OPRICHNINA

OPRICHNINA. Oprichnina is the name given by historians to Tsar Ivan IV's division of the Russian state during the years from 1565 to 1572 and to the domestic policies of those years. When the tsar divided the government and administration of the country into two parts, the part reserved for his direct rule became known as oprichnina, from the word oprich', meaning 'apart from' or 'besides'. Ivan instituted the oprichnina in February 1565, in the wake of reverses in the Livonian War and particularly of the defection of Prince Andrei M. Kurbsky to Lithuania. In early 1565 he divided the country, administration, and army into two parts, his "own," the oprichnina, and the remainder, the zemshchina ('the land'). In substance this meant that he split all institutions in two: there was now an oprichnina and zemshchina army, offices, and Duma. Regions of Russia's territory were under one or the other: the north, Novgorod, and a patchwork of districts in central Russia were under the oprichnina, the rest of the country, under the zemshchina. Boyar and gentry estates in oprichnina territory were confiscated and new, presumably less valuable, lands handed out in place, especially in the newly conquered Volga area. Many important boyars were executed. The following few years saw continued executions, including the murder of Metropolitan Filipp in 1569. The climax came in 1570 with the execution of several thousand Novgorod gentry, clergy, and townspeople. By 1572 the policy came to an end.

See also Autocracy ; Ivan IV, "the Terrible" (Russia) ; Livonian War (1558–1583) ; Russia .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Platonov, S. F. Ivan the Terrible. Trans. by Joseph Wieczynski. Gulf Breeze, Fla., 1974.

Skrynnikov, Ruslan G. Ivan the Terrible. Trans. by Hugh F. Graham. Gulf Breeze, Fla., 1981.

Paul Bushkovitch