January 03, 2015

Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of All Russias


Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of All Russias

On this day, 450 years ago, Tsar Ivan IV, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, notified his boyars of his abdication. They convinced him to stay by offering him absolute power. Five years and five days later, he turned that power against Novgorod.

Ivan the Terrible could sometimes be a bit of a drama queen.

In December of 1564, he set off on a routine pilgrimage to Alexandrova Sloboda outside Moscow, leaving no one in charge. January 3, 1565, he sent a letter to the boyars he had left behind, letting them know that he was tired of the embezzlement and treason that surrounded him, that he just couldn’t take it anymore, and was giving up the throne. A second letter was addressed to the people of Moscow, saying he wasn’t upset with them at all, just the corrupt nobles that made up his government.

Faced with an empty throne and potential revolt by the townsfolk, the boyars sent a delegation to invite Ivan back. One has to wonder if perhaps Ivan had known all along that he would be asked to return, and all he needed was a bit of attention, someone to say they needed him. In fact, he got much more: when he returned to Moscow, it was on the condition that he would be allowed to persecute treason without due process.

Ivan’s return set off a bloody period in Russian history known as the oprichnina, now synonymous with tyrannical rule and repression. Originally, the Oprichnina (the "widow's portion") was a large area in northern Russia set up by Ivan to belong directly to himself; later, he began using the term to refer to the persecutions mean to clear corruption and treason from the hereditary nobility. The instruments of this sixteenth-century terror were the oprichniki, Ivan’s personal guard, typically mounted on horses and dressed in black.

Oprichniki ride into Novgorod (Vasnetsov)

The oprichnina culminated in the slaughter of townsfolk in Novgorod, a historically independent city on the northwestern fringes. On January 8, 1570, nearly 445 years ago, Ivan accused the town leaders of conspiring with the nearby Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then calmly attended a service at the St. Sophia Cathedral as his oprichniki began carrying out his brutal orders.

Ivan then turned his attention to the city of Pskov, also suspected of treachery. But no massacre ensued. According to legend, a local “holy idiot,” Nikola Salos, approached the tsar, cursed at him, threatened him with divine punishment, and, most memorably, offered him a piece of raw meat. When Ivan voiced his disgust, Nikola allegedly told him, “But this is what you’ve been eating over in Novgorod – the meat of Christians.” In some tellings, this was enough to shame the tsar into leaving Pskov alone; in some, it took his prize horse dying right under him as a warning sign. Within two years Ivan disbanded the oprichniki and brought the terror to a close.

Nikola Salos threatening Ivan and offering him raw meat (Ryabushkin)

Legends aside, Ivan may have just had a change of heart – or mind. Historians speculate that Ivan had some undiagnosed mental illness, which was the source of his violent mood swings. His instability hurt not just the people of Russia, but also himself: in 1581 he killed his son and designated heir during a heated argument. It’s not without reason that we remember him now as Ivan the Terrible!

Ivan, apparently regretting killing his son (Repin)

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons


For a definitive biography of Ivan the Terrible, get Benson Bobrick's Fearful Majesty, published by Russian Life Books in 2014.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955