Vasily III Ivanovich baptized Gabriel, monasticism Barlaam (born March 25, 1479 - death December 3, 1533) - Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow (1505-1533), Sovereign of All Russia. Parents: father John III Vasilievich the Great, mother Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus. Children: from the first marriage: George (presumably); from the second marriage: Ivan IV the Terrible and Yuri.
Vasily 3 short biography (article review)
The son of John III from his marriage with Sophia Palaeologus, Vasily the Third was distinguished by pride and inaccessibility, he punished the descendants of appanage princes and boyars who dared to oppose him. He is "the last collector of the Russian land." After the annexation of the last appanages (Pskov, northern principality), he completely destroyed the appanage system. He fought twice with Lithuania, according to the teaching of the Lithuanian nobleman Mikhail Glinsky, who entered the service of him, and, finally, in 1514, he was able to take Smolensk from the Lithuanians. The war with Kazan and the Crimea was difficult for Vasily, but ended with the punishment of Kazan: Trade was diverted from there to the Makaryevskaya fair, which was later transferred to Nizhny. Vasily divorced his wife Solomonia Saburova and married Princess Elena Glinskaya, which further aroused the boyars who were dissatisfied with him. From this marriage, Vasily had a son, Ivan IV the Terrible.
Biography of Vasily III
The beginning of the reign. Choosing a bride
The new Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich began his reign by resolving the "throne issue" with his nephew Dmitry. Immediately after the death of his father, he ordered him to be chained "in iron" and put in a "cramped ward", where he died 3 years later. Now the tsar had no "legitimate" opponents in the rivalry for the grand prince's throne.
Promotional video:
Vasily ascended the Moscow throne at the age of 26. Having shown himself in the future as a skillful politician, he was preparing for the role of autocrat in the Russian state even under his father. It was not in vain that he abandoned a bride from among foreign princesses and for the first time were arranged at the grand ducal palace for Russian brides. 1505, summer - 1,500 noble maidens were brought to the bride.
A special boyar commission, after careful selection, presented ten in all respects worthy applicants to the heir to the throne. Vasily chose Salomonia - the daughter of boyar Yuri Saburov. This marriage will be unsuccessful - the monarch's couple had no children, and, first of all, a son-heir. In the first half of the 1920s, the problem of an heir for the grand ducal couple became aggravated to the limit. In the absence of an heir to the throne, Prince Yuri automatically became the main contender for the kingdom. Vasily's relationship with him was hostile. It is a well-known fact that the appanage prince himself and his entourage were under the watchful eye of informants. The transition to Yuri of the supreme power in the state generally promised a large-scale shake-up in the ruling elite of Russia.
According to the strictness of the tradition, the second marriage of an Orthodox Christian in Russia was possible only in two cases: the death or voluntary departure to the monastery of the first wife. The Tsar's wife was healthy and, contrary to the official announcement, she was not at all going to voluntarily go to the monastery. She fell into disgrace for Salomonia and was forcibly tonsured at the end of November 1525, completing this act of family drama, which for a long time split the Russian educated society.
Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich on the hunt.
Foreign policy
Vasily the Third continued his father's policy of creating a unified Russian state, “followed the same rules in foreign and domestic policy; showed modesty in the actions of monarchical power, but knew how to command; loved the benefits of peace, not being afraid of war and not missing an opportunity for acquisitions important for sovereign power; less famous for military happiness, more cunning dangerous to enemies; did not humiliate Russia, even exalted it …”(N. M. Karamzin).
At the very beginning of his reign, in 1506, an unsuccessful campaign against the Kazan Khan was undertaken, which ended in the flight of the Russian army. Such a beginning greatly inspired the King of Lithuania Alexander, who, relying on the youth and inexperience of Vasily III, offered him peace with the condition of returning the lands conquered by John III. A rather harsh and short answer was given to such a proposal - the Russian tsar only owns his own lands. But, in the letter sent to Alexander about his accession to the throne, Vasily rejected the complaints of the Lithuanian boyars against the Russians as unfair, and reminded about the inadmissibility of declining Elena (Alexander's wife and Vasily III's sister) and other Christians living in Lithuania to Catholicism.
Alexander realized that a young but strong king had ascended the throne. When Alexander died in August 1506, Vasily tried to offer himself as king of Lithuania and Poland in order to end the confrontation with Russia. However, Alexander's brother Sigismund ascended the throne, who did not want peace with Russia. Out of vexation, the sovereign tried to recapture Smolensk, but after several battles there were no winners, and a peace was concluded, according to which all the lands conquered under John III remained with Russia and Russia promised not to encroach on Smolensk and Kiev. As a result of this peace treaty, the Glinsky brothers first appeared in Russia - noble Lithuanian nobles who had a conflict with Sigismund and who came under the patronage of the Russian Tsar.
By 1509, external relations were settled: letters were received from an old friend and ally of Russia - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, which confirmed the invariability of his attitude towards Russia; signed a 14-year peace treaty with Livonia, with the exchange of prisoners and the resumption of: the safety of movement in both powers and trade on the previous mutually beneficial terms. It was also important that, according to this treaty, the Germans broke off allied relations with Poland.
Domestic policy
Tsar Vasily believed that nothing should limit the power of the Grand Duke. He enjoyed the active support of the Church in the fight against the feudal boyar opposition, sharply cracking down on those who expressed discontent.
Now Vasily the Third could get involved in domestic politics. He turned his attention to Pskov, which proudly bore the name of “brother of Novgorod”. By the example of Novgorod, the sovereign knew where the boyar liberty could lead, and therefore he wanted to conquer the city of his power without leading to a mutiny. The reason for this was the refusal of the landowners to pay tribute, everyone quarreled and the governor had no choice but to appeal to the court of the Grand Duke.
In January 1510 the young tsar went to Novgorod, where he received a large embassy of the Pskovites, which consisted of 70 noble boyars. The proceedings ended with the fact that all the Pskov boyars were imprisoned, since the tsar was dissatisfied with their audacity against the governor and injustice against the people. In this connection, the sovereign demanded that the Pskovites refuse the veche and accept the sovereign governors in all their cities.
Noble boyars, feeling their guilt and not having the strength to confront the Grand Duke, wrote a letter to the people of Pskov, asking them to agree with the requirements of the Grand Duke. It was sad for the free Pskovites to gather for the last time on the square to the ringing of the veche bell. At this veche it was announced to the sovereign ambassadors about their consent to submit to the royal will. Vasily III arrived in Pskov, brought order there and appointed new officials; took the oath of loyalty to all residents and laid the foundation for a new church of St. Xenia, the commemoration of this saint fell on the day of the end of the liberty of the city of Pskov. Vasily sent 300 noble people of Pskov to the capital and left home a month later. The Pskov veche bell was soon followed after him.
By 1512 relations with the Crimean Khanate became strained. The clever and loyal Khan Mengli-Girey, who was a reliable ally of John III, grew old and decrepit, and his sons, the young princes Akhmat and Burnash-Girey, began to lead politics. Sigismund, who hated Russia even more than Alexander, was able to bribe the brave princes and incite them to campaigns against Russia. In particular, Sigismund raged, having lost in 1514 Smolensk, which for 110 years was under Lithuania.
Sigismund regretted that he had released Mikhail Glinsky to Russia, who diligently served the new land, and began to demand the return of the Glinsky. Especially M. Glinsky tried during the capture of Smolensk, he hired skilled foreign soldiers. Mikhail had the hope that, out of gratitude for his merits, the sovereign would make him the sovereign prince of Smolensk. However, the Grand Duke did not love and did not believe Glinsky - once he cheated, he would change the second time. And in general, Vasily fought with the inheritance. And so it happened: offended, Mikhail Glinsky went over to Sigismund, but fortunately, the governors were able to quickly catch him and, on the orders of the tsar, were sent in chains to Moscow.
1515 - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey died, and his throne was succeeded by his son Muhammad-Girey, who, unfortunately, did not inherit many of his father's good qualities. During his reign (until 1523), the Crimean army acted either on the side of Lithuania or Russia - everything depended on who paid more.
The power of Russia of that era earned the respect of various countries. Ambassadors from Constantinople brought a letter and an affectionate letter from the Turkish Sultan Soliman, famous and terrible for all of Europe. Good diplomatic relations with him frightened the eternal opponents of Russia - Mukhamet-Girey and Sigismund. The latter, without even arguing about Smolensk, made peace for 5 years.
Solomonia Saburova. Painting by P. Mineeva.
Unification of Russian lands
Such a respite gave the Grand Duke time and strength to fulfill his and his great father's long-standing intention - to finally destroy the inheritance. And he succeeded. Ryazan's inheritance, ruled by the young prince John, was almost set aside from Russia, with the active participation of Khan Mukhamet. Imprisoned, Prince John fled to Lithuania, where he died, and the Ryazan principality, which had been separate and independent for 400 years, merged into the Russian state in 1521. The Seversk principality remained, where Vasily Shemyakin reigned, the grandson of the famous Dmitry Shemyaka, who disturbed the power during the time of Vasily 2 the Dark. This Shemyakin, so similar to his grandfather, has long been suspected of friendship with Lithuania. 1523 - his correspondence with Sigismund was revealed, and this is already an open betrayal of the fatherland. Prince Vasily Shemyakin was thrown into a dungeon, where he died.
This is how the dream was realized to unite Russia, split into specific principalities, into a single whole under the rule of one king.
1523 - the Russian city of Vasilsursk was founded on the Kazan land, and this event marked the beginning of the decisive conquest of the Kazan kingdom. And although during the entire period of his reign, Vasily the Third had to fight the Tatars and repel their raids, in 1531 the Kazan Khan Enaley became a novice of the Russian Tsar, recognizing his power.
Divorce and marriage
Everything went well in the Russian state, but Vasily III did not have an heir for 20 years of marriage. And various boyar parties began to form for and against the divorce from the sterile Saburova. The king needs an heir. 1525 - a divorce took place, and Solomonida Saburova was tonsured a nun, and in 1526 Tsar Vasily Ivanovich married Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya - the niece of the traitor Mikhail Glinsky, who in 1530 gave birth to the first son and heir to the throne, John IV (the Terrible).
Elena Glinskaya - second wife of Grand Duke Vasily III.
Board results
The first signs of the prosperity of the Russian state were the successfully developing trade. The largest centers besides Moscow are Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk and Pskov. The Grand Duke cared about the development of trade, which he constantly pointed out to his governors. Handicrafts also developed. In many cities, craft suburbs - settlements - appeared. The country provided itself, for those times, with everything necessary and was ready to export more goods than to import what it needed. The wealth of Russia, the abundance of arable land, forest lands with precious furs, are unanimously noted by foreigners who visited Muscovy in
those years.
Under Vasily III, urban planning continued to develop, the construction of Orthodox churches. The Italian Fioravanti is building in Moscow, modeled on the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, which becomes the main shrine of Moscow Russia. The cathedral will be an image for Russian masters of temple work for many decades.
Under Vasily III, the construction of the Kremlin was completed - in 1515 a wall was erected along the Neglinnaya River. The Moscow Kremlin turns into one of the best fortresses in Europe. As the residence of the monarch, the Kremlin has become the symbol of the Russian state up to the present day.
Death
Vasily III always had enviable health and he was not seriously ill with anything, probably because it was so unexpected that an abscess on his leg led him to death 2 months later. He died on the night of December 3 to 4, 1533, having managed to give all the orders for the state, transferring power to his 3-year-old son John, and the guardianship of his mother, boyars and his brothers - to Andrey and Yuri; and even before his last breath he managed to take the schema.
Vasily was called a kind and gentle sovereign, and therefore it is not surprising that his death was so sad for the people. All 27 years of his reign, the Grand Duke worked hard for the good and greatness of his state and was able to achieve a lot.
That night, for the history of the Russian state, "the last collector of the Russian land" passed away.
Interesting Facts
• According to one of the legends, during the tonsure, Solomonia was pregnant, gave birth to a son, George, and handed him over to "safe hands", and it was announced to everyone that the newborn had died. Subsequently, this child will become the famous robber Kudeyar, who with his gang will rob rich carts. This legend was very interested in Ivan the Terrible. The hypothetical Kudeyar was his older half-brother, which means that he could lay claim to the royal throne. This story is most likely a folk fiction.
• The second time Vasily III married a Lithuanian woman, the young Elena Glinskaya. Only 4 years later, Elena gave birth to her first child - Ivan Vasilyevich. As the legend says, at the hour of the baby's birth, it was as if a terrible thunderstorm broke out. Thunder struck from the clear sky and shook the earth to its foundations. The Kazan khansha, having learned about the birth of the heir, told the Moscow messengers: "A tsar was born to you, and he has two teeth: one he will eat us (Tatars), and others you."
• It was rumored that Ivan was an illegitimate son, but this is unlikely: an examination of the remains of Elena Glinskaya showed that she had red hair. As you know, Ivan was also red.
• Vasily III was the first of the Russian tsars to shave off his chin hair. As legend has it, he trimmed his beard to look younger in the eyes of his young wife. It did not last long in a beardless state.