The Belsky or Belski family (
Ivan IV of Russia. The family started with Ivan Vladimirovich, son of
Vladimir Olgerdovich and grandson of
Algirdas, and ended with Ivan Dmitrievich Belsky in 1571. The Belsky name was derived from their principal possession of
Bely, Tver Oblast.
First princes
Ivan Vladimirovich was first mentioned in written sources as a witness to the 1422
.
Of all three sons, only Feodor Ivanovich Belsky is known to have left children. In 1481, Feodor,
Vasily III
's cousins, took a key part in the events of his reign and the following regency.
Feodor's elder brother, Simeon Ivanovich Belsky, left Lithuania for the Grand Duchy of Moscow in his brother's wake in 1500, citing the persecution of Orthodox believers as his reason. His defection intensified anti-Lithuanian rhetoric in Russia, which proclaimed itself a defender of all Orthodox believers, and hastened the renewed
Homel
. Thus the Belsky family regained its patrimony.
Kazan campaigns
Dmitry Feodorovich Belsky (1499–1551) was first recorded in 1519, when he enthroned
Oka River and devastated the area between Moscow and
Kolomna. While Belsky retreated to the stronghold of
Serpukhov, his absence from the capital left the field free for mutual jealousies and accusations. Although the majority of boyars complained about Belsky's cowardness, the monarch spared both Belsky and his own brother and put the blame for defeat on Prince
Vorotynsky.
Dmitry's younger brother, Ivan Feodorovich Belsky, while still in his early 20s, led the 150,000-strong Russian army against
Udmurt
cavalry. Matters then remained quiet until 1530, when Ivan Belsky, still eager to revenge himself, returned with the Russian army to the walls of Kazan. On 10 July, the fortress was taken and the Tatars sued for peace, promising to accept any khan appointed from Moscow.
Heyday and regency
During Vasily III's fatal illness, Dmitry Belsky remained at his deathbed until the final hour. He was present when Vasily signed a testament proclaiming
Crimea, with the purpose of escalating military tensions with Russia. Not only he failed in his designs, but was kidnapped by a ruler of the
Nogai Horde, from whom he was later ransomed by the khan.
In 1538, the regent
Ivan IV
's "prime advisor" (первосоветник). Among his first enterprises was a letter to the Crimean khan asking him to bring Simeon Belsky to Moscow. The khan, persuaded by Simeon that Moscow stood completely unfortified and desiring to profit from the attendant disorder, advanced with his guards towards the Russian capital. His hope of putting Moscow to the sword proved ill-founded, however, and he retreated on espying the first contingent of the Russian soldiers and taking Simeon Belsky back with him. Simeon's subsequent fate in unknown.
In the meantime,
Prince Kurbsky
described Ivan Belsky as the boldest commander and the cleverest politician of Muscovy.
The last Belskys
Dmitry Belsky managed to eschew repressions that befell his brothers, and he even increased his influence in the Boyar Duma. After the regency was abolished,
. In 1547, Dmitry Belsky was commanded to reinstate Shahgali as the khan. Two years later, the tsar and Belsky led the Russian armies to take Kazan. They were forced to retreat, suffering heavy casualties. Belsky was again accused by fellow boyars of poor leadership, but he unexpectedly died on 13 January 1551.
By his wife,
Sophia Paleologue. Ivan Belsky and Marfa Shuiskaya had five children but they all died in minority and were interred in the family sepulcher,
Tikhon's Hermitage near
Kaluga. In 1571, when khan
Devlet I Giray of Crimea assaulted Moscow and set the city on fire, Prince Belsky suffocated from smoke in his own mansion. With his death,
the Belsky princely family became extinct.
References
