Grand Duke (from 1533), and from 1547 - the first Russian Tsar. This is the son of Vasily III. He began to rule in the late 40s with the participation of the Chosen Rada. Ivan IV was the first Russian Tsar from 1547 to 1584, until his death.
Briefly about the reign of Ivan the Terrible
It was under Ivan that the convening of Zemsky Sobors began, and the Code of Laws of 1550 was also compiled. He carried out reforms of the court and administration (Zemskaya, Gubnaya and other reforms). In 1565, oprichnina was introduced in the state.
Also, the first Russian Tsar in 1553 established trade relations with England, under him the first printing house was created in Moscow. Ivan IV conquered the Astrakhan (1556) and Kazan (1552) khanates. The Livonian War was fought in 1558-1583 for access to the Baltic Sea. In 1581, the first Russian Tsar began annexing Siberia. Mass executions and disgraces were accompanied by domestic politics Ivan IV, as well as increased enslavement of the peasants.
Origin of Ivan IV
The future tsar was born in 1530, on August 25, near Moscow (in the village of Kolomenskoye). He was the eldest son of Vasily III, Grand Duke of Moscow, and Elena Glinskaya. Ivan descended on his father’s side from the Rurik dynasty (its Moscow branch), and on his mother’s side from Mamai, who was considered the ancestor of the Glinsky, Lithuanian princes. Sophia Palaeologus, her paternal grandmother, belonged to the family of Byzantine emperors. According to legend, in honor of the birth of Ivan, the Church of the Ascension was founded in Kolomenskoye.
Childhood years of the future king
A three-year-old boy remained in the care of his mother after the death of his father. She died in 1538. At this time, Ivan was only 8 years old. He grew up in an atmosphere of struggle for power between the Belsky and Shuisky families, at war with each other, in an atmosphere of palace coups.
The violence, intrigue and murder that surrounded him contributed to the development of cruelty, vindictiveness and suspicion in the future king. Ivan’s tendency to torment others manifested itself already in childhood, and his close associates approved of it.
Moscow uprising
In his youth, one of the most powerful impressions of the future tsar were the Moscow uprising that occurred in 1547 and the “great fire.” After the murder of a relative of Ivan from the Glinsky family, the rebels came to the village of Vorobyovo. I took refuge here Grand Duke. They demanded that the remaining Glinskys be handed over to them.
It took a lot of effort to persuade the crowd to disperse, but they still managed to convince them that the Glinskys were not in Vorobiev. The danger had just passed, and now the future king ordered the arrest of the conspirators in order to execute them.
How did Ivan the Terrible become the first Russian Tsar?
Already in his youth, Ivan’s favorite idea was the idea of autocratic power, unlimited by anything. On January 16, 1547, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, the solemn crowning of Ivan IV, the Grand Duke, took place. Signs of royal dignity were placed on him: the cap and barmas of Monomakh, the cross of the Life-Giving Tree. After receiving the Holy Mysteries, Ivan Vasilyevich was anointed with myrrh. So Ivan the Terrible became the first Russian Tsar.
As you can see, the people did not participate in this decision. Ivan himself proclaimed himself tsar (of course, not without the support of the clergy). The first elected Russian Tsar in the history of our country was Boris Godunov, who ruled a little later than Ivan. The Zemsky Sobor in Moscow in 1598, February 17 (27), elected him to the throne.
What did the royal title give?
A fundamentally different position in relations with states Western Europe allowed him to take the royal title. The fact is that the grand ducal title in the West was translated as “prince”, and sometimes as “grand duke”. However, “king” was either not translated at all, or was translated as “emperor”. Thus, the Russian autocrat stood on a par with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire itself, the only one in Europe.
Reforms aimed at centralizing the state
Together with the Elected Rada, since 1549, the first Russian Tsar carried out a number of reforms that were aimed at centralizing the state. These are, first of all, the Zemstvo and Guba reforms. Transformations also began in the army. The new Code of Law was adopted in 1550. The first Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1549, and two years later - the Stoglavy Sobor. It adopted "Stoglav", a collection of decisions regulating church life. Ivan IV in 1555-1556 abolished feedings and also adopted the Code of Service.
Annexation of new lands
The first Russian Tsar in the history of Russia in 1550-51 personally participated in the Kazan campaigns. Kazan was conquered by him in 1552, and in 1556 - the Astrakhan Khanate. Nogai and the Siberian Khan Ediger became dependent on the king.
Livonian War
Trade relations with England were established in 1553. Ivan IV started the Livonian War in 1558, intending to gain the coast of the Baltic Sea. Military operations initially developed successfully. By 1560, the army of the Livonian Order was completely defeated, and this Order itself ceased to exist.
In the meantime, significant changes took place in the internal situation of the state. Around 1560, the Tsar broke with the Chosen Rada. He placed various disgraces on its leaders. Adashev and Sylvester, according to some researchers, realizing that the Livonian War did not promise success for Russia, unsuccessfully tried to persuade the tsar to sign an agreement with the enemy. Russian troops captured Polotsk in 1563. It was a large Lithuanian fortress in those days. Ivan IV was especially proud of this victory, which was won after the dissolution of the Chosen Rada. However, Russia already began to suffer defeats in 1564. Ivan tried to find the guilty, executions and disgraces began.
Introduction of the oprichnina
The first Russian Tsar in Russian history became increasingly imbued with the idea of establishing a personal dictatorship. He announced in 1565 the introduction of oprichnina in the country. The state was now divided into 2 parts. Zemshchina began to be called the territories that were not included in the oprichnina. Each oprichnik necessarily swore an oath of allegiance to the tsar. He pledged not to maintain relations with the zemstvos.
The guardsmen were released by Ivan IV from judicial responsibility. With their help, the tsar forcibly confiscated the estates of the boyars and transferred them into the possession of the oprichniki nobles. Disgraces and executions were accompanied by robbery among the population and terror.
Novgorod pogrom
The Novgorod pogrom, which occurred in January-February 1570, became a major event during the oprichnina era. The reason for this was the suspicion that Novgorod intended to go over to Lithuania. Ivan IV personally led the campaign. On the way to Novgorod from Moscow, he plundered all the cities. In December 1569, during the campaign, Malyuta Skuratov strangled Metropolitan Philip in the Tver monastery, who tried to resist Ivan. It is believed that the number of victims in Novgorod, where no more than 30 thousand people lived at that time, amounted to 10-15 thousand. Historians claim that the tsar abolished the oprichnina in 1572.
Invasion of Devlet-Girey
The invasion of Devlet-Girey, the Crimean Khan, to Moscow in 1571 played a role in this. The oprichnina army was unable to stop him. Devlet-Girey burned the settlements, the fire also spread to the Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod.
The division of the state also had a detrimental effect on its economy. A huge amount of land was devastated and destroyed.
Reserved summers
In order to prevent the desolation of many estates, in 1581 the king introduced reserved summers in the country. This was a temporary ban on peasants leaving their owners on St. George's Day. This contributed to the establishment of serfdom in Russia. The Livonian War ended in complete failure for the state. The original Russian lands were lost. Ivan the Terrible could see the objective results of his reign during his lifetime: the failure of all foreign and domestic political undertakings.
Remorse and fits of rage
The Tsar stopped executing people in 1578. Almost at the same time, he ordered the compilation of memorial lists (synodics) of those executed, and then distribution of contributions for their commemoration to the monasteries of the country. In his will, drawn up in 1579, the king repented of his deeds.
However, periods of prayer and repentance were followed by fits of rage. On November 9, 1582, during one of these attacks, in his country residence (Alexandrovskaya Sloboda), he accidentally killed Ivan Ivanovich, his son, hitting him in the temple with a staff with an iron tip.
The death of the heir plunged the tsar into despair, since Fyodor Ivanovich, his other son, was incapable of governing the state. Ivan sent a large contribution to the monastery to commemorate Ivan’s soul, and even thought about entering the monastery himself.
Wives and children of Ivan the Terrible
The exact number of wives of Ivan the Terrible is unknown. The king was probably married 7 times. He had, not counting children who died in infancy, three sons.
From his first marriage, Ivan had two sons, Fedor and Ivan, from Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva. His second wife was Maria Temryukovna, the daughter of a Kabardian prince. The third was Marfa Sobakina, who died unexpectedly 3 weeks after the wedding. According to church rules, it was forbidden to marry more than three times. Therefore, in 1572, in May, a church council was convened in order to authorize Ivan the Terrible’s 4th marriage - with Anna Koltovskaya. However, she was tonsured a nun that same year. In 1575, Anna Vasilchikova became the tsar's fifth wife, who died in 1579. Probably the sixth wife was Vasilisa Melentyeva. In the fall of 1580, Ivan entered into his last marriage - with Maria Naga. In 1582, on November 19, Dmitry Ivanovich was born from her, the third son of the Tsar, who died in Uglich in 1591.
What else is remembered in history by Ivan the Terrible?
The name of the first Russian Tsar went down in history not only as the embodiment of tyranny. For his time, he was one of the most educated people, possessed of theological erudition and phenomenal memory. The first tsar on the Russian throne is the author of many messages (for example, to Kurbsky), the text and music of the service for the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir, as well as the canon to the Archangel Michael. Ivan IV contributed to the organization of book printing in Moscow. Also during his reign, St. Basil's Cathedral was erected on Red Square.
Death of Ivan IV
In 1584, on March 27, at about three o'clock, Ivan the Terrible went to the bathhouse prepared for him. The first Russian monarch, who officially accepted the title of Tsar, washed with pleasure and was amused by songs. Ivan the Terrible felt fresher after the bath. The king was seated on the bed, wearing a wide robe on top of his underwear. Ivan ordered the chess set to be brought and began arranging it himself. He could not manage to put the chess king in his place. And at that time Ivan fell.
They immediately ran: some for rose water, some for vodka, some for the clergy and doctors. Doctors arrived with drugs and began to rub him. The Metropolitan also came and hastily performed the rite of tonsure, naming Ivan Jonah. However, the king was already lifeless. The people became agitated and a crowd rushed to the Kremlin. Boris Godunov ordered the gates to be closed.
The body of the first Russian Tsar was buried on the third day. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral. The grave of the son he killed is next to his own.
So, the first Russian Tsar was Ivan the Terrible. And after him, his son, Fyodor Ivanovich, who suffered from dementia, began to rule. In fact, the state was governed by a board of trustees. A struggle for power has begun, but this is a separate topic.
The first tsar in Rus' was born not in Moscow, but in Kolomenskoye. At that time, Moscow was small, and Rus' was also small. However, the royal baby was clearly marked and protected by God. His childhood was not calm. The guardians of the three-year-old king - the princes, the Shuisky brothers - created such a bloody terror in the palace that every evening one had to thank God that he was alive: they were not poisoned, like their mother, they were not killed, like their elder brother, they were not rotted in prison, like their uncle, they were not tortured to death. , like many close associates of his father, Prince Vasily III.
Against all odds, the first Tsar in Rus' survived! And at the age of 16, in an unexpected blow to the boyar aspirations, he was crowned king! Surely, historians say, the smart Metropolitan Macarius suggested this to him. But it may well be that he himself guessed that the country needed one strong hand to stop civil strife and increase territory. The triumph of autocracy is the triumph of the Orthodox faith, Moscow is the heir of Constantinople. Of course, the idea of a wedding was close and understandable to the metropolitan. The first tsar in Rus' turned out to be a real one: he reined in the boyars and increased the territory over the 50 years of his reign - one hundred percent of the territories were added to the Russian state, and Russia became larger than all of Europe.
Royal title
Ivan Vasilyevich (the Terrible) used the royal title brilliantly, taking a completely different position in European politics. The grand ducal title was translated as “prince” or even “duke”, and the tsar is the emperor!
After the coronation, the king's relatives on his mother's side achieved many benefits, as a result of which an uprising began, which showed young John the real state of affairs regarding his reign. Autocracy is a new, difficult task, which Ivan Vasilyevich coped with more than successfully.
I wonder why the first Tsar in Rus' was 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 his lifetime, the first tsar in Russia was called John I, the document approving the kingdom was kept in a special golden casket-ark, and the first tsar in Rus' sat on this throne.
The Tsar considered the centralization of the state, carried out the Zemstvo and Guba reforms, transformed the army, adopted a new Code of Law and the Code of Service, and established a law banning the entry of Jewish merchants into the country. Appeared new coat of arms with an eagle, since Ivan the Terrible is a direct descendant of the Rurikovichs. And not only them: on his mother’s side, his immediate ancestor is Mamai, and even his own grandmother is Sophia Paleologus herself, the heiress of the Byzantine emperors. There is someone to be smart, proud, hardworking. And there are some who are cruel too. But, of course, at that time, and even in that environment, the transformations that the first tsar in Russia clearly carried out would have been impossible without cruelty. Transformation of the army - two words, but how much is behind them! 25,000 dollars appeared, all it took was to arm them with arquebuses, reeds and sabers, and tear them away from the farm! True, the archers were gradually torn away from the economy. Artillery appeared, numbering at least 2 thousand guns. Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible even dared to change taxation, to the great murmur of the boyar Duma. Of course, the boyars did not just grumble about the infringement of their privileges. They undermined the autocracy to such an extent that they forced the emergence of the oprichnina. The guardsmen formed an army of up to 6 thousand fighters, not counting almost a thousand trusted ones on special assignments.
Your blood runs cold when you read about those tortures and executions that were carried out at the wave of the hand of the sovereign. But not only Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, even today’s historians are confident that the oprichnina did not arise by chance and not out of nowhere. The boyars needed to be reined in! In addition, the heresies creeping from the West so shaken the foundation of the Orthodox faith that the throne swayed along with the tsar sitting on it and the entire Russian State. The autocracy also had ambiguous relations with the clergy. Before mysticism, the believing king took away monastery lands and subjected the clergy to repression. The Metropolitan was forbidden to delve into the affairs of the oprichnina and zemshchina. At the same time, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich himself was the oprichnina abbot, performing many monastic duties, even singing in the choir.
Novgorod and Kazan
Before the new year 1570, the oprichnina army set out on a campaign against Novgorod on suspicion of intending to betray Rus' to the Polish king. The guardsmen had a lot of fun with it. They staged robberies with massacres in Tver, Klin, Torzhok and other nearby cities, then destroyed Pskov and Novgorod. And in Tver, Metropolitan Philip was strangled by Malyuta Skuratov for refusing to bless this bloody campaign. Everywhere the tsar completely destroyed the local nobility and clerks, one might say, purposefully, along with their wives, children and household members. This robbery lasted for years until Crimean Rus' attacked. This is where to show the daring of the young oprichnina army! But the army simply did not show up for the war. The guardsmen became spoiled and lazy. Fighting the Tatars is not fighting the boyars and their children. The war was lost.
And then Ivan Vasilyevich got angry! The menacing gaze shifted to Kazan from Novgorod. Then and there the Girey dynasty reigned. The sovereign abolished the oprichnina, even banned its name, executed many traitors and villains, and went to Kazan three times. For the third time, Kazan surrendered to the mercy of the winner and after some time became a completely Russian city. Also, from Moscow to Kazan, Russian fortresses were built throughout the land. The Astrakhan Khanate was also defeated, joining the Russian lands. In the end, the Crimean Khan also suffered: how long can one plunder Rus' and burn its beautiful cities with impunity? In 1572, the 120,000-strong Crimean army was defeated by the 20,000-strong Russian army.
Expansion of territories through wars and diplomacy
Then the Swedes were significantly beaten by the forces of the Novgorod army, and a profitable peace was concluded for as long as 40 years. The first Tsar in Rus' was eager to reach the Baltic, fought with the Livonians, Poles, Lithuanians, who from time to time captured even the Novgorod suburbs, and so far (until the other great First Tsar - Peter) these attempts were unsuccessful. But he scared people abroad in earnest. He even established diplomacy and trade with England. And the king began to think about the unknown land of Siberia. But he was careful. It’s good that Ermak Timofeevich and his Cossacks managed to defeat the army before receiving the Tsar’s order to return to guarding the Perm lands, Russia thus grew into Siberia. And after half a century, the Russians reached the Pacific Ocean.
Personality
The first tsar in Russia was not only the first tsar, but also the first person in intelligence, erudition and education.
The legends still do not subside. He knew theology at the level of the most learned men. Laid the foundation of jurisprudence. He was the author of many beautiful stichera and messages (poet!). He obliged the clergy to open schools everywhere to teach children to read and write. He approved polyphonic singing and opened something like a conservatory in the city. He was an excellent speaker. What about book printing? And St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square? The question arose about the canonization of Ivan Vasilyevich. But how can we forget the robberies, torture, executions, disgrace and simply murder by the oprichnina and followers of Orthodox clergy? After all, with the end of the oprichnina, it did not end as such, it just began to be called differently. The king repented, wore chains, and scourged himself. He donated huge amounts of money to the church to commemorate the souls of the executed and the health of the disgraced. He died a schema-monk.
The Russian word known as "tsar" came to us with Latin language from the word "cesar". The same word, only in a different sound, that is, “Caesar,” became for the German “Kaiser,” which also meant ruler.
The very first tsar in Rus' came to power unexpectedly. There were princes before him. Ivan the Third Vasilyevich became the first king. He came from the Rurik dynasty. It was he who was the first prince, the Grand Duke of the Varangians. Ivan was also read as John. So it was possible according to Christian and Slavic language unite himself with the Apostle John. After all, it turns out for the people that then God himself made him king.
The church, in addition to a different sounding name, gave it a different name. Now the king was an autocrat, which is where autocracy came from. This is exactly what the Byzantine emperor sounded like in a Slavic country. While Türkiye ruled Byzantium, there was no imperial house. When it was possible to return it to Russia, Ivan the Third began to consider himself the successor who ascended the throne after the Emperor of Byzantium.
The king marries a girl named Sophia Palaeologus, who is the niece of Constantine Palaeologus, the last Byzantine emperor. Sophia is considered the heiress of the fallen imperial family. It is thanks to this marriage that John the Third manages to share with her the right of inheritance over Byzantium.
When Sophia appears in the Moscow Kremlin, the princess manages to change the routine of the entire princely court. We are even talking about Moscow itself. John the Third himself also publishes the idea of changing everything that is in Moscow. Because he supposedly doesn’t like anything that’s there either. Therefore, upon the arrival of the young people, Byzantine craftsmen and artists are called to the capital, who begin not only to build, but also to paint churches in their own way. They also built stone chambers where not only kings, but also boyars could live. At this time, the Chamber of Facets is born. But our ancestors, unlike us, thought that living in a house made of stone was harmful. Therefore, although stone houses were built, only feasts and balls were held there, while people continued to live in wooden houses.
Now Moscow was Constantinople. This is exactly what they called Constantinople, which was the capital of Byzantium and was a Turkish city. The life of the nobles who served at court was also now led according to Byzantine laws. Moments were even noted when the queen and king had to go to the table, how they should do it, how others should behave. For example, it was customary that when the king or queen enters or leaves the table, everyone else must stand. When the Grand Duke became king, his gait also changed. Now she was more solemn, slower, more dignified.
True, the fact that John called himself a king did not mean at all that he became one. After all, until the middle of the 15th century Ancient Rus' She called not only the Byzantine emperors kings, but also the khans of the Golden Horde. When can a tsar appear in Rus'? When he ceases to be a subject of the khan. And this was difficult to achieve. True, Rus' was still able to throw off this yoke, so now it could rightfully call its rulers tsars. Now no one, no Tatar, under whose yoke Rus' had been for so many centuries, could demand that the Russian princes pay tribute.
When the 15th century ended, the seals used by Ivan the Third began to seal political treaties, as well as various other important political documents, and the coat of arms on the seal is represented in the form of a double-headed eagle, which had previously been the Byzantine imperial coat of arms.
True, Ivan the Third is not truly the Tsar of Rus'. After all, although it began to be called that, not everything was so smooth. Only after some time did the princes begin to rightfully be called kings, who began to rule Russia. Only then were they able to transfer this title from father to son, that is, by inheritance.
In fact, the first Russian Tsar was Ivan the Fourth the Terrible, who was the grandson of Ivan the Third. This happened when he was officially proclaimed with this title, and since 1547 it became known throughout the world that Ivan the Terrible is the Tsar of All Rus'.
It was Ivan the Fourth the Terrible who entered the history books as the first tsar of the then-known mighty power of all Rus'. Before this, rulers were officially called princes. At the same time, this king served as the most formidable, which is why he was named that way, as well as a dramatic figure throughout the world.
He was born in 1530 from the noble noblewoman Elena Glinskaya. They say that she was a descendant of Genghis Khan. Grandmother was Sofia Paleolog, as we already said, niece Byzantine Emperor. Ivan's father died when he was only three years old. At the age of eight he loses his mother. This is what influenced the development of the character of the young king. He behaved as a smart politician, a strong and cruel ruler. When he turns eighteen, he becomes the first Tsar of Russia.
In the seventeenth year of his life, on December 13, 1546, Ivan announced to the Metropolitan that he wanted to get married. The next day, the Metropolitan served a prayer service in the Assumption Cathedral, invited all the boyars, even the disgraced ones, and went with everyone to the Grand Duke. Ivan said to Macarius: “At first I thought of getting married in foreign countries from some king or king; But then I abandoned this thought, I don’t want to get married in foreign countries, because after my father and mother I remained small; If I bring myself a wife from a foreign land and we do not agree on morals, then there will be a bad life between us; therefore, I want to marry in my state, with whom God will bless according to your blessing.” Metropolitan and boyars, says the chronicler; They cried with joy, seeing that the sovereign was so young, and yet did not consult with anyone.
But young Ivan immediately surprised them with another speech. “With the blessing of the Metropolitan’s father and with your boyar council, I want, before my marriage, to look for the ancestral ranks, like our ancestors, kings and great princes, and our relative Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh sat down for the kingdom and great reign; and I also want to fulfill this rank and sit on the kingdom, on the great reign.” The boyars were delighted, although - as can be seen from Kurbsky's letters - some were not very happy that the sixteen-year-old Grand Duke wished to accept the title that neither his father nor his grandfather dared to accept - the title of Tsar. On January 16, 1547, a royal wedding took place, similar to the wedding of Dmitry the grandson under Ivan III. Anastasia, the daughter of the deceased okolnichy Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin, was chosen as the bride for the tsar. Contemporaries, depicting the properties of Anastasia, attribute to her all the feminine virtues for which they only found names in the Russian language: chastity, humility, piety, sensitivity, kindness, not to mention beauty, combined with a solid mind.
THE BEGINNING WAS GOOD
BY GOD'S GRACE, KING
His Holiness Emperor Maximalian, due to many motives, especially at the insistence of the ambassadors of the Moscow sovereign, gave him the following title: “To the Most Serene and Mighty Sovereign, Tsar John Vasilyevich, Ruler of All Rus', Grand Duke of Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Sovereign of Pskov, Smolensk and Tver, Tsar Kazan and Astrakhan, our only friend and brother.”
But he himself usually uses the following title in his letters sent to foreign sovereigns; all his subjects must keep this title in memory most carefully, like daily prayers: “By the grace of God, Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Rus', Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Pskov, Grand Duke of Smolensk , Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgar, Novgorod Nizhnyago, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky, Udora, Obdorsky, Kondinsky and all the lands of Siberia and the north, from the beginning the hereditary sovereign of Livonia and many other countries." To this title he often adds the name of the monarch, which in Russian, which is very happy in addition, is very successfully translated by the word Samoderzetz, so to speak, who alone holds control. The motto of Grand Duke John Vasilyevich was: “I am not subject to anyone except Christ, the Son of God.”
STAIRWAY WITH GOLDEN STEPS
Unlike Byzantium, in Rus' a rule was established according to which the representative of an exceptional family becomes the anointed of God, the very origin of which is connected with the secret destinies of the whole world (Rurikovich was perceived as the last and only legitimate monarchical dynasty, the founder of which, Augustus, lived at the time of the incarnation and ruled in the era when “the Lord entered Roman power,” that is, he was included in the census as a Roman subject). From this time begins the history of the indestructible Roman kingdom, which changed its place of residence several times; its last receptacle on the eve of the Last Judgment became Moscow Rus'. It is the rulers of this kingdom who will become those who will spiritually prepare their people for “ the last times“When the people of Rus', the New Israel, will be able to become citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem. This is evidenced, in particular, by the most important monument of the historical narrative of the Grozny era, the “Book of Degrees,” which especially emphasized the soul-saving mission of the Muscovite kingdom and its rulers: the history of the Rurikovich family was likened there to a staircase with golden steps (“golden degrees”) leading to heaven , “by it the ascent to God is not forbidden, having established itself and those who exist after them.”
Therefore, Tsar Ivan said in 1577: “God gives power, whatever he wants.” What was meant here was a reminiscence, widespread in ancient Russian writing, from the book of the prophet Daniel, who warned King Belshazzar about inevitable retribution. But Grozny cited these words to substantiate the idea of hereditary rights of the Moscow sovereigns, as the context of the Second Message of Ivan IV to A.M. Kurbsky convinces. The Tsar accuses Archpriest Sylvester and other “enemies” of the throne of attempting to usurp power and notes that only born rulers can possess the fullness of God-given “autocracy.”
GROZNY ABOUT ROYAL POWER
How could you not understand that a ruler should neither commit atrocities nor submit wordlessly? The Apostle said: “Be merciful to some, distinguishing them, but save others through fear, pulling them out of the fire.” Do you see that the apostle commands us to save through fear? Even in the times of the most pious kings one can find many cases of the most severe punishments. Do you, in your crazy mind, believe that a king should always act the same way, regardless of time and circumstances? Shouldn't robbers and thieves be executed? But the crafty plans of these criminals are even more dangerous! Then all kingdoms will fall apart from disorder and internecine strife. What should a ruler do if not sort out the disagreements of his subjects?<...>
Is it really “against reason” to conform to circumstances and time? Remember the greatest of kings, Constantine: how, for the sake of the kingdom, he killed his son, born to him! And Prince Fyodor Rostislavich, your ancestor, how much blood shed in Smolensk during Easter! But they are numbered among the saints.<...>For kings should always be careful: sometimes meek, sometimes cruel, the good - mercy and meekness, the evil - cruelty and torment, but if this is not the case, then he is not a king. The king is terrible not for good deeds, but for evil. If you want not to be afraid of power, then do good; and if you do evil, be afraid, for the king does not bear the sword in vain - to intimidate the evildoers and encourage the virtuous. If you are kind and righteous, then why, seeing how the fire flared up in the royal council, did you not extinguish it, but kindled it even more? Where you should have destroyed the evil plan with reasonable advice, there you sowed even more chaff. And the prophetic word came true on you: “You have all kindled a fire and are walking in the flame of your fire, which you kindled for yourselves.” Aren't you like Judas the traitor? Just as for the sake of money he became furious with the ruler of all and gave him up to be killed, being among his disciples and having fun with the Jews, so you, living with us, ate our bread and promised to serve us, but in your soul you stored up anger against us. Is that how you kept the kiss of the cross, wishing us well in everything without any cunning? What could be more vile than your insidious intent? As the wise one said: “There is no head more evil than the head of a serpent,” and there is no evil more evil than yours.<...>
Do you really see pious beauty where the kingdom is in the hands of an ignorant priest and traitorous villains, and the king obeys them? And this, in your opinion, is “resisting reason and a leper conscience” when the ignorant is forced to remain silent, the villains are repulsed and a king appointed by God reigns? You will not find anywhere that a kingdom led by priests has not gone bankrupt. What did you want - what happened to the Greeks who destroyed the kingdom and surrendered to the Turks? Is this what you advise us? So let this destruction fall on your head!<...>
Is this really the light - when priests and crafty slaves rule, while the king is only a king in name and honor, and in power is no better than a slave? And is this really darkness - when the king rules and owns the kingdom, and the slaves carry out orders? Why is he called an autocrat if he himself does not rule?<...>
