Portrait reconstruction of Ivan the Terrible. M.M. Gerasimov. 1963.

What is known about last day life of Ivan IV?

Before his death, he was in a rare state of rest for him. AT last years he was tormented by severe attacks of pain, gloomy forebodings, severe remorse. We know from eyewitnesses that on the day of his death, in the morning, he felt some relief from his illness, took a warm bath and sat down to play chess (or checkers) with Belsky. That day he was kind and calm. During the game, he suffered a blow. According to his advance wish, the dying tsar was tonsured and buried in a stone royal coffin.

However, can we fully trust this source? (The version about the dying game of the tsar in checkers comes from a foreigner who clearly did not know enough about the rules at the court of the Russian autocrat.)

Having opened the tomb, scientists immediately noticed that the side walls of the sarcophagus are very thin. Probably, they were hastily additionally cut down just before the burial. This detail shows something in the illness of the king. Apparently, the deceased before near death became obese or edematous and could not fit in a coffin prepared in advance. It took several months to determine the causes of death of the king who died four centuries ago. Chemical analysis showed that the body of Ivan IV had a high content of mercury. And it was found that mercury entered the body for a relatively long time. Perhaps this is the result of treatment with mercury ointment, already then used in medical practice? Or was the cause of death poisoning?

It was impossible to refuse such assumptions. It took time for final conclusions, in addition, scientists found numerous bony protrusions, the so-called osteophytes. They were located on the spine, scallops of the iliac bones of the pelvis, around the joints.

The nobles of that time had a custom to keep a vessel with "living water" (or "living silver") open in their chambers. Allegedly, this added longevity to the owner. It is likely that the king did the same. At that time, they did not yet know about the harmful effects of mercury vapor.

And the causes of osteophytes are very diverse. These may be manifestations of age-related arthrosis (chronic inflammation of the joint), more often affecting individual joints. Osteophytes can arise on the basis of endocrine disorders; with malignant tumors - for example, osteosclerotic metastases of prostate cancer. (As the pathologists later suggested, it was this last option that was most likely in our case.)

These bone growths sometimes increase slowly, without causing the patient any particular inconvenience, but often pain can occur even with small movements, especially from such growths as in Ivan IV (a kind of “spurs” or “peaks” are along the edges of the articular surfaces). The pains are sharp and painful, repeating again and again - after all, the sharp edges of the outgrowths squeeze the nerves, blood vessels, dig into the muscles.

It is not difficult to imagine how painful the life of Ivan IV was all the last years - not only in the waking state, but also at night, in bed, from random movement, pain arose, exhausting, depriving him of sleep.

No medicines of healers, medical advice of Western doctors most likely could not help the autocrat, they gave only temporary relief, dulling the pain. It was impossible to cure the king - at the then level of medical practice. It was these continuous torments that could lead to ominous changes in the character of Ivan the Terrible, which explains many of his actions. Being constantly in painful stress, he was completely unpredictable.

The ashes of the first Russian autocrat, neatly packed in cardboard boxes, were taken with extreme care to Gerasimov's plastic reconstruction laboratory. (Ashes were carried along the old Kaluga road, along which Ivan IV traveled more than once during his lifetime - four centuries ago. Not far away, in the village of Vorobyovskoye, where the spire of Moscow University now rises, the tsar was hiding during the uprising of 1547.)

In the laboratory, the boxes were unpacked and the skull lay down on the scientist's desktop. The restoration of the appearance of Tsar Ivan IV began. First, the skull was once again carefully soaked in a special solution that strengthened the bones, and preserved. Then plaster copies were taken. Gerasimov began to work with them, and the original skull remained intact, waiting for its return to the grave crypt. The preliminary stage is the most responsible: a scrupulous study of the places of attachment of the tendons facial muscles, careful and repeated measurements, analysis of the data obtained ... And only in January (almost six months after the opening of the tomb) Gerasimov began to reconstruct the face of Ivan the Terrible.

According to his method, the sculptor applied plasticine muscle tissues to the copy of the king's skull, carefully following all the features of the skull. The slightest unverified detail could affect the reliability of the future sculptural portrait of the king.

Sometimes there were doubts. For example, it seemed that the sutures of the cranial vault are very young, do not correspond to the age of 53 years. Additional careful examination confirmed that there was no anomaly.

Another example. Terrible's perfectly preserved teeth made anthropologists and anatomists rack their brains. According to all medical data, the teeth were twenty years younger than the king - even, strong, not worn out, two incisors were not erased at all, fangs were only erupted - the teeth of a young man.

(“Imagine, in the annals it was mentioned that until the age of 40 some of Tsar Ivan’s teeth were milk teeth. It is clear that none of us believed this. And everything turned out to be true!” Gerasimov once said. There was some kind of genetic anomaly , in principle positive. Unfortunately, it was not possible to trace this feature either in an ascending or descending line. The question remained at the stage of stating a fact.)

The arch of the lower jaw is too steep, the tongue in such cases is located higher in the oral cavity than is usually the case. It is possible that Grozny whispered a little. But contemporaries usually do not mention such speech defects of the monarch.

By March 1964, the muscle tissues were finally fully modeled and Gerasimov began the final finishing ... Ivan IV turned out to have a narrow, strong-willed face, big nose humpbacked, small mouth, high forehead, big eyes slightly protruding lower part of the face.

According to the surviving skeleton, the figure of the king was also restored. Ivan the Terrible was tall, large, overweight, strong and sturdy. He had broad shoulders, well-developed muscles.

Yes, perhaps, he is not very similar to the king played by Cherkasov. It does not look like Repin's son-killer, and Antokolsky's sculpture...

Next to Ivan the Terrible rests his son, who was killed by him in a fit of rage, twenty-seven-year-old Tsarevich Ivan. In his grave, thick, long blond curls were found, which were spared by decay. The fabric of the prince's clothes has been preserved - after washing and cleaning it turned out to be silk, orange, with a golden hue.

But, alas, time did not save the prince's skull. We will never know how Tsarevich Ivan was killed. Did he look like his father.

The skull of another son of the Terrible - Tsar Fedor - was poorly preserved. However, Gerasimov reconstructed the portrait of Fedor. For some reason, he was buried very hastily. The master who carved the inscription on the lid of the sarcophagus did not even finish the word. Instead of “Jesus”, “Isu” is written, and in the word “pious” there are no first and last letters, the union “a” is cut out twice before the word “buried”. The upper lines of the inscription run smoothly, while at the bottom they seemed to be in a hurry, going obliquely.

Perhaps one could not stand on ceremony with the late Tsar Fedor. His brother-in-law Boris Godunov was eager for power...

What did Fyodor Ivanovich die from? Chroniclers speak of this sparingly. The reason is usual - they did not want to "offend", to come into conflict with the newly elevated "those in power". Only the Pskov chronicle suggests that Godunov poisoned him.

Modern chemical analyzes showed that there was an increased content of arsenic in Fedor's body, and the version of poisoning was most likely.

In a row of tombs there was once the fourth - Boris Godunov. When opened it was empty...

So confirmed historical evidence that False Dmitry I ordered the corpse of Tsar Boris to be taken out of the sarcophagus and transported in a poor wooden coffin to the provincial Varsonofevsky Monastery.

Replaced False Dmitry on the throne boyar tsar Vasily Shuisky ordered that the remains of Ivan the Terrible's youngest son, Dmitry, be transferred from Uglich to Moscow and placed in Godunov's former grave. However, the corpse of little Dmitry was not interred, but placed for worship in a special ark in the center of the Archangel Cathedral. When Shuisky ordered to transfer the remains of Dmitry from Uglich to the grave of their ancestors, rumors began to spread that the body of the lad was preserved incorruptible ... And when he was transported to Moscow, scarlet blood allegedly flowed from the wound. Dmitry was declared innocent, a holy martyr.

Were Dmitry's remains really brought to the Archangel Cathedral? Was it not for the sake of staging the incorruptibility of the corpse of the prince that another baby was killed, by no means of the royal family?

You can check this provided that the skull of the baby has been preserved. The appearance of Ivan IV, his father, has been restored. In the Kremlin is the burial place of Maria Nagoi, Dmitry's mother. Comparative analysis remains (as well as portraits of parents and son) can reveal another secret of the past.

The circumstances of the death of Ivan IV and his sons are complex and unclear. After recreating the appearances of Ivan the Terrible and his son Fyodor, their remains were returned to the graves. Heavy tombstones fell into place. But the secret of the life of Ivan IV and his children remained.

The first Russian Tsar Ivan IV, son of the Grand Duke Basil III and Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, descended from the Rurik family, was a descendant of Dmitry Donskoy and Alexander Nevsky. He was born on August 25, 1530 in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow.

When the future king was three years old, his father died, and five years later his mother also died. From the age of eight future ruler witnessed the struggle for power between the boyar families of the Shuisky and Belsky warring among themselves. The intrigue and violence that took place around him contributed to the development of suspicion, revenge and cruelty in him. The tendency to torment living beings manifested itself in Ivan in childhood, and those close to him encouraged her.

Ivan IV was crowned king on January 16, 1547 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. royal title made it possible to take a new position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe. The grand ducal title was translated as "prince" or even " Grand Duke". And the title "king" was translated as "emperor". The Russian autocrat thus stood on a par with the only emperor in Europe - the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

1549 - together with Chosen Rada, the king carried out a series of reforms that were aimed at centralizing the state. In 1550-1551, Ivan IV personally took part in the Kazan campaigns. 1552 - Kazan was conquered, then the Astrakhan Khanate (1556), Siberian Khan Ediger and Nogai Bolshoi became dependent on Ivan IV. 1553 - Established trade relations with England. 1558 - the Russian tsar began the Livonian War - for mastering the coast of the Baltic Sea. At first, military operations were successful, three years later the army Livonian Order was finally defeated, and the order itself ceased to exist.

Meanwhile, major changes took place within the country. Around 1560, Ivan IV broke with the leaders of the Chosen Rada. According to historians, the reason was that some of its members, realizing the futility of the Livonian War for Russia, tried to persuade Ivan IV to an agreement with the enemy. Meanwhile, in 1563, Russian troops captured Polotsk, at that time a large Lithuanian fortress. The tsar was especially proud of this victory, won after the break with the Chosen Rada. But just a year later, Russia suffered serious defeats. Ivan the Terrible began to look for the "guilty", disgrace and executions began.

Ivan IV was increasingly imbued with the idea of ​​establishing a personal dictatorship. 1565 - he announced the establishment of the oprichnina - state system co special troops, consisting of guardsmen.

Each oprichnik had to take an oath of allegiance to the sovereign. They wore black robes, similar to those of a monk. The horse guardsmen had special " identification marks". A broom was attached to the saddles - to sweep out treason, and a dog's head - to sniff it out and gnaw it out. With the help of guardsmen under his jurisdiction, headed by Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belsky (Malyuta Skuratov), ​​Ivan the Terrible confiscated boyar estates, transferring them to guardsmen from the nobility.

Executions and disgrace were accompanied by terror and robbery among the population. A major act of the oprichnina was Novgorod pogrom in January-February 1570, the reason for which was the suspicion of Novgorod's desire to come under the rule of Lithuania. It is believed that the number of victims in Novgorod, then with a population of no more than 30,000 people, reached 10 - 15,000.

But the oprichnina failed when in 1571 the oprichnina army could not stop the invasion of Moscow Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. Posadas were burned, the fire spread to Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin. Soon after that, he canceled the oprichnina.

As the members of the Rada predicted, Livonian War ended in complete failure and the loss of native Russian lands. Ivan the Terrible could see the objective results of his reign already during his lifetime: it was a failure of all domestic and foreign policy initiatives. From 1578, Ivan IV ceased to be executed. Almost at the same time, he ordered synodics (commemoration lists) of the executed to be compiled and contributions sent to the monasteries to commemorate their souls; in the will of 1579 he repented of his deed.

And there was something to repent. The sophisticated cruelty with which the king executed not only enemies, but also his loyal friends, who suddenly fell out of favor, is striking.

Executions and torture in the era of Ivan the Terrible

One of the favorite types of execution of Ivan the Terrible is to sew up the convict in a bearskin (it was called “sheathed like a bear”) and then hunted down with dogs. So the Novgorod bishop Leonid was executed. Sometimes bears were set on people (of course, in this case they were not “sheathed like a bear”).

Ivan IV generally loved non-standard executions, including executions with savage "humor". So, on his orders, a nobleman named Ovtsyn was hung on the same crossbar with a sheep. And once several monks were tied to a barrel of gunpowder and blown up - let them, they say, like angels, immediately fly to heaven.

The court physician Yelisey Bomel was executed as follows: his arms were twisted out of his joints, his legs were dislocated, his back was cut with wire whips, then he was tied to a wooden pole and a fire was kindled under it; in the end, the half-dead was taken on a sledge to prison, where he died of his wounds.

And the head of the Ambassadorial order (in modern terms - the Minister of Foreign Affairs) Viskovaty was tied to a pole, and then the tsar's close associates approached the convict, and each cut off a piece of meat from his body. One guardsman, Ivan Reutov, cut out a piece so "unsuccessfully" that Viskovaty immediately died. Then the tsar accused Reutov of having done this on purpose in order to reduce Viskovaty's torment, and ordered him to be executed as well. But Reutov “escaped himself” from execution - he fell ill with the plague “on time” and died.

Of the other types of exotic executions that Ivan the Terrible used, one should mention the alternate dousing of the convict with boiling water and cold water; this is how treasurer Nikita Funikov-Kurtsev was executed.

The king liked to "combine" fanaticism. During the executions in Novgorod, Ivan IV ordered people to be set on fire with a special combustible compound (“fire”), and then, singed and exhausted, they were tied to a sleigh and let the horses gallop. Bodies dragged across the frozen ground, leaving streaks of blood in their wake. After they were thrown into the Volkhov River from the bridge. Together with these unfortunates, their wives and children were carried to the river. Women twisted their arms and legs back, tied children to them and also threw them into icy water. And there, guardsmen swam in boats, who finished off those who surfaced with hooks and axes.

A special type of execution was used by the king in relation to those whom he considered traitors to the state. The sentenced person was put into a cauldron with oil, wine or water, his hands were put into rings specially built into the cauldron and the cauldron was put on fire, gradually bringing the liquid to a boil.

Wives of Ivan the Terrible

The exact number of Ivan IV's wives is unknown, but he probably married seven times. Apart from the children who died in infancy, he had three sons. From the first marriage with Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva, two sons were born, Ivan and Fedor. The second wife was the daughter of the Kabardian prince Maria Temryukovna. The third is Martha Sobakina, who died suddenly three weeks after the wedding.

According to church regulations, it was forbidden to marry more than three times. Therefore, in May 1572, a church council was convened to give permission for a fourth marriage - with Anna Koltovskaya. The marriage took place. But in the same year she was tonsured a nun. Anna Vasilchikova, who became the fifth wife in 1575, died four years later. The sixth was, perhaps, Vasilisa Melentyeva.

The result of the last marriage, concluded in the autumn of 1580 with Maria Naga, was the birth of the third son of the tsar, Dmitry, two years later. He died in 1591 in Uglich.

Causes of death of Ivan the Terrible

The origins of the causes of the incomprehensible death of Ivan the Terrible himself should be sought, apparently, in those strange (and terrible) ailments - physical and mental, that began to torment the sovereign long before his death, as well as in his far from decent way of life.

The first break in Grozny's psyche occurred after a serious illness he suffered in 1553. What kind of illness it was is not known for certain, although a number of researchers consider it an attack of encephalitis or even the result of some kind of venereal infection. Just at that time, his suspicion took on a downright pathological character, which resulted in the establishment of the oprichnina, which led to the unleashing of bloody terror in the country.

Unexpected fits of anger, which were accompanied by manifestations of reckless cruelty, especially became more frequent in Ivan the Terrible after the death of his first wife. Some of the researchers believe that because of this tragedy, his mind was somewhat confused. From time to time, Ivan Vasilyevich had seizures, during which he seemed to fall into complete madness: he rolled on the floor, biting the carpets, his body arched, and foam appeared on his lips. During one of these attacks on November 9, 1582, in his country residence - Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, Ivan Vasilyevich accidentally killed his eldest son Ivan, hitting the iron tip of the staff right on his temple.

Overwhelmed by despair and a deep sense of guilt, the sovereign beat his head against the coffin with the body of his son, and then, in a clouded mind, wandered through the corridors and chambers of the palace, trying to find the deceased heir. After this tragedy, Ivan the Terrible sent a large contribution to the monastery to commemorate the soul of his son and even thought of going to the monastery himself.

The reason for the death of the king could also be his lifestyle: a wild mixture of unrestrained drunkenness, bloody orgies and earnest atonement for sins did not at all contribute to the improvement of the sick psyche. Being repeatedly married, the autocrat could not find happiness in family life.

There is evidence that, in addition to having numerous concubines and mistresses, the king was no stranger to homosexual relationships. Rumor ascribes to him such a relationship with his favorite Bogdan Velsky, as well as with Fedor Basmanov and with young bodyguards.

And in the last years of his life, the autocrat was tormented by some incomprehensible and terrible disease: His body was swollen and emitted a foul odor, the skin was bursting and separated from the flesh. The doctors spoke only vaguely about the decomposition of the blood and the deterioration of the entrails. Only a hot bath brought relief, no other methods of treatment helped.

The mysterious death of Ivan the Terrible

1963 - a commission established by the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, after opening the tombs of Ivan IV and his sons - Ivan and Fedor, discovered the autocrat and eldest son in the remains a large number of mercury. At that time, preparations based on it were treated for a specific disease - syphilis. Prolonged exposure to such drugs leads to chronic poisoning of the body.

Ivan the Terrible could have been infected with syphilis during his orgies, and the fact that traces of mercury were contained in the remains of his son suggests that he also managed to catch syphilis.

Moreover, in his morals, Tsarevich Ivan did not differ much from his father and, apparently, took part with him in drinking parties and other "entertainments". And besides this, it is known that many royal mistresses subsequently passed to their son. So the disease that punished them both could come from the same source.

In the light of such facts, the deliberate poisoning of Ivan IV seems unlikely. And yet, many of the researchers do not deny that the autocrat could have been “helped” to go to the other world by using a slow-acting poison, because the degree of suspicion of the mad king towards his entourage in the last years of his reign grew rapidly. In addition, the struggle for influence at court continued with unrelenting force and with sophisticated cunning. Therefore, the possibility of poisoning the king is quite real.

Most likely, the great and terrible Tsar Ivan the Terrible actually died from exposure to poison, which was aggravated by a sick mentality disturbed from childhood and a rapidly developing physical illness, as well as acute hallucinations, which, as you know, are provoked by mercury compounds.

But the death of Ivan the Terrible still remains a mystery. And this mystery is reinforced by another, absolutely mystical event that allegedly took place.

The autocrat was predicted that March 18, 1584 would be the last day of his life. On the evening of that day, Grozny called on the soothsayers and asked if they should be put to death for false prophecy. And in response I heard that the day had not yet ended.

The tsar nevertheless ordered to read his will aloud, went to the bathhouse, and then decided to play chess with Bogdan Velsky. But when he began to arrange the figures, he suddenly fell on the bed and died. The prophecy has come true.

In conclusion, it should be noted that Ivan the Terrible went down in history not only as a tyrant. He was one of the most educated people of his time, possessed a phenomenal memory, theological erudition. He is the author of numerous messages (including to Prince Kurbsky), music and the text of the service of the feast of the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir, the canon to the Archangel Michael. The autocrat contributed to the organization of book printing in Moscow and the construction of a unique St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.

"Encyclopedia of Death. Chronicles of Charon»

Part 2: Dictionary of Chosen Deaths

The ability to live well and die well is one and the same science.

Epicurus

IVAN IV (Grozny)

(1530-1584) Russian tsar

Ivan the Terrible was distinguished by extraordinary cruelty: suffice it to say that he beat his own son Ivan with his own hands, after which he died. Grozny was inexhaustible in his inventions of how to execute his subjects - some (for example, the Novgorod Archbishop Leonid), on his orders, were sewn up in a bearskin and thrown to dogs to be torn to pieces, others were skinned alive, and so on. But fate prepared for the king himself a painful death.

"... The tsar's body was worn out beyond his years," the historian writes. "Manic suspicion, constant fear for his life, confidence in the villainous intrigues of his own courtiers ... All this loosens the nerves and does not improve health. In addition, Tsar Ivan was a libertine. According to Gorsey, who personally knew the tsar, he "bragged about the fact that he had corrupted a thousand virgins, and that thousands of his children were deprived of their lives ..." In addition, the whole way of life of Tsar Ivan was unhealthy: constant nightly orgies, accompanied by overeating and immoderate drunkenness, could not help but provoke a variety of ailments.

According to the anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov, who examined the skeleton of Ivan the Terrible, in the last years of his life, the tsar developed powerful salt deposits (osteophytes) on his spine, which caused him terrible pain with every movement. Before his death, Grozny looked like a decrepit old man, although he was only 53 years old. In the last year, he could no longer walk on his own - they carried him. A number of Grozny's contemporaries believe that the tsar was poisoned. Clerk Ivan Timofeev blames Boris Godunov (who became tsar after Grozny) and Bogdan Belevoy for this. The Dutchman Isaac Massa claims that Belsky added poison to the medicine he gave the tsar.

Here is how the historian N. Kostomarov describes the death of Grozny: “At the beginning of 1584, a terrible illness opened up in him; some kind of rotting inside; a disgusting smell emanated from him. Foreign doctors lavished their art on him; abundant alms were distributed in monasteries; to pray for the sick tsar, and at the same time, the superstitious Ivan invited sorcerers and sorceresses to his place.They were brought from the far north; some magicians predicted for him, as they say, the day of death... and captives, released prisoners from dungeons, then again rushed to the former unbridled ... It seemed to him that he was bewitched, then he imagined that this sorcery had already been destroyed by other means. Meanwhile, the body was covered with blisters and wounds, and the stench from it became unbearable.

March 17 came. About the third hour the king went to the bath prepared for him and bathed with great pleasure; there he was entertained with songs. After the bath, the king felt fresh. They made him sit on the bed; over his linen he wore a wide robe. He ordered the chess to be brought in, he himself began to arrange them, he could not put the chess king in his place, and at that time he fell. A cry went up; some ran for vodka, some for pink water, some for doctors and clergy. Doctors came with their potions and began to rub him; the metropolitan appeared and hastily performed the rite of tonsure [as a monk], naming John Jonah. But the king was already breathless. They struck the bell for the exodus of the soul. The people became agitated, the crowd rushed to the Kremlin. Boris [Godunov] ordered the gates to be closed.

On the third day, the body of Tsar Ivan Vasilievich was buried in the Archangel Cathedral, next to the grave of his son, who had been killed by him.

Secrets of death - the death of Ivan the Terrible
Cause of death of Ivan the Terrible - was the tsar poisoned?

Alexander MASLOV

The fact that Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible had practically nothing in common with the cute Ivan Vasilyevich from the popular comedy is probably known to everyone. Therefore, his terrible and sudden death was connected by popular rumor with the intrigues of numerous tsarist enemies - they poisoned him. But was it really so?

Boris Godunov did not poison his tsar.

There is no smell of dementia here.

On the day of his death, March 18, 1584, Tsar Ivan Vasilievich took a long bath, about three hours. Steamed, pacified, in a spacious white shirt, the king sat on a wide bed. Prepared a chess board. Ivan Vasilyevich himself arranged the pieces, he wanted to play with the boyar Belsky, but suddenly fell on his back, clutching the last unplaced piece of the king in his hand.
Doctors rubbed Tsar Ivan with "fixing liquids", but the agony was short-lived, and in a few minutes the 50-year reign of Ivan IV ended. There were dark rumors among the people that the tsar was poisoned by his neighbors - Belsky and Godunov, having bribed the doctor who treated the sovereign.

The constant premonition of death intensified the inexplicable cruelty and sadistic tendencies of Ivan IV. Were these pathological tendencies innate? Incredible ruthlessness and suspicion could be in the very human nature of the king. Most likely it is. AT late XIX century, the Russian psychiatrist P. Kovalevsky claimed that Tsar Ivan was prone to neurasthenia, suffered from paranoia with persecution mania. Kovalevsky wrote that the tsar "sharply expresses the passion of many unstable people (degenerates) to figure as often and as much as possible, make speeches, appear to the people and wander around the state." But modern psychiatry believes that degeneratism (congenital dementia) and paranoia are completely different diseases. Obviously, the scientist was led to the idea of ​​paranoia by the incredible cruelty of the king. Cruelty was also characteristic of that era in the West, but the sophisticated sadism and whims of the semi-Asian despot affected Ivan's executions. Ivan was often an unfair and cruel judge, but, importantly, he always judged on his own. The king did not succumb to foreign influences, which indicates the absence of "congenital dementia."

PEOPLE. SOCIETY. PLANET - Grandmothers, witches, sorcerers, psychics
Skeptics deny everything mysterious in our lives, but there is mystical phenomena, defying logic. For example, the sorceresses predicted the death of Ivan the Terrible, and their prediction turned out to be accurate.

This fact is well known. In the last year of his life, the tsar ordered the local witches to be brought to Moscow from Arkhangelsk. They brought 12 witches to the court and put them under lock and key. The confidant of the king visited the old women every day and reported to the king about what they had said. One day, all the witches unanimously announced that the king would die on March 18th. For such a false prediction, the king ordered them to be burned alive on March 18th. However, when a servant appeared early in the morning to fulfill the will of the king, the witches raised an indignant cry: the day, they say, had just begun, it was not known yet how it would end. According to contemporaries, nothing on that day foreshadowed misfortune, and the king was surprisingly cheerful. He sat down to play chess, but suddenly swayed, clutched his chest and died a few minutes later, reports Pravda.Ru.

It is known that on the day of his death on March 18, 1584, Tsar Ivan Vasilievich took a long bath, about three hours. Steamed, pacified, in a spacious white shirt, the king sat on a wide bed. Prepared a chess board. Ivan Vasilievich himself arranged the pieces, he wanted to play with the boyar Belsky, but suddenly fell on his back, clutching the last piece of the king in his hand. There were rumors that the tsar was poisoned by his close associates Bogdan Belsky and Boris Godunov. The British ambassador reports that Ivan the Terrible was strangled at the time when he had an attack. Here is how the historian N. Kostomarov describes the death of Grozny: “At the beginning of 1584, a terrible illness was discovered in him; some rotting inside; a foul odor emanated from him.”

The constant premonition of death intensified the inexplicable cruelty and sadistic tendencies of Ivan IV.
Incredible ruthlessness and suspicion could be in the very human nature of the king.

It is known that shortly before his death, the king was unwell. strange longing overwhelmed him. “The body is exhausted ... the spirit is sick ... the wounds of the soul and body have multiplied ... I waited for someone to grieve with me, and no one appeared ...“. This is the vulnerable Ivan Vasilievich, who just two years before these words destroyed Novgorod. Babies were tied to their mothers and drowned in the Volkhov... And he wrote these compassionate words in his will, and they are addressed, first of all, to his beloved son, whom he will also kill!

According to legend, when Ivan the Terrible was born, there was a thunderstorm. Perhaps already from childhood, Ivan was accompanied by a certain curse, which he avoided by violence, interruption of the family. But the witch's prediction came true.

According to the site "krugi.magov.net"

What is really known about the state of the physical and mental health Tsar Ivan?

It's time to come of age in the life of people of the XVI century. came at age 15. Young Ivan, speaking modern language, was an accelerator, quickly developed physically and by the age of 13 looked like a real man. Sigmund Freud believed that premature sexual maturity makes it difficult in the future to control sexual attraction from higher nerve centers and increases the obsessive nature of these drives. Indeed, contemporaries noted in Ivan IV "vile delights of voluptuousness."

Few people know that in 1963 four tombs were opened in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin: Ivan IV, his sons - Tsar Fedor and Tsarevich Ivan, and the tomb of the most prominent military leader Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. The commission, which included forensic doctors, after appropriate measurements, sketches, photographs, began to work. Ivan the Terrible was buried in a schema, girded with a simple rope. The rather well-preserved bones of Tsar Ivan's skeleton were mostly correctly arranged. The skull is slightly turned to the right.

unexpected find

To establish a possible poisoning, which Ivan the Terrible was so afraid of, after opening the tomb, it became possible to find out whether the tsar's fears were real. To do this, it was necessary to conduct a chemical-toxicological study of the remains, however, over such a long period - about 400 years - many poisons could disappear or change, the possibility of the formation of new tissues due to decay was not ruled out. chemical compounds. In this regard, a forensic chemical study was carried out on groups of compounds, mainly on the so-called "metal" poisons. After opening the tomb of Ivan, samples of humus, hair, nails, dried pieces of soft tissues of the body, small pieces of ribs, 3–4 cm long and weighing 5–10 g, were taken for examination. Since some compounds are widely distributed in nature, separate parts of clothing fabrics, scrapings from the walls of the tomb were seized for control studies.

A spectral study showed that scrapings from the walls of the tomb contain an insignificant amount of zinc, copper, silver, and lead. The clothes of Ivan the Terrible contained only those elements that are usually found in cotton fabrics.
Research continued ... And suddenly - unexpected discovery: in the remains of Ivan IV and Tsarevich Ivan, almost five times more mercury was found than in objects from the sarcophagi of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Prince Skopin-Shuisky. Moreover, mercury could not get into the remains from the outside, since negligible little was found in the walls of all the tombs. Consequently, mercury compounds entered the body of Tsar Ivan and his eldest son during their lifetime.

The high concentration of mercury preparations in the body of Ivan IV suggested poisoning. But what about Tsarevich Ivan?
He died from a completely different cause - a head injury inflicted by his father. But it was also found in his body great amount mercury!

What was wrong with Ivan the Terrible?

It is historically reliable that mercury preparations began to be used in Russia from the end of the 15th century, and exclusively for the treatment of syphilis. At the end of XV - early XVI centuries, many European countries were swept by an epidemic of syphilis. The disease during this period was distinguished by a particular severity of the course, pronounced painful changes in the skin, mucous membranes, bones, exhaustion, severe depression, ulcers, tumors of the face, legs. The relatively quickly recognized connection of this most serious disease with sexual life gave reason to call syphilis "sexual plague"! The spread of syphilis in Russia also belongs to the same time. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, syphilis, no doubt, walked around Moscow.

Could Tsar Ivan have contracted syphilis? The chroniclers dispassionately noted that after the death of the first wife Anastasia, “the king began to live and was very fornicating.” syphilis was inevitable punishment voluptuous and lustful monarch. According to Jerome Garcey, who personally knew the Russian Tsar, Ivan "bragged about the fact that he had corrupted a thousand virgins, and that thousands of his children had been deprived of their lives." Oderborn testified that father and son changed mistresses. The historian K. Valishevsky noted: “It is quite possible that even guardsmen served to satisfy such inclinations and tastes of his passionate and immoderate nature, which, apparently, neither old age nor illness could weaken in him.” Thus, Ivan the Terrible, in modern terms, was included in the "risk group". It must be emphasized that this unpleasant information is not given for the sake of digging "in dirty linen." Without knowledge of diseases that sometimes "led" statesmen, impossible scientific analysis mechanisms for making vital decisions. Finally, it is necessary to reveal the secret of the death of Ivan the Terrible.

Indeed, the way of life of Tsar Ivan and his eldest son contributed to the disease of syphilis. But did Grozny suffer from this disease that destroys the flesh and spirit? Are there medical, scientifically sound evidence, forensic assessments, irrefutably testifying to this?

The course of syphilis is distinguished mainly by a wavy change in the active manifestations of the disease, periods of latent course, improvement and gradual, as the disease progresses, aggravation. clinical manifestations illness. Syphilitic ulcers appear with profuse fetid purulent discharge. Eyewitnesses write that at the beginning of 1584 the body of Tsar Ivan swelled up and began to emit an unbearable stench. Doctors found he had "rotting of the blood." As a chronic infection, syphilis is often accompanied by a deep and progressive metabolic disorder, “shooting” pains in knee joints,
practically during the period of exacerbation, depriving the patient of the opportunity to move independently. In the last years of his life, Ivan the Terrible became very stout, which was confirmed by studies of his remains. Its weight reached 85–90 kg. When studying the remains of the king, experts drew attention to powerful salt deposits on the spine - osteophytes, which caused excruciating pain at the slightest movement. Contemporaries testify that before his death, Ivan the Terrible looked like a decrepit old man, he was carried in an armchair. Of course, the king was tormented by an indispensable companion of syphilis - cirrhosis of the liver, which is usually accompanied by the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. Recall that in the last years of his life the body of the king "greatly swollen."

Depraved syphilitic

The only treatment for syphilis at that time was the use of mercury preparations, sublimate - " liquid silver».
An overdose leads to chronic mercury intoxication - mercurialism. At the same time, the first to suffer nervous system on which mercury has a selective effect. In chronic mercury poisoning, a syndrome of mercury erethism is observed - a special state of mental arousal, anxiety, fearfulness, suspiciousness. It is probably mercurial erethism that can explain the inadequacy, originality and paradoxical reactions to which, as historians confirm, Tsar Ivan was subject. An instant transition from fornication to humility, from cruelty to repentance...

Of course, Ivan the Terrible suffered deeply. “The body is exhausted, the spirit is sick, the scabs of the body and the soul are multiplying,” wrote the king.
Grozny's health progressively worsened. The historian N. Karamzin noted: “... at that time he had changed so much that it was impossible to recognize him: a gloomy ferocity was depicted on his face, all features were distorted, his eyes faded, almost not a single hair was left on his head and beard.” Hair loss is one of the most characteristic signs of mercurialism. With an overdose of mercury preparations, epileptiform seizures and chaotic mental arousal are observed. These symptoms were clearly observed in Ivan IV. Eyewitnesses report that he suffered from seizures, during which he came "as if in madness", foam appeared on his lips. The king was "furious at the oncoming ones." This is a typical picture of epileptiform seizures. Sudden outbursts of rage, which intensified towards the end of life, an ever-increasing incredible suspicion are associated during this period, most likely with a neuropsychiatric illness. Is it not this outbreak of "mercury anger" that explains the murder of Ivan's eldest son? Thus, the root cause of many political upheavals must be sought not only in the character, but also in the illness of the king.

Against the background of mercury intoxication in chronic syphilis, mental and neurological disorders are manifested, which begin with neurasthenia: irritability, Bad mood, decreased memory, performance, headaches, poor sleep. A change of mood is very characteristic - from euphoria to deep depression. All this was observed in Ivan the Terrible.

The last years of his life, Grozny was decrepit, with destroyed syphilis and improper treatment. The king knew that he was hated for cruelty, despised for decrepitude, for the bad smell emanating from him, despite the incense. The tsar wrote in his confession: "...for his sake we all hate him...". Psychologists believe that the more a person is hated, the more he hates and despises people. The incredible suspicion and cruelty of Ivan IV could be embedded in the very human nature of the tsar, aggravated by the wrong upbringing and the environment in which he spent his childhood.

As you know, on March 18, the king took a long bath in the bath. Hot baths are known to bring relief under merculialism. And on that day, Ivan felt better, thoughts of death receded ... Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible died suddenly. Under sudden death forensic medicine refers to a non-violent death that occurred within a short period of time from a latent disease.

So, Ivan the Terrible died of an illness. Boris Godunov did not poison his tsar, as the people said. Time restores justice, but, as always, too late.

Alexander MASLOV, professor of forensic medicine.
Arguments and Facts. Health. 2000.

Ivan IV the Terrible (August 25, 1530, the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow - March 18, 1584, Moscow), Prince of Moscow and All Russia (since 1533), the first Russian Tsar (since 1547), son of Grand Duke Vasily III and Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya.

Childhood.

After the death of his father, 3-year-old Ivan remained in the care of his mother, who died in 1538 when he was 8 years old. Ivan grew up in an environment palace coups, the struggle for power between the boyar clans of the Shuisky and Belsky warring among themselves. The murders, intrigues and violence that surrounded him contributed to the development of suspicion, vindictiveness and cruelty in him. The tendency to torment living beings manifested itself in Ivan already in childhood, and those close to him approved of it. One of the strong impressions of the tsar in his youth was the "great fire" and the Moscow uprising of 1547. After the murder of one of the Glinskys, a relative of the tsar, the rebels came to the village of Vorobyovo, where he took refuge Grand Duke, and demanded the extradition of the rest of the Glinskys. With with great difficulty managed to persuade the crowd to disperse, convincing her that they were not in Vorobyov. As soon as the danger was over future king ordered the arrest of the main conspirators and their execution.

The beginning of the reign.

The favorite idea of ​​the king, realized already in his youth, was the idea of ​​​​unlimited autocratic power. On January 16, 1547, the solemn wedding ceremony of the Grand Duke Ivan IV took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Signs of royal dignity were laid on him: the cross of the Life-Giving Tree, barmas and the cap of Monomakh. After the communion of the Holy Mysteries, Ivan Vasilyevich was anointed with the world. The royal title allowed him to take a significantly different position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe. The grand ducal title was translated as "prince" or even "great duke". The title "king" was either not translated at all, or translated as "emperor". The Russian autocrat thus stood on a par with the only emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe. Since 1549, together with the Chosen Rada (A.F. Adashev, Metropolitan Macarius, A.M. Kurbsky, priest Sylvester), Ivan IV carried out a number of reforms aimed at centralizing the state: Zemstvo reform Ivan IV, Lip reform, reforms were carried out in the army, in 1550 a new Sudebnik of Ivan IV was adopted. In 1549 the first Zemsky Sobor was convened, in 1551 Stoglavy Cathedral, who adopted a collection of decisions on church life "Stoglav". In 1555-1556, Ivan IV canceled feeding and adopted the Code of Service. In 1550-1551, Ivan the Terrible personally participated in the Kazan campaigns. In 1552, Kazan was conquered, then the Astrakhan Khanate (1556), the Siberian Khan Ediger and Nogai Bolshoi became dependent on the Russian Tsar. In 1553 trade relations with England are established. In 1558, Ivan IV began the Livonian War for the mastery of the coast of the Baltic Sea. Initially, hostilities developed successfully. By 1560, the army of the Livonian Order was finally defeated, and the Order itself ceased to exist. Meanwhile in internal position countries have undergone major changes. Around 1560, the tsar broke with the leaders of the Chosen Rada and imposed various disgraces on them. According to some historians, Sylvester and Adashev, realizing that the Livonian War did not promise success for Russia, unsuccessfully advised the tsar to make an agreement with the enemy. In 1563, Russian troops captured Polotsk, at that time a large Lithuanian fortress. The tsar was especially proud of this victory, won after the break with the Chosen Rada. However, already in 1564, Russia suffered serious defeats. The king began to look for the "guilty", disgrace and executions began.

Oprichnina.

The king was more and more imbued with the idea of ​​establishing a personal dictatorship. In 1565, he announced the introduction of the oprichnina in the country.
The country was divided into two parts: the territories that were not included in the oprichnina became known as the zemshchina, each oprichnik took an oath of allegiance to the tsar and pledged not to communicate with the zemstvo. Oprichniki dressed in black clothes, similar to monastic ones.
Horse guardsmen had special characters differences, gloomy symbols of the era were attached to the saddles: a broom - to sweep out treason, and dog heads - to gnaw out treason. With the help of the guardsmen, who were released from legal liability, Ivan IV forcibly confiscated the boyar estates, transferring them to the noble guardsmen. Executions and disgrace were accompanied by terror and robbery among the population. A major event of the oprichnina was the Novgorod pogrom in January-February 1570, the reason for which was the suspicion of Novgorod's desire to go over to Lithuania. The king personally led the campaign. All the cities along the road from Moscow to Novgorod were plundered. During this campaign in December 1569, Malyuta Skuratov strangled Metropolitan Philip, who was trying to resist the tsar, in the Otroch Monastery in Tver. It is believed that the number of victims in Novgorod, where no more than 30 thousand people lived at that time, reached 10-15 thousand. Most historians believe that in 1572 the tsar abolished the oprichnina. The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey, whom the oprichnina army could not stop, played a role in the invasion of Moscow in 1571; Posadas were set on fire, the fire spread to Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin.

The results of the reign.

The division of the country adversely affected the economy of the state. A huge number of lands were ruined and devastated. In 1581, in order to prevent the desolation of the estates, the tsar introduced reserved summers - a temporary ban on peasants leaving their owners on St. George's Day, which contributed to the establishment of serf relations in Russia. The Livonian war ended in complete failure and the loss of native Russian lands. Ivan the Terrible could see the objective results of his reign already during his lifetime: it was a failure of all domestic and foreign policy initiatives. Since 1578, the king stopped executing. Almost at the same time, he ordered that synodics (commemoration lists) of the executed be compiled and contributions sent to the monasteries to commemorate their souls; in the will of 1579 he repented of his deed.

Sons and wives of Ivan the Terrible.

Periods of repentance and prayer gave way to terrible fits of rage. During one of these attacks on November 9, 1582 in the Alexander Sloboda, a country residence, the tsar accidentally killed his son Ivan Ivanovich, hitting his temple with a staff with an iron tip. The death of the heir plunged the king into despair, since his other son, Fyodor Ivanovich, was unable to govern the country. Ivan the Terrible sent a large contribution to the monastery to commemorate the soul of his son, he even thought about going to the monastery. The exact number of wives of Ivan the Terrible is not known, but he was probably married seven times. Apart from the children who died in infancy, he had three sons. From the first marriage with Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva, two sons were born, Ivan and Fedor. The second wife was the daughter of the Kabardian prince Maria Temryukovna. The third is Martha Sobakina, who died unexpectedly three weeks after the wedding. According to church rules, marry more three times was forbidden. In May 1572, a church council was convened to allow a fourth marriage - with Anna Koltovskaya. But in the same year she was tonsured a nun. The fifth wife was in 1575 Anna Vasilchikova, who died in 1579, the sixth, probably Vasilisa Melentyeva. The last marriage was concluded in the autumn of 1580 with Maria Naga. On November 19, 1582, the third son of the tsar, Dmitry Ivanovich, was born, who died in 1591 in Uglich.

Legacy of Ivan the Terrible.

Ivan IV went down in history not only as a tyrant. He was one of the most educated people of his time, had a phenomenal memory, theological erudition. He is the author of numerous messages (including to Kurbsky), music and the text of the service of the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir, the canon to the Archangel Michael. The tsar contributed to the organization of book printing in Moscow and the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.

A. L. Yurganov

Watch in advance "Logicology - about the fate of man".

Consider the FULL NAME code tables. \If there is a shift in numbers and letters on your screen, adjust the image scale\.

Since Ivan the Terrible "didn't bother" to have a surname, for analysis we will take the DOUBLE CODE of his NAME and PATRONYMID:

10 13 14 28 31 32 50 60 72 101 107 110 120 144 154 157 158 172 175 176 194 204 216 245 251 254 264 288
I V A N V A S I L E V I C + I V A N V A S I L E V I C
288 278 275 274 260 257 256 238 228 216 187 181 178 168 144 134 131 130 116 113 112 94 84 72 43 37 34 24

The gaze immediately falls on two deadly numbers 172 and 116:

288 = 172-DEATH +116-FIT, POISONING.

172 - 116 = 56 = POISON, DIED.

DATE OF BIRTH code: 08/25/1530. This is = 25 + 08 + 15 + 30 = 78 = SUDDENLY.

288 = 78 + 210 = 78 + 210-ROCKED = 78 + 34-FROM + 106-STOP + 70-HEART.

DATE OF DEATH code: 03/15/1584. This = 15 + 03 + 15 + 84 = 117 = POISONOUS, DEATHLY, ATTACK = 28-ALL + 34-FROM + 55-POISON.

288 = 117 + 171 = 117 + 171-LOVED LIFE = 171-LOVED LIFE + 52-KILLED + 65-POISON.

DATE OF BIRTH code + DATE OF DEATH code = 78 + 117 = 195 = 165-TOXIC + 30-DOSE = 73-DESTROY + 37-POISON + 85-MERCURY.

288 = 165-TOXIC + 30-DOSE + 93-DRUG, DEFEAT.

NUMBER OF COMPLETE YEARS OF LIFE = 176-FIFTY, SPEED, POISONING, NON-LIFE + 46-THREE, MEASUREMENT = 222 = 139-POISONED + 83-ORGANISM = 37-POISON + 185-CONCENTRATION = 6 x 37-POISON.

288 \u003d 222-FIFTY THREE + 66-HARMFUL, DEADLY, INLIFE, OVER.

DAY OF DEATH: 151-FIFTEENTH INSTANTLY + 51-MARCH LIFE = 202 = 81-PARALYSIS + 70-HEART + 51-KILLED = 62-LEAVING + 19-FROM + 51-LIFE + 70-EXODUS = 99-SEVERE + 103 -POISONING = 72-DAMAGE + 66-OVER + 64-MEASURES.

Let's carry out a selective reading of the DOUBLE CODE OF THE NAME AND PATRONYMICAL OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE:

288 = 86-CHEM + 30-DOSE + 103-POISON + 69-ORGANS = 56-POISON + 97-KILL + 135-MERCURY = 87-TOXIN + 98-DAMAGE + 103-POISON = 79-DANGEROUS + 172-DEADLY + 37-POISON = 126-ULTIMAL + 77-ACTION + 85-MERCURY = 103-POISONING + 84-ORGANISMS + 101-DEAD = 149-LETHAL + 139-POISONED = 54-SKU + 150-TOXICATION + 84-ORGANISMS = 93- DAMAGE + 84-ORGANISM + 111-TOXINS = 75-HEART + 116-INSTANT + 97-STOP = 103-POISONING + 185-CONCENTRATION, INCURABILITY, DEATH = 102-DEATH + 131-OVERDOSAGE + 55-POISONS = 65-POISONS + 3-B + 89-ORGANISM + 131-OVERDOSAGE = 131-OVERDOSAGE + 85-MERCURY + 72-CORPSE = 114-CHEMICALS + 174-INTOXICATION = 114-CHEMICALS + 77-ACTION + 97-SULEMA = 153-TOXIC + 135- MERCURY \u003d 120-EXTERMINATION, DEATH + 112-USE + 55-POISON \u003d 168-LETHAL + 121-DRUGS \u003d 93-DAMAGE + 130-CHEMICAL + 65-POISONS \u003d 37-POISON + 251-CATASTROPHICITY \u003d 232-TOXICOLOGICAL + 56- POISON = 123 - DEATH HEART + 165 - POISON = 56 - POISON + 129 - DEATH + 103-POISONING = 83-ORGANISM + 37-POISON + 168-OVERSATURATION.

In memory of the forensic expert Professor Alexander Maslov, who took part in this historic investigation.

Facts and Rumors

On March 18, 1584, Ivan the Terrible ordered that his will be brought and read to him, then he steamed in the bathhouse for about three hours (in recent years he visited it almost daily to alleviate suffering). Later, wanting to play chess with the boyar Belsky, he began to arrange the pieces himself, but suddenly fell on his back, clutching the chess king in his hand, and died a few minutes later.

There were rumors among the people that the tsar was poisoned by "near people" - Belsky and Godunov. Ivan's son, the incapacitated Fyodor, came to the throne, on whose behalf Godunov began to rule. After 7 years, on May 15, 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of Grozny from his sixth marriage, died in Uglich, and with his death the Rurik dynasty came to an end.

Palace Schemers' Weapons

Both in Russia and in Europe of that time, poison was the most popular weapon in solving palace intrigues. Ivan the Terrible, who poisoned many boyars, was himself afraid of being poisoned. According to some reports, he daily took arsenic - a tasteless, odorless, and colorless poison, highly soluble in liquids: Grozny knew that arsenic was addictive and small doses of this poison ceased to work.

In such situations, usually consult a personal doctor. There were few doctors in Russia then, and all of them were foreigners. Yelisey Bomel (Bomelius), a native of Westphalia, who studied medicine at Cambridge, once belonged to Grozny. He arrived in Moscow in 1570 and a year later became the ruler's physician and astrologer. Bomelius not only treated the family of Ivan IV and the close boyars - he skillfully mastered the secret of poisons. But in 1579 the doctor was caught in a conspiracy and executed.

Heredity or environment?

Born from the second marriage of Grand Duke Vasily and Elena Glinskaya, Ivan lost his father early, and in 1538, when the boy was only 8 years old, his mother also died - she is believed to have been poisoned. After the death of Glinskaya Imperial Courtyard becomes a place of struggle for power among the boyars: they treat the young sovereign with contempt, excommunicate close people from him. In such an atmosphere, the lad matured - quick-tempered, suspicious, nervous and very cruel.

Or maybe Ivan was just a mentally ill person? At the end of the 19th century, psychiatrist P.I. Kovalevsky claimed that the tsar was prone to neurasthenia, suffered from paranoia with persecution mania and congenital dementia. Without a doubt, there are many pathological traits in Ivan's personality - irritability, intolerance, torment, almost obsessive ideas of murder (3470 of his victims are recorded in the synodics of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery alone). Many researchers argue that the Terrible surpassed Nero and Caligula in cruelty, and that by 1570 he was on the verge of insanity - then there were rumors that God had sent the king incurable disease: "Give him an incurable disease."

However, all the conclusions of psychiatrists and historians belong to the category of unproven assumptions. What is actually known about the state of health of the king?

From the medical history

The lad Ivan was an accelerator: by the age of 13 he looked like a real man. According to Freud, early sexual maturity makes it difficult in the future to control the sexual drive from the higher nerve centers and increases the obsessive nature of these drives. At the age of 17, Ivan marries Anastasia Zakharyina-Koshkina, and this marriage was happy. But after 13 years, Anastasia dies, and Ivan, who, according to eyewitnesses, had good health and a fair amount of physical force, becomes seriously ill. From that time on, his strange attachment to the holy fools begins, he even borrowed from them many features for his own behavior - feigned self-abasement, buffoonery, riot, obscenity, bliss.

Exhumation

In 1963, a commission, which included forensic doctors, opened four tombs in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin: Ivan IV, his sons Fedor and Ivan, as well as military leader Prince M. Skopin-Shuisky.

The study of the bone remains made it possible to determine the height of the king - approximately 179–182 cm (for the 16th century, Ivan was very tall), and the famous anthropologist M. Gerasimov for the first time recreated the authentic appearance of Grozny.

It is clear that after four centuries it is extremely difficult to determine whether the king was poisoned - many poisons could disappear or change. Therefore, the forensic chemical investigation only concerned certain groups compounds, the so-called metal poisons. Since some compounds, in particular mercury, are widely distributed in nature, individual clothing fabrics and scrapings from the walls of the tombs were taken for control.

The scrapings contained an insignificant amount of zinc, copper, silver, lead, and in Grozny's clothes - only elements inherent in cotton fabrics. But almost five times more mercury was found in the remains of the tsar and his eldest son Ivan than in the remains of Fedor and Skopin-Shuisky! And it is proved that mercury entered the body during life. Poisoning? But what does this have to do with the son who, as we know, died from a traumatic brain injury?

Overseas affliction

Mercury preparations began to be used in Russia from the end of the 15th century and exclusively for the treatment of syphilis. In the XV-XVI centuries. in Europe, the “French disease” reached the stage of an epidemic and soon penetrated the Russian land, as evidenced in the annals. In "Domostroy" and folk medicine books of the 16th century. among other ailments, syphilis is mentioned, and methods for preparing certain mercury ointments from "venereal abscesses and sores." Could Ivan IV have contracted syphilis? The chroniclers mention that after the death of Anastasia, "the king began to rage and was very fornicating." "The vile delights of voluptuousness" are also noted in Grozny by other contemporaries. Ivan “bragged about the fact that he had corrupted a thousand virgins, and that thousands of his children had been deprived of their lives,” and Pastor Oderborn claimed that the father and eldest son changed mistresses and ... lovers. In the language of medicine, Grozny was in the "risk group". But did the king suffer from an illness that destroys the flesh and spirit?

As a rule, syphilis proceeds in waves: active manifestations of the disease are replaced by latent periods, but as it progresses, syphilitic ulcers appear with fetid purulent discharge. Eyewitnesses write that at the beginning of 1584 the king's body swelled up and began to emit an unbearable stench; doctors found he had "rotting of the blood."

Being a chronic infection, syphilis leads to a profound metabolic disorder, pain in the knee joints ... And indeed, judging by the remains, in recent years Ivan IV has become very stout - up to 85-90 kg. Experts drew attention to powerful salt deposits on the spine - osteophytes, causing hellish pain at the slightest movement. Contemporaries wrote that before his death, the king looked like a decrepit old man, he was carried in an armchair. Osteophytes develop both as a result of mechanical damage, trauma, and infectious diseases - osteomyelitis, syphilis. The king was also tormented by cirrhosis of the liver, an indispensable companion of syphilis, accompanied by the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (it is known that the body of the king was “very swollen”).

Syphilis at that time was treated with mercury, sublimate - "liquid silver". Such treatment leads to chronic poisoning - mercurialism. Under mercurialism, it is mainly the nervous system that undergoes a pathological change, mental agitation, anxiety, fearfulness, and suspiciousness are observed.

Of course, the king suffered deeply. N. M. Karamzin wrote: “... At that time, he had changed so much that it was impossible to recognize him: a gloomy ferocity was depicted on his face, all features were distorted, his gaze faded, almost not a single hair was left on his head and beard.” Hair loss is one of characteristic features mercurialism.

With an overdose of mercury, epileptic seizures, chaotic mental excitement are observed. According to eyewitnesses, Grozny also had such seizures, during which the tsar came "as if in madness", foam appeared on his lips, or for no reason "raged at the oncoming ones." It is possible that he hit his beloved son Ivan with a staff precisely during a flash of "mercury anger", and later, realizing, "was screaming with grief all night long." The heir died on the 11th day. The death of his son crippled Grozny.

Modern experts have come to the conclusion that Ivan the Terrible was not poisoned, he died of chronic syphilis and mercury intoxication that occurred against it.