Reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich (Иван III Васильевич), also known as Ivan the Great. He was born in Moscow on January 22, 1440, and died in Moscow on October 27, 1505, the eldest son of Vasily II of Russia, whom he succeeded as Grand Prince of Moscow. He is considered the unifier of the Russian lands. He managed to quadruple the territory of his state, built the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations for the formation of the Russian autocracy. He is the sovereign who, of all times, reigned for the longest years in Russia, as many as 43, from 1462 to 1505. During his reign, the position and authority of the grand princes of Moscow acquired attributes of majesty and officialdom (such as the title of gosudar’, “Sovereign of All the Russias”) that had been unknown in the previous period and that none of the predecessors had thought to manifest.
