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Serguis, baptized Bartholomew as child, moved from the Rostov principality with his parents and brothers Stefan and Peter when it fell into the hands of Ivan 1, and moved to Radonazh.
After his parents died he went to Khotkovo, near Moscow, to join his elder brother Stefan who was a monk.
He persuaded Stefan to find a more secluded place to live the ascetic life. Deep in the forest at Makovets Hill they decided to build a monastic cell and a church dedicated to honour the Trinity.

Bartholomew became a monk, his hair was tonsured (centre shaved) and given the name Serguis. He spent over a year as a hermit in the forest. He was joined by other monks. He became their abbot and he was ordained into the priesthood. They all had to live by their own labour. More and more monks came. It became a posad - a settlement which grew into the town of Sergiev Posad and other villages…

This started the history of the great Trinity -St. SergIus Lavra which is now the most venerated monastic house in Russia.

During the reign of Dmitri Donskoi, his disciples started to spread his teaching across central and northern Russia. They settled in the most impractical places and founded numerous monasteries (40).
Metropolitan Alexus, Metropolitan of Moscow, asked him to be his successor. He remained a simple monk rather than become a bishop.

Sergius died in 1392 aged 78. He was canonized in 1448 or1452.

He exerted the greatest influence of any personage on the Russian Orthodox Church.

Together with Seraphim of Satov, he is one of the most highly venerated saints in Russia. ( See separate profile)

Historian Serge Aleksandrovich Zenkovsky said that Sergius was one of the 4 who signified the Russian spiritual and cultural revival of the late 14th and early 15th century.
( The other 3 were Epiphanius the Wise, Stephen of Perm and Andrei Rublev (painter))

Sources
Wikipedia
Oxford Dictionary of Saints by David Farmer