Alexander I, Grand Prince of Tver
Grand Prince
Alexander of Tver () (
7 October 1301 –
29 October 1339 was a Grand Prince of
Tver and, for some time, of
Vladimir.
Alexander was a second son of Prince
Mikhail of Tver by his wife
Anna of Kashin. As a young man, his
appanages included
Kholm and
Mikulin. In
1326, he succeeded his childless brother
Dmitry the Terrible Eyes who had been executed on behest of
Uzbeg Khan in the
Horde.
In the next year into Tver arrived as ambassador of the Horde
Shevkal (the cousin of Uzbeg) with numerous guards. He drove away the Grand Prince from his court and occupied it himself with his guards.
Tatars started a
pogrom in the city, randomly robbing and killing. Among the robbed people spread a groundless rumor, that Shevkal wanted to kill the Prince, occupy the throne for himself and introduce
Islam to the city. On
15 August,
1327 deacon Djudko had just led a
Mare to a watering place when the Tatars began to take it away. The deacon cried for help; furious people rushed on the Tatars and killed them all. Shevkal and his remaining guards were burnt alive in one of the houses, where they had attempted to hide.
The thoughtless enthusiasm of the dwellers of Tver was used by
Ivan Kalita of Moscow, brother of
Yury of Moscow who had been murdered by Dmitry the Terrible Eyes. He immediately went to the Horde, before Alexander had time to justify himself to Uzbeg Khan. The angered khan gave to Ivan an army force of 50,000
soldiers for the punishment of Tver. Alexander fled with his family to
Novgorod, but he not was accepted there for fear of the Tatars, and he directed his steps to
Pskov.
Pskov residents, aspiring to isolation from Novgorod, with happiness recognized Alexander as their Prince. Desiring to save the Russian land from further devastation, Alexander agreed to go into the Horde, but Pskov residents would not let him go. Metropolitan
Theognostus, in the favor of Kalita, excommunicated and damned them. In
1329, fulfilling the order of the khan, Ivan Kalita and many other princes declared war to Pskov.
Pskov voluntary obeyed to claims of Moscow and Alexander was forced to fled into
Lithuania. Theognostus removed the curse and excommunication. After living one-and-a-half year in Lithuania, Alexander was again accepted by Pskov residents to the government, under patronage of
Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania.
In
1335 he send his son Fyodor to the Horde in order to learn if there was hope for forgiveness. He came himself in
1337. Uzbeg Khan forgave his old enemy and returned him to Tver. This led to the renewal of hostility with Moscow, in which Tver suffered the final defeat.
In October 1338 Aleksander and Fyodor were quartered by orders of the Horde.
Alexander was married ca.
1320 to
Anastasia of Halych and had eight children:#
Fyodor of Tver (d. 1339)# Lev (b. 1321)#
Mikhail II of Tver (
1333 –
1399)#
Vsevolod of Kholm (d.
1364)# Andrey (d.
1365)# Vladimir (d.
1365)# Maria (d. 1399), married to
Simeon of Russia#
Uliana (ca. 1325 –
1392), married to
Algirdas*
Biography at hrono.ru*
Biography at rulex.ru*
Pedigree of Alexander of Tver
