Yury of Moscow

Daniel has been credited with founding the first Moscow monasteries, dedicated to the Lord's Epiphany and to Saint Daniel.

On the right bank of the Moskva River, at a distance of five miles from the Kremlin not later than in 1282, he had founded the first monastery with the wooden church of St. Daniel-Stylite, today the Danilov Monastery.

Having become a monk, diet the age of forty-two on the 17th (4th in old style) of March in 1303.

Yury, the oldest son of Daniel, succeeds him as prince of Moscow.

His first important action is to defend Pereslavl-Zalessky against Vladimir-Suzdal’s Grand Duke Andrey III Alexandrovich (Andrey of Gorodets).

Yury, upon the death of Andrei Aleksandrovich (Aleksandr Nevsky's son), has to contest the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir with Mikhail Yaroslavich, the second son of Yaroslav III (Yaroslav Yaroslavich), the younger brother of Aleksandr Nevsky), whom he had succeeded in 1285 as prince of Tver.

While the Tverian army besieges Pereslavl and ...

…Moscow itself, …

…Mikhail goes to the Golden Horde, where the Khan, Toqta, elevates him to the supreme position among Russian princes, as is consistent with the Rota System of collateral succession that has been practiced in Rus since the time of Yaroslav the Wise.

The unlucky prince Konstantin of Ryazan had been captured by Yury's father in 1302 and had ever since been incarcerated in Moscow.

Yury now arranges his murder.

While Ryazan is shocked by such a barbarity, …

…Yury annexes the key Ryazanian fortress of Kolomna to his Moscow principlaity.

Yury also captures Mozhaisk, which had formerly belonged to the princes of Smolensk.