Ivan III of Russia
Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1462 to 1505
Ivan III Vasilyevich (Russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1462 until his death in 1505. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blind father Vasily II before he officially ascended the throne.
He multiplied the territory of his state through conquest, purchase, inheritance and the seizure of lands from his dynastic relatives, and laid the foundations of the centralized Russian state. He also renovated the Moscow Kremlin and introduced a new legal code. Ivan is credited with ending the dominance of the Tatars over Russia; his victory over the Great Horde in 1480 formally restored its independence.
Ivan began using the title tsar, and used the title tentatively until the Habsburgs recognized it. While officially using "tsar" in his correspondence with other monarchs, he was satisfied with the title of grand prince at home.
Through marriage to Sophia Palaiologina, Ivan made the double-headed eagle Russia's coat of arms, and adopted the idea of Moscow as the third Rome. His 43-year reign was the second-longest in Russian history, after that of his grandson Ivan IV.
Early life
Ivan Vasilyevich was born on 22 January 1440 into the family of Vasily II, the grand prince of Moscow, and Maria of Borovsk, the daughter of an appanage prince and a granddaughter of Vladimir the Bold.
The first time Ivan is called heir and grand prince in treaties between his father and other Russian princes is in a treaty with Ivan Vasilyevich of Suzdal dating from 1448 or 1449.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q171185. VIAF identifies the subject as 62343402. The Library of Congress control number is n86094847. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1440, 1505, 1462 and 1480.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ivan III of Russia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.