Who was the very first tsar in Rus'? Who was the first Russian Tsar.

Ivan IV was the first to take the title of Russian Tsar. After reading this article, you will learn how this happened, as well as what marked his reign. Ivan the Terrible - Grand Duke (since 1533), and since 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 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 established trade relations with England in 1553, and 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 was 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. The Grand Duke took refuge here. 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 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.

Meanwhile, 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 liability. 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. Marry by church rules prohibited 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 concluded 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.

Although each of us studied the history of Russia in school, not everyone knows about who was the first tsar in Rus'. In 1547, Ivan IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Terrible for his difficult character, cruelty and harsh disposition, began to be called this loud title. Before him, all the rulers of the Russian lands were grand dukes. After Ivan the Terrible became Tsar, our state began to be called the Russian Kingdom instead of the Moscow Principality.

Grand Duke and Tsar: what is the difference?

Having dealt with who was first named Tsar of All Rus', we should find out why the new title became necessary. By the middle of the 16th century, the lands of the Moscow Principality occupied 2.8 thousand square kilometers. It was a huge state, stretching from the Smolensk region in the west to the Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod districts in the east, from the Kaluga lands in the south to the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Finland in the north. About 9 million people lived on such a vast territory. Muscovite Rus' (as the principality was otherwise called) was a centralized state in which all regions were subordinate to the Grand Duke, that is, Ivan IV.

By the 16th century, the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist. Grozny hatched the idea of ​​becoming the patron of everything Orthodox world, and for this he needed to strengthen the authority of his state on international level. Change of title in this issue played an important role. In Western European countries, the word “tsar” was translated as “emperor” or left untouched, while “prince” was associated with a duke or prince, which was a level lower.

The Tsar's childhood

Knowing who became the first tsar in Rus', it will be interesting to get acquainted with the biography of this person. Ivan the Terrible was born in 1530. His parents were the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III and Princess Elena Glinskaya. Future ruler Russian lands were orphaned early. When he was 3 years old, his father died. Since Ivan was the only heir to the throne (his younger brother Yuri was born mentally retarded and could not lead the Moscow principality), the rule of the Russian lands passed to him. This happened in 1533. For some time, his mother was the de facto ruler of the young son, but in 1538 she too passed away (according to rumors, she was poisoned). Completely orphaned by the age of eight, the future first Tsar of Rus' grew up among his guardians, the boyars Belsky and Shuisky, who were not interested in anything other than power. Growing up in an atmosphere of hypocrisy and meanness, from childhood he did not trust those around him and expected a dirty trick from everyone.

Acceptance of new title and marriage

At the beginning of 1547, Grozny announced his intention to marry into the kingdom. On January 16 of the same year he was given the title of Tsar of All Rus'. The crown was placed on the head of the ruler by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, a man who enjoys authority in society and has a special influence on young Ivan. The ceremonial wedding took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.

As a 17-year-old boy, the newly-crowned king decided to get married. In search of a bride, the dignitaries traveled all over the Russian lands. Ivan the Terrible selected his wife from one and a half thousand applicants. What he liked the most was young Anastasia Zakharyin-Yuryev. She captivated Ivan not only with her beauty, but also with her intelligence, chastity, piety, and calm character. Metropolitan Macarius, who crowned Ivan the Terrible, approved the choice and married the newlyweds. Subsequently, the king had other spouses, but Anastasia was his favorite of them all.

Moscow uprising

In the summer of 1547, a strong fire broke out in the capital, which could not be extinguished for 2 days. About 4 thousand people became its victims. Rumors spread throughout the city that the capital was set on fire by the Tsar’s relatives, the Glinskys. An angry crowd of people went to the Kremlin. The houses of the Glinsky princes were plundered. The result of popular unrest was the murder of one of the members of this noble family - Yuri. After this, the rebels came to the village of Vorobyovo, where the young king was hiding from them, and demanded that all the Glinskys be handed over to them. The rioters were hardly pacified and sent back to Moscow. After the uprising began to wane, Grozny ordered the execution of its organizers.

Beginning of state reform

The Moscow uprising spread to other Russian cities. Ivan IV faced the need to carry out reforms aimed at establishing order in the country and strengthening his autocracy. For these purposes, in 1549, the tsar created the Elected Rada - a new government group, which included people loyal to him (Metropolitan Macarius, priest Sylvester, A. Adashev, A. Kurbsky and others).

This period dates back to the beginning of the active reform activities of Ivan the Terrible, aimed at centralizing his power. To manage various branches of state life, the first tsar in Rus' created numerous orders and huts. So, foreign policy Russian state was led by the Ambassadorial Prikaz, headed by I. Viskovity for two decades. The Petition Hut, under the control of A. Adashev, was obliged to accept applications, petitions and complaints from ordinary people, as well as conduct investigations into them. The fight against crime was entrusted to the Robust Order. It served as a modern police force. The life of the capital was regulated by the Zemsky Prikaz.

In 1550, Ivan IV published a new Code of Laws, in which all existing laws in the Russian kingdom were systematized and edited legislative acts. When compiling it, the changes that have occurred in the life of the state over the past half century were taken into account. The document introduced punishment for bribery for the first time. Before this, Muscovite Rus' lived according to the Code of Laws of 1497, the laws of which were noticeably outdated by the middle of the 16th century.

Church and military politics

Under Ivan the Terrible, influence increased significantly Orthodox Church, the life of the clergy improved. This was facilitated by the Council of the Hundred Heads, convened in 1551. The provisions adopted there contributed to the centralization of church power.

In 1555-1556, the first Tsar of Rus', Ivan the Terrible, together with the Elected Rada, developed the “Code of Service”, which contributed to an increase in the number of Russian army. In accordance with this document, each feudal lord was obliged to field a certain number of soldiers with horses and weapons from his lands. If the landowner supplied the Tsar with soldiers in excess of the norm, he was encouraged monetary reward. In the event that the feudal lord could not provide the required number of soldiers, he paid a fine. The “Clause of Service” contributed to improving the combat effectiveness of the army, which was important in the conditions of Ivan the Terrible’s active foreign policy.

Expansion of territory

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the conquest of neighboring lands was actively carried out. In 1552, the Kazan Khanate was annexed to the Russian state, and in 1556, the Astrakhan Khanate. In addition to this, the king’s possessions expanded due to the conquest of the Volga region and the western part of the Urals. Kabardian and Nogai rulers recognized their dependence on Russian lands. Under the first Russian Tsar, the active annexation of Western Siberia began.

Throughout 1558-1583, Ivan IV fought the Livonian War for Russia's access to the shores of the Baltic Sea. The start of hostilities was successful for the king. In 1560, Russian troops managed to completely defeat the Livonian Order. However, the successfully started war dragged on for for many years, led to a worsening of the situation within the country and ended in complete defeat for Russia. The king began to look for those responsible for his failures, which led to mass disgrace and executions.

Break with the Chosen Rada, oprichnina

Adashev, Sylvester and other figures of the Chosen Rada did not support the aggressive policy of Ivan the Terrible. In 1560 they opposed Russia's control Livonian War, for which they aroused the wrath of the ruler. The first tsar in Rus' dispersed the Rada. Its members were persecuted. Ivan the Terrible, who does not tolerate dissent, thought about establishing a dictatorship in the lands under his control. To this end, in 1565 he began to pursue a policy of oprichnina. Its essence was the confiscation and redistribution of boyar and princely lands in favor of the state. This policy was accompanied by mass arrests and executions. Its result was the weakening of the local nobility and the strengthening of the power of the king against this background. The oprichnina lasted until 1572 and was ended after the devastating invasion of Moscow by Crimean troops led by Khan Devlet-Girey.

The policy pursued by the first tsar in Rus' led to a severe weakening of the country's economy, devastation of lands, and destruction of estates. Towards the end of his reign, Ivan the Terrible abandoned execution as a method of punishing the guilty. In his will of 1579, he repented of his cruelty towards his subjects.

Wives and children of the king

Ivan the Terrible married 7 times. In total, he had 8 children, 6 of whom died in childhood. The first wife Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva gave the Tsar 6 heirs, of which only two survived to adulthood - Ivan and Fedor. His second wife, Maria Temryukovna, gave birth to a son, Vasily, to the sovereign. He died at 2 months. The last child(Dmitry) Ivan the Terrible was born by his seventh wife, Maria Nagaya. The boy was destined to live only 8 years.

The first Russian Tsar in Rus' killed the adult son of Ivan Ivanovich in 1582 in a fit of anger, so Fedor turned out to be the only heir to the throne. It was he who took over the throne after the death of his father.

Death

Ivan the Terrible ruled the Russian state until 1584. IN recent years Throughout his life, osteophytes made it difficult for him to walk independently. Lack of movement, nervousness, and unhealthy lifestyle led to the fact that at the age of 50 the ruler looked like an old man. At the beginning of 1584, his body began to swell and emit an unpleasant odor. Doctors called the sovereign’s illness “blood decomposition” and predicted his quick death. Ivan the Terrible died on March 18, 1584, while playing chess with Boris Godunov. Thus ended the life of the one who was the first tsar in Rus'. Rumors persisted in Moscow that Ivan IV was poisoned by Godunov and his accomplices. After the death of the king, the throne went to his son Fedor. In fact, Boris Godunov became the ruler of the country.

It became Ivan the Terrible in Rus'. It is difficult to definitely call him a creator. He started brilliantly and ended tragically for himself and the country. Who was he?

The end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century was a time of significant strengthening of the idea of ​​autocracy in the Russian state. After all, “tsar” and “autocrat” are the titles of such a ruler who is capable of leading both his state and the whole world to the victory of the true faith.

The conviction that it was the Moscow sovereign who was capable of taking upon himself the fulfillment of divine plans, leading the Russian people to universal greatness and thereby saving the rest of the spiritually “destroyed” world did not take hold overnight.

It was in the first third of the 16th century in Russia that legends about the origin of the Rurik family from the Roman Emperor Augustus, about the hereditary nature of the power of Russian sovereigns from the Byzantine emperors, which found expression in “The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir,” were born and established as official spiritual and political teachings.

At the same time, the Russian sovereigns were actually declared the heirs of both the “First” and the “Second Rome”. In the message to the Grand Duke, attributed to Elder Philotheus, on the basis of the mystical image of the “Third Rome”, specific religious and political tasks facing the Russian sovereign are formulated - the Russian sovereign is obliged to assume the responsibilities of an ecumenical Orthodox sovereign. And the Tsar and Grand Duke himself was declared “the holder of the reins of Holy Rus'.”

In such a tense spiritual and political situation, in 1533, the new Grand Duke Ivan IV Vasilyevich ascended the throne, who was destined to be known in Rus' as Ivan the Terrible. He was then only three years old, and he ruled the Russian state for more than half a century - 51 years...

Royal choice

From an early age, Ivan Vasilyevich was brought up in the spirit of expecting accession to Russian throne great Orthodox sovereign, the true Anointed of God. During the Grand Duke’s childhood, the state was ruled by his mother Elena Glinskaya with the Boyar Duma. But in 1538, Elena Glinskaya suddenly died, and the boyars seized power. Little Ivan IV found himself at the center of intrigue and fierce struggle between various boyar factions. This fact had a significant impact on the formation of the character of the young sovereign. A little later, in 1551, in a speech at Stoglavy Cathedral, Ivan Vasilyevich will say that after the death of his mother, when “our boyars improved their time and owned the entire kingdom autocratically,” and the sovereign himself succumbed to their influence “and learned their evil customs, and the wisdom of others like them.” “And from that time until now,” Ivan IV lamented, “what evils did I not commit before God, and what executions did God not send upon us, bringing us to repentance.”

As “executions of God,” Ivan the Terrible cites many misfortunes that befell the state, including natural disasters. But the main event that returned Ivan to the right path were the terrible events of 1547, when three terrible fires occurred in Moscow, the last of which resulted in an uprising of the townspeople. The point, it seems, is that the troubles that befell Moscow in the spring-summer of 1547 were preceded by an event not only of a historical, but also of a religious and mystical nature - on January 16, 1547, Grand Duke Ivan IV Vasilyevich accepted the royal title, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow turned into the Russian kingdom.

From a historical point of view, Ivan IV decided to do an act that neither his grandfather nor his father allowed themselves to do. Having become the first Russian Tsar, he found himself equated with the greatest sovereigns of the past and present and finally fulfilled the long-awaited dream cherished in the Russian consciousness - the Russian kingdom has now become the sovereign heir of the greatest Christian states. Probably, the young king himself did not fully understand this at first. And only the terrible events that immediately followed the crowning of the kingdom convinced Ivan Vasilyevich that he was obliged to repent of his sins and begin to fulfill his highest destiny steadily and zealously. Otherwise, both he himself and the kingdom entrusted to him will be plunged by the Lord into even more terrible trials.

The Chosen and the Chosen Path

Having become concerned and taking on this burden of responsibility, Ivan IV brought new advisers closer to himself. In the first years of the reign of Ivan IV, a circle of close associates formed around him, who, with the light hand of the Tsar’s contemporary and one of his closest advisors, Andrei Kurbsky, began to be called the “Chosen Rada.” The “Chosen Rada” was led by the young boyar A.F. Adashev and priest Sylvester. Its active participants were Metropolitan Macarius, nearby boyars D.I. Kurlyatev, I.V. Sheremetev, M.Ya. Morozov.

The soul of the “Chosen Rada” was the presbyter of the Annunciation Cathedral and the confessor of the Tsar Sylvester. The influence that Sylvester had on Ivan Vasilyevich was great, because conversations with Sylvester formed in Ivan Vasilyevich a certain system of religious views. And due to the fact that Sylvester himself was close to the “non-covetous”, these views were built on the foundation of non-covetous teaching. In any case, “non-acquisitive” motives can be traced in many of Ivan Vasilyevich’s speeches and deeds in the first years of his reign.

Sylvester tried to instill in Ivan Vasilyevich a “non-acquisitive” understanding of the essence of royal power. According to the conviction of the “non-possessors”, the “pious king” is obliged to rule the state only with the help of “wise” advisers. If this condition is fulfilled, the age-old dream of a “true” Orthodox kingdom, the head of which - the “pious king” - will carry the light of truth throughout all earthly borders, will become a reality. And, apparently, Ivan Vasilyevich initially succumbed to such influence, following the advice of his spiritual mentors from the “Chosen Rada”. It was during this period that the most important reforms took place, which significantly strengthened the Russian kingdom: military, zemstvo, administrative, legislative; localism in the army was partially abolished.

At the same time, the “Elected Rada” tried to rely on broad popular representation - it was during its reign that Zemsky Sobors began to be convened in Rus', which approved the most important decisions government. Thus, politically, the “Chosen Rada” sought to revive the ancient Russian tradition - a fruitful combination of “Power” with “Earth”, a strong central government with developed local self-government. In other words, the autocratic foundations of the Russian state power were strengthened by the support of broad zemstvo self-government. And, by the way, it was the zemstvo self-government, established under Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, that would save Russia half a century later, in the terrible Time of Troubles.

A visible consequence of the activities of the “Chosen Rada” was the great Kazan victory - the conquest of the Kazan kingdom in 1552. The very meaning of the Kazan campaign was seen by both the sovereign and his entire entourage not only in his political significance, but also in a religious sense - it was a campaign of the Orthodox people against the “Hagarians”. And here it should be remembered that the conquest and conquest of the Kazan kingdom was not only the life’s work of Ivan IV, but the work of all his ancestors, the Moscow sovereigns. Moreover, the capture of Kazan not only marked the fulfillment of the three-century aspirations of the Russian people, but also became the beginning of a new stage in the life of Russia. Therefore, many people of that time and Ivan Vasilyevich himself saw the deepest mystical meaning in this event - it was a sign of God, testifying to the special disposition of the Lord towards the Russian Tsar.

Change of course

But the Kazan victory marked the beginning of a future chasm, ever widening between the tsar and his advisers. After all, it was then that Ivan Vasilyevich declared to his entourage: “Now God has protected me from you!” And this meant that more and more more king began to feel burdened by advisers. And more and more he came to the conviction that only he, Tsar Ivan, could be the executor of God’s will. Not without reason, a little later, in his first letter to Kurbsky, Ivan Vasilyevich wrote that he saw no one above him except God and the Most Holy Theotokos...

And so, at the end of the 1550s, there was a clear cooling between Tsar Ivan IV and his “Chosen Rada”. In 1560, both Sylvester and Adashev were removed from Moscow, and after the death of Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva, accused of poisoning her, Sylvester and Adashev were convicted in absentia and sent into exile. At the same time, Ivan Vasilyevich’s first persecution of “boyars and nobles” began, many of whom tried to hide from the tsar’s wrath abroad. The former tsar's adviser and governor Andrei Kurbsky also fled abroad. In 1564, already from Lithuania, he wrote his first message to the king, in which he publicly accused him of all his sins. In response, Ivan IV writes his message, known today as “The First Message to A.M. Kurbsky.” And it is in it that the king formulates a completely stable religious-mystical concept of the king-Anointed of God, endowed with the Supreme Grace for his labors. Moreover, it is important to note that this concept appeared, firstly, even before the introduction of the oprichnina and, secondly, became a religious and mystical justification for its introduction.

Principles of power

The letters of Ivan the Terrible to Andrei Kurbsky are a unique religious and philosophical monument, for in them, for the first time in Russian history, the sovereign himself completely, in a complete form, formulated religiously, philosophically, spiritually and politically, the basic principles of the autocratic power of the Russian monarchs. One of the most important principles is the completeness of autocratic power. It is no coincidence that in his first message to Kurbsky, Emperor Ivan Vasilyevich provides a lot of historical evidence that complete autocratic power is much more effective in achieving the great mystical goal facing Russia. Based on this historical experience, Ivan the Terrible asserts the necessity and possibility of only unlimited autocratic, autocratic rule in Russia, if the Russian kingdom wants to fulfill the universal mission entrusted to it to establish true Orthodoxy. This was Ivan the Terrible’s radical political break with both the “Chosen Rada” and the “non-covetous” tradition.

But the main place in Ivan Vasilyevich’s reasoning is occupied by understanding his own role in the struggle to save the world. And here the sovereign formulates the second principle - the divine origin of autocratic power. Moreover, Ivan the Terrible substantiates the thesis of God's chosenness of the sovereign himself. From the same point of view, one should evaluate the position of Ivan the Terrible in relation to any attempts on his autocracy. And this is not at all a pathetic attempt to justify the thirst for power, the exorbitantly inflated desire to rule people. Power in this case is not a whim of the king, but a duty assigned to him by the Lord. And he perceives this power not as a way of self-affirmation, but as the most difficult duty of God, as a feat of serving the Lord. And here Ivan the Terrible formulates the third principle of autocratic power: the main meaning of the power of the Russian autocratic sovereign is to bring the light of truth throughout the world, to organize his country, and even the whole world, according to the Divine commandments.

In a word, in his first message to Kurbsky, Ivan the Terrible for the first time brought together unified system the basic principles of the autocratic power of Russian sovereigns. But understanding the methods of translating these principles into real historical practice is associated exclusively with the personal qualities of Ivan the Terrible, with his personal worldview, both political and religious-mystical.

Methods of domination

The most important of these methods is instilling the fear of God. In fact, Ivan the Terrible’s program of action consisted of one idea - through the fear of God, to convert people to truth and light, and therefore to save their souls. And in this sense, the Russian Tsar quite seriously believed that he must fulfill both worldly and spiritual duties, for the royal power unites them into one and inseparable whole. Ivan the Terrible understood the essence of royal power in a mystical spirit as a type of monastic feat. It’s not for nothing that in one of his messages he says about himself: “I’m already half a black man...”. It was this attitude - “I’m already half a black man...” - that determined the line of behavior chosen by Ivan the Terrible in worldly life. Ivan the Terrible, apparently, revived in Rus' the idea of ​​ancient asceticism in the form in which the very first Russian monks understood it - in the form of “torture of the flesh”, and tried to transfer its foundations to worldly life. It seems that, considering himself the embodiment of the Divine Plan on earth, Ivan the Terrible was internally convinced that he has the full and undoubted right to treat his own state and his own people as a “body” that simply needs to be tortured, subjected to all sorts of torment, for only then will the paths to eternal bliss open. And only by going through the fear of God in its most direct expression will the Russian state, led by its monastic sovereign, come to “truth and light.”

Therefore, the executions and persecutions committed by the sovereign are not at all the fruit of his sick, inflamed imagination, nor a consequence of tyranny and moral depravity. This is a completely conscious struggle against traitors to God, with those who, in his opinion, betrayed the true faith. Ivan the Terrible, punishing treason, consistently and purposefully cut off everything sinful from the “flesh” of the Russian state. And then the reasons for many of the king’s later actions are revealed. Thus, the division of the state into two parts, carried out in 1565 - zemshchina and oprichnina - is explained, among other things, by the fact that zemshchina is part of the “flesh” of the united Russian land, which the sovereign subjected to the most severe torture in order to teach the enemies of Orthodoxy a lesson and settle them the fear of God in our souls. Therefore, the army of the oprichnina was initially built on the principle of a military monastic order, the head of which was the tsar himself, who served as abbot.

It can be said that already in 1564, in his first letter to Kurbsky, Ivan the Terrible formulated his own idea of ​​a “God-chosen monk-autocrat,” which he put forward to replace the idea of ​​a “pious king,” so reverently cherished by his former entourage, close to “non-acquisitive” traditions.

Having actually formulated the principles of Russian autocratic power, Ivan Vasilyevich took them to the extreme limit, to the absolute, and even crossed some mysterious line, placing only himself at the center of almost the entire universe. As a result, he started a war with own country, because he did not believe that his subjects were able to understand and fulfill his aspirations. However, if the oprichnina greatly strengthened the personal autocratic power sovereign, then numerous and lawless destructions committed both by the tsar himself and by simple guardsmen caused enormous harm to the state. And here it should be remembered that the devastation of the oprichnina and the Livonian War significantly undermined the power of the Russian state. It was these devastations that caused the strengthening of serfdom at the end of the 16th century, for people in many lands were either destroyed or fled to free lands. For example, by the end of the 16th century, 84% of all cultivated land in the Moscow district alone was empty. And Russian government There was no other way to support the noble local army except by allocating land to the nobles. But who needs land without peasants working on it? The strengthening of serfdom became, in turn, one of the reasons for the peasant uprisings at the beginning of the 17th century, which became the prologue to the Time of Troubles.

At the end of his life, Ivan Vasilyevich admitted the lawlessness of the murders committed on his orders during the years of the oprichnina. Evidence of this was the “Synodik of the Disgraced Tsar Ivan the Terrible,” compiled in the early 1580s. In this “Synodik”, by personal order of the tsar, 4 thousand names of those executed were included for commemoration in all monasteries. This fact speaks volumes, and first of all, that by the end of his life Ivan the Terrible deeply repented of his sins.

But the point, of course, is not to condemn Ivan Vasilyevich once again. Another thing is more important: to understand that Ivan the Terrible is a great and tragic figure in Russian history. And the secret of Ivan the Terrible is hidden in his spiritual and mental tragedy, the true tragedy of a man who earnestly strives for truth and light, but never finds them in earthly life.

Special for the Centenary

Disagreements on the question of who was the first Russian Tsar in the history of Russia are observed if there is no specific definition - “who can be considered a Tsar.” But the period of the Russian kingdom lasted just over 170 years.

Historical background

The Russian kingdom was a temporary formation between the Principality of Moscow and Russian Empire. It is quite difficult to designate a strict date for the birth of the Russian kingdom, since it is necessary to be tied to some decisive episode in history.

Principality of Moscow

Under Ivan the Great, a number of significant events took place that raised the status of the Moscow principality. In particular:

· The territory of the country has increased several times;

· Exit from under the Tatar-Mongolian dependence (after standing on the Ugra River);

· The process of forming a rigid vertical of power and creating state bodies has begun. management;

· The first collection of laws – “Code Code” – was created.

In addition to everything, Ivan the Great married a Byzantine princess, Sophia Paleologus. And she was the heiress of the imperial blood. This further raised the status of the ruler. But Ivan the Third was not the first Russian Tsar, although he liked to call himself that.

Now few people know about it, but in 1498, the grandson of Ivan the Great, Dmitry Ivanovich, was crowned king in full Byzantine rank. This was not only the whim of the grandfather, but also the dying request of his son (Ivan the Young).

For 5 years, he was his grandfather's co-ruler. And we can assume that the name of the first Russian Tsar is Dmitry. Although in documents he had the title of Grand Duke.

But intra-family discord, partly started by Sophia Paleolog, led to the fact that Dmitry Vnuk was removed from the board during his grandfather’s lifetime, despite his royal status.

In other words, it was a sporadic element in the system of Russian rulers, without beginning or continuation.

What was the name of the first Russian Tsar?

The year of the crowning of the first Russian Tsar, who laid the foundation royal dynasty– 1647. On January 16, the full Byzantine rite of installation was carried out. Tsar Ivan the Terrible sat on the royal throne.

Ivan the Terrible


By a strange coincidence, the name of the first Russian Tsar, like the last, was Ivan. But the last king, Ivan V, was co-ruler of Peter the Great. And since he died before Peter, Ivan V “rested in God” with royal regalia. But Peter the Great, dying, was already an emperor.

And in fact it turns out that the last royal funeral was that of Ivan V.

But discrepancies in these intricacies historical facts arise from different points of view on the same episode.

Peter the Great was born a prince, was a king, became an emperor, and died as an emperor.

But Ivan V was remembered as a tsar in funeral litias.

Nuances of succession to the throne of Russia

Before Emperor Paul adopted the act of succession to the throne, upon the death of the king (and later the emperor), discrepancies constantly arose with the definition of the next monarch.

The behind-the-scenes struggle in the royal circle destroyed stability and introduced troublemaker thoughts into the power-hungry consciousness of relatives.

It was Paul the First who legislated the semi-Salic progenitura. Its principle was extremely simple, and the succession to the throne was given the following sequence:

1. The eldest son and his offspring. If there are none, then -

3. Succession to the throne passes on the same principles to the female generation, to eldest daughter etc.

But this was already with the emperors, but the kings were still being chosen. Although, these elections were very much reminiscent of a similar process with the selection of governors in modern Russia.

In fact, the contender for the royal throne was known, this is the son of the last monarch. But he had to be formally elected.

For this purpose, a special “elector for the kingdom” was convened. Zemsky Sobor, and its participants made a unanimous decision.

In some critical situations, they managed without the Council. At the same time, it was imperative that a behind-the-scenes decision be confirmed by the people. Maybe it was some kind of echo of the ancient formula: “Voxpopuli - voxDei” (Voice of the people - voice of God). But such kings did not reign for long and left no heirs.

Ivan the Terrible, although he was the first Russian Tsar, avoided the election procedure. But the first tsar elected to the Russian throne was his son, Feodor Ioannovich.

Tsar Feodor Ioannovich

According to the notes of his contemporaries, Theodore Ioannovich was weak in health and mind. He had no particular desire to govern the country. He lived by the principle “neither a candle to God nor a poker to the devil.”

And what is especially important, being the last, direct descendant of the Rurikovichs, he had no children. This means that the heir to the throne had to be chosen from indirect relatives.

With the death of the first elected Russian Tsar, leapfrog began with a change of rulers. Historically, this coincided with the peak of the Small Ice Age", which led to terrible crop failures and famine. Added to this was the extreme dissatisfaction of the Orthodox people with the appearance of drinking houses, which more than once led to riots. And as a result, this period between the death of Theodore Ioannovich and the accession of the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, was called the era of the Time of Troubles.

By the way, again an interesting coincidence. If you do not know the history of the Time of Troubles, and judge by patronymic, then an ignorant person may think that Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was the son of Feodor Ivanovich.

Here they are strange coincidences happened in Russian history.

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 tsar - the princes, the Shuisky brothers - created such 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 needs 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 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. A new coat of arms with an eagle appeared, 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 were so shaking the foundation Orthodox faith that the throne was shaking along with the king 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 others passing cities, then they 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.