Moscow/Moscovy became new
core of the eastern Slavs.
Beginning by local
territorial expansion along the river systems, Moscow gradually acquired more and more power and wealth, until
in 1478, Ivan III (1462-1505), the Grand Prince of Moscovy, successfully invaded and subdued Novgorod – which had been the only
Russian principality
to have avoided Mongol control.
In
1480 Moscovy stopped paying tribute to the Tatars.
Next, Ivan III and his
successor Vasili III (1505-1533) began a policy of Ògathering in the Russian
lands.Ó
As result of this
conscious strategy of aggrandizement, the Grand Principality of Tver (Kalinin in Soviet
time) was annexed
in 1485, Vyatka in 1489, Pskov in 1510, and RyazanÕ
in 1521.
Smolensk
recaptured from the Lithuanians in 1514.