THE RURIK DYNASTY. (2019) Episode 7. In Russian with English subtitles.

Conquest and the struggle of power, victory and defeat, love and betrayal, the rise of culture and the ashes of conflagration - these are just some of the elements of the Rurik dynasty. Founded by Viking/Varangian prince, the Rurik dynasty ruled the territory of Kievan Rus from 882, and later, several neighbouring principalities including the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Their rule continued until 1610 and the Time of Troubles, after which they were succeeded by the Romanovs. Throughout their rule, the Rurikids fortified, defended and expanded their territory - sometimes with fierce and terrifying battles, sometimes with reconciliation and peace treaties. Most importantly, however, it was under their rule that Russian culture developed, and the Russian nation.
While mentioning other Muscovite Grand Princes, episode delves into the reigns of three who made the greatest impact in the late 14th and the 15th centuries these are: Vasily I Dmitrievich, Vasily II Vasilyevich, and Ivan III Vasilyevich.
Throughout Vasily I's reign, Muscovy was caught between two significant powers: the Lithuania and the Golden Horde and, but with his Vasily's skillful policy maintained the independence of Moscow in these under these conditions. The situation changed more than once, the successes of the prince gave way to failures. Nevertheless the last years of Vasily I's reign were relatively calm, and Moscow got the opportunity to strengthen its economic potential. These years saw the effervescence of Russian culture: it was in his era that the canon of church architecture and painting was formed, the iconographers painters Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev created their masterworks, and the second South Slavic Sophistic influenced Russian literature.
Vasily II (“the Dark”)’s reign was occupied by a quarter-century internecine war between two families of the Danilovich clan. Vasily lost his throne several times, was captured, was blinded, for which he received the nickname Dark One. Despite his suffering and vicissitudes, he managed to emerge from all internecine strife as a winner, strengthen the Muscovite state and almost eliminate Horde dependence. Under him, the Russian Church received de facto autocephaly - independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. And after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian state remained the only Orthodox power of consequence. This was made possible by his able son, Ivan III, serving as his regent in his later years.
Ivan III completed the process of unification of Russian lands under the auspices of the Moscow principality, eliminated dependence on the Horde. Rus' entered the international arena as a great European power, became the successor of the perished Byzantine Empire, the mainstay of Orthodoxy. Ivan III initiated the creation of the Code of Laws - the first all-Russian code of laws after the "Russian Truth". He rebuilt the Moscow Kremlin with brick walls and stone cathedrals. He annexed Novgorod to the Moscow principality. He conquered the lands of Perm the Great, spreading his influence to the Ural Mountains. The double-headed eagle became the state symbol of Rus', a new title appeared - the Grand Duke of Moscow became the Sovereign of All Rus'.