Background
By his wife, Anastasia, the daughter of Yury of Smolensk, Yury had three sons — Vasily Kosoy, Dmitry Shemyaka, and Dmitry Krasny. At his father"s death, Yury received in appanage the towns of Zvenigorod, Ruza, and Galich.
By his wife, Anastasia, the daughter of Yury of Smolensk, Yury had three sons — Vasily Kosoy, Dmitry Shemyaka, and Dmitry Krasny. At his father"s death, Yury received in appanage the towns of Zvenigorod, Ruza, and Galich.
He was the Duke of Zvenigorod and Galich from 1389 until his death. The marriage to Anastasia made him the brother-in-law of Švitrigaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Upon his brother"s death, Yury immediately asserted his claim to the throne of Muscovy against that of Vasily"s son, Vasily World War 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.
The Khan supported the claim of Vasily II, but allowed Yury to take the appanage of his deceased younger brother, Peter of Dmitrov. This decision did not fully satisfy Vasily, who took Dmitrov by force and expelled Yury"s governor from the town in 1432.
In response, Yury rallied his forces and advanced on Pereslavl-Zalessky. Vasily II was defeated on the bank of the Klyazma River and fled to Kostroma.
After that, Yury entered Moscow in triumph and proclaimed himself Grand Duke.
This show of magnanimity cost him dearly, as scores of Muscovite boyars and noblemen fled to Vasily"s court in Kolomna. Vasily returned to Moscow, while Yury withdrew to Galich. The following year, Kosoy and Shemyaka defeated Vasily II on the banks of the Kus River.
The grand prince was informed that Yury"s troops had been seen among his enemies and decided to punish him for this treachery.
In winter 1434, he set Galich ablaze, but Yury had escaped northward to Belozersk. Vasily"s army was roundly defeated and he sought refuge in Nizhny Novgorod.
On 31 March 1434, on the Bright Week Wednesday, Yury again entered Moscow, where he captured Vasily"s family and treasury.