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Ivan the Terrible is born in Kolomenskoye, Duchy of Muscovy, Russia
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His father, Basil III, died when he was 3 years old. His mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled as regent until her death in 1538, when Ivan was 8.
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Ivan IV was crowned tsar of Muscovy. That same year, he married Anastasia Romanovna
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Ivan appointed a council of advisers, a consensus-building assembly who helped institute his reforms. During what is considered the constructive period of his reign, he introduced self-government in rural regions, reformed tax collection, and instituted statutory law and church reform.
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Ivan's armies crushed the Tartar khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, respectively. This extended Muscovy control to the Urals in the east and the Caspian Sea in the south, creating a buffer zone against the Mongols.
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He set up the Oprichniki, which became a separate police state within Russia. They dressed in black, the traditional colors of death, and rode black horses, from whose saddle hung two emblems - those of a broom and a dog's head. The broom signified the rider's mission to sweep Russia clean of Ivan's enemies; the dog's head symbolized that he was watchful for the czar.
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Ivan murders St. Philip for the sin of sorcery and begins the massacre of great Novgorod.He personally led his army in this terrifying campaign. He believed the town to be full of traitors and killed thousands of men, women and children.(Prominent Russians)
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He murders his son and the heir to the throne.
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Ivan dies of a stroke. When Ivan the Terrible died, he left the country in disarrary, with deep political and social scars.