Ivan The Terrible Personality

Tsar Ivan the Terrible, or Ivan IV, was born on August 25, 1530 to Grand Prince Vasilii and wife Elena Glinskaya. Even at the beginning of his life, it seemed that Ivan IV was going to have a rather unusual childhood, even by noble Russian family standards. His father, Grand Prince Vasilii III, died when Ivan IV was only three years old. So Ivan IV’s time began as child ruler while his mother was regent until her death in 1538 as stated by John M. Thompson in Russia and the Soviet Union (Thompson, 2012, p.63). After being orphaned at the age of eight, it is reasonable to say that Ivan IV went through difficulties that he may not have encountered had his parents survived. This sad beginning to his childhood was only the start and the years
At first, the riots of Moscow called for his attention in the year following his coronation as tsar and he made clear decisions with the help of his able advisors (Thompson, 2012, p.65). He eventually created the zemskii sobor which he relied on multiple times in the next few years for consultation on many important matters (Thompson, 2012, p.65). Another aspect of Tsar Ivan IV’s personality was that of his religious priority. Tsar Ivan IV strengthened the ties with the church and was devoted to ridding Russia of the sinful while “carrying out God’s will” (Thompson, 2012, p.63). However, the side of Tsar Ivan IV that was and is not widely discussed was that of his innate knowledge of leadership and control in Russia. He was clearly an able, intelligent leader who was troubled, but wanted to do right by his country and his men. After all, that is exactly what he thought he did, even with an unusual mental status. However, his rage continued to build up and his pathological personality dominated his decisions after his wife Anastasia died. Since Anastasia was said to have a rather calming influence on him, Tsar Ivan IV had to learn to live without his woman, and that changed his more subdued personality to an intense version (Thompson, 2012, p.65). It was also claimed that due to an illness, rumored to be encephalitis, his personality problem intensified because the disease can cause a character
His suspicious nature, and the loss of his wife, made his erratic behavior even more pronounced. Due to his obsession with revenge and justice, Tsar Ivan IV probably used the oprichnina as a “weapon in the struggle with the boyars and princely families” (Thompson, 2012, p.70). It was his form of punishment to those families for all that he had gone through. Revenge was the mindset of Tsar Ivan IV and it seems that he needed to exert all his influence and power in order to, in a way, conquer the pain he had