23/02/20 history As Ivan the terrible was insulting European monarchs
the message of Ivan IV the European monarchs – a unique monument of literature, allowing us to feel the character and mindset of the king. In them terrible, ignoring all sorts of conventions of language that boldly exposes and teaches their opponents, resorting to the variety of intonation – from light irony to undisguised sarcasm.
the Message of the Swedish king Gustavus I (1496-1560)
the Main themes of the Epistles of Ivan the terrible monarchs of Sweden – the controversy surrounding the disputed territories and the dubious origin of the dynasty of Swedish kings. So in a letter to the king of Sweden Gustav I (its original is stored at the Swedish archive) terrible in quite a derogatory manner said:
“You, a peasant race, and not gosudarskih. When the governors of Novgorod the great Emperor – the Russian Tsar would send its Ambassador to king Gustav, the Gustav, king of Sweden and the Gotha will have before it the Ambassador to kiss the cross. The fact alone it is impossible that you past governors with us sylvatica”.
thus, Ivan the terrible makes it clear that the status of Gustav I allows him to communicate with the Russian Tsar in no other way but through intermediaries. How else Ivan could refer to the ruler of the country, which until recently was part of the Kingdom of Denmark?
the Message of the Swedish king Johan III (1537-1592)
letters to the son of Gustav I and Johan III relate to the height of the Livonian war (1558-1583), and of course the basic tone of them sets criticism is unjustified, from the point of view of Moscow, Swedish claims to native Russian fiefdom. Ivan the terrible hoped that Sweden realized the folly of his behavior, but the aggressive spirit of the neighbor convinced the king otherwise.
“I hope you know that Swedish land can still cheat, as your father did Gustav, the assailant contrary to the truce on the Nut? How, then, went to the Swedish land!” – posted by Ivan on 11 August 1572 year. Ivan warns Johan that if he did not come to their senses, then this winter you’ll see how Russia “asks the world” and the answer will be more terrible than the last time.
the second missive of Ivan the terrible to the Swedish king (from 6 Jan 1573) language of the Russian Tsar becoming more “evil”. From the first row it puts the upstart in place, “You write his name ahead of our – it’s embarrassing for us brother, the Caesar of Rome and other great rulers, and you cannot be called their brother, because Swedish the land below the honor of these States.”
Russian monarch still trying to hear from Johan III confirmation of nobility of his family, although, judging by the sarcastic tone, he does not believe in the nobility of the bloodlines of the ruling Swedish dynasty Vase, “You say that the Swedish land – the patrimony of thy father; so, you would have known whose son your father is Gustav and how your grandfather was called, was your grandfather on the throne, and what princes he was in brotherhood and in friendship, give us all their names and letters came, and then we shall attain unto”.
a Significant part of the letter is devoted to the unjust, according to the terrible mockery of the Swedish side of the noble Russian envoy, who was robbed and left in some shirts. “But it’s such a great people: the father of Ivan, Mikhail Vorontsov, was our Governor of our patrimony, in Veliky Novgorod; and never before happened to us, the sovereigns, went to the Swedish ambassadors in the earth, and the ambassadors always went from Novgorod governors!”.
In response to this “evil thing” Ivan the terrible, in spite of the security certificate ordered “to discredit and to send in the report” the Swedish ambassadors. “But you would be surprised, writes Ivan Johan – it was impossible not to respond to your unworthy act with our ambassadors, and that we haven’t took the revenge for our ambassadors: our ambassadors are great people, and the slaves”.
And then the Moscow Tsar exposes Swedish rulers, calling them representatives of “peasant kind”: “you Write us that your father – crowned king, and the mother alsoe crowned Queen; but though your father and mother married, but the ancestors of some of them on the throne does not exist!”.
Ends Ivan my letter quite boldly: “And if you took the dog’s mouth, wants to bark for fun – because it’s your servile custom: you this honor, and we, the great sovereign, and to communicate with you is a disgrace, if you want to peredayutsya, so you find yourself the same slave, which you are the slave of it, perlaevis. From now on, you can not write much barking, we have no answer to give will not.”
the Message of the English Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Correspondence with Elizabeth I, the most extensive in the epistolary heritage of Ivan the terrible. Known 11 letters of the Russian Tsar to the Queen of England. Despite the fact that Elizabeth was the only woman with whom Ivan was in correspondence, he in relation to it made sarcastic the tone of statements.
In the famous letter of August 24, 1570 Ivan the terrible complains to Elizabeth that the English merchants in Russia granted the privilege to conduct free trade, began to repair the lawlessness by selling goods at “such an expensive price, what they are”. Letters the same, which was provided by the Elizabeth their merchants, according to Grozny “does not correspond to the custom adopted by the Emperor, – such certificates in any States do not believe.” “Every sovereign state should be unified printing” teaches the Queen to the king of Moscow.
Ivan the terrible expressed feigned bewilderment, belittling the dignity of the Queen: “We thought you were in the state the Empress and myself own and care for his sovereign’s honour and the benefit for the state, so we started with you in these negotiations.”
Probably the nature of the Royal mail effect, the refusal of Elizabeth to Ivan the terrible’s offer of marriage, and the promise of the Queen to grant the Russian Tsar asylum only on condition that he himself will contain.
Ivan is not concerned with the embarrassing question of marriage, but blames Elizabeth that she absolutely running the country instead, “other people possess, and not just men, and men of trade, and not care about our gosudarstva heads, and about honor, and about the benefits for the country, and looking for their trading profits.”
“You are in your maiden title, like any simple girl… Everything is going past you,” mocks Elizabeth Grozny. King suggests that if the Queen does not listen to his advice, it will look like its merchants will sell. “And the Moscow state so far without English goods were not of sorrow,” – concludes the Russian monarch.
the Message of the Polish king Stefan Batory (1533-1586)
Poland – another rival of Russia in the Livonian war. It is about baseless claims on the lands of Livonia and emphasizes Ivan the terrible in his address 1581 the Polish king Stefan Batory. “You know, what you call the Livonian land of his vain, desiring the shedding of innocent Christian blood,” says king. – Here you wrote that the ancestors of our unjust actions of their state has expanded — and you very fairly extract lost, spilling the blood against the oath?”.
the Russian Emperor was convinced that Batory will not be able to prove that the Livonian land rightfully belongs to the Polish crown. The talk of Livonia, according to Grozny, the lords started only after the advent of Lutheranism, “no matter how much I understand this business – is always found that the Livonian land to a greater degree subordinated to our state than your”.
I Went to Ivan the terrible and the level of freedoms in Livonia and Poland, alluding to the fact that Bathory had usurped power in these lands. European “democracy” in opposition to the Tsar the situation in Russia. “And we have the sovereign according to our will: choose a sovereign who would want to; whatever we have a sovereign, and without us nothing makes; and if they want to do something, so we do not give”. In the end, Ivan assured the Polish king that he swore to the people and “will produce our long-standing possession and clean the Livonian land.”
Taras Repin
Source:
© Russian Seven
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