The first king in Russia - John IV on the nickname "Terrible"

The first tsar in Russia was not born in Moscow, but in Kolomenskoye. At that time, Moscow was small, and Russia is also small. However, the regal infant was clearly marked and kept by God. His childhood did not turn out well. The guardians of the three-year-old tsar, the princes of the Shuiskys, created such bloody terror in the palace that every evening one had to thank God that he was alive: they did not poison him like a mother, they did not kill him like an older brother, they did not torture him in prison, they tortured him like an uncle , As a set of approximate father - Prince Vasily III.

In spite of everything, the first tsar in Russia survived! And at the age of sixteen, an unexpected blow to boyar aspirations was marrying the kingdom! Surely, historians say, he was prompted by the clever metropolitan Makarii. But it may well be that he himself guessed that the country needs one strong hand to stop civil strife and increase territory. The triumph of the autocracy is the triumph of the Orthodox faith, Moscow is the heiress of Constantinople. Of course, and the metropolitan idea with the wedding was close and understandable. The first tsar in Russia turned out to be a real one: the boyars controlled and built territories over 50 years of reign - one hundred percent of the territories were added to the Russian state, and Russia became more than the whole of Europe.

The royal title

Tsar's title Ivan Vasilyevich (Grozny) used genius, rising to a completely different position in European politics. The Grand Duke's title was translated as "prince" or even "duke", and so the tsar is the emperor!

After the coronation, the king's kin from the mother's side achieved many benefits, which resulted in an insurrection that showed John John the real state of affairs regarding his reign. Autocracy is a new and difficult matter, with which Ivan Vasilyevich coped more than successfully.

Reforms

That's interesting, why the first king in Russia - John the Fourth? Where did this figure come from? And this was much later Karamzin wrote his "History of the Russian State" and began counting with Ivan Kalita. And during life the first tsar in Russia was called - John I, the certificate of approval for the kingdom was kept in a special gold chest-ark, and the first king sat in Russia on this throne.

The king pondered the centralization of the state, carried out the Zemstvo and Lubny reforms, transformed the army, adopted the new Code of Law and the Code of Service, convened the first Zemsky Sobor and established a law prohibiting the entry of Jewish merchants into the country. A new coat of arms with an eagle appeared, since Ivan the Terrible is a direct descendant of the Rurik people. And not only them: on the maternal line his near ancestor - Mamai, and even his own grandmother - herself Sophia Paleologue, heiress of the Byzantine emperors. There is someone to be smart, proud, hardworking. And cruel, too, is in whom. But, of course, at that time, and even in that environment without cruelty, the transformations that the first tsar in Russia clearly performed would be impossible. Transformation of the army - two words, and how much it costs! There was a 25-thousand-strong army of musketeers, which only had to be armed with pews, berdyshs and sabers, and tear them away from the economy! True, they separated the archers from the economy gradually. There appeared artillery of at least 2,000 guns. Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny even dared to change the taxation to the great murmur of the Boyar Duma. Of course, the boyars were not just grumbling about the infringement of their privileges. They shook the autocracy to such an extent that they forced the appearance of the oprichnina. Oprichniki formed an army of up to 6,000 fighters, not counting nearly a thousand trusted on special assignments.

In the veins, the blood runs cold when you read about those tortures and executions that were carried out by the hand of the sovereign. But not only Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny, even today's historians are sure that oprichnina arose not by chance and not from scratch. The boyars had to be controlled! Moreover, the heresies creeping from the West were so shattering the foundation of the Orthodox faith that the throne staggered along with the tsar and the entire Russian State sitting on it. Ambiguous relations developed in the autocracy and with the clergy. Prior to mysticism, the believing king took away the monastic lands and repressed the clergy. Metropolitan was forbidden to delve into the affairs of oprichnina and zemshchiny. At the same time, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich himself was an oprichoman abbot, performing many monastic duties, even singing at the choir.

Novgorod and Kazan

Before the new 1570 year, the oprichnina army advanced on a campaign against Novgorod on suspicion of intending to betray the Polish King to Russia. Oh, the oprichniks were amused for glory. Arranged robberies with massacres in Tver, Klin, Torzhok and other associated cities, then destroyed Pskov and Novgorod. And in Tver Malyuta Skuratov, Metropolitan Philip was strangled for refusing the blessing of this bloody campaign. Everywhere the king under the root destroyed the local nobility and the orderlies, it can be said, purposefully, along with wives, children and household members. This robbery lasted for years, until the Crimean Khan Divlet-Girey attacked Russia . That's wherever to show the young oprichnoy army! But the army did not appear for the war. The oprichniks were lax, lazy. With the Tatars - it's not with the boyars and their kids fighting. The war was lost.

And then Ivan Vasilievich was angry! A terrible look turned to Kazan from Novgorod. Then and there the dynasty of the Gireys reigned. The emperor abolished the oprichnina, even banned its name, executed many traitors and villains, went to Kazan three times. For the third time Kazan surrendered at the mercy of the winner and after a while became quite a Russian city. From Moscow to Kazan, Russian fortresses were built all over the earth. The Astrakhan Khanate was also defeated, joining the Russian lands. Crimean Khan, too, eventually fell: how much can Russia be plundered with impunity and burn its beautiful cities? In 1572, the 120,000-strong Crimean army was defeated by a 20,000-strong Russian army.

The increase in territories by wars and diplomacy

Then the Swedes were sensibly beaten by the forces of the Novgorod army, and a profitable peace was concluded for as long as 40 years. The first tsar in Russia was torn to the Baltic, fought with Livonians, Poles, Lithuanians, from time to time even the Novgorod suburbs became fascinating, and so far (to another great First Tsar - Peter) these attempts were unsuccessful. But I frightened abroad already in earnest. Even established diplomacy and trade with England. And the tsar began to think about the Siberian land, unknown. But he was cautious. It's good that Ermak Timofeevich, with his Cossacks, managed to defeat the army of Khan Kuchum before receiving the tsar's order to return to the protection of the Perm territories, Russia thus grew Siberian. And half a century later the Russians came to the Pacific Ocean.

Personality

The first tsar in Russia was not only the first king, but also the first person in intelligence, erudition and education.

About the library of Ivan the Terrible still do not subside legends. He knew theology at the level of learned men. He started the jurisprudence. He was the author of many beautiful stichera and epistles (poet!). The clergy were obliged to open schools for the education of children everywhere. He approved polyphonic singing and opened a kind of conservatory in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. He was an excellent speaker. And printing? And St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square? The question of the canonization of Ivan Vasilyevich arose. But how to forget the robbery, torture, executions, opal and simply killing oprichnina and followers of Orthodox clerics? After all, with the end of the oprichnina, it as such did not end, it just began to be called. The king repented, wore chains, scourged himself. He donated huge sums of money to the church to remember the souls of the executed and about the health of the disgraced. He died schemoniom.