Northern Eurasia · The medieval principalities
Nizhny Novgorod
1341–1392
The Principality (Grand Principality) of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal was established in 1341, when, on the death of Özbeg (Uzbek) Khan and the Muscovite grand prince Ivan Kalita, Konstantin Vasilievich of Suzdal obtained a patent from the Golden Horde granting him Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. In 1350 Konstantin moved his seat from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod and assumed the title of grand prince.
- Existed
- 1341–1392
- Shown on the map
- 1294–1394
- Peak area
- 5k km²
- Region
- Northern Eurasia
Name and founding
The Principality (Grand Principality) of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal was established in 1341, when, on the death of Özbeg (Uzbek) Khan and the Muscovite grand prince Ivan Kalita, Konstantin Vasilievich of Suzdal obtained a patent from the Golden Horde granting him Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. In 1350 Konstantin moved his seat from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod and assumed the title of grand prince. Its capital was thus Suzdal (1341–1350), then Nizhny Novgorod (1350–1392).
Territory and rulers
It occupied lands along the middle Volga from the Unzha to the Sura, the lower Oka, and the Klyazma, with centers at Suzdal, Yuryevets, and Gorodets. Rulers included Konstantin (1341–1355), Andrei, and above all Dmitry of Suzdal, who from 1360 to 1363 held the throne of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, briefly breaking the Muscovite line. The final grand prince was Boris Konstantinovich (1383–1392, d. 1394).
Rivalry and fall
In the mid-fourteenth century, Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal replaced Tver as Moscow's chief potential rival. A dispute between brothers Dmitry and Boris was famously mediated by St. Sergius of Radonezh. In 1392, the Muscovite grand prince Vasily I captured Nizhny Novgorod, having obtained the Horde's patent; the principality's territories were only fully and permanently absorbed by Moscow by the mid-fifteenth century (its last flickers of separate existence recur in 1393, 1411–1414, 1425, and 1446–1447).
Common questions
- What was Nizhny Novgorod?
- The Principality (Grand Principality) of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal was established in 1341, when, on the death of Özbeg (Uzbek) Khan and the Muscovite grand prince Ivan Kalita, Konstantin Vasilievich of Suzdal obtained a patent from the Golden Horde granting him Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets. In 1350 Konstantin moved his seat from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod and assumed the title of grand prince.
- When did Nizhny Novgorod exist?
- Nizhny Novgorod existed 1341–1392. On this map it is drawn 1294–1394.
- How large was Nizhny Novgorod?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Nizhny Novgorod covered about 5,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- Where was Nizhny Novgorod?
- It occupied lands along the middle Volga from the Unzha to the Sura, the lower Oka, and the Klyazma, with centers at Suzdal, Yuryevets, and Gorodets. Rulers included Konstantin (1341–1355), Andrei, and above all Dmitry of Suzdal, who from 1360 to 1363 held the throne of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, briefly breaking the Muscovite line.
- How did Nizhny Novgorod end?
- In the mid-fourteenth century, Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal replaced Tver as Moscow's chief potential rival. A dispute between brothers Dmitry and Boris was famously mediated by St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity, ruler and battle as the basis of these profiles, cross-checked against Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Russian History, and against the scholarship of Janet Martin, Charles Halperin, Serhii Plokhy, Simon Franklin and Krivosheev. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Nizhny_Novgorod-Suzdal
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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