Right-Believing
Right-Believing Prince Right-Believing Prince Demetrius Donskoi
12 октября 1350 — †19 мая 1389
Right-Believing Grand Prince Demetrius Donskoi — Grand Prince of Moscow and Vladimir, unifier of the Russian lands, who won a decisive victory over the Golden Horde army of Mamai at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380; builder of the white-stone Moscow Kremlin; canonized by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.
Right-Believing Prince Demetrius was born on October 12, 1350, and in early childhood, after his father's death, inherited the Moscow throne under the guardianship of Metropolitan Alexy. Coming of age, Grand Prince Demetrius proved himself an outstanding statesman and military commander: he built white-stone fortress walls around Moscow, significantly strengthening the city's defenses, and consistently pursued a policy of uniting the fragmented Russian principalities around Moscow. The chief deed of his life was the Battle of Kulikovo on September 8, 1380, in which the united Russian army under his leadership dealt a decisive defeat to the horde of the Tatar warlord Mamai — the first major Russian victory over the Golden Horde, marking the beginning of its liberation from the long-standing yoke. Before the battle, Prince Demetrius received the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh. For this victory, the prince earned the epithet "Donskoi" (of the Don). He died on May 19, 1389. At the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in June 1988, Right-Believing Grand Prince Demetrius Donskoi was numbered among the saints. His memory is kept on May 19/June 1, as well as in the Synaxis of the Saints of Radonezh.