Events at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries received the name Time of Troubles". The reasons for the unrest were the aggravation of social, estate, dynastic and international relations at the end of the reign of Ivan 4 and under his successors.
“The ruin of the 70-80s. 16th c." Heavy economic crisis. The most economically developed center (Moscow) and north-west (Novgorod and Pskov) of the country have become deserted. One part of the population fled, the other died during the years of the oprichnina and the Livonian War. More than 50% of arable land remained uncultivated. The tax burden increased sharply, prices rose 4 times. In 70-71. - an epidemic of plague. The peasant economy lost its stability, famine began in the country. Under these conditions, the landowners could not fulfill their obligations to the state, and the latter did not have the means to wage war and govern the state. At the end of the 16th century in Russia, a system of serfdom was actually established on a state scale ( highest form incomplete property of the feudal lord on the peasant, based on attaching him to the land of the feudal lord).
Sudebnik introduced Yuriev autumn day - the time of peasant transitions. By the end of the 16th century For the first time, “reserved summers” were introduced - years in which the transition of peasants was forbidden even on St. George's Day. The introduction of the state system of serfdom led to a sharp aggravation social contradictions in the country and created the basis for mass popular uprisings. The aggravation of social relations is 1 of the reasons for the troubled times.
another reason unrest became a dynastic crisis. Oprichnina did not completely resolve the differences within the ruling class. The contradictions escalated in connection with the termination of the legitimate dynasty that kept score from the legendary Rurik. After the death of Ivan 4, the middle son Fedor took the throne. But in fact, the brother-in-law of the tsar, the boyar Boris Godunov, became the ruler of the state (Fyodor was married to his sister).
With the death of the childless Fyodor Ioannovich in 98. the old dynasty ceased. At the Zemsky Sobor, B.G. was elected tsar. He led a successful foreign policy, the advance to Siberia continued, the southern regions of the country were mastered, and positions in the Caucasus were strengthened. Under him, the patriarchate was established in Russia. Job, a supporter of Godunov, was elected the first Russian patriarch. However, at the same time, the country was weakened and did not have the strength to conduct large-scale military operations. This was taken advantage of by its neighbors - the Commonwealth, Sweden, Crimea and Turkey. The aggravation of international contradictions will become even more one cause that broke out during the Time of Troubles events. The peasants expressed their dissatisfaction more and more and blamed B.G. for everything. The situation in the country became even more aggravated due to crop failure. In the shortest possible time, prices rose more than 100 times. Mass epidemics began. In Moscow, cases of cannibalism were noted. Rumors spread that the country was punished for violating the order of succession to the throne, for the sins of Godunov. In the center of the country broke out serf uprising(1603-1604) led by Cotton Clubfoot. It was brutally suppressed, and Khlopok was executed in Moscow.
Historians explained the Time of Troubles of owls primarily by class conflicts. Therefore, in the events of those years, the Peasant War of the 17th century stood out primarily. At present, the events of the late 16-17 centuries. Har-yut as a civil war.
False Dmitry 1. In 1602. In Lithuania, a man appeared who pretended to be Tsarevich Dmitry. He told about his royal blood to the Polish magnate Adam Wisniewiecki. The patron of False Dmitry was the governor Yuri Mnishek. The Polish magnates needed False Dmitry in order to start aggression against Russia, disguising it with the appearance of a struggle for the return of the throne to the rightful heir. This was a covert intervention. In fact, the monk Grigory (in the world - a petty nobleman Yuri Otrepyev) in his youth was a servant of Fyodor Romanov, after whose exile he was tonsured a monk. In Moscow, he served under Patriarch Job. False Dmitry secretly converted to Catholicism and promised the Pope to distribute Catholicism in Russia. L.1 also promised to transfer the Commonwealth and his bride Marina Mnishek Seversky and Smolensk lands, Novgorod and Pskov. In 1604 the impostor undertook a campaign against Moscow. B.G. suddenly dies. Tsar Fyodor Borisovich and his mother, at the request of the impostor, were arrested and secretly killed. June 1605. False Dmitry was proclaimed king. However, the continuation of the feudal policy, new requisitions in order to obtain the funds promised to the Polish magnates, the discontent of the Russian nobility led to an org-tion of the boyar conspiracy against him. May 1606. an uprising broke out. L1. was killed. The boyar tsar Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610) came to the throne.
The biography of False Dmitry I differs from most others in the first place in that the very identity of this person remains unexplained to the end. He convinced everyone that he was an offspring, but was later recognized as an impostor. The official date of birth of this person coincides with the birthday of Tsarevich Dmitry, while according to other sources, the years of False Dmitry and the real son of the king do not coincide. The same applies to versions about the place of birth: he himself claimed that he was born in Moscow, which corresponded to his legend, while the whistleblowers claimed that False Dmitry the impostor was from Warsaw. It is worth adding that Tsar False Dmitry 1 became the first of three different people who called themselves the surviving prince.
False Dmitry I. Portrait from Mnishkov castle in Vyshnevets | historical portrait
It is quite natural that the biography of False Dmitry 1 is directly related to the death of the little prince Dmitry. The boy died under unclear circumstances at the age of eight. Officially, his death was recognized as an accident, but his mother thought otherwise, named the names of high-ranking murderers, which made it possible for further history to link together Boris Godunov, False Dmitry and Vasily Shuisky. The first of them was considered the customer of the murder of the heir to the throne, the third conducted an investigation and declared the death accidental, and False Dmitry took advantage of the circumstances and rumors that circulated in Rus' that the prince had escaped and fled.
Personality of False Dmitry I
The origin of the person who called himself Tsar Dmitry remains unknown, and it is unlikely that the surviving historical data will be able to help identify him. Nevertheless, there are many versions of who occupied the throne during the time of False Dmitry 1. One of the main candidates was and remains Grigory Otrepyev, the son of a Galician boyar, who from childhood was a serf of the Romanovs. Later, Gregory took the monastic vows and wandered around the monasteries. The question is why Otrepyev began to be considered False Dmitry.
Engraving of False Dmitry I | First, he was too much interested in the murder of the prince, and also suddenly began to study the rules and etiquette of court life. Secondly, the flight of the monk Grigory Otrepiev from the holy monastery suspiciously exactly coincides with the first mention of the campaign of False Dmitry. And thirdly, during the reign of False Dmitry 1, the tsar wrote with characteristic errors, which turned out to be identical to the standard errors of the monastery scribe Otrepiev.
One of the portraits of False Dmitry I | Oracle According to another version, Gregory did not pretend to be False Dmitry himself, but found a young man suitable in appearance and education. This person could be the illegitimate son of the Polish king. This assumption is supported by the impostor's too casual possession of edged weapons, horseback riding, shooting, dancing, and most importantly - Fluency Polish. This hypothesis is opposed by the testimony of Stefan Batory himself, who during his lifetime publicly admitted that he had no children. The second doubt is given by the fact that the boy who allegedly grew up in a Catholic environment favored Orthodoxy.
Painting "Dmitry - Tsarevich Murdered", 1899. Mikhail Nesterov | The possibility of “truth” is not entirely excluded, that is, that False Dmitry was in fact the son of Ivan the Terrible, hidden and secretly transported to Poland. This little popular hypothesis is based on rumors that, simultaneously with the death of little Dmitry, his peer Istomin, who lived in the wards, disappeared without a trace. Allegedly, this child was killed under the guise of a prince, and the heir himself was hidden. An important circumstance is considered an additional argument for this version: not only did Tsarina Martha publicly recognize her son in False Dmitry, in addition, she never served a funeral service for a dead child in the church.
In any case, it is noteworthy that False Dmitry I himself did not consider himself an impostor, and almost all scientists agree: he sincerely believed in his involvement in the royal family.
Board of False Dmitry I
In 1604, False Dmitry I's campaign against Moscow took place. By the way, many people believed that he was the direct heir to the throne, so most cities surrendered without a fight. The pretender to the throne arrived in the capital after the death of Boris Godunov, and his son Fyodor II Godunov, who sat on the throne, who reigned for only 18 days, was killed by the time the troops of False Dmitry arrived.
Painting "The Last Minutes of Dmitry the Pretender", 1879. Carl Wenig | False Dmitry rules briefly, although not as much as his predecessor. Almost immediately after his ascension, there was talk of imposture. Those who only yesterday supported the campaign of False Dmitry began to get angry at how freely he treated the treasury, spending Russian money on Polish and Lithuanian gentry. On the other hand, the newly-made Tsar False Dmitry I did not fulfill his promise to give the Poles a number of Russian cities and introduce Catholicism in Rus', which is why, in fact, the Polish government began to support him in the struggle for the throne. During those 11 months that False Dmitry the First headed Rus', there were several conspiracies against him and about a dozen assassination attempts.
Politics of False Dmitry I
The first actions of Tsar False Dmitry I were numerous favors. He returned from exile the nobles expelled from Moscow under his predecessors, doubled the salaries of military personnel, and increased land plots for landowners, abolished taxes in the south of the country. But since the treasury was only empty from this, Tsar False Dmitry I increased the fees in other regions. Riots began to grow, which False Dmitry refused to extinguish by force, but instead allowed the peasants to change the landowner if he did not feed them. Thus, the policy of False Dmitry I was based on generosity and mercy towards his subjects. By the way, he could not stand flattery, which is why he replaced most of his associates.
The painting "Entry of the troops of False Dmitry I to Moscow". K.F. Lebedev | Wikipedia Many were surprised that Tsar False Dmitry I violated previously accepted traditions. He did not go to bed after dinner, eradicated the pretentious treatment at court, often went out into the city and personally communicated with ordinary people. False Dmitry I was very actively involved in all matters and negotiated daily. The reign of False Dmitry can be called an innovation not only for Rus', but also for Europe of those times. For example, he incredibly simplified the passage to the territory of the state for foreigners, and False Dmitry's Russia was called the freest country abroad.
False Dmitry I. One of the options for a possible appearance | Culturology But if domestic politics False Dmitry I was built on mercy, in the external he immediately began to prepare a war with the Turks in order to conquer the Azov and capture the mouth of the Don. He personally began to train archers to handle new models of guns and took part in training assaults along with the soldiers. For a successful war, the king wanted to make an alliance with Western countries, but was refused because he had not previously fulfilled his promises. In general, the policy of False Dmitry I, seemingly based on sound ground, in the end only brought ruin.
Personal life
False Dmitry I was married to Marina Mnishek, the daughter of a Polish governor, who, apparently, knew about her husband's imposture, but wanted to become a queen. Although in this capacity she lived only a week: the couple got married shortly before his death. By the way, Mnishek was the first woman to be crowned in Russia, and she became the next. False Dmitry I apparently loved his wife, as written evidence of how he kindled feelings for her at the meeting has been preserved. But the relationship was definitely not mutual. Soon after the death of her husband, Marina began to live with a man, today called False Dmitry II, and passed him off as her first husband.
Slavic society In general, False Dmitry I was very greedy for female affection. During his short reign, virtually all the daughters and wives of the boyars automatically became his concubines. And the main favorite before the arrival of Marina Mnishek in Moscow was the daughter of Boris Godunov, Ksenia. There were rumors that she even managed to get pregnant from the impostor king. The second hobby of the autocrat after women was jewelry. In addition, there is evidence that False Dmitry 1 often liked to brag and even lie, on which he was repeatedly caught by close boyars.
Death
In mid-May 1606, Vasily Shuisky decided to raise an uprising against the Poles who flooded Moscow on the occasion of a wedding celebration. Dmitry became aware of this, but he did not attach much importance to such conversations. Shuisky started a rumor that foreigners want to kill the king, and thus raised the people to a bloody slaughter. Gradually, he managed to change the idea of "going to the Poles" to "going to the impostor." When they broke into the palace, False Dmitry tried to resist the crowd, then he wanted to escape through the window, but fell from a height of 15 meters, fell into the courtyard, sprained his leg, broke his chest and lost consciousness.
Engraving "Death of the Pretender", 1870 | Collection of historical documents The archers began to guard the body of False Dmitry I from the conspirators, and in order to calm the crowd, they offered to bring Queen Martha to confirm again whether the king was her son. But even before the messenger returned, the angry crowd beat False Dmitry and demanded to give his name. Before last moment During his life, he kept to the version that he was a real son. They finished off the former king with swords and halberds, and for several days they betrayed the already dead body to public humiliation - they smeared it with tar, “decorated” it with masks, and sang insulting songs.
Sketch for the painting "Time of Troubles. False Dmitry", 2013. Sergei Kirillov | Lemur False Dmitry I was buried outside the Serpukhov Gates, in a cemetery for the poor, vagabonds and drunkards. But even this overthrow of the personality of the tsar was not enough for the conspirators and tormentors. Since after the assassination of False Dmitry I, a storm struck the neighborhood, scattering crops, people began to say that the dead man does not sleep in the grave, but comes out at night and takes revenge on his former subjects. Then the corpse was dug up and burned at the stake, and the ashes were mixed with gunpowder and shot towards Poland, from where False Dmitry I came. By the way, this was the only shot in history fired by the Tsar Cannon.
They baked the Pretender in a Polish oven, but fermented it in Russia.
Klyuchevsky
The history of False Dmitry originates in 1601 in Poland. On November 1, 1601, the papal nuncio came to the Polish king Sigismund 3 and informed him that a Russian appeared on the estate of Adam Vishnevetsky, who calls himself Tsarevich Dmitry, who survived after Uglich, and who now intends to regain the Russian throne with the help of Tatars and Cossacks. The king ordered that the applicant be brought to Krakow to verify his identity. A meeting took place during which a young man, who called himself Tsarevich Dmitry, showed his readiness to convert to Catholicism and begin preparations for a campaign in Russia.
Around the same time, the impostor became known in Russia. Boris Godunov directly accused the boyars of the fact that the impostor was their work and the result of their intrigue. The specific name of the traitor was also named - Grigory Otrepyev. This name was connected by Godunov with the Romanovs. It is significant that Godunov entrusted the fight against the impostor to those boyars who hated the Romanovs: the Shuiskys, Galitsyns and Mstislavskys.
False Dmitry 1 is Grigory Otrepyev?
Who was the impostor False Dmitry 1? The version that it was Grigory Otrepiev, to put it mildly, is doubtful. Otrepiev did not in any way pull on the role of an impostor, because Grigory was already over 30, and the impostor was just over 20 years old. Hence the difference is 10-12 years. And there is no direct evidence that this is the same person. Therefore, one should distinguish between False Dmitry 1 and Otrepyev, since there is no reliable information that this is one and the same person in the history of Russia.
The story of Grigory Otrepyev is as follows. His father was a centurion who was stabbed to death in a fight while drunk. Grishka from a young age was very capable person. He had good handwriting, he copied books, was distinguished by great artistry, entered the service of Romanov the Elder, took part in the battle at the Romanov courtyard in 1600, and escaped from the gallows. At the age of 20 he was tonsured a monk. From Suzdal, in an incomprehensible way, he ended up in the Chudov Monastery. In 1602 he ended up in Lithuania, where, as is commonly believed, he declared himself Tsarevich Dmitry.
It must be said that the Romanovs cleaned up the history of Russia very well over the centuries of their reign. Historians call many documents of that time outright fakes. Therefore, there is a possibility that the Pretender was Otrepiev, but it is extremely small. But what was actually the reign of False Dmitry 1 and who he was - we still do not know for sure. And we will most likely never know.
Communication of False Dmitry with the Mnishek family
Once in Poland, False Dmitry fell in love with the daughter of the local governor, Marina Mnishek. Her father, Yuri Mnishek, was a thieving man (he was caught more than once). Therefore, False Dmitry promised that:
- After accession to issue 1 million złoty to pay off the debts of Mniszek.
- Give Marina full possession of Novgorod and Pskov
- To promote the transition of their future subjects to Catholicism.
These were the terms of the deal between False Dmitry and the Mnishek family. After that, the engagement took place. The Poles began to prepare for the campaign. It is very interesting that Sigismund 3 distanced himself from the campaign of False Dmitry 1 to Russia, immediately writing a letter to Boris Godunov stating that there is an impostor who gathers people, but these are all volunteers, and Sigismund 3 has nothing to do with this.
The beginning of the campaign to Russia
On October 13, 1604, the army of False Dmitry went on a campaign to Russia. The army consisted of Poles 2000 Don Zaporozhye Cossacks, who crossed the Dnieper. What measures did Boris take? He sent a man to Maria Nagoya and Maria (that is, Dmitry's mother) made a statement that Dmitry really died in Uglich, and an impostor was coming to Russia. Uncle Otrepyev was sent to Lithuania to expose his nephew, but he was not allowed to see False Dmitry.
Movement map of False Dmitry
Meanwhile, the army of False Dmitry easily occupied territory beyond the territory. The people, especially the Cossacks, who hated Godunov joyfully greeted him and said: "Our red sun is rising, Dmitry Ivanovich is returning to us!" And in just 2 weeks, under the rule of False Dmitry, there were vast territories under the basin of the Desna and the Seversky Donets up to the upper reaches of the Oka. From major cities Moravsk and Chernigov were taken. That is, almost all of southern Rus' rose against Godunov. It was not so much the success of False Dmitry as the defeat of Godunov. It has already become clear that the beginning of the reign of False Dmitry 1 in Russia is just a matter of time.
Boyars take the side of False Dmitry and Poland
While Pyotr Basmanov and Bogdan Belsky (the one who was plucked one hair from his beard) became the mentors of Godunov's son, the Godunov clan very quickly lost control over the army. And Basmanov arranged a conspiracy against the Godunovs. The tsarist troops fled from near Krom, and the impostor, who was already in a hurry to escape from Russia, returned and began to move towards Moscow. On June 1, the envoy of False Dmitry Gavrila Pushkin (the ancestor of the poet) arrived in the village of Krsnoye near Moscow and raised a long overdue anti-Godunov uprising. Bogdan Belsky, who was the chief investigator in the case of the death of Dmitry in Uglich, and who swore before that that Dmitry had died, publicly said here that he was lying, because he saved the prince, whom the scoundrel Godunov wanted to kill. But Belsky saved the boy.
Vasily Shuisky also swore an oath to this, saying that he would recognize Tsarevich Dmitry. Most importantly, Maria Nagaya recognized her son, who had previously sworn twice that her son had died and was buried. Fyodor Godunov and his wife were arrested and placed in the house of Malyuta Skuratov, where they were soon strangled.
Entry of the impostor to Moscow
On June 20, 1605, Muscovites enthusiastically greeted False Dmitry Ivanovich as he solemnly entered the city (naturally, we now say that this is False Dmitry, and then the people met Dmitry Ivanovich). The new tsar immediately returned the Romanovs and other boyars who had suffered under Godunov to the court. Fyodor Romanov, father of the future Tsar Mikhail, was also returned and appointed Patriarch of Rostov. In fact, it was on June 20 that the reign of False Dmitry 1 in Moscow began.
On May 8, 1606, False Dmitry married Marina Mnishek. It happened on Friday and on Nikolin's day, which was against the charter Orthodox Church. At the same time, the impostor is not in a hurry to fulfill his promises to the Poles. He did not turn into a Polish henchman, and in general (surprisingly) behaved like a natural king, as if he had been a king all his life: he knew etiquette very well, spoke foreign languages, called himself emperor long before Peter 1, advocated expanding contacts with the West, established free courts. The boyars did not like False Dmitry in view of his great activity, and also in view of the fact that he began to distance the boyars from governing the country as much as possible.
The end of the reign of False Dmitry 1
False Dmitry 1 did not fulfill his promises to the Poles and did not become his own for the Moscow boyars. Therefore, by the summer of 1606, he was in a vacuum. False Dmitry no longer had support abroad. The boyars decided to take advantage of this by conspiring. It was organized by the Shuiskys. But the plot was uncovered, and the Shuiskys were arrested. The judges sentenced Vasily Shuisky to death.
But at the request of Maria Nagoya and other influential boyars, False Dmitry not only pardoned Vasily Shuisky, but completely forgave him. As a result, Shuisky remained where he was, and immediately began to weave a second conspiracy. On May 16, 1606, the Shuiskys spread a rumor about the danger to the tsar from the Poles, and they themselves entered the Kremlin on May 17 under the guise. Basmanov and the impostor were killed (you need to understand that it was a tandem). The mutilated corpse of False Dmitry was left at the place of execution, Naguya was brought in, who was once again asked if this was her son or not. She masterfully twisted herself, saying: "Now, what it is - of course not mine." The body of False Dmitry was burned, the ashes were stuffed into a cannon and fired towards Poland. Marina Mnishek fled from Moscow.
On Ivan IV the Terrible (†1584) The Rurik Dynasty ended in Russia. After his death began Time of Troubles.
The result of the 50-year reign of Ivan the Terrible was sad. Endless wars, oprichnina, mass executions led to an unprecedented economic decline. By the 1580s, a huge part of the previously prosperous lands was deserted: abandoned villages and villages stood all over the country, arable lands were overgrown with forests and weeds. As a result of the protracted Livonian War, the country lost part of the western lands. Noble and influential aristocratic clans aspired to power and waged an uncompromising struggle among themselves. A heavy inheritance fell on the share of the successor of Tsar Ivan IV - his son Fyodor Ivanovich and guardian Boris Godunov. (Ivan the Terrible had one more son-heir - Tsarevich Dmitry Uglichsky, who at that time was 2 years old).
Boris Godunov (1584-1605)
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son ascended the throne Fedor Ioannovich . The new king was unable to rule the country (according to some reports, he was weak in health and mind) and was under the tutelage first of the council of boyars, then of his brother-in-law Boris Godunov. At the court, a stubborn struggle began between the boyar groups of the Godunovs, Romanovs, Shuiskys, and Mstislavskys. But a year later, as a result of the "undercover struggle", Boris Godunov cleared his way from rivals (Someone was accused of treason and exiled, someone was forcibly tonsured a monk, someone "went to another world" in time). Those. the boyar became the de facto ruler of the state. During the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, the position of Boris Godunov became so significant that overseas diplomats sought audiences with Boris Godunov, his will was law. Fedor reigned, Boris ruled - everyone knew this both in Rus' and abroad.
S. V. Ivanov. "Boyar Duma"
After the death of Fedor (January 7, 1598), a new tsar was elected at the Zemsky Sobor - Boris Godunov (thus, he became the first Russian tsar who received the throne not by inheritance, but through elections at the Zemsky Sobor).
(1552 - April 13, 1605) - after the death of Ivan the Terrible, he became the de facto ruler of the state as the guardian of Fedor Ioannovich, and since 1598 - Russian Tsar .
Under Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov was at first a guardsman. In 1571 he married the daughter of Malyuta Skuratov. And after the marriage in 1575 of his sister Irina (the only "Queen Irina" on the Russian throne) on the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Fyodor Ioannovich, he became a close person to the king.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, the royal throne went first to his son Fyodor (under the guardianship of Godunov), and after his death - to Boris Godunov himself.
He died in 1605 at the age of 53, at the height of the war with False Dmitry I, who moved to Moscow. After his death, Boris's son, Fedor, an educated and extremely intelligent young man, became king. But as a result of the rebellion in Moscow, provoked by False Dmitry, Tsar Fedor and his mother Maria Godunova were brutally murdered.(The rebels left only the daughter of Boris, Xenia, alive. The bleak fate of the impostor's concubine awaited her.)
Boris Godunov wasburied in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. Under Tsar Vasily Shuisky, the remains of Boris, his wife and son were transferred to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and buried in a sitting position at the northwestern corner of the Assumption Cathedral. In the same place in 1622 Xenia was buried, in monasticism Olga. In 1782, a tomb was built over their tombs.
The activity of Godunov's board is assessed positively by historians. Under him, a comprehensive strengthening of statehood began. Thanks to his efforts, in 1589 he was elected first Russian patriarch , which became Moscow Metropolitan Job. The establishment of the patriarchate testified to the increased prestige of Russia.
Patriarch Job (1589-1605)
Unprecedented construction of cities and fortifications unfolded. To ensure the safety of the waterway from Kazan to Astrakhan, cities were built on the Volga - Samara (1586), Tsaritsyn (1589) (future Volgograd), Saratov (1590).
In foreign policy Godunov proved himself to be a talented diplomat - Russia regained all the lands transferred to Sweden following the unsuccessful Livonian War (1558-1583).The rapprochement between Russia and the West began. Before there was no sovereign in Rus' who would have been so kind to foreigners as Godunov. He began to invite foreigners to serve. For foreign trade, the authorities created the most favored nation regime. At the same time, strictly protecting Russian interests. Under Godunov, nobles began to be sent to the West to study. True, none of those who left did not bring any benefit to Russia: having studied, none of them wanted to return to their homeland.Tsar Boris himself really wanted to strengthen his ties with the West, becoming related to a European dynasty, and made a lot of efforts to profitably marry his daughter Xenia.
Having begun successfully, the reign of Boris Godunov ended sadly. A series of boyar conspiracies (many boyars harbored hostility towards the "upstart") gave rise to despondency, and soon a real catastrophe broke out. The silent opposition that accompanied Boris' reign from beginning to end was no secret to him. There is evidence that the tsar directly accused the close boyars of the fact that the appearance of the impostor False Dmitry I was not without their assistance. In opposition to the government was urban population, dissatisfied with the heavy exactions and arbitrariness of local officials. And the rumors about the involvement of Boris Godunov in the murder of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Dmitry Ioannovich, "warmed up" the situation even more. Thus, hatred for Godunov by the end of his reign was universal.
Troubles (1598-1613)
Famine (1601 - 1603)
IN 1601-1603 broke out in the country catastrophic famine , lasting 3 years. The price of bread has increased 100 times. Boris forbade selling bread more than a certain limit, even resorting to the persecution of those who inflated prices, but he did not achieve success. In an effort to help the starving, he spared no expense, widely distributing money to the poor. But bread became more expensive, and money lost its value. Boris ordered the royal barns to be opened for the starving. However, even their supplies were not enough for all the hungry, especially since, having learned about the distribution, people from all over the country reached out to Moscow, leaving the meager supplies that they still had at home. In Moscow alone, 127,000 people died of starvation, and not everyone had time to bury them. There were cases of cannibalism. People began to think that this was God's punishment. There was a conviction that the reign of Boris is not blessed by God, because it is lawless, achieved by untruth. Therefore, it cannot end well.
The sharp deterioration in the situation of all segments of the population led to mass unrest under the slogan of overthrowing Tsar Boris Godunov and transferring the throne to the "legitimate" sovereign. The ground for the appearance of the impostor was ready.
False Dmitry I (1 (11) June 1605 - 17 (27) May 1606)
Rumors began to circulate around the country that the "born sovereign", Tsarevich Dmitry, miraculously escaped and is alive.
Tsarevich Dmitry (†1591) , the son of Ivan the Terrible from the last wife of Tsar Maria Feodorovna Nagoya (in monasticism Martha), died under circumstances not yet clarified - from a stab wound to the throat.
Death of Tsarevich Dmitry (Uglichsky)
Little Dmitry suffered mental disorders, more than once fell into unreasonable anger, threw himself with his fists even at his mother, fought in epilepsy. All this, however, did not change the fact that he was a prince and after the death of Fyodor Ioannovich († 1598) was to ascend to his father's throne. Dmitry posed a real threat to many: the boyar nobility had suffered enough from Ivan the Terrible, so they watched the violent heir with concern. But most of all, the prince was dangerous, of course, to those forces that relied on Godunov. That is why, when from Uglich, where 8-year-old Dmitry was sent with his mother, the news came about his strange death, popular rumor immediately, without any doubt that they were right, pointed to Boris Godunov as the customer of the crime. The official conclusion that the prince killed himself: while playing with a knife, he allegedly had an attack of epilepsy, and in convulsions he stabbed himself in the throat, few people were convinced.
The death of Dmitry in Uglich and the subsequent death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich led to a crisis of power.
It was not possible to put an end to the rumors, and Godunov tried to do it by force. The more actively the tsar fought against people's rumor, the wider and louder it became.
In 1601, a man appeared on the scene, posing as Tsarevich Dmitry, and went down in history under the name False Dmitry I . He, the only one of all Russian impostors, managed to seize the throne for a while.
- an impostor who pretended to be the miraculously saved youngest son of Ivan IV the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry. The first of three impostors who called themselves the son of Ivan the Terrible, who claimed the Russian throne (False Dmitry II and False Dmitry III). From June 1 (11), 1605 to May 17 (27), 1606 - Tsar of Russia.
According to the most common version, False Dmitry is someone Grigory Otrepiev , fugitive monk of the Chudov Monastery (which is why he received the nickname Rasstriga among the people - deprived of spiritual dignity, i.e. the degree of priesthood). Before monasticism, he was in the service of Mikhail Nikitich Romanov (brother of Patriarch Filaret and uncle of the first Tsar of the Romanov family, Mikhail Fedorovich). After the persecution of the Romanov family by Boris Godunov began in 1600, he fled to the Zheleznoborkovsky monastery (Kostroma) and became a monk. But soon he moved to the Euphemia Monastery in the city of Suzdal, and then to the Moscow Miracle Monastery (in the Moscow Kremlin). There he quickly becomes a "cross clerk": he is engaged in the correspondence of books and is present as a scribe in the "Tsar's Duma". ABOUTTrepyev becomes quite familiar with Patriarch Job and many of the Duma boyars. However, the life of a monk did not attract him. Around 1601, he flees to the Commonwealth (Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), where he declares himself a "miraculously saved prince." Further, his traces are lost in Poland until 1603.
Otrepiev in Poland declares himself Tsarevich Dmitry
According to some sources, Otrepievconverted to Catholicism and proclaimed himself a prince. Although the impostor treated matters of faith lightly, having indifference to both Orthodox and Catholic traditions. There, in Poland, Otrepiev saw and fell in love with the beautiful and proud Panna Marina Mnishek.
Poland actively supported the impostor. False Dmitry, in exchange for support, promised after accession to the throne to return half of the Smolensk land to the Polish crown, together with the city of Smolensk and Chernigov-Seversk land, to support the Catholic faith in Russia - in particular, to open churches and admit Jesuits to Muscovy, to support the Polish king Sigismund III in his claims to the Swedish crown and contribute to the rapprochement - and ultimately the merger - of Russia with the Commonwealth. At the same time, False Dmitry turns to the Pope with a letter promising favor and help.
The oath of False Dmitry I to the Polish King Sigismund III for the introduction of Catholicism in Russia
After a private audience in Krakow with King Sigismund III of Poland, False Dmitry began to form a detachment for a campaign against Moscow. According to some reports, he managed to gather more than 15,000 people.
On October 16, 1604, False Dmitry I, with detachments of Poles and Cossacks, moved to Moscow. When the news of the offensive of False Dmitry reached Moscow, the boyar elite, dissatisfied with Godunov, was willing to recognize a new pretender to the throne. Even the curses of the Moscow Patriarch did not cool the enthusiasm of the people on the path of "Tsarevich Dmitry".
The success of False Dmitry I was caused not so much by a military factor as by the unpopularity of the Russian Tsar Boris Godunov. Simple Russian warriors were reluctant to fight against someone who, in their opinion, could be the “true” prince, some governors even said out loud that it was “not right” to fight against the true sovereign.
On April 13, 1605, Boris Godunov died unexpectedly. The boyars swore allegiance to the kingdom to his son Fyodor, but already on June 1 an uprising took place in Moscow, and Fyodor Borisovich Godunov was overthrown. On June 10, he and his mother were killed. The people wished to see the "God-given" Dmitry as king.
Convinced of the support of the nobles and the people, on June 20, 1605, to the festive ringing of bells and the cheers of the crowds crowding on both sides of the road, False Dmitry I solemnly entered the Kremlin. The new king was accompanied by the Poles. On July 18, False Dmitry was recognized by Tsarina Maria, the wife of Ivan the Terrible and the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry. On July 30, False Dmitry was crowned king by the new patriarch Ignatius.
For the first time in Russian history, Western foreigners came to Moscow not at the invitation and not as dependent people, but as the main characters. The impostor brought with him a huge retinue that occupied the entire center of the city. For the first time Moscow was filled with Catholics, for the first time the Moscow court began to live not according to Russian, but according to Western, more precisely, Polish laws. For the first time, foreigners began to push the Russians around as if they were their serfs, defiantly showing them that they were second-class people.The history of the stay of the Poles in Moscow is full of bullying by uninvited guests over the owners of the house.
False Dmitry removed obstacles to leaving the state and movement within it. The British, who were in Moscow at that time, noticed that not a single European state had known such freedom. In most of his actions, False Dmitry is recognized by some modern historians as an innovator who sought to Europeanize the state. At the same time, he began to look for allies in the West, especially with the Pope and the Polish king, it was supposed to include the German emperor, the French king and the Venetians in the proposed alliance.
One of the weaknesses of False Dmitry was women, including the wives and daughters of the boyars, who actually became the king's free or involuntary concubines. Among them was even the daughter of Boris Godunov, Ksenia, whom, because of her beauty, the impostor spared during the extermination of the Godunov family, and then kept with him for several months. In May 1606, False Dmitry married the daughter of a Polish governor Marina Mnishek , who was crowned as a Russian queen without observing Orthodox rites. Exactly a week the new queen reigned in Moscow.
At the same time, a dual situation developed: on the one hand, the people loved False Dmitry, and on the other, they suspected him of imposture. In the winter of 1605, the Chudov monk was captured, who publicly declared that Grishka Otrepyev was sitting on the throne, whom "he himself taught to read and write." The monk was tortured, but having achieved nothing, they drowned him in the Moscow River along with several of his companions.
Almost from the first day, a wave of discontent swept through the capital due to the tsar's non-observance of church posts and violation of Russian customs in clothing and life, his disposition towards foreigners, promises to marry a Pole and the war being started with Turkey and Sweden. The dissatisfied were headed by Vasily Shuisky, Vasily Golitsyn, Prince Kurakin and the most conservative-minded representatives of the clergy - Kazan Metropolitan Germogen and Kolomna Bishop Joseph.
The people were annoyed by the fact that the tsar, more and more clearly, mocked Moscow prejudices, dressed in foreign clothes and, as if on purpose, teased the boyars, ordering veal to be served at the table, which the Russians did not eat.
Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610)
May 17, 1606 as a result of a coup led by Shuisky's people False Dmitry was killed . The disfigured corpse was thrown to the Execution Ground, putting a buffoon cap on his head, and putting a bagpipe on his chest. Subsequently, the body was burned, and the ashes were loaded into a cannon and fired from it towards Poland.
1 May 9, 1606 Vasily Shuisky became king (he was crowned by Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin as Tsar Vasily IV on June 1, 1606). Such an election was illegal, but this did not bother any of the boyars.
Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky , from the family of the Suzdal princes Shuisky, who descended from Alexander Nevsky, was born in 1552. From 1584 he was a boyar and head of the Moscow Judicial Chamber.
In 1587 he led the opposition to Boris Godunov. As a result, he was disgraced, but managed to regain the favor of the king and was forgiven.
After the death of Godunov, Vasily Shuisky tried to carry out a coup, but was arrested and exiled along with his brothers. But False Dmitry needed boyar support, and at the end of 1605 the Shuiskys returned to Moscow.
After the murder of False Dmitry I, organized by Vasily Shuisky, the boyars and the crowd bribed by them, gathered on the Red Square of Moscow, on May 19, 1606, elected Shuisky to the kingdom.
However, 4 years later, in the summer of 1610, the same boyars and nobles overthrew him from the throne and forced him and his wife to take the veil as monks. In September 1610, the former "boyar" tsar was extradited to the Polish hetman (commander-in-chief) Zholkiewski, who took Shuisky to Poland. In Warsaw, the tsar and his brothers were presented as prisoners to King Sigismund III.
Vasily Shuisky died on September 12, 1612, in custody in the Gostynin castle, in Poland, 130 miles from Warsaw. In 1635, at the request of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the remains of Vasily Shuisky were returned by the Poles to Russia. Vasily was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
With the accession to the throne of Vasily Shuisky, the Troubles did not stop, but entered an even more difficult phase. Tsar Vasily was not popular among the people. The legitimacy of the new king was not recognized by a significant number of the population, who were waiting for the new coming of the "true king." Unlike False Dmitry, Shuisky could not pretend to be a descendant of Ruriks and appeal to the hereditary right to the throne. Unlike Godunov, the conspirator was not legally elected by the cathedral, which means that he could not, like Tsar Boris, claim the legitimacy of his power. He relied only on a narrow circle of supporters and could not resist the elements that were already raging in the country.
In August 1607 a new pretender to the throne appeared, reanimated "by the same Poland, -.
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This second impostor received in Russian history the nickname Tushino thief . In his army there were up to 20 thousand multilingual rabble. All this mass scoured the Russian land and behaved as the occupiers usually behave, that is, they robbed, killed and raped. In the summer of 1608, False Dmitry II approached Moscow and camped at its walls in the village of Tushino. Tsar Vasily Shuisky with his government was locked up in Moscow; under its walls, an alternative capital arose with its own governmental hierarchy -.
The Polish governor Mniszek and his daughter soon arrived at the camp. Oddly enough, Marina Mnishek "recognized" her ex-fiance in the impostor and secretly married False Dmitry II.
False Dmitry II, in fact, ruled Russia - he distributed land to the nobles, considered complaints, met foreign ambassadors.By the end of 1608, a significant part of Russia was under the rule of the Tushins, and Shuisky no longer controlled the regions of the country. The Muscovite state seemed to have ceased to exist forever.
In September 1608 began siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery , and infamine came to besieged Moscow. Trying to save the situation, Vasily Shuisky decided to call on mercenaries for help and turned to the Swedes.
The siege of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra by the troops of False Dmitry II and the Polish hetman Jan Sapieha
In December 1609, due to the offensive of the 15,000th Swedish army and the betrayal of the Polish military leaders, who began to swear allegiance to King Sigismund III, False Dmitry II was forced to flee from Tushin to Kaluga, where he was killed a year later.
Interregnum (1610-1613)
Russia's position worsened day by day. The Russian land was torn apart by civil strife, the Swedes threatened war in the north, the Tatars constantly rebelled in the south, and the Poles threatened from the west. During the Time of Troubles, the Russian people tried anarchy, military dictatorship, thieves' law, tried to introduce a constitutional monarchy, to offer the throne to foreigners. But nothing helped. At that time, many Russians agreed to recognize any sovereign, if only peace finally came to the exhausted country.
In England, in turn, the project of an English protectorate over all Russian land, not yet occupied by the Poles and Swedes, was seriously considered. According to the documents, King James I of England "was carried away by a plan to send an army to Russia in order to manage it through his commissioner."
However, on July 27, 1610, as a result of a boyar conspiracy, the Russian Tsar Vasily Shuisky was removed from the throne. In Russia, the period of government "Seven Boyars" .
"Seven Boyars" - "provisional" boyar government, formed in Russia after the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky (died in Polish captivity) in July 1610 and formally existed until the election of Tsar Mikhail Romanov to the throne.
It consisted of 7 members of the Boyar Duma - princes F.I. Mstislavsky, I.M. Vorotynsky, A.V. Trubetskoy, A.V. Golitsyna, B.M. Lykov-Obolensky, I.N. Romanov (Uncle of the future Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and younger brother of the future Patriarch Filaret) and F.I. Sheremetiev. The head of the Seven Boyars was elected prince, boyar, governor, an influential member of the Boyar Duma Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky.
One of the tasks of the new government was the preparation of the election of a new king. However, "military conditions" required immediate solutions.
To the west of Moscow, in the immediate vicinity of Poklonnaya Hill near the village of Dorogomilovo, the army of the Commonwealth, led by Hetman Zholkevsky, stood up, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, False Dmitry II, with whom the Lithuanian detachment of Sapieha was also. The boyars were especially afraid of False Dmitry, because he had many supporters in Moscow and was at least more popular than them. In order to avoid the struggle of the boyar clans for power, it was decided not to elect representatives of the Russian clans as tsar.
As a result, the so-called "Semibarshchyna" concluded an agreement with the Poles on the election of the 15-year-old Polish prince Vladislav IV to the Russian throne. (son of Sigismund III) on the terms of his conversion to Orthodoxy.
Fearing False Dmitry II, the boyars went even further and on the night of September 21, 1610 secretly let the Polish troops of Hetman Zholkievsky into the Kremlin (V Russian history this fact is considered as an act of national treason).
Thus, the real power in the capital and beyond was concentrated in the hands of the governor Vladislav Pan Gonsevsky and the military leaders of the Polish garrison.
Ignoring the Russian government, they generously distributed lands to supporters of Poland, confiscating them from those who remained loyal to the country.
Meanwhile, King Sigismund III was not at all going to let his son Vladislav go to Moscow, especially since he did not want to allow him to accept Orthodoxy. Sigismund himself dreamed of taking the throne of Moscow and becoming king in Muscovite Rus'. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Polish king conquered the western and southeastern regions of the Muscovite state and began to consider himself the sovereign of all Rus'.
This changed the attitude of the members of the government of the Seven Boyars to the Poles they had called. Taking advantage of the growing discontent, Patriarch Hermogenes began sending letters to the cities of Russia, urging them to resist the new government. For this, he was taken into custody and subsequently executed. All this served as a signal for the unification of almost all Russians in order to expel the Polish invaders from Moscow and elect a new Russian tsar not only by the boyars and princes, but "by the will of the whole earth."
People's militia of Dmitry Pozharsky (1611-1612)
Seeing the atrocities of foreigners, the robbery of churches, monasteries and the episcopal treasury, the inhabitants began to fight for the faith, for their spiritual salvation. The siege by Sapieha and Lisovsky of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and its defense played a huge role in strengthening patriotism.
The defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which lasted almost 16 months - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610
The patriotic movement under the slogan of the election of the "original" sovereign led to the formation in the Ryazan cities First militia (1611) who began the liberation of the country. In October 1612, detachments Second militia (1611-1612) led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, they liberated the capital, forcing the Polish garrison to surrender.
After the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, thanks to the feat of the Second People's Militia led by Minin and Pozharsky, for several months the country was ruled by a provisional government headed by princes Dmitry Pozharsky and Dmitry Trubetskoy.
At the very end of December 1612, Pozharsky and Trubetskoy sent letters to the cities, in which they summoned to Moscow from all cities and from every rank the best and most reasonable elected people, "for the Zemstvo Council and for state election." These elected people were to elect a new tsar in Rus'. Zemstvo government of the militia ("Council of the whole earth") began preparations for the Zemsky Sobor.
Zemsky Sobor of 1613 and the election of a new tsar
Before the beginning of the Zemsky Sobor, a 3-day strict fast was declared everywhere. Many prayer services were served in the churches so that God would enlighten the elected people, and the matter of election to the kingdom was accomplished not by human desire, but by the will of God.
January 6 (19), 1613 in Moscow began Zemsky Sobor , which decided the question of the election of the Russian Tsar. It was the first indisputably all-class Zemsky Sobor with the participation of townspeople and even rural representatives. All segments of the population were represented on it, with the exception of serfs and serfs. The number of "soviet people" gathered in Moscow exceeded 800 people representing at least 58 cities.
Council meetings took place in an atmosphere of fierce rivalry between various political groups that had taken shape in Russian society during the years of the ten-year Troubles and sought to strengthen their position by electing their pretender to the royal throne. The participants of the Council nominated more than ten pretenders to the throne.
At first, the Polish prince Vladislav and the Swedish prince Karl-Philip were called pretenders to the throne. However, these candidates were opposed by the vast majority of the Council. The Zemsky Sobor annulled the decision of the Seven Boyars on the election of Prince Vladislav to the Russian throne and decided: "Foreign princes and Tatar princes should not be invited to the Russian throne."
Candidates from old princely families also did not receive support. In various sources, Fyodor Mstislavsky, Ivan Vorotynsky, Fyodor Sheremetev, Dmitry Trubetskoy, Dmitry Mamstrukovich and Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky, Ivan Golitsyn, Ivan Nikitich and Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov and Pyotr Pronsky are named among the candidates. They also offered Dmitry Pozharsky as king. But he resolutely rejected his candidacy and was one of the first to point to the ancient family of the Romanov boyars. Pozharsky said: “By the nobility of the family, and by the number of services to the fatherland, Metropolitan Filaret from the Romanov family would have come up to the king. But this good servant of God is now in Polish captivity and cannot become king. But he has a son of sixteen years old, so he, by the right of antiquity of his kind, and by the right of pious upbringing by his mother-nun, should become king.(In the world, Metropolitan Philaret was a boyar - Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. Boris Godunov forced him to take the veil as a monk, fearing that he might depose Godunov and sit on the royal throne.)
The Moscow nobles, supported by the townspeople, offered to enthrone 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the son of Patriarch Filaret. A decisive role, according to a number of historians, in the election of Mikhail Romanov to the kingdom was played by the Cossacks, who during this period become an influential social force. Among the service people and the Cossacks, a movement arose, the center of which was the Moscow courtyard of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and its active inspirer was Avraamy Palitsyn, the cellar of this monastery, a person very influential among both the militias and Muscovites. At meetings with the participation of the cellarer Avraamy, it was decided to proclaim Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov Yuryev, the son of Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov, captured by the Poles, as Tsar.The main argument of Mikhail Romanov's supporters boiled down to the fact that, unlike elected tsars, he was elected not by people, but by God, since he comes from a noble royal root. Not kinship with Rurik, but proximity and kinship with the dynasty of Ivan IV gave the right to occupy his throne. Many boyars joined the Romanov party, he was supported by the higher Orthodox clergy - consecrated cathedral.
On February 21 (March 3), 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom, marking the beginning of a new dynasty.
In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor swore allegiance to 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich
Letters were sent to the cities and counties of the country with the news of the election of the king and the oath of allegiance to the new dynasty.
On March 13, 1613, the ambassadors of the Council arrived in Kostroma. In the Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail was with his mother, he was informed of his election to the throne.
The Poles tried to prevent the new tsar from coming to Moscow. A small detachment of them went to the Ipatiev Monastery to kill Mikhail, but along the way they got lost, because the peasant Ivan Susanin , agreeing to show the way, led him into a dense forest.
June 11, 1613 Mikhail Fedorovich was married to the kingdom in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The celebrations lasted 3 days.
The election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom put an end to the Troubles and gave rise to the Romanov dynasty.
Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK
