Anastasia Románovna murió el 7 de agosto de 1560 y fue la esposa de Iván IV, quien fue el primer príncipe moscovita en proclamarse "Zar de todas las Rusias", un Zar que se había mostrado como un reformista, adaptando el sistema judicial ruso en aras de generar un sistema judicial mas fuerte, llevo la imprenta a Rusia, impulsado de esta forma las artes y las letras, la creación del Sudébnik de 1550, el cual era cuerpo legal que establecía entre otras cosas, el derecho de los campesinos a abandonar a sus señores feudales, la capacidad de las comunidades rurales y villas de auto administrarse y brindaba mas garantías a la hora de enjuiciar a una persona a la que se le acusaba de haber cometido un delito; medidas que lo convirtieron en un monarca querido y respetado por su pueblo, y todo esto con la presencia de Anastasia a su lado, con la cual tuvo seis hijos.
Sin embargo, Anastasia moriría en extrañas circunstancias en el verano de 1560, cosa que trastocaría profundamente a Iván IV, el cual fue incapaz de aceptar que la muerte de su amada haya sido a causa de una enfermedad, afirmando que ésta fue envenenada por parte de los Boyardos (los nobles de la época), hacia los cuales Iván IV sentía un profundo resentimiento desde su infancia, puesto que fueron justamente las familias Boyardas, quienes habían asesinado a su madre y lo habían recluido en una torre del Kremlin durante su niñez, el Zar empieza su cruzada contra la aristocracia rusa, fingiendo su adbicación en favor de sus hijos, jugada que le sirvió para exponer a sus rivales políticos como traidores ante su pueblo a través de unas cartas escritas por el que serian leídas en la plazas de Moscú y que haria que sus rivales pidieran su perdón, el cual seria aceptado a cambio de una sola condición, que se le concediera poder ilimitado.
Fue en esta misma época en la que el Zar dividiría Moscovia en dos regiones, una dominada todavía por la estructura Zarista y la opríchnina, sobre la cual el monarca ejercía su poder absoluto de la mano de su propio ejercito, los Opríchnik, los cuales iban vestido de negro, y llevaban un estandarte con una escoba y el cráneo de un perro, lo cual iba acorde con su lema "barrer las Rusias, morder la traición", que en la practica funcionaria como la policía política de Iván IV, y que alcanzarían su punto mas álgido de importancia con el saqueo y posterior incendio a Nóvgorod, poblado acusado por el Zar de conspiración contra su mandato y eventualmente traidores a su régimen, asesinando así al rededor de 30 mil habitantes, hecho este que condenaría a Nóvgorod a un periodo de hambrunas que se prolongaría por décadas.
Iván IV ya era conocido como Iván "El Terrible", y era percibido tanto por su pueblo como por la aristocracia rusa como un líder sádico y sin escrúpulos a la hora de castigar a sus contrarios, pero su carácter reclamaría un precio muy alto, puesto que en una disputa con su hijo en relación a la esposa de este la cual se encontraba embaraza, Iván en un ataque de ira le propinaría un golpe a esta que la haría abortar y a su hijo lo golpearía con el mago de su bastón, propinándole de esta forma su muerte, y así mismo el fin de su legado.
Estudios recientes han demostrado que Anastasia Románovna presentaba grandes niveles de mercurio en su cuerpo, por lo que las sospechas del Zar parecieran haber sido verídicas a pesar de que este en su momento haya carecido de toda prueba alguna que demostrara su creencia; Iván se casaría muchas veces más, pero ninguna de las zarinas pudo tener el mismo efecto sobre Iván que el que tuvo Anastasia.
Anastasia Romanovna died on August 7, 1560 and was the wife of Ivan IV, who was the first Muscovite prince to proclaim himself "Tsar of all the Russias", a Tsar who had shown himself as a reformer, adapting the Russian judicial system in order to generate a stronger judicial system, brought the printing press to Russia, thus boosting the arts and letters, the creation of the Sudébnik of 1550, which was a legal body that established, among other things, the right of peasants to abandon their feudal lords, the ability of rural communities and villages to self-administer and provided more guarantees when prosecuting a person accused of having committed a crime; measures that made him a monarch loved and respected by his people, and all this with the presence of Anastasia by his side, with whom he had six children.
However, Anastasia would die in strange circumstances in the summer of 1560, something that would deeply upset Ivan IV, who was unable to accept that the death of his beloved had been due to an illness, claiming that she was poisoned by the Boyars (the nobles of the time), towards whom Ivan IV felt a deep resentment since his childhood, since it was precisely the Boyar families, who had murdered his mother and had confined him in a tower of the Kremlin during his childhood, the Tsar begins his crusade against the Russian aristocracy, feigning his dedication in favor of his sons, a move that served to expose his political rivals as traitors to his people through letters written by him that would be read in the squares of Moscow and that would make his rivals ask for his forgiveness, which would be accepted in exchange for only one condition, that he be granted unlimited power.
It was at this time that the Tsar would divide Muscovy into two regions, one still dominated by the Tsarist structure and the other by the oppressive one, over which the monarch exercised his absolute power by the hand of his own army, the Opríchnik, who were dressed in black, and carried a banner with a broom and the skull of a dog, which was in keeping with his motto "sweep the Russias, bite the treachery", that in practice would function as the political police of Ivan IV, and that would reach its highest point of importance with the looting and subsequent burning of Novgorod, a town accused by the Tsar of conspiracy against his mandate and eventually traitors to his regime, thus killing around 30,000 inhabitants, a fact that would condemn Novgorod to a period of famine that would last for decades.
Ivan IV was already known as Ivan "The Terrible", and was perceived by both his people and the Russian aristocracy as a sadistic and unscrupulous leader when it came to punishing his opponents, but his character would claim a very high price, Since in a dispute with his son in relation to his wife who was pregnant, Ivan in a fit of anger would strike a blow to this that would make her miscarry and his son would hit him with the wizard of his staff, thus giving him his death, and thus the end of his legacy.
Recent studies have shown that Anastasia Romanovna had high levels of mercury in her body, so the suspicions of the Tsar seem to have been true even though he lacked any evidence to prove his belief; Ivan would marry many more times, but none of the Tsarinas could have the same effect on Ivan as Anastasia had.