Editing Simeon of Moscow

{{Short description|Russian ruler (1317–1353)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Simeon the Proud
| title        = 
| image        = Simeon Dumny.jpg
| image_size   = 200px
| caption      = 
| reign1       = 31 March 1340 – 27 April 1353
| coronation1  = 31 March 1340
| succession1  = [[List of Russian rulers#Grand Princes of Moscow|Prince of Moscow]]
| predecessor1 = [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]]
| successor1   = [[Ivan II of Moscow|Ivan II]]
| reign        = 31 March 1340 – 27 April 1353
| coronation   = 31 March 1340
| succession   = [[List of Russian rulers#Grand Princes of Moscow|Grand Prince of Vladimir]]
| predecessor  = [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]]
| successor    = [[Ivan II of Moscow|Ivan II]]
| spouse       = [[Aigusta Anastasia of Lithuania]]<br />Eupraxia of Smolensk<br>Maria of Tver
| spouse-type  = [[List of Russian consorts|Consort]]
| issue        = 8
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[Rurikids|Rurik]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Ivan I of Moscow]]
| mother       = Helena
| birth_date   = 7 September 1317
| birth_place  = [[Moscow]], [[Duchy of Moscow]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1353|4|27|1317|9|7|df=y}}
| death_place  = Moscow, Duchy of Moscow
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Cathedral of the Archangel]]
| religion     = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]
}}

'''Simeon Ivanovich''' ({{langx|ru|Симеон Иванович}}; 7 September 1317 – 27 April 1353), also known as '''Semyon Ivanovich''' ({{langx|ru|Семён Иванович}}), nicknamed '''the Proud''' ({{langx|ru|Гордый|Gordy}}), was [[List of Russian rulers#Grand Princes of Moscow|Prince of Moscow]] and [[Grand Prince of Vladimir]] from 1340 to 1353.

The son of [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]], Simeon continued his father's policies to increase the power and prestige of his state. Simeon's rule was marked by regular military and political standoffs against the [[Novgorod Republic]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. His relationships with neighboring Russian principalities remained peaceful if not passive: Simeon stayed aside from conflicts between subordinate princes.<ref name=K1353/> He had recourse to war only when war was unavoidable.<ref name=C339/> His reign marked a relatively quiet period for Moscow ended by the [[Black Death]] that claimed the lives of Simeon and his sons in 1353.

==Biography==
In 1340 Simeon, the eldest son of [[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan Kalita]], was stationed in [[Nizhny Novgorod]]. Upon receiving news of his father's death, Simeon and his brothers Andrey and [[Ivan II of Moscow|Ivan]] left for the [[Golden Horde]] to seek [[Uzbeg Khan]]'s patent (''yarlyk'') for taking over the title of Grand Prince. Rivals [[Konstantin of Tver]] and [[Konstantin of Suzdal]] also paid their homage to the Khan, claiming seniority over Moscow princes.<ref name=C336>Curtin, p. 336</ref> Simeon won the patent through bribing the Khan's retinue;<ref name=K1340>Karamzin, ''1340''</ref> princes of [[Tver]] and [[Suzdal]] had to agree to his seniority; Uzbeq also extended his benevolence to Simeon's issue.<ref name=C336/> He was also granted the ceremonial title {{lang|grc-Latn|epi trapezes offikios}} ({{Langx|grc|ὁ ἐπί τραπέζης ὀφφίκιος}}) by the [[Byzantine Empire]],<ref>[http://www.krotov.info/library/k/kartash/kart102.html Anton Kartashev. History of the Russian church]</ref> which can be loosely translated as [[seneschal]] or [[stolnik]].

Also in 1340, Simeon engaged in his first military standoff with [[Veliky Novgorod]]. Simeon claimed his right to collect taxes in the Novgorodian town of [[Torzhok]]. Torzhok [[boyars]] locked up Simeon's tax collectors and called for help from Novgorod. Simeon and metropolitan [[Theognostus]] hastily organized a coalition of princes against Novgorod, claiming that "They [Novgorodians] make war and peace with whomever they please, consulting no one. Novgorod regards not all Russia, and will not obey her Grand Prince", referring to Novgorod incursions into [[Ustyuzhna]] and [[Belozersk|Beloe Ozero]].<ref name=C337>Curtin, p. 337</ref> As the coalition forces approached Novgorodian lands, the people of Torzhok revolted against the boyars and sided with Muscovite troops. [[Novgorod Republic]] accepted the fact and ceded all taxes from Torzhok area, estimated at 1,000 roubles in silver annually, to Simeon who agreed to honor the existing [[Novgorod Republic#Government|civic charter]].<ref name=K1340>Karamzin, ''1340''</ref>

In 1341, shortly after the dismissal of the Muscovite coalition army, [[Algirdas]] (then prince of [[Vitebsk]], allied with prince of [[Smolensk]]) besieged [[Mozhaysk]]. News of the death of [[Gediminas]] forced Algirdas to quit the campaign before Simeon could arrange a military response.<ref name=K1341>Karamzin, ''1341''</ref> [[Uzbeg Khan]], Simeon's sovereign, died soon afterwards; his successor, [[Jani Beg]], secured the control of the Horde through killing his brothers. Simeon and Theognostus had to travel to the Horde again. Jani Beg reassured Simeon in his rights and let him go, but kept Theognostus hostage to extort money from the church; eventually, Theognostus was released for 600 roubles.<ref name=K1342>Karamzin, ''1342''</ref>

In 1333, Simeon married Aigusta (Anastasia), sister of Algirdas.<ref name="Dmytryshyn">Basil Dmytryshyn, ''Medieval Russia:A source book, 850-1700'', (Academic International Press, 2000), 193.</ref> After her death in 1345, Simeon married Eupraxia of Smolensk, but soon sent her back to her family, claiming that Eupraxia was cursed since wedding and "appears to be dead each night". Eupraxia remarried Prince Fominsky, and Simeon married Maria of Tver; their four sons died in infancy.<ref name=K1353>Karamzin, ''1353''</ref>

Throughout the 1340s Lithuanian and Swedish military campaigns and internal political disarray decreased the influence of the Novgorod Republic. Simeon, whose title of Grand Prince obliged him to protect Novgorod, was reluctant to do so, as if expecting the weakened republic to collapse for his own benefit. In 1347, when Novgorodians called for help against the Swedes, Simeon dispatched his brother Ivan and [[Constantine of Rostov]]; the envoys refused to fight for the Novgorodians.<ref name=K1347>Karamzin, ''1347''</ref> Simeon himself was busy with offsetting the Lithuanians' influence in the Horde, meanwhile harboring two renegade Lithuanian princes as potential claimants to the Lithuanian crown.<ref name=C338>Curtin, p. 338</ref> He manipulated Jani Beg into believing that increasing Lithuanian influence had become the most important threat to the Horde.<ref name=C339>Curtin, p. 339</ref> Jani Beg eventually concurred with Simeon's envoys (of Mongolian ethnicity)<ref name=C339/> and [[Extradition|extradited]] Lithuanian envoys to Simeon's mercy. Simeon preferred to sign a truce with Algirdas, releasing the prisoners and securing marriages between Lithuanian princes and Russian brides. The marriage of [[Paganism|pagan]] Algirdas to Orthodox [[Uliana of Tver]], unlawful from the viewpoint of the church, was nevertheless approved by Theognostus; it gave birth to [[Jogaila]].<ref name=K1349>Karamzin, ''1349''</ref>

In 1351–1352 Simeon raised arms against Algirdas over control of small towns in [[Smolensk]] area. This conflict, again, did not develop into an open war as Algirdas preferred negotiations to fighting. Although the first round of talks was broken by Lithuanians, Simeon secured the disputed towns for Moscow. This campaign was his last act of Simeon's life.<ref name=C340>Curtin, p. 340</ref>

The [[Black Death]] was recorded in present-day southern Russia and Ukraine as early as 1346. It hit [[Scandinavia]] in 1349, [[Pskov]] in the beginning of 1352 and Novgorod in August 1352; by the end of the year two thirds of Pskov were reported dead. The same pattern repeated in Lithuania and north-eastern Russia.<ref name=K1352>Karamzin, ''1352''</ref> In 1353 [[Plague (disease)|plague]] arrived in Moscow, killing Theognostus, Simeon, his two sons, Simeon Simeonovich, Ivan Simeonovich  and his brother Andrey who survived Simeon by six weeks.<ref name=K1353/>

Before his death in 1353, Simeon took [[monastic vows]] and took the name of Sozont.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} He installed [[Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow|Alexis]] as Metropolitan of Moscow, successor to the late Theognostus, and secured a profitable [[Estate (law)|estate]] for Maria.<ref name=K1353/> Simeon’s will is considered to be the first usage of paper in Russia, as [[parchment]] was used previously.

Simeon is buried in the [[Archangel Cathedral]] of the [[Moscow Kremlin]].

==Issue==

===With Aigusta of Lithuania===
*Vasili Simeonovich (12 April 1337 &ndash; 1338)<ref name="Dmytryshyn" />
*Vasilisa Simeonova (died 20 April 1369), married ''Prince Mikhail Vasilievich of Kashin''
*Konstantin Simeonovich (born and died in 1341)
*A daughter who married ''Aleksandr of Lithuania'', son of [[Karijotas|Karijotas of Poland]]

===With Maria of Tver===
*Daniil Simeonovich (15 December 1347 &ndash; died young)
*Mikhail Simeonovich (1348 &ndash; died young)
*Ivan Simeonovich (1351 &ndash; March 1353), died at the same time as his father of the [[Plague (disease)|plague]]
*Simeon Simeonovich (1352 &ndash; March 1353), died at the same time as his father of the [[Plague (disease)|plague]]

==See also==
* [[Bibliography of Russian history (1223–1613)]]
*[[Rulers of Russia family tree]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{cite book | author=Curtin, Jeremiah | title=The Mongols in Russia | year=2002 | publisher=Adamant Media Corporation | isbn=9781402100307 }}
* {{cite book | author=Karamzin, N. M. | author-link=Nikolay Karamzin | title=Istoria gosudarstva rossiyskogo (''История государства российского''), volume 4 chapter 10 | year=1815 }} [http://bibliotekar.ru/karamzin/45.htm]
* {{cite book | author=Mouravieff, A. N. | title=A History of the Church of Russia | year=2004 | publisher=Kessinger Publishing | isbn=9781417912506 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Ivan I of Moscow|Ivan I]] |
  title=[[Grand Prince of Vladimir]]<br>[[Prince of Moscow]] |
  years=1340&ndash;1353 |
  after=[[Ivan II of Moscow|Ivan II]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Russian sovereigns}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1317 births]]
[[Category:1353 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century grand princes of Moscow]]
[[Category:Grand princes of Vladimir]]
[[Category:Daniilovichi family]]
[[Category:14th-century deaths from plague (disease)]]