1425-1462 Grand Prince of Moscow.
Vasily II’s reign was overshadowed by the greatest civil war of the era. That also cost him his eyesight. Notably, he declared the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from Constantinople. His nickname was “The Blind”.
Background
Lived: 1415-1462.
Vasily was 10 when his uncle Yuri and cousins Vasily the Cross-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka challenged his right to the throne.
Civil War
A bitter civil war (1425-53) broke out after he took the throne and lasted almost his entire reign. He lost the throne temporarily as a result and was brutally blinded by Shemyaka.
Reign
Vasily regained power in 1447 and ruled for another 15 years. He enlarged his state’s territory, and when Constantinople was sieged in 1453, he declared the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Russia Under Ivan the Great
Vasily II
1425-1462 Grand Prince of Moscow.
Vasily II’s reign was overshadowed by the greatest civil war of the era. That also cost him his eyesight. Notably, he declared the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from Constantinople. His nickname was “The Blind”.
Background
Lived: 1415-1462.
Vasily was 10 when his uncle Yuri and cousins Vasily the Cross-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka challenged his right to the throne.
Civil War
A bitter civil war (1425-53) broke out after he took the throne and lasted almost his entire reign. He lost the throne temporarily as a result and was brutally blinded by Shemyaka.
Reign
Vasily regained power in 1447 and ruled for another 15 years. He enlarged his state’s territory, and when Constantinople was sieged in 1453, he declared the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Russia Under Ivan the Great