Maximus or MaximosMay
Cathedral of St John in DC. Johann von Gardner, Vladimir Morosan
Russian Church Singing, vol. II
'. (russian: Максим; died 6 December 1305) was a metropolitan bishop of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' in the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

. He was consecrated in Constantinople and reigned from 1283 to 1305. Maximos was of Greek origin. At that time, the Rus' princes were vassals of the Golden Horde. Khan Tokhta wanted to eliminate the princes' semi-independence. To that effect, he had sent his brother Tudan to the Rus' lands in 1293. Tudan's army devastated fourteen towns. Tokhta himself (also known as Tokhta-Temur) went to Tver and forced Dmitry of Pereslavl (also known as Dmitry Alexandrovich), who was allied to

Nogai Khan Nogai, or Noğay (; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Bo'al/ ...

, to abdicate. Russian chroniclers depicted these events as "The harsh-time of Batu returns.". Some sources suggest that Tokhta and Nogai, who was effectively the co-emperor, had worked together. Maximos was known for his ecclesiastic trips to the Golden Horde and for mediating between the quarreling princes of the north-eastern Rus' (e.g. Dmitry of Pereslav and Andrey of Gorodets, the sons of

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...

). Under instructions from the Khan, Maximus left

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in 1299 and transferred the metropolitan chair to the city of Vladimir which is situated east of Moscow. Following that, Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople established the Metropolis of Halych in 1303 with its see in Halych in the

Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia , conventional_long_name = Principality of Galicia–VolhyniaKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia , common_name = Galicia–Volhynia , status = Vassal state of the Golden Horde (from 1246) , era = Middle Ages , year_start = 1199 , year_end = 1349 , ...

. In 1301, Maximos attended a patriarchal council in Constantinople. He supported the Prince of Tver and Vladimir

Mikhail Yaroslavich Mikhail Yaroslavich (russian: Михаил Ярославич) (1271 – 22 November 1318), also known as Michael of Tver, was a Prince of Tver (from 1285) who ruled as Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1304 until 1314 and again from 1315–1318. ...

in his struggle with Prince of Moscow

Yuri Danilovich Yuriy Danilovich, also known as Georgiy Danilovich (Юрий Данилович in Russian) (1281 – 21 November 1325) was Prince of Moscow (1303–1325) and Grand Prince of Vladimir (from 1318). Yury was the oldest son of Daniel, the first ...

for the title of Grand Duke. He was canonised a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

in the Russian Orthodox Church, and his feast day is celebrated on December 6 (December 19, N.S.).

References

External links

St Maximus, Metropolitan of Kiev
Orthodox

Synaxarion Synaxarion or Synexarion (plurals Synaxaria, Synexaria; el, Συναξάριον, from συνάγειν, ''synagein'', "to bring together"; cf. etymology of ''synaxis'' and ''synagogue''; Latin: ''Synaxarium'', ''Synexarium''; cop, ⲥⲩⲛⲁ ...

Icon of the Mother of God of St Maximus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximus, Metropolitan of all Rus 1305 deaths 13th-century Greek people 14th-century Greek people Metropolitans of Kiev and all Rus' Greek saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Year of birth unknown