Peter of Kiyv

Life events

1. Born

   Peter was born in Volhynia, a region within the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, to parents named Theodore and Eupraxia. The date is given only approximately as c. 1260.

2. Tonsured

   At approximately age twelve, Peter entered a monastery in Volhynia, where he learned the craft of iconography. The igumen of the monastery subsequently had him ordained as a hieromonk.

3. Other

   After years of monastic life, Peter withdrew from the community and built a cell at the Rata River to pursue solitary asceticism. A monastery — the Novodvorsk — later grew up at the site of his cell.

4. Consecrated — 1308

   Nominated by King Yuri I of Galicia, Peter was consecrated Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' by Patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople, who also bestowed on him hierarchal vestments, staff, and an icon. Peter returned to Rus' the same year.

5. Other — 1308

   On his return to Rus' in 1308, Peter arrived at Kiev and then proceeded to Vladimir, where he transferred his metropolitan residence from the depopulated city of Kiev. During the period of Tatar authority over Rus', he was frequently obliged to change his place of residence.

6. Other — 1325

   At the request of Grand Prince Ivan Kalita, Peter transferred the metropolitan cathedra from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325, strengthening Moscow's political position and establishing it as the spiritual capital of fragmented Rus'.

7. Died — 1326

   Peter died on 21 December 1326 in Moscow. He was later canonized by Metropolitan Alexis, after which veneration spread across Muscovy and many churches were dedicated to him.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Peter learned iconography as a young monk and painted the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos known as 'Of St Peter', which he gifted to Metropolitan Maximus of Kiev during a visit to the Ratne monastery. (likely)
• Grand Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Vladimir-Tver attempted to install his own candidate as Metropolitan and his failure to do so caused prolonged animosity between him and Peter, forcing Peter to seek protection from the Prince of Moscow in 1325. (likely)
• After Peter's transfer of the metropolitan see to Moscow, Ivan Kalita built the Cathedral of the Dormition and several other stone churches in the Moscow Kremlin, cementing Moscow's role as the ecclesiastical center of Rus'. (likely)
• Peter's feast is commemorated on three separate days in the Orthodox calendar: 24 August (translation of relics to the Dormition Cathedral), 5 October (synaxis with Metropolitans Jonah and Alexis), and 21 December (date of repose). (likely)
• Although Peter moved the metropolitan see to Moscow in 1325, the office retained its official title 'Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'' until the autocephalous election of Metropolitan Jonah in 1448, more than a century after Peter's death. (likely)