The Golden Horde and the Moscow Princedome in the second half of the XIV-to mid XVth centuries Single combat between Peresvet and Cheli-bei at the Kulikovo Battle field. M.I.Avilov. 1943

Plan 1. Objective and subjective reasons for the rise of Moscow. 2. The weakening of the Golden Horde and the fight against it in 60-70th years of the XIV century. 3. The battle of Kulikovo. 4. Military and political activities of Tokhtamysh. 5. The reign of Basil I and disintegration of the Golden Horde. 6. The reign of Basil II. Feudal war in the second quarter of the XV century.

Objective and subjective reasons for the rise of Moscow 1.The favorable geographical position. Moscow was located on the crossroads of trade routes, making it possible to obtain a high income and was far from the steppe nomads, therefore relatively rarely been attacked by the Mongols. 2. The region had a fairly high population density, which contributed to strong economic development. 3. Formation of the population behavior pattern directed at the strong support of princely power, in contrast to the North-West, where it prevailed democratic trends and the South-West, with strong aristocratic- oligarchic tradition. 4. The policy of the Moscow princes. They have made the transfer to Moscow of Metropolitan cathedra thus providing support of the Church and focused in their hands collecting of a tribute to the Golden Horde. 5. The small size of the princely house which for a long period of time made it possible to avoid feuds and division of the land of the Moscow principality.

The Golden Horde in the 14th century.

Mamai, de facto ruler of the western part of the Golden Horde in the years of the 14th century. Monument to the Millennium of Russia 1862

Battle on the Vozha river Miniature from the Litsevoy letopisney svod (Illuminated Code of Chronicles). Mid- 16th century.

Grand Duke of Lithuania ( , ) and king of Poland ( , under the name of Vladislav II Jagiello). Poland, Krakow, second quarter of the XV century. Sarcophagus figure, in Wawel Cathedral.

Grand Prince of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy ( ) Royal titulary(1672)

St Sergius of Radonezh. Veil 20 ies of the XVth century

A. Bubnov Morning on the Kulikovo Battle field. 1947

The stages of the battle of Kulikovo

The Golden Horde in the 14th century..

The siege of Moscow by Tokhtamysh in Miniature from the Litsevoy letopisney svod (Illuminated Code of Chronicles). Mid- 16th century.

Tamerlan, ( ), the founder of the Timurid dynasty. Anthropological reconstruction by M.M.Gerasimov (1941)

Grand Prince of Moscow Basil I ( ) and his wife Sophia (front embroidery of sakkos of Metropolitan Photius, )

The territory of the Moscow principality in the 14th and early 15th centuries.

The disintegration of the Golden Horde

Grand Prince of Moscow Basil II Vasilievich the Blind ( ) Royal titulary(1672) Grand Prince of Moscow

Dimitri Y. Shemyaka. Grand Prince of Moscow (1446) "The tree of Russian tsars", painting from the Front Hall of the State historical Museum, created by the team of T.G.Toropov in 1883.

Santa Maria del Fiere, the site of the signing of the Union in 1439.

The main conclusions: 1. "The great zamyatnya" contributed to the intensification of the struggle against the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Russia in the 60-70th years of the XIV century. 2. The battle of Kulikovo has strengthened the role of Moscow as the center of the forming of the Russian state. 3. Tokhtamysh was able to restore the dependence of the Russian lands of the Golden Horde, but his defeat in the struggle with Tamerlan was a blow from which the Golden Horde has never recovered. 4. The reign of Basil I was the successful continuation of the politics of his predecessors in the gathering of the lands around Moscow. 5. In 1420-e-1460-s the process of disintegration of the Golden Horde took place. 6. The reign of Basil II was marked by brutal internecine struggle within the dynasty princes and gaining of autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church.