Yuri Danilovich (1281-1325) was the eldest son of Prince Daniil Alexandrovich of Moscow and the grandson of the great Alexander Nevsky. At first he ruled in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and then in Moscow, from 1303. During his reign, he waged a continuous struggle with Tver for the unification of Russia under his command.
Championship
At that time, the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir gave its owner almost unlimited power on the territory of all Russian northeastern lands. Its bearer was considered the dominant ruler and had the right to dispose of all the military forces available to his vassals at his own discretion, and could also judge them and collect tribute from the lands subject to him. In addition, there was another privilege: despite the loss of the great reign, he completely retained his own ancestral lands.
Khans, in turn, had their own interests here. Giving a label for the reign of Vladimir, they demanded from the applicant for him unquestioning service to the interests of the Golden Horde. That is why the supreme rulers of the Russian lands did not always becomethe most powerful princes, since the khans sought to put a ruler without initiative and obedient to them in this place. But even in the hands of the Grand Duke most loyal to the Horde, the label did not remain for a long time. In this regard, the Khans pursued a policy that invariably led to internecine struggle at once by several representatives of different branches of the Rurikovich. In 1304, Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow also entered into a similar confrontation.
A new stage of strife
Tver, represented by Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich, who was a cousin of all the Danilovich brothers, became Moscow's main rival. His principality at that time was considered the most powerful, and the proof of this was the numerous successes he achieved in the ongoing internecine struggle. By the way, Moscow then, like the rest of the Russian northeastern lands, was inferior to him in almost everything.
A new round of internecine strife began in 1304, after the death of Grand Duke Andrei Alexandrovich. If his brother, the Moscow prince Daniel, had not died before him, then this place would have been taken by the eldest son Yuri. But in this situation, it turned out to be the grandson of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, who became the first of the ancient Russian rulers who received a label from the khan. To do this, the prince went to the Horde with the hope of obtaining this title, and with it Pereslavl.
Decision of Khan Uzbek
For the same purpose, Prince Yuri followed Mikhail of Tver. But, by the way, the second of them had practically no chance. The fact is that Daniil of Moscow did not havelabel for a great reign, so his sons could not claim such a high title. By the way, this was clearly stated in the then patrimonial law. But, despite this, Mikhail of Tverskoy was wary of rivalry from the young prince of Moscow, and therefore sent his people to detain him in Suzdal.
As it is written in the annals, it all ended with the fact that in 1305 Mikhail Yaroslavich nevertheless received the khan's label for the great reign of Vladimir. So, the choice of the Golden Horde fell on the eldest of the relatives, but he never received authority regarding Pereslavl. Such uncertainty caused another outbreak of hostility between Mikhail Tversky and Yuri Moskovsky.
Label for a great reign
In 1315, the Khan of the Horde, responding to the numerous complaints of Mikhail of Tver, summoned the prince of Moscow. Yuri Danilovich stayed there for about two years and during this time he managed to win the trust and favor of Uzbek so much that in 1317 the ruler decided to marry him his sister Konchaka, who in the Orthodox manner began to be called Agafya. The wedding gift for the young was the label, which he presented to Prince Yuri. From that moment, Mikhail Yaroslavich lost his title of Grand Duke of Vladimir.
In the same year, from Sarai-Berke, Yuri Danilovich with his wife and the Tatar army under the command of Kavgadai set off on the return journey. Judging by what happened next, the newly minted Prince of Vladimir was given very broad powers. I must say that Mikhail Tversky is veryhe wanted to part with power, but at the same time he was afraid of any complications in relations with the Horde. Therefore, after short negotiations, the former Prince of Vladimir was forced to cede the title and return to his fiefdom.
War with Tver
The reign of Yuri Danilovich began with the fact that, despite all the concessions of Mikhail, he nevertheless went to war against Tver. In 1318, he gathered his entire army and, with the support of the Horde of Kavgadai, approached almost the gates of the city. It was assumed that Tver would be attacked simultaneously from two sides: from the southeast it would be attacked by Yuri Danilovich, who commanded the Suzdal and Moscow army, and from the northwest it would be attacked by the Novgorodians. But this plan was never carried out. The fact is that the Novgorodians did not come up in time, and later they made peace with Mikhail, turning their troops back. Seeing this state of affairs, Kavgadai and the people of Suzdal wanted to catch up with them and bring them back.
Such activities of Yuri Danilovich and his Horde ally led to the fact that the Moscow prince was left face to face with the Tver army. In the annals on this occasion it is said that then a "great slaughter" took place. As expected, Yuri lost this battle and fled with the remnants of his army, and Mikhail Yaroslavich captured many warriors, as well as his wife Agafya (Konchaka), who soon died in captivity. There is no exact information about the reasons for her death. After that, under the terms of the peace treaty, both princes were to go to the Horde.
Execution of Mikhail Tverskoy
From the very beginningAt the beginning it was clear that the khan would not forgive the prince for such arbitrariness. Mikhail Yaroslavich tried to reconcile with his old enemy and regain the favor of the Horde. The ambassador Oleksa Markovich, sent by him to Moscow, was killed on the orders of Yuri Danilovich himself, after which the prince, together with Kavgadai, hurried to the khan. Upon arrival, they accused Mikhail of treason, concealment of tribute and the death of Princess Agafya. The Khan's court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. On November 22, 1318, he was executed.
A document has been preserved - "Tver Tales", written by the confessor of Prince Mikhail himself. In it, a certain abbot Alexander calls Yuri of Moscow a tool in the hands of the khan. He claims that the prince actually acted at the trial as an accuser of Mikhail Yaroslavich. I must say that the people always revered the deceased as a hero, so in 1549 he was canonized as a saint by the decision of the second Moscow Cathedral.
New confrontation
After the execution of the prince of Tver, the reign of Yuri Danilovich remained relatively calm for another two years. In 1321 it became clear that big problems could not be avoided. The fact is that the sons of Mikhail began to come out from under his obedience, the eldest of whom, Dmitry Tverskoy, openly began to express his claims to a high title. This conflict between the two princes led the Tatars to once again go to war against Russia. In addition, it was necessary to collect tribute for the khan. A real uprising rose up against this in Rostov, so Yuri Danilovich had to use military force.
At the endIn the end, the tribute was nevertheless collected, but for some reason the prince did not transfer it into the hands of Kavgadai. Instead, in the winter of 1321, with all his belongings, he went to Novgorod to his younger brother. In the annals there is no explanation for this act of the prince. Historians suggest that this was done quite deliberately, and part of the funds raised was spent on the war with the Swedes. For their part, the Horde considered withholding tribute a great crime. Dmitry Mikhailovich Tverskoy, nicknamed Terrible Eyes, immediately took advantage of the situation, and in the fall of 1322 Uzbek gave him the label, thereby depriving his former son-in-law of power.
And again Prince of Moscow Yuri Danilovich
Briefly describe his future life as follows: at first he was forced to flee, as his worst enemies, the sons of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver, now received unlimited power. At first he hid in Pskov, and then in Novgorod, where he lived from 1322 to 1324.
Yuri Danilovich, whose foreign policy clearly demonstrated to everyone that he never recognized the supremacy of Dmitry Tverskoy, actively participated in all international affairs, and this was still the prerogative of the Grand Duke. In addition, it was he who fought with the Swedes and concluded with them the so-called Treaty of Orekhovets, which determined the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Also, on his orders, the Oreshek fortress was erected on the site of the exit of the Neva River from Lake Ladoga, which became the most important defensive object and in subsequent years more than once saved Russian lands from the threat of capture by foreign conquerors.
BIn general, Yuri Danilovich's foreign policy was peaceful, as he tried to live in peace with both the Swedes and the Golden Horde. However, if necessary, he could conduct successful military operations. An example of this is his trip to Ustyug. Here he defended the interests of the Novgorodians, who suffered from numerous predatory raids by the Ustyugians.
The murder of Yuri Danilovich
Dmitry of Tverskoy, having learned that after the campaign against Ustyug the prince went to the Horde, hurried after him. He was sure that Yuri Danilovich would slander him in the same way as his father. Both princes had to stay in the Horde for quite a long time, waiting for the khan's sentence. Soon they were joined by the brother of Dmitry Tverskoy, Alexander. It is assumed that he brought a debt to the Saransk moneylenders in order to take new loans from them.
In 1325, namely on November 22, it was exactly 7 years since the day Mikhail of Tverskoy, the father of Dmitry and Alexander, died on the Horde land. For the brothers, this black date became not only a day of memory and sorrow, but also of vengeance. The fact is that the day before, a meeting of two irreconcilable enemies took place - Dmitry the Terrible Eyes and Yuri Danilovich. Whether it was a fatal accident or everything was rigged is unknown. Only in the Nikon Chronicle it is said that Dmitry Mikhailovich killed Yuri Danilovich, hoping for the favor of Tsar Uzbek and for inheriting the place and salary of the deceased prince. The well-known Russian historian V. N. Tatishchev, who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, made the assumption in his writings thatit was nothing but revenge for his father.
Payback
Dmitry Mikhailovich, having committed lynching, hoped that the Khan would forgive him such a trick, since it is known that by that time Prince Yuri Danilovich had long been out of favor with the ruler of the Horde. However, as a real despot, Uzbek could forgive his subjects a lot, but not arbitrariness. Therefore, the first thing he ordered was to send the body of the murdered Moscow prince to his homeland, and ordered the arrest of the killer himself.
Khan's verdict had to wait almost a year. As a result, Dmitry Tverskoy was sentenced to death. Either by a strange coincidence, or by the whim of Khan Uzbek himself, only the prince was deprived of his life on his birthday - September 15, 1326, when he was only 28 years old. As the chronicle says, another Russian prince, Alexander Novosilsky, was also executed with him. Most likely, they were close friends and together they prepared the murder of Yuri Danilovich.
Strengthening the Moscow Principality
Summing up the results of the reign, we can say that Yuri Danilovich, whose internal policy was entirely aimed at centralization and the creation of a strong state, did not lose any of the lands once inherited from his father. On the contrary, he even managed to multiply them. For example, in 1303 he annexed the Principality of Mozhaisk, two years later Pereslavl-Zalessky, and in 1311 Nizhny Novgorod, where his brother Boris subsequently ruled. In 1320Yuri of Moscow went to war against the Ryazan prince Ivan Yaroslavich in order to annex Kolomna to his possessions.
