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	'''Ivan III Vasilevich''' (''Иван III Васильевич'') (], ] – ], ]), also known as '''Ivan the Great''', was a grand duke of ] who first adopted a more pretentious title of the "grand duke of all the ]s". Sometimes referred to as the "gatherer of the Russian lands", he claimed ] to be a ], built the ], and laid foundations for the Russian ].

	== Background ==

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

	== Gathering of Russian lands ==

	His first enterprise was a war with the ], which, alarmed at the growing dominancy of Muscovy, had placed herself beneath the protection of ], king of Poland, an alliance regarded at Moscow as an act of apostasy from ]. Ivan took the field against Novgorod in 1470, and after his generals had twice defeated the forces of the republic, at Shelona and on the Dvina, during the summer of ], the ]ians were forced to sue for peace, which they obtained on engaging to abandon for ever the Polish alliance, ceding a considerable portion of their northern colonies, and paying a war indemnity of 15,500 roubles.

	From henceforth Ivan sought continually a pretext for destroying ] altogether; but though he frequently violated its ancient privileges in minor matters, the attitude of the republic was so wary that his looked-for opportunity did not come till ]. In that year the ambassadors of Novgorod played into his hands by addressing him in public audience as ''Gosudar'' (sovereign) instead of ''Gospodin'' (sir) as heretofore. Ivan at once seized upon this as a recognition of his sovereignty, and when the Novgorodians repudiated their ambassadors, he marched against them. Deserted by Casimir IV, and surrounded on every side by the Muscovite armies, which included a Tatar contingent, the republic recognized Ivan as autocrat, and surrendered (January 14, 1478) all her prerogatives and possessions (the latter including the whole of northern Russia from ] to the ]) into his hands.

	Subsequent revolts (1479-1488) were punished by the removal en masse of the richest and most ancient families of Novgorod to Moscow, Vyatka and other central Russian cities. After this, Novgorod, as an independent state, ceased to exist. The rival republic of ] owed the continuance of its own political existence to the readiness with which it assisted Ivan against its ancient enemy. The other principalities were virtually absorbed, by conquest, purchase or marriage contract: ] in 1463, ] in 1474, and ] in 1485.

	]
	Ivan's refusal to share his conquests with his brothers, and his subsequent interference with the internal politics of their inherited principalities, involved him in several wars with them, from which, though the princes were assisted by ], he emerged victorious. Finally, Ivan's new rule of government, formally set forth in his last will to the effect that the domains of all his kinsfolk, after their deaths, should pass directly to the reigning grand duke instead of reverting, as hitherto, to the princes heirs, put an end once for all to these semi-independent princelets.

	== Foreign policies ==

	It was in the reign of Ivan III that Muscovy rejected the ] yoke. In 1480 Ivan refused to pay the customary tribute to the grand ]. When, however, the grand khan marched against him, Ivan's courage began to fail, and only the stern exhortations of the high-spirited bishop of ], ], could induce him to take the field. All through the autumn the Russian and Tatar hosts confronted each other on opposite sides of ], till the 11th of November, when Ahmed retired into the ].

	In the following year the grand khan, while preparing a second expedition against Moscow, was suddenly attacked, routed and slain by Ivaq, the khan of the ], whereupon the ] suddenly fell to pieces. In 1487 Ivan reduced the ] (one of the offshoots of the Horde) to the condition of a vassal-state, though in his later years it broke away from his suzerainty. With the other Muslim powers, the khan of the ] and the ]s of ], Ivan's relations were pacific and even amicable. The Crimean khan, ], helped him against ] and facilitated the opening of diplomatic intercourse between Moscow and ], where the first Russian embassy appeared in ].

	The further extension of the Muscovite dominion was facilitated by the death of Casimir IV in 1492, when Poland and Lithuania once more parted company. The throne of Lithuania was now occupied by Casimir's son ], a weak and lethargic prince so incapable of defending his possessions against the persistent attacks of the Muscovites that he attempted to save them by a matrimonial compact, and wedded Helena, Ivan's daughter. But the clear determination of Ivan to appropriate as much of Lithuania as possible at last compelled Alexander in 1499 to take up arms against his father-in-law. The Lithuanians were routed ] (July 14, 1500), and in 1503 Alexander was glad to purchase peace by ceding to Ivan ], ], ] and sixteen other towns.

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

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

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

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

	----

	{{1911}}

	==Further reading==
	* Much information on Ivan III and his court is contained in ]'s '']'' (]).

	==External links ==


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Revision as of 13:20, 11 November 2005