Vasili III of Russia

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"Basil III" redirects here. For the Patriarch of Constantinople, see Basil II of Constantinople.

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Vasili III
Vasili III of Russia.jpg
Vasili III Ivanovich, an engraving by a contemporary European artist.
Grand Prince of Moscow
Reign 6 November 1505 – 3 December 1533
Coronation 14 April 1502
Predecessor Ivan III
Successor Ivan IV
Born (1479-03-25)25 March 1479
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Moscow, Grand Duchy of Moscow
Burial Archangel Cathedral
Consort Solomonia Saburova
Elena Glinskaya
Issue Ivan IV Vasilevich
Yuri Vasilevich
Full name
Vasily Ivanovich
Dynasty Rurik
Father Ivan III
Mother Sophia Paleologue
Religion Eastern Orthodox

Vasili III Ivanovich (Russian: Василий III Иванович, also Basil) (25 March 1479 – 3 December 1533, Moscow) was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He was the son of Ivan III Vasiliyevich and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil (Гавриил). 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).[1]

File:Vasiliy3 titularnik.jpg
Father Vasili
File:St.Basil and prince Vasily detail.jpg
St. Basil of Caesarea and prince Vasili III of Russia. Icon
A map of Russia (Moscovia) published by Sigismund von Herberstein in 1549

Foreign affairs

Vasili III continued the policies of his father Ivan III and spent most of his reign consolidating Ivan's gains. Vasili annexed the last surviving autonomous provinces: Pskov in 1510, appanage of Volokolamsk in 1513, principalities of Ryazan in 1521 and Novgorod-Seversky in 1522.

Vasili also took advantage of the difficult position of Sigismund of Poland to 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).

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, namely Ottoman Turkey.[2]

Equally successful were Vasili's actions against the Crimean Khanate. Although in 1519 he was obliged to buy off the khan of the Crimea, 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 Kazan.

Domestic affairs

The Church of Ascension was built by Basil III to commemorate the birth of his heir.

In his internal policy, Vasili III enjoyed the support of the Church in his struggle with the feudal opposition. In 1521, metropolitan Varlaam was banished for refusing to participate in Vasili's fight against an appanage prince Vasili Ivanovich Shemyachich. Rurikid princes Vasili Shuisky and Ivan Vorotynsky were also sent into exile. The diplomat and statesman, Ivan Bersen-Beklemishev, was executed in 1525 for criticizing Vasili's policies. Maximus the Greek (publicist), Vassian Patrikeyev (statesman) and others were sentenced for the same reason in 1525 and 1531. During the reign of Vasili III, the gentry's landownership increased; authorities were actively trying to limit immunities and privileges of boyars and nobility.

Family life

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. The boyars suggested that he take a new wife, and despite much opposition from the clergy, he divorced his barren wife and 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 upringing. 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, only to discover that Elena appeared to be just as sterile as Solomonia. The Russian populace began suspect this to be 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 succeeded him as Ivan IV. Three years later, a second son, Yuri was born.[1] 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.

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, 4 December 1533.[1]

Ancestry

Family of Vasili III of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Dmitriy Ivanovich Donskoy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich of Moscow
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Eudoxia Dmitriyevna of Suzdal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Vasily II Vasiliyevich of Moscow
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Sophia of Lithuania
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Anna of Smolensk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Ivan III Vasilevich of Moscow
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Vladimir Andrejevich, Prince of Serpukhov and Borovsk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov, Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Elena of Lithuania
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Maria Yaroslavna of Borovsk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Feodor Feodorovich "Goltiay" Koshkin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Maria Feodorovna Goltiayeva Koshkina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Vasili III of Russia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. John V Palaiologos
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Manuel II Palaiologos
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Helena Kantakouzene
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Thomas Palaiologos
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26. Constantine Dragaš
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Helena Dragaš
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Zoe Palaiologina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Andronikos Asen Zaccaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Centurione II Zaccaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Daughter of Erard III Le Maure, Baron of Arcadia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Catherine Zaccaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Leonardo II Tocco
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Creusa Tocco
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

References

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Regnal titles
Preceded by Grand Prince of Moscow
1505–1533		 Succeeded by
Ivan IV
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