Prince Ivan Vasilyevich 1472. Ivan III Vasilievich

				"The Russian religious vocation, an exceptional vocation, is associated with the strength and greatness of the Russian state, with the exceptional significance of the Russian Tsar" ON THE. Berdyaev . “Ivan III is one of the most remarkable people whom the Russian people should always remember with gratitude, of whom they can rightly be proud.” 19th century historian N. D. Chechulin. "The power he exercises over his subjects easily surpasses all the monarchs of the whole world." Sigismund von Herberstein
Ivan Vasilievich III. (22.01.1441-27.10.1505)

John III is one of the very few Sovereigns chosen by Providence to decide the fate of nations for a long time: he is a Hero not only of Russian, but also of World History. John appeared on the political theater at a time when a new state system, together with the new power of the Sovereigns, arose throughout Europe on the ruins of the feudal or local system. For about three centuries, Russia was outside the circle of European political activity, not participating in important changes in the civil life of peoples. Although nothing is done suddenly; although the commendable efforts of the Princes of Moscow, from Kalita to Vasily the Dark, prepared a lot for Autonomy and our internal power: but Russia under John III seemed to emerge from the twilight of shadows, where it still had neither a solid image nor the full existence of a state.

Grand Duke Ivan Vasilievich- Grand Duke of Moscow (1462-1505), sovereign of all Rus',found himself in the shadow of his famous grandson Ivan IV, although his merits in creating Russian statehood were immeasurably higher compared to the very dubious successes of the first Russian Tsar. Ivan III essentially created the Russian state, laying down the principles of public administration characteristic of Russia in the 16th-20th centuries.

In the second half of the 16th century, after the horrors of the cause, the grandfather’s nickname - Ivan the Terrible - passed to his grandson, so that in the folklore of later times, many of the actions of the former were “attributed” to the latter.

Back in the 19th century, historians appreciated the contribution of each of these sovereigns, but they were unable to “overcome” the stereotype that had developed by that time.

Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich did not formally proclaim himself “tsar”, but the word “state” sounded from his lips for the first time.

The scope of his “state” power was no less than that of the Tsar.

Moscow Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich received the nickname “The Great” from historians. Karamzin put him even higher than Peter I, for Ivan III did a great state work without resorting to violence against the people.
This is generally explained simply. The fact is that we all live in a state, the creator of which is Ivan III. When in 1462 In the year he ascended the Moscow throne, the Moscow principality was still surrounded from everywhere by Russian appanage possessions: Mr. Veliky Novgorod, the princes of Tver, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Ryazan. Ivan Vasilyevich subjugated all these lands either by force or by peaceful agreements. So at the end of his reign, at 1505 year, Ivan III already had only heterodox and foreign neighbors along all the borders of the Moscow state: Swedes, Germans, Lithuania, Tatars.

Ivan Vasilyevich, being one of many appanage princes, even the most powerful, having destroyed or subjugated these possessions, turned into a single sovereign of an entire people.He completed the collection of Russian lands that were in the sphere of influence of the Horde. Under him, the stage of political fragmentation of Rus' ended, and the final liberation from the Horde yoke took place.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible in his famous messages called his grandfather Ivan III “ avenger of untruths", recalled“the great sovereign Ivan Vasilyevich, collector of Russian lands and owner of many lands.”

We also find a very high assessment of the activities of Ivan III in foreign sources, and they especially emphasized the foreign policy and military successes of the Grand Duke. Even King Casimir IV, a constant opponent of Ivan III, characterized him as “ leader, famous for his many victories, possessing a huge treasury", and warned against “frivolous” action against his power. Polish historian of the early 16th century. Matvey Mekhovsky wrote about Grand Duke Ivan III: “He was an economic and useful sovereign to his land. He... through his prudent activities subjugated and forced to pay tribute those to whom he himself had previously paid it. He conquered and brought into submission the multi-tribal and multi-lingual lands of Asian Scythia, widely extending to the east and north.”

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In the middle of the 15th century. Lithuania weakened, finding itself under the blows of the Crimean and Horde khans, Hungarians, Livonians, Danes, and Russians. The Kingdom of Poland strongly helped Lithuania, but the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, who dreamed of independence, were not always happy about this help. And the Poles themselves did not feel entirely comfortable due to the constant pressure from the west (from the German emperors) and from the south (from the Hungarians and steppe inhabitants). A new power began to emerge in Scandinavia - Sweden, which was still dependent on Denmark, but which itself controlled Finland. Sweden's time will come in 1523, when under King Gustav I it is freed from Denmark. However, even during the time of Ivan III, it influenced the course of affairs in the Baltic region. In the East of Moscow in the 1440s. The Kazan Khanate was created - not very strong, but young and daring. The Golden Horde now controlled only minor territories in the lower reaches of the Don and Volga. Across the Black Sea, the Ottoman Turks gained strength. In 1453 they crushed the Byzantine Empire and continued their conquests in the Balkans and other parts of Eurasia. But they will not reach Eastern Europe soon enough to prevent Prince Ivan III from conducting his diplomatic games here, on the results of which the success of the entire Russian cause largely depended.

Harsh childhood

Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilievich, second son of the Grand Duke Moskovsky Vasily II Vasilievich Darkborn in Moscow 22 January 1440 year and was the great-grandson of Dmitry Donskoy, the winner of the Battle of Kulikovo. Ivan’s mother is Maria Yaroslavna, daughter of Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich Borovsky.An interesting prophetic prediction associated with Ivan III and free Novgorod, which always waged a stubborn struggle with Moscow for its political independence. In the 40s In the 15th century, in the Novgorod monastery on the foothill Tract of Klopsk, blessed Michael, known in the patristic calendar under the name of Klopsky, asceticised. It was in 1400 that the local Archbishop Euthymius visited him. The blessed one said to the bishop:“And today there is great joy in Moscow. The Grand Duke of Moscow had a son, who was given the name Ivan. He will destroy the customs of the Novgorod land and bring destruction to our cityand the ruin of the custom of our land will be from him, he will gain a lot of gold and silver and will become the ruler of the entire Russian land."

Ivan was born in a turbulent time of wars, internecine warfare and unrest. Things were restless on the southern and eastern borders of Rus': numerous khans of the Horde, which had disintegrated by that time, often carried out devastating raids on Russian lands. Ulu-Muhammad, the ruler of the Great Horde, was especially dangerous. On July 7, 1445, in the battle of Suzdal, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich himself was captured by the Tatars. To top off all the troubles, on July 14, Moscow burned to the ground: stone churches and part of the fortress walls collapsed from the fire. Because of this, the grand duchesses - our hero's grandmother Sofya Vitovna and mother Maria Yaroslavna - went to Rostov with their children. Fortunately, the Tatars did not dare to attack the defenseless Russian capital.

On October 1, Ulu-Muhammad ordered a huge ransom,sent Vasily Vasilyevich home. The Grand Duke was accompanied by a large Tatar embassy, ​​which was supposed to oversee the collection of ransom in various Russian cities. The Tatars received the right to manage them until they collected the required amount.

This dealt a terrible blow to the prestige of the Grand Duke, which Dmitry Shemyaka did not take advantage of. In February 1446, Vasily Vasilyevich, taking with him his sons Ivan and Yuri the Lesser, went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity Monastery -"to hit Sergiev's tomb with his forehead" To “patron of the Russian land and intercessor before the Lord God.”In his absence, Prince Dmitry, entering Moscow with an army, arrested the mother and wife of Vasily Vasilyevich, as well as

Many boyars who sided with the Grand Duke, and he himself was soon taken into custody, the conspirators quickly forgot about his sons, and Prince Ivan Ryapolovsky managed to hide the princes Ivan and Yuri in the monastery chambers, after which he took them to Murom.

On the night of February 17-18, their father was blinded by order of Dmitry Shemyaka, after which he was deported to Uglich. Such a cruel punishment was the revenge of the new Grand Duke: in 1436, Vasily Vasilyevich dealt with Vasily Kosy, the brother of Dmitry Shemyaka, who was captured by him. Soon Ivan and Yuri followed their father into captivity in the same Uglich.

Maintaining power turned out to be more difficult than gaining it. By the fall, a power vacuum had emerged. On September 15, 1446, seven months after his reign in Moscow, Dmitry Shemyaka set his blind rival free, giving him an estate in Vologda. This was the beginning of the end: all the opponents of the Grand Duke soon flocked to the city. Hegumen of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Trifon freed Vasily the Dark from kissing the cross in Shemyaka, and exactly a year after he was blinded, the father of our hero solemnly returned to Moscow.

Dmitry Shemyaka, who fled to his patrimony, continued to fight Vasily the Dark for several more years. In July 1453, people sent by Vasily the Dark poisoned Shemyaka with arsenic.

Father's legacy

We can only guess,what feelings raged in the soul of Prince Ivan Vasilyevich in early childhood. At least three times - in 1445 and twice in 1446 - he was to be gripped by mortal fear: the Tatar captivity of his father and the fire in Moscow, the flight to Murom, the Uglich imprisonment - all this befell the lot of a five-six-year-old boy.

Life forced the prince to grow up early.From a very young age hefound himself in the thick of political strife,became an assistant to his blind father. He was constantly by his side, participated in all his campaigns, and already at the age of six he was engaged to the daughter of the Tver prince, which was supposed to mean the union of two eternal rivals - Moscow and Tver.

Already in 1448, Ivan Vasilyevich was titled Grand Duke in the chronicles, just like his father. Long before ascending the throne, many levers of power find themselves in the hands of Ivan Vasilyevich; he carries out important military and political assignments. In 1448, he was in Vladimir with an army covering the important southern direction from the Tatars, and in 1452 he set off on his first military campaign. Since the early 50s. XV century Ivan Vasilyevich mastered the difficult craft of a sovereign step by step, delving into the affairs of his blind father, who Having returned to the throne, he was not inclined to stand on ceremony not only with enemies, but also with any potential rivals in general.

Public mass executions - an event unheard of before in Rus'! - the reign of the blind man also ended: Vasily Vasilyevich, having learned about the intention of the service people to free Prince Vasily Yaroslavich from captivity, “He ordered everyone to be killed, and executed, and beaten with whips, and cut off the hands, and cut off the legs, and cut off the heads of others.” .On the evening of March 27, 1462 Vasily the Dark, who suffered from dry disease (bone tuberculosis) for a year, died, transferring the great reign to his eldest son Ivan and endowing each of the other four sons with extensive possessions.

With a steady hand

The father handed over to the young prince a fragile peace with his neighbors. It was restless in Novgorod and Pskov. In the Great Horde, the ambitious Akhmat came to power, dreaming of reviving the state of the Chinggisids. Political passions also overwhelmed Moscow itself. But Ivan III was ready for decisive action. At twenty-two years old, he already had a strong character, statesmanship, and diplomatic wisdom. Much later, the Venetian ambassador Contarini described it as follows:“The Grand Duke appears to be about 35 years old. He is tall and thin, but with all that, a handsome man." . Other witnesses to his life noted that Ivan III knew how to subordinate his emotions to the demands of circumstances, he always carefully calculated all the possible consequences of his actions, and was in this regard an outstanding politician and diplomat, since he often acted not so much with the sword as with the word.

Unswerving in the pursuit of his intended goal, he knew how to excellently take advantage of circumstances and act decisively when success was ensured. His main goal was the seizure of Russian lands and their permanent annexation to Moscow. In this he followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and left an example for his heirs to follow for a long time. The unification of the Russian land has been considered an urgent historical task since the time of Yaroslav the Wise. Only by clenching all your strength into a single fist could you defend yourself against the steppe nomads, Poland, Lithuania, German knights and Swedes.

How did the Grand Duke begin his reign?

The main task was to ensure the security of the eastern borders. To do this, it was necessary to establish political control over Kazan

Khanate The ongoing conflict with Novgorod also required its resolution. Back in 1462, Novgorod ambassadors “about pacification” arrived in Moscow. A preliminary peace was concluded, and Ivan III managed, in the course of a complex diplomatic game, to win over another free city, Pskov, to his side, thereby putting pressure on Novgorod. As a result of this flexible policy, Ivan III began to play the role of a powerful arbiter in disputes between Novgorod and Pskov, whose word is law. And in essence, for the first time he acted as the head of the entire Russian land.In 1463, using the diplomatic gift of clerk Alexei Poluektov, he annexed the Moscow state Yaroslavl, made peace with Prince Tver, married Prince Ryazan to his daughter, recognizing him as an independent prince.

In 1463-1464. Ivan III, “showing respect for antiquity,” gave Pskov the governor the townspeople wanted. But when they wanted to “break away” from the Novgorod ruler and create an independent bishopric, Ivan III showed toughness, did not follow the lead of the Pskovites and ordered, “respecting antiquity,” to leave everything as it was. It was not worth giving Pskov too much independence.The Livonian Order, Lithuania, Denmark, Hanseatic merchants, Swedes are nearby...

In 1467 The plague visited Rus' again. The people greeted her “with despondency and fear.” People are tired of this villain. It killed more than 250 thousand people. And then suddenly the beloved wife of Ivan III, Grand Duchess Maria, died. Ivan III was looking for a way to stir up people who were not indifferent to life, but were crushed by it. In the autumn of 1467 he organized a campaign against Kazan. The trip was unsuccessful. Kazan Khan Ibrahim responded in kind - he sent a detachment to Rus', but Ivan III, guessing about the khan’s move, strengthened the border cities.

IN 1468 the Grand Duke equips 3 trip to the east. The squad of Prince Semyon Romanovich walked through the Cheremis land (Vyatka region and part of modern Tatarstan), broke through forests covered with snow, into the land of the Cheremis and began plundering. The squad of Prince Ivan Striga-Obolensky drove away the Kazan people who invaded the Kostroma land. Prince Daniil Kholmsky defeated the raiders near Murom. Then the detachments of Nizhny Novgorod and Murom residents themselves went to the Kazan Khanate to plunder.

These operations were a kind of reconnaissance in force. Ivan III prepared a large army and went to Kazan.

From passive centuries-old defense, Rus' finally switched to a strategic offensive. The scale of military operations was impressive, and the persistence in achieving the goal was enormous.

The war with the Kazan Khanate ended with a convincing victory for the Russians in 1469 g., when the army of Ivan III approached the capital of the Khanate, forced Ibrahim to admit defeat and “to make peace on the entire will of the Sovereign of Moscow”. The Russians took a huge ransom and returned to their homeland all the prisoners whom the Kazan people had captured over the previous 40 years.

For some time, the eastern border of the Russian land became relatively safe: However, Ivan III understood that a decisive victory over the heirs of the Golden Horde could be achieved only after the unification of all Russian lands. And he again turned his gaze to Novgorod.

PRINCE IVAN III'S FIGHT WITH NOVGOROD

Ivan III did not have time to rejoice at the success when rumors came about the free spirits of the Novgorodians. Being an integral part of the Russian land, Novgorod lived for 600 years according to the laws of the veche republic. From time immemorial, Novgorodians controlledthe entire north of modern European Russia, right up to the Ural Range, and conducted extensive trade with Western countries. Traditionally subordinate to the Grand Duke of Vladimir, they retained significant autonomy, including pursuing an independent foreign policy.

In connection with the strengthening of Lithuania in the 14th century, the Novgorodians began to invite Lithuanian princes to reign in the Novgorod cities (Koporye, Korela). Influence

Moscow weakened somewhat, so that part of the Novgorod nobility had the idea of ​​“surrendering to Lithuania.” During the elections of the Novgorod archbishopMartha, the widow of the mayor Isaac Boretsky, who had oratorical talent and a talent for organizing, took matters into her own hands. She and her children spoke at the meeting with an appeal to send the new Archbishop Theophilus for approval not to Moscow, but to Kyiv, and also to send ambassadors to the Polish king Casimir with a request to take Novgorod under his protection. Her wealth, as well as her stinginess, was legendary.

Gathering the nobility for feasts, she scolded Ivan III, dreamed of a free Novgorod, of a veche, and many agreed with her, although they did not know how to resist Moscow. Martha knew. She built diplomatic bridges with Lithuania, wanted to marry a noble Lithuanian, to own Novgorod after its annexation to the Principality of Lithuania,tear Novgorod away from Moscow...

Ivan III showed composure for a long time. The Novgorodians became bolder, “seized many revenues, lands and waters of the Princes; took an oath from the residents only in the name of Novagorod; they despised John’s Governors and Ambassadors... they insulted the Muscovites.” It seemed time to rein in the boyars. But Ivan III said to the official who came to Moscow: “Tell the people of Novgorod, my fatherland, that, having admitted their guilt, they will correct themselves; they did not step into my lands and waters, they kept my name honestly and formidably in the old way, fulfilling their vow on the cross if they wanted protection and mercy from me; say that patience comes to an end, and that mine will not last.” The freedom lovers laughed at Ivan III and became proud of their “victory” . They didn't expect a catch. Martha sent her sons to the assembly. They showered verbal mud on the Moscow prince, spoke convincingly, ending their speech with the appeal: “We don’t want Ivan! Long live Casimir! And in response, like an echo, voices answered: “Let Moscow disappear!”

The Veche decided to ask Casimir to become the ruler of the Lord of Veliky Novgorod. Master of the Lord!

Ivan III, gathering allied troops, sent Ivan Fedorovich Tovarkov to the city. He read a proclamation to the townspeople, not much different from what the Grand Duke had recently said to the official. Some historians call this apparent slowness indecisiveness. Martha was decisive. Her determination was her undoing. Tovarkov, who returned to Moscow, told the Grand Duke that only “The sword can humble the Novgorodians.” Ivan III still hesitated, as if he doubted success. No! He had no doubt. But guessing that a lot of blood of his compatriots would be shed, he wanted to share responsibility for the troubles with everyone on whom he relied: with his mother and metropolitan, brothers and archbishops, with princes and boyars, with governors and even with common people. Ivan III managed, in the course of a complex diplomatic game, to win over another free city, Pskov, to his side, thereby putting pressure on Novgorod. As a result of this flexible policy, Ivan III began to play the role of a powerful arbiter in disputes between Novgorod and Pskov, whose word is law. And in essence, for the first time he acted as the head of the entire Russian land. Ivan III sent a letter to Novgorod, where he considered it necessary to especially emphasize that the power of the Grand Dukes was of an all-Russian nature. He called on the Novgorodians not to retreat “from antiquity,” tracing it back to Rurik and Vladimir the Saint. “Old times” in his eyes meant the unity of the Russian land under the rule of the Grand Duke. This is a fundamentally important point in the new political doctrine of Ivan Vasilyevich: understanding the Russian land as a single whole.The prince assembled the Duma, reported on the betrayal of the Novgorodians, and heard unanimously: “Sovereign! Take up arms!”- and after that he did not hesitate. Ivan III acted carefully and carefully, but after weighing everything and gathering almost all the princes (even Mikhail Tverskoy), he announced in the spring 1471 Novgorod Republic war. And a huge army moved towards Novgorod. The townspeople did not expect such a turn of events. In the Novgorod land, where there are many lakes, swamps, and rivers, it is difficult to fight in the summer. The unexpected attack of the enemy puzzled the supporters of Marfa Boretskaya. The army marched in several columns. The Pskov squad capturedVyshegorod.

Daniil Kholmsky took it and burned it Russu. The Novgorodians started talking about peace or at least a truce. But Martha convinced her fellow citizens that the indecisive Ivan could be defeated. The war continued. King Casimir never came to the aid of the Novgorodians. Many commoners did not want to fight with Moscow. Daniil Kholmsky defeated an army of Novgorodians, consisting of artisans, who suddenly attacked him near Korostyny. Many militiamen were captured. The winners cut off the unfortunates' noses and lips and sent them to Novgorod.Kholmsky’s warriors did not take the weapons and uniforms of the traitor Novgorodians!

Ivan III ordered Prince Daniil Kholmsky to approach Sheloni, and on July 14 a decisive battle took place here. With a cry of “Moscow!” The soldiers of the Grand Duke rushed into battle, whose squad was 8-10 times smaller than the army of Novgorod. As V. O. Klyuchevsky writes, “Novgorod hastily put on horses and sent into the field about forty thousand of all sorts of rabble, potters, carpenters and other artisans who had never even been on a horse.” There were only four and a half thousand Muscovites. Nevertheless, this military army was enough to completely defeat the Novgorod crowd, putting down up to 12 thousand of the enemy in place. The victory was complete and unconditional.The winners mercilessly dealt with the vanquished. Many boyars were captured, and the draft treaty on the annexation of Novgorod to Lithuania also ended up in the hands of Muscovites.But Ivan III acted gently with the rest of the prisoners, realizing that they were only a tool in the hands of traitors. He did not plunder and destroy Novgorod, he resisted temptation.

The squads of Kholmsky and Vereisky plundered the Novgorod land itself for several more days, Ivan III controlled the fate of the captives. He cut off the head of Dmitry, the son of Martha Boretskaya, put someone in prison, and released someone to Novgorod.

According to the agreement of August 11, the Novgorodians agreed to pay a gigantic indemnity at that time in the amount of 15.5 thousand rubles, to give to Moscow Volok And Vologda and completely stop relations with the Polish-Lithuanian state.Ivan made peace by declaring his mercy: “I give away my dislike, I calm down the sword and the thunderstorm in the land of Novgorod and release it completely without compensation.” But from that day on, the Novgorodians swore allegiance to Ivan III, recognized him as the highest court, and their city as the patrimony of the Grand Duke of Moscow.

On the same days, the Moscow army captured Dvina land, its inhabitants swore allegiance to Ivan III. The victory did not turn the Grand Duke's head. The treaty did not correspond to Moscow's military successes. Ivan III did not mention Marfa Boretskaya in it, as if forgiving the woman for her offense. In the Treaty of Shelon, Perm was included in the Novgorod land, although the Moscow princes had long dreamed of rich Ural territories. Several months have passed. People who arrived in Moscow reported that they, poor fellows, had been offended by the residents of Perm. Ivan III immediately sent an army against the offenders. Fyodor Motley, who led the squad, defeated the Perm army, organized a raid on the surrounding area, captured many governors, and Permian swore allegiance to Ivan III in 1472. In the same year, the Golden Horde Khan Akhmat invaded the Russian land. The Russians did not allow him further than the Oka. Akhmat retreated, but did not change his mind about fighting Russia.

Second marriage

April 22 1467 Ivan Vasilyevich became a widower. His wife, Maria Borisovna, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tverskoy, was apparently poisoned: her body became terribly swollen after her death. The Grand Duke found the wife of clerk Alexei Poluetovich guilty of witchcraft and removed him from office.

Now he had to get a new wife. In 1469, an embassy came from Rome with a marriage proposal to Ivan III: would the Grand Duke wish to marry a Greek princess?Sophia (Zoya) Paleolog? Sophia was the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, killed by the Turks on the walls of Constantinople in 1453. Her father Thomas Palaiologos, ruler of the Morea, with his family, retinue, jewelry and the last riches of the empire, as well as with the shrines of the Orthodox Church, appeared to Pope Sixtus IV, received a monthly salary, lived comfortably, died in Rome, leaving his sons Andrei and Manuel and daughter Sophia in the care of the new Pope, Paul II. The sons, receiving a stable salary, lived like carefree, rich heirs.

Only Sophia grieved in Rome. She could not find a worthy husband in Europe. The bride was stubborn. She did not marry the King of France, she refused the Duke of Milan, showing hostility towards Catholics, surprising for her position.

Finally, it was decided to try his luck at the court of the Moscow prince. A certain “Greek Yuri” undertook to carry out the assignment, in whom one can recognize Yuri Trachaniot, a confidant of the Paleologus family. Arriving in Moscow, the Greek praised Ivan III for the nobility of his bride. her commitment to Orthodoxy and reluctance to convert to “Latinism.” Negotiations about the Moscow marriage lasted three years.

In June 1472, in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, Ivan Fryazin became engaged to Sophia on behalf of the Moscow sovereign, after which the bride, accompanied by a magnificent retinue, went to Rus'.In October of the same year, Moscow met its future empress. The wedding ceremony took place in the still unfinished Assumption Cathedral. The Greek princess became the Grand Duchess of Moscow, Vladimir and Novgorod. A glimpse of the thousand-year-old glory of the once mighty empire illuminated young Moscow.

In Italy they hoped that the marriage of Sophia Paleologue would ensure the conclusion of an alliance with Russia for the war against the Turks, who threatened Europe with new conquests,Italian diplomats formulated the idea that Moscow should become the successor to Constantinople.This union strengthened the ties between Rus' and the West, but above all, it demonstrated to the whole world that Princess Sophia was transferring the hereditary sovereign rights of Byzantium to Moscow, to the new Constantinople.For the Russians, Byzantium for a long time was the only Orthodox kingdom, a stronghold of the true faith, and, having become related to the dynasty of its last “basileus” - emperors, Rus', as it were, declared its rights to the heritage of Byzantium, to a majestic spiritual role, religious and political calling.

After the wedding, Ivan III ordered the Moscow coat of arms with the image St. George the Victorious, striking the serpent, combine with the double-headed eagle - the ancient coat of arms of Byzantium.

Saint George was a model of class honor: in Byzantium - for the military nobility, in Western Europe - for knighthood, in Slavic countries - for princes.

In the 11th century, he came to Kievan Rus primarily as a patron of princes, who began to consider him their heavenly intercessor, especially in military matters. One of the first Christian princes, Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise (baptized George), did especially a lot to glorify his holy patron: in Kiev he built a chapel in his honor in the Church of St. Sophia, opened a monastery, founded the city of Yuryev in Chudi, where he also built the St. George Church. The face of St. George also adorned the silver coins issued in Novgorod - silver coins (“Yaroslavl silver”).

George the warrior was always depicted with weapons: with a shield and a spear, sometimes with a sword.

So, Moscow becomes the heir of the Byzantine Empire, and Ivan III himself, as it were, became the heir of the Byzantine basileus - emperors. Ivan III, following the example of Byzantium, introduced for himself, as the supreme ruler of Rus', a new title: “John, by the grace of God sovereign All Rus' and the Grand Duke of Vladimir, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Ugra, and Perm, and Bulgaria, and others.”

The attributes of royal power during the ceremony of crowning the kingdom became the Monomakh cap with barms (a church wedding with the sacrament of confirmation was also first introduced by Ivan III).

During diplomatic relations with Livonia and German cities, Ivan III called himself “Tsar of All Rus'”, and the Danish king called him “Emperor”. Later, Ivan III, in one of his letters, called his son Vasily “autocrat of all Rus'.”

The idea of ​​a global role that arose in Russia at that time "Moscow - the third Rome" led to Ivan III being viewed by many educated people as “the king of all Orthodoxy,” and the Russian Orthodox Church as the successor to the Greek church.This idea was established and strengthened under Ivan III, although it was first expressed by the monk Philotheus two decades before his birth: “Like two Romes fall, but the third stands, and there will never be a fourth.”. What did his words mean? The First Rome, corroded by heresy, fell in the 5th-6th centuries, giving way to the Second Rome - the Byzantine city of Constantinople, or Constantinople. This city became the custodian of the Orthodox faith and experienced many clashes with Mohammedanism and paganism. But its spiritual end came in the middle of the 15th century, when it was conquered by the Turks. And after the death of Byzantium, it was Moscow - the capital of Rus' - that became the center of Orthodoxy - the Third Rome.

The liberation of Rus' from the Tatar yoke, the unification of scattered small fiefs into the large Moscow state, the marriage of Grand Duke Ivan III to Sophia Palaeologus, the conquest of the kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan - all this justified in the eyes of contemporaries the idea of ​​Moscow’s right to such a role.

“The Great Greek” Sophia Paleologus put a lot of effort into ensuring that this dynastic marriage strengthened Muscovy, contributing to its conversion to the Third Rome,

contrary to the aspirations of the Vatican to convert the Moscow sovereign through his young wife to the Union of Florence. She not only brought with her Byzantine regalia and ideas about the power of power, not only advised to invite Italian architects in order to make Moscow equal in beauty and majesty to European capitals, but insisted that Ivan III stop paying tribute to the Horde khan and free himself from his power, inspiredthe Grand Duke for a decisive struggle against the Tatars and to overthrow the Horde yoke.

She was the first to change the attitude towards women in Rus'. The Byzantine princess, raised in Europe, did not want to look at the world from the window.
The Grand Duke allowed her to have her own Duma consisting of members of her retinue and to organize diplomatic receptions in her half, where she received foreign ambassadors and held conversations. For Rus', this unheard-of innovation was the first in a long series that would end with the assemblies of Peter I, and the new status of the Russian empress, and then with serious changes in the position of women in Russia.

On August 12, 1479, a new cathedral in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God was consecrated in Moscow, conceived and built as an architectural image of a unified Russian state. “That church was wonderful in its majesty and height, lightness and sonority and space, such as had never been seen in Rus' before, other than (besides) the Vladimir Church...”- exclaimed the chronicler. Celebrations on the occasion of the consecration of the cathedral, which is the creation of Aristotle Fiorovanti, lasted until the end of August. Tall, slightly stooped, Ivan III stood out in the elegant crowd of his relatives and courtiers. Only his brothers Boris and Andrey were not with him. However, less than a month had passed since the start of the festivities, when a menacing omen of future troubles shook the capital. On September 9, Moscow unexpectedly caught fire. The fire quickly spread, approaching the walls of the Kremlin. Everyone who could came out to fight the fire. Even the Grand Duke and his son Ivan the Young put out the flames. Many who were afraid, seeing their great princes in the scarlet reflections of the fire, also began to put out the fire. By morning the disaster was stopped.Did the tired Grand Duke then think that in the glow of the fire the most difficult period of his reign began, which would last about a year?

Massacre

It is then that everything that has been achieved over decades of painstaking government work will be put at stake. Rumors reached Moscow about a brewing conspiracy in Novgorod. Ivan III went there again "in peace". He spent the rest of the autumn and most of the winter on the banks of the Volkhov.

One One of the results of his stay in Novgorod was the arrest of Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod. In January 1480, the disgraced ruler was sent under escort to Moscow.The rebellious nobility locked itself in Novgorod. Ivan III did not destroy the city, realizing that famine would end the matter. He made demands: “We, the great princes, want our own state, just as we are in Moscow, so we want to be in our homeland, Veliky Novgorod.” As a result, he swore in all the townspeople and also received half of all monastic lands. Since then, the Novgorod veche no longer met. Ivan III returned to Moscow, taking with him the Novgorod veche bell. This centuries-old symbol of the boyar republic was elevated on Kremlin Square, in the heart of the Russian land, and from now on, together with other bells, chimed a new historical time - the time of the Russian state.

The Novgorod opposition suffered a significant blow, but the clouds continued to thicken over the Grand Duke. For the first time in many years, the Livonian Order attacked the lands of Pskov with large forces. Vague news came from the Horde about the preparation of a new invasion of Rus'. At the very beginning of February, another bad news came - the brothers of Ivan III, princes Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi, decided to openly revolt and broke from obedience. It was not difficult to guess that they would look for allies in the person of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir and, perhaps, even Khan Akhmat - the enemy from whom the most terrible danger to the Russian lands came. Under the current conditions, Moscow's assistance to Pskov became impossible. Ivan III hastily left Novgorod and went to Moscow. The state, torn apart by internal unrest, was doomed in the face of external aggression. Ivan III could not help but understand this, and therefore his first move was the desire to resolve the conflict with his brothers. Their discontent was caused by the Moscow sovereign's systematic attack on the appanage rights of semi-independent rulers that belonged to them, which had their roots in times of political fragmentation. The Grand Duke was ready to make big concessions, but could not cross the line beyond which the revival of the former appanage system, which had brought so many disasters to Rus' in the past, began. The negotiations that began with the brothers reached a dead end. Princes Boris and Andrei chose Velikiye Luki, a city on the border with Lithuania, as their headquarters and negotiated with Casimir IV. He agreed with Kazimir and Akhmat on joint actions against Moscow.

In the spring of 1480, it became clear that it would not be possible to reach an agreement with the brothers. Besidesthe boyar elite of the Moscow state split into two groups: one advised Ivan III to flee; the other defended the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps the behavior of Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.During these same days, terrible news came - the Khan of the Great Horde, at the head of a huge army, began a slow advance towards Rus'. “That same summer,” the chronicle narrates, “the ill-famed Tsar Akhmat... went against Orthodox Christianity, against Rus', against the holy churches and against the Grand Duke, boasting of destroying the holy churches and captivating all Orthodoxy and the Grand Duke himself, as under Batu Besha (was)" . It was not in vain that the chronicler remembered Batu here. An experienced warrior and ambitious politician, Akhmat dreamed of the complete restoration of Horde rule over Russia.In a series of bad news, there was one encouraging thing that came from Crimea. There, at the direction of the Grand Duke, Ivan Ivanovich Zvenets of Zvenigorod went there, who was supposed to to conclude an alliance agreement with the warlike Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey at any cost. The ambassador was given the task of getting a promise from the khan that in the event of Akhmat’s invasion of the Russian borders, he would strike him in the rear or at least attack the lands of Lithuania, distracting the king’s forces. The goal of the embassy was achieved. The agreement concluded in Crimea became an important achievement of Moscow diplomacy. A gap was made in the ring of external enemies of the Moscow state. The approach of Akhmat forced the Grand Duke to make a choice. You could lock yourself in Moscow and wait for the enemy, hoping for the strength of its walls. In this case, a huge territory would be in the power of Akhmat and nothing could prevent the union of his forces with the Lithuanian ones. There was another option - to move the Russian regiments towards the enemy. This is exactly what Dmitry Donskoy did in 1380. Ivan III followed the example of his great-grandfather.The situation was becoming critical.

Standing on the Ugra River. The end of the Horde yoke.

At the beginning of summer, large forces were sent to the south under the command of Ivan the Young and brother Andrei the Lesser, loyal to the Grand Duke. Russian regiments deployed along the banks of the Oka, thereby creating a powerful barrier on the way to Moscow. On June 23, Ivan III himself set out on a campaign. On the same day, the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession the salvation of Rus' from the troops of the formidable Tamerlane was associated in 1395. During August and September, Akhmat searched for a weak point in the Russian defense. When it became clear to him that Oka was tightly guarded, he undertook a roundabout maneuver and led his troops to the Lithuanian border.Akhmat's troops moved freely across Lithuanian territory and, accompanied by Lithuanian guides, through Mtsensk, Odoev and Lyubutsk to Vorotynsk. Here the khan expected help from Casimir IV, but he never received it. The Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian troops by attacking Podolia. Knowing that the Russians are waiting for him on the Okaregiments, Akhmat decided, after passing through the Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory across the Ugra River. Ivan III, having received information about such intentions, sent his son Ivan and brother Andrei Menshoy to Kaluga and to the banks of the Ugra.Ivan III urgently left for Moscow “for the council and the Duma” with the Metropolitan and

boyars. A council was held in the Kremlin. Metropolitan Gerontius, the mother of the Grand Duke, many of the boyars and high clergy spoke out in favor of decisive action against Akhmat. It was decided to prepare the city for a possible siege.Ivan III sent his family and treasury to Beloozero.Moscow suburbs were burned, and their inhabitants were resettled inside the fortress walls. No matter how difficult this measure was, experience suggested that it was necessary: ​​in the event of a siege, the wooden buildings located next to the walls could serve the enemy as fortifications or material for the construction of siege engines. On the same days, ambassadors from Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky came to Ivan III, who announced the end of the rebellion. The Grand Duke granted forgiveness to the brothers and ordered them to move with their regiments to the Oka. Then he left Moscow again. Meanwhile, on October 8, Akhmat tried to cross the Ugra, but his attack was repulsed by the forces of Ivan the Young.The battles for the crossings continued for several days, which also did not bring success to the Horde. Soon the opponents took up defensive positions on opposite banks of the river.Skirmishes broke out every now and then, but neither side dared to launch a serious attack. In this situation, negotiations began, as a result of which the Russian sovereign found out that the khan was not at all confident in his abilities. But he himself did not want bloodshed, because, as the true owner of the Russian land, he was its builder, and any war leads to destruction.

Mengli-Girey, fulfilling his promise, attacked the southern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On these same days, Ivan III received a fiery message from Archbishop of Rostov Vassian Rylo. Vassian urged the Grand Duke not to listen to the crafty advisers who “they don’t stop whispering in your ear... words are deceptive and they advise... not to resist the adversaries,” but to follow the example of former princes,“who not only defended the Russian land from the filthy (i.e., non-Christians), but also subjugated other countries.” “Just take heart and be strong, my spiritual son,” the archbishop wrote, “like a good warrior of Christ, according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel: “You are the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...”

It was getting cold. The Ugra froze and from a water barrier every day more and more turned into a strong ice bridge connecting the warring

sides. Both the Russian and Horde commanders began to become noticeably nervous, fearing that the enemy would be the first to decide on a surprise attack. The preservation of the army became the main concern of Ivan III. The cost of taking reckless risks was too great. In the event of the death of the Russian regiments, the road to the very heart of Rus' was opened for Akhmat, and King Casimir IV would not fail to take advantage of the opportunity and enter the war. There was also no confidence that the brothers and the recently subordinated Novgorod would remain loyal. And the Crimean Khan, seeing the defeat of Moscow, could quickly forget about his allied promises. Having weighed all the circumstances, Ivan III in early November ordered the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ugra to Borovsk, which in winter conditions represented a more advantageous defensive position. And then the unexpected happened! Akhmat, deciding that Ivan III was giving up the coast to him for a decisive battle, began a hasty retreat, similar to flight. Small Russian forces were sent in pursuit of the retreating Horde.Khan Akhmat, for no apparent reason, suddenly turned back and went into the steppe,plundering Kozelsk, which belonged to Lithuania, on the way back.What scared him or stopped him?For those who watched from the sidelines how both armies almost simultaneously (within two days) turned back without bringing the matter to battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received a simplified explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, afraid to accept battle. Contemporaries attributed this to the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who saved the Russian land from ruin.

The Russians later named the river Ugra "the belt of the Virgin Mary", believing that through her prayers the Lord delivered Russia from the Tatars. And there are legends that Akhmat once saw on the other side in the sky a huge army of angels led by the Virgin Mary - this is what shocked him so much that it forced him to turn his horses back.Ivan III with his son and all the army returned to Moscow, “And all the people rejoiced and rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
On January 6, 1481, Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat withdrew from Sarai, probably fearing assassination attempts.sharing the fate of another unlucky conqueror of Rus' - Mamai.Civil strife began in the Great Horde.

It actually fell apart at the end of the 15th century into several completely independent khanates - the Kazan, Crimean, Astrakhan, Siberian, Nogai Horde.

This was the end of the Horde yoke. Moscow welcomed the returning sovereign as its savior: ".. "The Great Prince Ivan Vasilyevich came to Moscow... and all the people rejoiced greatly with great joy." But here it is necessary to take into account not only the military success of Ivan III, but also his diplomatic strategy, which was part of the overall plan of the defensive campaign. The stand on the Ugra can be considered an exemplary plan for victory, of which both the military and diplomatic history of our country can be proud.. The strategic plan for the defense of Russian lands in 1480 was well thought out and clearly implemented. The diplomatic efforts of the Grand Duke prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites also made their contribution to the salvation of Rus', stopping the German offensive by the fall. And Rus' itself was no longer the same as in the 13th century, during the invasion of Batu, and even in the 14th century. - in the face of Mamaia's hordes. The semi-independent principalities at war with each other were replaced by a strong, although not yet fully strengthened internally, Moscow state. Then, in 1480, it was difficult to assess the significance of what happened. Many recalled the stories of their grandfathers about how, just two years after the glorious victory of Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo Field, Moscow was burned by the troops of Tokhtamysh. However, history, which loves repetitions, took a different path this time. The yoke that weighed on Russia for two and a half centuries has ended.“Henceforth, our History accepts the dignity of a truly state, describing no longer senseless princely fights, but the deeds of a Kingdom acquiring independence and greatness. Disagreement disappears along with our citizenship to the Tatars; a strong power is formed, as if new for Europe and Asia, which, seeing it with surprised, they offer her a famous place in their political system,” - wrote N.M. Karamzin.

During the celebration of the 500th anniversary of standing on the Ugra River in 1980, a monument was unveiled on the banks of the legendary river in honor of a significant event in Russian history that occurred in 1480 within the Kaluga region.

Conqueror

At the beginning of February 1481, Ivan Vasilyevich sent a 20,000-strong army to help the Pskovites, who had been fighting with their own forces for a long time.

Livonia. In a severe frost, the Russians “captured and burned the entire German land from Yuryev to Riga” and, according to the Pskov chronicler, "I took revenge on the Germans for my own twenty times or more." On September 1 of the same year, Ivan III, on behalf of the Novgorodians and Pskovites, concluded a 10-year peace with Livonia, which achieved peace in the Baltic states for some time.

Later, in the summer of 1492, on the right bank of the Narva, Ivan III began construction of the Ivangorod fortress opposite the German city of Rugodiva (Narva). The purpose of building the fortress was to protect the Novgorod land from its western neighbors.

In the spring of 1483, the Russian army, led by Ivan Saltyk Travin, set out on a large campaign to the east - against the Vogulichs (Mansi). Having fought first to Irtysh, the Russians boarded ships and moved to Obi, and then along this mighty river - all the way to its lower reaches. Having subjugated the local Khanty (Yugra), they managed to return safely to their homeland by the onset of winter.

Conquest of Tver and Vyatka

Five years after “standing on the Ugra,” Ivan III took another step toward the final unification of the Russian lands: the Russian state included Tver Principality. Long gone are the days when the proud and brave princes of Tver argued with the Moscow princes about which of them should collect Rus'. History resolved their dispute in favor of Moscow. However, Tver remained for a long time one of the largest Russian cities, and its princes were among the most powerful.

Lithuania became Mikhail Tverskoy's last hope. In 1484, he concluded an agreement with Casimir, which violated the points of the previously reached agreement with Moscow. The spearhead of the new Lithuanian-Tver union was clearly directed towards Moscow. In response to this, in 1485, Ivan III declared war on Tver. Moscow troops invaded the Tver lands. Casimir was in no hurry to help his new ally. Unable to resist alone, Mikhail swore that he would no longer have any relations with the enemy of Moscow. However, soon after the conclusion of peace, he broke his oath. Having learned about this, the Grand Duke gathered a new army that same year. Moscow regiments approached the walls of Tver. Mikhail secretly fled the city. The people of Tver, led by their boyars, opened the gates to the Grand Duke and swore allegiance to him. The independent Grand Duchy of Tver ceased to exist. In 1489, Vyatka was annexed to the Russian state- a remote and largely mysterious land beyond the Volga for modern historians. With the annexation of Vyatka, the work of collecting Russian lands that were not part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was completed. Formally, only Pskov and the Grand Duchy of Ryazan remained independent. However, they were dependent on Moscow. Located on the dangerous borders of Rus', these lands often needed military assistance from the Grand Duke of Moscow. The authorities of Pskov have not dared to contradict Ivan III on anything for a long time. Ryazan was ruled by the young Prince Ivan, who was the Grand Duke’s grand-nephew and was obedient to him in everything.

Successes of Ivan III's foreign policy

The Grand Duke pursued an active foreign policy. His important achievement was the establishment of allied relations with the German emperors - first with Frederick II, and then with his son Maximilian.Extensive connections with European countries helped Ivan III develop a court ceremony and the state emblem of Russia that have been in effect for centuries.

By the end of the 80s. Ivan finally accepted the title of "Grand Duke of All Rus'". This title has been known in Moscow since the 14th century, but it was during these years that it became official and turned from a political dream into reality. Two terrible disasters - political fragmentation and the Mongol-Tatar yoke - are a thing of the past. Achieving the territorial unity of the Russian lands was the most important result of the activities of Ivan III. However, he understood that he could not stop there. The young state needed to be strengthened from within. The security of its borders had to be ensured.

In 1487, the grand ducal army made a campaign against Khanate of Kazan- one of the fragments of the collapsed Golden Horde. The Kazan Khan recognized himself as a vassal of the Moscow state. Thus, peace was ensured on the eastern borders of Russian lands for almost twenty years.

The children of Akhmat, who owned the Great Horde, could no longer gather under their banner an army comparable in number to the army of their father. Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey remained an ally of Moscow, he fettered the forces of both the Great Horde and the Polish-Lithuanian state, and friendly relations with him were further strengthened after in 1491, during the campaign of Akhmat’s children to the Crimea, Ivan III sent Russian regiments to help Mengli. Relative calm in the east and south allowed the Grand Duke to turn to solving foreign policy problems in the west and north-west.

The central problem here remained the relationship with Catholic Lithuania,which from time to time increased pressure on its Orthodox subjects, infringed on the rights of the Orthodox and instilled the Catholic faith.As a result of two Russian-Lithuanian wars (1492-1494 and 1500-1503), dozens of ancient Russian cities were included in the Moscow state, including such large ones as Vyazma, Chernigov, Starodub, Putivl, Rylsk, Novgorod-Seversky, Gomel, Bryansk, Dorogobuzh, etc. Title "Grand Duke of All Rus' "was filled with new content in these years. Ivan III proclaimed himself sovereign not only of the lands subject to him, but also of the entire Russian Orthodox population who lived on lands that were once part of Kievan Rus. It is no coincidence that Lithuania refused to recognize the legitimacy of this new title for many decades.

By the beginning of the 90s. XV century Russia has established diplomatic relations with many countries of Europe and Asia. The Grand Duke of Moscow agreed to speak with both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Sultan of Turkey only as an equal. The Moscow state, the existence of which few people in Europe knew about just a few decades ago, quickly gained international recognition. Note that during the reign of Ivan III, the merchant from Tver Afanasy Nikitin completed and described his Walk across the Three Seas.

Internal transformations

Within the state, the remnants of political fragmentation gradually died away. Princes and boyars, who until recently had enormous power, were losing it. Many families of the old Novgorod and Vyatka boyars were forcibly resettled to new lands. In the last decades of the great reign of Ivan III, the appanage principalities finally disappeared. After the death of Andrei the Lesser (1481) and the cousin of the Grand Duke Mikhail Andreevich (1486), the Vologda and Vereisko-Belozersky appanages ceased to exist. The fate of Andrei Bolshoi, the appanage prince of Uglitsky, was sad. In 1491 he was arrested and accused of treason. The elder brother recalled to him the rebellion in the difficult year for the country in 1480, and his other “non-corrections”. Evidence has been preserved that Ivan III subsequently repented of how cruelly he treated his brother. But it was too late to change anything - after two years in prison, Andrei died. In 1494, the last brother of Ivan III, Boris, died. He left his Volotsk inheritance to his sons Fyodor and Ivan. According to the will drawn up by the latter, most of his father's inheritance due to him in 1503 passed to the Grand Duke. After the death of Ivan III, the appanage system was never revived in its former meaning. And although he endowed his younger sons Yuri, Dmitry, Semyon and Andrey with lands, they no longer had real power in them. The destruction of the old appanage-princely system required the creation of a new order of governing the country. At the end of the 15th century. Central government bodies began to form in Moscow - " orders", which were the direct predecessors of Peter’s “colleges” and ministries of the 19th century.

In the provinces, the main role began to be played by governors appointed by the Grand Duke himself. The army also underwent changes. The princely squads were replaced by regiments consisting of landowners. Landowners received populated lands from the state for the duration of their service, which brought them income. These lands were called "estates". Misdemeanor or early termination of service meant loss of estate. Thanks to this, the landowners were interested in honest and long service to the Moscow sovereign. In 1497, the Code of Laws was published- the first national code of laws since the times of Kievan Rus. The Sudebnik introduced uniform legal norms for the entire country, which was an important step towards strengthening the unity of Russian lands.

In 1490, at the age of 32, the son and co-ruler of the Grand Duke, a talented commander, died Ivan Ivanovich Young. His death led to long dynastic crisis, which darkened the last years of the life of Ivan III. After Ivan Ivanovich, there was a young son, Dmitry, who represented the senior line of descendants of the Grand Duke. Another contender for the throne was the son of Ivan III from his second marriage, the future sovereign of all Rus' Vasily III(1505-1533). Behind both candidates were clever and influential women - the widow of Ivan the Young, the Wallachian princess Elena Stefanovna and the second wife of Ivan III, Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologue. The choice between son and grandson turned out to be extremely difficult for Ivan III, and he changed his decision several times, trying to find an option that would not lead to a new series of civil strife after his death. At first, the “party” of supporters of Dmitry the grandson gained the upper hand, and in 1498 he was crowned according to a previously unknown rite of grand-ducal wedding, which was somewhat reminiscent of the rite of crowning the kingdom of the Byzantine emperors. Young Dmitry was proclaimed co-ruler of his grandfather. Royal "barms" (wide mantles with precious stones) were placed on his shoulders, and a golden "hat" was placed on his head. However, the triumph of the "Grand Duke of All Rus' Dmitry Ivanovich" did not last long. The very next year he and his mother Elena fell into disgrace. And three years later the heavy doors of the dungeon closed behind them.

Prince Vasily became the new heir to the throne. Ivan III, like many other great politicians of the Middle Ages, had to once again sacrifice both his family feelings and the fates of his loved ones to the needs of the state. Meanwhile, old age was quietly creeping up on the Grand Duke. He managed to complete the work bequeathed by his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and their predecessors, a work in the sanctity of which Ivan Kalita believed - " collecting "Rus".

His state

In summer 1503 The Grand Duke had a stroke. It's time to think about the soul. Ivan III, who often treated the clergy harshly, was nevertheless deeply pious. The sick sovereign went on pilgrimage to monasteries. Having visited Trinity, Rostov, Yaroslavl, the Grand Duke returned to Moscow.

He no longer had the ardor and prowess of the first Moscow princes, but behind his calculating pragmatism one could clearly discern the high goal of life. He could be menacing and often inspired terror in those around him, but he never showed thoughtless cruelty and, as one of his contemporary testified, he was “kind to people,” and was not angry at a wise word spoken to him in reproach.

October 27, 1505 Ivan III, "By the grace of God, the sovereign of all Rus' and the Grand Duke of Volodymyr, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Yugorsk, and Vyatka, and Perm, and Bulgaria, and others" diedin Moscow, 65 years old and was buried in the tomb of the great Moscow princes and tsars in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The reign of Ivan III lasted 47 years. Sofia Paleologue lived in marriage with him for 30 years. She bore him five sons, the eldest of whom soon became the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily IV, as well as four daughters.

Towards the end of his life, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich had the opportunity to clearly see the fruits of his labors. During the four decades of his reign, semi-fragmented Rus' turned into a powerful state that instilled fear in its neighbors.

The territory of the state expanded rapidly, military victories followed one after another, and relations were established with distant countries. The old, dilapidated Kremlin with small cathedrals already seemed cramped, and in place of the dismantled ancient fortifications, powerful walls and towers built of red brick grew. Spacious cathedrals rose within the walls. The new princely towers shone with the whiteness of stone. The Grand Duke himself, who accepted the proud title of “Sovereign of All Rus',” dressed himself in gold-woven robes, and solemnly placed on his heir richly embroidered mantles—“barms”—and a precious “hat,” similar to a crown. But in order for everyone - whether Russian or foreigner, peasant or sovereign of a neighboring country - to realize the increased importance of the Moscow state, external splendor alone was not enough. It was necessary to find new concepts - ideas, which would reflect the antiquity of the Russian land, and its independence, and the strength of its sovereigns, and the truth of its faith. Russian diplomats and chroniclers, princes and monks took up this search. Collected together, their ideas constituted what in the language of science is called ideology. The beginning of the formation of the ideology of a unified Moscow state dates back to the period of the reign of Grand Duke Ivan III and his son Vasily (1505-1533). It was at this time that two main ideas were formulated that remained unchanged for several centuries - ideas of God's chosenness and independence of the Moscow state. Now everyone had to learn that a new and strong state had emerged in eastern Europe - Russia. Ivan III and his entourage put forward a new foreign policy task - to annex the western and southwestern Russian lands that were under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In politics, not everything is decided by military force alone. The rapid rise in power of the Grand Duke of Moscow led him to the idea of ​​the need to look for worthy justification for his actions.

It was necessary, finally, to force Lithuania to admit that it owns the ancient Russian lands “not in truth”, illegally.

The golden key that the creators of the ideology of a united Russian state picked up to several political “locks” at once was the doctrine of the ancient origin of the power of the Grand Duke. They had thought about this before, but it was under Ivan III that Moscow loudly declared from the pages of chronicles and through the mouths of ambassadors that the Grand Duke received his power from God himself and from his Kiev ancestors, who ruled in the 10th-11th centuries. throughout the Russian land. Just as the metropolitans who headed the Russian church lived first in Kiev, then in Vladimir, and later in Moscow, so the Kiev, Vladimir and, finally, Moscow great princes were placed by God himself at the head of all Russian lands as hereditary and sovereign Christian sovereigns . This is precisely what Ivan III referred to when addressing the rebellious Novgorodians in 1472: “This is my patrimony, the people of Novgorod, from the beginning: from our grandfathers, from our great-grandfathers, from the Grand Duke Vladimir, who baptized the Russian land, from the great-grandson of Rurik, the first great prince in your land. And from that Rurik to this day you knew the only family of those the great princes, first of Kiev, and up to the great prince Dmitry-Vsevolod Yuryevich of Vladimir (Vsevolod the Big Nest, prince of Vladimir in 1176-1212), and from that great prince to me... we own you... " Thirty years later, during peace negotiations with the Lithuanians after the successful war of 1500-1503 for Russia, the ambassadorial clerks of Ivan III emphasized: “The Russian land is from our ancestors, from antiquity, our fatherland... we want to stand for our fatherland, as God will help us: God is our helper and our truth!” It was not by chance that the clerks remembered the “old times”. In those days this concept was very important.

That is why it was very important for the Grand Duke to declare the antiquity of his family, to show that he was not an upstart, but the ruler of the Russian land according to “old times” and “truth”. No less important was the idea that the source of grand-ducal power was the will of the Lord himself. This elevated the Grand Duke even more above his subordinates.

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.

Ivan III Vasilievich. Engraving from “Cosmography” by A. Teve, 1575

Ivan III (1440 – 1505) is one of the outstanding figures in Russian history. Five centuries separate us.

A brief description of the “ruler of Great White Rus'” was left by the Venetian Ambrogio Contarini, who was in Moscow in 1476: “The Emperor is 35 years old, ... he is tall, but thin; In general, he is a very beautiful person." The Italian recorded that the sovereign showed the greatest courtesy, courtesy and even consideration towards him.

Contemporaries called him Terrible, Justice, Sovereign. His descendants called him the Great.

What was he like who had to take on the difficult challenges of the time? He did not leave us a single document written in his own hand: no letters, no diaries, no notes, no memoirs. In those days, rulers did not write with their own hands. The Chronicles that remain are Nikonovskaya, Lvovskaya, Arkhangelskaya, Sofia II. Acts, Agreements, Charters, Orders of Discharge, diplomatic documents, and certificates of foreigners have been preserved. They made it possible to study the era and allowed us to come to an understanding of the problems of the 15th century. By reading them, you can understand how Prince Ivan achieved his goals. Actions, decisions, deeds, accomplishments allow descendants to imagine the figure of a historical figure in a more comprehensive way.

N.M. left his thoughts about the “Sovereign of All Rus'”. Karamzin, N.I. Kostomarov, S.M. Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky, S.F. Platonov. And also M.I. Pokrovsky, A.A. Zimin, V.B. Kobrin, R.G. Skrynnikov.

And now historians are appearing who read already known material in a new way, find new documents, evidence, artifacts and add new colors to the existing historical image.

The reign of Ivan III began in 1462. However, by this time he was no longer a novice in politics, since he had been involved in government through his blind father from the age of ten.

According to the will of Vasily the Dark, Ivan III received 16 cities, part of Moscow, which he initially ruled together with his brothers. They also received fiefdoms. The last will of Vasily II was politically vulnerable. The threat of civil war once again loomed over the country. Ivan Vasilyevich’s great merit was that he managed to avoid this misfortune and prevent large-scale strife between the Rurikovichs. That is why he limited their rights to dispose of their inheritances. The four brothers were sure that they should jointly rule the entire Russian land. They lived by the norms of the “old times”. And the world was changing. The eldest, Ivan III, did not think so. He continued the course of his predecessors towards centralization. The appanages became an obstacle to the creation of a unified state. Everyone, without exception, had to recognize themselves as subjects. Modern scientists are sure that compromises would lead to inhibition on the path of unification. Ivan Vasilyevich acted harshly. But the brothers also fought desperately for the “old times.” “The appanage prince was a seditionist, if not by nature, then by position: every intrigue clung to him...” The most restless relative, Prince Andrei Vasilyevich the Bolshoi, was declared a traitor for disobeying the Grand Duke in 1491 and not sending his commanders on a military campaign against the Horde. Andrei Goryai was imprisoned, where he soon died. Such isolation of the enemy is a completely ordinary (and not the most cruel) method of medieval warfare.

From the heights of past centuries, it is clear that the brothers of the Grand Duke lost to him in the confrontation between the “old” and the “new”. But it is also clear that the road to this new one was difficult and bloody. Similar stories can be found in the history of any ruling house.

At the same time, the Moscow Grand Duke was not a pathological torturer. His cruelty had certain political goals. Ivan Vasilyevich, first of all, sought to unite the Russian lands. The “gathering” of Rus' met the interests of broad sections of society. Family ties did not become an obstacle on this path. The sovereign acted in various ways. However, historians believe that the issue has not been fully studied; the mechanism of inheritance of Moscow power is still waiting for its thoughtful researcher.

The lands of North-Eastern Rus' were absorbed almost bloodlessly. Back in 1471, the Yaroslavl principality was finally annexed, and in 1474, the Rostov principality. In 1472, the annexation of Perm the Great began. In 1485, Tver passed to Moscow. In 1489 - Vyatka land. Relations with the Pskov land took place in line with the gradual restriction of its statehood.

It was an objective process, the essential points were thoroughly analyzed in the scientific literature. The Grand Duchy and the Appanage Principality had the same governance structure. A.Yu. Dvornichenko came to the conclusion that not only the territory was united, the power was also united, since the specific power was similar to the central one. In relation to Novgorod, the policy turned out to be different.

Unification of Russian lands under Ivan III

The rivalry between Novgorod and Moscow intensified under Dmitry Donskoy. In defiance of the Moscow title "Grand Duke", the Novgorodians began to call their city Veliky Novgorod.

The confrontation between Novgorod and Moscow intensified from decade to decade. Already in the middle of the 15th century, it was clear that the end of republican independence was a matter of the near future. Having learned about the desire of the Novgorodians to come under the rule of Catholic Lithuania, Ivan III, under the slogan of defending Orthodoxy, made two military campaigns against the Novgorodians (1471; 1477) and one peaceful one (1475). The boyar power had no defenders, and “Novgorod fell into the hands of the Moscow prince, who asserted full power over the Novgorodians in January 1478.”

The Grand Duke called on the Novgorodians not to deviate from the “old times,” recalled Rurik and Vladimir the Saint. “Old time” in the eyes of Ivan Vasilyevich is the primordial unity of the Russian land under the rule of the Grand Duke. This is a fundamentally important point, it should be especially noted, since for the first time a historical substantiation of a new political doctrine was undertaken. Ivan III sought to exclude the appanage tradition, on which Novgorod separatism actually relied. In January 1478, having heard from the vanquished that they did not know the peculiarities of Moscow rule, the Grand Duke gave an explanation: “our state of great people is like this: there will be no bell in our fatherland in Novgorod, there will be no mayor, but we will keep our dominion.” Yanin spoke very definitely about those events: “There is no need to talk about any manifestations of democracy in the 15th century, and when the decisive moment of the final clash between Moscow and Novgorod comes, it turns out that the ordinary population of the Novgorod land has nothing to defend in the order that had developed by that time... There was no clash between despotism and democracy. There was a clash of homogeneous forces of feudalism, in which the Novgorod boyar power did not receive support from the population." All experts are unanimous in their opinion: Russia gained its power by uniting Moscow and Novgorod. The political influence of Rus' extended all the way to the Northern Urals. The Novgorod “contribution” to the fund for the creation of a unified Russian state turned out to be decisive.

Export of the Novgorod veche bell to Moscow in 1478. Miniature from the Front Vault.

The Grand Duke did not seek to completely destroy the losers. Modern historians believe that the end of the boyar republic on the Volkhov was not equivalent to the collapse of Novgorod. The city became the most important element in the system of the Moscow state. The oath of Novgorod residents to the Russian state and the removal of the veche bell to Moscow did not eliminate Novgorod independence, liberties and economic activity. This was led to by the Livonian War (1558 - 1583), as a result of which they lost access to the Baltic Sea.

Ivan the Great is a key figure in our history. He can rightfully be called the creator of the Russian state. The Moscow Kremlin became the symbol of this new country. Behind the white stone Kremlin walls, which remembered Dmitry Donskoy, there were grand-ducal and metropolitan palaces, houses of the nobility, government offices, monasteries, monastery courtyards, and church churches. The oldest of them is the Assumption Cathedral. Like everything else in the Kremlin, it was dilapidated and required restructuring. Metropolitan Philip thought about renovating the temple back in 1471. According to tradition, tenders were announced for the construction of the cathedral.

The lowest price was announced by Moscow masters - Myshkin and Krivtsov. A lot of money was allocated from the metropolitan's treasury for the construction of the temple. In 1472, work began to boil. But in May 1474, the already erected walls collapsed. The chronicle names the cause as an earthquake. Pskov craftsmen invited for consultation explained that “lime is not glue-free” and could not hold the building together. Obviously, the failure of construction was associated with the loss of large-scale construction skills by Russian craftsmen. Muscovites saw in what happened a sign from above. And Metropolitan Philip stopped his efforts. Ivan III looked at the dilapidated cathedral for a year. Of course, he understood how important new architecture was for his capital. Modern buildings would clearly demonstrate Russia’s sovereignty to its neighbors. The Grand Duke made a decision: to restore the temple using advanced construction techniques and technologies. This was the point of inviting Italian specialists to Russia. It was under Ivan Vasilyevich that foreigners began to be called to serve in the Muscovite kingdom. The first of them appeared in Moscow after the marriage of Ivan III to Sophia Paleologus. They arrived in the retinue of the Byzantine bride and became courtiers of Ivan Vasilyevich Foma and Dmitry Ivanovich Rale (Larevs in the Russian tradition), Nikula and Emmanuil Ivanovich Angelov, the Trakhaniotov family. In addition to the Greeks, Italians appeared in the service, “fryazis,” as they were called at that time, separating them from other “Germans.” Aristotle Fiorovanti, Anton Fryazin, Marco Fryazin, Aleviz Fryazin the Old, Pietro Antonio Solari created and built what can rightfully be considered a synthesis of European and Russian culture. The famous Aristotle Fiorovanti was officially invited, offering a very significant sum for his services. An experienced engineer and builder from Bologna, he needed orders. They were also very interested in him. Having simultaneously received an offer from the Turkish Sultan and from the Moscow sovereign, he chose the second. In 1475, an Italian came to Moscow. In the Orthodox capital he was greeted kindly. They commissioned the creation of the main Russian shrine, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Researchers are confident that while studying Russian architecture, Aristotle made two trips - one to Vladimir, the second to the north, to Novgorod and Pskov. And only after that he got down to business. He used engineering practices unfamiliar to Russians, brickwork, and used compasses and a ruler.

Assumption Cathedral

In August 1479, the Assumption Cathedral was solemnly consecrated. For the inhabitants of the Moscow kingdom, the construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God had a special meaning. After all, the Mother of God promised to take care of all Christians after death. According to biblical legend, the Jewish high priest Athos, who tried to interfere with the funeral procession and the farewell of the Mother of God, was severely punished by an unknown force. He lost both arms. Therefore, the Orthodox Russian people praying in the Assumption Cathedral believed that this sanctuary was the key to their success in victories over all the enemies of the Russian land, that the Mother of God would help the only remaining Orthodox country to defend its faith. The new Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin was a kind of appeal from the Grand Duke to his subjects. Ivan Vasilyevich, thus, called for resistance to the Horde. The old thinking whispered: you cannot resist the khan. The new thing, the bearer of which was the Moscow ruler, declared: we must fight the khans, we must not give up, we must win! Thus, combining the art of the Renaissance and the traditions of ancient Russian architecture, Aristotle Fiorovanti realized the dream of the Russian ruler about the main temple of the country. The Resurrection Chronicle accurately conveys the impression of contemporaries: “That church was wonderful in majesty and height and lightness and sonority and space; This has never happened before in Rus', except for the Vladimir Church...” The impact of the Italian Renaissance revolutionized Russian architecture, changed the identity of Moscow architecture and created new stylistic forms. At the same time, of course, the historical features of Russian architecture, coinciding in time with the Renaissance in Italy, turn out to be very unusual. In Muscovite Rus', the ideas of the Renaissance never freed themselves from the features of the Middle Ages. They were a combination of old and new. The majestic Moscow Assumption Cathedral surpassed Vladimir's. Now, until the very end of the 17th century, everywhere in Rus' he became a model, an ideal that should be imitated. The paintings of the cathedral were carried out in 1482-1515. Among the icon painters was Dionysius, who continued the traditions of Andrei Rublev. It was in this temple that there was a Russian shrine revered by the people - the “Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God”.

The Assumption Cathedral became a symbolic image of the Muscovite kingdom and the Orthodox Church. He demonstrated Ivan III's aspirations for the unity of the country and the transformation of Moscow into the capital of the united Russian lands under the hand of the Moscow Grand Duke.

At this time, the strengthening of the power of the Sovereign Ruler and the development of an ideology that sought to give a new character to the Russian state continued.

The formation of the territory of a single state was basically completed by the 1480s. And all neighboring countries - Poland, Lithuania, the Livonian Order, Sweden, the Great Horde, the Kazan Khanate - took this extremely hostilely.

The Great Horde - a fragment of the Golden Horde - laid claim to all the latter's possessions. The ambitious Khan Akhmat, who occupied the throne, felt himself to be the heir of Genghis Khan. However, from the beginning of the 1470s, Ivan III did not send “exit” to the Horde; he did not go there himself, limiting himself to gifts. A.A. Gorsky notes:

Ivan III tears up the Khan's letter. Hood. HELL. Kivshenko.

“It seems that it was in the early to mid-70s that an “ideological understanding” of the need to gain independence from the Horde took place.” He comes to the conclusion that then a fundamentally new stage began in relations between Rus' and the Horde. And a serious group had formed in the ruler’s circle, advocating non-recognition of the khan’s suzerainty. Akhmat made his first attempt to punish Moscow in 1472. Then, for the first time, the Tatars retreated before the Russian regiments. Later, in 1476, the Khan's ambassador demanded in the form of an ultimatum to pay the debts. Ivan III refused. The denouement was approaching quickly.

In 1480, the Horde moved to Rus', stopped at a tributary of the Oka - Ugra, where the border between Lithuania and Russia lay. The famous “stand on the Ugra” began: the Horde tried to cross the river, but Russian guns did not allow them to do this.

Standing on the Ugra River. Hood. A. Serov.

The success of the Russian army was ensured by the use of field artillery, firearms, the correct disposition of troops, and their skillful maneuvering. The regiments of Ivan III were armed with modern weapons, the Russian gunners fired accurately and accurately, destroyed and scattered the Horde, who did not dare to go on the offensive.

The campaign of 1480 is an example of a strategic defensive operation with a decisive result in a war on two fronts, in the most difficult foreign and domestic political conditions. The sovereign's headquarters was located in the immediate rear and had a real opportunity for effective operational command of the troops.

Under Ivan III, a whole galaxy of outstanding military figures appeared. Worthy of mention are the books. Semyon Fedorovich Vorotynsky, Prince. Boris Ivanovich Gorbaty (Suzdal), Prince. Semyon Ivanovich Ryapolovsky, Prince. Semyon Danilovich Kholmsky prince. Vasily Fedorovich, Shuisky, Dmitry Vasilyevich Shein, Prince. Danilo Vasilievich Shchenya.

It is worth recalling that Ivan III carried out a successful military reform, which led to the creation of a unified military system of the Russian state. The army received reliable combat armor, modern firearms, especially guns. Ivan Vasilyevich knew how to listen to his military specialists, understand the essence of their thoughts and proposals, and make (in most cases) the right decision. And he won. The acquisition of sovereignty is a key moment not only in the history of the reign of Ivan the Great, but also in the history of Russia as a whole.

The political successes of Ivan III required changes in the capital. The gains of independence made the Kremlin the center of state power. And the ruler thought about rebuilding his residence. The knowledge and talents of Aristotle Fiorovanti were again in demand, and he drew up a plan for the upcoming work. The start date for work is known. On July 19, 1485, the Italian architect Anton Fryazin laid the archery instead of the old white stone gate. This is how the Taynitskaya Tower appeared (at its base there was a secret passage to the river). Experienced Italian fortifiers erected a first-class fortress, the walls of which stretched for two kilometers, their height ranged from 19 to 8 m, and their width was 3-6 m. Along the perimeter there were 18 powerful towers with 3-5 tiers of loopholes. The corner towers were made round (with the exception of the multifaceted Dog Tower). Vodovoznaya hid a well that supplied the Kremlin with water, Troitskaya became a prison for especially important criminals, Nabatnaya gave danger signals to Muscovites with its bell, and gathered people to the square. Along the upper edge of the wall there was a wide battle platform, which was covered from the outside by thousands of battlements. The famous Milanese swallowtail miraculously fits into the Russian landscape. The travel towers were carefully strengthened with diversion archers, descending gers, and supplemented with drawbridges and bridgeheads. The fortress was practically impregnable. Art critics admire the integrity and completeness of the architectural ensemble and note its desire for geometricism.

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan III. Hood. A. Vasnetsov.

Thus, they believe, the genius of Fiorovanti established order in architecture, as opposed to the chaos of the Middle Ages. The plan of the genius of the European Renaissance found the full support of the Orthodox ruler. It is worth emphasizing that while solving the problem of the struggle for independence, Ivan Vasilyevich began to look closely at Europe. The Moscow prince discovered that when communicating with Europeans, Russians were sometimes significantly inferior, and decided to begin to overcome the gap. And he began the Europeanization of the country. Neither the Turkish sultans, nor the Chinese gods, nor the shahs and padishahs, nor the great Moguls, noticed the European “novelties”. And the Moscow ruler showed great interest in them. However, he was careful and acted gradually. He concentrated on weapons and technical skills (mainly gunsmithing and stone construction), as well as on the organization of the diplomatic service. He was not afraid of foreigners, but did not radically change Moscow life. He firmly preserved Russian customs and the Orthodox faith. In 1491, the construction of the Faceted Chamber was completed. Started by Mark Fryazin and completed by Pietro Antonio Solari, it occupies a special place in the history of Russian civil architecture. Like the Assumption Cathedral, it preserved in its appearance national traditions that were not absorbed by the art of the Renaissance. Festive dinners were held in the Faceted Chamber, receptions of foreign guests were held, and later Zemsky Sobors met. In the spacious Holy Entrance they awaited the sovereign's audience. The red porch was intended for ceremonial entrances of the sovereign. Under Ivan III, Pskov craftsmen erected the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the Annunciation Cathedral. They combined elements of Pskov and Moscow architecture. And all the temples built were in harmony, did not contradict each other, making up a single artistic whole.

It should be admitted that in everything Ivan Vasilyevich had a sense of proportion. The ruler was a man of outstanding intelligence and statesmanship. Ivan III died without seeing the completion of the construction of the Archangel Cathedral, which became the tomb of Moscow rulers. He was placed in the still unfinished temple. Life continued to boil around Derzhavny, which had already become history, and the construction and improvement of the Kremlin did not stop. Ivan Vasilyevich determined the main goals of these changes, he supervised the main work, and his plan acquired powerful outlines. But it was not completed. Just as his royal plan was not finally completed. But it was Ivan the Great who made the most important creative breakthrough in the construction of the Russian state.

Even during its formation, the united Russian state began to purposefully master the diverse experience of the modernizing West, which ensured its competitiveness and military-political superiority over its eastern neighbors.

Ivan III won in Time and Space. Russia under his successors became an Empire. It was the process of Europeanization that became the basis of Russia’s competitiveness. The Great Sovereign Ivan III, to a certain extent, formed the prerequisites for the transformations of Peter I, created the foundations for the transformation of Russia into a great European power in the 18th century.

During his reign, reforms on a national scale began. Changes covered all areas: the political system, the socio-economic system, legislation. A system of government of a single state began to take shape. In the 1470s, Ivan Vasilyevich took the title “Sovereign of All Rus'”. Russia becomes a prominent state in the world of that time, establishes diplomatic relations, and interacts with both European and Asian states. Foreign policy priorities are taking shape, and the country's national and state interests are gradually taking shape. The international legal status of the Russian state is, first of all, the status of its monarch, which is based on the symbols of his power. There was a need to create a coat of arms, and it was created. The State Archive of Ancient Acts contains a document dating back to 1497. The Grand Duke's seal of Ivan III sealed the “exchange and allotment” charter for the land holdings of the appanage princes. It was made of red wax. At that time, the seal was hung, not applied, so it had two sides. The emblems of the seal are a horseman slaying a serpent with a spear (on the front side) and a double-headed eagle (on the back side).More N.M. Karamzin in “History of the Russian State” noted that the symbolism of the Russian coat of arms originates from the seal of 1497. This opinion is shared by the majority of the scientific community. We know that the horseman is an ancient image symbolizing the prince. St. George the Victorious was also revered in Rus'; he was perceived as the heavenly patron of the army. Saint George was also popular in Europe, where he was revered as the patron saint of chivalry.

The Heavenly Warrior on a white horse, striking the Serpent with a spear, was present on the banners of the princely squads, helmets and shields of warriors, on coins and signet rings - the insignia of military leaders, on the grand ducal seals. During the time of Dmitry Donskoy, St. George became the patron saint of Moscow. The high relief icon of St. George was installed on the Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) tower of the Kremlin by order of Ivan Vasilyevich in 1464. The image was installed on the outside to protect the Kremlin from enemies. Later, Italian craftsmen built the Spasskaya Tower on this site, placed an image of the Savior above its gates, and moved the sculpture of St. George first to the St. George Church, then to the Ascension Monastery. St. George the Victorious was an example of Christian virtues. It is no coincidence that his image was on the grand ducal banners of Ivan III, with which he went to the Great Stand on the Ugra. Many researchers believe that the image of St. George on the state seal and in Moscow symbols from the time of Ivan the Great became a sign of the succession of the Moscow princes to the Vladimir and Kyiv princes. The role of the Moscow prince as a stronghold of Orthodoxy was also symbolically emphasized. Analysis of the semantics of the images shows that both emblems corresponded to certain parts of the title: the horseman was a subjective title, naming the sovereign himself, and the eagle was an objective or territorial title, describing the state. The eagle has long been perceived as a symbol of heavenly (solar) power, fire and immortality, as a symbol of the gods and their messenger. In the Middle Ages it was revered as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. The double-headed eagle replaced the lion of Vasily II because it had a fundamentally new meaning. State symbols became necessary, since state ideology required reinforcement of its ideas, including visually. Two problems had to be solved. First, explain to your people the new system of power, the new political reality. Secondly, to show the whole world the sovereign dignity of the Moscow State. The most reasonable assumption is that the double-headed eagle on the state seal of Ivan III symbolizes, first of all, the claims of the Moscow government to the vast territories of the once united Old Russian state, which the Grand Duke thought of as his ancestral homeland. Historians believe that the two heads of the eagle can be interpreted as two parts of the Russian state: one was already under the rule of Moscow, the second still had to be returned to the Moscow Rurikovichs. From the point of view of the Grand Duke of Moscow, it was he who had ownership rights in relation to all the lands that once belonged to Kyiv. That is why, at the same time, at the end of the 15th century, images of a gilded double-headed eagle on a red field appeared on the walls of the Faceted Chamber in the Kremlin. The Moscow ruler realized his aspirations: as a result of the wars with Lithuania, significant territories in the west went to Russia, in 1510, then under Vasily III, Pskov was annexed, and in 1514 Smolensk. Experts have still not come to a consensus and did not settle on an agreed version about the source of the appearance of the eagle in Russian state symbols. The eagle was borrowed. But from whom? The Holy Roman Empire? In the Balkan countries? Byzantium? In the Novgorod Republic? Each of the versions is solid. But not one is completely convincing. It is quite possible that all the options together contributed to the formation of Ivan III's decision. Something else is important: in those years when a unified Russian state was born, the state emblem of the new country was created. It became the double-headed eagle - and this symbol is inextricably linked with Russia to this day, for several centuries now.

Seal of Ivan III (1497)

In 1498, the first royal wedding in Russian history took place. Ivan III crowned Dmitry the grandson with the Monomakh cap for the great reign. A system of the nobility's oath of allegiance to the ruler was introduced, and a letter of cross-kissing about princely and boyar "non-departure" appeared. A special form of land ownership arose - the manorial system, in which the landowner held the land only for the duration of his active service. An all-Russian monetary system was created.

In 1497, the first all-Russian Code of Law was created. It is traditionally believed that the Code of Laws was intended to regulate procedural, criminal and civil legal relations. However, the text analysis carried out by B.N. Zemtsov, showed that at the end of the 15th century. The most important thing for the authors, led by Ivan III, was the creation of a new system of executive authorities. The difficult political situation in the country required a new regulation of the judicial functions of central and local authorities.

Under Ivan the Great, the formation of the Sovereign's Court took place, which carried out the functions of the state apparatus of power. Its upper house was the Boyar Duma. It acquires the features of representativeness from various layers of the aristocracy and becomes a “co-ruling” body under the sovereign who heads a single state. Modern discourse on the issue of the political forms of the Russian state is associated with the involvement of new sources in scientific circulation. Previously expressed ideas require clarification based on the latest data.

The overcoming of fragmentation and the beginning of the formation of the state contributed to the emergence of the idea “Moscow is the new Constantinople.” It was first voiced by Metropolitan Zosima at a church council in 1492. Later, the thoughts expressed would be developed in the writings of Elder Philotheus (c. 1465-1542), who would call Russia the “Third Rome.” But only after gaining the patriarchate in the 17th century will this formula be filled with political meanings. Then, at the end of the 15th century, there were still no imperial ambitions; we were talking about the need to establish a true Christian faith in the country.

Sophia Paleolog. Plastic reconstruction (1994)

It is worth mentioning the second marriage of Ivan Vasilyevich with the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Sophia Paleologus in 1472 and “obtaining rights to Constantinople.” The Roman Popes, Paul II, Sixtus IV, Uniate Greeks, and Eastern Orthodox Christians interpreted the “Byzantine inheritance” as the opportunity and obligation of Muscovy to wage war for specific territories that were once Byzantine. And the sovereign of sovereign Russia sought to erect a new Orthodox Constantinople on the “seven hills of Moscow.” The Muscovites did not fight with the Ottomans. Domestic diplomacy made every effort to establish good relations with the Sublime Porte. For Ivan Vasilyevich, Russian national-state interests and awareness of the merits of the kingdom over which he ruled lay at the heart of foreign policy.

Moscow, as Russian lands gathered, established itself as the successor of Kievan Rus and became a symbol of political unification on a popular national basis. Ivan III turned into a political leader, the Sovereign of All Rus', called upon to unite all Orthodox Russian lands that were once part of the Old Russian state. Hence the new understanding of the state as a reflection of the interest of the emerging nation. As a ruler, Ivan III was a first-class master of his craft. Having begun the process of collecting Russian lands and absorbing them into the stronger Moscow principality, Ivan III began to change the previously existing political system. Born a tributary of the steppe Horde, he became the ruler of a country recognized in Rome and Istanbul, Stockholm and Vienna, Vilna and Krakow. He skillfully combined the tactics of war and peace, restored the freedom and integrity of Russia, and protected its borders from enemy encroachments. Of course, the Moscow state in the second half of the 15th century. was undergoing a process of formation. Its institutions were still amorphous, the boundaries of power of various bodies were not strictly delineated. Under these conditions, the imperious behavior of Ivan III, the ruler, played a very important role. The sovereign ruler of the Muscovite kingdom entered the history of the country as the creator of an independent state called Russia.

Shcherbakova Olga Mikhailovna,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of History of Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman

Zemtsov Boris Nikolaevich,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. Professor, Department of History, Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman

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Years of life: January 22, 1440 - October 27, 1505
Reign: 1462-1505

From the Rurik dynasty.

The son of the Moscow prince and Maria Yaroslavna, daughter of Prince Yaroslav Borovsky, granddaughter of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo V.A. Serpukhovsky.
Also known as Ivan the Great, Ivan Saint.

Grand Duke of Moscow from 1462 to 1505.

Biography of Ivan the Great

He was born on the day of remembrance of the Apostle Timothy, so he received his baptismal name in his honor - Timothy. But thanks to the upcoming church holiday - the transfer of the relics of St. John Chrysostom, the prince received the name by which he is best known.

From a young age, the prince became an assistant to his blind father. He took an active part in the fight against Dmitry Shemyaka, went on hikes. In order to legitimize the new order of succession to the throne, Vasily II named the heir Grand Duke during his lifetime. All letters were written on behalf of the 2 great princes. In 1446, the prince, at the age of 7, became engaged to Maria, the daughter of Prince Boris Alexandrovich Tverskoy. This future marriage was supposed to become a symbol of the reconciliation of eternal rivals - Tver and Moscow.

Military campaigns play an important role in raising the heir to the throne. In 1452, the young prince was already sent by the nominal head of the army on a campaign against the Ustyug fortress of Kokshengu, which was successfully completed. Returning from the campaign with a victory, he married his bride, Maria Borisovna (June 4, 1452). Soon Dmitry Shemyaka was poisoned, and the bloody civil strife that had lasted for a quarter of a century began to subside.

In 1455, young Ivan Vasilyevich made a victorious campaign against the Tatars who had invaded Rus'. In August 1460, he became the head of the Russian army, which closed the path to Moscow to the advancing Tatars of Khan Akhmat.

Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilievich

By 1462, when the Dark One died, the 22-year-old heir was already a man of many experienced, ready to solve various government issues. He was distinguished by prudence, lust for power and the ability to steadily move towards his goal. Ivan Vasilyevich marked the beginning of his reign by issuing gold coins with the minted names of Ivan III and his son, the heir to the throne. Having received the right to a great reign according to the spiritual charter of his father, for the first time since the invasion of Batu, the Moscow prince did not go to the Horde to receive a label, and became the ruler of a territory of approximately 430 thousand square meters. km.
Throughout his reign, the main goal of the country's foreign policy was the unification of northeastern Rus' into a single Moscow state.

Thus, by diplomatic agreements, cunning maneuvers and force, he annexed the Yaroslavl (1463), Dimitrov (1472), Rostov (1474) principalities, the Novgorod land, the Tver principality (1485), the Belozersk principality (1486), the Vyatka (1489), part of the Ryazan, Chernigov, Seversk, Bryansk and Gomel lands.

The ruler of Moscow mercilessly fought against the princely-boyar opposition, establishing tax rates that were collected from the population in favor of the governors. The noble army and nobility began to play a greater role. In the interests of the noble landowners, a restriction was introduced on the transfer of peasants from one master to another. Peasants received the right to move only once a year - a week before the autumn St. George's Day (November 26) and a week after St. George's Day. Under him, artillery appeared as an integral part of the army.

Victories of Ivan III Vasilievich the Great

In 1467 - 1469 successfully carried out military operations against Kazan, eventually achieving its vassalage. In 1471, he made a campaign against Novgorod and, thanks to the attack on the city in several directions, carried out by professional warriors, during the Battle of Shelon on July 14, 1471, he won the last feudal war in Rus', including the Novgorod lands into the Russian state.

After the wars with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1487 - 1494; 1500 - 1503), many Western Russian cities and lands went to Rus'. According to the Truce of Annunciation in 1503, the Russian state included: Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Starodub, Gomel, Bryansk, Toropets, Mtsensk, Dorogobuzh.

Successes in the expansion of the country also contributed to the growth of international relations with European countries. In particular, an alliance was concluded with the Crimean Khanate, with Khan Mengli-Girey, while the agreement directly named the enemies against whom the parties had to act together - Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In subsequent years, the Russian-Crimean alliance showed its effectiveness. During the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1500-1503. Crimea remained an ally of Russia.

In 1476, the ruler of Moscow stopped paying tribute to the Khan of the Great Horde, which was supposed to lead to a clash between two long-time opponents. On October 26, 1480, the “standing on the Ugra River” ended with the actual victory of the Russian state, gaining the desired independence from the Horde. For the overthrow of the Golden Horde yoke in 1480, Ivan Vasilyevich received the nickname Saint among the people.

The unification of previously fragmented Russian lands into a single state urgently required the unity of the legal system. In September 1497, the Code of Law was put into effect - a unified legislative code, which reflected the norms of such documents as: Russian Truth, Charter Charters (Dvinskaya and Belozerskaya), Pskov Judicial Charter, a number of decrees and orders.

The reign of Ivan Vasilyevich was also characterized by large-scale construction, the erection of temples, the development of architecture, and the flourishing of chronicles. Thus, the Assumption Cathedral (1479), the Faceted Chamber (1491), and the Annunciation Cathedral (1489) were erected, 25 churches were built, and intensive construction of the Moscow and Novgorod Kremlin was carried out. Fortresses were built in Ivangorod (1492), in Beloozero (1486), in Velikiye Luki (1493).

The appearance of a double-headed eagle as a state symbol of the Moscow State on the seal of one of the charters issued in 1497 Ivan III Vasilievich symbolized the equality of ranks of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Was married twice:
1) from 1452 to Maria Borisovna, daughter of the Tver prince Boris Alexandrovich (died at the age of 30, according to rumors, was poisoned): son Ivan the Young
2) from 1472 on the Byzantine princess Sophia Fominichna Palaeologus, niece of the last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI

sons: Vasily, Yuri, Dmitry, Semyon, Andrey
daughters: Elena, Feodosia, Elena and Evdokia

Marriages of Ivan Vasilyevich

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. Soon after this, he was the first to receive the nickname Terrible, because for the princes of the squad he was a monarch, demanding unquestioning obedience and strictly punishing disobedience. At the first order of Ivan the Terrible, the heads of unwanted princes and boyars were laid on the chopping block. After his marriage, he took the title "Sovereign of All Rus'".

Over time, Ivan Vasilyevich's second marriage became one of the sources of tension at court. Two groups of court nobility emerged, one of which supported the heir to the throne - Young (son from his first marriage), and the second - the new Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue and Vasily (son from his second marriage). This family feud, during which hostile political parties collided, was also intertwined with the church issue - about measures against the Judaizers.

Death of Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich

At first, Grozny, after the death of his son Molodoy (died of gout), crowned his son and his grandson, Dmitry, on February 4, 1498 in the Assumption Cathedral. But soon, thanks to skillful intrigue on the part of Sophia and Vasily, he took their side. On January 18, 1505, Elena Stefanovna, Dmitry’s mother, died in captivity, and in 1509, Dmitry himself died in prison.

In the summer of 1503, the Moscow ruler became seriously ill, he became blind in one eye; partial paralysis of one arm and one leg occurred. Leaving his business, he went on a trip to the monasteries.

On October 27, 1505, Ivan the Great died. Before his death, he named his son Vasily as his heir.
The Sovereign of All Rus' was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

Historians agree that this reign was extremely successful; it was under him that the Russian state, by the beginning of the 16th century, occupied an honorable international position, distinguished by new ideas and cultural and political growth.

Ivan 3 Vasilievich began his reign as the Prince of Moscow, in fact, as one of the many appanage princes of Rus'. 40 years later, he left his son a state that united all of northeastern Rus', the size of which was several times greater than the territory of the Moscow principality, a state freed from the yoke of tribute to the Tatar-Mongols and stunned all of Europe with its appearance.

Childhood and youth

The creator of the Russian state, Tsar Ivan 3, was born in 1440, on January 22. Father, Vasily 2, is the Grand Duke of Moscow, mother is the daughter of the Serpukhov appanage prince Yaroslav Maria. He was his great-grandfather. Ivan 3 spent his childhood in Moscow.

The father, a brave and purposeful man, despite his blindness, managed to regain the throne, lost during internecine strife. He was blinded by order of the appanage princes, which is why he was nicknamed the Dark One. From early childhood, Vasily 2 prepared his eldest son for the throne; already in 1448, Ivan Vasilyevich began to be called the Grand Duke. At the age of 12, he began to take part in military campaigns against the Tatars and rebellious appanage princes, and at 16 he became his father’s co-ruler. In 1462, after the death of Vasily the Dark, his son took the reins of the Grand Duchy.

Accomplishments

Gradually, slowly, sometimes through diplomatic cunning and persuasion, sometimes through war, Ivan 3 subjugates almost all the Russian principalities to Moscow. The subjugation of the rich, strong Novgorod was complex and difficult, but in 1478 it too surrendered. Unification was necessary - fragmented Rus', sandwiched between the Tatars from the east and the Principality of Lithuania from the west, would simply cease to exist over time, crushed by its neighbors.

Having united the Russian lands, feeling the strength of his positions, Ivan 3 stopped paying tribute to the Horde. Khan Akhmat, unable to tolerate this, launched a campaign against Rus' in 1480, which ended in failure. The Tatar-Mongol yoke, cruel and ruinous, was put to an end.

Freed from the danger from the Horde, Ivan Vasilyevich went to war against the Principality of Lithuania, as a result of which Rus' advanced its borders to the west.

During the years of Ivan Vasilyevich's reign, Rus' became a strong, independent state, forcing not only its closest neighbors, but also the whole of Europe to reckon with itself. Ivan 3 was the first in history to be called “the sovereign of all Rus'.” He not only expanded the borders of the Russian principality, under him, internal changes also took place - the Code of Laws was adopted, chronicle writing was encouraged, the brick Moscow Kremlin, the Assumption Cathedral, and the Chamber of Facets were rebuilt by Italian architects.

Wives and children

Interesting facts about the biography of the creator of the Russian state include his personal life.

In 1452, at the age of twelve, Ivan Vasilyevich was married to ten-year-old Maria Borisovna, the daughter of the Tver prince. In 1958, their son, Ivan, was born. The unremarkable, quiet Maria Borisovna died unexpectedly at the age of 29. The Grand Duke, who was in Kolomna at that time, for some reason did not come to Moscow for the funeral.

Ivan 3 decided to marry again. He was interested in Sophia Palaeologus, the niece of the deceased Byzantine Emperor Constantine. The candidacy of the Byzantine princess was proposed by the Pope. After three years of negotiations, in 1472, Sophia arrived in Moscow, where she immediately married Ivan 3.

Family life was probably successful, judging by the numerous offspring. But in the first years of marriage, Sophia, to the displeasure of Ivan Vasilyevich, gave birth only to girls, three out of four, moreover, died in infancy. But finally, on March 25, 1479, the Grand Duchess gave birth to a boy, who was named Vasily.

In total, from 1474 to 1490, the couple had 12 children.

Sophia's life in Moscow was overshadowed by the dislike of the townspeople and noble boyars towards her, who were dissatisfied with her influence on Ivan 3 and her negative attitude towards her stepson, Ivan Ivanovich the Young. She did everything so that Vasily, their long-awaited first son, was recognized as Ivan Vasilyevich’s heir. And she waited for it. Ivan Ivanovich the Young died in 1490 (as they said, poisoned on the orders of Sophia), his son Dmitry, magnificently crowned for the great reign in 1498, 4 years later was subject to disgrace and imprisoned. And in 1502, Ivan 3 declared Vasily his co-ruler.

Demise

In 1505, 2 years after the death of his wife, Ivan 3, who retired from business, was struck by paralysis - the left half of his body was lost and one eye was blinded. On October 27, 1505, 65 years old, he died. His remains rested in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.