Ivan I of Moscow
Ivan I Danilovich Kalita was Prince of Moscow from 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1331 until his death in 1340.
Ivan inherited the Moscow principality following the death of his elder brother Yury. In 1327, following a popular uprising against Mongol rule in the neighboring principality of Tver, Ivan and Aleksandr of Suzdal were dispatched by Özbeg Khan of the Golden Horde to suppress the revolt and apprehend Aleksandr of Tver, who ultimately escaped. The following year, the khan divided the grand principality between Ivan and Aleksandr of Suzdal. Upon the death of the latter in 1331, Ivan became the sole grand prince. His heirs would continue to hold the title almost without interruption before the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow were permanently united in 1389.
As the grand prince, Ivan was able to collect tribute from other Russian princes, allowing him to use the funds he acquired to develop Moscow. At the start of his reign, Ivan forged an alliance with Metropolitan Peter, head of the Russian Church, who then moved his primary residence to Moscow from the former capital, Vladimir. This decision would allow Moscow to become the spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy. Peter was succeeded by Theognostus, who supported Moscow's rise and sanctioned the construction of additional stone churches in the city. Aleksandr of Tver was executed at the Horde in 1339, marking the end of a 35-year-long struggle between the princes of Moscow and Tver. Ivan died the following year and was succeeded by his son Simeon.
Early life
Ivan Danilovich was the fourth son of Daniel of Moscow, the first prince of Moscow and founder of the Moscow branch of the Rurikid dynasty. Daniel was the youngest of the four sons of Alexander Nevsky, who had reigned as the grand prince of Vladimir. The grand prince held the formal role of both the leading prince and symbolic leader of the nation, and, once the Mongol Golden Horde established its dominance, the Mongol khans saw it beneficial to support the grand prince as long as he remained loyal.Ivan was named after John the Baptist. The origin of Ivan's mother is not known, but a 17th-century liturgical text from Rostov implies that she was called Agrippina. It is not known when exactly Ivan was born, as the birth of Daniel's fourth son was seen by chroniclers as insignificant. He may have been born on 1 October—the feast day of Saint Ananias—because he would take monastic vows under the name Ananias. According to the historian, Ivan was likely born around 1288, as Daniel appointed Ivan to represent him in Novgorod in 1296—Ivan's grandfather Alexander Nevsky had been sent to Novgorod at the age of eight, while Nevsky himself had sent his son Dmitry to the city when Dmitry was around nine years old. Ivan's appointment is the first mention of his political activity in surviving sources. The Novgorodians invited Daniel to reign in their city after the veche had expelled the governors of his older brother Andrey. Ivan was sent to Novgorod to rule on his father's behalf. His time in Novgorod was brief, as in 1298, the Novgorodians invited Andrey back.
Daniel died on 5 March 1303 and was succeeded by his eldest son Yury as prince of Moscow. As Daniel died before becoming grand prince, his descendants were excluded from the title under the traditional practice of collateral succession. However, in 1318, Yury was made grand prince by Özbeg Khan. Four years later, he lost the title to Dmitry of Tver when he chose to lead the defense of Novgorod against Sweden instead of delivering the tax receipts directly to the khan.
Reign
Rise to power
Ivan inherited the Moscow principality after Yury was murdered in 1325 by Dmitry of Tver in revenge for Dmitry's own brother Mikhail's death. The title of grand prince went to Alexander of Tver. Dmitry was executed on the order of Özbeg Khan the following year. In 1327, Özbeg sent his deputy to Tver to test Alexander's loyalty. Russian chronicles say that the deputy intended to make himself ruler and destroy the Christian faith, though whatever his intention was, he mistreated the locals and provoked a revolt. The residents of Tver killed the deputy and his delegation. Upon hearing the news of the massacres of Tatars, Ivan set off to the khan with the expectation that he would be given the patent for the grand princely title. Instead, he was given a Tatar army and ordered to lead a punitive force, along with Alexander of Suzdal, to sack Tver. Alexander of Tver then fled to Pskov and Ivan was unable to bring him back to the khan. In 1328, Özbeg divided the grand principality between Alexander of Suzdal and Ivan. Due to his failure to deliver Alexander of Tver to the khan, Ivan was not made the sole grand prince. Alexander of Suzdal ruled the eastern portion, including Vladimir, and was presumably granted the grand princely title, while Ivan controlled Novgorod and Kostroma.Ivan's next attempt at bringing Alexander of Tver to the khan took place in the summer of 1328. The Pskovites recognized Alexander as their prince and signed an agreement with him promising "not to hand him over to the Russian princes". At the behest of Ivan, Metropolitan Theognostus excommunicated Alexander and the Pskovites. According to the chronicle of Pskov, Alexander stated: "O my brothers and friends, let not this curse and excommunication be upon you because of me. I shall leave your city, and your oath to me and my oath to you shall no longer be valid". After extracting a promise from the Pskovites that his wife would be cared for, Alexander left Pskov for Lithuania in 1329. At the end of 1331, Alexander of Suzdal died. Ivan immediately set off to the khan and was made grand prince. According to John L. I. Fennell, the khan's change in attitude toward Ivan can be explained by the fact that Ivan had proven himself to be an ideal servant by his "willingness to carry out the khan's commands". The khan continued to reward the princes of Moscow with the title of grand prince, so Ivan's heirs retained the title almost without interruption before the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow were permanently united in 1389.
Like his father, Ivan began incorporating the patrimonial principalities of other princes into his own domain to continue reversing the trend of territorial fragmentation that had led to the emergence of many new principalities from the Vladimir grand principality. In particular, Ivan would be credited by his grandson Dmitry Donskoy in his will with purchasing the principalities of Beloozero, Galich and Uglich. Although some scholars do not believe that Ivan actually purchased those principalities, his daughters were arranged to marry the princes of Beloozero, Yaroslavl and Rostov. Some historians, including Nikolay Karamzin, Sergey Solovyov, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Alexander Presnyakov, and others, have suggested alternative theories. These include the ideas that the principalities were bought by Ivan and attached to the grand princely domain, rather than being part of the patrimony of the princes of Moscow, while the princes of those districts retained proprietary rights; that those princes sold their independence on the condition they be allowed to remain; or that Ivan's grandson referred to them as his "grandfather's purchases" to lend legal justification for acquiring them. Nevertheless, the process of adding territories near Moscow to the domain of the grand prince would be continued by his successors.
Ivan also developed Moscow to attract people and produce the resources need to maintain his position. As grand prince, Ivan collected tribute from not only his own possessions but also from other Russian princes. Özbeg shifted from his previous policy of exploiting rivalries among the princes, allowing Ivan to maintain his dominance, partly due to Ivan's cooperation with the khan, but primarily because of the emerging threat from Lithuania in the West. Ivan used his funds to have the Mongols of the Golden Horde release captives so that they could be settled in the Muscovite domain. Ivan also had access to Novgorod's wealth; despite resistance from Novgorod, scholars broadly agree that Moscow's dominance in Novgorod allowed the princes of Moscow to pay the tribute required by the khan, who then continued to reward them with the title of grand prince.
Religious affairs
The Russian Orthodox metropolitan, Peter, allied himself with the prince of Moscow and began looking for a new residence, where he singled out Moscow despite the fact it was "small and had a small population", according to his biographer Cyprian. He then writes that the city of Moscow "was ruled by the pious Grand-prince Ivan, son of Daniel, grandson of the blessed Alexander , whom the blessed Peter saw resplending in Orthodoxy, merciful to the poor, honouring the holy churches of God and the clergy, loving divine Scriptures, well instructed in the teachings of the books. So the holy hierarch of God loved him very much". Peter established his residence in Moscow, at the start of Ivan's reign. During Peter's tenure in Moscow, Ivan laid the foundation for the first stone church in Moscow, the Dormition Cathedral, on 4 August 1326. Peter intended to make Moscow his burial place and the religious center of the country, and he died there on 20 December 1326. Moscow became the new spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy.Peter was succeeded by Theognostus, who, like his predecessor, supported the rise of the Moscow principality. During the first four years of his tenure, Moscow continued to develop as masonry building progressed, leading to the completion of the Dormition Cathedral and four additional stone churches. During the reign of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania, a separate metropolitanate was established in Lithuania, likely soon after his accession; however, by the end of 1331, Theognostus was able to restore ecclesiastical control over Lithuania and he closed the metropolitan sees of Galicia and Lithuania, thus frustrating the efforts of Gediminas at territorial expansion. Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, and requested an official document from John Calecas, the patriarch of Constantinople, to sanction Peter's liturgical veneration, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige. This request to the patriarch was a demonstration by Theognostus of his loyalty and allegiance to the patriarch. Theognostus also remained the sole metropolitan "of all Russia" for the rest of his tenure and he received the title of exarch from the patriarch — a designation reserved for only senior Byzantine metropolitans and not granted to his successors.
According to the historian John L. I. Fennell, it may be questioned whether Theognostus was acting primarily in the interests of the ecumenical patriarch or wholly identified himself with Moscow's political aspirations; however, "it cannot be denied that he proved the staunch and effective friend of Ivan of Moscow and a thorn in the flesh of Gedimin of Lithuania". He also says that Theognostus likely enjoyed at least some support or protection from Özbeg Khan during Ivan's reign. According to the theologian John Meyendorff, most Byzantine diplomats and ecclesiastics were distrustful of Lithuania and believed that Moscow's policy of appeasing the Mongols better matched Byzantine interests.