Dmitry Donskoy. Russian land gatherer
It is in fairy tales that warriors of up to thirty-three years old “lay on the stove”. In fact, everything was much sadder. In the 1359 year, thirty-three years old, Ivan II Ivanovich Krasny died - the son of Ivan I Kalita, Prince Zvenigorod to 1354, Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince Vladimir in 1353 — 1359, Prince of Novgorod in 1355 — 1359.
The untimely departed prince had a son, Dmitry Ivanovich. But at the time of his father’s death, the prince’s son was only nine years old - not so much to manage the vast lands that Prince Ivan managed to collect under his own hand. The guardian of the young Dmitry became Metropolitan Alexy. In the world his name was Elevfery Fedorovich Bjakont. Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, Alexy gained great political influence under Ivan II. Therefore, after the death of the prince, he actually concentrated in his hands the real power in the Moscow principality, becoming a regent for juvenile Dmitry.
Prince Dmitry will later become the leader of the antiordynian resistance and will enter history as one of the most prominent defenders of the Russian land. But if Dmitri personified the political and military leadership of the Moscow principality against its many opponents - Lithuanians, Horde, rivals from other Russian princes, then Metropolitan Alexy was at the heart of the formation of the very idea of liberation from the Golden Horde yoke. First, it was Metropolitan Alexy who over the years exercised leadership in the foreign policy of the Moscow principality. The main opponent of the Moscow principality during this period was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Metropolitan Alexy acted very skillfully, giving an ideological character to this confrontation.
The struggle of the Moscow principality against Lithuania began to be viewed as an opposition of the Christian world and pagans. After all, a significant part of Lithuania at that time was still pagan, and this circumstance could not but be used by the visionary Metropolitan Alexy for his own purposes. In the 60 of the XIV century. Metropolitan Alexy will excommunicate the church for an alliance with the pagans who supported the Lithuanian Olgerd, Svyatoslav of Smolensk, Mikhail of Tver, and even Bishop of Tver, Basil. Patriarch Filofei issued a letter in 1370, which supported the actions of Metropolitan Alexy and condemned the princes, whom Philotheus offered to repent and join Prince Dmitry of Moscow.
Metropolitan Alexy was not only the actual ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the time, while Dmitry was still a very young man, but also brought up the prince, was his mentor and, perhaps, these very lessons of the saint made Dmitry a fighter for the liberation of the Russian land. When the question arose about the choice of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Metropolitan Alexy used his influence at the court of the khans of the Golden Horde and did everything that was in his power to approve the Grand Prince of Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich. By the way, the label to Dmitry Ivanovich was given by the beklyarbek of the Golden Horde Mamai - the very one whose warriors through 18 had clashed with the Dmitry heroes on the Kulikovo field.
In the Golden Horde, the title of beklyarbek was worn by the highest dignitary, who ruled the entire state administration. In fact, it was an analogue of the modern head of government. Temnik Mamai (1335-1380), becoming the backside of the Golden Horde in 1361, managed to concentrate in his hands almost the full power in a weakening Horde. The only thing that prevented him from proclaiming himself Khan was the lack of kinship with Chingizids. Therefore, Mamai remained a beklyarbek, and on the throne was put the puppet Khan Abdullah - the youngest of the ten sons of Khan Uzbek. In fact, the power in the Horde was in the hands of Mamai, who successfully reflected the attempts of other khans - rivals of Abdullah to take power in the state into their own hands.
Dmitry Moscow at first even enjoyed a favorable attitude on the part of Mamai. It was Mamai who, with the filing of Metropolitan Alexy, organized a label for Dmitry on the great reign in Vladimir. However, then the strengthening of the Moscow principality alerted Mamai. The Golden Horde began to seek an alliance with opponents of the Moscow principality. Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy was long ago a well-known opponent of the Moscow principality and a longtime ally of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He maintained good relations with the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, which was explained very simply - Michael's sister Juliana Alexandrovna was married to Olgerd. Therefore, when the Prince of Tver, when he felt that he was unable to cope with his next opponent, he turned to his son-in-law for help. When in August 1370, the troops of Dmitry of Moscow looted the principality of Tver, Michael was forced to flee to Lithuania. In 1371, he went to the Golden Horde in order to obtain from Khan a label for the great reign in Vladimir. Beklyarbek Mamai, on behalf of Khan Abdullah, gave Mikhail Aleksandrovich the coveted label and even offered military assistance for approval on the princely throne in Vladimir. However, Michael refused the Horde troops. Only the ambassador of the Golden Horde of Sary-Khoja went to Russia with him. However, when Sary-Khoja called Dmitry of Moscow to appear in Vladimir to the grand duke, Dmitry refused and declared that they would not allow Mikhail to rule Vladimirskoe.
Soon Dmitry Moskovsky went to Sarai, where he met with Mamai and managed to convince the de facto ruler of the Golden Horde to leave him Grand Prince Vladimir. Mamai agreed with Dmitry’s arguments, and the Horde men reminded Mikhail of Tver that he had initially refused help from the Horde troops and hoped to take power in Vladimir himself, so now he shouldn’t expect support from the Khan. Labeling Dmitry on the Vladimir Great Reign, Mamai made a serious mistake. The young prince of Moscow (and Dmitriy was only twenty-one years old at that time) was able to become a major figure in the emerging anti-Russia opposition of the Russian princes. Already in 1374, Dmitry Moskovsky seriously dispersed with Mamai, apparently either by ceasing to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, or by reducing its size many times. In response, Mamaia was re-issuing a label on the Vladimir Great Reign to Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tverskoy, but she could no longer correct the situation. Dmitry undertook a campaign in the lands of Tver and made Mikhail Tversky call himself the younger brother of the Moscow prince.
In 1376, Dmitry Moskovsky sent his army, commanded by Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky, who had transferred to his service, to Volga Bulgaria. There, Dmitry established Russian customs posts. This was an incredible advance, since Volga Bulgaria was a Turkic territory and was outside the then “Russian world”. The response of Mamaia included periodic raids on Ryazan and some other Russian cities. In the 1378 year, the 5 Tumen (10-thousand units) of the Golden Horde, commanded by Murza Begich, set out to march on the Moscow principality, but on the river Vozha, which is in Ryazan, they were crushed by the princely squad of Dmitry.
In an effort to retain control not only over the military-political life of the Moscow principality, but also over the religious sphere, Dmitry Moskovsky, after the death of Metropolitan Alexy in the same 1378 year, refused to let Metropolitan Cyprian of Kiev, Russia and Lithuania to Moscow. A native of Bulgarian Turnovo, Cyprian was a remarkable man - not only a religious leader, but also a translator of church books and a book writer. He was the only high-ranking church hierarch who completely refused to recognize the power of the Golden Horde. After the death of Alexy, Cyprian expected to arrive in Moscow. However, Dmitry sharply opposed the possible statement of Ciprian by the metropolitan, since he wanted to see his confessor, Priest Mityai, in this post. For this, Mityai even hastily cut monastic vows and became the archimandrite of the Spassky Monastery, Michael. Metropolitan Cyprian, who entered the Moscow principality, was detained, robbed and driven out of the principality in disgrace. After that, Cyprian betrayed Dmitry of Moscow to anathema. Meanwhile, Archimandrite Michael - Mityai had already donned the clothes of the metropolitan and occupied the metropolitan chambers in Moscow. In his person, Dmitri Moskovsky wanted to see a church leader obedient to himself.
The attempt to establish Mitya by the metropolitan was ambiguously met by the highest Orthodox clergy. We will not describe here all the peripetias and dispositions in the Constantinople Patriarchate of that time, but we only note that several candidates for the post of Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia — and Michael-Mityai, and Cyprian, and Dionysius of Suzdal — were considered. Both the Patriarch of Constantinople himself and the influential Bishop of Suzdal Dionysius were against the approval of Michael-Mitaya. Michael-Mityai also went to Constantinople - and through the Shed, where he received support from Mamaia. However, during his stay in Constantinople, Mikhail-Mityai died. The question of his assertion as a metropolitan dropped by itself. However, the Metropolitan approved the abbot of the Pereslavl monastery Pimen, who was in the retinue of Michael.
By the time of the events being described, Hieromonk Sergius of Radonezh acquired a great influence on Dmitry of Moscow. He was one of the companions of Metropolitan Alexy, and it was Sergius who, according to the popular version, wanted to see Alexy as his successor as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, but Sergius stubbornly refused, being a modest man, striving for simple monastic life. Sergius of Radonezh, like the late Metropolitan Alexy, was a zealous opponent of the Golden Horde and strongly opposed the cooperation of the Moscow principality with the Horde. Over time, he began to influence Dmitry of Moscow, persuading him to finally break off all relations with the Horde Khan and Beklyarbek Mamai.
In 1380, the relationship between Mamai and Dmitry Moscow was finally upset. Despite the fact that Mom was threatened by the horde of his main rival Khan Tokhtamysh, Beklyarbek undertook a campaign in the direction of Moscow, hoping to perform with the Lithuanian Prince Yagailo and the Ryazan Prince Oleg. From Dmitry Moskovsky Mamai demanded to restore the payment of tribute. The prince refused and led his troops towards the horde of Mamai. 8 September 1380 in the area south of the confluence of the Nepryadva River into the Don River, on the Kulikovo Field, was one of the greatest battles in Russian history. Having emerged victorious in the Battle of Kulikovo Field, Dmitry Moskovsky forever went down in history as Dmitry Donskoy. Mamai was defeated and retreated to the Crimea, where he died in the same year.
The defeat of the forces of Mamai symbolized the real military and political strengthening of the Moscow principality, which had long been accomplished. Dmitry Donskoy became the first among other Russian princes who were forced to recognize his seniority. Oleg Ryazansky, following Mikhail Tversky, also recognized himself as the younger brother of the Moscow prince. In 1381, Dmitry Donskoy invited Metropolitan Cyprian to Moscow. The priest, who was considered an implacable opponent of the Golden Horde, in the new situation was already an important political ally of Dmitry Donskoy.
For twenty years, during which Dmitry was in power, he was able to unite a significant part of the Russian lands around the Moscow principality. It was he who began the gradual elimination of the fragmentation of the Russian principalities, uniting them around Moscow. The Grand Duchy of Vladimir, the vast Pereyaslavl, Galich, Belozero, Uglich, Meschersky, Kostroma, Komi-Zyryan lands were under the control of the Moscow principality. In fact, under Dmitry Donskoy, the foundations of the Moscow / Russian statehood began to take shape, taking a more advanced form after his death. In this political model, Orthodoxy became the main ideological and spiritual foundation of the Moscow principality, and the main political idea was collecting the lands of the Russians and opposing the enemies that attempted them - first of all, Lithuania and the Golden Horde. In the will, Dmitry Donskoy first mentioned the great reign, which included Vladimir, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Beloozero, Kostroma, Dmitrov, Galich and Uglich. Dmitry Donskoy also demanded that small princes live in Moscow, with the grand duke. This measure was supposed to help eradicate the fragmentation of the Russian lands. Under Dmitry Donskoy, power in the Moscow principality began to be transmitted vertically - from father to son. Who knows what else Dmitry Donskoy could have done in his life, if not for his premature death. Dmitry Donskoy, like his father Ivan II Red, died at a young age - at the age of thirty-nine, in the 1389 year. Interestingly, in everyday life, the overbearing and courageous prince was a very modest, very religious man - his education by Metropolitan Alexy and the influence of St. Sergius of Radonezh affected him. About Dmitry Donskoy, the traditions have been preserved as a very pious man, for whom prayer was no less important than the feat of arms, and the latter, in turn, was illuminated by prayer.
The exaltation of the image of Dmitry Donskoy began in the XVI century. It is known that Ivan the Terrible treated Dmitry Donskoy with great respect and named his first child Dmitry exactly in his honor. Grozny considered himself a continuer of the work of Dmitry Donskoy - both in relation to the gathering of Russian lands, and in the fight against the fragments of the Golden Horde - the Astrakhan, Kazan, Siberian (Tyumen) khanates. But the Russian Orthodox Church ranked Dmitry Donskoy as a saint only in 1988.
The untimely departed prince had a son, Dmitry Ivanovich. But at the time of his father’s death, the prince’s son was only nine years old - not so much to manage the vast lands that Prince Ivan managed to collect under his own hand. The guardian of the young Dmitry became Metropolitan Alexy. In the world his name was Elevfery Fedorovich Bjakont. Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, Alexy gained great political influence under Ivan II. Therefore, after the death of the prince, he actually concentrated in his hands the real power in the Moscow principality, becoming a regent for juvenile Dmitry.
Prince Dmitry will later become the leader of the antiordynian resistance and will enter history as one of the most prominent defenders of the Russian land. But if Dmitri personified the political and military leadership of the Moscow principality against its many opponents - Lithuanians, Horde, rivals from other Russian princes, then Metropolitan Alexy was at the heart of the formation of the very idea of liberation from the Golden Horde yoke. First, it was Metropolitan Alexy who over the years exercised leadership in the foreign policy of the Moscow principality. The main opponent of the Moscow principality during this period was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Metropolitan Alexy acted very skillfully, giving an ideological character to this confrontation.
The struggle of the Moscow principality against Lithuania began to be viewed as an opposition of the Christian world and pagans. After all, a significant part of Lithuania at that time was still pagan, and this circumstance could not but be used by the visionary Metropolitan Alexy for his own purposes. In the 60 of the XIV century. Metropolitan Alexy will excommunicate the church for an alliance with the pagans who supported the Lithuanian Olgerd, Svyatoslav of Smolensk, Mikhail of Tver, and even Bishop of Tver, Basil. Patriarch Filofei issued a letter in 1370, which supported the actions of Metropolitan Alexy and condemned the princes, whom Philotheus offered to repent and join Prince Dmitry of Moscow.
Metropolitan Alexy was not only the actual ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the time, while Dmitry was still a very young man, but also brought up the prince, was his mentor and, perhaps, these very lessons of the saint made Dmitry a fighter for the liberation of the Russian land. When the question arose about the choice of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Metropolitan Alexy used his influence at the court of the khans of the Golden Horde and did everything that was in his power to approve the Grand Prince of Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich. By the way, the label to Dmitry Ivanovich was given by the beklyarbek of the Golden Horde Mamai - the very one whose warriors through 18 had clashed with the Dmitry heroes on the Kulikovo field.
In the Golden Horde, the title of beklyarbek was worn by the highest dignitary, who ruled the entire state administration. In fact, it was an analogue of the modern head of government. Temnik Mamai (1335-1380), becoming the backside of the Golden Horde in 1361, managed to concentrate in his hands almost the full power in a weakening Horde. The only thing that prevented him from proclaiming himself Khan was the lack of kinship with Chingizids. Therefore, Mamai remained a beklyarbek, and on the throne was put the puppet Khan Abdullah - the youngest of the ten sons of Khan Uzbek. In fact, the power in the Horde was in the hands of Mamai, who successfully reflected the attempts of other khans - rivals of Abdullah to take power in the state into their own hands.
Dmitry Moscow at first even enjoyed a favorable attitude on the part of Mamai. It was Mamai who, with the filing of Metropolitan Alexy, organized a label for Dmitry on the great reign in Vladimir. However, then the strengthening of the Moscow principality alerted Mamai. The Golden Horde began to seek an alliance with opponents of the Moscow principality. Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy was long ago a well-known opponent of the Moscow principality and a longtime ally of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He maintained good relations with the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, which was explained very simply - Michael's sister Juliana Alexandrovna was married to Olgerd. Therefore, when the Prince of Tver, when he felt that he was unable to cope with his next opponent, he turned to his son-in-law for help. When in August 1370, the troops of Dmitry of Moscow looted the principality of Tver, Michael was forced to flee to Lithuania. In 1371, he went to the Golden Horde in order to obtain from Khan a label for the great reign in Vladimir. Beklyarbek Mamai, on behalf of Khan Abdullah, gave Mikhail Aleksandrovich the coveted label and even offered military assistance for approval on the princely throne in Vladimir. However, Michael refused the Horde troops. Only the ambassador of the Golden Horde of Sary-Khoja went to Russia with him. However, when Sary-Khoja called Dmitry of Moscow to appear in Vladimir to the grand duke, Dmitry refused and declared that they would not allow Mikhail to rule Vladimirskoe.
Soon Dmitry Moskovsky went to Sarai, where he met with Mamai and managed to convince the de facto ruler of the Golden Horde to leave him Grand Prince Vladimir. Mamai agreed with Dmitry’s arguments, and the Horde men reminded Mikhail of Tver that he had initially refused help from the Horde troops and hoped to take power in Vladimir himself, so now he shouldn’t expect support from the Khan. Labeling Dmitry on the Vladimir Great Reign, Mamai made a serious mistake. The young prince of Moscow (and Dmitriy was only twenty-one years old at that time) was able to become a major figure in the emerging anti-Russia opposition of the Russian princes. Already in 1374, Dmitry Moskovsky seriously dispersed with Mamai, apparently either by ceasing to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, or by reducing its size many times. In response, Mamaia was re-issuing a label on the Vladimir Great Reign to Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tverskoy, but she could no longer correct the situation. Dmitry undertook a campaign in the lands of Tver and made Mikhail Tversky call himself the younger brother of the Moscow prince.
In 1376, Dmitry Moskovsky sent his army, commanded by Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky, who had transferred to his service, to Volga Bulgaria. There, Dmitry established Russian customs posts. This was an incredible advance, since Volga Bulgaria was a Turkic territory and was outside the then “Russian world”. The response of Mamaia included periodic raids on Ryazan and some other Russian cities. In the 1378 year, the 5 Tumen (10-thousand units) of the Golden Horde, commanded by Murza Begich, set out to march on the Moscow principality, but on the river Vozha, which is in Ryazan, they were crushed by the princely squad of Dmitry.
In an effort to retain control not only over the military-political life of the Moscow principality, but also over the religious sphere, Dmitry Moskovsky, after the death of Metropolitan Alexy in the same 1378 year, refused to let Metropolitan Cyprian of Kiev, Russia and Lithuania to Moscow. A native of Bulgarian Turnovo, Cyprian was a remarkable man - not only a religious leader, but also a translator of church books and a book writer. He was the only high-ranking church hierarch who completely refused to recognize the power of the Golden Horde. After the death of Alexy, Cyprian expected to arrive in Moscow. However, Dmitry sharply opposed the possible statement of Ciprian by the metropolitan, since he wanted to see his confessor, Priest Mityai, in this post. For this, Mityai even hastily cut monastic vows and became the archimandrite of the Spassky Monastery, Michael. Metropolitan Cyprian, who entered the Moscow principality, was detained, robbed and driven out of the principality in disgrace. After that, Cyprian betrayed Dmitry of Moscow to anathema. Meanwhile, Archimandrite Michael - Mityai had already donned the clothes of the metropolitan and occupied the metropolitan chambers in Moscow. In his person, Dmitri Moskovsky wanted to see a church leader obedient to himself.
The attempt to establish Mitya by the metropolitan was ambiguously met by the highest Orthodox clergy. We will not describe here all the peripetias and dispositions in the Constantinople Patriarchate of that time, but we only note that several candidates for the post of Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia — and Michael-Mityai, and Cyprian, and Dionysius of Suzdal — were considered. Both the Patriarch of Constantinople himself and the influential Bishop of Suzdal Dionysius were against the approval of Michael-Mitaya. Michael-Mityai also went to Constantinople - and through the Shed, where he received support from Mamaia. However, during his stay in Constantinople, Mikhail-Mityai died. The question of his assertion as a metropolitan dropped by itself. However, the Metropolitan approved the abbot of the Pereslavl monastery Pimen, who was in the retinue of Michael.
By the time of the events being described, Hieromonk Sergius of Radonezh acquired a great influence on Dmitry of Moscow. He was one of the companions of Metropolitan Alexy, and it was Sergius who, according to the popular version, wanted to see Alexy as his successor as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, but Sergius stubbornly refused, being a modest man, striving for simple monastic life. Sergius of Radonezh, like the late Metropolitan Alexy, was a zealous opponent of the Golden Horde and strongly opposed the cooperation of the Moscow principality with the Horde. Over time, he began to influence Dmitry of Moscow, persuading him to finally break off all relations with the Horde Khan and Beklyarbek Mamai. In 1380, the relationship between Mamai and Dmitry Moscow was finally upset. Despite the fact that Mom was threatened by the horde of his main rival Khan Tokhtamysh, Beklyarbek undertook a campaign in the direction of Moscow, hoping to perform with the Lithuanian Prince Yagailo and the Ryazan Prince Oleg. From Dmitry Moskovsky Mamai demanded to restore the payment of tribute. The prince refused and led his troops towards the horde of Mamai. 8 September 1380 in the area south of the confluence of the Nepryadva River into the Don River, on the Kulikovo Field, was one of the greatest battles in Russian history. Having emerged victorious in the Battle of Kulikovo Field, Dmitry Moskovsky forever went down in history as Dmitry Donskoy. Mamai was defeated and retreated to the Crimea, where he died in the same year.
The defeat of the forces of Mamai symbolized the real military and political strengthening of the Moscow principality, which had long been accomplished. Dmitry Donskoy became the first among other Russian princes who were forced to recognize his seniority. Oleg Ryazansky, following Mikhail Tversky, also recognized himself as the younger brother of the Moscow prince. In 1381, Dmitry Donskoy invited Metropolitan Cyprian to Moscow. The priest, who was considered an implacable opponent of the Golden Horde, in the new situation was already an important political ally of Dmitry Donskoy.
For twenty years, during which Dmitry was in power, he was able to unite a significant part of the Russian lands around the Moscow principality. It was he who began the gradual elimination of the fragmentation of the Russian principalities, uniting them around Moscow. The Grand Duchy of Vladimir, the vast Pereyaslavl, Galich, Belozero, Uglich, Meschersky, Kostroma, Komi-Zyryan lands were under the control of the Moscow principality. In fact, under Dmitry Donskoy, the foundations of the Moscow / Russian statehood began to take shape, taking a more advanced form after his death. In this political model, Orthodoxy became the main ideological and spiritual foundation of the Moscow principality, and the main political idea was collecting the lands of the Russians and opposing the enemies that attempted them - first of all, Lithuania and the Golden Horde. In the will, Dmitry Donskoy first mentioned the great reign, which included Vladimir, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Beloozero, Kostroma, Dmitrov, Galich and Uglich. Dmitry Donskoy also demanded that small princes live in Moscow, with the grand duke. This measure was supposed to help eradicate the fragmentation of the Russian lands. Under Dmitry Donskoy, power in the Moscow principality began to be transmitted vertically - from father to son. Who knows what else Dmitry Donskoy could have done in his life, if not for his premature death. Dmitry Donskoy, like his father Ivan II Red, died at a young age - at the age of thirty-nine, in the 1389 year. Interestingly, in everyday life, the overbearing and courageous prince was a very modest, very religious man - his education by Metropolitan Alexy and the influence of St. Sergius of Radonezh affected him. About Dmitry Donskoy, the traditions have been preserved as a very pious man, for whom prayer was no less important than the feat of arms, and the latter, in turn, was illuminated by prayer.
The exaltation of the image of Dmitry Donskoy began in the XVI century. It is known that Ivan the Terrible treated Dmitry Donskoy with great respect and named his first child Dmitry exactly in his honor. Grozny considered himself a continuer of the work of Dmitry Donskoy - both in relation to the gathering of Russian lands, and in the fight against the fragments of the Golden Horde - the Astrakhan, Kazan, Siberian (Tyumen) khanates. But the Russian Orthodox Church ranked Dmitry Donskoy as a saint only in 1988.
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