page_title: Grand Duchy of Moscow
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Grand Duchy of Moscow / Name
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Печать Симеона Гордого
context_page_description: The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow was a Rus' principality of the Late Middle Ages centered around Moscow, and the predecessor state of the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period.
  The state originated with the rule of Alexander Nevsky of the Rurik dynasty, when in 1283 his son Daniel I was appointed to rule the newly-created Grand Principality of Moscow, which was a vassal state to the Mongol Empire, and which had eclipsed and eventually absorbed its parent duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal by the 1320s. It later annexed the Novgorod Republic in 1478 and conquered the Grand Duchy of Tver in 1485, and ultimately remained ruled by the Mongols for most of its history until 1480.
  Muscovites, Suzdalians and other inhabitants of the Rus' principality were able to maintain their Slavic, Pagan and Orthodox traditions for the most part under the Tatar Yoke. Ivan III further consolidated the state during his 43-year reign, campaigning against his major remaining rival power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and by 1503 he had tripled the territory of his realm, adopting the title of tsar and claiming the title of "Ruler of all Rus'".
context_section_description: As with many medieval states the country had no particular "official" name, but rather official titles of the ruler. "The Prince (Knyaz) of Moscow" (Московский князь) or "the Sovereign of Moscow" (Московский государь) were common short titles. After the unification with the Duchy of Vladimir in the mid-14th century, the dukes of Moscow might call themselves also "the Duke of Vladimir and Moscow", as Vladimir was much older than Moscow and much more "prestigious" in the hierarchy of possessions, although the principal residence of the dukes had always been in Moscow. In rivalry with other duchies (especially the Grand Duchy of Tver) Moscow dukes also designated themselves as the "Grand Dukes", claiming a higher position in the hierarchy of Russian dukes. During the territorial growth and later acquisitions, the full title became rather lengthy. In routine documents and on seals, though, various short names were applied: "the (Grand) Duke of Moscow", "the Sovereign of Moscow" (Московский государь),  "the Grand Duke of all Rus'" (Великий князь всея Руси), "the Sovereign of all Rus'" (Государь всея Руси), or simply ""the Grand Duke" (Великий князь) or "the Great (or Grand) Sovereign" (Великий государь).
  In spite of feudalism, the collective name of the Eastern Slavic land, Rus', was not forgotten, though it then became a cultural and geographical rather than the political term, as there was no single political entity on the territory. Since the 14th century various Moscow dukes added "of all Rus'" (всея Руси) to their titles, after the title of Russian metropolitans, "the Metropolitan of all Rus'". Dmitry Shemyaka (died 1453) was the first Moscow duke who minted coins with the title "the Sovereign of all Rus'". Although initially both "Sovereign" and "all Rus'" were supposed to be rather honorific epithets, since Ivan III is transformed into the political claim over the territory of all the former Kievan Rus', a goal that the Moscow duke came closer to by the end of that century, uniting eastern Rus'.
  Such claims raised much opposition and hostility from its main rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which controlled a large (western) portion of the land of ancient Rus' and hence denied any claims and even the self-name of the eastern neighbor. Under the Polish-Lithuanian influence the country began to be called Muscovy (Latin: Moscovia, Muscovy, French: Moscovie) in Western Europe. The first appearances of the term were in an Italian document of 1500. Initially Moscovia was the Latinized name of the city of Moscow itself, not of the state; later it acquired its wider meaning (synecdoche) and has been used alongside the older name, Russia. The term Muscovy persisted in the West until the beginning of the 18th century and is still used in historical contexts. The term remains current in Arabic as an alternative name for Russia. Derived from it is al-Muskubīya (المسكوبية), the Arabic name of the Russian Compound district of Jerusalem, where Czarist Russia established various institutions in the 19th Century, and hence also the name of the Al-Moskobiya Detention Centre located there.
caption: The seal of Simeon the Proud (1340s), reads: "The seal of the Grand Duke Simeon of all Rus'"
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