You're Dead to Me, Ivan Ivanovich
19th November, 1581.
Ivan the Terrible didn’t earn his sobriquet by being not very good at what he did. The word ‘Terrible’ in this context is a rather archaic translation of the Russian grozny, a more accurate translation of which would be along the lines of ‘inspiring awe or terror, powerful, courageous and magnificent.’ Technically, his name was Ivan IV Vasilyevich.
Mr Terrible had three sons, Dimitry, who died aged 8 months, Ivan, Feodor and another Dimitry.
Ivan, or Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia to you, was a fiery but learned chap, much like his father, and the seemingly inevitable clash between them came during the year 1581, although the contemporary sources don’t really explain what happened to him.
The commonly held explanation is that Ivan Ivanovich, frustrated at the way his father had been handling the Livonian War, demanded direct control of some troops to help relieve the siege of the Russian town of Pskov, and their relationship began to deteriorate from then on.
On the 19th of November, a blazing row erupted between them when Ivan the Terrible accused Ivan Ivanovich’s wife, Yelena Sheremeteva, of ‘dressing inappropriately’ whilst heavily pregnant. During the row, Ivan the Terrible struck the tsarevich over the head with his ‘pointed staff’, causing a fatal head injury from which he died a short time later.
Yelena Sheremeteva suffered a miscarriage within hours of her husband’s death.
Ivan Ivanovich’s death threw the succession into chaos, and when the Tsar died in 1584, his incompetent and ill-prepared son Feodor was the only candidate to succeed him. Unable to cope, Feodor was reduced to a largely symbolic role whilst Russia was ruled by Boris Godunov. The death of Feodor in 1598 saw Russia plunged into the period known as The Time of Troubles.
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