Grand Duke of Vladimir

Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir was built in 1158-60 and functioned as the mother church of Russia in the 13th century.

The Grand Duke of Vladimir^[1] was a prince during the Kievan Rus' and after its collapse. He ruled territory approximately bounded by the Volga, Oka and Northern Dvina rivers. Its capital was Vladimir during 1157-1238. Vladimir city was founded by a Kievan prince Vladimir Monomakh in 1108 and was destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1238. The second important city was Suzdal', also destroyed by Mongols. The Grand Duke (Velikii Kniaz, Great Prince) Yuri Dolgorukii (Yuri "Long-arms"), the seventh son of Vladimir Monomakh, began the lineage of Suzdal' and Vladimir-Suzdal' great princes. Vladimir-Suzdal' began the next consolidation of Russian lands, completed by Muscovy, which grew from within Vladimir-Suzdal.

Vladimir was founded in the 12th century. It first came into focus in 1151, when Andrei Bogolyubskiy secretly left Vyshgorod, the domain of his father in the principality of Kiev, and migrated to the newly settled land of Suzdal, where in 1157 he became grand prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov. The principality was overrun by the Mongols under Batu Khan in 1242. He and his successors asserted suzerainty over it until 1328. During this period, Vladimir became the chief town of the Russian settlements in the basin of the Oka and it clashed with the new principality of Moscow, to which it finally succumbed in 1328. It began to decay in the 14th century.

Traditionally, Vladimir-Suzdal is perceived as a cradle of the Great Russian language and nationality and gradually evolved into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Grand Dukes of Vladimir

The state of Vladimir-Suzdal (formally the Grand Duchy of Vladimir) became dominant among the various petty principalities to form from 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 Russian nobility. While Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, it too would disintegrate into a series of petty states, the most important of which became Grand Duchy of Moscow, which itself would eventually evolve into the Tsardom of Russia.

Monarch	Portrait	Born-Died	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Ruled from	Ruled until
Saint Andrei I Bogolyubsky		1110–1174	Son of Yuri I	15 May 1157	29 June 1174
Mikhail I		?-1176	Brother of Andrei I	1174	September 1174
Yaropolk		?-after 1196	Grandson of Vladimir II	1174	15 June 1175
Mikhail I		?-1176	Brother of Andrei I	15 June 1175	20 June 1176
Vsevolod III the Big Nest		1154–1212	Brother of Andrei I and Mikhail I	June 1176	15 April 1212
Yuri II		1189–1238	Son of Vsevolod III	1212	27 April 1216
Konstantin of Rostov		1186–1218	Son of Vsevolod III	Spring 1216	2 February 1218
Yuri II		1189–1238	Son of Vsevolod III	February 1218	4 March 1238
Yaroslav II		1191–1238	Son of Vsevolod III	1238	30 September 1246
Sviatoslav III		1196–3 February 1252	Son of Vsevolod III	1246	1248
Mikhail Khorobrit		1229–15 January 1248	Son of Yaroslav II	1248	15 January 1248
Sviatoslav III		1196– 3 February 1252	Son of Vsevolod III	1248	1249
Andrey II		1221–1264	Son of Yaroslav II	December 1249	24 July 1252
Saint Alexander I Nevsky		1220–1263	Son of Yaroslav II	1252	14 November 1263
Yaroslav III		1230–1272	Son of Yaroslav II	1264	1271
Vasily of Kostroma		1241–1276	Son of Yaroslav II	1272	January 1277
Dmitry of Pereslavl		1250–1294	Son of St. Alexander	1277	1281
Andrey III		1255–1304	Son of St. Alexander	1281	December 1283
Dmitry of Pereslavl		1250–1294	Son of St. Alexander	December 1283	1293
Andrey III		1255–1304	Son of St. Alexander	1293	1304
Saint Michael of Tver		1271–1318	Son of Yaroslav III	Autumn 1304	22 November 1318
Yuri (III) of Moscow		1281–1325	Grandson of St. Alexander	1318	2 November 1322
Dmitry I the Terrible Eyes		1299–1326	Son of St. Michael	1322	15 September 1326
Alexander of Tver		1281–1339	Son of St. Michael	1326	1327
Alexander III		?–1331	Grandson of Andrey II	1328	1331
Ivan I of Moscow Kalita		1288–1340	Grandson of St. Alexander	1332	31 March 1340

Since 1332 the title of the Grand Princes of Vladimir passed to the Grand Dukes of Moscow.

References