Russian monarch naming conventions were not subtle
by Kapanash
Russian monarch naming conventions were not subtle
by Kapanash
26 Comments
As if the names are trying to tell us something.
what gets me is ivan the terrible was actually called grozny in russian which is closer to formidable or awe inspiring than just terrible so even his scary nickname got lost in translation and he’s still the most infamous one. the original was even worse
Well I know this probably gonna be mentioned like a lot but… Wasn’t Ivan the IV name technically Ivan the Grozny which was supposed to mean like awe inspiring, formidable, and/or powerful
It was a translation issue that led to Ivan IV being named “The Terrible”
Also killed his son’s heir by beating his son’s wife in a fit of rage.
Mongol Dominance ? Where ? They were just a tiny blip.
If you’re a fan of political police, you can thank this guy
In russian his monicker is actually closer to The Terrifying or Fearsome rather than terrible.
Ivan IV was actually pretty good king in his youth. He grew up witnessing the brutality of court politics but came out of all that bullshit pretty normal..at first. His descend into brutality came after one of his friend betrayed him while his wife died. It was bad enough that he basically abdicated and the boyars (who hated him) had to begged him to comeback because he was such a popular king.
Ivan the Terrible kinda did a lot of shit too. Doubled the territory, introduced formal source of law, developed local governance… Not that he wasn’t a batshit crazy mfer, especially closer to the end of his life, but a lot of his reputation comes from him pissing off nobility a lot.
Drake the type to have a villainous heir
Yet he’s most beloved russian tzar, surpassed only by stalin cuz he murdered millions
This guy is great. This guy is terrible.
[Bro was pretty chill when a time traveler accidently sent him into the distant future.](https://youtu.be/l7eIIIPBNUc?si=QO32yNKggThWRY6y)
I saw as a kid Russian historical (or popular science) TV program (almost all Russian TV channels are de-facto/de-jure owned by the state) where they defended Ivan IV for some reason and called criticism of him a western propaganda. I think they were projecting something lol
Edit: Also to be fair The Terrible meant something like The Menacing back then rather than The Bad. Like in Russian we actually call him “Иван Грозный” and its literal translation means “Ivan the Menacing”
Tbf, the first half of Ivan IV’s reign was decent
See also what immediately followed Ivan Grozny 🤣🤣🤣
Uhu, bad bad Ivan the Fourth. Look, what would you do, if while you lie in bed with a terminal illness, in your last hours you ask your nobility to take oaths to your son – and those bastards are laughing in your face? Starting to divide the kingdom between themselves, trying to weasel some privileges for their oath to your heir from you? Some are even starting squabble to take the crown from you even if you are not dead yet! Some just plain and simple offer to send your son and wife to some distant monastery with some “accident” along the way..
And then, by some bloody miracle – you. Get. Better. Complete recovery. 100% health and all. Would YOU be kind and lenient the next time your boyars are caught red-handed on bribery of the officials of the army (to avoid providing hands to carry siege guns for example)? Would you show any mercy to those, who were ready to tear apart everything you have built the second you die?
The funny part is that the latter is probably more deserving of ‘The Great’ moniker too
It’s even sadder. First part of his reign was pretty progressive, but after this he got seriously sick and nobility decided he won’t make it and started to build ploy against tsar’s son (Grozny had a hard childhood then boyare (Russian nobility) run country like their own, definitelyhe had flashbacks from it )
In the end, childhood trauma + illnes + betrayl really messed up his head – pure tragedy for man and his country
“The terrible” had a different context at the time, it basically meant “very powerful.”
And then there was Ivan “not great, not terrible”.
Ivan the Terrible’s name does not mean terrible as in awful but terrible as in shit your pants terrifying
What about Ivan “the meh”?
Ivan the Menacing
Also iirc, he lost a war in the Baltics
In last night’s episode of *Dancing with the Tsars*, Peter and Catherine were great, but Ivan was terrible.