Lemme post something I wrote up for the Prince of Peace, about Russia.
Since it's been brought to my attention that people find the position
of Vladimir as of 1244 a bit… unlikely, I've decided to write a post
detailing a brief overview of the history of Russia between 1197 and
1244.
Russia, by 1200, is divided into several different states:
Vladimir-Suzdal, Kiev, Smolensk, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, and
Novgorod. To an outside observer, it might very well seem like the
Russians were mired in pointless, endless fratricidal warfare.
This is only true, however, in Southern Russia, where the princes of
Smolensk, Chernigov, and Volynia were fighting one another for
supremacy in southern Russia and for control over "the mother of
Russian cities", Kiev.
Northern Russia presents a very different picture. The lands of
Vladimir Suzdal (which we will henceforth refer to as Suzdalia)
prosper. Most of its cities are situated along the Volga or the
Klyaz'ma, giving the city access to the markets of the east.
The city of Vladimir was founded in 1108 by Vladimir Monomakh, one of
the many descendents of Vladimir. This small state, however, rapidly
expanded; and under the reign of his son Andrei, Vladimir truly
emerged as one of the great powers in Russia. Andrei drove out his
brothers and the senior boyars of his father, in his desire to be a
strong monarch, and pursued a ruthless policy of expansion. While he
failed to set up an independent metropolitanate, it was one of his
sons who sacked Kiev in 1169 and placed a brother of Andrei on the
throne there.
Andrei was murdered in 1174, but his brother, Vsevolod, succeeded in
reestablishing control over Suzdalia in 1176. Vsevolod continued his
predecessors' policy of expansion across Russia, and he was the first
prince to be known as "the grand prince". The Grand Prince would
negotiate an agreement with Novgorod, in which the disputed
territories in the northwest were administered jointly, and he founded
towns to act as a bulwark against the Bulgars.
By 1200 AD, Vsevolod's power was so great that he was considered to be
"senior amongst the cousins in the tribe of Vladimir", and poets would
urge him to "fly to Vladimir, to watch over [his] father's golden
throne".
Ryazan, by this point, was essentially a vassal of Suzdalia, for
Vsevolod forced Ryazan's army to fight with him against Chernigov and
the Polovtsians, and he meddled in the city's internal affairs
repeatedly. Even in Pereyaslavl, far to the southeast, Suzdalia
dominated, to the point where Vsevolod felt secure placing his ten
year old son, Yaroslav, on the throne of the city in 1200.
Then, of course, there is Novgorod, the free and independent city to
the north. It could appoint its own mayor, who was known as a
posadnik, it could choose its own archbishop, and, most importantly,
after 1136, it could choose its prince from any dynasty it pleased.
But the freedom of Novgorod did not, and could not last. While it is
true that the boyars could choose their own prince, the boyars divided
themselves into different groupings. There was the faction which
supported the princes of Chernigov, there was a faction that supported
the princes of Suzdalia, and there were those that supported the
princes of Smolensk. This meant that the boyars could not rule without
the backing of whoever was prince at the time, and the prince at the
time depended on his home city for support.
By the end of the 12th century, this had led to the domination of one
family: the princes of Suzdalia. Vsevolod had curbed even Novgorod's
right to choose its own prince. In the 1180's and 1190's, the prince
of Novgorod was a puppet of Vsevolod, and in 1199 Vsevolod appointed
his three year old son to the throne of Novgorod.
So powerful was Vsevolod that a Kievan chronicler in 1195 would write
that "the Rus cannot exist without Vsevolod, for we have placed in him
seniority amongst all our cousins in the tribe of Vladimir." Even in
the south he was feared, and he forced the prince of Smolensk, in
1195, to hand over to him five towns near Kiev which the prince of
Smolensk had previously given to the prince of Volynia.
In the south, the endemic warfare continued between the princes of
Chernigov (the Ol'govichi) and the other princes of southwestern
Russia, notably the Rostislavichi, under the leader of their prince
Ryurik, who ruled Smolensk. The death of the Ol'govichi prince of Kiev
in 1194 caused the beginning of a war that would last for decades, and
it was a war that would devastate all of southern Russia.
There was a truce in 1196, but war resumed in 1200, due to largely
personal reasons. Roman, prince of Volynia, divorced his wife in 1196,
who unfortunately happened to be the daughter of the prince of
Smolensk, so that he could remarry a daughter of Emperor Isaac II of
Byzantium, and a relative of the Hungarian King, who is known to us as
Anna [177]. Thanks to his dynastic ties with Hungary, allowed the
prince of Volynia to grab the rich principality of Galicia, uniting
two of the most fertile provinces in southern Russia.
The union of the two provinces scared the other princes of the south,
and it fell upon Vsevolod III to build up resistance to Roman. He
persuaded the prince of Chernigov to break off relations with Roman,
and persuaded Ryurik (who was already angry at the treatment his
daughter had received) to go to war with Roman.
Initially, the war in the south favored Roman, who took Kiev from
Ryurik in 1200. Roman placed his cousin Ingvar on the throne of Kiev,
and for two years all was quiet. But Ryurik attacked Kiev with
Vsevolod in 1203, and together with the Polovtsian nomads and the
princes of Chernigov captured the city.
The sack was devastating; entire districts were burned, the cathedral
of St. Sofia, and all monasteries, were sacked, and the Polovtsians
led their captives off into the steppes, never to see their homes in
Kiev again.
Ryurik, however, could not hold Kiev without support from Vsevolod,
and Ryurik was obliged to do him homage and promise not to ally with
the princes of Chernigov.
For a while it seemed as if there would be peace, and Roman and Ryurik
went on a campaign in 1204 against the Polovtsians together. But Roman
betrayed Ryurik, who was arrested and forcibly tonsured. Ryurik's
sons, Rostislav and Vladimir, were taken to Galicia as prisoners of
Roman.
Vsevolod III, of course, did not stand for this, and forced Roman to
release Ryurik's sons, and Rostislav became the new prince of Kiev. In
despair of ever taking Kiev, Roman turned west, and launched a massive
campaign against Leszek of Krakow. He was defeated in 1205, however,
and slain in battle.
The death of Roman marked the end of an era. Galicia was now wide open
to invasion, and in 1205 Ryurik (who quickly abandoned the life of
monks) joined with the prince of Chernigov, Vladimir, to invade
Galicia. Their campaign in 1205 was a failure, but the two prepared a
massive invasion force for 1206, in which all the available forces of
the two princes took part. The invasion escalated into a massive
international conflict, with Poles, Hungarians, and even Vsevolod
taking part, by sending forces from his son's principality of
Pereyaslavl'. The end result is that the prince of Chernigov,
Vladimir, was installed in the city of Galich, dominating the two
principalities.
By this point, the princes of Chernigov felt that he was the ruler of
southern Russia, and threw Vsevolod's son Yaroslav out of the
principality of Pereyaslavl, and for a short time Chernigov held sway
over all of southern Russia. The Princes of Chernigov also took Kiev
and installed one of their own, Vsevolod Chermnyy in place of Ryurik.
But the Princes of Chernigov had not counted on two things: the
resilience of the princes of Smolensk and the fury of Vsevolod III.
Ryurik and his family occupied the towns surrounding Kiev, and soon
pushed Vsevolod Chermnyy out of Kiev. The Princes of Chernigov pushed
Ryurik out of Kiev early in 1207, but just as it seemed as if they
would be able to hold Kiev, Vsevolod III, prince of Suzdalia, struck.
He set off in August of 1207 with a large army, when he received word
that Ryazan was planning to revolt, he occupied the major cities of
Ryazan. Although he was not the one who caused Vsevolod Chermnyy to be
ejected from Novgorod, that prince was forced out by Ryurik, who
became (again) the prince of Kiev.
This continues for several more years, with Ryurik's nephew Mstislav
taking Novgorod from Vsevolod's son in 1208. This causes Vsevolod to
ally with the princes of Chernigov against the princes of Smolensk,
and the princes of Chernigov "asked for peace and submitted to him in
all things". Vsevolod Chermny's daughter Agafia was married to Yury,
son of Vsevolod of Suzdalia, on April 11 1210, and the two forces then
united against the princes of Smolensk. Ryurik was removed from Kiev,
and when he died, none mourned him, for "he had no peace from any
direction, and was much addicted to drink and was manipulated by
women".
By 1211, one would hope that Vsevolod would be able to relax. Alas,
such was not to be, for his sons were already quarreling over what
would happen to his principality after his death. Vsevolod had several
sons, who, in order of their birth, were Konstantin, Yuri, Yaroslav,
Vladimir, Svyatoslav, and Ivan. As of 1211, Konstantin was the only
one who was specifically allocated titles, and had been granted the
city of Rostov. Vsevolod decided that Konstantin was to be given
Vladimir, and Yuri was to take over Rostov. Konstantin, however,
wanted both [178]. When Vsevolod summoned him to Vladimir, Konstantin
refused to go, and Vladimir decided that the issue must be dealt with.
Vsevolod summoned a great zemskie zobory, a national council,
embracing "all his boyars from the towns, Bishop Ioann, the abbots,
the priests, merchants, servicemen and all the people".
At the session, with nearly unanimous approval, he bestowed Vladimir
on his second oldest son, Yuri, and granted him seniority within the
family. Konstantin was furious at the news and refused to acknowledge,
but Vsevolod fell ill in April of 1212 and was prevented from moving
against his son until July [179]. In OTL Konstantin succeeded in forcing his father to recognize him as the senior member of the family, but in an ATL it's easy to imagine it going the other way.
And in any case, the fact that Vladimir-Suzdal was capable of all that shows that it was already the preeminent power in Russia. In a world without Mongols, I would envisage it to unify the Rus by the end of the 13th century.
This Russia, based on the support of "the priests, merchants, servicemen, and all the people", would be more of an absolutist state akin to Denmark or Sweden instead of Russia, and considerably more open to Western influences.
Thoughts?
In