Michael of Tver

Saint Michael of Tver (Mikhail Yaroslavich), the right-⁠believing martyr, prince of Tver and grand prince of Vladimir, received the crown of martyrdom at the Golden Horde on 22 November 1318. He was killed after he went of his own will to the khan's court, knowing that he went to his death, so as not to shed Russian blood in a struggle against the khan. The Russian Church remembers him on 22 November by the old calendar (5 December by the new) and honours him as protector of the city of Tver.

Childhood and rule at Tver

He was born in 1271 or 1272, after the death of his father, Grand Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, the brother of Saint Alexander Nevsky. Yaroslav fell ill on the way back from the Horde, was tonsured a monk with the name Athanasius, and reposed. Michael's mother, Xenia, raised him in love of God. In 1285 Michael became prince of Tver. He built in the city a stone church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, to replace an old wooden one. In 1294 he married Anna, daughter of Prince Dmitry of Rostov, later known as Saint Anna of Kashin. They had five children.

Grand prince of Vladimir

After the death of Grand Prince Andrei Alexandrovich, in 1304, Michael received the grand principality of Vladimir by right of seniority, confirmed by Khan Tokhta. But his nephew Yury of Moscow wished it for himself, and long quarrels between Moscow and Tver began. Metropolitan Peter leaned more to Yury, and relations with Novgorod grew worse. In 1317 Khan Uzbeg, whose sister Yury had married, gave Yury the patent of office, the yarlyk, and sent him with a Tatar army under Kavgadii against Michael.

On 22 December 1317 the men of Tver, led by Michael, defeated Yury's army at Bortenevo, near Tver. Many were taken captive, among them Kavgadii and Yury's wife, Konchaka. Michael set Kavgadii free. Konchaka died unexpectedly at Tver, and Yury accused Michael before the khan of having poisoned her. Historians find it unlikely that Michael had anything to gain by her death.

Martyrdom

Summoned to the Horde, Michael went, according to the account of his life, so as not to shed Russian blood in an unequal fight against the khan. He took leave of his family and received the blessing of his spiritual father, Abbot John. At the Horde he was tried unjustly and found guilty of disobedience to the khan. He was put in heavy wooden stocks. A boy turned the pages of the Psalter for him, since his hands were bound. His servants suggested that he flee, but he answered that he had never fled from an enemy and that there was no glory in saving himself while his people remained in danger. Orthodox priests, the abbots Alexander and Mark, heard his confession and gave him Communion each week.

On 22 November 1318, assassins sent by Yury and Kavgadii entered the camp where he was held, beat him and stabbed him with a knife. His body was left naked, then covered with a cloth. The account says that by morning it was no longer on the board where it had been laid, and that the wild animals of the steppe had not touched it. Many, Orthodox and Tatars alike, had seen two radiant clouds over the place that night.

Relics and veneration

His body was brought to Moscow and buried in the Transfiguration church of the Monastery of the Saviour in the Kremlin. His widow, Anna, and his sons asked Yury for leave to bring him to Tver. The boyars found the relics undecayed. They were placed on 6 September 1320 in the church of the Transfiguration at Tver. Local veneration began soon afterward, and the Russian Church glorified him throughout the Church at the Council of 1549.

His sons Dmitry and Alexander also died at the Horde, in 1326 and 1339. His wife, Anna, became a nun at Kashin, where she reposed in 1368, and was canonized in 1677. The Church remembers Michael on 22 November by the old calendar.