Grand Prince of Vladimir facts for kids

The Grand Prince of Vladimir was a very important leader in a land called Vladimir-Suzdal. This title was like being a powerful ruler or a "grand duke." From 1186, it was known as the Grand Prince of Vladimir. Later, in 1389, this important title passed to the leader of Moscow.

What is a Grand Prince?

The ruler of Vladimir-Suzdal was called a veliky knyaz in their language. This word can be translated as "grand duke" or "grand prince." So, Vladimir-Suzdal was sometimes called a "grand principality" or a "grand duchy." The first time the title "grand prince" was used was in 1186. It was given to Vsevolod Yurievich. Before that, he was just called "Prince Vsevolod."

The Capital City of Vladimir

From 1157 to 1238, the main city of this land was Vladimir on the Klyazma. This city was founded in 1108. In 1151, a prince named Andrey Bogolyubsky secretly left his father's land near Kiev. He moved to Suzdal. In 1157, he became the prince of Vladimir, Suzdal, and Rostov. He even attacked and took over Kiev in 1169. He then made his younger brother, Gleb, the new grand prince of Kiev.

The Mongol Invasion

The city of Vladimir was attacked and destroyed by Mongol invaders in 1238. The Mongols also destroyed Suzdal', another important city. By 1242, the Mongols, led by Batu Khan, had taken over the entire land. They founded a large empire called the Golden Horde.

After the old Kievan Rus' state broke apart, Vladimir-Suzdal became the strongest land among the smaller Rus' areas in the northeast. The title of Grand Prince of Vladimir became one of the three most important titles. The other two were Kiev and Novgorod. For a while, Vladimir was the most powerful in its region. But it also started to break into smaller states.

The Rise of Moscow

By the 1300s, Vladimir-Suzdal had split into several smaller lands. These included Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, and Moscow. All these new lands wanted the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir. They tried to get the favor of the Tatar-Mongol ruler, the khan of the Golden Horde, to get it.

In the early 1300s, the khan gave the title to Yury of Moscow to balance the power of Tver. Later, after the Tver Uprising of 1327, which Moscow helped put down, Özbeg Khan named Ivan "Kalita" of Moscow the new grand prince of Vladimir.

By the mid-1300s, especially during a time called the Great Troubles (1359–1382), Moscow became very strong. The khan's support made Moscow powerful enough to hurt its rivals, especially Tver. So, the khans started giving the grand princely title to Moscow's enemies. For example, in 1371, it was given to Mikhail II of Tver. But by then, it was too late for the Golden Horde to stop Moscow's growing power. In 1389, Tokhtamysh allowed Vasily I of Moscow to become grand prince of Vladimir after his father, Dmitry Donskoy.

List of Grand Princes

Here is a list of the rulers who held the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir:

See also

• Grand Prince of Kiev
• Prince of Tver