The more successful external affairs were, the more powerful Ivan III became, the more boldly he sought to strengthen his autocracy within the state; He no longer looked at any rights of appanage princes. The unification of Russian lands by Moscow proceeded under Ivan Vasilyevich faster than before. Back in 1463, shortly after the death of his father, Ivan III took possession of the Yaroslavl region. It was divided among many small princes (Kurbsky, Prozorovsky, Lvov, Sitsky, Shakhovsky, etc.). One of them was considered the Grand Duke of the entire Yaroslavl land, namely Alexander Fedorovich; He had no strength to resist at all, and the princes of the Yaroslavl land turned into simple patrimonial landowners - Moscow boyars.

Annexation of the Vereisky inheritance

Not far from Moscow was the city of Vereya. The grandson of Dmitry Donskoy, the elderly Mikhail Andreevich, reigned here. The old prince tried to please Ivan III in everything, fulfilled all his demands, and never contradicted him in anything. It seemed that there was no reason to destroy the Vereisky inheritance, but Ivan Vasilyevich found an excuse. He decided to give some precious pearl jewelry to his daughter-in-law: it turned out that Sofya Fominishna gave it, without her husband’s knowledge, to her niece, who married Vasily Mikhailovich, the son of the Verei prince. Ivan III became furious, sent him to take away his wife’s entire dowry, and threatened to put him and his wife in prison. Vasily Mikhailovich fled with his wife to Lithuania. This was considered treason. Ivan Vasilyevich took Vereya away from Mikhail Andreevich for the flight of his son. The old man appeased Ivan III only by renouncing his son, undertaking not to communicate with him, to extradite all his envoys to Moscow, and to refuse all his possessions to the Grand Duke in his will. Soon after this, Mikhail Andreevich died, and Vereya was annexed to Moscow.

Annexation of Tver to Moscow

A more independent prince than the Verei prince was the Tver prince Mikhail Borisovich, but in the agreement he had to humbly be called the “young brother” of the son of Ivan III and undertake not to communicate with Lithuania. In the 14th century, Tver and Moscow competed to unite Russian lands. But now Tver could no longer compete with the Muscovites. The petty princes who had possessions in the Tver region, henchmen of the Tver prince, began to move to Moscow one after another, and many Tver boyars followed them. This is understandable. The Tver boyars, everywhere where their lands were adjacent to Moscow possessions, became unbearable; Moscow landowners inflicted all sorts of violence and insults on the Tver people, and justice and protection could not be found anywhere: Ivan III always had his own rights, and if a Moscow landowner was offended in anything, the Grand Duke stood up for him and immediately sent him to Tver with threats to demand satisfaction.

Ivan Vasilyevich finally found an excuse to completely do away with Tver - to annex it to Moscow. They intercepted a Tver messenger with letters to Lithuania. In vain did Mikhail Borisovich try to make excuses; the Moscow army in 1485, on September 8, approached Tver, and on the 10th the Tver boyars left their prince and began to appear to Ivan III with a request to accept them into his service. What could Mikhail Borisovich, abandoned by everyone, do? He fled to Lithuania. On September 12, his governor with his relatives and friends, the boyars, with the zemstvo people and with the ruler, arrived to Ivan III. They beat him with their foreheads, begged him to spare them and take him under his hand. The Moscow sovereign solemnly, like a winner, entered Tver; it was annexed to Moscow (1485). The Tver prince sought help in Lithuania, but achieved nothing. The conquest of Tver by Moscow was one of the most important events during the unification of Russian lands.

Relations of Ivan III with his brothers

It was not the time for Ivan III to quarrel with his brothers; A difficult time was then coming for him: Akhmat was preparing to strike the Russian land with his horde. Lithuania was also going to start a war, and then the brothers decided to start a strife. Reluctantly, Ivan Vasilyevich hastened to make peace with them - he fulfilled all their demands.

Ten years later, both brothers received a grand ducal order to send their governors with military detachments to help the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey against the sons of Akhmat. Boris carried out the order of the Grand Duke, but Andrei disobeyed. At the invitation of the Grand Duke, a short time later, he arrived in Moscow. Ivan III received his brother, it seemed, kindly, and talked with him for a long time and in a friendly manner; the next day they invited him and the boyars to the Grand Duke for dinner. When Andrei arrived at the palace, the boyars took him to the dining room and asked him to go into a room called the “trap.” Ivan III came here, greeted his brother warmly, and then left. Then the boyar Prince Ryapolovsky entered and said with tears in his eyes:

- Sovereign Prince, Andrei Vasilyevich, you have been captured by the Lord God and the Sovereign Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Rus', your elder brother.

- God and the sovereign are willing; God will judge us, but I am not guilty! - Andrey answered.

He was shackled and imprisoned (1491). His inheritance was annexed to Moscow. His sons were also captured and imprisoned. Both the father and they no longer saw freedom - they died in prison.

The Grand Duke’s other brother, Boris Vasilyevich, did not have such a sad fate, but was constantly in fear; in everything he unquestioningly obeyed Ivan III, like any of the boyar landowners, and there was no reason to deprive him of his volost.

The Ryazan region was also a principality only in name: the Prince of Ryazan, the Grand Duke’s own nephew, was in full power.

Ivan III as a collector of Russian land

Ivan Vasilyevich walked steadily along the path that had been outlined by the first princes of Moscow: he destroyed the remnants of his appanages, united the Russian lands into one whole and strong state. He ruled autocratically with his close relatives; He was even less shy with the petty princes: some of them voluntarily, others involuntarily renounced their independence, obeyed the Moscow sovereign, and turned into patrimonial boyars; some, dying, according to their spiritual will, gave up their lands to the Moscow sovereign. Thus, the great work of uniting the Russian lands by Moscow was completed, and Ivan III deserves even more than all his predecessors the title of “gatherer of the Russian land.” Only Pskov and part of the Ryazan region were for the time being considered separate possessions - and only because the will of the Grand Duke was carried out here unquestioningly.

Russian princes Shishov Alexey Vasilievich

VASILY III IVANOVICH - THE LAST COLLECTOR OF THE RUSSIAN LAND

The new Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich began his reign by resolving the “throne issue” with his nephew Dmitry. Immediately after the death of his father, Ivan III Vasilyevich, he ordered him to be chained “in iron” and put in a “cramped ward”, where he died three years later. Now the sovereign of “All Rus'” had no “legitimate” opponents in the competition for the grand-ducal throne, just like the future direct heir.

Vasily III ascended the Moscow throne at the age of 26. Having later shown himself to be a skilled politician, even under his father he was preparing for the role of autocrat in the Russian state. It is no coincidence that he refused a bride from among the foreign princesses and for the first time organized a bridesmaid ceremony for Russian brides at the Grand Duke's palace. In the summer of 1505, 500 beautiful girls were brought to the bridesmaid ceremony from all over the country. After a careful selection, a special boyar commission presented the heir to the throne with 10 worthy contenders in all respects. Vasily's choice fell on Solomonia, the daughter of boyar Yuri Saburov. This marriage turned out to be unsuccessful - the grand ducal couple had no children, and above all, no son-heir.

Having become an autocrat, Vasily III Ivanovich continued his father’s policies both in government and in foreign relations. He quite soon ceased to take into account the Boyar Duma in many matters, since he well remembered its open dislike of his mother and the silent support of his nephew Dmitry Ivanovich when the issue of succession to the throne was being decided.

He was equally harsh with anyone who provoked his anger. For being “arrogant” one could easily end up in prison or a monastery, or even lose one’s head for “thieves’ speeches.” Thus, Metropolitan Varlaam, who tried to intercede for the disgraced boyars, was overthrown and sent to prison in a monastery.

Unlike his father, Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich surrounded himself with splendor and luxury, unprecedented for Moscow rulers. He even began to appear at court ceremonies in full royal garb. Now he was surrounded by equally luxuriously dressed courtiers and honor guards. The Grand Duke of Moscow amazed foreign guests and ambassadors with his greatness.

For Russian history, Vasily III became “the last gatherer of the Russian land.” In this state field, the autocrat did two great things: he put an end to the system of appanages, appanage principalities, and under his sovereign hand he united the last Russian lands in the north-west - the Pskov region.

The Pskov Veche Republic was living out its last days. Pskov could no longer independently defend itself against the Livonian Order, which was constantly attacking its lands, and did this only with the help of Moscow troops. The prince sent from Moscow, together with the Pskov veche, managed all the affairs of the city and its possessions.

After the destruction of the Free City of Novgorod, Pskov, fortunately located on the Lithuanian-Livonian border, became the largest trade and craft center. According to chronicles of 1510, in only one part of Pskov - the Middle City - there were 6,500 residential households. The vast majority of Russian cities did not have such a number of courtyards. In those same years, according to foreigners, the capital city of Moscow had 41,500 citizen households. The very numerous Pskov merchants conducted successful trade deals not only with the Baltic countries.

Vasily III Ivanovich began the Pskov operation by replacing his governor in the city, sending there Prince Ivan Repnya-Obolensky, who immediately began to judge and give orders without the will of the veche assembly. The princely people dispersed to the volosts and began to oppress and rob the inhabitants there. The Pskov chronicler described the new grand-ducal governor this way: “And that prince was cruel to the people.”

Conflicts began in the city between Repnya-Obolensky, the local boyars and the “black people”. The Pskov veche decided to look for the “truth” against the governor and sent petitioners to Novgorod - the Grand Duke of Moscow was there with a considerable military force, consisting of equestrian children of the boyars. By that time, he had accumulated many complaints from the Pskov governor about the townspeople who allegedly “did him dishonor.”

The sovereign of “all Rus'” acted decisively. Elected officials of the city of Pskov and petitioners were taken into custody - “caught.” Vasily III Ivanovich demanded that Pskov remove the veche bell, abolish elected positions and accept two governors from him. The Pskovites, remembering the sad fate of Veliky Novgorod, submitted to the ultimatum. The Grand Duke's clerk, Tretyak Dolmatov, who arrived, declared at the assembly that otherwise the sovereign of “all Rus'” would use military force and “there would be bloodshed on those who did not do” his will.

On January 13, 1510, the veche bell was thrown to the ground. Pskovites, “looking at the bell, cry according to their antiquity and according to their own will.” The Pskov veche bell, under reliable guard, was sent to the Grand Duke in Novgorod.

A week later, the Grand Duke of Moscow arrived in the city, accompanied by troops and a large retinue. For a whole month he was busy organizing the new possession of Moscow. 300 of the richest merchant families - “the best people” - were evicted from Pskov to it. The settlers were resettled throughout the Moscow region. In their place, 300 merchant families arrived from Moscow cities. The confiscated estates were distributed to the grand ducal service people. The native Pskovites were expelled from the Middle City, where one and a half thousand households were “deserted.” A thousand Novgorod landowners - nobles liable for military service - were settled there. But unlike his father, Vasily III did not touch the church estates.

Thus, the Free City of Pskov with the “suburbs” of Izborsk, Opochka, Vybor, Vrevo, Voronochya, Velye, Krasny, Ostrov, Gdov and Vladimirets became part of the centralized Russian state. The entry of the Pskov Republic into it passed painlessly, without shedding blood, as in the final decision on the fate of Veliky Novgorod.

The coming years have shown that the well-being of the city residents did not suffer from the actions of the Grand Duke of Moscow. The further economic development of Pskov is considered successful, not to mention the security of its borders with the German Livonian Order.

Another state problem of enormous importance remained unresolved. The ancient Russian city of Smolensk continued to remain a possession of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Through Smolensk there was a direct road to Moscow, Minsk and Vilna. In addition to its strategic importance, the Smolensk region was also a rich land. Hemp from Smolensk was exported to many European countries.

In 1506, the childless Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Kazimirovich died. Vasily III, acting through his widow and his sister Elena Ivanovna, tried to use the chance to take his brother-in-law's unexpectedly vacant throne. However, he had no real grounds for this, and could not have had them.

The struggle for the great reign in Lithuania was led by the influential and wealthy Prince Mikhail Glinsky, supported by his brothers, and the brother of the deceased Alexander Kazimirovich, Sigismund, supported by the Catholic Church. The latter won, and in January 1507 the solemn coronation of Sigismund I took place.

For Moscow, he has now become a dangerous adversary, being both the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The war was not long in coming - already in March of this year, the embassy of Sigismund I demanded from its eastern neighbor the return of the Russian Seversky lands, which had gone to him as a result of the last war.

There could be no talk of a concession to Severshchina. Then the King of Poland, having received a polite but decisive refusal, began a war against the Grand Duchy of Moscow in alliance with the Livonian Order, the Crimean and Kazan Khanates. Militarily, the anti-Russian coalition looked very impressive.

The response to this was an armed uprising in Lithuania against Sigismund I by the princes of the Glinsky brothers - Mikhail, Vasily, Ivan and Andrei - supporters of Moscow. The rebel princes, at the head of their squads, occupied the cities of Mozyr and Kletsk, and besieged Zhitomir and Ovruch. Initial success accompanied the rebels, who expected to receive Moscow military assistance.

However, the emerging movement of the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples, primarily the peasantry in these areas, alienated many of the gentry who supported them from the Glinskys. The Glinsky brothers, whose troops had noticeably thinned out, were unable to take the fortified cities of Minsk and Slutsk.

Vasily III Ivanovich did not hesitate to take military action. He had at his disposal more than 100 thousand warriors who could be sent to a big war: equestrian noble militia, “squeakers” - warriors with firearms, hand-held weapons, “staffs” or “staff army” of peasants liable for military service, artillery - “outfit”.

The main force of the Moscow army - the local noble cavalry militia - the serving military class - is described as follows: the nobles and boyar children “went to war on their small, weak-bridle horses and on such saddles on which it was impossible to turn to one side. Their weapons consisted mainly of arrows, reeds and clubs. In addition, the Moscow warrior had a large knife tucked into his belt, and noble people also carried sabers. Russian warriors knew how to handle things deftly, holding in their hands at the same time a bridle, a bow, arrows, sabers, and a whip. A long rein with a slit was wound around the finger of the left hand, and a whip hung on the little finger of the right. Some also had spears. To protect against enemy attacks, those who were richer wore chain mail, necklaces, breastplates, and a few - a pointed helmet. Others lined their dresses with cotton wool... The warrior had his own supplies, usually on pack horses, which he led with him. Supplies most often consisted of millet, corned beef and oatmeal; some poor people fasted for two or three days; but the governors and commanders in general often fed the poorest..."

Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich was confident of success. Now he had a governor, whom he awarded the title of “Moscow governor,” who served as commander-in-chief of the troops of the Russian state. He became the winner of the Lithuanian army in the battle on the Vedrosh River, Prince Daniil Shchenya, the founder of the glorious family of governor Shchenyatev, eradicated by Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible.

Together with the governor Yakov Zakharyin, Prince Shchenya besieges the Orsha fortress. However, the artillery shelling did not destroy the city fortifications. The large army of Sigismund I managed to reach the Dnieper opposite the city in time. For ten days the opponents stood in front of each other on opposite banks of the river. Meanwhile, the Crimean cavalry began to invade the southern regions of Moscow's possessions. Daniil Shchenya withdraws Russian regiments from Orsha to Vyazma and soon captures the fortified city of Toropets in a swift raid.

At the end of 1508, Lithuania began peace negotiations, which at the beginning of the next year ended with an agreement under which the King of Poland recognized the Severshchina as Moscow. The princes, the Glinsky brothers, who swore allegiance to the faithful service of the Russian sovereign, left for Moscow Rus'. Military operations showed that the Russian army was not yet ready to fight for Smolensk, a strong fortress in all respects. To take it, powerful cannons capable of destroying stone walls and towers were required.

In the spring of 1512, Russian troops repelled the campaign of the five sons of the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey to the southern cities of Belev, Odoev, Kozelsk and Aleksin, and then to Ryazan. It was established with all certainty that the Krymchaks were “led” to Moscow lands by King Sigismund I.

In the fall of 1512, the Polish king put the widow of Alexander's brother, Elena Ivanovna, in prison, where she soon died. Vasily III Ivanovich in anger sent Sigismund I “letters of marking” declaring war. The Grand Duke of Moscow, together with his brothers, at the head of the Russian army, besieged the city of Smolensk. It was not possible to take the first-class fortress of that time due to a lack of siege artillery and the actions of mounted Crimean detachments in the rear.

In the summer of 1513, the second campaign against Smolensk began. Now we managed to protect ourselves from attacks from the Crimean Khanate with strong “watchmen” - outposts. There were about two thousand hand-held arquebuses in the Russian army. Unsuccessful attempts to capture the fortress on the banks of the Dnieper lasted for more than a month. The strong Lithuanian garrison repelled all attacks. During one of them, two thousand Moscow warriors died. The night assault was also repulsed.

The siege of the fortress lasted for six weeks. Seeing the futility of military efforts, Grand Duke Vasily III ordered the troops to withdraw from Smolensk. But already in February 1514, a decision was made on a third campaign against the Smolensk fortress. However, it was only possible to implement it at the end of the summer of that year.

Russian regiments stood ready to repel the attack of the cavalry army of the Crimean Khan in the city of Tula and on the lines along the Oka and Ugra rivers. However, the Crimeans did not dare to break through to Moscow through this line, bearing in mind the attempt to do this by Khan Akhmat in such a recent time.

The Polish king and the Lithuanian Grand Duke were also actively preparing for the fight for Smolensk and the Smolensk region. The Sejm decides to hire seven thousand Polish infantrymen - zholners. A head tax is introduced to cover state military expenses: a penny from a peasant, two penny from noble people and a zloty from a constable.

King Sigismund I really hoped for the inaccessibility of the Smolensk stronghold. He wrote: “The fortress is powerful thanks to the river itself, the swamps, and also thanks to human art, thanks to loopholes made of oak beams, laid in a frame in the form of quadrangles, filled with clay from the inside and outside; it is surrounded by a ditch and such a high rampart that the tops of the buildings are barely visible, and the fortifications themselves cannot be broken either by gunfire or rams, and they cannot be undermined, destroyed or burned with the help of mines, fire or brimstone.”

In the third Smolensk campaign, the total forces of the Russian army numbered about 80 thousand people. Polish chroniclers name the number of guns from which the fortress was fired - from 140 to 300! The last figure is a clear exaggeration of the royal chroniclers, who in their writings at least somehow tried to downplay the victory of Russian weapons.

The “Great Cannons” fired cannonballs that weighed several pounds. From Moscow to Smolensk they were pulled on runners by several hundred “staff people” each. To transport heavy siege weapons, bridges across large and small rivers were strengthened, new ones were built, and roads were “corrected.”

On July 29, 1514, the Smolensk fortress began to be shelled from the “large squad” - heavy artillery. Here and there sections of the fortress wall began to collapse. In order to prevent the besieged from rebuilding them, the gaps that had formed were fired upon by Russian “squeakers” day and night. Numerous fires started in the besieged city. Already on the second day of the bombing, the Polish-Lithuanian Smolensk garrison raised a white flag.

The Smolensk governor Ivan Sologub and the local bishop Varsanofy appeared at the camp tent of the Great Moscow Prince Vasily III Ivanovich. They asked for a one-day truce, which was denied. The artillery shelling of Smolensk resumed, causing death and destruction.

Then the “philistines and black people” of the Russian city, who did not want to fight the “Muscovites,” forced the commanders of the Smolensk garrison to agree to the unconditional surrender of the fortress. On the 31st, the royal garrison capitulated, not wanting to tempt fate any longer, since an uprising of the townspeople was brewing.

The Tsar of “All Rus'” was unusually merciful to the vanquished. The nobles and zholners who did not want to go to Moscow service were sent home. Those wishing to serve the Grand Duke of Moscow were given two rubles and a piece of English cloth as a salary. They were left with their former estates on Smolensk land. The city was allowed to be governed “in the old way”; the population of Smolensk was also exempt from some state taxes.

The great governor, Prince Daniil Shchenya, swore in the Smolensk people. But the war did not end with the capture of the Smolensk fortress. The sovereign of “all Rus'” sent Russian armies to Minsk and Borisov, ordering them to “fight”. In the Smolensk fortress itself, restoration of the destroyed fortifications began.

Vasily III Ivanovich, who promised Prince Mikhail Glinsky to make the city of Smolensk his patrimony, did not fulfill this promise. Glinsky then decided to betray the Moscow Grand Duke and with a detachment of his soldiers moved to Orsha, where the headquarters of the Polish king was located. The attempt at treason failed - the prince, betrayed by a servant, was captured on the way, shackled and sent to Moscow.

On the advice of Prince Mikhail Glinsky, a capable military leader, King Sigismund I, with the forces of the army of Hetman Konstantin Ostrozhsky, who had returned from Russian captivity, gave battle near Orsha to two Moscow governors. In wartime, they decided to become parochial - to quarrel - on the battlefield. They lost the battle between Orsha and Dubrovna for the reason that they did not help each other. Although before this, the Moscow regiments defeated the royal ones in two other battles - on the Berezina and Druya ​​rivers. The defeat of the Russians near Orsha had no impact on the course of the war itself.

King Sigismund I, encouraged by the success of his commander Konstantin Ostrozhsky, sent a large detachment to Smolensk. But the Russians recaptured him from the fortress without much difficulty. A conspiracy was discovered in the city in favor of the king. Its participants - the Smolensk boyars - were hanged on the fortress wall, and the bishop was taken into custody. The "search" provided convincing evidence of their guilt.

The “Troubles” in Smolensk led to the fact that the grand ducal charter of benefits previously issued to the city lost its force. The Smolensk nobility lost their estates and, together with their families, were resettled to Moscow districts, where they received estates. The Smolensk estates of those evicted were given to service people for faithful service to the sovereign.

With the annexation of the Smolensk region by force of arms, all Russian lands were united around Moscow. The new border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained throughout the 16th century. Now the foreign policy situation in the western border has changed in favor of the Russian state.

In memory of the capture of ancient Smolensk, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich in 1524, two miles from Moscow, on the site of the former Savvin Monastery, built the famous Novodevichy Convent. This is how the autocrat of “All Rus'” celebrated the return of the Smolensk region to the Russian state. In 1525, the iconostasis of the new monastery was decorated with the famous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, copied in 1456 under Vasily II the Dark from an ancient icon called Hodegetria (Guide) and installed in the Smolensk church, built by Vladimir Monomakh in 1101.

Continuing the foreign policy line of his father, Vasily III Ivanovich in 1516–1517 continuously conducted diplomatic negotiations with Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Order, the Ottoman Empire, Kazan and the Crimean Khanate. Moscow was actively looking for ways to reconcile with its warlike neighbors and allies against them. Muscovite Rus' managed to conclude an agreement with Denmark directed against the Polish and Swedish kingdoms.

In 1517, Emperor Maximilian sent ambassador Sigismund von Herberstein to Moscow, who left a large work on Muscovy. The Empire, the largest state in Europe, decided to become a mediator in peace negotiations between Lithuania and Rus', offering the former to return the recaptured Smolensk. Vasily III decisively rejected such a proposal.

King Sigismund I tried to put forceful pressure on Muscovy during peace negotiations. Having sent an embassy to its capital, he himself, at the head of the Lithuanian army, set out on a campaign against the Pskov region. An attempt to take the border town of Opochka by storm failed, and the Russian army that arrived in time completely defeated the Lithuanians.

The Grand Duke of Moscow managed to use this move of the opposing side to his advantage. Only after receiving news of the victory on the Pskov borders, the sovereign of “All Rus'” began peace negotiations with the royal ambassadors. The trump card was knocked out of their hands.

In the spring of 1519, a military alliance was concluded with the Crimean Khanate against the King of Poland Sigismund I and the “Akhmatova Children”. Khan Muhammad-Girey temporarily chose the north for devastating raids. In the summer of the same year, his son Bogatyr-Saltan, with a 40,000-strong cavalry army, made a successful raid on Volyn, devastating the areas of Lublin and Lvov, defeating the 20,000-strong army of the Polish king at Sokol near the Bug River.

At the same time, Russian troops launched military operations in central Belarus. Having taken many prisoners, at the end of the year they retreated to Vyazma. However, King Sigismund I stubbornly refused to sign a peace treaty with Moscow on its terms - Smolensk remained a stumbling block. The Teutonic Order, which got involved in the war against Poland, was defeated.

Soon, relations between Moscow and Crimea deteriorated sharply. In December 1518, the Kazan Tsar Muhammad-Emin died, and Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich placed Tsarevich Shagiley on his throne. Thus, the Kazan Khanate became a Moscow protectorate, which became a direct challenge to the Crimean Khanate, which claimed the role of leader among the remnants of the Great Horde. In addition, the new Kazan ruler Shagiley was from the family of Astrakhan khans, enemies of the Crimea.

Shagiley did not last long on the throne - by character he turned out to be an evil person and a mediocre ruler. The Kazan nobility took up arms against him and in the spring of 1521 drove him out of the capital. The Crimean Khan Muhammad-Girey immediately took advantage of this opportunity and placed his brother, Sahib-Girey, on the Kazan throne. The Moscow envoy-voivode was robbed, expelled from Kazan, and many of his servants were killed. Moscow merchants trading in Kazan were also robbed completely.

Thus, unexpectedly for Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich, the Crimean Khanate turned from an ally into a former enemy. By that time, the main forces of the Russian army were stationed in the area of ​​​​the cities of Serpukhov and Kashira, part of the forces were in Novgorod and Pskov. They were intended primarily to confront the royal army of Sigismund I.

Aware of this, Khan Muhammad-Girey, having gathered a huge cavalry army, with a sudden and swift blow, destroying the Russian outpost at the crossing of the Oka River, broke through to Moscow itself. At the same time, he managed to bypass the grand ducal regiments stationed in the fortified city of Serpukhov.

The Crimean invasion took the sovereign of “All Rus'” by surprise - he was in Volokolamsk. The Krymchaks' breakthrough into the Russian lands was accompanied by terrible pogroms and fires. Many people fled to the protection of the Moscow fortress walls. The capital “came under siege,” although there were almost no troops left in it at that time.

The belligerent khan stopped his campaign against Moscow when his advanced detachments were already 15 kilometers from it. The reason was the news of the campaign of the Novgorod and Pskov troops to the rescue of the capital, which was preparing for a siege. Khan with the main forces of his cavalry camped 60 kilometers from Moscow. Negotiations began, and rich gifts were sent to Muhammad-Girey, which sometimes had more effect on the Horde than oath promises.

On August 12, the Crimean Khan unexpectedly, having captured many people, went to Ryazan. But he failed to plunder the city. The Grand Duke's governor I. Khabar acted decisively and skillfully. The residents of Ryazan showed perseverance and courage, repelling the enemy attack. Then the Khan’s army camped near Ryazan. For two weeks, the Crimeans traded with Russian captured people. Nobles and wealthy people had the opportunity to ransom their relatives and friends.

By that time, Khan Muhammad-Girey already had a grand ducal charter with a promise to pay him “tribute and exit.” Historians agree that Vasily III Ivanovich did not personally sign this charter, since the Moscow sovereigns at that time did not sign their charters and decrees. The signature was replaced by the state seal, the custodian of which was the treasurer Yu. Trakhaniot, who was in the capital in those days.

Of course, without the Grand Duke’s permission, such a letter could not leave Moscow for the Crimean Khan. The compliance of Vasily III is explained by the fact that he never managed to gather military forces into one fist. Moreover, “vacillation” began in the regiments stationed at Serpukhov - the young governor, Prince D. Belsky, refused to obey the more experienced governors.

The Ryazan governor Khabar showed himself in those difficult days as a skilled diplomat. Khan Muhammad-Girey informed him about the letter issued by the Grand Duke of Moscow, and insisted that the Ryazan people supply his cavalry army with food from the reserves stored in the fortress. The voivode demanded to see the letter. When she was taken to the fortress, Khabar ordered cannon fire to be opened from the city walls at the enemy camp. Following this, the Crimean horde left for the steppes.

Formally, in that charter, the Grand Duke of Moscow recognized himself as a tributary of Crimea. But the new Horde yoke lasted only a few weeks. The Nogai Murzas killed Khan Muhammad-Girey. And when his self-confident successor demanded a “way out” from Moscow in the amount of about 1,800 rubles, he received a decisive refusal.

The successful breakthrough of the Crimean cavalry army near Moscow shook the authority of the sovereign of “All Rus'”, and he tried to absolve himself of responsibility for this.

The blame was shifted to the boyars and governors. The eldest of the governors who were in Serpukhov ended up in prison.

Negotiations with Lithuania soon began. In 1523, a truce was concluded for five years. Then it was extended for another six years, and another year. Lands were transferred to the Russian state, including the fortified city of Smolensk, 23,000 km 2 with a population of about 100 thousand people, a large figure for those times.

The resolution of territorial disputes with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania allowed Vasily III Ivanovich to deal with the “Kazan” issue. Relations between Muscovite Rus' and the Kazan Khanate, or, as it was called in the charters, the kingdom, remained complex. Peaceful good neighborliness alternated with military clashes on the border - Kazan troops went on raids on Russian lands, often being an ally of Crimea. The main goal of such raids was to capture the population.

During the 28 years of his reign, Vasily III made military campaigns against Kazan three times: in 1506, 1524 and 1530. Their result was the undermining of the military power of the Kazan Khanate. To create a barrier to the Kazan raids, the Grand Duke of Moscow built the Vasilsursk fortress on the Volga - on the direct route to Nizhny Novgorod, whose surroundings suffered most from the Kazan raids.

Economic methods of struggle were also successfully used against the Kazan kingdom. The most effective of them is the transfer of trading to Nizhny Novgorod from Kazan. Thus, the Middle Volga region finally joined Rus'.

The solution to the problem of the Kazan Khanate had a positive impact on the economic development of the Western Russian lands. Robbery raids stopped. Trade revived - now the Russian merchants trading on the Volga were not subject to robbery and violence. The great river turned into an increasingly busy shipping route every year.

The autocrat of “All Rus'” Vasily III Ivanovich entered Russian history as “the last collector of the Russian land” not only thanks to the annexation of the Pskov and Smolensk lands. His merit lies in something else. He managed to eliminate the last appanage principalities in Rus'.

The Grand Duke of Moscow consistently and relentlessly pursued a policy aimed at the complete elimination of the appanage princely system. The childless Vasily III actually forbade his brothers to marry so that there would be no heirs in the appanage principalities. The estates of Yuri, Semyon and Dmitry Ivanovich and their cousin Fyodor Borisovich turned out to be “escheatable”. After the death of their rulers, the appanage lands became part of the territory of the Moscow state.

The appanage principalities were liquidated one after another. In 1513, the Volotsk appanage principality of Fyodor Borisovich disappeared. In 1518, the Kaluga appanage principality of Semyon Ivanovich disappeared from the map. In 1521 - Uglitsky inheritance of Dmitry Ivanovich.

By the end of the reign of Vasily III, there were only two appanage principalities left on Russian lands, only formally independent of Moscow. Yuri Ivanovich reigned in Dmitrovskoye, and his beloved brother Andrei Ivanovich, who was deprived of the right to have a legal heir, reigned in Staritsky. The fate of these last appanages was already historically predetermined.

The forcible confiscation of appanage possessions concerned not only the half-brothers of the Grand Duke of Moscow. In domestic politics, he followed the example of his father, Ivan III Vasilyevich, in everything. The eldest of the appanage princes, Andrei Bolshoi Uglitsky, was killed in prison. And Vasily III kept his children - his cousins ​​- “shackled” for many years in a prison in the city of Pereyaslavl. The autocrat took away inheritances from Dmitry Shemyachich, Glinsky, Vorotynsky, Volsky. It should be noted that he did not understand the means.

Vasily III Ivanovich pursued many goals with his domestic policy. The most important of them was the strengthening of the autocracy of the monarchy. Violence became a characteristic feature of Moscow political life.

The imperial (Austrian) ambassador to Moscow, Sigismund von Herberstein, in “Notes on Muscovy” gave a devastating assessment of the autocratic order existing in the Russian state. According to him, Vasily III, with his power over his subjects, surpassed all European sovereigns, oppressed his subjects with cruel slavery, and took away fortresses from princes and boyars.

The process of strengthening autocracy gave a positive result for the progressive historical development of the Russian state. Vasily III completed the formation of the local system in the country, begun by Ivan III. Its basis was state land ownership - grand ducal property. A colossal state land fund was created - the basis for the future estates of service people and, above all, nobles.

The patrimony that dominated Rus' for centuries made the boyars to a certain extent independent of the Grand Duke. But the appropriation of the possessions of the Novgorod boyars changed the situation. From that time on, the fund of local lands began to grow rapidly. The number of the Moscow nobility was limited. Now the abundance of lands with peasant households attached to them allowed the grand ducal treasury to allocate estates to the children and grandchildren of the nobles of the Moscow districts. But their number turned out to be small: they began to give estates even to fighting serfs - soldiers from the disbanded boyar retinues. One thing was required of those “placed” - faithful military service to the sovereign of “All Rus'”.

Thus, in the Moscow state under Vasily III Ivanovich, a “social contract” developed, although it has not yet received legislative formalization. Its essence was that the state treasury took upon itself the obligation to provide the nobleman, upon reaching adulthood, with the land necessary for military service - an estate. For their part, the nobles agreed to compulsory service with the Grand Duke as a military force.

Measures were taken to limit patrimonial land ownership. Without the permission of the autocrat of “all Rus'” it was impossible to sell land to monasteries. Without his knowledge, members of the three largest princely houses - Suzdal, Starodub and Yaroslavl - did not have the right to sell hereditary estates. They could only be acquired by the heirs of the deceased prince.

The sovereign of “All Rus'” was greatly concerned about the continuation of the grand ducal dynasty. The marriage to Solomonia Saburova remained childless. By right of seniority, the Moscow throne after the death of Vasily III was occupied by an appanage prince, brother Yuri Ivanovich. He has already begun to openly express his claims to the throne. This circumstance forced the Grand Duke in 1523 for the first time to “think” with his neighboring boyars about divorcing his barren wife.

Since such a dynastic divorce was contrary to Moscow orders and church rules, Vasily III began to look for ways out. In the end, he managed to enlist the support of Metropolitan Daniel, who calmed the “conscience” of the Grand Duke by saying that he took all his divorce sins onto his soul. Then everything happened in the spirit of that time.

In 1525, the Grand Duchess, who had been married for twenty years, found herself “wanted for witchcraft.” Her brother was forced to testify: Solomonia kept a fortune teller with her and sprinkled her husband’s “ports” with enchanted water. Obviously, in order to return his former love. Thus, the guilt of the childless wife of the monarch was proven with all persuasiveness. In Rus', as well as in all other lands, witchcraft was judged very strictly.

Solomonia was forcibly tonsured a nun and sent under guard to the Suzdal Intercession Convent. The Grand Duchess vigorously opposed the tonsure and even trampled on the monastic robe in rage, for which one of her husband’s advisers, Ivan Shigona, hit her with a whip. Solomonia lived in the monastery under the name of Sophia for seventeen long years and died in 1542.

Within two months, Vasily III Ivanovich married Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, the niece of Prince Mikhail Glinsky, sentenced to life imprisonment. The bride was an orphan, and it is believed that the Grand Duke “noticed” her a long time ago, since he did not make any choice of brides this time. The Grand Duke's wedding took place on January 21, 1526 and was distinguished by solemnity.

The uncle of the new Grand Duchess received his freedom only a year later. Coming out of captivity, Prince Mikhail Glinsky immediately took a prominent position at the Moscow court. Emperor Maximilian insisted on his release through his envoys.

The choice of a new wife by the Grand Duke also speaks of his political considerations. He entered into a relationship with the most prominent Russian-Lithuanian princely family, and his heir in the future could lay claim to the Polish-Lithuanian crown. In addition, the Glinsky family descended from a descendant of the khans of the Great Horde, Chingizid Akhmat. This also provided certain foreign policy benefits in relations with both Kazan and Crimea.

It is interesting that when the nearby boyars began to draw up a list of contenders for the place of Solomonia Saburova, the groom demanded that it not include girls from the most noble Moscow families - the Shchenyatevs and Pleshcheevs. Vasily III feared that his marriage to a representative of one or another ancient family would increase the power of this family and influence on state affairs, and he wanted to remain the same autocrat.

Elena Glinskaya immediately “took hold” of her husband. For her sake, he even deviated from the ancient Russian custom and shaved his beard to please his young wife. For four years, the grand ducal couple constantly traveled to various monasteries to pray for the appearance of an heir, while making rich gifts to churches. The long-awaited heir appeared only on August 25, 1530. The Grand Duke greeted this news with great joy - now his dynasty had a legitimate continuation.

On September 4, the baby was baptized in the Trinity Cathedral and named Ivan. This was the future first Russian Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible.

His birth was accompanied by gloomy speculation caused by the late marriage of Vasily III Ivanovich. Such rumors circulated both among the people and among the clergy. There is a well-known prediction that a son from an illegal marriage will become a tormentor sovereign. They wrote about this later, during the rampant bloody oprichnina.

The birth of the grand ducal heir was a blow to the ambitious Yuri Ivanovich Dmitrovsky, who dreamed of taking the throne of his older brother. He was not even present at the baptism of Ivan IV, his nephew. And in church circles they began to openly express dissatisfaction with the ever-increasing power of the autocrat of “all Rus'”.

In May 1531, a church council was convened. At its meetings, the case of Vassian Patrikeev was examined. Then the church hierarchy heard the case of the now disgraced Maxim the Greek for the second time. Both of them worked on changes in church books intended for religious ceremonies. Many corrections were made with the approval of Prince-monk Vassian Patrikeev, a man of a noble family.

Patrikeev was tried primarily for opposing the divorce of Vasily III Ivanovich from his first childless wife. After the birth of the heir, talk about the church legality of the Grand Duke's second marriage meant, in essence, doubt about the legality of the heir to the Russian throne himself.

Prince-monk Vassian Patrikeev, who was called Vassian the Kosy after his tonsure in order to cover up the political background of the trial, was accused only of church sins. He was sent to prison in the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, where he died.

Maxim the Greek was accused of allegedly boasting about witchcraft - “magic”, blaspheming Russian monasteries and extolling Greek ones. He accused the Russians of money-grubbing. The culprit was sent to the Otroch Monastery in Tver. Thus, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the “Greek prelest”, that is, church “sedition,” was put to an end once and for all.

The famous Russian theologian G. Florovsky compared the religious views of Maxim the Greek and his opponents among the highest Orthodox clergy. Maxim, nicknamed the Philosopher, saw Rus' in the form of a suffering widow, for whom fate had prepared a thorny path. Others imagined the future of Rus' to be magnificent, determined once and for all. They imagined Moscow as the third Rome, where a new Christian kingdom was being built. Maxim the Greek, on the contrary, represented Rus' as a City on a journey.

The Church Council, through its decisions, defended the autocephaly - independence, self-government - of the Russian Orthodox Church and its superiority over the “collapsed” Greek faith. As a result, the trial of educated non-covetous churchmen prepared the ground for the schism of the Russian Church in the 17th century.

The last years of the reign of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich passed in a calm atmosphere for the state. Rus' was not threatened with a new military danger from Poland and Lithuania, Sweden, or the Livonian Order. The Crimean Khanate was dealing with internal problems, and the southern Russian borders were disturbed only by small robber detachments, which were easily defeated by the border guards.

The only thing that bothered the sovereign of “all Rus'” was the Kazan kingdom with its internal turmoil. In 1532, another coup d'état took place there. The Girey dynasty, which came to Kazan from Crimea, was removed from power. It was received by the Moscow protege Khan Jan-Ali.

The first sign of the prosperity of the Russian state was the successfully developing domestic and foreign trade. The largest merchant centers besides Moscow were Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk and Pskov. The Grand Duke of Moscow was concerned about the development of trade, which he constantly reminded his governors of.

Handicrafts also developed. Craft suburbs - settlements - emerged in many cities. At that time, the country provided itself with everything necessary and was ready to export more goods than import what it needed. The natural wealth of Rus', the abundance of arable land, forest lands with precious furs are unanimously noted by foreigners who visited Muscovy in those years.

The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich did not think about the Europeanization of the state he ruled. This meant that the spirit of the European Renaissance was alien to him. He made no effort to expand and strengthen the emerging cultural ties with Italy and other European countries.

A Byzantine-Greek by his mother, Vasily III, unlike other sovereigns, knew how to write and, on occasion, even sent notes to his wife “in his own hand.” However, he did not leave an autograph for his descendants. According to the existing tradition, the sovereign never signed his own decrees, giving the right to do this to the grand ducal clerks.

Under autocrat Vasily III Ivanovich, urban planning and the construction of majestic Orthodox churches continue to develop. The Italian Fioravanti builds in Moscow, following the model of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, which becomes the main shrine of Orthodox Moscow Rus'. The cathedral will be a model for Russian architects - masters of temple crafts - for many decades.

The architecture of the Moscow Archangel Cathedral, built according to the design of the Italian Aleviz Novy, turned out to be even more original. The construction of the temple took place in 1505–1508. The Archangel Cathedral became the family tomb of Moscow sovereigns and a true decoration of the Kremlin.

Under Vasily III Ivanovich, the construction of the Kremlin of the Russian capital was completed - in 1515 a brick wall was erected along the Neglinnaya River. The Moscow Kremlin is turning into one of the best fortresses in Europe. Being the permanent residence of the monarch, the Kremlin has become a symbol of the Russian state right up to the present day.

The tent style is flourishing in Russian architecture. The first tented church was the Church of the Ascension, erected in 1530–1532 in the grand-ducal estate, the village of Kolomenskoye. It was built by decree of the sovereign of “All Rus'” in honor of the birth of the heir Ivan IV Vasilyevich. This court-grand-ducal church determined the development of Russian church architecture for a long time.

During the autocratic reign of Vasily III Ivanovich, Russian chroniclers changed their writing style. They began to observe due respect for the figure of the sovereign. Now they no longer expressed doubts in the chronicles about the wisdom of the great Moscow prince and his heirs and did not expose the cowardice of the rulers on the battlefield. Perhaps this is why detailed characteristics of Ivan the Terrible’s father, and especially those related to his personality, have not reached us.

But it can be argued that he was a man of extraordinary abilities. All his state activities over the course of a third of a century indicate that the Grand Duke of Moscow was a sober and cautious politician. Under him, the prestige of the Russian state in Europe and the countries of the East increased noticeably. Moreover, they began to take into account not only its military strength, but also its trade, economic, cultural and religious potential, human and land resources. Foreign scientists flocked to Moscow, seeing here a good prospect for personal activity and creativity.

At the same time, the great Moscow prince, sovereign of “all Rus'” Vasily III Ivanovich was a treacherous and ambitious ruler. He sought by all means to concentrate the fullness of state power on the united Russian lands in his own hands in order to transfer this power to the legal heir, the successor of the grand ducal dynasty. And here the autocrat succeeded, although it was given to him with great difficulty.

In justification of Vasily III, the following can be said. In the means of achieving his goal, he differed little from other sovereigns of Europe and the East. Then all means were justified by the end, and in the struggle for supreme power even the closest relatives and parents were not spared.

At fifty-three, the Russian autocrat became a father for the second time. On October 30, 1533, Grand Duchess Elena gave birth to her second son, who was named Yuri. Later it turned out that the child was born defective - “not intelligent and simple and not built for anything good.” However, my father was never destined to find out about this.

During the grand-ducal hunt near Volokolamsk, the sovereign of “All Rus'” developed a fatal illness. This happened at the end of September 1533. The disease struck Vasily III Ivanovich during the move from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to Volok. Despite all the measures taken, the disease progressed rapidly.

Returning to the capital, the sick Grand Duke gathered people close to him to discuss an issue of national importance - drawing up a posthumous will. These were the beloved younger brother Andrei, Mikhail Zakharyin, the main accuser of Maxim the Greek at the church council; boyars Prince Vasily Shuisky and Mikhail Vorontsov, treasurer Pyotr Golovin and the first grand duke's favorite butler Ivan Shigona-Podzhogin. With them, the sovereign held advice about his great reign, about his young son-heir - “his son is still young,” and “how to build the kingdom after him.”

In “The Tale of the Russian Land,” the historian Alexander Nechvolodov conveys the speech of the terminally ill sovereign of “all Rus'” before the brothers Andrei and Yuri, the metropolitan and the Boyar Duma, gathered at his bedside:

“I command my son, Grand Duke Ivan - to God, the Most Pure Mother of God, the Holy Wonderworkers and you, my father Daniel, Metropolitan of All Rus': I give him my State, with which my father blessed me; and you, my brothers, Prince Yuri and Prince Andrei, would stand firmly in your word, on which you kissed the cross for me, about the zemstvo structure and about military affairs against the enemies of my son and our own, so that the hand of Orthodox Christians would be high above the busurmanism and Latinism; and you, boyars, and boyar children, and princes, would stand together with my son and with my brother against enemies and serve my son, as they served me directly.”

Those invited to the bedside of the dying sovereign were considered his executors. They also performed the functions of guardians for the infant heir, since in those days in Rus' the Grand Duchess-Widow could not be a monarch-empress.

The last days of the life of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich showed that his death would serve as a signal for a struggle for power in the boyar elite, which the autocrat of “All Rus'” had long removed from solving the most important state issues. This struggle began already with the approval of the nominal composition of the guardianship council under Ivan IV Vasilyevich.

The dying Vasily III, not without reason, feared that the boyars, who had not forgotten his disgrace and prison “seats” in the “iron,” would not spare the young heir and the widowed Grand Duchess. Therefore, three more people are introduced into the circle of guardians: Prince Mikhail Glinsky, known for his indomitable temper, Prince Ivan Shuisky, brother of Vasily Shuisky, and Mikhail Tuchkov-Morozov, nephew of Mikhail Zakharyin. Already in the very composition of the guardian council there were visible forces that in the near future were to wage a mortal struggle for a place at the grand ducal throne and for the throne itself.

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Ivan III Vasilievich (Ivan the Great) b. January 22, 1440 - died October 27, 1505 - Grand Duke of Moscow from 1462 to 1505, sovereign of all Rus'. Collector of Russian lands around Moscow, creator of an all-Russian state.

In the middle of the 15th century, Russian lands and principalities were in a state of political fragmentation. There were several strong political centers towards which all other regions gravitated; each of these centers pursued a completely independent internal policy and resisted all external enemies.

Such centers of power were Moscow, Novgorod the Great, beaten more than once, but still mighty Tver, as well as the Lithuanian capital - Vilna, which owned the entire colossal Russian region, called “Lithuanian Rus”. Political games, civil strife, foreign wars, economic and geographical factors gradually subjugated the weak to the strong. The possibility of creating a unified state arose.

Childhood

Ivan III was born on January 22, 1440 in the family of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich. Ivan's mother was Maria Yaroslavna, daughter of the appanage prince Yaroslav Borovsky, Russian princess of the Serpukhov branch of the house of Daniel. He was born on the day of memory of the Apostle Timothy and in his honor received his “direct name” - Timothy. The nearest church holiday was the day of the transfer of the relics of St. John Chrysostom, in honor of which the prince received the name by which he is best known in history.

In his childhood, the prince suffered all the hardships of civil strife. 1452 - he was already sent as the nominal head of the army on a campaign against the Ustyug fortress of Kokshengu. The heir to the throne successfully fulfilled the order he received, cutting off Ustyug from the Novgorod lands and brutally ruining the Koksheng volost. Returning from the campaign with a victory, on June 4, 1452, Prince Ivan married his bride. Soon, the bloody civil strife that had lasted for a quarter of a century began to subside.

In subsequent years, Prince Ivan became his father's co-ruler. The inscription “Ospodari of All Rus'” appears on the coins of the Moscow State; he himself, like his father, Vasily, bears the title “Grand Duke”.

Accession to the throne

1462, March - Ivan's father, Grand Duke Vasily, became seriously ill. Shortly before this, he had drawn up a will, according to which he divided the grand-ducal lands between his sons. As the eldest son, Ivan received not only the great reign, but also the bulk of the territory of the state - 16 main cities (not counting Moscow, which he was supposed to own together with his brothers). When Vasily died on March 27, 1462, Ivan became the new Grand Duke without any problems.

Reign of Ivan III

Throughout the reign of Ivan III, the main goal of the country's foreign policy was the unification of northeastern Rus' into a single state. Having become the Grand Duke, Ivan III began his unification activities by confirming previous agreements with neighboring princes and generally strengthening his position. Thus, agreements were concluded with the Tver and Belozersky principalities; Prince Vasily Ivanovich, married to the sister of Ivan III, was placed on the throne of the Ryazan principality.

Unification of principalities

Beginning in the 1470s, activities aimed at annexing the remaining Russian principalities intensified sharply. The first was the Yaroslavl principality, which finally lost the remnants of independence in 1471. 1472 - Prince of Dmitrov Yuri Vasilyevich, Ivan’s brother, died. The Dmitrov principality passed to the Grand Duke.

1474 - the turn of the Rostov principality came. The Rostov princes sold “their half” of the principality to the treasury, finally turning into a service nobility as a result. The Grand Duke transferred what he received to his mother's inheritance.

Capture of Novgorod

The situation with Novgorod developed differently, which is explained by the difference in the nature of the statehood of the appanage principalities and the trade-aristocratic Novgorod state. An influential anti-Moscow party was formed there. A collision with Ivan III could not be avoided. 1471, June 6 - a ten-thousandth detachment of Moscow troops under the command of Danila Kholmsky set out from the capital in the direction of the Novgorod land, a week later the army of Striga Obolensky set out on a campaign, and on June 20, 1471, Ivan III himself began a campaign from Moscow. The advance of Moscow troops through the lands of Novgorod was accompanied by robberies and violence designed to intimidate the enemy.

Novgorod also did not sit idle. A militia was formed from the townspeople; the number of this army reached 40,000 people, but its combat effectiveness, due to the hasty formation of townspeople not trained in military affairs, was low. On July 14, a battle began between the opponents. In the process, the Novgorod army was completely defeated. The losses of the Novgorodians amounted to 12,000 people, about 2,000 people were captured.

1471, August 11 - a peace treaty was concluded, according to which Novgorod was obliged to pay an indemnity of 16,000 rubles, retained its state structure, but could not “surrender” to the rule of the Lithuanian Grand Duke; A significant part of the vast Dvina land was ceded to the Grand Duke of Moscow. But several more years passed before the final defeat of Novgorod, until on January 15, 1478 Novgorod surrendered, the veche order was abolished, and the veche bell and the city archive were sent to Moscow.

Invasion of the Tatar Khan Akhmat

Ivan III tears up the Khan's letter

Relations with the Horde, which were already tense, completely deteriorated by the early 1470s. The horde continued to disintegrate; on the territory of the former Golden Horde, in addition to its immediate successor (the “Great Horde”), the Astrakhan, Kazan, Crimean, Nogai and Siberian Hordes were also formed.

1472 - Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat began a campaign against Rus'. At Tarusa the Tatars met with a large Russian army. All attempts of the Horde to cross the Oka were repulsed. The Horde army burned the city of Aleksin, but the campaign as a whole ended in failure. Soon, Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Khan of the Great Horde, which inevitably should have led to new clashes.

1480, summer - Khan Akhmat moved to Rus'. Ivan III, having gathered his troops, headed south to the Oka River. For 2 months, the army, ready for battle, was waiting for the enemy, but Khan Akhmat, also ready for battle, did not begin offensive actions. Finally, in September 1480, Khan Akhmat crossed the Oka River south of Kaluga and headed through Lithuanian territory to the Ugra River. Fierce clashes began.

Attempts by the Horde to cross the river were successfully repulsed by Russian troops. Soon, Ivan III sent ambassador Ivan Tovarkov to the khan with rich gifts, asking him to retreat away and not ruin the “ulus”. 1480, October 26 - the Ugra River froze. The Russian army, having gathered together, retreated to the city of Krements, then to Borovsk. On November 11, Khan Akhmat gave the order to retreat. “Standing on the Ugra” ended with the actual victory of the Russian state, which received the desired independence. Khan Akhmat was soon killed; After his death, civil strife broke out in the Horde.

Expansion of the Russian state

The peoples of the North were also included in the Russian state. 1472 - “Great Perm”, inhabited by the Komi, Karelian lands, was annexed. The Russian centralized state was becoming a multinational superethnos. 1489 - Vyatka, remote and largely mysterious lands beyond the Volga for modern historians, was annexed to the Russian state.

The rivalry with Lithuania was of great importance. Moscow's desire to subjugate all Russian lands constantly encountered opposition from Lithuania, which had the same goal. Ivan directed his efforts towards the reunification of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1492, August - troops were sent against Lithuania. They were led by Prince Fyodor Telepnya Obolensky.

The cities of Mtsensk, Lyubutsk, Mosalsk, Serpeisk, Khlepen, Rogachev, Odoev, Kozelsk, Przemysl and Serensk were taken. A number of local princes went over to Moscow’s side, which strengthened the position of the Russian troops. And although the results of the war were secured by a dynastic marriage between the daughter of Ivan III Elena and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander, the war for the Seversky lands soon broke out with renewed vigor. The decisive victory in it was won by Moscow troops at the Battle of Vedrosh on July 14, 1500.

By the beginning of the 16th century, Ivan III had every reason to call himself the Grand Duke of All Rus'.

Personal life of Ivan III

Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog

The first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver, died on April 22, 1467. Ivan began to look for another wife. 1469, February 11 - ambassadors from Rome appeared in Moscow to propose that the Grand Duke marry the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Paleologus, who lived in exile after the fall of Constantinople. Ivan III, having overcome his religious rejection, sent the princess out of Italy and married her in 1472. In October of the same year, Moscow welcomed 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.

The main significance of this marriage was that the marriage to Sophia Paleologus contributed to the establishment of Russia as the successor to Byzantium and the proclamation of Moscow as the Third Rome, the stronghold of Orthodox Christianity. After his marriage to Sophia, Ivan III for the first time dared to show the European political world the new title of Sovereign of All Rus' and forced them to recognize it. Ivan was called “the sovereign of all Rus'.”

Formation of the Moscow State

At the beginning of Ivan's reign, the Moscow principality was surrounded by the lands of other Russian principalities; dying, he handed over to his son Vasily the country that united most of these principalities. Only Pskov, Ryazan, Volokolamsk and Novgorod-Seversky were able to maintain relative independence.

During the reign of Ivan III, the final formalization of the independence of the Russian state took place.

The complete unification of Russian lands and principalities into a powerful power required a series of cruel, bloody wars, in which one of the rivals had to crush the forces of all the others. Internal transformations were no less necessary; in the state system of each of the listed centers, semi-dependent appanage principalities continued to be preserved, as well as cities and institutions that had noticeable autonomy.

Their complete subordination to the central government ensured that whoever could do it first would have a strong rear in the fight against neighbors and an increase in their own military power. To put it another way, the greatest chance of victory was not the state that had the most perfect, softest and most democratic legislation, but the state whose internal unity would be unshakable.

Before Ivan III, who ascended the grand-ducal throne in 1462, such a state had not yet existed, and hardly anyone could have imagined the very possibility of its emergence in such a short period of time and within such impressive borders. In all of Russian history there is no event or process comparable in significance to the formation at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. Moscow State.

The grateful descendants of their ruler Ivan III Vasilyevich called him “the Collector of Russian Lands” and Ivan the Great. And he extolled this statesman even higher than. He, the Grand Duke of Moscow, ruled the country from 1462 to 1505, managing to increase the territory of the state from 24 thousand square kilometers to 64 thousand. But the main thing is that he finally managed to free Rus' from the obligation to pay a huge quitrent to the Golden Horde every year.

Ivan the Third was born in January 1440. The boy became the eldest son of the Great Moscow Prince Vasily II Vasilyevich and Maria Yaroslavna, granddaughter of Prince Vladimir the Brave. When Ivan was 5 years old, his father was captured by the Tatars. In the Principality of Moscow, the eldest of the descendants, the prince, was immediately placed on the throne. For his release, Vasily II was forced to promise the Tatars a ransom, after which the prince was released. Arriving in Moscow, Ivan’s father again took the throne, and Shemyaka went to Uglich.

Many contemporaries were dissatisfied with the actions of the prince, who only worsened the situation of the people by increasing the tribute to the Horde. Dmitry Yuryevich became the organizer of a conspiracy against the Grand Duke, together with his comrades-in-arms, he took Vasily II prisoner and blinded him. Those close to Vasily II and his children managed to hide in Murom. But soon the freed prince, who by that time had received the nickname Dark due to his blindness, went to Tver. There he enlisted the support of Grand Duke Boris Tverskoy, betrothing six-year-old Ivan to his daughter Maria Borisovna.

Soon Vasily managed to restore power in Moscow, and after the death of Shemyaka, civil strife finally ceased. Having married his bride in 1452, Ivan became his father's co-ruler. The city of Pereslavl-Zalessky came under his control, and at the age of 15, Ivan had already made his first campaign against the Tatars. By the age of 20, the young prince led the army of the Moscow principality.

At the age of 22, Ivan had to take over the reign on his own: Vasily II died.

Governing body

After the death of his father, Ivan the Third inherited the largest and most significant inheritance, which included part of Moscow and the largest cities: Kolomna, Vladimir, Pereyaslavl, Kostroma, Ustyug, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod. Ivan's brothers Andrey Bolshoy, Andrey Menshoy and Boris were given control over Uglich, Vologda and Volokolamsk.

Ivan III, as his father bequeathed, continued the policy of gathering. He consolidated the Russian state by all possible means: sometimes by diplomacy and persuasion, and sometimes by force. In 1463, Ivan III managed to annex the Yaroslavl principality, and in 1474 the state expanded due to the lands of Rostov.

But that was just the beginning. Rus' continued to expand, acquiring vast expanses of Novgorod lands. Then Tver surrendered to the mercy of the winner, and behind it Vyatka and Pskov gradually came into the possession of Ivan the Great.

The Grand Duke managed to win two wars with Lithuania, taking possession of a large part of the Smolensk and Chernigov principalities. Tribute to Ivan III was paid by the Livonian Order.

A significant event during the reign of Ivan III was the annexation of Novgorod. The Grand Duchy of Moscow tried to annex Novgorod since the time of Ivan Kalita, but only succeeded in imposing tribute on the city. The Novgorodians sought to maintain independence from Moscow and even sought support from the Principality of Lithuania. The only thing that kept them from taking the final step was that Orthodoxy was in danger in this case.

However, with the installation of the Lithuanian protege, Prince Mikhail Olelkovich, in 1470 Novgorod signed an agreement with King Casemir. Having learned about this, Ivan III sent ambassadors to the northern city, and after disobedience, a year later he started a war. During the Battle of Shelon, the Novgorodians were defeated, but no help came from Lithuania. As a result of negotiations, Novgorod was declared the patrimony of the Moscow prince.

Six years later, Ivan III launched another campaign against Novgorod, after the city’s boyars refused to recognize him as sovereign. For two years, the Grand Duke led a grueling siege for the Novgorodians, ultimately finally subjugating the city. In 1480, the resettlement of Novgorodians began to the lands of the Moscow Principality, and Moscow boyars and merchants to Novgorod.

But the main thing is that from 1480 the Grand Duke of Moscow stopped paying tribute to the Horde. Rus' finally sighed from the 250-year yoke. It is noteworthy that liberation was achieved without bloodshed. For a whole summer, the troops of Ivan the Great and Khan Akhmat stood against each other. They were separated only by the Ugra River (the famous standing on the Ugra). But the battle never took place - the Horde left with nothing. In the game of nerves, the army of the Russian prince won.

And during the reign of Ivan III, the current Moscow Kremlin appeared, built of brick on the site of an old wooden building. A set of state laws was written and adopted - the Code of Laws, which cemented the young power. The rudiments of diplomacy and a local landowning system, advanced for its time, also appeared. Serfdom began to take shape. Peasants, who previously moved from one owner to another freely, were now limited to the term of St. George's Day. The peasants were allocated a certain time of year for the transition - the week before and after the autumn holiday.

Thanks to Ivan the Third, the Grand Duchy of Moscow turned into a strong state, which became known in Europe. And Ivan the Great himself turned out to be the first Russian ruler to call himself “the sovereign of all Rus'.” Historians claim that today’s Russia basically has the foundation that Ivan III Vasilyevich laid with his activities. Even the double-headed eagle migrated to the coat of arms of the state after the reign of the Grand Duke of Moscow. Another symbol of the Moscow principality borrowed from Byzantium was the image of St. George the Victorious slaying a serpent with a spear.

They say that the doctrine of “Moscow is the Third Rome” originated during the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. Which is not surprising, because under him the size of the state increased almost 3 times.

Personal life of Ivan III

The first wife of Ivan the Great was Princess Maria of Tverskaya. But she died after giving birth to her husband's only son.

The personal life of Ivan III changed 3 years after the death of his wife. The marriage to the enlightened Greek princess, niece and goddaughter of the last emperor of Byzantium, Zoe Paleologus, turned out to be fateful both for the sovereign himself and for all of Rus'. Baptized in Orthodoxy, she brought a lot of new and useful things into the archaic life of the state.

Etiquette appeared at court. Sofya Fominichna Paleolog insisted on rebuilding the capital, “dispatching” famous Roman architects from Europe. But the main thing is that it was she who begged her husband to decide to refuse to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, because the boyars were extremely afraid of such a radical step. Supported by his faithful wife, the sovereign tore up another khan's letter, which the Tatar ambassadors brought him.

Probably, Ivan and Sophia really loved each other. The husband listened to the wise advice of his enlightened wife, although his boyars, who previously had undivided influence over the prince, did not like this. In this marriage, which became the first dynastic, numerous offspring appeared - 5 sons and 4 daughters. State power passed to one of the sons.

Death of Ivan III

Ivan III outlived his beloved wife by only 2 years. He died on October 27, 1505. The Grand Duke was buried in the Archangel Cathedral.

Later, in 1929, the relics of both wives of Ivan the Great - Maria Borisovna and Sofia Paleologue - were transferred to the basement chamber of this temple.

Memory

The memory of Ivan III is immortalized in a number of sculptural monuments, which are located in Kaluga, Naryan-Mar, Moscow, and in Veliky Novgorod on the “Millennium of Russia” monument. Several documentaries are devoted to the biography of the Grand Duke, including those from the “Rulers of Rus'” series. The love story of Ivan Vasilyevich and Sofia Paleolog formed the basis of the plot of the Russian series by Alexei Andrianov, where the main roles were played by and.

The reign of Ivan III and his contribution to the collection of Russian lands

Introduction

Childhood and youth of Ivan III

Fight with Kazan

Conquest of Novgorod

Marching “peacefully” to Veliky Novgorod

Standing on the Ugra

Conquest of Tver and Vyatka

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The reign of Ivan Vasilyevich (1462 - 1505) was the most important stage in the process of creating a unified Russian state. This is the time of the formation of the main territory of Russia, its final liberation from the Mongol yoke and the formation of the political foundations of a centralized state. Ivan III was a major statesman, a man of great political plans and decisive undertakings. Smart, far-sighted, prudent and persistent, but cautious and cunning, he was a worthy successor to his father’s work. Ivan Vasilyevich was nicknamed the Great for a long time.

Almost half a century of his reign was marked by the struggle for the reunification of the Russian lands. Ivan III managed to change the entire appearance of the state - transform it from a strong principality into a powerful centralized power.

With great success, Ivan Vasilyevich brought about the unification of different regions of Great Russia under his authority. To do this, he mobilized large military forces, but he did not need bloody battles, since the population did not offer serious resistance.

Purpose of the work: to consider the features of the reign of Ivan III.

1. Consider the childhood and youth of Ivan III.

2. Study the first years of the reign.

3. Consider the features of the fight against Kazan.

4. Study how Ivan III conquered Novgorod.

5. Consider the main points of standing on the Ugra.

6. Study how Ivan III conquered Tver and Vyatka.

Childhood and youth of Ivan III

Ivan III was born on January 22, 1440. He came from a family of Moscow grand dukes. His father was Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark, his mother was Princess Maria Yaroslavna, granddaughter of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo V.A. Serpukhovsky. A few days after the birth of the boy, on January 27, the church remembered the “transfer of the relics of St. John Chrysostom.” In honor of this great saint, the baby was named John. Wanting to legitimize the new order of succession to the throne and take away from hostile princes any pretext for unrest, Vasily II, during his lifetime, named Ivan Grand Duke. All letters were written on behalf of the two great princes. In 1446, Ivan was engaged to Maria, the daughter of Prince Boris Alexandrovich Tverskoy, who was distinguished by his caution and foresight. The groom was about seven years old at the time of engagement. This future marriage was supposed to symbolize the reconciliation of eternal rivals - Moscow and Tver. In the last ten years of Vasily II's life, Prince Ivan was constantly with his father, participating in all his affairs and campaigns. By 1462, when Vasily died, 22-year-old Ivan was already a man who had seen a lot, with an established character, ready to solve difficult state issues.

The first years of the reign of Ivan III

At the end of 1461, a conspiracy in Moscow was discovered. Its participants wanted to free the Serpukhov prince Vasily Yaroslavich, who was languishing in captivity, and maintained contact with the camp of emigrants in Lithuania - political opponents of Vasily II. The conspirators were captured. At the beginning of 1462, during Lent, they were given a painful execution. The bloody events against the backdrop of Lenten penitential prayers marked a change of eras and the gradual onset of autocracy. Soon, on March 27, 1462, at 3 am, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark died.

There was now a new sovereign in Moscow - 22-year-old Grand Duke Ivan. As always at the moment of transfer of power, external opponents perked up, as if they wanted to make sure whether the young sovereign was firmly holding the reins of power in his hands. The Novgorodians have not fulfilled the terms of the Yazhelbitsky Treaty with Moscow for a long time. The Pskovites expelled the Moscow governor. In Kazan, Khan Ibrahim, who was unfriendly to Moscow, was in power. Vasily the Dark, in his spiritual life, directly blessed his eldest son with “his fatherland” - a great reign. Since Batu subjugated Rus', the thrones of the Russian princes were controlled by the Horde ruler. Now no one asked his opinion. Akhmat, the khan of the Great Horde, who dreamed of the glory of the first conquerors of Rus', could hardly come to terms with this. It was also restless in the grand ducal family itself. The sons of Vasily the Dark, the younger brothers of Ivan III, received, according to their father’s will, almost as much as the Grand Duke inherited, and were dissatisfied with this.

In such a situation, the young sovereign decided to act assertively. Already in 1463, Yaroslavl was annexed to Moscow. Local princes, in exchange for possessions in the Yaroslavl principality, received lands and villages from the hands of the Grand Duke. Pskov and Novgorod, dissatisfied with the overbearing hand of Moscow, were easily able to find a common language. In the same year, German regiments entered the Pskov borders. Pskovites turned to Moscow and Novgorod for help at the same time. However, the Novgorodians were in no hurry to help their “younger brother.” The Grand Duke did not allow the arriving Pskov ambassadors to see him for three days. Only after this did he agree to change his anger to mercy. As a result, Pskov received a governor from Moscow, and its relations with Novgorod sharply worsened. This episode best demonstrates the methods with which Ivan Vasilyevich usually achieved success: he tried first to separate and quarrel his opponents, and then make peace with them one by one, while achieving favorable conditions for himself. The Grand Duke went to military conflicts only in exceptional cases, when all other means had been exhausted. Already in the first years of his reign, Ivan III knew how to play a subtle diplomatic game. In 1464, the arrogant Akhmat, the ruler of the Great Horde, decided to go to Rus'. But at the decisive moment, when the Tatar hordes were ready to pour into Rus', the troops of the Crimean Khan Azy-Girey struck them in the rear. Akhmat was forced to think about his own salvation. This was the result of an agreement reached in advance between Moscow and Crimea.

Fight with Kazan

A conflict with Kazan was inevitably approaching. The fighting was preceded by long preparations. Since the time of Vasily II, the Tatar prince Kasym lived in Rus', who had undoubted rights to the throne in Kazan. It was he who Ivan Vasilyevich intended to establish in Kazan as his protege. Moreover, the local nobility persistently invited Kasym to take the throne, promising support. In 1467, the first campaign of Moscow regiments against Kazan took place. It was not possible to take the city on the move, and the Kazan allies did not dare to take the side of the besiegers. To top it all off, Kasym died soon after.

Ivan Vasilyevich urgently had to change his plans. Almost immediately after the unsuccessful expedition, the Tatars made several raids on Russian lands. The Grand Duke ordered to strengthen the garrisons in Galich, Nizhny Novgorod and Kostroma and began preparing a large campaign against Kazan. All layers of the Moscow population and lands subject to Moscow were mobilized. Individual regiments consisted entirely of Moscow merchants and townspeople. The Grand Duke's brothers led the militias of their domains.

The army was divided into three groups. The first two, led by governors Konstantin Bezzubtsev and Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Obolensky, converged near Ustyug and Nizhny Novgorod. The third army of Prince Daniil Vasilyevich Yaroslavsky moved to Vyatka. According to the Grand Duke’s plan, the main forces should have stopped before reaching Kazan, while the “willing people” (volunteers) and the detachment of Daniil of Yaroslavl were supposed to make the khan believe that the main blow should be expected from this side. However, when they began to call out those who wanted to, almost the entire army of Bezzubtsev volunteered to go to Kazan. Having plundered the outskirts of the city, this part of the Russian regiments found themselves in a difficult situation and was forced to fight their way to Nizhny Novgorod. As a result, the main goal was again not achieved.

But Ivan Vasilyevich was not the type to accept failure. In September 1469, the new Moscow army under the command of the brother of the Grand Duke, Yuri Vasilyevich Dmitrovsky, again approached the walls of Kazan. The “ship’s” army also took part in the campaign (that is, the army loaded onto river ships). Having besieged the city and cut off the access to water, the Russians forced Khan Ibrahim to capitulate, “took the world with all their will” and achieved the extradition of the “full” - compatriots languishing in captivity.

Conquest of Novgorod

New alarming news came from Novgorod the Great. By the end of 1470, the Novgorodians, taking advantage of the fact that Ivan Vasilyevich was absorbed first by internal problems and then by the war with Kazan, stopped paying duties to Moscow and again seized the lands that they had renounced under an agreement with the former great princes. In the veche republic, the party oriented toward Lithuania has always been strong. In November 1470, the Novgorodians accepted Mikhail Olelkovich as prince. In Moscow there was no doubt that behind him stood the rival of the Moscow sovereign in Rus' - the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir IV. Ivan Vasilyevich believed that the conflict was inevitable. But he would not be himself if he immediately entered into armed confrontation. For several months, until the summer of 1471, active diplomatic preparations were underway. Thanks to the efforts of Moscow, Pskov took an anti-Novgorod position.

The main patron of the free city was Casimir IV. In February 1471, his son Vladislav became the Czech king, but in the struggle for the throne he had a powerful competitor - the Hungarian sovereign Matthew Corvinus, who was supported by the Pope and the Livonian Order. Vladislav would not have been able to stay in power without his father’s help. The far-sighted Ivan Vasilyevich waited for almost six months, without starting hostilities, until Poland was drawn into the war for the Czech throne. Casimir IV did not dare to fight on two fronts. Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat also did not come to the aid of Novgorod, fearing an attack by Moscow’s ally, the Crimean Khan Hadzhi Giray. Novgorod was left alone with the formidable and powerful Moscow.

In May 1471, a plan for an offensive against the Novgorod Republic was finally developed. It was decided to strike from three sides in order to force the enemy to split up his forces. “That same summer... the prince and his brethren went with all their might to Novgorod the Great, fighting and captivating on all sides,” the chronicler wrote about this. It was terrible dryness, and this made the usually impassable swamps near Novgorod quite surmountable for the grand ducal regiments. All North-Eastern Rus', obedient to the will of the Grand Duke, converged under his banner. Allied armies from Tver, Pskov, Vyatka were preparing for the campaign, regiments were arriving from the possessions of Ivan Vasilyevich’s brothers. Riding in the convoy was the clerk Stefan the Bearded, who could speak from memory using quotes from Russian chronicles. This “weapon” was very useful later in negotiations with the Novgorodians.

The Moscow regiments entered the Novgorod borders in three streams. A 10,000-strong detachment of Prince Daniil Kholmsky and governor Fyodor the Lame acted on the left flank. The regiment of Prince Ivan Striga Obolensky was sent to the right flank to prevent the influx of fresh forces from the eastern possessions of Novgorod. In the center, at the head of the most powerful group, was the sovereign himself.

The times are irrevocably gone when in 1170 “free men” - the Novgorodians - completely defeated the army of the Moscow prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. As if yearning for those times, at the end of the 15th century. an unknown Novgorod master created an icon depicting that glorious victory. Now everything was different. On July 14, 1471, a 40,000-strong army - all that they could muster in Novgorod - clashed in battle with the detachment of Daniil Kholmsky and Fyodor the Lame. As the chronicle narrates, “... the Novgorodians soon fled, driven by the wrath of God... The regiments of the Grand Duke chased after them, stabbed them and flogged them.” The posadniks were captured and the text of the treaty with Casimir IV was found. In it, in particular, there were the following words: “And the great prince of Moscow will go to Veliky Novgorod, for you, our honest lord king, will mount a horse for Veliky Novgorod against the great prince.” The Moscow Sovereign was furious. The captured Novgorodians were executed without pity. The embassies arriving from Novgorod asked in vain to calm the anger and begin negotiations.

Only when Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod arrived at the Grand Duke’s headquarters in Korostyn did the Grand Duke heed his pleas, having previously subjected the ambassadors to a humiliating procedure. At first, the Novgorodians beat the Moscow boyars with their foreheads, they, in turn, turned to Ivan Vasilyevich’s brothers so that they beg the sovereign himself. The rightness of the Grand Duke was proven by references to the chronicles that the clerk Stefan the Bearded knew so well. On August 11, the Korostyn Treaty was concluded. From now on, Novgorod's foreign policy was completely subordinate to the will of the Grand Duke. Veche letters were now issued on behalf of the Moscow sovereign and sealed with his seal. For the first time he was recognized as the supreme judge in the affairs of hitherto free Novgorod.

This masterfully conducted military campaign and diplomatic success made Ivan Vasilyevich the true “sovereign of all Rus'.” On September 1, 1471, he entered his capital in victory to the enthusiastic cries of Muscovites. The rejoicing continued for several days. Everyone felt that the victory over Novgorod would raise Moscow and its sovereign to previously unattainable heights. On April 30, 1472, the ceremonial laying of the new Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin took place. It was supposed to become a visible symbol of Moscow's power and unity of Rus'.

In July 1472, Khan Akhmat reminded himself of himself, who still considered Ivan III his “ulusnik,” i.e. subjects. Having deceived the Russian outposts that were waiting for him on all roads, he suddenly appeared under the walls of Aleksin, a small fortress on the border with the Wild Field. Akhmat besieged and set fire to the city. The brave defenders chose to die, but did not lay down their arms. Once again a terrible danger loomed over Russia. Only the union of all Russian forces could stop the Horde. Approaching the banks of the Oka, Akhmat saw a majestic picture. In front of him stretched “many regiments of the Grand Duke, like a wavering sea, and the armor on them was pure and great, like shining silver, and the weapons were great.” After some thought, Akhmat ordered to retreat...

Marriage to Sophia Paleolog. Family matters

The first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver, died on April 22, 1467: around midnight. The Grand Duchess was 25 years old. There were rumors about her poisoning.

And on February 11, 1469, an ambassador from Rome, the Greek Yuri, arrived in Moscow from Cardinal Vissarion. He came to the Grand Duke to propose that he marry Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who lived in exile after the fall of Constantinople. For the Russians, Byzantium was for a long time the only Orthodox kingdom, a stronghold of the true faith. The Byzantine Empire fell under the blows of the Turks, but, having become related to the dynasty of its last emperors, Rus', as it were, declared its rights to the legacy of Byzantium, to the majestic spiritual role that this power once played in the world. Soon, a representative of Ivan III, an Italian in the Russian service, Gian Battista della Volpe (Ivan Fryazin, as he was called in Moscow), went to Rome. 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. First of all, Sophia held a prayer service in the church, and then, accompanied by Metropolitan Philip, went to the chambers of Grand Duchess Maria Yaroslavna, where she met her future husband. On the same day, a 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.

Crowned rulers almost never have quiet days. Such is the lot of the sovereign. Soon after the wedding, Ivan III went to Rostov to visit his sick mother and there received news of the death of his brother Yuri. Yuri was only a year younger than the Grand Duke. Returning to Moscow, Ivan III decides to take an unprecedented step. In violation of ancient custom, he annexes all the lands of the deceased Yuri to the great reign, without sharing with his brothers. An open break was brewing. It was their mother, Maria Yaroslavna, who managed to reconcile the sons that time. According to the agreement they concluded, Andrei Bolshoy (Uglitsky) received the city of Romanov on the Volga, Boris - Vyshgorod, Andrei Menshoi Tarusa. Dmitrov, where the late Yuri reigned, remained with the Grand Duke. For a long time, Ivan Vasilyevich cherished the idea of ​​achieving an increase in his power at the expense of his brothers - the appanage princes. Shortly before the campaign against Novgorod, he proclaimed his son Grand Duke. According to the Korostyn Treaty, the rights of Ivan Ivanovich were equal to the rights of his father. This raised the heir to unprecedented heights and excluded the claims of Ivan III's brothers to the throne. And now another step was taken, laying the foundation for new relations between members of the grand ducal family.

On the night of April 4-5, 1473, Moscow was engulfed in flames. Severe fires, alas, were not uncommon. That night Metropolitan Philip passed away into eternity. His successor was Bishop Gerontius of Kolomna. The Assumption Cathedral, his favorite brainchild, briefly outlived the late Bishop. On May 20, the walls of the temple, which was almost completed, collapsed. The Grand Duke decided to start building a new shrine himself. On his instructions, Semyon Ivanovich Tolbuzin went to Venice, who negotiated with the skilled stone, foundry and cannon master Aristotle Fioravanti. In March 1475, the Italian arrived in Moscow. He led the construction of the Assumption Church, which still adorns Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin.

Marching “Peace” to Veliky Novgorod. End of the Veche Republic

Defeated, but not completely subjugated, Novgorod could not help but bother the Grand Duke of Moscow. On November 21, 1475, Ivan III arrived in the capital of the veche republic “in peace.” Everywhere he accepted gifts from residents, and with them complaints about the arbitrariness of the authorities. The “wild people” - the veche elite led by Bishop Theophilus - organized a magnificent meeting. Feasts and receptions continued for almost two months. But even here, the sovereign must have noticed which of the boyars was his friend and which was a hidden “enemy.” On November 25, representatives of Slavkova and Mikitina streets filed a complaint with him about the arbitrariness of senior Novgorod officials. After the trial, posadniks Vasily Onanin, Bogdan Esipov and several other people, all leaders and supporters of the “Lithuanian” party, were captured and sent to Moscow. The pleas of the archbishop and the boyars did not help. In February 1476, the Grand Duke returned to Moscow.

The star of Novgorod the Great was inexorably approaching sunset. The society of the veche republic has long been divided into two parts. Some stood for Moscow, others looked hopefully towards King Casimir IV. In February 1477, Novgorod ambassadors arrived in Moscow. Welcoming Ivan Vasilyevich, they called him not “Mr.,” as usual, but “Sovereign.” At that time, such an address expressed complete submission. Ivan III immediately took advantage of this circumstance. Boyars Fyodor Khromoy, Ivan Tuchko Morozov and clerk Vasily Dolmatov went to Novgorod to inquire what kind of “state” the Novgorodians wanted from the Grand Duke. A meeting was held at which the Moscow ambassadors outlined the essence of the matter. Supporters of the “Lithuanian” party heard what was being said and threw accusations of treason at the boyar Vasily Nikiforov, who had visited Moscow, in the face: “Perevetnik, you visited the Grand Duke and kissed his cross against us.” Vasily and several other active supporters of Moscow were killed. Novgorod was worried for six weeks. The ambassadors were told of their desire to live with Moscow “in the old way” (i.e., preserve Novgorod freedom). It became clear that a new campaign could not be avoided.

But Ivan III, as usual, was in no hurry. He understood that every day the Novgorodians would become increasingly mired in mutual squabbles and accusations, and the number of his supporters would begin to grow under the impression of an impending armed threat. And so it happened. When the Grand Duke set out from Moscow at the head of the united forces, the Novgorodians could not even gather regiments to try to repel the attack. The young Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich was left in the capital. On the way to headquarters, Novgorod embassies kept arriving in hopes of starting negotiations, but they were not even allowed to see the sovereign. When no more than 30 km remained to Novgorod, Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod himself arrived with the boyars. They called Ivan Vasilyevich “sovereign” and asked to “put aside anger” against Novgorod. However, when it came to negotiations, it turned out that the ambassadors did not clearly understand the current situation and demanded too much.

The Grand Duke and his army walked across the ice of Lake Ilmen and stood under the very walls of the city. Moscow armies besieged Novgorod on all sides. Every now and then reinforcements arrived. The Pskov regiments with cannons, the brothers of the Grand Duke with their troops, and the Tatars of the Kasimov prince Daniyar arrived. Theophilus, who once again visited the Moscow camp, was given the answer: “We, the Grand Duke, our sovereign, will delight our fatherland Novgorod to beat us with our foreheads, and they know, our fatherland, how... to beat us with our foreheads.” Meanwhile, the situation in the besieged city noticeably worsened. There was not enough food, pestilence began, and internecine squabbles intensified. Finally, on December 7, 1477, in response to a direct question from the ambassadors about what kind of “state” Ivan III wanted in Novgorod, the Moscow sovereign replied: “We want our state like in Moscow, our state is like this: there will not be a veche bell in our fatherland in Novgorod, there will not be a mayor be, but we should keep our state like we have on the lower land.” These words sounded like a verdict to the Novgorod veche freemen. The territory of the state being assembled by Moscow has increased several times. The annexation of Novgorod is one of the most important results of the activities of Ivan III, the Grand Duke of Moscow and “All Rus'”.

Standing on the Ugra. The end of the Horde yoke

In the spring of 1480, Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat went with his army to Moscow, which in 1476 refused to pay tribute to the Tatars. Having reached the mouth of the Ugra River, the Mongol army was stopped by the Russian army. Russian military leaders blocked fords and river crossings for the Tatars. For several days there were battles for crossing the Ugra, but all attacks of the Horde were repulsed. The Tatars retreated two miles from the river. The Ugrians settled in Luza. The troops of Ivan III took up positions on the opposite bank. The “standing on the Ugra” began.

Akhmat was waiting for help from the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV. Ivan III entered into an agreement with his rebellious brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi and, trying to gain time while waiting for the approach of their squads, entered into negotiations with the khan. However, the Russian embassy was not successful. Skirmishes broke out periodically, but neither side dared to take active action.

At the end of October, Prince Ivan III ordered the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ugra to Borovsk, in order to give battle there in a favorable environment if the Horde crossed the river.

On November 11, 1480, Khan Akhmat, not waiting for help from the Lithuanians and learning that the army of Ivan III was operating in his deep rear, began to retreat. During wintering at the mouth of the Donets, on January 6, 1481, Khan Akhmat was killed in a clash with the army of the Siberian Khan Ibak. Soon after this, civil strife began, and the Horde broke up into a number of independent khanates, with which the Russian state fought throughout the 16th-18th centuries.

Standing on the Ugra River marked the final fall of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The Moscow state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally.

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 Tver Principality was included in the Russian state.

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. Quite recently, the Tver monk Thomas wrote enthusiastically about his Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich: “I searched a lot in the books of wisdom and among the existing kingdoms, but nowhere did I find either among the kings a king or among the princes a prince who would be like this Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich. .. And truly it is fitting for us to rejoice, seeing him, Grand Duke Boris Alexandrovich, a glorious reign, filled with much autocracy, for those who submit will receive honor from him, and those who disobey will receive execution!”

Boris Alexandrovich's son Mikhail no longer had either the power or brilliance of his father. However, he understood well what was happening in Rus': everything was moving towards Moscow - voluntarily or involuntarily, voluntarily or yielding to force. Even Novgorod the Great - and he could not resist the Moscow prince and parted with his veche bell. And the Tver boyars - don’t they run one after another to serve Ivan of Moscow?! Everything is moving towards Moscow... Will it not be his turn one day, the Grand Duke of Tver, to recognize the power of a Muscovite over himself?..

Lithuania became Mikhail'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, a remote and largely mysterious land beyond the Volga for modern historians, was annexed to the Russian state. 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.

Conclusion

The personality of Ivan the Great was controversial, as was the time in which he lived. 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. He was never in a hurry, but, realizing that the time to act had come, he acted quickly and decisively. Wise and prudent, Ivan III knew how to set clear goals for himself and achieve them.

Ivan III can confidently be called an outstanding Russian statesman who demonstrated extraordinary military and diplomatic abilities. It was under him that the Russian lands gained unity and threw off the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

Ivan was a skilled politician, a patriot of both Rus' and its capital, Moscow. Under him, Russian architects and craftsmen, together with craftsmen imported from Italy, began the reconstruction of the Kremlin, the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals, which are still striking in their harmony and beauty, were erected, the Arkhangelsk Cathedral, and many secular palace buildings were founded.

The head of a powerful state, Ivan III, adds the words “of all Rus'” to the title of Grand Duke and Sovereign (such attempts had been made earlier, under Ivan Kalita, for example, but ambitions were not then supported by real power; now there was one). And the point here is not the vanity of the Russian sovereign, but the prestige of Russia in international affairs.

Formally, Ivan III remained the Grand Duke. However, he managed to secure the title of king and autocrat for his heirs. Under him, a solemn court ceremony came into practice.

But all this is, as it were, the external entourage of royal power. For the subsequent fate of Russia, other innovations of Ivan III were much more important. This is also the growing influence of the Boyar Duma. This is also the improvement of the management of public affairs, which formed the foundation of a new apparatus of power - orders of the 16th century. This is the adoption in 1497 of the Code of Law, which created a new legal procedure. It must be said that neither England, nor France, nor Germany had national laws similar to the Code of Laws of Ivan III at that time.

Of course, Ivan III created the Russian state as a feudal, class state. Of course, being the son of his cruel age, he could be cruel, he could also be cunning in defending his interests. But he had a remarkable quality that placed him among the outstanding sovereigns of Europe at that time: when it was necessary to decide state affairs, he knew how to rise above personal interests and prejudices of the time.

List of used literature

1. Alekseev Yu. G. “Sovereign of All Rus'”,

2. Karamzin N. M. “History of the Russian State”, Kaluga, “Golden Alley”, 1997.

3. Klyuchevsky V. O. “Russian History”

4. Platonov S. F. "Textbook of Russian History"

5. Encyclopedia “History of Russia and its closest neighbors”, M., “Avanta +”, 1995.

6. http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

7. http://www.tonnel.ru/?l=gzl

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