Religious Influence

Makary, a metropolitan, had an influence on Ivan the Terrible. At age 16, Ivan took his advice on becoming a czar and marrying Anastasia Romanova Zakharina. Makary's goal was to make Moscow the new center of Christianity. Ivan was known as the principal temporal ruler of Christendom. Makary searched church documents, trying to find legends of Russian holy men and brought together two church synods to proclaim Russian saints.