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.

Internal policies

The character of the government of Muscovy under Ivan III changed essentially and took on an autocratic form which it had never had before. This was due not merely to the natural consequence of the hegemony of Moscow over the other Russian lands, but even more to the simultaneous growth of new and exotic principles falling upon a soil already prepared for them. After the fall of Constantinople, orthodox canonists were inclined to regard the Muscovite grand dukes as the successors by the Byzantine emperors.

Related Topics:
Government - Autocratic - Hegemony - Fall of Constantinople - Orthodox - Byzantine emperors

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This movement coincided with a change in the family circumstances of Ivan III. After the death of his first consort, Maria of Tver (1467), at the suggestion of Pope Paul II (1469), who hoped thereby to bind Russia to the holy see, Ivan III wedded the Catholic Zoe Palaeologina (better known by her orthodox name of Sophia), daughter of Thomas Palaeologus , despot of Morea, who claimed the throne of Constantinople as the brother Constantine XI last Byzantine emperor. The princess, however, due to her family traditions, awoke imperial ideas in the mind of her consort. It was through her influence that the ceremonious etiquette of Constantinople (along with the imperial double-headed eagle and all that it implied) was adopted by the court of Moscow.

Related Topics:
Paul II - Holy see - Zoe Palaeologina - Thomas Palaeologus - Morea - Constantine XI - Etiquette - Double-headed eagle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The grand duke henceforth held aloof from his boyars. The old patriarchal systems of government vanished. The boyars were no longer consulted on affairs of state. The sovereign became sacrosanct, while the boyars were reduced to the level of slaves absolutely dependent on the will of the sovereign. The boyars naturally resented so insulting a revolution, and struggled against it, at first with some success. But the clever Greek lady prevailed in the end, and it was her son Vasily, not Maria of Tver's son, Ivan, who was ultimately crowned co-regent with his father (April 14, 1502).

Related Topics:
Sacrosanct - Vasily - Ivan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was in the reign of Ivan III that the new Russian Sudebnik, or law code, was compiled by the scribe Gusev. Ivan did his utmost to make his capital a worthy successor to Constantinople, and with that object invited many foreign masters and artificers to settle in Moscow. The most noted of these was the Italian Ridolfo di Fioravante, nicknamed Aristotle because of his extraordinary knowledge, who built several cathedrals and palaces in the Kremlin. This extraordinary monument of the Muscovite art remains a lasting symbol of the power and glory of Ivan III.

Related Topics:
Sudebnik - Law code - Constantinople - Ridolfo di Fioravante - Kremlin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~