A significant factor in the unexpected and steady rise of Moscow was the policy of the metropolitan of all Rus’, the head of the Orthodox Church, who had moved from Kyiv to Vladimir at the turn of the century. He now established himself in Moscow, making it the new capital of his vast metropolitanate, which covered all the lands of Mongol Rus’ and extended into Lithuanian Rus’ as well. The Moscow princes and the Rus’ metropolitans both professed loyalty to the Golden Horde, and their alliance helped turn Moscow into the true capital of northeastern Rus’
