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Ivan IV, know as Ivan the Terrible, b Aug 25, 1530, czar of Russia 1547-1584, He centralised the administration of Russia and expanded the boundaries of the Russian Empire. He was born in Moscow, the oldest son of Vasilij III. Ivan died Mar 18, 1584.
Ivan was only three years old when his Father, Vasilij III died. Ivan's Mother, Yelena Glinskaya was leading Boyar (Noble) Family established a regency, but it soon degenerated into intrigue, denuncation and wild violence as rival boyars disputed the dominance of Glinsky Family. Yelena died in 1538 and misrule continued. Ivan had a poor health, he was largely ignored and his education was neglected. In 1547, Ivan was crowned as Tsar (first time in Russian history, before this, title was Grand Duke) and in same year Ivan married Anastasia Romanov. But Anastasia died in 1560, he married Marie Tscerkaski in 1561, Maria Sobakin in 1571 and some other times. but he was never able to recapture the happiness he had enjoyed with Anastasia. The years 1547 through 1560 are usually considered the constructive period of Ivan's reign, although the exact date that he assumed de facto control from the aristocracy is in dispute. He appointed an advisory council, founded (1549) a national assembly, enacted reforms in local government (approved by the advisory council), drew up (1550) a new law, and standardized the responsibilities and duties of the aristocracy. Ivan annexed two of the three Tatar states in Russia-Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556, the first non-Slavic states in the empire). Thus Russian control of the Volga River and access to the Caspian Sea was assumed. Expansion to the east, beyond the Ural Mountains, also began during this period. (Before Ivan's death Russia had established itself in Siberia.) In addition, trade contacts with the English, French, and Dutch were begun. Anastasia's death in 1560 marked the end of Ivan's constructive policies. Increasingly powerful, Ivan turned against his advisors-convinced that they, backed by the boyars, had caused her death. Threatening to abdicate unless the boyars were punished for their greed and treachery, Ivan abandoned Moscow in 1564, settling in the village of Aleksandrovsk. Confused and frightened, the people of Moscow begged Ivan to return and rule over them. He eventually agreed to do so on two conditions: he was to have the right to punish traitors and wrongdoers, executing them when necessary and confiscating their possessions; and a political and territorial subdivision-the oprichnina-was to be established, managed entirely at the discretion of the tsar.
The oprichnina included most of the wealthy towns, trade routes, and cultivated areas of Russia and was, therefore, a stronghold of wealthy old boyar families. To Ivan's select bodyguard, the oprichniki, fell the task of destroying many of these great lords. Contemporary estimates of the number killed are from 400 to as high as 10,000. Only a few of the old boyar families survived. Those who were not killed were ruined by Ivan's political and economic reforms. Ivan controlled this personal territory until 1572.
In foreign affairs, too, turmoil and disaster marked the latter part of Ivan's reign. Russia attempted, unsuccessfully, to gain access to the Baltic Sea in the Livonian War (1557-82) with Poland-Lithuania. Ivan died on Mar. 18, 1584. Although the transition from Ivan to his son and successor, Feodor I, was relatively easy and quiet, Moscow was, according to most observers, on the verge of anarchy as a result of Ivan's policies.
