Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible deserves the moniker attached to his name. However, he does not necessarily deserve the modern interpretation of the word "terrible". Certainly, Ivan did terrible things both in his position as the first true tsar of Russia and his position as the leader of a family. Nevertheless, the translation for the Russian word Groznyi into English by our modern standards is not quite accurate. In Russian during Ivan's time, Groznyi meant something closer to formidable or fearsome.[1] Through his political and social actions, a nation and the world had reason to view Ivan as formidable and fearsome. The baby destined to be Ivan IV was born to Tsar Vasily III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaia. Vasily III was much older than Ivan's mother. By the time Ivan was born, he was desperate for a son to be the future tsar of Russia. Vasily's first wife, Solomonia, never produced a child of either sex.[2] After years of marriage, Vasily pursued a controversial divorce and re-marriage. Vasily received permission for his new marriage from the Metropolitan Daniel in Russia, however, Vasily wanted assurance from a higher power and sought approval from the Greek Patriarch who may have inadvertently cursed the unborn Ivan. The Patriarch wrote to Vasily, "if you contract a second marriage, you will have a wicked son; your states will be prey to terror and tears; rivers of blood will flow; the heads of the mighty will fall; your cities will be devoured by flames."[3] Nevertheless, Vasily re-married and Ivan was born five years after the wedding on August 25, 1530. Ivan's entrance into the world was followed by the birth of a second son, Iuri, on October 30, 1532 who was deaf and dumb.[4] As expected Vasily was ecstatic at the birth of Ivan. Thunder and lightning were said to be heard and seen at the moment of his birth which was interpreted as a good omen for his future.[5] Others did not look so positively on Ivan's birth. The Tatar Khan of Kazan commented to Russian boyars who were visiting his land that, "a sovereign has been born to you and he already has two teeth. With one, he will devour us; but with the other, he will devour you!"[6] The Khan could not have known how soon Ivan would rise to power. Just a few months after Iuri's birth in February 1533, Vasily died after receiving a hunting injury. Wisely, he saw the possible problems that would arise with the heir to the throne being a mere three years old. Before his death, Vasily established a Regency Council with seven members until Ivan would be old enough to take the throne on his own.[7] The nation that the young Ivan inherited consisted of an area that had fairly recently pushed the Mongol Horde back to the east. Through the work of Vasily and his father, Ivan III, the principality of Moscow had expanded due to the annexation of the northeastern principality of Rus.[8] Ivan's father and grandfather had done much to secure an inheritance for Ivan and assure the integrity of Muscovy by increasing the territory, creating an effective administration system, and making the former warriors of the region loyal servants to the monarchy.[9] Ivan's future was assured. However, many difficult years would ensue for the child before he would reach a position of power. The regency period was long and difficult as the various factions involved battled for power. Ivan's primary guardian, Mikhail Glinski, an uncle to Ivan's mother, was arrested a year after Vasily's death.[10] Ivan fell victim to this resulting power struggle and suffered greatly as a child. This was further complicated by the death of Elena Glinskaia in 1538. Ivan later documented his life as a child and his reports are confirmed in other chronicles of the day. Ivan claims that he and his brother were ignored, ill-fed, and disrespected by the boyars.[11] Despite the ill treatment and intrigues of the court, Ivan had the freedom to roam his future kingdom which he often did as he hunted. Much like his mother, Ivan also frequented the monasteries where he engaged in religious discussion with the monks. He acquired much of his knowledge through his contact with these people and others who lived within the palace's walls. Ivan was said to be very quick and intelligent as he read, wrote, and discussed extensively.[12] All of this prepared him for the daunting task of being the future tsar. Before he took power himself, Ivan had the opportunity to observe the battle between the various clans as they vied for power. The predominant ones were the Shuiskiis, Belskiis, and Vorontsovs. Despite their battles with each other, these families were careful to not let the power of the monarchy decline; they simply wanted to be part of the power. Surprisingly, they had the best interest of the monarchy at heart. These families and Elena before her death were responsible for beginning some reforms and instituting positive changes such as standardizing money and improving fortifications.[13] At the age of 17, Ivan came into his inheritance and was officially crowned on January 16, 1547, with much ceremony. The Metropolitan Makarii of Moscow conducted the ceremony in the Uspenskii Cathedral that gave Ivan the titles of "Grand Duke of Vladimir, Novgorod, and Moscow and Tsar of All Russia."[14] His coronation also included the title of "Grand Prince Ivan Vasil'evish, God crowned Tsar and sovereign of all Great Russia."[15] Ivan was the first monarch in Russia to use the title of Tsar of Russia. As befits a monarch, Ivan found it necessary to marry soon after his coronation. On February 3, 1547, Ivan married Anastasiya Romanovna. Her family had recently become prominent in Moscow. Ivan's predecessors had often chosen foreign brides, but Ivan selected a Russian young lady because he felt that they would get on well together.[16] As it turns out, Ivan was correct in that surmise as the two seemed to enjoy each other's company. They frequently traveled together, mostly to monasteries, before the births of their children.[17] The Tsarina is said to have tried to tame her new husband. She saw unpleasant qualities in him such as violence, sadism, and scheming. Despite this, Ivan loved her deeply and did control himself better in her presence.[18] The year of Ivan's coronation was also to bring a major event in Moscow that had political ramifications. On June 21, 1547, a devastating fire destroyed much of the wooden Moscow. This would have been problematic enough for the young monarch. It was further complicated by the fire being blamed on Ivan's maternal grandmother, Anna Glinskaia. She was believed to be a witch. The reality was that the fire served as an opportunity for the other powerful families, the Shuiskiis and Romanovs, to move against the Glinskiis.[19] Ivan's uncle was killed after being dragged out of a church. Ivan was able to stop the violence from escalating past that, but it was clear that the Glinskiis were done as a family at court.[20] Despite some harrowing moments, Ivan did start on a series of domestic reforms almost immediately after taking power. Historians debate exactly how much of the government Ivan was running and how much control his circle of advisors, known as the Chosen Circle, really had in the changes that were made. Either way, Ivan was tsar at the time and the reforms made were designed to benefit the monarchy and a strong autocratic government.[21] Ivan had chosen his supporters based on their ability and his feelings toward them. The two that stand out from this time period the most were Aleksei Adashev and a priest named Sylvester. Adashev was from a prosperous family, but not one of boyar rank. Adashev had traveled with his father and gained knowledge about how other governments functioned based on the Ottoman Empire. He was also a personal guard of Ivan's when they were both young men. Adashev had the personality and ability to communicate and mediate between different groups. Hence, Ivan used him greatly when he was working to establish his reforms.[22] Sylvester was a priest with a very strong pull on Ivan. He was able to influence the young tsar to repent and confess. Ivan believed Sylvester to be a powerful religious figure who could even predict certain events. Apparently, Adashev and Sylvester were known to work very closely together in their relationship to the tsar and in their work in the reforms.[23] Ivan began the process of reform by bringing together the most powerful entities in Russia at the time - the Boyars and the Russian Orthodox Church. At a meeting of these two groups in February 1549, Ivan asked the boyars to "stop oppressing the lesser nobles and peasants as they had during his childhood". [24] The boyars agreed to this request and this began many years of various councils being brought together to discuss and evaluate issues in Russia. Sometimes, even the lower ranking nobility were permitted to attend. When a greater variety of representatives were present, the term zemskii sobor or assembly of the land was applied to the group. This group did not really have any political power as a legislative body. However, it was a way for Ivan's administration to gather support amongst a wide range of people.[25] Ivan felt that he needed the support of the people and of the church to accomplish his reforms. Consequently, one of his early and important reforms involved changes in the church. With Ivan's blessing, the Stoglav Council made many revisions in church policy ranging from ways of worship to church court to monastic life to Christianity for the average person. All of these new policies were documented in a book called Stoglav.[26] Ivan was a pious person himself and he saw the necessity of bringing the church on board with the various changes that he intended to make. Initiating some reasonable changes in the church set a positive tone for his other reforms. One of the chief aims of Ivan's early reforms was to make the government more efficient and less corrupt. The reforms initially targeted local governments that had worked under a system known as kormlenie. This system involved a locally appointed governor who had the right to collect taxes and made his own personal fortune by doing so. Unfortunately, the system was corrupt and much hardship and legal battles resulted from it. Ivan's reforms changed the way that local governments were organized by making them work on the principal of self-government. The central government would appoint local administration such as census takers and tax collectors who would be paid by the central government by the taxes that were fairly collected.[27] Additionally, Ivan wanted to make the army stronger for the coming changes in his foreign policy. The process began by centralizing a large number of military men in the Moscow area. On October 3, 1550, a decree was issued that settled one thousand potential warriors on land near Moscow where they could be easily called up for service by the tsar. The tsar's personal guards were also chosen from this select group.[28] Another change for the military was how an army would be recruited. The army was drawn from what was called the service landholders. The reforms stated that "for every 135 acres of good, arable land one man on horseback, in full armor, must be provided, with a second horse for long campaigns."[29] Other landholders were also obligated to provide a peasant using the same equation. These measures standardized the number of men available for military service and guaranteed a standing army. All of these reforms required a better system of managing Russia's treasury. A careful census of the population and land was conducted in the 1550s in which all land had to be registered. A complicated system of gathering taxes from the self-governed units began. Ultimately, the majority of the money ended up in Moscow being managed by the newly titled Taxation Secretaries and Taxation Chancelleries who oversaw what came in and what went out.[30] Ivan's reforms ultimately helped strengthen and support Ivan's government by standardizing the system of both civilian and military life. The increase in revenue that passed into and through the central government also allowed Ivan to pursue his foreign policy. He had the money through taxation and the means through a stronger military to begin to expand his borders. Ivan engaged in two primary military maneuvers at this time - one successful, one a foreign policy nightmare. The successful campaign was one that expanded Russia's power and influence to the east against the Tatars. In 1545, Russia began an attack to take over the Tatar held regions of Kazan and Astrakhan. Various factions in that region (non-Tatars) asked for protection from Russia in 1546. Ivan saw this as the time to strike and he personally led a campaign into the region in the winter of 1547-48.[31] This engagement did not prove entirely successful due to poor weather conditions. Ivan and his army did reach Kazan but could not take the city or hold it due to the lack of supplies. Ivan was forced to retreat for the time being.[32] He would not have to wait long for a better opportunity to take the region. Ivan found a weakness when the ruler of Kazan, Safa-Girei, died leaving a two year old son as ruler. Although Ivan did not succeed in taking the city at the time, his forces constructed a fort at a strategic location known as Sviyazhsk. Hence, Ivan established a Russian outpost in Kazan's territory.[33] With a Russian fort in the territory, many of the inhabitants pledged their allegiance to Russia and made it easier for Ivan and his army to advance on Kazan. After a vicious and bloody siege, Ivan's army was victorious over Kazan on October 4, 1552. The rest of the region including Astrakhan came under Ivan's control in the course of the next few years. By 1557, Ivan's Muscovy had gone from a country to an empire. Ivan was now in control of a vast region that included people from different ethnic backgrounds.[34] Although Ivan was much engaged with his reforms and achievements, his personal life was also presenting both moments of joy and anger. During this time, Ivan had three children with his wife, Anastasiya. Their first two children were girls neither of whom lived very long, Anna (1549-50) and Maria (1551-1554). However, their son, Dmitri, was born in 1552.[35] Shortly after Dmitri was born Ivan became very ill. He and others believed that he would die. Consequently, he was concerned about preserving his power for his infant son. This raised a serious political problem. Ivan wanted the boyars to commit to Dmitri as their future king which some did. Others raised concerns about who would be in charge until Dmitri was old enough to take the throne. Many feared that the already too powerful Romanov family would be the obvious choice. Finally, a third group considered the possibility of both Ivan and Dmitri dying in which case the crown would shift to Ivan's cousin, Vladimir Andreevich of Staritsa. He was not considered really capable of being a good ruler by himself, however, his mother was a powerful and ambitious woman. The Staritsas were forced by Ivan to swear their allegiance to Dmitri and the situation ended.[36] Fortunately for Ivan, he recovered from his illness and the decision never had to be made. Ivan and Anastasia also had three additional children including two more sons. They were Ivan (1554-1582), Eudoxia (1556-1558), and Feodor (1557-1598).[37] Although Ivan hoped to never face another such crisis, the issues that surfaced would bother Ivan later in life. First, he continued to by displeased with his cousin and his mother. Secondly, Ivan became increasingly paranoid about controlling and maintaining his position.[38] This paranoia seemed to ferment for several years finally displaying itself in a much uglier way later in Ivan's life.

After Ivan's successes against Kazan and Astrakhan, he felt that he was ready to push the western boundary of Russia and so engaged in a foreign policy that involved pursuing Livonia through warfare. Ivan was looking for a way to access the west more easily in order to trade with western and central Europe. Essentially, Ivan needed a seaport to access the Baltic which would allow him to engage in shipping almost all year unlike Russia's current port on the White Sea which was difficult at best.[39] The battle for Livonia would rage on and off for 25 years and contribute much to Ivan's reputation as terrible. Nevertheless, when he began his campaign, he had his nation's best interest in mind. Ivan's advisor and, by this time, director of foreign policy, Adashev opened negotiations with the Livonian Order which did not go well. In May of 1559, Russia gave Livonian six months to agree to be a protectorate of Russia. Livonia turned to the most powerful state in the region at the time, Polish for assistance against Russia. Hence, Russia's attempt to strong-arm a small and relatively weak country backfired and Russia soon found itself embroiled in a fight with a much more powerful nation. Adashev and Sylvester both advised Ivan to back down from the fight which he refused to do in the spring of 1560. Both Adashev and Sylvester were disgraced and forced to leave their positions of power in Moscow. Ivan found himself at the beginning of a long and tiresome conflict.[40] Russia's army started well in the battle for Livonia. Ivan's troops managed to advance to the center of Livonia and occupy an important fort. However, Ivan's success here caused the region to panic and search for stronger allies. Part of Livonia appealed to Sweden for protection and the rest came under Polish control. The war with Poland, who was very strong at the time, went well for a few years, but by 1563, Ivan's troops suffered a serious defeat at the Ulla River and became bogged down for many years.[41] While dealing with the foreign policy issues in 1560, Ivan suffered a personal tragedy with the death of his first wife. Fires had been prevalent in Moscow in the summer of 1560 and for safety reasons Ivan had Anastasiya removed from the city to his country palace.[42] The tsarina seemed to be suffering from an unknown illness at the time. However, historians now assume due to six pregnancies in a short amount of time that she had anemia and exhaustion. She also suffered mentally from the death of so many of her children at a young age.[43] Nothing seemed to help her condition and the tsarina died on August 7, 1560. Anastasiya had been much loved by the people who then wept for her in the streets of Moscow. Their despair could not have equaled Ivan who was said to be bordering on madness after her death. He went so far as to believe that he was being punished for something that he had done.[44] Socially, after Anastasiya's death, Ivan married other women, beginning in 1561 with a Circassian Princess. The entire atmosphere of the court also began to be more seedy and bawdy in nature.[45] Politically, this is when Ivan began to become dangerous to both his supporters and his enemies. From now to the end of his life, Ivan went through various periods of terror that he inflicted on his country. The first signs of his legendary brutality appeared shortly after Anastasiya's death when Ivan came in conflict with many of the prominent families of the court. Ivan annoyed several of the prominent family by passing a resolution that jeopardized their inheritance. Then, he found other reasons including accusations of treason to anger many of the other leading families. The boyar families became resistant and Ivan became increasingly paranoid and difficult to deal with. Several prominent families fell into disgrace such as the Vorotynskiis, the Belskiis, and Ivan's relatives, the Glinskiis. These families were forced to give up land, enter monasteries or guarantee their loyalty to Ivan monetarily.[46] With these disturbances at court, Ivan was simply building toward the big break with the traditional system of the boyars. His trouble with these families and the problems with the Livonian War soon drove Ivan to take much more drastic measures to assure his own safety and power. Ivan and his entourage including wife, children, courtiers and treasury left Moscow in December 1564. At first, they were just traveling to a different palace to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. However, Ivan did not return to Moscow after the holiday and traveled north to the Holy Trinity Monastery and his hunting lodge at Aleksandrova Sloboda.[47] This movement combined with the size of Ivan's entourage made many in Moscow nervous. As much as the boyars were often in conflict with Ivan, they also relied on him as their protector as did all of Moscow. He was also seen as an important religious figure. Moscow was feeling alone and vulnerable plus many were nervous about what Ivan may be planning. Consequently, envoys were sent to Ivan in order to ascertain what he wanted.[48] It was from here that Ivan made a stunning announcement in early January of 1565. Ivan threatened to abdicate the throne entirely if the boyars continued to act in the treacherous way that Ivan felt they had been acting. This caused great fear among his subjects who, essentially, begged him to stay in power. Ivan agreed to do so as long as he was not thwarted "in imposing his disfavor" on certain traitors "and punishing them and taking their movable property and effects, and making for myself in my domain a thing apart [oprichnina], that is, to make a special court for myself that could be used completely for my own use."[49] It was an amazing political move on Ivan's part. He achieved exactly what he wanted within his government and made it impossible for anyone to check him. The oprichnina that Ivan established was like a separate court in which he controlled who became part of it. Ivan selected certain boyars and lesser boyars; he named a new group of one thousand men who would be granted land and be his faithful servants and guards.[50] Ivan carved out chunks of land that would be exclusively part of his oprichnina. These pieces of land were the most economically advanced areas of the nation as well as the most commercial towns. He also acquired land for his oprichnina that belonged to aristocrats who were too powerful and had shown opposition. His hunting lodge became a centralized fort of his new court, but Ivan felt it necessary to have a new palace built near the Kremlin in Moscow as well so that he could more closely watch the actions of the boyars. All of this was paid for by the people of all of Russia through additional taxation even though the tax burden was already excessive due to the war in Livonia.[51] Historians have debated why Ivan would take such an unusual course of action. Some argue that is was a brilliant political move that strengthened Ivan's authority and served to weaken those who had opposed him. It certainly had this effect. However, others contend that Ivan was concerned about power, but that his approach to this situation just shows his unrealistic and paranoid nature. They point to Ivan's need to be in control of every aspect of the oprichnina as a sign of his megalomania.[52] In either case, Ivan had a degree of freedom that was unprecedented in the Russian court. He soon used his new authority to destroy his enemies. A bloody round of executions began in 1565. Some of the people who were eliminated at this time were former supporters of Ivan. Many others were long-standing political enemies. It was obvious that Ivan was not satisfied with killing off individuals. In many cases he felt compelled to wipe out whole families even including servants. These people were killed in public executions and Ivan's methods became increasingly brutal.[53] De Madariaga argues in her book that Ivan was familiar with the stories from Transylvania of Dracula as a child and some of his fascination with impaling victims may have stemmed from that. Regardless, Ivan was earning the title of fearsome at this point in his reign.[54] The early violence of the oprichnina ceased when Ivan needed public support for a continued war with Poland. In 1566, Poland offered Russia a truce which would have returned their relationship to what it had been before the war began. Ivan did not wish to accept this. With that in mind, Ivan allowed some exiles to return and called for a general assembly of the land that included land owners and merchants. Although the assembly had no real authority, their blessing for Ivan's continued war helped to solidify Russia's intentions. The assembly ended with the overwhelming approval of Ivan's war.[55] Ivan effectively used the voice of the people to get what he wanted. Ivan's oprichnina was criticized in some places, particularly the church. However, its opposition was short-lived and the new metropolitan, Filipp, had to promise not to interfere with Ivan's policies. There was increasing concern by some that Ivan was suffering from severe mental illness. His behavior was erratic and paranoid. He was overly concerned about the possibility of being overthrown. In true autocrat fashion, he began another round of eliminating anyone who was a possible enemy. A new wave of terror reigned from 1566-1568.[56] Victims of this particular terror could suffer a variety of fates. Many of the prominent boyars were stripped of their land. Their land became part of Ivan's vast oprichnina. Many more boyars and their families were executed in brutal fashion. This time Ivan even took personal revenge against his cousin, Vladimir Andreevich of Staritsa by forcing Vladimir, his wife and their youngest child to drink poison. Vladimir's mother had been sent to a nunnery earlier and she was now removed and murdered as well. Family connections had kept these people alive for many years. However, Ivan's deteriorating mental state no longer saw that as a valid reason.[57] Church officials were also no longer safe. Metropolitan Filipp broke his promise to Ivan and denounced the killings for which he was removed from his position and put in prison.[58] This round of killings was simply leading up to the big event of 1570 when Ivan attacked the city of Novgorod. The motivation for the attack seems to be that Ivan suspected Archbishop Pimen of Novgorod and the citizens of planning to give the city over to Poland. Modern historians believe that this was probably a ridiculous idea considering that Novgorod had been loyal to Ivan. Polish spies may have planted the idea.[59] Nevertheless, Ivan took the bait mostly out of fear due to Novgorod's strategically important location and moved on Novgorod with a vengeance. The chronicles of the day record that 60,000 were either killed or tortured.[60] That number may be excessive. Legitimate evidence does point to about 2200 deaths coming from all the different classes and walks of life.[61] The exact number of deaths will probably never be determined exactly. However, the destruction of the region cannot be denied. Novgorod became a ghost town of wanderers and beggars.[62] The destruction was not just wrought from Ivan. The area also suffered due to recent crop failure and epidemic diseases. All of this led to a massive economic decline of the region.[63] This should have served as a warning to Ivan that his destructive behavior would drive the entire country to the brink of disaster. However, he just continued his massive display of terror in Moscow where Ivan put on a show by parading 300 prisoners around. Some he permitted to live; 100 others were killed in horrible ways including being boiled alive or hacked to pieces. Many of their remains were left in the street to be eaten by dogs. Ivan's behavior became increasingly debauched with promiscuity and excessive drinking.[64] Ivan was spiraling downward in his personal life as he faced more and stronger challenges politically. Famine was becoming more and more common due to the policies of the oprichnina. Much of the land was unfarmed and Ivan's army took whatever they wanted from the rest.[65] This left Russia open to attack by foreign powers. Russia was still fighting Poland along its western border. Khan Devlet-Girey from the Crimea saw Russia's deteriorating condition as the perfect opportunity to attack which he did in 1571. The Khan's forces reached Moscow and succeeded in burning a large part of the city and killing many inhabitants. The invaders were driven back, but not without substantial loss.[66] In the fall of 1572, Ivan decided to end the oprichnina. His separate court and military were absorbed into the original ones. The nobility who had lost their land found it restored and the country as a whole returned to pre-oprichnina status.[67] Two questions really remain. One, why did Ivan end the oprichnina at that time? Many believe that he was trying to appease public opinion and get the country back on one track, perhaps in support of the war in Poland.[68] Two, why was the oprichnina formed in the first place? The answer to this probably gives insight into Ivan's personality. The oprichnina served to keep himself safe from his real and imagined enemies. The oprichnina was an elaborate plan to achieve that objective.[69] During the final years of his reign, Ivan probably suffered both physically and mentally. His behavior became increasingly erratic. In 1575, Ivan actually abdicated the throne to a Simeon Bekbulatovich for about a one year period. During this time Ivan remained the Grand Prince of Moscow.[70] There is very little evidence left from this bizarre episode. Many believe that Ivan abdicated to remove himself from the line of fire. If he was not tsar, the boyars and others could and would not conspire against him. Essentially, he retreated into retirement for a year. He did maintain an army of his own during this period.[71] When Ivan re-took the throne, he once again became the leader of a declining country. Twenty-five years of warfare over Livonia had taken a significant toll on the royal treasury. Due to years of poor conditions, high taxes, and natural disasters, the economic condition of the country was at an all time low. Ivan responded by limiting how much land the church could acquire and, in a move that would have repercussions for the next 300 years, Ivan imposed restrictions on the movement of peasants. Essentially, he laid the foundation for serfdom.[72] Militarily, Ivan's army continued to struggle against Poland. Ivan knew that he had to extract himself from this war that he could no longer afford. He tried to find a diplomatic solution to the war. In 1582, Poland and Muscovy agreed to the ten year long Truce of Iam Zapolskii which returned the borders to what they had been originally. A quarter century of fighting had accomplished nothing but an incredible loss of lives and money.[73] One of the most well-known events in Ivan's personal life also occurred at about this time in November 1581. Ivan killed his oldest son and his heir by hitting the young man on the top of the head with the tip of his staff. There are many stories as to why Ivan hit his son. One says that Ivan had come across his son's wife indecently dressed and began to beat her. Her husband stood up for her and was killed in the ensuing fight. Other versions tie the death to disputes over horses, disputes over Ivan's recent marriage, the son's close ties to the Romanovs or disagreements over the commanding of the army in Pskov.[74] Although the reason for Ivan's actions remains unclear, the results do not. Ivan killed a son who probably would have been a capable leader of Muscovy. Additionally, the son's wife was pregnant at the time and suffered a miscarriage as a result of her husband's death. Ivan killed two future leaders of his country with one blow.[75] Many accounts record that Ivan was physically and mentally impaired in the last years of his life. His personal life was a shambles and he had effectively destroyed a country that in his early years as tsar he had so wanted to reform in a positive way. Ivan died March 18, 1584. His death is said to have been a violent one. Despite the fact that he was ill late in his life, many at the time and today believe that he may have been poisoned by political rivals.[76] Although Ivan started out with improvements for Russia in mind and certainly had the intelligence and political pull to accomplish great things, he allowed himself and his government to get dragged down in impossible battles such as the war with Poland over Livonia. He also personally suffered from a kind of paranoia that negatively impacted many of the decisions that he made as tsar. Unfortunately, due to his mental state, Ivan ran his government in a formidable way and was considered fearsome by many of his subjects. That fear does not necessarily imply hatred. Instead Ivan's subjects were in complete awe of him. In the eyes of history, however, many of Ivan's actions can be deemed terrible. His terrors and unremitting hostility against some families and the actions he took, such as the creation of oprichnina, certainly proved the Greek Patriarch correct when he predicted before Ivan was born that Russia would suffer greatly under his leadership. Ivan's legacy to the world is the remembrance of those years of terror and the miserable financial and social state he left his country in at the time of his death. Despite early attempts to reform the system of government in Russia, Ivan perpetuated the flawed system and created deep animosities that would cause more problems in the future.