Mikhail Yaroslavich
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Yaroslavich (1271 – November 22, 1318), also known as Michael of Tver or Michael the Saint, was a Prince of Tver (from 1285) who ruled as Grand Prince
Grand Prince
The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...

 of Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

 from 1304 until 1314 and again from 1315-1318. He is counted among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

.

Mikhail Yaroslavich was the second son of Yaroslav III (Yaroslav Yaroslavich), the younger brother of Aleksandr Nevsky) and succeeded him as Prince of Tver in 1285. His mother, Xenia was the second spouse to Yaroslav III and is known as the saint Xenia of Tarusa
Xenia of Tarusa
Xenia of Tarusa , also known as Xenia Yourjevna , was a Princess of Tver and of Vladimir from 1267 to 1271. She is counted among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church....

. Upon the death of Andrei Aleksandrovich (Aleksandr Nevsky's son and Yaroslav's nephew), Mikhail became the Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1304, as was consistent with the Rota System
Rota System
The rota system, from the Old Church Slavic word for "ladder" or "staircase", was a system of collateral succession practiced in Kievan Rus' and later Appanage and early Muscovite Russia, in which the throne passed not linearly from father to son, but laterally from brother to brother and then to...

 of collateral succession that had been practiced in Rus since the time of Yaroslav the Wise. He was confirmed in office by Tokhta, Khan of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...

.

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
Sarai (city)
Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

, 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
Prince of Novgorod
The Prince of Novgorod was the chief executive of Novgorod the Great. The office was originally an appointed one until the late eleventh or early twelfth century, then became something of an elective one until the fourteenth century, after which the Prince of Vladimir was almost invariably the...

 the Great in 1309, 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 Tokhta Khan, and initially with his successor, Uzbeg Khan
Uzbeg Khan
Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg , was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith...

 (Mikhail paid homage on Uzbeg's accession to the throne in 1313 and remained in Sarai
Sarai (city)
Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

 until 1315), he eventually lost influence to Yury of Moscow
Yury of Moscow
Yuriy Danilovich, also known as Georgiy Danilovich was Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir ....

, who gained influence in Novgorod while the grand prince was away in Sarai
Sarai (city)
Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

. Mikhail did manage to finally take control of the city in 1316 with Mongol aid, but the following year Uzbeg Khan gave the yarlik or patent of office of the Grand Prince of Vladimir to Yury, who also married Uzbeg's sister.

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. December 22, 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 murder, although it seems unlikely that he would have killed her knowing how much it would hurt him politically for such little gain. He released Kagadii, 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 summonded to the Horde by the Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...

 and executed on November 22, 1318.

Mikhail and the Church

Mikhail also alienated the Church, particularly Metropolitan Petr
Metropolitan Peter
Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In spite of the move, the office remained officially entitled "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'" until the...

 (r. 1308-1326). When Metropolitan Maksim
Maximus, Metropolitan of all Rus
Maximus was the Metropolitan of Kiev who moved the see of Russian metropolitans to Vladimir-on-Kliazma. In spite of the move, the metropolitans were officially known as "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'" until the establishment of autocephaly under Jonah in 1448.Maximus was of Greek origin...

 died in 1305, Mikhail nominated another candidate, but Petr was consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....

. Petr sided with Moscow and opposed Mikhail on several occasions. In 1309, he appointed David as Archbishop of Novgorod
Archbishop of Novgorod
The Archbishop of Novgorod is the head of the eparchy of Novgorod the Great and is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The archbishops have, in fact, been among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and culture and their successors continued to play...

 and David was instrumental in the argument that led Mikhail to withdraw his lieutenants and cut the grain supplies to the city. In 1314, Novgorod called on Yury to be named grand prince and for Mikhail to be deposed. Thus the support of the Church aided Yury to Mikhail's detriment. In spite of being unfavored by the Church in his lifetime, the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 later declared Mikhail a saint.

Family and children

In 1294 Mikhail married Princess Anna
Anna of Kashin
Saint Anna of Kashin was a Russian princess from the Rurik Dynasty, who was canonized in 1650.-Life:Anna was a daughter of Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov and a great-granddaughter of Prince Vasily of Rostov. From her earliest years, Anna was brought up strictly Christian. She was taught the...

 of Rostov
Rostov
Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...

, daughter of Prince Dimitry of Rostov. They had five children:
  1. Prince Dmitry of Tver (1299–1326)
  2. Prince Alexander of Tver (1301–1339)
  3. Prince Konstantin of Tver (1306–1346)
  4. Prince Vasily of Kashin (d. after 1368)
  5. Feodora


Mikhail's sons and successors Dmitry and Alexander the Terrible Eyes were both also killed 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) 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 Anna took the veil in Kashin
Kashin
Kashin is a town and the administrative center of Kashinsky District of Tver Oblast, Russia, located around a rural agricultural area on the Kashinka River from Moscow and from Kalyazin...

's nunnery and died there on October 2, 1368. She is commemorated as Anna of Kashin
Anna of Kashin
Saint Anna of Kashin was a Russian princess from the Rurik Dynasty, who was canonized in 1650.-Life:Anna was a daughter of Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov and a great-granddaughter of Prince Vasily of Rostov. From her earliest years, Anna was brought up strictly Christian. She was taught the...

 by the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 and was canonized in 1677.

See also

  • Rulers of Russia family tree
    Rulers of Russia family tree
    These images show family trees for the different royal houses that ruled Vladimir, Moscow and Russia from AD 1157 to 1917.-External links:*...


External links

Biography Canonical biography
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