Vasily 3 Ivanovich years of reign. Brief biography of Vasily III

Under Vasily III, the last semi-independent fiefs and principalities were annexed to Moscow. The Grand Duke limited the privileges of the princely-boyar aristocracy. He became famous for his 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 son in honor of Vasily the Confessor, and at baptism they gave him the Christian name Gabriel. Vasily III is the first son born to her husband Sophia Paleologus, and the second eldest. At the time of his birth, his half-brother was 21 years old. Later, Sophia gave birth to her wife four more sons.

Path Vasily III The approach to the throne was thorny: Ivan the Young was considered the main heir and legal successor of the sovereign. The second competitor for the throne turned out to be 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 Paleologue, and her son were supported by the clerks and boyar children who led the orders. Vasily's supporters pushed him into a conspiracy, advising the prince to kill Dmitry Vnuk and, having seized the treasury, flee from Moscow.

The sovereign's people uncovered the plot, those involved were executed, and Ivan III put his rebellious son in custody. Suspecting his wife Sophia Paleologue of bad intentions, the Grand Duke of Moscow began to beware of her. Having learned that sorcerers were coming to see his wife, the sovereign ordered the “dashing women” to be seized and drowned in the Moscow River under cover of darkness.

In February 1498, Dmitry was crowned prince, but a year later the pendulum swung in the opposite direction: the sovereign’s favor abandoned his grandson. Vasily, at the behest of his father, accepted Novgorod and Pskov into the reign. In the spring of 1502, Ivan III put his daughter-in-law Elena Voloshanka and grandson Dmitry into custody, and blessed Vasily for the great reign and declared autocrat of all Rus'.

Governing body

In domestic politics, Vasily III was a supporter of strict rule and believed that power should not be limited by anything. He dealt with dissatisfied boyars without delay and relied on the church in his confrontation with the opposition. But in 1521, under hot hand The Grand Duke of Moscow was captured by Metropolitan Varlaam: the priest was exiled for his unwillingness to side with the autocrat in the fight against the appanage prince Vasily Shemyakin.

Vasily III considered criticism unacceptable. In 1525 he executed diplomat Ivan Bersen-Beklemishev: statesman did not accept the Greek innovations introduced into the life of Rus' by the sovereign’s mother Sophia.

Over the years, the despotism of Vasily III intensified: the sovereign, increasing the number of landed nobility, limited the privileges of the boyars. The son and grandson continued the centralization of Rus' begun by his father Ivan III and grandfather Vasily the Dark.

In church politics, the new sovereign sided with the Josephites, who defended the right of monasteries to own land and property. Their non-covetous opponents were executed or imprisoned in monastery cells. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible's father, a new Code of Law appeared, which has not survived to this day.

During the era of Vasily III Ivanovich and there was a construction boom, which was started by his father. The Archangel Cathedral appeared in the Moscow Kremlin, and the Church of the Ascension of the Lord appeared in Kolomenskoye.

The king’s two-story travel palace has also survived to this day - one of the oldest in Russian capital monuments of civil architecture. There were many such small palaces (“putinkas”) in which Vasily III and the retinue 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 Church of St. Nikita the Martyr. It appeared in 1518 by order of Vasily III and was originally made of wood. In 1685, a stone church was built in its place. Under the arches ancient temple prayed, Fedor Rokotov, .

In foreign policy, Vasily III was noted as a collector of Russian lands. At the beginning of his reign, the Pskovites asked to annex them to the Moscow Principality. The Tsar did with them as Ivan III had done with the Novgorodians earlier: he resettled 3 hundred noble families from Pskov to Moscow, giving their estates to service people.

After the third siege in 1514, Smolensk was taken, and Vasily III used artillery to conquer it. The annexation of Smolensk became the sovereign's greatest 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 Principality of Moscow. Then the Starodub and Novgorod-Seversk principalities surrendered.

At the beginning of his reign, Vasily III made peace with Kazan, and after breaking the agreement, he went on a campaign against the Khanate. The war with Lithuania was a success. The results of the reign of the Sovereign of All Rus' Vasily Ivanovich was the strengthening of the country, and people learned about it beyond distant borders. Relations began with France and India.

Personal life

Ivan III married his son a year before his death. It was not possible to find a noble wife: 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 had not given him an heir. The boyars advised the king to divorce the barren Solomonia. Metropolitan Daniel approved the divorce. In November 1525 Grand Duke broke up with his wife, who was tonsured as a nun at the Nativity Convent.

After the tonsure, rumors arose that the woman imprisoned in the monastery ex-wife gave birth to a son, Georgy Vasilyevich, but there is no convincing evidence of this. According to popular rumor, the grown son of Saburova and Vasily Ivanovich became the robber Kudeyar, sung in Nekrasov’s “Song of the Twelve Thieves.”

A year after the divorce, the nobleman chose the daughter of the late Prince Glinsky. The girl conquered the king with her education and beauty. For the sake of the prince he even shaved off his beard, which went against Orthodox traditions.

4 years passed, and the second wife still did not give the king the long-awaited heir. The Emperor and his wife went to Russian monasteries. It is generally accepted that the prayers of Vasily Ivanovich and his wife were heard by the Monk Paphnutius of 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 Vasilyevich.

Death

The Tsar did not enjoy fatherhood for long: when his first-born was 3 years old, the Tsar fell ill. On the way from the Trinity Monastery to Volokolamsk, Vasily III discovered an abscess on his thigh.

After treatment, there was short-term relief, but after a couple of months the doctor pronounced a verdict that only a miracle could save Vasily: the patient had developed blood poisoning.

In December, the king died, blessing his first-born son to the throne. The remains were buried in the Moscow Archangel Cathedral.

Researchers suggest that Vasily III died of terminal cancer, 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 and the Church of the Ascension of the Lord were built.
• In 2007, Alexey Shishov published the study “Vasily III: The Last Gatherer of the Russian Land.”
• In 2009, the premiere of the series “Ivan the Terrible” by the director took place, in which the actor played the role of Vasily III.
• In 2013, Alexander Melnik’s book “Moscow Grand Duke Vasily III and the Cults of Russian Saints” was published.

In 1934, a young researcher of Suzdal and director of the Suzdal Museum A.D. Varganov carried out archaeological excavations in the basement of the Intercession Cathedral of the Intercession Monastery in Suzdal. During the excavations, a small unnamed tomb was discovered, located between the tombs of a certain “Elder Alexandra,” who died in 1525, and “Elder Sophia,” who died in 1542. It is known that Sofia is the first wife of the Grand Moscow Prince and Emperor Vasily III, Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, accused of infertility and tonsured into a monastery in 1525. However, there were rumors that the accusation was unfair, that Solomonia was expecting a child and gave birth to a son in the monastery, who soon died. Varganov was very interested in the unnamed tomb: what if this is the tomb of the son of Solomonia Saburova? He decides to open the burial. Imagine his surprise when he found no traces of burial in the tomb. Instead of a skeleton, there lay a wooden doll, half decayed from time to time, dressed in a silk boy's shirt, like those in the 16th century. worn by children of the royal family. Restored, this shirt is in the historical exhibition of the Suzdal museum, next to it is the lid from that tomb.

So, a false burial from the 16th century? Who needed this? Historians tried to unravel the mystery of this burial throughout the 20th century.
Grand Duke Vasily III was the son of Ivan III and his second wife, Byzantine princess Sophia Paleolog. He reigned from 1505 to 1533. Under him, the unification of Russian lands around Moscow was completed. In relations with the Tatar khanates, he already called himself “the king of all Rus'.” The German ambassador Sigismund Herberstein wrote about him: “This is a sovereign like no other monarch in Europe. He alone rules.”
At the age of 26, he decided to get married. It was then that the famous “girlish commotion” occurred, which today has become the plot for an operetta by Yu. Milyutin. The Grand Duke ordered to collect the most beautiful girls, regardless of their nobility. Out of one and a half thousand, 500 were selected and brought to Moscow, of which 300 were chosen, out of three hundred 200, after 100, finally only 10, carefully examined by midwives; From these ten, Vasily chose a bride for himself and then married her. Why not a 16th century beauty contest?
Vasily's choice fell on Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, who came from an old, but "seedy"Moscow boyar family.
They lived, according to the chronicles, in complete harmony. However, years passed, and Solomonia remained childless. Vasily did not want to leave the throne to his brothers. He did not even allow them to marry until he himself had an heir, but time passed, neither doctors, nor priests, nor trips to monasteries and fervent prayers helped - there were no children. Then Vasily decided to divorce Solomonia and exile her to a monastery. He already had another bride in mind, the young beauty Elena Glinskaya.
For Rus' at that time, this case was unprecedented. Firstly, the Orthodox Church allowed one of the spouses to enter a monastery only with their mutual consent. But Solomonia didn’t want to hear about divorce. Secondly, there could be no talk of any new marriage while the first wife was alive.
With a request for permission to divorce, Vasily III turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, the head of all Orthodox churches in the world, but received a categorical refusal. Moscow Metropolitan Daniel came to the aid of the Grand Duke, who found the prince an excuse for the divorce, saying: “They cut down a barren fig tree and remove it from the grapes.” A search began for Solomonia’s “barrenness.” In the course of it it turned out that Grand Duchess she resorted to the help of fortune tellers and healers, to witchcraft and “conspiracies” - this sharply worsened her situation, since a suspicion arose whether that witchcraft had caused damage to the Grand Duke?! Solomonia's fate was decided. On November 29, 1525, she was tonsured in the Moscow Nativity Monastery.

There is evidence that the tonsure was forced, that Solomonia opposed him. About itwrites Prince Andrei Kurbsky. German Ambassador
Herberstein writes that Solomonia tore off the monastic doll and trampled it with her feet, for which the boyar Shigonya-Podzhogin hit her with a whip! However, many boyars and clergy sympathized with Solomonia, and the boyar Bersen-Beklemishev even tried to come to her defense, but Vasily furiously exclaimed: “Go away, you smerd, I don’t need you!” Since many in Moscow supported Solomonia, Vasily III sent her away from Moscow - to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. Less than two months later, Vasily III married Elena Glinskaya, who had just turned 16 years old. The prince was already 42 years old, in order to please his young wife and look younger himself, Vasily, deviating from the customs of antiquity, even shaved off his beard!
Several months passed... And suddenly rumors spread throughout Moscow thatKudeyar

Solomonia in the monastery gave birth to Vasily III, the heir to the throne, Tsarevich George. The Glinskys were furious, and Vasily also did not like these rumors. The rumor mongers were identified and punished, and clerks were hastily sent to Suzdal to clarify this scandalous matter. Solomonia met the clerks with hostility and refused to show them the child, declaring that they “are not worthy for their eyes to see the prince, and when he puts on his greatness, he will avenge his mother’s insult.” Then boyars and clergy were sent, but no documents have been preserved about the results of this investigation. It is only known that Solomonia announced the death of her son. The Grand Duke's ambassadors were shown the tomb.

However, did Solomonia have a son? This remains unknown. Some historians are convinced that there was. Archaeologist and historian Count S.D. Sheremetyev believed that Solomonia hid her son with reliable people, because she understood that he would not be left alive. This version is confirmed by Varganov’s discovery of an empty tomb in 1934. Moreover, in his second marriage, Vasily III also did not have children for a long time. Only in 1530 did the Grand Duke have a son, Ivan, the future Ivan the Terrible. Now any talk about the canonicity of Vasily III’s second marriage meant a denial of the legality of the rights of the heir to the throne. For this they cut off their heads, starved them in prison, and exiled them to the north. Soon, Elena Glinskaya had a second son, Yuri (who turned out to be deaf and dumb), and only now Vasily III allowed his brothers to marry. By this time there were only two of them left.

Vasily III died in 1533. Power under the young Ivan passed to his mother, who ruled together with her favorite, Prince Ivan Obolensky. It was rumored that he was the father of Elena's children (Ivan suffered from epilepsy, like Prince Obolensky). For Helen, Solomonia and her son, if he existed, were very dangerous. Therefore, Solomonia was exiled to Kargopol, where she was kept in prison until the death of Elena Glinskaya. After the death of Elena Glinskaya, the Shuisky princes came to power, treating the young Ivan IV with disdain. It would seem that this is an opportune opportunity for Tsarevich George to appear on the political arena. However, nothing of the kind happened. And yet there is still a lot of mystery in this story.

If George was not there, then why did Ivan IV, who had already firmly established himself on the throne, demand all the archival documents of the investigation about the “infertility” of Solomonia? And where did these documents then disappear? Some historians believe that Ivan the Terrible spent his entire life looking for Solomonia’s son George. It is known that Ivan IV made devastating campaigns against Tver and Novgorod the Great. On his orders, mass exterminations of men were carried out there. There are suggestions that Ivan the Terrible received reports that Georgy was hiding in these cities and tried to destroy him.
The name of George is popularly associated with the legendary robber Kudeyar, the hero of many songs and legends, the Russian Robin Hood. According to one legend, Kudeyar robbed in the forests between Suzdal and Shuya. Here, in the estates of the Shuisky princes, Kudeyar could hide from the wrath of the Glinskys in his youth. But these are just assumptions, not supported by any documents.

In 1542 Solomonia died. After 8 years, Patriarch Joseph recognized her as a saint. The relics of Elder Sophia were and remain revered by many people. Ivan the Terrible himself allegedly placed a shroud woven by his wife Anastasia on her tomb. They came to the relics of St. Sophia and both of his sons with their wives, and the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, and many others.
Well, what about Georgy? Did he really exist, or is it just fiction? No one knows about this and is unlikely to find out. Nowadays, in the basement of the monastery's Intercession Cathedral, among numerous ancient tombs, services are held - there is a temple here again, as in ancient times. Relics of St. Sophia was moved to the main temple, and the nameless small tomb is no longer disturbed.

Based on materials from the newspaper "Evening Bell"

Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus' (1505-1533).

Vasily III Ivanovich was born on 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 in different years Many boyars and princes fell into disgrace, and even Metropolitan Varlaam. 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.

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 alive 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 brother. 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 policies (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 Orthodox Church and centralization of 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 policies were important areas his activities, however, the presence of a successor to the family depended future destiny states. 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.

Already in 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.

After the death of Grand Duke Ivan III in 1505, Vasily III took the grand-ducal throne. He was born in 1479 in Moscow and was the second son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor. Vasily became heir to the throne after the death of his older brother Ivan in 1490. Ivan III wanted to transfer the throne to his grandson Dmitry Ivanovich, but shortly before his death he abandoned this intention. Vasily III in 1505 married Solomonia Saburova, who came from an Old Moscow boyar family.

Vasily III (1505-1533) continued his father’s policy of creating a unified Russian state and expanding its borders. During his reign, the last Russian principalities were annexed, which had previously formally retained their independence: in 1510 - the lands of the Pskov Republic, in 1521 - the Ryazan principality, which in fact had long been completely dependent on Moscow.

Vasily III consistently pursued a policy of eliminating appanage principalities. He did not fulfill his promises to provide inheritance to noble immigrants from Lithuania (princes Belsky and Glinsky), and in 1521 he liquidated the Novgorod-Seversky principality - the inheritance of Prince Vasily Ivanovich, the grandson of Shemyaka. Other appanage principalities either disappeared as a result of the death of their rulers (for example, Starodubskoye), or were liquidated in exchange for the provision of high places to the former appanage princes at the court of Vasily III (Vorotynskoye, Belevskoye, Odoevskoye, Masalskoye). As a result, by the end of the reign of Vasily III, only the appanages that belonged to the brothers of the Grand Duke - Yuri (Dmitrov) and Andrei (Staritsa), were preserved, as well as the Kasimov principality, where pretenders to the Kazan throne from the Chingizid dynasty ruled, but with very limited rights of princes (they were it was forbidden to mint their own coins, judicial power was limited, etc.).

The development of the local system continued, the total number of service people - landowners - was already about 30 thousand.

Basil III supported the expansion of the political role of the church. on his personal funds many churches were built, including the Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral. At the same time, Vasily III completely controlled the church. This is evidenced, in particular, by his appointment of Metropolitans Varlaam (1511) and Daniel (1522) without convening a Local Council, that is, in violation of the norms of church law. This happened for the first time in the history of Rus'. And in former times, princes played an important role in the appointment of metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, but at the same time church canons were necessarily observed.

The accession of Varlaam to the metropolitan throne in the summer of 1511 led to the strengthening of the position of non-covetous people among the highest church hierarchs. By the beginning of the 20s, Vasily III lost interest in non-covetous people and lost hope of depriving the church of its land holdings. He believed that much more benefits could be derived from an alliance with the Josephites, who, although they held tightly to church possessions, were ready for any compromise with the Grand Duke. In vain Vasily III asked Metropolitan Varlaam, a non-covetous man by his convictions, to help him fraudulently lure to Moscow the last Novgorod-Seversk prince Vasily Shemyachich, who, without the metropolitan's safe conduct, resolutely refused to appear in the capital. Varlaam did not make a deal with the Grand Duke and, at the insistence of Vasily III, was forced to leave the metropolitan see. On February 27, 1522, the more accommodating abbot of the Valaam Monastery, Josephite Daniel, was installed in his place, becoming an obedient executor of the will of the Grand Duke. Daniil issued a “metropolitan letter of protection” to Vasily Shemyachich, who, upon entering Moscow in April 1523, was captured and imprisoned, where he ended his days. This whole story caused a storm of indignation in Russian society.

Contemporaries remembered Vasily III as a powerful man who did not tolerate objections and who single-handedly made the most important decisions. He dealt harshly with those he disliked. Even at the beginning of his reign, many supporters of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (grandson of Ivan III) fell into disgrace; in 1525, opponents of the divorce and second marriage of the Grand Duke, among them were the then leader of the non-covetous Vassian (Patrikeev), a prominent church figure, writer and translator Maxim Greek (now canonized), prominent statesman and diplomat P.N. Bersen-Beklemishev (he was brutally executed). In fact, Vasily’s brothers and their appanage yards were in isolation.

At the same time, Vasily III sought to substantiate the allegedly divine origin of the grand ducal power, relying on the authority of Joseph Volotsky, who in his works acted as an ideologist of strong state power and “ancient piety” (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church), as well as on the ideas of “The Tale of princes of Vladimir”, etc. This was facilitated by the increased authority of the Grand Duke in Western Europe. In the treaty (1514) with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian III, Vasily III was even named king.

Vasily III pursued an active foreign policy, although it was not always successful. In 1507-1508 he waged a war with the Principality of Lithuania, and Russian troops suffered a number of serious defeats in field battles, and the result was the preservation of the status quo. Vasily III managed to achieve success in Lithuanian affairs thanks to the events that unfolded in the lands subject to Lithuania.

At the court of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Kazimirovich, the Glinsky princes, who descended from Mamai and owned vast lands in Ukraine (Poltava, Glinsk), enjoyed enormous influence. Sigismund, who replaced Alexander, deprived Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky of all his posts. The latter, together with his brothers Ivan and Vasily, raised a rebellion, which was hardly suppressed. The Glinskys fled to Moscow. Mikhail Glinsky had extensive connections at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian (it was the largest empire of that time, including almost half of Europe). Thanks to the mediation of Glinsky, Vasily III established allied relations with Maximilian, who opposed Poland and Lithuania. The most important success of Vasily III's military operations was the capture of Smolensk after two unsuccessful assaults. The war continued until 1522, when a truce was concluded through the mediation of representatives of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Lithuania did not recognize the loss of Smolensk, the city became part of the Russian state (1514).

The eastern policy of Vasily III was quite complex, where the central factor was the relationship of the Russian state with the Kazan Khanate. Until 1521, under the khans Mohammed Edin and Shah Ali, Kazan was a vassal of Moscow. However, in 1521, the Kazan nobility expelled the protege of Vasily III of Kasimov Khan Shah-Ali and invited the Crimean prince Sahib-Girey to the throne. Relations between Moscow and Kazan have deteriorated sharply. The Kazan Khanate essentially abandoned obedience to the Russian state. Both sides began using military force. The Kazan raids resumed, that is, military campaigns on Russian lands, organized by the top of the Kazan Khanate to capture booty and prisoners, as well as an open demonstration of force. In 1521, Kazan military leaders took part in the great Crimean campaign against Moscow, Kazan troops carried out 5 raids on eastern regions Russian state (Meshchera, Nizhny Novgorod, Totma, Uneka). Kazan raids were also undertaken in 1522 (two) and in 1523. To defend the eastern border, in 1523 the Russian fortress Vasilsursk was built on the Volga at the mouth of the Sura. However, Moscow did not abandon its attempts to restore its control over the Kazan Khanate and return the obedient Shah Ali Khan to the Kazan throne. For this purpose, a number of campaigns were made against Kazan (in 1524, 1530 and 1532), however, they were not successful. True, in 1532 Moscow still managed to place Khan Jan-Ali (Yenaley), Shah-Ali’s brother, on the Kazan throne, but in 1536, as a result of another palace conspiracy, he was killed, and Safa-Girey became the new ruler of the Kazan Khanate - representative of the Crimean dynasty, hostile to the Russian state.

Relations with the Crimean Khanate also worsened. Moscow's ally, Khan Mengli-Girey, died in 1515, but even during his lifetime, his sons actually got out of the control of their father and independently carried out raids on Russian lands. In 1521, Khan Magmet-Girey inflicted a serious defeat on the Russian army, besieged Moscow (Vasily III was even forced to flee the city), later Ryazan was besieged, and only the skillful actions of the Ryazan governor Khabar Simsky (who successfully used artillery) forced the khan to retreat back to Crimea. Since that time, relations with Crimea have become one of the most pressing problems of Russian foreign policy for centuries.

The reign of Vasily III was almost marked by a dynastic crisis. Vasily’s marriage to Solomonia Saburova was childless for more than 20 years. The dynasty of Moscow princes could be interrupted, especially since Vasily III forbade his brothers Yuri and Andrei to marry. In 1526, he forcibly tonsured Solomonia into a monastery and the next year married Princess Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya, who was half her husband’s age. In 1530, the fifty-year-old Grand Duke gave birth to a son, Ivan, the future Tsar Ivan IV.