Yury (Georgy) Danilovich (; 1281 – 21 November 1325) was

Prince of Moscow The Grand Prince of Moscow (), known as the Prince of Moscow until 1389, was the ruler of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Moscow principality was initially established in the 13th century as an appanage within the Vladimir-Suzdal grand prin ...

from 1303 to 1325 and

Grand Prince of Vladimir The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389. Overview The monarch of Vladimir-Su ...

from 1318 to 1322. He contested the title of

with his uncle

Mikhail of Tver Mikhail Yaroslavich (; 1271 – 22 November 1318) was Prince of Tver from 1285 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1304 to 1314 and again from 1315 until his death in 1318. He was Russian Orthodox Church#Canonization, canonized and counted amo ...

. As Yury's father had never held the title, he had no legitimate claim. Despite two failed campaigns by Mikhail to subdue Yury, the latter allied with the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

and married the khan's sister Konchaka. However, he never had any children with her and was made grand prince after Mikhail's execution in 1318. Yury faced resistance and difficulties in collecting tribute for the Horde, prompting several punitive expeditions. In 1322, Mikhail's son

Dmitry of Tver Dmitry Mikhailovich (; 1298 – 15 September 1326), nicknamed the Fearsome Eyes or the Terrible Eyes (), was Prince of Tver from 1318 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1322 until his death in 1326, when he was executed in Sarai by the Mongols. ...

accused him of embezzlement and obtained the grand princely title. Dmitry also succeeded in killing Yury. Before his death, Yury led a campaign against the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

and founded a fort at the

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

Biography

Early life

Yury was the oldest son of

Daniel of Moscow Daniil Aleksandrovich ( Russian: Даниил Александрович; 1261 – 5 March 1303), also known as Daniil of Moscow, was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky and forefather of all Princes of Moscow. His descendants are known as t ...

, the first

prince of Moscow The Grand Prince of Moscow (), known as the Prince of Moscow until 1389, was the ruler of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Moscow principality was initially established in the 13th century as an appanage within the Vladimir-Suzdal grand prin ...

and progenitor of the ''Daniilovichi''. His first military action was to defend

Pereslavl-Zalessky Pereslavl-Zalessky (, ), formerly known as Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, or simply Pereyaslavl, is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the main Moscow–Yaroslavl road and on the southeastern shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo at the mouth of the ...

against the

grand prince of Vladimir The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389. Overview The monarch of Vladimir-Su ...

Andrey of Gorodets Andrey III Alexandrovich (ca. 1255 – 27 July 1304), a Rus’ prince, son of Alexander Nevsky, received from his father the town of Gorodets on the Volga. In 1276 he added Kostroma to his possessions and joined the struggle for the Grand Duchy ...

Conflict with Mikhail of Tver

After his father Daniel died in 1303, Yury became prince of Moscow, and contended over the title of grand prince of Vladimir (the supreme position among princes in the northeast) with his uncle

. Because Daniel had never been grand prince of Vladimir, his descendants, including his son Yury, had no legitimate claim to the throne of Vladimir according to traditional succession practices. This is why the

's khan,

Tokhta Tokhta (also spelled Toqta, Toktu, Tokhtai, Tochtu or Tokhtogha; died ) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1291 to 1312. He was a son of Mengu-Timur and a great-grandson of Batu Khan. His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian l ...

, granted Mikhail of Tver the grand princely title when Andrey of Gorodets died the next year on 27 July 1304. Mikhail went to the Golden Horde's capital city Sarai, where the khan elevated him grand prince. His nephew Yury rebelled against this appointment, but two military campaigns by Mikhail of Tver against Moscow in 1305 and 1308 forced Yury to comply with the khan's decision. The Tverian army besieged Pereslavl and Moscow itself. In the meantime, Yury arranged the murder of Prince Konstantin of

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

. This unlucky ruler had been captured by Yury's father back in 1302 and had been incarcerated in Moscow since then. While Ryazan was shocked by such a barbarity, Yury annexed the key Ryazanian fortress of

Kolomna Kolomna (, ) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the fir ...

to Moscow. He also captured

Mozhaisk MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the west of Moscow, on the histori ...

, which formerly belonged to the princes of

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. By 1314, Yury secured backing from the

Metropolitan Peter Metropolitan Peter may refer to: *Peter of Moscow (died 1326), metropolitan of Kiev *Petro Mohyla (1596–1647), metropolitan of Kiev and Ecumenical Patriarch *Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813–1851), metropolitan of Cetinje and ruler of Montenegr ...

and formed a military alliance with

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

against Tver. Now, he felt strong enough to challenge Mikhail of Tver in the Horde. In 1315, Yury went to the

and, after spending two years there, constructed an alliance with

Uzbeg Khan The Uzbeks () are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak minorities, and also form minority ...

. Yury married the khan's sister Konchaka, a

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

princess who converted to

Russian Orthodox Christianity The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

for her marriage to Yury, and adopted "Agafiia" as her baptismal name. Uzbeg Khan deposed Mikhail and nominated Yury as the Grand Prince of Vladimir. Back in Moscow with a large force of Tatars, Yury approached

Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...

. However, Yuri's army was defeated and his brother Boris and his wife were taken prisoners. Thereupon he fled to Novgorod and sued for peace. At that time his wife, still held in Tver as a hostage, died unexpectedly. Yury availed himself of the confusion that followed and announced to the khan that she had been poisoned on Mikhail's order. Uzbeg Khan summoned both princes to Sarai and, after a trial, had Mikhail executed on 22 November 1318. Yury, who both depended on and benefited from Uzbeg Khan's favour, was allowed to be the grand prince of Vladimir for the next four years (1318–1322).

Last years

Yury returned to Suzdalia in 1319, spending much time in Novgorod. He was fiercely resisted by other princes and populace alike, as his appointment to grand prince was considered illegitimate. Now entrusted with the task of gathering tribute to the Horde, Yury faced much opposition; Uzbeg sent no fewer than four punitive expeditions to the northeastern principalities of Rus' during Yury's last two years as grand prince (1320–1322) in order to enforce their joint authority. In particular, Mikhail's son and successor, Dmitry "the Terrible Eyes" of Tver, still opposed him. In 1322, Dmitry, seeking revenge for his father's murder, went to Sarai and persuaded the khan that Yury had appropriated a large portion of the tribute due to the Horde. Uzbek granded Dmitry the patent for grand prince of Vladimir. Yury was summoned to the Horde for a trial but, before any formal investigation, was killed by Dmitry. Eight months later, Dmitry was also executed in the Horde. In early 1326, Yury's remains were returned to Moscow and buried by the bishops of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

headed by

. Shortly before his death, Yury led the army of Novgorod to fight the

and founded a fort in the mouth of the

. Upon signing the Treaty of Orekhovo in 1323, Yury continued eastward and conquered

Velikiy Ustyug Veliky Ustyug () is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665. Veliky Ustyug has a great historical signific ...

the same year.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* (e-book). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yury Of Moscow 1281 births 1325 deaths 14th-century grand princes of Moscow 14th-century murdered monarchs 13th-century princes from Kievan Rus' Grand princes of Vladimir Murdered Russian monarchs Daniilovichi family Assassinated Russian politicians