[4] The monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal's title, veliky knyaz or velikii kniaz (Russian: Великий Князь, romanized: velikiy knyaz' / velikii kniaz', Church Slavonic: великꙑи кнѧзь, romanized: velikȳi knęz'[2]) is variously translated into English as "grand duke"[citation needed] or "grand prince".
[citation needed] Linguist Alan Timberlake (2000) found that the first time the phrase velikȳi knęz' shows up in the Suzdalian Chronicle (in the Laurentian, Radziwiłł and LPS manuscripts) is under the year 1186, where it is applied to Vsevolod Yurievich.
[citation needed] By the 14th century, Vladimir-Suzdal had splintered into various appanage principalities including Nizhny Novgorod (Novgorod-Suzdal), Tver and Moscow (Muscovy) who all claimed the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir, and sought to gain the favour of the Tatar-Mongol khan of the Golden Horde to secure it.
[11] By the mid-14th century and especially during the Great Troubles (1359–1382), the khan's alliance with Moscow made the latter militarily and administratively powerful enough to economically and demographically devastate its rivals, notably Tver.
[13] In 1353, Konstantin Vasilyevich [ru; uk] of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal unsuccessfully tried to obtain the title of grand prince of Vladimir,[14] and in 1371 it was awarded to Mikhail II of Tver.