Grand Duchy of Moscow

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/grand-duchy-of-moscow

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Where is Grand Duchy of Moscow?Eastern Europe, centered on the confluence of the Oka and Moskva rivers
2. What is the capital of Grand Duchy of Moscow?Moscow
3. What language do people speak in Grand Duchy of Moscow?Old Russian (with regional dialects)
4. Why did Moscow become powerful?It became powerful because it was on important rivers that helped trade, it fought and worked with neighboring lands, and its leaders used smart plans to win battles and make friends.
5. How did Moscow get rid of the Golden Horde?Moscow stopped paying tribute to the Mongol Golden Horde in 1480 when Ivan III said it was no longer needed, and then it took over more lands like Novgorod and Tver.

Autocracy: A system of government where supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one ruler.
Boyars: The highest rank of nobility in medieval Russia, serving as advisors to the Grand Prince.
Third Rome: An ideological concept asserting Moscow's role as the successor to Rome and Byzantium as the center of Orthodox Christianity.