Ivan III Marries Sophia Palaiologina
1472
The Muscovite grand prince married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, inheriting the double-headed eagle as a coat of arms and the ideological claim to be a new Rome. Moscow's self-image as a successor to Constantinople began in the negotiations around her dowry. Russian imperial symbolism was being grafted onto Slavic reality.
In context
Also in 1472 (4 other events on record)
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Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.