How the False Dmitry I was killed
Invasion
October 13 1604, the Falsdmitry units launched an invasion of the Russian state through the Seversk Ukraine. This direction of invasion allowed to avoid strong frontier battles, since the region at that time was covered by unrest and uprisings caused by the “excesses” of the Godunov government. It also helped the impostor to replenish the army with Cossacks and runaway peasants, since the local population believed in the "good king" and expected him to get rid of excessive oppression. In addition, this direction of movement of the impostor’s army to Moscow made it possible to avoid a meeting with such a powerful fortress as Smolensk. The impostor troops had practically no artillery, and without it, it was impossible to storm strong fortresses.
“Lovely letters” and appeals to the Seversky cities did their job. The "real king" called the people to revolt against usurper Boris and to restore justice. Seversky Krai was full of refugees who fled from hunger and persecution. Therefore, the appearance of the "real king" was perceived positively. The signal for the widespread uprising was the surrender of Putivl, the only stone fortress in the region. The men of the vast and rich Komaritsky volost, which belonged to the royal family, rose. Then many southern cities refused to obey Moscow - among them Rylsk, Kursk, Sevsk, Kroma. Thus, the external invasion coincided with the internal civil confrontation caused by the feudal policy of the government.
Actually the basic calculation was based on popular discontent and conspiracy of the boyars. From a military point of view, the impostor’s army had no chance of success. The best time for fighting - summer, was missed, the rainy season began, turning the roads into a swamp, winter was near. Artillery for taking fortresses was not. Money to pay for mercenaries was not enough. The discipline and order in the army was not, the Polish gentry did not respect the impostor. The Crimean horde, which was supposed to attack from the south and tie up the Moscow army, did not march. In such conditions, the False Dmitry army could count only on the raid and the capture of several cities, and not on success in a large campaign.
Government troops under the command of Prince Dmitry Shuisky concentrated near Bryansk and waited for reinforcements. Tsar Boris announced the collection of the Zemstvo militia in Moscow. The Moscow government was waiting for the main blow of the Polish army from Smolensk, and only realizing that it would not be, moved the troops to the south.
21 January 1605 was a decisive battle near the village of Dobrynichi, Komaritskaya volost. The rout was complete: the army of the impostor only killed more than 6 thousand people lost, many prisoners were captured, 15 banners, all artillery and a wagon train. The impostor himself barely escaped. The remaining Poles left him (Mnishek left even earlier). Thus, this battle showed that it was not for nothing that the Poles were afraid of invading the Russian state. In direct combat, the royal troops were a formidable force that easily dispersed the forces of an impostor.
However, the indecisiveness of the royal governors, who stopped the chase, did not allow the liquidation of the impostor to be completed. This helped the impostor to leave and gain a foothold in Putivl, under the protection of Zaporizhzhya and Don Cossacks. Part of the Cossacks sent to protect Kromy and distract the royal troops. They coped with this task — a small Cossack detachment until the spring was shackled by troops sent against False Dmitry. The tsarist troops, instead of besieging the False Dmitry in its temporary capital, were losing time, storming Kromy and Rylsk. Unable to take Rylsk, Mstislavsky decided to disband his troops into "winter apartments", reporting to Moscow that siege artillery was needed to capture the fortress. The king abolished the dissolution of the army, causing discontent of the soldiers. The wall was sent to the army. Also, Godunov recalled from the army of Mstislavsky and Shuisky, which further offended them. And he appointed a distinguished Basmanov, to whom the king promised to marry his daughter, Xenia. In addition, the royal governor unleashed a brutal terror, destroying everyone indiscriminately as sympathizing with an impostor. This led to generalized bitterness and caused a split among the nobility, which was previously largely committed to the Godunov dynasty. Residents of the insurgent cities, being witnesses of terror, stood to the last. In Moscow, by denunciations, they seized on torture and reprisals of sympathizers with “thieves”, this embittered the Muscovites.
The royal army firmly bogged down under Kromy. Ataman Karela with the Cossacks stood to death. Nothing remained of the town, walls and houses burned down from the bombing. But the Cossacks kept, dug under the walls of the tunnels and holes, where they waited for the shelling and slept and met with fire with attacks. The tsarist troops in the battle did not particularly rush, did not want to die. Vasiliy Golitsyn, an enemy of the Godunov family, remained commanding between the departure of the former command and the arrival of the new, did not show zeal. The royal army decomposed from idleness, suffered from dysentery and read the anonymous letters of anonymous. Still, the impostor's troops were doomed, sooner or later they would have been crushed.
At this critical moment, when the invasion plan could finally collapse, on April 13, Tsar Boris suddenly died. The heir to the throne was his 16-year-old son Fedor. The death of the king was completely unexpected and occurred under strange circumstances. Boris was healthy and apparently he was helped to die. The actual rulers of the young king were his mother Maria Skuratova and Semyon Godunov, whom everyone hated. They also offended the ambitious Basmanov, making him only the second commander.
Boyars immediately conspired against the young king. Many nobles began to leave the camp near Kromy, ostensibly for a royal funeral, but many left for an impostor. And in the royal camp itself, the leaders of the Ryazan noble militia, Prokopy and Zakhar Lyapunov, conspired. He was joined by the offended Basmanov and Golitsyn. As a result, on May 7, the Tsarist army headed by voivod Peter Basmanov and the princes Golitsyn went over to the side of the impostor. Having learned about the change in the situation, the Poles again rushed to the impostor into the army. The impostor triumphantly marched on Moscow. He stopped in Tula, sending a detachment of Cossacks of Karelia to the capital.
Envoys of the False Dmitry 1 Jun read out his message. The uprising began. Tsar Fedor, his mother and sister were arrested, their relatives were killed or exiled. Patriarch Job was deposed by putting Greek Ignatius in his place of compromiser. Shortly before the impostor entered Moscow, the king and his mother were strangled. Before entering Moscow, the false Dmitriy expressed a wish: "It is necessary that Fedor and his mother should not be either." It was officially announced that the king and his mother were poisoned.
KF Lebedev The entry of the False Dmitry I troops into Moscow
Impostor policy
June 20 "real king" surrounded by boyars-traitors, with a strong convoy of Polish mercenaries and Cossacks arrived in Moscow. Initially, the new king was marked by favors. Many "faithful" were given a reward, a double salary was paid to boyars and okolnichy. The boyars who were in disgrace under the Godunovs returned from exile. They returned the property. They even brought back Vasily Shuisky and his brothers, who were exiled because of a conspiracy directed against False Dmitry. Forgiveness was received by all relatives of Filaret Romanov (Fedor Romanov), who were also subjected to opal under the Godunovs. Filaret himself received an important post - the Metropolitan of Rostov. A touching meeting of “Dmitry” with her mother Maria Nagoy was played - she was kept in a monastic imprisonment and chose to “find out” him in order to get out of prison and return to social life. Servicemen have doubled their maintenance, landowners have increased land holdings, due to land and monetary confiscations from monasteries. In the south of the Russian state, which supported the impostor in the fight against Moscow, the collection of taxes was abolished for 10 years. However, this holiday of life (for six months it wasted 7,5 million rubles, with annual income in 1,5 million rubles) had to be paid by others. Therefore, in other areas taxes increased significantly, which caused new unrest.
The new king, who distributed many promises, was forced to somewhat ease the pressure on the people. The peasants were allowed to leave the landlords if they did not feed them during the famine. Banned hereditary entry into slaves; The slave was supposed to serve only the one to whom he had “sold himself”, which translated them into the position of hired servants. Established the exact date of the search for runaway - 5 years. Those who fled during the famine were assigned to the new landowners, that is, those who fed them in difficult times. Legislatively banned bribery. To reduce abuses in collecting taxes, the new king ordered the “lands” themselves to send the corresponding amounts with elected people to the capital. The bribe takers were ordered to be punished; noblemen could not be beaten, but heavy fines were imposed on them. The king tried to attract ordinary people to his side, took petitions, often walked the streets, talking with merchants, artisans and other ordinary people. He stopped the pursuit of buffoons (remnants of paganism), stopped prohibiting songs and dances, maps, chess.
At the same time, the False Dmitry began active Westernization. The new king removed the obstacles to leaving the Russian state and moving within it. No other European state has yet known such freedom in this matter. He ordered the Duma to be called the “senate”. He introduced the Polish ranks of a swordsman, a subchief, a subcarbarian, and he himself assumed the title of emperor (Caesar). The "secret office" of the king consisted exclusively of foreigners. When the king was created personal guard of foreigners, which ensured his safety. The fact that the king surrounded himself with foreigners and Poles, dismissed the Russian guards, insulted and outraged many. In addition, the new king challenged the church. Monk False Dmitry did not like, called "parasites" and "hypocrites." He was going to make an inventory of the monastic property and select all the "extra". Provided freedom of conscience to subjects.
In foreign policy he anticipated the actions of the princess Sophia with Prince Golitsyn and Tsar Peter — he was preparing for a war with Turkey and the seizure of Azov at the mouth of the Don. He planned to repel the Swedes from Narva. I was looking for allies in the West. He especially hoped for the support of the Pope of Rome and Poland, as well as the German Emperor and Venice. But he did not receive serious support from Rome and Poland because of the refusal to fulfill earlier given promises on the assignment of lands and the spread of the Catholic faith. The false Dmitry understood that serious concessions to Poland would undermine his position in Moscow. Polish Ambassador Korvin-Gonsevsky said that he could not make territorial concessions to the Commonwealth, as he had previously promised, and offered to pay for help with money. The Catholics were granted freedom of religion, as were other Christians (Protestants). But the Jesuits were banned from entering Russia.
However, very soon Muscovites felt deceived. The aliens behaved in Moscow as in a captured city. The Englishman D. Horsey wrote: "The Poles - an arrogant nation, arrogant in happiness - began to show their power over the Russian boyars, intervened in the Orthodox religion, broke laws, tortured, oppressed, robbed, devastated treasuries." In addition, people were unhappy that the tsar was violating Russian customs in everyday life and clothes (he was wearing a foreign dress), was disposed towards foreigners, and was going to marry a Polish girl.
In winter, the situation of the False Dmitri worsened. There was a rumor among the people that “the king is not real”, but a runaway monk. The Russian boyars, who wished to see their toy in the False Dmitry, had miscalculated. Gregory showed an independent mind and will. In addition, the boyars did not want to share power with the Poles and the "artistic". Vasily Shuisky almost directly stated that the False Dmitry was imprisoned in the kingdom for the sole purpose of dumping the Godunov family, now it is time to change it. Know made up a new conspiracy. At its head were the princes Shuisky, Mstislavsky, Golitsyn, boyars Romanov, Sheremetev, Tatishchev. They were supported by the church, offended by large exactions.
In January, 1606, a detachment of conspirators broke into the palace and tried to kill the king. However, the murderers acted ineptly, made noises, gave themselves away. The attempt failed. Seven conspirators were seized, torn by the crowd.
Insurrection
False Dmitry himself dug his grave. On the one hand, he flirted with the Boyar Duma, tried to attract service people to his side, and distributed court titles and posts. On the other hand, gave new reasons for discontent. 24 April 1606, with Yuri Mnishek and his daughter Marina, many Poles arrived in Moscow - about 2 thousand people. On the gifts of the bride and her father, a noble panam and gentry impostor allocated huge sums. Only a jewelry box donated to Marina cost about 500 thousand gold rubles and another 100 thousand sent to Poland to pay debts. Balls, dinners and festivals followed one after the other.
May 8 False Dmitry celebrated his wedding with Marina. The Catholic was crowned with the royal crown, which angered the people. Indignation caused and violation of customs during the ceremony. The capital is boiling over. The false Dmitry continued to feast, although he was told about the plot and preparation of the uprising. He thoughtlessly dismissed the warning, threatening to punish the scammers themselves. False Dmitry celebrated and walked away from public affairs. And spree Poles insulted Muscovites. Ban Stadnitsky recalled: "The Muscovites were very sick of the debauchery of the Poles, who began to treat them like their subjects, attacked them, quarreled with them, insulted, beat, drunk, and raped married women and girls." The ground for rebellion was created.
A rebellion broke out on the night of May 17 (27). Shuya named the king reduced his personal security in the palace from 100 to 30 people, ordered to open prisons and extradite weapon the crowd. Even earlier, the Cossacks loyal to the Tsar were sent to Yelets (a war was being prepared with the Ottoman Empire). At two o'clock, when the king and his associates slept off from the next feast, they sounded the alarm. Boyarsky servants, as well as citizens, armed with cold weapons, food and even cannons, from different parts of Moscow attacked the detachments of Polish lords who had taken refuge in the stone palaces of the capital. And the people were deceived again, Shuisky started a rumor that “Lithuania” wants to kill the king, and demanded that Muscovites rise to his defense. While the townspeople smashed the Poles and other foreigners, a crowd of conspirators led by Vasily Shuysky and the Golitsyns broke into the Kremlin. Quickly breaking the resistance of the mercenaries-halberdschik from the impostor’s personal guards, they broke into the palace. Voivod Peter Basmanov, who became the closest associate, False Dmitry, tried to stop the crowd, but was killed.
The impostor tried to flee through the window, but fell and was wounded. He was picked up by archers from the Kremlin guard. He asked for protection from conspirators, promised a great reward, estates and property of the rebels. Therefore, the archers first tried to defend the king. In response, the henchmen of Tatishchev and Shuisky promised the archers to execute their wives and children if they did not betray the "thief." Sagittarius hesitated, but still demanded that Queen Martha confirmed that Dmitry was her son, otherwise “God is free in him.” The conspirators did not have the advantage in forces and were forced to agree. While the messenger went to Martha for an answer, they tried to make the False Dmitry admit their guilt. However, he stood to the end and insisted that he was the son of Grozny. The returned messenger, Prince Ivan Golitsyn, shouted that Martha allegedly said that her son had been killed in Uglich. The rebels immediately killed False Dmitry.
Several hundred Poles were killed. Shuisky saved the rest. He sent troops to calm the raging people and take the Poles who were fighting back in their courtyards under protection. Captured Poles were exiled to various Russian cities. Pan Mnishek and Marina were sent to Yaroslavl.
The bodies of the murdered king and Basmanov were subjected to the so-called. "Trade penalty". They first lay in the mud, and then were thrown on the block (or table). Everyone could subject their bodies to shame. I must say that the death of the impostor caused a mixed reaction. Many ordinary people felt sorry for the king. Therefore, it was announced that the impostor was an idolater and "warlock" (sorcerer). First, False Dmitry and Basmanov were buried. But immediately after the funeral, severe frosts struck, destroying grass in the meadows and already sown grain. There were rumors that the dead witch was to blame, saying that he was "walking dead." As a result, the body of the False Dmitry was dug out and burned, and the ashes, mixed with gunpowder, were fired from a cannon in the direction of Poland.
S.A. Kirillov. Sketch for the painting “Time of Troubles. False Dmitry
Three days after the death of Lzhedmitriya, a well-known boyar prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky (Shuiskies - descendants of the Suzdal branch of Rurikovich), the organizer of the conspiracy against the impostor, was “elected” the king. According to the Russian laws and traditions, the tsar was to elect the Zemsky Sobor. But in the provinces, faith in the “good king” Dmitry still lived. He managed to promise a lot of things, but did not have time to harm. Therefore, the conspirators decided to "elect" the king themselves to put all before the fact.
There were four contenders. Son of Filaret - 9-year-old Michael, by a majority vote in the Boyar Duma rejected for his early years. Indecisive and helpless Mstislavsky refused himself. And Vasily Golitsyn and for nobility of the clan and for his role in the conspiracy He gave way to Vasily Shuisky. This candidate and won. For personal qualities, this was a cunning and unprincipled politician. To avoid friction with other boyars, Shuisky compromised with the boyars and undertook to solve the most important issues only with the Duma and not repress anyone without her permission. Boyars, knowing that Shuisky is not popular among the people, did not dare to convene the Zemsky Sobor for the election of the king. They brought Shuisky to the place of execution, and “shouted” him to the king in front of the assembled citizens. In Moscow, he was respected and supported. Pretending that the present townspeople, merchants and servicemen from other cities are their delegates, the Boyar Duma informed the state about the election of Shuya Cathedral.
Thus, Smoot continued. The protege of the West was killed, but a handful of noble boyars, unprincipled and greedy, seized power. The common people, who had thrown off the impostor, found themselves in even greater bondage than under Godunov. Mass search and runaway peasants, who fled from the yoke of the boyars and landlords, began, the prisons were filled with "seditious". Therefore, the broad popular movement continued.
October 13 1604, the Falsdmitry units launched an invasion of the Russian state through the Seversk Ukraine. This direction of invasion allowed to avoid strong frontier battles, since the region at that time was covered by unrest and uprisings caused by the “excesses” of the Godunov government. It also helped the impostor to replenish the army with Cossacks and runaway peasants, since the local population believed in the "good king" and expected him to get rid of excessive oppression. In addition, this direction of movement of the impostor’s army to Moscow made it possible to avoid a meeting with such a powerful fortress as Smolensk. The impostor troops had practically no artillery, and without it, it was impossible to storm strong fortresses.
“Lovely letters” and appeals to the Seversky cities did their job. The "real king" called the people to revolt against usurper Boris and to restore justice. Seversky Krai was full of refugees who fled from hunger and persecution. Therefore, the appearance of the "real king" was perceived positively. The signal for the widespread uprising was the surrender of Putivl, the only stone fortress in the region. The men of the vast and rich Komaritsky volost, which belonged to the royal family, rose. Then many southern cities refused to obey Moscow - among them Rylsk, Kursk, Sevsk, Kroma. Thus, the external invasion coincided with the internal civil confrontation caused by the feudal policy of the government.
Actually the basic calculation was based on popular discontent and conspiracy of the boyars. From a military point of view, the impostor’s army had no chance of success. The best time for fighting - summer, was missed, the rainy season began, turning the roads into a swamp, winter was near. Artillery for taking fortresses was not. Money to pay for mercenaries was not enough. The discipline and order in the army was not, the Polish gentry did not respect the impostor. The Crimean horde, which was supposed to attack from the south and tie up the Moscow army, did not march. In such conditions, the False Dmitry army could count only on the raid and the capture of several cities, and not on success in a large campaign.
Government troops under the command of Prince Dmitry Shuisky concentrated near Bryansk and waited for reinforcements. Tsar Boris announced the collection of the Zemstvo militia in Moscow. The Moscow government was waiting for the main blow of the Polish army from Smolensk, and only realizing that it would not be, moved the troops to the south.
21 January 1605 was a decisive battle near the village of Dobrynichi, Komaritskaya volost. The rout was complete: the army of the impostor only killed more than 6 thousand people lost, many prisoners were captured, 15 banners, all artillery and a wagon train. The impostor himself barely escaped. The remaining Poles left him (Mnishek left even earlier). Thus, this battle showed that it was not for nothing that the Poles were afraid of invading the Russian state. In direct combat, the royal troops were a formidable force that easily dispersed the forces of an impostor.
However, the indecisiveness of the royal governors, who stopped the chase, did not allow the liquidation of the impostor to be completed. This helped the impostor to leave and gain a foothold in Putivl, under the protection of Zaporizhzhya and Don Cossacks. Part of the Cossacks sent to protect Kromy and distract the royal troops. They coped with this task — a small Cossack detachment until the spring was shackled by troops sent against False Dmitry. The tsarist troops, instead of besieging the False Dmitry in its temporary capital, were losing time, storming Kromy and Rylsk. Unable to take Rylsk, Mstislavsky decided to disband his troops into "winter apartments", reporting to Moscow that siege artillery was needed to capture the fortress. The king abolished the dissolution of the army, causing discontent of the soldiers. The wall was sent to the army. Also, Godunov recalled from the army of Mstislavsky and Shuisky, which further offended them. And he appointed a distinguished Basmanov, to whom the king promised to marry his daughter, Xenia. In addition, the royal governor unleashed a brutal terror, destroying everyone indiscriminately as sympathizing with an impostor. This led to generalized bitterness and caused a split among the nobility, which was previously largely committed to the Godunov dynasty. Residents of the insurgent cities, being witnesses of terror, stood to the last. In Moscow, by denunciations, they seized on torture and reprisals of sympathizers with “thieves”, this embittered the Muscovites.
The royal army firmly bogged down under Kromy. Ataman Karela with the Cossacks stood to death. Nothing remained of the town, walls and houses burned down from the bombing. But the Cossacks kept, dug under the walls of the tunnels and holes, where they waited for the shelling and slept and met with fire with attacks. The tsarist troops in the battle did not particularly rush, did not want to die. Vasiliy Golitsyn, an enemy of the Godunov family, remained commanding between the departure of the former command and the arrival of the new, did not show zeal. The royal army decomposed from idleness, suffered from dysentery and read the anonymous letters of anonymous. Still, the impostor's troops were doomed, sooner or later they would have been crushed.
At this critical moment, when the invasion plan could finally collapse, on April 13, Tsar Boris suddenly died. The heir to the throne was his 16-year-old son Fedor. The death of the king was completely unexpected and occurred under strange circumstances. Boris was healthy and apparently he was helped to die. The actual rulers of the young king were his mother Maria Skuratova and Semyon Godunov, whom everyone hated. They also offended the ambitious Basmanov, making him only the second commander.
Boyars immediately conspired against the young king. Many nobles began to leave the camp near Kromy, ostensibly for a royal funeral, but many left for an impostor. And in the royal camp itself, the leaders of the Ryazan noble militia, Prokopy and Zakhar Lyapunov, conspired. He was joined by the offended Basmanov and Golitsyn. As a result, on May 7, the Tsarist army headed by voivod Peter Basmanov and the princes Golitsyn went over to the side of the impostor. Having learned about the change in the situation, the Poles again rushed to the impostor into the army. The impostor triumphantly marched on Moscow. He stopped in Tula, sending a detachment of Cossacks of Karelia to the capital.
Envoys of the False Dmitry 1 Jun read out his message. The uprising began. Tsar Fedor, his mother and sister were arrested, their relatives were killed or exiled. Patriarch Job was deposed by putting Greek Ignatius in his place of compromiser. Shortly before the impostor entered Moscow, the king and his mother were strangled. Before entering Moscow, the false Dmitriy expressed a wish: "It is necessary that Fedor and his mother should not be either." It was officially announced that the king and his mother were poisoned.
KF Lebedev The entry of the False Dmitry I troops into Moscow
Impostor policy
June 20 "real king" surrounded by boyars-traitors, with a strong convoy of Polish mercenaries and Cossacks arrived in Moscow. Initially, the new king was marked by favors. Many "faithful" were given a reward, a double salary was paid to boyars and okolnichy. The boyars who were in disgrace under the Godunovs returned from exile. They returned the property. They even brought back Vasily Shuisky and his brothers, who were exiled because of a conspiracy directed against False Dmitry. Forgiveness was received by all relatives of Filaret Romanov (Fedor Romanov), who were also subjected to opal under the Godunovs. Filaret himself received an important post - the Metropolitan of Rostov. A touching meeting of “Dmitry” with her mother Maria Nagoy was played - she was kept in a monastic imprisonment and chose to “find out” him in order to get out of prison and return to social life. Servicemen have doubled their maintenance, landowners have increased land holdings, due to land and monetary confiscations from monasteries. In the south of the Russian state, which supported the impostor in the fight against Moscow, the collection of taxes was abolished for 10 years. However, this holiday of life (for six months it wasted 7,5 million rubles, with annual income in 1,5 million rubles) had to be paid by others. Therefore, in other areas taxes increased significantly, which caused new unrest.
The new king, who distributed many promises, was forced to somewhat ease the pressure on the people. The peasants were allowed to leave the landlords if they did not feed them during the famine. Banned hereditary entry into slaves; The slave was supposed to serve only the one to whom he had “sold himself”, which translated them into the position of hired servants. Established the exact date of the search for runaway - 5 years. Those who fled during the famine were assigned to the new landowners, that is, those who fed them in difficult times. Legislatively banned bribery. To reduce abuses in collecting taxes, the new king ordered the “lands” themselves to send the corresponding amounts with elected people to the capital. The bribe takers were ordered to be punished; noblemen could not be beaten, but heavy fines were imposed on them. The king tried to attract ordinary people to his side, took petitions, often walked the streets, talking with merchants, artisans and other ordinary people. He stopped the pursuit of buffoons (remnants of paganism), stopped prohibiting songs and dances, maps, chess.
At the same time, the False Dmitry began active Westernization. The new king removed the obstacles to leaving the Russian state and moving within it. No other European state has yet known such freedom in this matter. He ordered the Duma to be called the “senate”. He introduced the Polish ranks of a swordsman, a subchief, a subcarbarian, and he himself assumed the title of emperor (Caesar). The "secret office" of the king consisted exclusively of foreigners. When the king was created personal guard of foreigners, which ensured his safety. The fact that the king surrounded himself with foreigners and Poles, dismissed the Russian guards, insulted and outraged many. In addition, the new king challenged the church. Monk False Dmitry did not like, called "parasites" and "hypocrites." He was going to make an inventory of the monastic property and select all the "extra". Provided freedom of conscience to subjects.
In foreign policy he anticipated the actions of the princess Sophia with Prince Golitsyn and Tsar Peter — he was preparing for a war with Turkey and the seizure of Azov at the mouth of the Don. He planned to repel the Swedes from Narva. I was looking for allies in the West. He especially hoped for the support of the Pope of Rome and Poland, as well as the German Emperor and Venice. But he did not receive serious support from Rome and Poland because of the refusal to fulfill earlier given promises on the assignment of lands and the spread of the Catholic faith. The false Dmitry understood that serious concessions to Poland would undermine his position in Moscow. Polish Ambassador Korvin-Gonsevsky said that he could not make territorial concessions to the Commonwealth, as he had previously promised, and offered to pay for help with money. The Catholics were granted freedom of religion, as were other Christians (Protestants). But the Jesuits were banned from entering Russia.
However, very soon Muscovites felt deceived. The aliens behaved in Moscow as in a captured city. The Englishman D. Horsey wrote: "The Poles - an arrogant nation, arrogant in happiness - began to show their power over the Russian boyars, intervened in the Orthodox religion, broke laws, tortured, oppressed, robbed, devastated treasuries." In addition, people were unhappy that the tsar was violating Russian customs in everyday life and clothes (he was wearing a foreign dress), was disposed towards foreigners, and was going to marry a Polish girl.
In winter, the situation of the False Dmitri worsened. There was a rumor among the people that “the king is not real”, but a runaway monk. The Russian boyars, who wished to see their toy in the False Dmitry, had miscalculated. Gregory showed an independent mind and will. In addition, the boyars did not want to share power with the Poles and the "artistic". Vasily Shuisky almost directly stated that the False Dmitry was imprisoned in the kingdom for the sole purpose of dumping the Godunov family, now it is time to change it. Know made up a new conspiracy. At its head were the princes Shuisky, Mstislavsky, Golitsyn, boyars Romanov, Sheremetev, Tatishchev. They were supported by the church, offended by large exactions.
In January, 1606, a detachment of conspirators broke into the palace and tried to kill the king. However, the murderers acted ineptly, made noises, gave themselves away. The attempt failed. Seven conspirators were seized, torn by the crowd.
Insurrection
False Dmitry himself dug his grave. On the one hand, he flirted with the Boyar Duma, tried to attract service people to his side, and distributed court titles and posts. On the other hand, gave new reasons for discontent. 24 April 1606, with Yuri Mnishek and his daughter Marina, many Poles arrived in Moscow - about 2 thousand people. On the gifts of the bride and her father, a noble panam and gentry impostor allocated huge sums. Only a jewelry box donated to Marina cost about 500 thousand gold rubles and another 100 thousand sent to Poland to pay debts. Balls, dinners and festivals followed one after the other.
May 8 False Dmitry celebrated his wedding with Marina. The Catholic was crowned with the royal crown, which angered the people. Indignation caused and violation of customs during the ceremony. The capital is boiling over. The false Dmitry continued to feast, although he was told about the plot and preparation of the uprising. He thoughtlessly dismissed the warning, threatening to punish the scammers themselves. False Dmitry celebrated and walked away from public affairs. And spree Poles insulted Muscovites. Ban Stadnitsky recalled: "The Muscovites were very sick of the debauchery of the Poles, who began to treat them like their subjects, attacked them, quarreled with them, insulted, beat, drunk, and raped married women and girls." The ground for rebellion was created.
A rebellion broke out on the night of May 17 (27). Shuya named the king reduced his personal security in the palace from 100 to 30 people, ordered to open prisons and extradite weapon the crowd. Even earlier, the Cossacks loyal to the Tsar were sent to Yelets (a war was being prepared with the Ottoman Empire). At two o'clock, when the king and his associates slept off from the next feast, they sounded the alarm. Boyarsky servants, as well as citizens, armed with cold weapons, food and even cannons, from different parts of Moscow attacked the detachments of Polish lords who had taken refuge in the stone palaces of the capital. And the people were deceived again, Shuisky started a rumor that “Lithuania” wants to kill the king, and demanded that Muscovites rise to his defense. While the townspeople smashed the Poles and other foreigners, a crowd of conspirators led by Vasily Shuysky and the Golitsyns broke into the Kremlin. Quickly breaking the resistance of the mercenaries-halberdschik from the impostor’s personal guards, they broke into the palace. Voivod Peter Basmanov, who became the closest associate, False Dmitry, tried to stop the crowd, but was killed.
The impostor tried to flee through the window, but fell and was wounded. He was picked up by archers from the Kremlin guard. He asked for protection from conspirators, promised a great reward, estates and property of the rebels. Therefore, the archers first tried to defend the king. In response, the henchmen of Tatishchev and Shuisky promised the archers to execute their wives and children if they did not betray the "thief." Sagittarius hesitated, but still demanded that Queen Martha confirmed that Dmitry was her son, otherwise “God is free in him.” The conspirators did not have the advantage in forces and were forced to agree. While the messenger went to Martha for an answer, they tried to make the False Dmitry admit their guilt. However, he stood to the end and insisted that he was the son of Grozny. The returned messenger, Prince Ivan Golitsyn, shouted that Martha allegedly said that her son had been killed in Uglich. The rebels immediately killed False Dmitry.
Several hundred Poles were killed. Shuisky saved the rest. He sent troops to calm the raging people and take the Poles who were fighting back in their courtyards under protection. Captured Poles were exiled to various Russian cities. Pan Mnishek and Marina were sent to Yaroslavl.
The bodies of the murdered king and Basmanov were subjected to the so-called. "Trade penalty". They first lay in the mud, and then were thrown on the block (or table). Everyone could subject their bodies to shame. I must say that the death of the impostor caused a mixed reaction. Many ordinary people felt sorry for the king. Therefore, it was announced that the impostor was an idolater and "warlock" (sorcerer). First, False Dmitry and Basmanov were buried. But immediately after the funeral, severe frosts struck, destroying grass in the meadows and already sown grain. There were rumors that the dead witch was to blame, saying that he was "walking dead." As a result, the body of the False Dmitry was dug out and burned, and the ashes, mixed with gunpowder, were fired from a cannon in the direction of Poland.
S.A. Kirillov. Sketch for the painting “Time of Troubles. False Dmitry
Three days after the death of Lzhedmitriya, a well-known boyar prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky (Shuiskies - descendants of the Suzdal branch of Rurikovich), the organizer of the conspiracy against the impostor, was “elected” the king. According to the Russian laws and traditions, the tsar was to elect the Zemsky Sobor. But in the provinces, faith in the “good king” Dmitry still lived. He managed to promise a lot of things, but did not have time to harm. Therefore, the conspirators decided to "elect" the king themselves to put all before the fact.
There were four contenders. Son of Filaret - 9-year-old Michael, by a majority vote in the Boyar Duma rejected for his early years. Indecisive and helpless Mstislavsky refused himself. And Vasily Golitsyn and for nobility of the clan and for his role in the conspiracy He gave way to Vasily Shuisky. This candidate and won. For personal qualities, this was a cunning and unprincipled politician. To avoid friction with other boyars, Shuisky compromised with the boyars and undertook to solve the most important issues only with the Duma and not repress anyone without her permission. Boyars, knowing that Shuisky is not popular among the people, did not dare to convene the Zemsky Sobor for the election of the king. They brought Shuisky to the place of execution, and “shouted” him to the king in front of the assembled citizens. In Moscow, he was respected and supported. Pretending that the present townspeople, merchants and servicemen from other cities are their delegates, the Boyar Duma informed the state about the election of Shuya Cathedral.
Thus, Smoot continued. The protege of the West was killed, but a handful of noble boyars, unprincipled and greedy, seized power. The common people, who had thrown off the impostor, found themselves in even greater bondage than under Godunov. Mass search and runaway peasants, who fled from the yoke of the boyars and landlords, began, the prisons were filled with "seditious". Therefore, the broad popular movement continued.
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