DEMETRIUS DONSKOI ("OF THE DoN") 0350-1389), grand duke of Vladimir and Moscow, son of the grand duke Ivan Ivanovich by his second consort Alexandra, was placed on the grand-ducal throne of Vladimir by the Tatar khan in 1362, and married the princess Eudoxia of Nizhny Novgorod in 1364. He built the Kremlin of Moscow and waged war with Michael, prince of Tver, for supremacy. Demetrius was generally success ful. In 1371 he won over the khan by a personal visit to the Horde, and in 1372 he defeated the Lithuanian supporters of Tver at Lyubutsk. Demetrius then formed a league of all the Rus sian princes against the Tatars, and in 138o encountered them on the plain of Kulikovo, between the rivers Nepryadvaya and Don, where he completely routed them, the grand khan Mamai per ishing in his flight from the field. But now Toktamish, the deputy of Tamerlane, organized a punitive expedition against Demetrius. Moscow was taken by treachery, and the Russian lands were again subdued by the Tatars 0380. Nevertheless, while com pelled to submit to the Horde, Demetrius maintained his hegem ony over Tver, Novgorod and the other recalcitrant Russian principalities, and even held his own against the Lithuanian grand dukes. Demetrius was one of the greatest of the north Russian grand dukes. He was not merely a cautious and tactful states man, but also a valiant and capable captain, in striking contrast to most of the princes of his house.
See Sergyei Solovev, History of Russia (Rus.), vols. i.—ii. (St. Petersburg, 1857), etc.• Nikolai Savelev, Demetrius Ivanovich Donskoi (Rus.) (Moscow. 1837').