Short biography of Ivan the Terrible

Biography of Ivan the Terrible, at least by hearsay, is known to virtually everyone, not only Russians, but also foreigners. This historical figure attracts special attention of both researchers, inhabitants, and representatives of art.

The first Russian tsar, Prince of Moscow and All Russia Ivan IV was born on August 25, 1530. His mother, Princess Glinskaya, gave birth to a son in Kolomna. Father Ivan the Terrible, Prince Vasily III, came from the dynasty of Rurik. The king's parents died when he was still a child. At the age of three, Ivan was proclaimed king.

The biography of Ivan the Terrible as king was beginning to be difficult. He was a child, so all power was in the hands of the mother and boyar of the Duma. Boyars actually ruled until 1548. Ivan's childhood was spent in an unfavorable situation. Before his eyes, intrigues unfolded, coups were carried out, a fierce struggle for power (between Shuisky and Belsky). Considering Ivan as a child, the boyars did not pay attention to him, did not listen to the opinion, killed his friends and kept the king in poverty. The child grew aggressive, early learned to torment animals. Already at that time, suspicion and vindictiveness appeared in him.

Brief biography of Ivan the Terrible is reduced, rather, to his portrait image, than to a description of the events that accompanied his life. He was very educated, had a great memory. From childhood he was tormented by his position and dreamed of real power. It was he who placed it above all, including any laws of morality.

1547 was the year when the biography of Ivan the Terrible began as an autocrat. January 16 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin held his wedding to reign. He became the first king to concentrate power in the whole state in the whole hands. Previously, before him, in Russia there was no autocracy. Now everyone, including the boyars, had to obey the will of the king. However, the appanage princes, who until recently were independent rulers in their own principalities, opposed this. As a result, Ivan IV introduced oprichnina - a tough and radical measure of struggle against the aristocracy.

The foreign policy of Grozny was not particularly successful. During the years 1558 - 1583 the Livonian War continued , resulting in the defeat of Moscow and the loss of part of the Russian lands.

The history of Ivan the Terrible for the Russian state has become a special period. The results of his reign for the country were quite controversial. On the one hand, he was able to centralize the state, which is important in strengthening the consciousness of people as citizens of one country. On the other hand, for the people this period was very difficult. Oprichnina negatively affected the economy, many lands were simply devastated. Under Ivan the Terrible, serfdom was strengthened. In 1581 he introduced the "Zapovednye leta" - a ban on the peasants to leave Yuryev's day from the owners. In 1578, the king ceased execution, and in 1579 repented of his own cruelty.

The biography of Ivan the Terrible would be incomplete without mentioning that the king had 7 wives. From the first, Anastasia Romanovna Zakharina-Yuryeva, he had two sons, and one son from the latter - Maria Fyodorovna Nago. He also had three daughters: Anna, Maria and Evdokia.

The last years of his life the king was sick, he could not walk before his death. On March 18, 1584, Grozny died. There is an opinion that he was poisoned. Ivan the Terrible was buried next to his son Ivan killed in the Archangel Cathedral. The dynasty of the Rurikovichs stopped, because Fyodor Ivanovich, the younger son of the tsar, was on the throne for a very short time and did not leave any offspring. The Time of Troubles began.