Василий III

Vasilii III (1479-1533), a son of the Grand Duke Ivan III Vasil'evich with his wife Sofia (Zoia) Paleolog, a niece of the Byzantine emperor and daughter of the Peloponnesian ruler, continued the business and mission of his father of peacefully acquiring lands around Moscow which had been self-governing kingdoms (Pskov, Smolensk, Ryazan', etc.) for several hundred years. Chronology of life. Bibliography.