The princes from each city-state then became subservient to the Grand Prince of Moscow as power shifted from Kiev to Moscow...

Ivan the Terrible: 

Centralization in Sixteenth Century Muscovy

by Matthew Bond

Иоа́нн IV Васи́льевич (прозвание Иван Грозный; 25 августа 1530, село Коломенское^[2] под Москвой — 18 марта1584, Москва)

The Oprichniki, Ivan IVís loyal death squads of the Oprichnina, rode black horses while dressed in black garb. To symbolize their cause, an insignia displaying a dogís head and broom were worn. The dogís head was a representation of sniffing out traitors. In turn, the broom represented how the Oprichniki were dedicated to eliminating, or sweeping them away. These symbols represented the struggle for centralization in Ivan the Terribleís sixteenth century Muscovy. During his time as Tsar, Ivan introduced reforms and imposed harsh judgments upon those he viewed as traitors. In 1565, key events in Ivanís life, religion and the desire to build a stronger state would motivate him to aggressively push for centralization and introduce his Oprichnina which would last until 1572.

............................

Download here document .pdf


Read more: www.medievalists.net