Editing Ivan VI of Russia (section)

== Deposition and imprisonment ==
Ivan's reign, and his mother's regency, lasted thirteen months, for on 6 December 1741 a [[coup d'état]] placed [[Elizabeth of Russia]] on the throne, and Ivan and his family were imprisoned in the fortress of [[Dünamünde]] (13 December 1742) after a preliminary detention at [[Riga]], from where the new Empress had at first intended to send the unhappy family home to Brunswick. In June 1744, following the [[Lopukhina Affair]], the Empress transferred Ivan to [[Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk Oblast|Kholmogory]] on the [[White Sea]] where, isolated from his family and seeing no one other than his jailer, he remained for the next twelve years. When news of his confinement at Kholmogory circulated more widely, young Ivan was secretly transferred to the [[Shlisselburg Fortress|fortress of Shlisselburg]] (1756) where he was still more rigorously guarded, not even the commandant of the fortress knowing the true identity of "a certain prisoner".{{sfn|Bain|1911}} Throughout Elizabeth's reign her predecessor's name was subjected to a ''[[damnatio memoriae]]'' procedure; all coins, documents, and publications bearing Ivan's name and titles were systematically confiscated and destroyed, and are now an extraordinarily rare find.

Upon the accession of [[Peter III of Russia|Peter III]] in 1762, Ivan's situation seemed about to improve, for the new emperor visited him and sympathised with his plight, but Peter was deposed just a few months later. New instructions were sent to Ivan's guardian to place [[manacles]] on his charge, and even to [[scourge]] him should he become unmanageable.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}