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

Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

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.  
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Marooned in Moscow

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.

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