THE RUSSIAN CHRONOLOGY has been used throughout. During the sixteenth century this was nine days behind the western calendar. Thus Ivan’s birthday is given here as August 25, 1530, but according to the western calendar this would be September 3, 1530. Some complications occur because the Russian year was regarded as beginning in September. In documents of the period the Russians follow the Byzantine practice of dating all events from the creation of the world, which was supposed to have taken place in 5508 B.C. In contemporary documents the year of Ivan’s birth is therefore given as 7038.
