In which century did Ivan the Terrible live?
Ivan the Terrible professor Edward Keenan has argued that these letters are 17th-century forgeries. This contention, however, has not been widely accepted, and most other scholars, such as John Fennell and Ruslan Skrynnikov continued to argue for their authenticity. Recent archival discoveries of 16th-century copies of the letters strengthen the argument for their authenticity. Ivan was a devoted follower of Christian Orthodoxy and placed the most emphasis on defending the divine right of the ruler to unlimited power under God. Some scholars explain the sadistic and brutal deeds of Ivan the Terrible with the religious concepts of the 16th century, which included drowning
Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore Terrible were subjected to the tellers’ interpretations and opinion regarding him and his practices, and the folklore’s image of Ivan IV describes the ruler that so many Russians had hoped Ivan would become. Ivan the Terrible in Russian folklore The image created of Ivan the Terrible throughout Russian folklore is a direct contrast to that which is typically painted of him and his rule by historians. As folklorist Jack V. Haney claims, the tales “about Ivan IV, known as the Terrible, are especially interesting in that they portray the first Orthodox Tsar of All Russia in quite a different light