Ivan IV

Ivan was born

Aug 25, 1530

He was the son of the Grand Prince Vasily III and his second wife, Yelena Glinskaya.

His father died

Dec 4, 1533

After his death, Ivan IV was meant to go into rule but being only 3 years old, his mom took over for him. With him being put into this position at such a young age, his life always focused around politics.

Others fight for power

Period: 1538 to 1547

With both his parents having died at this point, multiple factions of nobles were trying to take power from him. Throughout this period of time, the want for power among the boyars led to many murders within their clans. This exposed Ivan to a very ruthless nature at a young age which shaped many of his thoughts. In addition, the way he viewed the boyars after the deaths of his parents contributed to the development of his feared nature of hatred.

His mother died

Jan 10, 1538

Ivan accused the boyars of poisoning her leading to a hatred. She too had been ruling in Ivan's name up until this time. This was the start of a period that traumatized Ivan for life as others fought for power. "The deaths of both of Ivan’s parents served to reanimate the struggles of various factions of nobles for control of the person of the young prince and for power" (Andreyev).

Married his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna

1547

In all, he had 8 wives, but he loved Anastasia greatly. She helped him to feel compassion as she was the only person who he ever truly did love.

Fire of Moscow

Jun 24, 1547

This having happened very soon after Ivan IV took rule, it was a very stressful time as it caused a lot of damage to Moscow.

He acquired a fatal illness

1553

This was the first notable period where Ivan's personality really began to change for the worse as he became more ruthless and seemed to become less mentally stable. "The beginning of dramatic change in Ivan's personality is traditionally linked to his near-fatal illness in 1553. Ivan suspected boyars of plotting to replace him on the throne with his cousin, Vladimir of Staritsa" (Ivan IV of Russia). This was also a point in time when Ivan's paranoia really peaked.

Start of the Livonian War

1558

With the start of this war, many things were to come. As it was originally just meant to expand both in territory and with trade, all it ended up doing was cause harm to the government and economy. Not to mention, Ivan too. This war lasted basically the last 24 years he lived and just increased stress while putting him into a worse mental state.

Anastasia died

Aug 7, 1560

Ivan believed that the boyars also poisoned her which lead to him have an increased hatred for them. This was the start of a period of time where he had little trust for anybody and began to label many people as traitors. At this time, Ivan IV went into a deep depression and being to act much more erratically.

He threatens to resign

1564

As Ivan began to act weirdly in the years after the death of his wife, he threatened to resign in order to disapprove of all opposition. This was a point where he was struggling and had to keep his credibility alive.

Kurbsky defected to Poland

1564

This event hurt Ivan IV more than imaginable as Andrew Kurbsky had been a good friend of his. "But you have forgotten everything and traitorously, like a dog, have you transgressed the oath and have gone over to the enemies of Christianity" (Ivan IV). This is a piece that Ivan wrote to Andrew about how what he did was wrong. Andrew made the switch during the Livonian War adding to decrease in his mental and physical stableness that had been already declining because of the Oprichnina.

Ivan leaves Moscow

Period: 1564 to 1565

At this point, Ivan was in a horribly depressed state and this 2 month break was supposedly meant for him to visit many monasteries. However, it is believed that he actually just fled for sometime with relatives as he was far too paranoid. "In December 1564 Ivan left Moscow with some of his court supposedly to visit various monasteries. In reality, the paranoid tsar had abandoned the capital, taking valuables and relatives with him" (Haarman).

Forming of the Oprichniki

1565

These were Ivan's secret police. With the formation of this group, things just became worse. With them, Ivan finally fought back against the people whom he believed to be traitors (boyars), and murdered large masses of people who were actually innocent. This all having been an effect of his increased mental instability and paranoia. As this group went on, he also became more physically disabled, violent, and unbalanced.

He killed his eldest son

Nov 16, 1581

In the event of having beat up his son's pregnant wife, he and his son got into a violent fight where the accidental killing of Ivan's son occurred. "His son Ivan Ivanovich rose to defend his wife, whereupon the tsar killed his son, his only possible respectable heir" (Haarman). With this, only ivan's weaker (not fit) son was left to rule and Ivan IV was left traumatized.

He died

Mar 18, 1584

At this point, only his weaker son was left to rule putting Russia into chaos for near a century.