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He was born about 1281 the son of
Daniil Aleksandrovich, appanage prince of Moscow and
his mother's name is not known. His first wife's name is not known. Then he
married around 1317 with Agrafia (formerly Konchaka), sister of Khan Ozbeg. He
had one daughter from his first marriage, whose name was Sofia, who married
Konstantin Mikhailovich, grand prince of Tver. He was
appanage prince of Moscow (1303-25) and grand prince of Vladimir (1317-22). He
died in 1325 without male heir. The throne of Moscow passed to his younger
brother, Ivan I. The family is shown on this chart.
Chronology:
1299 - Kiev Metropolitan Maxim moved to Vladimir, where he assumed for the
first time the title of "Metropolitan of All Russia."
1303 - Yurii (1303-1325) succeeded his father at Moscow.
1304 - When the grand duke of Vladimir, Andrei III Alexandrovich, Yuri claimed
the vacant throne of his uncle for himself as the only direct descendant of
Alexander Nevsky. However, after prolonged conflicts and undignified conduct by
both contenders at the Golden Horde, Khan Tokhty gave the
"yarlyk" ( a written decree issued by khans designating a
prince to hold a certain title) to the nephew of Nevski, Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, (1305-1318) because he
offered more tribute money than Yurii; he was the first to assume the title of
"The Grand Duke of All Rus"(Russia). In the beginning the boyars and
the Orthodox Church gave full support to Michael.
1304 - Metropolital Maxim died, cutting short the Orthodox Church's cooperation
with Mikhail of Tver To replace Maxim, Mikhail had his own candidate, but the
Patriarch of Constantinople appointed Metropolitan Peter (1305-1306) to the
Russian see.
1309 - Peter reached Vladimir and found that Mikhail showed open hostility
towards him as the new head of he Orthodox Church. Yurii, of course, did just
the opposite, making Peter one of his most ardent supporters. After a while,
Peter even moved his see to Moscow. Mikhail blundered even more when Novgorod
invited Yuri to become its prince. To impose his rule over the free city
Mickhail needed the help of Tatar troops; he then imposed ruthless repression,
and finally lost the war when Tatar support was withheld. At this time changes
took place at the Golden Horde too; Khan Uzbek replaced Khan Tokhti, who died.
Yuri rushed to pay respect to the new khan and stayed at his court for two
years.
1317 - After marrying the khan Uzbek's sister, Konchak, there and promising to
collect even higher tribute for the khan from his subjects, he was appointed
grand duke of Vladimir (1317-1322).
1317 - Mikhail organized resistance, and not far from Tver, in 1317, inflicted
on Yurii a humiliating defeat at Bortenovo, depicted in this painting in the
museum at Tver. -
Borten.
And Mikhail even took Yurii's Tatar wife prisoner. Both Russian dukes were
ordered to come to the Horde. A run of bad luck continued for Mikhail. The
sudden death of Yurii's wife in captivity, and an accusation of insubordination
to the khan, carried the death penalty, and Mikhail was beheaded in 1318.
Considering him a martyr, the Orthodox Church canonized him too.
1322 - Internecine struggles continued, and Yurii's luck did not last long.
Implicated of improprieties in the collection of tribute for the Tatars, he was
deprived of the grand ducal yarlyk, which went to Mikhail's son,
Dimitrii (1322-1324), known as "Mean eyes." Again both dukes were
summoned to the Horde where, after heated incrimination Dimitrii assassinated
Yurii,. avenging the death of this father. He was himself executed by the
Tatars.
1326 - Both were succeeded by their brothers: Dimitrii by Aleksander
Mikhailovich of Tver (1326-1328) and Yurii by Ivan Daniilovich.
1327 - When the Khan's first cousin, the Baskak Cholkhan (Shevkal) and his band
of Tatars were killed in Tver and a rebellion erupted there, Aleksander
Mikhailovich fled to Pskov to escape a punitive Tatar expedition, which was
headed by none other than his cousin Ivan Daniilovich. However Metropolitan
Theognost, an ally of Ivan Daniilovich, damned and excommunicated the Pskovites
because they made him their prince. Aleksander Mikhailovich was forced to run
to the principality of Lithuania.
1337 - Aleksandr Mikhailovich traveled to the horde with tribute and was given
the yarlik to Tver. Ivan Danilovich again set the Horde's Khan against
him with the aid of intrigue.
1338 - Alexander Mikhailovich was summoned to the Horde and was assassinated at
the hand of Khan Uzbek. Tver, was pillaged and many of its citizens massacred
and Ivan became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. 1317 -
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