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Ivan IV the Terrible

Ivan the Terrible
IoannIV reconstruction by Gerasimov02.jpg
Forensic facial reconstruction of Ivan IV by Mikhail Gerasimov
Tsar of All the Russias
Reign 16 January 1547 – 28 March 1584
Coronation 16 January 1547
Successor Feodor I
Grand Prince of Moscow
Reign 3 December 1533 – 16 January 1547
Predecessor Vasili III
Born 3 September [O.S. 25 August] 1530
Kolomenskoye, Grand Duchy of Moscow
Died 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584
(aged 53)
Moscow, Tsardom of Russia
Burial Cathedral of the Archangel, Moscow
Spouses
Issue
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Full name
Ivan Vasilyevich
Dynasty Rurik
Father Vasili III of Russia
Mother Elena Glinskaya
Religion Russian Orthodox
Full name
Ivan Vasilyevich

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич, tr. Ivan Vasilyevich; 3 September [O.S. 25 August] 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome (Russian: About this sound Ива́н Гро́зный​ , Ivan Grozny, with correct translation from Russian being Ivan the Formidable), was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547, then "Tsar of All the Russias" until his death in 1584. The last title was used by all his successors.

During his reign, Russia conquered the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Sibir, becoming a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning approximately 4,050,000 km2 (1,560,000 sq mi). Ivan exercised over Russia's hereditary nobility and developed a bureaucracy to administer his new territories. He transformed Russia from a medieval state into an empire, though at immense cost to its people, and its broader, long-term economy.

Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental instability that increased with his age. In one such outburst, he killed his son and heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left his younger son, the pious but politically ineffectual Feodor Ivanovich, to inherit the throne.


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