Ivan the Terrible

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Ivan IV
Иван IV
Grand Duchy of Moscow
Died28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584 (aged 53)
Moscow, Tsardom of Russia
Burial, Moscow
Spouses
(m. 1547; died 1560)
(m. 1561; died 1569)
(m. 1571; died 1571)
(m. 1572; div. 1572)
(m. 1575; div. 1576)
(m. 1580)
Issue
more...
Names
Ivan Vasilyevich
Rurik
FatherVasili III of Russia
MotherElena Glinskaya
ReligionRussian Orthodox

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (

Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533,[6][7][8] and Tsar of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584.[7][9] He was the first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar
.

Ivan IV was the eldest son of

medieval state to an empire
under a tsar, but at an immense cost to its people, and long-term economy.

In the early years of his reign, Ivan ruled with the group of reformers known as the Chosen Council and established the

Astrakhan
, and significantly expanded the territory of Russia.

After he had consolidated his power, Ivan rid himself of the advisers from the Chosen Council and triggered the

autocratic control over the Russian nobility, which he violently purged using Russia's first political police, the oprichniki. The later years of Ivan's reign were marked by the massacre of Novgorod and the burning of Moscow by the Tatars
.

Ivan pursued cultural improvements, such as importing the first printing press to Russia. He also began several processes that would continue for centuries, including deepening connections with other European states, particularly England, fighting wars against the Ottoman Empire, and the gradual conquest of Siberia.

Contemporary sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality. He was described as intelligent and devout, but also prone to

Rurik dynasty and the beginning of the Time of Troubles
.

Nickname

The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word грозный (grozny) in Ivan's nickname, but this is a somewhat archaic translation. The Russian word грозный reflects the older English usage of terrible as in "inspiring fear or terror; dangerous; powerful" (i.e., similar to modern English terrifying). It does not convey the more modern connotations of English terrible such as "defective" or "evil".[14] According to Edward L. Keenan, Ivan the Terrible's image in popular culture as a tyrant came from politicised Western travel literature of the Renaissance era.[15] Vladimir Dal defines grozny specifically in archaic usage and as an epithet for tsars: "courageous, magnificent, magisterial and keeping enemies in fear, but people in obedience".[16] Other translations have also been suggested by modern scholars, including formidable.[17][18][19]

Early life

Ivan sits on the throne, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
Ivan crowned tsar

Ivan Vasilyevich was the first son of

Hungarian nobles and the Mongol ruler Mamai (1335–1380).[21][22][23][24] Born on 25 August, he received the name Ivan in honor of St. John the Baptist, the day of whose beheading falls on 29 August.[25] In some texts of that era, it is also occasionally mentioned with the names Titus and Smaragd, in accordance with the tradition of polyonyms among the Rurikids. Baptized in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius by Abbot Joasaph (Skripitsyn), two elders of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery were elected as recipients—the monk Cassian Bossoy and the hegumen Daniel. Tradition says that in honor of the birth of Ivan, the Church of the Ascension was built in Kolomenskoye
.

When Ivan was three years old, his father died from an abscess and inflammation on his leg that developed into

Shuisky and Belsky families. In a letter to Andrey Kurbsky, Ivan remembered, "My brother Iurii, of blessed memory, and me they brought up like vagrants and children of the poorest. What have I suffered for want of garments and food!"[28] That account has been challenged by the historian Edward Keenan, who doubts the authenticity of the source in which the quotations are found.[29]

On 16 January 1547, at the age of 16, Ivan was crowned at the

tsaritsa
.

Birth of Ivan Ivanovich, the son of Ivan IV and Anastasia Romanovna, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible

By being crowned tsar, Ivan was sending a message to the world and to Russia that he was now the only supreme ruler of the country, and his will was not to be questioned. According to historian Janet Martin, the new title "symbolized an assumption of powers equivalent and parallel to those held by the former Byzantine caesar and the Tatar khan, both known in Russian sources as tsar. The political effect was to elevate Ivan's position".[31] The new title not only secured the throne but also granted Ivan a new dimension of power that was intimately tied to religion. He was now a "divine" leader appointed to enact God's will, as "church texts described Old Testament kings as 'Tsars' and Christ as the Heavenly Tsar".[32] The newly appointed title was then passed on from generation to generation, and "succeeding Muscovite rulers... benefited from the divine nature of the power of the Russian monarch... crystallized during Ivan's reign".[33]

Like the

Novgorod in northern Russia, while a certain Prus, an alleged brother of Augustus who ruled what would become Prussia, is mentioned as a direct ancestor of Rurik.[34] Ivan IV often mentioned his apparent kinship with Augustus, claiming not to be a "Russe" and highlighting his "German" descent from Rurik.[34] Such genealogies served to elevate the position of the Russian monarch in the eyes of his subjects and other European powers, who were also creating mythological ancestors for themselves.[35]

Domestic policy

Despite calamities triggered by the

Council of the Hundred Chapters
(Stoglavy Synod), which unified the rituals and ecclesiastical regulations of the whole country. He introduced local self-government to rural regions, mainly in northeastern Russia, populated by the state peasantry.

In 1553 Ivan suffered a near-fatal illness and was thought not able to recover. While on his presumed deathbed Ivan had asked the boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his eldest son, an infant at the time. Many boyars refused since they deemed the tsar's health too hopeless for him to survive. This angered Ivan and added to his distrust of the boyars. There followed brutal reprisals and assassinations, including those of

Ivan ordered in 1553 the establishment of the

Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, were forced to flee from Moscow to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. Nevertheless, the printing of books resumed from 1568 onwards, with Andronik Timofeevich Nevezha and his son Ivan now heading the Print Yard.

16th century portrait of Ivan by Hans Weigel

Ivan had

St Basil's Cathedral constructed in Moscow to commemorate the seizure of Kazan. There is a legend that he was so impressed with the structure that he had the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, blinded so that he could never design anything as beautiful again. However, in reality Postnik Yakovlev went on to design more churches for Ivan and the walls of the Kazan Kremlin in the early 1560s as well as the chapel over St Basil's grave, which was added to St Basil's Cathedral in 1588, several years after Ivan's death. Although more than one architect was associated with that name, it is believed that the principal architect is the same person.[38][39][40]

Other events of the period include the introduction of the first laws restricting the mobility of the peasants, which would eventually lead to serfdom and were instituted during the rule of the future Tsar Boris Godunov in 1597.[41] (See also Serfdom in Russia.)

The combination of bad harvests, devastation brought by the oprichnina and Tatar raids, the prolonged war and overpopulation caused a severe social and economic crisis in the second half of Ivan's reign.

Oprichnina

Portrait of Ivan IV by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1897 (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

The 1560s brought to Russia hardships that led to a dramatic change in Ivan's policies. Russia was devastated by a combination of drought, famine, unsuccessful wars against the

Andrei Kurbsky, defected to the Lithuanians, took command of the Lithuanian troops and devastated the Russian region of Velikiye Luki
. This series of treacherous acts made Ivan paranoically suspicious of nobility.

On 3 December 1564 Ivan left Moscow for

Aleksandrova Sloboda, where he sent two letters in which he announced his abdication because of the alleged embezzlement and treason of the aristocracy and the clergy. The boyar court was unable to rule in Ivan's absence and feared the wrath of the Muscovite citizens. A boyar envoy departed for Aleksandrova Sloboda to beg Ivan to return to the throne.[42][43] Ivan agreed to return on condition of being granted absolute power. He demanded the right to condemn and execute traitors and confiscate their estates without interference from the boyar council or church. Ivan decreed the creation of the oprichnina.[44]

Alexsandrova Sloboda was a separate territory within the borders of Russia, mostly in the territory of the former

Oprichniki. Originally, it numbered 1000.[43][45] The oprichniki were headed by Malyuta Skuratov. One known oprichnik was the German adventurer Heinrich von Staden. The oprichniki enjoyed social and economic privileges under the oprichnina. They owed their allegiance and status to Ivan, not heredity or local bonds.[43]

The first wave of persecutions targeted primarily the princely clans of Russia, notably the influential families of Suzdal. Ivan executed, exiled or forcibly

Alexander Gorbaty-Shuisky. In 1566 Ivan extended the oprichnina to eight central districts. Of the 12,000 nobles, 570 became oprichniki and the rest were expelled.[46]

Under the new political system the oprichniki were given large estates but, unlike the previous landlords, could not be held accountable for their actions. The men "took virtually all the peasants possessed, forcing them to pay 'in one year as much as [they] used to pay in ten.'"[47] This degree of oppression resulted in increasing cases of peasants fleeing, which in turn reduced the overall production. The price of grain increased ten-fold.

Sack of Novgorod

Conditions under the oprichnina were worsened by the 1570 epidemic, a plague that killed 10,000 people in Novgorod and 600 to 1,000 daily in Moscow. During the grim conditions of the epidemic, a famine and the ongoing Livonian War, Ivan grew suspicious that noblemen of the wealthy city of Novgorod were planning to defect and to place the city under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A Novgorod citizen, Petr Volynets, warned the tsar about the alleged conspiracy, which modern historians believe not to have been real. In 1570 Ivan ordered the oprichniki to raid the city. The oprichniki burned and pillaged Novgorod and the surrounding villages and the city has never regained its former prominence.[48]

The Oprichniki by Nikolai Nevrev (1888). The painting shows the last minutes of boyarin Feodorov, who was arrested for treason. To mock his alleged ambitions on the tsar's title, the nobleman was given tsar's regalia before his execution.

Casualty figures vary greatly from different sources. The First Pskov Chronicle estimates the number of victims at 60,000.[48][49][50] According to the Third Novgorod Chronicle, the massacre lasted for five weeks. The massacre of Novgorod consisted of men, women and children who were tied to sleighs and run into the freezing waters of the Volkhov River, which Ivan ordered on the basis of unproved accusations of treason. He then tortured its inhabitants and killed thousands in a pogrom. The archbishop was also hunted to death.[51] Almost every day, 500 or 600 people were killed, some by drowning, but the official death toll named 1,500 of Novgorod's "big" people (nobility) and mentioned only about the same number of "smaller" people.[citation needed] Many modern researchers estimate the number of victims to range from 2,000 to 3,000 since after the famine and epidemics of the 1560s the population of Novgorod most likely did not exceed 10,000–20,000.[52] Many survivors were deported.

The oprichnina did not live long after the sack of Novgorod. During the

1571–72 Russo-Crimean War
the oprichniki failed to prove themselves worthy against a regular army. In 1572, Ivan abolished the oprichnina and disbanded his oprichniki.

Appointment of Simeon Bekbulatovich

In September or October 1575,

Giles Fletcher the Elder Simeon acted on Ivan's instructions to confiscate all of the lands that belonged to monasteries, and Ivan pretended to disagree with the decision. When the throne was returned to Ivan in September 1576[53]
he returned some of the confiscated land and kept the rest.

Foreign policy

Diplomacy and trade

Ivan the Terrible Showing His Treasures to Jerome Horsey by Alexander Litovchenko (1875)

In 1547, Hans Schlitte, the agent of Ivan, recruited craftsmen in Germany for work in Russia. However, all of the craftsmen were arrested in

River Narva in 1550 and continued to deliver goods in the Baltic
ports owned by Livonia. Russia remained isolated from sea trade.

Ivan established close ties with the Kingdom of England. Russian-English relations can be traced to 1551, when the Muscovy Company was formed by Richard Chancellor, Sebastian Cabot, Sir Hugh Willoughby and several London merchants. In 1553, Chancellor sailed to the White Sea and continued overland to Moscow, where he visited Ivan's court. Ivan opened up the White Sea and the port of Arkhangelsk to the company and granted it privilege of trading throughout his reign without paying the standard customs fees.[55]

With the use of English merchants, Ivan engaged in a long correspondence with

Elizabeth I of England. While the queen focused on commerce, Ivan was more interested in a military alliance.[56] Ivan even proposed to her once, and during his troubled relations with the boyars, he even asked her for a guarantee to be granted asylum in England if his rule was jeopardised.[57] Elizabeth agreed if he provided for himself during his stay.[58]

Ivan corresponded with overseas Orthodox leaders. In response to a letter of

fur coat and an icon sent by Ivan and left an interesting account of his two-and-a-half years of travels.[59]

Ivan was the first ruler to begin cooperating with the free cossacks on a large scale. Relations were handled through the Posolsky Prikaz diplomatic department; Moscow sent them money and weapons, while tolerating their freedoms, to draw them into an alliance against the Tatars. The first evidence of cooperation surfaces in 1549 when Ivan ordered the Don Cossacks to attack Crimea.[60]

Conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan

Russian icon
from c. 1550–1560, an allegory of the conquest of Kazan

While Ivan was a child, armies of the

Qasim Tatars
to contain him. After his advance was stalled near Murom, Safa Giray was forced to withdraw to his own borders.

The reverses undermined Safa Giray's authority in Kazan. A pro-Russian party, represented by

River Volga
to show his support for the pro-Russians.

Ivan IV under the walls of Kazan by Pyotr Korovin (1890)

In 1551, the tsar sent his envoy to the Nogai Horde, and they promised to maintain neutrality during the impending war. The Ar begs and Udmurts submitted to Russian authority as well. In 1551, the wooden fort of Sviyazhsk was transported down the Volga from Uglich all the way to Kazan. It was used as the Russian place-of-arms during the decisive campaign of 1552.

On 16 June 1552, Ivan led a strong Russian army towards Kazan. The last siege of the Tatar capital commenced on 30 August. Under the supervision of Prince

First Cheremis War ended, and the Bashkirs
accepted Ivan's authority.

Khanates of Crimea, Astrakhan and Kazan in 1550, before Ivan's expansion into the Volga basin

In campaigns in 1554 and 1556, Russian troops conquered the Astrakhan Khanate at the mouths of the Volga River, and the new Astrakhan fortress was built in 1558 by Ivan Vyrodkov to replace the old Tatar capital. The annexation of the Tatar khanates meant the conquest of vast territories, access to large markets and control of the entire length of the Volga River. The subjugation of the Muslim khanates turned Russia into an empire.[62]

After his conquest of Kazan, Ivan is said to have ordered the crescent, a symbol of Islam, to be placed underneath the Christian cross on the domes of Orthodox Christian churches.[63][64][65]

Russo-Turkish War

In 1568, Grand Vizier

Akıncıs were sent to lay siege to Astrakhan and to begin the canal works while an Ottoman fleet besieged Azov
.

In early 1570, Ivan's ambassadors concluded a treaty at Constantinople that restored friendly relations between the sultan and the tsar.[66] The envoys were directed to tell to the sultan: "My Tsar is not an enemy of the Moslem faith. His servant Sain Bulat rules the Khanate of Kassimov; Prince Kaibula in Yuriev, Ibak in Suroshsk, and the Nogai Princes in Romanov".[67]

Livonian War

Ioannes Basilius Magnus Imperator Russiae, Dux Moscoviae, by Abraham Ortelius (1574)

In 1558, Ivan launched the

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired an energetic leader, Stephen Báthory
, who was supported by Russia's southern enemy, the Ottoman Empire. Ivan's realm was being squeezed by two of the time's great powers.

After rejecting peace proposals from his enemies, Ivan had found himself in a difficult position by 1579. The displaced refugees fleeing the war compounded the effects of the simultaneous drought, and the exacerbated war engendered epidemics causing much loss of life.

Báthory then launched a series of offensives against Muscovy in the campaign seasons of 1579–81 to try to cut the

Velikie Luki with a 29,000-strong force. Finally, he began the Siege of Pskov in 1581 with a 100,000-strong army. Narva, in Estonia
, was reconquered by Sweden in 1581.

Unlike Sweden and Poland,

Duchy of Courland, and Frederick II decided to sell his rights of inheritance. Except for the island of Saaremaa
, Denmark had left Livonia by 1585.

Crimean raids

Ivan's throne (ivory, metal, wood)

In the later years of Ivan's reign, the southern borders of Muscovy were disturbed by Crimean Tatars, mainly to capture slaves.[68] (See also Slavery in the Ottoman Empire.) Khan Devlet I Giray of Crimea repeatedly raided the Moscow region. In 1571, the 40,000-strong Crimean and Turkish army launched a large-scale raid. The ongoing Livonian War made Moscow's garrison to number only 6,000 and could not even delay the Tatar approach. Unresisted, Devlet devastated unprotected towns and villages around Moscow and caused the Fire of Moscow (1571). Historians have estimated the number of casualties of the fire to be 10,000 to 80,000.

To buy peace from Devlet Giray, Ivan was forced to relinquish his claims on

Oka River
, which defined the border.

The following year, Devlet launched another raid on Moscow, now with a numerous horde,

sortie from the fortifications. The Tatars were completely defeated and fled.[71] The next year, Ivan, who had sat out in distant Novgorod during the battle, killed Mikhail Vorotynsky.[72]

Conquest of Siberia

Russian expansion into Siberia dates back to the 16th century, when Ivan granted the Stroganov family permission to conquer the Khanate of Sibir. Area conquered by Ivan IV in dark green.

During Ivan's reign, Russia started a large-scale exploration and colonization of

Khan Kuchum
, who denied any tribute to Moscow.

In 1558, Ivan gave the

Khan Kuchum
.

In 1580, Yermak started his conquest of Siberia. With some 540 Cossacks, he started to penetrate territories that were tributary to Kuchum. Yermak pressured and persuaded the various family-based tribes to change their loyalties and to become tributaries of Russia. Some agreed voluntarily because they were offered better terms than with Kuchum, but others were forced. He also established distant forts in the newly conquered lands. The campaign was successful, and the Cossacks managed to defeat the Siberian army in the Battle of Chuvash Cape, but Yermak still needed reinforcements. He sent an envoy to Ivan the Terrible with a message that proclaimed Yermak-conquered Siberia to be part of Russia to the dismay of the Stroganovs, who had planned to keep Siberia for themselves. Ivan agreed to reinforce the Cossacks with his streltsy, but the detachment sent to Siberia died of starvation without any benefit. The Cossacks were defeated by the local peoples, Yermak died and the survivors immediately left Siberia. Only in 1586, two years after the death of Ivan, would the Russians manage to gain a foothold in Siberia by founding the city of Tyumen.

Personal life

Marriages and children

Tsar Ivan IV admires his sixth wife Vasilisa Melentyeva. 1875 painting by Grigory Sedov.
Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan. 1885 painting by Ilya Repin

Ivan the Terrible had at least six (possibly eight) wives, although only four of them were recognised by the Church. Three of them were allegedly poisoned by his enemies or by rival aristocratic families who wanted to promote their daughters to be his brides.[14] He also had nine children.

In 1580, his heir, Ivan Ivanovich, married Yelena Sheremeteva from the Sheremetev noble family,[73] which was a rare instance of the daughter of a boyar marrying into the dynasty.[74]

On 19 November [O.S. 9 November] 1581, Ivan chastised Yelena for being unsuitably dressed, considering her advanced pregnancy, leading to an altercation with his son Ivan Ivanovich.[75] Historians generally believe that Ivan killed his son in a fit of rage,[13] with the argument ending after the elder Ivan fatally struck his son in the head with his pointed staff.[76] Yelena also suffered a miscarriage within hours of the incident.[75] The event is depicted in the famous painting by Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan.

Confirmed marriages

  1. Anastasia Romanovna (married 3 February 1547 – 7 August 1560; died):[77]
    • Tsarevna Anna Ivanovna (10 August 1548 – 20 July 1550)
    • Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna (17 March 1551 – young)
    • Tsarevich Dmitri Ivanovich (October 1552 – 26 June 1553)
    • Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (28 March 1554 – 19 November 1581)
    • Tsarevna Eudoxia Ivanovna (26 February 1556 – June 1558)
    • Tsar Feodor I of Russia (31 May 1557 – 6 January 1598)
  2. Maria Temryukovna (married 21 August 1561 – 1 September 1569; died):[77]
    • Tsarevich Vasili Ivanovich (21 March 1563 – 3 May 1563)
  3. Marfa Sobakina (married 28 October 1571 – 13 November 1571; died)[77]
  4. Anna Koltovskaya (married 29 April 1572 – 31 May 1572; sent to monastery);[77] this was the last of his church-authorized weddings and she was later canonized as Saint Daria.[78]
  5. Anna Vasilchikova (married between 7–30 January 1575 or September–October 1574; sent to monastery in August–September 1576)
  6. Maria Nagaya (6 September 1580; widow):[77]

Unconfirmed marriages

  1. Vasilisa Melentyeva (?–1579) (existence disputed)
  2. Maria Dolgorukaya (1580) (existence disputed)

According to historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, Ivan also began an affair with the courtier Fyodor Basmanov. When the magnate Dmitri Oblensky Ovchinin sneered to Basmanov that "We serve the tsar in useful ways, you in your filthy sodomitical dealings,' Ivan scalded and stabbed him to death.[80]

Arts

Ivan was a poet and a composer of considerable talent. His Orthodox liturgical hymn, "Stichiron No. 1 in Honor of St. Peter", and fragments of his letters were set to music by the Soviet composer Rodion Shchedrin. The recording, the first Soviet-produced CD, was released in 1988 to mark the millennium of Christianity in Russia.[81][82]

Epistles

D. S. Mirsky called Ivan "a pamphleteer of genius".[83] The letters are often the only existing source on Ivan's personality and provide crucial information on his reign, but Harvard professor Edward L. Keenan has argued that the letters are 17th-century forgeries. That contention, however, has not been widely accepted, and most other scholars, such as John Fennell and Ruslan Skrynnikov, have continued to argue for their authenticity. Recent archival discoveries of 16th-century copies of the letters strengthen the argument for their authenticity.[84][85]

Religion

Death of Ivan the Terrible by Ivan Bilibin (1935)

Ivan was a devoted

Archangel Michael with the idea of divine punishment.[87]

Despite the absolute prohibition of the Church for even the fourth marriage, Ivan had seven wives, and even while his seventh wife was alive, he was negotiating to marry Mary

Metropolitan Philip and ordering him to be killed and accusing of treason and deposing the second-oldest hierarch, Novgorod Archbishop Pimen. Many monks were tortured to death during the Massacre of Novgorod.[89]

In the conquered Khanates of Khazan and Atrakhan Ivan was somewhat tolerant of

anti-Semitism. For example, after the capture of Polotsk, all unconverted Jews were ordered to be drowned, despite their role in the city's economy.[90]

Death

Ivan died from a stroke while he was playing chess with Bogdan Belsky[91] on 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584.[91] Upon Ivan's death, the Russian throne was left to his middle son, Feodor,[76] a weak-minded figure.[92] Feodor died childless in 1598, which ushered in the Time of Troubles.

Appearance

The only authentic lifetime portrait of Ivan IV is embossed on the binding of the first printed Apostle of 1564.

Little is known about Ivan's appearance, as virtually all existing portraits were made after his death and contain uncertain amounts of artist's impression.[1] In 1567, the ambassador Daniel Prinz von Buchau said about Ivan that: "He is very tall. His body is full of strength and quite thick, his large eyes, which constantly run around, observe everything carefully. His beard is red with a slight shade of black, quite long and thick, but like most Russians, he shaves his hair with a razor".[76]

According to

Michael I of Russia, Ivan had an unpleasant face with a long and crooked nose. He was tall and athletically built, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.[76]

In 1963, the graves of Ivan and his sons were excavated and examined by Soviet scientists. Chemical and structural analysis of his remains disproved earlier suggestions that Ivan suffered from syphilis or that he was poisoned by arsenic or strangled. At the time of his death, he was 178 cm tall (5 ft. 10 in.) and weighed 85–90 kg (187–198 lb.). His body was rather asymmetrical, had a large amount of osteophytes uncharacteristic of his age and contained excessive concentration of mercury. Researchers concluded that Ivan was athletically built in his youth but, in his last years, had developed various bone diseases and could barely move. They attributed the high mercury content in his body to his use of ointments to heal his joints.[1]

Legacy

16th century German engraving of Ivan IV[93]
Coins of Ivan IV: kopecks and dengas, in silver.

Ivan completely altered Russia's governmental structure, establishing the character of modern Russian political organisation.[94] Ivan's creation of the oprichnina, answerable only to him, afforded him personal protection and curtailed the traditional powers and rights of the boyars.[95] Henceforth, tsarist autocracy and despotism would lie at the heart of the Russian state.[96] Ivan bypassed the mestnichestvo system and offered positions of power to his supporters among the minor gentry.[97] The empire's local administration combined both locally and centrally appointed officials; the system proved durable and practical and sufficiently flexible to tolerate later modification.[33]

Ivan's expedition against Poland failed at a military level, but it helped extend Russia's trade, political and cultural links with other European states. Peter the Great built on those connections in his bid to make Russia a major European power. At Ivan's death, the empire encompassed the Caspian to the southwest and Western Siberia to the east. His southern conquests ignited several conflicts with the expansionist Ottoman Empire, whose territories were thus confined to the Balkans and the Black Sea regions.[98]

Ivan's management of Russia's economy proved disastrous, both in his lifetime and afterward. He had inherited a government in debt, and in an effort to raise more revenue for his expansionist wars, he instituted a series of increasingly-unpopular and burdensome taxes.

Rurik dynasty, leading to the Time of Troubles
.

Posthumous reputation

Ivan's notorious outbursts and autocratic whims helped characterise the position of tsar as one accountable to no earthly authority but only to God.[33] Tsarist absolutism faced few serious challenges until the 19th century. The earliest and most influential account of his reign prior to 1917 was by the historian N.M. Karamzin, who described Ivan as a 'tormentor' of his people, particularly from 1560, though even after that date Karamzin believed there was a mix of 'good' and 'evil' in his character. In 1922, the historian Robert Wipper - who later returned to his native Latvia to avoid living under communist rule - wrote a biography that reassessed Ivan as a monarch "who loved the ordinary people" and praised his agrarian reforms.[101]

In the 1920s,

sainthood to Ivan IV,[104] but the Russian Orthodox Church opposed the idea.[105]

A consequence was that the writer Alexei Tolstoy began work on a stage version of Ivan's life, and Sergei Eisenstein began what was to be a three part film tribute to Ivan. Both projects were personally supervised by Stalin, at a time when the Soviet Union was engaged in a war with Nazi Germany. He read the scripts of Tolstoy's play and the first of Eisenstein's films in tandem after the Battle of Kursk in 1943, praised Eisenstein's version but rejected Tolstoy's. It took Tolstoy until 1944 to write a version that satisfied the dictator.[106] Eisenstein's success with Ivan the Terrible Part 1 was not repeated with the follow-up, The Boyar's Revolt, which angered Stalin because it portrayed a man suffering pangs of conscience. Stalin told Eisenstein: "Ivan the Terrible was very cruel. You can show that he was cruel, but you have to show why it was essential to be cruel. One of Ivan the Terrible's mistakes was that he didn't finish off the five major families."[107] The film was suppressed until 1958.

The first statue of Ivan the Terrible was officially open in Oryol, Russia, in 2016. Formally, the statue was unveiled in honor of the 450th anniversary of the founding of Oryol, a Russian city of about 310,000 that was established as a fortress to defend Moscow's southern borders. Informally, there was a big political subtext. The opposition thinks that Ivan the Terrible's rehabilitation echoes of Stalin's era. The erection of the statue was vastly covered in international media like The Guardian,[108] The Washington Post,[109] Politico,[110] and others. The Russian Orthodox Church officially supported the erection of the monument.[111]

  • Ivan was a popular character in
    Bulgarian
    folklore.
  • In classic Russian literature, Ivan appears in such famous works as Prince Serebrenni, The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov, The Tsar's Bride and others.
  • The image of Ivan is played out in numerous operas (
    Prokofiev
    .
  • The Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein made two films based on Ivan's life and reign, Ivan the Terrible. The first part is about Ivan's early years. The second covers the period of his maturity. A third was planned but never completed.
  • In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Ivan the Terrible is one of the trio of henchmen that assist Kahmunrah to conquer the world, alongside Napoleon and Al Capone.
  • Tsar is a 2009 Russian drama film directed by Pavel Lungin.
  • Ivan the Terrible is a major character in the Soviet-era fiction comedy Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future, based on a play by Mikhail Bulgakov. It was one of the most popular films in the Soviet Union in 1973 and sold more than 60 million tickets.[112]
  • Ivan appears as a major character in the novel The Ringed Castle (1971), the fifth of the six novels in Dorothy Dunnett's historical fiction series, the Lymond Chronicles.
  • Ivan was portrayed on BBC Radio 4 by David Threlfall in the radio play Ivan the Terrible: Absolute Power, written by Mike Walker and which was the first play in the first series of Tsar.[113] The play was broadcast on 11 September 2016.
  • A monstrous Rider version of Ivan the Terrible was depicted as a major character in the mobile game
    Fate Grand Order
    on the second chapter 'Cosmos in the Lostbelt's first story arc 'Permafrost Empire: Anastasia'. He appears as a slumbering titan and king of the human-monster hybrid locals called Yaga, forced into eternal sleep because of the sheer power of his ability to destroy his people and kept it under his rule for nearly 450 years. He later appears as a summonable character with the body of the monstrous version from the Lost Belt.
  • Ivan was also portrayed in the comedic show
    Nice Peter
    , battling against several historic figures.

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

Patrilineal descent

Patrilineal descent
is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations – which means that if Ivan IV were to choose a historically accurate house name, it would be Rurikid, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.

Ivan is a member of the Rurikid dynasty. Ivan's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son:

  1. Rurik, Prince of Novgorod, d. 879
  2. Igor, Prince of Kiev, c. 877–945
  3. Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kiev, c. 943–972
  4. Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev, c. 958–1015
  5. Yaroslav, Grand Prince of Kiev, c. 978–1054
  6. Vsevolod I, Grand Prince of Kiev, c. 1030–1093
  7. Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev, 1053–1125
  8. Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev, 1099–1157
  9. Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir, 1154–1212
  10. Yaroslav II, Grand Prince of Vladimir, 1191–1246
  11. Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Vladimir, 1221–1263
  12. Daniel, Prince of Moscow, 1261–1303
  13. Ivan I, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, 1288–1341
  14. Ivan II, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, 1326–1359
  15. Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, 1350–1389
  16. Vasily I, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, 1371–1425
  17. Vasily II, Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, 1415–1462
  18. Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia, 1440–1505
  19. Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia, 1479–1533
  20. Ivan IV, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, 1530–1584

See also

Notes

  1. Church Slavonic
    : Іѡа́ннъ Васи́лїевичъ
  1. monastic name: Jonah

References

  1. ^ a b c Gerasimov, M.M. (1965). Документальный портрет Ивана Грозного. Краткие сообщения института археологии Академии наук СССР (in Russian). 100: 139–42. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. ^ 28 March: This Date in History. Webcitation.org. Retrieved 7 December 2011
  3. ^ "Иван Васильевич Грозный". www.hrono.ru. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  4. ^ ""Иван Грозный — первый русский модернист"". Год Литературы (in Russian). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Ioannes Severus dictus (1530–1584), inde ab anno 1533 magnus princeps Moscoviensis"[1].
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  13. ^ a b Manaev, G. (7 January 2019). "The madness of 3 Russian tsars, and the truth behind it". Russia Beyond. Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  14. JSTOR 41036979
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  15. Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language, article ГРОЗИТЬ. Available in many editions as well as online, for example at slovardalja.net
  16. .
  17. .
  18. ; p. 78: "But Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible, or as the Russian has it, Ivan groznyi, 'Ivan the Magnificent' or 'Ivan the Great' is precisely a man who has become a legend".
  19. .
  20. .
  21. ^ Maureen Perrie & Andrei Pavlov, Ivan the Terrible, Routledge (2014), p. 26
  22. ^ Francis Carr, Ivan the Terrible, David & Charles Publishers (1981), p. 61
  23. ^ Walter G. Moss, A History of Russia : To 1917, Volume 1, Anthem Press (2003), p. 130
  24. ^ Литвина, А. Ф.; Успенский, Ф. Б. (2006). Выбор имени у русских князей в X–XVI вв.: Династическая история сквозь призму антропонимики. М. Индрик. p. 218.
  25. ^ Martin, p. 331
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  40. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainBain, Robert (1911). "Boris Fedorovich Godunov". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 254. This cites:
    • Platon Vasilievich Pavlov, On the Historical Significance of the Reign of Boris Godunov (Rus.) (Moscow, 1850)
    • Sergyei Mikhailivich Solovev, History of Russia (Rus.) (2nd ed., vols. vii–viii, St. Petersburg, 1897).
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  45. ^ Madariaga, p. 183. As the tonsure was the distinctive hairstyle of monastic orders, a forcibly tonsured boyar was effectively exiled from power by being made to enter a monastic life.
  46. ^ Martin, p. 410
  47. ^ a b Kropotkin, Peter; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Novgorod" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 839–840.
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  49. ^ According to the Third Novgorod Chronicle, the massacre lasted for five weeks. Almost every day, 500 or 600 people were killed or drowned.
  50. ^ a b Hays, Jeffrey. Ivan the Terrible. Facts and Details.
  51. ^ Having investigated the report of Maljuta Skuratov and commemoration lists (sinodiki), R. Skrynnikov considers that the number of victims was 2,000–3,000. (Skrynnikov R.G., "Ivan Grosny", M., AST, 2001)
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  58. ^ ХОЖДЕНИЕ НА ВОСТОК ГОСТЯ ВАСИЛИЯ ПОЗНЯКОВА С ТОВАРИЩИ (The travels to the Orient by the merchant Vasily Poznyakov and his companions) (in Russian)
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    . It would be convenient to characterize the relationship between Russia and Islam by its history of conquest and tension. After all, the emblem of the Orthodox Church is a cross on top on a crescent. It is said that this symbol was devised by Ivan the Terrible, after the conquest of the city of Kazan, as a symbol of the victory of Christianity over Islam through his soldiers.
  63. ^ "Russian Orthodox Church". Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. 17: 4. 1993. Retrieved 20 May 2015. Finally, the Russians, under Ivan the Terrible, defeated the Tatars in 1552 and firmly established Russian rule. In celebration of this conquest, the czar built two churches in the Moscow Kremlin and on the spires of the Church installed the Orthodox Cross over an upside down crescent, the symbol of Islam.
  64. ^ "Church Building and Its Services". Orthodox World. Retrieved 28 March 2014. Sometimes the bottoms of the Crosses found on Russian churches will be adorned with a crescent. In 1486, Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) conquered the city of Kazan which had been under the rule of Moslem Tatars, and in remembrance of this, he decreed that from henceforth the Islamic crescent be placed at the bottom of the Crosses to signify the victory of the Cross (Christianity) over the Crescent (Islam).
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  90. ^ a b Waliszewski, Kazimierz; Mary Loyd (1904). Ivan the Terrible. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. pp. 377–78.
  91. ^ "Fyodor I | tsar of Russia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  92. .
  93. ^ Yanov, p. 31
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  95. ^ Yanov, p. 68.
  96. .
  97. ^ Shrynnikov, Ruslan G. (1975) "Conclusion", p. 199 in Ivan the Formidable, translated by Hugh F. Graham. Moscow: Academic International.
  98. ^ Martin, p. 404.
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  100. ^ Maureen, Perrie (2001). The Cult of Ivan the Formidable in Stalin's Russia. New York: Palgrava. pp. 6, 12-17
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  102. ^ Perrie, Maureen (1987). The Image of Ivan the Formidable in Russian Folklore. Cambridge, UK: Pitt Building.
  103. ^ "Russians Laud Ivan the Not So Formidable; Loose Coalition Presses Orthodox Church to Canonize the Notorious Czar". The Washington Post, 10 November 2003.
  104. ^ "Church says nyet to St. Rasputin". UPI NewsTrack. 4 October 2004
  105. ^ McSmith. Fear and the Muse. p. 236.
  106. ^ McSmith. Fear and the Muse. p. 240.
  107. ^ "Russia's first monument to Ivan the Terrible inaugurated". The Guardian, 14 October 2016.
  108. ^ "Russia just gave Ivan the Terrible his first statue ever". The Washington Post, 14 October 2016.
  109. ^ "Russia falls back in love with Ivan the Terrible". Politico, 14 October 2016.
  110. ^ "Russian Orthodox church head backs Ivan the Terrible sculpture". The Guardian. 2 August 2016.
  111. ^ Leaders of distribution Archived 10 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. kinokultura.com (in Russian)
  112. ^ Drama, Tsar, Ivan the Terrible: Absolute Power. BBC Radio 4 (17 September 2016). Retrieved on 21 November 2016.

Bibliography

General references

Further reading

External links

Ivan the Terrible
Daniilovichi
)
Born: 3 September 1530 Died: 28 March 1584
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Grand Prince of Moscow

3 December 1533 – 16 January 1547
Tsardom created
Tsardom created
Tsar of Russia

16 January 1547 – 28 March 1584
Succeeded by

Danik loh