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destroyed his mental balance. He died in 1584
and was succeeded by his son
FEODOR I
.
Ivan VI
(1740-1764)
(Ivan Antonovich)
emperor
An ill-fated infant who inherited the Russian
throne in October 1740 at just under two months
old, Ivan was overthrown almost a year later and
spent the rest of his short life in solitary confine-
ment until assassinated in Schlusselburg fortress.
Ivan, a great grandson of Czar
IVAN V
(Peter the
Great's half brother), became czar after the death
of his great aunt, Empress
ANNA
. Anna's desig-
nated regent, Ernst Johann
BIRON
, was over-
thrown within a month and succeeded by Ivan's
mother, Anna Leopoldovna. Anna Leopoldovna's
increasingly unpopular regency was marked by
struggles among German favorites such as Burk-
hard Munnich and Andrei
OSTERMANN
, and the
interference of foreign ambassadors in court pol-
itics. As discontent with Anna Leopoldovna's
regency grew in St. Petersburg, the Imperial
Guards turned their support to
ELIZABETH
, Peter
the Great's daughter from his second marriage.
In November 1741, acting to forestall plans to
transfer guards units out of the capital, Elizabeth
seized power, arresting the “baby emperor,” the
regent, and her ministers. Elizabeth reneged on
a promise to allow Anna Leopoldovna's family to
return to Germany, banishing them instead to
Kholmogori in the far north in 1744. Ivan was
separated from his family and in 1756 was trans-
ferred to Schlusselburg fortress. On July 5, 1764,
when a disgruntled army officer tried to release
Ivan, his jailers stabbed him to death under long-
standing orders from Elizabeth, confirmed by
CATHERINE II
, that he be killed if any attempt was
made to rescue him. In 1780, long after his par-
ents had died, Catherine allowed Ivan's surviving
siblings to settle in Denmark, where they lived as
her pensioners.
Ivan V
(1666-1696)
(Ivan Alekseevich)
ruler
The son of Czar
ALEKSEI MIKHAILOVICH
and half
brother of
PETER I
the Great, Ivan was co-czar of
Russia from 1682 until 1696, but only in name,
since his poor health precluded him from
assuming the responsibilities of government.
When his elder brother
FEODOR III
, who had
ruled from 1676 to 1682 died without an heir,
the complications of Aleksei's two marriages
come to the fore. Factions surrounding the
Miloslavsky family of Aleksei's first wife and the
Naryshkin family of his second wife disputed the
throne until a compromise was found. Ivan, as
representative of the former, and Peter, as repre-
sentative of the latter, were named corulers, but
because of Ivan's ill health and Peter's young
age, Aleksei's firstborn,
SOPHIA
, was installed as
regent. This arrangement lasted until August
1689, when Sophia's bid to attain full power
was defeated. Peter, until then formally the
junior of the two corulers, was acknowledged as
main ruler, even though he did not actually
assume control of the government until 1696,
allowing instead a series of advisers to rule in his
name. Ivan remained a coruler until his death.
Despite his illness and purely ceremonial role
while coruler, Ivan affected the Russian monar-
chy long after his death. His daughter
ANNA
reigned as empress from 1730-40 and his
grandson, the unfortunate infant
IVAN VI
, was
briefly acknowledged as ruler from 1740 to
1741 but then overthrown by Peter's own
daughter
ELIZABETH
.
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