Portrety, gerby i pechati Bolshoi gosudarstvennoi knigi 1672 g. [Portraits, Coats of Arms and Official Seals in the Great State Book of 1672]
St. Petersburg: Izd-vo Peterburgskgoi arkheologicheskago instituta, 1903
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

Ivan came to the throne at the age of three and experienced a harrowing childhood; his mother was poisoned, and he was mistreated at the hands of boyars. These early years probably induced the sadism and paranoia that later emerged as a part of Ivan's personality. His reign is usually divided into the “good” and “bad” parts. During the “good” part (c. 1549-1562), he was advised by a Chosen Council that included his beloved wife Anastasiia Romanovna Zakharina (1530-1560), and a number of political, military, and ecclesiastical reforms were carried out, including the convening of a zemskii sobor to advise on taxation, law codes, and war policy. In the “bad” part (c. 1562-1584), Ivan carried out a reign of terror against the boyars. Ivan waged successful wars of expansion East—opening up Siberia to conquest—but failed miserably in a lengthy war against Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden for territories with access to the Baltic Sea.