Editing Ivan III of Russia (section)

===Domestic policy===
[[File:Elena Voloshanka's pelena 01.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of [[Palm Sunday]] procession with Ivan III and his family, including his son [[Vasili III of Russia|Vasili]] and grandson [[Dmitry Ivanovich (grandson of Ivan III)|Dmitry]], on a shroud belonging to [[Elena of Moldavia|Elena Voloshanka]], {{circa|1498}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flier |first1=Michael |last2=Rowland |first2=Daniel |title=Medieval Russian Culture, Volume II |date=13 May 2022 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-35920-8 |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jJnEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>]]
The character of the government of Moscow changed significantly under Ivan III, taking on a new [[autocracy|autocratic]] form, as Moscow increased its [[hegemony]], but also to new imperial pretensions. After the [[fall of Constantinople]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] canonists were inclined to regard the [[grand princes of Moscow]], where the [[Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'|Metropolitan of Kiev]] moved in 1325 after the Mongol invasions, as the successors of the [[Byzantine emperors]].{{sfn|Bain|1911|pp=88–89}} Ivan himself appeared to welcome the idea, and he began to use the title of [[tsar]] in foreign correspondence, meaning [[Caesar (title)|caesar]].

The adoption of Byzantine symbolism and its ceremonial style in effect allowed for the Muscovite grand prince to claim the powers of that of a [[Byzantine emperor]]. Russian ruling circles were already well aware of Byzantine traditions, including the court, hierarchy, and symbolism, due in part to most of the Kievan metropolitans and clerics of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] having been Greeks.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=64|loc="The Russians, for their part, had long been calling the Byzantine emperor tsar, and his capital, Constantinople, Tsargrad... most of the Kievan metropolitans, as well as some other clerics of the Russian Church, were Greeks. In other words, the Russian ruling circles and ecclesiastical intelligentsia were well aware of the Byzantine court..."}} The Russians had also long called the Byzantine emperor ''tsar'', and had known of the South Slavic writers who gave the title to their most successful rulers.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=64}} A Serbian monk who had arrived in Moscow in the early 1440s helped to provide the foundation for the title, having composed a "chronograph" which included the prophecy of a "Russian" clan coming to rule in Constantinople.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=64}} He also referred to the Muscovite grand prince as the "Orthodox tsar and autocrat" following the [[Council of Florence]].{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=64}}

This movement coincided with a change in the family circumstances of Ivan III. After the death of his first consort in 1467, [[Maria of Tver]], and at the suggestion of [[Pope Paul II]] in 1469, who hoped thereby to bind Moscow to the [[Holy See]], Ivan III wedded [[Sophia Palaiologina]] (also known under her original name Zoe) in 1472, daughter of [[Thomas Palaeologus]], despot of [[Morea]], who claimed the throne of [[Constantinople]] as the brother of [[Constantine XI]], the last Byzantine emperor. Frustrating the Pope's hopes of reuniting the two faiths, the princess endorsed [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]. Due to her family traditions, she encouraged imperial ideas in the mind of her consort. It was through her influence that the ceremonious [[etiquette]] of Constantinople (along with the imperial [[double-headed eagle]] and all that it implied) was adopted by the court of Moscow.{{sfn|Bain|1911|p=89}} Ivan combined the double-headed eagle with his emblem of [[Saint George and the Dragon|St.&nbsp;George slaying the dragon]];{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=64}} his family seal became and remained a symbol of the Russian tsars until the monarchy was abolished in 1917.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} Ivan's marriage would add to Moscow's prestige after the Russian Orthodox Church had earlier declared itself [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] in 1448, and a native [[List of metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow|metropolitan]] was installed in Moscow.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} The transformation to absolutism was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which benefitted from Moscow's increased international standing, with the doctrine of Moscow as the "[[Moscow, third Rome|third Rome]]" beginning to emerge.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}}

[[File:Palais à facettes.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Palace of Facets]] (1487–91) was commissioned by Ivan to Italian architects]]
[[File:Dormition (Kremlin).JPG|thumb|left|The [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Dormition Cathedral]] by Fioravanti laid claim as the mother church of all Rus'.{{sfn|Franklin|Widdis|2006|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=B3q84rTm5ksC&pg=PA172 p. 172]}}]]

Ivan's son with [[Maria of Tver]], [[Ivan the Young|Ivan Ivanovich]], whom he had designated as his heir and was made co-ruler in 1471,{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2021|p=51|loc="Grand Prince Ivan had not only given his son the grand princely title while he was still a minor and made him a co-ruler, but also marked the event with a ceremony in the main cathedral of Moscow"}} died in 1490, leaving from his marriage with [[Elena of Moldavia]] an only child, [[Dmitry Ivanovich (grandson of Ivan III)|Dmitry Ivanovich]].{{sfn|Fennell|1960|loc=p. 2–4}} Ivan attempted to secure his title for his successor,{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|pp=65–66}} and the latter was crowned as successor by his grandfather on 15 February 1498,{{sfn|Fennell|1960|loc=p. 2–4}} but later Ivan reverted his decision in favor of Sophia's elder son [[Vasili III of Moscow|Vasily]], who was ultimately crowned co-regent with his father on 14 April 1502.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=66}} The decision was dictated by the crisis connected with the [[Sect of Skhariya the Jew]], as well as by the imperial prestige of Sophia's descendants. Dmitry was put into prison, where he died, unmarried and childless, in 1509,{{sfn|Bogatyrev|2007|loc=p. 283}} already under the rule of his uncle. His successor Vasily was made co-ruler in 1502, and during Vasily's reign, he would expand the usage of the title of tsar in all matters.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2005|p=66}}

The grand prince increasingly held aloof from his [[boyar]]s, who were a barrier to the transformation to absolutism.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} As a result, he gradually reduced the boyars' economic and political powers.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} He granted estates called ''pomestie'' to a new noble class in exchange for military service and other conditions, allowing him to build up a centralized army and create a counterbalance to the boyars.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} The old patriarchal systems of government vanished. The boyars, who would meet in a council known as a [[Duma#Boyar Duma|boyar duma]], were no longer consulted on state affairs. The sovereign became sacrosanct, while the boyars were reduced to dependency on the will of the sovereign. The boyars naturally resented this revolution and struggled against it.{{sfn|Bain|1911|p=88}}

It was in the reign of Ivan III that the new [[Sudebnik of 1497|sudebnik]], or law code,{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} was compiled by the scribe, Vladimir Gusev. The death penalty was mandated for rebellion or sedition, which was a more severe penalty compared to that of the earlier ''[[Russkaya Pravda]]''.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} It restricted the mobility of peasants, also requiring an exit fee to be paid to the landlords, which were in the interests of the new noble class.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}} Ivan therefore laid the groundwork for [[serfdom]], which would negatively impact Russia's development in the following centuries.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}}

Ivan did his utmost to make his capital a worthy successor to Constantinople, and with that object invited many foreign masters and artificers to settle in Moscow. Ivan's most notable construction was the rebuilding of the [[Kremlin]] in Moscow. The most noted of these architects was the Italian [[Aristotele Fioravanti|Ridolfo di Fioravante]], nicknamed "Aristotle" because of his extraordinary knowledge,{{sfn|Bain|1911|p=89}} who built several cathedrals and palaces in the Kremlin, and also supervised the construction of the walls of the Kremlin.{{sfn|Shvidkovskiĭ|2007|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQy9TJ2yOQEC&pg=PA81 p. 81-82]}} These include the [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Dormition Cathedral]] and [[Palace of Facets]]. Construction of the [[Ivan the Great Bell Tower]] also started in 1505, which was completed after his death.{{sfn|Kort|2008|loc=p. 26-30}}