Ivan IV, grandson of Ivan the Great, was Grand Prince of Moscow and the first to be crowned Russian Tsar; his reign lasted from 1533 until his death in 1584. Under Ivan’s control, Russia’s landmass was unrivaled and the nation emerged from medieval times into the modern era as a regional power. He was forever branded with the moniker “Ivan Groznyi†(usually translated to Ivan the Terrible) which actually means Ivan the Redoubtable or Ivan the Severe – perhaps paying homage to his might and power rather than his monstrous or cruel acts. To be sure, this man was no angel. His bad behavior has earned him a place in infamy. However, his inherited circumstances were no picnic either. His father died when he was three and his mother acted as his regent until her (suspicious) death when he was only eight. He was constantly antagonized by the boyars (the class of families just beneath the princes) and so at a tender young age, he had already been taught to hold human life in contempt. Ivan was highly intelligent and a skilled politician, but he was also paranoid and ruthless. He conquered the last independent principalities such as Siberia and solidified the system of serfdom. In his later years he executed thousands and in a fit of regrettable rage, killed his own beloved son and heir.
