General Notes

Ivan I Danilovich, called Kalita ("Moneybags") (1304?-41), grand prince, or
duke, of Moscow (1328-41). The grandson of Alexander Nevsky, he initiated the
expansion that eventually left Moscow in control of Russia. As a vassal of the
Golden Horde Tatars, he collected taxes for the khan and thus earned his
epithet. At the same time he doubled the territory of his realm; moved his
court from Vladimir to Moscow, merging the two administrations; and persuaded
the metropolitan of Kyyiv, the leading ecclesiastic of the Russian Orthodox
church, to transfer his see to Moscow. Thus sanctioned by the church, Ivan
began to style himself Prince of All Russia.