Odoyev

Odoyev stands above the Upa in the upper Oka country. Its fortress became the seat of princes descended from the rulers of Novosil after attacks devastated their earlier centre. The Odoyev lands lay between the expanding powers of Lithuania and Moscow, while raids from the steppe threatened the southern frontier.

In 1407 the forces of Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania captured and burned Odoyev. The local princes subsequently held their lands as Lithuanian service princes, and Yuri of Odoyev defended the town against Tatar attacks in the 1420s. Different branches of the family later followed different allegiances as Moscow extended its influence over the upper Oka principalities. By the later sixteenth century the old princely retinues had given way to garrisons of musketeers and other soldiers under a voivode. Odoyev remained a fortified place on the southern approaches to Moscow. Its earthworks and high riverbank recalled a time when a small princely seat had stood at the meeting of several rival powers.