The _boyars_ took possession of the government.

Ivan wrote later: "My brother and I were treated like the children of beggars.

We were half clothed, cold, and hungry." The _boyars_ in the presence of these children appropriated the luxuries and treasures in the palace and then plundered the people as well, exacting unmerciful fines and treating them like slaves.

The only person who loved the neglected Ivan was his nurse, and she was torn from him; and for a courtier to pity the forlorn child was sufficient for his downfall.

Ivan had a superior intelligence.