Year 1237 (MCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities including the largest such as Kiev and Chernigov. The Mongol siege and sack of Kiev in 1240 is generally held to mark the end of Kievan Rus' as a distinct, singular polity. Many other Rus' principalities and urban centres in the northwest and southwest escaped destruction or suffered little to no damage from the Mongol invasion, including Galicia-Volhynia, Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, and probably Rostov and Uglich.
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of the Mongol Empire after 1259, it became a functionally separate khanate. It is also known as the Kipchak Khanate or as the Ulus of Jochi, and it replaced the earlier, less organized Cuman–Kipchak confederation.
Ivan I Danilovich Kalita was Prince of Moscow from 1325 to at least 1340, and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1332 until at least 1340.
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus ruled over the Kievan Rus', Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and the Caucasus for around 250 years.
Vladimir-Suzdal, formally known as the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal or Grand Principality of Vladimir (1157–1331), also as Suzdalia or Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', was one of the major principalities emerging from Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century, centered in Vladimir-on-Klyazma. With time the principality grew into a grand principality divided into several smaller principalities. After being conquered by the Mongol Empire, the principality became a self-governed state headed by its own nobility. A governorship of the principality, however, was prescribed by a jarlig issued from the Golden Horde to a Rurikid sovereign.
The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, historically known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. Its territory was predominantly located in modern-day Ukraine, with parts in Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and Lithuania. Along with Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, it was one of the three most important powers to emerge from the collapse of Kievan Rus'. The main language was Old East Slavic, the predecessor of the modern East Slavic languages, and the official religion was Eastern Orthodoxy.
Yuri II, also known as George II of Vladimir or as Georgy II Vsevolodovich, was the fourth Grand Prince of Vladimir who presided over the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal at the time of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'.
Mikhail Vsevolodovich, known as Michael or Mikhail of Chernigov, was Grand Prince of Kiev ; he was also Prince of Pereyaslavl (1206), Novgorod-Seversk (1219–1226), Chernigov, Novgorod, and Galicia (1235–1236).
The Principality of Ryazan, later known as the Grand Principality of Ryazan, was a principality from 1129 to 1521. Its capital was the city of Ryazan, now known as Old Ryazan, which was destroyed in 1237 during the Mongol invasions. The capital was moved to Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, later renamed Ryazan.
The Principality of Murom, also referred to as the Murom-Ryazan Principality until the mid-12th century, was a principality with its capital in Murom, now in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. Murom lay in an area that was strongly Finnic and for much of its medieval history, located in the homeland of the Muromians. In 1392, it was incorporated into the Grand Principality of Moscow.
The Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan (by Batu) (Russian: Повесть о разорении Рязани Батыем, romanized: Povest' o razorenii Riazami Batyem) is a Russian literary work about the capture of the city of Ryazan by the Mongols in 1237. It is compiled from earlier manuscripts.
The Principality of Moscow or Grand Duchy of Moscow, also known simply as Muscovy, was a principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow. It eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. The princes of Moscow were descendants of the first prince Daniel, referred to in modern historiography as the Daniilovichi, a branch of the Rurikids.
The siege of Kiev by the Mongols took place between 28 November and 6 December 1240, and resulted in a Mongol victory. It was a heavy morale and military blow to the Principality of Galicia–Volhynia, which was forced to submit to Mongol suzerainty, and allowed Batu Khan to proceed westward into Central Europe.
The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir, also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389.
The Principality of Tver was a principality which existed between the 13th and the 15th centuries with its capital in Tver. It was one of the states established after the decay of the Kievan Rus'. During the 14th century, Tver rivaled the Principality of Moscow with the aim to become the center of the united Russian state. Eventually it lost, decayed, and in 1485, it was annexed by Moscow. The principality was located approximately in the area currently occupied by Tver Oblast and the eastern part of Smolensk Oblast in Russia.
The siege of Kozelsk was one of the main events of the Western (Kipchak) March of the Mongols (1236–1242) and the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1237–1240) at the end of the Mongol campaign in northeastern Kievan Rus' (1237–1238). The Mongols laid a siege in the spring of 1238 and eventually conquered and destroyed the town of Kozelsk, one of the subsidiary princely centers of the Principality of Chernigov.
The Siege of Kolomna during December 1237–January 1238 was part of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. Following the Battle of Voronezh River in December 1237, Yuri II of Vladimir sent both of his sons with "all his men" and Voivode Yeremey to defend the fortress of Kolomna, which was on the border to the Wild Fields.
The siege of Vladimir in February 1238 was part of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'.
The Mongol siege, capture, and sack of Chernigov, the capital of the Chernigov Principality, occurred on October 18, 1239, during the westward expansion of the Mongol Empire. It was part of the 1237–1242 Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'.
