At the beginning of 1458, the firstborn was born to Ivan III, who was also named Ivan. He will not be destined to become John IV: he will enter the history textbooks as Ivan the Young. We have known him since childhood under a completely different nickname - Ivan Tsarevich.
Mother's face
Once, when Ivan was 9 years old, his father left for state affairs in Kolomna. In his absence, Maria Borisovna, Ivan's mother, who was only twenty-five years old, suddenly fell ill and died. It happened so unexpectedly that it was said that "mortal potion" was involved. But to whom could the humble princess cross the road? They did not go far - they accused the wife of the nobleman Alexei Poluektov, who served the queen and, as they said, "carried her belt to the witch." Returning to the Kremlin, John III did not believe the rumors. Nevertheless, the Poluektovs got scared and disappeared from the yard for 6 years.
Young Ivan, too, could not immediately believe that his mother had died, because he did not see her lying in the coffin, in front of him was another woman: blurry, ugly, motionless, with a strange, swollen face.
Kazan campaign
Promotional video:
The prince grew up - a help to his father. From a young age he accompanied him in abusive exploits. Ivan also took part in the famous Kazan campaign in 1468 as the formal leader of one of the detachments. The army gathered a great: they went to take Kazan, to defeat the dangerous enemy. This was the first military campaign of Ivan the Young, which can be called successful. True, for diplomatic reasons, the happiness of the young prince from feats of arms was not long. One fine morning, Ivan was informed that the Polish ambassador had arrived in Moscow. The Tsar, who was then in Pereyaslavl, ordered the ambassador to appear to him and after negotiations sent him with an answer to the King, and he himself, together with his son and most of the troops, returned to Moscow. But, this was not the end of the abusive life of the tsarevich, because it was he who would later become one of the heroes that would drive the Tatars from the Russian land.
Unshakable
Ivan III was 22 years old when he became the sole ruler of the Moscow lands. His son was at the same age when he turned from a prince's son into a hero who drove out the Tatars and took off the three-hundred-year captivity of Russia.
Relations with the Kazan khans during the reign of Ivan III, the father of John the Young, did not develop. The Tatars did not want to put up with the loss of their power and territories, so they looked for weak points in the "defense" of the tsar in every possible way. They found out about Ivan's conflict with the Poles and with the rebellious princes who resisted the strengthening of the power of Muscovy. Khan Akhmatov then decided to seize the moment and attack the "weakened" state. In response, John gathered a huge army and led him to the southern borders, to the Ugra River. But the closer to the battlefield, the more indecision took possession of him. Finally, he ordered his son, who was standing with the vanguard, to retreat. But Ivan Molodoy disobeyed his father: "We are waiting for the Tatars" - he briefly answered his father's messenger. Then the sovereign sovereign sent to the son of Prince Kholmsky, one of the largest politicians of that time,but even he could not convince Ivan Ivanovich. “It is better for me to die here than to leave the army,” was his answer to his father. The Tatars approached Ugra. Ivan Molodoy and his uncle, Prince Andrey Menshoy, fought with the Khan's army for four days and forced him to withdraw two miles from the coast. As it turned out later, this was the only attack of the Tatars in which the young prince won thanks to his steadfastness. Khan Akhmatov waited until the cold weather, trying to intimidate Molodoy with threats, and then retreated completely.in which the young prince won thanks to his steadfastness. Khan Akhmatov waited until the cold weather, trying to intimidate Molodoy with threats, and then retreated completely.in which the young prince won thanks to his steadfastness. Khan Akhmatov waited until the cold weather, trying to intimidate Molodoy with threats, and then retreated completely.
Voloshanka
He showed himself on the battlefield, so it's time to get married. In the winter of 1482, Ivan the Young was invited to his grandmother at the Ascension Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin. She introduced the Tsarevich to his betrothed, daughter of the Moldovan ruler, Elena. As in a fairy tale, Elena, who was nicknamed Voloshanka, was both beautiful and wise. She liked not only the young prince, but also his grandmother and father. For several days the young people met, and on Epiphany they were married. And again, as on schedule, nine months later they had a son, Dmitry. It would seem, and then follows “and they lived happily ever after” - after Ivan III, the legitimate heir, Ivan IV, a judicious, battle-hardened prince, will take the throne, and a new sovereign is growing to replace him. But fate decreed otherwise. The wrong Ivan became the Fourth in Muscovy, and the memory of his son and wife has sunk into oblivion. True, they sayit was from this branch that the Rachmaninov family came, in which, 400 years later, the famous Russian composer was born.
Patterned scandal
The birth of a grandson became a holiday for John III. To celebrate, he decided to give his daughter-in-law, Elena Stefanovna, a pattern, that is, a pearl decoration, which was a dowry of his first wife, the mother of Ivan the Young - Maria Borisovna. The pattern was of great value for the tsar - his very act indicated that he recognized this couple as the future rulers of united Russia. They sent for the pattern, and then the story was very reminiscent of the struggle for the suspension in "The Three Musketeers" by Alexander Dumas - how many servants did not look for the suspension, they could not find it.
It turned out that the second wife of Ivan III, Grand Duchess Sophia Palaeologus, originally from Byzantium, presented the jewelry to her niece, Maria Palaeologus, the wife of Prince Vasily of Verey. John was furious. The Grand Duke ordered Mary to return the "misappropriated property". In fear of the tsarist wrath, Vasily Vereisky fled with his wife to Lithuania. John declared Basil a traitor and took away his inheritance. Nevertheless, Elena never got the pattern.
Snake tail
As you know, at the time of the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow, the grand dukes had by no means hostile relations with its main competitors - the princes of Tver. They have not yet given up their hope - to seize the initiative of the painfully "overgrown" Muscovy. Having decided to finally eliminate the threat, Ioann Vasilyevich annexed the Tver principality, under the pretext of high treason. In general, there is no smoke without fire - Mikhail, Prince of Tverskoy, actively corresponded with the Polish king, urging him to war with Moscow. Tver had to endure three days after the tsar was informed about the careless correspondence. The cowardly Mikhail fled to Lithuania, and Tver opened the gates to the new sovereign. The territory passed to Ivan Molodoy, Mikhail's nephew and sole heir. Thus, according to the plan of John III,in the person of his eldest son, two strong Russian principalities united into one strong state. Father prepared a solid ground for his son …
On the occasion of the reign of Ivan Ivanovich, a coin was minted in Tver, on which a young prince was depicted chopping the tail of a snake. "Tver tails" have been cut off - the Russian lands, after several centuries of fragmentation, have finally united.
Venetian healer
Foreigners, Italians, in particular, periodically left traces in medieval Russian history. For example, one Venetian ambassador to the Horde was caught in deception: while living in Moscow, he hid the purpose of his journey from the sovereign, for which he was almost executed. Another of his compatriots, a physician named Leon, did much more.
At thirty-two, Ivan Molodoy fell seriously ill: he was plagued by "kamchyuga", that is, leg aches, a symptom common in medicine. The "caring stepmother" Sophia Palaeologus, who, it should be noted, was directly interested in the death of her stepson, discharged the physician Leby Zhidovin from Venice, who promised to cure the heir. He put him hot cans, gave him some kind of medicine, but Ivan only got worse. At the end of the treatment, he died. The unlucky doctor was executed, although perhaps for the cause, after all, he was invited by Sophia, whose sons were the next contenders to the throne after the unfortunate "Ivan Tsarevich".