Whereas these acts appeared to support the Moscow princes in their feud with the Tver' princes, others undertaken by the metropolitans were, if not politically neutral, at least not consistently biased in favour of north-eastern Russia orthe Daniilovichi. Donald Ostrowskihas suggested that Maksim abandoned Kiev to avoid the dangers associated with the conflict between Nogai and Tokhta in the late thirteenth century. The decision to settle in Vladimir was made in the midst of his flight from Kiev, not to heighten the prestige of any particular princely branch in north-eastern Rus'.[79] N. S. Borisov pointed out that Metropolitan Maksim unsuccessfully tried to discourage Prince Iurii of Moscow from challenging the succession of Mikhail of Tver' in 1304.[80] He also argued that Metropolitans Petr, Feognost and Aleksei did not consistently lend their support to the Muscovite princes. Although the Moscow princes may have benefited politically from some of their actions, the metropolitans' motives were rooted in other concerns. Thus, when Feognost, who was just beginning his career in the Russian lands, excommunicated Prince Aleksandr Mikhailovich, he was acting out of obligation to the Mongol khan, not out of loyalty to Aleksandr's Muscovite rival. Similarly, at the end of his career, when he supported Aleksei to be his successor, he did so not because Aleksei, a boyar by origin, would loyally serve the Muscovite prince, but because he valued Aleksei's ties to both north-eastern and south-western Russia. Borisov similarly drew attention to actions undertaken by the metropolitans that did not serve the interests of the Muscovite princes. Feognost's absence at the consecration of churches identified with the transformation of Moscow into an ecclesiastical centre; his dissociation from the canonisation of Petr, who as a metropolitan and a saint was linked to Moscow; and his disapproval of Semen's third marriage, which was designed to improve Moscow's relations with Tver', are all examples of Feognost's political and ideological aloofness from the interests of the Muscovite princes.[81]
Although some actions undertaken by the metropolitans had the political effect of aiding the princes of Moscow in their quest for the throne of Vladimir, the Church and the Daniilovich branch of the dynasty did not share the same political agenda, nor were they consistent allies before 1359. This conclusion contrasts with the view articulated by A. E. Presniakov and adopted by a range of other scholars that emphasises close co-operation between the metropolitans and the Daniilovich princes.[82] Even after the metropolitans relocated the seat of the metropolitanate from Kiev to Vladimir and then to Moscow and even though they took part in Vladimir's domestic and dynastic politics, there were significant differences between dynastic and ecclesiastic outlooks and policies. In contrast to the princes of Vladimir who narrowed the range of their political attention to northern Russia, the metropolitans maintained a broader perspective. They continued to concern themselves with their entire ecclesiastic realm. Also, in contrast to the princes, who depended upon the khans for support and were closely linked with Sarai politically and commercially, the metropolitans engaged in relations not only with Sarai but continued to look to the Patriarch in Constantinople for guidance and support. The metropolitans' primary objective was not rooted in Vladimir, nor did it revolve around the Daniilovichi; it was to maintain the integrity of their see, to prevent its division in conjunction with changing secular political boundaries.
North-eastern Russia in the mid-fourteenth century
By the middle of the fourteenth century the Daniilovichi had secured the position of grand prince of Vladimir. With the support of Khan Uzbek they were able to overcome the princes of Tver' and Ivan I Kalita had ascended the Vladimir throne. After both Ivan I and Uzbek died in 1341, Uzbek's successors, Tinibek (1341-2), Janibek (1342-57) and Berdibek (1357-9), placed Ivan's sons Semen (1341-53) and Ivan II (1353-9) on the throne of Vladimir. In the absence of firm support from the Church and other branches of the dynasty, which could have provided domestic sources of legitimacy for their rule, the princes of Moscow depended on the khans of the Golden Horde to hold their position.
Dynastic reluctance to accept the seniority ofthe Moscow princes persisted during and after the reign of Ivan I Kalita. Despite Uzbek's preference for the Daniilovichi, other Riurikid princes, clinging to dynastic tradition, withheld their support. Thus, when Aleksandr Mikhailovich appeared before Khan Uzbek in 1339, the princes of Beloozero and Iaroslavl' accompanied him. Aleksandr was executed during this visit.98 The fate of the Beloozero prince is unknown. But the prince of Iaroslavl', Vasilii Davydovich, joined the princes of Tver' and Suzdal' in 1341 to oppose the appointment of Semen Ivanovich to the grand-princely throne.99 In 1353, Novgorod nominated the same prince of Suzdal', Konstantin Vasil'evich, to become grand prince of Vladimir. Khan Janibek nevertheless granted the patent for the throne to Semen's brother, Ivan Ivanovich of Moscow.100
To neutralise his dynastic opponents Ivan I Kalita had arranged marriages for his daughters with members of their families. He followed the precedent of his brother Iurii who in 1320 had given his daughter in marriage to Konstantin Mikhailovich, the brother of his rivals Dmitrii and Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver'.101 After Aleksandr fled from Tver' in 1327 until at least
98 PSRL, vol. x, pp. 208-11; PSRL, vol. iii, pp. 349-50; PSRL, vol. xv, cols. 418-20; Fennell, Emergence, pp. 244-5.
99 Ibid., pp. 181 n. 2, 213, 225.
100 PSRL, vol. iii, p. 363.
101 PSRL, vol. xv, cols. 413-14.
I339, Konstantin ruled his principality in harmony with his wife's uncle, Grand Prince Ivan I Kalita.[83] Ivan I, similarly, gave one daughter in marriage to Prince Konstantin Vasil'evich of Rostov (1328). After the demonstration of support for Aleksandr of Tver' by the princes of Iaroslavl' and Beloozero in 1339, Ivan I arranged for two other daughters to marry the sons ofthe offending princes. By becoming their father-in-law, Ivan I gained personal seniority over members of those dynastic lines that were most resistant to accepting him as the senior member of the dynasty.[84] In 1347, his son Semen attempted to use the same technique to increase his influence in Tver', which after the death of Prince Konstantin Mikhailovich in 1346 was experiencing inter-princely feuds and civil strife. But Metropolitan Feognost refused to sanction the grand prince's third marriage. Semen's marriage to the daughter of the late Prince Aleksandr Mikhailovich thus took place under the shadow of the Church's disapproval.[85]
Semen and Ivan II were also less successful in the pursuit of the policy of territorial aggrandisement that their grandfather Daniil, their uncle Iurii and their father Ivan had fashioned to gain and consolidate their power in Vladimir. The extension of the Muscovite princes' authority over patrimonial principalities and Novgorod had enriched the assets available to them. They had a broader tax base as well as a larger pool from which to attract military retainers and courtiers.[86] Nevertheless, by the reign of Ivan II, expansion was checked. The Daniilovichi appeared to have a firm hold on the position of grand prince ofVladimir. Within their own patrimonial possessions, they kept to a minimum the internal subdivisions that characterised Rostov and in the 1340s also plagued Tver'. But, the authority of the grand prince ofVladimir was sharply delimited in the mid-fourteenth century. Neither his marriage nor his position of grand prince ofVladimir gave Semen authority over Tver'. Suzdal', which with the approval of Khans Uzbek and Janibek merged with Nizhnii Novgorod to form another grand principality in 1341, similarly continued to function independently and challenge the primacy of the Daniilovich princes ofVladimir. Riazan', which had previously displayed deference to its northern neighbour, engaged Moscow in a border dispute by challenging Moscow's control over the stretch of the Oka River between Kolomna and Serpukhov, which Moscow had incorporated early in the fourteenth century. The princes of Rostov and Iaroslavl' were also trying to remove themselves from Semen's authority.[87]
79
Donald Ostrowski, 'Why Did the Metropolitan Move?', 92-5. See also Meyendorff,
81
Borisov, 'Moskovskie kniaz'ia', 38-40; Borisov,
pp. 333-4.
82
Presniakov,
84
Kopanev 'O kupliakh', 27, 30, 34; Fennell,
85
87
Borisov,