Vasili II of Russia

Vasili II Vasiliyevich Tyomniy (Blind) (??????? II ?????????? ?????? in Russian) (March 10, 1415 – March 27, 1462) was the Grand Prince of Moscow whose long reign (1425-1462) was plagued by the greatest civil war of medieval Russian history.

First ten years of internecine struggle

Vasily II was the eldest son of Vasili I Dmitriyevich by Sofia, the only daughter of Vytautas the Great. On his father's death he was proclaimed Grand Duke at the tender age of 10. His uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod (Prince of Galich-Mersky), and his two sons, Vasily the Cross-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka, seized on the opportunity to advance their own claims to the throne. Vasili's bid was supported by his maternal grandfather. The causes for the great feudal war that followed are disputed. There are reasons to believe that Yuri's family, whose Northern dominions were rich in salt and ore, could offer Russia a more liberal, proto-capitalistic path of development.

Related Topics:
Vasili I Dmitriyevich - Vytautas the Great - Yuri of Zvenigorod - Galich-Mersky - Dmitry Shemyaka

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Upon Vytautas' death in 1430, Yuri went to the Golden Horde, returning with a license to take Moscow throne. But the khan did not support him any further, largely due to the guileful policies of the Smolensk princeling and Muscovite boyarin Ivan Vsevolzhsky. When Yuri assembled an army and attacked Moscow, Vasili, betrayed by Vsevolzhsky, was defeated and captured by his enemies (1433). Upon being proclaimed Grand Duke of Muscovy, Yuri pardoned his nephew and sent him to reign in the town of Kolomna. That proved to be a mistake, as Vasili immediately started to plot against his uncle and gather all sort of malcontents. Feeling how insecure his throne was, Yuri resigned and then left Moscow for his Northern hometown. On his return to Moscow, Vasili had the traitor Vsevolzhsky blinded.

Related Topics:
Golden Horde - Smolensk - Boyar - Kolomna

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Meanwhile, Yuri's claim was inherited by his sons who decided to continue the fight. They managed to defeat Vasili, who had to seek refuge in the Golden Horde. After death of Yuri in 1434, Vasili the Cross-Eyed entered the Kremlin and was proclaimed new Grand Duke. Dmitry Shemyaka, who had his own plans for the throne, quarelled with his brother and concluded an alliance with Vasili II. Together they managed to banish Vasily the Cross-Eyed from the Kremlin in 1435. The latter was captured and blinded, thus having been effectively removed from the contest for the throne.

Related Topics:
1434 - Kremlin - Dmitry Shemyaka - 1435

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