The Byzantine Intellectual Demetrios Rhaoul Kabakes at the Court of Sophia Palaiologina and His Contribution to the Development of the Theory «Moscow – Third Rome»

The new ideological doctrine, approved at the Moscow Council of 1492, is considered by experts as the predecessor of the political theory “Moscow - the Third Rome,” which is usually associated with the name of the Elder of the Eleazar Hermitage, Philotheus. Meanwhile, it is obvious that the political concept “From Rome to the Third Rome” could not have arisen among the lower clergy, but entirely and completely, like any political theory, owes its appearance to the ruling elite. Recently, historians have increasingly raised the question in their works about the existence at the court of Ivan III of a whole group of Greek scientists who played an active role in the political life of Muscovite Rus at the end of the 15th century. The emergence, thanks to Byzantine emigrants, of the ideology of strong statehood can be traced in a number of works, primarily in the “Message of the Eastern Patriarchs to Emperor Theophilus,” as well as in the famous “Message to the Ugra,” where the influence of the ideas of Cardinal Vissarion of Nicaea is noticeable. In this regard, the author undertook a scrupulous study of the historical role of Demetrios Raoul Kabakes («Dmitry the Greek» in Russian chronicles) as secretary and archive keeper of famous Byzantine Humanist George Gemistos Plethon, who had a decisive influence on the program of social innovations of Ivan III in line with the transition to the “Third Rome”.