The grand princes of Muscovy began gathering…
1396 CE to 1539 CE
The grand princes of Muscovy began gathering Russian lands in the fourteenth century to increase the population and wealth under their rule.
The most successful practitioner of this process is Ivan III (the Great; r. 1462-1505), who conquers Novgorod in 1478 and Tver' in 1485.
Muscovy gains full sovereignty over the ethnically Russian lands in 1480 when Mongol overlordship ended officially, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century virtually all those lands are united.
Through inheritance, Ivan obtains part of the province of Ryazan', and the princes of Rostov and Yaroslavl' voluntarily subordinate themselves to him.
The northwestern city of Pskov remains independent in this period, but Ivan's son, Vasiliy III (r. 1505-33), later conquers it.
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Northeastern Eurasia
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