YURI DANILOVICH

(d. 1325), grand prince of Vladimir and the prince of Moscow who initiated the rivalry for supremacy between Moscow and Tver in northeastern Russia.

In 1303 Yuri succeeded his father Daniel Yaroslavich to Moscow. After Grand Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Vladimir died in 1304, Yuri challenged Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver for the grand princely throne. He visited Khan Tokhta in Saray, intending to buy the patent for Vladimir with gifts, but Mikhail won. Because Yuri rejected the decision, Mikhail attacked Moscow unsuccessfully in 1305 and 1308. His son Dmitry also marched against Yuri, but Metropolitan Peter, who supported Moscow, stopped him. The Novgorodians also preferred Yuri and invited him in 1314 to be their prince. Mikhail, however, repossessed the town in Yuri's absence in 1316 when Yuri visited the Golden Horde. On that occasion the khan gave him the patent for Vladimir. He returned home with Tatar troops to consolidate his rule, but, when he attacked Mikhail in 1318, the latter defeated him. To resolve the stalemate, they rode to Saray for a judgment. Khan Uzbek appointed Yuri grand prince once again and had Mikhail put to death. In 1322, while Yuri helped defend Novgorod against the Germans, Mikhail's successor and son Dmitry persuaded the khan, with the usual bribes, to give him Vladimir. After Yuri assisted the Novgorodians by building a fortress on the river Neva and by capturing Ustyug on the Northern Dvina, he traveled to Saray to challenge Dmitry's appointment. On November 21, 1325, Dmitry murdered Yuri at the Golden Horde to avenge his father's death.

See also: daniel, metropolitan; dmitry mikhailovich; golden horde; grand prince; moscow; muscovy; novgorod the great

bibliography

Fennell, John L. I. (1968). The Emergence of Moscow, 1304–1359. London: Secker and Warburg.

Martin, Janet. (1995). Medieval Russia, 980–1584. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Martin Dimnik