Dmitry Mikhailovich (Russian: Дмитрий Михайлович; 1298 – 15 September 1326), nicknamed the Fearsome Eyes or the Terrible Eyes (Russian: Грозные Очи),[1] was Prince of Tver from 1318 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1322 until his death in 1326, when he was executed in Sarai by the Mongols.[2] He was a son of Mikhail of Tver and Anna of Kashin.[3][4]

Dmitry of Tver
Dmitri avenging the death of his father in the ordo (palace) of Özbeg Khan and killing Yury, illustration by Boris Chorikov
Grand Prince of Vladimir
Reign1322–1326
PredecessorYury of Moscow
SuccessorAleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver
Prince of Tver
Reign1318–1326
PredecessorMikhail of Tver
SuccessorAleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver
Born1298
Tver
Died15 September 1326(1326-09-15) (aged 28)
Sarai
Burial
HouseYaroslavichi of Tver
FatherMikhail of Tver
MotherAnna of Kashin
ReligionRussian Orthodox

Life

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Dmitry continued his father's fight with Grand Prince Yuri Danilovich of Moscow for the yarlik (also iarlik) that is, the diploma or patent of office for the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir, which was granted by the Khan of the Golden Horde. The title was much desired because the Grand Prince of Vladimir was the khan's tax-collector in Rus', and as such could gain authority and real power over the other princes of Rus'.

Following Yury's machinations which led the khan to grant the yarlik to Moscow and their father's execution by the Horde in 1318, Dmitry and his brother, Alexander, fought a series of battles with Yury. They prevailed against him at the Horde, culminating in Dmitry's acquisition of the yarlik of office for the grand princely throne in 1322 and his murder of Yury at the Horde (in Sarai) three years later in 1325. Dmitry was himself arrested for the murder and executed in Sarai on the orders of Uzbeg Khan in 1326, while Yury's remains were returned to Moscow and buried by the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Metropolitan Peter.[5] Dmitry's remains were taken back to Tver and interred in the cathedral there.[6]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ De Madariaga, Isabel (2006). Ivan the Terrible: first Tsar of Russia (First printed in paperback ed.). New Haven London: Yale University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0300119732.
  2. ^ Fennell, John (1995). A history of the Russian church to 1448 (1. publ ed.). London: Longman. p. 200. ISBN 9780582080676.
  3. ^ Curtin, Jeremiah (2019). The Mongols in Russia. Wentworth Press. pp. 300–311. ISBN 978-0469350045.
  4. ^ Martin, Janet (2007). Medieval Russia, 980-1584 (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 978-0-511-37005-2. OCLC 761647272.
  5. ^ Fennell, John (September 2022). The Emergence of Moscow, 1304-1359. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-520-34758-8.
  6. ^ Fennell, John. Princely executions in the Horde: 1308-1339 (Historische VeroÌlffentlichungen).
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  Media related to Dmitry II, Grand Prince of Vladimir at Wikimedia Commons

Regnal titles
Preceded by Grand Prince of Vladimir
1322–1326
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prince of Tver
1318–1326