Good afternoon, my dear readers. Most recently, we wrote about missing treasures and the legends associated with them. One of them tells about the Library of Ivan IV the Terrible.
The lost library of the Russian Tsar, believed to house a legendary collection of ancient books, has been a problem for archaeologists for centuries. There is no conclusive evidence that this library ever existed, but the search continues and will probably never stop.
This story began many centuries ago. In the 15th century, the Turks captured Constantinople and overthrew the mighty Byzantine Empire. Many Orthodox Greeks are fleeing, including Thomas Palaiologos, brother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI. He took refuge in Rome, but before that (according to the legend) he took with him a library collected by every Byzantine emperor.
The library contains about 800 books, including unique masterpieces of Greek and Roman literature. They were succeeded by Thomas’ daughter Sophia Palaiologos, who left Rome for Russia to marry Ivan III, Grand Duke of Moscow.
It was Sophia who brought the library to Russia, but the collection became known as «the library of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV)».
Treasure of the Grim Monarch
The king, famous for his cruel rule, not only inherited the library (also known as the name «Liberia» from the Latin word liber — «book»), but also enriched it by sending his people all over Europe to collect rare manuscripts. Some believe that Ivan hides the collection somewhere in Moscow or another city in Russia. After his death in 1584, the library disappeared without a trace.
At least that’s what the legend says. Christopher von Dabelow, a 19th-century historian from Dert (now Tartu, Estonia), claims to have seen a list of books from the missing collection. Such a find would be tantamount to discovering the Holy Grail, but for bookworms. The list is said to include 142 volumes of Titus Livy’s History of Rome (so far only 35 volumes of this work are known to historians), the full version of Cicero’s On the Republic (only excerpts from Cicero’s most famous treatise have survived in Western libraries), and an unknown Virgil’s poem are just some of the manuscripts that were probably kept in Liberia.
Just a big myth?
On the other hand, many experts are still skeptical about the existence of the library. Alexander Filyushkin, assistant professor of Russian history at St. Petersburg State University, told Komsomolskaya Pravda why he doubted the legend.
First, he says, it is unlikely that the family of Thomas Palaiologos, who fled to Rome, would not have sold at least part of Liberia in order to have some money.
Secondly, according to him, not all sources related to the library can be fully trusted. For example, von Dabelow, who boasts that he found the list, does not show this document to anyone.
Some European chronicles of the 16th-18th centuries mention the legendary library, but this is more like a myth without hard evidence, says Filyushkin.
Tireless Seekers
Experts believe that even if the library of Ivan the Terrible existed, it could easily have been destroyed. Moscow survived three huge fires in the 16th and 17th centuries (1547, 1571 and 1626) that could burn the hidden library to the ground. There is another theory, more incredible: the Poles who invaded Russia in the early 17th century were left without food after the siege of the Moscow Kremlin, so they ate the leather covers of the books and destroyed everything else.
However, skepticism did not prevent enthusiasts from literally digging up the Russian capital in the hope of discovering the royal literary treasures. There are people who searched in vain not only in Moscow, but, for example, in Ivan the Terrible’s favorite city, Vologda (465 km north of Moscow) and in the Alexander Kremlin (121 km northeast of Moscow), where Tsar Ivan lived with 1565 to 1584.
Vologda Kremlin of Ivan the Terrible Vologda Kremlin of Ivan the Terrible
And, of course, many suspect that the Moscow Kremlin continues to hide «Liberia».
Archaeologists and adventurers have explored countless locations over the years: 19th-century emperors and even Joseph Stalin invited scholars to the Kremlin in hopes of finding priceless Byzantine books, but to no avail.
“If someone finds a library, he will become as famous as Yuri Gagarin,” Filyushkin suggested. Despite the small likelihood of the existence of Liberia, it remains a popular myth. Moscow archaeologist Alexander Veksel joked in an interview: “Of course, the library of Ivan the Terrible exists. How can she not exist after feeding journalists with materials that have been writing about her for so long?
Do you believe that this meeting exists in reality?