August 25, 1530 - Kolomenskoye, SE of Moscow, Grand Duchy of Moscow - Ivan IV Vasilyevich is born
December 3, 1533 - Kolomenskoye - Appointed Grand Prince of Moscow after his father dies. His mother Elena Glinskaya initially acted as regent
January(?) 1(?), 1538 - Kolomenskoye - 8-year-old Ivan survives poisoning
January 26, 1547 - Moscow - Crowned Tsar of all Russia at the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, aged 16 =(START)
February 3, 1547 - Moscow - Marries Anastasia Romanovna at the Cathedral of the Annunciation
June 21, 1547 - Moscow - Great Fire of Moscow - The city was mostly wooden, densely populated and lacked an organized fire service. Fires broke out regularly, but storm-force winds drove a blaze from the Arbat street to the Kremlin, Kitai-gorod and Bolshoi Posad. The fire displaced about 80,000 people and killed about 2,700 to 3,700 people (not including children), leading to widespread poverty among the survivors
January(?) 1(?), 1549 - Moscow - Formation of the "Zemsky Sobor" (Assembly of the Land), a Parliament of the Tsardom of Russia's estates of the realm
June 16, 1552 - Moscow - Ivan the Terrible leads an army of 150,000 men and 150 cannons towards Kolomna
August 17, 1552 - Arsk, River Volga - The russian troops cross the River Volga
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| Siege of Kazan |
October 2, 1552 - Kazan - Fall of Kazan
March 28, 1554 - Moscow - First son, Ivan Ivanovich, is born
July 2, 1554 - Astrakhan, Volga Delta, Caspian Sea - The russian army occupies Astrakhan, the capital of Astrakhan Khanate
July 9, 1554 - Astrakhan - Signature of the Moscow-Astrakhan Treaty. Astrakhan acknowledges its vassalage to Moscow
December(?) 1(?), 1554 - Moscow - Ivan the Terrible receives the english explorer Richard Chancellor (winter of 1553-54)
January(?) 1(?), 1555 - Moscow - Beginning of the construction of the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral)
January(?) 1(?), 1556 - Moscow - English explorer Richard Chancellor visits Moscow for a second time
August 26, 1556 - While in Moscow(?) - After a military campaign to punish the disobeyance of Khan Derbysh-Ali, the Astrakhan Khanate is annexed to Russia
May 31, 1557 - Moscow - Second son, Feodor, is born
August 7, 1560 - Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, NE of Moscow - Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna dies in Kolomenskoye, aged 29/30
July 12, 1561 - Moscow - Consecration of the Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow
November 30, 1562 - Moscow - Ivan the Terrible leaves Moscow with his army
December 4, 1562 - Mozhaysk, W. of Moscow - Arrival in Mozhaysk
January 5, 1563 - Velikiye Luki, near Pskov - Russian army units from other cities join the main army in Velikiye Luki
January 31, 1563 - Polotsk, near Vitebsk, Belarus - Ivan the Terrible lays siege to Polotsk
February 15, 1563 - Polotsk - Capitulation of Polotsk
February 21, 1563 - Polotsk - The Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania arrives for negotiations with the Tsar
February 27, 1563 - Polotsk - Ivan the Terrible sets out for Moscow, leaving a garrison in Polotsk
December 3, 1564 - Moscow - Departs Moscow on pilgrimage to Alexandrovskaya Sloboda
January 3, 1565 - Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, NE of Moscow - Letter to the clergy and the elite of Moscow, announcing his abdication
January 2, 1570 - Outskirts of Novgorod - The Tsar's army arrives on the outskirts of Novgorod
January 6, 1570 - Novgorod - Ivan the Terrible arrives with his son and court on the outskirts of Novgorod
January 8, 1570 - Novgorod - Ivan the Terrible enters Novgorod. Archbishop Pimen is arrested and the city is sacked
February 12, 1570 - Novgorod - Withraws from Novgorod with his army, leaving the city destroyed and up to 12,000 people killed
May 24, 1571 - Moscow - Devlet I Giray of Crimea bypasses a number of russian defences and set the suburbs of Moscow on fire. A sudden wind blows the flames into the center of Moscow and the city is destroyed. The number of casualties of the fire ranged from 60,000 to 200,000
July 29, 1572 - Molodi, 50km S. of Moscow - The Battle of Molodi begins - 25,000 russians face a 40-60,000-strong tatar horde (reinforced by ottoman janissaries), led again by Devlet I Giray of Crimea
August 2, 1572 - Molodi - The Battle of Molodi ends with a russian victory. Only 20,000 tatar horsemen return to Crimea
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| Ivan the terrible and his son, by Ilya Repin (1844-1930) |
January(?) 1(?), 1580 - Moscow(?) - Attends the wedding of Tsarevich Feodor to Irina Godunova
November 19, 1581 - Alexandrovskaya Sloboda - Despite the tsar's incessant prayers for a miracle, Ivan Ivanovich dies, aged 27
March 28, 1584 - Moscow - Ivan the Terrible dies from a stroke while playing chess with Bogdan Belsky, aged 53 =(END)
