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When Dimitrii
Ivanovich Donskoi (1359-1389) succeeded his father to the Moscow throne he
was still a minor. Fortunately his regent, who governed the country for a while
during very difficult times, was the very patriotic, capable and unselfish
Metropolitan Alexis (Alexei, 1354-1378). Later canonized by the Orthodox
Church, he became one of the most venerated Russian saints. He was known for
his close identification of the interests of the Orthodox Church with those of
the Moscow secular power, and probably this contributed to the success of
Moscow in the struggle against Tatar domination and in its endeavor to bring
all Russian lands under the leadership of the new grand duchy. Saint Alexei
himself came from an old boyar family named Biakont, from Moscow, and this
detail helped him rally the support of the boyars in his policy of
strengthening the position of Dimitri Donskoy. His influence over the Tatars
was also considerable, particularly after he, as the legend says, miraculously
healed the wife of Khan Chanibek.
After the devastating fire of 1365 that almost wiped out Moscow and the
Kremlin, Dimitrii Donskoi decided in 1367 to replace the wooden fence around
the Kremlin with stone walls and towers, with iron gates at the entrances, to
strengthen the defenses of his capital. Russians often use the term
"stone" in construction terminology as opposed to "wood,"
and also for an object made of bricks or bricks and stone, which is usually
called stone. This applies to the Kremlin's first "stone wall" of
1367. The stones used for building it must have been of a poor quality because
the wall started to crumble not even a century after its construction. Used to
wood construction, Russian builders lacked experience in stone building;
several objects in the Kremlin later had to be rebuilt.
Dimitrii Donskoi's primary aim was the emancipation of Russian lands from the
Golden Horde, and his endeavors in this direction were at times partly
successful in their unification under Moscow leadership. To bolster his
personal prestige Dimitri abolished the title and the function of
"Tisatskii,". This was the leader of the 'thousand' in other words
the city militia. They were chosen by the people to prevent rulers from taking
much power into their hands. Ivan Veliaminov was the last Moscow Tisatskii. His
opposition to Dimitrii cost him his life in 1378.
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