Ivan III of Russia

Ivan III Vasilevich (???? III ??????????) (January 22, 1440 – October 27, 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a grand duke of Muscovy who first adopted a more pretentious title of the "grand duke of all the Russias". Sometimes referred to as the "gatherer of the Russian lands", he claimed Moscow to be a Third Rome, built the Moscow Kremlin, and laid foundations for the Russian autocracy.

Background

Ivan's parents were Vasily II and Maria of Borovsk. He was co-regent with his father during the latter years of his life and succeeded him in 1462. Ivan tenaciously pursued the unifying policy of his predecessors. Nevertheless, cautious to timidity, like most of the princes of the house of Rurik, he avoided as far as possible any violent collision with his neighbors until all the circumstances were exceptionally favorable, always preferring to attain his ends gradually, circuitously and subterraneously. Muscovy had by this time become a compact and powerful state, whilst her rivals had grown sensibly weaker, a condition of things very favorable to the speculative activity of a statesman of Ivan III's peculiar character.

Related Topics:
Vasily II - 1462 - House of Rurik

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