Ivan the Young, Ivan's son with Maria of Tver, had died in 1490, leaving from his marriage with Helen of Moldavia an only child, Dmitry the Grandson.

The latter had been crowned as successor by his grandfather on February 15, 1498, but Ivan later reverts his decision in favor of Sophia's elder son Vasily, who is ultimately crowned co-regent with his father on April 14, 1502).

The decision is dictated by the crisis connected with the Sect of Skhariya the Jew, as well as by the imperial prestige of Sophia's descendants.

Dmitry the Grandson is put into prison, where he will die, unmarried and childless, in 1509, already under the rule of his uncle.

The Grand Duke is increasingly aloof from his boyars, who are no longer consulted on affairs of state.

The old patriarchal systems of government have vanished.

The sovereign has become sacrosanct, while the boyars are reduced to dependency on the will of the sovereign.

The boyars naturally resent this revolution and struggle against it.