Yury of Moscow
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Yury (Georgy) DanilovichTemplate:Efn (Template:Langx; 1281 – 21 November 1325) was Prince of Moscow from 1303 to 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1318 to 1322.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He contested the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir with his uncle Mikhail of Tver. 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 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 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 and founded a fort at the Neva River.
BiographyEdit
Early lifeEdit
Yury was the oldest son of Daniel of Moscow, the first prince of Moscow and progenitor of the Daniilovichi.Template:Sfn His first military action was to defend Pereslavl-Zalessky against the grand prince of Vladimir, Andrey of Gorodets.
Conflict with Mikhail of TverEdit
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 Mikhail of Tver.Template:Sfn Because Daniel had never been grand prince of Vladimir,Template:Sfn his descendants, including his son Yury, had no legitimate claim to the throne of Vladimir according to traditional succession practices.Template:Sfn This is why the Golden Horde's khan, Tokhta, granted Mikhail of Tver the grand princely title when Andrey of Gorodets died the next year on 27 July 1304.Template:Sfn Mikhail went to the Golden Horde's capital city Sarai, where the khan elevated him grand prince.Template:Cn 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.Template:Sfn The Tverian army besieged Pereslavl and Moscow itself.Template:Cn
In the meantime, Yury arranged the murder of Prince Konstantin of Ryazan. 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 to Moscow. He also captured Mozhaisk, which formerly belonged to the princes of Smolensk. By 1314, Yury secured backing from the Metropolitan Peter and formed a military alliance with Novgorod against Tver. Now, he felt strong enough to challenge Mikhail of Tver in the Horde.Template:Cn
In 1315, Yury went to the Golden Horde and, after spending two years there, constructed an alliance with Uzbeg Khan. Yury married the khan's sister Konchaka,Template:Sfn a Tatar princessTemplate:Sfn who converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity for her marriage to Yury, and adopted "Agafiia" as her baptismal name.Template:Sfn Uzbeg Khan deposed Mikhail and nominated Yury as the Grand Prince of Vladimir.Template:Sfn Back in Moscow with a large force of Tatars, Yury approached Tver. 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.Template:Sfn 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).Template:Sfn
Last yearsEdit
Yury returned to Suzdalia in 1319, spending much time in Novgorod.Template:Sfn He was fiercely resisted by other princes and populace alike, as his appointment to grand prince was considered illegitimate.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn In particular, Mikhail's son and successor, Dmitry "the Terrible Eyes" of Tver, still opposed him. In 1322,Template:Sfn Dmitry, seeking revenge for his father's murder,Template:Cn went to SaraiTemplate:Sfn and persuaded the khan that Yury had appropriated a large portion of the tribute due to the Horde.Template:Cn Uzbek granded Dmitry the patent for grand prince of Vladimir.Template:Sfn 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.<ref>John Fennell, "Princely Executions in the Horde 1308-1339," Forschungen zur Osteuropaischen Geschichte 38 (1988), 9-19.</ref> In early 1326, Yury's remains were returned to Moscow and buried by the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Peter.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Shortly before his death, Yury led the army of Novgorod to fight the Swedes and founded a fort in the mouth of the Neva River. Upon signing the Treaty of Orekhovo in 1323, Yury continued eastward and conquered Velikiy Ustyug the same year.Template:Cn
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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