Mikhail Yaroslavich

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Mikhail Yaroslavich before the Mongol khan, by Vasili Vereshchagin.

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

Mikhail Yaroslavich was the second son of Yaroslav III and succeeded him in 1285. As a result of a long struggle, he became the Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1305 and the first among Russian rulers started to style himself Grand Prince of All Rus.

In 1317, Uzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde gave the title of the Grand Prince of Vladimir to Yuri Danilovich, Prince of Moscow, and sent his army to help Yuri in his struggle with Mikhail Yaroslavich. On December 22, 1317 Mikhail defeated Yuri at a village called Bortenevo (40 km from Tver). Later on, Mikhail was summoned by the Khan and had to go to the Horde to "explain" himself. He was eventually killed in the Horde by Yuri's servants. Later, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Mikhail the holy patron of Tver.

[edit] Family and children

In 1294 Mikhail married to Princess Anna of Rostov, daughter of Prince Dmitry of Rostov. They had five children:

Prince Dmitry of Tver (1299-1326)
Prince Alexander of Tver (1301-1339)
Prince Konstantin of Tver (1306-1346)
Prince Vasily of Kashin (d. after 1368)
Feodora

Mikhail's sons and successors Dmitry and Alexander the Terrible Eyes were also killed in the Horde, as was Alexander's elder son. His wife Anna bore the deaths of her husband and children in the spirit of Christian humility and took the veil in Kashin's nunnery and died there on October 2, 1368. She was glorified as Anna of Kashin by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1677 as a holy patroness of all women who suffer the loss of relatives.

Preceded by: Andrey	Grand Prince of Vladimir 1304–1318	Succeeded by: Yury of Moscow
Preceded by: Svyatoslav	Grand Prince of Tver 1285–1318	Succeeded by: Dmitry