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Famine and Plague in Moscow (1570s)
In the 1570s, the Grand Duchy of Moscow suffered severe famine and plague amid the oprichnina terror, the 1571 Crimean Tatar raid on Moscow, and succ…
Timeline
- 1571Moscow · RussiaCrimean khan Devlet I led a surprise attack on Moscow, burning suburban settlements and causing heavy casualties and material losses, severely weakening the central region's agriculture and defenses.
- 1572–1576Central regions of the Grand Duchy of Moscow · RussiaWar damage, labor loss, and unfavorable climate caused crop failures; famine spread around Moscow and along the Volga basin, grain prices soared, and the population was displaced.
- 1577–1580Moscow · RussiaAfter famine weakened the population's resistance, plague spread through towns and countryside with high mortality, further fueling social discontent and questioning of the tsar's legitimacy.
Sources
- Ivan the Terrible https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-the-Terrible
- A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Vol. 1 — David Christian (1998)