Against the background of his contemporaries, Ivan the Terrible was an extremely educated man . He possessed a phenomenal memory and theological erudition. True, there were many contradictions in his politics and character. The king, for example, was religious, but at the same time killed many people. The famous contemporaries of Ivan the Terrible and their relationship with the tsar will be discussed in today's article.
Contribution to the development of culture
Ivan the Terrible did a lot of good for the state. In 1551, on his orders, clergymen organized schools in all cities. At the initiative of the tsar, something like a conservatory was created in the Alexander Sloboda . The best musicians of those years worked here. During the reign of Ivan IV, the Front Annalistic Arch was also created.
The king did not stop there. He decided to organize a printing house in Moscow. Christian II sent the Russian ruler a Bible translated by Luther and two catechisms. After the founding of the printing yard, Ivan IV ordered the organization of the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral.
It is believed that Ivan the Terrible inherited an extensive library from Sophia Paleolog . True, what happened to her is unknown. According to one version, it was destroyed during one of the Moscow fires. Some researchers believe that the king hid the library that he inherited. Well, where? Various assumptions became the basis for the plots of numerous works of art.
Church
The king, who took life from his own son, was surprisingly God-fearing. True, this character trait was expressed mainly in decrees on the construction of temples. There are many legends about the long and rather strange conversations that Ivan the Terrible conducted with Vasily the Blessed - a Moscow holy fool who was not afraid to tell the truth in person even to the tsar himself. But we will talk about this amazing personality a little later.
Ivan the Terrible donated not only to the construction of new monasteries, but also to mention the souls of the people who were killed on his orders. This is perhaps the main contradictory personality of the king. He ordered the creation of new churches, while he executed the executions of monks and priests, robbed churches on the estates of the boyars, who were in disgrace.
At the end of the 20th century, individual church ministers proposed the canonization of Ivan the Terrible. However, this idea caused a wave of indignation. This king committed too many crimes against the Orthodox Church. Recall contemporaries of Ivan the Terrible. This will give a more complete description of the king.
Sylvester
This person was an Orthodox political and literary figure, priest, confessor of Ivan the Terrible. Sylvester began his career in Novgorod, after taking the priesthood, he served in the Annunciation Cathedral. Archpriest Sylvester is also known for the fact that in 1547, when another fire broke out in Moscow, he delivered an accusatory speech to the young tsar. Oddly enough, the words of the priest were received favorably by Ivan the Terrible. Moreover, he became one of his associates.
The Exile of Sylvester
The king once suffered a severe illness, miraculously survived. True, modern historians believe that this was one of his methods to understand the true attitude of his close associates. While Ivan the Terrible was near death or pretended to be, Sylvester became close to his cousin, who claimed the throne.
Ivan the Terrible, to the chagrin of his relative, did not die. After full recovery to Sylvester cooled. In 1562, rumors about the involvement of the protopope in the death of Queen Anastasia appeared quite opportunely. It is not known whether the tsar believed them, but just in case sent Sylvester to the Solovetsky Monastery. There the former priest spent the rest of his life preaching a philosophy of non-possessiveness.
Metropolitan Philip
This is a famous person in his time. One of the most famous personalities of the 16th century. Ivan the Terrible respected and was even afraid of the Metropolitan. But some disagreements once turned into an open conflict.
Fyodor Kolychev, that was the name of Metropolitan Philip in the world, belonged to an old boyar family. His father prepared him for public service. Mother raised in the spirit of Orthodox piety. Fedor was taught literacy, gun ownership and horseback riding. Until thirty years, he lived at the court of Basil III, where he won the sympathy of the future king.
In 1537, Fedor's relatives sided with Andrei Ivanovich Staritsky, the prince who rebelled against Elena Glinsky. All of them were in disgrace. Fedor, meanwhile, left Moscow.
Before Philip, Archbishop German was the Metropolitan of Moscow. Once he expressed disagreement with the policy of Ivan IV, for which he instantly fell out of favor. Philip, before agreeing to the king’s proposal for the adoption of the metropolitan rank, set the condition for the destruction of the oprichnina, with which the king did not agree.
The first two years were relatively calm. At that time, in Moscow, almost no one heard about executions. But Metropolitan Philip often turned to the king with a petition for disgraced boyars. In this way he tried to soften the ruler’s fierceness known to all. Little is known about the administrative activities of this church figure. In Moscow, thanks to him, the Church of Saints Zosima and Savvaty was built. Philip contributed to the development of typography.
The conflict between the king and the metropolitan
Ivan the Terrible ruled the state quite peculiarly. His favorite method was mass executions. After the king returned from the Lyon campaign, a new period of bloody terror began. The reason was the letters of the Polish king to the boyars, who were able to intercept. The king ordered someone to be executed immediately. Someone was sent to the monastery.
These events escalated into a conflict between Ivan the Terrible and spiritual authority. Metropolitan Philip opposed terror. At first he made several attempts to stop lawlessness in peaceful conversations with the king, but they did not lead to anything.
The real conflict between Ivan the Terrible and Philip occurred in 1568. In March, the Metropolitan allowed himself public criticism of the policy of terror. Ivan the Terrible boiled with anger, hit the ground with a rod. The next day, a new wave of executions began. Serviced people and boyars were tortured in order to knock out testimonies from them about the plans of the metropolitan against Ivan the Terrible.
According to Karamzin, the king was afraid of Philip because of his popular veneration, and therefore he directed his anger at the boyars. The metropolitan in protest went to one of the Moscow monasteries.
In 1568, a trial was held over Philip. Solovetsky monks testified. What was contained in them is unknown. Obviously, these were accusations of witchcraft typical of that era. Philip was deprived of the metropolitan garden.
Prince Andrei Kurbsky
This commander is another close associate of Ivan the Terrible, who, like many, at one time did not escape disgrace. Andrei Kurbsky participated in a campaign against the Kazan Khanate. During the illness of Ivan the Terrible, he became one of the few who did not refuse to swear allegiance to Tsarevich Dmitry. When the persecution of supporters of Sylvester began, the prince nevertheless realized that opals could not be avoided. In 1653, Kurbsky went over to the side of Sigismund.
St. Basil
The Moscow holy fool was born in an ordinary peasant family. From childhood, he was distinguished by industriousness and godly fear. As a youth, he discovered the gift of insight. Perhaps this is the most legendary contemporary of Ivan the Terrible. There are many stories about the prophecies of St. Basil.
The holy fool walked without clothes all year round. He spent the night in the open air, always kept fast and humbly endured hardships. Muscovites respected Vasily. Often presented to him a gift of warm clothing, which immediately disappeared somewhere. But the most surprising is that it was almost the only contemporary of Ivan the Terrible who was not at all afraid of him. Moreover, according to historical sources, rather, the fierce ruler felt fear at the sight of a harmless holy fool.
When Vasily became seriously ill, Ivan the Terrible visited him. The holy fool died in 1552. The king carried the coffin along with the boyars. St. Basil is buried near the Trinity Church.