Principality of Ryazan
The Principality of Ryazan ( Russian Рязанское княжество ) was from 1129 to 1521 a partial Russian principality with its center in Ryazan . It was located south of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal on the border with the steppe .
history
The Principality of Ryazan broke away from the Principality of Murom- Ryazan in 1129 as the Rus continued to split up (see seniority principle ) . Ryazan also declared itself independent from Vladimir, and the Ryazans subsequently waged numerous wars against Suzdal, Kiev and Vladimir. A dispute over the old Ryazan city of Kolomna led to great tension with Vladimir. In 1176 the war between the Ryazan princes and Grand Duke Vsevolod III began. The Ryazan princes were militarily inferior. Ryazan and the suburbs were occupied and sacked by Vsevolod's troops in 1180. The officials of the Ryazan princes were captured and deported to Vladimir and Suzdal . Thus the religious independence of the Principality of Ryazan was declared invalid. War and devastation swept over Ryazan. Only in 1212 did both powers make peace. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Ryazan principality began to flourish for a short time. Its capital, Ryazan, had around 15,000 inhabitants at that time, while Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky probably had around 2,000 inhabitants.
During the Mongol invasion in 1237, it was the first major principality to be devastated. The former capital has never recovered after its destruction, what remains on the Oka are now called Old Ryazan . The capital functions were transferred to the upstream Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, which was renamed Ryazan in the 18th century.
For the Mongols, the Principality of Ryazan was one of the dependent Russian splinter states that they actively played off against each other. It was now on the border with the Tatars and protected the Rus from Tatar raids. At times it was a serious competitor to the Grand Duchy of Moscow for leadership in northeastern Russia. The Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich (1340–1402) led a campaign against Ivan II, who was still in the horde . He defeated Moscow's troops and took the Moscow Grand Duke prisoner. Under Oleg's rule, the borders of the principality were extended to the Mestschera region at the expense of Moscow, and the princes of Jelets , Murom , Kozelsk and Pronsk were employed . In order to break the influence of Ryazan, the Moscow Grand Duke attributed to Prince Oleg contacts with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in order to drive them into isolation. On the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo , Prince Oleg Ivanovich of Ryazan was allied not with the Russian coalition, but with the Tatar, as he feared that his principality would be the first to succumb to the devastation of the Tatars in this conflict. However, he did not take an active part in the battle. The Principality of Ryazan was not permanently in a position to simultaneously endure the struggle against external enemies and to withstand the growing demands of Moscow, on whose help it was increasingly dependent. When the Ryazan Prince Ivan Fyodorowitsch died in 1456, he placed his underage son Vasily under the tutelage of the Moscow Grand Dukes.
The last prince of Ryazan was by Vasily III. Thrown in prison in 1516 for having had secret relationships with the Crimean Tatar Khan Mehmed I. Giray . His son then fled to Lithuania . In 1521, Ryazan was finally annexed by the Moscow state as the last partial Russian principality.
literature
- Basilewitsch, Prof. KW / Bachruschin, Prof. SW u. a .: History of the USSR: Feudalism, Volume 2, Rütten & Loening, 1958
