How Terrible was Ivan the Terrible? (Short Animated Documentary)

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anon

How terrible was Ivan the terrible? No more so than Henry VIII or Francis I or any other monarch but Ivan the 'Run of the Mill' doesn't have the same ring to it.

Sources:

The Popular Image of Ivan the Terrible by Maureen Perrie

Reinventing the Russian Monarchy in the 1550s: Ivan the Terrible, the Dynasty, and the Church by Sergei Bogatyrev

Ivan IV as Autocrat by Charles J. Halperin.

[adamlatosinski]

So... he abdicated to get absolute power? That's a pro gamer move.

[NicCyprus]

What if Russia was big? Said Ivan, trying not to be terrible.

[deathsomenow]

“What are you going to do? Beat me to death with a sceptre?” Turns out YES 😂

[-----Alcatraz------]

He used reverse psychology. What a lad.
Ivan: Im leaving because of these nobles.
People: Come back plz.
Ivan: oh alright... under one condition.

[PiastTorun]

Fun fact "Grozny" in polish (another slavic language) means "dangerous" which I think is more fitting.

[leonidartemiev]

Grozny is actually closer to "the one who is feared" or "storm-like". Great video as always!

[ricardoguanipa]

well once while playing Crusader Kings 2 I got the title of "the Impotent" for failing to impregnated my wife

[Edmonton-ofec]

How Great was Catherine The Great?
How Great was Peter the Great?
How Great was Frederick the Great?

[СтаниславКиров-юэ]

I remember reading this a long time ago, so I might get some details wrong, but I think Ivan's deep seated hatred for the nobility came from losing his parents to court intrigue and the power schemes of the nobility, becoming an orphan at a very early age and growing up around those same bolyars that were complicit and seeing much more bloodshed. That's why he could never trust them.

[robkirchhof]

"Aside from developing absolute rule, instituting a secret police, massacring a city and beating his own son to death with a sceptre, there isn't too much he did differently to other rulers."

[ilnur]

"What are you gonna do? Beat me to death with a sceptre?"

Last words of a man who got beaten to death with a sceptre.

[igorsmihailovs]

Thank you for another great video!

Ivan before his first wife died was actually a kind and beloved ruler; she is believed to have been softening his negative treats. After she died, they surfaced; remember that Ivan's mom was murdered by boyars practically in his eyes, so he disliked them. In the first part of his reign he actually tried to be 'not like them'. But then he ended up worse than them...

[pavels.]

Abdicate only to make yourself a Absolute monarch ?


Ivan the Terrible: *I'm Gonna Do What's Called a Pro Gamer Move*

[rjdruhan]

So, a better translation for modern context might be something like "Ivan the Fearsome" or "Ivan the Dangerous"

[AlternativaRed]

Many kings and queens who had bad names like Bloody Mary or Ivan the Terrible actually gained those nicknames because of their meddling with the nobility or the church or both.

[trowell]

2:55 “What are you gonna do? Beat me to death with a sceptre?”

*Turns out, yes.* 😂

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

In other words, although it wasn't the original meaning of the word, Ivan ended up being terrible anyway

[noytelinu]

Terrible enough to not be in civilization games

[potestoniko]

"they were only good at repressing people but terrible at fighting competent enemies"

Colombian police in 2021: why do this sounds similar?

[Tarnthewarrior]

Ivan is like that one guy who would be labled as terrible by a group of friends, meanwhile the group of friends do the same thing he did only probably worse