IVAN (or Joann, he., John) I., grand-duke of Moscow from 1328 to 1340, was surnamed Kalita in allusion to the “purse” which he always carried at his girdle. Some have imagined that it contained alms for distribution; others with greater probability look upon it as characteristic of the miserly habits of the prince. The great importance of Ivan in Russian history is that he was the consolidator of the power of Moscow, the nucleus out of which the empire was to be formed at a future period. By treachery he procured from Uzbek, the Tatar Khan, the ruin of his rival the prince of Tver, and by craft and bribery made many additions to his territory. He also induced the metropolitan to reside at Moscow, which brought dignity and influence to the city.

IVAN II., grand-duke from 1353 to 1359, son of Ivan I., succeeded on the death of his brother Simon Gordi, or the Proud. He appears to have been a kindly man, but, in so far as his short reign had any effect, it weakened the principality of Moscow.

IVAN IV., surnamed the Terrible (ffroznι), the first czar of Russia, was a mere child at the time of the death of his father Vasili in 1533. His reign may be divided into three periods:—(1) his minority, under the regency of his stepmother Helen Glinska; (2) from his attaining his majority till the death of his amiable wife Anastasia Romanova, during which time he was a bold and vigorous ruler, and careful of the happiness of his subjects; and (3) from her death till the conclusion of his reign in 1584, the period signalized by those atrocities which have earned for Ivan such an unenviable reputation. He was the first Russian sovereign who took the title of Czar, a Slavonic form of Caesar. In 1552 he annexed Kazan, and Astrakhan two years later. In many points of his character Ivan resembles Louis XI., especially in his statecraft and superstition; indeed, just as France owed her aggrandizement to some of her most cruel sovereigns, so in Russia the greatest tyrants have been the consolidators of the empire. In the time of Ivan a printing press was set up at Moscow, and the first book published (in 1564) was an Apostol— a name given to a collection of the Acts of the Apostles and the apostolic epistles; but persecution was soon directed against the printers, who, from the jealousy of those who gained their livelihood by copying religious books, were compelled to fly from Russia, and were protected by Sigismund II. of Poland. They afterwards printed the whole Bible at Ostrog in Volhynia in 1581. In the British Museum is a copy of this book, which formerly belonged to the terrible Ivan. Sir Jerome Horsey, the English ambassador, has written on the fly-leaf, “this Bibell in the Slavonian tonge had owt of the emperor’s librari.” Siberia was also annexed in this ...

IVAN V., czar from 1682 to 1696, was the son of Alexis by his first wife Maria Miloslavskaia. He was infirm both in mind and body. The Narishkins, to which family the widow of Alexis (his second wife) belonged, were anxious that Peter, the next brother, should succeed, but Sophia, the ambitious daughter of Alexis by his first wife, wished Ivan to rule, so that she might govern in his name. She was ultimately forced, however, into the Devichi monastery, and Ivan reigned conjointly with his brother, the government being really in the hands of Peter assisted by his mother, the Narishkins, Dolgoroukis, and Boris Golîtzin.

IVAN VI., czar in 1740-41, was son of Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick by his marriage with Anne, granddaughter of Ivan V. The reign of this unfortunate young man lasted but a year, under the regencies of his mother and Biren. Owing to the success of the revolution under Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Greιt, he was confined as a prisoner in Schlüsselburg, and Anthony and Anne with their other' children were banished to Kholmogori in the government of Archangel. By long detention in the fortress Ivan became, it is said, half-witted. In the year 1764 a certain Lieutenant Mirovich attempted to deliver him from captivity and proclaim him emperor. Ivan, however, was slain in the skirmish that ensued, and Mirovich was afterwards publicly executed. According to some, he had been urged to the act by Catherine, who wanted an excuse for putting Ivan to death.

For the Ivans see Soloviev, Istοriyα Rοssii, 29 vols.; Oustrialov, Rousskaya Istoriya, 2 vols.; W. R. S. Ralston, Early Russian History ; Rambaud, Histoire de la Russie.

IVANOVO, or Ivanovo-Voznesensk, the “Manchester of Russia,” a town in the government of Vladimir, 20 miles north-west of Shua, near the river Uvod, and on the road from Shua to Nerakhta. It consists, as the full name implies, of what were originally two villages—Ivanovo, which existed at least as early as the 16th century, and Voznesensk, of much more recent date—united into a town in 1861. Of best note among the public buildings are the cathedral of the Elevation of the Cross, and the church of the Intercession of the Virgin, formerly associated with an important monastery founded in 1579 and abandoned in 1751. One of the colleges of the town contains a public library. The industrial history of Ivanovo begins with the 18th century. Linen-weaving was introduced in 1751, and in 1776 the manufacture of chintzes was brought from Schlüsselburg by some natives of the village. By 1850 the worth of the chintzes amounted to 6,680,875 roubles, and 10,000 workmen were employed in the manufacture of coarse calico. The reports of 1879 show 35 calico-print works, a wool-spinning factory, 6 cotton-weaving factories, 8 bleachworks, 6 ironworks, 3 chemical works, and several minor establishments. The workmen number about 15,000 or 20,000. The cotton factories produce to the annual value of 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 roubles; the iron works manufacture 110,000 poods (1770 tons) of iron, and there is a considerable turn out of boilers and factory machinery.' Bast mats are made to the value of 15,000 roubles.