Grand Duchy of Moscow

The Grand Duchy of Moscow, known as the Principality of Moscow before 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy centered on the city of Moscow, established as an appanage principality in the thirteenth century under Prince Daniel, who ruled from 1263 to 1303. Under Grand Prince Ivan III, who reigned from 1462 to 1505, Moscow absorbed nearly all of the independent Russian states through conquest and marriage alliances, formally annexing Novgorod in 1478 and growing to roughly 2.5 million square kilometers by 1505, while Ivan's 1480 defeat of the Golden Horde's forces traditionally marks the end of Mongol overlordship. The grand duchy's political status changed in 1547, when Ivan IV was crowned Russia's first tsar, formally establishing the Tsardom of Russia in its place.