TheRussian principalities (Russian:русские княжества), also known as theRus' principalities, werepolities that became independent following the disintegration ofKievan Rus' in the 12th century as a result offeudal fragmentation.[1] By the late 15th and early 16th century, the remaining principalities had been united with theGrand Principality of Moscow, leading to the creation of a centralized state.[2][3] The period between the 12th and 15th centuries is also known asAppanage Russia.[a][5][6][4][7]
Following the death ofYaroslav the Wise in 1054,Kievan Rus' experienced a period of civil strife between his sonsIziaslav,Sviatoslav andVsevolod.[4] The following century, this was followed by a period of political fragmentation and decentralization.[4] The proliferation of many smaller principalities weakened political unity, and by the mid-12th century, the capitalKiev was in decline.[4] The lack of political unity in part facilitated theMongol conquest.[8] The traditional view has been that Kiev was in economic decline from the mid-12th century; however, some recent historians have instead adopted the view that there was economic expansion in the late Kievan period as the creation of newappanages represented the division of labor and delegation of authority among theRurikids.[5]
Following theChristianization of Kievan Rus' in 988, spiritual leadership belonged to theByzantine Empire.[9] However, from the mid-13th century, the Russian principalities were dominated by theGolden Horde following their conquest byBatu Khan.[10] Previously, princes and grand princes governed themselves and only had to acknowledge the spiritual ascendancy of the Byzantine emperor, but during Mongol rule, they had to be confirmed by the Mongol khan in order to have any power, and the Russians later began referring to the khan astsar – a title that had previously been reserved for the universal Christian ruler.[11] The only Russian district that was not governed by a prince wasNovgorod, although it still depended on an extraneous prince and his army to defend its borders.[12]
Güyük Khan appointed his own governors to oversee the Russian principalities.[13] Thetribute was known as thedan by the Russians; its main purpose was not only to tax subjects but also to conscript young men into the Mongol armies.[13] Although the Russian princes did not unanimously support Mongol supervision at first,Mengu-Timur was able to strengthen his ties with the Russian principalities by making theRussian Church cooperate with the Mongol administrators.[14] In 1267, he made Russian clergy exempt from taxation and military service, which was in line with the Mongol policy of religious tolerance.[14][15] From the 1260s, local nobles collected taxes on the khan's behalf, and in an attempt to gain the support of the nobility, the Mongols allowed them to keep their land.[16] Until 1380, the khans of the Golden Horde exercised political control over the Russian principalities, and from 1380 to 1480, they continued to demand tribute from the Russian princes, although they did not always receive this.[17] The period until 1480 is known as the "Tatar yoke".[15] Extrapolating from 1549 data,George Vernadsky estimated the annual tribute to be approximately 145,000rubles, plus an additional 25,000 rubles from Novgorod under a special tax, equivalent to 15.6 tons of silver.[18]
The leading Russian figure was thegrand prince of Vladimir, which led to a struggle among the princes for the title.[19] The grand prince had the right to collect the taxes from all the princes on behalf of the khan of the Golden Horde.[19][15] By the early 14th century, two dynastic houses, those ofTver andMoscow, competed for the title.[19] Due to conflict among the princes, political life in the Russian principalities was highly unstable, with at least 10 Russian princes being executed during the reign ofÖzbeg Khan.[20] He later gave his support toIvan I of Moscow, which allowed the house of Moscow to eventually dominate the other principalities, and later challenge the Golden Horde itself.[21][22] The seat of the Russian metropolitan was also moved toMoscow in 1325, establishing it as the spiritual center ofRussian Orthodoxy.[23][24]Jani Beg (r. 1342–1357) continued to support the house of Moscow and relations between the Russian principalities became stable.[25] He was also able to maintain the balance of power between Moscow, Tver andNizhny Novgorod.[26]
By 1371,Dmitry Donskoy was recognized as the grand prince of Moscowand Vladimir by both the Tatars and his cousins, and thus, the grand principality became his patrimony (otchina).[27] In his 1389 will, he was able to bequeath his "patrimony, the grand principality" to his eldest son.[28] Despite this, in the late 14th century, the grand prince of Moscow had little effective control over the other major political centers: Novgorod, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal and Ryazan.[29] Although the other Russian principalities rarely challenged Moscow's hegemony directly, they grew increasingly independent in their relations with the Golden Horde and Lithuania, with some princes styling themselves as grand princes.[29] However, this has been a point of contention among historians, withAnton Gorsky [ru] arguing that Nizhny Novgorod and Tver were only able to claim the status of grand principality in the 1360s.[30]
Vasily I of Moscow was able to take advantage of the political strife within the Golden Horde.[31] In 1392, he visited the court ofTokhtamysh, whose forces had recently been defeated byTimur, and was given permission to take the throne of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal.[31] However, the principality was not fully incorporated until the mid-15th century.[18] After Tokhtamysh's forceswere destroyed in 1395, Vasily stopped paying tribute.[32] However, afterEdigu launched a devastating invasion in 1408 and Tatar raids continued in the following years, Vasily was forced to resume paying tribute and visit the khan to renew his patent to the throne.[32] Moscow's absorption of Ryazan, the last remaining independent Russian principality, was little more than a formality.[33]
