Reinventing the Russian Monarchy in the 1550s: Ivan the Terrible, the Dynasty, and the Church*

The mid-sixteenth century saw dramatic transformations in the image of the Russian monarchy. In 1547 Ivan IV the Terrible (1530–84) adopted a new title, that of tsar. Powerful images of the tsar and his realm also appeared in Russian works of art, architectural monuments, literary texts and court rituals. The historian David Miller sees court art and ritual as attempts to build a new national political culture.1 Miller is correct in that these court ceremonies were efficient instruments of integration, but whom were they intended for? ‘Nation’ and ‘national’ are concepts too vague for the sixteenth century. The court rituals were obviously significant for its participants, members of the court elite. Much has been written on the role of various elite clans and of particular courtiers in official receptions, royal marriages and pilgrimages.2