Prince Yuri Danilovich: biography, history, government and politics

Yuri Danilovich (1281-1325) was the eldest son of the Prince of Moscow, Daniil Alexandrovich, 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.

Struggle for the championship

At that time, the title of Grand Duke Vladimirsky gave his owner virtually unlimited power in the territory of all Russian northeastern lands. His bearer was considered the supreme ruler and had the right to dispose at his discretion by all the military forces available to his vassals, 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.

The Khans, in turn, had their own interests here. By giving a label to the Vladimir reign, they demanded of the applicant for him unquestioning service to the interests of the Golden Horde. That is why the most powerful princes did not always become the supreme rulers of the Russian lands, as the khans sought to put an unprincipled and obedient ruler on this place. But even in the hands of the most loyal Grand Duke to the Horde, the label for a long time did not remain. The Khans in this respect conducted such a policy, which invariably led to the internecine struggle of several representatives of different branches of the Rurikovich. In 1304, Prince Yuri Danilovich Moskovsky joined the similar confrontation.

A new phase of internal strife

The main rival of Moscow was Tver in the person of Prince Michael Yaroslavich, who was a cousin to all his brothers Danilovich. His principality at the time was considered to be the strongest, and the proof was the numerous successes achieved by him in the incessant internecine struggle. By the way, Moscow then, like the rest of the Russian north-eastern lands, was inferior to it 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, did not die before him, then this place would be occupied by Yuri's eldest son. But in this situation, he was the grandson of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoi, who became the first of the ancient Russian rulers who received a label from the khan. To this end, the prince went to the Horde with the hope of obtaining this title, and along with him, Pereslavl.

The decision of Khan Uzbek

For the same purpose, followed by Mikhail Tversky followed and Prince Yuri. But, by the way, the second of them had almost no chances. The fact is that Daniel Moskovsky did not have a label for the grand reign, so his sons could not claim such a high title. By the way, this is clearly stated in the then-patrimonial law. But, in spite of this, Mikhail Tverskoi was careful not to compete with the young prince of Moscow, so he sent his people to detain him in Suzdal.

As it is written in the annals, it all ended up in the fact that in 1305 Mikhail Yaroslavich nevertheless received a khan's label for the great Vladimir prince. So, the choice of the Golden Horde fell on the eldest of relatives, but he never received the authority regarding Pereslavl. This uncertainty caused another outburst of hostility between Mikhail Tversky and Yuri Moskovsky.

Label of the great reign

In 1315, the Horde khan, responding to the numerous complaints of Mikhail Tversky, summoned the prince of Moscow. Yuri Danilovich stayed there for about two years and during this time managed to win the trust and mercy of Uzbek so much that in 1317 the ruler decided to marry his sister Konchak, who in the Orthodox manner was called Agafia. A wedding gift for the young became a label, which he presented to Prince Yuri. From this moment, Mikhail Yaroslavich lost his title of Grand Duke Vladimirsky.

In the same year, from Sarai-Berke Yuri Danilovich and his wife and the Tatar army under the command of Kavgaday went on the return journey. Judging by what happened next, the new Vladimir prince was given very broad powers. I must say that Mikhail Tversky was very reluctant to part with the authorities, but at the same time he was afraid of any complications in relations with the Horde. Therefore, after short negotiations, the former Vladimir Prince 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 Tver by war. In 1318, he gathered his entire army and with the support of the Horde Kavgaday, approached almost to the gates of the city. It was assumed that Tver would be subjected to simultaneous attack from two sides: from the southeast it would be attacked by Yuri Danilovich, commander of the Suzdal and Moscow military men, and from the north-west Novgorodians would strike. But this plan was never implemented. The fact is that the Novgorodians did not come in time, and later they made peace with Mikhail, turning their troops back. Seeing this state of affairs, the Kavgadai and Suzdalians wanted to overtake them and return them back.

Such activities of Yuri Danilovich and his Horde ally led to the fact that the Moscow prince was left alone with the Tver army. In the annals on this occasion it is said that there was a "great siege". As was to be 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 (Konchak), who soon in captivity died. There is no exact information about the reasons for her death. After this, according to the terms of the peace treaty, both princes were to go to the Horde.

The execution of Mikhail Tversky

From the very beginning it was clear that the prince would not forgive such arbitrariness. Mikhail Yaroslavich tried to reconcile himself with his long-standing enemy and to restore the Horde's location. The ambassador Oleks Markovich sent to Moscow on the orders of Yuri Danilovich himself was killed, after which the prince and the Kavgadai hastened to the khan. Upon arrival, they accused Mikhail of treason, concealing the tribute and death of Princess Agafia. The Khan court found him guilty and pronounced the death sentence. November 22, 1318 he was executed.

The document - "Tver Tales", written by the confessor of the prince Michael himself - is preserved. In it, a certain hegumen Alexander calls Yuri Moskovsky a gun in the hands of the khan. He asserts that the prince actually acted at court as the accuser of Mikhail Yaroslavich. I must say that the deceased people have always been revered as a hero, so in 1549 the decision of the Second Moscow Council was counted among the saints.

New confrontation

After the execution of the Tver prince, 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 from under his obedience began to leave the sons of Michael, the eldest of whom, Dmitry Tverskoi, openly began to express his claims to a high title. This conflict between the two princes led to the fact that the Tatars once again went to war against Russia. In addition, it was necessary to collect tribute for the Khan. Against this in Rostov rose a real uprising, so Yuri Danilovich had to use military force.

In the end, the tribute was still collected, but for some reason the prince did not give it to the Kavgadaya. Instead, he, with all his belongings in the winter of 1321, went to Novgorod to his younger brother. In the annals there is no explanation for this deed of the prince. Historians suggest that this was done quite deliberately, and part of the collected funds was spent on the war with the Swedes. For its part, the Horde considered concealing tribute a great crime. The created position immediately took advantage of Dmitry Mikhailovich Tverskoi, nicknamed the Terrible Eyes, and in the autumn of 1322, Uzbek handed him a label, thereby depriving the power of his former son-in-law.

And again Prince Yuri Moskovsky

A brief description of his future life can be as follows: at first he was forced to flee, for his unlimited power was now received by his worst enemies-the sons of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoi. At first he was hiding in Pskov, and then Novgorod, where he lived from 1322 to 1324.

Yuri Danilovich, whose foreign policy clearly demonstrated to all that he never recognized the supremacy of Dmitry Tversky, 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 Orehovets Treaty, which defined the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Also, at his order, the Oreshek Fortress was built at the outlet area of the Neva River from the Ladoga Lake, which became the most important defensive object and in subsequent years saved Russian lands from the threat of seizure by foreign invaders.

In general, the foreign policy of Yuri Danilovich was peaceful, as he tried to live in peace with both the Swedes and the Golden Horde. However, if necessary, he could lead and successful military operations. An example of this can serve as his trip to Ustyug. Here he defended the interests of Novgorodians, who suffered from numerous predatory raids of Ustyuzhans.

Murder of Yuri Danilovich

Dmitry Tverskoi, having learned that after the expedition to Ustyug the prince went to the Horde, hurried after him. He was sure that Yuri Danilovich would slander him as much as his father. Both princes had to stay in the Horde for a long time, waiting for the Khan's verdict. Soon they were joined by Dmitry Tversky's brother, Alexander. It is assumed that he brought debt to the Saransk moneylenders in order to borrow from them new loans.

In 1325, namely, on November 22, it was exactly 7 years since the day that Mikhail Tverskoy, the father of Dmitry and Alexander, died on the Horde land. For the brothers, this black date was not only a day of remembrance and sorrow, but also of revenge. The fact is that on the eve of the meeting a meeting of two irreconcilable enemies - Dmitry Groznyi Ochi and Yuri Danilovich. Whether it was fatal accident or everything was rigged, it is not known. Only in the Nikon Chronicle it is said that Dmitry Mikhailovich killed Yury Danilovich, hoping for the favor of King Uzbek and for the inheritance of the place and salary of the deceased prince. The well-known Russian historian VN Tatishchev, who lived at the turn of the XVII and XVIII centuries, in his writings made the assumption that this was nothing but revenge for his father.

Pay

Dmitry Mihailovich, 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 in disfavor with the Horde ruler. However, as a real despot, Uzbek could forgive his subjects a lot, but not arbitrariness. Therefore, first of all he ordered to send the body of the murdered Moscow prince to his homeland, and ordered the murderer himself to be arrested.

Khan's sentence had to wait almost a year. As a result, Dmitry Tverskoi was sentenced to death. Either by a strange coincidence of circumstances, or by the whim of the Uzbek Khan himself, only the prince was stripped of his life precisely on the day of his birth-September 15, 1326, when he was only 28 years old. According to the chronicle, another Russian prince, Alexander Novosilsky, was executed along with him. Most likely, they were close friends and together they prepared the murder of Yuri Danilovich.

Strengthening the Moscow Principality

Summarizing the results of the board, we can say that Yuri Danilovich, whose domestic policy was entirely aimed at centralizing and creating a strong power, did not lose anything from the lands that were once inherited from his father. On the contrary, he managed to multiply them. For example, in 1303 he annexed the Mozhaisk principality, two years later Pereslavl-Zalessky, and in 1311, and Nizhny Novgorod, where his brother Boris subsequently ruled. In 1320, Yuri Moskovsky went to war with the Ryazan prince Ivan Yaroslavich in order to add Kolomna to his possessions.