Boyar

self-sufficient areas to created a larger empire of Russia (“Ivan the Terrible”). Both of these objectives require soldiers and a strong leader; Ivan IV would become this leader. Machiavelli taught that a prince should become the sole commander of the army and undertake the army’s goal as his own, and Ivan IV became an example of this belief (Machiavelli 53). Machiavelli stated, “ he who caused another to become powerful ruins himself, for he brings such a power into being either by design or by force” (25). Since Ivan IV’s childhood, the nobility, the boyar class, sought to gain control over the young prince, and in his adulthood, several of the most upstanding aristocrats were suspected of treason. The tsar developed a deep hatred of the nobility, and his response to the treason was to form an Oprichnia, a selected group of boyars to serve the tsar while the others were deprived of their properties (Andreyev). This greatly weakened the boyars’ strength and influence by reducing the number of those serving the tsar. In The Prince, Machiavelli uses the example of France’s King Louis XII who made friends of his enemies and could not hold his newly acquired land (23). Unlike Louis XII, Ivan IV knew who his enemies were. Ivan IV’s course protected his country by ruining a higher power that could potentially overrun him, just as Machiavelli described as Louis XII not doing. Although Ivan IV was not always terrible, Machiavelli once wrote, “for time bears all things out and…

Once Harker escaped and arrived safely home with his new wife, the count seizes the opportunity to use both his time and means to toy with these mere mortals, to the point of insanity. “Bah! What good are peasants without a leader? Where ends the war without a brain and heart to conduct it?” (Stoker 30). The boyar Count Dracula signifies the cold, adverse characteristics of an immoral conqueror, only out for his own interests as his violent ancestors in their Turkish wars. As Harker and his…

difficult, predominantly due to how he was treated by the boyars, the Russian aristocrats. Consequently, Ivan’s emotional scars instigate his anti-boyar policies and actions in the 1550’s and 1560’s. Ivan became the ruler of Russia at the young age of 3 after his father Grand Prince Vasilii III died. Upon his death, his father “ordered the boyars” and his wife Elena Glinskaia to protect Ivan until he reached manhood (Halperin, 47). Thus, Ivan’s mother became his regent and a fierce defender of…

The Romanovs share their origins with a handful of other Russian noble families. One of the ancestors of the world-renowned dynasty was Andrey Kobyla – a boyar who lived during the middle of the 14th century. Kobyla was documented in contemporary chronicles only once, in 1347, when he was said to have been sent to Tver with the purpose of meeting the daughter of Alexander I of Tver. Later generations assigned other more illustrious pedigrees to Kobyla, however, they are highly unlikely to be…

Russia in all of its glory, he led Russia into a weakened state regarding its economy, military, and a general political disruption. Throughout Ivan’s tsarship the economy of Russia began to weaken almost to the point of collapse. Ivan IV never trusted boyars, which are the Russian people of wealth and power, for almost his entire life. Becoming tsar at the age of three meant he was too young to lead and needed people to rule for him at the time. At first, this was his mother, however, she was…

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016 Ivan the great was the grandfather of ivan the terrible who was born Ivan Chetvyorty Vasilyevich on August 25, 1530. He was born in the grand Duchy of Muscovy, Russia to members of the Rurik dynasty. His father, Basil the third, died when he was just 3 years old. His mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled until her death in 1538 when ivan was 8. Different boyar families disputed the legitimacy of her rule during this time and the area fell into…

The next source is a fragment from the Piskarev Chronicle, in which the oprichnina is depicted as division of towns, Boyars and courtiers as a punishment ‘from God through the fury of the tsar for the sins of people.’ In the passage, the clique of Ivan IV who were instrumental in the implementation of the new order such as Vasilii Mikhailov Iur’ev and Aleksei Basmanov are represented as ‘evil men.’ The source also mentions that the tsar resided beyond the river in Petrovka, and his special corps…

Also, the Peter the Great took away power of the boyars. He gave lower-ranking families more land as a reward, made boyars serve in the military, and he made all boyar’s sons attend school. After that, he brought of European army officials to teach the Russian army how to use new weapons and new tactics. Not only this, but Peter had to make sure his country was up to date with all surrounding countries. He made nobles give up their traditional fashions for western clothing, brought potatoes in…

In this time period the Boyar expanded slightly due to its increase in members. They instituted a group referred to as “okol’nichii”, which were the junior boyars under the first Boyars. Princes from all over were moving to Moscow in order to take part in this assemblage, mostly untitled. Even though the prince of Moscow could chose anyone to participate in the political gatherings he would mostly chose from the upper class aristocrats. The patriarchs of the family were opted to be picked for a…

shipbuilding factories by himself. Not only he founded the Navy, Peter radically modernized the Russian Army. Thanks to all these radical reforms, Russia became one of the most powerful and influential countries in Europe. The start of reign of Peter the Great is the starting point of modernizing Russia. Peter was amused by civilized European countries, so he decided to reform the Russian way of life, including his “fashion reform.” Peter eradicated the wild morals of the Russian people,…