Question by Terry: What was the significance of Moscow being declared the Third Rome?
A.
Russia inherited the trade that was once controlled by the Italian city-states.
B.
Moscow became the religious center of Christianity.
C.
Russia regarded itself, not the West, as the possessor of the true faith.
D.
Russia expelled all Jews and Muslims.
E.
Russia received the allegiance of the Eastern European Catholics.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Alesha
B.) Moscow became the Religious center for the Eastern and Russian Orthodox Churches after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
What do you think? Answer below!
mapletartan71 says
B- Russia is Eastern Orthodox of course, and Constantinople (or Byzantium) had long been the seat of Orthodoxy and home of the Eastern Patriarch: and it had been founded by the Emperor Constantine specifically as the New Rome, or second Rome. After Constantinople fell to the Muslims, the position of the Eastern Patriarch was very tenuous, and with it in enemy hands, the Russian Patriarch took the opportunity to declare Moscow the "Third Rome," along with the implication that he himself was now the Patriarch of all Orthodoxy. (Yes, there had long been rivalry between Moscow and Constantinople.)
At least that's the best of the bunch — I would amend this answer to read "center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity," since of course the original Rome and Roman Patriarch were the center of the faith in the West. C is close, but as Orthodox, they believed that anyway. I think D is just incorrect, at least in regard to motivation and time frame. E is incorrect, as Eastern Rite Catholics remain -by definition- in allegiance to Rome.