Ivan IV, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was born in 1530 AD and died in 1584. At the age of seven, Ivan was orphaned and left at the mercy of the nobles. He observed the violence around him, and then Ivan grew to rule Russia with extreme cruelty. Ivan forced thousands of people to leave their homes and tortured and executed many people. He even killed his own son. Before the tsar's death, Ivan wrote down the names of all the people he had killed over the years (Pavlov and Perrie, Ivan the Terrible). All the gruesome acts committed by Ivan IV were due to complete madness and not extreme power. Ivan's early life paved the way for his later madness and established his attitude and power. His father died when Ivan was young. In 1533, Ivan became Grand Prince at the age of three, and Ivan's mother ruled for him until her death in 1538. At that time the population of Russia was less than ten million and was no larger than that of Spain , a country that is a fraction of its size. Technologically it was behind both the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Supposedly his mother's death was caused by poison. ...