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Learn about the history and evolution of the medieval state centered on Moscow, which became the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. Find out how Muscovy emerged from the Rurikids, the Golden Horde, and the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, and how it expanded its territory and influence.
Learn about the medieval principality that became the dominant political unit in northeastern Russia under the Rurik dynasty. Explore its history, geography, major events, and key people, such as Ivan the Terrible.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about the history and development of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a medieval principality in Rus' that later became Tsardom of Russia. Find out its capital, language, religion, government, and more.
The Grand Duchy of Moscow was a Rus' principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. It was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, who had ruled Rus' since the foundation of Novgorod in 862.
Key Points. Moscow was considered a small trading outpost under the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal into the 13th century. Power struggles and constant raids under the Mongol Empire’s Golden Horde caused once powerful cities, such as Kiev, to struggle financially and culturally.
Key Points. Moscow was considered a small trading outpost under the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal into the 13th century. Power struggles and constant raids under the Mongol Empire’s Golden Horde caused once powerful cities, such as Kiev, to struggle financially and culturally.
The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries marked the trans formation of the principality of Moscow into the powerful eastern European state of Muscovy. Territorial expansion of the principality was one important aspect of this transfor. mation. The main stages of Muscovite expansion, its absorption.
