Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus' (1505-1533).
Basil III Ivanovich born March 25, 1479. He was the son of the Grand Duke (1440-1505) and. The father sought to transfer full power to his son from his first marriage, Ivan Ivanovich the Young, and back in 1470 he declared him his co-ruler, but he died in 1490.
The ensuing struggle to determine the future heir to the throne ended in the victory of Vasily Ivanovich. First, he was declared the Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov, and in 1502 - the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir and All Rus', autocrat, that is, he became his father’s co-ruler.
After his death in October 1505, Vasily III Ivanovich unhinderedly ascended the throne, receiving, according to his father’s will, the Great Reign of Moscow, the right to manage the capital and all its income, the right to mint coins, 66 cities and the title of “Sovereign of All Rus'.”
Having become the head of state, Vasily III Ivanovich continued his father’s policy - “gathering lands,” strengthening the grand-ducal power and defending the interests of Orthodoxy in Western Rus'. From the very beginning, he energetically fought for the centralization of the state, under him the last semi-independent Russian lands were annexed - (1510), Volotsky inheritance (1513), (1514), Ryazan (1521), Starodub and Novgorod-Seversky (1522) principalities.
In foreign policy, Vasily III Ivanovich, in addition to the fight for Russian lands, also waged periodic wars with the Tatars of the Crimean and Kazan khanates, who raided. The Grand Duke's diplomatic method to protect himself from attacks was to invite Tatar princes to Moscow service, who received vast lands.
In relation to more distant countries, he pursued as friendly a policy as possible. Vasily III Ivanovich negotiated with Prussia, inviting it to an alliance against Lithuania and Livonia; received the ambassadors of Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, and the Hindu Sultan Babur. He discussed with the Pope the possibility of union and war against Turkey. Trade relations were connected with Italy, France and Austria.
In his domestic policy, Vasily III Ivanovich, in order to strengthen the autocracy, fought against the noble boyars and feudal opposition. For speaking out against the policies of the Grand Duke, many boyars and princes, and even Metropolitan Varlaam, fell into disgrace over the years. Vasily III Ivanovich took measures to remove the remnants of appanage rule to new places. The result of this policy was the rapid growth of local noble land ownership, the limitation of the immunity and privileges of the princely-boyar aristocracy.
Also, Vasily III Ivanovich pushed the boyars away from participating in solving state issues. “Councils” with the boyar duma during his reign were mainly of a formal nature: all matters were decided personally by the Grand Duke or in contact with a few trusted people. However, the strength of tradition was such that the tsar had to appoint representatives of the boyars to significant positions in the army and administration.
The reign of Vasily III Ivanovich was also marked by the rise of Russian culture, the spread of the Moscow style of literary writing, which took a leading place among other regional literatures. At the same time, the architectural appearance of the Moscow Kremlin took shape, which turned into a well-fortified fortress.
Vasily III Ivanovich was married twice. His first marriage took place back in 1505. His wife then became the boyar's daughter Solomonia Saburova. Since this marriage was fruitless, Vasily III Ivanovich, despite the protests of the church, obtained a divorce in 1525. His second wife was the princess, whom he married in 1526. In this marriage were born the sons Ivan (future) and the feeble-minded Yuri.
Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich died on December 3, 1533. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The dying prince declared the three-year-old to be his heir under the regency of Elena Glinskaya.
The dispute about the succession to the throne, which arose at the end of the reign of John III and in which the boyars, out of hatred for the wife of John III and the mother of Vasily Ioannovich, Sophia Fominishna Palaeolog, sided with Dimitri Ioannovich (see John III), was reflected throughout the entire period of the great reign of Vasily Ioannovich. He ruled through clerks and people who were not distinguished by their nobility and antiquity. With this order, he found strong support in the influential Volokolamsk monastery, the monks of which were called Josephites, named after Joseph of Volotsky, the founder of this monastery, a great supporter of Sophia Fominishna, in which he found support in the fight against the heresy of the Judaizers. Vasily III treated the old and noble boyar families coldly and distrustfully; he consulted with the boyars only for appearances, and then rarely. The closest person to Vasily and his advisor was the butler Shigona-Podzhogin, one of the Tver boyars, with whom he decided matters, locking himself together. In addition to Shigona-Podzhogin, Vasily III’s advisers were about five clerks; they were also the executors of his will. Vasily III treated the clerks and his humble confidants rudely and cruelly. For refusing to go to the embassy, Vasily Ioannovich deprived clerk Dalmatov of his estate and sent him to prison; when Bersen-Beklemishev, one of the Nizhny Novgorod boyars, allowed himself to contradict Vasily Ioannovich, the latter drove him away, saying: “Go away, smerd, I don’t need you.” This Bersen decided to complain about the bike. the prince and the changes that, in Bersen’s opinion, the mother led. prince - and his tongue was cut out. Vasily Ioannovich acted autocratically, due to his personal character, coldly cruel and extremely calculating. Regarding the old Moscow boyars and noble families from the tribe of St. Vladimir and Gedimina he was extremely restrained, not a single noble boyar was executed under him; The boyars and princes who joined the ranks of the Moscow boyars constantly remembered the old days and the ancient right of the squad of departure. Vasily III took notes from them, oaths not to leave for Lithuania for service; By the way, Prince V.V. Shuisky gave the following note: “From his sovereign and from his children from their land to Lithuania, also to his brothers, and will not leave anywhere until his death.” The same records were given by the princes Belsky, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky. Under Vasily Ioannovich, only one prince, V.D. Kholmsky, fell into disgrace. His case is unknown, and only fragmentary facts that have reached us cast some faint light on him. Under John III, Vasily Kholmsky was taken to swear an oath not to go to Lithuania for service. This did not prevent him from taking first place among the boyars under Vasily and marrying his sister. prince Why he fell into disgrace is unknown; but the occupation of his place by Prince Danila Vasilyevich Shchenya-Patrikeev and the frequent change in this place of princes from the tribe of St. Vladimir by the princes from the family of Gediminas give reason to think about discord among the boyars themselves (see Ivan the Terrible). The words of Prof. are quite applicable to Vasily Ioannovich’s relationship with the noble boyars. Klyuchevsky, who led. the prince in the regimental lists could not appoint the faithful Khabar Simsky instead of the unreliable Gorbaty-Shuisky ("Boyar Duma", p. 261), that is, he could not push well-known names from the front rows and had to obey the order with which he entered into the fight son. At the slightest conflict, he treated his relatives with the usual severity and mercilessness of the Moscow princes, about which the opponent of the son of Vasily III, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, complained so much, calling Kalita’s family “has long been bloodthirsty.” Vasily's rival in the succession to the throne, his nephew Dimitri Ioannovich, died in prison, in need. The brothers of Vasily III hated the people surrounding Vasily, and therefore the established order, and meanwhile, due to the childlessness of Vasily III, these brothers should have succeeded him, namely his brother Yuri. People close to Vasily had to fear under Yuri the loss of not only influence, but even life. Therefore, they joyfully greeted Vasily’s intention to divorce his barren wife, Solomonia, from the Saburov family. Perhaps these close people suggested the very idea of divorce. Metropolitan Varlaam, who did not approve of the idea of divorce, was removed and replaced by the abbot of the Volokolamsk monastery, Daniel. Josephite Daniel, a still young and determined man, approved of Vasily’s intentions. But the monk Vassian Kosoy Patrikeev rebelled against the divorce, who, even under the monastic robe, retained all the passions of the boyars; he was accosted by the monk Maxim, a learned Greek, a man completely alien to the calculations of Moscow politics, summoned to Russia to correct church books. Both Vassian and Maxim were both exiled to prison; the first died under Vasily, and the second outlived both Vasily III and the Metropolitan.
Under Vasily, the last appanage principalities and the veche city of Pskov were annexed to Moscow. From 1508 to 1509, the governor in Pskov was Prince Repnya-Obolensky, whom the Pskovites met unfriendly from his very arrival, because he did not come to them according to custom, without being asked or announced; the clergy did not come out to meet him with a procession of the cross, as was always done. In 1509 he led. The prince went to Novgorod, where Repnya-Obolensky sent a complaint against the Pskov people, and after that the Pskov boyars and mayors came to Vasily with complaints against the governor himself. V. the prince released the complainants and sent trusted people to Pskov to sort out the matter and reconcile the Pskov people with the governor; but no reconciliation followed. Then the Grand Duke summoned the mayors and boyars to Novgorod; however, he did not listen to them, but ordered all the complainants to gather in Novgorod for Epiphany in order to judge everyone at once. When a very significant number of complainants had gathered, they were told: “You have been caught by God and the Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich of All Rus'.” Vel. the prince promised to show them mercy if they removed the veche bell, so that there would be no veche in the future, and only governors would rule in Pskov and its suburbs. Clerk Tretyak-Dalmatov was sent to Pskov to convey the will of the Pskov people. prince On January 19, 1510, the veche bell at St. Trinity. On January 24, Vasily III arrived in Pskov. Boyars, posadniks and living people, three hundred families, were exiled to Moscow, and Moscow rules were introduced in Pskov. Vasily III sought election to the great. princes of Lithuania. When his son-in-law Alexander died in 1506, Vasily wrote to his sister Elena, Alexander’s widow, so that she would persuade the lords to elect him as leader. princes, promising not to restrict the Catholic faith; He ordered the same through ambassadors to Prince Vojtech, the Bishop of Vilna, Pan Nikolai Radzivil and the entire Rada; but Alexander had already appointed himself a successor, his brother Sigismund. Having not received the Lithuanian throne, Vasily III decided to take advantage of the unrest that arose between the Lithuanian lords after the death of Alexander. The culprit of this unrest was Prince Mikhail Glinsky, a descendant of the Tatar Murza, who went to Lithuania under Vytautas. Mikhail Glinsky, Alexander's favorite, was an educated man who traveled a lot throughout Europe, an excellent commander, especially famous for his victory over the Crimean Khan; with his education and military glory, his wealth also attached importance to him, for he was richer than all the Lithuanian lords - almost half of the Principality of Lithuania belonged to him. The prince enjoyed enormous influence among the Russian population of the grand duchy, and therefore the Lithuanian lords were afraid that he would seize the throne and move the capital to Rus'. Sigismund had the imprudence to insult this strong man , which Vasily took advantage of, inviting Glinsky to go into his service. Glinsky's transition to the Moscow Grand Duke caused a war with Lithuania. At first this war was marked by great success. On August 1, 1514, Vasily III, with the assistance of Glinsky, took Smolensk, but on September 8 of the same year, the Moscow regiments were defeated by Prince Ostrozhsky at Orsha. After the defeat at Orsha, the war, which lasted until 1522, did not represent anything remarkable. Through the Emperor. Maximilian I, peace negotiations began back in 1517. The emperor's representative was Baron Herberstein, who left notes on the Moscow State - the best of foreign writings about Russia. With all the diplomatic skill of Herberstein, the negotiations were soon interrupted, because Sigismund demanded the return of Smolensk, and Vasily III, for his part, insisted that not only Smolensk remain with Russia, but that Kiev, Vitebsk, Polotsk and other cities that belonged to Russia should be returned to princes from the tribe of St. Vladimir. With such claims from the opponents, only in 1522 was a truce concluded. Smolensk remained behind Moscow. This truce was confirmed in 1526, through the same Herberstein, who came to Moscow for the second time as an ambassador from Charles V. During the continuation of the war with Lithuania, Vasily put an end to his last inheritances: Ryazan and the Seversky principalities. Prince Ivan of Ryazan, they said in Moscow, planned to restore independence to his principality with the help of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey, whose daughter he intended to marry. Vasily III called Prince Ivan to Moscow, where he put him in custody, and imprisoned his mother, Agrippina, in a monastery. Ryazan was annexed to Moscow; Ryazan residents were resettled in droves to Moscow volosts. There were two princes in the Seversk land: Vasily Ivanovich, grandson of Shemyaka, Prince of Novgorod-Seversky, and Vasily Semenovich, Prince of Starodubsky, grandson of Ivan Mozhaisky. Both of these princes constantly denounced each other; Vasily III allowed Shemyachich to expel the Starodub prince from his domain, which was annexed to Moscow, and a few years later he also took Shemyachich into custody, and his inheritance was also annexed to Moscow in 1523. Even earlier, the Volotsk inheritance was annexed, where the last prince, Feodor Borisovich, died childless. During the fight against Lithuania, Vasily asked for help from Albrecht, Elector of Brandenburg, and from the Grand Master of the German Order. Sigismund, in turn, sought an alliance with Makhmet-Girey, Khan of Crimea. The Gireys, successors of the famous Mengli-Girey, an ally of John III, sought to unite all the Tatar kingdoms under the rule of their family; therefore, the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey became a natural ally of Lithuania. In 1518, the Kazan Tsar Magmet-Amin, a Moscow henchman, died childless, and the question of succession to the throne arose in Kazan. Vasily III placed Shig-Aley, the grandson of Akhmet, the last khan of the Golden Horde, the family enemy of the Girays, here on the kingdom. Shig-Aley was hated in Kazan for his tyranny, which Sahib-Girey, Mahmut-Girey’s brother, took advantage of and captured Kazan. Shig-Alei fled to Moscow. After this, Sahib-Girey rushed to devastate the Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir regions, and Mahmut-Girey attacked the southern borders of the Moscow state. He reached Moscow itself, from where Vasily III retired to Volokolamsk. Khan took a written obligation from Moscow to pay him tribute and turned to Ryazan. Here he demanded that the governor come to him because he was leading. the prince is now a tributary of the khan; but governor Khabar-Simsky demanded proof that he led. the prince obliged to pay tribute. The Khan sent the letter given to him near Moscow; then Khabar, holding her, dispersed the Tatars with cannon shots. Sahib-Girey was soon expelled from Kazan, where, as a result of the struggle between the Crimean and Moscow parties, constant unrest occurred, and Vasily appointed Yenaley, Shig-Aley’s brother, as khan there. In this situation, Vasily III left his affairs in Kazan. The power of Father Ivan the Terrible was great; but he was not yet an autocrat in the later sense. In the era that preceded and followed the fall of the Tatar yoke, the word: autocracy was opposed not to the constitutional order, but to vassalage: an autocrat meant an independent ruler, independent of other rulers. The historical meaning of the word: autocracy is clarified by Kostomarov and Klyuchevsky.
E. Belov
Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron
Vasily III (1505-1533)
From the family of Moscow Grand Dukes. Son of Ivan III Vasilyevich the Great and the Byzantine princess Sophia Fominishna Palaeologus. Genus. March 25, 1479 Vel. book Moscow and All Rus' in 1506 - 1534. Wives: 1) from 4 September. 1506 Solomonia Yurievna Saburova (d. 1542), 2) from January 21. 1526 book. Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya (d. April 3, 1538).
The childhood and early youth of Vasily III passed in worries and trials. It was not long before he was proclaimed his father’s heir, since Ivan III had an eldest son from his first marriage, Ivan the Young. But in 1490, Ivan the Young died. Ivan III had to decide who to bequeath the throne to - his son Vasily or his grandson Dmitry Ivanovich. Most of the boyars supported Dmitry and his mother Elena Stefanovna. Sophia Paleologue was not loved in Moscow; only the children of the boyars and clerks took her side. Clerk Fyodor Stromilov informed Vasily that his father wanted to reward Dmitry with the great reign, and together with Afanasy Yaropkin, Poyarok and other boyar children, he began to advise the young prince to leave Moscow, seize the treasury in Vologda and Beloozero and destroy Dmitry. The main conspirators recruited themselves and other accomplices and brought them secretly to the kiss of the cross. But the conspiracy was discovered in December 1497. Ivan III ordered his son to be kept in custody in his own yard, and his followers to be executed. Six were executed on the Moscow River, many other boyar children were thrown into prison. At the same time, the Grand Duke became angry with his wife because sorcerers came to her with a potion; These dashing women were found and drowned in the Moscow River at night, after which Ivan began to beware of his wife.
On February 4, 1498, he married Dmitry, the “grandson,” into the great reign in the Assumption Cathedral. But the triumph of the boyars did not last long. In 1499, disgrace overtook two of the noblest boyar families - the princes Patrikeev and the prince Ryapolovsky. The chronicles do not say what their sedition consisted of, but there is no doubt that the reason must be sought in their actions against Sophia and her son. After the execution of the Ryapolovskys, Ivan III began, as the chroniclers put it, to neglect his grandson and declared his son Vasily the Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov. On April 11, 1502, he put Dmitry and his mother Elena into disgrace, put them in custody and did not order to call Dmitry the Grand Duke, and on April 14 he granted Vasily, blessed him and placed him in the great reign of Vladimir, Moscow and All Rus' as autocrat.
Ivan III's next concern was to find a worthy wife for Vasily. He instructed his daughter Elena, who was married to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, to find out which sovereigns would have marriageable daughters. But his efforts in this regard remained unsuccessful, as well as the search for brides and grooms in Denmark and Germany. Ivan was already forced to Last year of his life to marry Vasily to Solomonia Saburova, chosen from 1,500 girls presented to the court for this purpose. Solomonia's father, Yuri, was not even a boyar.
Having become the Grand Duke, Vasily III followed in everything the path indicated by his parent. From his father he inherited a passion for construction. In August 1506, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Alexander died. Hostile relations between the two states resumed after this. Vasily accepted the Lithuanian rebel Prince Mikhail Glinsky. Only in 1508 was a peace concluded, according to which the king renounced all the ancestral lands that belonged to the princes who came under the rule of Moscow under Ivan III.
Having secured himself from Lithuania, Vasily III decided to end the independence of Pskov. In 1509, he went to Novgorod and ordered the Pskov governor Ivan Mikhailovich Ryapne-Obolensky and the Pskovites to come to him so that he could sort out their mutual complaints. In 1510, on the feast of Epiphany, he listened to both sides and found that the Pskov mayors did not obey the governor, and he received a lot of insults and violence from the Pskov people. Vasily also accused the Pskovites of despising the sovereign’s name and not showing him due honors. For this, the Grand Duke put disgrace on the governors and ordered them to be captured. Then the mayors and other Pskovites, admitting their guilt, beat Vasily with their foreheads so that he would grant his fatherland to Pskov and arrange it as God informed him. Vasily III ordered to say: “I will not hold an evening in Pskov, but two governors will be in Pskov.” The Pskovites, having gathered a veche, began to think about whether to oppose the sovereign and lock themselves in the city. Finally they decided to submit. On January 13, they removed the veche bell and sent it to Novgorod with tears. On January 24, Vasily III arrived in Pskov and arranged everything here at his own discretion. 300 of the most noble families, abandoning all their property, had to move to Moscow. The villages of the withdrawn Pskov boyars were given to the Moscow ones.
From Pskov affairs Vasily returned to Lithuanian affairs. In 1512, war began. Its main goal was Smolensk. On December 19, Vasily III set out on a campaign with his brothers Yuri and Dmitry. He besieged Smolensk for six weeks, but without success, and returned to Moscow in March 1513. On June 14, Vasily set out on a campaign for the second time, he himself stopped in Borovsk, and the governor sent him to Smolensk. They defeated the governor Yuri Sologub and besieged the city. Having learned about this, Vasily III himself came to the camp near Smolensk, but this time the siege was unsuccessful: what the Muscovites destroyed during the day, the Smolensk people repaired at night. Satisfied with the devastation of the surrounding area, Vasily ordered a retreat and returned to Moscow in November. On July 8, 1514, he set out for the third time to Smolensk with his brothers Yuri and Semyon. On July 29, the siege began. Gunner Stefan led the artillery. The fire of Russian cannons inflicted terrible damage on the Smolensk people. On the same day, Sologub and the clergy went to Vasily and agreed to surrender the city. On July 31, the Smolensk residents swore allegiance to the Grand Duke, and on August 1, Vasily III solemnly entered the city. While he was organizing affairs here, the governors took Mstislavl, Krichev and Dubrovny.
The joy at the Moscow court was extraordinary, since the annexation of Smolensk remained the cherished dream of Ivan III. Only Glinsky was dissatisfied, to whose cunning the Polish chronicles mainly attribute the success of the third campaign. He hoped that Vasily would give him Smolensk as his inheritance, but he was mistaken in his expectations. Then Glinsky started secret relations with King Sigismund. Very soon he was exposed and sent to Moscow in chains. Some time later Russian army under the command of Ivan Chelyadinov suffered a heavy defeat from the Lithuanians near Orsha, but the Lithuanians were unable to take Smolensk after that and thus did not take advantage of their victory.
Meanwhile, the collection of Russian lands went on as usual. In 1517, Vasily III summoned the Ryazan prince Ivan Ivanovich to Moscow and ordered him to be captured. After this, Ryazan was annexed to Moscow. Immediately after that, the Starodub Principality was annexed, and in 1523, Novgorod-Severskoe. Prince Novgorod-Seversky Vasily Ivanovich Shemyakin, like the Ryazan prince, was summoned to Moscow and imprisoned.
Although the war with Lithuania was not actually fought, peace was not concluded. Sigismund's ally, the Crimean Khan Magmet-Girey, raided Moscow in 1521. The Moscow army, defeated on the Oka, fled, and the Tatars approached the walls of the capital itself. Vasily, without waiting for them, left for Volokolamsk to collect shelves. Magmet-Girey, however, was not in the mood to take the city. Having devastated the land and captured several hundred thousand captives, he went back to the steppe. In 1522, the Crimeans were again expected, and Vasily III himself stood guard on the Oka with a large army. The Khan did not come, but his invasion had to be constantly feared. Therefore, Vasily became more accommodating in negotiations with Lithuania. In the same year, a truce was concluded, according to which Smolensk remained with Moscow.
So, state affairs were slowly taking shape, but the future of the Russian throne remained unclear. Vasily was already 46 years old, but he did not yet have heirs: Grand Duchess Solomonia was barren. In vain she used all the remedies that were attributed to her by the healers and healers of that time - there were no children, and her husband’s love disappeared. Vasily said with tears to the boyars: “Who is it for me to reign on the Russian land and in all my cities and borders? Should I hand it over to my brothers? But they don’t even know how to arrange their own inheritances.” To this question, an answer was heard among the boyars: “Sovereign, great prince! They cut down a barren fig tree and sweep it out of its grapes.” The boyars thought so, but the first vote belonged to Metropolitan Daniel, who approved the divorce. Vasily III met unexpected resistance from the monk Vassian Kosoy, the former prince of Patrikeev, and the famous Maxim the Greek. Despite, however, this resistance, in November 1525, the Grand Duke’s divorce from Solomonia was announced, who was tonsured under the name of Sophia at the Nativity nunnery, and then sent to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. Since this matter was looked at from different points of view, it is not surprising that conflicting news about it has reached us: some say that divorce and tonsure followed according to the wishes of Solomonia herself, even at her request and insistence; in others, on the contrary, her tonsure seems to be a violent act; Rumors were even spread that soon after the tonsure Solomonia had a son, George. In January of the following 1526, Vasily III married Elena, the daughter of the deceased Prince Vasily Lvovich Glinsky, the niece of the famous Prince Mikhail.
The new wife of Vasily III differed in many ways from Russian women of that time. Elena learned foreign concepts and customs from her father and uncle and probably captivated the Grand Duke. The desire to please her was so great that, as they say, Vasily III even shaved his beard for her, which, according to the concepts of that time, was incompatible not only with folk customs, but also with Orthodoxy. The Grand Duchess became more and more possessed of her husband; but time passed, and Vasily’s desired goal - to have an heir - was not achieved. There was a fear that Elena would remain as barren as Solomonia. The Grand Duke and his wife traveled to various Russian monasteries. In all Russian churches they prayed for the childbearing of Vasily III - nothing helped. Four and a half years passed until the royal couple finally resorted in prayer to the Monk Paphnutius of Borovsky. Then only Elena became pregnant. The Grand Duke's joy knew no bounds. Finally, on August 25, 1530, Elena gave birth to her first child, Ivan, and a year and a few months later, another son, Yuri. But the eldest, Ivan, was barely three years old when Vasily III fell seriously ill. When he was driving from the Trinity Monastery to Volok Lamsky, on his left thigh, on the bend, a purple sore the size of a pinhead appeared. After this, the Grand Duke began to quickly become exhausted and arrived in Volokolamsk already exhausted. The doctors began to treat Vasily, but nothing helped. More pus flowed out of the sore than the pelvis, the rod also came out, after which the Grand Duke felt better. From Volok he went to the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery. But the relief was short-lived. At the end of November, Vasily, completely exhausted, arrived in the village of Vorobyovo near Moscow. Glinsky’s doctor Nikolai, having examined the patient, said that all that remained was to trust only in God. Vasily realized that death was near, wrote a will, blessed his son Ivan for the great reign and died on December 3.
He was buried in Moscow, in the Archangel Cathedral.
Konstantin Ryzhov. All the monarchs of the world. Russia.
The ultimate success of the unification of Russian lands in a single state was the achievement of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich (1505-1533). It is no coincidence that the Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein, who visited Russia twice in the first third of the 16th century and left the famous “Notes on Muscovy,” wrote that Vasily III was superior in power to “almost all the monarchs of the whole world.” However, the sovereign was unlucky - the bizarre historical memory, having given due credit to his father and no less rightly cementing the cruel image of his son Ivan the Terrible, did not leave enough free space for Vasily III himself. As if “hovering” between two sovereign Ivans, Vasily III always remained in their shadow. Neither his personality, nor his methods of government, nor the forms of succession in power between Ivan III and Ivan the Terrible have yet been studied sufficiently fully.
Childhood, youth
Vasily III was born on March 25, 1479 and was named in honor of the confessor Vasily of Paria, inheriting one of the traditional names for the Moscow princely family of the Danilovichs. He became the first son from the second marriage of Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus, who came from the Morean line of the dynasty that ruled in Byzantium until 1453. Before Vasily, only girls were born to the grand ducal couple. In later chronicles, a wonderful legend was even recorded about how Sophia, who suffered from the absence of her son, received a sign from the Monk Sergius himself about the birth of the future heir to the throne. However, the long-awaited firstborn was not the main contender for the throne. From his first marriage, Ivan III had an eldest son, Ivan the Young, who was declared co-ruler of Ivan III at least eight years before the birth of Vasily. But in March 1490, Ivan the Young died, and Vasily had a chance. Researchers traditionally talk about the struggle between two court factions, which especially intensified in the second half of the 1490s. One of them relied on the son of Ivan the Young - Dmitry Vnuk, the other promoted Vasily. The balance of power and passion of this struggle is unknown to us, but we know its outcome. Ivan III, who initially declared Dmitry Vnuk as heir and even for some time imprisoned Vasily “for bailiffs in his own court,” changed his anger to mercy in March 1499: Vasily was proclaimed “Sovereign Grand Duke.”
Reign (1505-1533)
Vasily's co-government lasted more than six years. On October 27, 1505, Ivan III passed away, and Vasily became an independent sovereign.
Domestic policy
Fight against destinies
Most of the possessions of the deceased Grand Duke passed to Vasily: 66 cities against 30 that went to the other four sons, and Moscow, which had always been split up between sons, now passed entirely to the eldest heir. The new principles of transfer of power established by Ivan III reflected one of the main trends in the country's political life - the desire for autocracy: the appanage system was not only the main source of strife, but also a serious obstacle to the economic and political unity of the country. Vasily III continued the centralizing policy of his father. Around 1506, the Grand Duke's governor established himself in Perm the Great. In 1510, the formal independence of the Pskov land was abolished. The reason for this was a major clash between the Pskovites and the Grand Duke's governor, Prince Repnin-Obolensky. The Pskov residents’ complaint against the governor’s arbitrariness was not satisfied, but a stunning demand followed: “Otherwise you wouldn’t have had a veche, and naturally they would have removed the veche bell.” Pskov no longer had the strength to reject it. By order of Vasily III, many boyar families and “guests” were evicted from Pskov. In 1521, the Ryazan Principality, which followed Moscow policy for more than half a century, also joined the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The Pskov land and the Ryazan principality were strategically important outskirts in the northwest and southeast, respectively. A sharp strengthening of Moscow’s position here would extremely complicate its relations with its neighbors. Vasily III believed that the existence of buffer vassal lands located on strategically important outskirts was more expedient than their direct inclusion in the state until the state did not have sufficient forces to reliably secure new territories. The Grand Duke fought against the appanages using various methods. Sometimes the appanages were destroyed purposefully (for example, the abolition of the Novgorod-Seversky appanage in 1522, where the grandson of Dmitry Shemyaka, Prince Vasily Ivanovich, ruled), usually Vasily simply forbade his brothers to marry and, therefore, have legitimate heirs. After the death of Vasily III himself in 1533, the inheritance of his second son Yuri, as well as his brother Andrei Staritsky, remained. There also remained several minor fiefs of the Verkhovsky princes, located in the upper reaches of the Oka. But the specific system was essentially overcome.
Local system
Under Vasily III, the local system was strengthened - a mechanism that made it possible to solve two pressing problems facing the state: at that time, the needs of ensuring a combat-ready army were closely intertwined with the need to limit the political and economic independence of the large aristocracy. The essence of the mechanism of local land ownership was the distribution of lands to the “landowners”-nobles for temporary conditional possession for the period of the “princes’ service.” The “landowner” had to perform his service regularly, could lose his land for violating his duties, and had no right to dispose of the lands given to him, which remained the supreme property of the grand dukes. At the same time, social guarantees were introduced: if a “landowner”-noble died in service, the state took care of his family.
Localism
The principle of localism began to play a most important role in the work of the state machine under Vasily III - a system of hierarchy, according to which the highest positions in the army or in the civil service could be filled exclusively in accordance with the birth of the prince or boyar. Although this principle prevented access to the administration of talented managers, it largely made it possible to avoid struggle at the top of the country's political elite, which was rapidly flooded with heterogeneous immigrants from different Russian lands during the formation of a unified Russian state.
" " and "non-possessors"
In the era of Vasily III, the problem of monastic property, primarily the ownership of lands, was actively discussed. Numerous donations to the monasteries led to the fact that by the end of the 15th century, a significant part of the monasteries became wealthy landowners. One solution to the problem was proposed: to use funds to help the suffering, and to make stricter regulations in the monasteries themselves. Another decision came from the Monk Nilus of Sorsky: the monasteries should completely abandon their property, and the monks should live “by their handicrafts.” The grand ducal authorities, interested in the land fund necessary for distribution to estates, also advocated limiting monastery property. At a church council in 1503, Ivan III made an attempt to carry out secularization, but was refused. However, time passed, and the position of the authorities changed. The Josephite community put a lot of effort into developing the concept strong state, and Vasily III turned away from the “non-possessors”. The final victory of the “Josephites” took place at the council of 1531.
New political theories
Successes in state building, the strengthening of Moscow's self-awareness, and political and ideological necessity gave impetus to the emergence in the era of Vasily III of new political theories designed to explain and justify the special political rights of the Grand Dukes of Moscow. The most famous are “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir” and the messages of Elder Philotheus to Vasily III about the Third Rome.
Foreign policy
Russo-Lithuanian wars (1507-1508; 1512-22)
During the Russian-Lithuanian wars, Vasily III managed to conquer Smolensk in 1514, one of the largest centers of the Russian-speaking lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Smolensk campaigns were led personally by Vasily III, and in the official chronicle the triumph of Russian weapons will be expressed by the phrase about the liberation of Smolensk from “evil Latin charms and violence.” The crushing defeat of Russian troops in the Battle of Orsha in the fall of 1514 that followed the liberation of Smolensk stopped Moscow’s advance to the West. However, during the military campaigns of 1517 and 1518, Russian commanders managed to defeat the Lithuanian forces near Opochka and Krevo.
Relations with Orthodox peoples
The reign of Vasily III was marked by the deepening of Russia's contacts with Orthodox peoples and lands conquered by the Ottoman Empire, including Mount Athos. The severity of the church schism between the Metropolis of All Rus' and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which began in the middle of the 15th century after the election of the Russian Metropolitan Jonah without the sanction of Constantinople, is also gradually softening. A clear confirmation of this is the message of Patriarch Theoliptus I to Metropolitan Varlaam, compiled in July 1516, in which the patriarch, long before the official adoption of the royal title by the Russian sovereigns, awarded Vasily III with royal dignity - “the highest and shortest king and the great king of all Orthodox lands, Great Rus' "
Russian-Crimean relations
Russian-Crimean relations were not easy. They reached their peak when, in July 1521, Khan Muhammad-Girey made a devastating campaign against Rus' with the goal of “putting an end to the outrageous rebellions of idolaters fierce against Islam.” The southern and central volosts of the Moscow principality (the advanced forces of the Krymchaks reached the outskirts of Moscow) suffered enormous damage. Muhammad-Girey captured a huge full. Since then, the defense of the Coast - the southern border, which ran along the Oka River - has become the most important task of ensuring the security of the state.
Relations with the West
Attempts to achieve an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Moscow against the Ottoman Empire, which began during the time of Ivan III, continued under Vasily III. The sovereigns invariably emphasized hatred of the infidel “terror” and “enemies of Christ,” but did not enter into an agreement. They equally refused to become subordinate to the “Latins” and did not want to spoil the still quite friendly relations with the Ottoman Empire.
Personal life
In 1505, Vasily III married Solomonia Saburova. For the first time, a representative of a boyar, and not a princely family, became the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow. The couple, who had been married for twenty years, had no children, and Vasily III, who needed an heir, decided to marry a second time. Solomonia was sent to a monastery, and Elena Glinskaya, who came from a family of Lithuanian boyars who went to serve in Moscow, became the new wife of the sovereign. From this marriage the future Tsar of All Rus' Ivan the Terrible was born.
On December 3, 1533, Vasily III died due to a progressive illness that appeared during a hunt. Before his death, he accepted monasticism with the name Varlaam. Soon after the death of the Grand Duke, the most interesting “Tale of the Illness and Death of Vasily III” was created - a chronicle of the last weeks of the sovereign’s life.
Moscow Vasily III reigned in 1505-1533. His era became the time of continuation of the achievements of his father Ivan III. The prince united the Russian lands around Moscow and fought with numerous external enemies.
Succession to the throne
Vasily Rurikovich was born in 1479 into the family of the Grand Duke of Moscow John III. He was the second son, which means he did not claim the throne after the death of his father. However, his older brother John the Young tragically died at 32 from a fatal illness. He developed a leg ailment (apparently gout), which caused terrible pain. My father ordered a famous European doctor from Venice, who, however, was unable to overcome the disease (he was later executed for this failure). The deceased heir left a son, Dmitry.
This led to a dynastic dispute. On the one hand, Dmitry had the right to power as the son of a deceased heir. But the Grand Duke had living younger sons. At first, John III was inclined to pass the throne to his grandson. He even arranged a ceremony to crown him as king (this was the first such ceremony in Rus'). However, Dmitry soon found himself in disgrace with his grandfather. It is believed that the reason for this was the conspiracy of John’s second wife (and Vasily’s mother). 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 faithful boyars began to convince John to change his mind. Shortly before his death, he agreed, denied Dmitry his rights to the throne and bequeathed Vasily to be the Grand Duke. The grandson was imprisoned and soon died there, briefly outliving his grandfather.
The fight against appanage princes
Grand Duke Vasily 3, external and domestic politics whose actions were a continuation 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 monarchs. He had several opponents.
First of all, other appanage princes from the Rurik dynasty. Moreover, we are talking about those who were direct representatives of the Moscow house. The last major unrest in Rus' began precisely because of disputes about power around 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 12th century, when the state centered in Kyiv collapsed.
Boyar opposition
Another potential threat to the Grand Duke was represented by numerous boyars. Some of them, by the way, were distant descendants of the Rurikovichs (such as the Shuiskys). Vasily 3, whose foreign and domestic policies were subordinated to the idea of the need to combat any threats to power, nipped 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 this, Vasily managed to recapture 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 fight against any manifestations of disloyalty was the core of the policy to unite the Russian lands around Moscow.
Another similar incident occurred with Ivan Beklemishev, nicknamed Bersen. This diplomat openly criticized the Grand Duke for his policies, including his desire for everything Greek (this trend became the norm thanks to the prince's mother Sophia Paleologus). Beklemishev was executed.
Church disputes
Church life was also the object of the Grand Duke's attention. He needed the support of religious leaders to ensure the legitimacy of his decisions. This union of state and church was considered the norm for the then Rus' (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 the monasteries) had opposing points of view on religious issues. Their ideological struggle could not pass by the ruler. The non-acquisitives sought reforms, including the abolition of land ownership by monasteries, while the Josephites remained conservatives. Vasily III was on the side of the latter. The prince's foreign and domestic policies corresponded to the views of the Josephites. As a result, the church opposition was repressed. Among its representatives were such famous people as Maxim Grek 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, it became a vassal of its southern neighbor. In 1509, a meeting was held in the city, at which residents expressed dissatisfaction with Vasily’s rule. He arrived in Veliky Novgorod to discuss this conflict. As a result, the veche was canceled, and the estate.
However, such a decision could cause unrest in the freedom-loving city. To avoid “ferment of minds,” the most influential and noble aristocrats of Pskov were relocated to the capital, and their places were taken by Moscow appointees. This effective technique was used by John when he annexed Veliky Novgorod.
The 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. Internal and foreign policy Vasily 3 turned out to be consistent and successful.
Conflict with Lithuania
Wars with neighbors - another one important point, which distinguished the reign of Vasily 3. The domestic and foreign policies of the prince could not help but contribute to conflicts between Muscovy and other states.
The Principality of Lithuania was another Russian center and continued to claim a leading position in the region. It was an ally of Poland. There were many Russian Orthodox boyars and feudal lords in the service of the Lithuanian prince.
Smolensk became the main city between the two powers. This ancient city in the 14th century it became part of Lithuania. Vasily wanted to return it 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.
This is how Vasily 3 confronted many opponents. The foreign and domestic policy (the table is an excellent format for a visual representation of what we said) of the prince, as already mentioned, was a natural continuation of the actions of Ivan 3, taken 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 III. Foreign and domestic policies (the table briefly shows this well) were the key to the development and enrichment of the country. Another cause of concern was They made constant raids on Rus' and often entered into an alliance with the Polish king. Vasily III did not want to put up with this. Domestic and foreign policy (it is unlikely to be possible 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 the most noble families began to be invited to serve, allocating them land holdings. The prince was also friendly towards more distant states. He sought to develop trade with European powers. He considered the possibility of concluding a union (directed against Turkey) with the Pope.
Family problems
As is the case with any monarch, it was very important who Vasily 3 married. Foreign and domestic policy were important areas of his activity, but the future fate of the state depended on the presence of a successor to the family. The first marriage of the heir to the Grand Duchy was organized by his father. For this purpose, 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 married not a representative of the ruling dynasty, but a girl from bureaucratic circles.
However, this family union was unsuccessful. Solomonia turned out to be infertile 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 did not have the 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 eldest was declared heir. John was then 3 years old, so the Regency Council ruled instead of him, which contributed to numerous squabbles at court. Also popular is the theory that it was the boyar unrest, which the child witnessed in childhood, that spoiled his character. Later, the already matured Ivan the Terrible became a tyrant and dealt with undesirable confidants in the most cruel ways.
Death of the Grand Duke
Vasily died in 1533. During one of his trips, he discovered 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 accepted the schema.
Grand Duke Vasily III Ioannovich, engraving by Andre Theve
- Years of life: March 25, 1479 – December 3, 1533
- Father and mother: Ivan III and Sofia Paleologus.
- Spouses: Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, .
- Children: Georgy (alleged son), and Yuri.
Vasily III Ioannovich (March 25, 1479 – December 3, 1533) – Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir.
He was born into the family of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III and his second wife Sophia Paleologue. At birth the child was named Gabriel.
Power struggle
He had one older brother and four younger ones, so all power had to go to. In addition, during that period, Ivan III was centralizing power, so he decided to limit the power of his younger sons. In 1470, the prince appointed his eldest son as his co-ruler. But 20 years later, in 1490, Ivan Ivanovich died for an unknown reason.
After this, the question arose: who will become the next prince? Two camps emerged: the first advocated the appointment Dmitry Ivanovich(son of Ivan Ivanovich), and the second - for Vasily.
Initially, the majority was on the side of the first camp, most of the nobles supported Dmitry and Elena Stefanovna. They did not like Sophia and Vasily, but Vasily was able to enlist the support of the children of the boyars and clerks.
Clerk Fyodor Stromilov informed Vasily that Ivan III had chosen Dmitry as his successor, so he, together with Yaropkin, Poyark and other supporters, advised to kill Dmitry, take the treasury in Vologda and leave the capital. Vasily III agreed, but this conspiracy was not carried out; in December 1497, the Grand Duke became aware of it. After this, Ivan III took into custody his son and everyone who was involved in this conspiracy. Some of the conspirators were executed, others were sent to prison.
In addition, his wife also displeased the prince, since Sophia Paleologus often invited sorcerers to her place with a potion, Ivan III even began to fear that she wanted to poison him. All these women who came to Sophia were drowned.
On February 4, 1498, Dmitry was crowned for the great reign; the solemn event took place in the Assumption Cathedral.
But a year later, a conflict arose between the princes Patrikeev and Ryapolovsky, who at that time were the main supporters of Dmitry, and Ivan III. The chronicles did not describe the reason for the quarrel, but the result was that the Ryapolovskys were executed. After this event, Ivan III appointed Vasily III Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov.
On April 11, 1502, the ruler ordered Dmitry and Elena Stefanovna to be taken into custody, Dmitry Ivanovich lost his status as Grand Duke.
In 1505, the ruler died, and 4 years later Dmitry also died.
Vasily III: personal life and family
Ivan III was looking for a wife for his son; he instructed his eldest daughter Elena Ivanovna to find out if there were marriageable brides in Poland, Denmark and Germany. At that moment, Catherine was the wife of the Prince of Lithuania and the King of Poland. But all his attempts were unsuccessful. As a result, the bride Vasily was chosen from 1,500 noble maidens who were invited to the court from all over the Russian state.
The choice fell on Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, and her father was not a boyar. Only after the wedding, which took place on September 4, 1505, he received this title. For the first time in the history of the state, the monarch did not marry a princess or a representative of the princely aristocracy.
But throughout their marriage, they had no children. Solomonia used all the remedies sent by healers from all over the world, but nothing helped. After 20 years of marriage, the Grand Duke began to worry about the lack of heirs, the boyars suggested that Vasily III divorce, this idea was supported by Metropolitan Daniel. In November 1525, a divorce was announced between the spouses, Solomonia was tonsured at the Nativity nunnery, giving her the name Sophia, and after some time she was transferred to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery.
There is also an opinion that at the time of the divorce Solomonia was pregnant. It is believed that she gave birth to Vasily’s son, George.
In January 1526, Vasily III married Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya. In the first years of marriage, she also could not get pregnant, but on August 25, 1530, their son was born. In 1532, Elena gave birth to her second child - Yuri Vasilievich.
Vasily III: internal politics
The ruler was of the opinion that the power of the Grand Duke should be unlimited. He actively fought against the opposition boyars, expelled and executed them.
In the church sphere, Vasily supported the followers of Joseph of Volotsky; there was a struggle with non-covetous people - they were executed or sent to monasteries.
Vasily III continued his father's policy of centralizing the state. During his reign, he annexed Pskov, the Volotsk inheritance, the Ryazan and Novgorod-Seversk principalities.
Under Vasily, the immunity and privileges of the boyars were limited. The ruler consulted with the boyars on various issues more for show, since he made decisions himself.
The era of his reign is characterized by active construction. Under Vasily, the Archangel Cathedral in Moscow, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Kolomenskoye, as well as stone fortifications in Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, etc. were built.
Vasily III: foreign policy
From the very beginning of his reign, the prince was forced to start a war with Kazan. His army, led by Vasily's brother, failed in the campaign and was defeated, but the inhabitants of Kazan proposed to make peace, the treaty came into force in 1508.
After the death of Alexander, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, Vasily laid claim to the Lithuanian throne, but it went to Sigismund. The new ruler demanded the return of the lands that had been conquered by Ivan III. But the lands remained part of the Russian state.
In 1512 it began war with Lithuania. Two years later, Vasily captured Smolensk, after which Prince Mstislavsky went over to his side. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania tried to return Smolensk; in the battle, the Russian army under the leadership of Ivan Chelyadinov was defeated near Orsha. Smolensk did not return to the power of Lithuania, but the question of who owns this territory was never resolved. Only in 1520 the parties concluded a peace treaty for 5 years, Smolensk remained with Vasily.
The previous relations with Crimea have been preserved. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania incited Crimea to raid Russian lands, and the Russian state - to raid Lithuanian ones. In 1521, the Tatars made another raid on Moscow. They reached Moscow while Vasily was away and forced the boyars to pay tribute, but on the way back the governor Khabar Simsky defeated their army.
Vasily III: death
When the prince was heading from the Trinity Monastery to Volokalamsk, a subcutaneous abscess appeared on his left thigh, which developed quite quickly. Doctors were unable to find out the cause and help Vasily III. The prince felt better for a while when they were able to clear the abscess, but then his condition noticeably worsened again. At the end of November 1533, Vasily was greatly weakened. Doctor Nikolai Glinskoy examined the patient and said that there was no hope for a cure. After this, the prince gathered several boyars, invited Metropolitan Daniel, wrote a will and appointed his son Ivan IV as his heir. Just before his death, Vasily aroused the desire to become a monk, Metropolitan Daniel tonsured him as a monk with the name Varlaam.
On December 5, 1533, Vasily III died due to blood poisoning. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral in Moscow.