, directly states that the metropolitans were “completely dependent” on the princes in this matter125. Based on the foregoing, it can be assumed that the Suzdal see was replaced shortly after the death of Bishop Alexei in 1364/65.

By the will of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke, one of the most authoritative representatives of the Nizhny Novgorod clergy, Archimandrite of the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery Dionysius, was actually erected on it126. Since such actions were contrary to the interests of Moscow and Metropolitan Alexy, Dionysius could manage the Suzdal diocese without the official Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T.2. P.36.

Macarius (Bulgakov). History of the Russian Church. Book 3. History of the Russian Church in the period of gradual transition to independence (1240-1448). M., 1995. Approx. 258.

~ 73 ~ approval from the metropolitan. The refusal of the head of the church to recognize Dionysius could be based on the fact that Bishop Ivan of Suzdal was still alive. He died in 1374, after which Dionysius was installed.

This bishop, perhaps, was not the only church manager in the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod lands in the 60s of the XIV century. Internal political contradictions in the principality, as well as the intervention of Moscow and the metropolitan, could lead to such a situation. It is no coincidence that the renewal of the Spaso-Annunciation Monastery by Metropolitan Alexy in the suburbs of Nizhny Novgorod belongs to this period. The monastery was a home metropolitan monastery, neither economically nor administratively dependent on the Nizhny Novgorod secular and ecclesiastical authorities127, and in fact became an outpost of Moscow in the camp of opponents.

In relation to the plot under consideration, two lists contain very interesting information, as defined by B.0.

Klyuchevsky, "local" letters of the last quarter of the XIV century of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich. In these letters, the confessor of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, Archimandrite of the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery, Jonah, is named, at the request of which, as well as another Hierarch Serapion, unknown from the annals, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodetsky, Kurmysh and Sarsky, the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke gave a letter to his boyars and

See: Gorchakov M. On the land holdings of metropolitans, patriarchs and sv. Synod.

(988-1738). From experiments in the study of Russian law. SPb., 1871. S.14-15; Macarius (Bulgakov). History of the Russian Church. Book 3. P.135.

~ 74 ~ to the nobles, “who sits with whom and who sits under whom”, dated 1368.128.

To determine the historical authenticity and explain the information received about Archimandrite Jonah, we need to recall what is known about the Suzdal Bishop John. From the life of Bishop John, we know that appointed to the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod see in 1340, he ruled his diocese for 25 years. Being in advanced years, he left the episcopal chair, accepted the schema and lived for 9 years in retirement in the Bogolyubsky monastery129. The author of the life is Gregory, a monk of the Spaso-Evfimiev monastery in Suzdal. He also wrote the life of the founder of the monastery Euthymius and some other local Suzdal saints130.

Both works serve as sources for clarifying the fate of Bishop John. The source study and historical analysis of these monuments was carried out by V.A. Kolobanov.

The results of his research confirmed the value and significance of the lives of John and Euthymius as historical sources. However, the researcher also noted their specificity. Thus, the life of Euthymius is an earlier work than the life of John, therefore it is more authoritative131. The historical authenticity of the life of Euthymius is higher than in the rest of the works of Gregory. This conclusion is very interesting for us, since the life of Euthymius indicates that Bishop John, in his advanced years, retired not to Bogolyubsky, but to Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky.

16th century (ASVR). T.3. M., 1964. No. 307. S.335-337.

129 Anania Fedorov. Historical collection about the God-saved city of Suzhdal. pp.133-134.

130 Dictionary of scribes and bookishness of Ancient Russia. Issue 2. (second half of the 14th - 16th centuries). Part 1 A - K. L., 1988. P. 169-171.

131 Kolobanov V.A. Vladimir-Suzdal literature of the XIV-XV centuries. M., 1978. P.38.

~ 75 ~ monastery. Based on the foregoing, it can be asserted with a greater degree of certainty that Archimandrite Jonah of Pechersk, mentioned in Dmitry Konstantinovich’s letter of 1368, is the Bishop of Suzdal John, who lived here at rest after leaving the department in 1364-1365. The change of name, most likely, could occur in as a result of being tonsured into the schema. The canonical rules did not forbid the election or appointment of “great schemniks” as abbots of monasteries132.

As for Bishop Serapion, he could well have been another "wrong" appointed bishop, but unlike Dionysius, only to the Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodetsky, Kurmysh and Sarsky lands.

These letters of Dmitry Konstantinovich are in good agreement with the information contained in the Tale of the Invasion of Edigei. As you know, the “Tales of the Invasion of Edigey”, set out in various chronicles, tell about the attack on Russia in the fall of 1408 by the Nogai Khan Edigey, who at that time was actually the ruler of the Golden Horde. The general outline of events is also well known - Edigey could not capture Moscow, but he burned its suburbs, ruined Pereyaslavl, captured Rostov, Yuryev, Dmitrov, Serpukhov, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, and left for his lands after receiving 3000 rubles ransom.

In a short story about these events, placed in the Tver Chronicle, the author, having told about the ruin of N. Novgorod and Gorodets, further reports that the Tatars, together with the Bulgarian troops and the Mordovians, went to Kostroma, intending to capture Vologda, but their main goal was the capture of the great

Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T.2. S.670-671, 699.

~ 76 ~ princesses. However, by order of Edigei, the detachments were forced to begin returning to the Horde. “They, in a curse, went back to Gorodets and Novgorod, fighting and whipping the rest of the people, and leaving Novgorod, fighting Uyada and Berezovo field, tacos going both ways and through the forest looking for people, and many people through the forest issekosha; from there, go to Sura, start fighting Sura, burning Kormysh, and burning Sarah the Great, and all the bishops were beaten, and others died by fire, and the people were all cut, and others died by fire, and the whole city was burned, and the place of that city was destroyed by Sarah the Great, and the monasteries burned down, graveyards and villages fought, and betrayed all the fires, they were full like cattle driven into their land, young blueberries of Chernorizitsa were all naked, everything was desecrated.

In the above excerpt from the story of the Tver Chronicle, among those who died as a result of the Horde pogrom, bishops are mentioned, namely in the plural, as well as monasteries, nuns and monks. This information is unique, since there is no information about the bishops of Sarah the Great and Kurmysh anywhere in the annals. In the scientific logic on which historical research should be based, the case when two heterogeneous, unrelated sources give common information is considered to confirm its reliability. Thus, the existence of bishops in Sarah the Great and Kurmysh in the second half of the XIV - early XV centuries. seems highly probable.

The mention of chernitsa and chernitsa, and the affected monasteries is also extremely interesting. It testifies to the active monastic life on the eastern borders of the PSRL. T.15 Rogozhsky chronicler. Tver collection. M., 2000. Stb.484.

See more: Sochnev Yu. V. Little-known information on the history of the church in the Nizhny Novgorod lands at the beginning of the 15th century // Nizhny Novgorod region in the history of Russia.

N.Novgorod, 2010. S.11-16.

~ 77 ~ Nizhny Novgorod principality, bordering the Horde from the south and east.

Confirmation of the correctness of the assessment of this information is the pectoral cross-reliquary of 1414 by Prince Ivan Danilovich of Nizhny Novgorod, which contains, among other relics, particles of the relics of the three saints of Zasursky135. Unknown now, but famous at the beginning of the 15th century. The Zasura monastery was in the possession of Ivan Danilovich's grandfather, Boris Konstantinovich, on the lower Sura. The participation of monasteries in the colonization of these territories is not something surprising and unique.

Monasteries were active subjects of the development of new, to a large extent still foreign, lands even earlier, in the 13th century.

in the North-West, North and North-East of Russia136. And subsequently, after the capture of Kazan, a large-scale creation of monasteries took place in the newly annexed eastern territories137.

The absence in other chronicles of reports about these events and the mentioned representatives of the Nizhny Novgorod church hierarchy, as already noted, can be explained by the circumstances of the struggle for church lands on the territory of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, which was waged by the metropolitan see under Cyprian and his successors, and their subsequent influence on the formation of a domestic annals.

In the light of the information reviewed, it seems possible to replace the vacated Suzdal department with Dionysius. See: Nikolaeva T.V. Works of Russian applied art with inscriptions of the 15th - the first quarter of the 16th century. M., 1971. S.4-5, S.33–34, No. 4.

136 See: Korsakov D. Merya and the Rostov Principality. Essays from the history of Rostov-Suzdal land. Kazan, 1872. S.205-216.

137See: Mozharovsky A. Statement of the course of missionary work on the enlightenment of Kazan foreigners, from 1552 to 1867 // Readings in the Society of Russian History and Antiquities. 1880. Book 1. S.8-10.

~ 78 ~ already in 1364/65, as in earlier cases, not recognized by the metropolitan. The official recognition of Dionysius as a bishop of Suzdal by Metropolitan Alexy followed only in 1374, simultaneously with the assignment of the titles of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodetsky to him.

As head of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod diocese, Dionysius showed himself to be an inventive and energetic politician, striving by all means to put his cathedra in the first place in church terms, legally fix its increments, and become the metropolitan of "All Russia". After the death of Metropolitan Alexei in 1378, in the context of the struggle of various contenders for the metropolitan throne, the Suzdal bishop again initiated a case for administration in the Volga cities. While in Constantinople, Dionysius submitted a petition to Patriarch Nil, where he explained that Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets were within the Suzdal diocese, dependent on the Suzdal prince, and closer to his church than to Moscow. Therefore, he asked to continue to give them to the Suzdal department. The patriarch agreed and in 1382 issued Dionysius a letter of confirmation for these cities138. In the letter, he is called the Archbishop of Suzdal, Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) and Gorodetsky. However, the disputed cities did not last long at the Suzdal chair. Only the successor of Dionysius, Archbishop Euphrosynus, kept them behind him, and, like Dionysius, in 1389 secured a patriarchal confirmation letter139.

The dispute about Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets arose again when Cyprian became the only Russian metropolitan. As always

–  –  –

~ 79 ~ The struggle between Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow and Prince Boris Konstantinovich of Nizhny Novgorod was politically motivated in resolving church affairs. In 1391, Boris Konstantinovich, with the help of Khan Tokhtamysh, again settled in Nizhny Novgorod, selected in 1388 by his nephews, Vasily and Semyon Dmitrievich. But the Nizhny Novgorod boyars entered into an agreement with Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow. In July 1392, he bought a label for Nizhny Novgorod and occupied the city in the autumn. Boris Konstantinovich, left without the support of his boyars, could not do anything. Thus ended the first stage in the liquidation of the independence of the Nizhny Novgorod principality.

The next step, necessary to consolidate the victory, was the resubordination of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the metropolitan.

Metropolitan Cyprian and Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich sent a message to Patriarch Anthony, where they explained that Dionysius did not rightfully own Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. These cities, the plaintiffs asserted, were from time immemorial and from the beginning the cities of the Russian metropolis and were under its jurisdiction and control, and that Metropolitan Alexy entrusted them to the Suzdal bishop temporarily "as his exarch or viceroy." And after the death of Metropolitan Alexy, Dionysius did not rightfully receive these cities. According to this suit, in 1393, the patriarch sent special ambassadors to Russia - Archbishop Michael of Bethlehem and the imperial plenipotentiary Aaleksy Aaron with a letter to Archbishop Euphrosynus, where he ordered them to prove the rights of the Suzdal see to these disputed cities or to present witnesses who could confirm these ~ 80 ~ right. Otherwise, the ambassadors had to hand over the cities to the metropolitan.

It was no coincidence that the Moscow authorities made an attempt to regain control over the church administration of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets in 1393. According to the canonical rules approved by the IV Ecumenical Council, parishes that were under the jurisdiction and administration of the bishop of a certain diocese for 30 years could not be challenged by another bishop. Thus, the statute of limitations for territorial disputes between dioceses was set at 30 years.

This canonical norm was in force and actively applied by the Patriarchal Synodal Court in the 14th century as well.141. Since, as has already been shown above, Bishop Dionysius, with the support of the Grand Duke of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, actually began to govern Nizhny and Gorodets in 1364, then in a year or two the rights of the Suzdal archbishops to the disputed cities would become preferable. Apparently, Archbishop Evfrosin failed to prove his rights to Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets, and perhaps gave in under the pressure of force, and these cities went to the metropolis, his successors Mitrofan, Abraham and others were appointed exclusively to Suzdal. Although the situation is not entirely clear, we are inclined to think that the metropolitan's ownership rights to Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets were preferable, since they dated back to Andrey Bogolyubsky's grants to the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.

There. pp. 278-290.

See: Ancient acts of the Patriarchate of Constantinople related to the Novorossiysk region // Notes of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities. T. 6.

Odessa, 1867. S.459-460.

~ 81 ~ With the loss of political independence, the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod also lost support for the autonomy of church administration in the Nizhny Novgorod land, although, as is clear from the above passage from the “Tale of the Invasion of Edigey” in the 15th century. traces of this former autonomy still existed in the outlying territories, which probably disappeared by the middle of the century.

This situation persisted as a result of the ongoing military-political struggle for the return of the father's table and their lands, which was waged by the princes from the dynasty of the Nizhny Novgorod Konstantinovichs, and the Sursky lands were their base areas, which excluded the possibility of church administration here by the metropolitan.

The presence of an autonomous church government headed by bishops should testify to a certain political and economic status of these territories, although not formally recognized, but actually existing, which was possible only as a result of their successful settlement and development.

With the development of the centralization of the Russian state and the formation of the patriarchate at the end of the 16th century, the question of the autonomy of church administration in the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region arose again, and was discussed in 1589 at the 18th Moscow Church Council. But the independent Nizhny Novgorod diocese was re-formed only in 1672.

~ 82 ~ Essay 5. ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ARCHIMANDRIY IN

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE OF THE LOWER

NOVGOROD IN THE XIV CENTURY

The current stage in the development of Russian society is characterized by the restoration of the role and significance of the Russian Orthodox Church, the revival of its influence in various fields. This explains the increased interest in its history, although, by and large, it never dried up, even during the years of Soviet power and the dominance of militant atheism. Among the various currents of modern historiography of the history of the church, a direction has appeared associated with the study of specific institutions and structures as part of a vast Russian spiritual organization. In recent decades, works devoted to elucidating the features of the formation and functioning of the archimandrite in a Russian city have been published.142 However, these publications do not use materials on the history of the church and monasteries in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Even in large specialized works on the history of monastic life in North-Eastern Russia in the pre-revolutionary period, there is no information about the development of monasteries in our region. Before turning to the consideration of specific historical materials,

Shchapov Ya.N. State and Church in Ancient Russia XI-XIII centuries. M.: Nauka, 1989. Ch.3;

Shchapov Ya.N., Sokolova E.I. Archimandrite in an Old Russian City - In Sat. Church, society and state in feudal Russia. M.: Nauka, 1990. S. 40-46; Budanov M.A.

Urban organizations of the clergy in North-Eastern Russia until the middle of the XIV century. - On Sat. Humanist. History and social sciences. M.: MPGU, 2003. V.5. pp. 211–218.

143 See: Mikhail Kudryavtsev. The history of Orthodox monasticism in North-Eastern Russia since the time of St. Sergius of Radonezh. M., 1881. Part 1-2.

~ 83 ~ let's make a small reservation. This article should be considered as an attempt to state the stated problem and the first experience in its study, which, of course, cannot be exhaustive within the framework of a small publication. This becomes quite obvious if we take into account the variety of complex source studies and specific historical issues in this problematic.

The institution of archimandrite was brought to Russian soil from Byzantium, like many other structures of church administration.

The title archimandrite from the 5th century is attached in Constantinople and other Eastern churches to the heads of monasteries.

Initially, this was the name of officials elected by the bishop from the abbots of his diocese to supervise the monasteries. Later, when the supervision of the monasteries passed from the archimandrites to the great sacellaries, the title of archimandrite, as an honorary title, began to be assigned to the abbots of the most important monasteries in the diocese. In this sense, this title from Byzantium passed to Russia. Here, according to church historians, it was originally assigned to only one hegumen in the diocese, and only over time became the property of several. For the first time this name is found in Russian sources under 1171 in the appendix to the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Polikarp. Then there are mentions of the archimandrite in Novgorod, in the Yuryevsky monastery, under 1226; in Vladimir - in the Nativity Monastery - under 1230, etc.

The appearance of the title of archimandrite in the Nizhny Novgorod region is associated with the name of the most famous religious and political figure in Nizhny Novgorod history, Dionysius, the founder and first mentor of the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky-Ascension Monastery. The earliest information about this is found in ~ 84 ~ chronicles and hagiographic works. Let's start with chronicle reports, since they are rated as more reliable. In the Rogozhsky chronicler, under 1374, we read: “... at the gathering in Moscow, His Eminence Archbishop Alexei Metropolitan appointed Archimandrite of the Pechersk Monastery, named [b] Dionysius, Bishop of Suzhdal and Novgorod Nizhny and Gorodets ...”.

A similar message is read in the Trinity and Simeon Chronicles.145 The above evidence of the appointment of Dionysius as a bishop is the first mention of him in the chronicles and at the same time the first fact confirming the existence of an archimandrite in Nizhny Novgorod in the second half of the 14th century.

References to the possession of the title of archimandrite by Dionysius in an earlier period are in the "Life of Vassa (Vasilisa)" by the wife of the Nizhny Novgorod prince Andrei Konstantinovich, reflected in the Trinity Chronicle. After the death of her husband, “Princess Vasilisa wept a lot for her princes, she was a widow for 4 years, she was tonsured by Dionysius, Archimandrite of the Caves, and her name was called Theodora.”146 Interesting information on the issue of interest to us contains two lists, by definition IN. Klyuchevsky, "local" letters of the last quarter of the XIV century of the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich. They name the confessor of Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich - Archimandrite of the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery Iona, as well as another hierarch Serapion, unknown from the annals, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodetsky, Complete collection of Russian chronicles. (PSRL). T.15. Rogozhsky chronicler. Tverskoy 144 collection. M., 2000. Stb.105.

145 Priselkov M.D. Trinity Chronicle (Reconstruction of the text). L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

1956. S.395-36; PSRL. T.18. Simeon Chronicle. M., 2007. S.113-114.

146 Priselkov M.D. Trinity chronicle. P.414.

~ 85 ~ Kurmyshsky and Sarsky, at the request of which the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod gave a letter to his boyars and nobles, “who should sit with whom and who should sit under whom”, dated 1368.

We have already written about the letters mentioned and the mysterious historical characters appearing in them148, so we will not repeat ourselves, but note only the title of archimandrite of the rector of the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky Monastery.

The specificity of hagiographic works as historical sources and the debatable authenticity of the so-called "local" Nizhny Novgorod charters dictate a cautious attitude towards the information contained in them, including about the archimandrite. However, taking into account later information and the status of the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery, acquired by it in the economic and socio-political life of our city and the region as a whole, we consider it possible to speak in favor of the possibility of using this information in historical constructions.

Most likely, they reflect quite real events, which reflected the historical role of the Nizhny Novgorod monasteries.

From the above information it is definitely clear that the formation and development of the archimandrite in Nizhny Novgorod in the first half of the 14th century. associated with the Caves-Ascension Monastery. There is very little data on the origin and development of this monastery, as well as on the Nizhny Novgorod region in general, during this period. The monastery was the first known to us in Nizhny Novgorod.

147 XVI centuries. (ASVR). T.3. M., 1964. No. 307. S.335-337.

See: Sochnev Yu.V. Review of the history of church administration in the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality in the XIV century. // Nizhny Novgorod research on local history and archeology: Collection of scientific and methodological works. N. Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod Humanitarian Center, 2003. P. 180-181; Sochnev Yu. V. Little-known information on the history of the church in the Nizhny Novgorod lands at the beginning of the 15th century // Nizhny Novgorod region in the history of Russia. N. Novgorod, 2010. S.11-16.

~ 86 ~ Novgorod (if we do not take into account the mention of some monastery, burned by the Mordvins in 1229), in it, among the first in North-Eastern Russia, a communal charter was approved.

The founding of the monastery in pre-revolutionary historiography dates back to 1328-1330.149 Such dating was not in doubt among many Soviet historians who studied the activities of Dionysius and the history of Nizhny Novgorod.150 Doubts of the Nizhny Novgorod archivist B.M. Pudalov151, based on completely unexpressed and as yet unsubstantiated “indirect considerations”, cannot be considered as arguments refuting a long and well-established historiographic tradition in explaining the date of the Pechersky Monastery. The intention to devote a special article to this issue can only be welcomed, but we dare to assume that its author is unlikely to be able to find new sources and information that have the value of a historical fact. Most likely, as it happened more than once, he will offer a number of his own value judgments, probably different from the conclusions of his predecessors. Such constructions often cannot claim the status of authoritative evidence and it is not necessary that they will be recognized by all other researchers, although the result of any mental exercise

Macarius (Mirolyubov). St. Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal, founder

Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery. N. Novgorod, 1864; Macarius (Bulgakov).

History of the Russian Church. Book 3. M., 1995. P. 121; Khramtsovsky N. Brief essay on the history and description of Nizhny Novgorod. N. Novgorod, 1998. S. 34,310; Zverinsky V.V.

Material for a historical and topographic study of Orthodox monasteries in the Russian Empire, with a bibliographic index. SPb., 1890. S.269-270, No. 1055.

150 Prokhorov G.M. The story of Mitya. L., 1978. S.69-70; Kuleva S.V. Dionysius of Suzdal - ideologue and politician of the XIV century. - In: Nizhny Novgorod region in the era of feudalism. Nizhny Novgorod, 1991. P. 42; Sakharov A.M. Cities of North-Eastern Russia XIII-XIV centuries. M., 1956. P.66.

151 See: Pudalov B.M. Russian lands of the Middle Volga region (second third of the 13th - first third of the 14th centuries). Nizhny Novgorod, 2004. Note 263.

~ 87 ~ on this topic is definitely curious. Of course, these are subjective preliminary judgments, and it is possible that the claimed article will be able to change them.

B.M. Pudalov complains: “In local lore literature, the “common place” was the assertion that during the reign of Alexander Vasilyevich (between 1328-1330) the Nizhny Novgorod Ascension Caves Monastery was founded. The earliest publications of this kind do not provide any justification for this dating. There are no substantiations in the latest works either…”152. Especially for the Nizhny Novgorod archivist, we will explain, perhaps this will help him in his work on the declared article, that the date of the emergence of the Pechersky Monastery was determined on the basis of information extracted from hagiographic works that tell about the life of the disciples and associates of the founder of the monastery Dionysius - Euthymius of Suzdal and Macarius Zheltovodsky. How this was done can be seen in the work of Archbishop Philaret (Gumilevsky)153, his conclusions and results on this issue were accepted by contemporary and subsequent historians. The well-known Soviet source and historian G.M. Prokhorov.154 The same dating, like many other historians, is accepted by the author of this essay.

Monk Dionysius, presumably a native of the Kiev Caves Monastery, could take steps to create and further develop a vast monastery near Nizhny Novgorod only with the consent and support of the Suzdal prince

–  –  –

Philaret (Gumilevsky). Russian saints, revered by the whole church or locally.

154 Prokhorov G.M. The story of Mitya. L., 1978. S.69-70.

~ 88 ~ Alexander Vasilyevich, who in the indicated period had supreme power in the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region. Probably, the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky-Ascension Monastery, according to the conditions of its creation, was a ktitor monastery, and Prince Alexander Vasilyevich was its “ktitor-owner”. It is no coincidence that this monastery over the next decades has always remained a reliable support for the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes in the political struggle with Moscow, and even when the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod union was formed, the monastery authorities sought to maintain and demonstrate relative independence in church affairs.

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Capital Nizhny Novgorod Languages) Old Russian Religion Orthodoxy Currency unit Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value). Population Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value). Form of government Early feudal monarchy K: Appeared in 1341 K: Disappeared in 1414

Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy- one of the principalities of North-Eastern Russia, which existed in the period 1341-1392, in 1395, 1411-1414 and in 1425.

Story

The Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality was formed in 1341, when the Khan of the Golden Horde, Uzbek Khan, divided the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, transferring Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the Suzdal prince Konstantin Vasilievich. However, K.A. Averyanov expressed the opinion that the Suzdal prince received Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets as compensation for the failed marriage of his daughter Antonida with Grand Duke Semyon Gordy. The rise of Nizhny Novgorod in the first half of the 14th century led to the transfer of the capital of the newly formed principality there from Suzdal. The development of feudal landownership and trade, especially in the Volga region, support from the Horde and Novgorod allowed the princes of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality Konstantin Vasilyevich and his son Dmitry to fight the Moscow princes for the great princedom of Vladimir. Dmitry in and captured the great reign, but not for long. From to he acted as an ally of the Moscow prince. The Nizhny Novgorod princes took part in Tokhtamysh's attack on Moscow.

Relations with the Golden Horde

The Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal squads periodically organized military campaigns on the territory of the Saransk khans. The largest campaign was organized in 1370 against the possessions of the Bulgar prince Khasan (Osan).

By the mid-1370s, the influence of the temnik Mamai had strengthened in the Golden Horde, who began to send detachments to the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region. In 1377, in the battle on the Pyan River, the army of Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich was defeated, and Nizhny Novgorod was burned by troops led by Arapsha. Then Boris Konstantinovich dealt with the Mordovian army, which made a predatory raid on the vicinity of Nizhny.

Despite the weakness, the principality sent its squads to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380).

Chronology

• 1341 - The principality of Gorodets passed to the brother of Alexander Vasilyevich, Konstantin Vasilyevich, then to the son of Konstantin Vasilyevich, Andrei Konstantinovich.
• 1350 - Konstantin Vasilyevich moved the capital to Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1356 - Andrei Konstantinovich gave Suzdal as an inheritance to his brother, Dmitry Konstantinovich.
• 1359 - Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal received a label to rule the Grand Duchy of Vladimir.
• 1362 - the Grand Duchy of Vladimir was transferred to Dmitry Donskoy (at that time he was 12 years old).
• 1363 - Dmitry Suzdalsky regained Vladimir, but not for long.
• 1365 - after the death of Andrei, Dmitry Konstantinovich became the Grand Duke.
• 1366 - reconciliation of Dmitry Donskoy and Dmitry Suzdalsky, marriage of Dmitry Donskoy with Dmitry Suzdalsky's daughter Evdokia.
• 1376 - a joint campaign with Moscow against the Bulgar under the command of Dmitry Bobrok.
• 1377 - Ivan Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry of Suzdal, died in the Battle of the Pyana River.
• 1380 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality took part in the Battle of Kulikovo on the side of Dmitry Donskoy. Almost the entire army of Dmitry Konstantinovich died in the battle (including about 100 boyars).
• 1382 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, under the leadership of Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich, joined the army of Tokhtamysh in order to attack Moscow. Semyon and Vasily persuaded the Muscovites to open the gates, and subsequently participated in the sacking of Moscow. Vasily Tokhtamysh was taken to the Horde.
• 1383 - the death of Dmitry Suzdal, the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal by label became his brother Boris Konstantinovich.
• 1387 - Vasily Kirdyapa, son of Dmitry Suzdal, left the Horde with a label to reign.
• 1392 - Vasily I Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Donskoy, captured Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1393 (according to other sources 1395, according to Solovyov 1399) - Semyon, son of Dmitry Suzdal, tried to return Nizhny Novgorod by force. The attempt turned out to be successful, but Prince Eityak, who was walking with them as an ally, killed both the remaining defenders of the city and the attackers. At this time, Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich bought a label for reigning, and gave Semyon and Vasily Shuya as inheritance. Vasily Kirdyapa, dissatisfied with this decision, left for the Horde in 1394, but did not achieve success there. Semyon died in Vyatka in 1402, Vasily died in Gorodets in 1403.
• 1408 - Edigei wiped Gorodets off the face of the earth.
• 1445 - Ulu-Mohammed used Nizhny Novgorod as a stronghold in the war with Vasily II the Dark.
• 1446-1447 - Fedor and Vasily, the sons of Yuri Vasilyevich Shuisky, the grandsons of Vasily Dmitrievich Kirdyapa, with the help of Dmitry Shemyaka, regained the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, but after the defeat, the Shemyaks went over to the side of Moscow.

see also

• List of Russian principalities#Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy

Write a review on the article "Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy"

Notes

Links

• V. A. Kuchkin. "Formation of the state territory of northeastern Russia in the X-XIV centuries." (Including a map of the alleged territories of the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duchy and its appanages in the 1360s).
• Gorky, 1961.
• Talovin D.S. - Abstract, Nizhny Novgorod 2001.
• Chechenkov P.V.

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Coat of arms of the Nizhny Novgorod region History of the Nizhny Novgorod region

Archaeological cultures of the Nizhny Novgorod region Butovo (VIII-VI millennium BC) Upper Volga (VI-III millennium BC) Balakhna (late VI-III millennium BC) Volga-Kama (V-III millennium BC) AD) Volosovskaya (III-II millennium BC) Battle axes (corded ceramics) (Fatyanovo (2nd half of III - mid-II millennium BC), Balanovskaya | (beginning of I millennium BC) BC)) Chirkovskaya (2nd half II - early I millennium BC) Pozdnyakovskaya (mid II millennium - early I millennium BC) Srubnaya (XVIII-XII centuries BC) Kazanskaya (XVI-IX centuries BC) Reticulated ceramics (2nd half II - 1st half I millennium BC) Gorodetskaya (VII century BC - II century AD) Ananyinskaya (end of IX-III centuries BC) Historical continuity of the Nizhny Novgorod territories State affiliation Territories with administrative center in Nizhny Novgorod Territories of the Nizhny Novgorod region included in other regions

An excerpt characterizing the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Grand Duchy

The entity, smiling, extended its arms to the woman, as if inviting her into her arms.
Alice, is that really you?!
“So we met, dear,” said the luminous being. – Are you really all of them?.. Oh, what a pity!.. It’s too early for them yet... What a pity...
“Mommy, mom, who is this?” the dumbfounded little girl asked in a whisper. - How beautiful she is! .. Who is this, mother?
"That's your aunt, dear," her mother answered kindly.
- Uncle?! Oh, how good - a new aunt !!! And who is she? – the curious little girl did not let up.
She is my sister, Alice. You never saw her. She went to this "other" world when you weren't there yet.
“Well, then it was a very long time ago,” little Katya confidently stated the “indisputable fact” ...
The luminous "aunt" smiled sadly, observing her cheerful and unsuspecting little niece in this new life situation. And that one was merrily jumping up and down on one leg, trying out her unusual “new body” and, being completely satisfied with it, stared inquiringly at the adults, waiting for them to finally go to that unusual luminous “new world” of theirs ... She seemed completely happy again, since her whole family was here, which meant that “everything is fine” with them and there was nothing more to worry about ... Her tiny children's world was again habitually protected by the people she loved and she no longer had to to think about what happened to them today and just waited for what would happen next.
Alice looked at me very carefully and said affectionately:
- And it's still early for you, girl, you still have a long way to go ...
The glowing blue channel was still sparkling and shimmering, but it suddenly seemed to me that the glow had become weaker, and as if answering my thought, the “aunt” said:
“It’s time for us, my dears. You don't need this world anymore...
She took them all into her arms (which I was surprised for a moment, as she seemed to suddenly become larger) and the luminous channel disappeared along with the sweet girl Katya and her whole wonderful family ... It became empty and sad, as if I had lost again someone close, as happened almost always after a new meeting with the "leaving" ...
"Girl, are you all right?" I heard someone's worried voice.
Someone bothered me, trying to “return” me to a normal state, as I apparently again “entered” too deeply into that other world, far away for the rest, and frightened some kind person with my “frozen-abnormal” calmness.
The evening was just as wonderful and warm, and everything around remained exactly the same as it was only an hour ago ... only I no longer wanted to walk anymore.
Someone's fragile, good lives had just been cut off so easily, flew away into another world like a white cloud, and I suddenly felt very sad, as if a drop of my lonely soul had flown away with them ... I really wanted to believe that the dear girl Katya would find at least some kind of happiness in anticipation of their return "home" ... And it was sincerely sorry for all those who did not have coming "aunts" to at least slightly alleviate their fear, and who rushed in horror, leaving in that arc, unfamiliar and frightening world , not even imagining what awaits them there, and not believing that this is still going on their “precious and only” LIFE ...

The days flew by unnoticed. Weeks passed. Gradually, I began to get used to my unusual everyday visitors ... After all, everything, even the most extraordinary events that we perceive at the beginning almost as a miracle, become commonplace if they are repeated regularly. This is how my wonderful “guests”, who at the beginning amazed me so much, became almost a common occurrence for me, in which I honestly invested part of my heart and was ready to give much more, if only it could help someone . But it was impossible to absorb all that endless human pain without choking on it and without destroying itself. Therefore, I became much more careful and tried to help without opening all the “gateways” of my raging emotions, but tried to remain as calm as possible and, to my greatest surprise, very soon noticed that in this way I can help much more and more effectively. , while not getting tired at all and spending much less of their vitality on all this.
It would seem that my heart should have “closed” long ago, having plunged into such a “waterfall” of human sadness and longing, but apparently the joy for finally finding the much-desired peace of those who managed to help far exceeded any sadness, and I wanted to do it is endless, as far as my, unfortunately, still childish, strength was enough then.
So I continued to talk with someone continuously, to look for someone somewhere, to prove something to someone, to convince someone of something, and if I succeeded, even to reassure someone ...
All "cases" were somewhat similar to each other, and they all consisted of the same desires to "fix" something that in the "past" life did not have time to live or do right. But sometimes something not quite ordinary and bright happened, which was firmly imprinted in my memory, forcing me to return to it again and again ...
At the moment of "their" appearance, I was sitting quietly by the window and drawing roses for my school homework. Suddenly, I very clearly heard a thin, but very persistent children's voice, which for some reason said in a whisper:
- Mommy, mommy, please! We'll just try... I promise you... Let's try?..
The air in the middle of the room thickened, and two very similar entities appeared, as it turned out later - a mother and her little daughter. I waited in silence, watching them in surprise, because until now they had always come to me exclusively one at a time. Therefore, at first I thought that one of them most likely should be the same as me - alive. But I could not determine in any way - which one, since, in my perception, there were no survivors among these two ...
The woman remained silent, and the girl, apparently unable to stand it any longer, touching her a little, whispered softly:
- Mum!..
But there was no reaction. The mother seemed to be absolutely indifferent to everything, and only a thin childish voice that sounded nearby was sometimes able to pull her out of this terrible stupor for some time and light a small spark in her green eyes, which seemed to have gone out forever ...
The girl, on the contrary, was cheerful and very mobile and seemed to feel completely happy in the world in which she lived at the moment.
I could not understand what was wrong here and tried to stay as calm as possible so as not to frighten off my strange guests.
- Mom, mom, speak up! - the girl could not stand it again.
In appearance, she was no more than five or six years old, but she was apparently the leader in this strange company. The woman was silent all the time.
I decided to try to “melt the ice” and asked as affectionately as possible:
“Tell me, can I help you with something?”
The woman looked at me sadly and finally said:
– Can I be helped? I killed my daughter!
I got goosebumps at this confession. But this, apparently, did not bother the girl at all, and she calmly said:
“That's not true, Mom.
– But how was it really? I asked carefully.
We were run over by a terribly large car, and my mother was driving. She thinks it's her fault that she couldn't save me. - The girl patiently explained in the tone of a little professor. “And now my mother doesn’t even want to live here, and I can’t prove to her how much I need her.
"And what would you like me to do?" I asked her.
“Please, could you ask my dad to stop blaming my mom for everything?” – the girl suddenly asked very sadly. - I am very happy here with her, and when we go to see dad, then she becomes for a long time the way she is now ...
And then I realized that the father apparently loved this little girl very much and, having no other opportunity to pour out his pain somewhere, he blamed her mother for everything that had happened.
- Do you want it too? I asked the woman softly.
She just nodded sadly and again closed herself tightly in her mournful world, not letting anyone in, including her little daughter, who was already so worried about her.
– Dad is good, he just doesn’t know that we are still alive. - The girl said softly. - Please tell him...
Probably, there is nothing worse in the world than to feel the guilt that she felt ... Her name was Christina. During her lifetime, she was a cheerful and very happy woman who, at the time of her death, was only twenty-six years old. Her husband adored her...
Her little daughter was called Vesta, and she was the first child in this happy family, who was adored by everyone, and her father simply doted on her ...
The very same head of the family was called Arthur, and he was the same cheerful, cheerful person as his wife was before her death. And now no one and nothing could help him find at least some peace in his pain-torn soul. And he grew in himself hatred for his beloved, his wife, trying to protect his heart from complete collapse.
- Please, if you go to your dad, don't be afraid of him ... He is sometimes strange, but this is when he is "not real." - The girl whispered. And it was felt that it was unpleasant for her to talk about it.
I didn't want to ask and upset her even more, so I figured I'd figure it out myself.
I asked Vesta which of them wants to show me where they lived before their death, and does her father still live there? The place they named made me a little sad because it was quite far from my house and it took a long time to get there. Therefore, I couldn’t think of anything right away and asked my new acquaintances if they could appear again at least in a few days? And having received an affirmative answer, she “hard-wired” promised them that I would definitely meet their husband and father during this time.

Kurmysh.

The Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality was formed in 1341, when the Khan of the Golden Horde, Uzbek, divided the Grand Principality of Vladimir, transferring Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the Suzdal prince Konstantin Vasilievich. The rise of Nizhny Novgorod in the first half of the 14th century led to the transfer of the capital of the newly formed principality there from Suzdal. The development of feudal landownership and trade, especially in the Volga region, support from the Horde and Novgorod allowed the princes of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality Konstantin Vasilyevich and his son Dmitry to fight the Moscow princes for the great princedom of Vladimir. Dmitry in and captured the great reign, but not for long. From to he acted as an ally of the Moscow prince. The Nizhny Novgorod princes took part in Tokhtamysh's attack on Moscow.

Relations with the Golden Horde

Despite the weakness, the principality sent its squads to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380).

Relations with other Russian principalities

Chronology

• 1221 - Yuri Vsevolodovich, Grand Duke of Vladimir, founded Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1238 - Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, brother of Yuri Vsevolodovich, Grand Duke of Kyiv, Grand Duke of Vladimir, established diplomatic relations with the Golden Horde, received a label to reign from Batu.
• 1246-1256 - a dispute between the sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Alexander Nevsky (senior) and Andrei Yaroslavich (a year younger) for the inheritance.
• 1256 - Andrei Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, nephew of Yuri Vsevolodovich, reconciles with his brother Alexander and receives from him Suzdal, Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod as inheritance.
• 1264-1304 - Yuri Andreevich (prince of Suzdal) (until 1279) and Mikhail Andreevich (until 1305), sons of Andrei Yaroslavich, rule in Suzdal, and Andrei Alexandrovich, son of Alexander Nevsky, in Gorodets (until 1304).
• 1305-1309 - Vasily Andreevich, son of Andrei Yaroslavich, rules in Suzdal. Subsequently, power passes to his son, Alexander Vasilyevich.
• 1304 - Principality of Gorodets (which included Nizhny Novgorod) passes to Mikhail Yaroslavich, Prince of Tver and at that time Grand Duke of Vladimir.
• 1318 - Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy was killed in the Horde, the great reign of Vladimir (and with it the principality of Gorodets) was transferred to Yuri Danilovich, Prince of Moscow.
• 1328 - Alexander Vasilyevich, Prince of Suzdal and son of Prince Vasily Andreevich of Suzdal, receives a label from Khan Uzbek for Vladimir and the Gorodets principality. Died in 1331.
• 1341 - The principality of Gorodets passes to the brother of Alexander Vasilyevich, Konstantin Vasilyevich, then to the son of Konstantin Vasilyevich, Andrei Konstantinovich.
• 1350 - Konstantin Vasilievich transfers the capital to Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1356 - Andrei Konstantinovich gives Suzdal as an inheritance to his brother, Dmitry Konstantinovich.
• 1359 - Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal receives a label to rule the Grand Duchy of Vladimir.
• 1362 - the Grand Duchy of Vladimir is transferred to Dmitry Donskoy (at that time he was 12 years old).
• 1363 - Dmitry Suzdalsky regains Vladimir, but not for long.
• 1365 - The principality of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod receives the status of a grand principality. Grand Duke - Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal.
• 1366 - reconciliation of Dmitry Donskoy and Dmitry Suzdalsky, marriage of Dmitry Donskoy with Dmitry Suzdalsky's daughter Evdokia.
• 1376 - a joint raid on Kazan with Moscow.
• 1377 - Ivan Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Suzdal, dies in the battle on the Pyan River, as a result of which the closest potential contenders for the Nizhny Novgorod grand prince's table are Dmitry Suzdal's brother, Boris Konstantinovich, the sons of Dmitry Suzdal, Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich, as well as the son of Dmitry Donskoy and Evdokia, Vasily I Dmitrievich.
• 1380 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality take part in the Battle of Kulikovo on the side of Dmitry Donskoy. Almost the entire army of Dmitry Konstantinovich dies in battle, the principality does not have enough strength even to protect against random raids. The Moscow principality, also exhausted, cannot provide assistance, and relations between Dmitry Suzdalsky and Dmitry Donskoy deteriorate.
• 1382 - the troops of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality, under the leadership of Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich, join the army of Tokhtamysh in order to attack Moscow. Dmitry Donskoy withdraws the army from the city without accepting the battle; Semyon and Vasily persuade the Muscovites to open the gates, and subsequently participate in the sacking of Moscow. Vasily Tokhtamysh is taken to the Horde.
• 1383 - the death of Dmitry Suzdal, the Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal by label becomes his brother Boris Konstantinovich.
• 1387 - Vasily Kirdyapa, son of Dmitry Suzdal, leaves the Horde with a label to reign.
• 1392 - Vasily I Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Donskoy, captures Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1393 (according to other sources 1395, according to Solovyov 1399) - Semyon, the son of Dmitry Suzdal, is trying to return Nizhny Novgorod by force. The attempt turns out to be successful, but Prince Eityak, who was walking with them as an ally, killed both the remaining defenders of the city and the attackers. At this time, Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich buys a label for reigning, and gives Semyon and Vasily Shuya as inheritance. Vasily Kirdyapa, dissatisfied with this decision, departed for the Horde in 1394, but did not achieve success there. Semyon dies in Vyatka in 1402, Vasily dies in Gorodets in 1403.
• 1408 - Edigei wipes Gorodets off the face of the earth.
• 1411 - ???
• 1445 - Ulu-Mohammed uses Nizhny Novgorod as a stronghold in the war with Vasily II the Dark.
• 1446-1447 - Fedor and Vasily, sons of Yuri Vasilyevich Shuisky, grandsons of Vasily Dmitrievich Kirdyapa, with the help of Dmitry Shemyaka, regain the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality, but after the defeat, the Shemyaki go over to the side of Moscow.

Links

• V. A. Kuchkin. "Formation of the state territory of northeastern Russia in the X-XIV centuries." Chapter 5: "Territories of the Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod Grand Principalities in the XIV century." (Including a map of the alleged territories of the Nizhny Novgorod Grand Duchy and its appanages in the 1360s).
• Igor Alexandrovich Kiryanov, "Ancient fortresses of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga region" Gorky, 1961.
• Talovin D. S. The Great Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Principality (1341-1392) in the land system of North-Eastern Russia - Abstract, Nizhny Novgorod 2001.
• Chechenkov P. V. Administrative-territorial structure and management on the lands of the Gorodetsky appanage in the 15th - mid-16th centuries.

see also

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Modern Encyclopedia

Nizhny Novgorod Principality- NIZHNY NOVGOROD PRINCIPALITY, formed in 1341, when the Horde Khan Uzbek gave Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the prince of Suzdal Konstantin Vasilyevich. Capital Nizhny Novgorod. In 1392, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily I annexed Nizhny Novgorod ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary