- Yury of Moscow
Yuriy Danilovich, also known as Georgiy Danilovich (Юрий Данилович in Russian) (born 1281 died
November 21 ,1325 ) wasPrince of Moscow (1303 - 1325) andGrand Prince of Vladimir (from 1317). He was one of the most disagreeable personages of medieval Russian history, and yet to him the town of Moscow owned its first elevation.Yury was the oldest son of Daniel, the first prince of Moscow. His first important action was to defend
Pereslavl-Zalessky against Grand Duke Andrew III. Upon Andrew's death the next year, Yury had to contend the title of Grand Duke ofVladimir with Mikhail of Tver. While the Tverian army besieged Pereslavl and Moscow itself, Mikhail went to theGolden Horde , where the Khan elevated him to the supreme position among Russian princes.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 Duchy. He also capturedMozhaisk , which formerly belonged to the princes ofSmolensk . By 1314, Yury secured backing from theMetropolitan Peter and formed an alliance withNovgorod against Tver. Now, he felt strong enough to challenge Mikhail of Tver in the Horde.In 1315 Yury went to the
Golden Horde and, after spending two years there, constructed an alliance withUzbeg Khan . Upon Yury's marriage to the khan's sister Konchaka, Uzbeg Khan deposed Mikhail and nominated Yury as the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Back in Russia with a large force of Mongols, Yury approachedTver . 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. The khan summoned both princes to Sarai and, after a trial, had Mikhail executed.Yury returned to Russia, hated by other princes and populace alike, in 1319. He was now entrusted with the task of gathering all-Russian tribute to the Horde. But Mikhail's son and successor, Dmitry the Terrible Eyes, 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. 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. [John Fennell, "Princely Executions in the Horde 1308-1339," "Forschungen zur Osteuropaischen Geschichte" 38 (1988), 9-19.]
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 theTreaty of Orekhovo in 1323, Yury continued eastward and conqueredVelikiy Ustyug the same year.ee also
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Rulers of Russia family tree References
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