The Grand Principality of Vladimir, often called Vladimir-Suzdal, was the leading Russian state of the north-east in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, ruling the forested lands between the upper Volga and the Oka. It took shape as Kievan Rus' broke apart, drew power away from Kiev under ambitious princes of the Monomakh line, and after the Mongol conquest became the prize over which Moscow and Tver competed. Its territory later formed the heart of the Russian state. Our 1200 map labels it the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal.
Rostov and Suzdal
The region first appears in the chronicles under the year 988, when Vladimir I of Kiev gave Rostov to his son Yaroslav. For a century it was a remote, junior possession. Vladimir Monomakh is credited with founding the town of Vladimir in 1108, and his younger son Yuri, nicknamed Dolgorukiy, "the long arm", moved his seat from Rostov to Suzdal after his father's death in 1125. Yuri founded new towns, including Moscow, first mentioned in 1147, defended his lands against Volga Bulgaria and repeatedly fought for Kiev itself, holding it at his death in 1157.
Andrey Bogolyubsky and the move to Vladimir
Yuri's son Andrey made Vladimir his capital and built a residence at nearby Bogolyubovo. He saw his own lands, not Kiev, as the centre of power: when his forces sacked Kiev in 1169 he placed his brother there and continued to rule from Vladimir. Seeking to be sole master of the Suzdal land, he drove out several brothers, nephews and senior boyars, and promoted the cult of the icon later known as the Virgin of Vladimir. Discontented nobles murdered him in 1174.
Vsevolod III and his sons
After a struggle with the boyars, Andrey's brother Vsevolod III won the throne and enjoyed a long and expansive reign, founding towns such as Kostroma and Ustyug and claiming seniority over all the Russian land. He is often named as the first ruler to use the title of grand prince. His death in 1212 set his sons against one another, and Konstantin divided the realm into new appanages before his brother Yury II restored Vladimir's primacy in 1218, defeated the Volga Bulgars in 1220 and founded Nizhny Novgorod the following year.
White-stone churches
Andrey invited architects from abroad, and the churches of Vladimir-Suzdal combined the Byzantine cross-in-square plan with carved white limestone in a manner reminiscent of Romanesque Europe. The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl became one of the best-known examples. Moscow's builders later took over both the technique and the four-pillared cathedral type.
Under the Mongols
The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' in 1237–1238 devastated the principality, and Yury II was killed. The surviving princes submitted, and grand princes were thereafter confirmed by the khans, later those of the Golden Horde; Alexander Nevsky travelled as far as Karakorum to be installed and was the last to reign directly in Vladimir. The principality split into about a dozen appanages whose rulers competed for the grand-princely title.
Absorbed by Moscow
Moscow, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod contended for the title, and the winners preferred to stay in their own cities. The metropolitan moved his seat from Vladimir to Moscow in the 1320s, and from 1331 the prince of Moscow was usually also grand prince of Vladimir. By 1389 the two thrones were permanently joined, and Vladimir's legacy passed to the Grand Principality of Moscow, whose rulers kept "Vladimir" in their titles until 1917.
On our maps
Our 1200 map shows the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal in north-eastern Rus', with the Principality of Novgorod to the north-west, Volga Bulgaria to the east and the Cuman steppe to the south.
From the atlas
Grand Principality of Vladimir on our maps
Borders of Time draws Grand Principality of Vladimir on one of its 54 world maps, the one for 1200 CE. There it covers about 320,000 km² (124,000 sq mi), roughly the size of Italy today.
On that map it borders the Bulgar Khanate, the Cuman Khanates and Novgorod.
On the map before it appears (1100 CE), the same area belongs to Kievan Rus. On the map after its last appearance (1279 CE), it belongs to the Rus' principalities.
Measured from the historical-basemaps snapshots this atlas uses. Borders in those maps are approximate, especially for early periods.
Quick answers
- When did Grand Principality of Vladimir exist?
- From 1125 to 1389, about 260 years. The atlas draws it on its maps for 1200.
- Where was Grand Principality of Vladimir?
- At its largest, on the 1200 map, its land lies in today’s Russia (100%). On that map it borders the Bulgar Khanate, the Cuman Khanates and Novgorod.
- What was the capital of Grand Principality of Vladimir?
- Its capitals over time included Rostov Veliky, Suzdal and Vladimir.
- How big was Grand Principality of Vladimir?
- Grand Principality of Vladimir was largest on the 1200 map, at about 320,000 km² (124,000 sq mi).