Ivan the Terrible

The colorful figure of Ivan the Terrible always attracted the attention of not only historians, but also figures of literature and art. All his life - from birth to death - was accompanied by riddles and secrets. In Ivan, Grozny combined the depth of a large statesman - and the despot, a thin, eloquent writer - and the executioner. So who was he? Historians have no and can not be an unequivocal answer to this question. Obviously one thing: since childhood, surrounded by land and treasury, worship and palace intrigues, Ivan the Terrible became more tyrant than a state-owner. He identified himself with the state from the Russian rulers and therefore he believed that the king contradicts is almost state treason. By this, he justified his own permissiveness