Under Vasily III, the last semi-independent estates and principalities joined Moscow. The Grand Duke limited the privileges of the princely-boyar aristocracy. He became famous for the victorious war against Lithuania.
Childhood and youth
The future emperor of the Rus was born in the spring of 1479. They named the grand-ducal offspring in honor of Basil the Confessor, at baptism they gave the Christian name Gabriel. Vasily III is the first son born to her husband Sophia Palaeologus, and the second in seniority. At the time of his birth, his half-brother was 21 years old. Later, Sophia gave birth to her wife four more sons.
The path of Vasily III to the throne was thorny: Ivan the Young was considered the main heir and successor of the sovereign. The second rival to the throne was the son of Ivan the Young - Dmitry, who was favored by his august grandfather.
In 1490, the eldest son of Ivan III died, but the boyars did not want to see Vasily on the throne and sided with Dmitry and his mother Elena Voloshanka. The second wife of Ivan III, Sophia Palaeologus, and her son were supported by the clerks and boyar children who led the orders. Basil's supporters pushed him to a conspiracy, advising the prince to kill Dmitry Vnuk and, having seized the treasury, flee from Moscow.
The people of the sovereign uncovered the conspiracy, those involved were executed, and Ivan III put the rebellious son into custody. Suspecting his wife Sophia Palaeologus of bad intentions, the Grand Duke of Moscow began to be wary of her. Having learned that the witch doctors are coming to his wife, the emperor ordered to seize the "dashing women" and drown them under cover of night in the Moscow River.
In February 1498, Dmitry was crowned to reign, but a year later the pendulum swung in the opposite direction: the sovereign's mercy left his grandson. Vasily, at the behest of his father, took Novgorod and Pskov into reign. In the spring of 1502, Ivan III imprisoned his daughter-in-law Elena Voloshanka and grandson Dmitry, and blessed Vasily for the great reign and declared all Russia an autocrat.
Governing body
In domestic politics, Vasily III was an adherent of harsh rule and believed that power should not be limited to anything. He immediately dealt with the disaffected boyars and relied on the church in opposition to the opposition. But in 1521, Metropolitan Barlaam came under the hot hand of the Grand Duke of Moscow: for his unwillingness to take the side of the autocrat in the struggle against the appanage prince Vasily Shemyakin, the priest was exiled.
Vasily III considered criticism unacceptable. In 1525, he executed the diplomat Ivan Bersen-Beklemishev: the statesman did not accept the Greek innovations introduced into the life of Russia by the mother of the sovereign Sophia.
Over the years, the despotism of Vasily III intensified: the sovereign, increasing the number of land nobility, limited the privileges of the boyars. The son and grandson continued the centralization of Russia begun by Father Ivan III and grandfather Vasily the Dark.
In church policy, the new sovereign sided with the Josephites, who defended the monasteries' right to own land and property. Their non-covetous opponents were executed or imprisoned in monastic cells. During the reign of Father Ivan the Terrible, a new Code of Laws appeared, which has not survived to this day.
In the era of Vasily III Ivanovich, a construction boom fell, which was initiated by his father. The Archangel Cathedral appeared in the Moscow Kremlin, and the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Kolomenskoye.
The two-storey traveling palace of the tsar, one of the oldest monuments of civil architecture in the Russian capital, has also survived to this day. There were many such small palaces ("putinks"), in which Vasily III and the entourage accompanying the tsar rested before entering the Kremlin, but only the palace on Staraya Basmannaya has survived.
Opposite the "putinka" there is another architectural monument - the temple of Nikita the Martyr. It appeared in 1518 at the behest of Vasily III and was originally made of wood. In 1685, a stone church was built in its place. They prayed under the arches of the ancient temple, Fedor Rokotov,.
In foreign policy, Vasily III was noted as a collector of Russian lands. At the beginning of his reign, the Pskovites were asked to join them to the Moscow principality. The tsar dealt with them, as Ivan III had done with Novgorodians earlier: he resettled 3 hundred noble families from Pskov to Moscow, giving their estates to servicemen.
After the third siege in 1514, Smolensk was taken, for the conquest of which Vasily III used artillery. The annexation of Smolensk was the Tsar's largest military success.
In 1517, the tsar put into custody the last prince of Ryazan, Ivan Ivanovich, who had conspired with the Crimean Khan. Soon he was tonsured a monk, and his inheritance was "extended" to the Moscow principality. Then Starodubskoe and Novgorod-Severskoe princedoms surrendered.
At the beginning of his reign, Vasily III made peace with Kazan, and after breaking the agreement, he set out on a campaign against the khanate. The war with Lithuania was crowned with success. The result of the reign of the sovereign of all Russia Vasily Ivanovich was the strengthening of the country, they learned about it beyond the distant borders. Relations were established with France and India.
Personal life
Ivan III married his son a year before his death. It was not possible to find a noble spouse: Solomonia Saburova, a girl of a non-boyar family, was chosen as Vasily's wife.
At the age of 46, Vasily III was seriously concerned that his wife did not give him an heir. The boyars advised the tsar to divorce the barren Solomonia. Metropolitan Daniel approved the divorce. In November 1525, the Grand Duke parted with his wife, who was tonsured as a nun at the Nativity Convent.
After the tonsure, rumors flared up that the ex-wife imprisoned in the monastery gave birth to a son, Georgy Vasilyevich, but there is no convincing evidence of this. According to popular rumor, the grown-up son of Saburova and Vasily Ivanovich became a robber Kudeyar, sung in Nekrasov's "Song of the Twelve Thieves".
A year after the divorce, the nobleman opted for the daughter of the late Prince Glinsky. The girl conquered the king with her education and beauty. For the sake of the prince even shaved off his beard, which was contrary to Orthodox traditions.
4 years passed, and the second wife did not give the long-awaited heir to the king. The Emperor and his wife went to the Russian monasteries. It is believed that the prayers of Vasily Ivanovich and his wife were heard by the Monk Paphnutius Borovsky. In August 1530, Elena gave birth to her first child, Ivan, the future Ivan the Terrible. A year later, a second boy appeared - Yuri Vasilievich.
Death
The tsar did not enjoy fatherhood for long: when the first-born was 3 years old, the sovereign fell ill. On the way from the Trinity Monastery to Volokolamsk, Vasily III discovered an abscess on his thigh.
After the treatment, there was a short relief, but after a couple of months the doctor made a verdict that only a miracle could save Vasily: the patient began to get blood poisoning.
Tomb of Vasily III (right) In December, the king died, blessing the firstborn to the throne. The remains are buried in the Moscow Archangel Cathedral.
Researchers assume that Vasily III died of cancer in the last stage, but in the 16th century, doctors did not know about such a disease.
Memory
- During the reign of Vasily III, a new Code of Law was created, the Archangel Cathedral, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord were built.
- In 2007, Alexey Shishov published his research "Vasily III: The Last Collector of the Russian Land."
- In 2009, the premiere of the series "Ivan the Terrible" by the director took place, in which the role of Vasily III went to the actor.
- In 2013, Alexander Melnik's book "The Moscow Grand Duke Vasily III and the Cults of Russian Saints" was published.
Relations with the boyars
Under Vasily III, simple specific relations of subjects to the sovereign disappeared.
Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, the German ambassador who was in Moscow at that time, notes that Vasily III had a power that no monarch had, and then adds that when Muscovites are asked about a matter unknown to them, they say, equating the prince with God : " We do not know this, God knows and the sovereign".
On the face of the seal of the Grand Duke there was an inscription: “ Great Sovereign Vasily by the grace of the king and lord of all Russia". The reverse side read: “ Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov and Tver, and Yugorsk, and Perm, and many lands».
Confidence in his own exclusivity was instilled in Vasily by both his far-sighted father and the cunning Byzantine princess, his mother. Indeed, Byzantine diplomacy can be felt in all of Vasily's politics, especially in international affairs. To suppress resistance to his power, he used hard force, or cunning, or both. It should be noted that he rarely resorted to the death penalty to deal with his opponents, although many of them were imprisoned or exiled on his orders. This contrasts sharply with the wave of terror that swept Russia during the reign of his son, Tsar Ivan IV.
Vasily III ruled by means of clerks and people who did not stand out for the nobility and antiquity of the family. According to the boyars, Ivan III still consulted with them and allowed himself to contradict, but Vasily did not allow contradictions and decided affairs without boyars with his entourage - the butler Shigona Podzhogin, and five clerks.
The expression of boyar relations was at that time I.N. Bersen-Beklemishev is a very smart and well-read person. When Bersen allowed himself to contradict the Grand Duke, the latter drove him out, saying: " Go away, smerd, away, I don't need you"Later, for speeches against the Grand Duke Bersen-Beklemishev, they cut off his tongue.
Internal Church Relations
Thus, the so-called "appanages" were abolished and only ordinary servants and princes remained in the Moscow state.
War with Lithuania
Sigismund wrote to Rome on March 14 and asked to organize a crusade against the Russians by the forces of the Christian world.
The campaign began on June 14th. The army under the command of Vasily III moved in the direction of Smolensk through Borovsk. The siege lasted four weeks, accompanied by intensive shelling of the city (several Italian fortress siege specialists were involved). However, Smolensk held out again: the siege was lifted on November 1.
In February, Vasily III gave orders to prepare for the third campaign. The siege began in July. The city was literally shot at by a hurricane of artillery fire. Fires started in the city. The townspeople packed into churches, prayed to the Lord for salvation from the Moscow barbarians. A special service was written to the patron saint of the city, Mercury Smolensky. The city was commissioned on July 30 or 31.
The triumph of the capture of Smolensk was overshadowed by a strong defeat at Orsha. However, all attempts by the Lithuanians to recapture Smolensk ended in failure.
In the year, a truce was concluded with the concession of Smolensk to Moscow until "eternal peace" or "end". In the year, according to the vow he made 9 years ago, the Grand Duke founded the Novodevichy Convent near Moscow in gratitude for the capture of Smolensk.
Wars with Crimea and Kazan
During the Lithuanian war, Vasily III was in alliance with Albrecht, Elector of Brandenburg and Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, whom he helped with money for the war with Poland; Prince Sigismund, for his part, did not spare money to raise the Crimean Tatars to Moscow.
Since now the Crimean Tatars were forced to refrain from raiding the Ukrainian lands belonging to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, they turned their greedy eyes towards the Seversk land and the border regions of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This was the beginning of a protracted war between Russia and the Crimean Tatars, in which the Ottoman Turks later took part on the side of the latter.
Vasily III tried to restrain the Crimeans, trying to conclude an alliance with the Turkish Sultan, who, as the supreme sovereign, could forbid the Crimean Khan to invade Russia. But Russia and Turkey did not have any common benefits and the sultan rejected the offer of an alliance and answered with a direct demand that the Grand Duke not touch Kazan. Of course, the Grand Duke could not fulfill this requirement.
In the summer, the son and heir of Mengli-Girey, Khan Mohammed-Girey, managed to get to the outskirts of Moscow itself. The governor of Cherkassy, Evstafiy Dashkevich, at the head of the army of Ukrainian Cossacks who were in his service, raided the Seversk land. When Vasily III received news of the invasion of the Tatars, in order to gather more troops, he retreated to Volok, leaving Moscow to the Orthodox Tatar prince Peter, husband of Vasily's sister Evdokia (+ 1513). Mukhamed-Girey missed a convenient time and did not occupy Moscow, only devastating the surroundings. Rumors about the hostile plans of the Astrakhan people and the movement of the Moscow army forced the khan to retire south, taking with him a huge full.
Kazan Khan Muhammad-Emin opposed Moscow shortly after the death of Ivan III. In the spring, Vasily III sent Russian troops to Kazan, but the campaign failed - the Russians suffered two serious defeats. However, two years later, Muhammad-Emin returned the captives to Moscow and signed a friendly treaty with Vasily. After the death of Muhammad-Emin, Vasily III sent the Kasimov prince Shah-Ali to Kazan. Kazanians at first accepted him as their khan, but soon, under the influence of Crimean agents, they rebelled and invited Sahib-Girey, the brother of the Crimean khan (r.), To the Kazan throne. Shakh-Ali was allowed to return to Moscow with all his wives and property. As soon as Sahib-Girey sat in Kazan, he ordered part of the Russians living in Kazan to be destroyed, others to be enslaved.
Construction
The reign of Vasily III was marked in Moscow by the scale of stone construction.
- The walls and towers of the Kremlin were built from the side of the river. Neglinnaya.
- In the year, the Archangel Cathedral and the Church of John the Baptist at the Borovitsky Gate were consecrated.
- In the spring of the year, stone churches of the Annunciation in Vorontsov, the Annunciation in Stary Khlynov, Vladimir in Sadekh (Starosadsky Lane), the Beheading of John the Baptist near Bor, Barbara against the Pansky Court, etc. were laid in Moscow.
Temples were also built in other parts of the Russian land by decree of the tsar. In Tikhvin in the year for the miraculous
Vasily III of Moscow ruled in 1505-1533. His era was the time of the continuation of the achievements of his father Ivan III. The prince united the Russian lands around Moscow and fought numerous external enemies.
Succession to the throne
Vasily Rurikovich was born in 1479 in the family of the Grand Duke of Moscow John III. He was the second son, which means that he did not claim the throne after the death of his father. However, his elder brother John the Young tragically died at the age of 32 from a fatal illness. He developed a leg ailment (apparently gout), which caused terrible pain. The father discharged a famous European doctor from Venice, who, however, could not overcome the disease (he was later executed for this failure). The deceased heir left his son Dmitry.
This led to a dynastic dispute. On the one hand, Dmitry had the right to rule as the son of a deceased heir. But the Grand Duke had his younger sons alive. At first, John III was inclined to hand over the throne to his grandson. He even arranged a ceremony for his wedding to the kingdom (this was the first such ceremony in Russia). However, Dmitry soon found himself in disgrace with his grandfather. It is believed that the reason for this was the conspiracy of the second wife of John (and mother of Basil). She was from Byzantium (by this time Constantinople had already fallen under the pressure of the Turks). The wife wanted power to pass to her son. Therefore, she and her loyal boyars began to persuade John to change his mind. Shortly before his death, he agreed, denied Dmitry his rights to the throne and bequeathed to Vasily to be the Grand Duke. The grandson ended up in captivity and soon died there, briefly outliving his grandfather.
Fight against appanage princes
Grand Duke Vasily 3, whose foreign and domestic policy was a continuation of the deeds of his father, ascended the throne in 1505, after the death of John III.
One of the key principles of both monarchs was the idea of absolute autocracy. That is, the Grand Duke tried to concentrate power only in the hands of the monarchs. He had several opponents.
First of all - other appanage princes from the Rurik dynasty. And we are talking about those who were the direct representatives of the Moscow house. The last major turmoil in Russia began precisely because of the power disputes around the uncles and nephews who were descendants of Dmitry Donskoy.
Vasily had four younger brothers. Yuri received Dmitrov, Dmitry - Uglich, Semyon - Kaluga, Andrey - Staritsa. Moreover, they were only nominal governors and were completely dependent on the Moscow prince. This time the Rurikovichs did not make the mistake that was made in the XII century, when the state with the center in Kiev collapsed.
Boyar opposition
Numerous boyars posed another potential threat to the Grand Duke. Some of them, by the way, were distant descendants of the Rurikovichs (such as the Shuiskys). Vasily III, whose foreign and domestic policies were subordinated to the idea of the need to combat any threats to the authorities, cut off the opposition at its very root.
Such a fate, for example, awaited Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky. This nobleman was suspected of correspondence with the Lithuanian prince. Shortly before that, Vasily managed to conquer several ancient Russian cities. Shuisky became the governor of one of them. After the prince became aware of his alleged betrayal, the disgraced boyar was imprisoned, where he died in 1529. Such an uncompromising struggle against any manifestations of disloyalty was the core of the policy to unite the Russian lands around Moscow.
Another similar case occurred with Ivan Beklemishev, nicknamed Bersen. This diplomat openly criticized the Grand Duke for his policies, including the desire for everything Greek (this tendency became the norm thanks to the mother of the prince Sophia Palaeologus). Beklemishev was executed.
Church controversies
Church life was also the focus of the Grand Duke's attention. He needed the support of religious leaders to ensure the legitimacy of his own decisions. This union of the state and the church was considered the norm for the then Russia (by the way, the word "Russia" began to be used under John III).
At this time, there was a dispute in the country between the Josephites and the non-possessors. These two ecclesiastical political movements (mainly within monasteries) had opposite points of view on religious issues. Their ideological struggle could not pass by the ruler. The non-possessors pushed for reforms, including the abolition of land ownership by the monasteries, while the Josephites remained conservative. Vasily III was on the side of the latter. Foreign and domestic policy of the prince corresponded to the views of the Josephites. As a result, the church opposition was repressed. Among its representatives were such famous persons as Maxim the Greek and Vassian Patrikeev.
Unification of Russian lands
Grand Duke Vasily 3, whose foreign and domestic policies were closely intertwined, continued to annex the remaining independent Russian principalities to Moscow.
Even during the reign of John III, she became a vassal of the southern neighbor. In 1509, a veche gathered in the city, at which residents expressed their displeasure with the rule of Vasily. He arrived in Veliky Novgorod to discuss this conflict. As a result, the veche was canceled, but the patrimony.
However, such a decision could cause unrest in the freedom-loving city. To avoid the "ferment of minds", the most influential and noble aristocrats of Pskov were resettled to the capital, and Moscow appointees took their place. This effective technique was used by John when he annexed Veliky Novgorod.
Ryazan Prince Ivan Ivanovich in 1517 tried to conclude an alliance with the Crimean Khan. Moscow was inflamed with anger. The prince was taken into custody, and Ryazan became part of the united Russian state. Domestic and foreign policy of Vasily III turned out to be consistent and successful.
Conflict with Lithuania
Wars with neighbors are another important point that distinguished the reign of Vasily 3. The prince's domestic and foreign policy could not but contribute to the conflicts of Muscovy with other states.
The principality of Lithuania was another Russian center and continued to claim the leading position in the region. It was an ally of Poland. Many Russian Orthodox boyars and feudal lords were in the service of the Lithuanian prince.
Smolensk became the main one between the two powers. This ancient city became part of Lithuania in the XIV century. Vasily wanted to return him to Moscow. Because of this, there were two wars during his reign (in 1507-1508 and 1512-1522). As a result, Smolensk was returned to Russia.
So Vasily 3 opposed many opponents. Foreign and domestic policy (the table is an excellent format for visualizing what we have said) of the prince, as already mentioned, was a natural continuation of the actions of Ivan 3, undertaken by him to defend the interests of the Orthodox Church and centralize the state. Below we will discuss what all this resulted in.
Wars with the Crimean Tatars
Success accompanied the measures taken by Vasily 3. Foreign and domestic policy (the table briefly shows this well) was the key to the development and enrichment of the country. Another cause of concern was They made constant raids into Russia and often entered into an alliance with the Polish king. Vasily did not want to put up with this. Domestic and foreign policy (it is unlikely to be able to talk about this briefly) had a clearly defined goal - to protect the lands of the principality from invasions. For this purpose, a rather peculiar practice was introduced. Tatars from noble families began to be invited to the service, allotting them land holdings. The prince was also friendly towards more distant states. He strove to develop trade with the European powers. He considered the possibility of concluding a union (directed against Turkey) with the Pope.
Family problems
As in the case of any monarch, it was very important who Vasily 3 would marry. Foreign and domestic politics were important spheres of his activity, however, the future fate of the state depended on the presence of a successor of the family. The first marriage of the heir to the grand duchy was arranged by his father. For this, 1,500 brides from all over the country arrived in Moscow. The prince's wife was Solomonia Saburova from a small boyar family. This was the first time that a Russian ruler was married not with a representative of the ruling dynasty, but with a girl from bureaucratic circles.
However, this family union was unsuccessful. Solomonia turned out to be sterile and could not conceive a child. Therefore, Vasily III divorced her in 1525. At the same time, some representatives of the Church criticized him, since formally he had no right to such an act.
The very next year, Vasily married Elena Glinskaya. This late marriage gave him two sons - John and Yuri. After the death of the Grand Duke, the elder was declared heir. John was then 3 years old, so the Regency Council ruled instead, which contributed to numerous squabbles at court. Also popular is the theory that it was the boyar troubles, which the child witnessed in childhood, spoiled his character. Later, the already matured Ivan the Terrible became a tyrant and dealt with unwanted confidants in the most cruel ways.
Death of the Grand Duke
Vasily died in 1533. During one of his trips, he discovered that he had a small tumor on his left thigh. It festered and led to blood poisoning. Using modern terminology, we can assume that it was an oncological disease. On his deathbed, the Grand Duke received the schema.
The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Ivanovich III (1505 - 1533, born 1479) is most famous for the fact that during his reign the gathering of the fragmented estates of North-Eastern Russia into a single state was completed. Under Vasily III, the veche city of Pskov (1510) and the last specific principalities - Ryazan (1517) and Chernigov-Seversky (1517-1523) were annexed to Moscow. Vasily continued the domestic and foreign policy of his father, Ivan III, whom he resembled with a harsh, autocratic character. Of the two main church parties of that time, in the first years of his reign, predominance belonged to non-possessors, but then it passed to the Josephites, whom Basil III supported until his death.
Vasily III. Miniature from the Royal Titular
The former, purely service personnel of the Moscow boyars, as the Russian North-East was unified, was replenished with recent appanage princes, people much more influential and pretentious. In this regard, Vasily treated the boyars with suspicion and distrust, consulting with him only for show, and even then rarely. He conducted the most important affairs not with the help of boyars, but with the help of ordinary clerks and nobles (like his close butler Shigona Podzhogin). Vasily treated such rootless nominees rudely and unceremoniously (clerk Dolmatov paid with imprisonment for refusing to go to the embassy, and Bersen-Beklemishev was executed for contradicting the Grand Duke). During the reign of Vasily III, the conflict between the grand-ducal power and the boyars, which, during the reign of his son, Ivan the Terrible, led to the horrors of the oprichnina, began to gradually intensify. But Vasily behaved very restrainedly with the boyars. Neither of noble representatives of the boyar class were not executed under him. Basil for the most part limited himself to taking from the boyars (Shuisky, Belsky, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky) letters of oath that they would not leave for Lithuania. Only Prince Vasily Kholmsky fell into disgrace with him (for which, it is not known).
Unification of Moscow Russia under Ivan III and Vasily III
But to close relatives capable of challenging his power by dynastic kinship, Vasily treated with the usual severity of his predecessors. Vasily's rival, his nephew Dmitry Ivanovich (grandson of Ivan III from his eldest son, Ivan), died in prison. For his brothers, Yuri and Andrei, Vasily III established strict supervision. Andrew was allowed to marry only when Vasily III himself became the father of two children. Vasily's brothers hated his favorites and the new order.
Not wanting to transfer the throne to either Yuri or Andrei, Vasily, after a long childless marriage, divorced his first wife, the barren Solomonia Saburova, and married (1526) Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya, the niece of the famous Western Russian nobleman Mikhail Glinsky. From her, his sons Ivan (in 1530, the future Ivan the Terrible) and Yuri (1533) were born. Solomonia Saburova was imprisoned in the Suzdal Pokrovsky Monastery, and opponents of divorce (Metropolitan Varlaam, as well as the leaders of the non-covetants Vassian Kosoy Patrikeev and the famous Byzantine scholar Maxim the Greek) also suffered.
Solomonia Saburova. Painting by P. Mineeva
Foreign policy of Vasily III
After the death of his son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander (1506), Vasily decided to take advantage of the turmoil that arose among the noble lords of Lithuania. Between them, Mikhail Glinsky, who was insulted by Alexander's brother and successor, Sigismund, stood out for his education, military glory, wealth and land holdings. Mikhail Glinsky, in response, went into the service of Vasily III. This circumstance, as well as the ill-treatment in Lithuania of Vasily's sister (Alexander's wife) Elena, who died in 1513, as was suspected of poisoning, triggered a war between Lithuania and Moscow. In the course of it, Glinsky lost all his former Lithuanian possessions, in return for which he received Medyn and Maloyaroslavets from Vasily. Sigismund's alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey in 1512 caused the second war between Basil III and Lithuania. On August 1, 1514, Vasily, with the assistance of Glinsky, took Smolensk from the Lithuanians, but on September 8 of the same year, the commander of Sigismund, Prince Ostrozhsky, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Moscow army at Orsha. However, according to the armistice of 1522, concluded with the mediation of the ambassador of the German emperor Maximilian I, Herberstein, Smolensk remained with Moscow.
Crimean Tatar archer
In addition to Lithuania, the main concern of the reign of Vasily III was Tatar relations, especially Crimean ones. Submitting at the end of the 15th century to the powerful Turkey, Crimea began to receive strong support from it. The raids of the Crimean Tatars more and more worried the Moscow state (the raid on the Oka in 1507, on the Ryazan Ukraine in 1516, on the Tula in 1518, the siege of Moscow in 1521). Russia and Lithuania took turns lashing out at the Crimean robbers and dragging them into their mutual squabbles. The reinforced Crimean khans tried to subjugate Kazan and Astrakhan in order to restore the former Golden Horde - from the Upper Volga region and the Urals to the Black and Caspian seas. Vasily III in every possible way opposed the annexation of Kazan to the Crimea, which in 1521 led to the most dangerous raid of the Tatars to Russia from the south and east. However, Kazan, torn apart by internal strife, was more and more subordinate to Moscow (the siege of Kazan in 1506, peace with its khan, Mohammed-Amin in 1507, the appointment from Moscow of the Kazan king Shah Ali (Shigaleya) in 1519. and Dzhan-Ali in 1524, the construction by Vasily on the border with the Kazan possessions of a powerful fortress of Vasilsursk in 1524, etc.). By this constant pressure on Kazan, Vasily also anticipated the accomplishments of Ivan the Terrible. In 1523, the Crimean Khan Muhammad-Girey captured Astrakhan, but was soon killed there by the Nogais.
Reign: 1505 - 1533
From biography
- Son of Ivan 3 and Sophia Palaeologus - nieces of the last Byzantine emperor, father of the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible (b. 1530)
- He is called "the last collector of the Russian land", since the last semi-independent Russian principalities were added to his reign.
- In the agreement of 1514. With the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian 1- was the first to be named king.
- Idea " Moscow-third Rome"- This is a political ideology that denoted the global significance of Moscow as a political and religious center. According to theory, the Roman and Byzantine empires fell, as they deviated from the true faith, and the Muscovite state is the "third Rome", and there will be no fourth Rome, since Muscovite Russia stood, stands and will stand. The theory was formulated by a Pskov monk Philotheus in his letters to Basil 3.
- For your information: in 395 the Roman Empire split into Western and Eastern. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476, disintegrating into a number of independent states: Italy. France, Germany, Spain. The Eastern Empire - Byzantium - fell in 1453, and the Ottoman Empire was formed in its place.
- Josephites these are representatives of the church-political trend, which was formed during the reign of Vasily 3. These are followers Joseph Volotsky. They advocated a strong ecclesiastical authority, for the influence of the church in the state, for monastic and ecclesiastical land tenure. Philotheus was a Josephite. Vasily 3 supported them in the fight against the opposition.
- Non-possessors - sought to restore the shaken authority of the church, which was caused by the desire of the clergy to seize more and more land. At the head - Neil Sorsky. They are for the secularization of church lands, that is, its return to the Grand Duke.
The struggle between the non-possessors and the Josephites, which began under Ivan III, testified to the difficult relations of the princes with the church, constant rivalry for the supremacy in power. Vasily 3 both relied on the church opposition, and at the same time understood that relations with the church began to get complicated.
Historical portrait of Vasily III
Activities
1. Domestic policy
| Activities | results |
| 1. Completion of the folding of the centralized state. | 1510- annexation of Pskov. The veche system is abolished. At the head are the Moscow governors. 1513- the annexation of Volotsk. 1514- the annexation of Smolensk. In honor of this, the Novodevichy Convent was built in the city - a copy of the Moscow Kremlin. 1518- annexation of Kaluga. 1521- annexation of Ryazan and Uglich. 1523- annexation of the Novgorod-Seversky principality. "Moscow is the third Rome". The author is Philotheus. |
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Support for the non-possessors, and then the Josephites in the fight against the feudal opposition. |
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The prince possessed the highest court, was the supreme commander in chief, all laws were issued on his behalf. Limiting the privileges of the boyars, reliance on the nobility, increasing the land ownership of the nobles. |
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A new authority appeared - the Boyar Duma, with which the prince consulted. The tsar himself appointed boyars to the Duma, taking into account parochialism. Clerks began to play an important role. They were in charge of office work. Local governors and volostels were in charge. The position of city clerk appeared. |
2. Foreign policy
| Activities | results |
| 1. Defense of the borders of Russia in the southeast from the raids of the Crimean and Kazan khans. | 1521 - the raid of the Crimean Khan on Moscow. Permanent raids of Mengli-Girey - in 1507, 1516-1518, 1521. Vasily 3 hardly negotiated peace. In 1521, he began to build fortress cities on the borders with these khanates in the "wild field". |
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1507-1508, 1512-1522 - Russian-Lithuanian wars, as a result: Smolensk annexed, the western lands conquered by Ivan 3, his father. But the defeat at Orsha in 1514. |
| 3. The establishment of peaceful trade relations with countries. | Under Vasily III, Russia developed good trade relations with France and India, Italy, and Austria. |
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
- Under Vasily III, the process of the formation of a centralized state was completed.
- A unified state ideology was created, contributing to the unification of the country.
- The church continued to play an important role in the state.
- The power of the grand duke increased significantly.
- There was a further improvement of the state administration system, a new authority appeared - the Boyar Duma.
- The prince led a successful policy in the west, many western lands were annexed.
- Vasily 3 with all his might restrained the raids of the Crimean and Kazan khans, managed to negotiate peace with them.
- Under Vasily III, the international authority of Russia was significantly strengthened. Trade relations were conducted with many countries.
Chronology of the life and work of Vasily III
| 1505-1533 | Basil's reign 3. |
| 1510 | + Pskov |
| 1513 | + Volotsk. |
| 1514 | + Smolensk. Construction of the Novodevichy Convent. |
| 1518 | + Kaluga |
| 1521 | + Ryazan. Uglich |
| 1507, 1516-1518, 1521 | The raids of the Crimean and Tatar khans. |
| 1521 | The raid of the Crimean Khan Mengli - Giray on Moscow. |
| 1507-1508,1512-1522 | Wars with Lithuania. |
| 1514 | Defeat at Orsha in the war with Lithuania. |
| 1523 | + Novgorod-Seversky. |
| 1533 | The death of Vasily 3, the three-year-old son Ivan became the heir - the future Ivan the Terrible .. |