Essays

Ivan the Terrible is one of the most striking and controversial figures in Russian history: he is known not only as a statesman whose rule was marked by extreme cruelty but also as a talented polemicist, theologian, and philosopher. A man of passionate temperaments and outstanding abilities, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich left behind a rich literary legacy. How could the most educated man of his time, the scholar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, coalesce with Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who drowned Novgorod in blood and killed his own son? Contemporary witnesses, often filled with gossip and myths, and sometimes simply biased, are unlikely to help us understand what the true face of the first Russian autocrat was. The solution can only be found by exploring the vast written legacy of Tsar Ivan IV, part of which is presented in this publication.