Andrei posed Thursday’s questions and can claim a virtual bunch of Daphne if he’s stumped us all by leaving the answers below.
You can also claim a virtual bunch of daffodils for perseverance whether or not you’ve stumped us.
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Inspiration was in short supply by on the Today in History post I saw it was the birthday of Ivan IV (the Terrible or Grozny)
And that brought to mind the opera “The Oprichnik” by
(1) Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky
(2) They were a group of men loyal to Ivan who conducted a terror campaign against those he deemed disloyal to him and were given land grants as a reward
They were opposed by the Church and eventually disbanded about 1572
Literary parallels between them and the NKVD during Stalins terror áre often made
(3) They operated for about 7 years between 1565 and 1572
(4) Caucasians, (Circassians are a Caucasian people and the root word is the same) were supposed be be the most perfectly formed humans according to 19th century racial theorists (which is why white Europeans were called Caucasians
Circassian Beauties were supposed Circassian women exhibited as circus sideshows during the late 19th century but their clothing and hairstyles had nothing to do with real Circassians
(5) Maria Temryukovna was a Circassian princess who became Ivan IV’s second wife
His first wife warned him against taking a woman such as her as a bride on her death bed but when he saw her he was infatuated by her beauty and married her immediately
She was noted for her arrogance and cruelty as well as her beauty and loathed – considered a witch
She was the one who gave Ivan the idea for the Oprichnina
Someone poisoned her – maybe Ivan himself, who knows