The evolution of political relations in Eastern Europe on the eve of the Early Modern Period: the “Horde World” from its rise to decline

Abstract

Research objectives: The aim of the study is to trace the evolution of political relations in Eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages. It is intended to highlight the main stages of this process and the factors that influenced such relations’ speed and direction with their subsequent characterization in the course of the study. Research materials: Chronicles, statement materials, diplomatic documents, correspondence, literary traditions, historical research materials. Results and novelty of the research: For almost two hundred years, the Golden Horde dominated interstate relations in Eastern Europe. It played a role there similar to that played by the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe. The Khan of the Horde acted as a “universal” regulator of society, the supreme overlord and arbiter within the “Horde world.” The dominance of the Horde in the region was determined by its military, financial, and economic superiority over neighboring states, as well as the “luck” of the khan. But the deep crisis that began in the middle of the 14th century undermined the Horde’s omnipotence, cast doubt on the Khan’s “luck,” and predetermined the collapse of the “Horde world” and its “monopolar” political system. By the end of the 14th century. this process had become irreversible. The “point of no return,” according to the authors, was Khan Tokhtamysh’s granting of a jarlyk to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt in 1397/1398. According to the jarlyk, Lithuania’s ruler became the “brother” of the khan and received control of most of the Russian lands that were part of the Horde, pledging in return to restore Tokhtamysh to power in the Horde and pay a “way out” from the transferred possessions. The jarlyk of 1397/1398 predetermined the general tenor of Lithuanian-Tatar relations and laid the foundations of Lithuania’s status as a great power. By the 1430s, Lithuania became de facto the dominant force in the region, subordinating both the Horde and Russia to its influence. However, this era did not last long, followed by the troubles of the same decade of 15th century that drew in the Horde, Lithuania and Russia, changing the alignment of political forces in Eastern Europe. The Horde in the 1450s broke up into semi-independent yurts which began a struggle for the Horde’s inheritance. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania held out but abandoned large-scale expansion. Moscow came out of the crisis stronger from the end of the 1440s, steadily pursuing a policy of collecting land and gaining sovereignty. In this situation, the process of reformatting the monopolar “Horde world” into the bipolar “post-Horde world” began.