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Birth of Ivan III Vasilievich, Grand Duke of Moscow
22 January 1440 in the family of grand duke of Moscow Vasily II Tyomniy (Blind) was born the son Ivan, Grand Duke of Moscow (from 1462), “The Grand Prince of all Rus”, “gatherer of the Russian lands”.
From a young age Ivan became assistant to his father. Vasily II, in order to legitimize the new order of succession, called Ivan the Great Duke, and all the letters of those years were written on behalf of two Grand Dukes. In 1446, Ivan was betrothed to the daughter of Prince Boris Alexandrovich of Tver Mary - their future marriage was to become a symbol of reconciliation between eternal rivals - Moscow and Tver.
War campaigns played an important role in the upbringing of the heir to the throne. In 1452 Ivan was sent as the nominal head of the troops to seize the Ustyug fortress Kokshenga. In 1455 Ivan made victorious campaign against the Tatars, who had invaded the borders of Russia. In August 1460 he led the Russian Army blocking the road to Moscow to the advancing troops of Khan Ahmad.
Having ascended the throne in 1462, the prince, for the first time since the invasion of the Mongol Batu Khan, did not go to the Horde to get the label to reign.
Ivan III continued his father's policy of consolidating the Russian state. The Grand Duke was able to annex, Yaroslavl, Dimitrov, Rostov, Tver and Belozersk principalities, Vyatka land, a part of the Ryazan, Novgorod, Chernigov, Seversk, Bryansk and Gomel lands to Moscow.
Ivan III strenuously fought the princes and boyars' opposition, setting the standards of taxes that were collected from the population in favor of local governors. During his reign in Moscow appeared the first offices in charge of various branches of government management. A big role started to play aristocratic army and nobility, in whose interest was introduced a restriction on transfer of peasants from one owner to another. The peasants were now allowed to go to another owner only once a year - a week before the St. George's Day (November 26) and one week after St George's Day. Under Ivan Vasilyevich the artillery became a part of the army.
In 1467-1469 Ivan III successfully fought a war against Kazan, making it his vassal as a result. In 1471 the Grand Duke made a campaign against Novgorod. The decisive battle took place on the River Shelon (west of Lake Ilmen). Professional Moscow army easily defeated Novgorod regiments, which consisted largely of artisans. Under the terms of the armistice, signed in the village of Korostyn, independence of Novgorod was severely limited, and in 1478 Novgorod was finally annexed to Muscovite Russia.
In 1467, Ivan III was widowed and 6 years later married the niece of Byzantine Emperor Constantine, Sophia Paleologue. The marriage of Moscow sovereign with Greek princess was an important event in Russian history: it opened the way to Muscovite Russia to establish relations with the West. After his marriage, Ivan took the title of "The Grand Prince of all Rus”.
After the wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 15th - early 16th centuries, Rus annexed a lot of western Russian cities and lands. According to the Blagoveshchensk Truce (1503), the Russian state included Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Starodub, Gomel, Bryansk, Toropets, Mtsensk, Dorogobuzh. Success in the expansion of the country also contributed to the growth of international relations. In particular, the alliance with the Crimean Khanate was concluded (1480). In subsequent years, this alliance proved to be effective, because during the Russian-Lithuanian War of 1500-1503, Crimea remained an ally of Russia.
In 1476, Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the khan of the Great Horde, which led to a clash of two old enemies. Wanting to achieve the previous submission, Ahmad Khan in the summer of 1480, led a huge army toward Russia. "The great stand on the Ugra River" ended with the actual victory of Muscovy, which obtained the desired independence from the Horde. For overthrow the yoke of the Golden Horde, the Grand Duke of Moscow was popularly nicknamed Ivan the Holy.
Integration of previously fragmented Russian lands into a single state strongly required the unity of the legal system. In September of 1497 was put in force the Sudebnik - Code of laws which reflected the regulations of such legal documents as Russian Pravda, Regulating charters (of Dvina and Belozersk), Pskov court charter, a number of decrees and orders of the Moscow princes.
The reign of Ivan III was characterized by large-scale construction, erection of temples, architecture development, flowering of chronicles. During his reign, in Moscow were erected the Assumption Cathedral (1479), the Palace of Facets (1491), the Annunciation Cathedral (1489); were built 25 churches. There were also erected fortresses in Ivangorod (1492), Beloozero (1486), Velikie Luki (1493). The appearance of double-headed eagle as the state symbol of Muscovy on the stamp of one of the letters issued in 1497 by Ivan III symbolized the equality of the ranks of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Grand Duke of Moscow.
In the summer of 1503, Ivan III became seriously ill and blind in one eye. Giving up the governing, the Grand Duke went on a trip to the monasteries. October 27, 1505 at the 67th year of life, Grand Prince of Moscow and "The Grand Duke of All Rus," Ivan III Vasilevich died and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin.
Lit.: Алексеев Ю. Г. Государь всея Руси. Новосибирск, 1991; Он же. Походы русских войск при Иване III. СПб., 2007; Базилевич К. В. Внешняя политика Русского централизованного государства. Вторая половина XV в. М., 1952; Борисов Н. С. Иван III М., 2000; Зимин А. А. Витязь на распутье: феодальная война в России XV в. М., 1991; Калугин И. К. Дипломатические сношения России с Крымом, в княжение Иоанна III. М., 1855; Кукольник Н. В. Иоанн III, собиратель земли русской. СПб., 1874; Лурье Я. С. Две истории Руси XV века. Ранние и поздние, независимые и официальные летописи об образовании Московского государства. СПб., 1994; Пирлинг П. О. Россия и Восток: Царское бракосочетание в Ватикане, Иван III и София Палеолог. СПб., 1892; Ровинский Д. А. Достоверные портреты московских государей Ивана III, Василия Ивановича и Ивана IV Грозного и посольства их времени. СПб., 1882; Скрынников Р. Г. Иван III. М., 2006; Черепнин Л. В. Образование Русского централизованного государства в XIV–XV вв. М., 1960.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Ivan III Vasilievich // Formation of a unified Russian state: [digital collection];