Pavlov Andrei, Perrie Maureen. Ivan the Terrible

Routledge, 2003. — 244 p. — (Profiles in Power). — ISBN 058209948X, 978-0582-09948-7.This is the first major re-assessment of Ivan the Terrible to be published in the West in the post-Soviet period. It breaks away from older stereotypes of the tsar ? whether as ?crazed tyrant? and ?evil genius?, on the one hand, or as a ?great and wise statesman?, on the other ? to provide a more balanced picture. It examines the ways in which Ivan's policies contributed to the creation of Russia's distinctive system of unlimited monarchical rule.Ivan is best remembered for his reign of terror, the book pays due attention to the horrors of his executions, tortures and repressions, especially in the period of the oprichnina (1565-72), when he mysteriously divided his realm into two parts, one of which was under the direct control of the tsar and his oprichniki (bodyguard). This work argues that the often gruesome forms assumed by the terror reflected not only Ivan's personal cruelty and sadism, but also his religious views about the divinely ordained right of the tsar to punish his treasonous subjects, just as sinners were punished in Hell.Primarily chronological in its organisation, the book focuses on three main aspects of Ivan's power: the territorial expansion of the state, the mythology, rituals and symbols of monarchy; and the development of the autocratic system of rule.Ivan’s Inheritance
The Young Ruler
The minority of Ivan IV
Coronation, marriage and the fall of the Glinskiis
The Conquest of Kazan’ and Astrakhan’
Reformers and Reforms
The reasons for reform
Adashev and Sil’vestr
The reforms of the 1550s
From Consensus to Conflict
The ‘boyar revolt’ of 1553
The power of the Muscovite ruler
The beginning of the Livonian War and the dismissal of Adashev and Sil’vestr
On the eve of the oprichnina terror
The Introduction of the Oprichnina
The tsar’s departure from Moscow
The decree on the oprichnina
'A strange institution’: problems of interpretation
Repression and Resettlement
The first victims
Attempts to reach a compromise
The rout of the zemshchina opposition
The land resettlements
The Culmination of the Terror
The devastation of Novgorod
The executions in Moscow
The abolition of the oprichnina
After the Oprichnina
The ‘grand princely rule’ of Simeon Bekbulatovich
The end of the Livonian War
The last years of Ivan’s reign
The consequences of the oprichnina and post-oprichnina regimesChronologySelect Bibliography