Ivan III - the first sovereign of all Rus'
The ruler who completed the efforts of his Danilovich ancestors and laid the foundations of the Russian centralized state was Ivan III Vasilyevich (born in 1440, reigned 1462-1505). He gained experience in government under his father, the blind Vasily II. Of all 75 Russian monarchs (until 1917), as well as subsequent leaders of the state, Ivan III Vasilyevich actually ruled the state for the greatest number of years. His most important deeds were: 1. Overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. In 1477, the payment of tribute ceased, and in 1480, after an almost bloodless “standing on the river. Ugra" dependence on the Horde was completely destroyed. 2. International recognition of the sovereign Russian state, the establishment of diplomatic relations, recognition of Ivan III as “Sovereign of All Rus'” by the Pope, the Livonian Order, Germany, the Crimean Khanate and other states. D. During the reign of Ivan III, the territorial core of the Russian centralized state was formed. He annexed Yaroslavl (1463), Novgorod (1478), Tver (1485), Vyatka, Perm, etc. Under Ivan III, the territory of the Russian state increased 6 times and reached 2.6 million square meters. km. The population was 2-3 million people. He began a political, diplomatic and armed struggle for the return of the original Russian lands, which were once part of Ancient Rus', and their inclusion in the Muscovite state as the successor to the Old Russian state. Under Ivan III, local land ownership developed and the political importance of the nobility grew, on which the ruler relied in the implementation of foreign and domestic policies. 4. Centralization and strengthening of political power, the foundation of autocratic rule. The Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was called the Sovereign of All Rus'. The foundations of the cult of the king's personality were laid: special ceremonies of appearances to the people, meetings with ambassadors, clothes, signs of royal power. The state emblem appeared - a double-headed eagle. 5. In 1497, Ivan III approved the Sudebnik, an all-Russian code of laws, which replaced the Russian Truth. The Code of Law determined the competence of officials, established procedural norms, penalties, including the death penalty for the most important crimes. 6. Ivan III in 1503 made the first unsuccessful attempt to secularize monastic and church properties. 7. From the second half of the 15th century. The Russian state began to be seen as the protector of all Orthodox Christians, most of whom were suppressed.
Years of life: 1440-1505. Reign: 1462-1505
Ivan III is the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II the Dark and Grand Duchess Maria Yaroslavna, daughter of the Serpukhov prince.
In the twelfth year of his life, Ivan married Maria Borisovna, princess of Tver, and in the eighteenth year he already had a son, Ivan, nicknamed Young. In 1456, when Ivan was 16 years old, Vasily II the Dark appointed him as his co-ruler, and at the age of 22 he became the Grand Duke of Moscow.
As a youth, Ivan took part in campaigns against the Tatars (1448, 1454, 1459), saw a lot, and by the time he ascended the throne in 1462, Ivan III already had an established character and was ready to make important government decisions. He had a cold, reasonable mind, a tough disposition, an iron will, and was distinguished by a special lust for power. By nature, Ivan III was secretive, cautious and did not rush towards his intended goal quickly, but waited for an opportunity, chose the time, moving towards it with measured steps.
Outwardly, Ivan was handsome, thin, tall and slightly stooped, for which he received the nickname “Humpbacked”.
The beginning of Ivan III's reign was marked by the release of gold coins, on which the names of Grand Duke Ivan III and his son Ivan the Young, heir to the throne, were minted.
The first wife of Ivan III died early, and the Grand Duke entered into a second marriage with the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, Zoya (Sophia) Palaeologus. Their wedding took place in Moscow on November 12, 1472. She immediately became involved in political activities, actively helping her husband. Under Sophia, he became more severe and cruel, demanding and power-hungry, demanding complete obedience and punishing disobedience, for which Ivan III was the first of the tsars to be called the Terrible.
In 1490, Ivan III's son from his first marriage, Ivan the Young, unexpectedly died. He left behind a son, Dmitry. The Grand Duke was faced with the question of who should inherit the throne: his son Vasily from Sophia or his grandson Dmitry.
Soon a conspiracy against Dmitry was discovered, the organizers of which were executed, and Vasily was taken into custody. On February 4, 1498, Ivan III crowned his grandson as king. This was the first coronation in Rus'.
In January 1499, a conspiracy against Sophia and Vasily was revealed. Ivan III lost interest in his grandson and made peace with his wife and son. In 1502, the Tsar put Dmitry into disgrace, and Vasily was declared Grand Duke of All Rus'.
The Great Sovereign decided to marry Vasily to a Danish princess, but the Danish king avoided the proposal. Fearing that he would not have time to find a foreign bride before his death, Ivan III chose Solomonia, the daughter of an insignificant Russian dignitary. The marriage took place on September 4, 1505, and on October 27 of the same year, Ivan III the Great died.
Domestic policy of Ivan III
The cherished goal of Ivan III’s activities was to gather lands around Moscow, to put an end to the remnants of specific disunity for the sake of creating a single state. The wife of Ivan III, Sophia Paleologue, strongly supported her husband’s desire to expand the Moscow state and strengthen autocratic power.
For a century and a half, Moscow extorted tribute from Novgorod, took away lands and almost brought the Novgorodians to their knees, for which they hated Moscow. Realizing that Ivan III Vasilyevich finally wanted to subjugate the Novgorodians, they freed themselves from the oath to the Grand Duke and formed a society for the salvation of Novgorod, headed by Marfa Boretskaya, the widow of the mayor.
Novgorod entered into an agreement with Casimir, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, according to which Novgorod comes under his supreme authority, but at the same time retains some independence and the right to the Orthodox faith, and Casimir undertakes to protect Novgorod from the encroachments of the Moscow prince.
Twice Ivan III Vasilyevich sent ambassadors to Novgorod with good wishes to come to his senses and enter the lands of Moscow, the Metropolitan of Moscow tried to convince the Novgorodians to “correct”, but all in vain. Ivan III had to make a campaign against Novgorod (1471), as a result of which the Novgorodians were defeated first on the Ilmen River, and then Shelon, but Casimir did not come to the rescue.
In 1477, Ivan III Vasilyevich demanded that Novgorod fully recognize him as its master, which caused a new rebellion, which was suppressed. On January 13, 1478, Veliky Novgorod completely submitted to the authority of the Moscow sovereign. In order to finally pacify Novgorod, Ivan III in 1479 replaced the Novgorod Archbishop Theophilos, resettled the unreliable Novgorodians to Moscow lands, and settled Muscovites and other residents on their lands.
With the help of diplomacy and force, Ivan III Vasilyevich subjugated other appanage principalities: Yaroslavl (1463), Rostov (1474), Tver (1485), Vyatka lands (1489). Ivan married his sister Anna to the Ryazan prince, thereby securing the right to interfere in the affairs of Ryazan, and later acquired the city by inheritance from his nephews.
Ivan acted inhumanely with his brothers, taking away their inheritances and depriving them of the right to any participation in state affairs. So, Andrei Bolshoi and his sons were arrested and imprisoned.
Foreign policy of Ivan III.
During the reign of Ivan III in 1502, the Golden Horde ceased to exist.
Moscow and Lithuania often fought over Russian lands located under Lithuania and Poland. As the power of the Great Sovereign of Moscow strengthened, more and more Russian princes and their lands moved from Lithuania to Moscow.
After Casimir's death, Lithuania and Poland were again divided between his sons, Alexander and Albrecht, respectively. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander married the daughter of Ivan III Elena. Relations between son-in-law and father-in-law deteriorated, and in 1500 Ivan III declared war on Lithuania, which was successful for Rus': parts of the Smolensk, Novgorod-Seversky and Chernigov principalities were conquered. In 1503, a truce agreement was signed for 6 years. Ivan III Vasilyevich rejected the proposal for eternal peace until Smolensk and Kyiv were returned.
As a result of the war of 1501-1503. the great sovereign of Moscow forced the Livonian Order to pay tribute (for the city of Yuryev).
During his reign, Ivan III Vasilyevich made several attempts to subjugate the Kazan kingdom. In 1470, Moscow and Kazan made peace, and in 1487, Ivan III took Kazan and enthroned Khan Makhmet-Amen, who had been a faithful novice of the Moscow prince for 17 years.
Reforms of Ivan III
Under Ivan III, the title of “Grand Duke of All Rus'” began to be formalized, and in some documents he calls himself Tsar.
For internal order in the country, Ivan III in 1497 developed a Code of Civil Laws (Code). The chief judge was the Grand Duke, the highest institution was the Boyar Duma. Mandatory and local management systems appeared.
The adoption of the Code of Laws of Ivan III became a prerequisite for the establishment of serfdom in Rus'. The law limited the output of peasants and gave them the right to transfer from one owner to another once a year (St. George's Day).
Results of the reign of Ivan III
Under Ivan III, the territory of Rus' expanded significantly, Moscow became the center of the Russian centralized state.
The era of Ivan III was marked by the final liberation of Rus' from the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
During the reign of Ivan III, the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals, the Faceted Chamber, and the Church of the Deposition of the Robe were built.
Ivan 3 Vasilyevich was born on January 22, 1440. He was the son of Moscow Prince Vasily 2 the Dark and the daughter of Prince Yaroslav Borovsky - Maria Yaroslavna. Prince Ivan 3 is better known under the name Ivan the Holy or Ivan the Great. In the short biography of Ivan 3, it is necessary to mention that from a very young age he helped his blind father. In an effort to make the new order of transfer of power legal, Vasily 2 named his son Ivan Grand Duke during his lifetime. All letters of that time were drawn up on behalf of the two princes. Already at the age of 7, Ivan Vasilyevich was engaged to the daughter of Prince Boris of Tver, Maria. It was planned that this marriage would become a symbol of reconciliation between the rival principalities of Tver and Moscow.
For the first time, Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich led the army at the age of 12 years. And the campaign against the Ustyug fortress turned out to be more than successful. After his victorious return, Ivan married his bride. Ivan III Vasilievich made a victorious campaign in 1455, directed against the Tatars who had invaded Russian borders. And in 1460 he was able to close the Tatar army’s path to Rus'.
The prince was distinguished not only by his lust for power and perseverance, but also by his intelligence and prudence. It was the great reign of Ivan 3 that became the first in a long time that did not begin with a trip to receive a label in the Horde. Throughout the entire period of his reign, Ivan 3 sought to unite the northeastern lands. By force or with the help of diplomacy, the prince annexed to his lands the territories of Chernigov, Ryazan (partially), Rostov, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Dimitrovsk, Bryansk, and so on.
The domestic policy of Ivan 3 was focused on the fight against the princely-boyar aristocracy. During his reign, a restriction was introduced on the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another. This was allowed only during the week before and the week after St. George's Day. Artillery units appeared in the army. From 1467 to 1469 Ivan III Vasilyevich led military actions aimed at subjugating Kazan. And as a result, he made her a vassal. And in 1471 he annexed the lands of Novgorod to the Russian state. After military conflicts with the Principality of Lithuania in 1487 - 1494. and 1500 – 1503 The territory of the state was expanded by annexing Gomel, Starodub, Mtsensk, Dorogobuzh, Toropets, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky. Crimea during this period remained an ally of Ivan 3.
In 1472 (1476) Ivan the Great stopped paying tribute to the Horde, and the Standing on the Ugra in 1480 marked the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. For this, Prince Ivan received the nickname Saint. The reign of Ivan 3 saw the flourishing of chronicles and architecture. Such architectural monuments as the Faceted Chamber and the Assumption Cathedral were erected.
The unification of many lands required the creation of a unified legal system. And in 1497 a code of law was created. Code of Laws of Ivan 3 combined the legal norms previously reflected in "Russian Truth" and Statutory Charters, as well as individual decrees of Ivan the Great’s predecessors.
Ivan 3rd Tsar of All Rus', was married twice. In 1452 he married the daughter of the Tver prince, who died at the age of thirty. According to some historians, she was poisoned. From this marriage there was a son, Ivan Ivanovich (Young).
In 1472 he married the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus, niece of Constantine 9, the last Byzantine emperor. This marriage brought the prince sons Vasily and Yuri. Dmitry, Semyon and Andrey. It is worth noting that the second marriage of Ivan 3 caused great tension at court. Some of the boyars supported Ivan the Young, the son of Maria Borisovna. The second part provided support to the new Grand Duchess Sophia. At the same time, the prince accepted the title of Sovereign of All Rus'.
After the death of Ivan the Young, the great Ivan 3 crowned his grandson Dmitry. But Sophia's intrigues soon led to a change in the situation. (Dmitry died in prison in 1509). Before his death, Ivan 3 proclaimed his son as his heir Vasily. Prince Ivan 3 died on October 27, 1505.
The eldest son of Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark took part in the internecine war of 1452. Due to the blinding of his father by Vasily Kosym, Ivan III became involved early in the process of governing the state (from 1456). Grand Duke of Moscow since 1462. Continuing the policy of expanding the territories of the Moscow principality, Ivan III, with fire and sword, and sometimes through diplomatic negotiations, subjugated the principalities: Yaroslavl (1463), Rostov (1474), Tver (1485), Vyatka land (1489), etc. In 1471 made a campaign against Novgorod and defeated opponents in the Battle of Shelon, and then in 1478 he finally destroyed the independence of the Novgorod Republic, subordinating it to Moscow. During his reign, Kazan also became loyal to the Moscow prince, which was an important achievement of his foreign policy.
Ivan III, having assumed his great reign, for the first time since Batu’s invasion, refused to go to the Horde to receive a label. In an attempt to once again subjugate Rus', which had not paid tribute since 1476, Khan Akhmat in 1480 sent a large army to the Moscow principality. At this moment, the forces of Moscow were weakened by the war with the Livonian Order and the feudal rebellion of the younger brothers of the Grand Duke. In addition, Akhmat enlisted the support of the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir. However, the Polish forces were neutralized thanks to the peace treaty of Ivan III with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey. After Akhmat’s attempt to cross the river. Ugra in October 1480, accompanied by a 4-day battle, began the “standing on the Ugra”. The "Ugorshchina", during which the forces of the parties were located on different banks of the Oka tributary, ended on November 9-11, 1480 with the flight of the enemy. Thus, victory on the river. Ugra marked the end of the 240-year Mongol-Tatar yoke.
No less important was the success in the wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1487-1494; 1500-1503), thanks to which many western lands went to Rus'.
As a result of victories over external enemies, Ivan III was able to destroy most of the fiefs and thereby greatly strengthen the central power and the role of Moscow.
Moscow, as the capital of a new large state, was greatly transformed during the reign of Ivan III: a new Assumption Cathedral was erected and a new Archangel Cathedral was founded, construction of a new Kremlin, the Faceted Chamber, and the Annunciation Cathedral began. Italian foreign craftsmen played an important role in the construction of the renewed capital. For example, Aleviz the New, Aristotle Fioravanti.
The new large state, which became the Principality of Moscow under Ivan III, needed a new ideology. Moscow as a new center of Christianity was presented in the “Exposition of Paschal” by Metropolitan Zosima (1492). The monk Philotheus proposed the formula “Moscow is the third Rome” (after the death of Ivan III). The basis of this theory was the fact that the Moscow state (after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453) remained the only independent Orthodox state in the world, and the sovereign who headed it was the only protector of all Orthodox Christians on earth. Ivan III also had formal reasons to consider himself the heir of Byzantium, since he was married for the second time to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia (Zoe) Paleologus.
The strengthening of central power made it necessary to create new government bodies - orders. At the same time, the legislative code of the united Rus' appeared - the Code of Laws of 1497, which, unfortunately, has come down to us in only one copy. In order to enlist the support of service people, the Grand Duke guaranteed them economic well-being by regulating the transfer of peasants from one owner to another: peasants received the right to transfer only once a year - a week before the autumn St. George's Day (November 26) and a week after.
Modern historians also associate the reign of Ivan III with the beginning of the process of Europeanization, which ensured the defense capability and economic prosperity of the country.
The Sovereign of All Rus', Ivan 3, was born in an era filled with dramatic events associated with the incessant raids of the Tatars and the cruel struggle of appanage princes, full of treachery and betrayal. He entered the history of Russia as This fully expresses his role in the formation of a state that later occupied a sixth of the world.
Darkened childhood
On a frosty winter day on January 22, 1440, the ringing of bells floated over Moscow - the wife of Grand Duke Vasily II, Maria Yaroslavna, was safely delivered of her pregnancy. The Lord sent the ruler a son-heir, named Ivan in holy baptism in honor of St. John Chrysostom, whose memory was to be celebrated in the coming days.
The joys of the young prince’s happy and carefree childhood came to an end when, in 1445, near Suzdal, his father’s squad was completely defeated by Tatar hordes, and the prince himself was captured by Khan Ulu-Muhammad. Residents of Moscow and its temporary ruler Dmitry Yuryevich Shemyaka were in anticipation of an imminent invasion of adversaries on their city, which inevitably gave rise to panic and a feeling of despair.
The treachery of the prince's enemies
However, this time the Lord averted the misfortune, and after some time Prince Vasily returned, but for this the Muscovites were forced to send a ransom to the Horde, which amounted to an unaffordable amount for them. Supporters of Dmitry Shemyaka, who had acquired a taste for power, took advantage of the dissatisfaction of the city residents and formed a conspiracy against their rightful ruler.
It tells how, on the way to a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Vasily III was treacherously captured and, by order of Shemyaka, blinded. This was the reason for the nickname “Dark” that took root behind him, with which he is known to this day. To justify their actions, the conspirators started a rumor that Vasily deliberately brought the Tatars to Rus' and gave them the cities and volosts under his control.
Alliance with the Tver prince
The future Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich, together with his younger brothers and boyars who remained loyal to his father, fled from the usurper in Murom, but he soon managed to cunningly lure the young prince to Moscow, and then send him to Uglich, where his father languished in captivity. It is difficult to establish the reason for his further actions - whether he was afraid of the wrath of the Lord or, more likely, had his own benefits, but only after several months Shemyaka freed the prisoner he had blinded and even granted him Vologda as his appanage.
The calculation that blindness and the months spent behind bars broke the prisoner turned out to be a fatal mistake for Shemyaka, which later cost him his life. Once free, Vasily and his son went to the Tver prince Boris and, having concluded an alliance with him, soon appeared in Moscow at the head of a large squad. The power of the usurper fell, and he himself fled to Uglich. For greater security, the six-year-old Prince Ivan was engaged to Boris's daughter, Princess Marya, who by that time was only four years old.
First military campaign
In those ancient times, children grew up early, and it is not surprising that already at the age of nine the heir begins to be called the Grand Duke, and in 1452, the future sovereign of all Rus', Ivan 3, leads the army sent by his father to capture the Ustyug fortress of Kokshengu, where he shows himself to be a fully established commander.
Having captured the citadel and plundered the city, Ivan returns to Moscow. Here, in the presence of the highest clergy and in the presence of a large crowd, he, a twelve-year-old groom, was married to his ten-year-old bride. At the same time, the prince’s loyal people poisoned Shemyaka, who was hiding there, in Uglich, which put an end to his claims to power and stopped the bloody civil strife.
On the threshold of independent rule
In subsequent years, Ivan III Vasilyevich became co-ruler of his father Vasily II and, like him, was called the Grand Duke. Coins of that era with the inscription “donate all Rus'” have survived to this day. During this period, his reign was a chain of incessant military campaigns, in which, led by the experienced commander Fyodor Basenko, he mastered the art of military leadership, the skills in which would be so necessary for him later.
In 1460, Vasily the Dark dies, having drawn up a will before his death, according to which the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich III extended to most of the cities of the country. He did not forget the rest of his sons, giving each of them their own fiefdoms. After his death, Ivan exactly fulfilled his father’s will, distributing to each of the brothers the lands due to him, and became the new sole ruler of the Moscow principality.
First independent steps
Having early found himself drawn into internal political strife and external civil strife, twenty-year-old Ivan III Vasilyevich, having received full power after the death of his father, was a fully established ruler. Having inherited from Vasily II a huge, but administratively weakly organized principality, from the first days of his reign he took a hard line to strengthen and expand it.
Having assumed full power, Ivan first of all took care of strengthening the general position of the state. To this end, he confirmed the previously concluded agreements with the Tver and Belozersky principalities, and also strengthened his influence in Ryazan by placing his own man in the reign and, moreover, marrying off his own sister.
Expansion of state borders
In the early seventies, Ivan III began the main task of his life - annexing the remaining Russian principalities to Moscow, the first of which was the possession of the Yaroslavl prince Alexander Fedorovich, who died in 1471. His heir considered it good, having received the rank of boyar, to become a faithful servant of the Moscow ruler.
The Yaroslavl principality was followed by the Dmitrov principality, which also came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duke of Moscow. Soon the Rostov lands joined him, the princes of which preferred to join the serving nobility of their powerful neighbor.
Conquest of Novgorod and the birth of a new title
A special place in the series of “gathering Russian land,” as this process later came to be called, is occupied by Moscow’s seizure of the hitherto independent Novgorod, which, unlike numerous appanage principalities, was a free trading and aristocratic state. The capture of Novgorod stretched over a fairly long period, from 1471 to 1477, and included two military campaigns, the first of which ended only with the payment of a significant indemnity by the Novgorodians, and the second led to the complete loss of independence of this ancient city.
It was the end of the Novgorod campaigns that became that milestone in history when Ivan 3 became the Sovereign of All Rus'. This happened partly by accident. Two Novgorodians who arrived in Moscow on business, when writing a petition addressed to the Grand Duke, contrary to the previously accepted address “sir,” used the word “sovereign.” Whether it was an accidental mistake or deliberate flattery, everyone, and especially the prince himself, liked such an expression of loyal feelings. It is customary to date Ivan’s adoption of the 3rd title of Sovereign of All Rus' to this time.
Invasion of the Tatar Khan Akhmat
During the period when the sovereign of all Rus', Ivan 3, was at the head of the Moscow principality, the most important event in history occurred, which put an end to the power of the Horde. It is known as It was preceded by a series of internal conflicts within the Tatar state itself, which resulted in its collapse and significant weakening. Taking advantage of this, Ivan 3, the first sovereign of all Rus', refused to pay the established tribute and even ordered the execution of the ambassadors sent to him.
Such previously unheard-of audacity gave rise to the Tatar Khan Akhmat, having previously agreed with the Lithuanian ruler Casimir, to begin a campaign against Rus'. In the summer of 1480, he crossed the Oka with a large army and encamped on the shore. The Russian army, led personally by Ivan 3, the Sovereign of All Rus', hurried towards him. Briefly describing the subsequent events, it should be noted that they did not develop into large-scale military operations, but were reduced only to a series of enemy attacks repulsed by the Russians.
The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the weakening of Lithuania
Having stood on the Ugra until the onset of winter, without waiting for the help promised by Casimir and fearing the princely squads waiting for them on the opposite bank, the Tatars were forced to retreat. Pursued by the Russians, they went deep into the Lithuanian lands, which they mercilessly plundered in retaliation for the prince’s violation of his obligations.
This was not only the last major invasion of steppe nomads into Rus', ending the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also a significant weakening of the Principality of Lithuania, which constantly threatened the western borders of the state. From this period, the conflict with him became particularly acute, since the annexation of significant territories by Ivan III to the Moscow Principality was in conflict with the plans of the Lithuanian rulers.
Policy towards the Crimean and Kazan Khanates
The intelligent and far-sighted politician Ivan III Vasilyevich, whose years of reign became a period of incessant struggle for the independence of the Russian state, in order to suppress the aggression of the Lithuanians, entered into an alliance with the one that had separated from the once mighty Golden Horde as a result of internecine struggle. According to the agreements concluded with Moscow, its rulers more than once devastated territories hostile to the Russians with their raids, thereby weakening their potential opponents.
The relationship between the Sovereign of All Rus' and the Frequent raids of the Tatars forced the Russians to take a number of retaliatory actions that ended in failure. This problem remained insoluble until the end of the reign of Ivan III and was inherited by his successor.
Construction of Ivangorod
The annexation of Novgorod to the Moscow Principality gave rise to a new problem - Livonia became the northwestern neighbor of the Russians. The history of relations with this state has seen different stages, among which relatively peaceful periods were replaced by armed conflicts. Among the measures taken by the Sovereign of All Rus' Ivan 3 for border security, the most important place is occupied by the construction of the Ivangorod fortress on the Narva River in 1492.
Further expansion of the Moscow principality
After the conquest of Novgorod, when Ivan 3 began to be called the Sovereign of All Rus', his annexation of new lands intensified significantly. Beginning in 1481, the Principality of Moscow was expanded to include territories that previously belonged to the Vologda ruler Andrei Menshoy, and then to the Vereisky prince Mikhail Andreevich.
A certain difficulty was the subordination of the Tver principality to Moscow, which ultimately resulted in an armed conflict that ended in Ivan’s victory. The Ryazan and Pskov lands also failed to maintain their independence, the ruler of which, after a long but unsuccessful struggle, was the Moscow Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich.
The biography of this outstanding ruler of the Russian land is inextricably linked with the transformation of the relatively small appanage principality he inherited into a powerful state. It was this state that became the basis of the entire future Russia, in the annals of which he entered as Ivan the Great. In terms of the scale of the transformations he accomplished, this ruler ranks among the most honored figures in Russian history.
He completed his life's journey on October 27, 1505, only briefly outliving his wife Sophia Paleologus. Anticipating his imminent death, Ivan the Great retired. He devoted his last months to visiting holy places. The ashes of the “gatherer of the Russian land” have been resting for four centuries in the Archangel Cathedral, located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin, the walls of which were erected during his reign and remained for centuries a monument to the era, the creator of which was Ivan III. The title of Sovereign of All Rus' after him became permanent everyday life and belonged to everyone who happened to ascend to the Russian throne.
09.06.2016
The peculiarities of human memory are such that we more easily remember something outstanding, unusual, something that can greatly amaze the imagination, than ordinary life events and people who do not have pronounced personal character traits. This applies, among other things, to historical figures who influence the destinies of entire countries. So it is in the case of the two Russian Tsars Ivan: every schoolchild without hesitation will list the deeds of the “great and terrible” Ivan the Terrible, but will not immediately remember what distinguished his own grandfather, Ivan III. Meanwhile, the grandfather of Tsar the Terrible received the nickname of the Great among the people. What Ivan III the Great was like and what he did for Russia will be told by several interesting facts from his biography.
- The fate of the future Grand Duke Ivan III was such that from a young age he became an indispensable assistant to his blind father, Vasily the Dark. Already in his youth, he gained experience in battles and learned to maneuver through the intricacies of intrigue that are inevitable under any throne. In his youth, Ivan took part in the fight against Dmitry Shemyaka.
- The first wife of Prince Ivan was the meek-tempered Maria, who was destined to live a short life. It is believed that she fell victim to the machinations of people close to the prince: she was allegedly poisoned during her husband’s absence.
- On the monument in the Kremlin (in Veliky Novgorod), dedicated to the millennium of Rus', one can see, among other rulers, Grand Duke Ivan III. He stands, almost trampling underfoot his defeated enemies: a Tatar, a Lithuanian and a German. This is an allegorical depiction of the prince’s actual victories: he actually managed to save the Russian principality from expansion by the Baltic states and overthrow the Golden Horde yoke.
- The stagnation of the Ugra River is an event that in 1480 determined the entire further course of Russian history. There was no battle. Thanks to patience and the ability to outwit the enemy, Ivan III, without losing his soldiers, was able to achieve the departure of the Tatars. From that moment on, Rus' became free - it was no longer oppressed by the heavy Golden Horde yoke. And for this feat the people gave Ivan the nickname Saint.
- Under Ivan III, the unification of Russian lands was in full swing. The principalities of Yaroslavl, Rostov, Tver, and Chernigov were annexed to the Moscow principality. Proud and rebellious Novgorod was conquered.
- With the active participation of Ivan III Vasilyevich, the Code of Laws was developed.
- Ivan III assigned the peasants to the landowners, giving them the opportunity only twice a year to legally leave their landowners.
- Historians, based on the testimony of contemporaries, having analyzed the activities of Ivan III, give him the following characteristics. Cold, calm, very cautious, unhurried in action and a secretive person. These qualities helped him to steadily pursue his policies without much bloodshed. He knew how to wait for the right moment and act deliberately, he knew how to sense the situation.
- After the death of his first wife, Ivan III did not remain single for long. His new chosen one is the heiress of the Byzantine emperors - Zoya (Sophia) Paleologus. The Pope hoped to use this marriage to influence the head of the Russian state, but he was mistaken in his expectations. Of course, Sophia made changes in the life of the Grand Duke’s subjects, but this influence benefited only Rus', and not the pope. Sophia was a strong-willed and intelligent woman.
- Having become the wife of Ivan III, Sophia now considered Rus' her patrimony and thought about its good. Under her influence, the princely court acquired splendor, beauty and grandeur. Sophia contributed to the construction of the Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals. During her reign, the Chamber of Facets was built. Moscow was decorated and blossomed. Ivan consulted with his wife, including on political issues. The couple lived in perfect harmony for 20 years. Ivan grieved so much after Sophia’s death that he faded away after 2 years.
Ivan III was one of those sovereigns who know how to set a goal and methodically, with unhurried but confident steps, move towards it. His whole life shows: the main subject of his thoughts, his tireless concerns was the good of the state. He even chose his wife not based on personal preferences (Sophia was not very beautiful), but thinking about the future of Russia, about strengthening its international position. Ivan III deserves the grateful memory of his descendants. His contemporaries understood this - it was not for nothing that he became a Saint and Great during his lifetime.
Negotiations dragged on for three years. On November 12, the bride finally arrived in Moscow.
The wedding took place on the same day. The marriage of the Moscow sovereign with the Greek princess was an important event in Russian history. He opened the way for connections between Muscovite Rus' and the West. On the other hand, together with Sophia, some orders and customs of the Byzantine court were established at the Moscow court. The ceremony became more majestic and solemn. The Grand Duke himself rose to prominence in the eyes of his contemporaries. They noticed that Ivan, after marrying the niece of the Byzantine emperor, appeared as an autocratic sovereign on the Moscow grand-ducal table; he was the first to receive the nickname Grozny, because he was a monarch for the princes of the squad, demanding unquestioning obedience and strictly punishing disobedience. He rose to a royal, unattainable height, before which the boyar, prince and descendant of Rurik and Gediminas had to reverently bow along with the last of his subjects; at the first wave of Ivan the Terrible, the heads of the seditious princes and boyars were laid on the chopping block.
It was at that time that Ivan III began to inspire fear with his very appearance. Women, contemporaries say, fainted from his angry gaze. The courtiers, fearing for their lives, had to amuse him during his leisure hours, and when he, sitting in his armchairs, indulged in a doze, they stood motionless around him, not daring to cough or make a careless movement, so as not to wake him. Contemporaries and immediate descendants attributed this change to the suggestions of Sophia, and we have no right to reject their testimony. The German ambassador Herberstein, who was in Moscow during the reign of Sophia’s son, said about her: “ She was an unusually cunning woman; at her inspiration, the Grand Duke did a lot".
War with the Kazan Khanate 1467 - 1469
A letter from Metropolitan Philip to the Grand Duke, written at the beginning of the war, has been preserved. In it he promises the crown of martyrdom to all who shed their blood." for the holy churches of God and for Orthodox Christianity».
At the first meeting with the leading Kazan army, the Russians not only did not dare to start a battle, but did not even make an attempt to cross the Volga to the other bank, where the Tatar army was stationed, and therefore simply turned back; So, even before it began, the “campaign” ended in shame and failure.
Khan Ibrahim did not pursue the Russians, but made a punitive foray into the Russian city of Galich-Mersky, which lay close to the Kazan borders in Kostroma land, and plundered its surroundings, although he could not take the fortified fort itself.
Ivan III ordered strong garrisons to be sent to all border cities: Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kostroma, Galich and to carry out a retaliatory punitive attack. The Tatar troops were expelled from the Kostroma borders by the governor Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Striga-Obolensky, and the attack on the lands of the Mari from the north and west was carried out by detachments under the command of Prince Daniil Kholmsky, which even reached Kazan itself.
Then the Kazan Khan sent a response army in the following directions: Galich (the Tatars reached the Yuga River and took the Kichmensky town and occupied two Kostroma volosts) and Nizhny Novgorod-Murmansk (near Nizhny Novgorod the Russians defeated the Tatar army and captured the leader of the Kazan detachment, Murza Khodzhu-Berdy ).
"All Christian blood will fall on you because, having betrayed Christianity, you run away, without putting up a fight with the Tatars and without fighting them, he said. - Why are you afraid of death? You are not an immortal man, a mortal; and without fate there is no death for man, bird, or bird; give me, an old man, an army in my hands, and you will see if I turn my face before the Tatars!"
Ashamed, Ivan did not go to his Kremlin courtyard, but settled in Krasnoye Selets.
From here he sent an order to his son to go to Moscow, but he decided it would be better to incur his father’s wrath than to go from the coast. " I'll die here and won't go to my father", he said to Prince Kholmsky, who persuaded him to leave the army. He guarded the movement of the Tatars, who wanted to secretly cross the Ugra and suddenly rush to Moscow: the Tatars were repulsed from the shore with great damage.
Meanwhile, Ivan III, having lived for two weeks near Moscow, somewhat recovered from his fear, surrendered to the persuasion of the clergy and decided to go to the army. But he didn’t get to Ugra, but stopped in Kremenets on the Luzha River. Here again fear began to overcome him and he completely decided to end the matter peacefully and sent Ivan Tovarkov to the khan with a petition and gifts, asking for a salary so that he would retreat away. Khan replied: " I feel sorry for Ivan; let him come to beat with his brow, as his fathers went to our fathers in the Horde".
However, gold coins were minted in small quantities and for many reasons did not take root in the economic relations of the then Rus'.
In the year, the all-Russian Code of Law was published, with the help of which legal proceedings began to be carried out. The nobility and the noble army began to play a larger role. In the interests of the noble landowners, the transfer of peasants from one master to another was limited. The peasants received the right to make the transition only once a year - a week before the autumn St. George's Day to the Russian Church. In many cases, and especially when choosing a metropolitan, Ivan III behaved as the head of the church administration. The metropolitan was elected by the episcopal council, but with the approval of the Grand Duke. On one occasion (in the case of Metropolitan Simon) Ivan solemnly conducted the newly consecrated prelate to the metropolitan see in the Assumption Cathedral, thus emphasizing the prerogatives of the Grand Duke.
The problem of church lands was widely discussed by both the laity and the clergy. Many laymen, including some boyars, approved of the activities of the Trans-Volga elders, aimed at the spiritual revival and cleansing of the church.
The right of monasteries to own land was also called into question by another religious movement, which actually denied the entire institution of the Orthodox Church: ".
Potin V.M. Hungarian gold of Ivan III // Feudal Russia in the world-historical process. M., 1972, p.289
