Principality of Moscow

Principality of Moscow Grand Duchy of Moscow Великое княжество Московское Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye
1282[1]–1547
Banner of Dmitry Donskoy (colored according to medieval chronicles) Double-headed eagle on the seal of Ivan III
Attributed coat of arms on the Carta marina (1539):
Territorial expansion of the Principality of Moscow, 1300–1547   Core territory of Muscovy, 1300   Territory of Vladimir-Suzdal, acquired by Muscovy by 1390   Territory acquired by 1505 (Ivan III)   Territory acquired by 1533 (Vasili III)
Status	Vassal state of the Golden Horde (1282–1471) Sovereign state (1471–1547)
Capital	Moscow
Common languages	Old East Slavic, Russian
Religion	Russian Orthodox (official)[2]
Demonym(s)	Muscovite
Government	Unitary Absolute Monarchy
Prince of Moscow
• 1282–1303[1]	Daniel (first)
• 1533–1547	Ivan IV (last)
Legislature	Boyar Duma & Veche
History
• Established	1282[1]
• Coronation of Ivan IV as tsar	16 January 1547
Area
1505[3]	2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)
Currency	ruble, denga
Preceded by Succeeded by Vladimir-Suzdal Principality of Yaroslavl Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal Novgorod Republic Principality of Tver Great Perm Principality of Ryazan Tsardom of Russia

The Principality of Moscow^[4][5] or Grand Duchy of Moscow^[6][7] (Russian: Великое княжество Московское, romanized: Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye), also known simply as Muscovy (from the Latin Moscovia),^[8][5] was a principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow. It eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. The princes of Moscow were descendants of the first prince Daniel, referred to in modern historiography as the Daniilovichi,^[9] a branch of the Rurikids.

In 1263, Daniel inherited the territory as an appanage of his father Alexander Nevsky, prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, but it was not until 1282 that Daniel is mentioned as an independent prince of Moscow.^[10] Initially, Muscovy was a vassal state to the Golden Horde, paying the khans homage and tribute.^[11] Moscow eclipsed and eventually absorbed its parent principality and later the other independent Russian principalities.^[12] The Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480 marked the end of nominal Tatar suzerainty over Russia,^[13][11] though there were frequent uprisings and several successful military campaigns against the Mongols, such as an uprising led by Dmitry Donskoy against the ruler of the Golden Horde, Mamai, in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.^[14]

Ivan III ("the Great") further consolidated the state during his 43-year reign, campaigning against his major remaining rival power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and by 1503, he had tripled the territory of his realm. Ivan's successor Vasili III also enjoyed military success, gaining Smolensk from Lithuania in 1512 and pushing Muscovy's borders to the Dnieper. Vasili's son Ivan IV ("the Terrible") was crowned tsar in 1547.^[15]

The 'Principality of Moscow'^[4][5] is also known as 'Muscovy',^[5] the 'Grand Principality of Moscow',^[16][17][18] 'Muscovite Rus',^[19][20] or 'Muscovite Russia'.^[20] The English names Moscow and Muscovy, for the city, the principality, and the river, descend from post-classical Latin Moscovia, Muscovia (compare Russian Moskoviya, "principality of Moscow"), and ultimately from the Old East Slavic fully vocalized accusative form Московь, Moskovĭ.^[21][22] In Latin, the Moscow principality was also historically referred to as Ruthenia Alba.^[23]

The oldest endonyms of the Principality of Moscow used in its documents for itself were "Rus'" (Русь) and the "Russian land" (Русская земля, Russkaya zemlya).^[24] A new form of the name became common by the 15th century,^[25][26][27] the vernacular Rus' was transformed into Rus(s)iya or Ros(s)iya (based on the Greek name for Rus').^[28] In the 1480s, Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name "Росиа" (Rosia), and Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre "of Russian lordship" (Росийскаго господства, Rosiyskago gospodstva).^[29] Zadonshchina, an East Slavic manuscript from the 14th century attributed to Sofony of Ryazan, which is an epic about Prince Dmitry Donskoy's victory over the Golden Horde, stressed the unity of the Rus' princes and described the principalities of Moscow, Novgorod, and others as the "Russian land."^[30][31]

The title of the rulers included "The Prince (Knyaz) of Moscow" (Московский князь, Moskovskiy knyaz) or "the Sovereign of Moscow" (Московский государь, Moskovskiy gosudar) as common short titles.^{[citation needed]} After the unification with the Principality of Vladimir in the mid-14th century, the prince of Moscow might call themselves also "the Prince of Vladimir and Moscow", as Vladimir was much older than Moscow and much more "prestigious" in the hierarchy of possessions, although the principal residence of the princes had always been in Moscow.^{[citation needed]} In rivalry with other principalities (especially the Principality of Tver), Muscovite princes also designated themselves as the "Grand Princes", claiming a higher position in the hierarchy of Rus' princes.^{[citation needed]} During the territorial growth and later acquisitions, the full title became rather lengthy.^{[32][better source needed]} In routine documents and on seals, though, various short names were applied: "the (Grand) Prince of Moscow", "the Sovereign of Moscow", "the Grand Prince of all Rus'" (Великий князь всея Руси, Velikiy knyaz vseya Rusi), "the Sovereign of all Rus'" (Государь всея Руси, Gosudar vseya Rusi), or simply "the Grand Prince" (Великий князь, Velikiy knyaz) or "the Great (or Grand) Sovereign" (Великий государь, Velikiy gosudar).^{[citation needed]} The Golden Horde appointed Ivan Kalita to the throne of "All Russia" while Simeon the Proud took the title of Grand Duke of All Russia.^[33]

Despite feudalism, the collective name of the Eastern Slavic land, Rus', was not forgotten,^[34] though it then became a cultural and geographical rather than the political term, as there was no single political entity on the territory. Since the 14th century various Muscovite princes added "of all Rus'" (всея Руси, vseya Rusi) to their titles, after the title of Russian metropolitans, "the Metropolitan of all Rus'".^[35] Dmitry Shemyaka (died 1453) was the first Muscovite prince who minted coins with the title "the Sovereign of all Rus'".^{[citation needed]} Although initially both "Sovereign" and "all Rus'" was supposed to be rather honorific epithets,^[35] since Ivan III is transformed into the political claim over the territory of all the former Kievan Rus', a goal that the Muscovite prince came closer to by the end of that century, uniting eastern Rus'.^[34]

Such claims raised much opposition and hostility from its main rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which controlled a large (western) portion of the land of ancient Rus' and hence denied any claims and even the self-name of the eastern neighbour.^[34][35] Under the Polish-Lithuanian influence the country began to be called Muscovy (Latin: Moscovia, Muscovy, French: Moscovie) in Western Europe.^[34] The first appearances of the term were in an Italian document of 1500.^[34] Initially Moscovia was the Latinized name of the city of Moscow itself, not of the state;^[34] later it acquired its wider meaning (synecdoche) and has been used alongside the older name, Russia. The term Muscovy persisted in the West until the beginning of the 18th century and is still used in historical contexts. The term remains current in Arabic as an alternative name for Russia. Derived from it is al-Muskubīya (المسكوبية), the Arabic name of the Russian Compound district of Jerusalem, where Czarist Russia established various institutions in the 19th century, and hence also the name of the Al-Moskobiya Detention Centre located there.^{[citation needed]}

During his reign, Ivan III the Great claimed the title of "Tsar of all Russia".^[36]

When the Mongols invaded Kievan Rus' in the 1230s and 1240s, establishing the Golden Horde and vassalising most remnant Rus' principalities, Moscow was still a small town within the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal.^[37] Although the Mongols burnt down Moscow in the winter of 1238 and pillaged it in 1293, the outpost's remote, forested location offered some security from Mongol attacks and occupation, while a number of rivers provided access to the Baltic and Black Seas and to the Caucasus region.^[38] In 1293, the princes of Vladimir, Moscow and Tver each refused to pay homage of the new khan, Toqta, at Sarai; therefore, the Golden Horde's forces and their Rus' allies Andrey of Gorodets and Theodore of Yaroslavl sacked these three towns and devastated the countryside as punishment for disobedience, as was regular practice for any Rus' vassal defying the Mongol-Tatar hegemony.^[39]

Successive princes of Moscow expanded its borders, and turned a small principality in the Moskva River Basin in the late 13th century into the largest state in Europe of the 16th century.^[40] The prince, Daniel of Moscow (d. 1303), was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky of Vladimir-Suzdal. He started to expand his principality by seizing Kolomna and securing the bequest of Pereslavl-Zalessky to his family. However, because he died before inheriting the title of grand prince of Vladimir, his descendants were ineligible (izgoi) for the grand princely title, which made them illegitimate claimants.^[41] Instead, their rival Mikhail of Tver received the Vladimirian jarlig from khan Toqta in 1305.^[42]

Daniel's son Yury (alias Georgiy; r. 1303–1325) began his reign with a catastrophic defeat in the 1304–1308 war against the rival Principality of Tver.^[41] Although the 1304 battle of Pereslavl-Zalessky was an early Muscovite victory,^[43] Mikhail of Tver gained khan Toqta's favour and received the jarlig for grand prince of Vladimir (1305), after which Tverian troops were victorious in a campaign against Moscow, and Yury was forced to conclude an unfavourable ceasefire.^[44][41] In 1306, Yury's brothers Boris and Alesandr defected to Mikhail of Tver, who was accepted as prince of Novgorod the next year.^[44] Finally, Tver launched another anti-Moscow campaign in 1308 to enforce Yury's obedience to him as his Vladimirian overlord.^[44][41]

Yury controlled^[when?] the entire basin of the Moskva River and expanded westward by conquering Mozhaisk.^{[citation needed]} After Toqta died in 1312 and Özbeg (Uzbek) acceded the Horde's throne in 1313, Mikhail immediately visited Özbeg's court at Sarai to pay homage, staying there for two years.^[45] In his absence, Yury went to Novgorod to undermine Mikhail's authority there, forcing Mikhail to rush back to the Republic with some Özbeg troops and restore order 1316).^[45] Yury was ordered to appear at the khan's court, but managed to forge an alliance with Özbeg by marrying the khan's sister Konchaka (Agafiia), outsmarting Mikhail.^[45][46] The khan allowed Yury to illegitimately claim the title of grand Prince of Vladimir, a position which allowed him to call on not just the Horde, but all his Rus' allies for support against Tver.^[45] Nevertheless, when Yury's coalition of northeastern Rus' forces plus a Tatar contingent under Mongol general Kavgadii [ru] advanced against Mikhail in 1317, they were utterly defeated by the Tverians in the Battle of Bortenevo [ru].^[45][47] Mikhail captured both Kavgadii (who was treated well and later released) and Yury's wife / Özbeg's sister Konchaka (Agafiia); however, she died in custody under unknown circumstances, causing a diplomatic scandal.^[45][a] Kavgadii returned to Özbeg's court, accusing of three Mikhail crimes: murdering the khan's sister, withholding tribute, and fighting against the khan's envoys.^[45] Ivan arrived in Sarai soon after with a new army, while Mikhail arrived much later when summoned to account for his alleged offences.^[48] Fallen out of the khan's favour, Mikhail of Tver was found guilty and executed on 22 November 1318, and the jarlig for Vladimir's grand prince passed to Yury for the next four years.^[45][49]

Yuriy's successor, Ivan I (r. 1325–1340), managed to retain the title of grand prince by cooperating closely with the Mongols and by collecting tribute and taxes from the other principalities on their behalf. The Tver Uprising of 1327 was subdued by the joint forces of prince Aleksandr of Suzdal, Ivan I of Moscow, and Tatars from the Golden Horde.^[50] Ivan's moniker "Kalita" (literally, the "moneybag") was an indication of his character as a businessman.^{[51][page needed]} He used his treasures to purchase land in other principalities and to finance the construction of stone churches in the Moscow Kremlin.^{[citation needed]} In the early decades of the 14th century, Tver was still the strongest principality in Vladimir-Suzdalia.^[47] However, the failed anti-Mongol Tver Uprising of 1327 (crushed with Muscovite help) and the subsequent flight and execution of Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver and his sons in the 1320s and 1330s, effectively removed the Tverian princes from the competition for the grand princely title, establishing the new hegemony of the Daniilovichi of Moscow in Suzdalia due to being favoured by the Mongol-Tatar khans of the Golden Horde.^[50] Meanwhile, the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' de facto relocated to Moscow,^[37] when in 1325, Metropolitan Peter (died 1326) transferred his residence from Vladimir to Moscow, further enhancing the prestige of the new principality.^[52]

Ivan's successors continued the "gathering of the Russian lands" to increase the population and wealth under their rule. In the process, their interests clashed with the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose subjects were predominantly East Slavic and Orthodox. Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania allied himself by marriage with Tver and undertook three expeditions against Moscow (1368, 1370, 1372) but was unable to take it. The main bone of contention between Moscow and Vilnius was the large city of Smolensk.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1350s, the country and the royal family were hit by the Black Death. Dmitry Ivanovich was aged nine when his parents died and the title of Grand Duke slipped into the hands of his distant relative, Dmitry of Suzdal. Surrounded by Lithuanians and Muslim nomads, the ruler of Moscow cultivated an alliance with the Rus' Orthodox Church, which experienced a resurgence in influence, due to the monastic reform of St. Sergius of Radonezh.^{[citation needed]}

Educated by Metropolitan Alexis, Dmitri posed as a champion of Orthodoxy and managed to unite the warring principalities of Rus' in his struggle against the Horde. He challenged Khan's authority and defeated his commander Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). However, the victory did not bring any short-term benefits; Tokhtamysh in 1382 sacked Moscow hoping to reassert his vested authority over his vassal, the Grand Prince, and his own Mongol hegemony, killing 24,000 people.^{[citation needed]}

Nevertheless, Dmitri became a national hero. The memory of Kulikovo Field made the Russian population start believing in their ability to end Tatar domination and become a free people. In 1389, he passed the throne to his son Vasily I without bothering to obtain the Khan's sanction.^{[citation needed]}

Vasily I (1389–1425) continued the policies of his father. After the Horde was attacked by Tamerlane, he desisted from paying tribute to the Khan but was forced to pursue a more conciliatory policy after Edigu's incursion on Moscow in 1408. Married to the only daughter of the Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania, he attempted to avoid open conflicts with his powerful father-in-law, even when the latter annexed Smolensk. The peaceful years of his long reign were marked by the continuing expansion to the east (annexation of Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal, 1392) and to the north (annexation of Vologda, Veliky Ustyug, and Perm of Vychegda, 1398). Nizhny Novgorod was given by the Khan of the Golden Horde as a reward for Muscovite's help against a rival.^[53]

The reforms of St. Sergius triggered a cultural revival, exemplified by the icons and frescoes of the monk Andrei Rublev. Hundreds of monasteries were founded by disciples of St. Sergius in distant and inhospitable locations, including Beloozero and Solovki. Apart from their cultural functions, these monasteries were major landowners who could control the economy of an adjacent region. They served as outposts of Moscow's influence in the neighbouring principalities and republics. Another factor responsible for the expansion of the Grand Principality of Moscow was its favourable dynastic situation, in which each sovereign was succeeded by his son, while rival principalities were plagued by dynastic strife and splintered into ever-smaller polities. The only lateral branch of the House of Moscow, represented by Vladimir of Serpukhov and his descendants, was firmly anchored to the Moscow principality.^{[citation needed]}

The situation changed with the ascension of Vasily I's successor, Vasily II (r. 1425–1462). Before long his uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod, started to advance his claims to the throne and Monomakh's Cap. A bitter family conflict, the Muscovite War of Succession (1425–1453), erupted and rocked the country during the whole reign. After Yuri died in 1432, the claims were taken up by his sons, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka, who pursued their claims well into the 1450s. Although he was ousted from Moscow on several occasions, taken prisoner by Olug Moxammat of Kazan, and blinded in 1446, Vasily II eventually managed to triumph over his enemies and pass the throne to his son in 1462. At his urging, a native bishop was elected as Metropolitan of Moscow, which was tantamount to a declaration of independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople (1448).^{[citation needed]}

The outward expansion of the grand principality in the 14th and 15th centuries was accompanied by internal consolidation. By the 15th century, the rulers of Moscow considered the entire territory of the former Kievan Rus' to be their collective property. Various semi-independent princes of Rurikid stock still claimed specific territories, but Ivan III (the Great; r. 1462–1505) forced the lesser princes to acknowledge the grand prince of Moscow and his descendants as unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs.^{[citation needed]}

Moscow gained full sovereignty over a significant part of Rus' by 1480 when the overlordship of the Tatar Golden Horde officially ended after its defeat in the Great Stand on the Ugra River. By the beginning of the 16th century, virtually all those lands were united, including the Novgorod Republic (annexed in 1478) and the Principality of Tver (annexed in 1485). Through inheritance, Ivan was able to control the important Principality of Ryazan, and the princes of Rostov and Yaroslavl subordinated themselves to him. The northwestern city of Pskov, consisting of the city and a few surrounding lands, remained independent in this period, but Ivan's son, Vasili III (r. 1505–33), later conquered it.^{[citation needed]}

Having consolidated the core of Russia under his rule, Ivan III became the first Moscow ruler to adopt the titles of tsar^[54] and "Ruler of all Rus'".^[38] Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for control over some of the semi-independent former principalities of Kievan Rus' in the upper Dnieper and Donets river basins. Through the defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and the long inconclusive Russo-Lithuanian Wars that ended only in 1503, Ivan III was able to push westward, and the Moscow state tripled in size under his rule.^{[citation needed]}

The reign of the Tsars started officially with Ivan the Terrible, the first monarch to be crowned Tsar of Russia, but in practice, it started with Ivan III, who completed the centralization of the state (traditionally known as "the gathering of the Russian lands").^{[citation needed]}

The court of the Moscow princes combined ceremonies and customs inherited from Kievan Rus' with those imported from the Byzantine Empire and Golden Horde. Some traditional Russian offices, like that of tysyatsky and veche, were gradually abolished to consolidate power in the hands of the ruling prince. A new elaborate system of court precedence, or mestnichestvo, predicated the nobleman's rank and function on the rank and function of his ancestors and other members of his family. The highest echelon of hereditary nobles was composed of boyars.^{[citation needed]} They fell into three categories:

• Rurikid princes of Upper Oka towns, Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl, etc. that lived in Moscow after their hereditary principalities had been incorporated into the Principality of Moscow (e.g., Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Repnin, Romodanovsky);^{[citation needed]}
• Foreign princes from Lithuania and Golden Horde, claiming descent either from Grand Duke Gediminas (e.g., Belsky, Mstislavsky, Galitzine, Trubetskoy) or from Genghis Khan;^{[citation needed]}
• Ancient families of Moscow nobility that have been recorded in the service of Grand Dukes from the 14th century (e.g., Romanov, Godunov, Sheremetev).^{[citation needed]}

Rurikid and Gediminid boyars, whose fathers and grandfathers were independent princelings, felt that they were kin to the grand prince and hence almost equal to him. During the times of dynastic troubles (such as the years of Ivan IV's minority), boyardom constituted an internal force that was a permanent threat to the throne. An early form of the monarch's conflict with the boyars was the oprichnina policy of Ivan the Terrible.^{[citation needed]}

During such conflicts, Ivan, Boris Godunov, and some later monarchs felt the necessity to counterbalance the boyardom by creating a new kind of nobility, based on personal devotion to the tsar and merits earned by faithful service, rather than by heredity. Later these new nobles were called dvoryans (singular: dvoryanin). The name comes from the Russian word dvor, meaning tsar's dvor, i.e., The Court. Hence the expression pozhalovat ko dvoru, i.e., to be called to (serve) The Court.^{[citation needed]}

Relations between the Moscow principality and the Horde were mixed.^[55] In the first two decades of the 13th century Moscow gained the support of one of the rivalling Mongol statesmen, Nogai, against the principalities that were oriented towards Sarai khans. After the restoration of unity in the Golden Horde in the early 14th century, it generally enjoyed the favour of the Khans until 1317 but lost it in 1322–1327.^[55] The following thirty years, when the relations between the two states improved, allowed Moscow to achieve sufficient economic and political potential. Further attempts to deprive its rulers of the status of grand dukes of Vladimir were unsuccessful after the Khanate sank into internecine war and proved to be fruitless during the reign of a relatively powerful khan such as Mamai, whereas Tokhtamysh had no other choice but to recognize the supremacy of Moscow over northern and eastern Russian lands.^[55] The traditional Mongol principle of breaking up larger concentrations of power into smaller ones failed, and the following period is characterized by the lack of support from the Horde.^[55]

Although Moscow recognized khans as the legitimate authority in the early years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, despite certain acts of resistance and disobedience, it refused to acknowledge their suzerainty in the years 1374–1380, 1396–1411, 1414–1416 and 1417–1419, even despite the growing might of the Golden Horde.^[56] The power of the Horde over Moscow was greatly limited in the reign of Dmitri Donskoi, who gained recognition of the Grand Principality of Vladimir as a hereditary possession of Moscow princes: while the Horde collected tribute from his land, it could no longer have a serious impact on the internal structure of northern Russian lands.^[57] In the years of Vasily II and Ivan III, the Grand Principality of Moscow acquired the idea of tsardom from the fallen Byzantine Empire, which was incompatible with the recognition of the suzerainty of the khan, and started to declare its independence in diplomatic relations with other countries.^[58] This process was complete by the reign of Ivan III.^[56]

The development of the modern-day Russian state is traced from Kievan Rus' through Vladimir-Suzdal and the Grand Principality of Moscow to the Tsardom of Russia, and then the Russian Empire.^[59] The Moscow principality drew people and wealth to the northeastern part of Kievan Rus';^[59] established trade links to the Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, and to Siberia; and created a highly centralized and autocratic political system. The political traditions established in Muscovy, therefore, exerted a powerful influence on the future development of Russian society.^{[citation needed]}

Muscovite Russia was culturally influenced by Slavic and Byzantine cultural elements. In Muscovite Russia supernaturalism was a fundamental part of daily life.^[60] Muscovites, Suzdalians and other inhabitants were able to maintain their Slavic, pagan, and Orthodox traditions for the most part under the Tatar yoke.^{[citation needed]}

• Prince of Moscow
• Collector of Russian lands
• List of wars involving the Principality of Moscow
• Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe
• 15th–16th century Moscow–Constantinople schism
• List of tribes and states in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
• Foreign policy of the Russian Empire

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• Chester Dunning, The Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Muscovy: A Seventeenth Century French Account
• Romaniello, Matthew (September 2006). "Ethnicity as social rank: Governance, law, and empire in Muscovite Russia". Nationalities Papers. 34 (4): 447–469. doi:10.1080/00905990600842049. S2CID 109929798.
• Marshall Poe, Foreign Descriptions of Muscovy: An Analytic Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources, Slavica Publishers, 1995, ISBN 0-89357-262-4
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. - Russia

• Media related to Grand Duchy of Moscow at Wikimedia Commons