Vasili III of Russia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Ivanovich.
Vasili III
Archangel Cathedral
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1505; div. 1525)​
​
(m. 1526)​
Issue
Names
Vasily Ivanovich
Sophia Paleologue
ReligionRussian Orthodox

Vasili III Ivanovich (

Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil (Гавриил). Following on the ambitions of his predecessor Ivan, Vasili conquered Pskov, Ryazan and Smolensk as well as strengthening Russian influence in Kazan and to the Volga
region. Several nobles were either exiled, sentenced or executed for criticizing his policies.

Foreign affairs

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

Novgorod-Seversky in 1522.[citation needed
]

Vasili also took advantage of the difficult position of

Russo-Lithuanian Wars and only the exigencies of Sigismund compelled him to acquiesce in its surrender (1522).[3]

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.[4]

Vasili saw some success against the

Cangali khan on the throne of Khanate of Kazan.[3]

Vasili was the first grand-duke of Moscow who adopted the title of tsar and the double-headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire.[3]

Family life

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.[citation needed]

The boyars suggested that he take a new wife, and despite much opposition from the clergy, he divorced his barren wife and married Princess

Yuri, was born.[5] According to a story, Solomonia Saburova also bore a son in the convent where she had been confined, just several months after the controversial divorce.[citation needed
]

He had three brothers:

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).[5]

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.[5]

Ancestry

Vasili III in culture

Vasili was the subject of the opera Neprigozhaya by composer Ella Adayevskaya

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781848325043.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  2. ISBN 9780534586980
    .
  3. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Basil s.v. Basil III.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 468–469.
  4. ^ Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1979–2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  5. ^
    ISBN 2-08-064473-4
    .
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Grand Prince of Moscow

1505–1533 		Succeeded by
Ivan IV
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