Ivan III (1440-1505)

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Ivan III (1440-1505)

Ivan, son of Vasily Vasilievich, grand duke of Moscow, became grand duke of Muscovy in the fifteenth century. According to legend, when he was at the point of death, he fell into terrible swoons, during which his soul made laborious journeys. In the first he was tormented for having kept innocent prisoners in his dungeons; in the second he was tortured further for having ground the people under heavy tasks; during the third voyage he died, but his body disappeared mysteriously before he could be buried, and it was thought that the devil had taken him.

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