The era that preceded the reign of Peter the Great was difficult, and the state was not always able to solve emerging problems by legal methods. As a result, “initiative from below” began to operate, usually giving results opposite to those desired. A good example would be the Streltsy rebellion of 1682.

The true causes of the Streltsy rebellion

They consisted in the deterioration of the situation of the poorest sections of the Russian population after the defeat of the uprising of Stepan Razin and the complete abolition of the peasant right of transition. Streltsy, once a privileged regular army, also suffered. Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the eldest of the surviving sons, was a fan of Western traditions and began to introduce "regiments of the new order" into the army, due to which the importance of the streltsy troops sharply decreased. At the same time, Fedor was a sickly young man, of a rather weak will, and this led to a weakening of the central government, the devastation of the treasury and numerous abuses, including by the archery commanders.

The real reasons include the absence of Fedor's sons in the presence of two brothers - in monarchies, the absence of an unequivocal heir always causes tension.

Causes created

They were in the struggle for influence at the court of two clans - the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys, who were relatives of the two brothers of Fedor by their mothers (Ivan - the son of Maria Miloslavskaya, Peter - Natalia Naryshkina). Each group expected to rule on behalf of its minor relative (at the time of Fedor's death, Ivan was 16, and Peter 10 years old).

The followers of the Old Believer Church, who had not yet lost hope of regaining their spiritual supremacy, also contributed their “five kopecks” to the general confusion. Here, too, it was only about worldly affairs - money and power.

Finally, the archers simply did not understand how to really solve their problems with poverty and lack of rights, and succumbed to the "Maidan" ideology - to beat anyone, just because they are richer and more successful. It so happened that the Miloslavskys were the first to show them a suitable target.

Course of events

The rebellion actually took place in 2 stages. The first took the period from May 15 to May 18, 1682, when the archers, trained by the Miloslavskys, broke into the Kremlin and killed a large number of Naryshkin supporters. As a result, Tsarina Natalya (mother of Peter 1), the patriarch, the Boyar Duma and Princess Sophia were forced to make significant concessions to the rebels.

The second period is known as the Khovanshchina. It lasted from the beginning of July until September 17, 1682. The stage is connected with the name of I.A. Khovansky, the prince appointed to command the archery army. The prince tried to support the claims of the Old Believers and did not hide that he was counting on the archers in the implementation of his plans. There were rumors that he wanted to marry one of the princesses and become king.

This stage was completed as a result of the departure of the entire royal family from Moscow and the convocation of the militia outside the capital. Khovansky was executed, the Old Believers were repressed, and the archers were deprived of all the privileges they had won.

Mixed results

The rebellion had significant consequences. For several years, the Miloslavsky clan, headed by Princess Sophia, was in power. She received the title of ruler with her young brothers. There were two kings: Ivan and Peter, but they played only a representative role. The Miloslavskys did not dare to remove Peter from the throne, since he had already been recognized as tsar by the Boyar Duma, and it was somehow not accepted to remove the living tsar from power.

Discontent was muted for some time, but not eliminated, since the repressions of the Miloslavskys caused displeasure not only among the supporters of the Naryshkins. There is reason to believe that the rebellion is also to blame for future attacks of cruelty in Peter 1 - he had to see how his relatives were thrown on spears and dragged to torture, and this affected the psyche.

And the archers, who became an instrument in the wrong hands, received almost nothing - all the indulgences given to them were canceled, they were only paid their salary arrears. They didn’t know that “Maidans” could only end like this…

Background of the rebellion

The discontent of the archers was brewing for a long time during the reign of Fedor Alekseevich. The treasury was empty, and the salaries of the archers were paid irregularly, with long delays. In addition, the senior commanders of the streltsy troops - centurions and colonels often abused their position: they withheld part of the streltsy salary in their favor, forced the archers to do chores on their estates, etc.

Extrajudicial reprisals against the boyars and archery commanders continued until May 18. One of the last victims of the archers was the German doctor von Gaden. He was accused of poisoning Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. The intercession of the widow of the late king, Queen Martha, did not help either, testifying that von Gaden tasted all the drugs that he gave to the sick king before her eyes.

The state power was destroyed: the young Peter nominally remained the tsar, the tsarina Natalya Kirillovna - the regent, but they had no capable government: all their relatives and supporters were either killed or fled from Moscow, fleeing from the archers.

The archers turned out to be masters of the situation, dictating their will to the government, but they felt insecure, realizing that as soon as they left the Kremlin, their power would end, and then they would not have to expect anything good from the government. In an effort to protect themselves from possible persecution in the future, the archers give the ruler a new petition-ultimatum, according to which all the actions of the archers on May 15-18, including the murders of the boyars, must be recognized by the government as legitimate, in the interests of the state and the royal family, henceforth not entailing persecution of the archers, as a sign of which a memorial pillar should be erected at the Execution Ground, on which the names of all thieves-boyars exterminated by archers, with a list of their faults and abuses (real or far-fetched). The government was forced to comply with these humiliating demands. Sophia, who came to power on archery spears, now felt all their inconvenience.

Khovanshchina

Sophia appointed Prince I. A. Khovansky, a supporter of the Miloslavskys, who was popular among the archers, as the highest chief of the archers. Sofya hoped that Khovansky would calm the archers, but he apparently decided to play his game. He indulged the archers in everything and, relying on them, tried to put pressure on the ruler, assuring her: “When I am gone, then in Moscow they will walk knee-deep in blood.” Streltsy continued to control the Kremlin under the pretext of protecting it, while retaining the possibility of putting forward new humiliating and ruinous demands on the government. This time was called in Russian history Khovanshchina.

At this time, sensing the weakness of the government, the Old Believers, who until then had been subjected to severe persecution by the tsarist authorities, decided that their hour had come. Their activists gathered in Moscow from distant sketes and preached in the streltsy regiments a return to the old faith. These claims were enthusiastically supported by Khovansky, who found in this another leverage to put pressure on the government. But neither the archer chief Khovansky, nor the ruler Sophia, with all their desire, could solve this issue, which was within the competence of the church - the patriarch and bishops. Under no circumstances could the Church renounce the resolutions adopted by the Council, especially since by that time it had already recognized the Old Believers as heretics. And for Sophia, a return to the old faith meant the recognition of the wrongness of her father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and brother, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, who supported the new rite.

To resolve the dispute, the Old Believers proposed an open theological dispute between the apologists of the new and old faiths, which should be held on Red Square in the presence of the whole people. The Old Believers believed that in the face of the people everything heresies and untruths Nikonian will become obvious, everyone will see and recognize the truth of the old faith. In reality, the differences between the new and the old rites concerned numerous details of the liturgy and spelling of the writing of religious texts. The meaning of these differences was clear only to professional clergy, and even then not to all, but only to the most educated of them (see Old Believers).

Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith. Vasily Perov.

Khovansky seized on the idea of ​​a dispute and began to seek its implementation. The patriarch objected to holding a debate on the square, realizing that victory in it would depend not on arguments and logic, but on the sympathy of the crowd, which was initially opposed to the authorities and the official church supported by it. The patriarch proposed to hold a debate in the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin, where many common people cannot fit, and the patriarch's retinue, royal household, boyars and guards will make up a significant counterweight to it. Sophia actively intervened in this dispute on the side of the patriarch, expressing her desire to be present at the debate along with the princesses - her sisters and aunts, and they, as girls, according to the strict concepts of that time, had to appear on the square shameful. Khovansky and the Old Believers, after long squabbles, finally agreed to the Palace of the Facets, and on July 5 the debate about faith took place. The official church was represented by Patriarch Joachim, the Old Believer - by Nikita Pustosvyat. The dispute boiled down to the mutual accusation of the parties of heresy and ignorance and, in the end, to abuse and almost to a fight. The Old Believers left the Kremlin with their heads held high and on Red Square they announced their complete victory to the people. Meanwhile, in the Chamber of Facets, the ruler said to the representatives of the archers:

What are you looking at: is it good for such ignorant peasants to come to us in revolt, to annoy us all and shout? Are you, faithful servants of our grandfather, father and brother, in agreement with the schismatics? You are also called our faithful servants: why do you allow such ignoramuses? If we must be in such enslavement, then the kings and we can no longer live here: let's go to other cities and announce to all the people about such disobedience and ruin.

These words contained an undisguised threat: having left Moscow, and freed from the guardianship of the archers, the government could announce the convocation of a noble militia - a force capable of suppressing the archers. The archers retreated from the Old Believers, accusing them of confusion and the desire to restore them against the kings, and in the evening of the same day they dealt with Nikita Pustosvyat, beheading him. Khovansky barely managed to save the rest of the Old Believers, whom he had previously guaranteed safety. After this incident, Sophia no longer counted on the help of Khovansky and considered him as one of her main opponents.

The government's dependence on the archers continued until mid-August, when Sophia found a way to carry out her threat. On August 19, a religious procession was to take place in the Donskoy Monastery, in which, according to custom, the kings were to take part. Taking advantage of this, the royal family in full force (both kings, both widowed queens - Natalya and Martha, and eight princesses - two aunts and six sisters of the kings, including the ruler Sophia), under the escort of the royal stewards, left, allegedly to the monastery, but the road turned to Kolomenskoye - the estate of the royal family near Moscow, from where they along the country roads, bypassing Moscow, by September 14 reached the village of Vozdvizhensky on the Yaroslavl road, a few miles from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, which was chosen as the royal residence for the time of confrontation with the archers . The remnants of the boyar duma and the royal household also gathered here. These maneuvers alarmed the archers. Prince Khovansky and his son Andrei went to Vozdvizhenskoye to negotiate with the ruler, but in Pushkin, where they spent the night on the way, they were captured by a strong detachment of royal stewards, and on September 17 (Sophia's birthday) they were brought to Vozdvizhenskoye as prisoners. Here, at the outskirts, in the presence of several boyars, the accusation of the intention to destroy the kings and seize the throne himself, and the death sentence, which was immediately carried out, were read to the father and son. Sophia moved her headquarters to Trinity and began to gather the militia.

The end of the riot

Having lost their leader, the archers lost all ability to act with any decisiveness. They sent one petition after another to the ruler, in which they asked Sophia not to deprive them of their mercy and promised to serve her. faithfully, not sparing the stomach. They gave the youngest son of Khovansky, Ivan, to the Trinity, who, however, was not executed, but sent into exile. Finally, in October, the archers sent a petition in which they recognized their actions on May 15-18 as criminal, begged the kings for mercy, and themselves asked for a royal decree to demolish the memorial pillar at Lobnoye Mesto, which at one time had been erected at their request, as a guarantee from persecution. Sophia promised forgiveness to the archers, executing only the closest assistant of Khovansky, Alexei Yudin, who was betrayed by the archers. Duma clerk was appointed head of the Streltsy order

If you need short description of the events of the Streltsy riots, check out the following articles: Streltsy rebellion of 1682 and (gymnasium textbook of Academician S.F. Platonov), Streltsy rebellion of 1682 (university lectures by S.F. Platonov) and

Reason for the Streltsy revolt of 1682

After the death in the spring of 1682 of the childless Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676–1682), the throne was to pass to his sixteen-year-old half-brother, the mentally retarded Ivan. Both Fedor and Ivan were the sons of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Miloslavskaya. From Miloslavskaya, Alexei Mikhailovich also had several princess-daughters. But after the death of Mary (1669), Alexei Mikhailovich remarried (1671) to Natalya Naryshkina, who in 1672 gave birth to a healthy and energetic son Peter - the future Peter I. Ivan V was the legal heir of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, but his obvious dementia persuaded many prominent Russian figures to remove Ivan from the throne and transfer the reign to Peter. The Moscow court was divided into two parties: the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins. The Naryshkin side turned out to be much stronger; most of the noble families and Patriarch Joachim stood for her. Of the prominent boyars, the Miloslavskys were supported only by the well-known Westerner Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn and the governor Ivan Khovansky, who was not distinguished by great talents, one of the commanders of the streltsy army stationed in Moscow. However, the Miloslavsky party decided not to yield to rivals and stand for Ivan V. It was headed by the boyar Ivan Miloslavsky and the most intelligent of the daughters of Alexei Mikhailovich - Princess Sophia.

The higher clergy and the Boyar Duma, gathered after the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, decided to ask about who should be the new tsar, "all the ranks of the Muscovite state." In fact, this was only the appearance of "counsel with all the earth." The Zemsky Sobor from all over Russia was not convened in the capital. Under the guise of “all the ranks of the Muscovite state,” the patriarch gathered in the Church of the Savior the court stewards, nobles, children of the boyars, merchants and turned to them with the question: who should reign now? The meeting was apparently already prepared. A few voices in favor of Ivan Alekseevich were drowned out by numerous cries for Tsarevich Peter. The patriarch blessed Peter to reign.

However, the Naryshkins failed to quickly consolidate this election, while the Miloslavskys acted quickly and skillfully. The ten-year-old Peter's regent, his mother Natalya Kirillovna, was "a woman of small mind", inexperienced, devoid of energy. Natalya was in no hurry to firmly take power into her own hands, relying on the government art of her relative, Artamon Matveev, who once arranged her marriage to Alexei Mikhailovich. Under Fyodor Alekseevich, son of Maria Miloslavskaya, Matveev, one of the most prominent figures in the era of Tsar Alexei, was exiled. Now Natalya Naryshkina ordered him to be returned from exile, but Matveev's arrival in Moscow took time.

The Miloslavskys deftly took advantage of the indecision of the Naryshkins, starting to get closer to the leaders of the main military force of the capital - the streltsy army. Princess Sophia began to spread rumors that Tsar Fyodor was poisoned by his enemies, who illegally removed his brother Ivan from the throne. Sophia assured that she and other princesses, daughters of Maria Miloslavskaya, were also in danger, and spoke of her intention to flee Russia. The Naryshkins were disliked in Moscow. Many did not like the too rapid rise of the five brothers of Queen Natalia - young men who did not have any merit. The eldest of them, Ivan, was only 23 years old, and he already bore the rank of boyar and gunsmith.

The beginning of the Streltsy revolt of 1682

The Miloslavskys and Princess Sophia found support in the face of the streltsy army and deftly took advantage of the rebellious turmoil that was ripening among them.

Streltsy regiments in Moscow lived in special settlements, mainly in Zamoskvorechye. Sagittarius were settled, family and prosperous people; since, receiving a salary, they could still engage in various crafts and trade, without incurring township duties. But their discipline at this time was shaken, which was facilitated by weak government supervision during the sickly Fyodor. They were used by the chiefs of the archers. The greedy colonels appropriated a part of the archery salary, tried to profit from the most prosperous subordinates, bought horses and cannon equipment at their expense; forced archers to work for themselves for nothing, and even on holidays; the unzealous were punished with batogs. Shortly before the death of Fedor, the archers began to submit petitions to the tsar against the colonels. The tsar instructed his favorite Yazykov to sort out the case. Yazykov took the side of the colonels. Some petitioners were punished with a whip and exiled. Encouraged colonels intensified the oppression. On April 23, 1682, Semyon Griboyedov, elected from the regiment, came to the Streltsy Prikaz and filed a complaint against him. The clerk who received her, peaceably to the colonel, reported to the head of the order, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, as if the elected archer had come drunk and threatened. When the next day the same archer came again, they took him under guard and led him to beat with a whip. But fellow soldiers pulled him out of the hands of the orderly servants and severely beat them. Griboyedov's regiment raised a revolt; the next day, this rebellion swept almost all the archery regiments. They wrote petitions against their colonels and, in case of indulgence, threatened to deal with them themselves. The death of Fedor, which followed at that time, stopped the movement, and the archers unquestioningly swore allegiance to Peter. But already on April 30, a crowd appeared at the palace with petitions from sixteen archery regiments and one soldier, and with threats they demanded that the colonels be brought to justice so that they would pay the money due to the archers.

The government of Natalya Kirillovna was confused and rushed to the opposite extreme: it made concessions to the participants in the Streltsy rebellion. It ordered the accused colonels to be placed under guard; but the archers demanded to betray them with their heads. At the reinforced request of the patriarch, the archers then agreed that the colonels should not be sent to their settlements for reprisal, but would be placed on the right in front of the Discharge. Here the unfortunate were beaten with batogs until they paid the claims brought by the archers. Streltsy were present in crowds during the torture and shouting forced them to continue or stop the right. The arbitrariness of the archers also went on in their settlements. There they persecuted minor bosses, beat them with sticks, threw stones; and those who tried to curb self-will with severity were cocked to towers and thrown from there; At the same time, the crowd shouted: “Love, love!”

The flaming up of the Streltsy rebellion played into the hands of Miloslavsky. Their leaders, Ivan Mikhailovich and Princess Sophia, plotted. At night, trusted people gathered to Ivan and discussed the plan of action. According to some reports, the role of his main assistants was played by: the stolnik brothers Tolstoy, Ivan and Peter, the lieutenant colonels of the archers Tsikler and Ozerov, the elected archers Odintsov, Petrov and Chermny. The bed of Princess Sophia Fyodor Rodimitsa, went to the streltsy settlements, poured money and promises. One of the streltsy commanders, Prince Khovansky, nicknamed Tararuy, kindled a streltsy revolt, embarrassing the streltsy with predictions of all sorts of troubles from the Naryshkins, as well as the danger that allegedly threatened Orthodoxy from their penchant for foreigners. Among the archers there were many adherents of the split. The rebellious mood was greatly facilitated by the fact that after the Razin uprising, many Astrakhan archers who participated in it were transferred to the northern cities and to the capital. The rebellion had already spread to all the archery regiments, which were already loudly boasting of overthrowing the Naryshkins. The only exception was the Sukharev Regiment. There were nineteen of all archery regiments in Moscow at that time - more than 14 thousand soldiers.

On May 12, Artamon Matveev returned to Moscow from exile and was greeted with great joy by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna. The boyars came to his house with greetings, assuming that he would take the place of the main ruler under the teenage Tsar Peter. Elected from all the archery regiments brought him bread and salt and beat with their foreheads about their needs. An experienced statesman, he immediately began to discuss the state of affairs with the help of Patriarch Joachim and the elderly Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Princess Sophia and the Miloslavskys realized that they had to hurry, otherwise it would be too late.

A list was drawn up of those who were to be exterminated. This list was sent to the rebellious archery regiments. Ridiculous rumors about the Naryshkins also spread there. It was said that the eldest of them, Ivan Kirillovich, put on the royal vestments and, trying on the crown, said that she would not stick to anyone as much as to him; and when Princess Sophia began to reproach him for this, he rushed at Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich and grabbed him by the throat. Such tales perfectly prepared the ground for the Streltsy rebellion to become open.

Outrages of archers in the Kremlin and Moscow

On the morning of May 15, 1682, Alexander Miloslavsky and Pyotr Tolstoy, sent by Tsarevna Sophia and her party, galloped into the streltsy settlements, shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, and called the archers to the Kremlin. The tocsin rang in the suburban churches. Streltsy regiments quickly gathered and with cannons and drumming moved towards the royal palace, taking the government by surprise. The time was around noon. The members of the Boyar Duma had just finished the meeting and began to disperse. A. S. Matveev, having learned about the Streltsy rebellion, returned to the palace and hurried to Tsaritsa Natalya. They sent for the patriarch, tried to lock the Kremlin gates. But the rebels had already broken into the Kremlin, approached the Red Porch and demanded the extradition of the Naryshkins, who supposedly killed Tsarevich Ivan. On the advice of Matveev, Natalya Kirillovna took both brothers, Ivan and Pyotr Alekseevich, and, accompanied by the boyars, led them out onto the porch. The crowd was taken aback, seeing that they had been blatantly deceived. Some archers asked their elder brother if he was really Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich and who was harassing him? “I am the best,” answered the prince. “And no one is harassing me.”

Streltsy revolt of 1682. Painting by N. Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, 1862.

(Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna shows the archers that Tsarevich Ivan is unharmed)

Matveev went downstairs to the archers and made a smart speech about their former merits, reminded them of how they themselves tamed the riots. The archers fell silent and asked Matveev to intercede for them before the tsar. He promised and returned to the Top. The Streltsy rebellion seemed to be calming down, but it was rekindled by the imprudence of Mikhail Dolgoruky, a friend of his father Yuri Alekseevich in command of the Streltsy order, very unloved by his subordinates. As they say, he began to threaten the hushed archers with punishment if they did not immediately leave the Kremlin, which infuriated them. Tsarevna Sophia's minions, revolving in the crowd, aroused her against the intended boyars, who, as soon as they got rid of the danger, would begin to cruelly take revenge on the archers. They managed to captivate the crowd again. Part of the archers penetrated the top. Some seized Dolgoruky and threw him down onto the spears of his comrades, who then chopped him with reeds. Others attacked Matveyev, although Tsarina Natalya and Prince Mikhail Alegukovich Cherkassky tried to block him off; the killers also threw him down and cut him to pieces. Patriarch Joachim was not allowed to speak. A crowd of rebellious archers burst into the palace and began to look for their victims. Here everything was on the run. The boyars, always accompanied by select servants, numerous nobles and other court officials, being military people, could put up significant resistance. But the unexpectedness of the Streltsy rebellion and the absence of an energetic leader created a panic between them.

Archers roamed the palace chambers, looked under beds, feather beds and into dark corners; moreover, they did not spare the towers of queens and princesses, broke into palace temples and even into altars, where sacrilegiously poked spears under the altars. Archers came with searches to the chambers of the patriarch. They were looking mainly for the Naryshkins. The rebels killed the young stolnik Saltykov, mistaking him for the brother of the queen Athanasius Naryshkin. Athanasius himself hid under the altar in the altar of the Church of the Resurrection, but Tsaritsyn Carlo Khomyak pointed out his refuge to the rebellious archers. The archers killed him and threw him into the square. Other victims were also thrown there, and they asked: “Is it nice?” The crowd of curious people standing on the square was supposed to answer: “Love!” Those who were silent were beaten by archers. On this day of the Streltsy rebellion, the famous Belgorod governor Gr. Romodanovsky, who was accused of treason for surrendering Chigirin to the Turks, and the head of the Ambassadorial Department, clerk Larion Ivanov. The bodies of the dead were dragged to Red Square to the Execution Ground; the monsters sneered at them and shouted: “Behold the boyar Artamon Sergeevich! Behold the boyar Romodanovsky, behold Dolgoruky is coming, give way!

The Streltsy rebellion flared up more and more. Streltsy scattered around the city, looking for the intended victims. Before evening, a crowd of murderers came to the sick eighty-year-old prince Yuri Dolgoruky, and pretended to repent of the murder of his son. The old man hid his feelings and even ordered the archers to bring out beer and wine; and when they left, he consoled his daughter-in-law, the wife of the murdered man: “Don’t cry, they ate the pike, but she still had her teeth. To be hung on the battlements of the White and Earthen City. Some serf told the archers these words. They returned, dragged the prince out into the yard, chopped him up and threw the corpse into a dunghill. Other crowds at that time smashed the Judgment and Kholopius orders, tore up acts, especially serf and bondage ones. They declared the boyar serfs free, trying to win them over to their side. At night, the streltsy rebellion subsided. The rebellious soldiers left for their settlements, leaving strong guards around the Kremlin.

But the following morning, May 16, the Streltsy rebellion resumed. Streltsy again rushed to the Kremlin and other places, looking for "traitors". On this day, the famous favorite of Tsar Fedor, Ivan Yazykov, died. He hid in the house of his confessor; but the serf-traitor betrayed him. Streltsy cut down Yazykov on Red Square. From the domestic servants there were many traitors who took revenge on unkind gentlemen. But other chelyadintsy differed in devotion. Several of these also fell victim to the archers. The efforts of the rebels to revolt the numerous class of servile gentry with the promise of freedom and thereby turn a purely archery revolt into a general uprising of the common people remained in vain. An unfree state was in the customs of the time, and a person who freed himself from one master often immediately became enslaved to another.

Streltsy so far searched in vain for the Naryshkins, mainly Ivan, and the tsar's doctor Daniel von Gaden, a baptized Jew who was accused of poisoning Fyodor Alekseevich. The doctor ran away from the German Quarter and hid in Maryina Grove. And the Naryshkins, the father of Tsarina Natalya Kirill Poluektovich with his sons, and Andrei Matveev, the son of the murdered Artamon Sergeevich, fleeing the Streltsy rebellion, hid in the rooms of the widow of the deceased Tsar Fedor, Tsarina Marfa Matveevna. Not finding the Naryshkins on this day, the archers announced that they would come for them the next.

On May 17, the Streltsy riot and the killings continued. The main crowd of archers cordoned off the palace, demanding to hand over the Naryshkins. They were now hidden in a dark closet filled with feather beds and pillows, leaving the door to it open to deflect suspicion. The rebels passed by several times, looked into the closet, but did not conduct a thorough search there. Finally, they announced that they would not leave and beat all the boyars until Ivan Naryshkin was handed over to them. Obviously, Princess Sophia and Prince Khovansky considered his death necessary. They say that Khovansky asked the archers the day before whether to expel Natalya Kirillovna from the palace? They answered: "Lubo"; however, did not dare to do so.

Hiding until now in the shadows, Princess Sophia now, having come to Tsarina Natalya, said to her in the presence of the boyars: “Your brother cannot leave the archers; let us not all die for him.” Natalya Kirillovna, having lost hope of saving her brother, ordered him to be confessed and partake of the Holy Mysteries. The boyars were in a hurry. The aged prince Yakov Odoevsky said: “How much you, empress, do not regret, but you need to part; and you, Ivan, have to go faster, so that we don’t all die for you alone. ” Holding her brother's hand, the queen led him out of the church. The archers rushed at him like animals and dragged him to the Konstantinovsky dungeon; there he was subjected to cruel torture and search for imaginary treason and an attempt on the life of Tsarevich Ivan. He answered all questions with silence. The rebels dragged him to Red Square and there they cut him to pieces with reeds.

Streltsy revolt of 1682. Painting by A. Korzukhin 1882.

(Archers drag Ivan Naryshkin. His sister, the mother of Peter I, Natalya Kirillovna, cries on her knees, consoled by ten-year-old Peter. Princess Sophia watches Ivan's death with ill-concealed joy)

Ivan's younger brothers managed to hide. Their father Cyril Poluektovich was released from death by the archers on the condition that he take the vows as a monk. On the same day Dr. von Gaden was arrested. Tsarina Marfa Matveevna and the princesses assured the archers that he was innocent of Fedor's death. But the leaders of the Streltsy rebellion shouted that he was a warlock. He was tortured, and the nervous doctor, in order to end his torment, confirmed the accusations against him. He was also hacked to pieces in Red Square.

The three-day killings finally fed up the participants in the streltsy rebellion. Before evening, they gathered at the palace and shouted: “We are now satisfied. With the rest of the traitors, let the king repair according to his will. The archers, of course, did not think what a stunning impression they made with their bloody rebellion on the youth Peter, and how terribly he would repay them later for the murder of relatives and for the humiliation of his royal dignity.

It is remarkable that the Streltsy rebellion was not connected with the robbery of the propertied classes. The archers even gave a spell not to touch the property of the people beaten by them, and kept their oath; those who transgressed it, they themselves executed for the most insignificant theft. But when the extermination ended, a wide revelry began: unbridled archers began to drink and gossip; drunks roamed the city with their wives, singing shameful songs. Instead of the streltsy army, they began to call themselves "the sovereign's court (i.e., court) infantry." Electives from them came to the palace and demanded awards for "loyal" service or unpaid salaries, which were calculated for many years ago. For a while, everyone trembled before them. The government during the Streltsy revolt seemed to be absent. But the power that had fallen from the hands of the Naryshkins was taken up by the Miloslavskys in the person of the energetic Princess Sophia.

Changes in the government due to the Streltsy rebellion - the transfer of power to Princess Sophia

Tsaritsa Natalya with her son Peter took refuge from the Streltsy rebellion. Coming to the palace with demands and statements, they, in the absence of other authorities, began to turn to the princesses; and Sofya Alekseevna answered and acted on their behalf. On account of the unpaid salary for the past years, she distributed large sums to the archers, and promised to pay another 10 rubles each. per person. Princess Sophia also agreed to the name of the "outdoor infantry", the head of which, in place of the killed Dolgoruky, was appointed Prince Khovansky. Khovansky, leading the archers, on May 23 came to the palace with elected representatives from their regiments and announced that all the archers, as well as the ranks of the Muscovite state, demand that both brothers, John and Peter Alekseevich, be placed on the royal throne. To resolve this issue, Princess Sophia convened the Boyar Duma, the clergy and elected representatives from various ranks of the capital.

At this private Zemsky Sobor, some objections were heard against dual power; but the majority, under the pressure of the streltsy rebellion, found it useful in case of war: one king can go with an army, and the other will rule the kingdom. They also gave suitable examples of dual power from Byzantine history. The council decided to be two kings. However, Princess Sophia wanted to more accurately determine their mutual relationship, and now the Streltsy elected representatives appeared again and demanded that John be the first king, and Peter the second. The next day, May 26, the Boyar Duma with the Consecrated Cathedral confirmed this demand. Because of this, Peter's mother Natalya Kirillovna was relegated to the background, and the sisters of the sickly John came to the fore, especially Princess Sofya Alekseevna.

A special favor was declared to the participants of the streltsy rebellion, and two regiments were treated to food every day in the palace. Having seized power in fact, Sophia wished to secure it legally with the influence of the same archery army. On May 29, the rebels announced a new demand: due to the youth of both sovereigns, to hand over control to Princess Sophia. At the same time, they referred to examples of Byzantine history: the famous Pulcheria, the sister of Theodosius II. The boyars and the patriarch turned to the princess with a request to take over government concerns. Sophia, according to custom, at first refused, but then agreed. She began to call herself "the great empress, the noble princess and grand duchess Sofya Alekseevna."

Perhaps the first government act was the approval of the new streltsy petition of June 6. Apparently, the population of the capital began to express indignation at the murders committed during the Streltsy rebellion. Archers were called rebels, traitors, villains. In response, the “outdoor infantry” asked the kings for permission to put a stone pillar on Red Square with the names of the killed “criminals” and their wines and with praise to the outward infantry for their faithful service; asked to be banned from calling her rebels and other slanderous words, as well as about various official benefits. The request of the archers was immediately fulfilled, a stone pillar was erected, and on four iron sheets on the four sides of the pillar, the names and guilt of the people killed on May 15–17 were written. Due to this, the Streltsy revolt was presented as a very beneficial coup, and all the violence of the archers was justified by the imaginary benefit of the state.

Old Believer movement in Moscow during the Streltsy revolt of 1682

But Princess Sophia saw that it was time for their self-willed archers to put a limit and free the government from their pressure. A convenient case for this was provided by the Old Believer movement that arose with the beginning of the Streltsy rebellion.

Despite the cruel persecution, the Russian "schism" took root and multiplied. He already had his own martyrs, with Avvakum and Lazarus at their head, whose memory was reverently honored. Their numerous followers continued their schismatic preaching in Moscow. They found the most sympathy among the archers and suburban Slobozhans; there were supporters of the split among noble families, including the Khovansky family. The perplexity of the government during the days of the Streltsy revolt helped the split to rear its head; and when Prince Khovansky Tararui appeared at the head of the streltsy army, the split decided to rely on armed force and came up with its own demands.

A few days after the May Riot, in Titov's Streltsy Regiment, the Old Believers decided to submit a petition to the authorities: why did they hate the old books and the old faith, and why did they love the new - Latin-Roman? In search of a knowledgeable, skillful person who could compose such a petition and conduct a debate about faith, the archers turned to the Goncharnaya Sloboda; there was an Old Believer Savva Romanov, who later described the whole thing with a streltsy petition. The petition was written by some monk Sergius. When Savva Romanov read from it in Titov, and then in other shelves, indications of the “errors” of the books corrected under Nikon, the archers decided to “stand up for the old faith and shed their blood for the Christ of light.”

Obviously, this new movement, which imparted a religious connotation to the Streltsy rebellion, took place with the encouragement of Prince Khovansky, who began to act independently of Princess Sophia and told the Old Believers that he would no longer allow them to be hanged or burned in log cabins. Khovansky also listened to the petition, but he found the monk Sergius humble and not eloquent enough to debate with the authorities. Then he was pointed to the well-known Suzdal priest Nikita (whom the "Nikonians" scornfully called Pustosvyaty), who again worked on preaching schism, despite his solemn renunciation of him. Khovansky knew him, and gladly agreed to his participation in the debate. The zealots of the old faith wanted the debate to be held publicly at the Execution Ground or in the Kremlin at the Red Porch in the presence of both tsars, next Friday, June 23, before the 25th royal wedding scheduled for Sunday. The Old Believers did not want the patriarch to serve according to the new breviary at this wedding and to perform the sacrament of Communion on five prosphora with a Latin (four-pointed) roof.

So the Streltsy rebellion intensified the Russian religious strife. On Friday, a procession of the Old Believer crowd took place in the Kremlin, to the government and Princess Sophia. At the head were Nikita, monk Sergius and another monk Savvaty; people ran to see this unprecedented procession. They stopped at the Red Porch. They called Khovansky. He pretended to know nothing and kissed the Old Believer cross that Nikita was carrying. Nikita set out to him a petition about the old Orthodox faith, about seven prosphora, a three-part cross, that the patriarch would give an answer why he was persecuting people for the old faith. Khovansky took the petition and took it to the palace, to Sofya. Returning, he announced that the sovereigns had appointed the cathedral to be a few days after his wedding. Nikita insisted that the kings be crowned on seven prosphora, with the image of the True Cross. Khovansky advised him to prepare such prosphora and promised to bring them to the patriarch so that he would serve on them during the coronation ceremony.

On June 25, the solemn coronation of both kings took place in the Assumption Cathedral. Nikita Pustosvyat brought his prosphora to the Kremlin. But there was such a crowd of people that he could not get into the cathedral and returned. Nevertheless, the Moscow Old Believers were preparing for a nationwide debate with the patriarch and, to reinforce themselves, they summoned schismatic teachers from the Volokolamsk deserts: the aforementioned Savvaty, Dositheus, Gabriel, etc. dissenters. When elected from Titov's regiment went around the settlements and urged them to sign a petition, only nine streltsy orders and the tenth Pushkarsky had a hand in it; disputes arose in ten other regiments; many objected that it was not their business to enter into a debate with the patriarch and bishops. However, these regiments also promised that they would stand for the Orthodox faith and would not allow them to be burned and tortured again.

On July 3, 1682, elected representatives from all the regiments that participated in the Streltsy revolt gathered at the palace, along with schismatic teachers and a crowd of townspeople. Khovansky led them into the Patriarchal Chamber of the Cross and summoned the Patriarch. Joachim persuaded them not to interfere in the affairs of the bishops and tried to explain the need to correct books in agreement with the ecumenical patriarchs. The schismatics objected to him and mainly rebelled against the persecution of the old faith, which was inconsistent with Christ's teaching, against the desire to convince the trinity of the truth with fire and sword. The Old Believer Pavel Danilovich, when the elected approached the patriarch for blessing, refused to receive him, not according to the old custom. Khovansky kissed him on the head with the words: “I didn’t know you until now!” We agreed to have a conciliar debate every other day, July 5, on Wednesday.

On Moscow streets and squares, the Old Believers, emboldened by the Streltsy revolt, freely preached their doctrine. Crowds of men and women gathered around them, and when the "Nikonian" priests tried to justify correcting the books, some of them were beaten. It seemed that Moscow was on the eve of a new rebellion. Miloslavsky and Princess Sophia were in terrible danger.

Debate about faith in the Kremlin with the Old Believers

On the morning of July 5, a crowd of Old Believers, led by Nikita, with a cross, old icons and books, moved to the Kremlin, to Princess Sophia, accompanied by archers and a multitude of people. The schismatic elders, having thin, lean faces and hoods of the old cut, made an impression on the people and evoked unflattering remarks about the obesity of the state, "Nikonian" clergy. The schismatic crowd settled down between the Cathedral of the Archangel and the Red Porch, placed levies, laid out books and icons on them, and lit candles. The patriarch did not want to go out to the people himself. On his orders, Archpriest Vasily came out to the crowd and began to read, Nikita's renunciation of the schism and his repentance before the cathedral in 1667. Archers rushed to Vasily; but the monk Sergius mentioned above intervened and ordered him to continue reading. However, nothing could be heard behind the screams. Then Sergius stood on a bench and read the notebooks of the Solovetsky elders with teachings on the sign of the cross, prosphora, etc. The crowd, hushed, listened to these teachings with emotion and tears. But then the noise and excitement arose again.

The Streltsy revolt, thus, increasingly acquired an unfavorable turn for Sophia and Miloslavsky. Khovansky tried in vain in the palace so that Joachim and the clergy would go out to the Old Believers and start a debate in the square in front of the people. Princess Sophia did not agree to such a demand and pointed to the Faceted Chamber, where she herself wanted to be present. Tararui advised her this presence; the boyars convinced by him also asked Sophia to abandon her intention. But she did not want to leave the patriarch without the support of secular power and went to the Faceted Chamber; together with Sophia went Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, princesses Tatyana Mikhailovna and Marya Alekseevna, with boyars and elected archers. The schismatics, when Khovansky invited them to enter the chamber, did not immediately agree, fearing violence; but Khovansky swore that no harm would be done to them. Then the schismatic fathers, accompanied by many people from the people, entered the chamber in a crowd.

The Patriarch urged them not to "be wise," to obey their bishops and not to interfere in the correction of books, not having a "grammatical mind." Nikita exclaimed: “We didn’t come to talk about grammar, but about church dogma!” Archbishop Athanasius of Kholmogory began to answer him. "I'm not talking to you, but to the patriarch!" Nikita shouted and rushed at the archbishop, but the elected archers held him back. Then Princess Sophia, getting up from her chair, began to say that Nikita had dared to beat the bishop in the presence of royal persons, and reminded him of his oath renunciation of the schism. Nikita confessed that he had repented on pain of execution, but claimed that the refutation composed in response to his petition by Simeon Polotsky called Wand does not answer even a fifth part of this petition.

Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith. Painting by V. Perov, 1881

Sophia ordered to read the petition, which the schismatics brought. Among other things, it said that the heretics Arseniy the Greek and Nikon (the former patriarch) "shaken the soul of Tsar Alexei." Hearing this, Princess Sophia said with tears in her eyes: “If Arseny and Patriarch Nikon are heretics, then our father and brother, and we are all heretics. We cannot tolerate such blasphemy, and we will go out of the kingdom.” She took a few steps to the side. But the boyars and you / div / pborny archers persuaded her to return to her place. She reproached the archers for allowing peasants and ignoramuses to come to the tsars with a rebellion, against which it remains for the royal family to go to other cities and announce it to all the people. The archers were alarmed by such a threat from Sophia and swore to lay down their heads for the kings.

The reading of the petition continued in the presence of Princess Sophia with objections. When it ended, the patriarch took the gospel, written by the hand of St. Metropolitan Alexei, which contained the symbol of faith, and showed that this symbol is the same in the newly corrected books. Due to the coming twilight, the debate was adjourned, and the schismatics were released with a promise to issue a decree about them. Coming out to the crowd of people, they raised two fingers and shouted: “Believe so, do so; all hierarchs perepoh and disgrace!

At the Execution Ground they stopped and taught the people. Then they went to the Titov Streltsy Regiment, where they were greeted with a ringing of bells; served a prayer service, and dispersed to their homes.

In order to prevent the Streltsy rebellion and the Old Believer movement from growing further, Princess Sophia took decisive measures. At her request, elected representatives of all the archery regiments, except for Titov, came to the palace. Sophia asked if they, like lawless rebels, were really ready to exchange the royal family and the entire Russian state for six blacks and give up the most holy patriarch for desecration? The princess again threatened to leave Moscow together with the sovereigns. The elected Stremyanniy Streltsy Regiment answered that they would not stand for the old faith, that this was not their business, but the patriarch's. The same was repeated by others. All of them were treated and presented. But when they returned to their settlements, the archers reproached them for treason and threatened to beat them; especially noisy in the Titov regiment. The Streltsy rebellion threatened to resume, but many ordinary archers could not resist the caress and treats from the royal cellar and took the side of the authorities against the schismatics. Then Princess Sophia ordered to seize the main leaders. Nikita Pustosvyat was beheaded in Red Square, while others were exiled.

Pacification of the Streltsy revolt of 1682 by Sofia

But the main indulgent of the streltsy rebellion, Khovansky, while he remained at the head of the streltsy, allowed them any self-will and did not appease the streltsy, who went to the palace with various impudent demands. Once they demanded the extradition of many boyars by rumor, as if they wanted to exterminate the entire streltsy army in retaliation for the rebellion. The spreader of this rumor, the baptized Tatar prince, Matvey Odyshevsky, was executed. But the unrest between the archers did not stop. Throughout the summer of 1682, the court and the capital spent in fear of a new streltsy revolt. The court did not dare to openly act against Khovansky: more recently, the Miloslavskys, with his help, seized control. Tararui was always surrounded by a crowd of archers, and his courtyard was guarded by a whole detachment. There were rumors that he, being a descendant of Gediminas, wants, using the Streltsy rebellion, to seize the throne and marry his son to one of the princesses in order to intermarry with the Romanovs. A well-known conspirator, a close relative of Princess Sophia, Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky, fearing a new streltsy rebellion, left the capital and "like an underground mole" took refuge in his estates near Moscow. For fear of a rebellion, on August 19, neither Sophia nor other members of the royal family participated in the usual procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Donskoy Monastery.

Following this, Sophia and the entire royal family suddenly left for the village of Kolomenskoye. The great boyars also departed from Moscow. The archers were alarmed by the absence of the royal court, which could easily gather around itself an army of nobles. Elected from the streltsy regiments urged not to believe the rumors about the imminence of a new streltsy rebellion and asked the sovereigns to return to the capital. The archers were reassured by the answer that Princess Sophia and the court only went on vacation to the villages near Moscow,

On September 2, Sophia and the court moved from Kolomenskoye to Vorobyevo, then to the monastery of Savva Storozhevsky and stayed for several days in the village of Vozdvizhenskoye. Regarding various government affairs, the tsars and Sophia sent a decree to Moscow to all the boyars and duma people, including the Khovanskys, as well as the stewards and nobles of Moscow, to rush to Vozdvizhenskoye. On the 17th, a meeting of the Boyar Duma opened there, in the presence of the tsars and Sophia. Here a report was made on the Streltsy rebellion and the lawlessness perpetrated by Prince Ivan Khovansky and his son Andrei in the orders of Streltsy and the Ship; and then an anonymous letter is presented that they called to themselves some archers and townspeople and persuaded them to rebel, destroy the royal house, put Prince Ivan on the throne, and marry Andrey to one of the princesses.

The Duma did not examine the authenticity of this news. The boyars were sentenced to execute the Khovanskys. The latter, following the aforementioned tsar's call, traveled by different roads to Vozdvizhenskoye. To meet them, Sophia sent Prince Lykov with a detachment of nobles. Lykov captured the old man Khovansky near the village of Pushkin, and Andrei in the village on the river. Klyazma and delivered both to Princess Sophia in Vozdvizhenskoye. Here, in the presence of the Boyar Duma, the clerk Shaklovity read them a death sentence for the Streltsy rebellion. The Khovanskys appealed to justice, demanded face-to-face confrontations, but in vain. Sophia ordered the execution to be hastened, and it was completed.

This was followed by a quick end to the Streltsy rebellion. The archers were greatly alarmed when the youngest son of Khovansky, Ivan, who had fled from Vozdvizhensky, brought news of the execution of his father, carried out by the boyars allegedly without a royal decree. The archers armed themselves, seized a cannon outfit, posted guards everywhere, threatened to kill the patriarch. But the threats were replaced by fear and despondency when the rebels learned that the court and Princess Sophia had moved to the fortified Trinity Lavra, where detachments of service people went from all sides.

When the boyar M. Golovin arrived in the capital to manage it in the absence of sovereigns, and a decree came to send two dozen elected representatives from each archery regiment to the Trinity, the participants in the archery rebellion obeyed and asked the patriarch to save them from execution. On September 27, trembling with fear, they came to the Lavra. Sophia showered them with reproaches for indignation against the royal house. Elected from the archers fell on their faces and promised to continue to serve faithfully. The princess ordered that all the regiments reconcile themselves and submit a common petition for forgiveness. Meanwhile, along the four main roads leading to the capital (Tverskaya, Vladimirskaya, Kolomenskaya and Mozhaiskaya), numerous military forces of the nobles have already settled down, ready to suppress the streltsy rebellion. The archers hurried to fulfill the princess's demand - they sent her a general petition for forgiveness. At the request of the petitioners, the patriarch sent an intercessor with them.

In 1682, the Moscow archers staged a riot, bringing Sofya Alekseevna, the elder sister of the young princes Ivan and Peter, to power. This uprising was marked by numerous murders of boyars and officials.

Prerequisites

The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred for several reasons. Shortly before that, regiments of the new system were created, which noticeably changed the order in the army. Before the archers were the basis of the army, its elite units. With the advent of the regiments of the new system, they actually turned into city guards.

In addition, on the eve of the uprising, the salaries of the archers began to be issued irregularly due to the empty treasury. Hazing also existed in this stratum, in which commanders withheld the salaries of their subordinates and abused their own position in every possible way. All this created tension. Sooner or later it was bound to turn into an open protest. All that was needed for this was some external reason. And he was found.

Heir problem

On April 27, 1682, the young king died. His death led to dynastic confusion. The deceased had no children. The throne was to go to one of his younger brothers - the sons of Alexei Mikhailovich. Ivan and Peter were still quite children. By tradition, the throne was supposed to go to the first of them. However, Ivan was a sickly child, and the Kremlin believed that he would die early. In addition, the paternal brothers had different mothers, behind whom were warring boyar groups. It was against such a confusing political background that the Streltsy revolt of 1682 took place.

The mother of sixteen-year-old Ivan was Maria Miloslavskaya, a representative of a well-born and powerful family. She died before her husband, so there were uncles and other relatives behind the baby. Ten-year-old Peter was the son of Natalya Naryshkina. The Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred due to the confrontation between two families in choosing a new king.

Tsarevich Peter

According to the law, the boyar duma had to determine the heir. She gathered when the already mortally ill Fyodor Alekseevich was preparing to say goodbye to life. The boyars chose Peter. This boy was healthier than his brother, which means that his supporters could not be afraid for their future in the event of another fleeting change of power.

Another key character in this story was the elder sister of Ivan and Peter Sofya Alekseevna. It was she who initiated the rebellion of the archers. The princess was in her 25th year, she was an adult with great ambitions. Sophia wanted to pull the blanket of power over herself. She was going to do this, firstly, with the help of archers dissatisfied with their position, and secondly, thanks to the support of the Miloslavskys, who were infringed by the thought. The princess also relied on the influential princes Ivan Khovansky and Vasily Golitsyn. These nobles were not at all happy with the rise of the noble Naryshkins.

Unrest in Moscow

Very soon after the decision of the Boyar Duma to choose an heir in Moscow, rumors began to spread about the impending infringement of the archers. These conversations were supported by a wide network of Miloslavsky supporters. The Streltsy rebellion of 1682 was due to massive propaganda in the armed forces. Cases of disobedience to their own superiors became more frequent.

For two weeks the situation in the capital was extremely tense and unclear. Finally, on May 15, Sophia's close associates began to act even more decisively. Ivan Miloslavsky and Pyotr Tolstoy went to the streltsy settlements and there they publicly began to call the streltsy to the Kremlin, allegedly because the Naryshkins had killed the young prince Ivan. A crowd of armed people really went to the sovereign's chambers. There she demanded to extradite the boyars who opposed Sophia and Miloslavsky and were responsible for the death of the child.

The queen met the dissatisfied. Having learned the cause of the turmoil, she brought Ivan and Peter to the porch of the palace, clearly showing that everything was in order with the children. The reasons for the Streltsy rebellion were rumors that were not confirmed. Thus, an unauthorized action could already be interpreted as

Beginning of bloodshed

The situation in the Kremlin has reached a boiling point. The crowd had not yet dispersed when a supporter of the Naryshkin boyar Mikhail Dolgorukov appeared on the same porch. This nobleman began to shout at the archers, accusing them of treason and threatening them with imminent reprisals. At that moment, the excited armed men finally found someone to vent their anger on. Dolgorukov was thrown from the porch directly onto the spears of the soldiers standing below. Thus the first blood was shed.

There was nowhere to go now. Therefore, the events of the Streltsy rebellion developed rapidly, and even the alleged organizers of the riots, who had previously spread false rumors, ceased to control the situation. The rebels dealt with other close associates of the Naryshkins, including the leader of their party, Artamon Matveev. In the palace, the soldiers slaughtered the brother of the queen Athanasius. The killings continued throughout the day. Streltsy took control of the Kremlin. The entrances and exits of the palaces and chambers were guarded by the rebels. In fact, members of the royal family became hostages.

Repressions against the Naryshkins

The first streltsy rebellion led to complete anarchy in the city. Power was paralyzed. The rebels with particular zeal were looking for another brother of the queen - Ivan Naryshkin. On the day the bloodshed began, he hid in the royal chambers, thanks to which he survived. However, a day later, the archers again came to the Kremlin and demanded the extradition of Ivan Kirillovich. Otherwise, they promised to make even more chaos.

Natalnaya Naryshkina hesitated. Sofya Alekseevna personally put pressure on her and began to explain that this was the only way to avoid further anarchy. Ivan was released. He was tortured and then executed. The father of Ivan and Natalia - the old and sick Kirill Naryshkin - was sent to the monastery.

Shooter's salary

The reprisals in Moscow continued for another three days. One of the last significant victims of terror was von Ganden, a foreign doctor prescribed for Fyodor Alekseevich. The archers accused him of poisoning the king and killed him. The execution took place even despite the persuasion of the widow of the deceased not to touch the doctor. Queen Martha testified that the foreigner personally tried all the medicines that were prescribed to Fedor. This example shows how merciless and blind the Streltsy rebellion was. Sophia at the same time did everything to establish herself in power.

However, before the rebels and the government began to discuss the political future of the country, the rebels on May 19 came to the underage king with an ultimatum. Streltsy demanded payment of all delayed salaries. According to their calculations, the treasury had to pay 240 thousand rubles. At the time, this was a huge amount. The authorities simply did not have that kind of money. Then Sophia took the initiative into her own hands, who, formally still without any authority, ordered to increase taxes and requisitions in the provinces and begin to melt down the Kremlin's values.

Two princes

New circumstances were soon revealed, to which the streltsy rebellion led. Briefly assessing the current situation, Sophia decided through the archers to demand actual power for herself. It looked like this. On May 23, the rebels filed a petition in the name of Peter, in which they insisted that his brother Ivan become the second king. A week later, this combination was continued. The archers also proposed to make Sofya Alekseevna regent due to the infancy of the co-rulers.

The Boyar Duma and the metropolitan agreed to these changes. They had no choice, since the inhabitants of the Kremlin continued to be hostages of the soldiers. The wedding ceremony and Peter I took place on June 25 in the Assumption Cathedral. She summed up the results of the Streltsy revolt - the power in the country was changed. Instead of the sole prince Peter, Russia received two co-rulers-children. The actual power was in the hands of their elder sister Sofya Alekseevna.

Khovanshchina

Events after the Streltsy revolt of 1682 disturbed Moscow for some time. When Sophia came to power, she appointed Ivan Khovansky as the head of this military formation. The queen counted on his help in calming the archers. The queen feared for her fate. She did not want to become a victim of another rebellion.

However, the figure of Khovansky was not the most successful choice for this responsible position. The prince not only yielded to the archers in their demands, but he himself began to put pressure on Sophia. In addition, the military never left the Kremlin, motivating their action by the need to protect the royal residence. This short period was remembered by the people as "Khovanshchina".

Old Believer unrest

Meanwhile, a new factor appeared in the confrontation between the archers and the central government. They became a religious movement that broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The conflict was caused by reforms that affected the essence of important Christian rites. The Church recognized the schismatics as heretics and expelled them to the outskirts of the country in Siberia.

Now, when there was a riot in Moscow, the Old Believers again reached out to the capital. They enlisted the support of Khovansky. In the Kremlin, he began to defend the idea of ​​the need for a theological dispute between supporters of the Old Believers and the official church. Such a public dispute really took place. However, this event ended with another riot. Now commoners have become a source of unrest.

It was at this moment that another conflict occurred between Sophia and Khovansky. The queen insisted that it was necessary to rein in the Old Believers. In the end, some of their leaders were killed, although Khovansky guaranteed them immunity. Fearing reprisals from the authorities, the archers agreed to recognize the schismatics as instigators of another rebellion.

Yard moving

After the story with the Old Believers, relations between Sofia Alekseevna and Ivan Khovansky finally deteriorated. At the same time, the authorities continued to be in a dependent position from the archers. Then the regent gathered the whole court and literally fled with him from the city. It happened on August 19th.

On that day, a religious procession was planned on the outskirts of Moscow. Sophia took advantage of this pretext to move away from the archers to the provinces. She also took the princes with her. The ruler could convene a noble militia, which would become a new army capable of protecting power from fickle archers. The courtyard secretly moved to the well-fortified Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

Archers lay down their weapons

Could a new streltsy rebellion have occurred in connection with this maneuver of power? The causes and results of the first bloodshed were still well remembered by Sophia, who decided to finally get rid of this threat. She believed that such a possibility really existed, and wanted to stop it in advance.

Khovansky, having learned about the actual flight of the regent with the princes, decided to go straight to Sophia in order to resolve the conflict through negotiations. On the way, he stopped in Pushkin, where he was captured by stolniks loyal to the government. On the same night, September 17, he was executed on charges of organizing a coup d'état. The hovanie is over.

There was no second bloodshed. Archers, having learned about the inglorious death of their leader, were demoralized. They surrendered to the authorities and cleared the Kremlin. The Duma clerk Fyodor Shaklovity was appointed to the place of the chief. He set about restoring discipline and order in these parts. After 16 years, the archers rebelled again, already during the reign of Peter I, after which they were finally repressed, and their army was disbanded.

The Streltsy uprising of 1698 is a campaign of archers against Moscow with the aim of placing Princess Sophia on the royal throne. They were stopped and defeated by loyal troops under the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery, Sophia was tonsured a nun.

ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLT OF 1682

This was the state of affairs when Theodore died. On the very day of his death, during the oath to Peter, the archers of Karandeev’s order refused to kiss the cross: the devious prince Konstantin Shcherbaty, the duma nobleman Zmeev and the duma clerk of the Ukrainians were sent to them, who managed to persuade the archers, and they kissed the cross to Peter.

PROGRESS OF THE 1682 REVOLT

On May 15, the so-called Streltsy riot took place. The Miloslavskys sent word to the streltsy settlements that morning that the traitors had strangled Tsar Ivan. Streltsov also called to the Kremlin. Streltsy regiments marched to the Kremlin in battle order, managed to occupy the Kremlin gates, stopped the Kremlin's relations with the rest of the city and approached the palace. Having heard about the approach of the archers, the boyars who were in the Kremlin and the patriarch gathered in the palace. From the cries of the Streltsy they knew why the Streltsy army had come, they knew that they considered Tsar Ivan killed. Therefore, at the palace council, it was decided to show both Ivan and Peter to the archers in order to immediately convince them of the complete absence of any betrayal and confusion in the palace. Tsarina Natalya took both brothers to the Red Porch, and the archers, having entered into a conversation with Ivan himself, heard from him that "no one is harassing him, and he has no one to complain about." These words showed the archers that they were a victim of someone's deception, that there were no traitors and there was no one to exterminate. Old man Matveev, with his skillful and restrained speech, managed to calm the archers so much that they wanted to disperse. But Mikhail Yuryevich Dolgoruky spoiled the case. Being, after his father Yuri, the second head of the Streltsy order and thinking that now the archers had completely reconciled themselves, he treated the crowd with abuse and rudely ordered her to disperse. Streltsy, angry and incited by people from the Miloslavsky party, rushed at him, killed him and, intoxicated by the first murder, rushed to the palace in search of other "traitors". They grabbed Matveev in front of Tsarina Natalya and Peter (some said that they even snatched them from their hands) and cut them into pieces; behind Matveev, the boyars Prince Romodanovsky, Af. Cyrus. Naryshkin and others. The archers were especially looking for the hated Miloslavsky Iv. Cyrus. Naryshkin, the most capable brother of the queen, but they did not find, although they searched the whole palace. Murders were also committed outside the palace. Prince Yuri Dolgoruky was killed in his house. Yves is captured and then killed on the street. Max. Languages, a representative of the third palace party. The archers swore over the corpses of the dead until late in the evening and, leaving the guard in the Kremlin, went home.

On May 16, the murder scenes resumed. The archers exterminated all those whom the Miloslavsky side considered traitors. But the desired Yves. Cyrus. Naryshkin was not found that day either - he skillfully hid in the palace. On the morning of May 17, the archers urgently demanded his extradition, as the last surviving traitor. To stop the rebellion, the palace found it necessary to extradite Ivan Kirillovich. He took communion and surrendered to the archers, he was tortured and killed. This ended the rebellion.

[…] The Miloslavskys thus lost their political opponents. Now they, the Miloslavskys, became the masters of affairs; Sofya became the representative of the authorities, because Natalya Kirillovna retired from business. In those days, she was even threatened to be "expelled from the palace." The accession to power by the Miloslavskys was expressed immediately after the riot by the fact that the places previously occupied in the highest Moscow administration by people close to the Naryshkins, even before the end of the riot, passed to Sophia's supporters. Prince V.V. Golitsyn received command over the Posolsky Prikaz; Prince Iv. Andr. Khovansky and his son Andrei became the heads of the Streltsy order (that is, all the Streltsy troops). Inozemsky and Reitarsky orders were subordinated to Iv. Mich. Miloslavsky.

But, having seized power in fact, having destroyed some and eliminated the department of others of their enemies, Sophia and her supporters have not yet secured any legal basis for their dominant position. Such a legal basis could be the accession of Tsar Ivan and the transfer of guardianship over him to some person of his family. Sophia achieved this with the help of the same archers. Of course, at the instigation of her supporters, the archers beat with their foreheads that not only Peter would reign, but both brothers. The Boyar Duma and the higher clergy, fearing a repetition of the Streltsy rebellion, on May 26 proclaimed Ivan the first tsar, and Peter the second. Immediately then the archers beat with their foreheads that the government was entrusted, in the youth of the kings, to Sophia. On May 29, Sophia agreed to rule. Sophia treated the rebellious, but faithful archers to her in the palace. Sophia's party thus achieved official recognition of its political supremacy.

However, the entire population of Moscow and the archers themselves realized that the streltsy movement, although rewarded by the government, was still an illegal act, a rebellion. The archers themselves, therefore, were afraid of punishment in the future, when the government would strengthen and find, in addition to them, support in society and an external force. Trying to avoid this, archers demand guarantees of their safety, official recognition of their innocence. The government does not refuse this either. It recognizes that the archers did not rebel, but only eradicated treason. This recognition was attested to publicly in the form of special inscriptions on a stone pillar, which the archers built on Red Square in memory of the May events.

The construction of such a monument, glorifying rebellious deeds, showed the people even more that the state of affairs in Moscow is abnormal and that the archers, for the time being, are the only force that inspires fear even in the palace.

Platonov S.F. A complete course of lectures on Russian history. St. Petersburg, 2000 http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/platonov/plats005.htm#gl2

REVOLT OF 1682 IN THE EYES OF AN EYEWITNESS

And on May 15 at 11 o’clock in the afternoon they gathered, archers of all orders, with a gun: with spears and with muskets, with reeds, with cannons and, having caught the fetils, they hit the harrows and rang the bells at their parish churches and in the big policeman alarm bell. And they went to the Kremlin with banners, and came to the Kremlin to the Red Porch and other porches, and to the Tsar's chambers, and towers, and transitions. And from the tsar's coats, Tsar Peter Alekseevich went out from the boyars, and they, the archers, begged the traitors of the boyars. And they took and raised the boyar Prince Grigory / l. 240 ob. / Romodanovsky and carried out to Red Square, and chopped into pieces. Right there, on the square, they executed with their own hands: the boyars Prince Mikhail Dolgorukovo, Artemon Matveev, Afanasy Naryshkin, Fyodor Saltykov, Dumnov Larion Ivanov and his son, Colonel Grigory Goryushkin, were chopped into trifles. Yes, the boyar Prince Yury Dolgorukovo came to the courtyard, and in chorus they threw him off the porch, and dragged him out of the gate and stabbed him. And the next day, Prince Yurya, the dead man was cut into small pieces. And in Kholopye's order, they smashed the serfs' notebooks and all sorts of letters and the treasury, and carried all sorts of books and fortresses to Red Square, and they tore and tossed everything, and they gave freedom to the boyar people. And in the royal mansions they went around /l. 241./ impolitely with a gun and looked for the boyars to be executed. And at the Holy Patriarch’s in the Chamber of the Cross, and in others in coats in all, and in the whole house they went with a gun, and they were looking for the boyars, and they asked the most holy patriarch about the boyars with ignorance, and they cut down the door at the coats, and his butler on a rope in the window was thrown more than once, and hung on the ropes.

And on May 16, the duma Averkey Kirilov was executed on the square, and the boyar people who decided to take away their clothes and rob were executed.

And on May 18, on the day of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirilovna, her brother, the boyar Ivan Naryshkin, was tortured and executed, and they stuck his head on a spear, and Danila Zhidovin and his son were executed w./l. 241 rev./

And on May 19, the day of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirilovna's father, the boyar Kiril Naryshkin, was shot in the Chudov Monastery and exiled to exile in the Kirilov Monastery for the great guard.

And they, the archer and the soldier, were given a great monetary salary, and the mug yard was locked. And the dead bodies lay on the square for five days. And those slain bellies were taken against the sovereign, and, according to a small estimate, they were sold to him, /l. 242./ Streltsy, and besides the archers were not sold to anyone.

Daily records of an eyewitness of the Moscow uprising of 1682 // Soviet archives, No. 2. 1979 http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Russ/XVII/1680-1700/Vosst_1682/Ocevidec/text.htm

STRELETSKY REVOLT OF 1689

[…] In 1689, upon Golitsyn's return from the Crimea. It started with rumors. There was talk that the archers, at the instigation of Sophia and the head of the Streltsy order, Fyodor Shaklovity, were again plotting to kill Peter and the widowed queen Natalya Kirillovna. Frightened by this news, seventeen-year-old Peter fled at night from his residence in the village of Preobrazhensky under the protection of the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The confrontation between the Naryshkins and Miloslavskys, Peter and Sophia, took on an undisguised character. However, this time the archers behaved very passively, the alarm did not sound, the government did not have supporters. The patriarch, who had left for negotiations with Peter, never returned to Moscow. Following the patriarch, the boyars stretched out, the foot and horse regiments left in formation with unfolded banners. Sophia and Golitsyn simply no one wanted to support, and the archers readily handed over to Peter Shaklovity. As a result, Shaklovity's head was cut off. Golitsyn was exiled, and Sophia was imprisoned in a monastery.

Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. M., 2003. Part 3. The Kingdom of Moscow. On the threshold of the empire http://www.bibliotekar.ru/gumilev-lev/65.htm

STRELETSKY REVOLT OF 1698

[…] In the royal camp, everything was prepared for battle, as the rebels were unshakable in their intention to fight. But the archers showed no less concern: they arranged a battle line, aimed their guns, formed ranks, sent the usual prayer service and made an appeal to God, as if they had to fight enemies for a just cause. There is no unscrupulous malice that would dare to express itself frankly, without hiding behind the guise of virtue and justice. Both detachments, after signing themselves countless times with the sign of the cross, began the battle. Shein's army opened cannon and rifle fire, but only with blank charges, since the governor still did not lose hope that the archers, frightened by a real rebuff, would return to obedience. But the archers, noticing that after the first shots there were neither wounded nor killed, became even bolder in their atrocity. With more presence of mind than before, they opened fire, and several dead and a large number of wounded fell from their shots. When death and wounds sufficiently assured that stronger measures were needed, Colonel de Graguet was allowed not to use more blank charges, but to shoot cannonballs and grapeshot from large-caliber cannons. Colonel de Graguet only expected this: he immediately fired such a successful volley at the rebels that he tamed their fury, and the camp of the enemies, which was the field of exploits of the fighting soldiers, turned into a place of miserable slaughter. Some fell dead, others ran in terror like crazy, having lost their presence of mind along with self-confidence; those who, in this dangerous situation, retained a more sound mind, tried to weaken and even destroy the action of the tsarist artillery, mutually directing their guns at de Grague's guns, but their effort was in vain. Colonel de Graguet prevented their turn by pointing his guns at the cannons of the rebellious mob; he opened fire, which, like a continuous hurricane, swept away the archers approaching their guns; many of them fell, an even greater number fled, and no one dared to return to his battery.

Korb I.G. Diary of a trip to the Moscow state. Per. and note. A. I. Maleina SPb., 1906. A brief description of the dangerous rebellion of archers in Muscovy http://www.hrono.ru/libris/lib_k/korb05.html

TORTURE

The cruelty of the torment with which the criminals were betrayed was unheard of: they were terribly beaten with whips, but, without receiving an answer, the interrogators subjected the backs of the archers, stained with blood and swollen with ichor, to the action of fire, so that, through the slow burning of the skin of the mutilated body, sharp pain, penetrating to the brains bones and the very fibers of the nerves, caused severe torment. These tortures were used alternately, replacing one another. It was terrible to see and hear this terrible tragedy. More than thirty terrible bonfires were laid out on the open plain, over which they burned the unfortunate being interrogated, who uttered terrible cries; in another place fierce lashes were heard, and thus the most beautiful country on earth turned into a place of brutal torture.

When most of the criminals had already been tortured, there were among them those who could not endure the torment and announced the following testimony regarding their evil intentions: “We know how criminal our cause is; we all deserve the death penalty, and perhaps none of us would want to be released from it. If fate had turned out to be favorable to our plans, we would have subjected the boyars to the same executions that we now expect as defeated, for we had the intention of burning, robbing and exterminating the entire German suburb and, having cleansed this place of the Germans, whom we wanted every one kill, invade Moscow; then, having killed those soldiers who would have resisted us, to join the rest as accomplices in our atrocity, the boyars to execute some, imprison others and deprive them of their places and dignity, in order to attract the mob the easier. Some priests would go ahead of us with the icon of the Mother of God and the image of St. Nicholas, to show that we did not take up arms out of deceit, but out of piety, for the glory of God and in defense of the faith. Having seized the supreme power, we would have scattered letters among the people in which we would assure that His Royal Majesty, having left, on the bad advice of the Germans, abroad, died overseas. In them, the people would also read the following: measures must be taken so that a state ship does not rush across the sea without a helmsman, through which it could easily be in danger, fall on any rocks, be wrecked, and therefore Princess Sofya Alekseevna will be temporarily placed on the throne until the prince reaches the age of majority and matures. Vasily Golitsyn will be returned from exile to help Sophia with his wise advice. Since all the articles of this testimony were so important that even each of them, taken separately, subjected the perpetrators to death, the voivode Shein ordered that a sentence be made on them, made public and executed.