Grand Principality of Moscow

Politics and institutions

The Grand Principality of Moscow began as an appanage of the Rurikid dynasty, granted to Daniel, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, in 1263. Its princes used their position as tributaries of the Golden Horde to accumulate wealth and land, and Ivan I Kalita obtained the khan's patent to collect tribute from other Russian princes. The grand prince ruled through the boyar duma, provincial governors and the Orthodox Church, and Ivan III (1462–1505) annexed Novgorod, Tver and most other Russian principalities, ending the appanage system. He claimed the title sovereign of all Russia and declared Moscow the heir of Byzantium. His grandson Ivan IV was crowned tsar in 1547, formally ending the grand principality and beginning the Tsardom of Russia.

Economy and finance

Moscow's economy was based on agriculture, the fur trade and its position on the river routes between the Volga, the Oka and the upper Don. The principality's early wealth came from tribute collection, land purchases and the fur trade through Novgorod and the north. Its merchants traded with the Golden Horde, Crimea, the Ottoman world and the Hanseatic cities, and Moscow became a major market for horses, grain, salt, fish, metalwork and textiles. The grand princes granted estates to servicemen and encouraged settlement of the frontier. After the annexation of Novgorod and the opening of the Baltic and Siberian routes, Moscow's economy grew rapidly, and its wealth supported the building of the Kremlin and the expansion of the state.

Society and culture

Muscovite society was hierarchical and agrarian. The vast majority were peasants organized in communes, while the boyars and service nobility held land in return for military service, and the Orthodox Church owned vast estates. The Church moved its metropolitan seat to Moscow in 1325 and became the spiritual centre of Russia; the Kremlin's cathedrals, the icon paintings of Andrei Rublev and the chronicles of the fifteenth century gave Moscow a distinctive culture. Church Slavonic was the literary language, while a vernacular Russian chancery language developed in the princely offices. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow presented itself as the Third Rome, the defender of Orthodoxy, and Ivan III adopted Byzantine titles, ceremonies and the double-headed eagle.

Military and frontiers

The Muscovite army combined the grand prince's own cavalry, the retinues of the boyars and service nobles, town militias and, later, Cossack and Tatar auxiliaries. It fought the Golden Horde, Lithuania, the Livonian Order, Novgorod and the Kazan Khanate, and it was organized for mobility and steppe warfare. Dmitry Donskoy's victory at Kulikovo in 1380 broke the myth of Mongol invincibility, though the Horde sacked Moscow in 1382. Ivan III's army ended Tatar suzerainty at the Ugra in 1480, and Vasily III and Ivan IV expanded the state to the Volga and Siberia. The army remained a cavalry force until the sixteenth century, when musketeers and artillery became more important.

Foreign relations

Muscovy's foreign policy was dominated by the Golden Horde, Lithuania and the Orthodox world. Its princes traveled to Sarai to receive patents, paid tribute, and used the khan's favor to outmaneuver Tver and other rivals. After the Horde declined, Moscow fought Lithuania for control of the former Kievan lands, concluded dynastic marriages with Byzantium and the Italian courts, and sought recognition as the protector of Orthodox Christians. Ivan III rejected the title of king offered by the Holy Roman Emperor and claimed the Byzantine inheritance through his marriage to Sophia Palaiologina. Relations with the Livonian Order, Sweden, the Hanseatic League and the Crimean Khanate shaped trade and war in the Baltic and the steppe.

Legacy and influence

The Grand Principality of Moscow created the institutional and territorial core of the Russian state. Its centralization, service nobility, tax system and alliance with the Orthodox Church passed into the Tsardom and the Russian Empire, and its claim to the Byzantine inheritance shaped Russian imperial ideology. Moscow's architecture, icon painting and chronicles became symbols of Russian culture, and the Kremlin remained the seat of power for centuries. The principality's expansion also began the long process of Russian colonization of the Volga, the Urals and Siberia. Modern Russia still traces its statehood to the gathering of the Russian lands under Moscow.