Episode 327: Ivan the Terrible (Part Four)

was soon boiling. The people who had been walking about the Red Square were, of course alarmed. It was obvious that these preparations had only one purpose, more executions. Ivan rode up and down the streets of Moscow, telling his people they had nothing to fear, invited them to come to the Red Square, where he promised no harm would come to them. I would not have gone, but then again, I did not have Russian guards menacingly looking at me and my family. My guess is most people felt they

had no choice. Eventually, the townspeople decided to send several older men. The sources indicate these men felt that they were close to death anyway, and so they had less to fear. Ivan received them warmly and indicated the people of Moscow had nothing to fear from him, and so reluctantly the people came to the square. Once they assembled, Ivan led out the prisoners he had been holding in

the dungeons of the Kremlin. These were mostly lesser boyars and former merchants, all people Ivan had prejudged guilty of treason. These victims, about three hundred total, were led out into the square. Many had to be carried as their legs had been broken. They were then tied to the logs which had been prepositioned. Ivan rather unexpectedly, then ordered the release of one hundred and eighty four of these prisoners, whom he had judged less guilty, not innocent, just less guilty.

The rest were not so lucky. Ivan had alternating cauldrons of boiling and freezing water poured on one man until his skin reportedly just melted off. The rest were stabbed and hacked to death, with Ivan reportedly gleefully joining in the executions, all the while the terrified population of Moscow stood by watching. Amazingly, this did not end Ivan's bloodlust. A few days after the massacre, he had the wives and children of the men executed club to death and

their bodies tossed into the river. Amongst those that were dead were some of the higher ranking boyars of the administration. Finally, the reality became clear to everyone there were not really two governments. The power sharing concept had never been real. There was Ivan's government and then there was the false Russian government, which held no power. Unfortunately, Russia would soon learn that Ivan's government was much less adept at confronting

very real enemies than massacring women and children. Early in September fifteen seventy, rumors reached Moscow of a large Tartar army on the move. Ivan himself made his way south to the Oka River with an army to investigate and prevent any further advance. Eventually everybody realized this quote unquote large Tartar force was little more than a scouting force of around six thousand men. Ivan remained on the river for a few days before returning to alexandros Levoda, his headquarters.

But little did he or anyone else know that this scouting force was intended merely to test the Russian defenses. The Tartars were indeed planning a major invasion. The real army was one hundred and twenty thousand strong, and in April fifteen seventy one, it marched out of the Crimea with one goal, sack Moscow. On the march, the Khan

met several disaffected Russian nobles fleeing south. They told the Khan that Ivan wasn't in Moscow, he was at Alexandros Laboda, and that the country was in the midst of a famine and in total disarray. There was little that could be done to stop the Tartar advance. Now, Ivan himself did not get news of the real invasion until it was far too late. Ivan might have had no issue murdering women, children and defenseless men, but he always had

a real issue standing up to actual armies. He only paused for one night, gathering up all the gold and silver his men could carry, before fleeing to the north, abandoning Moscow to its fate. He fled all the way to the stronghold at Vlogoda, which was an impressive fortress

surrounded by five hundred permanent musketeers. Even so, Ivan wasn't sure he was shape, so he had ships rapidly constructed, which would then transport himself, his two young sons, and his wealth, first to the White Sea and hence to England, where he hoped to seek refuge in the court of now Queen Elizabeth the First. The Tartars drove up from the south, their intention to destroy the city, acquire as much plunder as possible, and then return to their homeland.

But in order to destroy the city they had to get to it, and Ivan Belski, and remaining still, took up positions with his army to the south of the river in an effort to try to defend There, he offered battle. There was some savage fighting, Belski himself was wounded and the Russians were forced back. Meanwhile, the Tartars pressed closer to the city, not only in the south, but also in the west, where an entire army crossed a ford of the river to attack a portion of

the Kremlin, which they stormed and set on fire. There had been little rain for some weeks, and a strong west wind was blowing, and the flames soon spread across the kremlin. Moments later, nearly all the palaces and churches within the kremlin walls were on fire. The small wooden churches exploded, the iron girders supporting the palace melted away,

the bell towers caught on fire, and the bells melted. Afterwards, the Russians remembered that all the church bells of Moscow were ringing, and that one by one the sound died away. On the morning of May twenty fourth, fifteen seventy one, the heart of Moscow perished in flames. Only a few charged buildings survived the fire by seemingly a miracle. Sixty thousand people, around half the population of Moscow, died. According to one chronicler quote, the entire city was burned down

in three hours. The Khan left two days later, transporting another one hundred thousand captured Russian south, where they would flood the Ottoman slave markets. Ivan, realizing now that the Tartars were not after him, decided to return. Interestingly, he did not blame himself at all for the debacle. Instead, he blamed his own men, the Alpriniki. They had been incompetent. He felt they should have made some preparations to defend the city. Never mind the fact that he was the

one in charge of the government. But that was in the past. The most urgent task now was the rebuilding of Moscow. But first he had to clear away all the dead bodies. It was important since it was high summer and nothing had been done in several weeks to remove them. Most of the survivors had fled in fear of pestilence. The rivers were choked with bodies, and there was more to come for Ivan now gave orders to throw all the dead bodies found in the ruins into

the river. This was worse than the situation that had been before. With more and more bodies thrown into it, the Moskowa River was no longer a river. It's changed its course and the likelihood of disease only increased. The wells were dry, there was no fresh water, and the situation was desperate. Still, all the Muscovites who had fled were ordered back. People from far off towns and villages were ordered to go to Moscow to dig graves and

help to rebuild the city. Masons, carpenters, and craftsmen of all kind were impressed into service and promised freedom from all taxes and custom duties. While the work was going on, it took four years to repair the damage. When the four years had passed. There was a new white wall of stone around the Kremlin, with essentially a new city of Moscow surrounding it. It was not long before Ivan began a purge of the Yappuniki. This time there were

no public executions. Many were clubbed to death and their bodies disposed of in secret. Simultaneously, I even wanted to make sure that he could avoid another war with the Tartars, given that the first one had gone so poorly. Privately, he knew the price of peace would be the return of Kazan, and he hoped to avoid that as long as possible. Hence, when an ambassador from the Crimea arrived, I even refused to see him. At the same time, he prepared to sign a treaty of friendship with the

Swedes and Livonia to avoid of two front war. Publicly, I even claimed that the reversals were all because of a general sinful nature of the Russian people, and God was punishing them for it. He promised soon that the Crimean Khan would be his vassal and that all the reversals of fifteen seventy fifteen seventy one would be forgotten.

He was wrong. By fifteen seventy two, after negotiations failed, it was clear that the Khan would attempt another invasion, but this time it wasn't just going to be a mere sack and raid of Moscow. This time, he wanted to reduce Russia to a vassal state. Once again, Ivan wanted no part in the military defense of his own kingdom.

He withdrew to Novgorod with all his treasure and his court, while dispatching one of the remaining Boyar princes with the army to the Oka River, promising him rich rewards if he turned back the Tartars, and a terrible torture and death for him and his family if he failed. Near the end of July, the massive Tartar army reached the Oka River and slipped past the Russians somehow, I'm honestly not sure how that could possibly happen, but it's what

the sources indicate. The Russians quickly pursued, and the two sides bought a sort of pitched battle at a place called Melodi. I say sort of because it seems like and again the sources are a little confused here, but it seems like the Russians had time to set up some sort of rudimentary palisade before the Tartars attacked them. This mattered because it forced the cohns men to fight on foot, but they were much better when they fought

on horsebacks, so they were suddenly at a disadvantage. It seems that the Russians managed in the midst of the fighting to sneak a force around the Tartar flank and then hit them in the rear. The Tartars broke and fled, and Moscow was saved from a second sack. It was a decisive victory and proved to be the last time the Tartars would attempt an invasion for the remainder of Ivan's reign. For the next three years after the Battle of Melodi, Russia was at peace, but Ivan's health continued

to deteriorate. Though after Melodi, Ivan was less terrible, at least for a time. My guess is that there were simply less people to murder. Oftentimes now, instead of outright slaughter, Ivan simply confiscated everything a man had, sometimes including the clothing he walked into the room with. But there is another reason that there's a market decline in outright atrocities within Russia at the time, and that is because there

were other external pressures on Ivan's kingdom. The Swedes started to become more and more of an issue in Livonia after fifteen seventy five, and as we will see, Lithuania was far from being an ally. When the Polish king died in fifteen seventy two, Ivan rather bizarrely put forward his own name as a potential candidate. Had he aggressively pushed his son instead, and he might have had a chance. But as always Ivan's decisions weren't driven by strategy. They

were driven by fear, jealousy, and suspicion. In the autumn of fifteen seventy five, Ivan made what was one of the most bizarre decisions of a reign that is filled with already bizarre decisions. Quite suddenly, without warning, Ivan simply stepped down from the throne and gave a Tartar khan all the rights and privileges of a grand prince, and then he went on to set up his residence outside the Kremlin bounced that henceforth the former Czar Ivan the

fourth would be known as Prince Ivan Muskofki. The man that he placed on the throne was sayin Balut Khan of Kosimov, a tiny, tiny, tiny Tartar enclave on the Oka River. Now a lot of ink has been spilt over the centuries trying to explain this decision. Perhaps Ivan was sick, Perhaps he genuinely wanted a break. I'm not sure I can say definitely. But to be clear, this wasn't an abdication. Ivan left power, but expressly with the

proviso that he could reclaim it whenever he wanted. Stepping aside also allowed Ivan to continue to work in secret, which was the way he always liked to operate. Honestly, if I had to guess, I would say that this was just another effort to keep the Boyars off balance and see who might tip the her hand against him. After he stepped down, in late November fifteen fifty five, Ivan gave an audience to Daniel Sylvester, an Englishman sent

by Queen Elizabeth to appease his wrath. Ivan had been extremely displeased with the result of embassies that he had sent to England. Elizabeth paid no attention at all to Ivan's suggestion that both sovereigns should agree to grant refuge to the other. In the event of an internal disorder, or rather, she offered him asylum but didn't request asylum for herself. Elizabeth had no intention of going to Russia. Ivan was infuriated by her lack of reciprocity, her assumption

that she was in no need of his help. He therefore had made life very difficult for English merchants in Russia. But the audience with Sylvester was friendly. He discussed, among other things, the reason that led him to abandon the throne. Sylvester was an intelligent man. He knew and spoke rush and well, and he gives the impression of a man

who quite accurately related what Ivan told him. Ivan explained that the real reason why he conducted these negotiations with Queen Elizabeth was that he highly foresaw the variable and dangerous estate of princes, and that therefore he had come to suspect quote his own magnificence end, quote, by which he meant that he had started to doubt whether he

would long remain on the throne. He went on to say, quote, we have resigned the estate of our government, which hitherto hath been so royally maintained in the hands of a stranger who is nothing allied onto us our land or crown.

The occasion whereof is the perverse and evil dealing of our subjects, who murmur and repine at us forgetting loyal obedience they practice against our person, the which to prevent we have given them over unto another prince to govern them, but have reserved in our custody all the treasure of the land was sufficient, train and place for our relief. End quote. One thing Ivan made abundantly clear to the Englishman he had kept his entire treasury intact. He alone

possessed the wealth of the Russian Kingdom. That meant no matter his official title or lack thereof, Ivan was in full control. Now. In the summer of fifteen seventy six, Ivan made an ostentatious show of asking his pretend car this Tartar Khan, for forty thousand rubles and the right to command an army against of all foes, the Tartars. The sun was obviously granted, but there were no battles. Ivan took an army to the Oka River, where he spent what could only be described as a lovely holiday.

When he came back that autumn, he had evidently had enough of this Sharad and took back power from the tar. It was a weird episode, but now was over. Ivan the Fourth was czar once more, but I'm not sure anyone was happy about that. In fifteen seventy seven, Ivan's armies stormed into Livonia. The kingdom was divided between north and south and totally unprepared for the attack. The Russians drove the Swedes in the north and the Poles in

the south back, respectively. The conquest of Livonia had been one of Ivan's goals since his very coronation, and for once it seemed like it might be within his grasp. Before the year was out, everything but the towns of Riga and Reval fell into Russian hands. Riga remained under Polish control, and Revolt was still held by the Swedes. In the end, Ivan's victories proved hollow. He may have had a plan for conquest, oh but like so many

failed conquerors, he had no plan for peace. His armies had devastated the countryside and done little more than breed the conditions for more conflict. By fifteen seventy eight, the Russians were on their heels everywhere towns and cities. They had taken rows and revolt. Supported by the Poles and the Swedes. Ivan attempted to send a massive army of eighteen thousand to put down the rebellions, but a huge combined force of Germans, Lithuanians and Swedes utterly destroyed it

in battle. Around one third of the Russian army was totally lost. In the spring of fifteen seventy nine, Polatovsk, a city in Kievan, Russia, fell to the Lithuanians. Ultimately, Ivan had done little other than provoke a hornet's nest, and he was totally unprepared to respond. Worse still, Ivan didn't seem to care at all about the unfolding events well.

Ivan presented himself as a man of majesty. He was becoming increasingly aware that the Livonian War had become a costly mistake, was draining Russia of manpower, its wealth, and its munitions. The landed gentry, who supplied the bulk of the army were ruined. The peasants were running away from the estates to avoid being taxed and conscripted. The entire

social system was falling apart. By the winter of fifteen seventy nine, Ivan had come to the conclusion that the Church, which owned vast properties, must be made to turn over some of its wealth. He therefore some of the leading bishops, abbots and archbishops to a conclave in the Kremlin to decide how the wealth of the Church should be put

into the service of the state. In an opening speech, Ivan spoke of the nation desperate need, its efforts to replenish the exhausted treasury, and the incessant dangers that confronted the country. Quote. He told them that which he was to say, the best known to themselves. He had spent the most part of his time wits vigor and youth warfaring for their wealth and safety, preservation and defense of his kingdoms and people. What dangers and troubles had passed

was not unknown to them. Above many others, they apart to whom he makes his moan, have only reaped the benefit thereof by which his treasuries have been exhausted and theirs increased. Theirs, he means the church safeties, peace and tranquility preserved, and his lessened and daily endangered by foreign enemies and practices both at home and abroad, which he was very sensibly too acquainted with. How could he or they any longer subsist without there the Church's essential assistance.

Their willingness must be the touchstone and trial of their fidelity, as well as their contemplations. Their pretended prayers prevailed not end quote. Now, the Church aimed to give up as little of its property as possible. Had it been more sensible, the Orthodox Church would have offered Ivan half maybe, or something else. It wasn't even close, though. As a result, Ivan reverted to the policies that he knew best. He summoned seven of the fattest monks he could find and

threw them into a bear pit. Each was given a spear, but had no idea how to fight a bear. Each was mauled to death. Ivan let it be known that this was only the beginning. He proposed to burn seven more monks at the stake unless a full inventory of the church's wealth was forthcoming. Such an inventory was quickly

drawn up. On January fifteenth, fifteen eighty, the Church council agreed to pay three hundred thousand marks into the Tsar's treasury to surrender all mortgaged lands in their possession, together with the patrimonial land of the princes, which had been purchased or bequeathed to the Church, and to acquire no further lands. Ivan's treasury was suddenly brimming over. But if the matter of the Church had been resolved, there was still the matter of the impoverished nobility, an issue honestly

that Ivan himself had done much to create. I mentioned before under Ivan that Russia took its first steps towards imperial expansion. Now it took its first steps towards permanent serfdom. Normally, in late November, peasants were allowed to leave the service of their lord and hire themselves out for cash. All the death and destruction of the last three decades had left a relative dearth of workers. Hence the peasants could get a good wage if they were willing to travel

and work. But the boyars could no longer afford this arrangement. Ivan sided with the boyars, perhaps for the one and only time, He decreed that peasants could not leave their lord's manor unless it was an emergency. It was the first step down a path that would lead to permanent

and perpetual serfdom in Russia. But the issues facing Ivan predominantly remained in foreign affairs, King Stephen Bathory had now been elected both the King of Poland and the Grand Prince of Lithuania, and he intended to use his full might to destroy Ivan. During that summer, Ivan was in a state of panic. He knew the massive attack on Russia was being prepared, but he didn't know where the attack would come from. He was trying to get a

truce on almost any terms he could. He invited King Bathory to send ambassadors to Moscow, but the king refused, saying that the Russian ambassadors must come to him. He laid down conditions the ambassadors must arrive in the city of Vilno during the five weeks beginning June fourteenth, fifteen eighty. Ivan replied that it would take five weeks for his ambassadors to reach the Lithuanian frontier, and many more days for them to reach Vilno. The king answered that this

was a matter of indifference to him. After five weeks, he would be in the field with his army, and if they wanted to, they could find him there. Knowing that war was imminent, Ivan ordered inspectors to comb the land for nobles who had gone into hiding. Once found, they would be beaten and then sent under guard with guarantees of good behavior to Novgorod to serve in the army. In the end, King Bathory named his peace conditions. Ivan would have to seed all of Livonia plus Novgorod to him,

otherwise would be war. Realizing that he had no choice, I even prepared for battle. But he still didn't know where the attack would come, and so I even scattered his troops in a dozen different locations all the way from Pistav to Novgorod and Slamensk on the western Diana River, and then put a few and a couple of remaining strongholds in Livonia, especially in northern Livonia, where he expected

an attack from the Swedes. King Bartholomew sent a column of nine thousand men against Smolensk, but in the end that was only a feint. The real attack was directed at Lithuania and Livonia, and this was a long, securitous route through forest and marshlands. Some fifty thousand Polish, Lithuanian, German and Hungarian troops were quickly outside the walls of

the town of Beliki Luki. Biliki Luki was defended by only six thousand Russians and its wooden outer walls and wooden watch towers were especially vulnerable to the flaming cannon balls used in the King's army. The Russians had just enough time to cover the walls with earth, but the king sent his men right up to the walls to remove the earth and then blew them up with charges of gunpowder. With the walls on fire, Bathory issued an ultimatum.

If they laid down their arms and marched peacefully out of the city, their lives would be spared. Otherwise they would all be massacred. The defenders accepted the ultimatum and were beginning to march out when the Hungarian troops, fearing to be deprived of their legitimate booty, broke into the burning city and simply slaughtered everyone in sight. On September the seventh, fifteen eighty, Biliki Luki fell to the army. A month later, Bathory, who was unwell, ended the campaign

and removed the Vino for the moment. The loss of this major and strategic town was a big enough blow to the Russians that he could accept it as a punishment. Battles and running skirmishes continued throughout the winter. The Swedes blockaded the fortress of Padis in northern Livonia. When the Russians surrendered, the Swedes slaughtered them all. Everyone knew who they were up against. They all knew what would happen. If the shoe was on the other foot, Ivan would

kill them all. This was not a war for mercy. Ivan now realized that he was going to have to surrender all of Livonia. He was likely to lose it anyway, but it wasn't enough. Bathory still demanded now not only Novgorod and Smolensk, but in addition a four hundred thousand gold Hungarian ducat indegnity. Even had Ivan wanted to give all that up, he realized he couldn't and still keep his throne. Ivan, as a result, entered into negotiations with

the Pope. He hoped Gregory the thirteenth would intercede on his behalf and force King Bathory to the negotiation table. For his part, Pope Gregory hoped he might get the conversion of Ivan and the Russian state to Western Catholicism. Both men were disappointed. In fifteen eighty one, King Bathory returned approaching Pistkov, one of the last Russian strongholds in eastern Lithuania. Ivan had a powerful garrison not far off at Novgorov, but if it attacked, it seemed even then

that the city would fall. Then there would be absolutely nothing between King Bathriy and Moscow. Pisgof was a heavily fortified city with a solid garrison, but Bathory was determined. He had heavy artillery brought up to pound the walls. His army outnumbered easily the forty thousand Russians within the city. Bathory commanded at least one hundred thousand men, but the man in charge of Pistav, Prince Shuiski, knew it was

in all or nothing situation. He fought heroically, as did the people of Pistav, including the women and children, who aided and often fought alongside the men. On September seventh, fifteen eighty one, Bathory ordered an assault on the walls. The fighting was absolutely vicious. The Russians lost eight hundred men but held out. According to our sources, King Bathory suffered three thousand men wounded or dead. On the following day, in a message shot by arrow into Piskov, King Stephen

Bathory urged Prince Shuiski and his generals to surrender. He promised them extensive freedoms and privileges, the freedom to trade where they wished, the freedom to retain their ancient customs, their property, and their faith. Prince Shoski shot narrowback with an answer, what a wonderful way, by the way to negotiate, saying, quote, we do not betray Christ, nor the Czar nor the Fatherland end quote. Bathory threatened to destroy the entire population

of piece CoV unless they surrendered. Shuski replied, quote, we fear no threats, Come and fight. The victory is in God's hands now. With all the advantages of a powerful, well trained army, heavy guns, fast stores of ammunition, and very good generalship, Bathory still failed to take piece CoV. Throughout September and October, he made repeated attempts on the city, digging nine separate tunnels under the walls and hurling countless fire bombs into the city, massing his cannon in the

hope of breaching the walls and destroying the towers. On November two, fifteen eighty one, after five days of continuous bombardment through his entire army across the frozen river, in one last desperate attempt to capture the city, and then watched them straggle back over the ice. A month later, the king was still outside the city, hoping to starve it into surrender, although Pisgov held out. Ivan does not

deserve any credit for this. Once more, he had been saved by his subordinates, who, I suppose, against all odds, had stayed loyal to him this entire time. Ivan had been at his fortress at Alexandra's Leboda. He was there when a deputation of nobles came and presented him with a petition. Now, of course these men were brave for just going. Ivan had a reputation for how he dealt with petitioners. They knelt before their czar and read out

to them the following words. For three years, our enemies have been invading the fatherland, which is is our burden to defend. We are ready to shed our blood, lay down our lives, and sacrifice our property for the sake of the fatherland. Therefore, O Lord and Master, send your eldest son to war. Ivan did not react as the petitioners expected. He flew into an immediate rage. He ripped the crown off his head and threw it to the ground.

He shouted that they were all traders, told them that they had to choose another czar since his son, the one who was referenced in the petition, was there. He believed that this was essentially a coup attempt. The men, of course, answered that they weren't traders. They didn't want Ivan to abandon the throne. They only wanted the prince to take the field and ideally lead them to victory.

Apparently these men were able to leave his his presence without being punished, because we don't hear anything more about that, But the episode, unfortunately, was far from over. Several hours after the petitioners left, Ivan summoned his son before him. He screamed that the young man had committed treason. The prince responded he had done nothing wrong. All he had ever wanted was to help fight King Bathory, to defend the country. And now we come to the portion of

the story that really sort of typifies Ivan's reign. He lunged at his son with his staff. One court official actually tried to hold him back and was struck in the face for his trouble. As he reeled backward, Ivan struck forward with the pointed end of his staff, stabbing his son in the shoulder. Before anyone else could intervene, Ivan smashed the prince with his staff over his head.

The young man collapsed to the ground, blood pouring forth. Ivan, suddenly realizing what he had done, fell to his knees, begging forgiveness. His son's last words were quote, I had always been loyal. He lingered for three days, but the prince died on November nineteenth, fifteen eighty one. He was twenty seven years old. Three days after the death of the Prince, Ivan and his retinue set out for Moscow. They all wore black, and Ivan walked beside his son's

coffin the entire way. At the funeral service in the cathedral of Michael, the Archangel, the Tsar threw himself against the coffin, uttering terrible cries. Before the coffin was sealed, a literal king's ransom of jewels was poured onto it, and every night twelve different citizens from Moscow kept a watch over the tomb. For many months, Ivan remained grief stricken. He barely slept and tossed so violently that he sometimes

fell off the bed. To spend the rest of the night on the floor, shouting and moaning, and only becoming silent began he was exhausted. At such times, Attendance would spread the mattress on the floor and give him a pillow, and then, lying quietly, he would wait for the coming of the dawn. During those months, Ivan was afraid to show himself to the people. One day he announced to his boyars that God had so cruelly punished him that there remained nothing for him to do but leave the

world and spend the remending days in a monastery. He had only one remaining son, feeded or Fidor, however from birth. You may remember, this had some sort of an affliction. I'm guessing for the sources it's some sort of mental handicap, but it's really unclear. Regardless, everyone agreed that Fyodor was incapable of governing, and so Ivan told the boyars that they had to choose a successor and immediately grant him the throne in Regalia. Of course, the boyars responded to

this cautiously. They knew Ivan's temper, they knew his habit of suddenly announcing an abdication in order to just smoke out his enemies. They also knew that any successor would be confronted with extraordinary difficulties and dangers, so when they came back to Ivan later, they announced they didn't want a newsar, They just wanted Ivan. Ivan pretended to accept their petition reluctantly and decided to remain on his throne so for the rest of his life, which luckily for Ivan,

wasn't long. Ivan was somber and given to sudden bursts of hysteria. It was around this time that Ivan began to compile his famous lists. These were full accounts, in theory, of all the people he had murdered. Now, look, there's no way that these lists were anything more than the names of the more notable boyars killed, plus just a massive estimate of all the peasants who had died at

his hand. It would have been a major underestimate, of course, because Ivan didn't count all the indirect deaths he caused from the result of famine, disease, etc. Etc. Etc. Ivan took a huge amount of his wealth and divided it up between the various large monastic houses who were then supposed to pray for his soul. No indication any of that was successful by the way. No indication either, by the way, that said monasteries kept doing so much after

Ivan's death. In the end of his life, Ivan the fourth would live another two and a half years, but frankly he seemed more like a man just waiting for death. He wanted to end the war Lithuania at virtually any cost. He could have sent a relief army to Piskov, but he didn't. With the aid of a papal mediator, I even hoped that King Bathriy would just accept peace terms, any peace terms, whatever they may be. The Lithuanians knew

the real situation much better than Ivan. They are not especially impressed by the displays of the Russians, and so they made harsh demands. All of Livonia had to be surrendered by Russia. Henceforth, Polotovsk, Pilikiluki and the other important towns would be included within the empire of King Steithen Bathory. And in addition, they demanded a war indemnity of the four hundred thousand Hungarian gold crowns. Ivan hoped to retain Doorpot and some other towns, which would give him access

to the sea. The papal mediator actually did a pretty good job. He pretended to be neutral and showed signs of favoring both sides, while demonstrating, of course, the inevitable partiality for Catholic Poland and secretly hoping to convert the Protestants of Lithuanian to Catholicism. These negotiations went on for about three weeks with little accomplished. But then suddenly something

massive happened in Piskov. Prince Ivan Shuski, who had already sent out forty five different sorties in the hope of breaking the siege, but on January the fourth, fifteen eighty two, he gave orders for a forty sixth the biggest of all. His infantry and cavalry fought so ferociously that the Poles and Lithuanians concluded that the Russian army would simply never surrender this city. Prepared to sue for peace, they announced that, on the orders of King Stephen Bathory, they were breaking

off negotiations. Now both sides here were bluffing. On January the fifteenth, fifteen eighty two, they agreed to a ten year truce on the condition that Russia seed the whole of Livonia to the Poles and Lithuanians. King Bathrie in the end waived that four hundred thousand gold indemnity and returned even Beliki Luki to the Russians, but kept pull a Tusk. With peace concluded in Lithuania, Ivan now had to deal with the two other threats to Russian stability,

Sweden and the Nagai Tartars. He concluded a peace with Sweden in May fifteen eighty three, which allowed the Swedes to keep all the territory that they had taken in the preceding four years of raiding and conflict. Most historians believed that had Ivan simply allowed the Russian armies to advance,

they would have won, but he wouldn't allow it. Instead, Ivan now at the end of his life, held out this bizarre hope that he might marry Queen Elizabeth I of England and use england perceived military might to destroy his enemies. It was a sign of just how unhinged the czar had become. Oddly enough, Russia expanded one last time under its first Tsar, Azar, who had no interest in further expansion. This time, the expansion was far to the east and distant Siberia. It wasn't Ivan that directed this.

It was a merchant family, the Stroganovs. They already held land across the Earl Mountains. Originally they were merchants of Novgorod, but they became Russia's first large scale industrialists. They possessed saltworks, lumberyards, smithy's forges, trading in wood, iron, salt fish. As they moved eastward, Ivan granted them charters authorizing them to colonize unoccupied land and conquered territory previously occupied by the Tartars, Volgs and Ostiaks who lived there. They had their own

private armies, their own fortresses, their own capital. There had been sporadic fighting between these Stroganov armies and the armies of Kuchmun, the Khan of Siberia, beginning in fifteen seventy three, and these became continual over the years. By fifteen eighty one, the Stroganovs determined that they would be best if they simply destroyed the Khan. It took an additional two years, but in the end the Stroganovs were able to eliminate

the Khan, adding Siberia to Russia's domains. The whole affair had cost barely twenty thousand rubles. In terms of cost benefit analysis, it's probably one of the best deals in history, rivaling even the famed Louisiana purchase. With Siberia and Russian possession, the Orthodox Church wasted no time in sending ten priests to act as missionaries. None of this made I even happy. He was only fifty three years old in the winter of fifteen eighty three, but looked like a man in

his eighties. His body was real with disease, his mind with regret. One day in early fifteen eighty four, Ivan watched a comet shaped like a fiery cross proceed in the sky over Saint Basils. His only comment was that it foretold his death, and the thought seemed to please him. He didn't need to wait long. Ivan the Fourth, Ivan the Terrible, died on March seventeenth, fifteen eighty four. Four regions were assigned to rule in the name of Ivan's son,

Feodor and I mentioned before. Feodora was what we would call it to day, mentally challenged. In the end, he would reign for only fourteen years. His death would bring to the end of the Ruik dynasty and ushered in what is called the time of troubles in Russia, and we shall return to that, but it will be a story for another day. Ivan's body lay in state for two days. Hundreds came to see the man who could no longer hurt them. In nineteen fifty three, Soviet authorities opened the

tomb of Ivan the Terrible. They found the remains of a tall, barrel chested man who had clearly suffered from some form of arthritis. They made a plaster cast of the solve for reconstruction. Then, in the presence of movie cameras that recorded the event for posterity, they placed the body back in the coffin, covered Ivan with sand, and sealed it. And so Ivan the Terrible has rested ever since. Next week, we're going to switch things up a bit.

It's been quite a long time since I've done one of these, but I'm going to do a couple of episodes, very broadly, focusing on economic and technological changes that swept Europe in the period that we'd like to call the early modern history, beginning roughly around fourteen fifty and lasting through the start of the eighteenth century, which we haven't gotten to yet. But most of the changes precede that.

I think that's important to recognize before we turn to our next and largest ever story arc for this podcast, which will be the Thirty Years War. If you're interested in supporting the show, there's two great ways to do so. One would be to check out Western SIV two point zero link in the show notes. You can get a free trial that's where we put a whole bunch of bonus materials. Plus you get early access to this feed

with no ads, for one dollar a month. Or if you'd just like to give us a rating or a review. The more ratings and reviews that we have, the more people who can find the show, and it really does help. Next week we will begin our large overview and set the stage for the changes in the way people conceived of themselves as humans.