North-Eastern Russia: principalities, culture, history and development of the region
For the territorial definition of a group of principalitiesin Russia, settled between the Volga and the Oka in the 9th-12th centuries, the term "North-Eastern Russia" was adopted by historians. Under it meant the land located within Rostov, Suzdal, Vladimir. Synonymic terms reflecting the unification of state formations in different years - "Rostov-Suzdal Principality", "Vladimir-Suzdal Principality", as well as "Grand Duchy of Vladimir" were also applicable. In the second half of the 13th century Rus, which was called the Northeast, actually ceases to exist - many events contributed to this.
Grand Dukes of Rostov
All three princedoms of North-Eastern Russiaunited the same land, changed in different years only the capital and the rulers. The first city built in these parts was Rostov the Great, in chronicles the mention of it is dated 862 AD. e. Before its foundation, the tribes of Merya and all the Finno-Ugric peoples lived here. Slavic tribes did not like this picture, and they - Krivichi, Vyatichi, Ilmen Slovens - began actively populating these lands.
After the formation of Rostov, which was part of thefive of the largest cities under the rule of the Kiev prince Oleg, the mention of measure and weight began to appear less often in the annals. For some time Rostis was ruled by henchmen of Kiev princes, but in 987 the principality was already ruled by Yaroslav the Wise, the son of Vladimir, the prince of Kiev. Since 1010, Boris Vladimirovich. Until 1125, when the capital was transferred from Rostov to Suzdal, the principality passed from hand to hand to the Kiev lords, it had its own rulers. The most famous princes of Rostov - Vladimir Monomakh and Yuri Dolgoruky - did a lot to ensure that the development of North-Eastern Russia led to the prosperity of these lands, but soon the same Dolgoruky moved the capital to Suzdal, where he ruled until 1149. But he built numerous fortresses and cathedrals in the style of the same fortress structure with a weighted proportions, squat. Under Dolgoruk, writing and applied art developed.
The Legacy of Rostov
After the transfer of Yuri Dolgoruky to SuzdalRostov some time rules Izyaslav Mstislavovich, but gradually the influence of the city finally came to naught, and it was rarely mentioned in the annals. The center of the principality has been transferred to Suzdal for half a century.
Feudal nobility erected mansions for themselves, thenwhile artisans and peasants vegetated in wooden huts. Their homes were more like basements, household items were mostly wooden. But in the illuminated rooms, unsurpassed products, clothes, luxury goods were born. All that the nobility wore on itself and the decorations of its tower, was produced by the hands of peasants and artisans. The wonderful culture of North-Eastern Russia was created under thatched roofs of wooden huts.
Rostov-Suzdal Principality
In that short period, while the centerNorth-Eastern Russia was Suzdal, the prince managed to rule only three princes. In addition to Yuri himself, his sons - Vasilko Yurievich and Andrei Yuryevich, nicknamed Bogolyubsky, and then, after the transfer of the capital to Vladimir (in 1169), Suzdali was ruled by Mstislav Rostislavovich Bezoky, but he did not play a special role in Russian history. All the princes of North-Eastern Russia came from the Rurik, but not everyone was worthy of a kind.
Under Yuri, who is better known as the founderMoscow, there were other important events for the history of Russia. So, it was during the reign of Dolgoruky that the North-Eastern principalities for ever separated from Kiev. A huge role in this played and one of the sons of George - Andrew Bogolyubsky, who sacredly loved the fiefdom of his father and did not think himself without it.
The fight against the boyars and the choice of a new capital of Russia
The plans of Yuri Dolgoruky, in which he saw histhe elder sons of the rulers of the southern principalities, and the younger - the rulers of Rostov and Suzdal, was never to come true. But their role in some way was even more weighty. So, Andrew declared himself as a wise and far-sighted ruler. His boyish character tried in every possible way to restrain the boyars entering into his council, but even here Bogolubsky showed his will, moving the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, and then he captured Kiev in 1169.
However, the capital of Kievan Rus did not attract thisrights. Having conquered both the city and the title of "Grand Duke", he did not stay in Kiev, but planted in him the governor of his younger brother Gleb. Rostov and Suzdal, he also took an insignificant role in the history of those years, since by that time the capital of the North-Eastern Russia was Vladimir. It was this city that Andrei chose as his residence in 1155, long before the conquest of Kiev. From the southern principalities, where he ruled for a while, he took Vladimir and the icon of the Virgin of Vyshgorod, which he revered very much.
The choice of the capital was very successful: almost two hundred years, this city kept the palm tree in Russia. Rostov and Suzdal tried to regain their former greatness, but even after the death of Andrew, whose seniority as the Grand Duke was recognized in virtually all the lands of the Russians, except perhaps Chernigov and Galich, they failed.
Internal strife
After the death of Andrei Bogolyubsky, the Suzdalians andRostovites turned to the sons of Rostislav Yurievich - Yaropolk and Mstislav - in the hope that their government would return the cities to their former glory, but the long-awaited unification of North-Eastern Russia did not come.
In Vladimir ruled by Yuri's younger sonsDolgoruky - Mikhalko and Vsevolod. By that time, the new capital had significantly strengthened its importance. Andrew did a lot for this: successfully developed the building, during his reign, the famous Uspensky Cathedral was built, he even sought the establishment of a separate metropolia in his principality in order to separate himself from Kiev in this.
North-Eastern Russia under the rule of Bogolyubskybecame the center of the unification of the Russian lands, and later the nucleus of the great Russian state. After the death of Andrew Smolensk and Ryazan princes Mstislav and Yaropolk - children of one of the sons of Dolgoruky Rostislav, tried to seize power in Vladimir, but their uncles Mikhail and Vsevolod were stronger. In addition, they were supported by Prince Chernigov Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. The internecine war lasted more than three years, after which Vladimir secured the status of the capital city of North-Eastern Russia, leaving both Suzdal and Rostov to the destiny of the subordinate principalities.
From Kiev to Moscow
The northeastern lands of Rus counted asa lot of cities and scales. So, the new capital was laid in 990 by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich as Vladimir-on-Klyazma. About twenty years after its foundation, the city, which is part of the Rostov-Suzdal principality, did not arouse much interest among the ruling princes (up to 1108). At this time, his fortification was occupied by another prince - Vladimir Monomakh. He appropriated the status of a stronghold of the North-Eastern Russia.
The fact that this small town withtime will become a desolate hail of Russian lands, no one could imagine. Many more years passed before Andrei drew his attention to him and transferred the capital of his principality there, which will remain for him almost two hundred years.
Since the moment when the Grand Dukesvyhlyatsya Vladimir, and not Kiev, the ancient capital of Russia lost its key role, but interest in it was not lost among the princes. Edit Everyone honored Kiev for honor. But from the middle of the fourteenth century, the once marginal city of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality-Moscow-gradually but surely began to rise. Vladimir, like Rostov, and then Suzdal, lost his influence. A lot of that was facilitated by the move to the White-stone Metropolitan Peter in 1328. The princes of the North-Eastern Russia fought among themselves, and the Moscow and Tver governors tried in every possible way to win from Vladimir the advantage of the main city of the Russian lands.
The end of the fourteenth century was marked by the fact that herethe owners were given the privilege of being called Grand Dukes of Moscow, so Moscow's advantage over other cities became obvious. Grand Duke Vladimir of Dmitri Ivanovich Donskoy last wore this title, after which all the rulers of Russia were magnified by the Grand Dukes of Moscow. Thus, the development of the North-Eastern Russia as an independent and even dominant principality was completed.
Crushing the once-powerful principality
After the Metropolitan moved to Moscow, Vladimirskoyethe principality was divided. Vladimir was transferred to Suzdal prince Alexander Vasilyevich, Novgorod the Great and Kostroma took under his rule the Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich Kalita. Yuri Dolgoruky also dreamed of implementing the unification of North-Eastern Russia with Great Novgorod - in the end, it happened, but not for long.
After the death of Suzdal Prince AlexanderVasilyevich, in 1331, his lands passed to the princes of Moscow. And in 10 years, in 1341, the territory of the former North-Eastern Russia again underwent a redistribution: Nizhny Novgorod passed to Suzdal, as well as Gorodets, Vladimir Principality was forever left for the Moscow rulers, which by that time, as already mentioned, were also worn title of the Great. So there was a Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality.
A trip to the Northeast Rus princes from the south andcenter of the country, their militancy, little contributed to the development of culture and the arts. Nevertheless, new temples were built everywhere, with the design of which applied the best techniques of decorative and applied art. A national school of icon painting was created with colorful colorful ornaments typical for that period combined with Byzantine painting.
The seizure of lands by Russian-Mongol-Tatars
Much misery was brought to the peoples of Russiainternecine wars, and the princes constantly fought among themselves, but a more terrible misfortune came with the Mongol-Tatars in February 1238. All of North-Eastern Russia (the cities of Rostov, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Vladimir, Suzdal, Uglich, Tver) was not just ruined - it was almost burned to the ground. The army of Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated by a detachment of the Burundai Temnik, the prince himself was killed, and his brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was forced to submit to the Horde in everything. The Mongol-Tatars only formally recognized him as the oldest over all the Russian princes, in fact they were all run by them. In the general defeat of Rus, only Novgorod the Great was able to survive.
In 1259, Alexander Nevsky conducted the censusof the population in Novgorod, developed its strategy of government and strengthened its positions in every possible way. Three years later, the tax collectors were killed in Yaroslavl, Rostov, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl and Vladimir, North-Eastern Russia again froze in anticipation of a raid and ruin. This retaliatory measure was avoided - Alexander Nevsky personally went to the Horde and managed to prevent trouble, but died on the way back. It happened in 1263. Only by his efforts he managed to preserve in some integrity the Vladimir principality, after the death of Alexander it fell apart into independent possessions.
Liberation of Russia from under the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars, the revival of crafts and the development of culture
The terrible years were ... On the one hand - an invasion of North-Eastern Russia, on the other - the ongoing skirmishes of the surviving principalities for owning new lands. Everyone was suffering: both the rulers and their subjects. Liberation from the Mongol khans came only in 1362. The Russian-Lithuanian army under the command of Prince Olgerd defeated the Mongol-Tatars, forcing out these warlike nomads for ever from Vladimir-Suzdal, Muscovy, Pskov and Novgorod.
Years spent under the enemy yoke hadcatastrophic consequences: the culture of the North-Eastern Russia fell into decay. The ruin of cities, the destruction of churches, the extermination of a large part of the population and, as a consequence, the loss of certain types of crafts. For two and a half centuries the cultural and commercial development of the state stopped. Many monuments of wooden and stone architecture were lost in the fire or were taken to the Horde. Many technical methods of construction, locksmithing and other crafts were lost. Many literary monuments disappeared without a trace, the annals, applied art, and painting came to a complete decline. It took almost half a century to restore the small that could be saved. But the development of new kinds of crafts went swiftly.
The people of the ruined lands managed to preserveits unique national identity and love of ancient culture. In some ways, the years of dependence on the Mongol-Tatars served as the reason for the emergence of new types of applied art for Russia.
Unity of cultures and lands
After liberation from Iga, more and more Russiansprinces came to an uneasy decision for them and advocated the unification of their possessions in a single state. The centers of revival and freedom of love and Russian culture were the Novgorod and Pskov lands. It was here that the working population began to flow from the southern and central regions, carrying with them the old traditions of their culture, writing, architecture. Great importance in the matter of uniting the Russian lands and the revival of culture was influenced by the Moscow Principality, where many documents of antiquity, books, works of art were preserved.
The construction of cities and temples began, and alsodefensive structures. Tver became almost the first city in North-Eastern Russia, where stone construction began. It is a question of erecting the Church of the Savior-Transfiguration in the style of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. In each city, along with defensive structures, churches and monasteries were built: the Savior on Ilne, Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki, Vasily on Gorka in Pskov, the Epiphany in Zapkovye and many others. The history of North-Eastern Russia has found its reflection and continuation in these structures.
The painting was revived by Theophanes the Greek, Daniil the Black andAndrei Rublev - the famous Russian icon painters. Masters of the jewelry business recreated the lost relics, many artisans worked on restoring the technique of creating national household items, ornaments, clothes. Many of those centuries have come down to our days.
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