Oprichnina
Oprichnina (опричнина) is a state policy used by Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible between 1565 and 1572. The origin of its name is old Russian опричь, what means 'apart', 'except', or 'special'. Oprichnina included secret police, mass repressions, public executions, and confiscation (taking somebody's property) of land from the boyars. It was created because Ivan didn't trust the boyars (Russian feudal aristocrats) anymore.
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Oprichnina Media
Oprichniki, by Nikolai Nevrev, shows the mock coronation of Ivan Fyodorov-Chelyadnin (enthroned) accused of conspiracy, before his execution. The man with the knife is Ivan the Terrible himself: according to Alexander Guagnini, Ivan stabbed Fyodorov-Chelyadnin in the heart and the oprichniks finished the victim off.
The Oprichniki and the Boyars, by Vasily Khudyakov
"The street in the town": people fleeing at the arrival of the Oprichniki, inspired by the opera The Oprichnik by Tchaikovsky, painted by Apollinary Vasnetsov in 1911
People fleeing at the arrival of the oprichniki (set to the opera The Oprichnik by Tchaikovsky, 1911)
