![Seal of Ivan 3 (reverse)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Seal_of_Ivan_3_%28reverse%29.svg)
Grandfather Ivan ( bg, Дядо Иван) is a
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
image of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in the minds of
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
from the times of the
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...
, portraying Russia as a benevolent, protective force.
Ivan is a
Slavic form of the
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
name
Joan Joan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters
*:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine
* Joan (surname)
Weather events
*Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...
(John). The apparition of the
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
of "Grandfather Ivan" is associated with the marriage of
Ivan III
Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...
to the niece of the
last Byzantine emperor,
Sophia Palaiologina
Zoe Palaiologina ( grc-x-byzant, Ζωή Παλαιολογίνα), whose name was later changed to Sophia Palaiologina (russian: София Фоминична Палеолог; ca. 1449 – 7 April 1503), was a Byzantine princess, member of ...
, in 1472. Through this marriage, Ivan III was formally entitled to ascend to the throne of the already nonexisting
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and also received the moral obligation to liberate the
Balkan Orthodox peoples from the
Ottoman invaders. "Grandfather Ivan" was accepted as an "old clever patron". This vision was applied not only to the
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
but also to the
Russian people
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
. Sometime in the 18th century, during the
Bulgarian National Awakening
The Bulgarian National Awakening ( bg, Ранно възраждане) is the initial period of the Bulgarian National Revival in the history of Bulgaria, from the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Ottoman coups of 1807–08. During this historical per ...
, the Bulgarians came to the conclusion that "Grandfather Ivan" should come to set them free from the
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
.
[Асен Димов, Дядо Иван. Мит или действителност, Издателство "Абагар", Велико Търново, 2004, ]
стр. 18.
/ref>
See also
* Moscow, third Rome
Moscow, third Rome (; ) is a theological and political concept asserting Moscow as the successor to ancient Rome, with the Russian world carrying forward the legacy of the Roman Empire. The term "third Rome" refers to a historical topic of debate ...
* Russophilia
Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th Century, ...
* Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 ( tr, 93 Harbi, lit=War of ’93, named for the year 1293 in the Islamic calendar; russian: Русско-турецкая война, Russko-turetskaya voyna, "Russian–Turkish war") was a conflict between th ...
References
{{Reflist
Bulgarian folklore
Cultural depictions of Russian monarchs
Cultural depictions of Russian people