II. Change the words or phrases in bold to their synonyms used in the text.

1. He was appointed at first the grand prince of Novgorod and Pskov, and then co-regent of Ivan III, after whose death Vasily III easily agreed to ascend the throne on October 27, 1505.

2. Vasily joined the last surviving independent provinces: Pskov, Volokolamsk, Ryazan and Novgorod-Seversky.

3. Vasily also took advantage of the difficult position of Sigismund of Poland to gain control over Smolensk.

4. Vasily III treated boyars with care: no one, except for rather not notable Bersen Beklemishev, underwent capital punishment, and the number of disfavours was not great.

5. In 1526 he divorced from her, cloistered her and married Elena.

III. Comment upon the following quotations from the text:

1. Vasily III continued the policies of his father Ivan III and spent most of his reign consolidating Ivan’s gains.

2. Equally successful were Vasily’s actions against the Crimean Khanate.

3. Vasily III treated boyars with care.

4. Vasily III was a typical Moscow prince, but without gifts of the father.

IV. Answer the questions taking into consideration the information presented in texts 1 – 3:

1. How can you characterise the foreign affairs of Muscovy in the middle of the 13^th–14^th centuries?

2. Why was Moscow so successful in the formation of the united state around it?

3. What was the turning point in Russo-Tatar relations?

4. What is Dynastic Crisis? What events caused it?

5. In what way did Vasily continue his father’s policy?

6. Dwell upon the relations between Russia and Lithuania in the 15^th–16^th centuries.

 

V. Read the text below and look carefully at each line. If the line is correct, put a tick (V). If it has a word that should not be there, write this word on the lines.

MOSCOW DOES NOT BELIEVE IN TEARS

The end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century was a time of so incessant wars for the territorial expansion of Moscow. The western borders of Moscow expanded to further and further. In 1510 Moscow was absorbed Pskov and in 1514 Smolensk was added. Other lands were added, too.Centralized government was established, and taxes were collected from. Moscow did not believe any weeping; the Russian land was united by raw power. Hence is the saying, “Moscow does not believe in tears.”

___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

Text 4

CULTURE OF MUSCOVY

I. Look at the text. The topic sentences of each paragraph have been removed. Read the text and choose from the sentences (A-H) the one which fits each gap. Underline the words both in the text and the sentences which helped you to decide on your choices.

A. This was also the period of the highest development of Russian church painting.

B. In the 15^th century practically all large cities of Northeast Russia were restoring and enlarging monastic schools.

C. The Moscow annals occupied a prominent place in the field of literature that time.

D. In the end of the 15^th century a huge contribution to development of Russian painting was made by outstanding icon painter Dionisy (1440–1503).

E. In Ivan III’s reign a great importance was given to development of the Moscow architecture and in its turn it was directly connected with strengthening of the Grand Moscow Duke’s power.

F. From the end of the 14^th century the development of Russian culture was characterized by significant rise.

G. Expansion of political, economic and cultural contacts of Muscovy with other countries was reflected in such famous literary monument of that epoch as the travel notes of Afanasiy Nikitin, the Tver merchant, written in a literary genre of travellings.

H. The great Russian artist who lived also in that period was Andrey Rublev (1369 or 1370–1430).

... (1) The fundamental matter of the cultural process in the 15^th century was the task of liberation of the nation and strengthening of the single Russian Sate. Moscow became the true centre of All-Russian national culture. The role and value of Russian language strengthened in this period. New literary works contributing creation of the State appeared again and again. Interest to the history of Motherland grew also. In modern literature Russian culture of this period is called “Russian Renaissance”.

... (2) Old hand-written books were re-written and new once created. Literacy of various layers of population was growing, especially in cities.

... (3) In 1408 Moscow Mitropoly began to compile first All-Russian annalistic books, the very first one was The Trinity Chronicle. The first Moscow annalistic book that gave an ideological proof of historical importance of association of Russian Lands around Moscow was compiled in 1480.

... (4) “Khozhdeniye za Tri Morya” depicts the travels of Nikitin to Persia, India and other countries of the East between 1466 and 1472.Besides this genre, epical and satirical folklore was also widespread in Muscovy.

... (5) A large-scale reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin architecture was carried out in that period by Russian masters together with invited Italian architects. In 1479 Italian master Aristotel Fioravanti completed erection of the main temple of the Russian State - the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.

... (6) In the end of the 14^th and in the beginning of the 15^th century in Novgorod, Moscow, Serpukhovo and Nizhni Novgorod worked Pheophan Greek (1340?–1405), the great artist who came from Byzantium. He painted the Saviour Temple in Ilin Street in Novgorod, together with Simeon Cherny he painted the Moscow Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1395) and the Arkhangelsk Cathedral (1399).

... (7) He participated in painting of the old Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin (1405), together with Pheophan Greek and master Prokhor from Gorodets he painted The Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir (1408), The Trinity Cathedral – in Troitsko-Sergiyev Monastery and The Saviour Cathedral of Andronikov Monastery (1420’s). A masterpiece of the world painting art – “The Trinity” icon was also executed by him.

... (8) Together with his sons Pheodosiy and Vladimir and his other apprentices he created frescos of The Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, paintings of temples of Pafnutyevo-Borovsky, Iosifo-Volokolamsky and Pherapontov Monasteries. A well-known icon “Spas v Silakh” is also among his great works.

[http://russia.rin.ru/guides_e/6895.html]

 

II. Ask 10 questions about the culture of Muscovy in the 14^th–15^th centuries and let you group mates answer them.

III. Prepare a classroom report on one of the following topics:

- Russian Renaissance;

- The Trinity Chronicle;

- The Moscow Kremlin architecture;

- Andrey Rublev.

Reporting can be done in different ways: a simple verbal report, a poster, Power Point presentation.