The first tsar of all Rus' belonged to the dynasty. The first tsar in Rus'
Tsar- from the Latin caesar - sovereign sovereign, emperor, as well as the official title of the monarch. IN Old Russian this Latin word sounded like a caesar - "tssar".
Initially, this was the name of the Roman and Byzantine emperors, hence the Slavic name of the Byzantine capital - Tsesargrad, Tsargrad. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion in Rus', this word also began to designate the Tatar khans in written monuments.
royal crownIn the narrow sense of the word "tsar" is the main title of the monarchs of Russia from 1547 to 1721. But this title was used much earlier in the form of “Caesar”, and then “Tsar”, it was used episodically by the rulers of Rus' since the 12th century, and systematically since the time of Grand Duke Ivan III (most often in diplomatic communication). In 1497, Ivan III crowned his grandson Dmitry Ivanovich as tsar, who was declared heir, but then imprisoned. The next ruler after Ivan III - Vasily III - was pleased with the old title "Grand Duke". But on the other hand, his son Ivan IV the Terrible, upon reaching adulthood, was crowned as king (in 1547), thus establishing his prestige in the eyes of his subjects as a sovereign ruler and heir to the Byzantine emperors.
In 1721, Peter I the Great adopted as his main title - the title of "emperor". However, unofficially and semi-officially, the title "Tsar" continued to be used until the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II in February 1917.
The title "Tsar" was used, in particular, in the national anthem Russian Empire, and the word, if it referred to the Russian monarch, was supposed to be capitalized.
In addition, the title "Tsar" was included in the official full title as the title of the owner of the former Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian khanates, and then Poland.
In the Russian word usage of the 19th century, especially common people, this word sometimes denoted the monarch in general.
The territory that is under the control of the king is called the kingdom.
Titles of the royal family:
Queen- a royal person or the wife of a king.
Tsarevich- the son of the king and queen (before Peter I).
Tsesarevich- male heir, full title - Heir Tsesarevich, abbreviated in tsarist Russia to Heir (with a capital letter) and rarely to Tsesarevich.
Tsesarevna- The wife of the Tsarevich.
During the imperial period, a son who was not an heir had the title of Grand Duke. The last title was also used by grandchildren (in the male line).
Princess The daughter of a king or queen.
Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible - Grand Duke of Moscow, Tsar and Grand Sovereign of All Rus'
Years of life 1530-1584
Reigned 1533-1584
Father - Vasily Ivanovich, Grand Duke of Moscow.
Mother - Grand Duchess Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya.
Ivan (John) the Terrible - the Grand Duke from 1533 and the Russian Tsar from 1547 - was a controversial and outstanding personality.
Reign Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible it was going very fast. The future "terrible king" came to the throne after the death of his father - Vasily III Ivanovich, only three years old. The real ruler of Rus' was his mother - Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya.
Her short (only four years) reign was accompanied by cruel strife and intrigues of the near boyars - the former appanage princes and their entourage.
Elena Glinskaya immediately took drastic measures against the boyars who were dissatisfied with her. She made peace with Lithuania and decided to fight with Crimean Tatars who attacked Russian possessions, but died suddenly during preparations for the war.
After death Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya power passed into the hands of the boyars. Vasily Vasilievich Shuisky became the eldest among Ivan's guardians. This boyar, who was already over 50 years old, married Princess Anastasia, a cousin of the infant Grand Duke Ivan.
The future formidable king, in his own words, grew up in "neglect". The boyars cared little for the boy. Ivan and his younger brother, deaf-mute from birth, Yuri, endured the need even for clothes and food. All this embittered and revolted the teenager. Ivan retained an unkind attitude towards his guardians for the rest of his life.
The boyars did not initiate Ivan into their affairs, but vigilantly followed his affections and hurried to remove Ivan's possible friends and associates from the palace. Having reached adulthood, Ivan more than once bitterly recalled his orphan childhood. The ugly scenes of boyar self-will and violence, among which Ivan grew up, made him nervous and timid. The child experienced a terrible nervous shock when the Shuisky boyars broke into his bedroom one day at dawn, woke him up and frightened him. Over the years, Ivan developed suspicion and distrust of all people.
Ivan IV the Terrible Ivan quickly developed physically, at the age of 13 he was already a real tall man. Those around were struck by the violence and violent temper of Ivan. At the age of 12, he climbed onto the peaked towers and pushed cats and dogs out of there - "a dumb creature." At the age of 14, he began to “drop little men” already. These bloody amusements greatly amused the future "great sovereign". Ivan was outrageous in his youth in every possible way and very much. With a gang of peers - the children of the noblest boyars - he rode through the streets and squares of Moscow, trampled the people with horses, beat and robbed the common people - "jumping and running everywhere dishonestly."
The boyars did not pay any attention to the future king. They were engaged in the fact that in their favor they disposed of state lands and plundered the state treasury. However, Ivan began to show his unbridled and vengeful character.
At the age of 13, he ordered the kennelers to beat his tutor V. I. Shuisky to death. He appointed the princes of Glinsky (mother's relatives) to be the most important over all other boyar and princely names. At the age of 15, Ivan sent his army against the Kazan Khan, but that campaign was unsuccessful.
Crowning the kingdom
In June 1547, a terrible fire in Moscow caused a popular revolt against the relatives of Ivan's mother, the Glinskys, whose charms the crowd attributed the disaster to. The rebellion was pacified, but the impressions from it, according to Grozny, let "fear" into his "soul and trembling into the bones."
The fire almost coincided in time with the wedding of Ivan to the kingdom, which for the first time was connected with the sacrament of Confirmation.
The coronation of Ivan the Terrible in 1547 Crowning the kingdom - a solemn ceremony borrowed by Russia from Byzantium, during which future emperors were dressed in royal clothes and placed on them a crown (tiara). In Russia, the “first-born” is the grandson of Ivan III Dmitry, he was married to the “great reign of Vladimir and Moscow, and Novgorod” on February 4, 1498.
On January 16, 1547, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan IV the Terrible was married in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin to the kingdom with the cap of Monomakh, with the laying on him of a barm, a cross, a chain and the presentation of a scepter. (At the wedding of Tsar Boris Godunov, the presentation of the orb as a symbol of power was added.)
Barma - a precious mantle, decorated with images of religious content, was worn at the wedding ceremony for the kingdom of Russian tsars.
State - one of the symbols of royal power in Muscovite Rus', a golden ball with a cross on top.
Scepter - rod, one of the attributes of royal power.
Scepter (1) and orb (2) of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and princely barms (3) The Church Mystery of Chrismation shocked the young king. Ivan IV suddenly realized himself as "abbot of all Rus'." And this realization from that moment largely guided his personal actions and government decisions. Since the wedding of Ivan IV to the kingdom in Russia for the first time appeared not only the Grand Duke, but also the tsar crowned king - the anointed of God, the sovereign ruler of the country.
Conquest of the Kazan Khanate
The royal title allowed Grand Duke Ivan IV to take a completely different position in diplomatic relations with Western Europe. In the West, the grand ducal title was translated as “prince” or even “great duke”, and the title “king” was either not translated at all, or translated as “emperor” - an autocratic ruler. The Russian autocrat thus stood on a par with the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
When Ivan was 17 years old, the influence of the Glinsky princes on him ceased. The tsar began to be strongly influenced by Sylvester, Ivan's confessor, archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. He managed to convince the young king of the possibility of saving the country from all sorts of disasters with the help of new advisers, who were selected on the instructions of Sylvester and made up a special circle that essentially performed the functions of the government. This circle was named by one of its members, Prince Andrey Kurbsky, "Chosen Rada".
Since 1549, together with his friends and associates, the so-called "Chosen Rada", which included A.F. Adashev, Metropolitan Macarius, A.M. Kurbsky, priest Sylvester, Ivan IV carried out a number of reforms aimed at centralizing the state.
He carried out Zemsky reform, transformations were carried out in the army. In 1550 a new Sudebnik of Ivan IV.
In 1549 the first Zemsky Sobor, and in 1551 the Stoglavy Cathedral, consisting of representatives of the church, which adopted a collection - 100 decisions on church life "Stoglav".
In 1550-1551, Ivan the Terrible personally participated in the campaigns against Kazan, which at that time was Mohammedan, and converted its inhabitants to Orthodoxy.
In 1552 the Kazan Khanate was conquered. Then the Astrakhan Khanate also submitted to the Muscovite state. It happened in 1556.
In honor of the conquest of the Kazan Khanate, Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of a cathedral in honor of the Intercession on Red Square in Moscow Holy Mother of God known to everyone as St Basil's Church.
Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral) Over the years, the king began to believe that the strengthening of his sovereign power strengthened the power of his entourage, who "began to arbitrarily" come. The tsar accused his closest associates - Adashev and Sylvester - of being in charge of everything themselves, and that he was "led, like a young man, by the arms." The divergence of opinions revealed the question of the direction of further actions in foreign policy. Ivan the Terrible wanted to wage war for Russia's access to the Baltic Sea, and the members of his "rada" wanted further advancement to the southeast.
In 1558 it began, as Ivan the Terrible intended, Livonian War. She was supposed to confirm the correctness of the king, but the successes of the first years of the war were replaced by defeats.
The death in 1560 of Anastasia's wife and the slander of her relatives made the king suspect his former associates of malicious intent and poisoning of the queen. Adashev died at the moment of the reprisal being prepared against him. Archpriest Sylvester, on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, was tonsured and exiled to Solovetsky Monastery.
The Chosen Rada has ceased to exist. The second period of Grozny's reign began, when he began to rule absolutely autocratically, not listening to anyone's advice.
In 1563, Russian troops captured Polotsk, at that time a large Lithuanian fortress. The tsar was proud of this victory, won after the break with the Chosen Rada. However, already in 1564, Russia suffered serious defeats. The king began to look for the "guilty", mass disgraces and executions began.
In 1564, the trusted and closest friend of Ivan the Terrible, a member of the Chosen Rada, Prince Andrei Kurbsky secretly, at night, leaving his wife and nine-year-old son, went to the Lithuanians. Not only did he betray the tsar, Kurbsky betrayed his homeland, becoming the head of the Lithuanian detachments in the war with his own people. Trying to portray himself as a victim, Kurbsky wrote a letter to the tsar, justifying his treason by "disturbed grief of the heart" and accusing Ivan of "torment".
Correspondence began between the tsar and Kurbsky. In the letters both accused and reproached each other. The tsar accused Kurbsky of treason and justified the cruelty of his actions in the interests of the state. Kurbsky justified himself by saying that he was forced to flee in order to save his own life.
Oprichnina
To put an end to the dissatisfied boyars, the tsar decided on a demonstrative "offense". Together with his family, he left Moscow in December 1564, as if abdicating the throne, and went to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. The people, having come to confusion, demanded from the boyars and the higher clergy to beg the king to return. Grozny accepted the deputation and agreed to return, but on certain conditions. He presented them when he arrived in the capital in February 1565. In fact, it was a demand to grant him dictatorial powers, so that the king could, at his own discretion, execute and pardon traitors, and take away their property. By a special decree, the king proclaimed the institution oprichnina(the name comes from the old Russian word oprich - "except").
Ivan the Terrible (such a nickname was given to Ivan IV by the people) demanded at his disposal land holdings made up of the confiscated lands of his political enemies, and again redistributed among those who were devoted to the tsar. Each oprichnik took an oath of allegiance to the tsar and pledged not to communicate with the "zemstvo".
The lands that did not fall under the redistribution were called "zemshchina", the autocrat did not claim them. "Zemshchina" was ruled by the boyar duma, had the army, the judiciary and other administrative institutions. But the guardsmen, who performed the functions of the state police, had real power. About 20 cities and several volosts fell under the redistribution of land.
From the devoted "friends" the tsar created a special army - oprichnina - and formed courts with servants for their maintenance. In Moscow, several streets and settlements were allocated for guardsmen. The number of guardsmen quickly increased to 6,000. For them, all new estates were taken away, and the former owners were expelled. The guardsmen received unlimited rights from the tsar, and the truth in court was always on their side.
Oprichnik Dressed in black, riding black horses with a black harness and tied to the saddle with a dog's head and a broom (symbols of their position), these merciless executors of the tsar's will terrified people with massacres, robberies and exactions.
Many boyar families were then completely exterminated by the guardsmen, among them were the relatives of the king.
In 1570, the oprichnina army attacked Novgorod and Pskov. Ivan IV accused these cities of striving to "pass into allegiance" to the Lithuanian king. The king personally led the campaign. All the cities along the road from Moscow to Novgorod were plundered. During this campaign in December 1569 Malyuta Skuratov strangled the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Tver Otrochesky Monastery Metropolitan Philip, who publicly opposed the oprichnina and the executions of Ivan IV.
In Novgorod, where no more than 30 thousand people then lived, 10-15 thousand people were killed, innocent Novgorodians were put to painful executions on suspicion of treason.
However, cracking down on their people, the guardsmen could not repel external enemies from Moscow. In May 1571, the army of guardsmen showed themselves unable to resist the "Crimeans" led by Khan Devlet-Gerey, then Moscow was set on fire by the attackers and burned out.
In 1572, Ivan the Terrible abolished the oprichnina and restored the former order, but executions in Moscow continued. In 1575, on the square near the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, 40 people were executed, participants in the Zemsky Sobor, who spoke with a “dissenting opinion”, in which Ivan IV saw a “mutiny” and a “conspiracy”.
Despite obvious mistakes in the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea, the government of Ivan the Terrible managed to establish trade relations through Arkhangelsk with England and the Netherlands during these years. The advance of the Russian troops into the lands of the Siberian Khan was also very successful, which ended already under the son of the Terrible, Tsar Fedor Ivanovich.
But Ivan IV the Terrible was not only a cruel tyrant, he was one of the most educated people of his time. He had a phenomenal memory and was erudite in matters of theology. Ivan the Terrible is the author of numerous epistles (including letters to Andrei Kurbsky, who fled Russia), the author of the music and text of the Orthodox service for the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir and the canon to the Archangel Michael.
Wives and children of the Terrible Tsar
Ivan the Terrible understood that in fits of anger he committed unjustified and senseless cruelties. The king had periods not only of bestial cruelty, but also of bitter repentance. Then he began to pray a lot, make thousands of prostrations, put on black monastic robes, and refused food and wine. But the time of religious repentance was again replaced by terrible attacks of rage and anger. During one of these attacks on November 9, 1582, in the Alexander Sloboda (his country residence), the tsar accidentally killed his beloved son, an adult and married Ivan Ivanovich, hitting his temple with a staff with an iron tip.
The death of the heir to the throne plunged Ivan the Terrible into despair, since his other son, Fyodor Ivanovich, was little able to govern the country. Ivan the Terrible sent large contributions (money and gifts) to the monasteries in memory of his son's soul, and he himself wanted to go to the monastery, but the flattering boyars dissuaded him.
The tsar entered into his first (out of seven) marriage on February 13, 1547 - with an unborn and humble noblewoman Anastasia Romanovna, daughter of Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin-Koshkin.
Ivan IV lived with her for 13 years. His wife Anastasia gave birth to Ivan three sons (who did not die in infancy) - Fedor Ivanovich (future tsar), Ivan Ivanovich (killed by Ivan the Terrible) and Dmitry (who died in adolescence in the city of Uglich) - and three daughters, giving rise to a new royal dynasty - the Romanovs.
First marriage to Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva was happy for Ivan IV, and his first wife was his favorite.
The very first (who died in infancy) son Dmitry was born to the wife of Tsar Anastasia immediately after the capture of Kazan in 1552. Ivan the Terrible swore an oath in the event of his victory to make a pilgrimage to the Kirillov Monastery on Beloozero and took a newborn baby on a journey. Relatives of Tsarevich Dmitry on his mother's side - the Romanov boyars - accompanied Ivan the Terrible on this journey. And wherever the nanny appeared with the prince in her arms, she was always supported by the hands of two boyars of the Romanovs. royal family traveled on a pilgrimage in plows - wooden flat-bottomed ships, which had both sails and oars. Once the boyars, together with the nurse and the baby, stepped onto the shaky gangway of the plow and all immediately fell into the water. Baby Dmitry choked in the water, it was not possible to pump him out.
The second wife of the king was the daughter of a Kabardian prince Maria Temryukovna.
Third wife - Marfa Sobakina, who died quite unexpectedly three weeks after the wedding. Most likely, the king poisoned her, although he swore that the new wife was poisoned even before the wedding.
According to church rules, any person, including the tsar, was forbidden to marry more than three times in Rus'. Then, in May 1572, a special church council was convened to allow Ivan the Terrible a "legal" fourth marriage - with Anna Koltovskaya. However, in the same year, shortly after her marriage, she was tonsured a nun.
She became the fifth wife of the king in 1575 Anna Vasilchikova who died in 1579.
The sixth wife Vasilisa Melentyeva(Vasilisa Melentievna Ivanova).
The last, seventh marriage was concluded in the autumn of 1580 with Maria Feodorovna naked.
On November 19, 1582, Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich was born, who died in 1591 in Uglich at the age of 9, later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. It was he who was to become the next tsar after Ivan the Terrible. If Tsarevich Dmitry had not died as a boy, perhaps there would not have been the so-called Time of Troubles in Rus'. But, as they say, history does not tolerate subjunctive moods.
Wizards of Ivan the Terrible
In Muscovite Rus', foreign doctors have long been mistaken for warlock sorcerers capable of knowing the future. And, I must say, there was every reason for that. When treating a patient, foreign doctors then certainly “checked” with the stars, compiled astrological horoscopes, according to which they determined whether the patient would recover or die.
One of these astrologers was the personal physician of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Bomelius Elysius, originating from Holland or Belgium.
Bomelius arrived in Russia in search of money and happiness and soon found access to the king, who made him his personal "dokhtur". In Moscow, Elysius began to be called - Elisha Bomelius.
The Russian chronicler wrote very impartially about Bomelia: "The Germans sent a fierce Nemchin sorcerer, called Elisha, to the tsar, and to be him ... in the vicinity."
This “dokhtur Elisha”, who was considered by the people as a “fierce sorcerer and heretic”, deliberately pretended to be a sorcerer (sorcerer). Noticing fear and suspicion of those around him in the tsar, Bomelius tried in every possible way to maintain this painful mood in Grozny. Bomelius often gave advice to the tsar on many political issues and with his slander killed many boyars.
On the instructions of Ivan the Terrible, Bomelius made poisons, from which later the boyars suspected of treason died in terrible agony at royal feasts. Moreover, the "fierce sorcerer" Bomelius made poisonous potions with such skill that, as they say, the poisoned person died at the exact time appointed by the king.
Bomelius served as a poisoning doctor for more than twenty years. But, in the end, he himself was suspected of conspiring with the Polish king Stefan Batory, and in the summer of 1575, by order of the Terrible, he was, according to legend, roasted alive on a huge spit.
It must be said that all sorts of soothsayers, magicians, sorcerers were not translated at the court of the king until his death. In the last year of his life, Ivan the Terrible kept with him more than sixty soothsayers, fortunetellers and astrologers! The English envoy Jerome Horsey wrote that in the last year of his life, "the king was busy only with the revolutions of the sun", wanting to know the date of his death.
Ivan the Terrible demanded from his soothsayers to answer his question when he would die. And the wise men, without agreeing with each other, "appointed" the day of the king's death on March 18, 1584.
However, on the “appointed” day of March 18, 1584, in the morning, Ivan the Terrible felt more than fine and, in terrible anger, ordered to prepare a large fire in order to burn all his unfortunate soothsayers who had deceived him alive on it. The Magi then prayed and asked the king to wait with the execution until the evening, for "the day will end only when the sun sets." Ivan the Terrible agreed to wait.
Having taken a bath, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, Ivan the Terrible decided to play chess with the boyar Belsky. The king himself began to arrange chess pieces on the board, and then he had a stroke. Ivan the Terrible suddenly lost consciousness and fell on his back, clutching the king's last unplaced chess piece in his hand.
Less than an hour later, Ivan the Terrible died. Soon after his death, all the royal soothsayers were released. Ivan IV the Terrible was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Fedor Ivanovich - Blessed, Tsar and Sovereign of All Rus'
Years of life 1557-1598
Reigned 1584-1598
Father - Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, autocrat, tsar.
Mother - Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva, sister of Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin and aunt of his son, Fyodor Nikitich Romanov, known as Patriarch Filaret. (Fyodor Nikitich Romanov is the father of Mikhail Romanov, the first Russian tsar from the Romanov dynasty.)
Tsar Fedor Ivanovich was born on May 31, 1557 in Moscow and was the third oldest son of Ivan the Terrible. He ascended the throne at the age of 27 after the death of his father Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich was short, full, he always smiled, moved slowly and seemed constrained.
On the very first night after the death of Ivan IV, the Supreme Boyar Duma expelled from Moscow people who had participated in the villainous deeds of the late sovereign; some of them were put in dungeons.
The boyars swore allegiance to the new Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (Ioannovich). The next morning, messengers dispersed through the streets of Moscow, informing the people of the death of the formidable sovereign and the accession to the throne of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich.
Boyar Boris Godunov immediately decided to approach the new sovereign. It was not difficult to do this, since he was the brother of Tsar Fedor's wife, Irina Fedorovna Godunova. After the wedding of Fedor to the kingdom, which took place on May 31, 1584, Godunov was gifted with an unprecedented royal mercy until then. Together with the title of the closest great boyar (as well as the governor of the Kazan and Astrakhan kingdoms), he received the best lands on the banks of the Moscow River and the opportunity to collect various fees in addition to his usual salary. All this brought Godunov an income of about 900 thousand silver rubles a year. None of the boyars had such incomes.
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich Fyodor Ivanovich loved his wife very much, so he also saw only good things in her brother, he trusted Godunov unconditionally. Boris Fedorovich Godunov became, in fact, the sole ruler of Russia.
Tsar Fedor did not even try to be interested in affairs in the state. He got up very early, received his spiritual father in his chambers, then the clerk with the icon of the saint whose day was now celebrated, the king kissed the icon, then after a long prayer he took to a hearty breakfast. And all day the sovereign either prayed, or spoke affectionately with his wife, or talked with the boyars about trifles. In the evening he liked to amuse himself with court jesters and dwarfs. After supper, the king again prayed for a long time and went to bed. He regularly went on pilgrimages to holy monasteries and Orthodox monasteries, accompanied by a whole retinue of bodyguards assigned to the tsar and his wife Godunov.
Meanwhile, Boris Godunov himself dealt with important issues of foreign and domestic policy. The reign of Fyodor Ivanovich passed peacefully, since neither the tsar nor Boris Godunov liked war. Only once did the Russian troops have to take up arms, in 1590, in order to win back from the Swedes captured under Ivan the Terrible Korela, Ivan-gorod, Koporye and Yama.
Godunov always remembered the young Tsarevich Dmitry (the son of Ivan the Terrible), who was exiled to Uglich with his mother, and he perfectly understood that he would not stay in power if Fyodor Ivanovich suddenly died. After all, then Dmitry will be declared the successor to the throne as the son of Ivan IV, the legitimate heir to the throne and successor to the Rurik family.
The cunning Godunov then began to spread rumors about incurable disease Dmitry, about the boy's cruelty towards animals and people. Boris tried to convince everyone that Dmitry was just as bloodthirsty as his father.
Tragedy in Uglich
Tsarevich Dmitry was born two years before the death of his father, Ivan the Terrible. In Uglich, Boris Godunov assigned his scammer, Mikhailo Bityagovsky, to watch the prince and his mother.
Tsarevich Dmitry from birth suffered from epilepsy (epilepsy), which is why at times he fell to the ground and convulsed. Under unclear circumstances, on May 15, 1591, he died in Uglich, at the age of nine.
Together with his nanny, Dmitry went out for a walk in the yard, where at that moment other children were playing “poke” (knives were stuck for accuracy). What happened at that moment in the yard is still not known for certain. Perhaps Tsarevich Dmitry was killed by one of the playing children or servants who were nearby (killed by order of Boris Godunov).
Or he had a seizure, Dmitry fell to the ground and accidentally cut his own throat. Petrusha Kolobov, who played with the tsarevich, later said this: “... The tsarevich played the “poke” with a knife ... and a disease came on him, an epileptic ailment, and he attacked the knife.”
There is a third version: another boy was killed in Uglich, while Tsarevich Dmitry remained alive, but this version is the most unlikely.
The fleeing people saw on the porch of the palace crying over the body of the tsarevich the mother and the nurse, who shouted out the names of the murderers sent by Godunov. The crowd dealt with Bityagovsky and his assistant Kachalov.
Tsarevich Dmitry A messenger was sent to Moscow with tragic news. The messenger from Uglich was met by Godunov and, possibly, replaced the letter, which said that the prince was killed. In the letter that was handed from Boris Godunov to Tsar Fedor, it was written that Dmitry, in a fit of epilepsy, fell on a knife himself and stabbed himself.
An investigative commission headed by Prince Vasily Shuisky, who arrived from Moscow, questioned everyone for a long time and decided that an accident had nevertheless occurred. Soon the mother of the slaughtered Tsarevich Dmitry was tonsured a nun.
Cancellation of St. George's Day and the introduction of the patriarchate
Soon, in June 1591, the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey attacked Moscow. In the letters sent to the tsar, he assured the sovereign that he was going to fight with Lithuania, and he himself came close to Moscow.
Boris Godunov opposed Khan Kazy-Girey and in the battles that took place right on the fields around Moscow, he managed to defeat the Tatars. In memory of this event was laid in Moscow Donskoy Monastery, where they placed the icon of the Don Mother of God, who once helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field and Godunov in the battle near Moscow.
In June 1592, the wife of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and Tsarina Irina had a daughter, but the girl did not live long and died in infancy. The unfortunate parents bitterly mourned the death of the princess, and the whole capital grieved with them.
In the winter of 1592, Boris Godunov, on behalf of Tsar Fedor, sent large troops on a military campaign against Finland. They successfully reached the borders of Finland, burned several cities and villages, captured thousands of Swedes. A two-year truce with the Swedes was concluded a year later, and an eternal peace with Sweden on May 18, 1595.
The reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich became memorable for the Russians by the abolition of the day when the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another was allowed, when in the fall, in Yuriev day, they left the owner. Now the peasants, having worked for one owner for more than six months, became his full property. In memory of this decree, a folk saying appeared: "Here's to you, grandmother, and St. George's Day!".
Patriarch Job Under Fyodor Ivanovich, the patriarchate was introduced in Russia, and in 1589 the first patriarch of all Rus' was Metropolitan Job. This innovation was the only solution not Godunov, but Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich himself. This happened due to the fact that after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the patriarch of the Eastern Empire lost its significance. By that time, the Russian Church was already independent. Two years later, the Council of the Eastern Patriarchs approved Russian Patriarchy.
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, nicknamed the Blessed, died on January 7, 1598. He was ill for a long time and hard, and died quietly and imperceptibly. Before his death, Fedor said goodbye to his beloved wife. He did not name anyone as his successor, trusting in God's will.
Boris Godunov announced to his subjects that the sovereign had left his wife to reign, and as advisers to her - Patriarch Job, the tsar's cousin Fyodor Nikitich and brother-in-law Boris Godunov.
The historian N. M. Karamzin wrote: “So the famous Varangian generation, to whom Russia owes its existence, name and greatness, was cut short on the throne of Moscow ... The sad capital soon learned that, together with Irina, the throne of the Monomakhs also widowed; that the crown and scepter lie idle on him; that Russia does not have a tsar, nor does it have a queen.
The last representative of the Rurik dynasty was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Boris Godunov - Tsar and Great Sovereign of All Rus'
Years of life 1551-1605
Reigned 1598-1605
The Godunov family descended from the Tatar Murza Chet, who settled in Rus' in the 15th century and converted to Orthodoxy. wife Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was the daughter of the notorious executioner Malyuta Skuratov - Maria. The children of Boris Godunov and Maria are Fedor and Ksenia.
On the ninth day after the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, his widow Irina announced that she was renouncing the kingdom and leaving for a monastery. The Duma, nobles and all citizens persuaded the tsarina not to leave the throne, but Irina was adamant in her decision, leaving power to the boyars and the patriarch until the beginning of the Great Council in Moscow of all the ranks of the Russian state. The tsarina retired to the Novodevichy Convent and took the tonsure under the name of Alexandra. Russia was left without power.
The Boyar Duma began to decide what to do in this situation. Patriarch Job turned to Boris, calling him the over-chosen one, and offered him the crown. But Godunov pretended that he never dreamed of the throne, he never succumbed to persuasion, resolutely renouncing the throne.
Patriarch and boyars began to wait Zemsky Cathedral(Great Cathedral), which was to be held in Moscow six weeks after the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. The State was ruled by the Duma.
The State Zemsky Great Cathedral began work on February 17, 1598. In addition to the noble Moscow boyars, it was attended by more than 500 elected people from different regions of Russia. Patriarch Job reported to the Council that the sovereign died without leaving an heir, his wife and Boris Godunov refused to rule. The Patriarch introduced everyone to the opinion of the Moscow Cathedral on the transfer of power to Godunov. The State Council agreed with the proposal of the Moscow boyars and the patriarch.
The next day, the Great Cathedral knelt down and prayed in the Church of the Assumption. And so it went on for two more days. But Boris Godunov, while in the monastery, still refused the royal crown. Tsarina Irina blessed Boris to reign, and only then did Godunov agree to reign, to the general joy of the audience. Patriarch Job right in the Novodevichy Convent blessed Boris and declared him king.
Godunov began to reign, but was still an unmarried sovereign. Boris decided to postpone the wedding for the reign. He knew for a long time that Khan Kazy-Girey was going to go to Moscow again. Godunov ordered to gather an army and prepare everything for a campaign against the khan.
On May 2, 1598, Godunov, at the head of a huge army, went beyond the walls of the capital. On the banks of the Oka River they stopped and waited. Russian soldiers camped for six weeks, but the troops of Kazy-Girey were not there.
Boris Godunov At the end of June, Boris received Khan's ambassadors in his camp tent, who conveyed a message from Kazy Giray about the desire to conclude an eternal alliance with Russia. The troops returned to the capital. In Moscow, they were greeted as winners, who frightened the Tatars with their very appearance and thereby saved the state from a new invasion.
Boris, after returning from the campaign, was married to the kingdom. In honor of the wedding, people in the countryside were exempted from taxes on whole year, and service people received a double salary all year. Merchants traded for two years duty-free. The tsar constantly helped the widows, orphans, the poor and the crippled.
There were no wars, trade and culture developed. It seemed that it was time for prosperity in Russia. Tsar Boris managed to establish friendly relations with England, Constantinople, Persia, Rome and Florence.
However, in 1601 terrible events began in the country. This year there were long rains, and then early frosts hit, destroying everything that had grown in the fields. And in next year the crop failure recurred. The famine in the country lasted for three years, and the price of bread increased 100 times.
The famine affected Moscow very hard.
A stream of refugees poured into the capital from the surrounding towns and villages, because Boris Godunov organized a free distribution of bread from the state treasury in the capital. In 1603, 60-80 thousand people received "royal alms" in Moscow daily. But soon the authorities were forced to admit their powerlessness in the fight against hunger, and then in Moscow for 2.5 years, about 127 thousand people died from a terrible famine.
The people began to say - this is the punishment of God. And the famine is due to the fact that the reign of Boris is illegal and therefore not blessed by God. In 1601-1602, Godunov, in order to strengthen his position, even went to the temporary restoration of St. George's Day, but this did not add love to the king. Riots broke out all over the country. The most serious was the uprising in 1603, led by ataman Cotton. The tsarist troops suppressed the rebellion, but they failed to completely calm the country.
Approach of False Dmitry
At that time, many rich people set free their servants (serfs) so as not to feed them, which is why crowds of homeless and hungry people arose everywhere. Of the slaves who were released or ran away without permission, robber gangs began to be created.
Most of these gangs were on the western outskirts of the state, which was then called Seversk Ukraine and where earlier criminals were often exiled from Moscow. Thus, huge crowds of hungry and angry people appeared on the western outskirts of the country, who were only waiting for an opportunity to unite and revolt against Moscow. And such a case was not slow to turn up. In the Commonwealth (Poland), an impostor tsar suddenly appeared - False Dmitry.
There have long been rumors in Russia that the real Tsarevich Dmitry is alive, and these rumors were very persistent. Godunov was frightened by the threat looming over him and wanted to know who was spreading these rumors. He created a system of surveillance, denunciations and went as far as reprisals against those who spread rumors.
Many famous boyar families then suffered from tsarist persecution. Especially went to the representatives of the Romanov family, more than others who had the right to the royal throne. Fyodor Romanov - the cousin of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich - represented the greatest danger for Boris Godunov. Tsar Boris forcibly imprisoned him in a monastery, where he was tonsured a monk under the name Filaret. Godunov exiled the rest of the Romanovs to various distant places. Many innocent people suffered from these persecutions.
The people, exhausted by hunger and disease, blamed Tsar Boris for everything. In order to occupy the people, to give people work, Boris Godunov began several large construction projects in Moscow, the Reserve Palace began to be built, at the same time they began to finish building and bell tower of Ivan the Great- the highest bell tower in Russia.
However, many hungry people converged in bands of robbers and robbed everyone. highways. And when the news appeared about the miraculously surviving Tsarevich Dmitry, who would soon come to Moscow and sit on the throne, the people did not doubt the veracity of this news for a minute.
At the beginning of 1604, the tsar's associates intercepted a letter from a foreigner from Narva, in which it was reported that Tsarevich Dmitry, who had miraculously escaped, lived with the Cossacks, and Russia would soon suffer great disasters and misfortunes. As a result of the search, it was found out that the impostor was the nobleman Grigory Otrepiev, who fled to Poland in 1602.
The head of the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the inscription with the names of Boris and Fyodor GodunovOn October 16, 1604, False Dmitry, accompanied by Poles and Cossacks, moved to Moscow. The people were full of enthusiasm and did not listen even to the speeches of the Moscow Patriarch, who said that an impostor and a deceiver was coming.
In January 1605, Godunov sent an army against the impostor, which defeated False Dmitry. The impostor was forced to leave for Putivl. His strength was not in the army, but in the popular belief that he was the rightful heir to the throne, and Cossacks and runaway peasants began to flock to False Dmitry from all over Russia.
On April 13, 1605, unexpectedly healthy-looking Boris Godunov complained of nausea. They called the doctor, but the king was getting worse and worse every minute, blood began to flow from his ears and nose. Boris managed to name his son Fedor as his successor and lost consciousness. Soon he died. Boris Godunov was buried first in the Varsonofevsky Monastery in Moscow, later, by order of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, his ashes were transferred to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Fyodor Godunov - Tsar and Great Sovereign of All Rus'
Years of life 1589-1605
Reign 1605
Father - Boris Fedorovich Godunov, tsar and great sovereign of all Rus'.
Mother - Maria, daughter of Malyuta Skuratov (Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratoy-Belsky).
Son of Boris Godunov Fedor Borisovich Godunov He was a smart and educated young man who was liked by everyone around him. The boyars and those close to him swore allegiance to the young heir to the throne, but behind his back they quietly said that Fedor did not have long to reign. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of False Dmitry.
Soon the governor Basmanov, together with the army, recognized the impostor as king and swore allegiance to False Dmitry. The army proclaimed the impostor sovereign and moved to Moscow. People believed that they saw the real Tsarevich Dmitry, and met him all the way to the capital with joyful exclamations and bread and salt.
Fedor Borisovich reigned for less than two months, not even having time to get married to the kingdom. The young sovereign was then only 16 years old.
Tsar Fyodor Borisovich Godunov On June 1, the ambassadors of False Dmitry appeared in Moscow. The ringing of the bells brought the townspeople to Red Square. The ambassadors read to the people a letter, where False Dmitry gave people his forgiveness and threatened God's judgment to those who did not want to recognize him as sovereign. Many doubted that this was the same Dmitry - the son of Ivan the Terrible. Then called to Place of execution Prince Shuisky, who was investigating the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, and asked him to tell the truth about the death of the Tsarevich in Uglich. Shuisky swore and admitted that it was not the prince who was killed, but another boy - the priest's son. The crowd of people became indignant, and the people rushed to the Kremlin to deal with the Godunovs.
Fyodor Godunov sat on the throne, hoping that when they saw him in royal attire, people would stop. But for the bursting crowd, he had already ceased to be a sovereign. The palace was looted. They devastated all the estates and houses of the boyars close to Godunov. Patriarch Job was removed, his patriarchal vestments were removed from him and sent to a monastery.
By order of False Dmitry, Fyodor Godunov and his mother, Maria Godunova, were strangled, and their sister Xenia was left alive. The people were told that the king and queen had committed suicide. Their bodies were put on public display. They also dug up the coffin with the body of Boris Godunov. All three were buried without church rites in the poor Varsonofevsky monastery. Subsequently, by order of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, their remains were transferred to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles Russian people call the difficult years for the Russian state of the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, when our country was in a very distressed situation.
In 1584, Tsar Ivan IV Vasilievich, nicknamed the Terrible for his tough temper, died in Moscow. With his death, the Time of Troubles began in Russia.
The Time of Troubles or the Time of Troubles refers to many events that took place in Russia for almost 30 years, until 1613, when a new tsar, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, was popularly elected.
During the 30 years of Troubles in Rus', so much has happened!
Two impostor "kings" appeared - False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II.
Poles and Swedes regularly made attempts - overt and covert - to take over our country. In Moscow, for some time, the Poles seemed to be in charge of their homes.
The boyars went over to the side of the Polish king Sigismund III and were ready to make his son, Prince Vladislav, the Russian tsar.
The Swedes, who were called to help against the Poles by Tsar Vasily Shuisky, were in charge in the north of the country. And the First Zemstvo militia under the leadership of Prokopy Lyapunov failed.
Of course, the reign of the tsars of that difficult time, Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuisky, played a significant role in the events of the Time of Troubles.
And two Russian heroes helped to put an end to the Time of Troubles and ascend the throne to the new tsar from the Romanov dynasty, chosen by all the people - the Zemstvo headman from Nizhny Novgorod Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky.
Tsar False Dmitry I
Years of life? – 1606
Reigned 1605-1606
The origin of False Dmitry, the story of his appearance and the naming of himself as the son of Ivan the Terrible, remain mysterious to this day and can hardly ever be fully explained.
Grigory Otrepiev, the son of the Galician boyar Bogdan Otrepyev, from childhood he lived in Moscow as serfs with the boyars of the Romanovs and with Prince Boris Cherkassky. Then he took the vows as a monk and, moving from one monastery to another, ended up in the Chudov Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin, where Patriarch Job took him to be a scribe.
Grigory Otrepiev constantly boasted in Moscow that he might one day become a tsar on the throne of Moscow. His words reached Boris Godunov, and he ordered Grigory to be sent to the Kirillov Monastery. But Gregory was warned about the exile, and he managed to escape to Galich, and then to Murom, from there he again moved to Moscow.
In 1602, Otrepiev fled with a certain Varlaam to Kyiv, to the Kiev Caves Monastery. From there, Gregory went to the city of Ostrog to Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, then entered the service of Prince Vishnevetsky. Then he first announced to the prince about his supposedly royal origin.
Prince Vishnevetsky believed the story of False Dmitry and some Russian people who allegedly recognized him as a prince. False Dmitry soon became friends with the governor Yuri Mnishek from the city of Sandomierz, whose daughter, Marina Mnishek, he fell in love.
False Dmitry I False Dmitry promised, in the event of his accession to the Russian throne, to convert Russia to Catholicism. The papal curia decided to provide the prince with all possible assistance.
On April 17, 1604, False Dmitry converted to Catholicism. King of Poland Sigismund III recognized False Dmitry and promised him 40 thousand zlotys of annual maintenance. Officially, Sigismund III did not help, he only allowed those who wished to support the prince. For this, False Dmitry promised to give Smolensk and Seversk land, which belonged to Russia, into the possession of Poland.
On October 13, 1604, together with a 3,000-strong Polish-Lithuanian detachment, False Dmitry crossed the Russian border and fortified himself in the city of Putivl.
Many in Rus' also believed the deceiver and sided with him. Every day, Boris Godunov was informed that more and more cities recognized the impostor as tsar.
Godunov sent a large army against False Dmitry, but there were doubts in Godunov’s army: were they going against the real Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible?
April 13, 1605 Boris Godunov died unexpectedly. After the death of Boris Godunov, his entire army immediately went over to the side of False Dmitry.
On June 20, False Dmitry solemnly entered Moscow to the sound of bells and the joyful cries of those who met him. He rode a white horse, and to Muscovites he seemed tall and handsome, although his face was spoiled by a wide, flattened nose and a large wart on it. False Dmitry looked at the Kremlin with tears in his eyes and thanked God for saving his life.
He walked around all the cathedrals and especially bowed to the coffin of Ivan the Terrible, sincerely shedding tears, and no one doubted that he was a real prince. People were waiting for the meeting of False Dmitry with his mother Maria.
On July 18, False Dmitry was recognized by Tsarina Marfa - the wife of Ivan the Terrible - and even the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry herself. July 30, 1605 False Dmitry I was married to the kingdom.
The first actions of the king were numerous favors. The disgraced boyars and princes (Godunovs, Shuiskys) were returned from exile and their estates were returned to them. Service people were doubled the content, landowners - land plots. The peasants were allowed to leave the landowners if he did not feed them during the famine. In addition, False Dmitry simplified the exit from the state.
During his short reign, the tsar was present almost daily in the Duma (Senate) and participated in disputes and decisions of state affairs. He willingly accepted petitions and often walked around the city, communicating with artisans, merchants and ordinary people.
For himself, he ordered to build a new rich palace, where he often arranged feasts, walked with the courtiers. One of the weaknesses of False Dmitry I was women, including the wives and daughters of the boyars, who actually became the tsar's concubines. Among them was even the daughter of Boris Godunov, Xenia, who was later exiled by False Dmitry I to a monastery, where she gave birth to a son.
Assassination of False Dmitry I
However, soon the Moscow boyars were very surprised that the "legitimate Tsar Dmitry" did not observe Russian customs and rituals. Imitating the Polish king, False Dmitry I renamed the boyar Duma into the Senate, made changes to the palace ceremonies and very soon devastated the treasury with expenses for the maintenance of the Polish and German guards, for entertainment and for gifts to the Polish king.
Fulfilling his promise to marry Marina Mnishek, on November 12, 1605, False Dmitry I invited her with her retinue to Moscow.
Soon a dual situation developed in Moscow: on the one hand, the people loved him, and on the other hand, they began to suspect him of imposture. Almost from the first day, a wave of discontent swept through the capital because of the tsar's non-observance of church posts and violation of Russian customs in clothing and life, his disposition towards foreigners, and his promise to marry a Pole.
Vasily Shuisky, Vasily Golitsyn, Prince Kurakin, Mikhail Tatishchev, Kazan and Kolomna metropolitans were at the head of the group of dissatisfied people. Archers and the murderer of Fyodor Godunov, Sherefedinov, were hired to kill the tsar. But the assassination attempt planned on January 8, 1606 failed, and its perpetrators were torn to pieces by the crowd.
On April 24, 1606, Poles arrived at the wedding of False Dmitry I with Marina Mnishek - about 2 thousand people - noble gentry, pans, princes and their retinue, to whom False Dmitry allocated huge sums for gifts and gifts.
May 8, 1606 Marina Mnishek was crowned queen, and their wedding was performed. During a multi-day celebration, False Dmitry I withdrew from public affairs. At this time, the Poles in Moscow, in a drunken revelry, broke into Moscow houses, rushed at women, robbed passers-by. The conspirators decided to take advantage of this.
On May 14, 1606, Vasily Shuisky gathered merchants and servants loyal to him, with whom he drew up a plan of action against the impudent Poles. The houses in which they live were marked. The conspirators decided to sound the alarm on Saturday and call on the people, under the pretext of protecting the king, to revolt. Shuisky, on behalf of the tsar, changed the guards in the palace, ordered the prisons to be opened and issued weapons to the crowd.
Marina Mnishek On May 17, 1606, the conspirators entered Red Square with an armed crowd. False Dmitry tried to escape, jumped out of the window onto the pavement, where he was picked up alive by archers and hacked to death.
The body of False Dmitry I was dragged to Red Square, his clothes were taken off, a mask was put on his chest, and a pipe was stuck in his mouth. Muscovites cursed the body for two days, and then buried it in the old cemetery outside the Serpukhov Gates.
But soon there were rumors that “miracles were being done” over the grave thanks to the magic of the dead False Dmitry I. They dug up his body, burned it and, mixing the ashes with gunpowder, fired from a cannon in the direction from which he came - to the West.
False Dmitry II
False Dmitry II, which is often called Tushinsky thief(his year and place of birth are unknown - he died on December 21, 1610 near Kaluga), - the second impostor, posing as the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry. His real name and origin have not been established.
Immediately after the death of False Dmitry I, Mikhail Molchanov (one of the murderers of Fyodor Godunov), who fled from Moscow towards the western border, began to spread rumors that another person was killed in the Kremlin instead of "Dmitry", and the tsar himself was saved.
A lot of people were interested in the appearance of a new impostor, both connected with the old one and those who were not satisfied with the power of Vasily Shuisky.
For the first time, False Dmitry II appeared in 1607 in the Belarusian town of Propoisk, where he was captured as a scout. In prison, he called himself Andrei Andreevich Nagim, a relative of the murdered Tsar Dmitry, hiding from Shuisky, and asked to be sent to the town of Starodub. From Starodub, he began to spread rumors that Dmitry was alive and was there. When they began to ask who Dmitry was, friends pointed to Nagogo. At first, he denied it, but when the townspeople threatened him with torture, he called himself Dmitry.
Supporters began to gather at False Dmitry II in Starodub. These were various Polish adventurers, South Russian nobles, Cossacks and the remnants of a defeated army. Ivan Bolotnikov.
Tushinsky thief When about 3,000 soldiers gathered, False Dmitry II defeated the tsarist troops near the city of Kozelsk. In May 1608, False Dmitry II defeated Shuisky's troops near Volkhov, and in early June approached Moscow. He became a camp in the village of Tushino near Moscow (which is why he was nicknamed Tushinsky Thief).
Upon learning that Marina Mnishek was released to Poland, False Dmitry II recaptured her from the royal army. Once in the camp of False Dmitry II, Marina Mnishek recognized him as allegedly her husband, False Dmitry I.
On April 1, 1609, False Dmitry II came out to the people in a royal hat, shining with numerous diamonds burning in the sun. It was from then on that the saying went: "The cap is on fire on the thief."
In the summer of 1609, the troops of the Polish king Sigismund III openly invaded the territory of Muscovite Rus' and laid siege to Smolensk. Royal envoys arrived in Tushino and offered the Poles and Russians to leave the impostor and go to the service of Sigismund. Many warriors followed this call. The Tushinsky thief was left almost without an army and without his adherents. Then the impostor in disguise fled from Tushino to Kaluga, where Marina Mnishek also came for him.
On December 11, 1610, near Kaluga, the Tushinsky thief was killed while hunting by baptized Tatars, Peter Urusov, who cut his shoulder with a saber, and his younger brother, who chopped off False Dmitry II's head. Thus, Urusov took revenge on the impostor for the execution of his friend, the Tatar Kasimov king, Uraz-Mohammed.
And a few days after the death of the Tushinsky thief, Marina Mnishek gave birth to his son Ivan - "Vorenka", as he was called in Rus'. But the ex-wife of False Dmitry I, Marina Mnishek, did not long grieve for the Tushino thief. Soon she became friends with the Cossack chieftain Ivan Zarutsky.
Vasily Shuisky - Tsar and Great Sovereign of All Rus'
Years of life 1552-1612
Reigned 1606-1610
Father - Prince Ivan Andreevich Shuisky from the family of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes, a descendant of Prince Andrei Yaroslavich, brother of Alexander Nevsky.
The conspiracy to overthrow False Dmitry I was led by a boyar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, whom the boyars-conspirators "shouted out" the new king. But Vasily Shuisky himself was also a considerable deceiver.
In 1591, Shuisky headed the commission of inquiry in Uglich on the case of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. Then Shuisky swore that Dmitry died because of his illness.
Immediately after the death of Boris Godunov, Shuisky went over to the side of False Dmitry I and again swore before all the people that False Dmitry I was the real Tsarevich Dmitry.
And then Shuisky led a conspiracy to overthrow the "real prince."
Having become king, Shuisky publicly swore for the third time, this time that Tsarevich Dmitry really died as a child, but not because of illness, but was killed on the orders of Boris Godunov.
In a word, Vasily Shuisky always said what was beneficial to him, which is why the people did not like Shuisky, they considered him not a nationwide, but only a “boyar” tsar.
Shuisky had two wives: Princess Elena Mikhailovna Repnina and Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Buynosova-Rostovskaya, daughters Anna and Anastasia were born from the second marriage.
Even under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky received the rank of boyar. He did not shine with military successes, had no influence on the sovereign. He was in the shadow of other boyars, more wise and talented.
Shuisky was elected to the kingdom by the boyars and the crowd bribed by them, gathered on the Red Square of Moscow on May 19, 1606. Such an election was illegal, but this did not bother any of the boyars.
Vasily Shuisky, upon accession to the throne - Tsar Vasily IV Ivanovich Shuisky, was married to the kingdom on June 1, 1606 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Tsar Vasily Shuisky In August 1607, the Poles made a new attempt at a disguised intervention in Muscovite Rus', this time with the participation of False Dmitry II. An attempt to diplomatically remove Polish troops from the country failed. And in February 1609, the Shuisky government concluded an agreement with the Swedish king Charles IX, according to which Sweden gave Russia mercenary units of troops (mainly Germans and Swedes), which Russia paid for. For this, the Shuisky government ceded part of the Russian territory to Sweden, and this led to the capture of Pskov and Novgorod by the Swedes.
Poland at that time was at war with Sweden. And the Polish king Sigismund III saw in the invitation of the Swedes to Russia an unacceptable strengthening of his enemy. Without hesitation, he invaded the Russian lands with an army of many thousands, and the Polish troops were quickly approaching Moscow.
The Russian-Swedish army was commanded by the king's brother, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. Near the village of Klushino (which was located between Vyazma and Mozhaisk), the troops of Skopin-Shuisky were utterly defeated by the Poles.
The defeat at Klushino caused a storm of indignation among the people and among the nobles. This defeat was the reason for the removal of Vasily Shuisky from power.
In the summer of 1610, the boyars and nobles overthrew Shuisky from the throne and forced him to take the veil as a monk. The former "boyar" tsar was extradited to the Polish hetman (commander-in-chief) Zholkiewski, who took Shuisky to Poland. Vasily Shuisky died in 1612, in prison, in Poland, in the Gostyn castle.
Later, his remains were taken to Russia and buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Seven Boyars and Interregnum
The boyars and nobles, enraged by the defeat of the Russian troops near Klushino, on July 17, 1610 in Moscow broke into the chambers of Tsar Vasily Shuisky and demanded that he abdicate the throne. Under the threat of death, Shuisky had no choice but to agree.
The participants in the conspiracy swore to the deposed Shuisky "to choose a sovereign with all the land", but did not keep their oath.
Power in the country passed to the interim boyar government headed by Prince Mstislavsky, the people called this power Seven Boyars. And historians dubbed this period of time (from 1610 to 1613, when there was no tsar in Moscow Rus') Interregnum.
In order to get rid of the threat of the Tushinsky thief standing near Moscow and his claims to the throne, the members of the Seven Boyars decided to urgently elevate the son of the Polish king Sigismund III, the young Prince Vladislav.
In August 1610, the government of the Seven Boyars concluded an agreement with the commander-in-chief of the Polish army, hetman Zholkiewski, that the sixteen-year-old prince Vladislav would sit on the Russian throne (on condition that he accept the Orthodox faith).
Under the pretext of protecting Moscow, the boyars opened the gates to the Moscow Kremlin, and on the night of September 20-21, 1610, the Polish garrison (which included Lithuanian soldiers) entered the capital under the command of Pan Gonsevsky.
King Sigismund III These actions of the Seven Boyars were regarded by all in Rus' as a betrayal of their homeland. All this served as a signal for the unification of almost all Russians in order to expel the Polish invaders from Moscow and elect a new Russian tsar not only by the boyars and princes, but "by the will of the whole earth."
Waiting for Prince Vladislav
During the Interregnum, the position of the Muscovite state seemed completely hopeless. The Poles were in Moscow and Smolensk, the Swedes in Veliky Novgorod. Numerous gangs of robbers ("thieves") incessantly killed and robbed civilians.
Soon, the boyar Mikhail Saltykov and even some “trading peasant” Fyodor Andronov, who tried to rule the country on behalf of the absent prince Vladislav, became the head of the government of the Seven Boyars.
After the entry of Polish troops into Moscow, the real power in the Muscovite state was in the hands of the commander of the Polish-Lithuanian garrison Gonsevsky and several boyars who danced to his tune.
And King Sigismund III was not at all going to let his son Vladislav go to Moscow, especially since he did not want to allow him to convert to Orthodoxy. Sigismund himself dreamed of taking the throne of Moscow and becoming king in Muscovite Rus', but he kept these intentions in deep secret.
Election of a new king
After the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, thanks to the feat Second People's Militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, for several months the country was ruled by a provisional government headed by princes Dmitry Pozharsky and Dmitry Trubetskoy.
At the very end of December 1612, Pozharsky and Trubetskoy sent letters to the cities, in which they summoned to Moscow from all cities and from every rank the best and most reasonable elected people, "for the Zemstvo Council and for state election." These elected people were to elect a new tsar in Rus'.
A three-day strict fast was declared everywhere. Many prayer services were served in the churches so that God would enlighten the elected people, and the matter of election to the kingdom was accomplished not by human desire, but by the will of God.
The Zemsky Sobor met in January and February 1613. All segments of the population were represented on it, with the exception of serfs and serfs.
At the very first meetings, the electors unanimously agreed that "the Lithuanian and Swedish kings and their children and others ... foreign-speaking non-Christian faiths ... should not be elected to the Vladimir and Moscow state, and Marinka and her son should not be wanted to the state."
We decided to choose one of our own. This is where disagreements began. Among the Moscow boyars, many of whom until recently were allies of the Poles or the Tushinsky thief, there was no worthy candidate.
They offered Dmitry Pozharsky as tsar. But he resolutely rejected his candidacy and was one of the first to point to the ancient family of the Romanov boyars.
Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky Pozharsky said: “By the nobility of the family, and by the number of services to the fatherland, Metropolitan Filaret from the Romanov family would have come up to the king. But this good servant of God is now in Polish captivity and cannot become king. But he has a son of sixteen years old, so he, by the right of antiquity of his kind, and by the right of pious upbringing by his mother-nun, should become king.
After a short debate, all elected people agreed on the candidacy of sixteen-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the son of Metropolitan Filaret. (In the world, Metropolitan Philaret was a boyar - Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. Boris Godunov forced him to take the veil as a monk, fearing that he might depose Godunov and sit on the royal throne.)
But the electors did not know how the whole Russian land would react to the very young Mikhail Romanov. Then they decided to hold something like a secret ballot.
“They secretly sent ... to all people their thoughts about the state election to see whom they want to be the sovereign tsar for the Muscovite state ... And in all towns and counties in all people the same thought: what to be in the Moscow State Sovereign Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. .."
After the envoys returned, the Zemsky Sobor, which took place on Red Square in Moscow on February 21, 1613, unanimously elected Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar. Everyone who was then on Red Square shouted something like this: "Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov will be the Tsar Sovereign of the Moscow state and the entire Russian state!"
Then, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, a prayer service with bell ringing was served, at which they sang many years to the new tsar. An oath was taken to Sovereign Mikhail: first the boyars swore, then the Cossacks and archers.
In the electoral letter, it was written that Mikhail Fedorovich was wished for the kingdom by “all Orthodox Christians of the entire Muscovite state”, and his family ties were indicated with the former royal dynasty that ruled in Rus', the Rurikovichs. Notifying letters about the election of a new king scattered throughout the cities.
An embassy of the Zemsky Sobor left for Kostroma, to the monastery where Mikhail Romanov was at that time with his mother, the nun Martha. On March 13, the embassy arrived at the Ipatiev Monastery.
« History itself speaks for us. Strong kings and states have fallen, but our Orthodox Rus' is expanding and prospering. The largest kingdom in the world was formed from scattered small principalities, the head of which decides the fate of not only its people, but the rulers of other kingdoms also listen to the word of which"(Pyatnitsky P.P. The legend of the wedding of Russian tsars and emperors. M., 1896. P.3)
The first Russian Tsar, son of Grand Duke Vasily III and Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya, Ivan IV, was born in 1530. After the death of his father, Vasily III in 1533, and the short reign of his mother, during which there was a struggle with the specific princes, the future tsar witnessed a fierce political struggle for power mainly between the most noble and powerful boyar groups, the princes Shuisky and Belsky in the period from 1538- 1547 And only by 1547 Ivan IV becomes the autocratic ruler of a vast country inherited from his ancestors. But the young ruler was not just to ascend the throne, he was assigned the role of becoming the first king to be crowned king. Now “the ancient rite of initiation in the kingdom in Russia, expressed by “planting on the table,” finally stops, giving way to a new form of royal wedding “according to the ancient Tsaregrad rank, with the addition of chrismation” (Pyatnitsky P.P. The legend of the wedding of Russian tsars and emperors. M ., 1896. P.5). But what caused these changes? The answer to this question should be sought long before the future king was born.
It is worth recalling the time when the Russian lands and principalities were in a state of political fragmentation. When the final unification of the lands into a single, strong state required a number of wars, diplomatic calculations and many other factors that ultimately led to the emergence of the Russian state, in which Moscow was and remains an important political center. However, it was not enough just to unite the lands around a single, strong center, it was still necessary to reinforce and bring reasonable arguments in favor of rapid concentration in the hands of the Grand Duke of Moscow. It was precisely in order for everyone to realize the increased importance of the Muscovite state and its role that it was necessary to find and substantiate those ideas that would later constitute the ideology. Thus, the beginning of the formation of the ideology of a single Moscow state can be considered con. XV beginning. XVI century, the period of the reign of Grand Duke Ivan III and his son - Vasily III. At this time, “a powerful Russian state is taking shape in the spaces of Eastern Europe” (Froyanov I. Ya. Drama of Russian history. M., 2007. P. 928) What place could it take in the world? And what is its further role in the history of people? All these questions had to be answered. Under such conditions, the theory of the autocracy of the Moscow Grand Dukes, “Moscow-Third Rome”, associated with the name of Philotheus, the elder of the Pskov Eleazarovsky Monastery, appears.
In this theory, a significant role was assigned to the Orthodox faith. It should be noted that "ideas about Rus' in the Christian world began to form soon after the adoption of Christianity" (Cultural Heritage of Ancient Rus'. M., 1976. P. 111-112) Previously, Russian people believed in pagan gods, but after the baptism of Rus' they equated with all other Christian countries. But as history has shown, not all Christian countries could keep the faith in the original form in which it was. In 1054, “the separation of the Roman Church from the Universal Orthodoxy” takes place (Tsypin V. Course of Church Law. Klin. S.159) In 1439, the Patriarch of Constantinople concludes the Union of Florence with the Roman Church. In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Turks. These events influenced the further development of not only European countries, but also Russia. It is with the fall of Constantinople, once a strong and powerful Christian state, that the rethinking of the role of Russian rulers in the events and further development world history. “From the very moment of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the Moscow Grand Dukes began to consider themselves the successors of emperors or Byzantine kings” (Golubinsky E.E. History of the Russian Church. T. 2. M., 1900. P. 756) The Russian state is gradually striving to occupy by this time the place that used to belong to Byzantium.
From the middle of the XV century. The words “about the special purpose of the Russian land “chosen by God” are not only not new, but, on the contrary, acquire a new even deeper meaning: “the new position of Rus' was the result of the retreat of the Greek rulers from Orthodoxy and, at the same time, a consequence of the strengthening of the “true faith” in the Russian land » ( Cultural heritage Ancient Rus'. M., 1976. S.112-114) It is in such conditions that the idea of the chosenness of the Muscovite state acquires its meaning in the idea of "Moscow - the Third Rome." “The Church of Old Rome, having fallen into unbelief..heresy, the second Rome, Constantine’s city..the Hagarites with axes..razsekosha..now the third, new Rome,..like the whole kingdom of the Orthodox Christian faith descended into your one kingdom” (Library of Literature of Ancient Rus' SPb, 2000, pp. 301-302) - Filofei wrote to Grand Duke Vasily III. The main ideas of this theory boiled down to the following: 1. everything that happens in the life of people and nations is determined by God's providence. 2. two Romes fell, actually the old Rome and Constantinople, Moscow - the last third Rome. 3. The Russian Tsar is the only heir to the power of the rulers in the two previous fallen states. Thus, Moscow, as it were, becomes not only a world political center, but also an ecclesiastical one, and the Moscow tsars are now the successors of the Byzantine emperors.
We see that XVI century becomes a turning point in people's minds. “The Russian Orthodox Kingdom is being formed, a country in which everyone’s life, from the tsar to the last slave, is subordinated to one goal - to be worthy of the great mission that has befallen Russia, to complete the course of world history” (Shaposhnik V.V. Church and State relations in Russia in the 30-80s of the 16th century, St. Petersburg, 2006) The Russian state, as a future power, is becoming in line with European countries. Thus, Russia of that time was called upon to play a special historical role, moreover, it was to become the only guardian of true Christianity.
It was with these views on the changes that had taken place in the Orthodox world that Ivan IV encountered. On January 16, 1547, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, a solemn wedding ceremony took place for the reign of Grand Duke Ivan IV, “the signs of the royal dignity - the cross of the Life-Giving Tree, barmas and the cap of Monomakh - were assigned to John by the Metropolitan. After the communion of the Holy Mysteries, John was anointed with the world ”(Pyatnitsky P.P. The legend of the wedding of Russian tsars and emperors. M., 1896. S.8-9) That this event did not remain just a beautiful ceremony, but it was deep accepted by the tsar, the fact that ten years after the wedding, Ivan IV, in order to strengthen his position, began to “care about asking the Eastern Church for a blessing for his wedding”, the fact is that the coronation took place in 1547 , took place without the blessing of the ecumenical patriarch and, therefore, in the eyes of foreign sovereigns was considered illegal. In 1561, a conciliar charter signed by the metropolitans and bishops of Greece was sent to Moscow from Patriarch Iosaph. with the Greek princess Anna and the role of Vladimir. The letter stated that since “the Moscow Tsar undoubtedly descends from the family and blood of a truly royal, namely from the Greek Empress Anna, the sister of Vasily Porphyrogenitus, and, moreover, Grand Duke Vladimir was crowned with a diadem and other signs and clothes of the royal dignity sent from Greece, then the patriarch and the cathedral, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, granted John to be and be called legally married ”(Pyatnitsky P.P. The legend of the wedding of Russian tsars and emperors. M., 1896. P. 9-10)
Thus, we can conclude that after ascending to the royal throne, Ivan IV was really aware of his position. As you know, “kings from ancient times are called “God's anointed”. This name itself testifies that the tsars are not proteges of the people ”(Pyatnitsky P.P. The legend of the wedding of Russian tsars and emperors. M., 1896. P.3) At this time, this most accurately emphasizes the position of the young tsar. After all, he received not just a royal title, which he used in external documents, in connection with Western states, he received the right to become the first ruler who realized the importance of his stay on the royal throne, and without the spiritual prosperity of the country, Moscow, as the center of the Russian state, would not could in the full sense become the successor of Byzantium.
We are all familiar with the latter royal dynasty Romanovs. A who was the first Russian tsar? And why did the Russian rulers begin to call themselves tsars?
How did the tsars appear in Rus'?
The king is highest title monarchical power in Rus'. In order for the Russian rulers to bear this title, the Russian Orthodox Church played an important role. The royal title is not just a verbal expression of the highest degree of power, but also a whole philosophy created by the Church.
The Orthodox Church became the successor of the Greek Church and the Byzantine Empire. The royal title officially went to the Moscow princes from Constantinople (Constantinople). It happened around the 16th century. Since that time, all Russian sovereigns called themselves the heirs of the divinely crowned Byzantine basileus.
Legacy of the Byzantine Empire
A number of historical events led to the fact that in the second half of the 15th century, after the fall of Constantinople, political map world, a new Russian state was formed - Moscow. Savage Moscow not only received sovereign power, but also freed itself from the yoke of the Golden Horde, becoming an all-Russian sovereign center and uniting most of the fragmented Russian lands under itself. On the throne then sat the Grand Duke Ivan III the Great (Rurik), who, after the recognition of Moscow, began to call himself the "Sovereign of All Rus'." Thanks to him, palace life "acquired" forgotten Byzantine rituals and magnificence. Ivan III the Great got himself a grand-princely seal, on one side of which a double-headed eagle was depicted, on the other, a rider-rider slaying a dragon (the original version of the seal depicted a Lion (the symbol of the Vladimir Principality) tormenting a snake).
According to the Russian chronicle of the 15th-16th centuries. "The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir", the Moscow princely house was closely associated with the Roman emperor Augustus, on behalf of whom the northern lands of the Roman Empire, located on the banks of the Vistula, were ruled by his legendary relative Prus. His descendant is the no less legendary founder of the princely family Rurik. It was he who in 862 was invited by the Novgorodians to the princely throne. Consequently, Ivan the Great was his distant descendant, and, therefore, the descendant of the Roman emperors, whose power was consecrated by the ancient tradition of succession to the throne. That is why Ivan the Great and his Moscow state were recognized by all European dynasties.
In addition, according to the same "Tale", the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Monomakh received as a gift from the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX the royal regalia (diadem, golden chain, crown, carnelian cup, the "cross of the Living Tree" and royal barmas), which, according to legend, belonged to , the Roman Emperor Augustus himself. From this we can conclude that the Byzantine Empire already considered the ancient Russian princes as its heirs. Subsequently, these regalia were used at the coronation of the first Russian Tsar.
Many historians question the fact of receiving gifts for the coronation, because all the predecessors of the first Russian tsar never wore them.
Crowning the kingdom
From the moment of the appearance of the Moscow kingdom, all sovereigns, starting from the 15th century, bore the grand ducal title. Then where did the tsars come from in Rus'? AND who was the first Russian tsar?
Despite the fact that historians cite the diplomatic correspondence of Ivan III the Great, in which the title “tsar” is used along with the imperial title, the princes did not use the verbal expression of the highest power in their official address until, in January 1547, Ivan (John) IV the Terrible did not marry the kingdom, calling himself the Tsar of All Rus'.
This step has become important not only in political life Russian state, but also a serious reform, since he elevated the Russian sovereign over all European monarchs and significantly raised Russia in relations with Western Europe. Initially, the title of Grand Duke was perceived by European courts as the title of "prince" or "grand duke", and the title of tsar allowed the Russian ruler to stand on a par with the only European emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
The chroniclers understood this event in their own way - they considered Rus' the political successor of Byzantium after the fall of Constantinople, as a result of which the Russian tsar preserved Christian Orthodox traditions and the significance of the Church.
The young Tsar Ivan the Terrible was crowned by Metropolitan Macarius. The ceremony of crowning the Kingdom took place in the Assumption Cathedral with special pomp. The coronation of the new king consisted in communion with the Holy Mysteries, anointing with myrrh and laying on the autocrat the royal regalia - barma, Monomakh's cap and the cross of the Life-Giving Tree, which, according to legend, belonged to the Roman emperor Augustus.
The young Russian tsar was not recognized in Europe and the Vatican for a long time, until Patriarch Joasaph II of Constantinople in 1561 issued confirmation of the status of the new sovereign. Thus, the idea of the divine origin of royal power was realized, closely linking royal and spiritual interests.
The need for the Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich to accept the royal title was caused not only by the desire of the Church to maintain its dominion over the Russian lands, but, above all, by the constant internecine bloody skirmishes between the largest aristocratic families, which led to the decline of law and order.
Only thanks to the Church and some Russian aristocrats, the young Ivan IV was chosen for the great goal - to end the era of lawlessness. For this, a great idea was devised and implemented - to exalt the ruler high above all the nobility, elevating him to the royal rank, and marrying a representative ancient family Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva.
Becoming king and having new status, Ivan IV acquired not only the role of the head of the family, but also the sovereign Orthodox world towering over the Russian aristocratic clans.
Thanks to the Russian "priesthood" and the royal title, the Russian tsar successfully carries out a series of reforms, as a result of which order reigns in the country, and the young Muscovite state is recognized in Europe.
Who would be the first Russian tsar?
To the question " Who was the first Russian Tsar? There are two possible answers. First of all, do not forget about the period when Russia was ruled by the Grand Duke Ivan III the Great from the Rurik dynasty. It was under his rule that the disparate Russian lands were united into a single state. He is the first in various state acts and diplomatic letters began to be called not Ivan, but John, and appropriated the title of autocrat. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, John III considered himself the successor of the Byzantine emperors, having intermarried for this with his niece last emperor Byzantium - Constantine. According to the right of inheritance, the Grand Duke shared with his wife the autocratic Byzantine heritage and began to introduce in his Kremlin Byzantine palace rituals, court etiquette and splendor that reigned in the collapsed empire. Everything has undergone changes, including the appearance of Moscow, the Kremlin, palace life and even the behavior of the Grand Duke himself, which has become more majestic and solemn.
Despite such innovations, Ivan III did not officially call himself the "Tsar of All Rus'". Until the middle of the 15th century, only Byzantine emperors and the Golden Horde khans were called tsars in Ancient Rus', in whose subordination were Russian lands for several hundred years, paying tribute to the Tatars. One could become a tsar only when the Russian princes got rid of the khanate, which happened in the 16th century, when the Tatar yoke came to an end.
By the end of the 15th century, Ivan III began to seal important political documents with a seal, on one side of which a double-headed eagle was depicted - the emblem of the Byzantine imperial house.
However, despite all his efforts, it was not John III who became the first Russian tsar. Who would be the first Russian tsar? The official wedding to the kingdom took place in 1547 and the first Russian tsar was John IV the Terrible. After him, all the rulers began to wear the royal title, which was inherited through the male line. The noble title of "Grand Duke/Princess" was automatically assigned to all royal heirs at birth, as the title of "prince".
Therefore, the first official Russian tsar recognized by European royal houses was the grandson of Ivan III, Ivan IV the Terrible.
Origin of the word "king"
Tsar of All Rus' - this title was worn by Russian monarchs in the period 1547-1721. The first Russian tsar was Ivan IV the Terrible (from the Rurik dynasty), the last was Peter I the Great (Romanov dynasty). The latter subsequently changed the royal title to that of emperor.
It is believed that the word "king" comes from the Roman "Caesar" (Latin - "Caesar") or "Caesar" - this title was worn by Roman emperors during the Roman Empire. The word "Caesar" comes from the name of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, from whom all Roman emperors subsequently received their power. Despite such a connection between the two words "king" and "Caesar", Julius Caesar himself did not seek to call himself a king, remembering the sad fate of the last seven kings of Ancient Rome.
- The word "Caesar" was borrowed from the Romans by their neighbors (Goths, Germans, Balkans and Russians) and so called their supreme rulers.
- In the Old Slavonic lexicon, the word "Caesar" came from the Goths and gradually abbreviated to "king".
- In writing, for the first time the word "king" is mentioned since 917 - such a title was worn by the Bulgarian king Simeon, who was the first to take this title.
In addition to this version, there is another version of the origin of the word "tsar", which is given by one of the representatives of Russian literature of the 17th century. Sumarokov. He writes that the words "Tsar" and "Caesar" do not mean "King", as many Europeans thought, but "Monarch", and the word "king" comes from the word "father, from which the word Otsar" is made.
On the other hand, the outstanding Russian historian N.M. Karamzin also does not agree with the Roman origin of the word "king", not considering it an abbreviation for "Caesar". He claims that the "king" has more ancient origin, not Latin, but Eastern, referring to such names of Assyrian and Babylonian kings as Nabonassar, Falassar, etc.
IN ancient Russian history the informal title of king was used from the 11th century. The systematic use of the royal title, mainly in diplomatic documents, occurs during the reign of Ivan III. Who was the first Russian Tsar? Despite the fact that the heir of Ivan III, Vasily III, was content with the title of Grand Duke, his son, the grandson of Ivan III, Ivan IV the Terrible, having reached adulthood, was officially crowned (1547) and subsequently began to bear the title "Tsar of All Rus'".
With the adoption of the imperial title by Peter I, the title "tsar" became semi-official and "went" in use until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917.
Ivan IV was the first to take the title of Russian Tsar. After reading this article, you will find out how this happened, as well as what marked his reign. Ivan the Terrible - Grand Duke (from 1533), and from 1547 - the first Russian Tsar. This is the son of Vasily III. He began to rule from the end of the 40s with the participation of the Chosen One. Ivan IV was the first Russian Tsar from 1547 to 1584, until his death.
Briefly about the reign of Ivan the Terrible
It was under Ivan that the convocation of the Zemsky Sobors began, and the Sudebnik of 1550 was also compiled. He carried out reforms of the court and administration (Zemskaya, Gubnaya and other reforms). In 1565, the oprichnina was introduced in the state.
Also, the first Russian tsar in 1553 established trade relations with England, under him the first printing house was created in Moscow. Ivan IV conquered the Astrakhan (1556) and Kazan (1552) khanates. The Livonian War was fought in 1558-1583 for access to the Baltic Sea. In 1581, the first Russian tsar began the annexation of Siberia. Mass executions and disgrace was accompanied domestic politics Ivan IV, as well as the strengthening of the enslavement of the peasants.
Origin of Ivan IV
The future tsar was born in 1530, on August 25, near Moscow (in the village of Kolomenskoye). He was the eldest son of Vasily III, Grand Duke of Moscow, and Elena Glinskaya. Ivan descended on the paternal side from the Rurik dynasty (its Moscow branch), and on the maternal side - from Mamai, who was considered the ancestor of the Glinsky, Lithuanian princes. Sophia Palaiologos, paternal grandmother, belonged to the family of Byzantine emperors. According to legend, in honor of the birth of Ivan in Kolomenskoye, the Church of the Ascension was laid.
Childhood years of the future king
A three-year-old boy after the death of his father remained in the care of his mother. She died in 1538. At this time, Ivan was only 8 years old. He grew up in an atmosphere of struggle for power between the Belsky and Shuisky families, who were at war with each other, in the atmosphere of palace coups.
The violence, intrigues and murders that surrounded him contributed to the development of cruelty, revenge and suspicion in the future king. Ivan had a tendency to torment others already in childhood, and his close associates approved of it.
Moscow uprising
In his youth, one of the most powerful impressions of the future tsar was the Moscow uprising in 1547 and the "great fire". After the murder of a relative of Ivan from the Glinsky family, the rebels came to the village of Vorobyevo. Here the Grand Duke took refuge. They demanded that the rest of the Glinskys be handed over to them.
It took a lot of effort to persuade the crowd to disperse, but they still managed to convince them that the Glinskys were not in Vorobyov. The danger had just passed, and now the future tsar ordered the arrest of the conspirators in order to execute them.
How did Ivan the Terrible become the first Russian tsar?
Already in his youth, Ivan's favorite idea was the idea of \u200b\u200bautocratic power, not limited by anything. In the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin on January 16, 1547, the solemn wedding of Ivan IV, the Grand Duke, to the kingdom took place. Signs of royal dignity were assigned to him: the hat and barm of Monomakh, the cross of the Life-Giving Tree. Ivan Vasilievich, after the communion of the Holy Mysteries, was anointed with the world. So Ivan the Terrible became the first Russian tsar.
As you can see, the people did not participate in this decision. Ivan himself proclaimed himself king (of course, not without the support of the clergy). The first elected Russian tsar in the history of our country is Boris Godunov, who ruled a little later than Ivan. Zemsky Sobor in Moscow in 1598, February 17 (27), elected him to the kingdom.
What gave the royal title?
A fundamentally different position in relations with the states of Western Europe allowed him to take the royal title. The fact is that the grand ducal title in the west was translated as "prince", and sometimes as "great duke". However, "king" was either not translated at all, or was translated as "emperor". Thus, the Russian autocrat stood on a par with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire itself, the only one in Europe.
Reforms aimed at the centralization of the state
Together with the Chosen Rada, since 1549, the first Russian tsar carried out a number of reforms that were aimed at centralizing the state. These are, first of all, Zemskaya and Gubnaya reforms. Changes in the army also began. The new Sudebnik was adopted in 1550. The first Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1549, and two years later - the Stoglavy Cathedral. It adopted "Stoglav", a collection of decisions regulating church life. Ivan IV in 1555-1556 canceled feeding, and also adopted the Code of Service.
Accession of new lands
The first Russian tsar in the history of Russia in 1550-51 personally participated in the Kazan campaigns. Kazan was conquered by him in 1552, and in 1556 - the Astrakhan Khanate. The Nogai and the Siberian Khan Yediger became dependent on the tsar.
Livonian War
Trade relations with England were established in 1553. Ivan IV in 1558 began the Livonian War, intending to get the coast of the Baltic Sea. Military operations initially developed successfully. By 1560, the army of the Livonian Order was completely defeated, and this Order itself ceased to exist.
In the meantime, significant changes took place in the internal situation of the state. The tsar broke with the Chosen Rada around 1560. He imposed various disgrace on its leaders. Adashev and Sylvester, according to some researchers, realizing that Russia did not promise success in the Livonian War, unsuccessfully tried to persuade the king to sign an agreement with the enemy. Russian troops captured Polotsk in 1563. It was in those days a large Lithuanian fortress. Ivan IV was especially proud of this victory, which was won after the dissolution of the Chosen Council. However, Russia already in 1564 began to suffer defeats. Ivan tried to find the guilty, executions and disgrace began.
The introduction of the oprichnina
The first Russian tsar in the history of Russia was more and more imbued with the idea of establishing a personal dictatorship. He announced in 1565 the introduction of the oprichnina in the country. The state was divided from now on into 2 parts. Zemshchina began to be called territories that were not included in the oprichnina. Each oprichnik necessarily swore allegiance to the king. He pledged not to maintain relations with the Zemstvo.
Oprichniki were released by Ivan IV from legal liability. With their help, the tsar forcibly confiscated the estates of the boyars and transferred them to the possession of the noble guardsmen. Opals and executions were accompanied by robbery among the population and terror.
Novgorod pogrom
The Novgorod pogrom, which took place in January-February 1570, was a major event during the oprichnina. The reason for it was the suspicion that Novgorod intended to pass to Lithuania. Ivan IV personally led the campaign. On the way to Novgorod from Moscow, he plundered all the cities. In December 1569, during the campaign of Malyuta, Skuratov strangled Metropolitan Philip in the Tver monastery, who tried to resist Ivan. It is believed that the number of victims in Novgorod, where no more than 30 thousand people lived at that time, amounted to 10-15 thousand. Historians claim that the tsar in 1572 abolished the oprichnina.
Invasion of Devlet Giray
In this, the invasion of Devlet Giray, the Crimean Khan, on Moscow, which took place in 1571, played a role. The oprichnina army was unable to stop him. Devlet-Girey burned down the settlements, the fire also spread to the Kremlin and Kitay-gorod.
The division of the state also had a detrimental effect on its economy. A huge amount of land was devastated and devastated.
reserved summers
In order to prevent the desolation of many estates, in 1581 the tsar introduced reserved summers in the country. It was a temporary ban on peasants leaving their owners on St. George's Day. This contributed to the establishment of serf relations in Russia. The Livonian War ended in complete failure for the state. Originally Russian lands were lost. Ivan the Terrible could see the objective results of his reign during his lifetime: the failure of all foreign and domestic political undertakings.
Repentance and fits of rage
The king from 1578 stopped executing. Almost at the same time, he ordered that commemorative lists (synodiks) of the executed be compiled, and then deposits be sent to the monasteries of the country for their commemoration. In the will drawn up in 1579, the tsar repented of his deed.
However, periods of prayer and repentance alternated with fits of rage. On November 9, 1582, during one of these attacks, in his country residence (Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda), he accidentally killed Ivan Ivanovich, his son, hitting him in the temple with a staff with an iron tip.
The death of the heir plunged the tsar into despair, since Fyodor Ivanovich, his other son, was incapable of governing the state. Ivan sent a large contribution to the monastery in memory of Ivan's soul, he even thought about going to the monastery himself.
Wives and children of Ivan the Terrible
The exact number of wives of Ivan the Terrible is unknown. Probably the king was married 7 times. He had, apart from children who died in infancy, three sons.
Ivan from his first marriage had two sons, Fedor and Ivan, from Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva. His second wife was Maria Temryukovna, daughter of a Kabardian prince. The third was Martha Sobakina, who died unexpectedly 3 weeks after the wedding. According to church rules, it was forbidden to marry more than three times. Therefore, in 1572, in May, a church council was convened in order to allow Ivan the Terrible the 4th marriage - with Anna Koltovskaya. However, she was tonsured a nun in the same year. In 1575, Anna Vasilchikova, who died in 1579, became the fifth wife of the tsar. Probably the sixth wife was Vasilisa Melentyeva. In the autumn of 1580, Ivan entered into his last marriage - with Maria Naga. In 1582, on November 19, Dmitry Ivanovich, the third son of the tsar, was born from her, who died in Uglich in 1591.
What else is remembered in the history of Ivan the Terrible?
The name of the first Russian tsar went down in history not only as the embodiment of tyranny. For his time, he was one of the most educated people, possessed theological erudition and a phenomenal memory. The first tsar on the Russian throne is the author of many messages (for example, to Kurbsky), the text and music of the service of the feast of Our Lady of Vladimir, as well as the canon to the Archangel Michael. Ivan IV contributed to the fact that book printing was organized in Moscow. Also during his reign, St. Basil's Cathedral was erected on Red Square.
Death of Ivan IV
In 1584, on March 27, at about three o'clock, Ivan the Terrible went to the bathhouse prepared for him. The first Russian monarch, who officially took the title of tsar, bathed with pleasure, he was amused by songs. Ivan the Terrible felt refreshed after the bath. The king was seated on the bed, he was wearing a wide dressing gown over linen. Ivan ordered the chess to be brought in, and began to arrange them himself. He never managed to put the chess king in his place. And at this time Ivan fell.
They immediately ran: some for rose water, some for vodka, some for the clergy and doctors. Doctors came with drugs and began to rub him. The metropolitan also came and hastily performed the rite of tonsure, naming Ivan Jonah. However, the king was already lifeless. The people became agitated, a crowd rushed to the Kremlin. Boris Godunov ordered the gates to be closed.
The body of the first Russian Tsar was buried on the third day. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral. The grave of the son he killed is next to his own.
So, the first Russian tsar was Ivan the Terrible. And after him, his son, Fedor Ivanovich, who suffered from dementia, began to rule. In fact, the government was carried out by the Board of Trustees. A struggle for power has begun, but this is a separate issue.
The first tsar in Rus' was born not in Moscow, but in Kolomenskoye. At that time, Moscow was small, and Rus' was also small. However, the royal baby was clearly marked and protected by God. His childhood was not peaceful. The guardians of the three-year-old tsar - the princes Shuisky brothers - created such a bloody terror in the palace that every evening I had to thank God that he was alive: they didn’t poison him like a mother, didn’t kill him like an older brother, didn’t rot in prison like an uncle, didn’t torture him with torture , as many close associates of the father - Prince Vasily III.
Against all odds, the first tsar in Rus' survived! And at the age of 16, with an unexpected blow to the boyar aspirations, he was married to the kingdom! Surely, historians say, he was prompted by the smart Metropolitan Macarius. But it may well be that he himself guessed that the country needed one strong hand to stop strife and increase territory. The triumph of autocracy is the triumph of the Orthodox faith, Moscow is the successor of Tsargrad. Of course, the idea of a wedding was close and understandable to the Metropolitan. The first tsar in Rus' turned out to be a real one: he reined in the boyars, and increased the territories over 50 years of his reign - one hundred percent of the territories were added to the Russian state, and Russia became larger than all of Europe.
royal title
Ivan Vasilyevich (the Terrible) used the royal title brilliantly, taking up completely different positions in European politics. The grand ducal title was translated as "prince" or even "duke", and even the king is the emperor!
After the coronation, the king's relatives on the mother's side achieved many benefits, as a result of which an uprising began, which showed the young John the real state of affairs regarding his reign. Autocracy is a new, difficult task, with which Ivan Vasilievich coped more than successfully.
That's interesting, why the first tsar in Rus' - John the Fourth? Where did this number come from? And it was much later that Karamzin wrote his "History of the Russian State" and began counting from Ivan Kalita. And during his lifetime, the first tsar in Russia was called John I, the letter of approval for the kingdom was kept in a special golden casket-ark, and the first tsar in Rus' sat on this throne.
The tsar considered the centralization of the state, carried out Zemsky and Gubnaya reforms, transformed the army, adopted a new Code of Laws and the Code of Service, and established a law prohibiting the entry of Jewish merchants into the country. A new coat of arms with an eagle appeared, since Ivan the Terrible is a direct descendant of the Rurikovichs. And not only them: on the maternal side, his near ancestor - Mamai, and even his grandmother - Sophia Paleolog herself, the heiress of the Byzantine emperors. There is someone to be smart, proud, hardworking. And cruel, too, there is someone. But, of course, at that time, and even in that environment, without cruelty, those transformations that the first tsar in Russia clearly carried out would not have been possible. The transformation of the army - two words, and how much is behind them! Appeared 25-thousandth of which was worth only arming them with squeakers, reeds and sabers, and tear them away from the economy! True, the archers were gradually torn off from the economy. Appeared artillery numbering at least 2 thousand guns. Ivan Vasilievich the Terrible even dared to change taxation to the great murmur of the boyar duma. Of course, the boyars did not just grumble about the infringement of their privileges. They undermined the autocracy to such an extent that they forced the appearance of the oprichnina. Oprichniki formed an army of up to 6 thousand fighters, not counting almost a thousand entrusted on special assignments.
The blood runs cold in the veins when you read about those tortures and executions that were carried out at the wave of the sovereign's hand. But not only Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, even today's historians are sure that the oprichnina did not arise by chance and not from scratch. The boyars needed to be reined in! In addition, heresies creeping from the West shook the foundation of the Orthodox faith so much that the throne staggered along with the tsar sitting on it and the entire Russian State. Ambiguous relations developed between the autocracy and the clergy. Prior to mysticism, the believing tsar took away the monastic lands and subjected the clergy to repressions. The Metropolitan was forbidden to delve into the affairs of the oprichnina and the zemshchina. At the same time, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich himself was the oprichny hegumen, performing many monastic duties, even singing in the kliros.
Novgorod and Kazan
Before the new year 1570, the oprichnina army set out on a campaign against Novgorod on suspicion of intending to betray Rus' to the Polish king. The oprichniki had already amused themselves to fame. They staged robberies with massacres in Tver, Klin, Torzhok and other associated cities, then destroyed Pskov and Novgorod. And in Tver, Metropolitan Philip was strangled by Malyuta Skuratov for refusing to bless this bloody campaign. Everywhere, the king destroyed the local nobility and clerks, one might say, purposefully, along with their wives, children and household members. This robbery lasted for years, until the Crimean Rus attacked. That's where the prowess to show the young oprichnina army! But the army simply did not come to the war. The guardsmen were spoiled, lazy. With the Tatars - it's not with the boyars and their kids to fight. The war was lost.
And then Ivan Vasilievich got angry! A menacing look turned to Kazan from Novgorod. Then and there the Girey dynasty reigned. The sovereign abolished the oprichnina, even banned its name, executed many traitors and villains, went to Kazan three times. For the third time, Kazan surrendered to the mercy of the winner and after a while became a completely Russian city. Also, from Moscow to Kazan, Russian fortresses lined up all over the earth. The Astrakhan Khanate was also defeated, joining the Russian lands. The Crimean Khan, too, eventually got over it: how much can you rob Rus' with impunity and burn its beautiful cities? In 1572, a 120,000-strong Crimean army was defeated by a 20,000-strong Russian army.
Expanding territories with wars and diplomacy
Then the Swedes were tangibly beaten by the forces of the Novgorod army, and an advantageous peace was concluded for as much as 40 years. The first tsar in Rus' rushed to the Baltic, fought with the Livonians, Poles, Lithuanians, from time to time capturing even the Novgorod suburbs, and so far (until the other great First Tsar - Peter) these attempts were unsuccessful. But he scared abroad in earnest. Even established diplomacy and trade with England. And the king began to think about the land of Siberia, unknown. But he was careful. It is good that Ermak Timofeevich and his Cossacks managed to defeat the army before receiving the order of the tsar to return to the protection of the Perm lands, Russia thus grew into Siberia. And half a century later, the Russians reached the Pacific Ocean.
Personality
The first tsar in Russia was not only the first tsar, but also the first person in terms of intelligence, erudition and education.
About the legends still do not subside. He knew theology at the level of the most learned men. He laid the foundation for jurisprudence. He was the author of many beautiful stichera and epistles (a poet!). He ordered the clergy to open schools everywhere to teach children to read and write. He approved polyphonic singing and opened something like a conservatory in He was an excellent speaker. What about typography? And St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square? The question arose about the canonization of Ivan Vasilyevich. But how to forget the robberies, torture, executions, disgrace and simply murders by the oprichnina and followers of Orthodox clergy? After all, with the end of the oprichnina, it did not end as such, it just began to be called differently. The king repented, wore chains, scourged himself. He donated a lot of money to the church for the remembrance of the souls of the executed and for the health of the disgraced. He died a schemamonk.
