English

THE GRAND PRINCE IN MUSCOVITE POLITICS: THE PROBLEM OF GENRE IN SOURCES ON IVAN'S MINORITY

A commemoration of the life and reign of Ivan IV should by rights turn our attention to the paramount importance of the grand prince in Muscovite politics. Surely Ivan IV is the standard by which we understand political rela- tions in Muscovy, Ivan, the youthful leader condemning the boyars' venal struggles during liis youth, Ivan, perhaps paranoid, perhaps politically astute, thrusting Muscovy into chaos with the Oprichni?ta-these images testify to Ivan's forceful personality and to the power sovereigns could wield in court politics. Already advancing toward centralization and autocracy, Muscovy be- came all the more monolithically governed as Ivan expanded the army and bureaucracy and subjugated the boyars. Ivan's life and reign sllould convince us that Muscovite political life was as autocratic as its ritual and ideology de- clared it to be.

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