Against the background of his contemporaries, Ivan the Terrible was an extremely educated person. He had a phenomenal memory and theological erudition. True, there were many contradictions in his policy and character. The king, for example, was religious, but at the same time killed a lot of people. The famous contemporaries of Ivan the Terrible and their relationship with the tsar will be discussed in today's article.
Contribution to the development of culture
Ivan the Terrible did a lot of good things for the state. In 1551, on his orders, clerics organized schools in all cities. At the initiative of the king, something like a conservatory was created in Alexander Sloboda. The best musicians of those years worked here. During the reign of Ivan IV, the Front Chronicle was also created.
The king did not stop there. He decided to organize a printing house in Moscow. Christian II sent the Russian ruler a Bible in Luther's translation and two catechisms. After the founding of the printing house, Ivan IV orderedorganize the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral.
There is an opinion that Ivan the Terrible inherited an extensive library from Sophia Paleolog. True, what happened to her is unknown. According to one version, it was destroyed during one of the Moscow fires. Some researchers believe that the king hid the library that he inherited. Well, where is it? Various kinds of assumptions have become the basis for the plots of numerous works of art.
Church
The king who took the life of his own son was amazingly God-fearing. True, this character trait was expressed mainly in decrees on the construction of temples. There are many legends about the long and rather strange conversations that Ivan the Terrible had with St. Basil the Blessed, a Moscow holy fool who was not afraid to tell the truth in the face even to the tsar himself. But we will tell about this amazing personality a little later.
Ivan the Terrible donated not only for the construction of new monasteries, but also for the memory of the souls of people who were killed on his orders. This, perhaps, is the main inconsistency of the king's personality. He ordered the creation of new churches, at the same time he executed monks and priests, robbed churches on the estates of boyars who fell into disgrace.
At the end of the 20th century, individual church ministers put forward a proposal to canonize Ivan the Terrible. However, this idea caused a wave of indignation. This tsar committed too many crimes against the Orthodox Church. Let us recall the contemporaries of Ivan the Terrible. This will give a more complete characterization of the king.
Sylvester
This man was an Orthodox political and literary figure, a priest, confessor of Ivan the Terrible. Sylvester began his career in Novgorod, after taking the priesthood, he served in the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Archpriest Sylvester is also known for the fact that in 1547, when another fire broke out in Moscow, he delivered a diatribe against the young tsar. Oddly enough, the words of the priest were received favorably by Ivan the Terrible. Moreover, he became one of his associates.
The expulsion of Sylvester
The king once suffered a severe illness, miraculously survived. True, modern historians believe that this was one of his methods for understanding the true attitude of those close to him. While Ivan the Terrible was dying or feigning, Sylvester became close to his cousin, who claimed the throne.
Ivan the Terrible, to the chagrin of his relative, did not die. After a full recovery, he cooled off towards Sylvester. In 1562, very opportunely, rumors appeared about the involvement of the archpriest in the death of Empress Anastasia. It is not known whether the tsar believed them, but just in case he exiled Sylvester to the Solovetsky Monastery. There the former priest spent the rest of his life preaching the philosophy of non-acquisitiveness.
Metropolitan Philip
This is a famous person in his time. One of the most famous personalities of the 16th century. Ivan the Terrible respected and even feared the Metropolitan. But some differences once turned into an open conflict.
Fyodor Kolychev, that's rightcalled Metropolitan Philip in the world, belonged to an old boyar family. His father prepared him for public service. Mother brought up in the spirit of Orthodox piety. Fedor was taught to read and write, own weapons and horseback riding. Until the age of thirty, he lived at the court of Vasily III, where he won the sympathy of the future king.
In 1537, Fyodor's relatives sided with Andrei Ivanovich Staritsky, the prince who rebelled against Elena Glinskaya. All of them were in disgrace. Fedor meanwhile left Moscow.
Before Philip, the Metropolitan of Moscow was Archbishop German. Once he expressed disagreement with the policy of Ivan IV, for which he instantly fell out of favor. Philip, before agreeing to the tsar's proposal to accept the metropolitan rank, set a condition for the destruction of the oprichnina, with which the tsar did not agree.
The first two years were relatively quiet. At this time, executions were hardly heard in Moscow. But Metropolitan Philip often turned to the tsar with a petition for disgraced boyars. In this way he tried to soften the known ferocity of the ruler. Little is known about the administrative activities of this church leader. In Moscow, thanks to him, the Church of Saints Zosima and Savvaty was built. Philip contributed to the development of printing.
Conflict between tsar and metropolitan
Ivan the Terrible ruled the state in a rather peculiar way. His favorite method was mass executions. After the return of the king from the Lyon campaign, a new period of bloody terror began. The reason was the lettersthe Polish king to the boyars, who managed to intercept. The king ordered someone to be executed immediately. Someone was sent to the monastery.
These events grew into a conflict between Ivan the Terrible and the spiritual authorities. Metropolitan Philip spoke out against terror. At first, he made several attempts to stop lawlessness in peaceful conversations with the king, but they did not lead to anything.
The real conflict between Ivan the Terrible and Philip took place in 1568. In March, the metropolitan allowed himself public criticism of the policy of terror. Ivan the Terrible boiled up with anger, struck the ground with his staff. The next day, a new wave of executions began. Servicemen and boyars were subjected to torture in order to extract from them testimony about the intentions of the Metropolitan against Ivan the Terrible.
According to Karamzin, the tsar was afraid of Philip because of his popular veneration, and therefore directed his anger at the boyars. The Metropolitan went to one of the Moscow monasteries in protest.
In 1568 Philip was put on trial. Solovetsky monks testified. What they contained is unknown. Obviously, these were typical accusations of witchcraft for that era. Philip was stripped of his metropolitan rank.
Prince Andrei Kurbsky
This commander is another close associate of Ivan the Terrible, who, like many others, did not escape disgrace in his time. Andrei Kurbsky participated in the campaign against the Kazan Khanate. During the illness of Ivan the Terrible, he became one of the few who did not refuse to swear allegiance to Tsarevich Dmitry. When the persecution of Sylvester's supporters began, the prince nevertheless understoodthat opals cannot be avoided. In 1653, Kurbsky went over to the side of Sigismund.
Basil the Blessed
The Moscow holy fool was born into an ordinary peasant family. From childhood, he was distinguished by industriousness and God-fearing. As a youth, he discovered the gift of insight. Perhaps this is the most legendary contemporary of Ivan the Terrible. There are many stories about the prophecies of St. Basil the Blessed.
The holy fool went without clothes all year round. He spent the night in the open air, always kept a fast and humbly endured hardships. Muscovites treated Vasily with reverence. Often, warm clothes were presented to him as a gift, which immediately disappeared somewhere. But the most surprising thing is that he was perhaps the only contemporary of Ivan the Terrible who was not at all afraid of him. Moreover, according to historical sources, rather, a ferocious ruler was afraid at the sight of a harmless holy fool.
When Vasily fell seriously ill, Ivan the Terrible visited him. The holy fool died in 1552. The tsar, together with the boyars, carried the coffin. Basil the Blessed was buried at the Trinity Church.
