1565 The beginning of the oprichnina
450 years ago, on February 15, 1565, Tsar Ivan IV, returning from Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda to Moscow, announced that he was once again taking over the reign so that he would be free to execute traitors, put them in disgrace, deprive them of their property “without dokuki and sadness on the part of the clergy and establish an "oprichnina" in the state. This meant the allocation of part of the land in the kingdom exclusively for the needs of the royal court, its employees - nobles and troops.