Mikhail of Tver
Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver | |
---|---|
Yaroslav III | |
Mother | Xenia of Tarusa |
Mikhail Yaroslavich (Russian: Михаил Ярославич) (1271 – 22 November 1318), also known as Michael or Mikhail of Tver, was a Prince of Tver (from 1285) who ruled as Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1304 until 1314 and again from 1315 to 1318. He was canonized and counted among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Mikhail Yaroslavich was the second son of
Troubles as Grand Prince and Rivalry with Moscow
While he seemed secure in the throne, being the legitimate heir and having been confirmed by the Khan in Sarai, Grand Prince Mikhail suffered a series of setbacks as grand prince which led to him losing the grand princely office for both himself and, in some ways, ultimately for his descendants. He was, like most Grand Princes of Vladimir, accepted as Prince of Novgorod the Great in 1309,[2] but fought with Novgorod, going so far as to withdraw his lieutenants (namestniki) and cut off grain shipments into the city in 1312.
While he was on decent terms with
After granting Yury the iarlyk or patent of office, the Khan sent his army under the Mongol general Kavgadii to help Yuri in his struggle with Mikhail Yaroslavich. On 22 December 1317 Mikhail defeated Yuri at a village called Bortenevo (40 km from Tver). Mikhail captured Yuri's wife, who was the Khan's sister. When she died in Mikhail's custody, he was blamed for her death, although it seems unlikely that he would have killed her knowing how much it would hurt him politically for such little gain. He released Kavgadii, who returned to Sarai and accused Mikhail of murdering the Khan's sister, withholding tribute, and warring against his Mongol overlord. As a result, Mikhail was summoned to the Horde by the Khan and executed on 22 November 1318.[4]
Mikhail and the Church
Mikhail also alienated the Church, particularly
Family and children
In 1294 Mikhail married Princess
- Prince Dmitry of Tver (1299–1326)
- Prince Alexander of Tver(1301–1339)
- Prince Konstantin of Tver (1306–1346)
- Prince Vasily of Kashin (d. after 1368)
- Feodora of Tver
Mikhail's sons and successors Dmitry the Terrible Eyes and Alexander were both also loved in the Horde, as was Alexander's elder son, Mikhail. Both Aleksandr Mikhailovich, and Mikhail Aleksandrovich briefly held the Grand Princely office (in 1326-1327 and 1371-1372 respectively)[7] but Mikhail's failure to defeat Yury of Moscow, followed by Aleksandr's role (real or perceived) in the Tver Uprising of 1327, led the Tver branch to lose the favor of the Khans, and the Danilovich - the Muscovite princes, held the title for all but two years after 1317.
Mikhail's wife took the veil in Kashin's nunnery and died there on 2 October 1368. She is commemorated as Anna of Kashin by the Russian Orthodox Church and was canonized in 1677.
|
See also
- Rulers of Russia family tree
References
- ^ Janet Martin Medieval Russia 980-1584 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 174.
- ^ Michael C. Paul, "Was the Prince of Novgorod a 'Third-Rate Bureaucrat' after 1136?" Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 56, No. 1 (Spring 2008): 72-113.
- ^ Martin, Medieval Russia, 175.
- ^ Martin, Medieval Russia, 175; John Fennell, "Princely Executions in the Horde 1308-1339," Forschungen zur Osteuropaischen Geschichte 38 (1988), 9-19.
- ^ Martin, Medieval Russia, 193.
- ^ Святой благоверный великий князь Михаил Ярославич, Тверской чудотворец + Православный Церковный календарь (in Russian). Pravoslavie.Ru. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ Paul, "Was the Prince of Novgorod a 'Third-rate Bureaucrat'", 111
External links
- (in Russian) Biography
- (in Russian) Canonical biography