The 6 to 8 Wives of Ivan the Terrible 

Moral of story, do not let the beautiful lovely wise, loyal kind wife of a mad man be assassinated. Everything will go to shit.

When she said Anastasia’s family ruled over Russia for 300 years it gave me chills because that is what Ivan would have wanted. That was the love of his life.

If his first wife Anastasia lived, history would’ve been completely different. It sounds like she kept him sane. That’s actually quite tragic 💔

I know Ivan the Terrible was terrible, but the story of his life and the love of his first wife has always entranced me. I honestly believe he would have been a different person if his childhood had been far gentler and kinder. I honestly believe he was a byproduct of the times. Far more so than Henry VIII.

Being banished to a convent sounds like a blessing. I bet his wife Anna was grateful that happened.

Ivan and Henry should have met up and compare notes and see who's the worst

“But like any good psychopath he refused to accept responsibility” 😂 My girl Lindsay never fail to surprise me I loved this video so much, thank you.

This seems like a good place to drop my favorite dumb history joke: "Last night on 'Dancing with the Tsars,' Peter and Catherine were great, but Ivan was terrible."

its a bit weird to think that the first Tsar family started with Anastasia and ended with Anastasia.. 🌑

I can imagine that conversation. “I wanna marry your cousin “ Elizabeth I “no way, Ivan. You remind me too much Of my dad”

He's not a psychopath if he cared about the death of his first wife and sobbed uncontrollably. Psychopaths don't care about anyone. Also, his remorse when he killed his son. He's a severely traumatized person who had power and that's why we even know his story. It's mindblowing that he even had a normal relationship for a short period of time after his childhood. Lastly, mercury was a common medical treatment for decades Anastasia may have been poisoned accidentally in an attempt to prolong her life.

Those who poisoned Anastasia probable wished they never did. If only Anastasia lived

Ivan was possibly mad from Mercury poisoning, his love Anastasia had that fate. Mercury was used to make hats.The Mad Hatter ...wasnt at all a joke.

Just the thought of seeing someone tortured, then skinned alive would seriously affect most everyone.. in that time,how could Ivan not become cruel and paranoid.?

I appreciate just how extra the boyars were in dealing with the False Dimitri. "How about we kill him?" "We should send him back to Poland." "We could always do both?" "But how?" "A cannon." "What?" "You heard me."

Glad to read about a royal family other than the British. Loved learning about this. Thank you.

“Courtiers had to support him so he could walk behind her coffin.” I remember carrying my dad’s coffin and I nearly dropped it cause I couldn’t compose myself.

It's sad how deep abuse travels down generations. To study Ivan more via film would be interesting. He was more a victim then Henry 8th who was just a megalomaniac never held to account.

It’s so interesting how his first wife was married with true love. Many noble and royal marriages barely had any love in it and dig was just to create an heir, but I think because of Anastasia and Ivan’s young age them getting along so well really builded a healthy and loving relationship for there future, it’s sad how he became the terrible 😢

The love between him and his first wife is actually very romantic.

I know it's actually quite awful, but something about one's ashes being fired back home by cannonball really made me laugh 😂 Yikes, what a life. And I agree with others here - definitely more stories about non-British royal families! This was super interesting.

At least he didn't kill his wives. Unlike Henry, he sent them to monasteries. It isn't that much better, but I'd rather live than have my head cut off by a drunk.

I had no idea that the Romanov who ruled Russia came from Tsarina Anastasia. No wonder she was the only one who could tame Ivan.

I find it super interesting that the first royal female Romanov was called Anastasia and so was the last daughter of the final Tzar. Sad that they both died so young :(

Is it just me or is that baby portrait of Ivan really cute!? I kind of forget he ever went bad just looking at those little hands.

Sus how his daughters all died within their first year of birth from “common childhood illnesses” but the sons survived (with exception to the one that fell off the ship).

It’s interesting to see how so many people who did messes up things as adults actually had horrible childhoods

The story of his first wife's death and his reaction brought me to tears. Ivan the Terrible has a lot of emotional and psychological trauma, no wonder he ended up the way he did. All the people he truly loved and held close to his heart were taken away from him. EDIT: Looks like Anna and Maria are popular names for the era.

The story of Ivan's cruelty is a bit exaggerated. It is interesting that during the 51 years of his rule, Ivan the Terrible (Grozny) was not called Grozny/Terrible by his people, but much later he was given that nickname. The word "Grozny" at that time did not have the meaning it has today "terrible", it meant more a man with authority, who instilled fear in the enemy, fearless. In order to better understand Ivan's cruelty, we need to look at the broader context of the time in which he lived. This was the time of the reign of Henry VIII, who is remembered, among other things, for the murders of his wives, as well as for the separation of the Church of England from the Vatican. More than 75,000 people died in that religious war, that is, 2.5 percent of the entire population of the island. Even during the time of his daughter Mary, who was nicknamed Bloody, and Elizabeth I, there was nothing better. During the reign of Elizabeth I, whose reign is considered the English Golden Age, 89,000 people were killed, while in France, during Bartholomew's Night in 1572, 20,000 people died. It was bloody in Germany at that time as well: 100,000 people were punished during the suppression of the peasant revolt, while in the Netherlands, Charles V and Philip II of Spain killed or burned up to 100,000 people. When you compare the above figures with the 4,000 killed in Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, he was not a saint, but he was certainly not the devil like some individuals are trying to present him. During the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Russia was at the peak of its military and economic power. He built 155 new cities and fortifications, carried out judicial and educational reform, started printing books, and formed the first regular army. He had a problem with the boyars (members of the highest rank of the feudal nobility) who had been causing him problems since childhood, and he dealt with them cruelly, but he was quite loved by the common people. One of the reasons for hatred towards Ivan and misinformation about its cruelty was his origin, which was related to the last legitimate Byzantine, more precisely the Roman emperor and Moscow as the third Rome, which erased the legitimacy of the so-called Holy Roman Empire.

Seriously. Who would be dumb enough to harm the Tsarina Anastasia? I'm sure it came as no big surprise to anyone just how attached he was to his first wife. Whoever did it brought hell upon their heads as well as many others. What were they THINKING?

I know children shouldn’t play with sharp things, but HOW does a 9 year old boy stab himself in the throat, fatally, might I add? 😑 The reasons for someone’s death back in the day were…astounding.

Ivan: Please just bless this one more marriage. Oh wait, just ONE more. Hey guys, me again. Just this one more please. Shoot, probably should just give me a couple free passes while you're at it.

For English speakers, after a while the story of the Tudors and Stuarts get a little tiresome. The interesting stories of other royal dynasties and Kings & Queens are just as, if not more riveting. The Habsburgs, Romanovs, Bourbons, etc are great examples

19:22 "The tzar took his new bride on a honeymoon to Novgorod, the city which only two years earlier he had massacred. What a romantic." Lindsay you are killing me 😂🤣😂🤣

Henry the 8th: i have 6 wife,s Ivan the terrible: hold my vodka

Wow, I didn’t think anyone could outdo my grandson

One time I was doing research on Ivan for a story I was writing. When I saw his first wife's name I was like "huh???" but then I realized it's a different girl. Crazy how royal names tend to repeat.

I always wondered how different Russian history/Ivan's life would've been had Tsarina Anastasia lived longer and potentially wasn't poisoned which accelerated Ivan's batshittiness, tho he arguably had every reason to be suspicious of her untimely death/potential poisoning, if we take into account the extremely high levels of mercury in her system when her remains were examined. The fact that her family eventually became the next ruling family through Anastasia's great-nephew Michael which bore arguably the most famous Russian royal of the same name a few centuries later, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, is fascinating (if I'm not mistaken the Romanovs are related to the Ruriks through some female lines). How Hollywood skipped out on a goldmine like Ivan and Anastasia's story is asinine. Or other Eastern European rulers such as Olga of Kiev, a bad ass within her own right. Can't wait to hear more about other Russian/Eastern European royals or even Empress Joséphine, 1st wife of Napoleon.

Henry VIII: I'm the most infamous royal husband ever! Ivan: Adorable...

Pov : Ivan and Henry VIII were friends The fact that Ivan and Henry VIII lived at the same time

The painting at 9:55 is actually "Death of Barbara Radziwiłł" by Józef Simmiler. The tragic love story of her and Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Lithuania would be perfect for this channel, as would be the lives of Sigismund's mother - Bona Sforza and his sisters; Anna and Catherine (mentioned in this video). Too bad that Jagiellonians don't get even the fracture of the fame that more violent rulers of their age enjoy.

I'm so happy that a non-British royal family is featured. I had always been fascinated with the Romanov Family, but I never got the time to know more about their dynasty's origin. Others had pointed out how Ivan had felt no regrets on killing his son, and I felt kind of bad learning that he actually shown regrets.

Great story. Wow. His first wife was his first true love, his childhood or as some would call a high school sweet heart. They being the same age and he losing his mother, she was his confidant and support. They basically grew up together. Its also nice to see that there was no inbreeding in this story or it was left out. Lastly, the irony of his first wife is that her legacy turned out to be far greater and longer lasting than his, with her Romanov family.

The painting of Ivan holding his son is so haunting.

The Russian history is mesmerizing and your channel is also very captivating! I always watch you videos to improve my english. Keep doing your amazing job, kisses from Brazil❤❤

Imagine how terrifying it must've been for the women in the bride shows knowing what likely lied ahead 😳

It was like his first wife was his last effort at being ‘good.’ With her gone, he gave in to his dark thoughts.

Interesting fact. When he sent an Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth to make a marriage proposal and settle intergovernmental affairs, she had invited the Ambassador to dinner in honour of a visiting Italian nobleman.. Shakespeare was commissioned to write a play to entertain the honoured guest and the dinner party. Russian Ambassador was religious and a bureaucrat who politely refused to attend the event so he could pray and go to bed early. However, because of his scrupulous reports to his tsar, the world now knows the story behind Shakespeare’s 12th Night. The real Italian nobleman was an inspiration for Duke Orsino.

Poor beloved Anastasia, seemed he truly loved her

Well, the city of Novgorod was not gone as in "wiped off the face of the earth." The population was indeed halved (some historians say that up to 2/3 were executed), but most structures survived, including the city fortress. Although Novgorod lost its political power as a result of the pogrom, it became the center of the Novgorod Province during the reign of Catherine II. Its current population is 225,000, which qualifies as "large" for Russia.

I’ll admit I knew absolutely nothing about Ivan until I saw this . This was insanely interesting, intriguing and informative. Thank you for shedding light on this “ intolerably terrifying “ Tsar . He is quite literally “ terrifying “ compared to the other Tsars of Russia.

Thank you very much for this interesting video. It was quite a sad and cruel period of time in Russian history. Ivan was clearly traumatised in his childhood. This can't be an excuse or justification for his behaviour but probably a kind of explanation. I feel sorry for his wives, too. Being send to a convent was probably the best possible option for some of them. When I hear such stories I am always happy to live a "normal" life in 2022 (despite pandemic and annoying issues at work) 🙂

hoping you could also do a series about the Russian Romanov dynasty ☺️

The name “the terrible” has technically been mistranslated throughout time. However of course we all know he was not the best when it came to Tzars.

Didn't Ivan beat his daughter-in-law into a miscarriage because she wore the wrong colored dress to an event?

Great content. I do want to state that the title "Ivan the Terrible" is often misinterpreted in modern English to imply Ivan was a terrible dude. But in reality his name was to imply he was terrible to his enemies and a force to be reckoned with

Oh my god, Lindsey, mind blowingly done!! Man, what an epic story! Somebody please tell me there's been a show made about this guy's entire reign! Also, Lindsey, at some point please do consider doing an entire series for the Russian monarchy the way you did all British dynaties. Russian history is fascinating!

I thought it was funny when they said that they burned his body, stuffed it in a cannon, and shot it back to Poland. Great informative video.

These types of videos are always so captivating and interesting and are so calming to listen to. Tysm and keep up the amazing work

Ivan's death sue to an infected sore on his leg like King Henry was not painful enough. He was a rotten man. However the things listed that occurred during his childhood, in my opinion, I am not a professional but do watch and fallow dozens of mystery cases, it's very clear why he took control at 13 and began taking lives. I feel sorry for anyone who was alive during the 1500's bc it sounds like it was hell on earth with all these insane kings and dictators hurting people

OMG I always wanted to watch a video about his wives. Finally my dream came true

6:48 literally the only girl capable of having the saying "I can change him!" 😂

Being raised in such horrific circumstances, no wonder he turned out the way he did

It's always so shocking to me that he and Henry viii were contemporaries.

Thank you for your work, I enjoyed this video a lot! A little correction: Princess Qochenay or Maria Temryukovna was a Muslim Kabardian (Circassian) princess, not a Kyrgyzstani. She was born in Northern Caucasus in Kabarda (nowadays this territory is a part of Russia - Kabardino-Balkarian republic) and was a daughter of Temryuk Idarov - Kabardian ruler.

I wonder if those who conspired to poison the first wife regretted it deeply after seeing they let a mister loose into their world by that act. She was the only one who could keep him under a level so sanity

imagine just chilling in a convent and then you're told you're gonna be the next czar

I’ve been waiting for this video a long time! Excellent quality and great content, as always!

Ivan’s second wife gwashaney was not Kyrgyzstani, she was Circassian. Her father was the prince of kabarda back then, today kabarda is part of kabardino balkaria, in the Russian federal republic.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Excellent narration. Thanks for making this.

This was very well done. What unimaginable lives and experiences they all had!!!

Well atleast Ivan had an excuse of his sufferings throughout his childhood that caused him being so pathetic but Henry VIII?boi oh boi my man be out there putting everyone down that would awaken his own insecurities and beheading anyone who had any opinion that differed from his...💀

Just wanted to say that I really love your videos. I found them last year and I love history from around the world. But I learned a whole lot from this. thank you for making them

Wow! Great video! I really enjoyed learning about 'Ivan the Terrible'. I had heard of him before, of course, but had not known what he had done to deserve the title. Thank-you!

Loved this video. The Russian dynasties have always seemed mysterious. This clarified alot of things about Ivan the Terrible.

So you answered my suggestion. Thank you! I always wanted to learn this!

I love learning about English/British and Russian history. The kingdoms between the two don't do much for me. I wonder how the world would look if Elizabeth I and Ivan had married and had children.

Hey Lindsay! I love all your work, thank you for doing what you do!

Such and interesting video! Just so you know the cathedral you show at around 4:48 is the Alexander Nefsky cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is a Bulgarian Orthodox church built as a memorial and monument to thank the Russian soldiers who fought in the Russo-turkish war, allowing Bulgaria to become an independent state from the Ottoman empire. Your script just implied that it was a byzantine church located in Istanbul or built during the byzantine era. Thanks for sharing information on Ivan and showing some amazing artwork!

Such a tragic figure. I know he was indeed terrible but thinking about all the trauma he indured no wonder...

Hi its my 17th birthday 🎉 🎂 🥳 and im really glad that i remember that you post on Tuesdays and it’s really nice to know that I can sit in my bed and you’re a piece of cake and watch your videos and you’ve just made my birthday better you’re probably not gonna see this message back if you do thank you Lindsey you’re great keep doing what you doing💜💜

This was wonderfully done and beautifully informative 👏❤ Bravo Lindsay keep up the good work

This was amazingly explained and so entertaining to listen to! I learned a lot!!

Amazing video! I wish there was a show or movie about his life and reign. Would definitely like to watch that.

This is a really interesting topic, thank you for making a video on it!

Excellent video. I knew the names and dates from working with royal genealogies, but you've really explained it well, given it flavor. Good job!

Beautifully done! Always wanted to know more about him!

Excellent. Your best so far.

I absolutely love Lindsay and the work she does, this is beyond interesting

Your voice is so calming yet captivating 😍

Thank you sooooo muuuuuch also I’m really glad u chose that song but also choosing a slowed + reverb

What a brilliant and richly informative video, thank you for making this!

Thank you Lindsay!❤️

That was really informative, I never knew the details exactly of Ivan's reign/terror or the history of his wives, except for Maria Temryukovna/Gwashanay because, like myself, she's Circassian/Adyghe and is from Circassia from Kabarda (in Eurasia/North West Asia in the Caucasus), and is not Kyrgyz like stated in the video. Their marriage was also an attempt at political diplomacy between Russia and Circassia because Russia was continuing to want to take the land as it's own. I'm curious what source you used on her that stated as such that she was Kyrgyz? There's a lot of misinformation about us (that frankly tries to cover us up too), so I'm just curious about that, and if its an online source that could possibly be fixed/corrected somehow

I absolutely love your style of telling a good story! 💜

I definately didn't know much of that and I am so greatful to you for bringing us this history.

Thank you for this informative video! It's really interesting to learn more on Ivan's youth and how it impacted him and, by extension, history. With regards to Maria Temryukovna, she was Circassian from Kabarda. Her Father was of Circassian nobility.

A tough competitor for Henry Viii. Both disposed of wives like dresses. But he did love his first wife. History never fails to astonish me.

Wow!!! So. so well done!! Thank you.

Very interesting! I did not know that two of the wives possibly didn’t exist. So terrible their fates!