Ivan IV of Russia
Biography
Crowned first Tsar 1547, Ivan conquered Kazan and Astrakhan, opening Siberia. The Stroganov expeditions crossed the Urals. Later reign, the Oprichnina, black riders, dog heads, purged Novgorod in massacres, killed his own heir in a rage. Grozny means awesome rather than terrible. He died playing chess, the Rurik dynasty ending with his weak son, the Time of Troubles coming.
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