Ivan Grigoryevich Vyrodkov (russian: Иван Григорьевич Выродков; not later than 1520 – 1568) was a

diak Diak (russian: дьяк, ) is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department". A diak was a title of the chief of a structur ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

and inventor.

Life

Ivan Vyrodkov's name was first mentioned in 1538. It is known that he participated in

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

's military campaigns against

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, during the

Russo-Kazan Wars The Russo-Kazan Wars was a series of wars fought between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan from 1439, until Kazan was finally conquered by the Tsardom of Russia under Ivan the Terrible in 1552. General Before it separated from ...

. In 1551, Ivan Vyrodkov was in charge of the construction of

Sviyazhsk Sviyazhsk (russian: Свия́жск; tt-Cyrl, Зөя, ''Zöya'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located at the confluence of the Volga River, Volga a ...

- a wooden

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

near Kazan that he would build in 28 days. This would serve as a strong point for the capture of the city by the

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage ...

army. In 1552, he supervised the fortification works during the

siege of Kazan The siege of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars and led to the fall of the Khanate of Kazan. Conflict continued after the fall of Kazan, however, as rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq, and a new khan wa ...

, and is credited for constructing a 12 metre high

siege tower A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...

in just one night. Although older siege towers had been made obsolete by the advancement of artillery, Vyrodkov made a revolutionary alteration to the design: this new type of

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...

is more accurately described as a "

battery-tower A battery tower was a defensive tower built into the outermost defences of many castles, usually in the 16th century or later, after the advent of firearms. Its name is derived from the word battery, a group of several cannon. These, usually ...

", as it was built for the bombardment of the city, able to hold ten large-calibre

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and 50 lighter cannon. This allowed a concentration of artillery fire on a section of the wooden wall or city, which played a crucial role in shattering

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

resistance. Nonetheless, it is certain that the few cannon defending Kazan would first have to have been put out of action in order for the tower to be effective, as it would otherwise have been an obvious target for any remaining artillery. After the war, in 1557, Vyrodkov built a fortress and a

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

at the mouth of the

Narva River The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interm ...

and a fort in Galich. In 1563, Vyrodkov commanded the so-called

pososhniye lyudi The Pososhniye lyudi (russian: Посошные люди) was a collective name for the conscripts in the Russian army of the 16th-17th centuries, called up for military service from each sokha (the word ''pososhniye'' is a derivative from ''sokha' ...

(recruits) during a military campaign against

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

. In 1568, he and his seventeen relatives, including children, were executed for an unknown reason in the course of the

oprichnina The oprichnina (russian: опри́чнина, ) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repression of the boyars (Russian aristocrats), including public executions and ...

References

Sources

*
Russian Fortresses, 1480–1682
',

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British, Oxford-based, publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces ov ...

, 1520s births 1568 deaths 16th-century executions by Russia 16th-century Russian people Russian military engineers Russian inventors 16th-century Russian military personnel {{Russia-mil-bio-stub

Life

See also

References

Sources