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Vasily III was Ivan's father. Ivan the Terrible was 3 at the time of his father's death.
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Glinskaya was Ivan IV's mother, who ruled under Ivan's name, until her death in 1538.
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Much of Ivan the Terrible's earlier years had boyars fighting for power. This may have influenced his attempts to limit the boyar's powers later in his life.
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In February 1547, one month after Ivan is crowned the tsar of Russia, Ivan marries Anastasiya Romanovna from the Romanov family.
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Ivan the Terrible called the zemskii sobor, or the 'assembly of the land', to make reforms to law and administration.
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Ivan's first wife, Anastasiya Romanovna, died in 1560. Ivan may have believed she was murdered, and thus entered the bad period.
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When Andrei Kurbskii defected to Poland, Ivan announced he was not going to rule anymore. The Muscovites begged Ivan to continue his rule. Ivan effectively gained the full loyalty and support of Russia.
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Ivan, with the full support of the Muscovites, created the oprichnina, a system where the state is controlled in parts by officials. Ivan also used this system to execute suspicious people, mainly boyars.
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In the span of nine years in Ivan's later life, he married five wives.
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Ivan IV killed his own son and heir, Ivan V when Ivan the Terrible was enraged. This caused Ivan the Terrible great stress and ultimately led to his death in 1584. He left his country in ruin with Feodor I as the reign, who was weak and incompetent, unlike Ivan V
