Re: CF: Crowns' fix: modification of the Crowns in the SSHIP
Actually it should be Czar (a respelling of the Russian word with the letters of the Latin alphabet)
If pushed to the limits, it is Tsĭsarĭ in Old Russian (but might be "too much" ).
Here are some more inputs about Russia (from the 13th to the 16th centuries):
- Alexander Nevsky (ruled 1252-1263) is regarded as a Russian century hero and later a saint in the Russian church. He defended Russia against an invasion of Teutonic knights and defeated the Swedes on the Neva river in 1240 near present-day St. Petersburg. Nevsky was one of the Russian princes who collaborated with the Mongols. The Mongoleader Batu Khan made him the Grand Prince of Russia. He and his successor acted as go-betweens between the Mongols and other Russian princes, who often feuded among themselves.
-Alexander' Nevskys son Daniil Aleksandrovich (ruled 1276-1303) was the first leader to be called the Duke of Muscovy and first ruler of the principality of Muscovy. His successor Ivan I kept the title. Daniil Aleksandrovich (d. 1303) secured the principality for his branch of the Rurik Dynasty.
- Prince Ivan I (ruled 1325-1340) was nicknamed Ivan Kalita ("Money Bags"), for his tax collecting skills for the Mongols. He was the first Russian leader to be recognized as Grand Prince by the Mongols. He cooperated closely with the Mongols and collected tribute from other Russian principalities on their behalf. This relationship enabled Ivan to gain regional ascendancy, particularly over Muscovy's chief rival, the northern city of Tver'. He obtained the title "Grand Prince of Vladimir" from his Mongol overlords.
- The Dukes of Muscovy were strengthened when the Orthodox Church moved to Moscow from Vladimir in the 1320. In time they became regarded as the leaders of Russia and later still became the Russian tsars. Among the Dukes of Muscovy were three Ivans. The Orthodox church remained headquartered in Kiev until 1300, when it moved to Vladimir and then moved again to Moscow in the 1327.
- The Grands Dukes of Muscovy eventually formed an alliance against the Mongols. Duke Dimitri III Donskoi (ruled (1359-89) defeated the Mongols in a great battle at Kulikovo on the Don River in 1380 and drove them from the Moscow area. He was canonized after his death.
The Mongols crushed the Russian rebellion with a costly three-year campaign. Over the decades they had become weak and were eventually defeated by Tamerlane in the 14th century. Unable to completely unify, the Russian prince remained vassals of the Mongols until 1480. In 1552, Ivan the Terrible drove the last Mongol knanates out of Russia with decisive victories in Kazan and Astrakhan. This opened the way for the expansion of the Russian empire southward and across Siberia to the Pacific.
- Ivan III (born 1440, ruled 1462-1505) is also known as Ivan the Great. He is credited with making Russian an independent state, expanding Russian territory and creating an administration system capable of holding the state together. By the fifteenth century, the rulers of Muscovy considered the entire Russian territory their collective property. Various semi-independent princes still claimed specific territories, but Ivan III forced the lesser princes to acknowledge the grand prince of Muscovy and his descendants as unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs.
Ivan III was the first Muscovite ruler to use the titles of tsar and "Ruler of all Rus'." He competed with his powerful northwestern rival Lithuania for control over some of the semi-independent former principalities of Kievan Rus' in the upper Dnepr and Donets river basins. Through the defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and a long, inconclusive war with Lithuania that ended only in 1503, Ivan III was able to push westward, and Muscovy tripled in size under his rule.
Ivan III made Moscow into a strong military state and slowly pieced together a bona fied state by conquering the other Russian principalities one by one. Novgorod was conquered in 1478. Tver fell in 1485, followed by Vyatka in 1489. By 1480, Ivan III was strong enough to refuse the payment of the customary tribute to the Great Khans. The Mongols sent an army against him at the Ugra River southwest of Moscow but they withdrew without fighting. This marked the end of Moscow's subjugation to the Mongols.
After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, Ivan III married Sophia Paleologue, the niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. This gave credibility to the claim that Moscow (the "Third Rome") was the successor to Constantinople and that Orthodox Russia was the successor the Byzantine Empire. Ivan III marriage also meant that Russia tsars became the leaders of the Orthodox Church. Sophia introduced Byzantine court etiquette to the Kremlin. The Muscovite court adopted Byzantine terms, rituals, titles, and emblems such as the double-headed eagle.
Serfdom began in the medieval period and has its roots in the rule of Ivan III. When he captured Novgorod in 1478 he threw out West-leaning governors and closed Russia's "Window to the West." He replaced the traditional patrimonial system ( votchina), in which noblemen had absolute control over their land and people, with a new system of land tenure ( pomestie, or "estate"), in which noblemen had to answer Ivan III. Those that didn't had their land confiscated.
The move was mainly political: to keep the princes from acting too independently and rebelling and causing trouble. The new system changed society. The new landowners were often little more than administrative civil servants, mostly interested in maintaining in control. Before 1500, peasants often had a fair amount of freedom. After meeting the needs of their landowner, they were free to work for themselves and even change their masters. The new system tied them to the land.
Source: http://factsanddetails.com
A bit long but it summarizes quite well the evolution of the titles in that area. It also confirms that the title of Tsar was used slightly earlier than mid 16th century
Under the patronage of Flinn, proud patron of Jadli, from the Heresy Vault of the Imperial House of Hader