'Daniel' (
Russian: ''Даниил'') (before
1492 —
May 22,
1547) was
Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia in
1522-
1539 and representative of the
belligerent ecclesiastic cirles interested in alliance with the
princely authority.
Daniel was a
monk at
Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery and a student of
Joseph Volotsky. In
1515, he was elected
hegumen of the
monastery, which had been under the
patronage of
Vasili III. When Daniel became
metropolitan, he assisted Vasili III in summoning the Prince of
Seversk Vasili Shemyachich to
Moscow and imprisoning him. In
1525, bypassing the ecclesiastic
canons, Daniel sanctioned the divorce between Vasili III and his childless wife
Solomonia Saburova, which caused general discontent in
Muscovy. Daniel was the initiator of a number of church councils (''sobory'') between 1525 and
1531, which condemned the opponents of the
Josephinians -
Maximus the Greek and
Vassian Patrikeyev. While on his deathbed, Vasili III asked Daniel to take care of his wife and son. Metropolitan solemnly blessed
Ivan IV in the
Cathedral of the Dormition.
During the struggle between the
Shuisky family and prince
Ivan Belsky in
1538, Daniel supported the latter, for which he would be
defrocked a year later by the Shuiskys. He died in the
Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, where he was incarcerated.
Daniel was the author of a number of works, condemning
heretics in
Russia. Some historians believe that he was one of the compilers of the
Chronicles of Nikon.