MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator...
prior to Peter the Great.Ivan III was the only person who could match the Turkish sultan in intellect and force. It was under him that Russia finally freed itself of the Tartar yoke. It was under Ivan III that the first code of laws and postal service appeared. He founded the police, and under him Moscow suppressed the riot in Novrogod, reined in the Kazan kingdom, defeated the Lithuanian-Polish King Kazimierz, and ascertained its right to be the capital of the young state.
At that time the Prince Ivan was just 20, although he had been married and had a small son.
The Pope hoped that having married the poor princess, Ivan III would want to return Constantinople to Sophia and would start a war against the Turks. Matchmakers were sent to Moscow to show Ivan III the young princess's portrait. She was very beautiful, but even if she had not been, the Russian ruler would have accepted the pontiff's proposal. Ivan, an ambitious monarch, immediately assessed
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