Ivan the IV (The Terrible)

 

 

Early Life:       

Ivan Vasilyevich was born on August 25^th 1530 in Kolomenskskoye near Moscow and at the age of three he was proclaimed the grand prince of Moscow. Ivan was the son of Grand Prince Vasily III of Moscow, and was mothered by Vasily’s second wife Yelena Glinskaya whom which ruled in Ivans name following his father’s death until her death in 1538. Since Ivan was too young to rule from 1538 to 1547 there was a bloody strife between the Boyars for power. Which gave Ivan a lifelong dislike and mistrust for the Boyars?

Early Reform:

            On January 16^th 1547 Ivan was crowned Tsar of Russia and one month later he married Anastasiya Romanovna the great aunt that would become the Great Romanov Dynasty. One of the first things Ivan did was reform and reorganize the Central and local administrations. Along with making the Orthodox a driving force in his political agenda. In 1550 a new legal code was drawn up to replace the one gating back to 1497. Russia’s central administration was also reorganized into departments each in charge of a function of the state. The conditions of the military was also improved and Generals where promoted on merit rather than by noble birth. Government also became very self Governing with administrators being elected by the gentry.

            The main reason for all of these reforms was to limit the amount of power the Boyars and Aristocracy of the Princes and give power to the gentry who where dependent on the Tsar. All of these reforms took place under the supposed “chosen council” that was made up of the Tsars favorites, but the councils influence waned after Ivan’s Wife died in 1560 because at that time in his life Ivan’s views and entraouge changed.

            Most of Ivan’s reign was plagued by war Muscovite Rulers where always concerned about the Tatars so from 1547to 1550 there were unsuccessful campaigns against the Khanate of Kazan on the Volga River But then in 1552 Ivan was finally able to take the city then in 1556 Khanate of Astrakhan that sets at the mouth of the Volga River was annexed into the Russian empire and from that point on that made the Volga a Russian river and secured a trade route via the Caspian Sea.

The Livonian War:

            A concern for Russia all through history has been being land locked so after the Volga was secured Ivan prepared for a campaign to push to the Baltic sea because he felt that free trade with Europe depended on him having access to the Baltic sea. So in 1558 he launched an assault on the country of Livonia to try and push to the Baltic Sea. The war started off well for Ivan in fact he crushed the Livonians and in 1560 the Livonian made there last stand at the battle of Ermes in August of 1560 but then the tide turned as Lithuania Poland and Sweden all became allies to fight off the Russian invasion. Then to make matters worse for Ivan the Poles and Lithuanians went on the offensive and crossed into Russia in 1580 after recapturing all of Livonia. In 1582 Ivan saw that the situation was grim and asked the pope to intervene so an Armistice was signed forcing Russia to give up all of Livonia and also to give up some of its towns on the Gulf of Finland. So after 24 years of conflict Ivan had nothing to show for his conquest of Livonia.  

The Oprichnina:

            The Oprichnina is a dark stain during the reign of Ivan the IV he felt that he had lost the Livonian war because he was undermined and betrayed by the hereditary nobility so he started a campaign of terror that would last seven years one example of this is in 1570 Ivan led his troops against the city of Novgorod destroyed it and executed several thousand of its inhabtints. Boyars that Ivan felt were plotting against his he would have publicly tortured then executed but ironically Ivan sent to different monasteries Memorials for more than three thousand of his victims not because he felt remorse but because he was concerned for their soul. The Opichnina lasted from 1565-1572 and cast doubt on Ivan mental stability of that time.

The last years:

            In his last years Ivan still expressed an interest in wanting to open trade with Europe especially England and even was willing to marry an English noble women to make it happen. In the 1570’s he married five times in a nine year period and in 1581 Ivan the IV murdered his son Ivan in a fit of rage leaving only his Dimwitted son Feodor to take the throne and set in motion the period that would be known as the Time of Troubles in Russia and the extinction of the Rurik Dynasty after his son Feodor’s death. Ivan the IV died on March 18th 1584 in Moscow leaving behind a bloody trail of warfare and deranged executions. It is for these reasons he goes down in history as Ivan the Terrible.