Reign of Ivan 1. Reign of Prince Ivan Danilovich Kalita

Ivan Danilovich


Predecessor:	Yuri Daniilovich
Successor:	Semyon Gordy

Predecessor:	Alexander Vasilievich Suzdalsky
Successor:	Semyon Ivanovich Gordy
Birth:	1288 (1288) presumably, Moscow

Dynasty:	Rurikovich
	Daniil Alexandrovich

	1. Princess Elena 2. Princess Ulyana;
	Sons: Semyon Proud, Ivan II the Red, Daniil Ivanovich, Andrei Ivanovich (Prince of Serpukhov). daughters: Maria, Feodosia.

Grand Duke

(1288 - March 31, 1340, Moscow) - Prince of Moscow from 1325 to 1340, Grand Duke of Vladimir (label from the Khan in 1331) until 1340, Prince of Novgorod from 1328 to 1337. Second son of Moscow Prince Daniil Alexandrovich. He received the nickname “Kalita” for his wealth ( Kalita- an old Russian name for a money bag).

Before the Great Reign

In 1296-1297 he was the governor of his father Daniil Alexandrovich in Novgorod. In 1304, in the absence of his older brother Yuri Danilovich, Ivan went to Pereslavl to defend it from the Tver princes. Soon Tver regiments appeared near the city under the command of boyar Akinf. He kept Ivan under siege for three days, on the fourth day the boyar Rodion Nestorovich came from Moscow, went to the rear of the Tver people, and at the same time Ivan made a sortie out of the city, and the enemy suffered a complete defeat.

When in 1319 Yuri Danilovich received a label from the khan for the great reign and left for Novgorod, Moscow was left under the complete control of Ivan.

The main character trait of Ivan was the ability to get along with the khan. He often traveled to the Horde and soon earned the favor and trust of Uzbek. While other Russian lands suffered from Horde invasions, the possessions of the Prince of Moscow remained calm, filled with inhabitants and, compared to others, were in a flourishing state:

In 1320, Ivan Danilovich went to the Horde for the first time to Uzbek, to establish himself as the heir to the Moscow principality.

In 1321, Dmitry Tverskoy recognized the legitimacy of the power of Yuri Danilovich of Moscow and transferred to him the Horde tribute from the entire Tver principality. But Yuri, instead of taking the Tver tribute to the Horde, took it to Novgorod and put it into circulation through intermediary merchants, wanting to receive interest. Yuri's actions with the Horde tribute angered Khan Uzbek. And in 1322, Dmitry Tverskoy (Terrible Eyes) went to the Horde and there received a label for the great reign. Yuri himself is summoned to Sarai-Berk. Ivan Danilovich, who is in Sarai-Berk at this time, demonstratively does not interfere in anything, completely distancing himself from his brother’s affairs. Having gained power, Dmitry tries to catch Yuri on the way to the Horde, but he runs away to Pskov, and then to Novgorod.

When in 1325 Yuri Danilovich arrived in Sarai-Berke and began to seek a label for the great reign, Dmitry Tverskoy (Terrible Eyes), during a personal meeting, in a fit of anger, hacked Yuri to death with a saber. Dmitry was captured by the Horde and executed by order of the khan, and the label of Grand Duke went to Dmitry's brother, Alexander Mikhailovich, and Ivan I became the Prince of Moscow, as the khan approved in 1320, the heir of his brother Yuri.

In the first year of his reign, Ivan achieved in 1325 that the residence of Metropolitan Peter was moved to Moscow from Vladimir.

Alexander Mikhailovich, who reigned in Tver, took part in a popular uprising in 1327, in which the Tver residents killed the Horde ambassador Chol Khan (Shevkal) and his entire retinue. Uzbek Khan was very angry when he learned about the murder of Chol Khan and sent for the Moscow prince, but, according to other sources, Kalita went to the Horde himself, in a hurry to take advantage of the Tver incident. The Uzbek gave him a label for a great reign and 50,000 troops.

Grand Duke

He was a cruel and cunning ruler in achieving his goals. He played a major role in strengthening the economic and political union of the Moscow Principality and the Golden Horde, for which he collected tribute from the Russian lands. He mercilessly suppressed popular discontent, caused by heavy extortions, and dealt with political opponents - other Russian princes.

Having also joined the prince of Suzdal, Kalita went to the Tver principality, where the Horde burned cities and villages, took people into captivity and, as the chronicle reports, “lay down the whole Russian land empty.” In addition to the Horde, the princes of Ryazan with their army, as a rule, took part in Kalita’s raids.

Novgorod paid off by giving the Horde 2000 hryvnias of silver and many gifts. Prince Alexander of Tver fled to Novgorod, then to Pskov, and in 1329 he left for Lithuania.

Having received the title of Prince of Novgorod in 1328, Ivan Kalita began to strengthen his power there too. In 1331, Ivan and his squad entered the Novgorod land in the city of Torzhok. There he met Archbishop Vasily (Kalitochka), who did not return from Metropolitan Theognost to Novgorod.

Alexander Mikhailovich's brother, pl. Konstantin, ruling the devastated Tver land, pleased Ivan as the khan's favorite. After the death of the Suzdal prince Alexander Vasilyevich in 1332 (his brother Konstantin became the prince of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod), with whom Ivan Kalita shared the great reign, Ivan Kalita went to the Horde with many gifts, wanting to receive a label for sole rule, but only Vladimir managed to establish himself and Volga region. He also ransomed Narimunt Gediminovich from captivity in the Horde, secured his favor, baptized him into Orthodoxy and sent him to Lithuania, to Father Gedimin. The Novgorodians, fearing both Kalita (at that time only the titular Novgorod prince) with the Horde, and the Swedes, invited Narimunt (to the northern volosts), giving him Ladoga, the Oreshek fortress, Korelsk (Korela), Korelsky land and half of Koporye as his homeland, but he entrusted the management of them to his son Alexander (Orekhovsky Prince Alexander Narimuntovich), and Narimunt lived more in Lithuania, and in 1338, when he not only did not come to the call of Novgorod to defend it against the Swedes, he also recalled his son Alexander.

In 1333, Ivan I, having squandered considerable funds in the Horde, and besides, even starting the construction of a new stone church in Moscow before the arrival of Metropolitan Theognostus, Ivan demanded that the Novgorodians pay tribute in an increased amount, but they refused. In addition to Torzhok, Ivan’s troops also occupied Bezhetsky Verkh. Novgorod Archbishop Vasily (Kalika) began the construction of a new stone Detinets in Novgorod, fearing the troops of Ivan and the Swedes. But the troops did not enter the battle. Negotiations were held, which ended with Archbishop Vasily going to Pskov and making peace between Pskov and Novgorod.

Ivan, after these events, concludes a separate peace with Gediminas with the help of Metropolitan Theognost, who had just arrived in Moscow. The world is sealed by the marriage of Ivan Kalita's heir, Simeon Ivanovich, with Gediminas' daughter Aigusta.

Ivan gave one of his daughters to Vasily Davydovich Yaroslavsky, and the other to Konstantin Vasilyevich Rostovsky in order to manage the estates of his sons-in-law.

In 1336, through the mediation of Metropolitan Theognost, he made peace with Novgorod. Ivan pays a visit to Novgorod. Novgorod calls him to be its prince and pays the money due, like the prince of Novgorod. Ivan also wanted to send troops to Pskov, but Novgorod opposed this. At this time, Gediminas raided the Novgorod land, avenging the peace with Moscow. Ivan, in retaliation, sent his troops to Lithuania, where they plundered the outlying lands near the border. Gediminas, busy with feuds with the Livonian Order, did not start a war.

In 1337, Alexander Tverskoy submitted to the khan and in return received his principality back. In 1339, Ivan went to the Horde with a denunciation against Alexander, after which he received an order to appear before the khan. Arriving at the khan, both Alexander and his son Fedor were executed. Kalita returned to Moscow in great joy, sent to Tver in order to humiliate the residents of Tver, ordered the bell to be removed from the Church of the Holy Savior and brought to Moscow.

Ivan I strengthened the Muscovite-Horde influence on a number of lands in the North of Rus' (Tver, Pskov, Novgorod, etc.). He accumulated great wealth (hence his nickname “Kalita” - “wallet”, “money bag”), which he used to buy lands in other people’s principalities and possessions, another version is from the habit of constantly carrying a wallet (“kalita”) with money for distribution of mercy. Kalita bought Uglich. In addition, he bought and exchanged villages in different places: near Kostroma, Vladimir, Rostov, along the Msta and Kirzhach rivers, and even in Novgorod land, contrary to Novgorod laws that prohibited princes from buying land there. He established settlements in the Novgorod land, populated them with his people, and thus also had the opportunity to impose his power. His grandson Dmitry Donskoy in his spiritual letter reported that Ivan Kalita bought Uglich, Galich Mersky and Beloozero.

He was buried in Moscow - in the Archangel Cathedral.

Family

Spouses

Princess Helena (d. 1331)
Princess Ulyana

Children

Simeon the Proud, (1318-1353)
Daniel, born 1320
Ivan II the Red, (1326-1359)
Andrey, (1327-1353)
Maria (d. 1365), married since 1338 to Konstantin Vasilyevich (Prince of Rostov-Borisoglebsky).
Evdokia (d. 1342, married to Prince of Yaroslavl Vasily Davydovich Terrible Eyes

- Grand Duke of Vladimir (1328–41), Prince of Moscow, first collector of North-Eastern Rus'. In the fight against other princes, Ivan Kalita often used the help of the Tatars. Even during the life of his brother Yuri Danilovich, Ivan took part in the administration of the Moscow principality. In 1304, Ivan defended Pereyaslavl, recently annexed by Moscow, from the Tver princes. For three days Pereyaslavl was kept under siege by the Tver regiments of the boyar Akinf. On the fourth day, boyar Rodion Nestorovich, who came from Moscow, struck the Tver people in the rear, and Ivan made a sortie out of the city. The Tverians were defeated. When in 1319 Yuri Danilovich received the label for the great reign from the khan and left for Novgorod, Moscow was left under the control of Ivan.

In 1322, the Horde took away the label for the great reign from Moscow and returned it to the Tver people. After the murder of Yuri Danilovich in the Horde by the Tver prince Dmitry Groznye Ochi (1325), the Moscow reign passed to Kalita. Dmitry was executed in the Horde by the Tatars, but the great reign of Vladimir Khan Uzbek gave him to his brother, Prince Alexander of Tver. However, the situation soon changed dramatically. The Horde nobleman Shchelkan (Cholkhan), the son of that governor Duden, who in 1293 ravaged Northern Rus' with such cruelty that his campaign was compared to Batu’s invasion, arrived in Tver with a large retinue. Shchelkan behaved in Tver with great pride; its Tatars committed violence against the inhabitants. There were rumors among the people about Cholkhan's intention to sit in the reign of Tver himself and destroy the Orthodox faith. On August 15, 1327, on the Feast of the Dormition, the Tatars tried to take the mare from the Tver deacon Dudko. He began to call his fellow countrymen for help. The residents of Tver struck the alarm bell; the people began to beat the Tatars. The rest of them locked themselves with Cholkhan in the prince's courtyard, but the townspeople set it on fire. The entire Tatar embassy was killed; The Horde merchants who were in Tver were also beaten.

Ivan Kalita rejoiced at this opportunity to destroy his Tver rivals, hurried to the Horde, returned with a 50,000-strong Tatar army and devastated the entire Tver land with fire and sword. The following year, Ivan received from the khan a label for a great reign. The Uzbek was informed that the Tver uprising was incited by Prince Alexander himself. The Khan gave Tver to Alexander's brother, Konstantin. Alexander himself fled to Novgorod, and then to Pskov. Kalita and other princes demanded that Alexander go to the khan in the Horde, but the Pskovites did not let him in. Kalita, other princes and Novgorodians went to Pskov; but, having learned about the preparations of the Pskovites for defense, they decided to act not with weapons, but with another measure: Metropolitan Theognost sent excommunication to Alexander and all of Pskov if the demand of the princes was not fulfilled.

Theognost's threat to excommunicate Pskov from the church forced Alexander to leave for Lithuania for a while (1329). The princes left the Pskov people alone. Soon Alexander returned to Pskov under the patronage of the Lithuanian prince Gediminas and ruled this city for several years. But he missed Tver; he was tormented by the thought that his children would be deprived of their reign in the Tver land. Alexander sent his son Fyodor to Khan Uzbek, and then he himself went to the Horde to confess. The Uzbek forgave him and returned the reign of Tver to him (1337). Ivan Kalita's rivalry with Tver threatened to resume. Some Tver boyars were unhappy with Alexander's return. They left Tver and went into the service of the stronger Prince Kalita.

Kalita went to the Tatars. At his suggestion, the khan sent Alexander an order to appear in the Horde. Alexander sent his son Fyodor ahead, and then went himself. He had already received news from his son and sensed trouble; but, like his father, he preferred to die himself rather than bring Tatar vengeance on his subjects. When the prince, escorted by the Tverians, got into the boat, a strong wind rose; the rowers could not cope with it, the boat was carried back. This was considered a bad sign, but it did not prompt Alexander to postpone the trip.

In the Horde, Alexander learned that the day of his execution had already been set - October 29, 1339. On this day, Alexander and his son Fedor confessed and themselves went out to meet the murderers, led by Murza Tovlubiy. The Tatars pierced Alexander and Fedor and cut off their heads. The boyars took their bodies to Tver, where the cautious Konstantin Mikhailovich again sat down to reign. Ivan Kalita returned to Moscow from the Horde with a great award and, celebrating the victory over Tver, ordered the large bell of the Tver Spassky Cathedral to be removed and transported to Moscow.

Ivan Kalita also ruled autocratically in other principalities. In Rostov, his governors committed all sorts of violence against the residents and hanged the senior Rostov boyar Averky by the feet (1330). The Prince of Suzdal, Alexander Vasilyevich, was an obedient henchman of Moscow. Ivan Kalita gave one of his daughters to Prince Vasily Davydovich Yaroslavsky, and the other to Konstantin Vasilyevich Rostovsky and autocratically disposed of the inheritance of his sons-in-law. In 1332, Kalita began a war with Novgorod, which refused to pay the ancient tribute (“Zakamsky silver”), but soon made peace. At the end of his reign, he again demanded a large sum from the Novgorodians and, when they refused to pay it, he recalled his governors. This feud ended under his son. The Ryazan princes, in view of the Tatar threat, also had to obey Ivan I. In 1340, Kalita, on the orders of the khan, sent an army against the disobedient Horde of the Smolensk prince Ivan Alexandrovich and, together with the Tatars, devastated the Smolensk region.

Ivan Kalita, on the one hand, appears with the unsightly features of a cruel and sneaky man who servilely served in the Horde. But, on the other hand, the allegations that he “sold Rus' to the Tatars” are unfair and frivolous. If this were so, then the Tatar yoke over North-Eastern Russia under Kalita should have strengthened. But in reality we see the opposite: after the final victory of Ivan I in the fight against Tver, Mongol rule over Russia did not strengthen, but weakened significantly. After 1327, the devastating Tatar raids ceased for four whole decades. The possessions of Ivan Kalita and the entire Russian North-East began to enjoy peace and prosperity: “There was silence for the Christians and the Tatars stopped fighting the Russian land,” say the chroniclers, meaning in this case the Russian land as the Vladimir and Moscow principalities. This "silence" continued until the mid-1360s. Under Ivan Kalita, Rus' gained much more independence in relations with the khan. Horde tribute was previously collected here by visiting Muslim and Jewish financiers. They took this tax at the mercy of the khan and then, through cruel violence, collected a much larger amount from the Russian population. Thanks to Kalita’s smart policy, the Tatars stopped allowing these extortionists into Rus'. The Horde “exit” was now collected and transported to the Horde by the Russian princes themselves, and this greatly relieved the people. Rus' still remained under the supreme authority of the Horde, but received a much higher vassal status than before. Under those conditions, this was a major achievement.

Ivan Kalita was a thrifty owner who tried to increase his principality and wealth. In his will, he carefully counts all the villages and golden vessels he bought. This trait is indicated by his nickname Kalita - a bag of money, a hoarder (Karamzin explains this nickname differently - by the fact that Ivan always carried a bag of money - “kalita” - with him to distribute to the poor). Ivan Kalita took care of the internal structure of his possessions. He built a new oak Kremlin in Moscow, protecting not only the city center, but also part of the suburb. Moscow began to grow quickly. Boyars from Tver, Chernigov, Kyiv and even from the Horde (Murza Chet) flocked to the strong Prince of Moscow. Ivan took care of the internal security of his possessions and strictly persecuted robbers and thieves.

An important event of the reign of Ivan Kalita was the resettlement of Metropolitan Peter from Vladimir to Moscow for permanent residence. Kalita acquired the special favor of the Metropolitan and, at his request, erected a stone Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. Peter died in Moscow and was buried there. The new Metropolitan Theognost, following the example of his predecessor, also settled in Moscow. In addition to the named cathedral, Ivan built three more stone churches in Moscow. Stone churches in Vladimir Rus', devastated by the Tatars, were then a rarity.

There is no exact information about land annexations to the Moscow principality during the era of Ivan Kalita. His acquisition of the cities of Galich, Uglich and Belozersk, which is indicated by Dmitry Donskoy’s spirituality, is doubtful, since Ivan himself does not speak about them in his spiritual letters. According to Solovyov’s explanation, Kalita bought these cities, but left some of the rights of sovereign princes to the sellers. Before his death, Ivan Kalita took monastic vows. He divided all his property between his three sons and his wife: he left Moscow as a common possession to his heirs, to his son Simeon he gave the cities of Mozhaisk, Kolomna and 16 volosts, to Ivan - Zvenigorod, Kremichna, Ruza and 10 volosts, to Andrey - Lopasnya, Serpukhov and 9 more volosts, wife Elena and daughters - 14 volosts.

Ivan I Danilovich Kalita. Born approx. 1283 or November 1, 1288 - died March 31, 1340 or 1341 in Moscow. Prince of Moscow from 1325 (actually from 1322), Grand Duke of Vladimir (1331-1340), Prince of Novgorod (1328-1337).

The second or fourth son of Moscow Prince Daniil Alexandrovich was born around 1283 or November 1, 1288.

Was baptized in honor of St. John the Baptist, whom he subsequently always depicted on seals as his heavenly patron.

In 1296-1297 he was the governor of his father Daniil Alexandrovich in Veliky Novgorod.

In 1304, in the absence of his older brother, Ivan went to Pereslavl to defend it from the Tver princes. Soon Tver regiments appeared near the city under the command of boyar Akinf. He kept Ivan under siege for three days, on the fourth day the boyar Rodion Nestorovich appeared from Moscow, went to the rear of the Tver people, and at the same time Ivan made a sortie out of the city, and the enemy suffered a complete defeat.

In 1320, Ivan Danilovich first traveled to the Horde to Uzbek Khan to be confirmed as the heir to the Moscow principality. Yuri Danilovich received a label from the khan for the great reign and left for Novgorod; Moscow was left under the complete control of Ivan.

In 1321, Dmitry Tverskoy recognized the power of Yuri Danilovich and gave him Horde tribute from the entire Tver principality. But Yuri, instead of taking the Tver tribute to the Horde, took it to Novgorod and put it into circulation through intermediary merchants, wanting to receive interest. Yuri's actions with the Horde tribute angered Uzbek Khan, and he handed over the label for the great reign to Dmitry. Ivan Danilovich, who was in Sarai-Berk at that time, did not interfere in his brother’s affairs.

While trying to return the label, Yuri was hacked to death by Dmitry in Sarai-Berk on November 21, 1325, on the eve of the death of Mikhail Tverskoy, and Ivan became the prince of Moscow. A year later (1326), Dmitry himself was killed in the Horde, and the label was transferred to his brother Alexander.

The reign of Ivan Kalita

In the very first years of his reign over the Moscow principality, Ivan achieved that from Vladimir The metropolitan see was transferred to Moscow. This immediately made Moscow the spiritual capital of Rus', increased her authority. The first metropolitan to move to Moscow was Peter.

Having united with the Suzdal people, Kalita went to the Tver Principality, where the Horde burned cities and villages, took people into captivity and, as the chronicle reports, “lay down the entire Russian land.”

Prince Alexander of Tver fled to Novgorod, then to Pskov. Novgorod paid off by giving the Horde 2000 hryvnias of silver and many gifts. Ivan and his allies demanded the extradition of Alexander; Metropolitan Theognost excommunicated Alexander and the Pskovites from the church. Averting the threat of invasion from Pskov, Alexander left for Lithuania in 1329 (for a year and a half).

In 1328, Khan Uzbek divided the great reign between Ivan, who received Veliky Novgorod and Kostroma, and Alexander Vasilyevich Suzdal, who received Vladimir and the Volga region (presumably Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets). At the same time, the actual functions of the Grand Duke were performed by Ivan.

After the death of Alexander in 1331, his brother Konstantin became the prince of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod, and Nizhny and Gorodets returned to the great reign for about a decade. Ivan made a trip to the Horde, where he again received a label for the entire great reign and half of Rostov.

In 1328-1330, Ivan gave his two daughters in marriage to Vasily Davydovich Yaroslavsky and Konstantin Vasilyevich Rostov in order to manage their estates.

In 1331, a conflict arose between Moscow and Novgorod. Metropolitan Theognost refused to appoint Arseny, elected by the council of Galician-Volyn bishops, as archbishop of Novgorod, but appointed his own candidate Vasily Kalika. And Ivan Kalita, having bought a label in the Horde and planning to build a new stone church in Moscow for the arrival of Metropolitan Theognost, demanded that the Novgorodians pay an increased amount of tribute (in particular, “Zakamsk silver”).

After receiving the refusal, Ivan entered with his troops into the Novgorod land and occupied Torzhok, then Bezhetsky Verkh. Novgorod Archbishop Vasily began the construction of a new stone Detinets in Novgorod, fearing the troops of Ivan and the Swedes. But the troops did not enter the battle.

Negotiations were held, which ended with Archbishop Vasily going to Pskov and making peace between Pskov and Novgorod.

After these events, Ivan concluded a separate peace with Gediminas with the help of Metropolitan Theognost, who had just arrived in Moscow. The world was sealed by the marriage of Ivan Kalita's heir, Simeon Ivanovich, with Gediminas' daughter Aigusta. Ivan Kalita ransomed Narimunt Gediminovich from captivity in the Horde, secured his favor, baptized him into Orthodoxy and sent him to Lithuania, to Father Gedimin.

The Novgorodians, fearing both Kalita (at that time only the titular Prince of Novgorod) with the Horde, and the Swedes, invited Narimunt (to the northern volosts), giving him Ladoga, the Oreshek fortress, Korelsk (Korela), Korelsky land and half of Koporye as his homeland, but he entrusted the management of them to his son Alexander (Orekhovsky prince Alexander Narimuntovich), and Narimunt lived more in Lithuania, and in 1338, he not only did not come to the call of Novgorod to defend it against the Swedes, but also recalled his son Alexander.

In 1337, Alexander Tverskoy submitted to the khan, thereby regaining his Tver reign. In 1339, Ivan went to the Horde with a denunciation against Alexander, after which he received an order to appear before the khan. Alexander and his son Fedor, who came to the khan, were executed. Kalita returned to Moscow and ordered the bell to be removed from the Tver Church of St. Savior and brought to Moscow. Alexander Mikhailovich's brother, Konstantin, was again forced to submit.

In 1339, Ivan organized a campaign against Smolensk against Prince Ivan Alexandrovich, who entered into an alliance with Gediminas and refused to pay tribute to the Horde. In addition to the Horde, the princes of Ryazan with their army, as a rule, took part in Kalita’s campaigns. In the same year, a new conflict arose between Moscow and Novgorod, which was resolved during the reign of Ivan’s son, Semyon the Proud.

One of Ivan’s main character traits is flexibility in relationships with people and perseverance. He often went to see the khan in the Horde and soon earned the favor and trust of Uzbek Khan. While other Russian lands suffered from Horde invasions, the possessions of the Prince of Moscow remained calm, their population and prosperity grew steadily: “The filthy ones stopped fighting the Russian land, they stopped killing Christians; Christians rested and rested from great languor and much burden and from Tatar violence; and from that time on there was silence throughout the whole earth".

During the 40 years of peace from 1328 to 1368, there were no Horde raids or wars with other opponents within the Moscow Principality.

He played a major role in strengthening the economic and political union of the Moscow Principality and the Golden Horde, for which he collected tribute from the Russian lands. He mercilessly suppressed popular discontent, caused by heavy extortions, and dealt with political opponents - other Russian princes.

Ivan I strengthened Moscow's influence on a number of lands in the North of Rus' (Tver, Pskov, Novgorod, etc.). He accumulated great wealth (hence his nickname “Kalita” - “wallet”, “money bag”), which he used to buy lands in other people’s principalities and possessions, another version is from the habit of constantly carrying a wallet (“kalita”) with money for distribution of mercy.

His grandson Dmitry Donskoy in his spiritual letter reported that Ivan Kalita bought (in fact, annexed through marriages of his daughters with the local princes, “purchase” does not mean “purchase”, but “marriage contract”) Uglich, Galich Mersky and Beloozero . In addition, he bought and exchanged villages in different places: near Kostroma, Vladimir, Rostov, along the Msta and Kirzhach rivers, and even in Novgorod land, contrary to Novgorod laws that prohibited princes from buying land there. He established settlements in the Novgorod land, populated them with his people, thus spreading his power.

Under Ivan Kalita, the white-stone Assumption Cathedral (founded in 1326, the original temple was not preserved), the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor (demolished in 1933), the Archangel Cathedral (the original temple was not preserved), the Church of St. John the Climacus (the original temple was not preserved) were built in the Moscow Kremlin preserved) and the new oak Moscow Kremlin (the original structure, naturally, did not survive).

In 1339/40, the Siya Gospel was written in Moscow and is stored in the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

At the beginning of 1340, Ivan became a monk with the name Ananiy., then accepted the schema and died a few weeks later. He left two wills (1336, 1339) and appointed his eldest son, Semyon, as his successor. He was buried in Moscow - in the Archangel Cathedral.

Dating the death of Ivan Kalita is based on chronicles that reproduce the following sequence of events (their traditional dating in historiography is placed in brackets):

Murder of Alexander Mikhailovich Tverskoy and his son in the Horde (October 29, 1339);
March of the troops of Tovlubiy, Ivan Kalita and their allies to Smolensk (winter 1340);
Death of Ivan Kalita (March 31);
The trip of Semyon Ivanovich and other princes to the Horde, the attacks of the Novgorodians on Ustyug and Beloozero;
News of fires in Novgorod (June 7) and Smolensk (Spas, August);
The return of Semyon the Proud from the Horde and the occupation of Torzhok;
Murder of Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich in Bryansk (December 6, 1340);
The campaign of Semyon the Proud against Novgorod and the conclusion of peace (winter);
Death of Uzbek and Gediminas (winter 1341).

Ivan Kalita (documentary film)

Wives and children of Ivan Kalita

Wives:

Children:

Semyon Ivanovich Proud, (1318-1353);
Daniil Ivanovich (born December 11, 1319/1320);
Ivan II the Red (March 30, 1326 - November 13, 1359);
Andrei Ivanovich Serpukhov (July 4, 1327 - June 6, 1353);
Maria Ivanovna (d. 1365), married since 1328 to Prince Konstantin Vasilyevich of Rostov;
Evdokia Ivanovna (d. 1342), married to Prince of Yaroslavl Vasily Davydovich Terrible Eyes;
Feodosia Ivanovna, married to Prince Belozersky Fyodor Romanovich;
Feotinia Ivanovna.

IVAN I DANILOVICH KALITA(c. 1283–1340) - Grand Duke of Moscow from 1325 and Grand Duke of Vladimir from 1328. The second son of the prince, who laid the foundations for the political and economic power of Moscow. He received the nickname Kalita (purse) for his generosity towards the poor (“let the beggars wash away a small piece”) and the enormous wealth that he used to increase his territory through “purchases” in foreign principalities.

In his youth, he was long in the shadow of his older brother, Moscow Prince Yuri Danilovich. In 1304, in the absence of his brother in Moscow, Ivan with a small army managed to defend Pereyaslavl, which belonged to the principality, from the Tverites, who had gathered an army led by the boyar Akinf, thereby proving to his brother his ability to retain what he had conquered. In 1319, Ivan’s brother, Yuri, having received the title of Grand Duke in the Horde, left for Novgorod. Thus, even then, and from 1322 in full, Moscow was at Ivan’s disposal. From then on, he showed himself to be a powerful, cruel, cunning, intelligent and persistent ruler in achieving his goals. In 1325, Ivan inherited Moscow according to the will of the deceased Yuri. The years of his rule of the principality (about twenty) became an era of strengthening and elevation of Moscow over the rest of the Russian lands. It was based on Ivan’s special ability to get along with the Horde khan. He often traveled to the Horde, which is why he earned the favor and trust of Khan Uzbek. While other Russian lands suffered from invasions by Horde members and Baskaks, the possessions of the Prince of Moscow remained calm and were replenished numerically with immigrants from other principalities and lands. (“The filthy ones stopped fighting the Russian land,” the chronicle says, “they stopped killing Christians; the Christians rested and rested from the great languor and many burdens and from Tatar violence; and from then on there was silence throughout the entire land”).

Soon after Ivan began his sole administration of the Moscow land, the metropolitan see was transferred to Moscow from Vladimir (1325). This immediately made Moscow the spiritual capital of Rus'. The prince managed to gain the favor of Metropolitan Peter, so that in 1326 he moved to Moscow, where he died and was buried. The new Metropolitan Theognost also expressed a desire to stay in Moscow, which caused deep discontent among the appanage princes, who feared the strengthening of the Moscow principality.

Ivan deftly took advantage of the circumstances in order, on the one hand, to increase his possessions, and on the other, to influence the princes in other Russian lands. His main rival was the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich, who tried to defend his fellow countrymen, who in 1327 killed the Horde ambassador Cholkhan and his retinue because they “burned cities and villages and led people into captivity.” Having learned about these events in Tver, Ivan himself went to the Horde to see Uzbek, hastening to express his readiness to help the Horde in dealing with the rebellious. For such devotion, Khan Uzbek gave Kalita a label for a great reign, the right to independently collect tribute to send to the Horde and 50,000 troops. Having united it with his own, adding to it the army of Prince Alexander Vasilyevich of Suzdal, Kalita went to Tver and there “laid down all the land.” New detachments of Baskaks sent later from the Horde completed the defeat. The Tver ruler Alexander fled to Novgorod, from there to Pskov and, finally, in 1329 to Lithuania. The devastated Tver land was left to be ruled by his brother Konstantin, who began to slavishly please the Moscow ruler. The princes of the Rostov-Suzdal land found themselves in the same situation. This allowed Kalita (perhaps it was then that he received his nickname) after the death of the Suzdal prince Alexander in 1332 to retain Vladimir for Moscow.

From two wives (Kalita married Elena for the first time in 1332; the second wife was a certain Ulyana), the Moscow prince had seven children, including daughters Maria, Evdokia, Theodosia and Fetinya. He managed to make them an “expensive commodity” and marry them off profitably: one to the Yaroslavl prince Vasily Davydovich, the other to the Rostov prince Konstantin Vasilyevich. At the same time, he set the condition for the autocratic disposal of his sons-in-law’s estates. Ryazan also obeyed Moscow: standing on the outskirts of Rus', for its obstinacy it could be the first to be subjected to the cruel punishment of the Horde. Uglich was annexed by Kalita through purchase. In addition, he bought and exchanged villages in different places: near Kostroma, Vladimir, Rostov, on the Meta River, Kirzhach. Kalita's acquisition of the cities of Galich, Uglich and Belozersk is doubtful, since he subsequently did not mention them in his spiritual letters (perhaps these were purchases with the right of temporary use). His attempts to seize the lands of Veliky Novgorod were especially persistent. Contrary to the Novgorod laws, which prohibited the princes of other lands from buying property there, he managed to establish several settlements in the Novgorod land and populate them with his people. In 1332, there was even a war with Novgorod, since the Novgorodians refused to pay the old tribute (the so-called “Zakamsky silver”), but soon they were forced to make peace. At the end of his reign, he made another attempt to subjugate this free city to his power and again demanded a large sum of money from the Novgorodians. After their refusal, he recalled his governors from the city, and this feud was destined to be completed after the death of his son Semyon Ivanovich Proud. The last act aimed at expanding the possessions of the principality was the sending of troops in 1340 (possibly on the orders of the khan) against the disobedient Horde of the Smolensk prince Ivan Alexandrovich and the devastation of the Smolensk land by Muscovites together with the Tatars.

In 1337, Prince Alexander of Tver decided to make peace with the Horde and try to get his principality back. But Kalita was ahead of the Tver man: in 1339 he himself was the first to go to the Horde with a denunciation against Alexander. Alexander received an order to report to the khan in the Horde. There both he and his son Fedor were executed. Kalita returned to Moscow “in great joy” and immediately sent to Tver for the main bell from the church of St. Spasa. The bell was removed and brought to Moscow as a symbol of victory over an opponent.

In the capital itself, both the city center and the suburb outside were rebuilt between 1325 and 1340. The number of villages around the Kremlin grew rapidly; the prince himself owned more than 50 of them. The boyars willingly moved to Kalita and received land from him with the obligation of service; they were followed by free men fit to bear arms. Even the Horde Murzas sought to be “under his hand,” including how Chet, according to legend, the ancestor of Boris Godunov, ended up in Moscow. Chronicles mention active church and secular stone and wood construction. Thus, in the princely court, the wooden Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was replaced by a stone one in 1330 and a monastery was founded (the archimandrite and monks from the Danilov Monastery were transferred here). In 1333, by order of Kalita, the Church of St. John the Climacus “under the Bells” was founded and rebuilt. In gratitude for delivering Moscow from famine, a stone temple was erected on the edge of Borovitsky Hill on the site of the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael (currently the Kremlin Archangel Cathedral). A little later, the Assumption Cathedral was founded nearby. In 1339, the construction of the oak Kremlin was completed in Moscow. At the same time, the prince was well versed in books. By his order, churches were not only built, but also replenished with valuable libraries (the Siya parchment Gospel, supplied by his order with a considerable number of cinnabar headpieces and sketches, is now kept in the Manuscript Department of the RAS Library).

Before his death, John took monastic vows and schema. He divided all his movable and immovable property between his three sons and his wife: He left Moscow in common possession to his heirs, and the eldest son Semyon Ivanovich (in the future - Proud) was appointed the main “sorrower” and first among equals. He gave him the cities of Mozhaisk, Kolomna and 16 volosts, Ivan Ivanovich (the future Red) - Zvenigorod, Kremichna, Ruza and 10 more volosts, Andrey - Lopasnya, Serpukhov and 9 more volosts, his wife Elena and her daughters - 14 volosts.

Kalita died on March 31, 1340 in Moscow and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral, rebuilt on his orders.

Historians highly appreciated Kalita’s activities on the Moscow throne (S.M. Solovyov, V.O. Klyuchevsky, M.N. Tikhomirov), also noting his enlightenment and contribution not only to the growth of the political power of the principality, but also to the transformation of the latter into a cultural and religious center .

Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva

Ivan I Danilovich Kalita

Ivan I Danilovich Kalita

Ivan Danilovich Kalita (c. 1283 - March 31, 1340 or 1341) - second son of Moscow Prince Daniil Alexandrovich.
He received the nickname “Kalita” for his wealth and generosity (kalita (from the Turkic word “kalta”) is the old Russian name for a small belt money bag).

In 1296 - 1297 deputy of his father Daniil Alexandrovich in Novgorod.
In 1304, in the absence of his older brother, Ivan went to Pereslavl to defend it from the Tver princes. Soon Tver regiments appeared near the city under the command of boyar Akinf. He kept Ivan under siege for three days, on the fourth day the boyar Rodion Nestorovich came from Moscow, went to the rear of the Tver people, and at the same time Ivan made a sortie out of the city, and the enemy suffered a complete defeat.

Prince of Moscow: 1322/1325 - 1340

In 1320, Ivan Danilovich first went to the Horde to see Uzbek Khan, to establish himself as the heir to the Moscow principality. Yuri Danilovich received a label from the khan for the great reign and left for Novgorod; Moscow was left under the complete control of Ivan.
In 1321, Dmitry Tverskoy recognized the power of Yuri Danilovich and gave him Horde tribute from all over. But Yuri, instead of taking the Tver tribute to the Horde, took it to Novgorod and put it into circulation through intermediary merchants, wanting to receive interest. Yuri's actions with the Horde tribute angered Uzbek Khan, and he handed over the label for the great reign to Dmitry. Ivan Danilovich, who was in Sarai-Berk at that time, demonstratively did not interfere in anything, completely withdrawing from his brother’s affairs. When Yuri tried to return the label, he was hacked to death by Dmitry in Sarai-Berk on November 21, 1325, on the eve of the death of Mikhail Tverskoy, and Ivan became the prince of Moscow. A year later (1326), Dmitry himself was killed in the Horde, and the label was transferred to his brother Alexander.

In the first year of Ivan's reign, the residence of the metropolitan was moved to Moscow from Vladimir (1325).

Prince of Novgorod: 1328 - 1337

Alexander Mikhailovich Tverskoy entered into an agreement with Novgorod in 1327, and in the same year a popular uprising took place in Tver, in which the Tver residents killed the Horde ambassador Chol Khan (Shevkal) and his entire retinue. Having learned about this, Uzbek sent for the Moscow prince, but, according to other sources, Kalita went to the Horde himself. Uzbek Khan gave him a label for a great reign and 50,000 troops. Having united with the Suzdal people, Kalita went to, where the Horde burned cities and villages, took people into captivity and, as the chronicle reports, “lay the whole Russian land empty.” Prince Alexander of Tver fled to Novgorod, then to Pskov. Novgorod paid off by giving the Horde 2000 hryvnias of silver and many gifts. Ivan and his allies demanded the extradition of Alexander, the Metropolitan excommunicated Alexander and the Pskovites from the church. Averting the threat of invasion from Pskov, Alexander left for Lithuania in 1329 (for a year and a half).
In 1328, the khan divided the great reign between Ivan, who received Veliky Novgorod and Kostroma, and Vladimir himself and the Volga region (presumably Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets). After his death in 1331 or 1332, his brother became the Prince of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod, and Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets returned to the great reign for about a decade.
In 1328 - 1330 Ivan gave his two daughters in marriage to Vasily Davydovich Yaroslavsky and Konstantin Vasilyevich Rostovsky in order to manage their inheritance.

In 1331 the appearance (1331 - 1492), the capital of Zvenigorod.

Great Reign

Grand Duke of Vladimir: 1331 - 1340

In 1331, a conflict arose between Moscow and Novgorod. refused to appoint Arseny, elected by the council of Galician-Volyn bishops, as archbishop of Novgorod, but appointed his own candidate Vasily Kalika. And Ivan Kalita, having bought a label in the Horde and planning to build a new stone church in Moscow before the Metropolitan’s arrival, demanded that the Novgorodians pay an increased amount of tribute (in particular, “Zakamsky silver”). After receiving the refusal, Ivan entered with his troops into the Novgorod land and occupied Torzhok, then Bezhetsky Verkh. Novgorod Archbishop Vasily began the construction of a new stone Detinets in Novgorod, fearing the troops of Ivan and the Swedes. But the troops did not enter the battle. Negotiations were held, which ended with Archbishop Vasily going to Pskov and making peace between Pskov and Novgorod.
Ivan, after these events, concluded a separate peace with Gediminas with the help of Metropolitan Theognost, who had just arrived in Moscow. The world was sealed by the marriage of Ivan Kalita's heir, Simeon Ivanovich, with Gediminas' daughter Aigusta. Ivan Kalita ransomed Narimunt Gediminovich from captivity in the Horde, secured his favor, baptized him into Orthodoxy and sent him to Lithuania, to Father Gedimin. The Novgorodians, fearing both Kalita (at that time only the titular Prince of Novgorod) with the Horde, and the Swedes, invited Narimunt (to the northern volosts), giving him Ladoga, the Oreshek fortress, Korelsk (Korela), Korelsky land and half of Koporye as his homeland, but he entrusted the management of them to his son Alexander (Orekhovsky Prince Alexander Narimuntovich), and Narimunt lived more in Lithuania, and in 1338, when he not only did not come to the call of Novgorod to defend it against the Swedes, he also recalled his son Alexander.

In 1336, through the mediation of Metropolitan Theognost, Ivan made peace with Novgorod, became the Novgorod prince and received the due tribute. Ivan also wanted to send troops to Pskov, but Novgorod opposed this. At this time, Gediminas raided the Novgorod land, avenging the peace with Moscow. Ivan, in retaliation, sent his troops to Lithuania, where they plundered the outlying lands near the border. Gediminas, busy with feuds with the Livonian Order, did not start a war.
In 1337, Alexander Tverskoy submitted to the khan, thereby regaining his Tver reign. In 1339, Ivan went to the Horde with a denunciation against Alexander, after which he received an order to appear before the khan. Alexander and his son Fedor, who came to the khan, were executed. Kalita returned to Moscow and ordered the bell to be removed from the Tver Church of St. Savior and brought to Moscow. Alexander Mikhailovich's brother, Konstantin, was again forced to submit.
In 1340, Ivan organized a campaign against Smolensk against Prince Ivan Alexandrovich, who entered into an alliance with Gediminas and refused to pay tribute to the Horde. In addition to the Horde, the princes of Ryazan with their army, as a rule, took part in Kalita’s campaigns. In the same year, a new conflict arose between Moscow and Novgorod, which was resolved during the reign of Ivan’s son, Semyon the Proud.

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Cathedral of the Savior on Bor. Reconstruction.

Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Bell tower "Ivan the Great" (Church of St. John Climacus).

Under Ivan Kalita, white stone buildings were built in the Moscow Kremlin Assumption Cathedral Cathedral of the Savior on Bor(demolished 1933), Cathedral of the Archangel(the original temple has not survived), Church of St. John the Climacus(the original temple has not survived). A new one was built oak Moscow Kremlin, which protected not only the center of the former city, but also the suburb outside it. Villages sprang up one after another around the Kremlin. The boyars willingly went over to the Moscow prince and received land from him with the obligation of service; The boyars were followed by free people fit to bear arms. Ivan took care of internal security, strictly persecuted and executed robbers and thieves, and thereby gave trading people the opportunity to travel on the roads.

In 1339/1340, the Siya Gospel was written in Moscow and is stored in the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A. Vasnetsov Moscow Kremlin under Ivan Kalita

The problem of dating death

The chronicles reproduce the following sequence of events (their traditional dating in historiography is placed in brackets):
Murder in the Horde with his son (October 29, 1339);
The campaign of the troops of Tovlubiy, Ivan Kalita and their allies to Smolensk (winter 1340);
Death of Ivan Kalita (March 31);
The trip of Semyon Ivanovich and other princes to the Horde, the attacks of the Novgorodians on Ustyug and Beloozero;
News of fires in Novgorod (June 7) and Smolensk (Spas, August);
The return of Semyon the Proud from the Horde and the occupation of Torzhok;
Murder of Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich in Bryansk (December 6, 1340);
The campaign of Semyon the Proud against Novgorod and the conclusion of peace (winter);
Death of Uzbek and Gediminas (winter 1341).

Results of the board

One of Ivan’s main character traits is flexibility in relationships with people and perseverance. He often went to see the khan in the Horde and soon earned the favor and trust of Uzbek Khan. While other Russian lands suffered from Horde invasions, the possessions of the Prince of Moscow remained calm, their population and prosperity grew steadily: The filthy people stopped fighting the Russian land - they stopped killing Christians; Christians rested and rested from great languor and much burden and from Tatar violence; and from then on there was silence throughout the whole earth

Ivan I strengthened the Muscovite-Horde influence on a number of lands in the North of Rus' (Tver, Pskov, Novgorod, etc.). He accumulated great wealth (hence his nickname “Kalita” - “wallet”, “money bag”), which he used to buy lands in other people’s principalities and possessions, another version is from the habit of constantly carrying a wallet (“kalita”) with money for distribution of mercy. His grandson in his spiritual letter reported that Ivan Kalita bought Uglich and Beloozero. In addition, he bought and exchanged villages in different places: near Kostroma, Vladimir, Rostov, along the Msta and Kirzhach rivers, and even in Novgorod land, contrary to Novgorod laws that prohibited princes from buying land there. He established settlements in the Novgorod land, populated them with his people, thus spreading his power.

Ivan I Kalita died on March 31, 1340, and was buried in Moscow - in the Archangel Cathedral. His eldest son Simeon Ivanovich Proud ascended the Moscow throne.

Children

Semyon the Proud (1318-1353).
Daniel, born 1320
Ivan II the Red (March 30, 1326 - November 13, 1359).
Andrew, (July 1327 - April 27, 1353).

Maria (d. 1365), married since 1328 to Konstantin Vasilyevich (Prince of Rostov-Borisoglebsky).
Evdokia (d. 1342), married to Prince of Yaroslavl Vasily Davydovich Terrible Eyes.
Feodosia, married to the Belozersky prince - Fyodor Romanovich.

Holy spring of the Archangel Michael in the city of Protasovo, Moscow region.

Holy Spring of the Archangel Michael Monument to Ivan Kalita

KOLOMENSKOYE

High above the steep banks of the Moscow River is the ancient Kolomenskoye unique place, where cultural monuments were created over the course of many centuries.
The first mentions of Kolomenskoye are contained in the spiritual letters of Ivan Kalita in 1336 and 1339.

Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Kolomenskoye

In 1341 - appearance Serpukhov Principality (1341 - 1472). - 1246 - 1248 - Prince of Moscow.
Prince Boris Mikhailovich. 1248 - 1263 - Prince of Moscow.
Muscovy
. 1263/1276 - 1303 - Prince of Moscow.
. 1303 - 1325 - Prince of Moscow.
Moscow State

Ivan I Kalita. 1322/1325 - 1340 - Prince of Moscow.
1340 - 1353
1353-1359

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