11. Shemyakin court.
The expression "Shemyakin court", in the sense of "an unfair, passionate, deceitful court with a frankly deliberate verdict in favor of not the right, but the side that gave a big bribe", has existed in the Russian language for more than six centuries. The saying owes its origin to Dmitry Donskoy's grandson Dmitry Yuryevich (1420-1453), who had the nickname Shemyak and fought for the Moscow Grand ducal throne with his cousin Vasily for more than twenty years. This struggle, which eventually ended with the defeat of Shemyaka, represented an endless series of reconciliations with Vasily, then military attacks on his lands. In all of Shemyaka's actions, the main features of his character were manifested: greed, cruelty and treachery. He robbed townspeople and peasants, boyars, both his own and others, took away houses, violated laws and his own promises. There were many offended by him, and the princely court — at that time the highest guarantor of justice — turned into a reproach of justice. "From this time," the chronicle says, "in great Russia, every priest was called Shemyakin's court in reproaches."