In national historiography devoted to the formation of the united Russian state in the 14th-15th centuries there is a tradition of different attitude to the Russian Princes of the period. The division was binary. The Rurikovich successors were (are) divided into progressive and other (reactionary, separatist and simply short-sighted). The Princes of Moscow refer to the former ones. With the regard to the events of the 15th century when major conflicts occurred, as a rule, inside the Moscow Prince's family, the representatives of its various branches were opposed one to another. In the opposition of the Princes of the first half of the 15th century we can distinguish two issues. First, historians have contrasted the two branches of the Moscow Prince's family, the oldest one and the so-called "Galitsky". Secondly, we talk about the opposition of the Princes personally. The basic criteria of the opposition are: personal qualities, qualities of a politician, attitude to the order of succession to the Grand Reign and the role (progressive or reactionary) in the historical process. The juxtaposition is most evident in the narration of the dynastic wars of the second quarter of the 15th century in the Moscow Principality. As a result, several interrelated collective images of Princes were formed: the supporters of the new succession principles and the great defenders of antiquity; unifiers and separatists, and even according to the moral and intellectual criteria, the "positive" Princes of Moscow and the negatively assessed "Galitskys". The appraisal given to the Princes by historians of the 19th-20th centuries are particularly striking and emotional. Moreover, this assessment considerably coincides with the evaluation of representatives of several generations of researchers, regardless of the availability of sources and scientific concepts, which they used. The article deals with the established image of the Galitsky Princes in national historiography, Basil the Second's opponents in the struggle for the Grand Reign; and it is compared with the testimony sources, which are available to researchers, who created that image. During the investigation we learn that the result of the research is influenced by the sources selection principle and such external factors as social status, form of government, social and political views of the author and the authority of the predecessors. Moreover, this article suggests a new version of understanding and narration of the dynastic wars in the Grand Principality of Moscow in the 2nd quarter of the 15th century, taking into account the testimony of the so-called "independent chronicles", and political culture, in particular, typical of Russia of that time.

Статья посвящена одному из аспектов в изучении истории Руси периода образования единого государства. Особое внимание уделено отечественной историографии династических войн второй четверти XV в., в частности образам галицких князей оппонентов Василия в борьбе за великое княжение. Обращено внимание на эмоциональную окраску этих образов и проанализированы известия летописных источников, доступных исследователям XIX-XX вв. Предложены новые оценки князей и их деятельности.