Editing Ivan II of Moscow

{{Short description|Prince of Moscow from 1353 to 1359}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name           = Ivan II the Fair
|image          = Ivan krasniy titularnik.jpg
|caption        = Portrait in the ''[[Tsarskiy titulyarnik]]'' (1672)
|reign          = 27 April 1353 – 13 November 1359
|succession     = [[Prince of Moscow]]
|predecessor    = [[Simeon of Moscow|Simeon I]]
|successor      = [[Dmitri Donskoi|Dmitri I]]
|spouse         = Fedosia of Bryansk<br/>[[Alexandra Vasilyevna Velyaminova|Alexandra Velyaminova]]
|issue          = [[Dmitri Donskoi]]
|issue-link = #Marriages and children
|issue-pipe = more...
|house          = [[Rurikids|Rurik]]
|house-type     = Dynasty
|father         = [[Ivan I of Moscow]]
|mother         = Helena
|birth_date     = 30 March 1326
|birth_place    = [[Moscow]]
|death_date     = {{Death date and age|1359|11|13|1326|3|30|df=y}}
|death_place    = [[Moscow]]
|burial_date =
|burial_place= [[Cathedral of the Archangel Michael|Principality of Moscow]]
|religion       = [[Russian Orthodoxy|Russian Orthodox]]
}}
'''Ivan II Ivanovich the Fair''' ({{langx|ru|Иван II Иванович Красный|Ivan II Ivanovich Krasnyy}}; 30 March 1326 – 13 November 1359) was [[Prince of Moscow]] and [[Grand Prince of Vladimir]] from 1353 to 1359. Until that date, he had ruled the towns of [[Ruza, Ruzsky District, Moscow Oblast|Ruza]] and [[Zvenigorod]]. He was the second son of [[Ivan Kalita]], and succeeded his brother [[Semeon of Russia|Simeon the Proud]], who died of the [[Black Death]].

==Reign==
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 [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], a growing power in the west. This policy was quickly abandoned and Ivan asserted his allegiance to the Golden Horde.<ref>{{cite book | title=Medieval Russia, 980–1584 | author=Janet Martin| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]| year=1995| isbn= 0-521-36832-4}}</ref>

Contemporaries described Ivan as a pacific, apathetic ruler, who didn't flinch even when [[Algirdas|Algirdas of Lithuania]] captured his father-in-law's capital, [[Bryansk]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Alfred Rambaud, Edgar Saltus |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_N0UhpH1Lh9wC |title=Russia |publisher=P. F. Collier & Son |year=1902 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_N0UhpH1Lh9wC/page/n152 146], 147}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=N0UhpH1Lh9wC&pg=PR3&dq=Alfred+Rambaud,+Edgar+Saltus]</ref> He also allowed Oleg of [[Riazan]] to burn villages on his territory. However, [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] churchmen aided in consolidating the power of the Prince of Moscow. He received much aid from the capable [[Metropolitan Alexius]]. Like his brother, Ivan II was not as successful as his father or grandfather with regard to territorial expansion. Nevertheless, he was able to annex areas southwest of [[Moscow]], including the areas of [[Borovsk]], and [[Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast|Vereya]].

He is buried in the [[Cathedral of the Archangel Michael]] in [[Moscow]].

==Family==
Ivan was born on 30 March 1326 in [[Moscow]], the seventh child and third son of [[Ivan I of Moscow]] and his wife, Helena.

Ivan was married twice. In 1341, Ivan married his first wife Fedosia Dmitrievna of [[Bryansk]]. She was a daughter of Dmitry Romanovich, Prince of Bryansk. She died childless in autumn 1342.

Ivan remained a widower for three years. In 1345, Ivan married his second wife, Alexandra Vassilievna Velyaminova. She was a daughter of Vasily Velyaminov, a [[mayor]] of Moscow. They had at least four children:

* [[Dmitry Donskoy]] (12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389). His successor as [[Prince of Moscow]].
* A daughter<!--neither Anna nor Liuba, both names are fake--> married Prince [[Bobrok]] of [[Volhynia]].
* Ivan Ivanovich, Prince of [[Zvenigorod]] (c. 1356 – October 1364).
* Maria Ivanovna.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Ivan | volume= 15 |last= Bain |first= Robert Nisbet |author-link= Robert Nisbet Bain| pages = 87&ndash;91 |short= 1 }}

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{{succession box|title=[[Prince of Moscow]]|before=[[Simeon of Moscow|Simeon]]|after=[[Dmitriy Donskoy]]|years=1353–1359}}
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{{Russian sovereigns}}

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[[Category:1326 births]]
[[Category:1359 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century grand princes of Moscow]]
[[Category:Grand princes of Vladimir]]
[[Category:Daniilovichi family]]