They wore black robes and rode black horses like a monastic order of death itself. From 1565 to 1572, the Oprichniki inflicted medieval terror and torture upon the Russian people in the name of Ivan the Terrible. ***Content Warning*** contains descriptions of torture techniques.

This is the first part of a series on Russian secret police and the first episode ever of this new podcast, Secret Police. 

Sources:

Armies of Ivan the Terrible: Russian Troops 1505–1700 (Men-at-Arms) Paperback – Illustrated, January 31, 2006 by David Nicolle, Viacheslav Shpakovsky, Angus McBride (Illustrator)

Dictators and their secret police : coercive institutions and state violence Studies of the East Asian Institute. Sheena Chestnut Greitens

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Dictators and their Secret Police - Coercive Institutions and State Violence. Sheena Chestnut Greitens.

A Short History of Russia. A compilation from the  study of a number of other works, in particular H.A.L.  Fisher's  "History of  Europe",  Paul  Crowson's  "A History of  the Russian  People",  and  William L.  Langer's  "Encyclopaedia  of  World History”.

Andreyev, Nikolay. "Ivan the Terrible". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Aug. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ivan-the-Terrible. Accessed 31 December 2021.

The Oprichnina as a Carnival of Violence: Ivan the Terrible and Muscovite Popular Culture Maureen Perrie Emeritus Professor of Russian History, Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Skrynnikov and Graham, Ivan the Terrible. Solovʹev and Rhinelander. History of Russia. 1981. 

Nizhny Novgorod. Sergei Maltcev. To My American Friends. 2015.

The Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible: Part 1, Creation. A Region of Fear Patrolled by Black Robed Soldiers. Robert Wilde. May 30, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-oprichnina-of-ivan-the-terrible-3860937

Music:

Main Theme: Scorching Action - Jon Prestone

Mysterious fantasy with gloomy choir and harp for dark fairytale setting - Suite Tracks Music

Introitus - Audio Waves - Eliche Remblon

Odious Signs - Humans Win (formerly Lance Conrad)

Final Speech - Humans Win (formerly Lance Conrad)

TV Audio:

History Bites Season 4 Episode 8