Ivan IV Vasilyevich
25th August, 1530
To skittish monoglot Anglophone eyes, other languages are a terrifying prospect, none more so than the second-most spoken language in the British Isles, Welsh.
The Welsh are a proud yet delusional bunch of chancers (and I can say that because I am one), who will have you know, repeatedly, that their language (and Wales is the only country in the UK with an ‘official language’ - Welsh and English both holding the same legal status) is the ‘original’ language of the island of Great Britain. This is sort of true and sort of not true. Welsh has roots in the Brittonic languages spoken in the days before the Romans turned up and smacked everyone in the face with sharp things, but it is related to it in the same way English is related to Germanic languages of the same time period. Brittonic and Welsh aren’t the same language in the same way English and Old German aren’t and both English and Welsh are native languages of Great Britain that developed on these islands at the same time, around the 5th and 6th Centuries once the Romans had all been booted out and the Danish fishermen moved in.
Anybody of a certain age who grew up in Wales will remember the cutout animation children’s TV series Ivor the Engine, a happy little tale about, obviously, a steam train called Ivor that chugged around the ‘north-east corner of Wales’ with a dragon living in its boiler, stoked into life each morning by Jones the Steam, alongside characters like Dai Station who ran the station, Owen the Signal who… well, you get the idea.
This form of non-patronymic naming is still very popular in Wales, where you find an awful lot of people called Jones or Davies and an awful lot of people called John or David. Ask for ‘John Jones’ in a Welsh village and they will appear like mushrooms after a storm. As a result, everyone tends to be given a special identifying trait in their name depending on a series of factors including, but not limited to, your profession, an easily identifiable physical or geographical trait or just how much of an absolute idiot you are.
Hence each village’s various John Jones’ and David Davies’ and Thomas Thomas’ are all labelled with various codenames - Jones the Coal, who delivers the coal, Dai Ty Mawr who lives at ‘Ty Mawr’ (‘Big House’), and Twm Twp, who is a one-man disaster zone who shouldn’t be trusted with anything sharp, but does like a slice of apple cake with his tea in the morning, so don’t forget.
There used to be a man who delivered bread each week in a little red van and his name was Dai Bread. His actual name was, I believe, Arwel, but everyone called him Dai Bread because that was better. Better than his bread, in fact, which was largely inedible. But he used to deliver it all the same, and we’d happily buy it off him because it gave him something to do and he was a lovely fellow. He was an invariably jovial man who would turn up through storm and tempest, in a fog of diesel fumes and laughter, including on Christmas Day one year, so nobody wanted him not to turn up each week, despite his ghastly bread. He was happy driving about in his van, we were happy to see him and give him money and the ducks ate his bread. Although whether the ducks were happy about it was never recorded. A happy man doing something he loved among a community of people who loved him, if not his bread, in return.
One day, he just never came again and things were never the same after that.
Anyway, Jones the Steam made the steam, Dai Station sold the tickets, Owen Signal pulled levers and clacked away at switches and Ivor the Engine huffed and chuffed his little wheels up and down mountains, seemingly going nowhere but where he wanted to be.
Which does make you wonder, then, why Ivan the Terrible wasn’t very terrible. He was terrifying, in that he invoked terror or awe in those who opposed him, but he was rather good at being terrible. For an absolute bastard.
Born on August 25, 1530, in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, Ivan IV Vasilyevich—better known as Ivan the Terrible—would become the first Tsar of All Russia and one of the most infamous rulers in Russian history. His reign was defined by grand ambitions, sweeping reforms, and brutal episodes of violence that left a lasting scar on his people and the state he sought to build. As the first Russian ruler to claim the title of Tsar, Ivan aimed to transform a fragmented medieval kingdom into a centralized autocracy, often through ruthless and terrorizing measures.
Ivan was the son of Vasily III, Grand Prince of Moscow, and Elena Glinskaya, a Lithuanian noblewoman. At just three years old, Ivan lost his father and was thrust into a volatile political landscape. His mother served as regent until her sudden death in 1538, likely due to poisoning. The orphaned boy was then left vulnerable to power-hungry boyars, who exploited his position and subjected him to both neglect and cruelty. These formative experiences of betrayal and isolation played a crucial role in shaping Ivan’s later paranoia and thirst for control.
Crowned Tsar in 1547 at the age of sixteen, Ivan’s assumption of this title marked a significant shift in Russian history. Prior to this, rulers were titled Grand Princes; by adopting the title of Tsar, Ivan positioned himself as an autocrat with a divine right to rule, likening himself to the Byzantine emperors. This symbolism set the tone for his reign, where he sought to centralize and consolidate power under the tsarist autocracy, often through ruthless means.
In his early years as Tsar, Ivan appeared to be a reformer. He assembled the Zemsky Sobor, Russia’s first national assembly of representatives, and modernized the military by creating a standing army called the Streltsy, equipped with firearms. He also reformed local governance by establishing elected officials to replace the traditional boyar appointments, which helped diminish their influence. These initiatives demonstrated his intent to create a more efficient and centralized state.
However, the tide began to turn after the death of his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna, in 1560. Her death deeply affected Ivan, and he became increasingly erratic and suspicious, convinced that she had been poisoned by the boyars. This event marked the beginning of his descent into tyranny. In 1565, Ivan divided the country into two parts: the Oprichnina, a region under his direct control, and the Zemshchina, governed by the traditional nobility. The Oprichnina was a territory of terror, policed by the Oprichniki, a secret force loyal only to Ivan. They dressed in black robes and rode black horses, spreading fear as they tortured, exiled, and executed anyone perceived as disloyal.
The Oprichniki’s most infamous act was the massacre of Novgorod in 1570. Ivan suspected the city’s inhabitants of plotting against him, possibly seeking an alliance with Lithuania. What followed was a brutal campaign that resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of property, and a permanent scar on the city’s history. The Oprichnina’s reign of terror not only decimated the boyar class but also destabilized the economy, as widespread executions and purges led to population decline and disrupted agricultural production.
While terrorizing his subjects internally, Ivan also focused on expanding Russia’s borders. One of his most significant ventures was the Livonian War (1558-1583), a protracted conflict aimed at securing access to the Baltic Sea. Ivan’s ambitions, however, far exceeded his resources. The war, which pitted Russia against a coalition including Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, and Denmark, drained the state’s finances and manpower. Ultimately, it ended in failure, with Russia losing access to the Baltic and suffering heavy losses. Despite this setback, Ivan’s reign saw some successes in expansion, particularly in Siberia. Under his rule, Russia’s eastward expansion began with the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir, laying the groundwork for future colonization.
Ivan’s personal life was equally tumultuous. He married seven times, although only his first marriage to Anastasia was marked by stability. Several of his wives died under mysterious circumstances, further fueling his paranoia. His volatile nature reached a peak in 1581 when, during a heated argument, he struck and killed his eldest son, Ivan Ivanovich, with his staff. The event is often cited as one of the most tragic and defining moments of his reign. With his heir dead, the throne was left to his mentally unstable younger son, Feodor, leading to the eventual downfall of the Rurik dynasty.
Ivan’s later years were marked by increasing isolation and erratic behavior. He suffered from physical ailments, including a painful joint condition that may have contributed to his mood swings and violent outbursts. Despite his declining health, Ivan continued to assert his control, although his reign was increasingly characterized by fear and oppression rather than the early reforms that had initially defined it.
On March 28, 1584, Ivan died suddenly, reportedly while playing a game of chess. His death marked the end of a reign that had transformed Russia into a centralized state but at a great cost. The period following his death, known as the Time of Troubles, was one of political chaos and foreign intervention, exacerbated by the lack of a stable successor. Yet, Ivan’s legacy is complex. He is remembered both as a visionary ruler who laid the foundations for the Russian Empire and as a tyrant whose reign of terror left a deep psychological scar on the Russian people.
The narrative of Ivan the Terrible remains a powerful symbol in Russian history, embodying the tension between autocracy and reform, order and chaos. While reviled for his brutality, he is also credited with shaping the Russian state, setting the stage for its later imperial expansion.