He chose not to rule from Kiev, however. His decision marked the beginning of the end of Kievan Rus' and the city of Kiev's influence.
Starting in 1223, large armies of Mongols began invading the region, further weakening the power of Kiev. As that city's power waned, Moscow's grew. By 1308, the Metropolitan of the Church chose to move his see to Moscow, furthering the transference of power from Kievan Rus' to Russia.
It was during Ivan III's reign that Kiev was finally liberated from the menace of the Tatars. Since Byzantium had fallen to the Turks in 1453, Ivan proclaimed Russia to be the successor state to Byzantium, a claim that was enhanced by Ivan III's 1472 marriage to Sophia Palaeologus, the niece of the last Byzantine Emperor.
The Church is one of Kiev Rus's legacies to present-day Russia, another being the cozy relationship between church and state (except during the Communist period), which comes from the practice of the Kievan princes of keeping the Church dependent on them for its financial welfare.
Since Kievan Rus' conversion to Christianity in the 10th century, the Eastern Orthodox Church has been a primary influence in Russian life to the present day. Because icons are an important part of Orthodox rites, the tradition of iconography was born in Kievan Rus' and handed down to Russia. From the beginning, it was not just a way of expressing one's faith and a tool for instructing the faithful; it was also the major expression of the visual arts in Russia. As Kies put it, the information represented by the images made them excellent instructional...
In addition, the beauty of the art encourages contemplation of the Divine Mysteries represented.
Slavery, which existed at the time of the founding of the Kievan Rus', remained an institution throughout its existence. it, in fact, continued on through the
history of Russia that followed until its abolition in the early 19th Century, at which time is was superseded by a practice particular to Russia, serfdom.
But there was also a positive legacy. With a high literacy rate in its largest cities, it was more culturally advanced than many parts of
Europe. The city of Novgorod had a sewage system, something seldom found in other parts of the world at that time. Despite its being a slave-holding
society, its Russkaya Pravda confined punishments to fines;
capital punishment was quite rare. Moreover, women held property and inheritance rights, something also rare at that time.
