In Eastern Russia Andrei had practically established his authority
in the Grand Principality; the Tartar-hunted, fate-cursed Dimitri,
driven even from his beloved domain of Péréyaslavl, was compelled at
last to seek refuge with his cousin and erstwhile enemy, Mikhail of
Tver, and renounce his claim to the grand province, stipulating only
for the possession of his hereditary fief. This was conceded him, and
the wanderer turned his weary steps towards his burnt and plundered
Péréyaslavl, which he was not to see.
The dead man rode through the autumn day
To visit his love again.
[Sidenote: 1294] On the road to Volok died Dimitri Aleksandrovitch, and
Ivan his son reigned at Péréyaslavl in his stead.
Andrei’s position as Grand Prince was more than ever assured, but
the long struggle had sapped the authority formerly attaching to
that dignity in the lands of Souzdal; not only Tver, but Moskva
and Péréyaslavl had taken unto themselves a greater measure of
independence--apart, that is to say, from their subjection to the
Horde. Unable to overawe this dangerous coalition by superior force,
Andrei laid his griefs at the feet of the Khan, hoping to establish
his ascendancy by the same means with which he had overthrown his
brother’s. [Sidenote: 1296] The result of this move was a renewal
of the old “council on the carpet”; most of the princes interested,
with the Bishops of Vladimir and Sarai, gathered at the former city
in obedience to the summons of the Khan’s deputy, who presided with
Oriental gravity over their somewhat heated deliberations. Even this
significant reminder of their servitude could not depress the princes
into the decencies of debate; angry words flashed out, and swords leapt
from their scabbards, and had not the Vladuika[54] Simeon, Bishop
of Vladimir, parted the combatants, the blood of Rurik might have
been squandered on the carpet. In the end Andrei had to accommodate
himself with the vassal princes, who were too strong for him to subdue,
and a peace was effected in 1304 between the two parties. Two years
previously Ivan Dmitrovitch, dying without issue, had bequeathed his
province of Péréyaslavl to his uncle, Daniel of Moskva--a circumstance
which added considerably to the importance of the latter principality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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