The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (Russian: Великий князь Владимирский), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389.[1]
The monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal's title, veliky knyaz or velikii kniaz (Russian: Великий Князь|translit=velikiy knyaz' / velikii kniaz', Church Slavic; Old Slavonic; Church Slavonic; Old Bulgarian; Old Church Slavonic: великꙑи кнѧзь|translit=velikȳi knęz') is variously translated into English as "grand duke" or "grand prince". Consequently, Vladimir-Suzdal has been interchangeably described as a "grand principality" or "grand duchy". Linguist Alan Timberlake (2000) found that the first time the phrase velikȳi knęz shows up in the Suzdalian Chronicle (in the Laurentian, Radziwiłł and LPS manuscripts) is under the year 1186, where it is applied to Vsevolod Yurievich. In his early reign from 1177 to 1186, he is simply referred to as "prince Vsevolod" (knęz (zhe) Vsevolod).
From 1157 to 1238, the principality's capital was Vladimir on the Klyazma, which had been founded in 1108. In 1151 Andrey Bogolyubsky secretly left Vyshgorod, the domain of his father in the Principality of Kiev, and migrated to Suzdal. In 1157 he became prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov. He sacked Kiev in 1169, installing his younger brother Gleb as new grand prince of Kiev.
The city of Vladimir was sacked by a Mongol invasion in 1238. The second important city, Suzdal', was also destroyed by Mongols. The entire principality was then overrun in 1242 by the Mongols under Batu Khan, founder of the Golden Horde. The state of Vladimir-Suzdal (formally the grand principality of Vladimir) became dominant among the various petty northeastern Rus' principalities left after the dissolution of the Kievan Rus' state. The title of Grand Prince of Vladimir became one of the three titles (along with Kiev and Novgorod) possessed by the most important rulers among the Rus' nobility. In the forest region, Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, but it too disintegrated into a series of petty states. By the 14th century, Vladimir-Suzdal had splintered into various appanage principalities including Nizhny Novgorod (Novgorod-Suzdal), Tver and Moscow (Muscovy) who all claimed the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir, and sought to gain the favour of the Tatar-Mongol khan of the Golden Horde to secure it. In the early 14th century, the khan awarded the title to Yury of Moscow to counterbalance the strength of Tver; and after the Tver Uprising of 1327, which the Muscovites helped put down, Özbeg Khan named Ivan "Kalita" of Moscow the new grand prince of Vladimir.
By the mid-14th century and especially during the Great Troubles (1359–1382), the khan's alliance with Moscow made the latter militarily and administratively powerful enough to economically and demographically devastate its rivals, notably Tver. The khans therefore started awarding the grand princely title to Moscow's rivals. In 1353, of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal unsuccessfully tried to obtain the title of grand prince of Vladimir, and in 1371 it was awarded to Mikhail II of Tver. But by that time it was too late for the Golden Horde to curb the rise of Muscovy. Tokhtamysh allowed Vasily I of Moscow to succeed his father Dmitry Donskoy as grand prince of Vladimir in 1389.
| width=7% | Monarch | width=2% | Regnal name | width=5% | Lifespan | width=7% | Relationship with predecessor(s) | width=3% | Reigned from | width=4% | Reigned until |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrey Bogolyubsky | Andrey I | 1110–1174 | Son of Yuri Dolgorukiy | 15 May 1157 | 28 June 1174 | ||||||
| Mikhail I | ?–1176 | Brother of Andrey Bogolyubsky | 1174 | September 1174 | |||||||
| Yaropolk Rostislavich | Yaropolk | ?–after 1196 | Grandson of Vladimir II Monomakh | 1174 | 15 June 1175 | ||||||
| Mikhail of Vladimir (again) | Mikhail I | ?–1176 | Brother of Andrei Bogolyubsky | 15 June 1175 | 20 June 1176 | ||||||
| Vsevolod the Big Nest first to be called "grand prince" from 1186 onwards | Vsevolod III | 1154–1212 | Brother of Andrei Bogolyubsky Brother of Mikhail of Vladimir | June 1176 | 15 April 1212 | ||||||
| Yuri II of Vladimir | Yuri II | 1189–1238 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | 1212 | 27 April 1216 | ||||||
| Konstantin of Rostov | Konstantin | 1186–1218 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | Spring 1216 | 2 February 1218 | ||||||
| Yuri II of Vladimir (again) | Yuri II | 1189–1238 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | February 1218 | 4 March 1238 | ||||||
| Yaroslav II | 1191–1238 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | 1238 | 30 September 1246 | |||||||
| Sviatoslav III | 1196–3 February 1252 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | 1246 | 1248 | |||||||
| Mikhail Khorobrit | Mikhail? | 1229–15 January 1248 | Son of Yaroslav II of Vladimir | 1248 | 15 January 1248 | ||||||
| Sviatoslav III of Vladimir (again) | Sviatoslav III | 1196– 3 February 1252 | Son of Vsevolod the Big Nest | 1248 | 1249 | ||||||
| Andrey II of Vladimir | Andrey II | 1221–1264 | Son of Yaroslav II of Vladimir | December 1249 | 24 July 1252 | ||||||
| Alexander Nevsky | Alexander I | 1220–1263 | Son of Yaroslav II of Vladimir | 1252 | 14 November 1263 | ||||||
| Yaroslav of Tver | Yaroslav III | 1230–1272 | Son of Yaroslav II of Vladimir | 1264 | 1271 | ||||||
| Vasily of Kostroma | Vasily | 1241–1276 | Son of Yaroslav II of Vladimir | 1272 | January 1277 | ||||||
| Dmitry of Pereslavl | Dmitry? | 1250–1294 | Son of Alexander Nevsky | 1277 | 1281 | ||||||
| Andrey of Gorodets | Andrey III | 1255–1304 | Son of Alexander Nevsky | 1281 | December 1283 | ||||||
| Dmitry of Pereslavl (again) | Dmitry? | 1250–1294 | Son of Alexander Nevsky | December 1283 | 1293 | ||||||
| Andrey of Gorodets (again) | Andrey III | 1255–1304 | Son of Alexander Nevsky | 1293 | 1304 | ||||||
| Mikhail? | 1271–1318 | Son of Yaroslav of Tver | Autumn 1304 | 22 November 1318 | |||||||
| Yuri of Moscow | Yuri III | 1281–1325 | Grandson of Alexander Nevsky | 1318 | 2 November 1322 | ||||||
| Dmitry of Tver the Fearsome Eyes | Dmitry I | 1299–1326 | Son of Mikhail of Tver | 1322 | 15 September 1326 | ||||||
| Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver | Alexander II | 1281–1339 | Son of Mikhail of Tver | 1326 | 1327 | ||||||
| Alexander III | 1300–1331 | 1328 | 1331 | ||||||||
| Ivan I of Moscow Kalita | Ivan I | 1288–1340 | Grandson of Alexander Nevsky | 1332 | 31 March 1340 | ||||||
| Simeon of Moscow | Simeon | 1317–1353 | Son of Ivan I of Moscow | 1340 | 1353 | ||||||
| Ivan II of Moscow | Ivan II | 1326–1359 | Son of Ivan I of Moscow | 1353 | 1359 | ||||||
| Dmitry of Suzdal | Dmitry? | 1323–1383 | Great-grandson of Andrey of Gorodets | 1359 | 1362 | ||||||
| Dmitry Donskoy | Dmitry? | 1350–1389 | Son of Ivan II of Moscow | 1362 | 1371 | ||||||
| Mikhail II of Tver | Mikhail? | 1333–1399 | Son of Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver | 1371 | 1375 | ||||||
| Dmitry Donskoy (again) | Dmitry? | 1350–1389 | Son of Ivan II of Moscow | 1375 | 1389 |