Early 17th century - This troubled times for Russia. Several lean years and general dissatisfaction with the reign of Boris Godunov made rumors about the miraculous rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry popular in the country. A convenient moment was seized by a man who appeared in Poland in 1601, later known as False Dmitry the First.

False Dmitry 1 whose brief biography (according to the official version) reports that he comes from the family of Bogdan Otrepyev, was a fugitive deacon of the Chudov Monastery. Posing as a miraculously saved prince, he was supported by the Polish aristocracy, as well as representatives of the Catholic clergy. In the following years, 1603-1604, preparations began in Poland for his "return" to the Russian throne. During this period, False Dmitry 1 secretly accepts the Catholic faith, promises to introduce Catholicism in Russia, to help his Sigismund 3 in a conflict with Sweden, Poland - to give Smolensk and Seversk lands, and so on.

With the Polish-Lithuanian detachment, in the fall of 1604, False Dmitry crossed the borders of Russia in the Chernigov region. It should be noted that in many respects the success of the adventure was facilitated by the uprisings of the peasants that broke out in the southern lands. False Dmitry 1 eventually managed to strengthen his position in Putivl. After the death of Boris Godunov and the transition of his army to the side of the impostor, during the uprising that began on June 1, 1605 in Moscow, Tsar Fedor 2 Borisovich was overthrown. False Dmitry entered Moscow on June 30 (according to the new style), 1605. The next day he was crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The reign of False Dmitry 1 began with attempts to pursue an independent policy. In an effort to enlist the support of noble families, the impostor established land and monetary salaries for them. Funds for this were taken by revising the rights to the lands of the monasteries. Some concessions were also made to the peasants. So the southern regions of the country were exempted from taxes for 10 years. But the Pretender failed to win over either the entire aristocracy or the peasants. The general increase in taxes and the sending of the promised money to Poland led as early as 1606 to a peasant-Cossack uprising. Force was not used to suppress it, but False Dmitry made certain concessions, and included articles on the peasant exit in the Consolidated Code of Laws.

The impostor who had received power was in no hurry to fulfill the promises given to Sigismund 3, which led to a sharp deterioration in relations. The crisis situation has also developed in domestic politics. All this created the conditions for the boyar conspiracy, headed by Shuisky. False Dmitry was killed during a riot of townspeople against the impostor and Maria Mnishek who had gathered to celebrate the wedding. The body, originally buried outside the Serpukhov Gates, was later burned, and the ashes were fired from a cannon towards Poland.

Already in the next 1607, False Dmitry 2 appeared, nicknamed the Tushinsky thief. Supported by the Poles and declaring himself a miraculously saved False Dmitry 1, he marched on Moscow. Very little is known about the biography of False Dmitry 2. The only reliable fact is that he really looked like the first impostor. False Dmitry 2, who entered the Russian land, supported the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov, but his troops and the army of the rebels failed to unite near Tula.

In 1608, the army that moved towards Moscow, having defeated Shuisky's regiments, fortified itself in Tushino. Since the autumn of the same year, having laid siege to Moscow, the Tushinos engaged in pogroms and robberies. This situation continued for 2 years. Unable to repulse the impostor, Shuisky concludes an agreement with the ruler of Sweden (1609), according to which he promises Karelian military assistance in exchange. The commander of the Swedish troops is the tsar's nephew Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, who turned out to be a gifted commander. This gave Poland an excuse to intervene and openly attack Russian lands. Smolensk, besieged by their troops, defended itself for 20 months.

The appearance of the Swedish army provoked the flight of False Dmitry to Kaluga, and his former associates crowned the son of Sigismund Vladislav. The camp in Tushino was empty by the spring of 1610. Great hopes were pinned on Skopin-Shuisky, but the commander died in the same year under rather strange circumstances. His place was taken by V. Shuisky and the army was defeated in June 1610. False Dmitry 2 again had the hope of taking the throne and he moved to Moscow. However, already in August 1610, the reign of False Dmitry 2 ended. He again fled to Kaluga, where he was killed.

The biography of False Dmitry 1 still excites the minds of historians. The impostor who managed to seize the throne was an amazing person. Taking advantage of the turmoil in Russia, False Dmitry, under the auspices of the Polish ruler Sigismund, became the king of a great power.

Grigory Otrepiev is the real name of False Dmitry the First. He came from slaves. Gregory received a good education, and his father chose a spiritual order for his son. Gregory decided not to submit to fate and fled from the Chudov Monastery in 1601. A fortunate combination of circumstances helped the failed monk. He found support in the Pope and the ruler of Poland. He promised the first to spread the Catholic faith in Russia, and the second was lured by the idea that the domestic policy of a strong power would be in his hands.

The campaign of False Dmitry 1 against Moscow was well thought out. And the difficult period for Russia, when the people suffered from hunger, and the aristocracy was dissatisfied with the political views of the current government, played into the hands of the impostor. With a small detachment of soldiers, Grigory Otrepyev entered the Russian land. And since he called himself the rightful heir to the throne, the miraculously surviving Tsarevich Dmitry, his detachment was constantly replenished at the expense of peasants passing into the number of his troops. Sudden death was a happy sign for Gregory. Therefore, the overthrow of Fedor, who had not yet managed to gain a foothold on the throne, was an easy task. On June 30, 1605, False Dmitry entered Moscow. His coronation took place the next day. This is how the accession of False Dmitry 1, the first of the impostors in Russian history, happened.

The years of the reign of False Dmitry 1 were short-lived. He stayed on the throne for 11 months. He began his reign by "forgetting" to fulfill the promises he had made to the Pope. It is difficult to imagine how the Russian people, brought up in the Orthodox faith for centuries, could say goodbye to her. This impostor understood. And so he tried his best to thank his Polish patrons. He not only devastated the Russian treasury by returning his debts, but also married Maria Mnishek. The Russian boyars did not tolerate this.

The reign of False Dmitry 1 ended as quickly as it began. The boyars, headed by the Shuiskys, organized a conspiracy. They could not calmly watch how the newly-minted ruler devastates the treasury, giving money abroad. And since sometimes there was not enough money, the peasants were most worried about monthly requisitions. After all, they were promised to return St. George's Day, which, of course, False Dmitry did not revive. And in addition, he also increased the period of search for runaway peasants from five to six years. Discontent surrounded the royal throne from all sides. Therefore, when another impostor appeared in Poland - False Dmitry 2, he was gladly supported by all segments of the population. May 17, 1607, as a result of a conspiracy of the Shuisky boyars, False Dmitry 1 was killed. And to show how the people treat the impostors, his ashes were not allowed to rest in peace. The body of the false king was burned, and the ashes were mixed with gunpowder. And the remains of the former ruler were tucked into a cannon and flew towards Poland, to where the impostor came from.

False Dmitry I (officially - Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich)
Coronation:
Predecessor:	Fedor II Godunov
Successor:	Vasily Shuisky
Religion:	Orthodoxy, converted to Catholicism
Birth:
Dynasty:	Claimed to belong to the Rurikovich
	Marina Mnishek
Autograph:

The death of Tsarevich Dmitry

Grigory Otrepiev

Genuine Dimitri

Other versions

Appearance and character

First mentions

Life in Poland

"Recognition"

False Dmitry at the Polish court

Hike to Russia

Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich

Entry into Moscow

Domestic politics

Foreign policy

Conspiracy and murder of Dmitry

Murder

Posthumous desecration

The image of False Dmitry I in culture

False Dmitry I who officially named himself prince(then tsar) Dmitry Ivanovich, in relations with foreign states - emperor Demetrius(lat. Demetreus Emperor) (d. May 17, 1606) - Tsar of Russia from June 1, 1605, according to the opinion established in historiography - an impostor who pretended to be miraculously saved the youngest son of Ivan IV the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry.

The death of Tsarevich Dmitry

Tsarevich Dmitry died under circumstances that have not been clarified to date - from a knife wound in the throat. His mother accused Dmitri's murder of "Boris's people" in Uglich, Danila Bityagovsky and Nikita Kachalov, who were immediately torn to pieces by a crowd that had risen to the alarm.

Soon after the death of the prince, a government commission headed by Prince Vasily Shuisky appeared in Uglich, which, after interrogating many dozens of witnesses (the investigation file has been preserved), came to the conclusion that it was an accident: the prince allegedly pierced his throat with a knife, playing “poke” (throwing a knife at ground) when he had an epileptic seizure. Despite this, persistent rumors continued to circulate among the people about the involvement in the murder of Boris Godunov and his messengers, and also that the prince had miraculously escaped, which served as the basis for the appearance of the first False Dmitry soon.

Economic and socio-psychological prerequisites for the emergence

The success or failure of any impostor claiming the highest position in a monarchical state is based on several factors. This is the readiness of the upper class to accept it (for example, by opposing the ruler who compromised himself), the faith of the oppressed in the “good king”, “deliverer”, for some reason associated with the applicant, and the ability to gather and subjugate the armed force, ready to support the claims expressed. In False Dmitry I - at least at the first stage of his activity - all these factors were undoubtedly present.

The struggle for power at the top of the Kremlin begins with the accession to the throne of Tsar Fedor, who was weak in body and spirit. Neither the boyars nor the people had respect for him - there is, among other things, the testimony of the Swedish king about this - according to him, "Russians call him "durak" in their own language." It is known that the winner in this struggle was Boris Godunov, who became the de facto ruler of the state. This entailed a belittling of the power of the Boyar Duma, and, accordingly, hidden hostility towards the "upstart".

The death of Dmitry in Uglich and the subsequent death of the childless Tsar Fedor led to a dynastic crisis. Undoubtedly, the chosen king enjoyed the support of the service nobility, and was perhaps the best candidate for the highest role in the state as an intelligent and far-sighted ruler. From the point of view of legitimacy, they remembered that through his sister, who was married to Tsar Fedor, he was related to the Rurik dynasty.

But at the same time, the elected king, from the point of view of the people of that time, was not equal to the hereditary one, who became the ruler "by God's will, and not by human permission." He was also stubbornly blamed for the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, and Boris was doubly to blame - as “ destroyer of royalty" and " autocratic raptor of the throne". The real state of affairs did not correspond to what was desired, and the boyar elite did not fail to take advantage of this.

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 was not without their assistance.

In the last years of his reign, Boris stopped leaving the palace, did not accept petitions and behaved "like a thief who is afraid of being caught."

Trying to reign not only over property and life, but also over the minds of his subjects, he sent out a special prayer throughout the country, which was to be read in every house at the moment when the healthy cup was raised for the king and his family. It is clear that hatred for the Godunovs by the time of his death was universal.

The severe economic crisis that broke out in Russia in the 60-70s of the 16th century was replaced by a temporary revival in the early 90s. The gradual loss of personal freedom by the peasant, the introduction of "forbidden years", when the serf was forbidden to change the owner, led to a huge increase in the number of fugitives, reaching out to the southern parts of the country, replenishing the ranks of the Cossacks. The decrease in the number of taxpayers and the comparatively small capacity of peasant farms led to an increase in the tax burden, in particular, the “royal tax”. The urban population was also in opposition to the authorities, dissatisfied with heavy requisitions, the arbitrariness of local officials and the inconsistency of the government in urban policy. The clash of interests of the feudal state and the nobility, on the one hand, enslaved peasants, hard-working townspeople, serfs and other groups of dependent people, on the other, was the source of the social crisis that gave rise to the Time of Troubles.

The terrible famine of 1601-1603, which struck the whole country with the exception of its southern regions, caused by three lean years in a row, led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people; grain prices have risen tenfold. In the popular mind, this was also perceived as "God's punishment" for the sins of the king. In such conditions, rumors about the "good prince" who was killed or, perhaps, hiding from the executioners sent by Boris, could not help but revive. The ground for the appearance of the impostor was ready.

Versions of the original name and origin

Italian or Wallachian monk

The version was put forward by an eyewitness to the events of the Time of Troubles, the court historiographer of the Swedish King Charles IX, Johan Videkind, the author of a book of memoirs known as the History of the Ten-Year Swedish-Muscovite War.

According to him, the unknown, who claimed the Moscow throne, was a protege of the Poles, who initially tried to either seize or subjugate the Moscow kingdom with his help.

At the same time, Widekind confirms that this unknown person was a monk, then, having escaped from the monastery, ended up in Russia, and, having changed several more monasteries in Kyiv and Volhynia, introduced himself to Konstantin Vishnevetsky.

Widekind does not provide confirmation of his version; on the other hand, his book contains a lot of erroneous information and retold rumors, in particular, that the Terrible intended the throne to his youngest son, and Fedor seized it with the help of Godunov, removing the legitimate heir, and Dmitry was subsequently imprisoned in the Uglich monastery, where he was killed by people specially sent for this purpose.

Also speaking about Jewishness, Widekind apparently confuses False Dmitry I with the second impostor, who was indeed often referred to in the documents of that time as the "baptized Jew Bogdanka."

Currently the version has no followers.

Illegitimate son of Stefan Batory

The version was put forward by Konrad Bussov, a German mercenary in the Russian service, another eyewitness to the Time of Troubles. According to him, the intrigue began in Moscow, among the nobility dissatisfied with the rule of Boris. At her instigation, a certain Grigory Otrepiev, a monk of the Chudov Monastery, fled to the Dnieper with the task of finding and presenting to the Polish court a suitable impostor who could play the role of the deceased prince.

The same Otrepyev, according to Bussov, gave the pectoral cross with the name of Dimitri to the impostor he had taught and subsequently recruited people for him in the Wild Field.

Modern followers of the theory of the Polish origin of the impostor draw attention to his “too easy” entry into the country, where even one of the most dexterous tsarist diplomats, the clerk Afanasy Vlasyev, seemed clumsy and uneducated “Muscovite” his ability to deftly dance and ride, shoot and wield a saber, as well as his allegedly “non-Moscow” dialect, despite the fact that, according to the surviving information, he spoke Polish quite fluently. Opponents, in turn, point out that False Dmitry I, whoever he was, wrote with horrific mistakes in Polish and Latin, which at that time was a compulsory subject for any educated Pole (in particular, the word "emperor" in his the letter turned into “inparatur”, and he had to translate the Latin speech of Rangoni), as well as a visible commitment to Orthodoxy. They also point to the distrust of the Poles and the pope himself, who directly compared the “surviving prince” with the false Sebastian of Portugal.

Grigory Otrepiev

The identification of False Dmitry I with the fugitive monk of the Chudov Monastery, Grigory Otrepiev, was first put forward as an official version by the government of Boris Godunov in his correspondence with King Sigismund. Currently, this version has the most supporters.

Despite the fact that the “letters” sent to Poland bear traces of tendentious falsification (in particular, they said that like he was in the world, and because of his villainy, he did not listen to his father, fell into heresy, and stole, stole, played grain, and frolicked, and ran away from his father many times, and stole, tonsured at the blueberry ... and further, as if Otrepiev apostatized from God, fell into heresy and into the black book, and the invocation of unclean spirits and renunciation of God was taken from him) - the reason for these manipulations is quite clear. They tried to convince the Polish government that there was and could not be any real power behind the impostor, and therefore it was not worth supporting a plan that was doomed to failure in advance.

The real Yuri (in monasticism - Grigory) Otrepiev belonged to the noble, but impoverished family of the Nelidovs, immigrants from Lithuania, one of whose representatives, David Fariseev, received from Ivan III the unflattering nickname "Otrepiev". It is believed that Yuri was a year or two older than the prince. Born in Galich (Kostroma volost). Yuri's father, Bogdan, was forced to rent land from Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin (grandfather of the future Tsar Mikhail), whose estate was right next door. He died in a drunken brawl when both sons, Yuri and his younger brother Vasily, were still small, so his widow was engaged in raising his sons. The child turned out to be very capable, easily learned to read and write, and his successes were such that it was decided to send him to Moscow, where he later entered the service of Mikhail Nikitich Romanov. Fleeing from the "death penalty" during the massacre of the Romanov circle, he took the vows in the Zheleznoborkovsky monastery, located not far from the parental estate. However, the simple and unpretentious life of a provincial monk did not attract him: after wandering around the monasteries, he eventually returned to the capital, where, under the patronage of his grandfather, Elizary Zamyatny, he entered the aristocratic Chudov Monastery. There, a literate monk is noticed quite quickly, and he becomes a "cross clerk": he is engaged in the correspondence of books and is present as a scribe in the "Tsar's Duma".

It is there, according to the official version put forward by the Godunov government, that the future applicant begins preparation for his role; there are testimonies of the Chudov monks that he asked them about the details of the murder of the prince, as well as about the rules and etiquette of court life. Later, if you believe the official version, the “black Grishka” begins to boast very imprudently that he will someday take the royal throne. Metropolitan Jonah of Rostov conveys this boast to the tsar's ears, and Boris orders the monk to be sent to the distant Kirillov Monastery, but the clerk Smirnoy-Vasiliev, who was entrusted with this, at the request of another clerk, Semyon Efimiev, postponed the execution of the order, then completely forgot about him, it is still unknown warned by whom, Gregory flees to Galich, then to Murom, to the Borisoglebsky monastery and further - on a horse received from the abbot, through Moscow to the Commonwealth, where he declares himself "a miraculously saved prince."

It is noted that this flight suspiciously coincides with the time of the defeat of the "Romanov circle", it is also noted that Otrepyev was patronized by someone strong enough to save him from arrest and give him time to escape. False Dmitry himself, while in Poland, once made a reservation that he was helped by the clerk V. Shchelkalov, who was also then persecuted by Tsar Boris.

A serious argument in favor of the identity of False Dmitry I with Otrepyev is considered to be a watercolor portrait of the impostor, discovered in 1966 in Darmstadt by the American researcher F. Babur. The portrait has a Latin inscription "Demetrius Iwanowice Magnus Dux Moschoviae 1604. Aetatis swem 23", that is, "Dmitry Ivanovich Grand Duke of Muscovy 1604. At the age of 23". The inscription was made with characteristic mistakes - the same ones that S. P. Ptashicky drew attention to - confusion between the letters "z" and "e" when writing Polish words. The portrait is important, if only because the real prince, had he remained alive, would have turned 22 in 1602, while Otrepiev was a year or two older than him.

Attention is also drawn to the letter of False Dmitry to Patriarch Job, richly equipped with Church Slavonicisms (which indicates the church education of its author) and observations that, it is believed, could only be made by a person who was personally acquainted with the patriarch.

For their part, opponents of such an identification draw attention to the "European education" of the first impostor, which would be difficult to expect from a simple monk, his ability to ride, easily own a horse and a saber.

It is also known that the future Tsar of Moscow took with him a certain monk, whom he passed off as Grigory Otrepiev, thus proving that the letters of Tsar Boris were lying. The objection that this monk was a completely different person - "Elder Leonid" - is brushed aside on the grounds that the "named Otrepyev" showed himself in the end to be a drunkard and a thief, for which he was exiled as an impostor to Yaroslavl - that is, in the neighborhood of the city, where the real Otrepiev began his monastic career - a place more than unsuitable for his "double".

It is also noted that Otrepiev was quite well known in Moscow, personally acquainted with the patriarch and many of the Duma boyars. In addition, during the reign of the impostor, Archimandrite Pafnuty of the Chudov Monastery entered the Kremlin Palace, who would have had no trouble exposing Otrepiev. In addition, the specific appearance of the first impostor (large warts on the face, different lengths of the arms) also complicated the deception.

Genuine Dimitri

The version that the person referred to in historical works as “False Dmitry” was in essence a prince, hidden and secretly transported to Poland, also exists, although it is not popular. Supporters of salvation were, among others, historians of the 19th-early 20th century A.S. Suvorin, K.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Kazimir Valishevsky and others considered this version acceptable. The idea that “ it was easier to save than fake Demetrius”said such a prominent historian as N. Kostomarov. Currently, there are also researchers who share a similar point of view.

The basis of this hypothesis should be considered, apparently, the rumors that began to circulate soon after the death of the prince, that a certain boy, Istomin, was killed, and the real Dimitri was saved and is hiding. Her supporters also consider the message of the English merchant Jerome Horsey, who was then exiled to Yaroslavl for a quarrel with the influential clerk Andrei Shchelkalov, about the arrival of the tsarina's brother, Afanasy Nagogo, who told him the following:

Supporters of this point of view consider the assertions of contemporaries to be especially important, that Dmitry apparently never “played” a certain role, but sincerely considered himself a prince. In particular, he was not afraid of revelations from Poland and after his accession boldly went to aggravate relations with Sigismund, he also very boldly and imprudently pardoned Vasily Shuisky, who was convicted of conspiring against him, although he had an excellent opportunity to get rid of an unwanted witness who had information about what happened in Uglich first hand. It is also considered a serious argument that the former queen publicly recognized her son in the impostor, and finally, that the mother apparently did not make funeral contributions about the soul of the murdered son (that is, she knew that he was alive - to serve a funeral service for the living man was considered a grave sin).

From the point of view of the supporters of the “salvation” hypothesis, the events could look like this - Dmitry was replaced and taken away by Athanasius Nagim to Yaroslavl (perhaps the already mentioned Jerome Horsey took part in this). Later, he took the vows under the name of Leonid in the Iron Bork monastery or was taken to Poland, where he was brought up by the Jesuits. In his place, a certain boy was brought in, who was hastily taught to portray an epileptic seizure, and Volokhov's "mother" picked him up and did the rest.

In order to dispute the fact that the real Dmitri suffered from "epileal illness", which was by no means observed in his deputy, two possible versions are put forward. The first is that the whole story about epilepsy was invented in advance by the queen and her brothers in order to cover the tracks in this way - as the basis it is indicated that information about this disease is contained only in the materials of the investigative file. The second refers to the well-known fact in medicine that seizures of epilepsy can subside by themselves for several years, despite the fact that the patient develops a very definite character warehouse. a combination of generosity and cruelty, sadness and gaiety, distrust with excessive gullibility”- K. Valishevsky discovers all this in the first impostor.

For their part, opponents of the stated hypothesis note that it is based on pure conjecture. The courage of the first impostor can be explained by the fact that he himself sincerely believed in his “royal origin”, meanwhile being a simple tool in the hands of the boyars, who, having overthrown the Godunovs, eventually got rid of him. At the beginning of the 20th century, contributions about the soul of the “murdered Tsarevich Dimitri” made by his mother were found. The nun Martha, the former Empress Maria, recognizing False Dmitry as her son, later renounced him just as easily - explaining her actions by the fact that the impostor threatened her with death. It is assumed that she was also led by hatred for the Godunovs and a desire to return from the impoverished monastery to the royal palace. As regards the "epileptic character" characterized by " viscosity of thoughts, stuckness, slowness, stickiness, sweetness in relations with other persons, malice, special petty accuracy - pedantry, callousness, reduced adaptability to changing conditions, cruelty, a tendency to sharp affects, explosiveness, etc. ”- then modern researchers do not find anything similar in the descriptions relating to the first impostor.

As for the investigative case, it was conducted openly, and the witnesses were interrogated in front of a large gathering of people. It can hardly be assumed that under such conditions the fiction would have gone unnoticed.

It is also noted that in the event of salvation, the direct reason was to immediately send the child to Poland, and not leave him in monasteries, where the killers could find him at any moment.

It is also difficult to accuse the Jesuits of allegedly “saving Demetrius” with a far-reaching goal, to convert Muscovy to Catholicism, since it is known from a letter from Pope Paul V that Franciscan monks converted Dmitry to Catholicism, and he came to the Jesuits much later .

Also cited are the testimonies of Konrad Bussov, a mercenary in the Russian service, who, once talking with the former watchman of the Uglich palace, allegedly heard the following words from him:

The same was allegedly confirmed by Pyotr Basmanov, one of the most loyal people to the impostor, who was killed with him during the uprising:

Other versions

N. Kostomarov assumed that the impostor could come from Western Russia, being the son of some petty Moscow nobleman or the son of a boyar, a fugitive from Moscow, but no facts were found to confirm such a theory. He also believed that the story of Dmitry's salvation was transmitted to this man in a greatly distorted form, in fact, it was difficult to believe that the impostor, whoever he was, would not remember himself at the age of nine. In addition, the successful performance of the “role” does not at all mean faith in it - so False Dmitry easily pretended to regret the Godunovs, while he kept their killer Mikhail Molchanov with him and equipped him for women for pleasure.

An even more original idea was put forward by N. M. Pavlov, who wrote under the pseudonym "Bitsyn". According to him, there were two impostors, one - Grigory Otrepyev, sent from Moscow, the other - an unknown Pole, prepared for his role by the Jesuits. It was the second who played the role of False Dmitry. This version was deemed too artificial and did not receive further circulation.

Sometimes a version is put forward that "Grishka" was in fact one of the illegitimate sons of Grozny, who was given up for education in the Otrepyev family. Again, there is no documentary evidence for this version. Lyudmila Taymasova, in her book “The Tragedy in Uglich” (2006), dedicated to the death of Tsarevich Dmitry and the appearance of the Pretender, sets out the following theory: according to her, the Pretender was the supposedly existing illegitimate son of the Livonian queen and Ivan the Terrible’s niece, Maria Staritskaya, and the king of Poland, Stefan Batory, who was born in 1576.

We can say that there is no definitive answer to the question about the identity of the first impostor yet.

Appearance and character

Judging by the surviving portraits and descriptions of contemporaries, the applicant was short, rather clumsy, his face was round and ugly (two large warts on his forehead and cheek were especially disfiguring), red hair and dark blue eyes.

With a small stature, he was disproportionately broad in the shoulders, had a short "bull" neck, arms of different lengths. Contrary to the Russian custom of wearing a beard and mustache, he had neither.

By nature, he was gloomy and thoughtful, rather awkward, although he was distinguished by remarkable physical strength, for example, he could easily bend a horseshoe.

First mentions

If you believe the so-called. “Izveta Varlaam”, the future applicant, persuaded two more monks to leave with him - Varlaam himself and Misail Povadin, offering them to go on a pilgrimage to Kyiv, to the Pechersky Monastery and further to Jerusalem, to worship the holy places. According to Varlaam's memoirs, future fellow travelers met in Moscow's Icon Row "on Tuesday in the second week of Great Lent" (1602).

Having crossed the Moskva River, the monks hired carts to Volkhov, from there they got to Karachev, then ended up in Novgorod-Seversky. In the Novgorod Transfiguration Monastery they lived for some time, then took a certain “guide” as an escort. Ivashka Semenov, a retired old man"went to Starodub. Then three monks and their guide crossed the Polish border, and through Loev and Lyubets finally got to Kyiv.

Like it or not, it is not known, since Shuisky's people forged the final version of the story of Varlaam, historians have long regarded it as a fraud.

To some extent, Varlaam's version received unexpected confirmation when, in 1851, the priest Amvrosy Dobrotvorsky discovered the so-called. Fasting book of Basil the Great, published in Ostrog in 1594. The book had a gift inscription from Prince K. K. Ostrozhsky stating that on August 14, 1602 he presented it “ us, Grigory, Tsarevich of Moscow, with my brother Varlam and Misail”, and the words “prince of Moscow”, as it is believed, were attributed later.

In any case, it is documented that for the first time traces of the future impostor were found in 1601, in Kyiv, where he appeared in the form of a young monk who came to worship shrines. There is an opinion that it was here that the future applicant made the first attempt to declare himself "Tsarevich of Moscow" - according to Karamzin, leaving a note for the abbot, which he hastened to destroy as too dangerous, according to Skrynnikov - playing the same performance that will be repeated at the court of Adam Vishnevetsky. The applicant pretended to be mortally ill and "discovered" his royal origin in confession. Like it or not, there is no reliable information, but according to Varlaam, the Kyiv hegumen quite unambiguously showed the guests to the door - “ four of you came, four and go».

Then he allegedly lived for a long time in the Dermansky monastery, in Ostrog, which was then the property of Prince Ostrogsky, where a motley society of haters of the “Latin heresy” gathered - Orthodox, Calvinists, Trinitarians and Arians. Later, in a letter to the Polish king dated March 3, 1604, Konstantin Ostrozhsky denied acquaintance with the future applicant, from which mutually exclusive conclusions can be drawn that he either tried to “open up” to the prince and was simply thrown out, or vice versa - he tried to behave as inconspicuously as possible and out of sight. The second seems more likely, since the next stopping point for the applicant was the city of Goshcha, which belonged to the Gaevsky castellan Gavriil Goisky, who at the same time was a marshal at the court of the Ostrog prince. There is an assumption that the future Demetrius asceticized as a kitchen servant, however, or rather, that, throwing off his monastic robe, he studied here for two years in Latin and Polish at the local Arian school. According to Izvet, his companion Varlaam complained that Gregory was behaving unworthy of a monk and asked to call him to order, but received the answer that “ Here the land is free, whoever wants what he believes in.»

Subsequently, traces of the pretender to the throne are lost until 1603. It is believed that during this period he could visit the Zaporizhzhya Sich, establish relations with the ataman Gerasim Evangelik and, under his command, take a course in military affairs. The impostor could not achieve active military support in the Sich, however, there are suggestions that, having established contact with the Don Cossacks, he received the first firm promises of support and assistance.

Life in Poland

"Recognition"

In 1603, the young man showed up in the city of Bragin and entered the service of Prince Adam Vishnevetsky, where he showed himself to be a courteous, secretive and reserved person. There are several versions that contradict each other about how he managed to convey to the prince the version that he was Tsarevich Dmitry saved by the faithful boyars.

According to one of them, Vishnevetsky's servant fell dangerously ill (" sick to death”) or simply pretended to be sick - and demanded a confessor. He allegedly revealed to the priest who came during confession his “royal name” and bequeathed after his death to give to Prince Vishnevetsky the papers that were under the pillow, which were supposed to confirm his words. But the priest, without waiting for this, hurried to Vishnevetsky and conveyed to him what he had heard, and he immediately demanded paper. After examining them, and allegedly verifying their authenticity, Adam Vishnevetsky hurried to the dying servant and directly asked about his true name and origin. This time, the young man did not deny it and showed Vishnevetsky a golden pectoral cross, allegedly given to him by his mother. In addition, according to him, “special signs” served as a guarantee - a large wart on the cheek, a birthmark above the hand and different lengths of the arms.

Interestingly, regarding this cross, there is a record in the so-called. Piskarevsky chronicler, indicating that Otrepiev managed to get into the monastery, where the disgraced queen lived, before fleeing to Poland, and further

Vishnevetsky, still not sure what to make of this story, paid off the best doctors, and Dmitry was eventually brought back to his feet. To test the applicant, he was taken to Bragin, where a Moscow defector, a certain Petrushka, who in Poland bore the surname Piotrovsky, served under the command of Lev Sapieha. Petrushka assured that he had once served in Uglich in the person of the prince. The legend claims that the applicant immediately recognized Petrushka in the crowd of Chelyadins and turned to him - after which, casting aside all doubts, Adam Vishnevetsky surrounded the prince with luxury corresponding to his position.

The second version says that Vishnevetsky by no means singled out the Muscovite from the crowd of servants, and that more than once he had to feel the heavy and quick-tempered princely character. So, once, while in the bathhouse, Vishnevetsky became angry at a servant who was too slow in his opinion, hit him in the face and cursed him with vulgar words. He could not stand such treatment and bitterly reproached the prince that he did not know to whom he had raised his hand. In the future, the legend unfolds like the first.

The last, third, version was put forward by the Italian Bisaccioni, according to his story, False Dmitry revealed himself not to Adam, but to Konstantin Vishnevetsky, when, during a visit to Sambir, being in his retinue, he saw the beautiful and proud Panna Marina Mnishek. Inflamed with love for her and seeing no other way to achieve the goal, he allegedly put on the windowsill a confession of his “royal origin”. Marina immediately informed her father about this, he informed Konstantin Vishnevetsky, and in the end the news that the saved prince had appeared in Poland became public knowledge.

The real reason for the intrigue, apparently, should be considered the fact that in 1600 a truce was concluded between Poland and Muscovy for 20 years, which directly contradicted the desire of the king and the military plans of Adam Vishnevetsky, who saw in the appearance of False Dmitry an opportunity to break the resistance of the Senate (first of all, crown hetman Zamoyski) and begin expansion to the East. Also, one should not forget that Adam and his brother were active defenders of Orthodoxy and represented the oldest branch of the Rurik house.

Which of these versions is correct is not known for certain. It is only documented that at the end of 1603, Konstantin Vishnevetsky - and the applicant with him - actually visited Sambir with Vishnevetsky's father-in-law, Yuri Mnishek. At the same time, Dimitri allowed himself to be converted to Catholicism by the Franciscan friars, perhaps under the influence of love for Yuri's daughter Marina, a devout Catholic, or, as is sometimes believed, in an attempt to achieve an alliance with the Latin clergy, and especially with the powerful Jesuit order.

On the part of Yuri Mnishek and his daughter, participation in the intrigue was determined rather by mercantile and ambitious calculations - Yuri Mnishek was mired in debt, which he expected to pay off at the expense of the Moscow and royal Polish treasuries (in many respects his calculation was justified, since the king, who secretly sided with the impostor , forgave his future father-in-law for arrears. As for Marina, all documents of that time, including her own diaries, testify to extreme arrogance and lust for power, so the hope for the Moscow throne seemed very tempting to her. Dmitry probably loved Marina - since marrying it did not promise any mercantile or political dividends, the Mnishkov family was not noble enough, mired in debt, and Moscow's reaction to the tsar's attempt to marry a "Catholic girl" was quite predictable.

One way or another, the news of the “miraculous salvation” finally reached Moscow and, apparently, greatly alarmed Tsar Boris. It is known that he tried to persuade Vishnevetsky to extradite the applicant, promising to make territorial concessions in exchange. But the deal didn't go through. In 1604, Gregory's uncle, Smirna-Otrepiev, was sent to Krakow on a secret mission to get a confrontation and convict his nephew. The meeting, of course, did not take place, but having become the king of Moscow, Dmitry hastened to send Smirny to Siberian exile.

The pretender's own version of the "miraculous rescue"

Naturally, the question arose of how Tsarevich Dmitry could survive, and who exactly took part in his rescue and flight to Poland. The surviving sources speak of this extremely sparingly, which led I. S. Belyaev to assume that the documents containing information on this subject were destroyed under Vasily Shuisky. A similar point of view was shared by Kazimir Valiszewski.

It is worth noting, however, that False Dmitry's own letters and letters have been preserved, in particular, in the archives of the Vatican. In a letter addressed to Pope Clement VIII dated April 24, 1604, he writes rather vaguely that "... running away from the tyrant and leaving from death, from which the Lord God delivered me in my childhood by his wondrous providence, I first lived in the Muscovite state itself until a certain time among the Chernets". He repeats the same, without giving any details, in letters addressed to the Russian people and written already in Moscow.

A more detailed version is given in her diary by Marina Mnishek. It is believed that this version is closest to how the impostor at the Polish royal court and Yuri Mniszek in Sambir described his "miraculous salvation". Marina writes:

There was a certain doctor, born Vlach, in the presence of the prince. He, having learned about this betrayal, prevented it immediately in this way. He found a child who looked like a prince, took him to his chambers and ordered him to always talk with the prince and even sleep in the same bed. When that child fell asleep, the doctor, without telling anyone, shifted the prince to another bed. And so he did all this with them for a long time. As a result, when the traitors set out to fulfill their plan and broke into the chambers, finding the prince's bedroom there, they strangled another child who was in bed, and carried away the body. After that, the news of the murder of the prince spread, and a great rebellion began. As soon as this became known, they immediately sent for the traitors in pursuit, several dozen of them were killed and the body was taken away. In the meantime, that Vlach, seeing how negligent Fedor, the elder brother, was in his affairs, and the fact that he, the horseman Boris, owned all the land, decided that at least not now, but someday this child would die at the hands of a traitor. He took him secretly and went with him to the very Arctic Sea and hid him there, passing him off as an ordinary child, not announcing anything to him until his death. Then, before his death, he advised the child that he should not open himself to anyone until he reaches adulthood, and that he should become a black man. What, on his advice, the prince fulfilled and lived in monasteries.

Yuri Mnishek retold the same story after his arrest, adding only that the “doctor” gave the saved prince to be raised by some unnamed boyar son, and he, having revealed to the young man his true origin, advised him to hide in the monastery.

The Zhmud nobleman Tovyanovsky already names the doctor's name - Simon, and adds to the story that Boris ordered him to deal with the prince, but he replaced the boy in bed with a servant.

Godunov, undertaking to kill Dimitri, declared his intention as a secret to the prince’s physician, an old German named Simon, who, feigning a word to participate in villainy, asked nine-year-old Dimitri if he had so much spiritual strength to endure exile, disaster and poverty, if Would God please to tempt his firmness? The prince answered: “I have!” and the doctor said: “Tonight they want to kill you. Going to bed, exchange linen with a young servant, your age; put him on your bed, and hide behind the stove: whatever happens in the room, sit silently and wait for me. Dimitri carried out the order. At midnight the door opened; two men entered, stabbed the servant instead of the prince, and fled. At dawn, they saw blood and the dead: they thought that the prince was killed, and they told their mother about it. There was anxiety. The queen threw herself on the corpse and in despair did not find out that the dead lad was not her son. The palace was filled with people: they were looking for murderers; slaughtered the guilty and the innocent; they took the body to the church, and everyone dispersed. The palace was deserted, and at dusk the doctor took Demetrius out of there to flee to Ukraine, to Prince Ivan Mstislavsky, who had lived there in exile since the time of the Ioannovs. A few years later, the doctor and Mstislavsky died, having advised Dimitri to seek safety in Lithuania. The young man joined the wandering monks, was with them in Moscow, in the land of Volosh, and finally appeared in the house of Prince Vishnevetsky.

In the story of the German merchant Georg Paerle, the doctor turns into a teacher, with the same name Simon, and also saves the prince from the hands of the murderers and hides him in the monastery.

In the anonymous document “A Brief Tale of the Misfortune and Happiness of Demetrius, the Present Prince of Moscow”, written in Latin by an unknown, but apparently close to False Dmitry, the foreign doctor already receives the name of Augustine (Augustinus) and is called the name of the “servant” laid to bed instead of the prince - "boy Istomin". In this version of the story, the killers, leaving a knife at the scene of the crime, assure the Uglichians that "the prince killed himself in an attack of epilepsy." The doctor, together with the rescued boy, hides in the monastery "by the Arctic Ocean", where he takes the tonsure, and the matured Dimitri hides there until he escapes to Poland.

The version of a secret substitution, made with the consent of the queen and her brothers, was adhered to by the Frenchman Margeret, the captain of the company of bodyguards under the person of Tsar Demetrius.

It is worth noting that neither a doctor nor a foreign teacher named Augustine or Simon ever existed, moreover, the description of the death of a child who “replaced” the prince sharply differs from what actually happened in Uglich. This is considered additional evidence that whoever the first impostor was, he had nothing to do with the son of Grozny. At the time of his death, the prince was nine years old, and he could hardly forget what really happened.

Also, none of the Mstislavskys has ever lived in Ukraine, and also fugitives from Russian lands usually left not for Catholic Poland, but for Orthodox Lithuania.

It is curious that in some respects the story of salvation, told by False Dmitry, is close to the life story of a real prince, his contemporary, who lived for some time at the Polish court - Prince Gustav of Sweden. The adventurous fate of Gustav, whose true origin is beyond doubt, could serve as one of the components of both the composition of the history of False Dmitry and its success at the Polish court. (By the way, then Gustav will be invited to Moscow to marry Ksenia Godunova, but the wedding will not take place and as a result, Ksenia will become the concubine of the same False Dmitry).

False Dmitry at the Polish court

At the beginning of 1604, the Wisniewiecki brothers, who continued to patronize the applicant, brought him to the court of Sigismund in Krakow. The king gave him a private audience in the presence of the papal nuncio Rangoni, during which he "privately" recognized him as Ivan IV's heir, appointed an annual allowance of 40,000 zlotys, and allowed him to recruit volunteers on Polish territory. In response, promises were received from False Dmitry 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 Sigismund in his claims to the Swedish crown and to promote the rapprochement - and ultimately the merger - between Russia and the Commonwealth.

However, influential magnates opposed the applicant, in particular, the crown hetman Zamoysky, who directly called Dmitry an impostor.

At the same time, the applicant turns to the Pope with a letter promising favor and help, but her style was so ambiguous that it was possible to interpret the promise in the direction of a direct decision to convert Russia to Catholicism, or just endure to give him freedom on an equal basis with other Christians. rumors.

Subsequently, Konstantin Vishnevetsky and Yuri Mnishek, accompanied by the applicant, triumphantly returned to Sambir, where the latter made an official proposal to Marina. It was accepted, but it was decided to postpone the wedding until Dmitry's accession to the throne of Moscow.

Dmitry pledged, among other things, to pay Yuri Mnishk 1 million zlotys, not to embarrass Marina in matters of faith and give her a "vein" - Pskov and Novgorod, and these cities were to remain with her even in case of her "infertility", with the right to distribute these snakes to her We serve people and build churches there. and the second half of the Smolensk land.

Yuri Mnishek managed to gather 1600 people in the Polish possessions for the future son-in-law, in addition, 2000 volunteers from the Zaporizhzhya Sich and a small detachment of the Donets joined him, with these forces a campaign against Moscow was launched.

Hike to Russia

The campaign of False Dmitry I to Moscow began under the most unfavorable circumstances. Firstly, the best time for military operations was missed - summer: after delays with the collection of troops, it was possible to speak only on August 15, 1604 and only in October to cross the border of the Moscow state, when the autumn rains were already beginning and there was impassable dirt on the roads. Secondly, it was known from the Polish ambassadors at the royal court that the Crimean Khan was preparing to attack the Moscow borders. In this case, the Russian troops would be completely constrained by the reflection of the threat from the South. But the alarm turned out to be false, or Khan Kazy-Girey, realizing that it would not be possible to take advantage of the suddenness of the attack, chose to abandon his plan. Thirdly, the troops of the impostor had practically no artillery, without which there was nothing to think about storming such powerful fortresses as Smolensk or the capital itself. Also, the ambassadors of False Dmitry failed to get help from either the Crimeans or the Nogais.

Perhaps, taking into account the latter circumstance, False Dmitry I preferred to attack Moscow in a roundabout way - through Chernigov and Seversk land. For his part, Tsar Boris, who did not fully take False Dmitry's claims to the crown seriously, was essentially taken by surprise by the invasion. Anticipating the offensive, the applicant, not without a hint from the future father-in-law, launched agitation in his favor, the center of which was Oster Castle. From here to the first city on his way - Moravsk, "Litvin" T. Dementiev brought a personal letter for the local archery centurion, then "Dimitri's scouts" I. Lyakh and I. Bilin sailed in a boat, scattered letters along the shore with an exhortation to go over to the side " legitimate prince. Among other things, the letters read:

And you, our birth, would remember the Orthodox Christian true faith and the kiss of the cross, on which you kissed the cross to our father, of blessed memory to the sovereign tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of all Russia, and to us, his children, that you wanted good in everything: and you now, our traitor Boris Godunov, stay with us and henceforth already us, your born sovereign, serve and straighten and wish good, as our father, blessed in memory of the sovereign tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of all Russia; but I will begin to favor you, according to my royal merciful custom, and most of all keep you in honor, and we want to make all Orthodox Christianity in peace and quiet and in a prosperous life.

To start the offensive, the troops of the impostor were divided into two parts, one under the command of the Cossack ataman Beleshko, attacked openly, the second, under the command of Yuri Mnishk and the false prince himself, went through forests and swamps, and the beginning of the offensive was remembered by the Poles because it turned out to be "lots of delicious berries."

Perhaps the inhabitants of Moravsk refused to resist more out of fear than belief that the Polish army was led by a genuine prince, one way or another, who tried to organize resistance, the governors B. Lodygin and M. Tolochanov were tied up and handed over to the applicant. On October 21, False Dmitry entered the city in triumph.

Chernihiv, who at the beginning met the Cossack-Polish army with shots, heard that Moravsk had surrendered and also swore allegiance to the applicant, the voivode, Prince I. A. Tatev, tried to organize resistance, locked himself in the castle with the faithful archers who remained to him, but made a gross oversight , leaving the settlements in the hands of the rebels, as a result, the Chernigovites, together with the Beleshko detachment, stormed the castle, and the governor of Tatev and, together with him, the princes P. M. Shakhovskoy and N. S. Vorontsov-Velyaminov were taken prisoner. The booty that the Cossacks managed to capture by plundering the settlement, Dmitry forced them to partially return - but with great difficulty and far from completely.

Novgorod Seversky turned out to be a serious obstacle in his way, where Godunov's favorite boyar Pyotr Basmanov locked himself up with the army, having received serious reinforcements from Bryansk, Krom and other neighboring cities - about 1,500 people in total. Basmanov prudently burned the settlement so that the besiegers had nowhere to hide from the November cold. The siege of the city began on November 11, 1604, three days later the first assault was made, but the Poles retreated, having lost 50 people. On the night of November 18, a general assault followed, but Basmanov, who had received a warning about this from his scouts in the enemy camp in advance, managed to prepare and did not allow the wooden walls to be set on fire. The battle in the open field also did not lead to anything, since the Russian troops retreated "to the forest to the carts", from where the Poles, despite all efforts, could not knock them out and Dmitry for the first time seriously quarreled with his army, reproaching the Poles for that they cannot boast of superiority in military skills over the Muscovites. The Polish army was indignant, putting the whole enterprise on the brink of failure, but the applicant was saved by the fact that at that time Putivl surrendered, the only stone fortress in these parts, the key to the Seversk land. Sources contradict each other, which of the Moscow governors handed over the city to the impostor, putting Prince Vasily Rubets-Mosalsky or the clerk Sutupov in this role. One way or another, the city swore allegiance to the applicant as the “true prince of Moscow”, not only the “black people”, but almost the entire local nobility went over to his side, and - which was especially important at this stage of the war - the city treasury passed into the hands of the applicant.

On December 18, 1604, the first major clash took place near Novgorod Seversky between Dmitry and the army of Prince F.I. Mstislavsky, in which, despite the superiority in numbers (15 thousand people for Dmitry and 50 thousand for the prince), the impostor won. Perhaps the defeat of the Russian troops was caused not so much by a military factor as by a psychological factor - ordinary warriors were reluctant to fight against someone who, in their opinion, could be a “true” prince, some governors said out loud that it was “wrong” to fight against the true sovereign. According to an eyewitness, Dmitry shed tears when he saw his compatriots killed on the battlefield.

But even after this victory, the position of the contender was still far from being determined. The treasury captured in Putivl turned out to be almost completely spent. The mercenary army grumbled, dissatisfied with the fact that the promised salary was paid to them only for the first three months. as well as the prohibition of robberies and extortions from the population. On January 1, 1605, an open rebellion broke out, the mercenary army rushed to rob the convoy. Dmitry personally traveled around the knights, fell on his knees in front of them and persuaded them to stay with him, but received insults in response, and among other things, the wish to be impaled. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the applicant, unable to stand it, hit the offending Pole in the face, but the rest pulled off his fur coat with sable, which later had to be redeemed. On January 2, most of the mercenaries left towards the border. On the same day, the impostor burned down the camp near Novgorod-Seversky and retreated to Putivl. On January 4, Yuri Mnishek, worsening the already difficult situation of his "son-in-law", announced his departure to Poland for the Sejm. It is believed that Mnishek hoped for a noble uprising against Boris, and felt uncomfortable in the camp, where the Cossacks and the “Moscow black people” were gaining more and more power, in addition, the Moscow “initial boyars” sent him a letter full of undisguised threats. As the chronicles testify, The voivode of Sendomir departed from that thief himself after he had a fight with the boyars, and departed to help that thief, and not for the royal command, and the elder of Ostrinsky Mikhail Ratomskoy, and Tyshkevich, and the captains remained". Mniszek nevertheless assured the impostor that he would defend his cause at the royal diet and send new reinforcements from Poland. With him, about 800 more Poles left, Colonel Adam Zhulitsky, captains Stanislav Mniszek and Fredra. In the end, 1500 Polish knights remained with him, who chose Dvorzhetsky instead of Mniszk as their leader, the Jesuits helped the impostor in many ways, who at this critical moment took his side. At the same time, the example of Putivl was followed by other cities and settlements - among them Rylsk, Kursk, Sevsk, Kromy. At the same time, Dmitry ordered the miraculous icon of the Mother of God to be brought to him from Kursk, arranged a solemn meeting for her, placed her in his tent, where later he prayed to her every evening. The governors of the surrendered cities either swore allegiance to Dmitry themselves, or were delivered bound to his camp, but were immediately released and took the oath. Dmitry's army was constantly growing. The loss in manpower was immediately made up for by 12,000 Don Cossacks, under whose guard Dmitry fortified himself in Sevsk.

The Moscow army, sent against the impostor, overtook him at the end of January near the village of Dobrynichi. On the night of January 21, 1605, the scouts sent by False Dmitry intended to set fire to the village from different sides, however, this maneuver failed, and in the early morning of the next day, leaving the city, he gave battle to the royal army at Dobrynich, but was defeated due to the numerous artillery at enemy. As a result of the battle, the impostor lost almost all of his infantry and most of his cavalry, the victors captured all of his artillery - 30 cannons and 15 banners and standards. A horse was wounded under the impostor, he himself miraculously escaped capture. For their part, government troops unleashed a brutal terror, killing everyone indiscriminately - men, women, the elderly and even children - as sympathizers with the impostor. The result was a general bitterness and split among the Moscow nobility, previously for the most part devoted to the Godunov dynasty. Time was also lost - the impostor was allowed to leave and fortify himself for the whole winter and spring of 1605 in Putivl under the protection of the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks. It is believed that at that time the applicant lost heart and tried to flee to Poland, but the army managed to hold him back, and indeed, another 4 thousand Cossacks soon replenished his ranks. The applicant sent this replenishment to defend Kromy, hoping in this way to divert the tsarist army - and until spring this small detachment fettered those sent against Dmitry, who, instead of besieging the impostor in his temporary "capital", wasted time storming Kromy and Rylsk, whose inhabitants, being witnesses of the bloody terror unleashed by the tsarist troops, stood to the last,

During the “Putivl sitting”, Dmitry was actually preparing for his future reign - he received Polish and Russian priests, turned to the people with promises to build a university in Moscow, invite educated people from Europe to Russia, etc. It was noted that his dinners were equally attended by Orthodox and Catholic clergy, and Dmitry did everything in his power to bring them together. By order of Boris, several monks were sent to Putivl with poison for the impostor, but they managed to expose and arrest them. Later, the impostor, by his power, forgave them.

Here in Putivl, in order to weaken the propaganda of his opponents, who declared him “a defrocked and thief Grishka Otrepiev”, he showed the monk he brought with him, passing him off as the desired “Grishka”. It also played into his hands that Tsar Boris died in May, the Chudov monks sent to Putivl to denounce the impostor sent a letter in which they called him "the true son of Ivan Vasilyevich." Finally bewildered, Tsarina Marya Grigorievna and her advisers considered it best to stop mentioning the name of Grigory Otrepyev and to include in the formula of the oath to Tsar Fedor a promise not to support the one who calls himself a prince. The fermentation of minds in the capital only intensified from this - it is also worth remembering that Godunov’s widow and Malyuta Skuratov’s daughter, Maria Grigoryevna, was extremely unpopular among the people, rumors spread around the capital about the queen’s extreme cruelty, for example, they said that when Godunov summoned Maria to Moscow Naked and tried to get the truth from her, which happened to Dmitry, infuriated by the silence of the former tsarina, Maria Grigoryevna tried to burn her eyes out with a candle.

In May, after the death of Boris Godunov, the army stationed near Kromy swore allegiance to Dmitry; Governor Pyotr Fedorovich Basmanov went over to his side and later became one of his closest associates. The impostor sent an army to Moscow, headed by Prince Vasily Golitsin, and he himself went to Orel, where he was awaited by the elected "from all the Ryazan land", and then to Tula.

Gavril Pushkin and Naum Pleshcheev were sent to Moscow with a letter from "Prince Dimitri", probably under the protection of the Cossack detachment of Ivan Korela. On June 1, 1603, Gavrila Pushkin, standing at the Execution Ground, read the impostor's letter, addressed to both the boyars and the Moscow people. The aged patriarch Job tried to resist the messengers of False Dmitry, but “I didn’t manage to do anything.” The rebellious Muscovites plundered the palace and, according to some sources, did not find the king and queen in it, who managed to escape (only a pearl necklace was torn from Maria Grigoryevna during her flight), according to another, they sent the Godunovs to their former home; the wine cellars were empty, the drunken crowd plundered and destroyed the farmsteads of many boyars connected by ties of kinship with the Godunov dynasty.

Two days later, under pressure from Bogdan Belsky and his supporters, the Boyar Duma decided to send its representatives to the impostor. On June 3, the old prince I. M. Vorotynsky, and several minor boyars and okolnichy - Prince Trubetskoy, Prince A. A. Telyatevsky, F. I. Sheremetev, the duma clerk A. Vlasyev, several nobles, clerks and guests went to Tula. The impostor, angry that those who had been sent essentially had no power, the “king” allowed them to take his hand later than the Cossacks who came on the same day, and further “ punish and layashe, like a direct royal son».

In Tula, Dmitry was engaged in state affairs as a tsar: he sent letters announcing his arrival, drew up an oath formula in which the first place was occupied by the name of Maria Nagoi, his named "mother", invited the English ambassador Smith, who was returning from Moscow with letters, to him, talked with him graciously and even promised the same liberties that his “father” once granted, received “elected from all over the earth” and finally the second boyar embassy, ​​headed by the three Shuisky brothers and Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky. At first, the applicant treated them rather coldly, reproaching that the common people were ahead of the courtiers, but in the end he changed his anger to mercy and brought them to the oath, which was taken by Archbishop Ignatius of Ryazan and Murom, whom he intended to take the place of Patriarch Job.

At the end of spring, he slowly moved towards the capital. Meanwhile, in Moscow on June 5, 1605, the body of the former Tsar Boris Godunov was taken out of the Archangel Cathedral “for the sake of desecration”. Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn and Prince Rubets-Masalsky were sent from the "thieves' camp" to Moscow with the order that the enemies of the "tsarevich" be eliminated from Moscow. Perhaps it was this letter that provoked the Moscow people to kill Fyodor Godunov and his mother, Tsaritsa Maria Grigorievna (10 June). The property of the Godunovs and their relatives - the Saburovs and the Velyaminovs - was taken to the treasury, Stepan Vasilyevich Godunov was killed in prison, the rest of the Godunovs were sent into exile in the Lower Volga region and Siberia, S. M. Godunov - in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where, according to rumors, he was starved to death. Dmitry was informed that the Godunovs committed suicide by taking poison. In public, Dmitry regretted his death and promised to have mercy on all the survivors of their relatives.

Convinced of the support of the nobles and the people, he moved to the capital and on June 20, 1605 solemnly entered the Kremlin.

It is believed that Dmitry often stopped along the way to talk with the locals and promise them benefits. In Serpukhov, the future tsar was already waiting for a magnificent tent that could accommodate several hundred people, the royal kitchen and servants. In this tent, Dmitry gave his first feast to the boyars, deacons and Duma clerks.

Then he moved towards the capital already in a rich carriage, accompanied by a magnificent retinue. In the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, a new tent was erected on a wide meadow and a feast was again given to the aristocrats who accompanied him. They assure that Dmitry also affectionately received delegations of local peasants and townspeople who met him with bread and salt, and promised to "be their father."

Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich

Entry into Moscow

Waiting for the right moment and coordinating all the details with the Boyar Duma, the impostor spent three days at the gates of the capital. Finally, on June 20, 1605, to the festive ringing of bells and the cheers of the crowds crowding on both sides of the road, the applicant drove into Moscow. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he appeared on horseback, in golden clothes, in a rich necklace, on a magnificently dressed horse, accompanied by a retinue of boyars and okolnichy. In the Kremlin, the clergy with images and banners were waiting for him. However, the strict zealots of Orthodoxy did not immediately like that the new tsar was accompanied by the Poles, who played the trumpets and beat the timpani during church singing. Having first prayed in the Kremlin Assumption and Archangel Cathedral, shed tears at the coffin of his alleged father, Ivan the Terrible. But again, it did not go unnoticed that foreigners entered the cathedral with him, and the tsar himself, not in the Moscow way, applied himself to the images. However, these minor inconsistencies were attributed to the fact that Dmitry lived too long in a foreign land and could forget Russian customs.

Bogdan Belsky, who accompanied him, ascended to the Execution Ground, took off the cross and the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and delivered a short speech:

Those close to him hurried him with the wedding to the kingdom, but the applicant insisted on first meeting with the "mother" - Empress Maria Naga, who in monasticism bore the name of Martha. Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky was sent for her, to whom the new tsar granted the Polish title of swordsman.

On July 18, Martha arrived from exile, and her meeting with her "son" took place in the village of Taininsky near Moscow in front of a huge number of people. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Dmitry jumped off his horse and rushed to the carriage, and Martha, throwing back the side curtain, took him into her arms. Both sobbed, and Dmitry made the entire further journey to Moscow on foot, walking next to the carriage.

The queen was placed in the Kremlin Ascension Monastery, the king visited her there every day and asked for blessings after every serious decision.

Shortly thereafter, Dmitry was crowned the "crown" of Godunov, having accepted him from the hands of the new patriarch Ignatius, the boyars presented the scepter and orb. The royal palace was decorated according to the event, the path from the Assumption Cathedral was covered with golden velvet, when the tsar appeared on the threshold, the boyars showered him with a rain of gold coins.

There are vague hints in the documents that shortly after entering Moscow, the tsar ordered several monks of the Chudov Monastery to be seized and killed, as they could recognize him. However, the documents reporting this were drawn up after the overthrow of the “rasstrigi” and therefore do not inspire complete confidence. Also, allegedly, the nobleman I. R. Bezobrazov, who was once a neighbor of the Otrepievs, recognized Otrepyev. But Bezobrazov was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and he made a brilliant career during the short reign of False Dmitry.

A few days later, a conspiracy aimed at the overthrow and murder of Dmitry was uncovered in Moscow. According to a denunciation by a merchant named Fyodor Konev “with comrades”, it was revealed that Prince Vasily Shuisky was plotting against the new tsar, spreading rumors around Moscow that the applicant was actually Otrepyev’s deprivation and was plotting the destruction of churches and the eradication of the Orthodox faith.

Shuisky was captured, but Tsar Dmitry handed over the decision of his fate to the hands of the Zemsky Sobor. According to the surviving documents, the tsar was so eloquent, and so skillfully convicted Shuisky "of stealing him", that the cathedral unanimously sentenced the traitor to death.

On July 25, Shuisky was elevated to the chopping block, but by order of "Tsar Dimitri Ivanovich" he was pardoned and sent to Vyatka exile. But the nobleman Pyotr Turgenev and the merchant Fyodor Kalachnik were executed - the latter, allegedly, even on the chopping block called the tsar an impostor and a deprivation.

The day before, on July 24, Archbishop Ignatius of Ryazan was elevated to the rank of Patriarch of Moscow.

Domestic politics

On July 30, 1605, the newly appointed Patriarch Ignatius crowned Dmitry to the kingdom. The first actions of the king were numerous favors. The boyars and princes, who were in disgrace under Boris and Fyodor Godunov, were returned from exile, and the confiscated estates were returned to them. They also returned Vasily Shuisky and his brothers, who did not have time to get to Vyatka, and returned the relatives of the former king. All the relatives of Filaret Romanov received forgiveness, and he himself was elevated to the Rostov metropolitans. The maintenance of the service people was doubled, the land plots were doubled for the landowners - all at the expense of land and monetary confiscations from the monasteries. In the South of the country, the collection of taxes was canceled for 10 years, and the practice of processing “tithe arable land” was also stopped. However, the new tsar needed money, in particular for wedding payments and gifts, for rewarding the “faithful” - so after the coup, many boyars and devious were paid a double salary, as well as for the upcoming campaign against the Turks. Therefore, in other parts of the country, the amounts of tax collections increased significantly, which led to the beginning of unrest. The new tsar, unable or unwilling to act by force, made concessions to the rebels - the peasants were allowed to leave the landowner if he did not feed them during the famine, hereditary entry into servitude was prohibited, moreover, the serf was supposed to serve only the one to whom voluntarily "sold out", the more likely moving to the position of a mercenary. The economic situation of the country improved, but it was still unstable - realizing this, False Dmitry tried to rectify the situation by imposing yasak on the Siberian Ostyaks and Tatars.

Bribery was forbidden by law, the term for the prosecution of fugitives was set at five years. All peasants who fled a year before the start of the “hungry years” or after them, or those who fled during the famine, seizing their property, were subject to return - that is, not in order to save their lives. Those who fled during the famine were assigned to the new landowner, who fed them in difficult times. The law did not include those who managed to move more than 200 miles away from their former place of residence. Putivl, who rendered great services to the future tsar, was released from all taxes for 10 years, but the Consolidated Code of Laws, which was supposed to include new laws, however, was not completed.

Dmitry allegedly once noticed that There are two ways to reign, by mercy and generosity, or by severity and executions; I chose the first way; I made a vow to God not to shed the blood of my subjects and I will fulfill it. It was also noted that he interrupted anyone who wanted to flatter him, speaking ill of the rule of Boris. In this case, Dmitry noticed to the flatterer that he, like everyone else, "put Boris on the kingdom", now he is blaspheming.

In order to reduce abuses in the collection of taxes, Dmitry obliged the "lands" themselves to send the corresponding amounts to the capital with elected people. The bribe-takers were ordered to be led around the city, hanging around their necks money bags, furs, pearls - or even salted fish - with which the bribe was taken, and beaten with sticks. The nobles were spared corporal punishment, but were forced to pay heavy fines for the same crimes.

The new tsar changed the composition of the Duma, introducing representatives of the higher clergy as permanent members, and from now on ordered the Duma to be called the "senate". During his short reign, the king attended meetings almost daily and participated in disputes and decisions of state affairs. On Wednesdays and Saturdays he gave audiences, received petitions and often walked around the city, talking with artisans, merchants, and ordinary people.

Introduced in the kingdom of Moscow the Polish ranks of the swordsman, podchashiy, podkarbiya, he himself took the title of emperor or caesar. Dmitry's "secret office" consisted exclusively of Poles - these were captains Maciej Domaratsky, Mikhail Sklinsky, Stanislav Borsha and the tsar's personal secretaries Jan Buchinsky, Stanislav Slonsky and Lipnitsky. The department of the "secret office" included questions of personal spending of the king and his whims, as well as religious issues. According to the mercenary Jacob Margeret, False Dmitry tried to introduce absolute autocracy in Russia. The introduction of foreigners and Gentiles into the royal palace, as well as the fact that the tsar established a foreign guard in his person, which was supposed to ensure his personal security, removing the Russian royal guard between him, outraged many.

He also provided patronage to the printer "Andronov, son of Nevezhin", who on July 5, 1605 began printing "Apostle" in "His Majesty's royal drukarn". The work was successfully completed on March 18, 1606.

Foreign policy

Dmitry removed the 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. This was reflected even in his title (he himself signed as emperor, however, with errors - “in perator”, although his official title was different: “ We, the most radiant and invincible Monarch Dmitry Ivanovich, by the grace of God, Caesar and Grand Duke of all Russia, and all the Tatar kingdoms and many other Moscow monarchies of the conquered regions Sovereign and Tsar»).

At the same time, Dmitry began to plan a war with the Turks, planning to strike at Azov and annex the mouth of the Don to Muscovy, and ordered new mortars, cannons, and guns to be cast at Cannon Yard. He himself taught the archers how to cannon and storm earthen fortresses, and, according to the recollections of his contemporaries, he climbed the ramparts, despite the fact that he was unceremoniously pushed, knocked down and crushed.

That same winter, having enlisted the help of the Don Cossacks, he sent the nobleman G. Akinfov to Yelets with an order to strengthen the Yelets Kremlin. Siege and field artillery were also sent there, and warehouses for equipment and food were created. On the river Vorone, a tributary of the Don, ships were ordered to be built. An embassy was sent to the Crimea with a declaration of war. Dmitry himself was going to go to Yelets in the spring and spend the whole summer with the army.

Governors were sent to the counties to conduct noble reviews. Part of the Novgorod militia, which consisted of nobles and boyar children, were summoned to Moscow to march on Azov. They were also ordered to take with them the petitions of the landowners of their parish.

In the same winter, a snow fortress was built in the village of Vyazemy near Moscow, and “their own” princes and boyars were assigned to defend it, and foreigners led by the tsar himself were supposed to storm it. The weapons for both sides were snowballs. The game, however, turned out somewhat differently than Dmitry wanted - the boyars were outraged that the tsar took foreigners under his command, the same, allegedly, hid small stones inside the snowballs and thus "brought bruises under the Russians' eyes." Despite the fact that the fortress was safely taken and the governor was personally captured by the tsar, one of the boyars warned Dmitry that it was not worth continuing - the Russians were angry, and many had long knives hidden under their dresses. The fun could end in bloodshed.

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. The diplomatic activity of the impostor was directed to this and to the recognition of him as the "Emperor of Moscow". But he did not receive serious support due to the refusal to fulfill the promises made earlier to cede land and support the Catholic faith.

He told the Polish ambassador Korvin-Gonsevsky that he could not, as promised earlier, make territorial concessions to the Commonwealth - instead, he offered to repay the help with money. The Jesuits were also denied entry, and if the Catholics were indeed granted freedom of religion, then this was done also in relation to Christians of other persuasion - in particular, Protestants. Plans for a war against Sweden also did not materialize - perhaps because of the resistance of the Duma boyars.

In December 1605, according to the memoirs of the Polish hetman Zolkiewski, the Swede Peter Petrei was sent to Poland with a secret assignment to inform Sigismund about Dmitry's imposture, and thus finally leave him without the help of the Commonwealth. There is an opinion that Petreus verbally conveyed to the king the confession of nun Martha, who had lost interest in the impostor after he ordered the secret destruction of Dmitry's grave in Uglich. But this is just an assumption, it is thoroughly known that Petreus fulfilled his order, but the king, retaining his composure, under pain of death forbade him to disclose such information.

Shortly after Petreus, the son of the boyar Ivan Bezobrazov arrived in Warsaw with the same assignment. His mission was also facilitated by the fact that the impostor once maintained relations with magnates who were dissatisfied with Sigismund III himself, among others, with the Krakow governor Nikolai Zebrzhidovsky, the Stadnitskys, who were related to Mniszek's relatives and others who offered the Polish crown to False Dmitry himself. Undoubtedly, this factor also played a role.

Dmitry's personal life, his attitude to religion

According to the surviving documents and memoirs, Dmitry did not like the monks, directly calling them "parasites" and "hypocrites." Moreover, he ordered an inventory of the monastic possessions to be made and threatened to take away all the “superfluous” and use it to defend the Orthodox faith, not in words, but in deeds. He also did not show fanaticism in religious matters, giving freedom of conscience to his subjects, he explained this by the fact that both Catholics and Protestants and Orthodox believe in one god, the difference is only in rituals. The latter, in his opinion, are the work of human hands and what one council decided, another can just as easily cancel, moreover, Dmitry's own secretary - Buchinsky - professed Protestantism.

He reproached those who tried to argue that the essence of faith and its external manifestations are different things. However, considering the habits of his subjects, he, in particular, insisted that Marina Mnishek, who arrived in Moscow, outwardly perform Orthodox rites.

They remembered that the new king loved to talk, surprised with his erudition and knowledge, in disputes he often cited facts from the life of other peoples or stories from his own past as evidence.

He liked to eat, but after dinner he did not sleep, which was not the custom of the former tsars, did not go to the bathhouse, did not allow himself to be constantly sprinkled with holy water, shocked the Muscovites, who were accustomed to the fact that the tsar had to look sedate and walk, led by the arm of his neighbors boyars, the fact that he freely walked around the rooms, so that the bodyguards sometimes could not find him. He liked to walk around the city, look into the workshops and start conversations with the first person he met.

He knew how to handle horses very well, went on a bear hunt, loved a fun life and entertainment. He did not like the gloomy Kremlin Palace, and Dmitry ordered to build two wooden palaces for himself and for his future wife. His personal palace was tall but not large, and consisted of a huge vestibule lined with cupboards of silver utensils and four rooms in which the floors were covered with Persian carpets, the ceilings were carved, and the stoves were decorated with tiles and silver gratings. Another innovation was the music played during dinners. He loved to arrange holidays and feasts for the courtiers.

Unlike the previous kings, he left the persecution of buffoons, neither cards, nor chess, nor dances, nor songs were forbidden anymore.

Near the palace, it was ordered to install a copper statue of Cerberus with a movable jaw, which could open and close with a clatter.

One of Dmitry's weaknesses were women, including the wives and daughters of the boyars, who actually became the tsar's free or involuntary concubines. Among them was even the daughter of Boris Godunov, Ksenia, whom, because of her beauty, the Pretender spared during the extermination of the Godunov family, and then kept with him for several months. Later, on the eve of Marina Mnishek's arrival in Moscow, Dmitry exiled Xenia to the Vladimir Monastery, where she was tonsured under the name of Olga. In the monastery, according to unreliable rumors, she gave birth to a son.

In the diary of the Polish mercenary S. Nemoevsky, funny anecdotes were preserved about situations in which the tsar was caught in petty lies or boasting, and the boyars did not hesitate to say “Sir, you lied.” While waiting for the arrival of the Mnishkovs, False Dmitry allegedly forbade them to do this, and the Duma inquired what to do if he would lie again. After a short reflection, the tsar, according to Nemoevsky, promised not to do this again.

Conspiracy and murder of Dmitry

The attitude of the people to the tsar and the second boyar conspiracy

At the same time, a dual situation developed: on the one hand, the people loved him, 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 associates. Perhaps the same story is told differently by Polish sources - according to them, one of the priests or servants of the family royal church was bribed. This man had to poison the cup of church wine before serving it to the king.

In the spring of 1606, it became known that an army of rebellious Cossacks, led by Ileyka Muromets, was coming to Moscow from the Don, posing as the never-existing Tsarevich Pyotr Fedorovich, the “grandson” of Tsar Ivan. The nobleman Tretyak Yurlov was sent from Moscow to the rebels with a letter. The sources differ in what this letter contained - according to the Poles, Dmitry invited the false prince to him, promising possessions (perhaps he considered the Donets as a force that would help him hold the throne), according to the "interrogation speeches" of Ileyka himself - the letter was written in very evasive terms, and offered the impostor "if he is a true prince" to come to Moscow and provide proof, if not, do not disturb anyone else with his harassment. One way or another, the false Peter was late - he appeared in Moscow the day after the death of Tsar Dmitry.

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 planned war 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. In connection with this, he made himself another enemy - Mikhail Tatishchev, told him some impudence about this, the tsar flared up and ordered him to be exiled to Vyatka and there "to keep him in logs, hiding his name" - however, he immediately came to his senses, and (perhaps under pressure from nearby boyars) canceled his order. But this could not change anything - from that day Tatishchev joined Shuisky and his people.

The great boyars were infringed upon by the number of “thin-born” exalted by the new tsar, including the names of the tsarina’s relatives - Nagiye, and several clerks who received the rank of okolnichi. It is believed that Vasily Shuisky did not hide his true thoughts, bluntly speaking in a circle of conspirators that Dmitry was "imposed on the kingdom" with the sole purpose of overthrowing the Godunovs, now it's time to overthrow him himself.

Archers and the murderer of Fyodor Godunov, Sherefedinov, were hired to kill the tsar. On January 8, 1606, breaking into the palace, an unorganized detachment of conspirators prematurely gave themselves away, raising noise and commotion, the attempt failed, and if Sherefedinov managed to escape, seven of his henchmen were captured.

Dmitry from the Red Porch reproached the Moscow people for being "innocently" reproached with imposture - while the recognition of his mother and the supreme boyars was his guarantee. He said that during his short life, he “did not spare his stomach” for the sake of the happiness of his subjects. Those present, falling to their knees, swore their innocence with tears. Seven conspirators, brought to the porch by Peter Basmanov, immediately after the tsar left for the inner chambers, were torn to pieces by the crowd.

Wedding

Fulfilling his promise to marry Marina Mnishek, Dmitry sent the clerk Afanasy Vlasyev to Poland, on November 12, in the presence of King Sigismund, he performed the betrothal ceremony with her, at which he represented the royal bridegroom. Together with him, the personal secretary of the Tsar Buchinsky went to Poland with a secret assignment to obtain special permission from the papal nuncio for Marina. so that her grace, Panna Marina, take communion at the mass at our patriarch, because without that there will be no wedding"As well as permission to eat meat on Wednesday and baked on Saturday - as followed from Orthodox customs. Marina herself was ordered “not to dress up her hair” and allow herself to be served at the table as a kravch.

It is sometimes believed that an additional factor that determined the impatience of the royal bridegroom was the Polish army, on whose devotion he hastened to rely, feeling the precariousness of his position. Dmitry persistently invited Marina with his father to Moscow, but Yuri Mnishek preferred to wait, probably not being absolutely sure that the future son-in-law was sitting firmly on the throne.

He finally decided on a trip in the spring of 1606, alarmed by rumors that the windy Dmitry had not let go of Xenia Godunova for several months. " Because- wrote Yuri Mnishek, - the famous princess, Boris's daughter, is close to you, kindly, heeding the advice of prudent people, move her away from yourself." The condition was met, in addition, about 200 thousand zlotys and 6 thousand gold doubloons were sent as wedding gifts to Sambir.

On April 24, 1606, together with Yuri Mnishk and his daughter, Poles arrived in Moscow - about 2 thousand people - noble gentry, pans, princes and their retinue to whom Dmitry additionally allocated huge sums for gifts, in particular, only one jewelry box received by Marina in As a wedding gift, it cost about 500 thousand gold rubles, and another 100 thousand were sent to Poland to pay off debts. The ambassadors were presented with thoroughbred horses, golden washstands, a forged golden chain, 13 glasses, 40 sable skins and 100 gold ones. For Marina and her retinue near Moscow, two tents were pitched; for entry, the tsar presented his bride with a carriage decorated with silver and images of the royal emblems. 12 gray horses in apples were harnessed to the carriage, and each was led by the king's henchmen. The future queen was greeted by governors, princes and crowds of Moscow people, as well as an orchestra of tambourines and trumpets. Before the wedding, Marina was supposed to stay in the Resurrection Monastery with Tsarina Martha. Complaining that “Moscow food” was unbearable for her, Marina got the tsar to send Polish cooks and kitchen servants to her. Dinners, balls and festivities followed one after another.

The wedding was originally scheduled for May 4, 1606, but then postponed, as it was necessary to develop a ritual of at least external acceptance of Orthodoxy by Marina. Obedient to the king, Patriarch Ignatius rejected the demand of Metropolitan Hermogenes for the baptism of a Catholic, moreover, Hermogenes was punished. False Dmitry asked the Pope for special permission to receive communion and chrismation of the bride in the Greek rite, but received a categorical refusal. Confirmation - as a rite that replaces Marina's conversion to Orthodoxy - it was decided to carry out after all.

May 8, 1606 Marina Mnishek was crowned queen and married. According to her own recollections, Marina went to the coronation in a sleigh donated by the groom with a silver harness, upholstered in velvet, decorated with pearls, lined with sables. A red brocade carpet led to the church, the tsar and tsarina, dressed “in Moscow style” in cherry velvet adorned with pearls, kissed the crown and cross three times, after which Marina received chrismation “according to the Greek rite”, and was crowned. She was also given the symbols of power - the scepter and the cross. When leaving the church, as was customary, money was thrown into the crowd, which ended in an inevitable stampede and fight. The words of False Dmitry, which he said to his secretary Buchinsky, have been preserved: “ I had a great fear at that time, because according to the Orthodox law, you must first baptize the bride, and then take her to church, and an unbaptized heterodox cannot enter the church, but most of all I was afraid that the bishops would become stubborn, they would not bless them with peace they won't anoint».

On May 9, on Nikolin's day, against all traditions, a wedding feast was appointed, which continued the next day, and the tsar treated the boyars to Polish dishes and again veal, which was considered "nasty food" in Moscow. This caused a muffled murmur, to which the impostor paid no attention. On the same day, to the indignation of Muscovites, a Lutheran pastor delivered a sermon to the foreign guards (which had previously been allowed only in the German Quarter).

During a multi-day celebration, during which up to 68 musicians played in the chambers, Dmitry retired from public affairs, and at that time the Poles who arrived in a drunken revelry broke into Moscow houses, rushed at women, robbed passers-by, especially distinguished were the pan's haiduks, in a drunken stupor shooting into the air and yelling that the tsar is not a pointer to them, since they themselves put him on the throne. The conspirators decided to take advantage of this.

Murder

On May 14, 1606, Vasily Shuisky gathered merchants and servants loyal to him, together with whom he drew up a plan of response to the Poles - they noted the houses in which they live, and decided to sound the alarm on Saturday and call on the people under the pretext of protecting the king to revolt.

On May 15, Dmitry was informed about this, but he lightly dismissed the warning, threatening to punish the scammers themselves. It was decided to continue the wedding celebrations, despite the fact that disturbing rumors were coming from all sides about the beginning of dull unrest. Dmitry was filed a complaint against one of the Poles, who allegedly raped the boyar's daughter. The investigation carried out turned up nothing.

The next day, a ball was given in the new royal palace, during which an orchestra of forty musicians played, and the king, along with the courtiers, danced and had fun. After the end of the holiday, Dmitry went to his wife in her still unfinished palace, and in the hallway there were several servants and musicians. The Germans again tried to warn the tsar about the impending conspiracy, but he again waved it off, saying, "This is nonsense, I don't want to hear it."

On the same night, Shuisky, in the name of the tsar, reduced the German guards in the palace from 100 to 30 people, ordered the prisons to be opened, and issued weapons to the crowd.

On May 17, 1606, at dawn, on the orders of Shuisky, they sounded the alarm on Ilyinka, other sextons also began to call, not yet knowing what was the matter. Shuisky, Golitsyn, Tatishchev drove into Red Square, accompanied by about 200 people armed with sabers, reeds and spears. Shuisky shouted that "Lithuania" was trying to kill the tsar, and demanded that the townspeople rise up in his defense. The cunning did its job, excited Muscovites rushed to beat and rob the Poles.

Shuisky entered the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate, with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other. Dismounting near the Assumption Cathedral, he kissed the image of the Vladimir Mother of God, and then ordered the crowd to "go to the evil heretic."

Awakened by the ringing of bells, Dmitry rushed to his palace, where Dmitry Shuisky told him that Moscow was on fire. Dmitry tried to return to his wife to calm her down and then go to the fire, but the crowd was already breaking in the door, sweeping away the German halberdiers. Basmanov, the last one left with the tsar, opened the window, demanded an answer, and heard: “ Give us your thief, then talk to us».

The episode with the clerk Timofey Osipov, who was entrusted with the duty to swear the oath to the new queen, dates back to this time. The clerk, preparing for the inevitable, imposed a fast on himself and twice took communion of the holy mysteries, after which, having entered the royal bedchamber, he allegedly declared to the king: You order yourself to be written in titles and letters invincible Caesar, and that word, according to our Christian law, to our Lord Jesus Christ is rude and disgusting: and you are a real thief and heretic, Grishka Otrepiev was deposed, and not Tsarevich Dimitri. However, there is an opinion that this whole story is nothing more than a patriotic legend, and Osipov entered the palace to kill Dmitry in a dream, he did not have time to make speeches. One way or another, it is thoroughly known that Timofey was killed by Pyotr Basmanov, his corpse was thrown out of the window.

Further, as eyewitnesses said, in the confusion, not finding his sword, Dmitry snatched the halberd from one of the guards and approached the door with a cry: “Get out! I'm not Boris! Basmanov went down to the porch and tried to persuade the crowd to disperse, but Tatishchev stabbed him in the heart.

Dmitry locked the door when the conspirators began to break it, rushed to run along the corridor and climbed out the window, trying to go down the scaffolding to hide in the crowd, but stumbled and fell from a height of 15 sazhens into a grain yard, where he was picked up by archers who were guarding. The king was unconscious, with a sprained leg and a broken chest. The archers poured water on him, and when he came to his senses, he asked for protection from the conspirators, promising them the estates and property of the rebellious boyars, as well as the families of the rebels - into servitude. The archers carried in their arms to the devastated and robbed palace, where they tried to protect them from the conspirators, who were eager to complete what they had begun. In response, the henchmen of Tatishchev and Shuisky began to threaten the archers to kill their wives and children if they did not give up the "thief".

Some German tried to give alcohol to the king to keep him conscious, but was killed for it. Sagittarius hesitated, demanded that Queen Martha once again confirm that Dmitry is her son, otherwise - "God is free in him." The conspirators were forced to agree, but while the messenger went to Marfa for an answer, they demanded from Dmitry with abuse and threats that he give his real name, rank and the name of his father - but Dmitry until the last moment insisted that he was the son of Grozny, and bail the word of his mother. They tore off his royal dress and dressed him up in some rags, poked fingers in his eyes and pulled his ears.

The returning messenger, Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Golitsyn, shouted that Martha had replied that her son had been killed in Uglich, after which shouts and threats were heard from the crowd, the son of the boyar Grigory Valuev jumped forward and fired at point-blank range, saying: “What to talk about with a heretic: here I bless the Polish whistler!”. Dmitry was finished off with swords and halberds.

Posthumous desecration

The bodies of the murdered tsar and Basmanov were dragged through the Frolovsky (Spassky) gates to Red Square and their clothes were taken off. Having come up with the Ascension Monastery, the crowd again demanded from the nun Martha an answer - is it her son. According to contemporaries, she gave an ambiguous answer - It would be me to ask when he was alive, and now that you killed him, he is no longer mine., according to other sources briefly answered - Not mine.

It was decided to subject the bodies to the so-called. "trade penalty". During the first day, they lay in the mud in the middle of the market, where the chopping block for Shuisky had once been placed. On the second day, a table or counter was brought from the market, Dmitry's body was placed on it. A mask was thrown on his chest (or, according to other sources, on his open stomach), one of those that the tsar himself prepared for the court carnival, a pipe was stuck in his mouth; Basmanov's corpse was thrown under the table. Muscovites abused the body for three days - they sprinkled it with sand, smeared it with tar and "all sorts of abominations." Jacques Margeret, a mercenary in the Russian service, recalled these events as follows:

Among the Muscovites, the regicide caused a mixed reaction, many wept, looking at the reproach. In order to stop any pity for the “cutting off”, it was announced that the mask on his chest was an idol, “mug”, which he worshiped during his lifetime. Here they read aloud a "letter" about the life of Grigory Otrepyev in the monastery and his flight; according to rumors, the younger brother of Otrepiev, who was very similar to the former tsar, was also brought to the square. Then Basmanov was buried at the church of Nikola Wet, and Dmitry - in the so-called. "poor house", a cemetery for the drunken or frozen, outside the Serpukhov Gates.

Immediately after the funeral, unusually severe frosts hit, destroying the grass in the fields and the already sown grain. Rumors spread around the city that the magic of the former monk was to blame, they also said that "the dead walk." and over the grave fires flash and move by themselves, and singing and sounds of tambourines are heard. Rumors began to circulate in Moscow that there were some evil spirits here and " the demons glorify the defrocked." It was also whispered that the next day after the burial, the body itself turned out to be at the almshouse, and next to it were two pigeons that did not want to fly away. They tried to bury the body deeper, as the legends say, but a week later he again found himself in another cemetery, that is, “the earth did not accept him”, however, as the fire did not accept, according to rumors, it was impossible to burn the corpse. Nevertheless, Dmitry's body was dug up, burned and, having mixed the ashes with gunpowder, they fired from a cannon in the direction from which he came - towards Poland. According to the memoirs of Marina Mniszek, at that time the “last miracle” happened - when the corpse of the “sheared” was dragged through the Kremlin gates, the wind tore off the shields from the gates, and unharmed, in the same order, installed them in the middle of the road.

The image of False Dmitry I in culture

In folklore

In the people's memory, the image of "Grishka-rasstrizhka" has been preserved in several ballads and tales, where he invariably appears as a sorcerer, a warlock who, with the help of evil spirits, seized power over Moscow. In particular, in the folk tale about “Grishka” recorded by S. M. Arbelev, the impostor “teaches” Marina not to accept Orthodoxy and despise the Moscow boyars, while during the service he goes with her to the “soap room”, for which he is punished.

There is also a song about Grishka the blasphemer:

And lays local icons for himself,
And he puts crosses under his heels.
And the option where he tries to make "devil wings" for himself in order to fly away from the inevitable and well-deserved punishment.
And I'll make the porch devilishly,
I'll fly away nun I'm the devil!
Popular rumor also makes Grishka the murderer of the young prince - of course, in order to vacate the throne for himself.
Not a fierce snake howled,
Great wickedness arose.
Tsar Dmitry's craftiness fell on his white chest.
They killed Tsar Dmitry in festivities, at merrymaking,
Grishka the Disrobed killed him,
After killing him, he himself sat on the kingdom.

In another folk story, Grishka the monk, disappointed in life, recovers to drown himself on the Moscow River, where Satan stops him and promises any earthly blessings for the soul of the future impostor. He agrees and chooses for himself the "kingdom of Moscow."

A more complete version of the same story is given by E. Arsenyeva in the novel Lady Queen. According to this version, the unclean, having received from the impostor a document signed in blood, on which the date of execution was not set by chance or on purpose, by magic makes the king of Poland believe the applicant, and with the same magic “takes his eyes off” the Muscovites, forcing them to see in the impostor a long-dead prince. However, False Dmitry makes a mistake, trying to introduce the "Lithuanian heresy" in Moscow instead of Orthodoxy. In response to the prayers of the frightened Muscovites, the demonic fog dissipates, and everyone sees who is really in front of them.

The song “Grishka Rasstrigin” recorded by P. N. Rybakov explains that for the sake of a visible resemblance to the born royal son, who had a “sign” on his chest:

And this is Grishka - Rostrizhka Otrepyev's son,
Sat in prison for exactly thirty years,
Overgrown the cross in the white chest,
So called, the dog, the direct king,
Direct king, king Mitriy,
Tsarevich Mitriy of Moscow.
And then the familiar motif of sorcery reappears:
Worth Grishka haircut Otrepiev son
Against the crystal mirror
Holds a magical book
Grishka's haircut Otrepiev's son is doing magic ...

In one of the later epics recorded in the Russian North, “Grishka-haircut, an unclean spirit”, which gained strength as a result of a “demonic wedding with Marinka”, takes the place of Koshchei, Ivan Godinovich fights with him.

In author's work

• In books devoted to the reign of Boris Godunov or the beginning of the Time of Troubles, the image of the first impostor necessarily appears.

• The image of False Dmitry I appears in the play “The Grand Duke of Moscow or the Persecuted Emperor” by Lope de Vega, however, the Spanish playwright treated Russian history very freely - supported by the Jesuits and Catholic Poles, False Dmitry is portrayed as a true prince who suffered from intrigues, the reason for which is the Catholic position writer.

• False Dmitry I appears as the main character in the poetic tragedies of A. P. Sumarokov (1771) and A. S. Khomyakov (1832), bearing the same name ("Dimitri the Pretender"), one of the last ones, considered unsuccessful in the work of A. N. Ostrovsky, the play "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1886).

• In the play by A. S. Pushkin “Boris Godunov”, False Dmitry appears as an adventurer who knows the value of his “royal name”, but at the same time risks for the sake of the Russian throne out of love for Marina Mnishek.

• The same plot was reflected in M. P. Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, written based on Pushkin's drama, and in two films with the same name (directed by Vera Stroeva, 1954, and Sergei Bondarchuk, 1986).

• He is also the protagonist of Antonin Dvorak's opera Dimitri (1881-1882) and the unfinished drama of the same name by Schiller.

• The American historian and novelist Harold Lam dedicated one of his novels of the "Cossack cycle" to False Dmitry, entitled "The Master of the Wolves" (1933). In this alternative history novel, the demonic False Dmitry manages to escape death on Red Square and disappear into the Ukrainian steppes, pursued by a Cossack once deceived by him.

• The death of the impostor is described by Rainer Maria Rilke in her only novel, The Notes of Malte Laurids Brigge (1910).

• In the work of Marina Tsvetaeva (cycle "Marina"), the theme of the impostor's love for Marina Mnishek sounds.

• The work of Boris Akunin "Children's Book", which is based on time travel, describes fantastic events where the active and pragmatic False Dmitry I, a pioneer of the 60s of the XX century, fell into the past through a mysterious chronohole.

In world history, there are many examples when impostors who pretended to be real rulers seized power in a particular country. There were such cases in Russia. The first of them took place in 1605, when False Dmitry 1 was on the throne of Moscow. The biography of this historical figure contains many conflicting facts. Some historians attribute to him a royal origin, but most scientists are inclined to the version that the man who declared himself miraculously saved the youngest son of John IV the Terrible Dmitry was an adventurer with cunning and an enviable mind.

The origin and early life of the impostor

Who was actually False Dmitry 1? A brief biography of this person contains not so much information about his life before accession to the throne. In official history, it is generally accepted that False Dmitry 1 was born around 1581 in Galich (Kostroma volost). At birth, the impostor was named Yuri (Yushka), and his father was a nobleman from the impoverished Lithuanian family of the Nelidovs, Bogdan Otrepiev. Arriving in his youth in Moscow, the young man entered the service in one of the orders. After working for some time, Yuri Otrepiev took the vows as a monk under the name Grigory. It happened in Yushka went to the monastery not from great faith, but in order to avoid reprisal, because in worldly life he stole, drank and did not listen to his father.

A year after being tonsured a monk, Gregory managed to settle in the Miracle Monastery in Moscow. Being literate and possessing calligraphic handwriting, the young man got the position of a copyist of books in it. It is here that Otrepiev comes up with the idea of ​​impersonating the prematurely deceased heir to the Moscow throne, Tsarevich Dmitry. Gregory was about the same age as the youngest son of John IV, and even had a resemblance to him.

Description of Otrepiev's appearance

The characteristic of False Dmitry 1, left by his contemporaries, indicates that he was below average height, unusually wide, with a short neck and arms of different lengths. This man cannot be called handsome: he was "decorated" with large warts and a large, shoe-like nose. He was gloomy and thoughtful, but possessed remarkable physical strength and could easily bend a horseshoe with his bare hands.

Life in Poland

How was the further fate of the man who went down in history as False Dmitry 1? His brief biography testifies that in 1602 he was accused of theft and ran away from the monastery. For some time the fraudster stayed in Kyiv, and then moved to Poland and secretly adopted the Catholic faith. There he proclaimed himself the legitimate heir to the Russian throne and enlisted the support of the king. In gratitude for the fact that he would help him seize the Moscow throne, False Dmitry 1 promised to give part of the Western Russian lands to the Commonwealth. The impostor also enlisted the support of the governor Jerzy Mniszek, vowing to marry his daughter Marina, give the cities of Pskov and Novgorod and pay 1 million zlotys.

Attack on Russian cities and seizure of power

False Dmitry 1, together with a three thousandth Polish army, began his campaign against Russian lands in the autumn of 1604. Due to the dissatisfaction of the local population with the domestic policy of Boris Godunov, who was the de facto ruler of the state under the frail son of Ivan the Terrible, Otrepyev quickly managed to subjugate a number of Russian cities and settle in Putivl. It was here that False Dmitry 1 settled with his government. A brief biography of the impostor contains facts confirming that the people supported the new ruler, believing that he really had the miraculously saved son of John IV in front of him, and he would put things in order on their lands.

In April 1605, Boris Godunov died suddenly and his son Fyodor was proclaimed heir to the throne. However, he did not manage to stay in power for a long time: a few weeks later he was overthrown by the supporters of False Dmitry. Having officially reigned on the throne on June 20, 1605, the impostor ordered the murder of Fedor and his mother, and he made his sister Xenia his concubine, and then sent her to the monastery.

In order for the people to finally believe that they were the real heir to the throne, a meeting was arranged between the adventurer and Marya Naga, Dmitry's mother. The woman recognized the man standing in front of her as her son. Later, after the death of Otrepiev, she retracted her words, confessing that she was forced to tell a lie by his supporters.

Characteristics of the internal policy of False Dmitry 1

Once in power, the newly-made ruler officially banned bribery, ordered the return of people who suffered under Godunov from exile, reorganized the army and increased the salaries of everyone who was in the service. The impostor eased the lot, freed the south of Russia from taxes and took away land plots from the monasteries.

The internal policy of False Dmitry 1 was aimed at strengthening Polish influence in all spheres of state life. He laid the foundation for the construction of churches, distributed foreign amusements among ordinary people and organized the Secret Chancellery, which included Poles. Under the impostor, the Boyar Duma was renamed the Senate, and the construction of a wooden palace with secret passages began near the Kremlin. In foreign policy, False Dmitry 1 was preparing for a war with the Turks, in which Sigismund III was interested.

Otrepyev's wedding with Marina Mnishek and his murder

Very soon, False Dmitry 1 lost the support of the people. His biography indicates that he had a lot of fun, loved hunting and beautiful women. The dissatisfaction of the Orthodox people was caused by the marriage of the ruler with Marina Mnishek, carried out according to the Catholic rite. During the celebration, a lot of Poles came to Moscow, who, pretty tipsy, robbed passers-by and broke into the houses of the local population.

On May 17, 1606, in the midst of the wedding celebration, Prince Vasily Shuisky, striving to seize the throne, raised an uprising in Moscow, as a result of which False Dmitry 1 and his supporters were killed. People, angry at the arbitrariness of the impostor, mocked his body for a long time, and then burned it and, loading the cannon with ashes, fired from it in the direction of the Commonwealth. So ingloriously ended his days False Dmitry 1. This short biography is an instructive story telling about what happens to impostors.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"Siberian State Industrial University"

Institute of Economics and Management

in the discipline "History"

on the topic "False Dmitry I - legend and reality"

Completed by: student of the group EUP-131 Sazhneva Anastasia

Checked by: Supervisor: Solovieva T.B.

Novokuznetsk, 2013

Introduction

Characteristics and origin of the concepts "imposter" and "imposter"

Estimates of the phenomenon of False Dmitry I by historians of different eras

1 Versions of the original name and origin

Personality of False Dmitry I

1 Appearance of an impostor

Causes of the appearance of the phenomenon of "imposture" in Russia

The death of the impostor False Dmitry I

Bibliography

Introduction

The purpose of this work: to consider the phenomenon of imposture in Russia on the example of False Dmitry I.

.Describe the concepts of "imposter" and "imposter"

.Describe the personality of False Dmitry I and his appearance

.Highlight the reasons for the appearance of imposture in Russia

1. Characteristics and origin of the concepts "imposter" and "imposter"

An analysis of the literature shows that the term "imposter" is closely related to the concepts of "imposture" and "imposterism", which, although they are not generally recognized synonyms, are used in the same way - to refer to individual actions of a "stealer" of someone else's name and/or status. , and collective performances in his support, as well as the relationship between the impostor and others.

Imposture can by no means be called a purely Russian phenomenon, but in no other country was this phenomenon so frequent and did not play such a significant role in the relationship between society and the state. Even if we confine ourselves to counting only false kings and false princes, we will still end up with an impressive figure. In the 17th century, about 20 impostors acted on the territory of the Russian state (12 of them only in the Time of Troubles), while the eighteenth century was marked by about 40 cases of impostors.

Pretenders claiming the Russian throne were also "declared" abroad - for example, in Italy ("Elizabeth's daughter", "Princess Tarakanova"), Montenegro ("Pyotr Fedorovich"), Turkey ("Ivan Alekseevich's son"). However, they will not fall into our field of vision, because they have nothing to do with the Russian people. The word "people" refers to townspeople, peasants, Cossacks, lower clergy.

Despite the fact that imposture has long attracted the attention of historians, the roots of this phenomenon have not been fully elucidated. For the most part, imposture is interpreted as one of the forms of "anti-feudal protest", and in political terms it is portrayed exclusively as "the struggle of the working people for power." However, this does not take into account the fact that not all impostors were associated with the social protest movement, that by no means always their goal was power in the state.

It is quite obvious that in order to understand the essence and causes of impostorism, it is necessary first of all to study the ideological and psychological features of the Russian people's consciousness of the 17th-18th centuries.

The term "imposter" refers to the field of social psychology. Imposture begins when a false king or pseudo-messiah reveals himself to others, forms a group of associates, or becomes the head of any social protest movement. In my work, I revealed the concepts of "imposter" and "imposterism" using the example of False Dmitry I.

2. Estimates of the phenomenon of False Dmitry I by historians of different eras

According to legend, Otrepiev was hiding under the guise of an impostor. Tradition had a strong influence on the historiographical tradition. N. I. Kostomarov was the first to subject him to comprehensive criticism. However, P. O. Pirling soon came out in defense of the traditional version.

The greatest connoisseur of the "Time of Troubles" S. F. Platonov believed that the question of the personality of False Dmitry I could not be resolved. It cannot be considered that Otrepyev was an impostor, but it cannot also be argued that Otrepyev could not be one: the truth is still hidden from us. In such terms, S. F. Platonov summed up his observations. Equally cautious was the point of view of V. O. Klyuchevsky. As the historian noted, the identity of the unknown impostor still remains mysterious, despite all the efforts of scientists to unravel it; it is difficult to say whether it was Otrepiev or someone else, which, however, is less likely. Analyzing the course of The Troubles, V. O. Klyuchevsky concluded with good reason that it was not the personality of the impostor, but the role played by him, and the historical conditions that imparted terrible destructive power to the impostor intrigue.

Soviet historians concentrated their efforts on studying the acute social crisis of the early 17th century, which gave rise to impostors, while the question of the origin of impostors receded into the shadows. MN Pokrovsky considered False Dmitry I as a peasant tsar. I. I. Smirnov rejected the assessment of M. N. Pokrovsky and suggested that the actions of the lower classes in favor of the “good tsar” Dmitry at the beginning of the 17th century. were an expression of the "tsarist" ideology of the oppressed masses who opposed feudal oppression. Unable to formulate a program for a new political system that went beyond the traditional monarchical system, the oppressed sought to overthrow the bad tsar and replace him with a good tsar capable of protecting the people from the oppression of the "dashing boyars" and social injustice. The slogan of "a good tsar", according to I. I. Smirnov, was a kind of peasant utopia. V. I. Koretsky believed that the impostor was brought to the Moscow throne by a wave of peasant movement4.

K. V. Chistov considered imposture in Russia as “a manifestation of certain qualities of the social psychology of the masses who were waiting for the arrival of a “deliverer””, as one of the “specific and stable forms of the anti-feudal movement” in Russia in the 17th century. The enslavement of the peasants and the deterioration of their position at the end of the 16th century, the sharp forms of the struggle of Ivan the Terrible with the boyars, the policy of the church, which surrounded the throne with an aura of holiness - these are some of the factors that favored the wide spread among the people of the legend of the coming of the tsar-"deliverer". “In the history of the legend about Dmitry,” wrote K. V. Chistov, “the circumstance that the Uglich prince was the son of Ivan the Terrible and could be thought of as a“ natural ”successor of his struggle against the boyars, which weakened during the reign of Fedor, probably played a role ".

2.1 Versions of the original name and origin

The identity of the impostor has been disputed for 400 years. There are three versions of this: the impostor was a real prince, the impostor was Yuri Otrepyev, and the impostor was neither one nor the other. It is curious that the supporters of the latter version cannot even presumably point to a specific historical person who became an impostor. Their arguments come down to criticism of the first two versions, after which the conclusion is made by the method of elimination - "whence it follows that False Dmitry was someone else."

The version about the miraculous salvation of the prince is very popular with sentimental ladies and educated men. At least two dozen sentimental novels have already been devoted to this version, and there is no doubt that new masterpieces will appear. Versions of the salvation of Demetrius are one more fantastic than the other. For some "historians" the traditional tale of miraculous salvation is not enough, and they go further. So, False Dmitry really turns out to be Tsarevich Dimitri, but not the son of Ivan the Terrible, but his nephew. This is followed by a dramatic story of how Solomonia Saburova gave birth to a son from Vasily III in the monastery. But the grandson of Solomonia and Vasily Dimitri became an impostor.

There were also attempts to combine the first and second versions. In this version, in 1602, the real son of Grozny fled to Poland, and then to Italy, but then he died in a foreign land, and Grigory (Yuri Otrepyev) took his name.

Any normal person until his death remembers the events that happened to him at the age of four to eight years, and often remembers small details forgotten by his adult relatives. The impostor spoke worse about his life in Uglich than Shura Balaganov, the son of Lieutenant Schmidt, about the uprising on the Ochakovo. In particular, he claimed that the murder in Uglich happened at night. About the same thing that happened to him from 8 to 19 years old, he got off with general phrases that he was sheltered and brought up by some good people. Well, let's say, in Poland, he could fear for the life of his patrons, who remained in Russia under the rule of Godunov. On the other hand, having ascended the Moscow throne, his first desire would be to find these "benefactors", show them to the people and reward them in some way. And the point here is not gratitude, the proof of the miraculous salvation in Moscow was a matter of life or death of False Dmitry. Finally, medicine gives an irrefutable argument - epilepsy never goes away on its own and is not even treated with modern means. But False Dmitry never suffered from epileptic seizures, and he did not have the intelligence to imitate them. false Dmitry impostor otrepiev death

Almost all serious historians have accepted the second version and identify False Dmitry with the monk Gregory, in the world Yuri Bogdanovich Otrepyev. He came from the noble family of the Nelidovs. In the 70s of the XIV century, the gentry Vladislav Nelidov (Neledzevsky) arrived from Poland to serve the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich. In 1380 he participated in the Battle of Kulikovo. The descendants of this Vladislav began to be called the Nelidovs. The genus was generally seedy. The author managed to find only one mention of the Nelidovs in the chronicles. In 1472, Grand Duke Ivan III sent the governor, Prince Fyodor Motley, to punish the inhabitants of the Perm Territory "for their failure to correct." One of the detachments in this army was commanded by Nelidov.

I share the version of Platonov and Klyuchevsky, who argued that the identity of the impostor remains mysterious. It is impossible to say whether this was the real Tsar Dmitry, or whether it was Grigory Otrepiev. Many are inclined to believe that the impostor Grigory Otrepyev was hiding under the guise of the tsar, which, most likely, I am also inclined to, but it is impossible to fully confirm this.

3. Personality of False Dmitry I

Judging by the surviving portraits and descriptions of contemporaries, False Dmitry the First really looked like Tsarevich Dmitry. He was below average height, broad-shouldered and generally of good build. His face was round and swarthy, his features rather irregular, his hair reddish. Two warts disgraced him - one large under the nose, the other smaller near the right eye, as well as the complete absence of facial hair. This is how Massa, Margeret and Nemoevsky portray him. The papal nuncio Claudius Rangoni adds that his white, beautiful hands testified to a noble origin.

Many contemporaries note that there was something unusual in his appearance. Intelligent, thoughtful eyes gave a special expression to the face. On July 17, 1605, he was recognized as the true Dmitry by Dmitry's mother, Maria Nagoya.

According to the surviving testimonies, False Dmitry I:

surprised those around him with his erudition and knowledge.

quickly and fairly resolved the protracted state issues.

set a day for the personal reception of all petitioners without exception.

he was distinguished by great physical strength, he could easily bend a horseshoe.

He knew how to handle horses very well, went on a bear hunt.

showed tolerance in religious matters, explaining this by the fact that everyone believes in one god, the difference is only in rituals, he founded churches in Moscow.

contributed to the expansion of foreign amusements: the storming of snow fortresses, the construction of an amusing "walk-city".

abolished the universal afternoon nap.

loved a cheerful life and entertainment, women.

He was distinguished by a penetrating, quick mind and high, noble ambition. In personal relations he was affable and impressionable, and with his eloquence and manners he aroused sympathy.

3.1 Appearance of an impostor

Until now, the origin of the first impostor of the Time of Troubles, who took the name of the son of Ivan the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry, remains unclear. Even during his reign, Boris Godunov received news of the appearance in Poland of the miraculously saved Tsarevich of the Russian throne Dmitry. In historical science, it is generally accepted that False Dmitry I was the son of the Galician boyar Bogdan Otrepyev - Grigory or Yuri Otrepyev. From childhood, he served as a serf for the boyars of the Romanovs and the Cherkasskys. Then, after "the disgrace of his masters, he hastened to be tonsured as a monk." There is an opinion that the boyar groups supported Gregory throughout his life. Gregory had to move from one monastery to another. In the end, he ended up in the Miracle Monastery.

Gregory was very young at that time and spent little time in the monastery. The role of the cell-attendant of the influential Chudov archminandrite could satisfy anyone, but not Otrepiev. After some time, he moved to the patriarchal court. Gregory was very intelligent and diligently engaged in "book writing", in addition to writing canons for the saints. After serving with the Romanovs, Otrepiev quickly adapted to the new conditions of life. His lively mind and literary abilities were quickly appreciated by church ministers. It was in the monastery that he first began to say that he could become king. For these words, he was ordered to be exiled to the Kirillov Monastery.

But Grigory managed to escape to Galich, then to Murom, and, returning to Moscow, fled from it in 1602. Otrepiev fled abroad, accompanied by two monks - Varlaam and Misail. Disguised as wandering monks, they crossed the border without hindrance. They fled to the Commonwealth, but there, too, Gregory did not immediately receive recognition as a Russian prince. He found support "from Prince Adam Vishnevetsky, the debt-ridden nobleman Yuri Mniszek, and from King Sigismund III." It was Vishnevatsky who wrote down the impostor's story about his miraculous rescue.

It is worth noting that the truce between Russia and Poland did not meet the requirements of the Polish ruler. King Sigismund III hatched plans for a wide expansion in the east. That is why he organized wide support for the impostor Grigory Otrepyev and even concluded a secret agreement with him. Under the terms of the agreement, Otrepyev undertook to transfer the fertile Chernihiv-Seversk land to Poland. Having found patrons in Poland in the form of the Mnishek family, Grigory promised them Novgorod and Pskov. However, the king practically did not fulfill his promises, and allocated a two thousandth army of mercenaries in support of False Dmitry, which not only consisted of marauders and all sorts of rabble, but also the forces of this army were not enough to carry out a full-scale invasion of Moscow. However, False Dmitry received support from the Don Cossacks.

Having received a rebuff under the walls of Novgorod-Seversky, most of the mercenaries left the camp of the impostor and went abroad. The impostor's named father-in-law and his "commander-in-chief" Yuri Mnishek followed them. The invasion failed, but the armed assistance of the Poles allowed False Dmitry to hold out on the territory of the Russian state for the first, most difficult months, until the waves of popular uprising swept the entire southern outskirts of the state.

Abandoned by most of the mercenaries, Otrepiev hastily formed an army of Cossacks, archers and townspeople who continuously flocked to him. The impostor began to arm the peasants and included them in his army. The army of False Dmitry, however, was utterly defeated by the tsarist governors in the battle of Dobrynich on January 21, 1605. But, all the same, False Dmitry found support of various kinds. He was supported by many boyars and nobles who were dissatisfied with Godunov. False Dmitry was also supported by the masses, who pinned hopes on him to get rid of oppression and improve their situation. In 1605, Boris Godunov died, which the impostor immediately took advantage of to enter Moscow. Once in place, False Dmitry was in no hurry to fulfill his promises to the Poles, because he perfectly understood that if he began to reshape the Russian lands and introduce the Catholic religion, he would immediately lose support.

Having received the throne and support, False Dmitry nevertheless did not become that people's tsar. Part of the population, no doubt, saw in him a savior, a miracle of the saved prince, but there were many who almost immediately recognized the impostor in the prince.

4. Reasons for the emergence of the phenomenon of "imposture" in Russia

Until the 17th century, Russia did not know impostors with views on the royal throne. First, for impostorism of the tsarist persuasion, a certain level of development of feudal relations and the state is necessary. Secondly, the history of imposture in Russia is closely connected with the dynastic crises that from time to time shook the tsar's throne. The first such crisis dates back to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Dinas tiya Rurikovich and on the throne were "bo Yar kings" - Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuis cue. It was then that the first false kings appeared and mass movements were born to support them. ku. And later breaking the traditional order succession to the throne (for example, the appearance of young children on the throne or the accession of wives shin) enriched the history of the imposture of the new mi names and events. Thirdly, the history of impostorship is a chain of concrete incarnations. of popular utopian legends about the "returning deliverer kings". The first of them arose, probably, even under Ivan the Terrible, who showed himself to be "unfair" and "impious", and therefore "unrighteous". The hero of the legend was the robber Kudeyar, who was supposedly actually Tsarevich Yuri, the son of Vasily III from his first wife, Solomonia Saburova.

There is an opinion in the literature that the people supported the impostors mainly because they both they gave him liberation from serfdom, a well-fed life and an increase in social status. At the same time, the possibility is admitted that the working people (at least some of them) could follow the impostors, not believing in their royal origin, but simply using them for their own purposes. It is understood that the "crowd" does not care who ascends the throne with its help - the main thing is that the new tsar be "muzhik", "good", so that he defends the interests of the people.

However, this point of view is far from undisputed. It is no secret that along with such impostors as False Dmitry I and E. Pugachev, who carried away thousands of people, there were others in Russia who, at best, could boast of a few dozen supporters. How to explain such selective "deafness"?

Most likely, some impostors played their role better, their actions were more in line with the native expectations, and other contenders for the throne did not comply with the generally accepted "rules of the game" or, more often, violated them.

"Righteous" in the eyes of the people looked like that monarch who was, firstly, "pious", secondly, "fair", and thirdly, "lawful".

The "legality" of the ruler was determined by God's chosenness - the possession of charisma (personal grace), which was proved by the presence of "royal signs" on the body. It was with their help (cross, star, month, "eagle", that is, the royal coat of arms) that numerous impostors in the 17th-18th centuries proved their right to the throne and secured support among the people.

5. The death of the impostor False Dmitry I

On May 14, 1606, Vasily Shuisky gathered merchants and servants loyal to him, together with whom he drew up a plan of response to the Poles - they noted the houses in which they live, and decided to sound the alarm on Saturday and call on the people under the pretext of protecting the king to revolt.

May this was reported to Dmitry, but he lightly dismissed the warning, threatening to punish the scammers themselves. It was decided to continue the wedding celebrations, despite the fact that disturbing rumors were coming from all sides about the beginning of dull unrest. Dmitry was filed a complaint against one of the Poles, who allegedly raped the boyar's daughter. The investigation carried out turned up nothing.

The next day, a ball was given in the new royal palace, during which an orchestra of forty musicians played, and the king, along with the courtiers, danced and had fun. After the end of the holiday, Dmitry went to his wife in her still unfinished palace, and in the hallway there were several servants and musicians. The Germans again tried to warn the tsar about the impending conspiracy, but he again waved it off, saying, "This is nonsense, I don't want to hear it."

On the same night, Shuisky, in the name of the tsar, reduced the German guards in the palace from 100 to 30 people, ordered the prisons to be opened, and issued weapons to the crowd.

May 1606 at dawn, on the orders of Shuisky, the alarm was sounded on Ilyinka, other sextons also began to call, not yet knowing what was the matter. Shuisky, Golitsyn, Tatishchev drove into Red Square, accompanied by about 200 people armed with sabers, reeds and spears. Shuisky shouted that "Lithuania" was trying to kill the king, and demanded that the townspeople rise up in his defense. The cunning did its job, excited Muscovites rushed to beat and rob the Poles.

Shuisky entered the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate, with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other. Dismounting near the Assumption Cathedral, he venerated the image of the Mother of God of Vladimir, and then ordered the crowd to "go to the evil heretic."

Awakened by the ringing of bells, Dmitry rushed to his palace, where Dmitry Shuisky told him that Moscow was on fire. Dmitry tried to return to his wife to calm her down and then go to the fire, but the crowd was already breaking in the door, sweeping away the German halberdiers. Basmanov, the last one left with the tsar, opened the window, demanded an answer, and heard: "Give us your thief, then you will talk to us."

The episode with the clerk Timofey Osipov, who was entrusted with the duty to swear the oath to the new queen, dates back to this time. The clerk, preparing for the inevitable, imposed a fast on himself and took communion of the holy mysteries twice, after which, having entered the royal bedchamber, he allegedly declared to the king: You command yourself to be written in titles and letters invincible Caesar, and that word, according to our Christian law, to our Lord Jesus Christ is rude and disgusting: but you are a true thief and heretic, Grishka Otrepiev was defrocked, and not Tsarevich Dimitri. However, there is an opinion that this whole story is nothing more than a patriotic legend, and Osipov entered the palace to kill Dmitry in a dream, he did not have time to make speeches. One way or another, it is thoroughly known that Timofey was killed by Pyotr Basmanov, his corpse was thrown out of the window.

Further, as eyewitnesses said, in the confusion, not finding his sword, Dmitry snatched the halberd from one of the guards and approached the door with a cry: "Get out! I'm not Boris!". Basmanov went down to the porch and tried to persuade the crowd to disperse, but Tatishchev stabbed him in the heart.

Dmitry locked the door when the conspirators began to break it, rushed to run along the corridor and climbed out the window, trying to go down the scaffolding to hide in the crowd, but stumbled and fell from a height of 15 sazhens into a grain yard, where he was picked up by archers who were guarding. The king was unconscious, with a sprained leg and a broken chest. The archers poured water on him, and when he came to his senses, he asked for protection from the conspirators, promising them the estates and property of the rebellious boyars, as well as the families of the rebels - into servitude.

The archers carried in their arms to the devastated and robbed palace, where they tried to protect them from the conspirators, who were eager to complete what they had begun. In response, the henchmen of Tatishchev and Shuisky began to threaten the archers to kill their wives and children if they did not give up the "thief".

Some German tried to give alcohol to the king to keep him conscious, but was killed for it. Sagittarius hesitated, demanded that Queen Martha once again confirm that Dmitry is her son, otherwise - "God is free in him." The conspirators were forced to agree, but while the messenger went to Marfa for an answer, they demanded from Dmitry with abuse and threats that he give his real name, rank and the name of his father - but Dmitry until the last moment insisted that he was the son of Grozny, and bail the word of his mother. They tore off his royal dress and dressed him up in some rags, poked fingers in his eyes and pulled his ears.

The returning messenger, Prince Ivan Vasilievich Golitsyn, shouted that Marfa had replied that her son had been killed in Uglich, after which shouts and threats were heard from the crowd, the boyar’s son Grigory Valuev jumped forward and fired at point-blank range, saying: “What to talk about with a heretic: here I bless the Polish whistler!" Dmitry was finished off with swords and halberds.

Conclusion

Imposture is certainly one of the gravest sins. Despite this, it became at some times a commonplace thing, and it was not only the most bad people who appropriated someone else's name. In Russia, the era, in the center of which the Great Troubles, is a golden time for impostors. There were so many of them, and the significance of some of them is so great that the researchers, no, no, and even wondered: was this or that of them not such an impostor?

The disasters of the Time of Troubles shocked the mind and soul of the Russian people. Contemporaries blamed the damned impostors for everything, who fell on the country as if from a sack. The impostors were seen as Polish henchmen, an instrument of foreign interference. But that was only half the truth. The ground for imposture was prepared not by the neighbors of Russia, but by a deep internal illness that struck Russian society.

Bibliography

1.Skrynnikov R.G. Russia at the beginning of the 17th century "Trouble". 1988. - S. 79 - 81.

.Shirokorad A.B. historical portraits. Moscow 2003. - S.279 - 285.

.Sakharov A. Imposture. Homeland - 1993. - No. 1, No. 2.

.Usenko O. Imposture in Russia: norm or pathology? Homeland - 1995. - No. 1, No. 2.

.Skrynnikov R.G. Tsar Boris and Dmitry the Pretender. Smolensk: Rusich, 1994 - 624 p.

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