Ivan IV was the first of two children of Basil III, who had been attempting for many years without success to have a son. Basil divorced his first wife, Solomonia Saburova (which he had picked, by royal custom, personally out of 1,500 virgins) due to her inability to bear him a child. Basil then quickly remarried to a princess of royal Mongolian descent on January 21, 1526. This woman was Elena Glinskaya who became the mother of Ivan.

    Ivan came into a world of terror at six o'clock in the evening on August 25, 1530. Two years preceding this (1532) Ivan's deaf-mute brother, Fyodor, was born. Nearly a year after this Ivan's father died when he was only three. Basil had died due to a small, little pimple on his thigh that had developed into a  deadly sore. Basil requested at his deathbed that his son Ivan would become the ruler of Russia when he became a man at age 15.

    Once Basil died the boyars (members of the Russian aristocracy next in rank below the ruling prince) took over Russia, denying Ivan's right to the throne. Ivan's mother then with other trusted boyars took over the ruling party. Elena was able to successfully rule Russia for four years, until she was killed. Through all this Ivan had remained isolated, and ignored by everyone except his beloved nurse, Agrafena. But, to add to Ivan's tragedy his nurse was taken from him when his mother was killed. Ivan, not even eight years of age, was traumatized by all these events. One biographer of Ivan said, "before the child-prince became Ivan the Terrible, he was Ivan the Terrified." Ivan's brutal behavior later on in life is testimony to his never having forgotten nor forgiven the childhood indignities he had suffered.

    Ivan's loneliness increased without his cherished nurse to look after him, and the boyars alternately either neglected or abused him. He became a ragged beggar in his own Palace. The boyars would only pay attention to him when his presence was required at a ceremony. On these occasions they would clean and then dress him in luxurious, ceremonial robes and was placed on the thrown, deceiving his visitors into thinking that the Russian monarchy was stable. After these ceremonies, Ivan would be stripped of the robes and hustled back to his quarters to be forgotten again.

    As the rivalry in the Palace for the power of Russia escalated into a bloody feud, Ivan witnessed horrible things. Living in poverty he watched and heard murders, beatings, and verbal and physical abuse regularly. Incapable to strike at his tormentors, Ivan took out his terrible frustrations on defenseless animals, which he subjected to the horrific tortures in the fantasy that he was inflicting them on the men who terrorized him. It was under these conditions, which molded the character of Ivan the Terrible.

    On December 29, 1543 Ivan surprised his boyars by calling them to a meeting. He condemned them for their neglect of him and the nation, and denounced them for their misconduct, telling them he would punish their leader as an example. At a signal from Ivan, a heavily armed group of huntsmen seized Prince Andrew Shuiksy and dragged him off. Outside, before a large crowd of Moscow citizens, the screaming prince was thrown into an enclosure with a pack of starved hunting dogs that immediately fell on Andrew and devoured him.

    After this the boyars conceded that their rule had ended and that Ivan had complete power. Ivan's complex personality would develop further in opposite directions. In one direction he was a mean - spirited juvenile who would through cats and dogs off walls to watch them suffer, and who hung out with gangs and thugs.  In the other direction Ivan read books at an incredible pace, learned to be a musician, wrote extensively, and became an excellent horseman.

    On Sunday, January 16, 1547, in Moscow's lavish Cathedral of the Assumption, Ivan was crowned czar autocrat of "all the Russia's."  Not long after this Ivan chose his beautiful and charming wife, Anastasia Romanovna-Zakharyina-Yurueva (the first of his seven wives).  The two of them were then married on February 3, 1547.

    During the beginning of Ivan's reign, the administrative functions of the government were handled by two brothers of Ivan's mother, Prince Yuri Glinsky and Prince Mikhail Glinsky. The Glinsky brothers abused their position in the government, mistreating the boyars and the citizens. For these offenses protesting became commonplace in Moscow.

    Near the end of the spring in 1547 a series of fires destroyed sections of Moscow, which had been built almost entirely of wood. These fires were rumored to be the work of the Glinskys. The worst of these fires began on the afternoon of June 2, when the grand Church of the Holy Cross was consumed in flames. Fanned by sudden winds, the inferno leaped out of control, killing 2,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless.

    Not long later when Ivan toured the ruined city he realized what a horrible effect the fire had done to it. The poverty created by the fires was devastating; thousands of people were not only homeless, but also without most of their belongings; possessing nothing more than the clothes they were wearing when they had escaped the flames. Ivan became saddened by what he saw. The fearful scenes had a profound effect on him, and therefore all of Russia.

    Ivan realized that he could no longer leave the administrative responsibilities to anyone else. He decided that he must alter his life style and assume the responsibilities of governing the country.

    Ivan began a new era of governance by making an emotional speech in red square, asking for a unity of effort in rebuilding the city. He also promised his people important social reforms that would benefit everyone.

    In 1550, Ivan announced a reformed code of laws and a new system for justice. Criminal acts now were clearly defined, and punishments were prescribed for each. In addition, judges who were appointed by Moscow, would share their benches with representatives elected by local populations, in an effort to curb the practice of corrupt judges that sold justice to those who could afford it. The new code replaced long-standing customs that had operated to the advantage of local princes and noblemen. Now magistrates would, at least in theory, enforce the laws equally, without discrimination against persons of low status.

    The central Moscow government also became more professional through a division of labor responsibilities. The Foreign Office was established, as was the Bureau of Criminal Affairs, the Land Office, and the Office of Military Affairs. Under Ivan's firm hand, the government of Russia was quickly becoming a modern, stable one.

    In June 1552 Ivan personally led his newly formed army of 100,000 troops down the Volga toward Kazan, the fortified capital of khanate. Ivan besieged the Tartar stronghold in late August and waited for its surrender. He had come equipped with more than 150 heavy artillery pieces and a group of German military engineers who were experienced in reducing large fortifications. On October 11, these engineers successfully mined the fortifications, which soon brought victory to Ivan. After Ivan's victory over Kazan he received, from his troops, the second part of his name that still remains today. This name that he received is Grozny, which has been taken to mean "the terrible" or "the dread," but most accurately translated as "the awesome."

    Two years later, in 1554, a second Tartar stronghold, Astrakhan, yielded to another Russian army.

    Ivan's victories over Kazan and Astrakhan extended the Russian nation to the Caspian Sea in the south and to the Ural Mountains in the east, adding nearly 1,000,000 square kilometers to Ivan's realm.

    Looking to further expand his empire, Ivan targeted Livonia, a small, Baltic-coast nation. Ivan started this conquest in January 1558. By May, Narva and its Baltic seaport were secured and Ivan promptly set about expanding the seaport's harbor to welcome large trading ships from Europe.  With the Livonian monopoly on trade between Russia and Western Europe broken, merchants from as far away as Holland and France rushed to Narva to negotiate trade agreements with the Russians.

    While Ivan continued the war over Livonia, a tragedy of enormous consequences for all of Russia took place in Moscow. Ivan's much-loved wife Anastasia withered away due to a lingering illness in the summer of 1560. Ivan became very distraught after Anastasia's death. Angry and depressed, his old cruelty resurfaced. Many people believe that the death of Anastasia caused Ivan to become insane. Ivan raged against the boyars whom he suspected of having poisoned Anastasia. Ivan killed all these boyars in a wave of tortures and executions. Ivan set up the Oprichnina, which became a separate police state within Russia. The Oprichniki, as its members were called, instilled fear in anyone they encountered. They dressed in black, the traditional colors of death, and rode black horses, from whose saddle hung two emblems - those of a broom and a dog's head. The broom signified the rider's mission to sweep Russia clean of Ivan's enemies; the dog's head symbolized that he was watchful for the czar. In 1570, on the basis of unproven accusations of treason, Ivan massacred the 60,000 citizens of Novgorod with his Oprichniki. Observers reported that so many bodies clogged the Volkhov River, which bisects the city, that it overflowed its banks. Not even the highest priests could escape from Ivan's Oprichniki. In the same year, there were mass public executions in Moscow.  Ivan grew increasingly vicious and blood thirsty. So much that on November 19, 1581 he struck his eldest son and killed him in a violent fit of rage. This shocked him so deeply that he never slept properly again, but roamed the palace at night in terrible remorse.

    Ivan left behind a joyless Russia on March 18, 1584, when he died suddenly while preparing for a game of chess. The years before Anastasia died had been a time of enlightenment for Russia. Ivan had pursued relations with England, opened the port of Archangel to British merchant ships, and started trading directly with Western Europe, despite strong opposition from Sweden, Denmark, and Lithuania, which together controlled the Baltic Sea. He brought Moscow a wide variety of artisans to teach his people the new trades that were essential for success in the modern world (coopering, shipbuilding, and typography among others), and he employed numerous foreign teachers of various academic subjects. He instituted sweeping reforms in the Church and the army, as well as in the way the country was governed. He ended forever the threat from the Tartar, and expanded Russia's territories. But, once Anastasia had died he ruled without mercy. It is in this period that the nickname "the Terrible" aptly applies.