charismatic and untouchable. In Muscovy there were no written or legally binding
traditions of participation by the people or elite in succession, but various forms of
consultation were thefirst resort.
Moscow’s Daniilovichi inherited from Kyiv Rus’princely succession in the male
line, but it was complicated by a tradition of collateral inheritance. In princely and
boyar families, senior clan position passed from brother to brother. In Kyiv Rus’,in
principle, heirs to the grand-princely throne of Kyiv advanced among a hierarchy of
princely seats as they awaited their elder kinsman’s demise. Collateral succession is
destabilizing in that it forces circulation of elites, as each new prince brings in his
own men. Furthermore, collateral succession presupposes partible inheritance, as
each prince claims a share of sovereign territory. In practice in Kyiv Rus’this system
worked for only a few generations before collateral lines became impatient for
power and began to develop regional principalities.
Princes and their boyar clans in the Vladimir-Suzdal area shared these customs,
with destabilizing effects. The prolific Tver’ princely dynasty was riven with
Figure 6.7The Trinity“Over-the-Gate”Church at the entrance gates to the Caves
Monastery in Kyiv stands on twelfth-century foundations, but exhibits the exuberant facade
of late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ukrainian baroque. Photo: Jack Kollmann.
Broadcasting Legitimacy 147