Dmitry Mikhailovich (; 1298 – 15 September 1326), nicknamed the Fearsome Eyes or the Terrible Eyes (), was
Prince of Tver from 1318 and
Grand Prince of Vladimir
The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389.
Overview
The monarch of Vladimir-Su ...
from 1322 until his death in 1326, when he was executed in
Sarai by the Mongols. He was a son of
Mikhail of Tver and
Anna of Kashin.
Life
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
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
, 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
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
headed by
Metropolitan Peter. Dmitry's remains were taken back to Tver and interred in the cathedral there.
References
External links
The Grand Princes of Vladimir
1298 births
1326 deaths
14th-century murdered monarchs
14th-century Russian princes
Grand princes of Vladimir
Murdered Russian monarchs
Princes of Tver
Executed Russian people
People executed for murder
14th-century executions
People executed by the Golden Horde
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
Assassinated Russian politicians
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