Q 01/05

Ivan the Terrible was the first Russian ruler crowned with which title?

A) Tsar of all Russia

B) Autocrat of Muscovy

C) Emperor of all Russia

D) Grand Prince of Moscow

Answer · why

A) Tsar of all Russia

He was crowned at 16 in the Cathedral of the Dormition, with the cap of Monomakh placed on his head.

Q 02/05

The Russian word 'grozny' in Ivan's epithet is better translated as what?

A) Evil or wicked

B) Cruel or bloodthirsty

C) Mad or unstable

D) Formidable or awe-inspiring

Answer · why

D) Formidable or awe-inspiring

'Terrible' is an archaic rendering meaning 'inspiring fear'; the epithet is not recorded in his lifetime and only caught on in the 18th century.

Q 03/05

How old was Ivan when he succeeded his father as Grand Prince of Moscow?

A) Eight

B) Twelve

C) Three

D) One

Answer · why

C) Three

His father Vasili III died of blood poisoning from an abscess on his leg.

Q 04/05

Ivan's grandmother Sophia Palaiologina belonged to the imperial family of which fallen power?

A) Bulgaria

B) Serbia

C) Byzantium

D) The Golden Horde

Answer · why

C) Byzantium

She was a niece of Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, which fed Moscow's claim to be the 'Third Rome'.

Q 05/05

Ivan's mother Elena Glinskaya, who ruled as regent, died in 1538; what do many believe happened to her?

A) She died of plague

B) She was poisoned

C) She died in childbirth

D) She was strangled by boyars

Answer · why

B) She was poisoned

Ivan later wrote that the Shuisky and Belsky boyars then brought him and his brother up 'like vagrants'.