Ivan II Ivanovich the Fair (Иван II Иванович Красный in Russian) (March 30, 1326 – November 13, 1359) was the second son of Ivan Kalita who succeeded his brother Simeon the Proud, who died of the Black Death, as Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1353. Until that date, he had ruled the towns of Ruza and Zvenigorod. Upon succeeding his brother and because of increased civil strife among the Golden Horde, Ivan briefly toyed with the idea of abandoning traditional Moscow allegiance to the Mongols and allying himself with Lithuania, a growing power in the west. This policy was quickly abandoned and Ivan asserted his allegiance to the Golden Horde.[1] Contemporaries described Ivan as an pacific, apathetic ruler, who didn't flinch even when Algirdas of Lithuania captured his father-in-law's capital, Bryansk.[2] He also allowed Oleg of Riazan to burn villages on his territory. However, Orthodox churchmen aided consolidating the power of the Grand Prince. He received much aid from the capable Metropolitan Alexius. Like his brother, Ivan II was not as successful as his father or grandfather with regards to territorial expansion. Nevertheless, he was able to annex areas southwest of Moscow, including the areas of Borovsk, and Vereya. Ivan was married twice, and by his second wife Alexandra Ivanovna Velyaminova, daughter of a Moscow mayor, he had several children including Dmitri Donskoi who succeeded him. He is buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in Moscow.
References
- ^ Janet Martin (1995). Medieval Russia, 980-1584. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521368324.
- ^ Alfred Rambaud, Edgar Saltus (1902). Russia. P. F. Collier & Son, 146, 147. [1]
| Preceded by Simeon |
Grand Prince of Moscow 1353–1359 |
Succeeded by Dmitri Donskoi |
