A brief overview of Ivan the Terrible and his rule and why he is evil

1. There’s a reason why he is nicknamed
‘Terrible’!

2. Ivan the Terrible


3. Ivan’s Background

 Actually named Czar Ivan IV
 Took the throne at age 3, had others help him rule
until he came of age
 Ruled over Muscovy, which would become the
Russian Empire
 Updated the army and expanded his land into
Mongol Territory
 Was not successful expanding West into Europe

4. Siege of Kazan

 Ivan’s military successfully took over the Islamic
state
 Most of the civilians were killed or forcibly
Christianized
 Many mosques were converted to cathedrals
 Citizens were forced to move 50 km outside of the
city
 Ivan sent Russian merchants and farmers to settle
with them

5. Location of
Kazan in the state
of Tatarstan

6. Example of the early
mosques that were
destroyed by Ivan
Orthodox church that
was created in Kazan

7. Ivan at the Walls of Kazan


8. Celebration of Kazan

 The successful takeover of
Kazan led to Ivan wanting to
celebrate
 He created St. Basil’s
Cathedral to commemorate his
victory
 Meant to look like a bonfire
 There is no other architecture
like it in Russia from the time
period

9. WHY??

 Why is it so unique you ask??
 Well, legend has it that Ivan was so impressed with
the structure that he had all the architects blinded
 WHY?
 Well, Ivan wanted to make sure they never made
anything that beautiful again!

11. Serfdom

 Ivan also passed laws restricting the mobility of
peasants
 This would lead to peasants becoming Serfs
 They were forced to live in one area
 Performed ‘corvee duty’ where they would work on
the Lord’s land for 2-3 days a week and then work on
their own poorer land
 He basically put forced labour on all of his peasants

12. Tragedy

 Many believe that Ivan’s path to true evil began
when he was very ill and his wife died
 Ivan suspected the Boyars (nobility) of poisoning her
 He also thought they were plotting to replace him on
the throne
 He made the Boyars swear allegiance to his newborn
son but some refused
 He became paranoid and arrested and killed many
Boyars

13. The Arresting of a Boyar


14. Absolute Rule

 Paranoia led to Ivan discontinuing his advisory
council and gained complete control of the throne
after threatening to leave
 He wanted to rule without moral guidelines of the
church
 Country was divided into two groups (One led by
Ivan, one led by Boyars) but Ivan disregarded this
and ruled the whole country

15. The Oprichniki

 Ivan’s paranoia led him to create his own Secret
Police
 Their job was to ‘sweep away treachery’ and rode
around on horses with brooms and dog’s heads to
symbolize this
 They were above he law and many were criminals
 Their only allegiance was to Ivan and the penalty for
insulting them was death

16. Peasants Fleeing the Oprichniki


17. Oprichniki’s Role

 Became famous because of their murdering and torturing
of thousands of people
 10,000 nobility were executed
 12,000 families were re-located
 Ivan moved to a palace outside of Moscow and turned it
into a monastery including 300 of the most aggressive
Oprichniki
 The Oprichniki were made monks and Ivan their abbot in
this new order.
 The afternoons were spent in the dungeons torturing and
executing. At night they would have sacrilegious masses
followed by orgies of rape and torture.

18. Ivan Showing his Riches


19. Ivan and the Church

 The Church was traditionally a check against corrupt
rulers
 They expressed their displeasure with Ivan and were
tortured and executed as a result
 Ivan was a member of the Orthodox Church and
offered prayers before people were executed (nice
guy!)

20. Later Life of Ivan

 He descended into senility
 It is said he would throw cats and dogs out of the
windows of the Kremlin
 Started to punish whole towns. He would pray while
his henchmen went from house to house killing
innocent civilians.
 Gallows, a large cauldron and frying pan and ropes
meant to cut people through friction were set up
outside his palace in Moscow to have public
hangings.

21. Ivan’s Son

 Ivan beat his pregnant daughter for wearing
immodest clothes and she miscarried.
 His son argued with his father over the miscarriage
and Ivan hit him over the head with a stick causing
his death.
 Ivan’s heir became his middle son, Feodor, who was
childless
 After Feodor’s death there were a few years of
famine and unrest until the establishment of the
Romanov Dynasty

22. Ivan’s Death

 It was said that Ivan died while
playing chess (predicted
soothsayers)
 An autopsy on his corpse in 1960
showed that he had high amounts
of mercury which suggests poison
(maybe his advisors).
 BUT! It was also a cure for
syphilis, however, which Ivan
could have had.

23. 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhISxyw2JAs