Marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologina
In Moscow, Ivan III married Sophia (Zoe) Palaiologina, who had grown up in Rome and was a niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI.
- Date
- 12 November 1472exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlintoday: Moscow, Russia · Eastern Europe
- Route
- Rome → Lübeck → Baltic Sea off Rügen → Baltic Sea off Bornholm → Baltic Sea off Gotland → Baltic Sea off Hiiumaa → Gulf of Finland → Reval (Kolyvan) → Dorpat → Pskov → Novgorod → Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin
- Participants
- Ivan III, Sophia Palaiologina, Grand Duchy of Moscow
- Threads
- Muscovy
The match was proposed from Rome by Pope Paul II and Cardinal Bessarion, who hoped to bring Moscow closer to the Catholic Church, but these hopes came to nothing. A betrothal by proxy took place in Rome on 1 June 1472; the bride traveled through Germany, Lübeck, Reval, Dorpat, Pskov and Novgorod. The union with the heiress of the Palaiologoi raised the prestige of the Muscovite ruler; later it was linked to the appearance of the double-headed eagle in state symbolism and to the idea of Moscow as the successor of Byzantium, but historians assess this connection differently.
Connections
Related events
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and AnatoliaSophia came from the Palaiologos dynasty, whose founder Michael VIII recovered Constantinople in 1261
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and AnatoliaSophia was a niece of the emperor who died in the fall of Constantinople
Same participants
- Accession of Ivan III27 March 1462 · Eastern Europevia Ivan III
- Construction of the Kremlin’s Dormition Cathedral1475 – August 1479 · Eastern Europevia Ivan III
- Muscovite–Novgorodian War (1477–1478)9 October 1477 – 15 January 1478 · Eastern Europevia Grand Duchy of Moscow
Same place
- Formation of the Principality of Moscowbetween 1263 and 1283 · Eastern Europe
- Construction of the Moscow Kremlin walls and towers1485–1495 · Eastern Europe
- Sudebnik of 1497September 1497 · Eastern Europe
- Coronation of Ivan IV as tsar16 January 1547 · Eastern Europe
- Fire of Moscow (1812)2 (14) September 1812 – 6 (18) September 1812 · Eastern Europe
Adjacent events in the thread
- Afanasy Nikitin’s Journey Beyond the Three Seasbetween 1466 and 1468 – between 1472 and 1474 · South Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Wars of the Roses22 May 1455 – between 1485 and 1487
Balkans and Anatolia
- Battle of Otlukbeli11 August 1473
Central and Northern Asia
- Founding of the Kazakh Khanatebetween 1465 and 1471
South Asia
- Afanasy Nikitin’s Journey Beyond the Three Seasbetween 1466 and 1468 – between 1472 and 1474
East Asia
- Ōnin War1467–1477