Ivan the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible succeeded his father Vasilii III and was the first Grand Prince to have himself officially crowned tsar. With his reign, Russia became a fully autocratic state. He succeeded to the throne at the age of three and regents ruled for him until at the age of 16 he had himself crowned tsar. He also married Anastasia who was a member of the Romanov boyar family. As a boy, Ivan IV suffered under the regents. While he was treated with respect in public, in private he was often neglected and tortured. He also witnessed the boyars fighting to come to power. These two things are believed to have caused Ivan IV to be cruel. As a child he was known to torture animals, and as an adult his actions earned him the name Ivan the Terrible. He was also very suspicious of the boyars and heavily persecuted them. This too may have been from seeing the actions of the boyars when he was a child.

Ivan IV's reign is usually divided into two parts. During the first half, the good period, Ivan IV ruled with the advise of a council. In 1549 he called together a zemskii sobor, assembly of the land, and then in 1550 established a new law code. He also updated the army and was initially successfully in military matters, defending Russia's borders to the east. However, he suffered losses when trying to expand his territories westward. The second half of Ivan IV's reign is known as the bad period. During this time he discontinued using a council of advisors and became especially suspicious of the boyars. He gained the authority to rule with complete autonomy when he threatened to abdicate the throne but was asked to continue his rule. This threat was calculated by Ivan IV to give him more power and he got it by agreeing to remain in power but only if he could rule without the moral guidelines of the church.

After this, Russia was divided into two areas. In the region known as the Oprichnina Ivan IV had sole control. In the other, the boyar Duma was to have direct rule. This agreement was never carried out though and Ivan IV had sole rule over the entire nation. He used the Oprichniki, a militia which was loyal to him to terrorize the country. Ivan IV became famous for torturing and executing thousands of people. Even members of the Russian Orthodox church were not exempt from Ivan IV's executions. The church had traditionally been a check on the power of the rulers, however when church leaders expressed disagreement with Ivan' IV's policies they were often tortured and executed. Oddly, Ivan IV was a member of the Russian Orthodox church and he offered prayers for those he had executed.