biography
| name: |
Ivan IV
|
| |
known as the Terrible
|
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1530–84)
|
| biography:
| Grand prince of Moscow (1533–84), born near Moscow, the first to assume the title of ‘tsar’ (Lat Caesar) in 1547. He subdued Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556), made the first inroads into Siberia (1581–3), and established commercial links with England (1550). In 1564 the treachery of some of his counsellors caused him to see treachery everywhere, and he embarked on a reign of terror, directed principally at the feudal aristocracy (boyars) and the church. He nonetheless did much for Russian commerce, and printing was introduced into Russia during his reign. |
|
|
