Russian Principalities, 988-1240 Republic of Novgorod, 13th/14th century






Subject Russian Principalities :
The Apanage Period, 1240-1380



The Tatars were content with directly ruling the steppe lands of southern Russia and the Volga valley and left the administration of Russia's principalities to the princes, who were to pay tribute to the Khan in Sarai, to provide troops, to follow the Khan's orders and not to cause trouble. Disputes over the succession to the throne were to be settled by the Khan. Tatar observers were sent to the courts of the Russian princes, to report about the loyalty of the respective prince.
This period is called the APANAGE PERIOD in Russian history. The Russian constitution was left intact. Kiev still was regarded the most prestigious of Russia's principalities, but in fact the ties between the principalities loosened. Late in the 13th century, Kiev's nominal supremacy was challenged by other princes, the princes of Twer (1294), Vladimir (1304), Moscow (1325) also claiming the title of Grand Prince.
Tatar policy was to respect the church; church lands were not taxed. A consequence was that the church was able to expand it's landholdings, land often being formally transferred to the church so that the owner could avoid taxation.
In 1380, DMITRY DONSKOY refused to pay taxes to the Tatars and, in the ensuing BATTLE OF KULIKOVO, emerged victorious. This event marks the end of the apanage period.


Kievan Rus' Rulers of the Rurikid Dynasty, 1240-1304
1238-1246
1246-1249
1249-1252
1252-1263
1263-1271
1271-1277
1277-1281
1281-1283
1283-1293
1293-1304 		Yaroslav
Swyatoslav
Andrey
Alexander Nevskij
Yaroslav
Vassily
Dmitry
Andrey
Dmitry (2nd time)
Andrey (2nd time)




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Chronology of Russian History, Kievan and Apanage Periods, from bucknell, linked detailed timetable
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Kievan Rus, in : John Channon and Robert Hudson, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia, London : Penguin 1995, pp.22-23


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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