The Role of Vasili III: His Life and Times

By Anton Petrov

Much of Vasili III's reign lies in relative obscurity. However, his none-too-inconsequential achievements tend to be overshadowed by the more conspicuous reigns of his father, Ivan III (the Great), and of his son, Ivan IV (the Terrible). It may thus be said Vasili III's reign can be characterized somewhere between these two adjectives. His accomplishments do not lie as great in aspects of unification (though it must be noted here that though generally being credited as the unifier of the Muscovite state, Ivan III was not wholly responsible for this. The gathering together of the Russian homeland under the auspices of the Muscovite state had been an ongoing process since the time of Yuri Danilovich and Ivan Kalita. Ivan III gets all the credit even though both his ancestors and descendants generally followed the same policies. Vasili III attempts to follow the same process and his success can be seen in the strength of Ivan IV's regime, centralization, concentration of authoritarian control, acquisition of new lands, and institution of new reforms (which characterize both Ivans). Yet nor do they lie as terrible with respect to humanitarian concerns in regard to such matters as death squads, plundering, oprichnina terror and the general greed and megalomania which high­light Ivan IV's reign particularly and ultimately unmask him as the egocentric, power hungry animal that he was rather than an enlightened servant of the state.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anton Petrov
• Release date: Oct 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393992134

Book preview

Much of Vasili III's reign lies in relative obscurity. However, his none-too-inconsequential achievements tend to be overshadowed by the more conspicuous reigns of his father, Ivan III (the Great), and of his son, Ivan IV (the Terrible). It may thus be said Vasili III's reign can be characterized somewhere between these two adjectives. His accomplishments do not lie as great in aspects of unification (though it must be noted here that though generally being credited as the unifier of the Muscovite state, Ivan III was not wholly responsible for this. The gathering together of the Russian homeland under the auspices of the Muscovite state had been an ongoing process since the time of Yuri Danilovich and Ivan Kalita. Ivan III gets all the credit even though both his ancestors and descendants generally followed the same policies. Vasili III attempts to follow the same process and his success can be seen in the strength of Ivan IV's regime, centralization, concentration of authoritarian control, acquisition of new lands, and institution of new reforms (which characterize both Ivans). Yet nor do they lie as terrible with respect to humanitarian concerns in regard to such matters as death squads, plundering, oprichnina terror and the general greed and megalomania which high­light Ivan IV's reign particularly and ultimately unmask him as the egocentric, power hungry animal that he was rather than an enlightened servant of the state.

"Vasili III's personality, as well as the significance of his rule, has been obscured by the period of constructive achievements of the preceding reign (his father, Ivan III) and by the intense drama of the subsequent age (his son, Ivan IV).