the lack of early non-Slavic sources. From Rus' to Russia In modern English historiography, common names for the ancient East Slavic state include Kievan Rus or Kyivan Rus (sometimes retaining the apostrophe in Rus, a transliteration of the soft sign, ь), Kievan or Kyivan Rus, and Kyivan or Kievan Ruthenia. It is also called the Princedom or Principality of Kyiv or Kiev, or just Kyiv or Kiev. The term Kievan Rus was established by modern historians to distinguish the period from the 9th century to the beginning of the 12th century, when Kiev was the center of a large state. The vast political state was subsequently divided into several parts. The most influential were, in the south, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia and in the north, Vladimir-Suzdal and the Novgorod Republic. Northeast principalities In the 14th–16th centuries most of northeastern Rus' principalities were united under the power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, once a part of Vladimir-Suzdal, and formed a large state. While the oldest endonyms were Rus () and the Rus' land or Russian land (), a new form of its name, Rusia or Russia, appeared in the 15th century, and became common thereafter. In the 1480s Muscovite state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name Росиа, Medovartsev also mentions "the sceptre of Russian lordship (Росийскаго господства)". In the following century Russia co-existed with the old name Rus' and appeared in an inscription on the western portal of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Yaroslavl (1515), on the icon case of the Theotokos of Vladimir (1514), in the work by Maximus the Greek, the Russian Chronograph written by Dosifei Toporkov (?–1543/44) in 1516–22 and in other sources. By the 15th century, the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Moscow had incorporated the northern parts of the former Kievan Rus'. Ivan III of Moscow was the first local ruler to claim the title of "Grand Prince of all Rus'" This title was used by the Grand Dukes of Vladimir since the early 14th century, and the first prince to use it was Mikhail of Tver. Ivan III was styled by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor as and . Later, Rus’ — in the Russian language specifically — evolved into the Byzantine-influenced form, Rossiya (Russia is (Rhōssía) in Greek). Tsardom of Russia In 1547, Ivan IV assumed the title of "Tsar and Grand Duke of all