Orthodox Church of Muscovite Rus'

Timeline

1. 1240–1246Kyiv · KyivIn 1240 Batu's western campaign captured Kyiv, delivering a devastating blow to Rus's traditional religious and political center; the Kyiv patriarchate's authority weakened and church administration began shifting to the not-fully-destroyed northeast Rus'.
2. 1241–1250Vladimir–Moscow · Grand Principality of MoscowIn the 1240s the Rus' patriarchal see was seated at Vladimir; the Grand Principality of Moscow preserved church institutions under Mongol suzerainty, and princes such as Alexander Nevsky cooperated with the church to resist northwestern threats, gradually establishing Moscow's status as a new religious refuge.
3. 1320–1453Moscow · MoscowIn the 14th century Patriarch Peter I moved the permanent patriarchal see to Moscow; after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the 'Third Rome' theory strengthened Moscow's position as the new center of the Orthodox world, and church and grand-princely power became deeply intertwined.
4. 1453–1589Moscow · MoscowIn 1589 the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople approved the establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate, making Russian Orthodoxy an independent patriarchate and completing the long process of institutionalizing the religious center's eastward shift begun in the 13th century.