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TIMELINE

• 862, Kievan Rus’ is founded by the Varangian (Viking) prince Rurik.
• 1169, Andrey Bogolyubsky, Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, and his father sacked Kiev. Vladimir rose.
• 1237-1242, Kievan Rus’ was sacked by the Mongols. (See the Mongol Invasion, Wikipedia.)
• until 1648, Kievan Rus’ was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1221-1263 Saint Alexander Nevsky negotiated life under the “Tatar Yoke.”
• 1261-1303 Daniel of Moscow (1261-1303) inherited the Duchy of Moscow. 
• 1354, the fall of Constantinople (the Byzantine Empire falls to the Ottoman Empire)
• 1480, the end of the “Tatar Yoke.”
  
  1547-1721, the Tsardom of Russia
  
• 1654, the Pereiaslav Agreement (independent Ukraine Zaporozhian Host is allied to Russia).
• 1721-1917, the Russian Empire, following Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa.
• 1547, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) (b. 1530) declared himself Tsar of all Rus’ or Russias. His claim was validated by a “Chosen Council.”
• On 16 November 1581, Ivan the Terrible killed his son, the tsarevitch.
• 1613, Michael of Russia (b. 1596) was the first Romanov to be elected to the Tsardom of Russia by the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613.
  
  1648-1709, the Cossack Hetmanates
  
• 1648-1709, the independence of Kievan Rus’ from Hetman Bodhan Khmelnytsky (c 1595-1657) to Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1639-2 October 1709)
• 8 July 1709, the Battle of Poltava (Peter the Great‘s victory over the Swedish Empire, under King Charles XII and Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa d. 2 October 1709
  
  1721-1917, the Russian Empire
  
• In 1721, Peter the Great was the first Emperor of all Russias.
• 1917, the Russian Revolution, and the fall of the House of Romanov.
• 1991, the collapse of the USSR, or the Soviet Union
• 1991, an independent Ukraine.
  
  

POST

Ukraine: the Pereiaslav Agreement (1654)

Let us step back a little. What happened to Kievan Rus’? It fragmented into principalities before it fell to the Mongols (See Mongol invasion, Wikipedia). Later, it was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1648, Bodhan Khmelnytsky (c 1595-1657), Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, Ukraine, led a successful insurgency that freed the Zaporozhian Host from the suzerainty of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in 1654, Bodhan Khmelnytsky allied the independent Ukraine Zaporozhian Host with the Tsardom of Russia, which would benefit Muscovy. Under the last Rurikid Princes, the prospect of a Tsardom of all Russias dwarfed regionalism and such covenants as the Pereiaslav Agreement. In short, Alexander Nevsky‘s bequest to his son Daniel was not modest. Britannica dates the fall of Kievan Rus’ to the Mongol conquest, despite its brief rise as an independent Ukraine Cossack state and the Pereiaslav Agreement.

The title of grand prince of Kiev lost its importance, and the 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended Kiev’s power.

(See Kievan Rus’, Britannica.)

The Last Rurikid Princes

Ivan IV, the Terrible, was a self-declared Tsar of all Russias. A “Chosen Council” validated his claim to the tsardom. However, by killing his son in a fit of rage, he ended the Rurik Dynasty. His predecessors initiated:

• the centralisation of Russia
• its independence from Mongol suzerains, and
• Rus’ independence from Roman Christianity

To a large extent, all of the above occurred under the rule of Ivan III, the Great, the son of Vasily II. Ivan the Great married a Byzantine Princess, Sophia, the former Zoë. It was a second marriage, and Sophia was a Catholic. This marriage did not prevent the growth of an Eastern Orthodox Tsardom. Ivan III took back land that had been part of Kievan Rus’, but he failed to reconquer Ukraine. Ivan the Great had two sons: Dmitry, by a first marriage, and Vasily, Sophia’s son. Dmitry was crowned, but Ivan III changed his mind. Vasily II, born to Sophia Palaiologina, would succeed him. Dmitry and his mother were jailed for life.

Vassals of the Golden Horde

Before ascending the throne of a principality, a prince needed a patent from the Khan of the Golden Horde. Dmitry (II) Donskoy won the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), which brought him stature. A century later, in 1480, Ivan III ended the Mongol suzerainty. (See The Great Stand on the Ugra River, Wikipedia.) We know from earlier posts that certain khanates remained: the Crimean Khanate, 1441-1783, and the Kazakh Khanate, 1465-1847 are the best examples, but these khanates did not date to the Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus’. (See Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus’ 1237-1242, Wikipedia.) Further annexations would occur, but as of Ivan III, the princes of Rus’ had ceased to be vassals of Mongol khans.

The Centralisation of Russia 

As the Duchy of Moscow grew into the Tsardom of Russia, the competition for the principality of Muscovy was fierce: uncles, brothers and impostors could contest the legitimacy of a claim, fiefs, or fiefdoms. The sorry fate of Vasili II (1415-1462), Ivan III’s father, is a testimonial to fratricidal conflicts. Vasily II’s uncle Yury (1434) and his cousins Vasily the Squint-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka (1446–47) laid claim to the throne. Vasily II was arrested and blinded by his cousin Dmitry Shemiyaka (1446). This was extreme cruelty. Despite blindness, Vasily II regained his rightful bequest, and his son, future Ivan III, provided the help blind Vasily II needed.

His son, Vasily III, annexed Pskov in 1510, the appanage of Volokolamsk in 1513, the principalities of Ryazan in 1521, and Novgorod-Seversky in 1522. He also took Smolensk away from Poland. (See Siege of Smolensk, Wikipedia.)

The Fall of the Rurikid Dynasty

As the legend goes, Varangian Viking Prince Rurik was invited to rule an East Slavic territory, where he founded Kievan Rus’. Prince Oleg would rule Novgorod, and Kyiv would be the capital. Several princes of the Rurik dynasty conquered and annexed Rus’ land’s territory. However, the principal architect of a centralised Rus’ was Ivan IV, a self-declared Tsar of all Rus’, recognized by a “Chosen Council.” (See Ivan IV, Britannica and Ivan the Terrible, Wikipedia). However, Ivan IV killed Ivanovich, his son and heir, and a Rurikid prince. Besides, Ivan Ivanovich’s mother was a Romanov, Anastasia Romanovna. Feodor I, Ivan IV’s second son with Anastasia Romanovna, would reign. Still, he was “sickly and weak.” (See Feodor I, Tsar of Russia, Wikipedia.)

Ivan IV, or the Terrible, had a third presumptive heir, his son Dmitry, born to a sixth wife. Maria Nagaya was the sixth wife. (See Ivan the Terrible, Wikipedia.) Had the Eastern Orthodox Church and the people of Rus’ recognized Dmitry Ivanovich as the legitimate heir to the Tsardom of Russia, the Rurikid Dynasty may have survived. The Eastern Church did not recognize sons and daughters born to a third or later wife. It violated its canonical laws. (See Canon Law of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Dmitry of Uglich, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

Ivan IV killed his son Ivan Ivanovich in a fit of anger. He was a Rurikid, and Boris Godunov (1557-1605) had witnessed the homicide of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan IV’s profound grief. Ivan had a second son by Anastasia Romanova. Feodor was a prince of the Rurik Dynasty, but, as we have noted, Feodor was frail. Ivan IV appointed a regency council led by Boris Godunov, the witness. A third son Dmitry (1582-1591), born to Maria Nagaya, was sent to his appanage, Uglich, where he died mysteriously at 8 years old. Dmitry may have suffered an epileptic crisis. (See Dmitry of Uglich, Wikipedia.) However, one suspects that Boris Godunov had Dmitry killed so he could reign as Tsar. Dmitry was impersonated. A False Dmitry I reigned briefly. Maria Nagaya had “recognized” him for personal gains. She renounced him. Had the genuine Dmitry ascended the throne, he would have been a prince of the Rurik dynasty, but young Dmitri was sent to Uglich. This is how Boris Godunov cleared his way to the throne, ending the Rurikid dynasty. Boris Godunov was of East Slavic and Tatar descent.

Boris Godunov is a legendary figure. He was portrayed in Aleksandr Pushkin‘s play Boris Godunov and in an opera by Modest Mussorgsky, also entitled Boris Godunov.

I have not discussed Ivan IV’s oprichnina, a police force that could act with impunity. Nor have I mentioned the Massacre of Novgorod. One pillaged mercilessly. But we have seen that one blinded opponents and killed the rightful heir to the throne in the quest for power. Moreover, we have travelled lightly. There were Tsaritas and interregnums. Ivan IV had two more heirs, but the death of Ivan Ivanovich doomed the Rurik dynasty. Fear of opponents led Ivan IV to surround himself with a force that eliminated accountability. Ivan the Terrible’s oprichnina was a deadly force. They terrorized Rus’. Oprichniki could rape, torture, and kill in the name of power. Another Rurik prince could not ascend the throne.

The entire episode of the oprichnina leaves a bloody imprint on Ivan’s reign, causing some doubts about his mental stability and leaving historians with the impression of a morbidly suspicious and vindictive ruler.

(See Ivan IV, Britannica)

We have another list, and more must be said about Ivan IV. This post will be continued.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Europe, Page
• Enlightened Despotism in Russia (1 November 2018)

Daniel of Moscow‘s Descendants: Rurikid Princes

• Ivan I, in full Ivan Danilovich, byname Ivan Moneybag, Russian Ivan Kalita, (born 1304?—died March 31, 1340, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow (1328–40). (Son of Michael of Russia)
• Ivan II, in full Ivan Ivanovich, byname Ivan The Red, Russian Ivan Krasny, (born March 30, 1326—died Nov. 13, 1359), grand prince of Moscow and Vladimir. (Son of Ivan I)
• Dmitry (II) Donskoy, byname of Dmitry Ivanovich, (born Oct. 12, 1350, Moscow [Russia]—died May 19, 1389, Moscow), prince of Moscow, or Muscovy (1359–89), and grand prince of Vladimir (1362–1389), who won a victory over the Golden Horde (Mongols who had controlled Russian lands since 1240) at the Battle of Kulikovo (Sept. 8, 1380). (Son of Ivan II)
• Vasily I, in full Vasily Dmitriyevich, (born 1371—died February 1425, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1389 to 1425. (Son of Dmitry II)
• Vasily II, in full Vasily Vasilyevich, byname Vasily the Blind, Russian Vasily Tyomny, (born 1415—died March 27, 1462, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1425 to 1462. (Son of Vasili I)
• Ivan III also called Ivan the Great or Russian Ivan Veliky, byname of Ivan Vasilyevich, (born January 22, 1440, Moscow—died October 27, 1505, Moscow) (Son of Vasily II)
• Vasily III, in full Vasily Ivanovich, (born 1479—died December 3, 1533, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. (Son of Ivan III)
• Ivan the Terrible, also called Ivan IV, Russian Ivan Grozny, byname of Ivan Vasilyevich, (born August 25, 1530, Kolomenskoye, near Moscow [Russia]—died March 18, 1584, Moscow), grand prince of Moscow (Son of Vasily III) 

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Love to everyone 💕

© Micheline Walker
22 May 2022
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