The English envoy Giles (Giles) Fletcher was in Moscow on a mission in the fall of 1588.
"About the Russian state":
“The elder brother of the three, and the best of them, died of a head injury inflicted on him by his father in a fit of rage with a stick or (as some say) from a blow with the sharp end of it, which pierced deeply into the head … the shedding of blood by killing his son with his own hand and ending at the same time both his life and tyranny by that terrible sorrow that brought him to the grave after such an unfortunate and unnatural act.
The English envoy Jerome Horsey lived intermittently in Russia in the years 1573-1591.
“Notes about Russia. XVI - early XVII century :
“… Soon after that, the tsar became furious with his eldest son, Tsarevich Ivan, for his compassion for these slaughtered poor Christians, and also for the fact that he ordered an official to give permission to some nobleman for 5 or 6 pit horses, sending him affairs without the king's knowledge. In addition, the king was jealous that his son would be exalted, for his subjects, he thought, loved the prince more than him. In a fit of anger, he slapped him in the face (threw a spear at him), the prince took it painfully, fell ill with a fever and died three days later. The king in a frenzy tore his hair and beard, groaning and grieving over the loss of his son. However, the state suffered an even greater loss: the hope for the well-being of the wise, gentle and worthy prince (the prince), who combined military prowess with an attractive appearance, twenty-three years old,loved and mourned by everyone …"
V. G. Schwartz. Ivan the Terrible at the body of his murdered son.
The English envoy Giles (Giles) Fletcher was in Moscow on a mission in the fall of 1588.
Promotional video:
"About the Russian state":
“The elder brother of the three, and the best of them, died of a head injury inflicted on him by his father in a fit of rage with a stick or (as some say) from a blow with the sharp end of it, which pierced deeply into the head … the shedding of blood by killing his son with his own hand and ending at the same time both his life and tyranny by that terrible sorrow that brought him to the grave after such an unfortunate and unnatural act.
The English envoy Jerome Horsey lived intermittently in Russia in the years 1573-1591.
“Notes about Russia. XVI - early XVII century :
“… Soon after that, the tsar became furious with his eldest son, Tsarevich Ivan, for his compassion for these slaughtered poor Christians, and also for the fact that he ordered an official to give permission to some nobleman for 5 or 6 pit horses, sending him affairs without the king's knowledge. In addition, the king was jealous that his son would be exalted, for his subjects, he thought, loved the prince more than him. In a fit of anger, he slapped him in the face (threw a spear at him), the prince took it painfully, fell ill with a fever and died three days later. The king in a frenzy tore his hair and beard, groaning and grieving over the loss of his son. However, the state suffered an even greater loss: the hope for the well-being of the wise, gentle and worthy prince (the prince), who combined military prowess with an attractive appearance, twenty-three years old,loved and mourned by everyone …"
N. Shustov. Ivan the Terrible at the body of his murdered son.
An activist of the Lutheran Church in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, writer Paul Oderborn (1555-1604) has never been to Russia.
"The Life of John Vasilievich, Grand Duke of Muscovy":
“… Some of the Moscow subjects nevertheless got together. They gathered in Vladimir along with some neighboring peoples and agreed to make a petition to Grozny. They told him that for three years the enemies had been smashing the homeland (1579-1582), that it was necessary to defend the homeland. You want to give us your eldest son for this honorable war. We are ready to lay down our heads, shed our blood, sacrifice our property for the fatherland. (According to the Latin edition: We ask you, Most Serene Sovereign and our Lord, that you send your son, eldest by birth, to the most honorable war). But the "tyrant" knew that among the Muscovites he enjoyed great authority, that the Muscovites considered him a mighty sovereign and a man of divine origin. Then he went out to the square and addressed the people. He threw off the crown from his head, threw off his purple from his shoulders. He said,let the people choose another.
But the people were for the king: he was against the rebellious boyars. The people asked the king not to give up the kingdom. It was then that Grozny gave himself free rein to defeat the rebels.
Having dealt with the rebels, Grozny turned to his son: “And you, simpletons! How dare you treason, mutiny, resistance!”. The son was scared. He dropped his eyes. But I wanted to justify myself. His father ordered him to be silent and hit him in the temple with an iron staff. The half-dead son fell to the floor. Dying in front of his father, the son said that he was not a traitor. The son called on his father to win over a foreign enemy, happier than the one he won over his own son …"
There, the father, turning to his wounded, but still breathing son, immediately from anger moving to repentance, raised his hands to heaven, began to emit complaints and sobs, now he says goodbye, now looks, now he comforts the lying one, now he weeps for his lot, now the common fate, now blames the gods who plunged such a dear creature into this evil. sat there on the ground (on the floor) like a madman, did not want to take either food or drink and never took off his mourning dress anymore, stood leaning against the wall.
The Dutch merchant, traveler and diplomat Isaac Massa visited Russia in 1601-1609.
"Brief news about the beginning and origin of modern wars and unrest in Muscovy, which happened before 1610 during the short period of the reign of several sovereigns":
“… The second son, who was born to them, was named after his father Ivan and by his nature and habits was extremely similar to him, and one could assume that he would surpass his father in cruelty, for he was always happy when he saw that they were spilling blood. At twenty-three years old, he was killed by his father, which happened during the stay of the Grand Duke in one of the pleasure yards, in the settlement of Alexandrovskaya (Slaboda Alexandrina), located twelve miles from Moscow, where courtiers appeared to him, who were supposed to march against the in the summer of the Crimean Tatars, and they asked the tsar if he would deign to let his son, who was already an adult at that time, go on a campaign with them, believing that they would bring great fear to the enemies when they heard that the prince himself had gone into the field, why he also had a great hunt.
Hearing this, the Grand Duke became very angry and with the staff in his hands hit his son so hard on the head that he died three days later, and that was in 1581.
It is said that the father suspected that his son, a noble young man, was very fond of foreigners, especially of German descent. It was often heard that upon accession to the throne, he intended to order all noble wives to wear dress in the German style. These and similar rumors were passed on to the father, so he began to fear his son …"
French mercenary, since 1600 in the Russian service Jacques Margeret.
"Notes"
“… There is a rumor that he killed the elder with his own hand, which happened differently, since although he struck him with the end of a rod with a tetrahedral steel point (this rod in the shape of a staff no one dares to wear except the emperor; this rod the grand dukes accepted once from the Crimean Tatars as a sign of a vassal oath) and he was wounded by a blow, but he died not from this, but some time later, on a pilgrimage trip …"
HE. Vishnyakov. Repentance. The painting is on display at the exhibition * The image of Ivan the Terrible in painting * of the Museum-Reserve * Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda *.
These versions of foreigners of the death of the heir to Tsarevich Ivan are used to one degree or another by Russian historians. Few of them pay attention to the letter sent by the tsar from the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda to Moscow: “From the Grand Duke of All Russia to our boyar Nikita Romanovich Yuriev and our clerk Andrey Shchelkalov. The day you went away from us, and that day, Ivan's son got sick and now, of course, he is sick … but for us, until God will have mercy on Ivan's son, it is impossible to leave here ….
We will talk about what Ivan Ivanovich "lost his mind" in the next article.