390 Ivan III the Great of Moscovy
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the
fifth century, Italy was dominated by Germanic dynasties
and tribes, including the OSTROGOTHSand eventually the
LOMBARDS. The BYZANTINEEMPIREkept a foothold on the
peninsula at RAVENNAand through most of the south.
The wars in the sixth century between the Byzantines led
by the emperor JUSTINIANI and his skilled general BELIS-
ARIUS, and the Ostrogoths, some of whom had settled in
the country under the last Western emperors, were
extremely destructive. The Lombards easily took control
of most of the peninsula in the late sixth century, estab-
lishing their capital at Pavia. The Byzantines held on to
their rule in Ravenna and its surroundings, as well as in
APULIA,NAPLES, Calabria, and SICILY, until the 12th cen-
tury. Pope GREGORYI proclaimed papal sovereignty over
central Italy at Rome in 590, laying the foundation of the
PAPALSTATES.
CAROLINGIANS AND BEYONDIn the eighth century the papacy appealed to the FRANKS
for help against Lombard domination. PÉPINIII THESHORT
recognized in certain ways the territorial claims of the
popes over the regions between Rome and Ravenna in 755.
CHARLEMAGNEdefeated the Lombards in 774 and incorpo-
rated most of Italy into the Carolingian Empire. He was
crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by the pope in
- When the Carolingian Empire broke up in the 10th
century, Italy was divided into several small principalities,
which were oppressed in the south by ARABSfrom North
AFRICA. The emperor OTTO I and his successors the
HOHENSHAUFENtried to impose their control over Italy for
the rest of the Middle Ages. Some, such as FREDERICKI
BARBAROSSAand FREDERICKII, experienced temporary suc-
cess. The conflict between the partisans of the emperor
(the Ghibellines) and the partisans of the pope (the
GUELFS) was almost continuous until the 14th century.
RISE OF THE CITIESThe rise of the cities dates from the 11th century. In them a
landed feudal aristocracy and the newly wealthy merchants
struggled for power, contributing a new divisiveness to an
already fractious Italian Peninsula. Cities such as GENOA,
PISA, and VENICEtook over TRADEand commerce on the
seas. The more landlocked towns such as FLORENCEand
SIENAcontrolled the financial aspects of what has been
called the commercial revolution. These towns all fought
against one another as well as the German emperors. More
consolidated area states such as the Papal States and the
later kingdom of Naples, which had grown out of the Nor-
man and Hohenstaufen kingdoms, joined these chaotic
conflicts, which lasted beyond 1500. All of this detracted
from the sense of Italian identity among the people and
regions of Italy, a problem that was compounded by real
differences in language from region to region.
See alsoCHARLESI OFANJOU;ESTE FAMILY;GREGORY
IX, POPE; HOLYROMANEMPIRE; INNOCENTIII, POPE;MEDICI
FAMILY;MILAN;NORMANS INITA LY;PALERMO;RENAISSANCE
AND REVIVALS IN ART;SFORZA FAMILY;VISCONTI FAMILY.
Further reading:J. K. Hyde, Society and Politics in
Medieval Italy: The Evolution of the Civil Life, 1000–1350
(London: Macmillan, 1973); Lauro Martines, Power and
Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1979); Giovanni Tabacco, The Struggle for
Power in Medieval Italy: Structures of Political Rule,trans.
Rosalind Brown Jensen (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1989); Daniel Waley, The Italian City-Republics,3d
ed. (1969; reprint, London: Longman, 1988); Chris Wick-
ham, Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society,
400–1000(London: Macmillan, 1981).Ivan III the Great of Moscovy(Vailievich)(1440–
1505)grand duke of Moscow
Ivan was best known for his role in consolidating Mus-
covite rule. Born on January 22, 1440, in MOSCOW, Ivan
was the oldest son of Basil II (r. 1425–62). He was married
when he was 12 to Princess Maria of Tver. When Basil
died in 1462 the 22-year-old Ivan became the grand duke
of Moscow without being confirmed in the traditional way
by the Mongol khan. Ivan limited his allegiance to the
Golden Horde to gifts instead of explicit tribute and
finally neglected to give anything at all. Several MONGOL
attempts to subjugate the Russians had failed by 1485. In
the meantime Ivan III absorbed lands in modern Belarus
and Ukraine and Moscow’s nearby old rivals, NOVGOROD
and Tver. These two former semiautonomous principali-
ties were now reduced to the status of provinces of
Moscow, while their princes joined the ranks of the
Moscovy nobility. Ivan furthermore considered himself
the rightful heir to all the former Kievan lands. Much of
Ivan’s reign was occupied with successful diplomacy and
war against LITHUANIA. In 1503 Lithuania recognized Rus-
sian control over parts of Smolensk Chernigov.
After the death of his first wife, Ivan married Sophia,
or Zoë, Palaeologa, a BYZANTINEprincess and niece of the
last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI (r. 1449–53). The
MARRIAGEwas sponsored by the pope, who hoped to sub-
jugate Russia under Roman allegiance and establish a
wider front against the OTTOMANS. After the marriage,
Ivan introduced a complicated court ceremonial on the
Byzantine model to Moscow and began to use the old
Greek titles of czarand autocrat.During the reign of Ivan
and his son, Basil III or Vasily (r. 1505–33), Moscow
became known as the Third Rome, or the center of an
Orthodox faith and church.
An impressive building program in Moscow took
place under Ivan, directed primarily by Italian artists and
craftsmen. New buildings were erected in the KREMLIN,
and the Kremlin walls were strengthened and furnished
with towers and gates. Ivan died on October 27, 1505,
and was succeeded by his younger but surviving son,
Basil III.