Editing Ivan the Terrible (section)

== Religion ==
[[File:Ivan Bilibin 131.jpg|thumb|''Death of Ivan the Terrible'' by [[Ivan Bilibin]] (1935)]]

Ivan was a devoted follower of Orthodox Christianity but in his own specific manner. He placed the most emphasis on defending the divine right of the ruler to unlimited power under God.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ivan IV {{!}} Tsar of Russia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-the-Terrible|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=21 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Some scholars explain the sadistic and brutal deeds of Ivan the Terrible with the religious concepts of the 16th century,{{sfn|Perrie|Pavlov|2014}} which included drowning and roasting people alive or torturing victims with boiling or freezing water, corresponding to the torments of hell. That was consistent with Ivan's view of being God's representative on Earth with a sacred right and duty to punish. He may also have been inspired by the model of [[Archangel Michael]] with the idea of divine punishment.{{sfn|Perrie|Pavlov|2014}}

Despite the absolute prohibition of the Church for even the fourth marriage, Ivan had seven wives. Even while his seventh wife was alive, he was negotiating to marry [[Mary Hastings]], a distant relative of Queen [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth of England]]. [[Polygamy]] was also prohibited by the Church. Still, Ivan planned to "put his wife away".{{sfn|Skrynnikov|2015|pp=423, 492–93}} Ivan freely interfered in church affairs by ousting [[Metropolitan Philip]] and ordering him to be killed and accusing of treason and deposing the second-oldest hierarch, [[Diocese of Novgorod|Novgorod Archbishop]] Pimen. Many monks were tortured to death during the [[Massacre of Novgorod]].{{sfn|Skrynnikov|2015|pp=350, 361–64}}

In the conquered Khanates of Khazan and Astrakhan, Ivan was somewhat tolerant of Islam. This was largely to avoid a conflict with the [[Ottoman sultan]] over control of newly conquered Tatar regions. He considered these conquests to be a Christian victory.{{cn|date=April 2024}} He was notable for his [[anti-Semitism]]. For example, after the capture of [[Polotsk]], all unconverted Jews were ordered to be drowned, despite their role in the city's economy.<ref name="Halperin2019">{{cite book|last=Halperin|first=Charles J. |title=Ivan the Terrible: Free to Reward and Free to Punish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO-vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|date=2019|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|isbn=978-0-8229-8722-2|page=58}}</ref>