Editing Vasily I of Moscow (section)

==Reign==
[[Image:Vitovt.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Vasily I visiting his father-in-law, [[Vytautas the Great]].]]

While still a young man, Vasily, who was the eldest son of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy (ruled Moscow 1359–89), travelled to the Tatar khan Tokhtamysh (1383) to obtain the Khan's ''[[yarlik]]'' (patent) for his father for the title of grand prince of Vladimir. Diplomatically overcoming the challenge of the prince of Tver, who also sought the patent, Vasily succeeded in his mission. But he was subsequently kept at [[Tokhtamysh]]'s court as a hostage until 1386 when, taking advantage of Tokhtamysh's conflict with his suzerain Timur Lenk ([[Tamerlane]]), he escaped and returned to Moscow.<ref>Vasily I. (2017). Britannica Online Academic Edition, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc</ref>

With Tokhtamysh's permission, Vasily I took over [[Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal]] in 1393.{{sfn|Halperin|1987|p=75}} Nizhny Novgorod was given to Vasily by the Khan of the Golden Horde in exchange for the help Moscow had given against one of his rivals.<ref>Richard Pipes, Russia under the old regime, p. 80</ref> He also took [[Murom]].{{cn|date=May 2023}} In 1397–1398 [[Kaluga]], [[Vologda]], [[Veliki Ustyug]] and the lands of the [[Komi peoples]] were annexed.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

To prevent Muscovy from being attacked by the [[Golden Horde]], Vasily I entered into an [[military alliance|alliance]] with the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in 1392 and married [[Sophia of Lithuania]], the only daughter of [[Vytautas the Great]]. The alliance turned out to be fragile, and they waged war against each other in 1406–1408. Vytautas had positioned himself as an unifier of all Rus’ lands, the Polish historian [[Feliks Koneczny|Koneczny]] spoke of the potentiality "that could have been realised had the program of the subjugation of all of Rus’ been implemented". Furthermore, he saw the potentiality of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] becoming an empire by virtue of all of Rus’ being under Lithuanian domination.<ref>An Unproclaimed Empire: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Norkus, Zenonas pg. 50</ref> Vytautas, thus attacked Novgorod and Pskov, clashing with his son-in-law Vasily but later making peace. This peace allowed Vytautas to strike against the Teutonic order at the [[Battle of Grunwald]]. However, the terms of the [[Union of Horodlo]] negotiated by Polish King [[Jogaila]], which discriminated against Orthodox Christians, caused Lithuania to lose its influence over the Russian states.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marat Shaikhutdinov |title=Between East and West: The Formation of the Moscow State |date=2021 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |isbn=9781644697139 |pages=114–117}}</ref>

Mongol emir [[Timur]] raided the Slavic lands in 1395; he ruined the [[Volga region]] but did not penetrate as far as [[Moscow]]. Timur's raid was of service to the Muscovite prince as it damaged the [[Golden Horde]], which for the next twelve years was in a state of anarchy. During the whole of this time no tribute was paid to the [[Khan (title)|khan]], [[Olug Moxammat]], though vast sums of money were collected in the Moscow treasury for military purposes.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Basil (Muscovy)|display=Basil s.v. Basil I. Dmitrevich |volume=3|page=468|first=Robert Nisbet|last=Bain|author-link=Robert Nisbet Bain}}</ref>

In 1408 [[Edigu]] burnt [[Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Gorodets]], [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]], and many other towns but failed to take [[Moscow]], though he had still burnt it. In 1412, however, Vasily found it necessary to pay the long-deferred visit of submission to the Horde.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The growing influence of Moscow abroad was underlined by the fact that Vasily married his daughter Anna to Emperor [[John VIII Palaeologus]] of [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|Byzantium]].{{cn|date=May 2023}}