Ivan 3 was appointed by fate to restore autocracy in Rus'; he did not suddenly accept this great task and did not consider all means permitted.
Karamzin N.M.
The reign of Ivan 3 lasted from 1462 to 1505. This time went down in Russian history as the beginning of the unification of the lands of appanage Rus' around Moscow, which created the foundations of a single state. It was also Ivan 3 who was the ruler under whom Rus' got rid of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, which lasted almost 2 centuries.
Ivan 3 began his reign in 1462 at the age of 22. The throne passed to him according to the will of Vasily 2.
Government
Beginning in 1485, Ivan 3 proclaimed himself sovereign of all Rus'. From this moment on, a unified policy begins, aimed at strengthening the country’s international position. As for internal governance, the prince’s power can hardly be called absolute. General scheme management of Moscow and the entire state under Ivan 3 is presented below.
The prince, of course, rose above everyone, but the church and the boyar duma were quite a bit inferior in importance. It is enough to note that:
- The power of the prince does not extend to church lands and boyar estates.
- The church and boyars have the right to mint their own coins.
Thanks to the Law Code of 1497, a feeding system took root in Rus', when princely officials received broad powers in terms of local government.
Under Ivan 3, a system of transfer of power was first implemented, when the prince appointed a successor for himself. It was also during this era that the first Orders began to be formed. The Treasury and Palace orders were founded, which were in charge of the receipt of taxes and the distribution of land to the nobles for their service.
The unification of Rus' around Moscow
Conquest of Novgorod
During the period when Ivan III came to power, Novgorod retained the principle of government through the veche. The veche elected a mayor who determined the policy of Veliky Novgorod. In 1471, the struggle between the boyar groups of “Lithuania” and “Moscow” intensified. This was ordered into a massacre at the assembly, as a result of which the Lithuanian boyars, led by Marfa Boretskaya, the wife of the former mayor, won. Immediately after this, Martha signed the vassal oath of Novgorod to Lithuania. Ivan 3 immediately sent a letter to the city, demanding recognition of the supremacy of Moscow in the city, but the Novgorod veche was against it. This meant war.
In the summer of 1471, Ivan 3 sent troops to Novgorod. The battle took place near the Sheloni River, where the Novgorodians were defeated. On July 14, a battle took place near the walls of Novgorod, where the Muscovites won, and the Novgorodians lost about 12 thousand people killed. Moscow strengthened its position in the city, but retained self-government for the Novgorodians. In 1478, when it became obvious that Novgorod was not stopping its attempts to come under Lithuanian rule, Ivan 3 deprived the city of all self-government, finally subordinating it to Moscow.
Novgorod was now ruled by the Moscow governor, and the famous bell, symbolizing the freedom of the Novgorodians, was sent to Moscow.
Annexation of Tver, Vyatka and Yaroslavl
Prince Mikhail Borisovich of Tver, wanting to preserve the independence of his principality, married the granddaughter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazemir 4. This did not stop Ivan 3, who started the war in 1485. The situation for Mikhail was complicated by the fact that many Tver boyars had already gone into the service of the Moscow prince. Soon the siege of Tver began, and Mikhail fled to Lithuania. After this, Tver surrendered without resistance. Ivan 3 left his son Ivan to rule the city. This is how the subordination of Tver to Moscow took place.
Yaroslavl, under the reign of Ivan 3, formally retained its independence, but this was a gesture of good will by Ivan 3 himself. Yaroslavl was completely dependent on Moscow, and its independence was expressed only in the fact that local princes had the right to inherit power in the city. The wife of the Yaroslavl prince was Ivan III's sister, Anna, so he allowed her husband and sons to inherit power and rule independently. Although all important decisions were made in Moscow.
Vyatka had a control system similar to Novgorod. In 1489, Tver submitted to the authority of Ivan III, coming under the control of Moscow along with the ancient city of Arsk. After this, Moscow strengthened as a single center for uniting Russian lands into a single state.
Foreign policy
The foreign policy of Ivan 3 was expressed in three directions:
- Eastern - liberation from the yoke and a solution to the problem of the Kazan Khanate.
- Southern – confrontation with the Crimean Khanate.
- Western – solution of border issues with Lithuania.
East direction
The key task of the eastern direction is to rid Rus' of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The result was a stand on the Ugra River in 1480, after which Rus' gained independence from the Horde. 240 years of yoke were completed and the rise of the Moscow state began.
Wives of Prince Ivan 3
Ivan 3 was married twice: the first wife was the Tver princess Maria, the second wife was Sophia Paleologus from the family of Byzantine emperors. From his first marriage the prince had a son, Ivan the Young.
Sophia (Zoe) Palaeologus was the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine 11, but after the fall of Constantinople she moved to Rome, where she lived under the patronage of the Pope. For Ivan III it was great option for marriage, after which he will measure Princess Mary. This marriage made it possible to unite the ruling dynasties of Russia and Byzantium.
An embassy was sent to Rome for the bride in January 1472, headed by Prince Ivan Fryazin. The Pope agreed to send Palaiologos to Russia under two conditions:
- Russia will persuade the Golden Horde to war with Turkey.
- Russia will accept Catholicism in one form or another.
The ambassadors accepted all the conditions, and Sophia Paleolog went to Moscow. On November 12, 1472, she entered the capital. It is noteworthy that at the entrance to the city, traffic was stopped for several days. This was due to the fact that Catholic priests were heading the delegation. Ivan 3 considered admiration for the faith of others to be a sign of disrespect for one’s own, so he demanded that the Catholic priests hide the crosses and move deeper into the column. Only after these demands were met did the movement continue.
Succession to the throne
In 1498, the first dispute about succession to the throne arose. Some of the boyars demanded that his grandson Dmitry become the heir of Ivan 3. This was the son of Ivan the Young and Elena Voloshanka. Ivan the Young was the son of Ivan 3 from his marriage to Princess Maria. Another group of boyars spoke out for Vasily, the son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus.
The Grand Duke suspected his wife that she wanted to poison Dmitry and his mother Elena. A conspiracy was announced and some people were executed. As a result, Ivan 3 became suspicious of his wife and son, so on February 4, 1498, Ivan 3 named Dmitry, who was 15 years old at that time, as his successor.
After this, a change occurred in the Grand Duke’s mood. He decided to re-investigate the circumstances of the assassination attempt on Dmitry and Elena. As a result, Dmitry was already taken into custody, and Vasily was appointed prince of Novgorod and Pskov.
In 1503, Princess Sophia died, and the prince’s health became noticeably worse. Therefore, he gathered the boyars and declared Vasily, the future Prince Vasily 3, his heir.
Results of the reign of Ivan 3
In 1505, Prince Ivan 3 dies. After himself, he leaves a great legacy and great deeds, which his son Vasily was destined to continue. The results of the reign of Ivan 3 can be characterized as follows:
- Eliminating the causes of the fragmentation of Rus' and unifying the lands around Moscow.
- The creation of a unified state began
- Ivan 3 was one of the strongest rulers of his era
Ivan 3 was not educated person, in the classical sense of the word. He could not receive enough education as a child, but this was compensated for by his natural ingenuity and intelligence. Many call him a cunning king, because he very often achieved the results he needed by cunning.
An important stage in the reign of Prince Ivan III was the marriage with Sophie Paleolog, as a result of which Russia became a strong power, and it began to be discussed throughout Europe. This, undoubtedly, gave impetus to the development of statehood in our country.
Key events of the reign of Ivan III:
- 1463 – annexation of Yaroslavl
- 1474 – annexation of the Rostov Principality
- 1478 – annexation of Veliky Novgorod
- 1485 – annexation of the Tver Principality
- Liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke
- 1480 – standing on the Ugra
- 1497 – adoption of the code of law of Ivan 3.
Sofia Paleolog went from the last Byzantine princess to the Grand Duchess of Moscow. Thanks to her intelligence and cunning, she could influence the policies of Ivan III and won palace intrigues. Sophia also managed to place her son Vasily III on the throne.
Zoe Paleologue was born around 1440-1449. She was the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos, who was the brother of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine. The fate of the entire family after the death of the ruler turned out to be unenviable. Thomas Palaiologos fled to Corfu and then to Rome. After some time, the children followed him. The paleologians were patronized by Pope Paul II himself. The girl had to convert to Catholicism and change her name from Zoe to Sophia. She received an education appropriate to her status, without basking in luxury, but without poverty either.
Sophia became a pawn in the political game of the Pope. At first he wanted to give her as a wife to King James II of Cyprus, but he refused. The next contender for the girl's hand was Prince Caracciolo, but he did not live to see the wedding. When the wife of Prince Ivan III died in 1467, Sophia Paleologue was offered to him as his wife. The Pope kept silent about the fact that she was a Catholic, thereby wanting to expand the influence of the Vatican in Rus'. Negotiations for marriage continued for three years. Ivan III was seduced by the opportunity to have such an eminent person as his wife.
The betrothal in absentia took place on June 1, 1472, after which Sophia Paleologus went to Muscovy. Everywhere she was given all kinds of honors and celebrations were held. At the head of her cortege was a man who carried a Catholic cross. Having learned about this, Metropolitan Philip threatened to leave Moscow if the cross was brought into the city. Ivan III ordered that the Catholic symbol be taken away 15 versts from Moscow. Dad's plans failed, and Sophia returned to her faith again. The wedding took place on November 12, 1472 in the Assumption Cathedral.
At court, the newly-made Byzantine wife of the Grand Duke was not liked. Despite this, Sophia had a huge influence on her husband. The chronicles describe in detail how Paleologue persuaded Ivan III to free himself from the Mongol yoke.
Following the Byzantine model, Ivan III developed a complex judicial system. It was then for the first time that the Grand Duke began to call himself “the Tsar and Autocrat of All Rus'.” It is believed that the image of the double-headed eagle, which subsequently appeared on the coat of arms of Muscovy, was brought by Sophia Paleologus with her.
Sophia Paleolog and Ivan III had eleven children (five sons and six daughters). From his first marriage, the tsar had a son, Ivan the Young, the first contender for the throne. But he fell ill with gout and died. Another “obstacle” for Sophia’s children on the path to the throne was Ivan the Young’s son Dmitry. But he and his mother fell out of favor with the king and died in captivity. Some historians suggest that Paleologus was involved in the deaths of the direct heirs, but there is no direct evidence. Ivan III's successor was Sophia's son Vasily III.
The Byzantine princess and princess of Muscovy died on April 7, 1503. She was buried in a stone sarcophagus in the Ascension Monastery.
The marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue turned out to be successful politically and culturally. were able to leave a mark not only in the history of their country, but also to become beloved queens in a foreign land.
At the beginning of 1458, Ivan III gave birth to his first child, who was also named Ivan. He will not be destined to become John IV: he will go down in history books as Ivan the Young. We have known him since childhood under a completely different nickname - Ivan Tsarevich.
Mother's face
One day, when Ivan was 9 years old, his father went to Kolomna on government business. In his absence, Maria Borisovna, Ivan's mother, who was only twenty-five years old, suddenly fell ill and died. It happened so unexpectedly that it was rumored that a “mortal potion” was involved. But who could the humble princess cross?
They didn’t go far - they accused the wife of the nobleman Alexei Poluektov, who served the queen and, as they said, “treated her belt like a fortune teller.”
John the Third, who returned to the Kremlin, did not believe the rumors. However, the Poluektovs got scared and disappeared from the yard for 6 years.
Young Ivan, too, could not immediately believe that his mother had died, because he did not see her lying in the coffin, there was another woman in front of him: blurry, ugly, motionless, with a strange, swollen face.
Kazan campaign
Ros Tsarevich is a help to his father. From a young age he accompanied him in his exploits. Ivan also took part in the famous Kazan campaign of 1468 as the formal leader of one of the detachments. A great army had gathered: they were going to take Kazan, to defeat a dangerous enemy. This was the first military campaign of Ivan the Young, which can be called successful.
True, for diplomatic reasons, the happiness of the young prince from his military exploits did not last long.
One fine morning Ivan was informed that the Polish ambassador had arrived in Moscow. The Tsar, who was then in Pereyaslavl, ordered the ambassador to come to him and, after negotiations, sent him with an answer to the king, and he himself, along with his son and most of the army, returned to Moscow. But the prince’s abusive life did not end there, because it was he who would later become one of the heroes who would drive the Tatars out of the Russian land.
Unshakable
Ivan III was 22 years old when he became the sole ruler of the Moscow lands. His son was at the same age when he turned from a prince's son into a hero who drove out the Tatars and lifted the three-hundred-year bondage of Rus'. Relations with the Kazan khans during the reign of Ivan III, the father of John the Young, did not work out.
The Tatars did not want to put up with the loss of their power and territories, so they looked in every possible way weak spots in the “defense” of the king. They found out about Ivan’s conflict with the Poles and with the rebellious princes who resisted the strengthening of Muscovy’s power. Khan Akhmatov then decided to take advantage of the moment and attack the “weakened” state.
John, in response, gathered a huge army and led it to the southern borders, to the Ugra River. But the closer he got to the battlefield, the more indecision took hold of him. Finally, he ordered his son, who was with the vanguard, to retreat. But Ivan
The young man disobeyed his father: “We are waiting for the Tatars,” he briefly answered his father’s envoy. Then the sovereign sovereign sent Prince Kholmsky, one of the leading politicians of that time, to his son, but even he could not convince Ivan Ivanovich.
Ivan the Young and his uncle Prince Andrei Menshoi exchanged fire with the Khan’s army for four days and forced him to move two miles from the shore. As it turned out later, this was the only Tatar attack in which the young prince won thanks to his steadfastness. Khan Akhmatov waited until the cold weather, trying to intimidate Young with threats, and then retreated completely.
Voloshanka
He showed himself on the battlefield, which means it’s time to get married. In the winter of 1482, Ivan the Young was invited to visit his grandmother in the Ascension Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin. She introduced the prince to his betrothed, the daughter of the Moldavian ruler, Elena.
As in a fairy tale, Elena, who was nicknamed Voloshanka, was both beautiful and wise. Not only the young prince liked her, but also his grandmother and father.
The young couple met for several days, and on Epiphany they were married. And again, as per schedule, nine months later their son Dmitry was born.
It would seem that what follows is “and they lived happily ever after” - after Ivan III, the rightful heir will rise to the throne - Ivan IV - a reasonable, battle-hardened prince, and a new sovereign will rise to replace him. But fate decreed otherwise.
The wrong Ivan became the Fourth in Muscovy, and the memory of his son and wife has sunk into oblivion. True, they say that it was from this branch that the Rachmaninov family descended, into which, 400 years later, the famous Russian composer was born.
Pattern scandal
The birth of his grandson became a holiday for John III. To celebrate, he decided to give his daughter-in-law, Elena Stefanovna, a patterned, that is, pearl jewelry, which was the dowry of his first wife, the mother of Ivan the Young, Maria Borisovna.
The pattern was of great value to the tsar - his very act indicated that he recognized this couple as the future rulers of a united Rus'.
They sent for the pattern, and then the story was very reminiscent of the struggle for the pendant in “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas - no matter how much the servants looked for the pendant, they could not find it.
It turned out that the second wife of Ivan III, Grand Duchess Sophia Paleolog, originally from Byzantium, gave the jewelry to her niece, Maria Paleolog, the wife of Prince Vasily of Vereisky. John was furious.
The Grand Duke ordered Maria to return what was “illegally appropriated.” In fear of the tsar's wrath, Vasily Vereisky fled with his wife to Lithuania. John declared Vasily a traitor and took away his inheritance. However, Elena never got the pattern.
Snake tail
As is known, during the unification of Russian lands around Moscow, the Grand Dukes had by no means friendly relations with its main competitors - the Tver princes. They have not yet given up their hope of seizing the initiative from the already “overgrown” Muscovy.
Deciding to finally eliminate the threat, Ivan Vasilyevich annexed the Tver Principality, under the pretext of high treason. In general, there is no smoke without fire - Mikhail, Prince of Tver, actively corresponded with the Polish king, urging him to war with Moscow.
Tver had to endure three days after the tsar was informed about the careless correspondence. The cowardly Mikhail fled to Lithuania, and Tver opened its gates to the new sovereign.
The territories passed to Ivan the Young, Mikhail's nephew and only heir. Thus, according to the plan of John III, in the person of his eldest son, two strong Russian principalities were united into one powerful state. The father was preparing solid ground for his son...
On the occasion of the reign of Ivan Ivanovich, a coin was minted in Tver on which a young prince was depicted chopping the tail of a snake. The “Tver tails” have been cut off - the Russian lands, after several centuries of fragmentation, have finally united.
Venetian doctor
Foreigners, Italians in particular, periodically left traces in medieval Russian history. For example, one Venetian ambassador to Ordu was caught in deception: while living in Moscow, he hid the purpose of his trip from the sovereign, for which he was almost executed. Another of his compatriots, a doctor named Leon, did much more mischief.
At thirty-two years old, Ivan Molodoy became seriously ill: he was overcome by “kamchyuga,” that is, aching legs, a symptom not uncommon in medicine.
The “caring stepmother” Sophia Paleolog, who, it should be noted, was directly interested in the death of her stepson, ordered the doctor Lebi Zhidovin from Venice, who promised to cure the heir. He gave him hot jars and some medicine, but Ivan only got worse. At the end of treatment he died.
The unlucky doctor was executed, although, perhaps for good reason, after all, he was invited by Sophia, whose sons were the next contenders for the throne after the unfortunate “Ivan Tsarevich.”
Sophia Paleologus (?-1503), wife (from 1472) of Grand Duke Ivan III, niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Paleologus. Arrived in Moscow on November 12, 1472; on the same day, her wedding to Ivan III took place in the Assumption Cathedral. Marriage with Sophia Paleolog contributed to strengthening the prestige of the Russian state in international relations and the authority of the grand ducal power within the country. Special mansions and a courtyard were built for Sophia Paleolog in Moscow. Under Sophia Paleologus, the grand-ducal court was distinguished by its special splendor. Architects were invited from Italy to Moscow to decorate the palace and the capital. The walls and towers of the Kremlin, the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals, the Faceted Chamber, and the Terem Palace were erected. Sofia Paleolog brought a rich library to Moscow. The dynastic marriage of Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus owes its appearance to the rite of royal crowning. The arrival of Sophia Paleologus is associated with the appearance of an ivory throne as part of the dynastic regalia, on the back of which was placed an image of a unicorn, which became one of the most common emblems of the Russian Empire. state power. Around 1490, the image of a crowned double-headed eagle first appeared on the front portal of the Chamber of Facets. The Byzantine concept of the sacredness of imperial power directly influenced Ivan III’s introduction of “theology” (“by God’s grace”) in the title and in the preamble of state charters.
KURBSKY TO GROZNY ABOUT HIS GRANDMOTHER
But the abundance of your Majesty’s malice is such that it destroys not only your friends, but, together with your guardsmen, the entire holy Russian land, a plunderer of houses and a murderer of sons! May God protect you from this and may the Lord, King of Ages, not allow this to happen! After all, even then everything is going as if on the edge of a knife, because if not your sons, then your half-brothers and close brothers by birth, you have overflowed the measure of bloodsuckers - your father and your mother and grandfather. After all, your father and mother - everyone knows how many they killed. In exactly the same way, your grandfather, with your Greek grandmother, having renounced and forgotten love and kinship, killed his wonderful son Ivan, courageous and glorified in heroic enterprises, born of his first wife, Saint Mary, Princess of Tver, as well as his divinely crowned grandson born of him Tsar Demetrius together with his mother, Saint Helena - the first by deadly poison, and the second by many years of imprisonment in prison, and then by strangulation. But he was not satisfied with this!..
MARRIAGE OF IVAN III AND SOFIA PALEOLOGIST
On May 29, 1453, the legendary Constantinople, besieged by the Turkish army, fell. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, died in battle defending Constantinople. His younger brother Thomas Palaiologos, ruler of the small appanage state of Morea on the Peloponnese peninsula, fled with his family to Corfu and then to Rome. After all, Byzantium, hoping to receive military assistance from Europe in the fight against the Turks, signed the Union of Florence in 1439 on the unification of the Churches, and now its rulers could seek asylum from the papal throne. Thomas Palaiologos was able to remove the greatest shrines of the Christian world, including the head of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In gratitude for this, he received a house in Rome and a good boarding house from the papal throne.
In 1465, Thomas died, leaving three children - sons Andrei and Manuel and the youngest daughter Zoya. The exact date of her birth is unknown. It is believed that she was born in 1443 or 1449 in her father's possessions in the Peloponnese, where she received her initial education. The Vatican took upon itself the education of the royal orphans, entrusting them to Cardinal Bessarion of Nicaea. Greek by birth, former Archbishop of Nicaea, he was a zealous supporter of the signing of the Union of Florence, after which he became a cardinal in Rome. He raised Zoe Paleologue in European Catholic traditions and especially taught her to humbly follow the principles of Catholicism in everything, calling her “the beloved daughter of the Roman Church.” Only in this case, he inspired the pupil, will fate give you everything. However, everything turned out quite the opposite.
In February 1469, the ambassador of Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow with a letter to the Grand Duke, in which he was invited to legally marry the daughter of the Despot of Morea. The letter mentioned, among other things, that Sophia (the name Zoya was diplomatically replaced with the Orthodox Sophia) had already refused two crowned suitors wooing her - to the French king and the Duke of Milan, not wanting to marry a Catholic ruler.
According to the ideas of that time, Sophia was considered an elderly woman, but she was very attractive, with amazingly beautiful, expressive eyes and soft matte skin, which in Rus' was considered a sign of excellent health. And most importantly, she was distinguished by a sharp mind and an article worthy of a Byzantine princess.
The Moscow sovereign accepted the offer. He sent his ambassador, the Italian Gian Battista della Volpe (he was nicknamed Ivan Fryazin in Moscow), to Rome to make a match. The messenger returned a few months later, in November, bringing with him a portrait of the bride. This portrait, which seemed to mark the beginning of the era of Sophia Paleologus in Moscow, is considered the first secular image in Rus'. At least, they were so amazed by it that the chronicler called the portrait an “icon,” without finding another word: “And bring the princess on the icon.”
However, the matchmaking dragged on because Moscow Metropolitan Philip for a long time objected to the sovereign’s marriage to a Uniate woman, who was also a pupil of the papal throne, fearing the spread of Catholic influence in Rus'. Only in January 1472, having received the consent of the hierarch, Ivan III sent an embassy to Rome for the bride. Already on June 1, at the insistence of Cardinal Vissarion, a symbolic betrothal took place in Rome - the engagement of Princess Sophia and the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan, who was represented by the Russian ambassador Ivan Fryazin. That same June, Sophia set off on her journey with an honorary retinue and the papal legate Anthony, who soon had to see with his own eyes the futility of the hopes placed by Rome on this marriage. According to Catholic tradition, a Latin cross was carried at the front of the procession, which caused great confusion and excitement among the residents of Russia. Having learned about this, Metropolitan Philip threatened the Grand Duke: “If you allow the cross to be carried before the Latin bishop in blessed Moscow, he will enter through the only gates, and I, your father, will go out of the city differently.” Ivan III immediately sent the boyar to meet the procession with the order to remove the cross from the sleigh, and the legate had to obey with great displeasure. The princess herself behaved as befits the future ruler of Rus'. Having entered the Pskov land, she first visited Orthodox church, where she venerated the icons. The legate had to obey here too: follow her to the church, and there venerate the holy icons and venerate the image of the Mother of God by order of despina (from the Greek despot- “ruler”). And then Sophia promised the admiring Pskovites her protection before the Grand Duke.
Ivan III did not intend to fight for the “inheritance” with the Turks, much less accept the Union of Florence. And Sophia had no intention of Catholicizing Rus'. On the contrary, she showed herself to be an active Orthodox Christian. Some historians believe that she did not care what faith she professed. Others suggest that Sophia, apparently raised in childhood by the Athonite elders, opponents of the Union of Florence, was deeply Orthodox at heart. She skillfully hid her faith from the powerful Roman “patrons”, who did not help her homeland, betraying it to the Gentiles for ruin and death. One way or another, this marriage only strengthened Muscovy, contributing to its conversion to the great Third Rome.
Early in the morning of November 12, 1472, Sophia Paleologus arrived in Moscow, where everything was ready for the wedding celebration dedicated to the name day of the Grand Duke - the day of remembrance of St. John Chrysostom. On the same day, in the Kremlin, in a temporary wooden church, erected near the Assumption Cathedral under construction, so as not to stop services, the sovereign married her. The Byzantine princess saw her husband for the first time. The Grand Duke was young - only 32 years old, handsome, tall and stately. His eyes were especially remarkable, “formidable eyes”: when he was angry, women fainted from his terrible gaze. Previously he was distinguished by a tough character, but now, having become related to the Byzantine monarchs, he turned into a formidable and powerful sovereign. This was largely due to his young wife.
The wedding in a wooden church made a strong impression on Sophia Paleolog. The Byzantine princess, raised in Europe, differed in many ways from Russian women. Sophia brought with her her ideas about the court and the power of government, and many of the Moscow orders did not suit her heart. She did not like that her sovereign husband remained a tributary of the Tatar khan, that the boyar entourage behaved too freely with their sovereign. That the Russian capital, built entirely of wood, stands with patched fortress walls and dilapidated stone churches. That even the sovereign's mansions in the Kremlin are made of wood and that Russian women look at the world from a small window. Sophia Paleolog not only made changes at court. Some Moscow monuments owe their appearance to her.
She brought a generous dowry to Rus'. After the wedding, Ivan III adopted the Byzantine double-headed eagle as a coat of arms - a symbol of royal power, placing it on his seal. The two heads of the eagle face the West and the East, Europe and Asia, symbolizing their unity, as well as the unity (“symphony”) of spiritual and temporal power. Actually, Sophia’s dowry was the legendary “Liberia” - a library allegedly brought on 70 carts (better known as the “library of Ivan the Terrible”). It included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were unknown to us poems by Homer, works by Aristotle and Plato, and even surviving books from the famous Library of Alexandria. Seeing wooden Moscow, burned after the fire of 1470, Sophia was afraid for the fate of the treasure and for the first time hid the books in the basement of the stone Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya - the home church of the Moscow Grand Duchesses, built by order of St. Eudokia, the widow. And, according to Moscow custom, she put her own treasury for preservation in the underground of the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist - the very first church in Moscow, which stood until 1847.
According to legend, she brought with her a “bone throne” as a gift to her husband: its wooden frame was entirely covered with plates of ivory and walrus ivory with scenes on biblical themes carved on them. This throne is known to us as the throne of Ivan the Terrible: the king is depicted on it by the sculptor M. Antokolsky. In 1896, the throne was installed in the Assumption Cathedral for the coronation of Nicholas II. But the sovereign ordered it to be staged for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (according to other sources, for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna), and he himself wished to be crowned on the throne of the first Romanov. And now the throne of Ivan the Terrible is the oldest in the Kremlin collection.
Sophia brought with her several Orthodox icons, including, supposedly, a rare icon of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven”... And even after the wedding of Ivan III, an image of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, the founder of the Paleologus dynasty, with which the Moscow people became related, appeared in the Archangel Cathedral rulers. Thus, the continuity of Moscow to the Byzantine Empire was established, and the Moscow sovereigns appeared as the heirs of the Byzantine emperors.
The family affairs of any ruler always have a great influence on the fate of the country. Let us remember the escape of Tsarevich Alexei from Peter I to Austria, or the dynastic crisis of 1825, when it was unclear who would inherit the deceased Alexander I - Constantine or Nicholas.
Ivan's first wife - the sister of the Tver prince Mikhail Borisovich - died when Ivan was thirty years old. Solovyov writes: “Her body was so swollen that the cover, which was previously large, but now could not cover the deceased.” It is believed that she was poisoned. The prince began to look for a new wife. They learned about this in the West. In 14869, Russia established relations with the Roman Curia. In 1472, Ivan the Third wooed Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. The marriage was concluded.
What were the consequences of marriage? Contemporaries noticed that after marriage Ivan became a formidable sovereign. He was the first to receive the nickname Terrible, because he appeared to the princes as a monarch, demanding strict obedience, strictly punishing. He rose to an unattainable royal height, although he was not yet a king. Everyone is nobody before him. Before the throne everything is nothing. This is negative democracy. Solovyov writes: “At one wave of the Terrible, the heads of the seditious boyars lay on the chopping block. This is all at the suggestion of Sophia. Herberstein writes about Sophia: “She was an unusually cunning woman. At her suggestion, the Grand Duke did a lot." Chroniclers report: "At Sophia's suggestion, John finally broke with the Horde.
Since Ivan III had a son, Ivan Ivanovich, from his first marriage, and Vasily was born from his second marriage, for a long time it was unclear who would be the heir.
Ivan Ivanovich Young (February 15, 1458 - March 7, 1490) - the son of Ivan III Vasilyevich and his first wife Maria Borisovna, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tver Boris Alexandrovich and sister of the ruler of Tver, Mikhail Borisovich. As the nephew of Mikhail Tverskoy, who had no sons, he could lay claim to the inheritance of the Tver principality. In 1468 he accompanied Ivan III on campaigns against the Kazan Khanate. From 1471 - co-ruler of his father (G.V. Vernadsky indicates 1470). Coins of that time were minted with the names of both Moscow rulers. In 1472 and 1477 During his father’s campaign against Veliky Novgorod, he ruled (“in charge”) of Moscow. Together with his uncle Andrei Vasilyevich the Lesser, he was one of the leaders of the Russian army during the “Standing on the Ugra River” in 1480. In 1483, Ivan the Young married the daughter of the Moldavian ruler Stephen III the Great, Elena, nicknamed “Voloshanka” in Rus', which contributed to the strengthening of the military-political alliance with the Moldavian principality.
Ivan Ivanovich and his father went on a campaign against Tver and after its annexation to Moscow in 1485, when his maternal uncle Mikhail Borisovich, who was seeking an alliance with the Poles, was expelled from Tver, he became the prince of Tver. In honor of the reign of Ivan the Young, a coin was issued in Tver that depicted him chopping the tail of a snake, personifying the betrayal of Mikhail Borisovich.
In 1490 the prince fell ill with “ache in his legs.” The doctor Lebi Zhidovin was called from Venice, but he was unable to determine the cause of the illness from which Ivan the Young died on March 7, 1490. The doctor was executed by order of Ivan III for unsuccessful treatment.
The Moscow boyars and courtiers were divided into 2 groups, one of which (in particular the family of Ivan Yuryevich Patrikeev, Prince Semyon Ryapolovsky, etc.) supported Dmitry and his mother Princess Elena Stefanovna, the other - Tsarevich Vasily and his mother - the wife of Ivan III -- Sophia Paleologue. In 1497, the so-called conspiracy of Vladimir Gusev was discovered, the participants of which were credited with the intention to kill the prince. The confrontation ended in the disgrace of Vasily and Sophia. It is noteworthy that the crowning of Dmitry was first described in detail by chroniclers, with all the curious circumstances.
However, later the “party” supporting Tsarevich Vasily and Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue gained the upper hand, and some of the supporters of Dmitry and Elena Stefanovna were executed, the Patrikeevs were tonsured as monks.
Ivan III named Vasily the sovereign, the Grand Duke of Novagorod and Pskov, but for some time Dmitry was still called the Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow.
In 1502, after Ivan III transferred the rights of inheritance to his son Vasily, Dmitry and his mother Elena Stefanovna fell into final disgrace, were taken into custody and their names were forbidden to be mentioned during services. Already at Vasily III in 1505, Dmitry was shackled in iron, in close confinement. He died in 1509 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.