Ivan IV Vasilyevich

August 25th, 1530 – March 28th, 1584

Kanook – Tlingit Nation
May 22nd, 2010
Russian history has always held a special research in the history of our world,
maybe because of it is the largest country on this Blue Marble at some 6,592,800
square miles and having over 142 million residents. To state Russia has a colorful
history is a gross understatement, whereas its history is written to have come into
being with the invasion of the East Slavs, who had stepped forward as a
recognizable force between the 3rd and 8th Centuries AD. In researching the
beginnings of Russia one is met with controversy, legends and a few pieces of
history written by Russian historians, some pointed and yet most remain slanted
towards a few ancient tribes running lose across its territory and eventually
establishing a power-base that has morphed into the present day Russia.
Kievan Rus is one territory that served as the primary location from which the
Russian power was born, with its principal city being located on the Moskva River –
a named that is clouded in mystery at its origin. Moscow’s first reference in
recorded history is in a written statement that Yuri Dolgoruiv issued calling upon the
Prince of Novgorod-Severski saying, “Come to me, brother, to Moscow. Moscow,
some state, owes its greatness to its location at the headwaters of the Volga River,
from where it increased its influence over the region and grew into the Grand Duchy
of Moscow – it was under Ivan I Danilovich Kalita (moneybags) that it replaced the
city of Tver as a political center of Vladimir-Suzdal and Moscow became the sole
collector of taxes for the Mongol-Tatar rulers, to secure this position Ivan I had the
ruler of Tver Mikhail Yaroslavich executed by the Mongols on November 22, 1318.
It is also under Ivan I, through paying an extremely high tribute to the Khan that
Moscow was not divided amongst his sons but was passed intact to his eldest.
 At first glance one imagines a toothless terror riding across the plains of Russia
sword raised above his body, slashing and killing his subjects, this too many
uneducated is Ivan the Terrible, albeit in his later years he, in some eyes, became a
bit twisted and “awesome”, most believe it was not without reason.
His life began on August 25th, in 1530 born to Vasili III and Elena Vasilyevna
Glinskaya, the daughter of Vasili Lvovich Glinsky and Princess Anna of Serbia, his
father second wife, records indicate his father’s first wife Solomoniya Saburova was
barren – and his father had her put away in a nunnery.
His father’s decision to divorce and take another wife did not sit too well with the
Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, whereas the Patriarch issued a stern warning,
“If you should do this evil thing, you shall have an evil son. Your nation shall
become prey to terrors and tears. Rivers of blood will flow, the heads of the mighty
will fall, and your cities will be devoured by flames.” His dad got married anyway!
Seems old Ivan the Terrible was cursed before he was conceived, much less born.
After a period of 4-years Elena gave birth to a boy, rumor has it that over Moscow
that day thunderstorms pounded the region showing no mercy – remember this is
rumored. On the 25th, of August, the announcement was proclaimed to the people
crowding the square in Moscow on the 4th of September (same year) he was taken
to the Troista-Sergevevsky Monastery where he was christened, and after laid atop
the tome of St Sergius of Radonezh where he was given his name. Following these
procedures it was hope that the child Ivan would be forever blessed by the Holy
Trinity and that St Sergius would protect him. After receiving his name, his father
offered up a prayer to the Saint, “O Sergius, by your prayers to the Holy Trinity, you
gave me my son. Protect him from all evil, seen and unseen, until he has grown in
strength. All my faith is placed on you.” An appropriate prayer for all future
situations his young son would eventually face.
When Ivan was in his 3rd year his father became infected by a “boil” on his thigh,
most supposed he got from horseback riding – his physicians were unable to contain
the infection and Vasili realizing his end was near called his two secretaries and told
them to travel to Moscow under a shroud of secrecy and retrieve his will, his
father’s, and grandfather’s wills. When they returned after following his instructions
he destroyed his first will, drawn up when he was married to Salomonia and drew up
a new one that left all of Russia to Ivan, whereas Elena was to act as his regent until
he reached maturity. The documents recorded and made official Vasili decided he
wanted to give-up his life in Moscow. Going back to Moscow he visited the
Metropolitan Daniel and requested that he be ordained as a Monk, after some
serious debate the Metropolitan agreed and ordained his as the Monk Vassian.
Shortly thereafter on December 13th, 1533 Vasili joined his ancestors, one other
note he was laid to rest as the Grand Prince Vasili and not as the Monk Vassian,
next to his father in the Cathedral of Michael the Archangel. Now for the first time
in nearly a century of rule by Ivan III and Vasili III Russia had no adult ruler setting in
the big chair – technically Ivan IV was the official ruler of all of Russia, but at three-
years-old he had other concerns. Following the funeral a ceremony was held
whereas Metropolitan Daniel proclaimed Ivan’s title and placed the orb and scepter
in his hands – immediately after all assembled swore allegiance and belted out the
anthem, “Long May He Reign”, Ivan IV Vasilyevich was now the Grand Prince of
Russia.
Being only 3-years-old protocol demanded that he be present at all official
ceremonies, as well as political meeting, whereas the politicians and other officials
addressed the young ruler as sovereign, lord and Grand Prince, albeit Ivan IV had no
real powers – many maintain that growing up in this atmosphere surrounded on a
daily basis by adults and having few younger playmates, with his only playmate
being his deaf and mute younger brother Yuri, had a serious impact on his mental
being that followed him all his life. The Orthodox priests supplied his education,
and in being in the position he was in, he did receive a well-rounded education and
was noted early in his life as being an intelligent student having the ability to grasp
idea’s and take stock of the world around him quickly.
His mother Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya, because of his age was then the regent of
Russia, albeit her uncle Prince Mikhail Glinsky who had been released from prison
when Vasili and Elena were married, was the true power behind the throne. In his
capacity he was the one who made all the final decisions for the Grand Prince. As
you can well imagine, it wasn’t too long after getting the scepter laid on his young
lap that plans were afoot to steal his title. Prince Mikhail and his mother learned of
these, discovering one pair, Prince Yury of Dimitry and Prince Andrey Shuisky
(Vasili’s brother and Ivan IV’s uncles) were hard at work cooking up a scheme that
would place Yury of Dimitry on the throne – well the word got around and the
Regent and Boyar Council rounded up Yury, chained him up and hauled him off to
prison – for life! Elena later had ordered Prince Andrey Shuisky assassination, and
went about her business – and being a leader of the court and the regent she had
some spare time, during this period it appears she took a lover – Prince Ivan
Obolensky. She wanted to make this relationship public a move that was strongly
objected to by Mikhail, who maintained that the Prince was only using her to gain
power over the throne. Eventually Prince Obolensky’s sister Agrafena was made
the private nurse of Ivan IV and in her we find the person who actually paid more
attention to his needs than his mother – some maintain, his mother was completely
indifferent to young Ivan. When his mother died, his nurse was sent off to a
convent.
Elena took Mikhail’s opposition as a direct threat and went before the Boyar
Council, presented her case against Prince Mikhail Obolensky – won and sat by
smugly on August 5th, 1534 and watched him receive a life sentence in prison,
where he died a few years later. Not long after the 5th she made her lover,
Obolensky the Master of the Horse and a member of the Boyar Council. Faster than
you could blink an eye, Prince Ivan Obolensky was the power behind the throne.
When Ivan IV was around 6-years-old the court once again encountered some
upheaval, Prince Andrey Shuisky, who had fled to Lithuania when Elena ordered his
assassination, was again suspected of creating factions against Elena. Being a little
putout with his supposed actions she summoned Prince Andrey to Moscow, she, like
the court knew he would flee, which he did running to Novgorod. Arriving there it
did not take him long to began organizing a revolt against the Regent and Grand
Prince Ivan – a small battle ensued which he lost. Soon after Andrey was informed
that he could return to Moscow and live with his wife and son under “close” guard,
for whatever reason he believed this, traveled back to Moscow was captured, where
Elena and Prince Obolensy decided to throw him into the same cell as his brother
Mikhail – he died six months later.
A couple of years later Ivan’s mother left this
earthly realm, some suspect with the help of a little
poison on April 3rd in 1538 – albeit the information or
suspicion was withheld from young Ivan who at 8-years-
old believed she died of natural causes. Regardless her
death left the 8-year-old alone and a bit scared as the
leader of Russia with his confidant, such as she was, she
was still the Regent albeit her lover ran the show – dead!
She was instrumental, during her regency of starting a
unified monetary system, signing of an armistice with
Lithuania, of having a new defense wall around Moscow,
opening the border to settlers from Lithuania, purchased
freedom for Russian prisoners and instigated measures
that protected traveler from street bandits, along with
being known for visiting numerous convents. During her
regency Russia was at peace with their neighbors, and above all despite being the
Royal Wife she shared the problems of all Muscovite royal women, especially their
concern about the birth and health of their children – some five-letters found later
portrayed the Grand Princess as a devoted mother who struggled to maintain her
children’s physical and emotional well-being.
Immediately following her death, and a very unusual fashion a quick and
unceremonious burial, the grand nephew of Vasili Bledney, “Prince Vasily Vasilievich
Shuisky”, known as Nemoy or the Mute, who had been Vasili III’s aide-de-camp and
was the “grey cardinal” during Vasili IIIs reign, challenged the authority of Prince
Ivan Belsky with the Boyar Council and won. The Council had Belsky thrown into
jail, while “Nemoy” married Ivan III’s granddaughter Anastasia of Kazan and
proclaimed himself Regent, during their short marriage they had one daughter,
Marfa. Therefore a member of the family, who had looked down arrogantly at the
Prince’s of Moscow for years as a spin off from a junior line of past leaders, had
assumed the Regency of Russia.
One week after becoming Regent he had Prince Ivan Obolensky rushed off to
prison, whereas Shuisky’s perception of Ivan IV was as a front-man or puppet as he
the Regent ran the affairs of Russia.
Prince Vasily Vasilievich Shuisky died later that year, with the power of the throne
passing on to his younger brother Ivan Yasilievich Shuisky. Ivan on assuming the
Regent position soon had defrocked Metropolitan Daniel and working behind the
scenes had Joasaphus Skripitsin elected as the Metropolitan of the Russian
Orthodox Church – shortly thereafter he had released from prison his cousin Andrey
Mikhail and brought Andrey to his side, whereas he and Ivan Shuisky took up where
Ivan’s brother had creating a complete change of control over Russia.
Their educational efforts and underhanded methods in court subsequently
changed the attitude and emotions of young Ivan IV –a change that some maintain
followed him all through his turbulent life. Here we find a young man before he had
reached the age of ten, faced the death of both of his parents, parents who had,
especially his mother, dealing with attempted and successful uprising and internal
government attempts to overthrow the regime. And now with them gone he stood
in their place, surrounded by confusion and regents not friendly towards him, a
situation that must have generated an overall feeling of paranoia in the young man.
Even at a young age, history tells us that Ivan IV was well educated and exposed to
adult opinions from a very young age, consequently he was able to determine those
assigned by the Boyars to protect his government where constantly manipulating
the situation.
Left to his own devices, his life shortly after Shuisky and Mikhail took over running
the everyday operation of the Empire, Ivan IV conflicted emotions and the control
affected by his regents, and the actions of the Boyars – at the tender age of 13
being tired of his advisors actions, he invited the Boyars, Shuisky and Mikhail to a
state dinner on December 29th, 1543 – during the dinner he had his guards seize
Prince Andrey Shuisky, and had them hand him over to his huntsman – they took
him and locked him in a cell with a pack of hungry dogs – the dogs had dinner and
Shuisky was no more. This event began Ivan IV’s gradual movement towards
governing on his own.
Most of us understand the troubled years of being a teenager, now couple this
with a teenager who is the ruler of an Empire – the Grand Prince assumed a taste
for the fermented potato and begin a teenage dream of heavy drinking and mixing
it up with the sons of some Boyars where it is rumored that they raped and killed
some women of the street, rounded up peasants and killed them, had huge orgy’s ,
most of the time doing away with some of the participants – in general Ivan IV
during his teenage years had turned into a Moscow hooligan with free reign over its
citizens, after all he was the leader of the Empire. Confused or emotionally
unbalanced he ran roughshod over Moscow’s inhabitants.
Albeit he was a bit on the wild side, he took time from his rebellious ways and
spent time with the Metropolitan Macarius, who with the support of Prince Andrey
Shuisky was elected Metropolitan of Moscow and all of Russia on March 16 th, 1542
(Ivan IV was 11.5 years old)– Macarius over time lost favor with the Boyar Duma, at
one time during the summer of 1544, Macarius escaped a massive fire in the
Kremlin and it was three-years later that he participated in removing Ivan IV’s
maternal relatives, the Glinsky’s, from the Russia government.
Macarius was to become one of Ivan IVs closest companions, constantly keeping
Ivan grounded in the lessons of the Bible and Russian history – studies that instilled
a national pride in his Empire, as a result of his relationship to the Metropolitan,
Ivan demanded to see the land he rules. He toured Russia, making a point at
stopping at every monastery along the way. Despite his worrisome ways Ivan IV
always remained constant in his belief that God was with him and in every action he
committed, good or not-so-good!
It is written that when Ivan IV was 16-years-old that his entourage was met near
Novgorod by a large representation of petitioning Russians who were tired of their
present conditions, Ivan being 16 did not want to hear their complaints had his
army attack the peasants. After putting down their demonstration he had the
leaders pulled from the crowd and had them be-headed in front of their followers.
Understandably not one of his entourage complained, thus reaffirming to the young
man that he was right in his actions – throughout his life it was rare that any
negative reinforcement was forth coming due to his actions – therefore he
continued to act at times in shocking drastic methods. In other words, “It’s good to
be King!”
As Ivan IV approached the age of maturity his thoughts wandered towards
marriage, whereas the first person he consulted over the matter was his friend and
confidant the Metropolitan Macarius. Understanding the politics of Europe, Macarius
encouraged Ivan IV to avoid looking for a foreign wife, due to Russia’s social and
political unrest – and for Ivan IV to focus his attentions on a woman of Russian
nobility. Naturally the Boyars were thrilled beyond words to hear that Ivan IV would
search the land for a wife, whereas each either had a daughter, niece or cousin who
might be the future wife of the proclaimed leader of Russia. Grabbing their sable
coats and hats making ready to rush home and tell their families, Ivan IV held up his
hand and made a demand, “Before I take a wife, I want to be crowned the Tsar of
Russia.”
Ivan IV figured, I would guess under the influence and teachings of Macarius as
the rulers of the know world and its colorful history, such as Tsar David from the
Bible, and Tsars Julius and Augustus from Rome, realizing that the title Tsar was so
much more than that of Grand Prince. Tsar, to Ivan IV represented Russia’s place in
prestige with the Bible, Rome and Byzantium – beside Ivan IV saw this as an ancient
lineage which would automatically place him above the other rulers of Europe.
Granted an inflated opinion, but as later to prove his ambition was very beneficial
for the future of Russia. Naturally the crowd of Boyars murmured and cussed, but
eventually approved his demand, all of which I’m sure were thinking of a possible
relative being the wife of the Tsar.
At the ripe old age of 16-years, 4-months and 22-
days Ivan IV Vasilyevich’s coronation took place at the
Cathedral of the Dormition, as the first Tsar of Russia,
on January 16th, 1547. Metropolitan Macarius did the
duties in front of archbishops, bishops, and priests while
Ivan IV sat on a throne
covered with a gold cloth
with the “regalia” laid out
before him. Macarius did
the blessing and placed the
“Cap of Monomakh” on his head, and offered Ivan IV the scepter and the globe,
while Macarius prayed in a loud voice to God to confer on “this new David” the
strength of the Holy Spirit. Then before the assembly Ivan IV was named “Holy
Tsar, crowned by God, Autocrat of all the Russia’s.” The final part was the singing
of “Long years to noble Ivan, the good, the honorable, the favorite of God, Grand
Prince of Vladimir and Moscow, Tsar and Monarch of all Russia’s!” Ivan IV had at last
become the First Tsar of Russia.
Now that the Tsar celebrations were over, Ivan IV started the process of finding
himself a mate, it is written that over 1,000 available young maidens were
eventually paraded in front of him, out of those thousands the ladies making it
through the preliminary grades were housed next to the Kremlin and its is said that
Ivan IV spend a few hours here and there visiting them – finally, each girl dressed to
the nine’s was presented to Tsar Ivan, who it is said paid no particular attention to
any until he suddenly stood up and approached Anastasia Romanovna Zakharina-
Yurieva, offering her a handkerchief embroidered with gold, silver and pearls. The
other ladies went home with torn hearts and Tsar Ivan and Anastasia were married
on February 3rd, 1547, Tsar Ivan was 16-years, 5-months and 13-days old, there is
no record of the age of Anastasia. Anastasia was the daughter of Boyar Roman
Yurievich Zakharyn-Yuriey, Okolnichi who had died some three-years prior to her
marriage, it was her father who gave his name to the Romanov Dynasty – his wife
Uliana Ivanovna was present at her daughter’s marriage – Anastasia was the first
Tsarina of Russia. Metropolitan Macarius conducted the marriage once again at the
Cathedral of the Dormition. During their marriage of 13-years and 6-months, she
gave Tsar Ivan six children, Anna, Maria, Dmitri, Ivan, Eudoxia and Feodor. Only
two were to survive infancy.
During the following 13 and ½ years Tsar Ivan is noted as having a truly satisfying
life, extremely happy with his choice of wife, albeit chosen in the customary
tradition of all sovereigns throughout Europe he was very much in love with
Anastasia, and she was noted as having a calming effect on his troubled mind,
bringing peace that he had never experienced in his life. Between Anastasia and
Macarius he finally had two individuals working together to make sure his life
remained on a somewhat on an even existence.
As Tsar, his antics continued albeit they ranged from undeserving punishments to
undeserving rewards, he saw his authority as all-powerful and above everyone
thereby justifying his actions, to himself and his God. Naturally this caused various
problems for his people, whereas one instance is recorded where seventy
prominent men from “Pskov” approached the new Tsar to complain about their
governor. Eventually Ivan IV was in one of his terrible moods and was not receptive
to the complaint and the interruption in his life, he had the men remove all their
clothes, then poured boiling alcohol over their heads and set fire to their beards and
hair with a candle – one-by-one. Just as it appeared he was going to inflict further
torture on the men, a messenger appeared with a message that the bell of the
Kremlin had fallen with no apparent reason. The Tsar forgetting about the
tormented individuals, quickly returned to Moscow, muttering that the falling bell
could signify a bad omen.
Shortly after the Tsar returned to Moscow a fire started on June 24 th, 1547, 5-
months and 8-days after his coronation, whereas the fire swept into the Kremlin and
blew up the powder stores in several of the Kremlin’s towers, and displaced over
80,000 people killing from 2,700 to 3,700 adults – leaving in its aftermath
widespread poverty among the survivors. Metropolitan Macarius was injured in the
fire when the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin was threatened by the
flames, whereas he was taken out of the Kremlin through a breach and lowered
down by rope to the Moscow River – he never really recovered from the injuries he
received, albeit he lived another 16-years.
The fire destroyed the cupola of the Cathedral of the Dormition, the palaces of the
Tsar and the Metropolitan, two monasteries, several churches with all their wealth,
many residences of dignitaries, the Kremlin arsenals, and the treasury – many of
Moscow’s citizens and Boyars blamed the Tsar’s maternal relatives from the Glinsky
family. A street rebellion began and Yuri Glinski was caught and stoned to death
inside the Cathedral of the Dormition with Macarius looking on. Yuri’s brother
Mikhail Glinski attempted to flee to Lithuania but failed, and his mother Anna (the
Tsar’s grandmother) were accused of using sorcery to start the fire – the uprising
resulted in the complete fall of the Glinski party, which in effect strengthened the
Tsar’s positions in Russia. He did not had over his grandmother over to the
rebellious mobs as they demanded.
In addition to his wife and Macarius and his confidents he had two other devote
men as his advisors, Alexej Adasjev and the priest Sylvester from the Cathedral of
the Annunciation in Novgorod, it was Sylvester that send a message to the Tsar
telling him that it was “God punishing just as he had done to Sodom and Gomorrah”
for the recent run of problems the Tsar was experiencing. When meeting with
Sylvester the Tsar having taken the message to heart believing his own actions had
caused the burning of Moscow and the rebellion, hit the ground in agreement with
Sylvester and prayed reverently.
After the fire, still within his first year of reign the Tsar introduced measures to
reform the government, mainly in the practices of the Boyars and the corruption
associated with them, he also reformed the church and his army creating an elite
force called the “Streltsi”, and through all this dealt with the continuing border
skirmishes with the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhtan that would flare up from
time-to-time during his younger days as the Tsar.
Over the years the Crimean Khan Yadegar Mokhammad develop a strong alliance
with Safa Giray of Kazan, his relative and between the both of them created havoc
on the borders between the state of Kazan and Moscow, raiding at well taking
captives they later sold in the marketplace in cities around the Kazan state. In
1551, rumors surfaced that the Tsar was making plans for the conquest of Kazan,
whereas in preliminary moves he sent his envoy to the Nogai Horde and they
promised to remain neutral in the upcoming war – along with this tribe the Arbegs
and the Udmurts swore to the same alliance – during 1551 the wooden fort of
Sviyazhsk was transported down the Volga from Uglich to Kazan where it was used
as the Russians during the decisive campaign of 1552.
On June 16th, 1552 at the age of 21-years old, 9-months and some 22-days the
Tsar led a 150,000-strong Russian army from Moscow towards Kolomna, whereas
they routed the Crimean Tatars under Devlet Giray near Tula before turning east,
pressing on until the last siege of the Tatar capital Kazan begin on August 30 th,
1552. Under the command of Prince Alexander Gorbaty-Shuisky the Russians used
ram weapons, a battery-tower, mines and 150 cannon laying an attack on all sides.
Tsar Ivan IV also had in his command Ivan Grigoryevich Vyrodkov a skilled military
engineer and another foreigner engineer Rozmysl – the city’s water supply was
blocked and the walls were breached before the final attack on October 2 nd, causing
the city to fall, its fortifications razed and many of the population massacred, some
reports state that over 110,000 people lost their lives, civilians and troops,
consequently 60,000 to 100,000 Russians held as prisoners were released.
As a result of the fall of Kazan the Tsar was able to successfully annex the Middle
Volga, the Bashkirs finally accepted Ivan IV’s authority two-years-later and it could
be said that the victory in Kazan turned Muscovy into a multinational and multi-faith
state of Russia.
Part of the celebration of the Tsar’s victory was his
commissioning of the building the Cathedral of
Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat, or Cathedral of
Basil the Blessed, more known today as Saint Basil’s
Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow – it marks the
geometric center of Moscow. It was the tallest building
in Moscow until the construction of Ivan the Great Bell
Tower in 1600.
During the invasion the Kazan Khanate was led by
Yadegar Mokhammad, who previously was in the
service of the Tsar, in 1552 he was invited by Qol Sharif
and Chapqin bek Otich uli to assume the throne of
Kazan Khanate – he was captured in 1552, converted to Christianity, changed his
name to Simeon Kasayevich and lived in Moscow as a Russian nobleman.
After the fall of Kazan guerilla war started in the region, quickly suppressed by the
Tsar’s forces, Ivan IV initiated a policy of Christianization and Russification in the
area, or not only his subjects but the other indigenous people in Russia. A policy
that remained in effect until the reign of Catherine the Great.
Previous to the invasion and capture of Kazan, Ivan IVs friend and confident
Macarius had been a busy man, whereas during a church conference in 1549 he
won the battle to ex-communicate Maximus the Greek and stuff him away in Joseph
Volokolamsk Monastery, history would show that Moscow was afraid of Maximus’
contacts therefore his ability to expose wrongdoings of the court and criticize the
powers-that-be, therefore were very reluctant to release him into the public domain.
Albeit Macarius maintained an open line of communication with Maximus,
exchanging idea and even including some of Maximus’ essays in Macarius’ “Great
Menaion Reader”, he rejected all Maximus’ appeals for pardon. In addition,
Macarius managed to canonize 39 all-Russian saints and together with the Tsar
convened the Stoglavy Sobor, (Hundred Chapter Synod, Council of a Hundred
Chapters) held in Moscow in 1551 in January and February, with some final sessions
later on in May.
The Stoglavy Sobor was convened under the Tsar’s initiative which aspired to
support the church, which was involved with the Tsar’s struggle against anti-feudal
heretical movements, whereas Ivan IV aspired to subordinate the churches secular
authority. In these actions the Sobor produced a church code (Synodal Code of the
Russian Orthodox Church) that was formatted as a record of questions of the Tsar to
the clergy with their subsequent responses. By the end of the 16th Century, the text
of the Code was assembled into 100 Chapters (“Sto glav”) and had become
commonly referred to as the Stoglav.
During the Kazan campaign the Tsar left Macarius in Moscow to “protect the Tsar’s
status”, which in effect made him the head-of-state, albeit temporarily. In 1552 and
1554 Macarius complete the 2nd and 3rd editions of the “Grand Menaion”, along with
condemning and supporting the accusations made during the church councils of
heresy leveled against Matvel Bashkin, a Boyars son and the holy man Artemiy and
the monk Feodosiy Kosoy – but when the council took up a case against Sylvester
(close friend of the Tsar) the monk at the Annunciation Cathedral he sided with
Sylvester who had been accused by Ivan Viskovatvi (a bureaucrat of the
government, chief clerk) over an un-canonical wall-painting if the Annunciation
Cathedral.
In March of 1552 the Tsar, at the age of 22 an ½ years-old, had taken ill with a
very high fever, whereas during his illness he demanded that the Princes and
boyars swear an oath of allegiance to his baby son Dmitri – most were unwilling to
do this a fact that he never forgave them for, whereas most likely they believed the
young-man was on his last legs, imagine the surprise when he recovered knowing
that that had gone against his demands. This one incident added to the distrust he
had with the ruling elite in-country and contributed to his construction of a
centralized state in order to oppress and destroy “his” enemies within its structure.
Unfortunately following this incident the Tsar and Anastasia were visiting a local
monastery to give thanks for his recovery from his fever, when Dmitri’s nurse
accidently dropped Dmitri into the river – the baby drowned.
Of the many reforms that Ivan IV introduced into his Empire was his appointment
of the Chosen Council, the Domostroy (Domestic Order), a council made up of
respected figures that assisted him in making wise and loyal judgments in the
operation of the state. The Domostroy was guided using a code of laws drawn up
by Sylvester (some maintain he participated, and was not the sole author), a code
that listed the specifics of everyday living parameters in Russia. Another action of
Ivan IV was his proposed social reform setting the peasant class at a lower status,
whereas some were even tied to large estates to work for the nobles – albeit this
might not be seen as beneficial in today’s structure, during Ivan’s life and
circumstances it seemed a good idea at the time. In truth, the peasantry more than
likely didn’t mean a hill-of-beans to the Tsar, in that he saw them as a class who
worked the land and were not able to afford their own property, although “serfdom”
was not officially declared, it ran rampant across most of Russia.
Most maintain that under the guidance of his wife Anastasia and his close friend
Macarius, Tsar Ivan maintain a calm and wise attitude with regard in his role as the
Tsar of Russia, this changed when Anastasia giving birth to their sixth child, Feodor I
Ioannovich (May 31st, 1557), and another fire broke out in Moscow, where it is noted
it aided by the wind it reached the outer walls of her residence, sending her into a
panic – the Tsar took her out of Moscow to calm her. It is reported, whether from
the journey or from the birth of her son Feodor I (which I doubt) she came down
with a severe fever that no medicine available could break.
Two years previous to Anastasia’s death, Ivan IV had began, what turned out to
be 20-years of war, for a Baltic foothold by invading eastern Estonia – already
weakened by internal matters. The population, mostly Protestant, were occupied
with the problems thereby insuring Ivan IV an early success – by 1560 Narva and
Dorpat and most of the Livonian interior as far as Courland were under his thumb…
a situation that really got the attention of
the Danes, Swedes, and the Poles.
Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-
Yurieva passed on to her ancestors on
August 7th, 1560. Tsar Ivan had lost his
“little heifer”, where the Tsar was still a
young man at 29-years and 11-months.
Needless to say, as a loving wife and
confidant, the Tsar suffered an extreme
emotional collapse, immediately believing
that his wife’s death was caused by
members of his court poisoning Anastasia.
Albeit he had no evidence of such, the Tsar had a number of them apprehended and
tortured and executed. A simple task for him as he already had a strong dislike for
the Boyars for their past behaviors. In the late 20th Century, forensic experts
examining Anastasia’s remains have been able to determine she had high-levels of
mercury in her hair, a sign that she may have had mercury poisoning, albeit the fact
is disputed as mercury during this time period was administered to cure syphilis.
The Tsar fall into despair which surfaced in public where he is reported to have on
numerous occasions banged his head against the floor in-front of the court,
smashed furniture and had increased paranoia of those around him – and his anger
against the Boyars grew only increasingly when one of his friends and confidants
Adašev Alexej Fjodorovič passed on in 1561 in prison, and Sylvester was exiled.
In addition following Anastasia’s death, he tore down the “Selected Council”
turned against many of his advisors and began his run after the Boyars. In the
meantime he took a second wife on August 21st, 1561 a little over a year after
Anastasia’s death. Maria Temrjkovna, who was the daughter of the Muslim prince
Temrjuk of Kabardia, legend, tells us that on her deathbed Anastasia warned Ivan IV
not to take a pagan as a wife – nevertheless four days before his 31st birthday he
married her. It is said that soon after the wedding he regretted marrying the
beautiful Maria, in that she was illiterate and very vindictive. It is recorded she
never really integrated into the Muscovite way of life, and was considered a “poor”
stepmother to her two stepsons, Ivan and Feodor. They did manage to have one
son, named Vasili after her father-in-law on March 21st, 1563 – but he died on May
3rd of the same year. She was in general hated by her subjects, appearing as being
manipulative and witch-like in her manner – some believe it was Maria who planted
the seed of Ivan’s creation of the “oprichniki” - Maria died on September 1st, 1569,
after being married 8-years, 11-days, whereas it was generally believed that it was
her husband that sent her on her way. The Tsar never admitted as doing so, in fact
he had many people tortured on suspicion of assassinating her.
In 1564, shortly before Christmas the Tsar packed up his family and treasures and
left Moscow soon after his close friend the Metropolitan Macarius died, and went to
visit his in-laws I imagine, but history doesn’t really tell us what his intentions were
– regardless the Empire no longer had its Tsar. A Tsar that on a constant basis
denounced the Boyars for their greed and treachery it appeared he was abdicating
his throne. Some record that it was the defection of Prince Andrei Mikhailovich
Kurbskii to Poland-Lithuania, inaugurating a famous exchange of polemics with Ivan
and also contributing to the establishment of the oprichnina. When the populous
heard of his departure, they became confused and frightened, why, is not clear
other than the fact they no longer had a leader – it is recorded they “begged” him
to return and assume the position of leadership. He eventually agreed but based his
return on two conditions, the primary one being the creation of the “oprichnina”, a
territorial and political subdivision of which he would have complete dominion, the
second that he would have the right to punish traitors and wrongdoers, executing
them when necessary and confiscating their possessions.
The second phase of the Livonia War say Ivan’s armies invade Lithuania, where
Polotsk, Ozerishche and other towns along the Western Dvina collapse under the
onslaught. The Tsar planned to install Duke Magnus, brother of Denmark’s King
Frederick II, a vassal king of Livonia to secure a Danish alliance in order to drive the
Swedes our of Riga and Pernau, which they had seized in 1560.
Ivan IV’s occupation of northeastern Lithuania finally convinced the Lithuanian
nobility to accept a closer administrative union with Poland, whereas they agreed to
the Union of Lublin in 1569, which increased the military resources available to the
Polish crown. Consequently Denmark’s King Fredrick II not only withheld support to
his brother Magnus for expelling the Swedes but in turn endorsed a treaty with the
Swedes at Stettin on December 13th, 1570.
The Tsar’s new “leadership” and power were based on the new order he created,
the Oprichniki, handpicked by the Tsar, having each member swear an oath of
allegiance, I imagine backed with direct threats against their family if their oath
became hollow. Soon, throughout the Empire the mere sight or rumor of their
presence instilled fear in the population. Dressed in black outfits riding black horses
they wrote across the countryside doing the wishes of the Tsar, many were criminals
convicted for various crimes and had no remorse about killing anyone Ivan disliked.
They had no problem with bursting into a church during mass, either abducting a
priest or killing him right there on the altar during the services. Word soon hit the
streets that the Tsar had created a pseudo-monastic order, whereas he was the
“abbot” and his black riders the “monks”, the Order of Oprichniki regularly
performed sacrilegious masses that were followed by extended orgies, and they
rode through the countryside committing rape and torture at will.
It is said that the Tsar would frequent these masses and if it struck him he
personally would take hot pincers fresh from the flames and tear out a man’s ribs
from the living man’s chest. Drinking himself into a stupor, he would awake the
following morning and throw himself on the altar in such repentance that his
forehead would be bloody and covered with bruises – raising up he would have his
“monks” sit and listen to him read sermons on Christian virtues, more than half of
them passed out in the pews, the remaining few staring cross-eyed at the Tsar
reading with blood running down his forehead.
The Tsar carried a metal-pointed staff with him, and from time to time would lash
out at anyone who offended him, once when he and entourage were riding through
the streets he had a peasant women strip naked and pinned to a wall had his
“monks” use her for target practice, one other time he had his “monks” force over a
hundred unlucky beggars into a lake and drown them – one unfortunate Boyar was
caught one-day unawares, tied to a barrel of gunpowder and blow-off to his
ancestors.
Sir Jerome Horsey1 wrote on letter to the Queen of England about torture and
death of Prince Boris Telupa whereas, “was drawn upon a long sharp-made stake,
which entered the lower part of his body and came out his neck; upon which he
languished a horrible pair for 15 hours alive, and spoke to his mother, brought to
behold that woeful sight. (after) And she was given to 100 gunners, who defiled her
to death, and the Emperor’s hungry hound devoured her flesh and bones.”
One other time his treasurer, Nikita Funikov, was boiled to death in a cauldron,
and his councilor, Ivan Mikhaïlovitch Viskovaty, was hung on July 25th, 1570, while
Ivan’s “monks” took turns hacking pieces from this squirming body. Supposedly
Ivan Viskovaty had been working with the Pologne Sigismond II Autuste in the
composition of a letter to the Sultan of Turkey, Selim II Sarkhosh, advising him to
seize the towns of Astrakhan and Kazan and to finish having suggested in Devlet-
Guirei khan of Tatars of the Crimea and to continue with the devastation of Russia –
and to give the city of Novgorod away. Ivan is said to have shouted, “All that I have
heard is a fabric of atrocious calumnies.”
Previous to this action, based on unclear rumors the Tsar’s army and his “monks”
attack the city of Novgorod on January 2nd, 1570, under the orders of the Tsar (age
39-years, 4-months), based on his belief that the city planned to defect to the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – he send his forces.

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Horsey
 On the arrival of the Tsar and his army, they were met by the Archbishop Pimen of
Novgorod, who in his attempt to give the traditional greeting to the Tsar, suffered a
supreme insult by the Tsar parading him around Novgorod sitting backwards on a
mare with a group of folk minstrels (previously outlawed by the Russian Orthodox
Church) following behind. Ivan IV had Pimen arrested, while his men looted the
Saint Sophia Cathedral, while Ivan IV removed Pimen from his office as the
Metropolitan of Novgorod which he had held since 1552. Pimen was eventually
transferred to Alexandrov Sloboda and then to Tula where he expired under
mysterious circumstances.
Some records show that between 500 –to- 1,000 citizens were assembled each
day by the army, after which they were tortured, with special attention paid to the
monks of the church in attempts to get them to reveal where the church’s treasures
were located, and some other citizens thrown into the Volkhov river if they could
not pay a ransom of 20 rubles. Small kangaroo courts were held in front of the Tsar
and his son Ivan Ivanovich (age 15), subsequently being executed.
For 34-days the citizens of Novgorod suffered at the hands of their Tsar, brought
on by his paranoia that the city planned to defect to Poland-Lithuania, as most
historians have never being able to determine if this was actually a fact. It must be
kept in mind that the Archbishops position in Novgorod was an appointed one from
Moscow, and the city was headed by a council appointed by the Tsar, albeit this
points the finger away from a defection, his belief seems to have fit well within the
Tsar’s erratic thoughts – as from time-to-time he was known for his flights of fancy
loaded with paranoia.
The overall death toll is uncertain, the First Pskov Chronicle lists the victims at
around 60,000, whereas western sources give figures ranging from 2,700 to 27,000
– and modern researches have come up with an estimate from 2,500 to 12,000.
Ruslan Skrynnikov, in reconstructing the prayer list found at the Kirillo-Belozersky
Monastery found only 1,505 named victims of the 34-day massacre, but most
believe this list only contained the names of the elite citizens.
Nevertheless most accounts related that the Tsar, on the unproven basis, sacked
and burned the city of Novgorod in those 34-days – one German mercenary wrote:
“Mounting a horse and brandishing a spear, he charged in and ran people through
while his son watched the entertainment…” It is noted that Novgorod during this
time period never recovered from the attack of Tsar Ivan IV. Not helping with their
problems, preceding the massacre the region had managed to survive through two-
years of bad harvests, and following the devastation at Novgorod a plague ravaged
the countryside in 1570.
In May of 1571, Devlet I Giray the Crimean Khan raided Moscow and on May 24th,
set the suburbs on fire – whereas a consistent wind arose spreading the flames into
the center of the city, mostly made of wood it burst into a tremendous
conflagration. According to the records of Heinrich von Staden (who claimed to be a
member of the infamous Oprichnina) the royal palace, the Oprichnina place, and the
suburbs burned to the ground in 6-hours – a disaster that no one could escape,
whereas citizens fled to stone churches where some collapsed. They jumped into
the Moscow River where a great many drowned, the powder magazine of the
Kremlin exploded and those hiding in the cellars of the Kremlin were asphyxiated.
The Tsar ordered the dead left in the street to be thrown into the river, the mass
of bodies floating in the river caused it to overflow its banks and flood parts of the
city. Jerome Horsey wrote that it took more than a year to rid the city of death.
As a result of one of the worst fires in the history of the city, historians estimated
the number of casualties from 10,000 to 80,000 – Ivan IV avoided the city for
several years after losing his palace and place for his entourage to reside.
The following year the Khan attempted to duplicate his first attack against Ivan IV,
whereas the Tsar met Devlet I Giray near the village of Molodi, about 37 miles south
of Moscow. The Khan’s forces consisted of approximately 120,000 men where the
Russian forces led by Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky were half of that at
60,000. On the 26th of July – 1571 the Khan’s forces, reinforced by Turkish
Janissaries (new troops) crossed the Oka River near Serpukhov, decimated the
Russian vanguard of 200 nobleman and headed once again towards Moscow – their
torches lit and ready to duplicate the 1570 raid. Unbeknown to them, this time the
Tsar’s army was ready, having established innovative fortifications just beyond the
Oka.
Under the command of Mikhail, with Prince Repnin leading the troops on the left
flank, and the right flank led by Prince Odoevsky the two forces met on July 30 th,
near the Lopasnva River – neither deploying a prior reconnaissance – on that day
only 70 Russians lost their lives, while the Tatars were reported as loosing
thousands. The battle raged back and forth for several days, reaching its peak on
August 8th – it is said that the battle consisted of mostly ground fighting in close
quarters, making the famed Tatar archers in-effective, whereas sabers and spears
were the order of the day, along with effective bombardment of Russian artillery –
the final outcome was brought about by Prince Khvorostinin who worked his way
around the Khan’s force and attacked from the rear.
After the battle only 20,000 Tatar horsemen returned home, whereas the Khan
abandoned his tent and banner of the battle-field barely escaping alive – but at the
loss of his sons and grandson. Albeit the victory was a feather in the Prince Mikhail
Vorotynsky and his popularity soared within the general population. A year later,
one of his menials, incriminated in theft, insinuated that Vorotynsky was plotting
the tsar's death by magic charms. Ivan the Terrible, who never wanted a pretext to
execute a boyar, put Vorotynsky to the torture. Mikhail's body was placed between
two bonfires, and the tsar personally "raked the burning coals closer to his holy
body with an accursed staff", as Prince Kurbsky says. Following the torture, the
badly burnt boyar was taken to Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. He died on the way
and was buried in that monastery close to his father.
In 1572 Tsar Ivan disbanded the Oprichnik due to that he realized that they were
causing more problems and internal instability than the solutions he had originally
planned them to fulfill. Moreover, despite having created them himself, Ivan made it
a capital crime to even mention the name "Oprichnina" or anything in relations to it.
Along with this historians note it was this year when some of his strangest behavior
surfaced. Outside of his direct influence the third phase of the war over Livonia was
once again inflamed, where when Sigismund II Augustus I died on July 6th, 1572, Ivan
IV exploited the situation and mounted another major offensive in Livonia. His
forces were still unable to capture Reval or Riga.
In 1575 on a whim, the Tsar placed a converted Tatar prince Simeon
Bekbulatovich on the throne of Russia as “Grand Prince of all Rus”, and called titled
himself as “Ivan of Moscow” – history has its own mystery as why he did this.
During Simeon’s one-year rule in the Kremlin he married Anastasia Ivanovna
Mstislavskaia, the great-great granddaughter of Ivan III – in 1576 when the Tsar
returned to the throne, he bestowed on Simeon the title of Grand Prince of Tyer and
Torzhok – a title that was later to be removed in 1858 by Tsar Fedor Ivanovich.
Albeit the Tsar had a few years of quiet, the war of the Baltic’s was still training his
treasury, the years of heavy taxation and the constant manpower mobilization from
the Muscovite provinces, especially Novgorod and Pskov had left them as a shadow
of their former status.
His adversaries in the meantime, under the leadership of a new king Stephen
Báthory had entered into a defensive alliance with Rudolf II2, fostered by the papal
nuncio –Stephen also endorsed a truce on November 5th, 1577 with the Ottoman
Empire – the lower house of the Polish Parliament and were persuaded by Stephen
to grant him subsidies to prepare for war with Ivan IV – along with this political
victory his diplomatic skills ensured that there was no conflict with the Ottomans,
nor with the emperor.
In 1572 the Tsar was able to fully resume his campaigns in the Livonian War,
whereas a Swedish counter-offensive in 1573 failed – and Ivan IV had introduced a
new strategy where he depended on tens of thousands of native troops, Cossacks
and Tatars, in lieu of a few thousand skilled troops and mercenaries – which was a
common practice with his adversaries.
1576 marked the peak of Ivan IVs campaign where another 30,000 Russian forces
crossed into Livonia in 1577 – his appointed king Magnus fell from his grace when
he defected from Ivan IV and started subordinate castles without consulting his
Tsar. When Kokenhusen submitted to Magnus to avoid fighting Ivan IVs forces the
Tsar had it sacked and executed its German commanders, Ivan then turned his
attention to Wenden. Wenden as the “heart of Livonia” was the former capital of
the Livonian Order and was not only a strategic location, but the symbol of Livonia
itself.
The Tsar’s vassal king Magnus, Duke of Holstein laid siege to Wenden in the
summer of 1577 – the Russian army led by Ivan IV arrived in Wenden in late August,
whereas Ivan IV had Magnus arrested, sacked the town and laid siege to the castle.
300 defenders, men, women and children who were promised a terrible fate by the
Tsar retreated within it walls to the main tower and committed collective suicide by
blowing the tower and themselves up with 4 pounds of gunpowder. Therefore,

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
Wenden fell to Ivan IV in September 1577 and was made the seat of four newly-
appointed governors who were to administer the province for Russia.
The sack of Wenden for Ivan IV at age 47 was a huge symbolic victory over his
opponents John III of Sweden, Stephen Báthory, and Frederick II – Magnus of Livonia
albeit released by Ivan IV abdicated in 1578 and withdrew to Courland – the Tsar’s
control of nearly all of Livonia and Estonia was secured by garrisons numbering
22,000 men in total.
John III of Sweden and Stephen Báthory joined forces in December 1577, and
combining with Lithuanian forces who had began an offensive in November retaking
Dunaburg, following this a Polish-Swedish force retook the town and castle of
Wenden in early 1878 – Ivan IVs forced tried to re-take the town in February -1858
but failed. After a Swedish offensive was initiated targeting Leal, Lode, Hapsal,
Pernau, Dorpat and Novgorod. In September, Ivan IV responded by sending an
18,000 man army, who re-took Oberpahlen from Sweden and then marched on to
Wenden.
Arriving in Wenden the Russian army laid siege to the town, an allied force of
6,000 German, Polish and Swedish soldiers confronted the Russian army on October
21st, 1878 – they defeated the Russian cavalry driving a good number off in an open
field battle. Then the Russian infantry, still entrenched for the siege were routed
with another good number taken prisoner. The overall Russian casualties were very
high and among the captives were several high-ranking Boyars. The allied forces
captured more than twenty-siege guns along with a large number of Russian horses,
a large enough number that allowed the entire Swedish infantry to ride back to
Reval.
The open field battle was a rarity in the Livonian War, whereas most encounters
between forces usually took place with one or the other force in a defensive position
in a fortress – while the opposing party laid siege. In addition, Wenden was to
remain the “only” occasion of a Swedish-Polish-Lithuanian alliance in a battle, as the
alliance collapsed the following years.
The victory of the allies at Wenden was noted as a major turning point in the
Livonian War, the Wenden victory marking the first time that Ivan IV was seriously
defeated in Livonia. A series of Russian defeats followed forcing Ivan IV to accept
an unfavorable outcome of the war in the Truce of Jam Zapolski 3 with Stephen
Báthory and the Treaty of Plussa4 with John III. The Livonian War was over August
10th, 1583. At the end-of-the-day the Tsar had forfeited all the lands his armies had
occupied along the Baltic coast, with the exception of a narrow passage to the Baltic
Sea at the estuary of the Neva River between the rivers of Strelka and Sestra.
Whereas central and southwestern Livonia moved under the Commonwealth
control, and the Swedes took over Estonia and the territory along the Gulf of
Finland.
With the eastern borders secure, Stephen planned a Christian alliance with the
Tsar against the Ottoman Empire, however with Russia’s lapse into the “Time of
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truce_of_Jam_Zapolski
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Plussa
Troubles” he was left without a partner, while Stephen’s proposal of a personal
union with Moscow was rendered moot by Stephen’s sudden death on December
12th, 1586.
Ivan IVs married life was a mess, mostly due to his underlining ego-centricity,
insecurity and manic temperament. His 2nd wife Maria Temriukovna (1561 to 1569)
he considered far below his status, albeit she was around him the longest, other
than his true love Anastasia. His 3rd wife he married two years after Maria moved
on to her ancestors, some say with Ivan IVs assistance, was Marfa Vasilevna
Sobakina, the daughter of a Novgorod merchant Vasili Sobakin. She was selected
by Ivan IV from among 12 finalists – whereas a few days after her selection she
began to succumb to a mysterious ailment – rumors had it that her mother was
giving her a potion that was supposed to increase her fertility – and unintentionally
poisoned her. Despite rapidly losing weight and barely able to stand she and Ivan
IV were married in October 28th, 1571 (Ivan IV was 41-years-old), she died 15 days
later. Her death so soon after the wedding only increased her husband’s paranoia,
where as he thought had died in an impregnable fortress filled with loyal subjects –
this caused him to put-to-death many of his court, including Mikail Temjruk the
brother of his 2nd wife – he had him impaled.
At the sudden death of his 3rd wife, the Tsar had difficulty in securing another
marriage – whereas the Russian Orthodox Church prohibited a 4th marriage – where
it said, the 1st marriage is law, the 2nd an extraordinary concession, and the 3rd if a
violation of the law, and the 4th is compared to that of animal, Ivan IV worked
around this by claiming he did not consummate the 3 rd marriage. On April 29th,
1572 he married Anna Koltovskaya, the daughter of a courtesan without the
Church’s blessing – Ivan IV organized a meeting at the Church of the Assumption,
and gave a heartfelt speech with moved most of the church prelates to tears. They
agreed to his 4th marriage under the condition that he would not attend church until
the next Easter, and for one-year that he spent time with penitents, and a year
later, with common Christians. He and his new wife Anna honeymooned in
Novgorod.
After two years he grew weary of her, mostly some say due to her being sterility
and sent her off to a monastery.
His 5th wife history knows very little of, albeit Ivan IV married Anna Vasilchikov
sometime in January 1575 again without the blessings of the Ecclesiastical Council
of the Church. The date of her death is uncertain, happening sometime in 1576 or
1577 – as for the circumstances of her passing it can only be noted that it is
described by various scholars as a violent one.
His 6th wife, Vasilisa Melentyeva was said to be the widow of a prince serving in
the Livonian War and it is said that Ivan IV considered her beautiful and sweet
natured, but only a few months after they had been married he found her in the
arms of a prince named Devletev – he forced her to watch as her lover was impaled,
then took her and buried her alive in a cloister.
His 7th wife, Maria Dolgoruki was said to be a marriage of royal status, whereas
she was a descendant of Prince Yuri I Dolgoruki (Prince of Kiev, Rostov and Suzdal)
as Ivan IV also was descended from Yuri Dolgoruki through his son Vsevolod III
Yuryevich. She did not bear the Tsar any children and like the 6th wife was found
with her lover – the Tsar had her drowned in 1580.
Ivan IVs 8th and final wife, Maria Feodorovna Nagaya married Ivan IV in 1581 and
one-year later gave birth to their son Dmitry. After the Tsar’s death on March 28th,
1584, Maria, Dmitry and Maria’s brothers were sent into exile to Uglich by Boris
Godunov, where she lived until the mysterious death of her son (Tsarevich Dmitry)
in 1591. Maria and her brothers were accused of “criminal negligence”, resulting in
her brothers being incarcerated and Maria sent off to a monastery. In 1605 after
the accession of “False Dmitry I” in Moscow – Maria was forced to recognize him as
her son and returned to Moscow. All her family members were freed, reinstated in
their ranks, and had their confiscated property returned. After the death of False
Dmitriy in 1606, Maria renounced him as her son.
Albeit Ivan IV had a fairly good relationship with his oldest son Ivan Ivanovich,
whereas he had proved himself at age 15 in Novgorod, the relationship had its ups
and downs. The real first impression one gets about young Ivan is that in all
appearances he was just as cruel as his father from time-to-time. Consider they
both sat in Novgorod and watched and participated in some of the massacre with
great enthusiasm, and each evening would retire to the local church for prayer and
forgiveness.
It is also recorded that he once saved his father from an assassination attempt –
where a Livonian prisoner named “Bykovski” raised a sword against his father, and
in rapid response young Ivan stabbed him. In 1566 it was suggested he marry
Virginia Eriksdotter, the daughter of King Eric XIV of Sweden, a suggestion that was
never fulfilled – and at age 17, Ivan was due to marry Eudoxia Saburova one of the
12 marriage finalist who was rejected by his father due to her sterility – Ivan IV sent
her off to a convent. He later married Praskovia Solova, only to have Ivan IV put
away for her sterility.
Sometime after this young Ivan took another wife, Yelena Seremeteva the date of
marriage unrecorded – during their marriage it became apparent that young Ivan
was disappointed in his father’s endorsing the Truce of Jam – their relationship had
begun to fall apart during the later stages of the Livonian War, whereas Ivan had
demanded to be given command of some troops in order to liberate Pskov. In
October 1581 the court learned that Ivan’s wife Yelena was pregnant, and on
November 15th seeing his son’s wife parading around in light clothing physically
assaulted her. Hearing her screams of agony Ivan rushed to her side to defend her,
yelling at his father: “You sent my first wife to a convent for no reason, you did the
same to the my second, and now you strike the third, causing the death of the son
she holds in her womb”. Yelena did suffer a miscarriage,
whereas it is not noted the gender of the unborn child.
Ivan when he confronted his father in anger was
turned aside by a rebuke from Ivan IV by changing the
subject dealing with young Ivan’s insubordination
regarding Pskov. Ivan IV accused his son of inciting a
rebellion, young Ivan denied it loudly – sticking to his opinion that Pskov should be
liberated. Face redder than a fresh picked tomato, Ivan IV reached out and swung a
powerful blow at his son with his scepter hitting him in the forehead, the number of
blows are not recorded but it is said that Boris Godunov was in the room and tried
to stop Ivan IV, and received a couple of blows himself.
Young Ivan fell, barely conscious with blood running from his temple…at
age 51 and his son 27 Ivan IV had in a fit of uncontrolled rage delivered a
death blow to his son on November 16th, 1851. Ivan IV immediately threw
himself at his son, repeatedly crying out,
“May I be damned! I’ve killed by son! I’ve
killed my son!”
Young Ivan recovered enough to
mutter, “I die as a devoted son and most
humble servant.” For the next three days
Ivan IV prayed constantly for a
miracle, none were forthcoming and on
November 19 , 1851
th
the young Tsarevich
Ivan Ivanovich went to join his ancestors.
Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich’s wife was
forced to leave the Kremlin and retired to the Novodevichy Convent and became a
nun.
After his son’s death at his own hand, the Tsar lived another 2-years and 4-
months, whereas he is said to have died while setting up a chess board brought to
him by Bogdan Belsky awaiting arrival of Boris Godunov for a round of chess – some
say he was playing chess with Belsky when he went the way of his son on March
28th, 1584 – 53-years and 7-months old. Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich now belonged to
the ancients.

Here we find a man who had since that thunderstorm filled day of his birth, having
lost both his parents at a young age, had an Empire thrown in his lap, subject to
political cross-currents when he was a teenager, coddled and chased for favor when
a teenager, running wild in the streets of Moscow with a gang, and then losing his
wife before he turned 30 years old, setting up a trading partnership with the Queen
of England and then running a 20-year war to gain access to the oceans of the world
for his landlocked kingdom, fought a war and won with the Tatars, and during all of
this his subjects gave him the nickname Ivan Grozny – translated by some as Ivan
the Terrible, as they say that Grozny means “dreadful” or “terrible” – a Russian word
derived originally from Grom or “thunder”.
Albeit he did show signs of remorse after the death of his son – it is noted he
became addicted to the ingestion of mercury, which he kept bubbling in a cauldron
in his rooms for his consumption. Later when they exhumed his remains they
showed he suffered from mercury poisoning and his bones demonstrated signs of
syphilic ostratis – whereas his sexual promiscuity with both sexes, his last illness
and many features of his personality supports a diagnosis of syphilis, a venereal
disease that was often treated with Mercury – however, it cannot be determined if
Ivan the Terrible’s problems were basically an organic or psychological.
As the end of his life approached he was habitually bad tempered. Daniel von
Bruchau stated more than once that in his rages the Tsar “foamed at the mouth like
a horse!” He had long looked other than his years with long white hair dangling
from a bald pate onto his shoulders and during the last of his years had to be
carried on a litter from place to place. Whereas his body swelled, his skin peeled
and overall he gave off a terrible odor.
Remember the words of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, “If you should do this evil
thing, you shall have an evil son. Your nation shall become prey to terrors and
tears. Rivers of blood will flow, the heads of the
Was he terrible on his own accord, or could it be that
Tsar “Ivan the Terrible”
was
Predestined?