Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore
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Ivan the Terrible was a rather popular character in Russian folklore. Interest is caused by its contradiction to the real historical figure of the first Russian Tsar, as well as the possible reasons for this.


The genesis of folklore and its connection with the historical figure of Ivan the Terrible

The earliest records of
Russian folklore Folklore of Russia is folklore of Russians and other ethnic groups of Russia. Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales._Epic_Russian_ олше́бн_...s._Epic_Russi ...
about
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 ...
were made by Samuel Collins in the mid to late 17th century, almost a hundred years after the end of his reign. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Tsardome of Moscow suffered a catastrophe, known as the
Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...
, and during the reign of Romanov dynasty, the enslavement of the peasantry intensified, which aggravated social struggles and led to numerous popular uprisings (such as the
Stenka Razin Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, ; 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1 ...
one). The question of how far the folklore about Ivan IV can be considered to reflect popular sixteenth-century attitudes towards him, rather than a retrospective idealization, is highly debatable. The image created throughout Russian folklore is in a direct contrast to that which is typically painted of him and his rule by historians. As folklorist Jack V. Haney claims speaking about the stories of Ivan the Terrible and
Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
: "Though the chief character is certainly a historical figure, the resemblance stops here, for there is nothing historical, or even very plausible, in most of these legends.”. Haney, Jack V. "An Introduction to the Russian Folktale." ''The Complete Russian Folktale.'' Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1999. p. 9. By studying a variety of folktales about Ivan the Terrible
Maureen Perrie Maureen Perrie (born 1946) is a British historian, Professor Emeritus of Russian History at the University of Birmingham, and a lecturer in Russian History at the centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham.Perri ...
states that “in so far as he is the friend of the common people, and the enemy of the boyars, he (Ivan IV) is seen as a ‘good’ tsar”, despite the fact that because of his hot temper, he does injustice and executes the innocents. This is attributed to "evil people" who bear false witness, or to his excessive zeal to eliminate a treason. Consequently, the image depicted of Ivan is not one in which he is a “meaningless, bloodletting” ruler, but rather he is kind and compassionate towards his lower subjects. By creating the tsar to be either a friend of the commoners or an enemy to the
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
, a positive image of Ivan IV is represented through the particular folktale. Maureen concludes that Ivan deliberately formed this image of "just tsar" among the lower classes through demagogy and populism, declaring his killed political opponents "robbers of the common people." This made worse the situation in the
Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...
, when a predictable transition was made in the minds from the "traitor-boyars" to the "false tsar".


Friend of the people

Primarily, throughout folktales, the tsar is typically described as an “ally and protector of the ordinary people against their common enemies, and especially the boyars”. One example of a
folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...
in which the tsar befriends the commoner can be found in Samuel Collins’ recording. In this story, a friendship develops between a disguised Ivan and a thief. Eventually the thief asks the tsar if he wants to go robbing with him and the tsar agrees. After they had robbed from a few shops in the marketplace, the tsar wanted to test his new friend’s loyalty and suggests that they rob the treasury. At this suggestion, the thief slaps the tsar saying that ‘I’ve been thieving for ages, but I’ve never dreamt of robbing the tsar!”. The story continues that the thief suggests that instead of robbing the tsar, the two should rob the boyars because “they get their money for nothing”. For his faithfulness and respect for the tsar, Ivan rewards the young man by asking him to become his counselor. This tale exemplifies a story in which the tsar befriends a common peasant. Collins’ tale also provides us evidence that the folklore regarding
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 ...
often shows him heroically allying with those of the
lower classes A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inco ...
against the sly and devious middle and upper class citizens. By agreeing to help the thief rob the boyar, the tsar is ultimately legitimizing the thief's actions. Continually, Maureen Perrie justifies the formation of the friendship between the tsar and the thief because “the tsar endorses the values and attitudes of the representative of the people, and demonstrates that he has more in common with them than with the boyars”. Consequently, the image depicted of Ivan is not one in which he is a “meaningless, bloodletting” ruler, but rather he is kind and compassionate towards his lower subjects. But in another story, also recorded by Collins, Ivan burns the entire village of "ordinary" people in order to teach them how bad it is to be homeless in the middle of winter (they did not let him in when disguised Ivan was looking for housing a day earlier).


Enemy of the Boyar

The second way a positive image of Ivan was created through folklore can be found by looking at examples that show Ivan was “an enemy of the boyar”. Through tales such as “The Potter”, we see how the tsar was often depicted as siding with the commoner against the boyars and other aristocratic individuals. Throughout “The Potter” a friendship develops between Ivan and a common
potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...
. The tsar is attracted to the potter because of his ability to answer riddles. Because the tsar is impressed by his quick wittedness, he vows that, “if you (referring to the potter) stick to me, and I’ll stick to you”. Consequently, the tsar helps this potter create a
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
against the other boyars over the pottery sales in Russia. When an un-suspecting boyar is unable to pay for the merchandise he ordered, the tsar punishes him by making the boyar switch social roles with the potter.
Afanas'ev, Aleksandr Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Afanasief, Afanasiev or Afanas'ev, russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) ( — ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer who published nearly 600 Russian fairy and folk ta ...
. "The Potter." ''Russian Fairy Tales''. Trans. Norbert Guterman. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945. p. 208.
Through this story we see that a friendship between the tsar and the potter develops out of the mutual dislike of the boyars. We are also provided with evidence that the tsar is more willing to help the common potter than he is the boyar. In addition, the tsar is attracted to the potter's quick wittedness and consequently he was more willing to help the witty man from the lower social classes than he was the “stupid” middle- upper class boyars. Finally, this story is an example of Haney's claim that through many folktales, Ivan is depicted as a “resolute but compassionate and an enlightened ruler, anxious to protect the peasants from the landowners, and he goes to some extraordinary lengths to do so”. As the above examples of folklore show, a positive image of Ivan the Terrible can be found whenever a folktale has Ivan either a friend to a common peasant or an enemy to the boyar. There are a few reasons that folklorists provide us with that explain why this positive image of Ivan IV was created throughout Russian folklore. One valid reason is that the common people did not see Ivan's actions as negative- he was simply doing his job as the tsar. They believed that it was the tsar's responsibility to protect his country, and he should do whatever it takes to accomplish that obligation. In addition, because the tsar was seen as their only
benefactor Benefactor may refer to: * ''Benefactor'' (album), a 1982 album by Romeo Void * Benefactor (law) for a person whose actions benefit another or a person that gives back to others * Benefication (metallurgy) In the mining Mining is the ext ...
, the peasants often would not like to ridicule or satirize the tsar because they feared upsetting him. They hoped to create and tell stories about Ivan IV that would be pleasing to him, which would build a better relationship between the tsar and the “commoners.” In addition, these stories also created the “ideal tsar” that many Russians hoped would run their country someday. Ivan IV was, for many of the peasants, the only figure of authority they knew and they did not know any other type of ruling. Consequently, the folklore “represents an artistic response to a historical event or character, and, in the case of a historical figure such as Ivan”.


References

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See also

* Vlad the Impaler *
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*
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