The kinship through the female line in the inheritance of the possessions of the Moscow Rurikids in the 14th century

The paper studies the influence of the factor of possessions inheritance by Moscow knyazes in the female line in the 14^th century, which was not typical for the Rurikids. There are certain difficulties in the history of possessions inheritance in Rus’, since sources paid little attention to such facts. The problem has not received sufficient attention in the historical literature. The author explores various forms of such inheritance that took place during the period under review in the Moscow Principality starting from the will of Ivan Kalita. In some cases, it was about small possessions transfer under the power of the Moscow dynasty princes, in others – entire principalities that had their own independent history of several generations. The most obvious example is the succession through consanguinity including from maternal grandfather to grandson. In addition, childless widowed princesses also bequeathed their lands to their nephews. The history of the Moscow dynasty also has an unprecedented example of the transfer of a hereditary principality by a knyaz to his widow, which she was forced to transfer to her brother-in-law. A persistent trend for a long time gives such facts a certain historical significance.