-
Ivan's father, Vasily III died and Ivan became the new grand prince of Moscow at the age of three with his mother ruling in his stead
-
Yelena Glinskaya dies allegedly by poison, this shows the struggle of power and control of the young prince from factions of nobles.
The death of both of his parents had a big impact on Ivan -
Boyars fought and struggled for the reigns of the government, this lead to Ivan having a lifelong dislike to boyars.
-
The young czar was greatly influenced by the views of the Moscow metropolitan, which was to create a Christian state based on justice
-
Ivan married Anastasiya Romanovna, great aunt of a future first czar of the Romanov dynasty
-
At the age of 16, Ivan was crowned czar and absolute ruler of all of Russia
-
Anastasiya dies with only two male heirs surviving, this devastates Ivan. With sadness and rage filling up inside, he accuses boyars of his wife's death, as they've never done anything good
-
A police force of thousands of troops with the sole purpose of murdering traitors, or more specifically, boyars that have crossed him in any way
-
Ivan marries five wives in nine years, frustrated that none of the marriages worked out, he took it out on his son
-
Ivan, in a fit of rage, murders his oldest and most capable son, Ivan.
