Editing Vasili III of Russia

{{Short description|Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Ivanovich||lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Vasili III
| image        = Vasili III of Russia.jpg
| caption      = Engraving by [[André Thevet]], 1584
| title        = [[Sovereign of all Russia]]
| succession   = [[Grand Prince of Moscow]] and [[Sovereign of all Russia|all Russia]]
| reign        = 6 November 1505{{snd}}3 December 1533
| coronation   = 14 April 1502
| cor-type     = russia
| reg-type1    = Co-monarch
| regent1      = 
| predecessor  = [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]]
| successor    = [[Ivan the Terrible|Ivan IV]]
| spouses       = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Solomonia Saburova]]|1505|1525|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Elena Glinskaya]]|1526}}
}}
| spouse-type  = [[List of Russian consorts|Consort]]
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Ivan the Terrible|Ivan IV of Russia]]
* [[Yuri Vasilevich (son of Vasili IIl)|Yuri Vasilevich]]
}}
| issue-link   =
| issue-pipe   =
| full name    = Vasily Ivanovich
| house        = [[Rurik dynasty|Rurik]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Ivan III of Russia]]
| mother       = [[Sophia Paleologue]]
| birth_date   = 25 March 1479
| birth_place  = [[Moscow]], [[Principality of Moscow|Grand Principality of Moscow]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1533|12|3|1479|3|25|df=y}}
| death_place  = Moscow, Grand Principality of Moscow
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = [[Archangel Cathedral]]
| religion     = [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]]
}}

'''Vasili III Ivanovich''' ({{langx|ru|Василий III Иванович}}; 25 March 1479{{snd}}3 December 1533) was [[Grand Prince of Moscow]] and [[Sovereign of all Russia|all Russia]] from 1505 until his death in 1533.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Filjushkin |first1=Alexander |title=Ivan the Terrible : a military history |date=2008 |location=London |isbn=9781848325043}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=MacKenzie |first1=David |title=A history of Russia, the Soviet Union, and beyond |date=2002 |publisher=Wadsworth/Thomson Learning |location=Belmont, CA |isbn=9780534586980 |pages=115 |edition=6th}}</ref> He was the son of [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]] and [[Sophia Paleologue]] and was christened with the name '''Gavriil''' ({{langx|ru|Гавриил|label=none}}). Following on the ambitions of his predecessor Ivan, Vasili conquered [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]], [[Principality of Ryazan|Ryazan]] and [[Principality of Smolensk|Smolensk]] as well as strengthening Russian influence in [[Khanate of Kazan|Kazan]] and to the [[Volga]] region. Several nobles were either exiled, sentenced or executed for criticizing his policies.

==Foreign affairs==
[[File:Herberstein-Moscovia.jpg|thumb|Map of Moscovia published by Sigismund von Herberstein in 1549]]

Vasili III maintained the policies initiated by his father Ivan III, focusing much of his reign on consolidating the territorial gains achieved by Ivan. Vasili [[annexation|annexed]] the last surviving [[Autonomous entity|autonomous]] provinces: [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]] in 1510, [[appanage]] of [[Volokolamsk]] in 1513, principalities of [[Ryazan Principality|Ryazan]] in 1521 and [[Novgorod-Seversky]] in 1522.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}

Vasili also took advantage of the difficult position of [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund of Poland]] to [[Siege of Smolensk (1514)|capture Smolensk]], the great eastern fortress of [[Lithuania]] (siege started 1512, ended in 1514), chiefly through the aid of the rebel Lithuanian, Prince [[Mikhail Glinski]], who provided him with artillery and engineers. The loss of Smolensk was an important injury inflicted by Russia on Lithuania in the course of the [[Russo-Lithuanian Wars]] and only the exigencies of Sigismund compelled him to acquiesce in its surrender (1522).<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|last=Bain |first=Robert Nisbet |author-link=Robert Nisbet Bain |wstitle=Basil (Muscovy) |display=Basil s.v. Basil III.|volume=3|pages=468–469}}</ref>

In 1521 Vasili received an emissary of the neighboring Iranian [[Safavid Empire]], sent by Shah [[Ismail I]] whose ambitions were to construct an Irano-Russian alliance against the common enemy, the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/9137125|title=Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1979–2014|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref>

Vasili saw some success against the [[Crimean Khanate]]. Although in 1519 his armies were defeated along the Oka River and he was obliged to buy off the Crimean khan, [[Mehmed I Giray]], under the very walls of Moscow, towards the end of his reign he established Russian influence on the [[Volga]]. In 1531–32 he placed the pretender [[Cangali khan]] on the throne of [[Khanate of Kazan]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Vasili was the first grand-duke of Moscow who adopted the title of [[tsar]] and the [[double-headed eagle]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Family life==
[[File:Ascension Church, Kolomenskoe, Moscow (01).jpg|thumb|The Church of Ascension was built by Vasili III to commemorate the birth of his heir.]]

By 1526 when he was 47 years old, Vasili had been married to [[Solomonia Saburova]] for over 20 years with no heir to his throne being produced. Conscious of her husband's disappointment, Solomonia tried to remedy this by consulting sorcerers and going on pilgrimages. When this proved unsuccessful, Vasili consulted the boyars, announcing that he did not trust his two brothers to handle Russia's affairs and forbade them to marry anyone.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}

The boyars suggested that he take a new wife. A divorce due to wife sterility was unlawful, so he falsely accused her of witchcraft, and despite much opposition from the clergy, he divorced his barren wife, exiled her to a monastery, exiled the opposed clergy and soon married Princess [[Elena Glinskaya]], the daughter of a Serbian princess and niece of his friend [[Michael Glinski]]. Not many of the boyars approved of his choice, as Elena was of Catholic upbringing. Vasili was so smitten that he defied Russian social norms and trimmed his beard to appear younger. After three days of matrimonial festivity, the couple consummated their marriage, though initially it appeared that Elena was as sterile as Solomonia. The Russian populace began to suspect this was a sign of God's disapproval of the marriage. However, to the great joy of Vasili and the populace, the new tsaritsa gave birth to a son, who would succeed him as [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan IV]]. Three years later, a second son, [[Yuri Vasilevich (son of Vasili IIl)|Yuri]], was born.<ref name="Ivan">{{cite book |last=Troyat |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/ivanleterrible0000troy |title=Ivan le terrible |publisher=Flammarion |year=1993 |isbn=2-08-064473-4 |language=fr |url-access=registration}}</ref> According to a story, Solomonia Saburova also [[Kudeyar|bore a son in the convent]] where she had been confined, just several months after the controversial divorce.{{Cn|date=February 2024}}

He had three brothers: [[Yury (Vasily III brother)|Yuri]] (born in 1480), Simeon (born in 1487) and Andrei (born in 1490), as well as five sisters: Elena (born and died in 1474), Feodosiya (born and died in 1475), another Elena (born 1476), another Feodosiya (born 1485) and Eudoxia (born 1492).<ref name="Ivan" />

==Death==
Whilst out hunting on horseback near Volokolamsk, Vasili felt a great pain in his right hip, the result of an [[abscess]]. He was transported to the village of Kolp, where he was visited by two German doctors who were unable to stop the infection with conventional remedies. Believing that his time was short, Vasili requested to be returned to Moscow, where he was kept in the Saint Joseph Cathedral along the way. By  25 November 1533, Vasili reached Moscow and asked to be made a [[monk]] before dying. Taking on the name Varlaam, Vasili died at midnight, 3 December 1533.<ref name="Ivan" />

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. ''' Vasili III of Russia '''
|2= 2. [[Ivan III Vasilevich of Moscow]]
|3= 3. [[Zoe Palaiologina]]
|4= 4. [[Vasily II Vasiliyevich of Moscow]]
|5= 5. [[Maria Yaroslavna of Borovsk]]
|6= 6. [[Thomas Palaiologos]]
|7= 7. [[Catherine Zaccaria]]
|8= 8. [[Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich of Moscow]]
|9= 9. [[Sophia of Lithuania]]
|10= 10. Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov, Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets
|11= 11. Maria Feodorovna Goltiayeva Koshkina
|12= 12. [[Manuel II Palaiologos]]
|13= 13. [[Helena Dragaš]]
|14= 14. [[Centurione II Zaccaria]]
|15= 15. [[Princess Asenina Palaiologina (wife of Centurione II)|Asenina Palaiologina]]
}}

== Vasili III in culture ==
Vasili was the subject of the opera [[Neprigozhaya]] by composer [[Ella Adayevskaya]].

==See also==
* [[Bibliography of Russian history (1223–1613)]]
*[[Rulers of Russia family tree]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Prince of Moscow]]|before=[[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]]|after=[[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan IV]]|years=1505–1533}}
{{s-end}}
{{Russian sovereigns}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasili 03 Of Russia}}
[[Category:1479 births]]
[[Category:1533 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century Russian people]]
[[Category:16th-century grand princes of Moscow]]
[[Category:Daniilovichi family]]
[[Category:Russian people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:People of Byzantine descent]]
[[Category:Royalty from Moscow]]