Yury of Smolensk
Encyclopedia
Yury Svyatoslavich or Georgy Svyatoslavovich ( or Георгий Святославович) was the last sovereign ruler of Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...

 and Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...

 (1386–95, 1401–04) whose life was spent in vain attempts to fend off aggression by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

.

Biography

In 1386 a war broke out between Algirdas
Algirdas
Algirdas was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. Algirdas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of Lithuanians and Ruthenians...

' sons, Skirgaila
Skirgaila
Skirgaila , also known as Ivan; ca. 1353 or 1354 – 11 January 1397 in Kiev; baptized 1383/1384 as Casimir) was a regent of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for his brother Jogaila from 1386 to 1392. He was son of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his second wife Uliana of Tver.-Biography:After...

 and Andrei of Polotsk
Andrei of Polotsk
Andrei of Polotsk was the eldest son Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his first wife Maria of Vitebsk. He was Duke of Pskov and Polotsk . As the eldest son of the Grand Duke, Andrei claimed his right to the throne after his father's death in 1377...

. The latter fled from Polotsk to Smolensk and asked Yury's father for help. The armies of Smolensk and Skirgaila clashed near Mstislavl. After Yury's father was killed in battle and his brothers were taken prisoner, the Lithuanians approached Smolensk and allowed Yury to assume the throne on certain conditions, after exacting a sizable indemnity from him.

In 1395, while Yury was visiting his father-in-law, Oleg Korotopol of Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...

, his brother-in-law, Vytautas the Great
Vytautas the Great
Vytautas ; styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians...

 (Vitovt), took Smolensk and installed his governor there. Four years later, Vytautas was routed by the Tatars in the Battle of the Vorskla River
Battle of the Vorskla River
The Battle of the Vorskla River was a great battle in the medieval history of Eastern Europe. It was fought on August 12, 1399, between the Tatars, under Edigu and Temur Qutlugh, and the armies of Tokhtamysh and Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania...

. In 1401, Yury and Oleg made use of his plight to retake Smolensk and Bryansk
Bryansk
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: -History:The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk...

, where the pro-Lithuanian boyars were promptly executed.

In the fall Vytautas laid siege to Smolensk but was forced to retreat after signing an armistice. Two years later, Smolensk withstood a two-week siege by Vytautas. Solicitous to preclude a new attack, Yury went to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 to ask Vasily I for help against Vytautas (who was Vasily's father-in-law). Although Yury promised to bequeath his possessions to Vasily, the Muscovite ruler hesitated to accept this flattering proposal, until the boyars of Smolensk opened the city gates to Vytautas and surrendered Yury's capital to his old enemy (1404). Thus Smolensk was lost to Russians for more than a century.

As Vasily was eager to accuse Yury of short-sightedness, the latter left Moscow and proceeded with his son to Novgorod, where he was treated honourably and was given an appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...

 of thirteen towns, including Porkhov
Porkhov
Porkhov is a town and the administrative center of Porkhovsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Shelon River, east of Pskov. Population:...

 and Tiversk
Tiversk
Tiversk or Tiversky gorodok was a medieval Karelian fortified settlement 215–300 m. long and 40–56 m. wide in the Karelian Isthmus, near Melnikovo, Leningrad Oblast...

. In 1406 he returned to Moscow, reconciled himself with Vasily and was sent to govern Torzhok
Torzhok
Torzhok is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, famous for its folk craft of goldwork embroidery. Population: Torzhok has twenty-two large and medium-sized industrial enterprises. Two of them are especially significant...

 in his name. While there, he attempted to seduce the wife of his cousin, Prince Semyon of Vyazma
Vyazma
Vyazma is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, the city defended western approaches to the city of Moscow...

. When she refused his advances, Yury killed her and her husband and, afraid of the imminent punishment, fled to the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...

, where he died soon thereafter, in 1407.

Progeny

Yury had two daughters, Anastasia and Elena. The latter was the wife of Grand Duke Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila
Švitrigaila Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (ca 1370 – 10 February 1452; was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund Kęstutaitis.-Struggle against Vytautas:...

 of Lithuania. The former married in 1399 Yury of Zvenigorod, giving birth to the famous Dmitry Shemyaka
Dmitry Shemyaka
Dmitriy Yurievich Shemyaka was the second son of Yury of Zvenigorod by Anastasia of Smolensk and grandson of Dmitri Donskoi. His hereditary patrimony was the rich Northern town Galich-Mersky...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK