John IV the Terrible is one of the most controversial and frightening figures in the history of the Russian state. Date of birth and death of Ivan the Terrible - 1533 and 1584. He was the son of the great Russian prince Vasily III, who died in the year of the birth of John. The first 15 years of the life of the future formidable king took place in an atmosphere of intrigue and struggle of the noble clans that are part of the ruling boyar government. Perhaps this is what contributed to the development of a cruel and suspicious nature.
The most significant facts of the reign of John IV
- On January 16, 1547, Ivan IV received the imperial title and began independently to govern the state. Two years later, a new party was created, the âChosen Councilâ, with which the sovereign began reforms and the creation of a centralized state.
- Zemsky Cathedrals were also organized, the first of which was held in 1550.
- In 1551, the Stoglavy Church Council was held and church reform took place: the tsar forbade the acquisition of new land possessions to churches and monasteries and ordered the return of the lands previously transferred to them.
- In 1553, with the filing of John IV, a printed matter appeared in Russia.
- Archery army was created to strengthen power and imperial security.
- Foreign policy was marked by the complete defeat of the Tatar yoke in the Volga region.
- The most famous "act" of Ivan the Terrible was the oprichnina of 1565-1572, which, in essence, was a government lawlessness. By order of the king, lands were taken from people by force, which afterwards were closed to the people and served the needs of the king. Oprichniki - the royal retinue - staged mass terror and executions.
When did Ivan the Terrible die?
There are many versions, conjectures and legends about the death of the king. According to the official version, the cause of the death of Ivan the Terrible is old age and illness. What actually happened on the day that became the date of the death of Ivan the Terrible - March 18, 1584?
It cannot be said that in the year of the death of Ivan the Terrible there were no prerequisites for her. It is believed that Ivan the Terrible suffered from syphilis, which is not surprising with his free lifestyle. This disease is characterized by periods of exacerbations and various complications. Already on March 10, 1584, the tsarâs health deteriorated, possibly due precisely to an exacerbation â he did not receive the Latvian ambassador because of an ailment. According to the testimony of historians, John was swollen and covered with boils. The disease progressed, and on March 16 the sovereign even fell into unconsciousness. But on March 17th he felt better.
Briefly about the death of Ivan the Terrible
Not everyone knows that the formidable king was a chess player. There is a picture written by the artist Peter Tsepalin, which is stored in Moscow, in the Museum of Chess. It depicts John VI at the time of death - playing a game of chess.
Date of death of Ivan the Terrible - March 18, 1584. The last day of Ivan the Terrible is described in Notes on Russia by Jerome Gorsey. In the morning the sovereign made a will - that is, he was preparing for death. John was quite superstitious and believed in the wise men who foretold the day of his death. At about 3 in the afternoon, the king went to the bathhouse, singing according to his custom. There he spent about four hours and went out around 7 pm, fresh and feeling normal. He was seated on a bed, and Grozny, intending to play a game of chess, called his favorite - Rodion Birkin, who belonged to the nobility.
Other favorites were present - Bogdan Belsky and Boris Godunov, as well as servants and other persons. Suddenly, the king felt a sharp weakness and fell onto the bed. While others fussed in panic, sent for various drugs and doctors, John VI passed away.
Throttling version
In the original of the aforementioned book, written in English, the words âhe was strangledâ are used, which can be translated as âlost his breathâ or âstopped breathingâ, or âwas strangledâ. Probably, thanks to this source, the version about the death of the king as a result of strangulation is widespread. For obvious reasons, it is impossible to refute or confirm this. Given the eternal intrigues at the royal courts, there would be nothing fantastic in the murder.
This version is also supported by the fact that in the last moments of the life of Ivan the Terrible, only Boris Godunov and Bogdan Belsky were with him. In those days, murders were far from always hidden, but, nevertheless, if the kingâs death was really the work of his favorites, they had no reason to reveal themselves. As a major specialist in medieval history of Russia, Alexander Zimin, said: "They could tell the truth, but they could conceal one of the terrible secrets of palace life."
Who benefited from the death of John IV?
According to some historians, the probability of participation in the death of Ivan the Terrible Belsky and Godunov is high because he wanted to get a divorce from his son Fedor and his sister Boris, Irina Godunova. This could have caused negative consequences for the royal favorites. But on the other hand, Godunov could have this motive. Belsky, on the contrary, did not make sense to kill Grozny, because his well-being and success depended on the tsar. However, according to the same historian Zimin, âwhat didnât happen at the court of Ivan the Terrible!â
Another opinion was the researcher Vadim Koretsky. His point of view is that a conspiracy was concluded with the aim of killing the tsar between Godunov, Belsky and the life physician Johann Eilof. According to the historian, the doctor was bribed by Bogdan Belsky. Godunov might not have liked John IVâs plans to marry a relative of the Queen of England, since an inter-dynastic marriage put the Russian throne at risk - as a result of such a marriage, members of the English royal family could gain inheritance rights of the Russian crown. And this would lead to the fact that the son of Tsar Fedor could lose his right to reign, which would be unprofitable for the Godunov family, because, as already mentioned, Irina Godunova was the wife of Fedor Ioannovich.
Belsky could awe with awe the fruits of the fury of the formidable king, because he was the head of the royal healers, and after the sorcerers predicted Johnâs imminent death, he was afraid to tell him about it. It was not easy to hide something from the tsar, and when he heard about the terrible prediction, he wanted to execute both the predictors and Belsky. The threat of death hung over Bogdan, and he had nothing more to lose. If we accept this version, the violent death of Ivan the Terrible seems quite logical.
It could look like this: leaving the bath, John took up a game of chess, sitting on his bed. At the same time, Belsky, Godunov and other persons from the Tsar's entourage were present. Bogdan served the king a poisoned drink under the guise of a medicine prescribed by a doctor. After drinking it, the king after a short time lost consciousness. In the bustle, the royal cronies ran for help, doctors and confessor of the king, and Godunov and Belsky, left alone with John IV, strangled him.
Poison version
Another popular hypothesis about the cause of the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible is poisoning. According to the author of the already mentioned book âNotes from Russia,â the English ambassador, the Russian sovereign once picked up a turquoise with the words: âSee how it changes color, how it turns pale? This means that I was poisoned. It portends death to me. "
In addition to the king's suspicions and the fact that poisoning in the Middle Ages was a very common way of killing, other facts speak in favor of this version. In 1963, during the repair of the Kremlinâs Archangel Cathedral, where John IV and his son Ivan were buried, their tombs were opened. The remains of monarchs studied and discovered a huge content of toxic substances - arsenic is 1.8 times higher than normal, and mercury - 32 times.
Of course, this discovery provided food for new conjectures. On the one hand, syphilis, which the emperor may have had, was treated with mercury preparations. This could be the rationale for so many poisons in the remains. But, firstly, the treatment does not explain the presence of arsenic in them, and secondly, no signs of sexually transmitted diseases were found on the bones, so the big question is whether John IV really had syphilis.
By the way, scientists did not find any obvious signs of strangulation - the cartilage of the throat remained intact; however, this cannot serve as a complete refutation of the hypothesis, since the king could also be strangled with a pillow.
According to legend, the death of Ivan the Terrible was accompanied by tonsuring him as a monk. There are different versions about this. Some believe that he was tonsured shortly before his death, others that he was already dead. But all who hold the opinion of the tonsure of the tsar agree that this happened in the year of the death of Ivan the Terrible.
The end of the Rurik dynasty
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son Fedor became the official ruler. In 1591, his younger brother Dmitry died. According to some versions, it was a violent death on the orders of Boris Godunov. In 1598, Tsar Fedor Ivanovich also died . Since he had no children, the Rurik dynasty was interrupted.
Board of Boris Godunov
The new sovereign Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov, who reigned for 7 years, until 1605. You can not call him a completely bad ruler: foreign policy in his reign was very successful. The development of Siberia and the south continued, Russian troops strengthened in the Caucasus. A small war with Sweden ended in the Tyavzinsky world in 1595, according to which Russia regained the cities given in the Livonian War. Godunovâs rule was also favorable for the Russian Orthodox Church, since in 1589 they established the patriarchate, electing the first Patriarch of Job in Russia.
Despite these successes, the country as a whole was not in the best position. Boris Fedorovich gave the nobles privileges to the detriment of the peasants, thereby taking a step towards the formation of serfdom. As a result, peasant life has become much less prosperous and free. In addition to this, several lean, hungry years happened in a row, and the discontent of the peasants grew stronger. The sovereign was distributing bread from his depots, trying to somehow rectify the situation, but this did not have the proper effect. In 1603-1604, under the leadership of the Cotton of Kosolap, an uprising took place in Moscow. The government managed to repay it, and the organizer was executed.
However, soon Godunov had to solve new problems. There was talk that Dmitry Ivanovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible, remained alive, and his double turned out to be killed. In fact, these rumors were spread by supporters of the impostor False Dmitry, who was a fugitive monk Gregory (in the world Yuri) Otrepyev. He was a supporter of Poland and enjoyed the support of its troops, making a promise to the Polish sovereign to make Russia a Catholic country and to share part of the Russian lands with Poland. People, of course, unaware of this, and dissatisfied with Godunovâs policies, followed the self-proclaimed prince.
Board of False Dmitry
Good luck for False Dmitry was Godunov's unexpected death in 1605, after which the impostor entered Moscow and declared himself the new tsar. For two years he was a ruler. Fortunately for Russia, he did not fulfill his promises to Poland, but he married a Polish woman, Maria Mnishek, and raised taxes. Of course, this turned the people against the new sovereign.
Under the leadership of Vasily Shuisky (who, like John the Terrible, belonged to the old family of the Rurikovich), an uprising began in 1606, and False Dmitry I was killed. The leader of the uprising became the sovereign in his place. Vasily Shuisky tried to secure the throne with new claims, promising the boyars not to touch their possessions, and also showing the people the remains of the real Dmitry Ioannovich so that people no longer believe impostors.
However, this did not help, and in 1606 there was again an uprising of dissatisfied peasants led by Bolotnikov. He was a protege of the organizer of the movement against Shuisky, the new impostor - False Dmitry II.
Having captured several cities, Bolotnikov with his army approached Moscow. But then something unexpected happened for the leader - part of the rebels from the noble families betrayed him. The army was defeated and a retreat began. After a long siege of the city of Tula, Bolotnikov was killed and the remaining rebels suffered a final defeat.
False Dmitry II at that time was going to Tula to help, together with a detachment of Poles, but after the news of the defeat of the uprising, he went to Moscow. New people opposed to Shuisky joined him. But they failed to take Moscow and settled down in the village of Tushino near Moscow, this happened in 1608. For this, False Dmitri II received the well-known nickname Tushinsky thief. In August, Poles arrived at this opposing government camp with the wife of the late False Dmitry I, Marina Mnishek, who was secretly married to False Dmitry II.
In 1609, the Poles launched an active armed attack on Russia, they did not need False Dmitry II, and he had to flee to Kaluga. In the summer of 1610, he tried to approach Moscow again, but the attempt ended in failure, and a second flight to Kaluga followed, where False Dmitry II was killed.
Civil uprising
Vasily Shuisky turned to the Swedes for support in the war with Poland and the impostor. However, the Swedes were no less interested in Poles in Russian lands, so the union was soon terminated. Shuisky was left without support in the face of external and internal enemies. In 1610, the boyars, secretly supporting the Poles, overthrew the sovereign. A government was formed, consisting of boyars, the so-called Semiboyarschina.
Soon, the boyars finally betrayed Russia and enthroned Vladislav, the Polish prince. But the people did not suffer a stranger on the Russian throne, and in 1611 the first popular militia formed under the leadership of Lyapunov. It was defeated, but in 1612, Minin and Pozharsky created a new militia, which came to Moscow. Together with the surviving members of the first militia, the rebels liberated the capital from foreign invaders. So ended the Polish intervention.
The End of Time of Troubles
In 1613, finally, which began after the death of Ivan the Terrible Troubles, ended. Zemsky Cathedral elected a new king. There were many pretenders to the Russian throne - the son of False Dmitry II Ivan, the Swedish prince Vladislav, some boyars. As a result, the representative of the noble family, the son of the patriarch Filaret - Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, who became the founder of the new ruling dynasty, was elected the new Russian sovereign.