Ivan IV, the 'Terrible'

The son of Vasily III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, Ivan IV has been crowned as Grand Prince of Muscovy at only the age of three as his father has perished from an inflammation on his leg. His early life has been shaped by neglect and offense from the plotting boyars. At the age of sixteen, Ivan has been crowned as the 'Tsar of All the Russians' and has solidified the official formation of the Russian Tsardom - a realm which has existed already de facto during the reign of his grandfather, Ivan III 'the Great'.\n\nDespite his title would suggest, Ivan's first years of reign are characterized by their peaceful reforms and modernization. The nature of his reign changed when Ivan was thought to be fatally ill and the boyars refused to swear allegiance to his infant son. Ever since, Ivan fostered a paranoid grudge against the boyars which eventually led to the Massacre of Novgorod.\n\nIf he is designated as the heir to the Tsardom, many are sure that the Tsardom would achieve its greatest - even if it is at the cost of the one or other city.