I. From good government to bad.

A. The era of good government.

1. Success in foreign policy.
2. Administrative reform.
3. Representative government?

B. The aberration of the Oprichnina.
C. The consequences of bad government.

1. Foreign policy failures.
2. Fiscal and demographic challenges.
3. The development of serfdom:

a. St. George's Day.
b. "The Forbidden Years".
c. Statutes of limitations.

II. After Ivan.

A. Political crisis; rise of Boris Godunov.
B. Establishment of the Patriarchate, 1589.
C. Indefinite extension of the Forbidden Years.
D. The Uglich affair.
E. The end of the "Riurikids" in 1598.

III. Boris "the Terrible" - operatic tragedy?

A. How to make enemies.
B. Issues of legitimacy and legitimization.
C. Economic crisis accelerated by natural disaster.

IV. The Time of Troubles (Smutnoe vremia): The near death of Muscovy, 1605-1613.

V. Reestablishment of the status quo ante?

A. The Romanov election in 1613.
B. Trying to understand the reasons why.
C. Challenges for the new regime.

1. A century of wars.
2. Fiscal constraints.
3. The need for greater social control.

D. The return of Filaret.
E. Cultural policies for a new century.

1. The challenge of "the West."
2. Orthodox renewal.
3. Strengthening central control of culture.

VI. Out of place in a "modernizing" world?