CHAPTER XXXII RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA I. Ivan the Terrible Englishmen began to undertake voyages to Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The following impressions of the tsar are taken from the description which one of these English travelers gives of a voyage which took place in 1 567. The emperor's name in their tongue is Evan Vasilivich ; that is as much as to say, John, the son of Vasilie. And by his princely state he is called Otesara [O Tsar !], as his predecessors have been before 1 ; which, to interpret, is, "a king that giveth not tribute to any man." And this word Otesara his Majesty's interpreters have of late days inter- preted to be an emperor ; so that now he is called emperor and great duke of all Russia, etc. . . . And as this emperor, which is now Ivan Vasilivich, doth exceed his predecessors in name, — that is, from a duke to an emperor, — even so much by report he doth exceed them in stoutness of courage and valiantness and a great deal more; for he is no more afraid of his . . . enemies, which are not a few, than the hobby [is] of the larks. This emperor useth great familiarity, as well unto all his nobles and subjects as also unto strangers which serve him either in his wars or in occupations; for his pleasure is that they shall dine oftentimes in the year in his presence, and, besides that, he is oftentimes abroad, either at one church 346. An English- man's im- pressions of Ivan the Terrible (1567). 1 In spite of this assertion, it would seem that Ivan was the first to assume the title of tsar, at his coronation in 1547. 301
