Grand Duchy Of Moscow

The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Latin ) was a Rus' principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. It was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, who had ruled Rus' since the foundation of Novgorod in 862. Ivan III the Great titled himself as Sovereign and Grand Duke of All Rus' (russian: государь и великий князь всея Руси, gosudar' i velikiy knyaz' vseya Rusi).

The state originated with the rule of Alexander Nevsky of the Rurik dynasty, when in 1263, his son, Daniel I, was appointed to rule the newly created Grand Principality of Moscow, which was a vassal state to the Mongol Empire (under the " Tatar Yoke"), and which eclipsed and eventually absorbed its parent duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal by the 1320s. It later absorbed its neighbors including the Novgorod Republic in 1478 and the Principality of Tver until 1480 following the Great Stand on the Ugra River, though there were frequent uprisings and several successful military campaigns against the Mongols, such as an uprising led by Dmitri Donskoy against the ruler of the Golden Horde, Mamai, in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.

Muscovites, Suzdalians and other inhabitants of the Rus' principality were able to maintain their Slavic, pagan, and Orthodox traditions for the most part under the Tatar Yoke.

Ivan III further consolidated the state during his 43-year reign, campaigning against his major remaining rival power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and by 1503 he had tripled the territory of his realm, adopting the title of tsar and claiming the title of "Ruler of all Rus. By his marriage to Sophia Palaiologina, niece of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, he claimed Muscovy to be the successor state of the Roman Empire, the " Third Rome". The immigration of Byzantine people influenced and strengthened Moscow's identity as the heir of Orthodox traditions. Ivan's successor Vasili III also enjoyed military success, gaining Smolensk from Lithuania in 1512 and pushing Muscovy's borders to the Dnieper. Vasili's son Ivan IV (later known as ''Ivan the Terrible'') was an infant upon his father's death in 1533. He was crowned in 1547, assuming the title of tsar together with the proclamation of the Tsardom of Russia (russian: Царство Русcкое, ''Tsarstvo Russkoye'').

Name

The English names ''Moscow'' and ''Muscovy'', for the city, the principality, and the river, descend from post-classical Latin , (compare Russian , "principality of Moscow"), and ultimately from the Old East Slavic fully vocalized accusative form . In Latin, the Moscow principality was also historically referred to as ''Ruthenia Alba''.

As with many medieval states, the country had no "official" name, but rather official titles for their rulers. "The Prince ( Knyaz) of Moscow" () or "the Sovereign of Moscow" () were common short titles. After the unification with the Duchy of Vladimir in the mid-14th century, the dukes of Moscow might call themselves also "the Duke of Vladimir and Moscow", as Vladimir was much older than Moscow and much more "prestigious" in the hierarchy of possessions, although the principal residence of the dukes had always been in Moscow. In rivalry with other duchies (especially the Grand Duchy of Tver) Moscow dukes also designated themselves as the "''Grand'' Dukes", claiming a higher position in the hierarchy of Russian dukes. During the territorial growth and later acquisitions, the full title became rather lengthy. In routine documents and on seals, though, various short names were applied: "the (Grand) Duke of Moscow", "the Sovereign of Moscow", "the Grand Duke of all Rus (), "the Sovereign of all Rus (), or simply "the Grand Duke" () or "the Great (or Grand) Sovereign" (). The Golden Horde appointed Ivan Kalita to the throne of "All Russia" while Simeon the Proud took the title of Grand Duke of All Russia.

In spite of feudalism, the collective name of the Eastern Slavic land, Rus', was not forgotten, though it then became a cultural and geographical rather than the political term, as there was no single political entity on the territory. Since the 14th century various Moscow dukes added "of all Rus () to their titles, after the title of Russian metropolitans, "the Metropolitan of all Rus. Dmitry Shemyaka (died 1453) was the first Moscow duke who minted coins with the title "the ''Sovereign'' of all Rus. Although initially both "Sovereign" and "all Rus was supposed to be rather honorific epithets, since Ivan III is transformed into the political claim over the territory of all the former Kievan Rus', a goal that the Moscow duke came closer to by the end of that century, uniting eastern Rus'.

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

Origin

When the Mongols invaded the lands of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, Moscow was still a tiny town within the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. Although the Mongols burnt down Moscow in the winter of 1238 and pillaged it in 1293, the outpost's remote, forested location offered some security from Mongol attacks and occupation, while a number of rivers provided access to the Baltic and Black Seas and to the Caucasus region.Library of Congress Country Studies – Russia
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More important to the development of the state of Moscow, however, was its rule by a series of princes who expanded its borders and turned a small principality in the Moscow River Basin into the largest state in Europe of the 16th century. The first ruler of the principality of Moscow, Daniel I (d. 1303), was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky of Vladimir-Suzdal. He started to expand his principality by seizing Kolomna and securing the bequest of Pereslavl-Zalessky to his family. Daniel's son Yury (also known as Georgiy; ruled 1303–1325) controlled the entire basin of the Moskva River and expanded westward by conquering Mozhaisk. He then allied with the overlord of the Rus' principalities, Uzbeg Khan of the Golden Horde, and married the khan's sister. The Khan allowed Yuriy to claim the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal, a position which allowed him to interfere in the affairs of the Novgorod Republic to the north-west.

By the early 14th century, Moscow had improved its standing against other towns within its parent duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, and by the 1320s, it emerged as the most influential, largely due to decisions made by the Mongol khan; aside from this, the metropolitan bishop of Rus’ started to be based in Moscow too.

Yuriy's successor, Ivan I (ruled 1325–1340), managed to retain the title of Grand Duke by cooperating closely with the Mongols and by collecting tribute and taxes from other Rus' principalities on their behalf. This relationship enabled Ivan to gain regional ascendancy, particularly over Moscow's chief rival, the northern city of Tver, which rebelled against the Horde in 1327. The uprising was subdued by the joint forces of the Grand Duchy of Suzdal, the Grand Duchy of Moscow (which competed with Tver for the title of the Grand Duke of Vladimir), and Tatars

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