I've in the terrible 16th century grand prince of Moscow and the first is our of what would go on to become the Russian Empire his terrible nickname

Actually does not come from any atrocities he committed but rather from a poor translation

Terrible comes from a mis-translation of the word grozny which more closely translates to inspiring fear or terror

Threatening even awesome

Rather than terrible is in something or someone being extremely bad or unpleasant

All that being said he truly was terrible like really really terrible at various times when he felt that his power was being threatened

Or if you wanted to send a strong message to not be defied he had men women and children killed in mass in the most terrible of ways

Men women and children who were his own people on a few occasions yet his minions the uprich niki

Referred to aptly in one source as the children of darkness

Decimate most of an entire town in cruelly imaginative ways

These also very terrible men under his command carried out state sanctioned mass rapes horrific straight out of the saw movie franchise torture sessions and public executions

Most of Ivan's violence was directed at muskivis

Nobility the boyars

Ivan hated muskivist aristocracy for reasons will explain soon

And he likes his people to know that no one was safe from his wrath money and land would not spare you from having your wife raped or your skin

Removed from your body and why do I keep saying muskivi? Are we talking about Russia?

Yes, one and the same like basically all of Europe

Russia is a land that's been called more than a few names over the years

Muskivi was the common term for the grand dutchie of Moscow a

Rousse aka east Slavic Finic principality centered around Moscow a vassal state to the Mongol Empire created in

1283 CE and then Ivan expanded this vassal state in 1547 by taking the title of Zarr and grand duke Rousse

Turning the grand dutchie of Moscow into the Zardom of Russia and waging some wars against the Mongols and others to expand and solidify his turf

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