Ivan the Terrible was well named, and he has not been the only ruler with an iron will.
The Tsar may be the father of his people, but by tradition and practice he is a stern parent. It is a vast, deeply conservative and religious country: Mother Russia and the Orthodox Church are the two pillars of national belief. Here, the feudal way of life has become so entrenched that the serfs are as tied to the land as cattle, and with almost as few rights.
“Muscovy”, as its rulers have previously called it, is a sleeping giant, with age-old traditions and ways of doing things.
