In the third story of Ivan IV, Anna Stasija, the first queen of Tsar Ivan IV, gave birth to three sons for him. The eldest son Dmitry drowned in an accident when he was six months old. The third son, Feodor, was born when the Queen was seriously ill. She is weak and mentally retarded. Only the second son, Ivan, is healthy and lively, tall, as smart and irritable as his father. Therefore, Ivan IV doted on Prince Ivan in every way and took it with him since he was a child. Not only was he allowed to attend ceremonial meetings, ambassadors' receptions and night revelry, but he was also allowed to join the army, participate in * and torture prisoners. He wants his son to become another self.
1570, in Novograd *, Ivan IV visited the execution ground with great interest, taking his Prince Ivan with him, when he was only 15 years old. They never get tired of watching scenes of torture and murder. After returning to Moscow, the bloodthirsty father and son seemed to be wanting more, killing the so-called "Grad's accomplice". At that time, the Kremlin Square became an execution ground for killing people, and hundreds of people were collectively and publicly executed. They were either hanged, chopped into 10,000 pieces and boiled in a boiling pot, or sawed in half by a rope saw. The square was flooded with blood and even the dust was dyed deep red. Ivan and his son rode horses in the square, curiously observing the body and commenting on how funny the posture of the deceased was. What's more, they spared the civilians who were watching at the edge of the square and put some angry bears into the crowd for fun. The two pranksters laughed happily when these Moscow residents shouted and fled in vain against wild animals. The father and son colluded with each other and abused violence, making everyone inside and outside the court feel insecure, and the whole of Russia was shrouded in an atmosphere of terror.
From 65438 to 0578, Ivan IV, 48, was seriously ill. His fat body shows signs of aging, and his cruel and suspicious personality greatly stimulates his nerves, often foaming at the mouth and looking unconscious. He thought that he had no hope of recovery and his future was numbered, so he called the elderly lords and monks and announced that he would "grant the sovereignty of the Principality of Moscow to his son Prince Ivan" after his death. Who knows that this move has brought cracks to the father-son relationship in the future.
At this time, Crown Prince Ivan just turned 24, with strong blood and extraordinary courage, which was quite popular. He repeatedly asked his father to give him an army to crush the Poles in Pskov. He even claimed rudely in front of his father that he would rather be brave than cherish; If necessary, he can also use with fire and sword to plunder his father's territory and take away half of his land.
When Ivan IV's condition improved slightly, his ill feelings towards the Crown Prince increased day by day. The crown prince's popularity among nationals and ministers has begun to pose a threat to the tsar himself. How can an arbitrary father tolerate his son being above himself! He interfered with his son more and more. Fierce quarrels often break out between father and son. In fact, Sha Huang's control over the Crown Prince has never been relaxed. He chose two spouses for his son, and then sent both his daughters-in-law to the monastery. The crown prince's third marriage was decided by himself. He married Princess yelena, the daughter of Lord Sheremetyev. However, the tsar was disgusted with the Sheremetyev family. One of yelena's uncles was put to death by the Tsar, and another uncle was put into a monastery by the Tsar. Her father was accused by the Tsar of being a sinner connected with foreign countries. Yelena's surviving uncle became a Polish prisoner. He not only swore allegiance to the Polish king, but also encouraged Poland to attack Daluki, which was regarded as treason by the czar. Therefore, the czar was not satisfied with his daughter-in-law yelena at all.
158 1 autumn, yelena was pregnant, and Prince Ivan, who longed for children, loved her even more. As usual, the Tsar's family is spending the autumn in Alexandrov Freedom Village. The prince is very concerned about making peace with the Poles. He once again accused his father of cowardice in the war and demanded that he lead the army to save Pskov. When the tsar heard this criticism, he flew into a rage, but he held back.
165438+1On the morning of October 9, a noble delegation came to Liberty Village to see the Tsar. Serge Kubanski, head of the delegation, wrote: "The army of the great Tsar King Stephen Bartoli invaded our country. In order to save Russia, we are willing to fight bloody battles. We implore Your Majesty to go out in person, or at least send Crown Prince Ivan to lead the troops on your behalf. " A few days ago, the tsar just heard his son's criticism, and now he has heard this unusual performance. This chorus just confirmed the doubts in the czar's mind: Prince Ivan and noble ministers plotted to usurp the throne for the prince. His eyes widened with anger and he flew into a rage. He swore sharply, "How dare you say such crazy things to me? You always want to depose me and establish a new emperor. All you have done today is to let the prince replace my throne! " The nobles turned pale with fear and denied it. The tsar couldn't say anything and ordered them out. It was a long time before the tsar calmed down a little.
A few days later, that is, 158 1 year 1 month 1 month 65438+5, a big conflict finally broke out between father and son. On that day, Princess yelena sat on a bench in a warm room in Liberty Village. Because it was too hot, she only wore a thin skirt. According to the concept at that time, women in the palace had to wear at least three clothes to be fully dressed. The czar happened to pass by this room. He saw that his daughter-in-law was dressed inappropriately, so he ran angrily. He didn't care that yelena was pregnant, but raised his hand and beat him up. As a result, yelena miscarried because of the shock of being beaten.
When Prince Ivan came back, he ran to his father and flew into a rage. In just a few days, this is the second time he yelled at his father. Can Tsar Ivan stand this tone? He mentioned the bitter thing again and shouted at the top of his lungs, "shameless fanatic!" " How dare you conspire with the nobles against me! "The prince asserted that he didn't mean it. He argued that he didn't know the nobles were going to fight, but he admitted that he really thought it necessary to assemble troops to solve Pskov's siege.
After listening to these words, Emperor Ivan jumped down from his throne in disgust and raised an iron bar to stab his son. A sudden beating stabbed the prince in the shoulder and head. Boris Godunov, the minister present at that time, came forward to dissuade him and got a few sticks. The prince stabbed a hole in his temple, and his blood ran straight out, and he immediately fell to the ground. At this time, Ivan was shocked. He stood by with a bloody cane, as if it were all done by someone else. Suddenly, he woke up, jumped on his son, and kept kissing his son's bearded gray face, but his eyes turned white and blood kept pouring out of that deep wound. He took out a handkerchief to cover the wound and tried to stop the bleeding, but he couldn't stop it. He panicked and screamed in despair: "God? I killed my son, I killed my son! " Boris Godunov ran to find someone to save the prince. After a while, the waiter ran in with a basin and a bandage. A physician leaned over the prince, examined the wound carefully, and then shook his head solemnly: the prince lost too much blood in his vital parts, and there was no hope of survival.
The grief-stricken czar has been waiting for the prince and praying constantly, hoping that the miracle of survival can come to Aiko. Suddenly, the prince woke up from a coma. He kissed his father's hand and murmured, "Your Majesty, I will die as your most loyal son and tame subject." Say that finish, and fainted. The tsar was in tears and almost lost his mind. For four days and four nights in a row, he wandered around the palace and kept pulling out his beard. He came into the room from time to time, stood beside his dying son and carefully observed his breathing. The prince is still alive, not completely desperate. Terrible Ivan stumbled back to his bedroom, lying in bed, staring at the trembling flame on the ever-burning lamp. When he finally fell asleep, he was awakened by a nightmare. He ran to the icon and knelt down, promising God that he would never torture or kill anyone again. He would release prisoners and build a church. Donate all his money to the poor. May God bless my beloved son to come back from the dead.
However, God seems indifferent.
158 1 year 1 month 65438+9 years, Prince Ivan finally stopped breathing, and the bells of all churches in the city rang the death knell. The lost czar sobbed and kept vigil beside his son's body for three days and nights, without eating or sleeping. He regretted that he had committed an unforgivable crime. He personally killed his son and the heir to the throne. He offended God and Russia. He went to the temple, knelt down in front of the temple, kowtowed six times with tears, and asked for special treatment for the prince-mourning for the dead for two weeks. To this end, he distributed a large amount of property to temples and churches.
165438+1On October 22nd, the funeral procession left Alexandria Rove for Moscow. Ivan walked behind the coffin in plain clothes. Along the way, he kept sighing and raised his arms to ask his son's forgiveness. At the Eucharist in a cathedral in Moscow, he cried like a wounded beast, and kept hitting the coffin and marble floor with his head.
In just a few days, the pain of losing his son made the tsar look haggard and pale, and he became an old man with a hunchback. What's more, his mental disorder is close to madness. In the middle of the night, he suddenly turned out of bed and ran around the palace with his arms outstretched, like a sleepwalker looking for his lost son. Early in the morning, people found him unconscious on the floor of the hall. The attendants tried to put him back to bed, but soon he fell out of bed like a demon, screaming and rolling.
It was several days before he gradually calmed down. He summoned the noble ministers and solemnly said to them, "The hand of God hit me hard, so I had to live in seclusion in the monastery until I died. My son Feodor has no talent to govern Russia. Now you can choose your own competent king, and I will immediately hand over the scepter to all countries. " The courtiers looked at each other one by one, and no one dared to choose a new king. Because they all remember, 1553, when Ivan the Great was seriously ill, he also offered to abdicate. Those who dared to choose a new emperor at that time all ended in tragic death. Everyone begged the czar not to abdicate for fear of fraud. Ivan had no choice but to give up the idea of abdication.
For dozens of days in a row, the tsar attended the ceremony to mourn the dead prince every day to show his remorse. He also changed the attitude of accusing the monastery of owning property in the past, and gave a lot of gold to the monastery, asking them to pray for the soul of the prince to rest in peace. In addition, his bloodthirsty hobby has also changed, and he has no pleasure in bloody scenes, and he is more tired of looking at the ferocious faces of the dead.
A few months later, the czar made the most unusual decision in his life: to rehabilitate all the nobles and others he ordered to be executed innocently. He ordered his secretary to work with him to compile a list of the dead who suffered bloody persecution. He thought hard, looking for ghosts who had been forgotten for a long time, and recording all kinds of torture they suffered. He wrote in front of the Novgorod Death Register: "God, please remember that there are 1507 souls of your followers in Novgorod. Of course, there must be omissions in this list, but I believe you can remember the names of those people. " In other areas, there were 365,438+048 murders in the death register, and some recorded 3,750 dead people. The tsar felt guilty as if surrounded by a large group of bloody ghosts. So, he sent these death lists together with a large sum of money to temples all over the country, asking priests to pray for these undead. Even so, it is difficult to alleviate his loss.
Since the prince died, he can only sleep for a few hours at night. He no longer wants to go to the palace in the free village of Alexandria, but has been living in the Kremlin, because the dark walls of the palace always remind him of the days and nights when the prince lay dying.
The death of the prince caused physical and mental harm to Ivan the Terrible, and he mourned for it for two years. One night, the flight attendant said that a comet appeared in the sky in Moscow with a cross tail. The tsar, wearing a tunic, ordered him to be carried to the stone steps of the palace to watch. It was winter, and the wind was biting. He looked up at the sky and stared at the comet with a reddish tail for a long time. Finally, he muttered to himself, "This is a sign that I will die!" " "
Since 1584, the health of the tsar has deteriorated sharply, and his whole body is swollen, and his skin falls off one by one, giving off an unpleasant smell. Even if you apply spices, you can't dispel this stench. The doctor diagnosed him with "blood deterioration" and "visceral corruption". He himself realized that he was terminally ill, so he was particularly afraid of the night arrival. Every night, he vaguely sees the image of his son: sometimes he wears gorgeous clothes and smiles; Sometimes he looks pale and has a blood hole in his temple. The ghost came up to him and scared him to let out a cry and fell out of bed. The guard ran in and took care of him and fell asleep again. He couldn't sleep, so he called the priest and rang for mass. In order to cure the disease, he wrote to all monasteries in Russia, asking the priests to pray for him to avoid crime and disease.
However, the doctor's medicine and the priest's prayer could do nothing about his illness. So the terrible Ivan begged for witchcraft again. Soothsayers, soothsayers and wizards from all over the country gathered in Moscow. Sixty wizards and witches stayed in a hall near the palace, praying to God and worshiping immortals. Prince belsky, the czar's confidant, came to ask them every day. But their answer is pessimistic: all kinds of astronomical phenomena show that the king is not far away. Several witches from seaside villages claimed to be able to predict the future. They predicted the exact time when the terrible Ivan died. Belsky kept the warlock's conclusion secret so as not to disturb the czar.
Although the governors comforted and concealed their illness in many ways, the tsar had a premonition that death was approaching. He summoned the nobles to dictate the testamentary edict and made Fialdo heir to the throne. He told Fei Aldo to be kind and avoid useless wars with neighboring countries. In order to assist the incompetent young master Bi to take power, he appointed a national protection committee composed of five nobles. They are Yulyev, the uncle of the Crown Prince, the head of the Duma, Mahatma Slavski, the defender of Pskov, Prince belsky and his minion Pauli Godunov. Due to someone's careless slip of the tongue, the tsar learned that the astrologer had set his death date as1March 584 18, and it was only a few days now. The tsar didn't believe it at all. He swore, "If it's not true, these guys must be burned alive!" "
/kloc-In March of 0/5, Ivan the Terrible invited the British ambassador to appreciate his jewelry store. He fondled those rare treasures affectionately and felt pain for leaving them soon. He introduced the origin and value of each gem to the guests. As he spoke, suddenly, his tongue froze and he soon fainted. He didn't wake up until the doctor saved him.
On March 17, Ivan took a hot bath and slept comfortably. The next morning, he felt more energetic. It suddenly occurred to him that the magician predicted that his death date was March 18, so he called his favorite belsky. He said angrily, "according to the fortune teller, I will die today, but I feel energetic instead." Let these scammers die! " Belsky informed the warlocks gathered in the hall of the czar's verdict. This group of people pretended to be calm and retorted: "Please wait, today is not over yet!"
At noon, the tsar ordered Shi to prepare hot water. He jumped into the water comfortably and washed for three hours. After taking a bath, he went to bed and took a nap. When I woke up, I was in a great mood. He asked belsky to play chess with him. It was only after a while that his hands suddenly became weak and he could not move the chess pieces. The king and queen on the chessboard were knocked to the ground. Ivan collapsed to the ground, his arms drooping and his head hanging down on the chessboard. Belsky was frightened and called the doctor at once. The doctor wiped his body with vodka and herbs in an attempt to save his life. But nothing can help.
The 50-year rule of the tyrant Ivan the Terrible finally came to an end. According to his will, he was buried next to the tomb of Prince Ivan, who was killed in a rage. He will always be with the soul of his beloved son in heaven with repentance.