Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (25 August 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584) commonly known as Ivan the Terrible. Ivan was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and Tsar of All the Russia from 1547 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning almost one billion acres, approximately 4,046,856 km2 (1,562,500 sq. mi). Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All the Russia.
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 illness [2] that increased with his age, affecting his reign.[3] [4] in one such outburst, he killed his groomed and chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left the Stardom to be passed to Ivan's younger son, the weak and intellectually disabled Feodor Ivanovich. Ivan's legacy is complex: he was an able diplomat, a patron of arts and trade, founder of Russia's first Print Yard, a leader highly popular among the common people of Russia, but he is also remembered for his paranoia and arguably harsh treatment of the nobility. The Massacre of Novgorod is regarded as one of the demonstrations of his mental instability and brutality.
The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word Grozny in Ivan's nickname, but the modern English usage of terrible, with a pejorative connotation of bad or evil, does not precisely represent the intended meaning. The meaning of Grozny is closer to the original usage of terrible—inspiring fear or terror; dangerous (as in Old English in one's danger) Ivan had many marriages and children which I have listed below:
Tsarina Anna Ivanovna (10 August 1548 – 20 July 1550)
Tsarina Maria Ivanovna (17 March 1551 – young)
Tsarevich Dmitri Ivanovich (October 1552 – 26 June 1553)
Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (28