Grand Duke of Vladimir


Grand Duke of Vladimir was a prince during the Kievan Rus' and after its collapse. He ruled territory approximately bounded by the Volga, Oka and Northern Dvina rivers. Its capital was Vladimir during 1157-1238. Vladimir city was founded by a Kievan prince Vladimir Monomakh in 1108 and was destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1238. The second important city was Suzdal', also destroyed by Mongols. The Grand Duke Yuri Dolgorukii, the seventh son of Vladimir Monomakh, began the lineage of Suzdal' and Vladimir-Suzdal' great princes. Vladimir-Suzdal' began the next consolidation of Russian lands, completed by Muscovy, which grew from within Vladimir-Suzdal.
Vladimir was founded in the 12th century. It first came into focus in 1151, when Andrei Bogolyubskiy secretly left Vyshgorod, the domain of his father in the principality of Kiev, and migrated to the newly settled land of Suzdal, where in 1157 he became grand prince of the principalities of Vladimir, Suzdal and Rostov. The principality was overrun by the Mongols under Batu Khan in 1242. He and his successors asserted suzerainty over it until 1328. During this period, Vladimir became the chief town of the Russian settlements in the basin of the Oka and it clashed with the new principality of Moscow, to which it finally succumbed in 1328. It began to decay in the 14th century.
Traditionally, Vladimir-Suzdal is perceived as a cradle of the Great Russian language and nationality and gradually evolved into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Grand Dukes of Vladimir

The state of Vladimir-Suzdal became dominant among the various petty principalities to form from the dissolution of the Kievan Rus' state; the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir became one of the three titles possessed by the most important rulers among the Russian nobility. While Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, it too would disintegrate into a series of petty states, the most important of which became Grand Duchy of Moscow, which itself would eventually evolve into the Tsardom of Russia.
MonarchPortraitBorn-DiedRelationship with PredecessorRuled fromRuled until
Saint Andrei I Bogolyubsky1110–1174Son of Yuri I15 May 115729 June 1174
Mikhail I?–1176Brother of Andrei I1174September 1174
Yaropolk?–after 1196Grandson of Vladimir II117415 June 1175
Mikhail I?–1176Brother of Andrei I15 June 117520 June 1176
Vsevolod III the Big Nest1154–1212Brother of Andrei I and Mikhail IJune 117615 April 1212
Yuri II1189–1238Son of Vsevolod III121227 April 1216
Konstantin of Rostov1186–1218Son of Vsevolod IIISpring 12162 February 1218
Yuri II1189–1238Son of Vsevolod IIIFebruary 12184 March 1238
Yaroslav II1191–1238Son of Vsevolod III123830 September 1246
Sviatoslav III1196–3 February 1252Son of Vsevolod III12461248
Mikhail Khorobrit1229–15 January 1248Son of Yaroslav II124815 January 1248
Sviatoslav III1196– 3 February 1252Son of Vsevolod III12481249
Andrey II1221–1264Son of Yaroslav IIDecember 124924 July 1252
Saint Alexander I Nevsky1220–1263Son of Yaroslav II125214 November 1263
Yaroslav III1230–1272Son of Yaroslav II12641271
Vasily of Kostroma1241–1276Son of Yaroslav II1272January 1277
Dmitry of Pereslavl1250–1294Son of St. Alexander12771281
Andrey III1255–1304Son of St. Alexander1281December 1283
Dmitry of Pereslavl1250–1294Son of St. AlexanderDecember 12831293
Andrey III1255–1304Son of St. Alexander12931304
Saint Michael of Tver1271–1318Son of Yaroslav IIIAutumn 130422 November 1318
Yuri of Moscow1281–1325Grandson of St. Alexander13182 November 1322
Dmitry I the Terrible Eyes1299–1326Son of St. Michael132215 September 1326
Alexander of Tver1281–1339Son of St. Michael13261327
:ru:Александр Васильевич|Alexander III?–1331Grandson of Andrey II13281331
Ivan I of Moscow Kalita1288–1340Grandson of St. Alexander133231 March 1340

Since 1332 the title of the Grand Princes of Vladimir passed to the Grand Dukes of Moscow.