Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Renamed the Khanate of Kasimov in 1471 after
Kasim's death, this was the first Tatar state to
accept Russian suzerainty, an important step in
the ongoing struggle between Russians and
Tatars. Although Tatar armies reached and
burned the outskirts of Moscow in 1452, Vasili
repealed their attack. In 1456, Vasili then
attacked Novgorod, one of Moscow's historic
rivals, which had sheltered Dmitrii Shemiaka
after his defeat and forced it to sign a treaty that
further limited its autonomy, a prelude to its full
annexation by Muscovy after his death. Vasili
was succeeded by his second son, Ivan, who
reigned as IVAN III and completed the process of
shaking off Tatar rule and consolidating Moscow
as Russia's preeminent principality.
ascendancy over Kazan. Nevertheless, even
though Muscovy built the fortress of Vasilsursk
(Vasili's fortress) in 1523, the actual conquest of
the city would have to wait until the reign of
Vasili's son, IVAN IV , in 1552. Vasili's reign contin-
ued the emergence of Muscovy's importance
begun by his father when he formally repudi-
ated that Tatar yoke in 1480. Like Ivan III, Vasili
was open to Western (particularly Italian) influ-
ences that are most evident in the Renaissance
styles introduced in the Moscow Kremlin at this
time. The foreign settlement in Moscow, known
as the “German settlement,” grew during this
time. Vasili himself adopted the beardless look
popular in the West, to the great consternation
of traditional Orthodox authorities. He died on
December 3, 1533, and was succeeded by his
infant son, who reigned as Ivan IV and later gen-
erations would know as Ivan the Terrible.
Vasili III (1479-1533)
(Vasilii Ivanovich)
ruler
Grand prince of Muscovy. Vasili was the son of
IVAN III (the Great) by his second marriage to
Sophia (Zoe) Paleologos, niece of the last Byzan-
tine emperor, Constantine XI. Vasili was an
active, energetic man who enjoyed hunting and
religious pilgrimages. As grand prince, from
1505 to 1533, he continued the policy “of gath-
ering of the lands” begun by his father, estab-
lishing control over Pskov in 1511 and Ryazan
in 1517. War with Muscovy's neighbors, Lithua-
nia, Crimea, and KAZAN , was an almost constant
feature of Vasili's reign. Relations with the
Crimean Khanate to the south were particularly
troublesome as the Crimea broke off its previous
alliance with Muscovy and, in 1512, joined
Lithuania in making war on Muscovy. Crimean
forces plundered the suburbs of MOSCOW in 1521
and, even though in the aftermath of these cam-
paigns, Vasili organized a relatively effective
frontier system, for the next two centuries
Moscow's southern frontier witnessed many
confrontations. To the east, the appointment of
two pro-Muscovy khans in Kazan (Kasimov) in
1519 and 1532 testified to Muscovy's growing
Vasili IV (1552-1612)
(Vasili Shuisky)
emperor
A member of an ancient and prominent clan of
boyar aristocrats, Vasili Shuisky briefly reigned as
czar from 1606 to 1610 during the chaotic TIME
OF TROUBLES (1598-1613) that developed when
Czar FEODOR I died without issue in 1598. The
Shuisky family had gained great influence
throughout IVAN IV 's reign, but in the power
struggle to gain control of the regency following
Ivan's death during the reign of the infirm
Feodor I (1584-98), eventually lost out to Boris
GODUNOV . With Boris Godunov as regent, Vasili
Shuisky, along with his three younger brothers,
was banished to internal exile, but by 1591 he
had returned to Moscow and regained most of
his previous posts. That same year he was
appointed to chair the commission that officially
investigated the mysterious death of Prince
Dmitrii of Uglich, youngest son of Ivan IV and
half brother of the czar. Although the commis-
sion asserted that Prince Dmitrii had died acci-
dentally during an epileptic fit, the widespread
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