Yury of Zvenigorod | |
---|---|
Grand Prince of Moscow | |
Predecessor | Vasily II |
Successor | Vasily Kosoy |
Born |
Pereslavl, Grand Duchy of Moscow |
26 November 1374
Died | 5 June 1434 | (aged 59)
Burial | Cathedral of the Archangel, Moscow Kremlin |
Consort | Anastasya Yurievna |
Issue |
Vasily Kosoy Dmitry Shemyaka Dmitry Krasny |
Dynasty | Rurik |
Father | Dmitry Donskoy |
Mother | Eudoxia Dmitriyevna |
Religion | Russian Orthodox |
Yury Dmitrievich (26 November 1374, Pereslavl-Zalessky — 5 June 1434), also known as George II of Moscow, Yury of Zvenigorod and Jurij Zwenihorodski, was the second son of Dmitri Donskoi. He was the Duke of Zvenigorod and Galich from 1389 until his death. During the reign of his brother Vasily I, he took part in the campaigns against Torzhok (1392), Zhukotin (1414), and Novgorod (1417). He was the chief orchestrator of the Muscovite Civil War against his nephew, Vasily II, in the course of which he twice took Moscow, in 1433 and 1434.
By his wife, Anastasia, the daughter of Yury of Smolensk, Yury had three sons — Vasily Kosoy, Dmitry Shemyaka, and Dmitry Krasny. The marriage to Anastasia made him the brother-in-law of Švitrigaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania.
At his father's death, Yury received in appanage the towns of Zvenigorod, Ruza, and Galich.
Upon his brother's death, Yury immediately asserted his claim to the throne of Muscovy against that of Vasily's son, Vasily II. He referenced the old house law of the House of Rurik, whereby the senior throne in the dynasty passed from brother to brother, rather than from father to son. He also interpreted in his favour the testament of Dmitri Donskoi, written at the time when Vasily had been unmarried and childless.