__NOTOC__ This is a timeline of Russian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Russia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see history of Russia. See also list of Russian monarchs and list of heads of state of Russia.
Dates before 31 January 1918, when the Bolshevik government adopted the Gregorian calendar, are given in the Old Style Julian calendar.
Centuries: 9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th 18th19th20th21stSee alsoFurther reading
9th century Year Date Event 862 Rurik came to rule in Novgorod, establishing the Rurikid Dynasty.882Oleg the Wise conquered Kiev and moved the capital there.
10th century Year Date Event 907 Rus'–Byzantine War (907): Oleg led an army to the walls of Constantinople. Rus'-Byzantine War (907): A Rus'-Byzantine Treaty allowed Rus' merchants to enter the city under guard. 912 Oleg died and was succeeded by Igor, who was Rurik's son. 941 May Rus'–Byzantine War (941): A Rus' army landed at Bithynia. September Rus'–Byzantine War (941): The Byzantines destroyed the Rus' fleet. 945 Rus'-Byzantine War (941): Another Rus'-Byzantine Treaty was signed. Rus' renounced some Byzantine territories. Igor died; his wife Olga became regent of Kievan Rus' for their son, Sviatoslav I. 957 or 962 Olga's regency ended. 965 Sviatoslav conquered Khazaria. 968 Siege of Kiev (968): The Pechenegs besieged Kiev. A Rus' created the illusion of a much larger army, and frightened them away. 969 8 July Sviatoslav moved the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets in Bulgaria. 971 The Byzantine Empire captured Pereyaslavets. The capital moved back to Kiev. 972 Sviatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs during an expedition on their territory. His son Yaropolk I succeeded him. 978 Yaropolk was betrayed and murdered by his brother Vladimir the Great, who succeeded him as Prince of Kiev. 981 Vladimir conquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles. 988 Christianization of Kievan Rus': Vladimir destroyed the pagan idols of Kiev and urged the city's inhabitants to baptize themselves in the Dnieper River.
11th century Year Date Event 1015 15 July Vladimir died. He was succeeded by Sviatopolk I, who may have been his biological son by the rape of Yaropolk's wife. Sviatopolk ordered the murder of three of Vladimir's younger sons. 1016 Yaroslav I, another of Sviatopolk's brothers, led an army against him and defeated him, forcing him to flee to Poland. 1017 Yaroslav issued the first Russian code of law, the Russkaya Pravda. 1018 Polish Expedition to Kiev: Sviatopolk led the Polish army into Rus'. Red Ruthenia returned to Polish possession. 14 August Polish Expedition to Kiev: The Polish army captured Kiev; Yaroslav fled to Novgorod. 1019 Yaroslav defeated Sviatopolk and returned to the princedom of Kiev. He granted autonomy to Novgorod as a reward for her prior loyalty. Sviatopolk died. 1030 Yaroslav reconquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles. 1043 30 February Rus'–Byzantine War (1043): Yaroslav led an unsuccessful naval raid on Constantinople. According to the peace settlement, Yaroslav's son Vsevolod I married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. 1054 Yaroslav died. He was succeeded by his oldest son, Iziaslav I. 1068 Iziaslav was overthrown in a popular uprising and forced to flee to Poland. 1069 Iziaslav led the Polish army back into Kiev and reestablished himself on the throne. 1073 Two of Iziaslav's brothers, Sviatoslav II and Vsevolod I, overthrew him; the former became prince of Kiev. 1076 27 December Sviatoslav died. Vsevolod I succeeded him, but traded the princedom of Kiev to Iziaslav in exchange for Chernigov. 1078 3 October Iziaslav died. The throne of Kiev went to Vsevolod. 1093 13 April Vsevolod died. Kiev and Chernigov went to Iziaslav's illegitimate son, Sviatopolk II. 26 May Battle of the Stugna River: Rus' forces attacked the Cumans at the Stugna River and were defeated.
12th century Year Date Event 1113 16 April Sviatopolk died. He was succeeded by Vsevolod's son, his cousin, Vladimir II Monomakh. 1125 19 May Vladimir died. His oldest son, Mstislav I, succeeded him. 1132 14 April Mstislav died. His brother Yaropolk II followed him as prince of Kiev. 1136 Novgorod expelled the prince appointed for them by Kiev and vastly circumscribed the authority of the office. 1139 18 February Yaropolk died. His younger brother Viacheslav followed him, but in March Viacheslav was overthrown by his cousin, prince of Chernigov, Vsevolod. 1146 1 August Vsevolod died. His brother Igor followed him as a ruler of Kiev. Citizens of Kiev required him to depose old boyars of Vsevolod. Igor swore to fulfill their request, but then reconsidered to do it. Citizens of Kiev considered that oath-breaker is not a legitimate ruler anymore and chose to summon prince Iziaslav of Pereyaslavl to be a new prince of Kiev. 13 August Iziaslav overthrow Igor. A brother of Igor, Sviatoslav, prince of Novgorod-Seversk asked prince of Rostov-Suzdal Yuri Dolgorukiy for help in realising Igor from captivity. 1147 The first reference to Moscow when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon Sviatoslav of Novgorod-Seversk to "come to me, brother, to Moscow". 1149 Yuri Dolgorukiy captured Kiev. Iziaslav escaped. 1150 With assistance of Black Klobuks Iziaslav kicked away Yuri from Kiev. After some time, with help of Volodimirko of Galych, Yuri took Kiev again. 1151 Hungarian king Géza II helped Iziaslav to return Kiev. Yuri escaped 1154 13 November Iziaslav II died. His brother, prince of Smolensk Rostislav was summoned to become a new prince of Kiev. 1155 Yuri Dolgorukiy expelled Rostislav with assistance of prince of Chernigov. 1157 Yuri I was intoxicated and died. Iziaslav of Chernigov became prince of Kiev. 1159 Iziaslav of Chernigov was overthrown by princes of Galych and Volyn. Allies called Rostislav to be prince of Kiev again. 1167 Rostislav died. His nephew, Mstislav of Volyn, became new ruler of Kiev. 1169 Andrey Bogolyubsky, the elder son of Yuri Dolgorukiy, prince of new strong principality of Vladimir-Suzdal attacked and plundered Kiev. A majority of Russian princes recognized him as a new grand prince. Unlike previous grand princes Andrey I did not move his residence to Kiev, instead remaining in Vladimir. Andrey appointed his brother Gleb as prince of Kiev. From this time, Kiev stopped being the center of Russian lands. The political and cultural center was moved to Vladimir. New princes of Kiev became dependent on the grand princes of Vladimir-Suzdal
13th century Year Date Event 1223 Battle of the Kalka River: The warriors of Rus' first encountered the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan. 1227 Boyar intrigues forced Mstislav, the prince of Novgorod, to give the throne to his son-in-law Andrew II of Hungary. 1236 Alexander Nevsky was summoned by the Novgorodians to become Grand Prince of Novgorod and, as their military leader, to defend their northwest lands from Swedish and German invaders. 1237 December Mongol invasion of Rus: Batu Khan set fire to Moscow and slaughtered and enslaved its civilian inhabitants. 1240 15 July Battle of the Neva: The Novgorodian army defeated a Swedish invasion force at the confluence of the Izhora and Neva Rivers. 1242 5 April Battle on the Ice: The army of Novgorod defeated the invading Teutonic Knights on the frozen surface of Lake Peipus. 1263 14 November Nevsky died. His appanages were divided within his family; his youngest son Daniel became the first Prince of Moscow. His younger brother Yaroslav of Tver had become the Grand Prince of Tver and of Vladimir and had appointed deputies to run the Principality of Moscow during Daniel's minority.
14th century Year Date Event 1303 5 March Daniel died. His oldest son Yury succeeded him as Prince of Moscow. 1317 Yury married the sister of Uzbeg Khan who was Mongolian prince. Uzbeg deposed the Grand Prince of Vladimir and appointed Yury to that office. 1322 Dmitry the Terrible Eyes, the son of the last Grand Prince of Vladimir, convinced Uzbeg Khan that Yury had been stealing from the khan's tribute money. He was reappointed to the princedom of Vladimir. 1325 21 November Yury was murdered by Dmitry. His younger brother Ivan I Kalita succeeded him. 1327 15 August The ambassador of the Golden Horde of Mongolian Empire was trapped and burned alive during an uprising in the Grand Duchy of Tver. 1328 Ivan led a Horde army against the Grand Prince of Tver, also the Grand Prince of Vladimir. Ivan was allowed to replace him in the latter office. 1340 31 March Ivan died. His son Simeon succeeded him both as Grand Prince of Moscow and as Grand Prince of Vladimir 1353 Simeon died. His younger brother Ivan II, The Fair, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow. 1359 13 November Ivan died. His son, Dmitri Donskoi, succeeded him. 1380 8 September Battle of Kulikovo: A Muscovite force defeated a significantly larger Blue Horde army of Mongolia at Kulikovo Field. 1382 The Mongol khan Tokhtamysh reasserted his power by looting and burning Moscow. 1389 19 May Dmitri died. The throne fell to his son, Vasili I.
15th century Year Date Event 1425 February Vasili I died. His son Vasili II, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow; his wife Sophia became regent. His younger brother, Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod, also issued a claim to the throne. 1430 Yury appealed to the khan of the Golden Horde to support his claim to the throne. Vasili II retained the Duchy of Moscow, but Yury was given the Duchy of Dmitrov. 1432 Muscovite Civil War: Vasili II led an army to capture Dmitrov. His army was defeated and he was forced to flee to Kolomna. Yury arrived in Moscow and declared himself the Grand Prince. Vasili II was pardoned and made mayor of Kolomna. 1433 Muscovite Civil War: The exodus of Muscovite boyars to Vasili II's court in Kolomna persuaded Yury to return Moscow to his nephew and move to Galich. 1434 Muscovite Civil War: Vasily II burned Galich. 16 March Muscovite Civil War: The army of Yury Dmitrievich defeated the army of Vasily II. The latter fled to Nizhny Novgorod. 1 April Muscovite Civil War: Yury arrived in Moscow and again declared himself the Grand Prince. 5 July Yury died. His oldest son Vasily the Squint, succeeded him as Grand Prince. 1435 Muscovite Civil War: Yury's second son, Dmitry Shemyaka, allied himself with Vasily II. Vasily the Squint was expelled from the Kremlin and blinded. Vasili II returned to the throne of the Grand Prince. 1438 Russo-Kazan Wars: The khan of the recently established Khanate of Kazan led an army towards Moscow. 1445 7 July Battle of Suzdal: The Russian army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Tatars of Kazan. Vasili II was taken prisoner; operation of the government fell to Dmitry Shemyaka. December Muscovite Civil War: Vasili II was ransomed back to Muscovy. 1446 Muscovite Civil War: Shemyaka had Vasili II blinded and exiled to Uglich, and had himself declared the Grand Prince. 1450 Muscovite Civil War: The boyars of Moscow expelled Shemyaka from the Kremlin and recalled Vasili II to the throne. 1452 Muscovite Civil War: Shemyaka was forced to flee to the Novgorod Republic. 1453 Shemyaka was poisoned by Muscovite agents. 1462 27 March Vasili II died. His son Ivan III, The Great, succeeded him as Grand Prince. 1463 Grand Duchy of Moscow annexed the Duchy of Yaroslavl. 1471 14 July Battle of Shelon: A Muscovite army defeated a numerically superior Novgorodian force. 1474 Grand Duchy of Moscow annexed the Rostov Duchy. 1476 Ivan stopped paying tribute to the Great Horde. 1478 14 January The Novgorod Republic surrendered to the authority of Moscow. 1480 11 November Great stand on the Ugra river: Ivan's forces deterred Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde from invading Muscovy. 1485 Ivan annexed the Grand Duchy of Tver. 1497 Ivan issued a legal code, the Sudebnik, which standardized the Muscovite law, expanded the role of the criminal justice system, and limited the ability of the serfs to leave their masters.