Dmitry Shemyaka
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Dmitriy Yurievich Shemyaka (Дмитрий Юрьевич Шемяка in Russian) (1420-1453) was the second son of Yury of Zvenigorod by Anastasia of Smolensk and grandson of Dmitri Donskoi. Although his hereditary patrimony was the rich Northern town Galich-Mersky, Shemyaka is sometimes counted among the Grand Dukes of Moscow, which he held from 1446 to 1447.
The causes of the Great Feudal War that rocked Muscovy in the second quarter of the 15th century, are still disputed. It is certain, however, that the troubles were preordained by Dmitri Donskoi's testament, which resuscitated an ancient house law, whereby the throne should pass from an elder brother to a younger one, rather than from father to son. In accordance with this custom, upon Vasily I's death his brother Yury of Zvenigorod attempted to reclaim the throne, but was stymied by Vasily I's son Vasily II. Shemyaka, whose violent temper was too well known, actively participated in all of his father's incursions against Moscow.
After Yury's death in 1434 Shemyaka and his younger brother Dmitry Krasnyi concluded an alliance with Vasily II against their elder brother Vasily Kosoy, who had proclaimed himself Grand Duke. They succeeded in driving Kosoy from Moscow and were rewarded with the towns of Uglich and Rzhev. The following year Shemyaka arrived to Moscow in order to invite Vasily II to his impending wedding with a princess of Yaroslavl, but was accused of siding with Kosoy and taken prisoner. Released several months later, he was sent by Vasily II to defend Belyov against the minor force of the Kazan Khan Olug Moxammat but was defeated. Thereupon he refused to support Vasily in his hostilities against the khan, and only the mediation of a Trinity hegumen could prevent a new civil war between the cousins.
In 1445, when Vasily II was taken prisoner by Olug Moxammat, Shemyaka seized Moscow, had Vasily blinded and proclaimed himself the Grand Duke of Muscovy. His repressions fomented the hatred of Muscovite boyars, who forced him to leave the capital for Lake Chukhloma. Despite several peace treaties, Shemyaka continued to plot against his cousin until 1452, when, being surrounded by Muscovite forces, he was constrained to seek refuge in the Republic of Novgorod. There he was poisoned by his own cook, who had been bribed by Muscovite agents. Delighted at the news, Vasily II ennobled a herald who had first brought him the message of Shemyaka's death.
Shemyaka's wife and his son proceeded from Novgorod to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where they were given Rylsk and Novgorod-Seversky in appanage. Shemyaka's male line died out by 1561, but there are many living descendants from his daughter's marriage to Prince Alexander Chertoryzhsky. Shemyaka's name survives in the Russian expression "Shemyakin sud", which stands for rash and unfair judgement.
