Russian Vasily Varilyevich known as Vasily the Blind
born 1415
died March 27, 1462, Moscow
Grand Prince of Moscow (1425–62).
At age 10 he was named to succeed his father, Vasily I , but for many years his uncle and cousins struggled to wrest the throne from him. Despite being blinded by his cousin Dmitry Shemyaka, he regained power in 1447 and ruled Muscovy for another 15 years. Vasily quelled internal strife in his realm by 1452 and enlarged his state's territory by absorbing nearby principalities. During his reign the Russian church asserted its independence from the patriarch at Constantinople. Vasily signed a treaty with Lithuania (1449) but fought Tatar hordes on his southern and eastern borders.