VASILISA VASILIEVNA (years of birth and death are unknown), Princess of Suzdal, in the first marriage (since February 1419) the wife of Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhaty, Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, in the second marriage the wife of Alexander Ivanovich Vzmetnya, the Prince of Suzdal
Father
- Vasily I Dmitrievich, Prince of Moscow and the Grand Prince of Vladimir (1389-1425)
Mother
- Sophia Vitovtovna, the Grand Princess of Moscow, the wife of Vasily I Dmitrievich, daughter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitautas
Biography
The date of birth of Vasilisa, another daughter of Vasily I and Sophia Vitovtovna is unknown. Based on the scarce information available, it can be concluded that she was married twice.
Due to the fact that both of Vasilisa's husbands, Alexander Bryukhaty and Alexander Vzmetnya, were namesakes, confusion arose in historiography, which one of them should be considered the first husband of the princess, and which one the second. The origin of the princes is also controversial, which makes it difficult to reconstruct the princess's biography. Pedigrees that consider Alexander Vzmetnya the son of Ivan Borisovich the Tight Bow [V, p. 230], they call him the first husband of Vasilisa, after whose death she remarried to Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhaty. The sources that trace the origin of Vzmetnya from Daniil Borisovich call him the second husband of Vasilisa, who by that time had already become the widow of Bryukhaty [II, p. 227; VII, p. 67-68; 7, p. 6-8; 4, p. 33]. Sources report that in 1418/19 Vasilisa was married to a Suzdal prince [IV, p. 165; VI, p. 243; 4, p. 35; 5, p. 688; 6, p. 24]. N.M. Karamzin states that after the death of Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhaty in 1418 Vasilisa was remarried to Alexander Danilovich Vzmetnya of Suzdal Nizhny Novgorod [3, cl. 109, n. 254]. N. Khramtsovsky subsequently relied on this statement in his research [11, p. 9, n. 73] and A. V. Ekzemplyarsky [12, p. 435, n. 1237]. However, further genealogical research put into question the statement of N.M. Karamzin [10, p. 13-14, 135; 4, p. 35–37]. There is no mention of the death of the Suzdal prince in 1418 in the sources, only the record of the Vasilisa wedding. It is unlikely that the daughter of Vasily I by 1418/19 would have managed to get married and widowed once, as pre-revolutionary researchers believed. A number of indirect genealogical data [I, no. 436, p. 480; No. 446, p. 487] also contradicts this statement. It is more likely that in 1418/19 Vasilisa married Alexander Ivanovich Vzmetnya for the first time (for more details on the arguments in favor of this point of view, see: 4, pp. 34–40; against, see: 1, pp. 157–158).
After the death of her husband in 1433, Vasilisa remarried to Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhaty, who became the prince of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod [4, p. 42]. At about the same time she receives her brother who was already on the run [2, p. 64-66]. Against the background of a fierce internecine struggle, the princess's new marriage looks very logical: it cemented the alliance of Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark with the senior branch of the Suzdal princes [4, p. 42].
Information about one son of Vasilisa, born in the first marriage, Semyon Alexandrovich is atested [I, no. 446, p. 487; III, no. 34, p. 88].
The exact date of the princess's death is unknown. A. A. Gorsky believes that she died no later than 1433 [1, p. 157-158]. However, it is known about the rich contribution made by the princess to the Transfiguration Cathedral in 1434 [8, p. 332-334; 9, p. 14]. That is the last mention of Vasilisa Vasilievna in the sources.
Children
- Semyon Alexandrovich [I, No. 446, p. 487; III, no. 34, p. 88]
Information
The donation of Vasilisa Vasilievna, the altar cross, donated to the Transfiguration Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod in memory of St. Epsychia [8, p. 332-334; 9, p. 14].
Sources
I. Akty sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoi istorii Severo-Vostochnoi Rusi kontsa XIV – nachala XVI v. T. II. M., 1958.
II. Vremennik Imperatorskogo Moskovskogo obshchestva istorii i drevnostei rossiiskikh. Kn. 10. Kn. X. M., 1851.
III. Dukhovnye i dogovornye gramoty velikikh i udel'nykh kniazei XIV–XVI vv. / Pod red. L.V. Cherepnina. M., 1950.
IV. PSRL. T. XVIII. Simeonovskaia letopis'. M., 2007.
V. PSRL. T. XXIV. Letopis' po Tipografskomu spisku. M., 2000.
VI. PSRL. T. XXV. Moskovskii letopisnyi svod kontsa XV v. M., 2004.
VII. Rodoslovnaia kniga kniazei i dvorian rossiiskikh i vyezzhikh. Ch. 1. M., 1787.
Bibliography
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2. Zimin A.A. Vitiaz' na rasput'e. Feodal'naia voina v Rossii serediny XV v. M., 1991.
3. Karamzin N.M. Istoriia gosudarstva Rossiiskogo. Kn. I. T. V. SPb., 1842.
4. Kelembet S.N. Suzdal'sko-Nizhegorodskie kniaz'ia Aleksandr Vzmeten' i Aleksandr Briukhatyi (Genealogiia i khronologiia pravleniia) // Drevniaia Rus'. Voprosy medievistiki. 2016. № 65. S. 33–44.
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6. Kuchkin V.A. Moskovskie Riurikovichi (genealogiia, demografiia) // Istoricheskii vestnik. 2013, № 04 (151). S. 6–73.
7. Likhachev N.P. Gosudarev rodoslovets i Barkhatnaia kniga. SPb., 1900.
8. Makarii, arkhim. Pamiatniki tserkovnoi drevnosti. Nizhegorodskaia eparkhiia. SPb., 1857.
9. Nikolaeva T.V. Proizvedeniia russkogo prikladnogo iskusstva s nadpisiami XV–pervoi chetverti XVI v. M., 1971.
10. Khmyrov M.D. Alfavitno-spravochnyi perechen' udel'nykh kniazei russkikh i chlenov Tsarstvuiushchego Doma Romanovykh. SPb., 1871.
11. Khramtsovskii N. Kratkii ocherk istorii i opisanie Nizhnego Novgoroda. Ch. 1. Nizhnii Novgorod, 1857.
12. Ekzempliarskii A.V. Velikie i udel'nye kniaz'ia severnoi Rusi v tatarskii period s 1238 g. po 1505 g.: biograficheskie ocherki po pervoistochnikam i glavneishim posobiiam. T. 2. Vladetel'nye kniaz'ia Vladimirskikh i Moskovskikh udelov i velikie i udel'nye vladetel'nye kniaz'ia Suzdal'sko-Nizhegorodskie, Tverskie. Riazanskie. SPb., 1891.
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