Yuri Danilovich (1281-1325) was the eldest son of the Prince of Moscow Daniil Alexandrovich and grandson of the great Alexander Nevsky. At first he ruled in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and then in Moscow, from 1303. During his reign, he led a continuous struggle with Tver for the unification of Russia under his command.
The fight for the championship
At that time, the title of Grand Duke Vladimir gave its owner almost unlimited power in all Russian northeastern lands. His bearer was considered the dominant ruler and had the right to dispose at his discretion all the military forces available to his vassals, and he could also judge them and collect tribute from the lands subject to him. In addition, there was another privilege: despite the loss of a great reign, he completely retained his own ancestral lands.
The khans, in turn, had their own interests here. Giving a label to the reign of Vladimir, they demanded that the applicant unquestioningly serve the interests of the Golden Horde. That is why the most powerful princes did not always become the supreme rulers of the Russian lands, since the khans sought to plant an uninitiated and obedient ruler in this place. But even in the hands of the most loyal to the Horde Grand Duke, the label did not remain for a long time. The Khans in this regard pursued a policy that invariably led to an internecine struggle of several representatives of different branches of the Rurikovich at once. In 1304, Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow entered into such a confrontation.
A new stage of strife
The main rival of Moscow was Tver in the person of Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich, who was a cousin of all brothers Danilovich. His principality at that time was considered the strongest, and the many successes achieved by him in the ongoing internecine struggle were proof of this. 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, Prince of Moscow of Moscow, Daniel, had not died before him, then this place would have taken the eldest son Yuri. But in this situation, he turned out to be the grandson of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskaya, who became the first of the old 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.
Khan Uzbek decision
For the same purpose, Prince Yuri followed Michael Tversky. But, by the way, the second of them had practically no chances. The fact is that Daniel of Moscow did not have a label 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 Tverskoy was wary of rivalry from the young prince of Moscow, and therefore sent his people to detain him in Suzdal.
As written in the annals, it all ended with the fact that in 1305 Mikhail Yaroslavich nevertheless received a Khan's label for the great reign of Vladimir. So, the choice of the Golden Horde fell on the eldest of relatives, but he still did not receive authority regarding Pereslavl. Such uncertainty caused another outbreak of hostility between Mikhail Tversky and Yuri Moscow.
Label for 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 that time managed to gain the trust and mercy of Uzbek so much that in 1317 the ruler decided to marry his sister Konchak, who in the Orthodox manner began to call Agafia. The wedding present for the young was a label that he presented to Prince Yuri. From that moment, Mikhail Yaroslavich lost his title of Grand Duke Vladimir.
In the same year, Yuri Danilovich from Sarai-Berke with his wife and the Tatar army under the command of Kavgadai set off on the return trip. Judging by what happened next, the newly-made Vladimir Prince was given very broad powers. I must say that Mikhail Tversky really did not want to part with the government, but at the same time he was afraid of any complications in relations with the Horde. Therefore, after brief negotiations, the former Prince of Vladimir was forced to give up the title and return to his estate.
War with Tver
The reign of Yuri Danilovich began with the fact that, despite all the concessions of Mikhail, he nevertheless went to Tver war. In 1318, he gathered his entire army and, with the support of the Horde of Kavgadai, almost approached the gates of the city. It was assumed that Tver would be simultaneously attacked from two sides: from the southeast, it would be attacked by Yuri Danilovich, who commanded the Suzdal and Moscow armies, and from the northwest, Novgorodians would strike. But this plan was never implemented. The fact is that the Novgorodians did not come on time, and later completely made peace with Mikhail, turning their troops back. Seeing this state of affairs, Kavgadai and 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 alone 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 Agafyu (Konchak), 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.
The Execution of Mikhail Tversky
From the very beginning it was clear that the khan would not forgive the prince for such arbitrariness. Mikhail Yaroslavich tried to reconcile with his long-standing enemy and regain the location of the Horde. Ambassador Oleksa Markovich sent by him to Moscow was killed on the orders of Yuri Danilovich himself, after which the prince, along with Kavgadai, hurried to the khan. Upon arrival, they accused Michael of treason, hiding the tribute and death of Princess Agafia. A Khan court found him guilty and passed a death sentence. November 22, 1318 it was carried out.
The document - “Tver Tales” written by the confessor of Prince Michael himself has been preserved. In it, a certain abbot Alexander calls Yuri of Moscow an instrument in the hands of the khan. He claims that the prince actually appeared in court as the prosecutor of Mikhail Yaroslavich. I must say that the people always revered the deceased as a hero, so in 1549, by the decision of the second Moscow Cathedral, he was counted among the saints.
New confrontation
After the execution of the Tver prince, the rule 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 out of his obedience sons of Mikhail began to leave, the eldest of whom, Dmitry Tverskoy, openly began to express his claims for a high title. This conflict between the two princes led to the fact that the Tatars again went to war on Russia. In addition, it was necessary to collect tribute for the khan. A real rebellion arose against this in Rostov, so Yuri Danilovich had to use military force.
In the end, the tribute was nevertheless collected, but for some reason the prince did not hand it over to Kavgadai. Instead, he left with all his belongings in the winter of 1321 to Novgorod with his younger brother. In the annals there is no explanation for this act of the prince. Historians suggest that this was done quite consciously, and part of the funds raised was spent on the war with the Swedes. For its part, the Horde considered concealing tribute a great crime. Dmitry Tverskaya, nicknamed the Terrible Eyes, immediately took advantage of this situation, and in the autumn of 1322, Uzbek handed him a shortcut, thereby depriving his former son-in-law of power.
And again, Prince of Moscow Yuri Danilovich
It is possible to briefly describe his future life as follows: at first he was forced to flee, since his worst enemies — the sons of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tversky — now gained unlimited power. At first he was hiding in Pskov, and then Novgorod, where he lived from 1322 to 1324.
Yuri Danilovich, whose foreign policy vividly demonstrated to everyone 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 the so-called Orekhovets Treaty with them, which determined the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Also, by his order, the Oreshek fortress was erected at the exit site of the Neva River from Lake Ladoga, which became the most important defensive object and in subsequent years saved the Russian lands from the threat of being captured by foreign invaders.
On the whole, the foreign policy of Yuri Danilovich was peaceful, since 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 of the Ustyuzhans.
The murder of Yuri Danilovich
Dmitry Tverskoy, learning that after going to Ustyug, the prince went to the Horde, hurried after him. He was sure that Yuri Danilovich slander him as much as his father. Both princes had to remain in the Horde for a rather long time, awaiting the khan's sentence. Soon, Dmitry Tversky's brother, Alexander, joined them. It is assumed that he brought debt to the Saransk money lenders in order to take new loans from them.
In 1325, namely November 22, it was exactly 7 years since the day that Mikhail Tverskaya, father of Dmitry and Alexander, died on the Horde land. For the brothers, this black date was not only a day of memory and sorrow, but also of vengeance. The fact is that the day before the meeting of two irreconcilable enemies took place - Dmitry the Terrible Ochi and Yuri Danilovich. Whether it was a fatal accident or everything was rigged is unknown. Only in the Nikon Chronicle does it say that Dmitry Mikhailovich killed Yuri Danilovich, hoping for the favor of the tzar Uzbek and the inheritance of the place and salary of the deceased prince. The famous Russian historian V.N. Tatishchev, who lived at the turn of the XVII and XVIII centuries, in his works made the assumption that this was nothing but revenge for his father.
Pay
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, like a real despot, Uzbek could forgive his subjects much, but not arbitrariness. Therefore, the first thing he ordered to send the body of the murdered Moscow prince to his homeland, and ordered the killer to be arrested.
The sentence of the khan 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 the khan of Uzbekistan himself, only the prince took his life precisely on his birthday - 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 were preparing the murder of Yuri Danilovich.
Strengthening the Principality of Moscow
Summing up the reign, we can say that Yuri Danilovich, whose domestic policy was entirely aimed at centralization and the creation of a strong power, did not lose any of the lands that were once inherited from his father. On the contrary, he even managed to increase 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 1320, Yuri Moskovsky went to war against Prince Ryazan Ivan Yaroslavich in order to annex Kolomna to his possessions.