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.