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Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgorukii was the seventh son of
Vladimir II Vsyevolodovich Monomakh, prince of
Kyiv. He is shown with his ancestors on this chart.
The name of his mother is unknown. He was sent to be prince of Suzdal around
1125, then of Pereyaslavl around 1133 and 1134-36. He was also prince of Kyiv
1149-1150, 1151, 1155-1157 for which he waged war against several rivals. He
married in 1108 Anna, daughter of Aepi, Polovtsi khan, and then a Byzantine
princess. His sons were Rostislav, prince of
Periaslavl; Andrei Bogolubski, great prince of
Vladimir-Suzdal; Boris, prince of Belgorod;
Vsyevolod Bol'shoi Gnezdo, great prince of
Vladimir; Yaroslav, prince of Chernigiv;
Ivan, prince of Lutsk; Svyatoslav, prince of Yur'ev; Gleb, great prince of Kyiv; Mstislav, prince of Novgorod; Mikhail (Mikhalko) great prince of Vladimir;
Vasilii (Vasil'ko), prince of Suzdal; and
daughters, Elena, Olga and one unknown. The family is shown on this
chart.
With Yuri Dolgoruki begins the lineage of Great Suzdal (Vladimir) princes; born
in the last decade of the 11th century, he ruled over the Rostov-Suzdal lands
in his father's life time, in 1125 he began ruling independently and moved the
capital from Rostov to Suzdal; he was the founder and builder of cities. He
supported colonization of woodlands and growth of the Suzdal Principality.
These lands were attracting settlers from the south and were rich in natural
resources.
During the era of Yuri Dolgorukii, the settlements in and around Moscow grew in
importance and were known as "Sela Krasnye" - Beautiful villages.
A decisive man, Yuri Dolgoruki longed to rule over Kiev, and make Suzdal
dominant over Kiev. In 1149 he captured Kiev and became prince, however in
reality in the period from 1151 thru 1155 he had to gave up the title. The Tver
chronicle records that in 1156, as recounted by the chronicler, that
"Prince Yuri Volodimerich laid the foundations of Moscow on the Neglinaya
river estuary above the river Yauza." This chronicle was composed later,
and it is correctly observed by S. F. Platonov that the news itself sounds as
if it is "A distant memory" in which much is vague. He indicates that
in 1156 Yuri Dolgoruki could not have been in Moscow, because at that time he
was campaigning in Northern Rus, and "Permanently moved to the south"
and died in Kiev the following year.. N.N. Voroninin makes the proposition that
the fortress was not built by Yuri himself, but by someone else at his behest,
more that likely his oldest son and heir of the great prince - Prince Andrei
Yur'evich, whom was later named Bogoliubskii. The cities of Yuriev-Pol'skii,
Pereyaslavl'-Zalesskii, and Dmitrov, and the walls around Moscow were built in
the course of one historical period, between the years 1147-1156. Yuri
Dolgorukii built city-fortresses on the roads leading into the depths of the
Suzdal lands. These were not only fortresses, but the administrative as well as
economic centers of the rural region. In the village of Kideksha, on the banks
of the river Nerl below Suzdal, the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb was built
some three miles from Suzdal, within a fortified palace where Yuri could remain
apart from the recalcitrant nobility and the people of Suzdal. On the river
Trubezh close to Vladimir, Yuri built the Cathedral of the Transfiguration
beside the ramparts of the town of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Contemporaries had a
name for the lands in between the rivers Volga and Oka; " Zalesie."
After Yuri Dolgorukii founded a new town named Yuriev-Polski on the river
Koloksha, some forty miles north-west from Vladimir, Prince Yuri built a church
there in 1152. During Yuri's reign new techniques of stone masonry were
developed. "It is here that was used, - writes N. N. Voronin,- a new
wonderful techniques of stone masonry of "White stone" - local
limestone-- lining the inner cavity of the wall with quarry stone. The stone
was laid practically "dry," which created a special effect of a
smooth snow white surface and permitted the future use of rich carved
decorative facades."
Chronology:
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