2021, vol. 9, no. 2. Aksanov A.V.

2021, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 351-358

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2021-9-2.351-358

   IVAN IV’S POSTPONEMENT OF THE ASSAULT ON KAZAN:
A MANIFESTATION OF THE ALLEGORICAL NATURE
OF MEDIEVAL TEXTS AND REAL BEHAVIORAL PRACTICE

A.V. Aksanov
Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences
Kazan, Russian Federation
aksanov571@gmail.com

Abstract: Research objectives: To study the semantics of textual reports about Ivan IV’s postponing of the assault on Kazan.
Research materials: Chronicles and tales, Razriad books, diplomatic documents, act materials, foreign works about Muscovy, materials from the correspondence of Ivan IV with A.M. Kurbsky, etc.
Results and novelty of the research: The author identified allegorical elements in the description of Ivan IV’s behavior during the assault on Kazan on October 2, 1552 by comparing this description with similar reports about the Stand on the Ugra in 1480 and the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Importantly, the reliability of the reports of official sources about Ivan IV’s postponement of his riding out to join the troops is confirmed by the account of A.M. Kurbsky, who explained the motives of the tsar’s action in a different way. The memories of A.M. Kurbsky, indicating the manifestation of pathological fear behind the actions of Ivan IV, are confirmed by the analysis of the tsar’s behavior during the Oprichnina, when his personal qualities were expressed more vividly in source material. It is concluded that Ivan IV’s excessive categorism in his confessional policy became a serious obstacle to the incorporation of the peoples of the Volga region into the Muscovite State. Consequently, Ivan IV played a significant, but mostly negative, role in the assault on Kazan in 1552 as well as during the process of incorporating the peoples of the Volga region into Russia.

Keywords: Ivan IV Terrible, 1552 conquest of Kazan, Oprichnina, Volga region, Kazan khanate, Muscovite State

For citation: Aksanov A.V. Ivan IV’s Postponement of the Assault on Kazan: A Manifestation of the Allegorical Nature of Medieval Texts and Real Behavioral Practice. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2021, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 351–358. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2021-9-2.351-358

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About the author: Anvar V. Aksanov – Cand. Sci. (History), Senior Research Fellow, Usmanov Center for Research on the Golden Horde and Tatar Khanates, Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7A, Baturin Str., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0001-8970-5880. E-mail: aksanov571@gmail.com

Received  March 8, 2021   Accepted for publication  May 27, 2021
Published  Online June 29, 2021