Ivan IV "the Terrible" Czar of Russia

Ivan IV "The Terrible" Czar of Russia

Ivan IV was a Czar terrible beyond words. He succeeded his father Vasily III who died in 1533 when Ivan IV was just 3 years old. Ivan's uncle challenged his right to the throne and as a result he was arrested and imprisoned in a dungeon. His mother was ruled as a regent for 5 years until she died of what is thought to be poisoning. Now, the real trouble began. Ivan IV was now somewhat capable of being the Grand Duke of Moscow. Ivan, who was not even 8 years old yet, was a sensitive and intelligent young boy. Although powerful, Ivan soon became lonely and depressed. There was no one to watch over him and boyars often molested or neglected him. The boyars were a class of high Russian nobility during the rule of Ivan IV. He became a vagabond in his palace. Ivan was unable to lash out at his tormentors, so he took out his frustration on helpless animals, ripping feathers off of birds, poking their eyes out, and/or slitting their bodies open (Bos, 2002).

In 1543, Ivan IV ordered the arrest of Prince Andrew Shuisky who was a cruel leader of the boyars. He threw Shuisky to a pack of starving dogs and as a result the rule of the boyars ended. At the ripe age of 13, Ivan was a disturbed young man and already a heavy drinker. He walked the streets of Moscow with his malicious gang. They drank, knocked down old people, and raped women. The gang disposed of their victims by having them hanged, strangled, buried alive, or thrown to the bears. Besides killing animals Ivan enjoyed robbing and beating farmers. Ivan began reading religious texts at an unbelievable pace. He was a bothered young man and in efforts to confess his sins Ivan would throw himself before icons and bang his head on the floor of numerous public churches in Moscow. These "confessions" usually ended when Ivan's forehead was a massive bloody bump (Bos, 2002).

In 1547 Ivan was officially crowned Czar of Russia. As a method of choosing his first wife Ivan IV held a sort of "Miss Russia Contest." He fell in love with the beautiful Anastasia Romanovna and they had a wonderful 13 years together. Anastasia and Ivan had 6 children, however only two survived infancy.

After executing Shuisky, Ivan put the boyars in their place and organized the military, all in preparation to slash the Tatars. The Tatars were a group of Turkic people who mainly resided in Tatarstan in west-central Russia and parts of Siberia and Central Asia. He took Kazan in 1552 and Astrakhan in 1556 virtually wiping out the power of the Golden Horde, a Mongol army that conquered eastern Europe in the 13th century. Ivan IV's Tatar crusades opened areas for Russia to grow, thus beginning the colonization of Siberia (Optima Tours, 2004).

In 1558, Ivan IV conquered the Baltic cities of Narva and Polotsk and started trading directly with England. During these wars, Ivan got a bad fever. While sick, Ivan made the princes and boyars to swear an oath of allegiance to his baby son Dmitri. Most of them did not agree. When Ivan recovered he never forgave the deceit of those people. A few weeks after Ivan's near-death experience he and Anastasia went to a monastery to give thanks for Ivan's recovery. A nurse accidentally dropped Dmitri into the river and he drowned (Bos, 2002).

In 1560 Anastasia died. He banged his head on the floor in plain view of the court and smashed all his furniture. Ivan would later accuse those around him of poisoning her and as a result became even more mentally unstable. He tortured and executed numerous boyars in suspicion.

In 1564 Ivan the Terrible secretly left Moscow with the intention to abdicate. The majority of the population wanted Ivan back. He agreed as long as he could have the absolute power to punish anyone he thought was disloyal. In addition to punishment Ivan then disposed of their estates as he saw fit. After strengthening his position as absolute ruler of the Russians, Ivan decided on a new instrument of cruelty, the Oprichniki. The Oprichniki were selected by Ivan himself and were forced to swear him a personal oath of allegiance. They dressed in black and rode black horses.