The 14th century in the history of Russia was marked by the beginning of the unification of Russian lands around Moscow, which was then the center of the struggle against Mongol-Tatar rule. The rise of Moscow was also facilitated by its beneficial geographical position at the intersection of land and river routes, which was profitably used by the Moscow princes for trade and military purposes. For the Moscow princes themselves, the transformation of the Moscow principality into the strongest was also beneficial, because being the youngest sons in the family, they could not occupy the grand-ducal throne due to seniority. In other words, you had to rely only on yourself, your actions, the position and strength of your principality. However, the city also had an advantageous position among the Russian lands, therefore, His Majesty Chance also played a role in which city would become the capital of the new state.
The founder of the Moscow princely dynasty and the first independent Moscow appanage prince was, younger son(1276-1303). The Moscow principality in 1276 was small, but Daniil managed to expand it. In 1301, he took it from the princes, and in 1302, the Pereyaslavl principality was bequeathed to him by his nephew, which was finally annexed to Moscow during the reign of Daniel’s eldest son, Yuri, from 1303 to 1325. Mozhaisk was annexed to Moscow in 1303, and gradually the Moscow principality became the strongest in North-Eastern Rus'. 
But with Yuri Danilovich, the Tver prince Mikhail Yaroslavich fought for the khan's label for reign, who first received the label. But in 1318, the new khan, fearing the strengthening of Tver, gave Yuri an army to fight the Tver prince. In the battle with the Tverians, the Moscow-Horde army was defeated, and Yuri’s wife, Konchak (baptized Agafya), who was the khan’s sister, dies in captivity.
The Tver and Moscow princes appeared before the khan's court. Mikhail Yaroslavich is accused of poisoning the khan's sister, non-payment of tribute, disobedience to the khan's ambassador and executed, and Yuri receives a label for reign, who did not stay long in Moscow. In 1325, Yuri was killed by the son of Mikhail Tverskoy, Dmitry. For arbitrariness, Dmitry was executed by the Mongols, and the label was given to the princes of Tver, but at the same time, the khan brought closer to him the Moscow prince, who was so nicknamed for his wealth (the word “kalita” translated from Old Russian means a leather bag, a purse that was fastened to the belt) .
(1325-1340), grandson of Alexander Nevsky, became the first ruler of Moscow who began the centralization of Russian lands.
He began his reign with the construction of a wooden Kremlin (as long as there were Mongol-Tatars, it was irrational to build a stone one); transferred the residence of Metropolitan Theognost to Moscow in 1328. He ruled under the motto “Peace and Order,” but imposed it with the help of violence and war. His nickname was not given to him for nothing; he was the first ruler-entrepreneur, gave loans to merchants, bought land, invested money in trade, and established the export of fur.
By the end of his life, the land holdings of the Moscow principality increased by 2.5 times, and Moscow's influence on other lands increased many times over. Ivan Kalita’s methods of acquiring land were as follows:
-purchase of land;
-arranged dynastic marriages, the bride had land as a dowry;
-waged wars, but did not go with his own army, but invited the Mongol ones. So, during the Tver uprising of 1327 against the Horde khan Cholkhan, when the rebels killed him and killed his retinue, Ivan Kalita, together with the Horde army, attacked Tver. The Tver land was devastated, and Ivan Kalita received a label for reign. 
During his reign, Ivan Kalita taught Russian people to earn money; the main way to make money was deception (though at that time only Mongol-Tatars were deceived). Along with the label, Ivan Kalita received the right to collect tribute for the Horde, but he kept most of this tribute for himself, and sent large bribes to the Mongol khans. This allowed him to permanently hold the label of reign.
The sons of Ivan Kalita, Simeon the Proud and Ivan the Red, continued the policy of their father and had no rivals in receiving the label for reign. The eldest son Simeon the Proud ruled from 1340 to 1353. and together with his entire family died during the plague epidemic that came to Moscow from Western Europe. The second son, Ivan the Red, was quiet, reigned briefly, from 1353 to 1359, and died, leaving a 9-year-old son, the future prince.
The youngest of the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes, Dmitry of Suzdal (1359-1363), took possession of the title to reign. However, he underestimated the fact that the young prince was supported by the boyars along with Metropolitan Alexy. They achieved the return of the label to Moscow.
Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich (1363-1389) at the beginning of his reign, in 1367, built the white stone Kremlin, which became the symbol of the Moscow principality; it was the first stone fortress in Rus'.
In the history of Russia in the 14th century, a new stage of the struggle between Moscow and Tver begins. In 1371, the grandson of Mikhail Tverskoy, Mikhail Alexandrovich, received the label for reign. Dmitry Ivanovich begins a war with Tver, deciding to destroy his opponent. In 1375 he decides to organize a campaign against Tver. The siege of Tver lasted for almost a month, after which Mikhail Alexandrovich asked for peace from the Moscow prince. According to the peace treaty (pre-final charter), Mikhail Tverskoy recognized himself as a vassal of the Moscow prince, and therefore could no longer lay claim to the great reign. The charter also stipulated that whichever of the princes the Tatars would not come to fight against them together.
In 1378, Dmitry Ivanovich refused to pay tribute to the Mongol-Tatars and killed the Baskaks. In 1380, he defeated the Mongol-Tatars on the banks of the Don River. It was after this victory that he received his nickname, which went down in history - Donskoy.
The next year, a new Horde came to Rus' with Khan Tokhtamysh, but the victory was not a turning point in the fight against the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Thus, in his will he blesses his eldest son, Vasily Dmitrievich, not to ask the khan’s permission for a great reign.
So, the history of Russia in the 14th century is not only the period of the beginning of the centralization of Russian lands around Moscow, which was recognized as the center of the emerging Russian state, but also at the same time the time of strengthening the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow within his principality and the annexation of new lands to Moscow.
1. Prerequisites for the merger. Rivalry between Moscow and Tver
2. Dmitry Donskoy and the Battle of Kulikovo. Politics of Dmitry's heirs. Historical conditions and features of education Russian state
3. Rulers Ivan III and Vasily III. The fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke
Fragmentation of the principalities of the former Kievan Rus reached its apogee in the 13th century. The Vladimir-Suzdal principality alone split into 14 fiefs. Then the first prerequisites for unification arise:
A) screwed up e lands (those that were left without heirs),
b) the interest of the boyars in new lands,
c) approximate synchronicity in economic development, similarity of customs, common faith, language, etc.,
d) but the main thing - external factor - the need to overthrow the yoke, as well as the threat from the West.
The process took about 250 years. That is why political unification proceeded faster than economic disunity was overcome. Rivalry between Moscow and Tver developed. Both principalities were located at the intersection of trade routes and occupied territories not on the outskirts of Russian lands. The Tver principality gained independence when the younger brother of Alexander Nevsky, Yaroslav Yaroslavich, began to reign there. The Principality of Moscow during the reign of Alexander Nevsky's son in the 2nd half. XIV century also expands its holdings - almost 2 times. Thanks to the constant influx of population, it has greater economic potential. A war begins between them, in which mongol khan
When the label was in Tver, Moscow Prince Yuri first took the Novgorod throne and then married the sister of Khan Uzbek. Yuri promises to pay more tribute, and then the khan transfers the label to Moscow. Tver begins the war in 1315. The wife of the Moscow Khan was captured, and soon she died in captivity. Prince Mikhail of Tver was summoned to the Horde and executed, and the label was transferred to Moscow. In 1325, the Tver prince, the son of the executed man, kills Yuri. Khan executes him too, but... the label is handed over to Tver.
Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita(1325-1340) returned the label in 1327 after helping the khan suppress the uprising in Tver. Next, the metropolitan moves from Kyiv to Moscow. In 1325 the first stone church was built. Historians consider Kalita’s main achievement to be a break in the Horde invasions, thanks to which Moscow gained strength. At the same time, Kalita ruined his neighbors: Rostov, Pskov, Novgorod. His sons - Semyon Proudy(1340-1353, died during the plague) and Ivan Krasny(1353-1359) continued to expand the state.
2. While Dmitry was little, the boyars returned the label to Moscow. Meanwhile, a period of instability began in the Horde: the Khan's throne was divided
1373 - the Mongol-Tatars attacked Ryazan, Dmitry and his army went to the banks of the Oka River, he would not have dared to openly oppose the Horde, but the Mongols did not dare to advance further
1375 – Tver, dissatisfied with the injustice, sends messengers to the Horde to ask for permission to reign, the label is transferred to Tver, and then Moscow begins the war. After the victory of Moscow, the princes sign an agreement “not to fight against each other, but for us to fight against them.”
1378 – Dmitry defeated Khan Begich on the river. Rein. This was the first victory in a major battle
Mamai undertakes to restore the situation and punish Rus'
1380 8 September With the blessing of Sergius of Radonezh, Dmitry won a victory at the mouth of the Nepryadva (a tributary of the Don) and received the nickname Donskoy. The defeated Mamai fled. Tokhtamysh took the Khan's throne. In 1382, he reached Moscow and burned it, after which the payment of tribute was resumed, but its size became smaller.
1389 - Dmitry dies, for the first time in many years, without asking the khan, appointing a successor - the son of Vasily (“basileus” – “king”)
Vasily I(1389-1425) annexed Novgorod, Murom and others. Vasily I acted against the Horde together with the Lithuanian prince. IN 1410 G. they defeated the Teutonic knights in Grunwaldskaya battle.
After the death of Vasily I (1425) A feudal war broke out between his sons and the family of his younger brother. The fact is that in Rus' there was no exact procedure for the transfer of power. His filial heir, Vasily II, sits on the throne, causing the indignation of Yuri, the younger brother of Vasily I. Yuri starts a war and dies. His sons Vasily (Kosoy) and Dmitry Shemyaka continue the fight. Vasily, the son of Yuri, lost his eyes in captivity and received the nickname Oblique. Vasily II was also blinded in captivity, hence the nickname Vasily the Dark. Dmitry Shemyaka fled. Vasily II the Dark ruled from 1425 to 1462. When Vasily II was captured by the Tatars in 1445, Shemyaka took the throne. Soon Vasily II was released, and Dmitry Shemyaka fled, leaving the throne
The unification of disparate lands is a completely natural process. The creation of the Russian state coincided with a similar process in Western Europe, but had its own characteristics.
I. First stage unification ended relatively painlessly: North-Eastern Rus' was united under the rule of Moscow. However, the final stage was difficult: Novgorod would resist for a long time, in addition, the south would remain under the rule of other states for a long time
II. The united state will remain feudal for a long time, while in Europe, at the end of the appanage period, the emergence of capitalism will begin,
III. The process would have dragged on even longer if not for the need to overthrow the yoke
3. Ruled from 1462 to 1505 Ivan III. Ivan's blind father Vasily the Dark made his son co-ruler during his lifetime. During this time, the young prince learned to be careful and prudent. By nature he was a cunning cunning man. Having come to power at the age of 22, he began to subjugate the remaining territories. In 1468, the Yaroslavl principality came under his rule, in 1474 - the Rostov principality, in 1485 - the Tver principality, in 1489 - the Vyatka principality. A number of noble families moved from subordination to Lithuania to subordination to Ivan III
A separate story is the subjugation of Novgorod. The Novgorodians decided to fight desperately and entered into an alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Prince Casimir. The inspirer of the union turned out to be the mayor Marfa Boretskaya. The Novgorodians recognized the power of Lithuania and accepted the governor. For this, Moscow accused the Novgorodians of “falling away from Orthodoxy to Latinism,” and moved on to decisive action. IN 1471 Novgorodians lost the battle on the river. Sheloni (by the way, Casimir did not enter the battle and did not fulfill the agreement). IN 1478 - The veche was liquidated. The most active fighters for independence had their lands confiscated. The Novgorod nobility retained some privileges for independent relations with Sweden, and was also exempted from serving on the troubled southern borders
State transformations from the time of Ivan III:
New territories began to be governed by governors and feeders,* appointed by the Moscow prince. The right to hold positions was regulated by a special procedure - localism- an order that preserves ranks and titles in accordance with the merits and ranks of ancestors
A Boyar Duma consisting of 5-12 people was established. - legislative body. It included both Moscow and local boyars
After the annexation of Tver, Ivan III titled himself the sovereign of all Rus', and after marrying Sophia Paleologus, the last of the family of the Byzantine emperor, he called himself tsar (it is noteworthy that the marriage was arranged by the Pope himself)
Since 1480, it is appropriate to use the name Russia to designate Rus'
After the overthrow of the yoke, the country acquires a coat of arms in the form of a double-headed eagle
IN 1497 g. a set of laws is published Code of Law of Ivan III:
Governance of the state is described
Orders were established, their competence was described,
Punishments for different types of crimes,
The transfer of peasants to new owners is prohibited except for the week before and the week after St. George’s Day (November 26)
Church politics. The Russian Church breaks up into 2 independent metropolises: Moscow and Kyiv (unification will occur after Ukraine joins Russia). Many heresies appear. Some demanded the abolition of priests, others the renunciation of land holdings by monasteries. The movement took on special scope non-possessors, who objected to the accumulation of wealth by the church. Non-covetous people were opposed Josephites, supporting the rights of the church, including the ownership of land with peasants. Ivan III supported the Josephites
In 1480, news came to Moscow about the campaign of Khan Ahmed, who was going to punish the Grand Duke for disobedience: since 1476, Ivan III had not paid tribute to the Horde. Popular rumor says that the king trampled on the khan's message and ordered the ambassadors to be killed. He ordered the survivor to tell Ahmed that the same thing would happen to him. Actually it was like that. After the death of brother Yuri, the tsar did not divide his possessions among the rest of the brothers, but annexed them to the grand-ducal lands by paying compensation. For the second time, Ivan III encroached on the brothers’ property, taking away part of Boris’s possessions, then the brothers decided to revolt. This conflict was the reason for a new campaign
Khan Ahmed concluded an alliance with the Lithuanian Prince Casimir. Russian and Mongol troops gathered at the Oka tributary of the Ugra on September 30, 1480. Ivan III, returning to Moscow, was indecisive, even sending Sophia away in case the capital was lost. The townspeople, led by the Archbishop of Moscow, demanded decisive action. Meanwhile, the Khan made 2 unsuccessful attempts to cross the river. In vain waiting for Casimir's ally, who fought with the Crimean Khan, Akhmed stood on the Ugra River for 4 days. Early winter completely buried the khan's plans. Without daring to start a battle, the Mongols left. Thus, “standing on the Ugra” led to the overthrow of the yoke. In 1502 Golden Horde fell under pressure Crimean Tatars.
1505-1533 – years of reign Vasily III. He was born later than his grandson Dmitry (son of the deceased Ivan III, nicknamed Ivan the Young, who never ascended the throne). For a long time was in disgrace with his Greek mother, until the father changed his mind and sent his grandson to prison with the words “Chie is not free, the great prince,” in his children and in his reign? I give reign to whomever I want.” He proved himself to be a cruel ruler. Under him, Pskov lost its independence (he evicted the local boyars and settled the Moscow ones), the Seversk land was annexed, and the Smolensk land was recaptured. Icon of Smolensk Mother of God, defender of the western borders, was transferred to the newly built Novodevichy Convent. Appanage princes lose the right to mint coins and have relations with foreign powers, to dispose of estates without the knowledge of the Grand Duke
The era when the Moscow prince was only first among equals is ending. Vasily III achieved an unprecedented centralization of power. He made decisions personally and executed those who objected to this order. The German ambassador wrote that not a single adviser contradicts Vasily, and at court they say: “Whatever the sovereign does not do, everything is according to the will of God.”
He supported the non-covetous people and made one of their leaders a metropolitan. He made a good profit from the monastery lands. However, he rejected the idea of taking away all the property from the churches, fearing that he would lose the support of the clergy.
Since the wife of Vasily III turned out to be childless, he forbade his brothers to marry. And after a while he decided to divorce his wife. After being married for 20 years, Vasily sent his wife to a monastery. In order to get a divorce, he replaced the metropolitan, reaching an agreement with the Josephites. Marry the Lithuanian princess Elena Glinskaya for the second time. They had no children for 4 years. At the hour of the birth of their first child - the future Ivan the Terrible - a storm broke out. Only after the birth of the heir did Vasily allow the brothers to marry
The story of the raid of the Crimean Tatars in 1519 is interesting. They approached Moscow, received a promise to pay tribute, then the Russians gathered their strength, caught up and defeated the Tatars, and took away the written obligations
The Mongol conquest led to a long-term economic, political and cultural decline of the Russian lands. The process of unification was suspended for many years, and the khan's tribute fell on the people as a heavy burden. However, in agriculture There is a transition to a two- and three-field crop rotation system, the main arable implement becomes a plow with an iron coulter, and the land is fertilized with manure. As a result, the efficiency of agricultural production and the development of trade in new shopping centers— Moscow, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod. Due to treasury accumulations and aggressive political play against the backdrop of internal strife in the Horde, the Moscow principality is strengthened (rising). Moscow becomes the new political center of Rus'.
In the struggle for the grand-ducal throne, the cunning ruler Vasily II actively used the Horde as allies. In addition, Vasily II was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which gained independence from Byzantium after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. All this has already allowed Ivan III to truly begin the unification of Muscovite Rus', and to achieve the final overthrow of the Golden Horde yoke.
The strengthening of the grand ducal power, the growing authority of the nobility due to the distribution of land, and the emergence of institutions for managing a centralized state necessitated the adoption of a new set of laws of the Russian state - the so-called Code of Laws of Ivan III.
1301 - Daniil Alexandrovich annexed Kolomna to the Moscow Principality.
1303, March 4 - the first Moscow prince Daniil Alexandrovich, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, died.
1303-1325 - reign of Yuri Danilovich in Moscow.
1312 - adoption of Islam as the state religion by the Golden Horde.
1313-1342 - reign of Uzbek Khan in the Golden Horde.
1318 - campaign of Yuri Danilovich and Mongol troops to Tver.
1325-1340 - reign of Ivan Kalita in Moscow.
1327 - uprising in Tver against Baskak Cholkhan. The defeat of the uprising by Ivan Kalita.
1328 - transfer of the metropolitan table from Vladimir to Moscow.
1337 - foundation of the Monastery on the banks of the Konchura River by Sergius of Radonezh. Since 1345 the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Since 1742 Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
1340-1353 - reign of Simeon the Proud in Moscow.
1353-1359 - reign of Ivan II the Red in Moscow.
1359-1389 - reign of Dmitry Ivanovich in Moscow.
1367 - construction of the white stone Kremlin in Moscow.
1375 - campaign of Moscow troops against Tver. Conclusion of the Moscow-Tver Treaty. Recognition of Moscow's "eldership" by Tver.
1377 - defeat of Russian troops on the Pyana River from Mongol troops.
1378 - Battle of the Vozha River. Victory of Moscow over the Horde troops under the command of Begich.
1380 - the first mention in the charter of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd of the city of Kaluga (now the administrative center of the Kaluga region).
1382 - destruction of Moscow by Tokhtamysh. Resumption of tribute payments to the Horde by the Russian principalities.
1393 - accession Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow.
1395 - Timur destroys the Golden Horde.
1389-1425 - reign of Vasily I Dmitrievich.
1410, July 15 - Battle of Grunwald. Polish-Lithuanian troops defeated the Teutonic Order.
1417-1428 - plague epidemics on the territory of Rus'.
1425-1462 - reign of Vasily II the Dark.
1433-1453 - feudal war of the second quarter of the 15th century.
1439 - Union of Florence.
1462-1505 - reign of Ivan III.
1466-1472 - Afanasy Nikitin’s journey through Persia, India and Turkey.
1469 - the first mention in Russian chronicles of the city of Cheboksary (now the capital of the Chuvash Republic).
1470-1480s - construction of new fortifications and cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin.
1471 - Ivan III's campaign against Novgorod. Battle of the Sheloni River.
1472 - Ivan III marries the niece of the Emperor of Byzantium Sophia (Zoya) Paleologus, makes the Byzantine double-headed eagle the coat of arms of Rus', acting as the successor of Byzantium.
1476 - Ivan III stops paying tribute to the Horde.
1478 - annexation of Novgorod to Moscow.
1480 - Khan Akhtat’s campaign against Moscow. "Standing on the Ugra River." The fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.
1485 - annexation of Tver to Moscow. Ivan III began to be called the “Grand Duke of All Rus'.”
1485 - Code of Law of Ivan III. Limitation of the transition of peasants to the week before and the week after St. George's Day in the autumn (November 26) and payment of the elderly.
Who ruled the lands of Rus' in the Middle Ages? March 10th, 2018
If before the invasion of the Tatars Rus' consisted of large principalities (Rostov-Suzdal, Novgorod, Kiev, Ryazan, Smolensk, Chernigov and others), then with the beginning of vassalage the appanage princes were able to formalize their cities as independent hereditary feudal possessions.
And they immediately took advantage of it.
Collapse of the Old Russian State and Lithuania
This is how full-fledged independent states, the number of which soon began to be measured in dozens. And although formally the Vladimir prince was considered the eldest among the princes, everyone understood that the real supreme power lay in the Horde. And independent princes can do whatever they want in their domains, regardless of traditions and seniority.
Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas - founder of the dynasty
In the 14th century, the rapid rise of Lithuania began. Despite its name, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was created on ancient Russian lands and had the same relationship to the indigenous ethnic Lithuania - Samogitia and Aukshaiti - as the Russian principalities to the Finno-Ugric peoples who once inhabited the expanses of North-Eastern Rus'.
If in the ancient Russian principalities the Rurikovichs remained in power, then in Lithuania their own dynasty of Gediminovichs appeared.
The ruling family, apparently, came from the tribal princes of the Yatvingians, who at that time had the reputation of real savages and robbers.
In general, in the Middle Ages, when everyone was enthusiastically slaughtering each other, only peoples with a special character could gain the reputation of robbers. The Yatvingians could just boast of this.
The belligerence of the Lithuanian Gediminovichs became an important factor in their policy.
Three parts of Russian lands after the Tatar invasion
A hundred years after the Tatar invasion, the Russian lands looked completely different. In the northeast there was a conglomeration of many appanage principalities under the formal authority of Moscow. However, its rulers were called the Grand Dukes of Vladimir: the Moscow lands were still not prestigious enough to give the right to rule over other Russian principalities.
All the destinies of this region were ruled by the Rurikovichs - the old Russian dynasty. Formally, Muscovite Rus' remained a vassal of the Horde. In fact, vassal obligations were already ignored from the middle of the 14th century, and dependence was limited to the payment of tribute.
To the west lay the possessions of the Gediminovichs. Their first big acquisitions were the principalities of Polotsk and Turov, which had previously been ruled by the princes of the house of Rurik. Together with Vilna, these territories constituted the indigenous lands of Lithuania.
In the 14th century, the power of the Lithuanian princes began to gradually spread to the neighboring Russian principalities: Kiev, Smolensk, Pereyaslavl, Novgorod-Seversk. However, having captured these areas, Lithuania fell into vassal dependence on the Horde. Accordingly, from 1362 the Gediminovichs received khan's labels for the right to own part of Rus' and paid the due tribute.
Daniil Galitsky from the Rurik family, descendant Prince of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh, in 1252 accepted the title of “King of Rus'” from the Pope.
With the help of the prestigious royal crown, he hoped to strengthen his power.
However, his heirs forgot about the title, and only Daniel’s grandson, Yuri, became the next “King of Rus'”.
Why him? Under Yuri, the Galician and Volyn principalities united. However, at the same time, stronger Poland and Lithuania were nearby, and Galician Rus' - as the most remote, peripheral part of the Russian lands - was doomed to be torn to pieces by its neighbors.
Galicia, of course, was also a vassal of the Golden Horde, paid tribute to the khans and even sent troops to participate in joint campaigns with the Tatars against Poland.
Confrontation between Moscow and Lithuania
In the second half of the 14th century, the political situation in the Russian lands changed dramatically. In the east, the rise of Moscow led to the first attempt to free ourselves from the Tatar yoke: the Russian army of Prince Dmitry of Moscow was victorious at the Battle of Kulikovo Field.
In the west, Lithuania's expansion led to conflict with Moscow. Their confrontation became the main content of Russian domestic policy in the next hundred years.
The conflict was related to the resolution of the issue of the unification of Rus'. Both the old Rurikovich and the new Gediminovich laid claim to the role of head of the new unified state.
Initially, the position of the Lithuanian princes was stronger due to the number of troops and the wealth of their possessions, however, from the point of view of legitimacy, the Moscow princes found themselves in a more advantageous position. It was they who could lay claim to the restoration of power by the right of dynastic succession.
Later, a religious conflict between Orthodoxy and Catholicism was added to the confrontation. But in the XIV-XV centuries, the descendants of the appanage princes - who were all Rurikovichs without exception - had a simple choice: to serve the Grand Duke from “their” dynasty or from someone else’s. Many consciously chose “their own”.
Adventures of the title "King of Rus'"
But Galician Rus' ceased to exist at the end of the 14th century. Since 1349, there was a fierce struggle for the lands of Galicia between Poland and Lithuania.
The war ends in 1392 with the division of the failed kingdom. Galicia began to belong to Poland, and Volyn went to Lithuania. At the same time, the Lithuanian princes began to be called the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and Russia. The Polish kings Louis and Casimir III also used the title "King of Rus'" for some time.
The next Polish rulers, already from the Gediminovich dynasty, forgot about the Galician title. But the Hungarian kings immediately remembered him.
Using the title, they symbolically designated claims to the lands of Galicia, originating from its first conqueror, King Louis. The monarch was also the ruler of not only Poland, but also Hungary.
"Reitan - the decline of Poland." Artist Jan Matejko
The title of the kings of Galicia and Lodomeria (Lodomeria is the name of the Vladimir-Volyn lands distorted by the Hungarians and Germans) has already become a real title of the crown Austrian possession.
And how did it all end?
In the 15th century, great changes took place in Russian lands. Moscow was able to subjugate most of the Russian principalities that were once part of the Old Russian state. This gave its rulers the opportunity to legally accept the title of Sovereign of All Rus', declaring the succession of their power from the Kyiv Rurikovichs, and at the same time the rights to all lands that were previously part of the Kyiv state.
Lithuania, which became dependent on Catholic Poland, gradually lost its possessions. The appanage princes of Lithuania, taking advantage of the feudal right of emigration, went to serve the Moscow Rurikovichs along with their principalities.
Already at the end of the century, the Moscow principality was completely freed from the power of the Horde, while Lithuania continued to pay tribute and receive labels from the Crimean Khanate.
Thus ended the history of the Middle Ages in the lands of Rus'.
In the second half of the 14th century, a new rise in Russian culture began. Weakened after many years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and feudal fragmentation, the princes finally begin to unite, which leads to the strengthening of the state and becomes the impetus for a new development of culture.
Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar yoke for culture
- Wooden architecture was almost completely lost, the development of stone architecture was suspended;
- Many crafts have disappeared;
- Many technologies were lost in various spheres of culture and life;
- Chronicle writing, painting, applied art and literature fell into decline.
However, despite the invasion, Russian culture did not adopt the traditions of the Mongol-Tatars and retained its originality.
Cultural centers
Fragmentation and invasions of the Mongols led to the withering of small cultural centers, but an increasing number of artisans and other craftsmen found refuge in large principalities. Thus, the Novgorod and Pskov lands became centers of cultural revival, which managed to preserve the old heritage of Kievan Rus.
The large principalities had great strength, which made it possible to provide increasing resistance to the Mongol invaders. As a result, as the struggle intensified, cultural monuments began to appear, which became a reflection of this struggle. In addition, the consolidation of lands is planned, which also contributes to the development of crafts and arts.
The idea of the unity of Rus' and the fight against invaders becomes fundamental in the culture of this period.
From the 2nd half of the 14th century, an active struggle against the invaders began; Moscow became an important center in this struggle. The unification of princes around Moscow also leads to the fact that the city becomes a cultural center.
Architecture
Stone architecture, which ceased its development during the invasion, begins to revive. Active construction of temples begins. The first city that decided to restore after the Mongol-Tatar yoke was Tver, where the Church of the Transfiguration was built. Following Tver, other cities began to revive.
Writing
The desire for unity and victory over the invaders led to the active development of literature and writing. In many principalities, various documents, records and testimonies began to be compiled, telling about the stages of the fight against the Mongol-Tatars. Numerous books about campaigns, travels, battles, as well as chronicles of events began to appear.
The genre of “walking” - a description of travel - has received particular development. The most striking examples of this genre can be called the book of the merchant Afanasy Nikitin - “Walking across Three Seas” about a trip to India.
Painting
Following the start of the construction of temples, painting began to actively develop. Its own school of icon painting appears, and frescoes are actively used. Among the famous masters of that time were Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev. Their brushes include numerous frescoes, icons and paintings of the most famous cathedrals of Rus'.
By the end of the 15th century, the culture of Rus' was in an unprecedented rise, all spheres of art were actively developing, great cultural monuments. The culture of Rus' finally recovered from the Mongol-Tatar invasion and embarked on the path of development and self-determination.
