Prince Vasilii died (1277) during the reign of Khan Mangu Temir. The throne of Vladimir passed to Dmitrii Aleksandrovich.[26] Dmitrii was the eldest member of the next generation whose father had also served as prince of Vladimir. His succession thus followed dynastic tradition. But Dmitrii did not display the same willingness to co-operate with the khan that his father and uncles had shown. It is not known whether he presented himself before Mangu Temir to obtain a patent for his throne. When the Mongols called upon the northeastern Russian princes to join a military campaign in the northern Caucasus, Prince Dmitrii, in contrast to his brother Andrei and the princes of Rostov, who obeyed the order, declined to participate. In 1281, when Tuda Mengu became khan, Dmitrii did not go to Sarai to pay homage and renew his patent for his throne. Tuda Mengu responded by appointing Dmitrii's brother Andrei prince of Vladimir and sending a military force of Tatars with Andrei and the Rostov princes against Dmitrii.[27]
The dual authority within the horde, however, enabled Dmitrii to gain support from Nogai, who issued his own patent to Dmitrii and helped him recover his position in Vladimir as well as control over Novgorod. Despite the ongoing hostilities between the brothers, Dmitrii held his post until Tokhta became khan at Sarai in 1291. Once again, Dmitrii declined to go to Sarai. He was joined in this act of defiance by Princes Mikhail Iaroslavich of Tver' and Daniil Aleksandrovich of Moscow. In contrast, Andrei and the Rostov princes presented themselves before Tokhta, reaffirmed their loyalty to the Sarai khan, and registered their complaints against Dmitrii Aleksan- drovich. When Tokhta undertook his campaign against Nogai in 1293, he also sent forces to help Andrei overthrow Dmitrii. Learning of the approaching army, Dmitrii fled. Andrei and the Tatars nevertheless staged attacks on a total of fourteen towns, including Vladimir, Suzdal' and Moscow. It was only Dmitrii's death in 1294, however, that resolved the conflict among the Russian princes. Andrei, who then became heir to the throne according to dynastic tradition and who also enjoyed the support of the khan, became prince ofVladimir. Despite the legitimacy of his position, his rivals prevented him from retaking possession of a key town, Pereiaslavl'-Zalesskii, which was held first by Dmitrii's son Ivan and then, after his death in 1302, by Daniil's son Iurii.[28]
Prince Andrei, supported by the Sarai khans, had unsuccessfully attempted to undermine dynastic tradition and usurp the Vladimir throne. The Rostov princes, who according to that tradition had lost their claim to the Vladimir throne, supported Andrei. But Dmitrii retained the support of his younger brother Daniil Aleksandrovich and, despite earlier conflicts with Tver',[29] of his cousin Mikhail Iaroslavich. The unusual political climate within the horde provided an opportunity for him to gain support from Nogai as well and thus defy both the Sarai khan and Andrei.
Although Daniil Aleksandrovich of Moscow supported Dmitrii and the traditional dynastic definition of seniority, his sons successfully challenged that tradition. Gaining support from the khan at Sarai, who had no rival such as Nogai during the first half of the fourteenth century, the Moscow princes ascended and gained control over the Vladimir throne. To achieve this position the Muscovite princes not only challenged the successor to the throne, but forcibly attached territories that had belonged to Vladimir to their own domain.
Andrei died in 1304. Daniil Aleksandrovich had died the year before, in 1303.[30]The dynasty's candidate to assume the Vladimir throne was thus Mikhail Iaroslavich, the senior member ofthe next generation; his father, Iaroslav, had been prince of Tver' and also prince ofVladimir (1263-71/2). Khan Tokhta approved Mikhail as grand prince ofVladimir. Despite the fact that Mikhail's legitimacy derived from both traditional dynastic and Mongol sources, Iurii Daniilovich of Moscow opposed him. Mikhail was forced to wage two military campaigns (1305 and 1308) against Iurii to secure his position.[31]
The competition between the princes of Tver' and the princes of Moscow continued through the first quarter of the fourteenth century. The princes of Tver' were the rightful heirs to the Vladimir throne according to the dynasty's traditional pattern of succession. According to those norms, the princes of Moscow were illegitimate. Daniil Aleksandrovich had not served as prince of Vladimir; his descendants were therefore ineligible for the grand-princely throne. Khan Tokhta followed his predecessors' example and confirmed the dynasty's selection for grand prince. Initially, his successor Khan Uzbek (131341) also followed this precedent. When Mikhail presented himself at the horde, Uzbek renewed his patent.[32] Mikhail remained at the horde for two years. His rival Iurii, taking advantage of his absence, attempted to enhance his own political power in northern Russia. Novgorod, whose commercial wealth made it particularly significant to the rivals, arrested Mikhail's governors and invited Iurii to become its prince. Uzbek nevertheless continued to support Mikhail and sent him back to Russia with Tatar forces to re-establish his authority; Iurii meanwhile was ordered to appear before the khan.[33] But Iurii Dani- ilovich won Uzbek's favour as well as the hand of the khan's sister in mar- riage.[34] Returning from the horde to Russia with his wife, an envoy from the khan, and an army, he waged war to remove Mikhail. Mikhail's forces won the battle. Nevertheless, for his defiance and for the death of Iurii's wife, which occurred while she was in Mikhail's custody, Mikhail was executed by Khan Uzbek. Iurii became the grand prince of Vladimir.[35] With the transfer of the patent to the Daniilovich prince the khan's favour replaced the dynasty's traditions.
Iurii held the Vladimir throne for four years (1318-22), but he did so uneasily and only with repeated military assistance from the horde. In 1322, Khan Uzbek restored the throne of Vladimir to the legitimate heir, as determined by the dynasty's norms of succession, Mikhail's son Dmitrii. Iurii prepared to protest and also present a large treasure, which he gathered in Novgorod, to the khan. But Dmitrii's brother Aleksandr robbed Iurii while he was travelling to the horde. When Iurii finally reached the horde in 1325, Dmitrii murdered him. Uzbek, in turn, condemned Dmitrii to death for his crime. But he transferred the patent for Vladimir to the next legitimate candidate according to the dynasty's norms of succession, Dmitrii's brother Aleksandr Mikhailovich.[36]
The dynasty's candidate lost the khan's favour, however, two years later when the population of Tver' staged a revolt against the khan's envoy who had led a force to that city, possibly to gather funds and recruits for a military campaign against the Ilkhans of Persia.[37] When Iurii's brother Ivan Daniilovich then presented himself before Uzbek, the khan sent an army back to northeastern Russia with him. Joined as well by Prince Aleksandr Vasil'evich of Suzdal', Ivan launched a campaign against Tver'. Aleksandr Mikhailovich fled to Pskov (1327).[38] But when Metropolitan Feognost (Theognostos) excommunicated the entire population of the town for harbouring the fugitive, he moved on to Lithuania (1329). Aleksandr returned to Pskov in 1331 and served as its prince until 1337. He then once again visited the horde and recovered the throne of Tver'. Two years later, however, he was recalled to the horde and executed.[39]
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p. 54.