The Lucid Interval of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich Could Have Been Due to an Epidural Hematoma

On November 15, 1581, during a dispute at the Alexandrova Sloboda fortress, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, struck his 27-year-old son Ivan Ivanovich on the temple with his scepter ([Fig. 1]). Boris Godunov, who witnessed the incident, attempted to intervene but himself received blows. The Tsar threw himself upon his son, trying to stop the bleeding, while repeatedly shouting: "Cursed be! I have killed my son!" The young man briefly regained consciousness and is said to have uttered: "I die as a devoted son and the humblest servant." Over the following days, the Tsar prayed for a miracle, but it was in vain, and the tsarevich died 4 days later, on November 19.[1] [2] [3] [4]