The

The Welcome to the History of Europe, Kid Battles, The Livonian Wars, Part 3 of 4 In the autumn of 1552 things were looking bright for Ivan the Terrible.

By the age of just 22, the young Tsar had just gained military glory with the conquest of Kazan.

The acquisition of strategic land in Asia gave his realm control over the wealth of the trade routes along the River Volga,

and opportunities to extend his people's influence further east and south, and his beloved wife, Anastasia, had just produced an heir to the throne.

But then suddenly, plague struck the north of his lands, perhaps half a million of his people perished in the cities of Novgorod and Paskov and the surrounding areas.

And in the following year, Ivan himself fell ill with a fever, an occasion which so did the seeds of Ivan's suspicions of imminent treason among the boyars, that is, the noble class of Muscovy.

He then was at times unconscious, sometimes delavious, and his life was feared for.

With his only heir, his six-month son, Dmitri, his passing returned Muscovy into another period of minority government,

with, in all likelihood, years of political instability.

Ivan became unusually jealous and fearful of the wrath of God,

convinced that he was being punished for his sins.

He summoned his court to his bed, but only a handful turned up.

The others, perhaps, having made the assumption

that Ivan would not survive, and so were already positioning themselves for the inevitable

power struggles that would follow. Ivan, however, was not dying. He recovered just as

quickly as he had fallen ill, having made note of who has hesitated in the loyalty to him

or to swear of fealty to his young son.

Against the advice of his advisors,

who wished him to concentrate on consolidating his hold-on newly won Kazan,

if I insisted on making a pilgrimage to the northern monastery of St Cyril to give thanks to God.

However, before the Royal Party reached their destination, Ivan's infant son, for reasons unknown, grew weak and died.

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