Battle of Bortenevo (1317)

The Battle of Bortenevo - a battle that took place on December 22, 1317 near the village of Bortenevo, in which the Prince of Tver Mikhail Yaroslavich defeated the united army of Moscow Prince Yuri Danilovich and the temnik of the Golden Horde Kavgady, invading the borders of the principality of Tver. In this battle, the Tverichs captured the wife of Prince Yuri Danilovich (the sister of the Horde Khan Uzbek Konchak ) and the brother of Prince Boris.

Background
After the death in 1304 of the previous grand duke, Andrei Aleksandrovich, Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver and Yuri Danilovich of Mosvcow claimed the grand duke’s jarlig issued by the khan of the Golden Horde, who, according to the law of succession of the throne, did not have any rights to the grand throne, Grand Prince's throne. They went to the Horde to Khan Tokhta, who appointed Mikhail Tversky the Grand Duke. Upon his return from the Horde in 1305, Mikhail went with the army to Moscow, but failed to take it.

Michael became the first prince[ source not specified 1378 days ], which was entrusted to collect a tribute to the Horde from that part of Russia , which was subject to the Grand Duke of Vladimir (except for the Ryazan principality ). The new Horde ruler, Uzbek Khan, in 1315 confirmed the rights of Mikhail, who returned with the Tatar army and defeated the people of Novgorod. Novgorod sent ambassadors to the Horde to complain about Michael, but the Tverches caught them along the way.

Yuri Danilovich in 1317 married the sister of Khan, Konchake, who had adopted Orthodoxy, and achieved for himself a great reign. He brought the Horde army with him under the command of the commander Kavgady. Under Kostroma Mikhail Yaroslavich lost the great reign to Yuri Danilovich without a fight. But soon Yuri Danilovich convinced Kavgady to invade the land of Tver. By order of Kavgady, the Novgorod army also came to fight with Tver. Under Torzhkom, the Novgorod army was defeated by Mikhail of Tver, after which Mikhail moved against the Muscovites.

Battle
The event of December 22, 1317 occurred on the territory of the modern Stepurinsky rural settlement of Staritsa Rayon, Tver Oblast of the Tver region, near the village of Balashutino, near the former village of Bortenevo, near the Ostraganets (Strogananets) stream, which flows into the Shoshu river.

The allies of Prince Yuri Danilovich were Novgorod. To connect with them, Yuri and Kavgadiy rushed to the ford through the Volga (in the Staritsa region ). Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskaya led the army to the present Ivanishch, and then, preempting Yuri, went east to the Tatarko area. A meeting of the two parties took place here, in the bend of the Shoshi River, near the Ostraganets creek.

" And there was a battle of the great and slashing evil, and helped God Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, and ran the Grand Prince Yury of Moscow Moscow ... And Kavgady commanded friendly their banners povreschi and unwillingly he ran into the camp " - the passage from the "patriarchal chronicle" imprinted on granite stone memorial "Bortenevskaya battle"[ source not specified 1107 days ]

Results As a result of the battle, the Tver army captured the wife and brother of the Moscow prince. Kavdagy himself surrendered to Michael the next day. Kavdagy and his people said to Michael: “ We are yours now; and we came to you with Prince Yuri without the command of the khan, and we are to blame for that, and we are afraid of opals from the sovereign, that this is what they did and shed much blood.

In the Horde, they did not forgive the shame of the prince of Tver, the fact that the wife of Yuri (Uzbek's sister) died in captivity in Tver played a role. The following 1318, Mikhail Yaroslavich was summoned to the Horde. Khan's court was held, after which the prince was imprisoned in pads. A month later, Mikhail Tverskoy was killed by the people of Yuri Danilovich and Kavgady. The prince knew that death was waiting for him in the Horde, and nevertheless preferred to voluntarily go to death, thereby saving the lives of thousands of his subjects in Tver land.

Memory Bortenevskoe field is located 30 km south-east of Staritsa. This is one of the most revered places of the Tver region.

Until 1917, a chapel stood on the edge of the village of Bortenevo, a thanksgiving prayer service in honor of the victory of Michael of Tver in the Battle of Bortenev was served. Now a memorial complex has been created at the battle site: a memorial granite cross has been erected and the chapel of Michael of Tver has been recreated.

In the village of Stepurino, Staritsky District, Tver Region, near the site of the Bortenevo Battle, a museum of St. Michael of Tver is being created, and the anniversary of this battle will be an annual inter-regional holiday.

Литература

 * Татищев В. Н. История российская: В 5 Ч.-М.: Адепт, 2003. Часть третья.
 * Соловьёв С. М. История России с древнейших времён. Глава 5 // Сочинения: В 18 кн. — М.: Голос; Колокол-Пресс, 1993—1998.
 * Пономарев Г.Н. Бортеневская битва. Мифы и реалии / Георгий Пономарев. - Тверь : Людмила Юга, 2007. - 125 с. : ил., карт., фот. Библиогр.: с. 119-125. - ISBN: 978-5-903535-05-7

Ссылки

 * www.staritsa-pilgrim.ru Бортеневская битва