Why exactly the Terrrrrible?
2006-10-02 06:50:52 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
In Russian, грозный, or grozny as the previous answerer stated, does not mean "terrible" per se. With people, the term more closely means "formidable" (but in a menacing way).
2006-10-02 10:08:29 · answer #1 · answered by bozsik 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He was terrible because he and his cronies devastated Russia, especially during his later part of reign. They started to kill whole villages and conscripted boys into the military because of the Livonian War. In a dispute with the city of Novgorod, Ivan ordered that everyone in that city should be killed. In what became known as the Massacre of Novgorod in 1570, it is believed that between 30-40,000 were killed, even though the official death toll is 1500.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Just think of him as an early Joseph Stalin.
2006-10-02 14:23:15 · answer #2 · answered by kepjr100 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Ivan IV "the Terrible" of Russia (1530-1584) was a cruel tyrant, who never knew the meaning of moderation; he drank too much, laughed too loudly and hated and loved too fiercely. And he never forgot anything. Ivan was definitely smart and despite his cruelty, his reign is a great one in Russian annals. In Russia Ivan was called "Grozny", which has always been translated to "the Terrible", but actually means "the Awesome"." He was born into a cruel time and suffered much cruelty himself as a child. Read on...
The above is in this site, which gives you a lot of interesting information:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/ivan4/ivan4_bio.htm
http://www.themiddleages.net/people/ivan_the_terrible.html
This is the famous picture by Repin of the Tsar after he killed his own son; allegedly ladies of past times fainted when they saw it! -
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/repin2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/repivan.html&h=589&w=725&sz=104&hl=en&sig2=rp_Zw_34gXQBZMIJx92xRw&start=5&tbnid=AbxmUWL4_Sn7PM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=140&ei=rX0hRcT6FYLASIyTwfUM&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drepin%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
2006-10-02 17:07:50 · answer #3 · answered by Sybaris 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Russian name is grozny - 'the dread' It's the same name as the city the Russians built in Chechnya, which can give you an idea of the Russian recipe for keeping people down..
2006-10-02 15:09:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because his name was Ivan and he was terrible. :-)
2006-10-02 13:54:51 · answer #5 · answered by Sloth for President 2012 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Killed his own son, wiped out an entire city, etc.
2006-10-02 14:01:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋