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Ivan's father died when he was 3 years old. This made it so his mother had to take control and boyars attempted to control Ivan at an early age resulting in chaos and traumatic experiences throughout his development/childhood.
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Ivan's mother died when he was 8 years old - supposedly poisoned. There was nobody left to take the throne at this time, resulting in the Boyars fighting to take control of the throne for years while Ivan came of age sos he could rightfully take the crown.
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Ivan IV married his wife Anastasia. This was a very happy time for Ivan, and was part of the reason he was a decent ruler at the start of his reign.
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During the Council of Reconciliation in 1549, Ivan attempted to apologize to the Boyars. He stated that he was still angry with all they had done, but he also admitted to some of his wrongdoings, and attempted to start fresh with them.
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Dmitri Ivanovich was the first son to Ivan and his wife, but died at less than a year old, leaving only 2 possible sons as heirs.
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Ivan's eldest son Ivan Ivanovich was born. He was the only suitable heir to the throne after Ivan, but was murdered by Ivan in 1581 at the age of 27.
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Ivan's middle son was born. He was the only heir to the throne after Ivan killed his eldest son, but was mentally handicap and unable to rule properly.
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Before the death of his wife, Ivan was supposedly a decent ruler. But when his wife died, he suspected she was poisoned much like his mother was when he was a child; this caused him to become increasingly paranoid and marked the start of his "bad period" of ruling.
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Ivan's older brother, Yuri Vasilievich died. This was supposedly very upsetting for Ivan, as he and his brother were close from all of the tormenting they received from the Boyars as children.
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Ivan's eldest son Ivan Ivanovich was killed by Ivan himself. By doing so, he left no heir for the throne; though he had two other sons, neither were able to take the throne. It is believed that Ivan IV killed his son Ivan after he found out that Ivan IV beat his son's pregnant wife for wearing "revealing" clothing, causing a miscarriage. After which the two men got in a fight and it ended with Ivan IV killing his son.
