Ivan IV of Russia

::Ivan the Terrible links here. For other uses, see Ivan the Terrible (disambiguation).

Death and legacy

Ivan died suddenly on 18 March 1584, a date which had previously been prophesied for his death. When Ivan's tomb was opened during renovations in the 1960s his remains were examined and discovered to contain very high amounts of mercury, indicating a high probability that he was poisoned, modern suspicion falling on his advisors Bogdan Belsky and Boris Godunov (the latter of whom himself became tsar in 1598). Three days earlier Ivan had allegedly attempted to rape Irina, Godunov's sister and Fyodor's wife. Her cries attracted Godunov and Belski to the noise, whereupon Ivan let Irina go, but Belski and Godunov considered themselves marked for death. The tradition says that they either poisoned or strangled Ivan in fear for their own lives (note: the mercury found in Ivan's remains may also be related to treatment for Syphilis, which it is speculated that Ivan had). Upon Ivan's death the now ravaged kingdom was left to his unfit and childless son Feodor.

Related Topics:
18 March - 1584 - 1960s - Mercury - Bogdan Belsky - Boris Godunov - 1598 - Syphilis - Feodor

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Ivan's life forms the subject of two famous films by Sergei Eisenstein.

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