Moscow served as the capital of a minor state that paid homage to the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Tatar rulers of a territory extending from eastern Europe to Siberia, and provided them with forced labor. The rulers of Moscow increasingly increased their domain over time until they attained independence under Ivan III, sometimes known as the Great.

Ivan, who was born in Moscow in 1440, grew up with firsthand knowledge of politics, familial betrayal, and battle. His father Vasily II was engaged in a power battle with Vasily's uncle Yuri and his sons, who kidnapped Vasily in 1446 and blinded him. Vasily delivered Ivan to his relatives, but he quickly reclaimed control and taught Ivan to obey him. Ivan waged a war against the Tatars after becoming grand prince at the age of 22 following the death of his father.

Thus, following the passing of his father on March 27, 1462, Ivan the Great became Grand Prince of Moscow. He married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor in 1472 after losing his first wife, to whom he had been engaged at the age of 12, in 1467. He later adopted the Byzantine double eagle as his coat of arms.

His father is Vasily II the Dark who was the appellation given to his father during the civil war after his cousin Dmitry Shemyaka blinded him in an effort to seize control. During one of the conflicts, Vasily II, his father, lost his sight. Ivan the Great was just five years old when his father was kidnapped and rendered legally blind by his cousin. He was born in the middle of the biggest civil war in Old Russian history. He appointed Ivan as his co-ruler and regent in order to retake the throne and carry on with his rule. In other words, Ivan the Great was his father's regent at only six years of age.

Ivan was finally revealed to his father's enemies, who had banished Vasili II, after originally being concealed in a monastery and then being transported to safety. In order to insure his succession, his father appointed ten-year-old Ivan as co-ruler after being brought back to the throne with the help of his allies.

In a political arrangement that resulted from his family's purchase of territory, Ivan III was solemnly affianced to Maria of Tver, the daughter of the Grand Prince of Tver, when he was seven years old. In 1452, when he was 12 years old, he married her. For the following ten years, he served as his father's co-regent, learning the ropes of leadership and the art of combat.

Vasili II (Ivan III's father) acquired a friend in the form of Boris of Tver just as he was preparing to attack Dmitry Shemyaka. The marriage was an effort to ensure Moscow's victory over Tver when the city of Tver attempted to compete with Moscow in the past. When Maria's brother, Grand Prince of Tver Mikhail, ultimately sought to negotiate an agreement with Lithuania, it was unsuccessful. This sparked a battle that permanently included Tver in the Moscow sphere of influence. The two resolved to formalize their alliance by arranging for Maria of Tver and the future Ivan III to be wed in 1452. In particular, Ivan's father gave the order to plan his engagement to Maria of Tver when he was 6 years old or Ivan the Great and Maria of Tver engaged at the age of 6. It is considered one of the 10 Interesting Facts about him.

Maria Borisovna of Tver (1442 - 1467) was the Grand Princess consort of Muscovy. They had one only son, Ivan the Younger. In 1467, Maria died. Ivan raped her for political gain, but his true remorse was that she died. She gave birth to an only son while he was just 27 years old. Like other kings of the period, he was forced to consider remarrying right away in order to secure his succession should he outlive this son and cause a succession conflict in the realm. Fraternity of brothers. Through one of the Italian military and architectural experts that Ivan recruited, he discovered that Pope Paul II was the protector of a princess who would end up as his future wife. When the Byzantine Empire was overthrown by the Turks, she was Sophia of Byzantium, a tall lady whose uncle was the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI.

As the second wife of Grand Prince Ivan III, Zoe Palaiologina, later known as Sophia Palaiologina, was a Byzantine princess and a member of the Royal Palaiologos Moscow dynasty. In particular, When Maria of Tver, Ivan's first wife passed away in 1467, he wed Sophia Palaiologina.

Pope Paul II suggested the union of Sophia and Ivan III in 1469, perhaps in an effort to increase the Catholic Church's power in Russia and, ultimately, bring about the union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches as required by the Council of Florence. The reasons Ivan III pursued this union was likely connected to Sophia's position and her claim to Constantinople. The marriage scheme may have been created by Cardinal Bessarion, a devoted supporter of reunification.

Sophia is Ivan's biggest supporter. The marriage of Sophia and Ivan was blissful. Sophia was a smart, well-educated woman. She introduced a lot of fresh concepts into Rus' life. She frequently gave her husband advice on how to further his interests in Russia. An intriguing truth about Ivan the Great is that she was the one who suggested Ivan discontinue giving the great Khan Ahmed the traditional homage.

She brought with her Byzantine court practices and greater receptivity to European culture. Moscow's increased political standing gave birth to the notion that it was the Third Rome (Rome and Constantinople being first and second). Ivan was greatly influenced by Sofia. He adopted the double-headed eagle, a Byzantine emblem, as Russia's coat of arms in 1497 and agreed to Sofia's request that Italian architects reconstruct Moscow.

Ivan the Great saw the advantages of uniting all of Russia's territory. He so decided to seize control of every separate duchy that was a part of Russia. He revoked the titles of the princes in charge of the duchies.

The largest and most important sequence of events that occurred during the unification of the Rus' territories were the battles with the Republic of Novgorod. The political and religious freedom of the Novgorod Republic was a key contributing factor to the conflicts. Novgorod had entered into negotiations with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia in an effort to come under the protection of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Prince of Lithuania, but the Moscow authorities denounced the proposed alliance as an apostate from Orthodoxy because they were alarmed by the growing power of Moscow (in part, because Poland and its monarchs were Catholic). In 1470, Ivan attacked Novgorod, and after his generals had twice routed the republic's soldiers. The Novgorodians were compelled to declare war at the Battle of Sheldon River and the Battle of the Northern Dvina, both in the summer of 1471. They agreed to renounce their overtures to Lithuania and to cede a sizeable portion of their northern territories in exchange for paying a war indemnity of 15,500 roubles.

The Kremlin, a fortified structure in the very center of Moscow, was renovated by a group of talented Italian architects that Ivan the Great summoned. Ivan the Great ordered the rebuilding of the Kremlin. Ivan made every effort to transform Moscow into a fitting successor to Constantinople, and as part of that effort, he welcomed several foreign craftsmen and masters to Moscow. The most famous of these was the Italian Ridolfo di Fioravante, who constructed several cathedrals and palaces in the Kremlin and oversaw the construction of the Kremlin walls, and was known by the nickname "Aristotle" due to his amazing intelligence. The rehabilitation plan called for the creation of a new Kremlin wall, the reconstruction of a number of towers, the building of a number of churches, and the construction of a new palace.

The Kremlin's limestone walls, which date to the end of the 14th century, were set to require urgent renovation in the 1460s. Patchwork repairs are handled by local contractors, but Ivan III has to travel to Italy to locate a building expert for the more fundamental rebuild. The original stronghold was rebuilt with brick towers and walls between 1485 and 1516. The wall has a thickness range of 3.5 to 9 meters and a unique Italian "tail swallow" hole. Its maximum length is 2,235 meters. The diagram's elements are perfectly proportioned on the limestone façade, and the inside is built with round columns rather than heavy wall restrictions, making it lighter, more plentiful, and longer lasting than any other church in the Moscow region. Smaller churches in classic Russian architecture were also built at this time, including the Church of the Annunciation (1484–1488) and Robe's German Church (1848-1489).

Beginning in the early 1470s, the principal cathedral of Moscow, "Mother Mary rests in peace," underwent extensive reconstruction thanks to the assistance of Metropolitan Philip, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, and the magnificent Prince Ivan III. When a section of the wall crumbled and the local builders were unable to complete such a vast and challenging project, Ivan requested assistance from Italian engineer and architect Aristotle Fioravanti, who traveled to Moscow in 1475. He was given the task of simulating the Cathedral's construction. While the architect's design includes many elements of the Russian-Byzantine style (particularly the enormous cupon roof in the center and smaller cupon roofs at the corners), he also makes a number of innovations. Strong oak pillars serve as the base, an iron pull holds up the dome, and strong bricks rather than stones are used to construct the dome and the walls that surround the cupola top.

Compared to many of Russia's old towns, Moscow is a relatively modern metropolis, having been constructed about 1147, yet it evolved through a harsh circumstance movement that led to the conquest of Russia. An approximate river triangle may be seen on the Kremlin, a stronghold in the middle of the city. Up until Peter the Great transferred the capital to St. Petersburg in the year 1711, the Kremlin served as a significant location in the Duchy of Muscovite and afterward in Russia generally. It also housed several local cathedrals. The royal court makes use of several significant administrative structures, monasteries, and smaller churches within the Kremlin. Due in large part to its iconic look in Russian culture, particularly after local architects added a spiral to the tower in the 17th century, the Kremlin wall came to represent Russian authority. The main wall and wall are strikingly reminiscent of Quattrocento Italian fortifications, which were far out of date in Italy at the time the Kremlin in Moscow was being built.

Ivan III issued a set of regulations in 1497 known as the Sudebnik. It was the first set of legislation to be put into effect in unified Russia. It was crucial in the consolidation of the Russian state, the development of Russian Law as a whole, and the abolition of feudal fragmentation.

Old Russian Law, comprising Russkaya Pravda, the Legal Code of Pskov, royal decrees, and common law, whose rules had been updated in light of social and economic changes, served as its foundation. In essence, Sudebnik was a set of legal processes. It created a uniform framework for the state's judicial branches, outlined their authority and responsibilities, and set legal costs. The list of behaviors that are punishable under criminal justice norms was increased by Sudebnik (e.g., sedition, sacrilege, slander).

It also revitalized the idea of several types of crime. The investigative aspect of legal processes was established by Sudebnik. It offered several forms of punishment, including the death sentence and flagellation, among others.

Sudebnik added restrictions to the law of estate, lengthened the statute of limitations for lawsuits involving princely lands, and instituted flagellation for those who violated the property lines of princely, boyar, and monastic lands; violations of peasant land lines resulted in a fine. These changes were made in an effort to protect feudal land ownership. In addition, Sudebnik created a charge for peasants seeking to leave their feudal lord and a universal day (November 26) for peasants seeking to change masters.

One of the 10 Interesting Facts about Ivan the Great is that he the Great had great diplomacy. He developed relations with the Osman Empire, the Roman Empire, Venice, and Denmark (Dania).

During Ivan III's rule, Moscow renounced the Tatar yoke. Ivan III tore the Mongol khan's letter to pieces when he was made Grand Prince of Moscow and refused to pay tribute. Ahmed Khan prepared a military expedition against Muscovy in 1480 when Ivan failed to give him the annual tribute in 1476. The Muscovy and Tatar forces fought each other throughout the autumn on opposing banks of the Ugra River until Ahmed withdrew into the steppe on November 11, 1480. The Mongol era came to an end then. The Nogai Horde's Khan Ibak unexpectedly attacked, routed, and killed the Grand Khan while he was planning a second campaign against Moscow. Ivan made the Kazan Khanate, one of the Horde's offshoots, a vassal state in 1487, however, in his later years, it broke away from his suzerainty.

Ivan requested the assistance of Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus in 1488 in order to find gun founders, expert gunners for siege cannons, gold and silversmiths, and Italian master constructors.

Ivan had calm and even cordial ties with the other Muslim nations, including the sultans of the Ottoman Empire and the Khan of the Crimean Khanate. Meli I Giray, the Crimean Khan, supported him in his fight against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and made it easier for Moscow and Constantinople to establish diplomatic ties after the first Russian embassy there initially emerged in 1495.

Ivan III established an aggressive alliance with John of Denmark in Nordic matters and spoke often with Emperor Maximilian I, whom he addressed as "brother." In Ingria, he constructed a powerful citadel that bears his name and is called Ivangorod. It is located on the Estonian-Russian border across from the Livonian Confederation's fortified bastion of Narva. Ivan III tried in vain to take over Vyborg from Sweden during the Russo-Swedish War, but this assault was thwarted by the Swedish garrison in Vyborg Castle under the command of Lord Knut Posse.

South and East Slavic rulers are referred to as tsars. It owes its name to a kind of rule known as tsarism or tsarist autocracy. The word "emperor" is derived from the Latin word "Caesar," which refers to a ruler with the same rank as a Roman emperor who held it with the consent of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official (the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch), but who was typically regarded by western Europeans as being equivalent to "king."

Even though it was not an official title, Ivan was the first Russian emperor to call himself a "tsar". Although the title that Ivan gave himself was unofficial, he often used it in correspondence with representatives of foreign kingdoms and republics. Actually, under Ivan III, the Moscow administration underwent a substantial shift in personality and assumed a new authoritarian form. This was a logical result of Moscow's dominance over the other Vladimir-Suzdal regions as well as of new imperial aspirations. Orthodox canonists were inclined to see the Grand Princes of Moscow, where the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kyiv relocated in 1325 following the Mongol Invasions, as the Byzantine emperors' heirs following the fall of Constantinople. Ivan the Great started addressing himself as the star in international letters, showing that he seemed to support the notion.

Ivan returned to Novgorod numerous times during the following few years after defeating the Novgorod army, torturing a number of young pro-Lithuanian men and seizing their properties. More than half of Novgorod's land was taken by Ivan, who kept half for himself and distributed the other half to his supporters.

However, Ivan refused to share his conquests with his brothers, and his subsequent interference in the internal politics of the successor states led to be odds with his brothers. His brothers Andrei the Elder and Boris were enraged by this. They often initiated battles with Ivan with the help of Lithuania. They made many attempts to seize the authority but in vain. Both conflicts were won by Ivan.

Ivan had four brothers. On September 12, 1472, Yury, the oldest, passed away childless. He just had a draft will, and it made no mention of his holdings. Ivan's surviving brothers were furious when he grabbed the property, but he made them feel better by giving them some.

In February and September of 1473, Boris and Andrei the Elder signed contracts with Vasily. When they broke their promise to each other's territories and to refrain from doing business covertly with foreigners in 1480, they fled to Lithuania. No specific records exist today that would indicate whether Andrei the Younger signed the pact or not. Ivan received the estate after his death in 1481. Ivan detained Andrei the Elder in 1491 because he had refused to support the Crimean Khanate in its fight against the Golden Horde. In 1493, he passed away in custody, and Ivan claimed his territory. The sole sibling who may have left the estate to his sons, Boris, passed away in 1494. However, when they passed away in 1503 and 1515, respectively, their territories were given to the tsar.