Tsardom of Russia

While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow used in its documents were "Rus'" (Русь) and the "Russian land" (Русская земля, Russkaya zemlya),^[12] a new form of its name in Russian became common by the 15th century.^[13][14][15] The vernacular Rus' was transformed into Rus(s)iya or Ros(s)iya (based on the Greek name for Rus').^[16] In the 1480s, Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name "Росиа" (Rosia), and Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre "of Russian lordship" (Росийскаго господства, Rosiyskago gospodstva).^[17] In the following century, the new forms co-existed with Rus' and appeared in an inscription on the western portal of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Yaroslavl (1515), on the icon case of the Theotokos of Vladimir (1514), in the work by Maximus the Greek,^[18] the Russian Chronograph written by Dosifei Toporkov (died 1543 or 1544)^[19] in 1516–1522, and in other sources.^[20]


On 16 January 1547, Ivan IV was crowned the tsar and grand prince of all Russia (Царь и Великий князь всея Руси, Tsar i Velikiy knyaz vseya Rusi),^[21] thereby proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia, or "the Great Russian Tsardom", as it was called in the coronation document,^[22] by Constantinople Patriarch Jeremiah II,^[23][24] and in numerous official texts.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30]} The formula in manuscripts "to all his state of Great Russia" later replaced those found in other manuscripts – "to all the Russian realm" (vo vse Rossisskoe tsarstvo); the former is more typical of the 17th century, when the usage of the term "Great Russia" (Velikaya Rossiya) became widely established.^[31] By the 17th century, the form Rossiya replaced Rus' to describe the extent of the tsar's imperial authority in chiny, with Feodor III using the term "Great Russian Tsardom" (Velikorossisskoe tsarstvie) to denote an imperial and absolutist state, subordinating both Russian and non-Russian territories.^[32] The old name Rus' was replaced in official documents, though the names Rus' and Russian land were still common and synonymous to it.^[33]


The Russian state partly remained referred to as Moscovia (English: Muscovy) throughout Europe, predominantly in its Catholic part, though this Latin term was never used in Russia.^[34] The two names Russia and Moscovia appear to have co-existed as interchangeable during the late 16th century and throughout the 17th century with different Western maps and sources using different names, so that the country was called "Russia, or Moscovia" (Latin: Russia seu Moscovia) or "Russia, popularly known as Moscovia" (Latin: Russia vulgo Moscovia). In England in the 16th century, it was known both as Russia and Muscovy.^[35][36] Such notable Englishmen as Giles Fletcher, author of the book Of the Russe Common Wealth (1591), and Samuel Collins, author of The Present State of Russia (1668), both of whom visited Russia, were familiar with the term Russia and used it in their works.^[37] So did numerous other authors, including John Milton, who wrote A brief history of Moscovia and of other less-known countries lying eastward of Russia, published posthumously,^[38] starting it with the words: "The Empire of Moscovia, or as others call it, Russia...".^[39]


According to prominent historians like Alexander Zimin and Anna Khoroshkevich, the continuous use of the term Moscovia was a result of traditional habit and the need to distinguish between the Muscovite and the Lithuanian part of Rus', as well as of the political interests of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which competed with Moscow for the western regions of Rus'. Due to the propaganda of the Commonwealth,^[40][41] as well as of the Jesuits, the term Moscovia was used instead of Russia in many parts of Europe where prior to the reign of Peter the Great there was a lack of direct knowledge of the country. In Northern Europe and at the court of the Holy Roman Empire, however, the country was known under its own name, Russia or Rossia.^[42] Sigismund von Herberstein, ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor in Russia, used both Russia and Moscovia in his work on the Russian tsardom and noted: "The majority believes that Russia is a changed name of Roxolania. Muscovites ("Russians" in the German version) refute this, saying that their country was originally called Russia (Rosseia)".^[43] Pointing to the difference between Latin and Russian names, French captain Jacques Margeret, who served in Russia and left a detailed description of L'Empire de Russie of the early 17th century that was presented to King Henry IV, stated that foreigners make "a mistake when they call them Muscovites and not Russians. When they are asked what nation they are, they respond 'Russac', which means 'Russians', and when they are asked what place they are from, the answer is Moscow, Vologda, Ryasan and other cities".^[44] The closest analogue of the Latin term Moscovia in Russia was "Tsardom of Moscow", or "Moscow Tsardom" (Московское царство, Moskovskoye tsarstvo), which was used along with the name "Russia",^[45][46] sometimes in one sentence, as in the name of the 17th century Russian work On the Great and Glorious Russian Moscow State (О великом и славном Российском Московском государстве, O velikom i slavnom Rossiyskom Moskovskom gosudarstve).^[47]