Daniil Aleksandrovich got his name in honour of Saint Daniel the Stylite, who is remembered on December 11, so it could be assumed with a rather high probability that Prince Daniil was born in November or December. The Lavrenty Chronicle gives 6789 (1261) as the year of his birth. The Tver record of 1408 tells about the upbringing of young Daniil by the Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich of Tver, brother of Aleksandr Nevsky, as well as about the
Daniil helped his brothers – Dimitri (Prince of Pereslavl) and Andrei (Prince of Gorodets) in the struggle for the Great Vladimir Principality. Daniil’s participation in the struggle for Great Novgorod (1296), whereto he was invited to reign, indicated the increasing political influence of Moscow. Daniil Aleksandrovich fought successfully with Riazan and captured Kolomna (1301). After the death of his nephew Ivan Dmitrievich (Prince of Pereslavl), in 1302 annexed
Under his reign in Moscow were founded the Epiphany (1290 s) and St. Daniel’s (late 13 th c.) Monasteries.
He had five sons: Yuri (Georgy), Ivan (Kalita), Aleksandr, Afanasy, and Boris. There are two versions of the place of his burial. One of them mentions the Archangel’s Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, another – the common cemetery of St. Daniel’s Monastery.
According to Ye. Golubinsky, Daniil was canonized as Saint Prince Daniil of Moscow in 1791. He is remembered on March 4 and August 30 (Julian calendar). Daniil’s name is commemorated in the names of a square (Danilovskaya), a street (Danilovsky Val), the town of Danilov in Yaroslavl Oblast (Russian Federation). In 1997 a monument to Prince Daniil was erected on Serpukhovskaya Zastava Square in Moscow. In 1988 the state award, the Order of the Saint
Portrait (imaginary) of Daniil Aleksandrovich
