Principality of Kursk

The Kursk principality, a principality that existed in the XI - XIII centuries during feudal disunity in Russia , was located on the eastern outskirts of the Novgorod-Seversky principality. The center of the principality was the city of Kursk (Kuresk).

History
Most historians refer to the origin of the prince's table in Kursk by 1094 - 1095, when the son of Vladimir Monomakh Izyaslav became Kursk prince. Some researchers believe that the princely table originated in Kursk in an earlier period - in 1077 or 1068.

In the first half of the 12th century, the struggle between the Olgovichi and the Monomakhs was fought for Kursk and the Seminary. Due to this, until the middle of the 12th century the princes were present in the Kursk volatile. Most of the time the power in Kursk belonged to the princes' posadniks. The princes ruled in Kursk in 1127 - 1129, 1136 - 1139 , 1146 - 1149 years. Obliged in 1127 in violation of the hereditary rights of his uncle Chernigov Vsevolod Olgovichwas forced to give the Kursk with the Seven Prince of Kiev Mstislav the Great, in order to avoid his interference. In the middle of the 1130s, thanks to the conflict between the younger Monomakh and Mstislavichi, Vsevolod managed to return Kursk: what our father kept under your father, the same we want. Only at the beginning of the 1160s the Kursk principality finally formed and the Kursk princely table became permanent. Kursk principality was one of the destinies of the Novgorod-Seversky principality, which was under the rule of the Olgovichi.

In 1183 - 1185 Kursk prince Vsevolod Svyatoslavich with his retinue participated in the campaigns of his brother, the Novgorod-northern prince Igor Svyatoslavich, on the Polovtsians. The unsuccessful campaign of Prince Igor in May 1185 devoted to " The Lay of Igor's Host ".

At the beginning of the 13th century, after the Chernigov congress of princes (1206) and the loss of Galich and Volhynia (1211), the Kursk principality may have remained the chief possession of Svyatoslavich. Prince Oleg Kursky, a participant in the Battle of Kalka in 1226, entered the struggle against Mikhail Vsevolodovich with the aim, according to L.Vojtovich, to change the decision of the Chernigov Congress. However, Mikhail won with the help of troops Vladimir-Suzdal Prince Yuri. In reconciliation of the warring parties, Metropolitan Kirill, who was sent by Prince Vladimir Ryurikovich of Kiev, took part.

During the Mongol invasion of Russia, Kursk was destroyed by Batu's troops in 1239, but the Kursk principality continued to exist. The names of the last Kursk princes are known from the Lubetsk Synodic (the exact years of rule are unknown). The last Kursk prince was Vasily Dmitrievich, killed by the Tatars. Some historians attribute this event to 1275, when the Kursk land was devastated by the Tatar army returning from the campaign to Lithuania.

With the death of Basil Kursk princely dynasty stopped. Kursk princely table ceased to exist, although the principality itself continued to be called "Kursk" for some time. In particular, the Nikon chronicle mentions the tempter Akhmat, the son of Temir, who about 1283 bought from the Crimean Tatars the right to collect tribute and "made a great burden to all people in the Kursk reign." According to the Laurentian Chronicle, the Ryll and Vrgol princes Oleg and Lypovichsky prince Svyatoslav spoke against Akhmat , the Kursk princes are not mentioned in the annals anymore.

Literature

 * Kursk Principality // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 ext.). - St. Petersburg., 1890-1907.
 * Razdorsky AI Ownership of the Kursk Principality in the XI-XIII centuries.  // Sketches of feudal Russia . - M., 1998. - Issue. 2 . - P. 3-21.
 * Razdorsky AI Princes, governors and governors of the Kursk region XI-XVIII centuries . - Курск: Регион-Пресс, 2004. - 125 с. - ISBN 5-86354-067-2.
 * Kursk region in the history of the Fatherland / Ed. L.S. Polner. - Kursk: Kursk State Technical University, 1996. - ISBN 5-230-06857-4.
 * Presnyakov AE Princely right in Ancient Russia. Lectures on Russian history. Kievan Rus - Moscow: Nauka, 1993. ISBN 5-02-009526-5.