Ivan IV Vasiljevich
(Ivan the Terrible)
1547 - 84 CE
Ivan IV Vasiljevich (also known as Ivan the Terrible) was born to Helene (Yelena) of Glinski and Vasily III (the Prince of Moscow and the Grand duke of Russia) in 1530. Vasily III died when Ivan was only three years old. His mother Yelena Glinskaya established a regency. Yelena died in 1538. In 1547, Ivan was crowned as the Tsar (first time in the Russian history). Even though ill educated, he founded a national assembly and advisory council in 1549. He enacted reforms in the local government with the approval of advisory council . He drew up a new code law and standardized the duties and responsibilities of the aristocracy in 1550. He annexed the Tatar states, Kazan in 1552 and Astrakhan in 1556. Thus, He centralized the administration of Russia and expanded the boundaries of the Russian Empire.
Anastasia's death in 1560 affected him deeply and he became irrational and unpredictable. Ivan turned against his council of advisors and the boyars (the nobles). He used his bodyguard the oprichniki to destroy many of these boyars. Contemporary estimates of the number killed in these purges range from 400 to as high as 10,000. He also made laws that enabled enslavement of peasants possible. He started the Livonian war (1557-82) with Poland-Lithuania. At the time of his death, Russia was on the verge of anarchy as a result of Ivan's policies.
Ivan married Anastasia Romanov in 1547. They had six children. They were Anna, b. 1548; Maria, b. 1551; Ivan, b. 1554; Fedore I, b. 1557; Dimitri, 1552; Eudoxia, b. 1556. Anastasia died in 1560 and he married Marie Tscerkaski in 1561. They had a child Vasilli in 1563. He married Maria Sobakin in 1571 and divorced in 1572. He married Anna Koltoskaia in 1574 and divorced in 1574. He married Anna Vassiltschikov in 1574 and divorced her in 1576. He married Vassilisa Malentieva in 1577 and divorced her in 1580. He married Maria Nagoy in 1580 and they had a child named Dimitri in 1583.
Ivan died Mar 18, 1584. His son Fyodor I succeeded him as the tsar.
Monetary System
2 Chetverestsa = 1
Polushka
2 Polushka = 1 Denga
2 Denga = 1 Kopeck
100 Kopeck = 1 Rouble
Silver Denga of Ivan IV. 1547- 84 CE.
Obverse: Horseman with a spear in his hand.
Reverse: Inscription in russian.
