Isabel de Madariaga probes the mind of a ruler whose legendary reputation for tyranny and sadism has left his personal life a mystery to this day.
By Charles J. Halperin
Published: August 12, 2005
More than 400 years after his death, Tsar Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, continues to fascinate historians. Infamous for his cruelty, sexual misconduct and, possibly, madness, he has remained a mystery due to the lack of credible source materials about his personal life. The latest to explore Ivan's complex legacy is Isabel de Madariaga, professor emeritus of Russian studies at the University of London. Her "Ivan the Terrible" is an impressive achievement in both its energetic narrative thrust and its stated mission "to understand and explain Ivan the man and the ruler," whose reign had such a "devastating impact" on Russia.
Thanks Rchaino!! The only information I have on Ivan the Terrible is from an A & E Documentary about the Czars of Russia and my David Randall book: Royal Misbehaviour: Crazy Kings and Kooky Queens.
I spoke about Ivan on the "Most Insane Royal in History" thread I started. The information I have from my sole 2 sources is that Ivan was a victim of war between his family and the boyars who murdered his family while he was a child. It was even suggested that he saw them brutally murdered. When he became Czar, he began using his power to avenge the deaths and humiliations of his family. He supposedly had a tranquil time during his marriage to his first and beloved wife Anastasia. When Anastasia died, Ivan supposedly "went crazy again" and murdered many, including his son and heir. It has been said after he murdered his son, he was a broken man in spirit and became calm again and died brokenhearted over his actions at the age of 53.
I actually saw the exhibit in April in Cicinnati and it was fantastic. They had a very impressive gallery and history of the dynasty and the local connections of the Romanov family who lived in the Cincinnati, Ohio area.
In the meantime before I can find the photos requested, I will post these ones.
I hope you'll forgive me for getting a little off topic, but I started the thread, and I can expand it to include things if I want to (I hope!):)
These are pictures of traditional Russian Imperial Court dress in the 18th century.
Elena Galinskaya, the mother of Ivan the Terrible.
Ivan's mother assumed power and was regent for five years. She had Ivan's other uncle killed, but a short time afterwards she suddenly died, almost surely poisoned. A week later her confidant, Prince Ivan Obolensky, was arrested and beaten to death by his jailers. While his mother had been indifferent toward Ivan, Obolensky's sister, Agrafena, had been his beloved nurse. Now she was jailed in a convent.
__________________
In critical moments even the powerful have need of the weakest.
Aesop
Imperial and Grand Ducal Robes Of State and Court Dress
Does anyone have any information regarding the robes/mantles worn by the Imperial Family of Russia?
Here are a couple of pictures I found on the Webshots community on royal ladies...
I know that the Granduchesses wore these purple velvet robes trimmed and lined with ermines for their weddings along with the bridal tiara and crown and earrings that were traditional within the family.
I also know that for the wedding of the last reigning Tsar, because his bride would rank as Tsarina at the time of their marriage (and wearing the purple grand-ducal robes would be below her) a similar mantle, but of gold cloth, was made.
My question are the following:
-about the lenght of these robes (I imagine that the Tsarina's was made longer) but what was their exact lenght?
-are they still in existance? (I know the bridal jewels are.)
-were this same robes worn at coronations? I know the Tsarina's wasn't, for in her wedding, her robe was simply of cloth of gold, and in her coronation her mantle was embroidered all over with double-headed eagles.
-was there any prescribed lenght for the Russian Court Dress (on the trains, I mean)
Also, I wonder if the brides of the Imperial House of Romanov still wear (if not the heavy robes) the bridal crown and tiara etc. for their weddings.... I know those are probably in a museum (I think the crown was here in America owned by a rich heiress at some point) but since it was tradition maybe they were lent back to Their Imperial Highnesses?
A friend just sent me by mail a picture of a painting of a demoiselle d'honneur of the Tsarina, in full red velvet court dress, kokoshnik, veil and cypher. Also, another image of a real-life diamond chiphre/cypher of the late Tsarina Alexandra, I believe, with its respective St. Andrew's-blue ribbon.... I have to scan them - hopefully by the end of the week, so check back :) !
Here they are: 1. An image from the Hermitage museum website, for the sake of completeness and it's the monogram badge of Catherine the Great(?) 2. Its a 19c. demoiselle d'honneur of the Tsarina Alexandra (?) Her name (and excuse if I transliterate the cyrillic script wrong) is Natalia Obelenskaya-Neledinskaya-Meletskaya. One can see her badge of office on her left shoulder, kokoshnik, veil and red court dress of office also. 3. The monogram of Tsarina Maria...not Alexandra as I posted above.
The last 2 pictures have been cropped to focuss on the subject at hand.
Also, I wonder if the brides of the Imperial House of Romanov still wear (if not the heavy robes) the bridal crown and tiara etc. for their weddings.... I know those are probably in a museum (I think the crown was here in America owned by a rich heiress at some point) but since it was tradition maybe they were lent back to Their Imperial Highnesses?
i don't know if this has been addressed yet, so just in case.....
the little crown traditionally worn by Romanov brides, was purchased after the revolution (sometime during the 1920s) by the American socialite, Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Postum Cereal fortune (she posessed a keen business sense that she would use to turn the Post Cereal company into the General Foods Corporation that we know today). the Romanov bridal crown can be seen today at Hillwood Museum, her Washington D.C. mansion.
in the early 1920s, her then husband, Joseph E. Davies, was the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union. the fledgling government was in need of hard currency (ie: dollars) and (for a time) threw open it's "vault" doors to the diplomatic corps (many of whom returned to their homes in the USA with crates of "merchandise" and, in some cases, they came back with literally TONS of baggage.
besides the crown, she purchased a solid-gold goblet from the era of Catherine the Great that weighs over 1 pound, as well as 2 or 3 Fabergé eggs during her husband's term in Moscow -- actually, her collection of Russian decorative art is exceptional and rather famous.....but the eggs are especially famous.
incidentally, the things bought by the members of the US Diplomatic Corp (the paintings, furniture, jewels, tapestries, et cetera) had once been the property of Imperial Russia's rich & noble; imagine the astonishment (and anger) felt by those Russian exiles who, during the course of some party, discovered their former posessions sitting in the newly acquired collection of their host! (did that make sense? i'm not sure if i stated it correctly....)
just as a point of reference: one of her husbands was E.F. Hutton (of brokerage house fame); one of her daughters is the actress Dina Merrill; and it was she who built the Palm Beach mansion, Mar-A-Lago, which was eventually bought by Donald Trump.
__________________
When i die, i hope to go like my grandfather ~
peacefully and in my sleep; not screaming and in terror,
like the passengers in his car. --Anonymous
Alexandra was so beautiful. Her face however was always older than it should have been, do to constant worry over her youngest child, who at any moment could bleed to death.
__________________ "My heart tells me it is she," -Olga Alexandrovna when meeting Anna Anderson who claimed to be her godchild Anastasia Nicholaevna, before she changed her mind, saying that she was a deluded imposter.
Linear Mode
