Saint Mikhail of Tver

Mikhail Yaroslavich (Russian: Михаил Ярославич; 1271 – 22 November 1318) was Prince of Tver from 1285 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1304 to 1314 and again from 1315 until his death in 1318. He was canonized and counted among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. Mikhail Yaroslavich was the second son of Yaroslav III Yaroslavich of Tver, the younger brother of Aleksandr Nevsky; he succeeded his elder brother Yaroslav as the prince of Tver in 1285. His mother Xenia was the second spouse to Yaroslav III and is known as the saint Xenia of Tarusa. Upon the death of Andrei Aleksandrovich, Aleksandr Nevsky's son and Yaroslav's nephew, Mikhail became the grand prince of Vladimir in 1304, as was consistent with traditional succession practices. He was confirmed in office by Tokhta, the khan of the Golden Horde. While he seemed secure in the throne, being the legitimate heir and having been confirmed by the khan in Sarai, Grand Prince Mikhail suffered a series of setbacks as grand prince which led to him losing the grand princely office for both himself and, in some ways, ultimately for his descendants. He was, like most Grand Princes of Vladimir, accepted as Prince of Novgorod the Great in 1309, but fought with Novgorod, going so far as to withdraw his lieutenants (namestniki) and cut off grain shipments into the city in 1312. While he was on decent terms with Tokhta Khan, and initially with his successor, Uzbeg Khan (Mikhail paid homage on Uzbeg's accession to the throne in 1313 and remained in Sarai until 1315), he eventually lost influence to Yury of Moscow, who gained influence in Novgorod while the grand prince was away in Sarai. Mikhail did manage to finally take control of the city in 1316 with Mongol aid, but the following year Uzbeg Khan gave the yarlik or patent of office of the Grand Prince of Vladimir to Yury, who also married Uzbeg's sister.