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Ivan was crowned tsar with [[Monomakh's Cap]] at the [[Cathedral of the Dormition]] at age sixteen on [[January 16]] [[1547]]. The early part of his reign was one of peaceful reforms and modernization. Ivan revised the law code (known as the sudebnik), created a [[standing army]] (the streltsy), established the [[Zemsky Sobor]], the council of the nobles (known as the Chosen Council), and subordinated the church to the state with the Council of the Hundred Chapters, making a system of rituals and regulations. During his reign the first [[printing press]] was introduced to Russia (although the first Russian printers [[Ivan Fedorov (printer)|Ivan Fedorov]] and [[Pyotr Mstislavets]] had to flee from [[Moscow]] to [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]). |
Ivan was crowned tsar with [[Monomakh's Cap]] at the [[Cathedral of the Dormition]] at age sixteen on [[January 16]] [[1547]]. The early part of his reign was one of peaceful reforms and modernization. Ivan revised the law code (known as the sudebnik), created a [[standing army]] (the streltsy), established the [[Zemsky Sobor]], the council of the nobles (known as the Chosen Council), and subordinated the church to the state with the Council of the Hundred Chapters, making a system of rituals and regulations. During his reign the first [[printing press]] was introduced to Russia (although the first Russian printers [[Ivan Fedorov (printer)|Ivan Fedorov]] and [[Pyotr Mstislavets]] had to flee from [[Moscow]] to [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]). |
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Ivan formed new trading connections, opening up the [[White Sea]] and the port of [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]] to the [[Muscovy Company]] of [[England|English]] merchants. He also annexed the [[Kazan Khanate|Kazan]] and [[Astrakhan Khanate|Astrakhan]] [[Khanate]]s to the east, thus transforming Russia into a multinational and multiconfessional state. He had [[St. Basil's Cathedral]] constructed in [[Moscow]] |
Ivan formed new trading connections, opening up the [[White Sea]] and the port of [[Arkhangelsk|Archangel]] to the [[Muscovy Company]] of [[England|English]] merchants. He also annexed the [[Kazan Khanate|Kazan]] and [[Astrakhan Khanate|Astrakhan]] [[Khanate]]s to the east, thus transforming Russia into a multinational and multiconfessional state. He had [[St. Basil's Cathedral]] constructed in [[Moscow]]OHTDSEto commemorate the seizure of Kazan. Legend has it that he was so impressed with the structure that he had the architects blinded, so that they could never design anything as beautiful again. |
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[[Image:Sedov1875.jpg|thumb|300px|Ivan married 7 times, sometimes divorcing his wife a week after the marriage.]] [[Image:Ivans ivory throne.jpg|thumb|left|Ivory throne of Ivan the Terrible.]] |
[[Image:Sedov1875.jpg|thumb|300px|Ivan married 7 times, sometimes divorcing his wife a week after the marriage.]] [[Image:Ivans ivory throne.jpg|thumb|left|Ivory throne of Ivan the Terrible.]] |
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Other less positive aspects of this period include the introduction of the first laws restricting the mobility of the [[peasant]]s, which would eventually lead to [[serf]]dom. The dramatic change in Ivan's personality is traditionally linked to his near-fatal illness in [[1553]] and the death of his first wife, [[Anastasia of Russia|Anastasia Romanovna]]. Ivan suspected boyars of poisoning his wife and of plotting to replace him on the throne with his cousin, [[Vladimir of Staritsa]]. In addition, during that illness Ivan had asked the boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his eldest son, an infant at the time. Many boyars refused, deeming the tsar's health too hopeless to survive. This angered Ivan and added to his distrust of the boyars. There followed brutal reprisals and mass murders of innocent people, including [[Metropolitan Philip]] and Prince [[Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky]]. |
Other less positive aspects of this period include the introduction of the first laws restricting the mobility of the [[peasant]]s, which would eventually lead to [[serf]]dom. The dramatic change in Ivan's personality is traditionally linked to his near-fatal illness in [[1553]] and the death of his first wife, [[Anastasia of Russia|Anastasia Romanovna]]. Ivan suspected boyars of poisoning his wife and of plotting to replace him on the throne with his cousin, [[Vladimir of Staritsa]]. In addition, during that illness Ivan had asked the boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his eldest son, an infant at the time. Many boyars refused, deeming the tsar's health too hopeless to survive. This angered Ivan and added to his distrust of the boyars. There followed brutal reprisals and mass murders of innocent people, including [[Metropolitan Philip]] and Prince [[Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky]]. |
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Revision as of 18:18, 20 March 2006
- "Ivan the Terrible" redirects here. For other uses, see Ivan the Terrible (disambiguation).
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Russian: Иван IV Васильевич) (August 25, 1530 – March 18, 1584) was the first ruler of Russia to assume the title of tsar. His long reign saw the conquest of Tartary and Siberia and subsequent transformation of Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state. This czar retains his place in the Russian tradition simply as Ivan Grozny (Template:Lang-ru, ⓘ). He is commonly referred to in English as Ivan the Terrible.
Early reign
Ivan (or Ioann, as his name is rendered in Church Slavonic) was a long-awaited son of Vasily III. Upon his father's death, he formally came to the throne at the age of three, but his minority was dominated by the strong personality of his mother Elena Glinskaya. According to his own letters, Ivan customarily felt neglected and offended by the mighty boyars from the Shuisky and Belsky families. In one letter, he painfully recalls an episode when one drunken boyar put his dirty boots on Ivan's bed. These traumatic experiences doubtlessly contributed to his hatred of the boyars and to his mental instability.
Ivan was crowned tsar with Monomakh's Cap at the Cathedral of the Dormition at age sixteen on January 16 1547. The early part of his reign was one of peaceful reforms and modernization. Ivan revised the law code (known as the sudebnik), created a standing army (the streltsy), established the Zemsky Sobor, the council of the nobles (known as the Chosen Council), and subordinated the church to the state with the Council of the Hundred Chapters, making a system of rituals and regulations. During his reign the first printing press was introduced to Russia (although the first Russian printers Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets had to flee from Moscow to Grand Duchy of Lithuania). Ivan formed new trading connections, opening up the White Sea and the port of Archangel to the Muscovy Company of English merchants. He also annexed the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates to the east, thus transforming Russia into a multinational and multiconfessional state. He had St. Basil's Cathedral constructed in MoscowOHTDSEto commemorate the seizure of Kazan. Legend has it that he was so impressed with the structure that he had the architects blinded, so that they could never design anything as beautiful again.
Other less positive aspects of this period include the introduction of the first laws restricting the mobility of the peasants, which would eventually lead to serfdom. The dramatic change in Ivan's personality is traditionally linked to his near-fatal illness in 1553 and the death of his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna. Ivan suspected boyars of poisoning his wife and of plotting to replace him on the throne with his cousin, Vladimir of Staritsa. In addition, during that illness Ivan had asked the boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his eldest son, an infant at the time. Many boyars refused, deeming the tsar's health too hopeless to survive. This angered Ivan and added to his distrust of the boyars. There followed brutal reprisals and mass murders of innocent people, including Metropolitan Philip and Prince Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky.
Also problematic was the 1565 formation of the Oprichnina (or Okhrana (Охрана), meaning security). The Oprichnina was the section of Russia directly ruled by Ivan and policed by his personal servicemen, the Oprichniks. This whole system of Oprichnina has been viewed by some historians as a tool against the omnipotent hereditary nobility of Russia (boyars) who opposed the absolutist drive of the tsar, while others have interpreted it as a sign of the paranoia and mental deterioration of the tsar.
Later reign
The later half of Ivan's reign was far less successful. Ivan supported Yermak's conquest of Siberia and launched a victorious war of seaward expansion in the west, only to find himself fighting the Swedes, Lithuanians, Poles, and the Livonian Teutonic Knights. For twenty-two years the Livonian War dragged on, damaging the Russian economy and military but winning it no territory. Ivan's best friend and closest advisor, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, defected to the Poles, deeply hurting Ivan. As the Oprichnina continued, Ivan became mentally unstable and physically disabled. In one week, he could easily pass from the most depraved orgies to prayers and fasting in a remote Northern monastery.
Because he gradually grew unbalanced and violent, the Oprichniks under Malyuta Skuratov soon got out of hand and became murderous thugs. They murdered nobles and peasants, and conscripted men to fight the war in Livonia. Depopulation and famine ensued. What had been by far the richest area of Russia became the poorest. In a dispute with Novgorod Republic, Ivan ordered the Oprichniks to murder the inhabitants of this city. Between thirty and forty thousand were killed. Yet the official death toll named 1,500 of Novgorod big people (nobility) and only mentioned about the same number of smaller people.
In 1581, Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing immodest clothing, causing a miscarriage. His son, also called Ivan, upon learning of this, engaged in a heated argument with his father which resulted in the son's (accidental) death. This event is depicted in the famous painting by Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on Friday, November 13, 1581 better known as Ivan the Terrible killing his son.
Death and legacy
Ivan died while playing chess with Bogdan Belsky on 18 March 1584, a date which had previously been prophesied for his death. When Ivan's tomb was opened during renovations in the 1960s his remains were examined and discovered to contain very high amounts of mercury, indicating a high probability that he was poisoned, modern suspicion falling on his advisors Bogdan Belsky and Boris Godunov (who became tsar in 1598). Three days earlier, Ivan had allegedly attempted to rape Irina, Godunov's sister and Fyodor's wife. Her cries attracted Godunov and Belsky to the noise, whereupon Ivan let Irina go, but Belski and Godunov considered themselves marked for death. The tradition says that they either poisoned or strangled Ivan in fear for their own lives. The mercury found in Ivan's remains may also be related to treatment for syphilis, which it is speculated that Ivan had. Upon Ivan's death, the now ravaged kingdom was left to his unfit and childless son Feodor.
Sobriquet
The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word grozny in Ivan's nickname, but the modern English usage of terrible, with a pejorative connotation of bad or evil, does not precisely represent the intended meaning. Grozny's meaning is closer to the original usage of terrible—inspiring fear or terror, dangerous (as in Old English in one's danger), formidable, threatening, or awesome. Perhaps a translation closer to the intended sense would be Ivan the Fearsome. (Compare the city name Grozny.) The Russian people gave Ivan this nickname after he seized Kazan.
See also
- Ivan the Terrible - the film by Sergei Eisenstein.
- Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future - the film by Leonid Gaidai
External links
