Tver Uprising of 1327

Tver Uprising of 1327
Part of the Mongol invasion of Rus'
Miniature depicting the uprising from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible.
Date 1327 Location Tver, Russia Result Rebellion suppressed Aleksandr of Tver stripped of land holdings
Belligerents
Principality of Vladimir	Golden Horde Duchy of Moscow Duchy of Suzdal
Commanders and leaders
Aleksandr of Tver	Fedorchuk Turalyk Ivan Kalita of Moscow Alexander Vasilievich of Suzdal
Strength
People of Tver	At least 50,000 Mongol soldiers plus armies of Moscow and Suzdal

The Tver Uprising of 1327 (Russian: Тверское восстание) was the first major uprising against the Mongol invasion of Rus' by the people of Vladimir, and was brutally suppressed by the joint efforts of the Golden Horde, Muscovy and Suzdal. At the time, Muscovy and Vladimir were involved in a rivalry for suzerainty in the northeast of Kievan Rus', and Vladimir's total defeat effectively ended the quarter-century struggle for power. Ironically, the Golden Horde would later become an enemy of Muscovy, and Russia would not be free of Mongol influence until the Great stand on the Ugra river in 1480, more than a century later.

Background

The Mongol Empire invaded Russia in the early 13th century and proceeded to establish a hegemony over the Russian states, particularly the duchy of Vladimir, the most powerful Russian principality at the time. The extent of Mongol power was such that the Golden Horde would issue a jarlig, or decree, allowing the Russian princes to rule over their lands, provided they swear fealty. No longer confident in the rule of the princes of Vladimir, various factions in the principality began to jostle for power, and the region divided itself into several states, including Tver, Moscow, and others. All these states acknowledged the rule of the prince of Vladimir, but the power had become nominal at best by the fourteenth century.

In the autumn of 1326, Alexander, the prince of Tver, received a jarlig from the Mongol Öz Beg Khan, authorizing the prince to rule Vladimir. About a year later, Öz Beg's cousin, Chol-khan, arrived in Tver with a large retinue and removed Alexander from the prince's palace in an apparent reversal of the grant. ^[1] Instead, Chol-khan took residence in Alexander's former home and began a campaign of persecution against Christians in Tver that included rape, robbery and beatings. A rumor arose among the people of a Mongol plan to kill all the princes of the principality of Vladimir on the day of the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, make Chol-khan the new ruler of Tver and force the people to convert to Islam, although the veracity of the rumor is disputed. ^[2] The people of Tver turned to Alexander to address the issue, but he urged them to "endure."

Events

Despite Alexander's advice, a rebellion broke out on August 15, 1327 after Chol-khan's men attempted to confiscate a mare from a local deacon named Dudko; the people gathered to protect Dudko, and subsequently spread out and began to assault Mongol forces throughout the city.^[3] Chol-khan attempted to entrench himself against the mob inside the palace, but was burnt alive when the structure was set on fire. All the Tatars in Tver were slaughtered, including the merchants who had come along with the soldiers. Some chronicles and modern historians believe that Alexander instigated the uprising, but this is unlikely considering the grave consequences such a violent rebellion would have. ^[4] At the same time, he did not take any measures to suppress the mob either.

The prince of Moscow, Ivan Kalita, a long time rival of the princes of Tver, hastened to take advantage of the uprising in order to assert his supremacy. Ivan allied with the Horde and volunteered to help restore the power of the Mongols over Tver. In return, Öz Beg promised to make Ivan the Grand Duke and reinforced his army with 50,000 Mongol soldiers under the command of five Mongol generals.^[5] The prince of Suzdal also joined the Russo-Mongol punitive expedition that came to be known as the "Army of Fedorchuk," named after the Tatar commander Fedorchuk (Christianized name). ^[6]

The Russo-Mongol army proceeded to burn entire towns and villages and take people prisoner. Alexander fled to Novgorod, who turned him away, and then to Pskov, where he was made the prince, to escape capture by Ivan. Novgorod managed to avoid the wrath of the army for involving themselves with the prince by paying the Horde two thousand silver grivnas and providing them with many gifts. Meanwhile, Ivan and his allies demanded the extradition of Alexander from Pskov, and Metropolitan Theognostus of Kiev excommunicated the prince and all the people of Pskov from the church. In order to alleviate the threat of invasion from his host city, Alexander fled once again to Lithuania in 1329, where he would remain for over a year.

Aftermath

The uprising undermined the power of Tver and led to a redistribution of political power in the northeastern remains of Kievan Rus'. In 1328, Öz Beg granted Ivan Kalita the duchies of Novgorod and Kostroma. Alexander Vasilyevich, the prince of Suzdal, received Vladimir and a region encompassing present day Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. By granting the more prestigious Vladimir to the weaker of the two princes, Öz Beg maintained adherence to the principle of "divide and rule," reasoning that Moscow's jealousy of Suzdal's lands would prevent them from allying to fight against the Golden Horde.

Alexander moved to Sweden after his time in Lithuania, and then back to Pskov after the city's excommunication was lifted, under the patronage of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. In 1335, he gained forgiveness from Öz Beg and was allowed to return to his former position in Tver, however by then, the state had lost most its power to Moscow. This return did not last long, as both Alexander and his son Fyodor were taken to Sarai and quartered in 1339.

Following the death of Alexander Vasilievich in 1331, Ivan received the duchy of Vladimir and became the sole ruler of northeastern Russia. Favor from the khan of the Golden Horde allowed Moscow to gain power rapidly at the expense of Tver, and soon the latter did not represent a credible threat to the former, and a new rivalry was formed with the princes of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod. The relative power of Moscow and their strong alliance with the Horde led to a period of relative peace in Russia that was not interrupted until the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge the Horde and defeat them at the Battle of Kulikovo. ^[7]

References