The biography of Ivan the Terrible is known to almost everyone by hearsay, not only to Russians, but also to foreigners. This historical figure attracts special attention of researchers, and ordinary people, 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 Glinsky, gave birth to a son in Kolomenskoye. The father of Ivan the Terrible, Prince Vasily III, came from the dynasty of the Rurikovich. The king’s parents died when he was still a child. In 3 years, Ivan was proclaimed king.
Biography of Ivan the Terrible as a king began difficult. He was a child, so all power was in the hands of the mother and the Boyar Duma. The boyars actually ruled until 1548. Ivan's childhood passed in an unfavorable environment. Intrigues unfolded before his eyes, coups were carried out, there was a tough 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 torture animals. Already at that time, suspicion and revenge appeared in him.
A brief biography of Ivan the Terrible comes down more 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 genuine power. It was her who he placed above all, including any laws of morality.
1547 was the year when the biography of Ivan the Terrible as an autocrat began. January 16 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin held his wedding for the reign. He became the first king who concentrated power in the whole state in one hand. Previously, before him, there was no autocracy in Russia. Now everyone, including the boyars, had to obey the will of the king. However, the specific princes, which until recently were independent rulers in their own principalities, opposed this. As a result, Ivan IV introduced the oprichnina - a tough and radical measure of struggle against the aristocracy.
Grozny’s foreign policy was not particularly successful. From 1558 to 1583 the Livonian War continued , culminating 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, a lot of land was simply devastated. Under Ivan the Terrible, serfdom strengthened. In 1581 he introduced the "Summer of Sanctuary" - a ban on the peasants on Yuryev day to leave the owners. In 1578, the king stopped executions, and in 1579 repented of his own cruelty.
The biography of Ivan the Terrible would be incomplete without mentioning that the tsar had 7 wives. From the first, Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva, he had two sons, and one son from the last - Maria Fedorovna Nagoy. He also had three daughters: Anna, Maria and Evdokia.
The last years of his life, the king was sick, before his death he could not walk. March 18, 1584 the Terrible died. It is believed that he was poisoned. Ivan the Terrible was buried next to his son Ivan, killed in the Archangel Cathedral. The Rurik dynasty stopped, because Fedor Ivanovich, the youngest son of the king, was on the throne for a very short time and did not leave offspring. The Time of Troubles began.