Historedia
EuropeEvent

Succession of Ivan IV as Grand Prince of Moscow

When
1533
Where
Moscow
Episodes
1

Following the death of Vasili III on 3 December 1533, his three-year-old son Ivan IV succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow. Ivan, the eldest son of Vasili III and Elena Glinskaya, was proclaimed to the throne at his father's request, inheriting the title of Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia.

Episodes

  1. 3 December 1533 · MoscowDeath of Vasili III

    Vasili III died on 3 December 1533 after taking monastic vows and suffering from a leg abscess that caused blood poisoning.

Background and detail

Background. Vasili III Ivanovich served as Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1505 until his death in 1533. He was the father of Ivan IV, who was born on 25 August 1530 to Vasili III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya. Ivan IV was the eldest son in this union and a grandson of Ivan III.

Succession. Vasili III died on 3 December 1533 after suffering from an abscess and inflammation on his leg that developed into blood poisoning. At the time of his death, his son Ivan was three years old. Ivan was proclaimed Grand Prince at the request of his father, succeeding him to the throne of Moscow.

People involved

Sources

  1. Vasili III of Russia Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-11
  2. Ivan the Terrible Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-16

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.