Mikhail Alexandrovich (russian: Михаил Александрович) (1333 – August 26, 1399) was

Grand Prince of Tver The title of Prince of Tver was borne by the head of the branch of the Rurikid dynasty that ruled the Principality of Tver. In 1247 Tver was allocated to Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky, and became an independent principality. In 1252, the principa ...

and briefly held the title of

Grand Prince of Vladimir The grand duke of Vladimir was the ruler of a principality during the era of Kievan Rus' and after its collapse. It ruled territory approximately bounded by three rivers, the Volga, the Oka and the Northern Dvina. From 1157 to 1238 its capital was ...

. He was one of only two Tver princes after 1317 (the other was his father, Aleksandr) to hold the grand princely title, which was almost the exclusive purview of the Muscovite princes. Mikhail Alexandrovich was the third son of

Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver Grand Prince Alexander or Aleksandr Mikhailovich (russian: Александр Михайлович Тверской; 7 October 1301 – 29 October 1339) was a Prince of Tver as Alexander I and Grand Prince of Vladimir-Suzdal as Alexander II. His r ...

. Mikhail grew up in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

, where his father had fled after the

Tver Uprising of 1327 The Tver Uprising of 1327 ( Russian: Тверское восстание) was the first major uprising against the Golden Horde by the people of Vladimir. It was brutally suppressed by the joint efforts of the Golden Horde, Muscovy and Suzdal. ...

. He was christened by the

Archbishop of Novgorod The Diocese of Novgorod (russian: Новгородская епархия) is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The medieval archbishops of Novgorod were among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and cul ...

Vasily Kalika Vasilii Kalika (russian: Василий Калика) was Archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov from 1330 to 1352. He is in large part responsible for reinvigorating the office after it had fallen into decline to some extent following the M ...

, in 1333. Five years later, he and his mother were called to Tver when Aleksandr returned to the city. In 1341, he went to Novgorod where Archbishop Vasily taught him reading and writing (which would have meant reading the Scriptures). In 1368, he became prince of Tver. Mikhail Alexandrovich was among the last princes to seriously threaten

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

for possession of the office of Grand Prince of

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

, hoping to unseat Moscow with the aid of his brother-in-law

Algirdas Algirdas ( be, Альгерд, Alhierd, uk, Ольгерд, Ольґерд, Olherd, Olgerd, pl, Olgierd; – May 1377) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his bro ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

. In 1371, he managed to gain the ''yarlik'' or patent of office as Grand Prince of Vladimir from the Khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

, and was accepted as

Prince of Novgorod The Prince of Novgorod (russian: Князь новгородский, ''knyaz novgorodskii'') was the chief executive of the Republic of Novgorod. The office was originally an appointed one until the late eleventh or early twelfth century, then bec ...

, an important economic asset for any Russian prince. He seems to have lost power the following year when Algirdas concluded

Treaty of Lyubutsk Treaty of Lyubutsk was a peace treaty signed in summer of 1372 between Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Dmitri Donskoi, Prince of Moscow. The treaty ended the Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–72) and resulted in a seven-year peace period ...

with

Dmitri Donskoi Saint Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy ( rus, Дми́трий Ива́нович Донско́й, Dmítriy Ivanovich Donskóy, also known as Dimitrii or Demetrius), or Dmitry of the Don, sometimes referred to simply as Dmitry (12 October 1350 – 1 ...

of Moscow, but it is not clear who was considered grand prince between 1372 and 1375,Michael C. Paul, “Was the Prince of Novgorod a ‘Third-rate Bureaucrat’ after 1136?” ''Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas'' 56, Heft 1 (2008): 111. at which time Dmitri Donskoi defeated Mikhail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikhail 02 Of Tver 1333 births 1399 deaths People from Pskov Princes of Tver Rurik dynasty Yurievichi family Eastern Orthodox monarchs 14th-century rulers in Europe