1462-1505
The first really strong and powerful ruler of Russia was Ivan III (The Great). He proclaimed that Russia was The Third Rome − a rightful predecessor to the Roman Empire and Byzantium.
“Ivan III Tears the Khan’s Letter to Pieces” by Alexey Kivshenko (1897)
Background
When Ivan III became Grand Prince of Moscow he tore the Mongol khan’s letter to pieces and refused to pay tribute. His and the khan’s armies met on opposite sides of the Ugra river in 1480. Neither side wanted to attack first, and after several weeks the khan went home. That was the end of Mongol rule.
The Third Rome
Ivan III was the “gatherer of Russian lands”. He more than tripled the size of his country. In 1478 he subdued the wealthy Novgorod Republic that had long enjoyed independence.
In 1453 the Byzantine Empire fell to the Muslim Turks. From then on Ivan III gradually turned his country into what he called The Third Rome.
He adopted their imperial two-headed eagle as emblem and named himself the tsar (Russian for “caesar”). He even had Monk Filofei create a family tree that connected him to Julius Caesar.
Ivan III invited top architects to turn Moscow into an imperial capital. Aristotele Fiorovanti reconstructed the Moscow Kremlin, the Dormition Cathedral and the Annunciation Cathedral.
Ivan imposed a code of law called the Sudebnik in 1497 that tied peasants to their land and enabled them to be turned into serfs a 100 years later.
Russia Under Ivan the Great
1462-1505
The first really strong and powerful ruler of Russia was Ivan III (The Great). He proclaimed that Russia was The Third Rome − a rightful predecessor to the Roman Empire and Byzantium.
“Ivan III Tears the Khan’s Letter to Pieces” by Alexey Kivshenko (1897)
Background
When Ivan III became Grand Prince of Moscow he tore the Mongol khan’s letter to pieces and refused to pay tribute. His and the khan’s armies met on opposite sides of the Ugra river in 1480. Neither side wanted to attack first, and after several weeks the khan went home. That was the end of Mongol rule.
The Third Rome
Ivan III was the “gatherer of Russian lands”. He more than tripled the size of his country. In 1478 he subdued the wealthy Novgorod Republic that had long enjoyed independence.
In 1453 the Byzantine Empire fell to the Muslim Turks. From then on Ivan III gradually turned his country into what he called The Third Rome.
He adopted their imperial two-headed eagle as emblem and named himself the tsar (Russian for “caesar”). He even had Monk Filofei create a family tree that connected him to Julius Caesar.
Ivan III invited top architects to turn Moscow into an imperial capital. Aristotele Fiorovanti reconstructed the Moscow Kremlin, the Dormition Cathedral and the Annunciation Cathedral.
Ivan imposed a code of law called the Sudebnik in 1497 that tied peasants to their land and enabled them to be turned into serfs a 100 years later.
Ivan the Great