“At the beginning of his reign, Ivan III was still a Tatar tributary, his power was still disputed by appanage princes, Novgorod, which stood at the head of the Russian republics, dominated the north of Russia... By the end of his reign, we see Ivan III sitting on a completely independent throne about hand with the daughter of the last Byzantine emperor... Amazed Europe, which at the beginning of the reign of Ivan III hardly suspected the existence of Muscovy... was stunned by the appearance of a huge empire on its eastern borders, and Sultan Bayazet himself, before whom she was in awe, heard for the first time arrogant speeches from the Muscovites.” TO. Marx. Secret diplomacy of the 17th century. The novel by Igor Loschilov tells how, under the leadership of the Moscow prince Ivan III, Rus' fought for final liberation from the Mongol yoke.