What you must do in this unit
- Read the textbook chapters 13 and 14. (You can choose to read chapters 15, 16 and 17 now or with the next chapter.)
- Check the remarks by Professor Blois and Professor Evans on the era of Ivan the Terrible, and the notes on the Time of Troubles.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the Unit.
- Post (or respond) with your thoughts/ideas/comments about this unit's reading in the discussion board in Canvas: What were some of the differences between the "good" and "bad" parts of the reign of Ivan IV (5 points)?
What you can do in this unit
- Have a look at a genealogy of Russian Tsars (1462-1725)
- Read some comments about Ivan by a contemporary Englishman
- Read chapter 10, chapter 11 and chapter 12 from Mary Platt Parmele (1843-1911) A Short History of Russia (1907, 4th edition). These are short chapters, and this is optional reading.
Some videos that you can watch for this unit
- The lure of the Kremlin: Ivan the Terrible (31 Jan 2012)
- Ivan the Terrible biography
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.
Extra Credit Options
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, watch either Ivan the Terrible part. 1 or Ivan the Terrible part. 2 and write a one-page paper in which you analyze the historical accuracy of the film.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, listen to (or watch) Modest Mussorgskii's opera Boris Godunov, based on Aleksandr Pushkin's text, and explain, in a one-page paper, the particular interpretation of Godunov's life put forward in the opera.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read Benson Bobrick, Fearful Majesty: The Life and Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1987) and write a one-page paper explaining the rationale for Ivan's ideas about the powers of the tsar.
Unit Learning Objectives
- Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge and evolution of historical developments connected with the reign of Tsar Ivan IV and (2) explain the course of events in Russia's Time of Troubles.