False Dmitry 2 who is he. False Dmitry II: the story of the rise and fall of the “Tushino thief.” Hopes and rumors

The sacralization of power was reliably ensured by the thesis of the king as God's anointed. Therefore, the theoretical prerequisite for the emergence of imposture should have been mass doubt that the ruling monarch occupies his throne by right. Thus, the “imposture” of the king became the reason for the emergence of a real impostor as a contender for the crown. It was probably hesitations regarding the legitimacy of Boris Godunov's stay in power that gave birth to the figure of the first Russian impostor - False Dmitry I. Despite the fact that the new tsar was elected to the kingdom by the Zemsky Sobor and even twice refused such a high rank, however, the Godunov family was far from being so influential and noble (even despite his relationship with the previous Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich).

Probably False Dmitry II was of Jewish origin and False Dmitry I

Therefore, the Old Moscow Romanov family had significant advantages in the hierarchy of succession to the throne. Not to mention the strange death of Tsarevich Dmitry in Uglich, when suspicions of murder inevitably fell on the closest boyar and the Tsar’s brother-in-law. The defrocked monk Grigory Otrepiev, the future False Dmitry I, with his identification with the tragically deceased prince, actually opened a “Pandora’s box” - after him a series of impostors is steadily growing.

Portrait of False Dmitry I

Those whom False Dmitry I trusted and brought closer to himself began to scold him more than anyone else after his death. Some of them even tried to gain the confidence of the newly elected Tsar Vasily Shuisky. Thus, the close associate of the first impostor, Prince Grigory Petrovich Shakhovskoy, received the post of governor in Putivl - precisely in the city whose residents were especially friendly towards the appearance of False Dmitry, where his supporters still remained. Knowing all the circumstances of Shuisky’s accession to the throne, Shakhovskoy convened a people’s meeting in Putivl, at which he announced that instead of Dmitry (False Dmitry), another person was killed in Moscow (“German”, that is, a certain foreigner, mute - in the sense that he did not speak in Russian). The real king is alive and hiding in a safe place, waiting for a favorable moment to regain his rightful power. This legend was believed first by the residents of Putivl, and then by the entire south of the country, which, it seemed, was just waiting for this: townspeople (townspeople), archers, Cossacks, peasants willingly joined the “army” of Shakhovsky and his comrade-in-arms, the Chernigov governor Prince Andrei Telyatevsky .

False Dmitry II declared himself tsar under pain of torture

Poland did not fail to take advantage of the rapidly spreading rumor about the miraculous “resurrection” of Dmitry, which was able to quickly materialize a new impostor - False Dmitry II. What is striking about this story is how quickly the Muscovites, who were present at the massacre of the corpse of the late Tsar, were able to forget these events and unconditionally believe in a fantastic rescue. According to N.M. Karamzin, the Russian people “had a love for the miraculous and a love for rebellion,” and the professional French mercenary of the Russian army, J. Margeret, wittily noted that “the Moscow mob was ready to change tsars weekly, in the hope of finding a better one.” .

Gabriel Nikitich Gorelov. "Bolotnikov's Rebellion"

Most of the questions and mysteries in the history of False Dmitry II are connected with the secret of his real name. The first news of the appearance of the surviving king dates back to the winter of 1607, when an impostor was discovered in Lithuania, one of many others who posed as a royal person. Among the Terek Cossacks, Tsarevich Peter Fedorovich (allegedly the son of Tsar Fyodor, that is, the grandson of Ivan the Terrible) and Tsarevich Ivan August (allegedly the son of Ivan the Terrible from his marriage to Anna Koltovskaya) appeared. The first of the above impostors marauded in the south of Russia, and then joined the ranks of the army of Ivan Bolotnikov, and the second contender for the throne successfully acted in the Lower Volga region, where he managed to capture Astrakhan. Following them, another “grandson” of Ivan IV appeared, the “son” of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich - Lavrenty. In May 1607, False Dmitry II crossed the Russian-Polish border and approached Starodub with his army, where he was recognized by the local residents. His army was gradually replenished with volunteers and mercenaries, and therefore in September he was able to move to the aid of False Peter and Bolotnikov.

The governor of False Dmitry II, Prince Dmitry Mosalsky Gorbaty, “said from torture” that the impostor “is from Moscow from the Arbatu from Zakonyushev priests’ son Mitka.” Another of his former comrades Afanasy Tsyplatev said during interrogation that “Tsarevich Dmitry is called Litvin, Ondrei Kurbsky’s son.” The “Moscow chronicler” and cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Abraham considered him to come from the family of Starodub boyars, the Verevkins (they were one of the first to recognize the legitimacy of the impostor). Polish chroniclers and contemporaries of those events believed that the name of the king killed in 1606 was adopted by the baptized Jew Bogdanko (or Bogdan Sutupov). He was a teacher in Shklov, and then moved to Mogilev, where he was in the service of a priest. For certain offenses, the Shklov teacher was threatened with prison - and just at that moment he was noticed by a participant in the campaign of False Dmitry I against Moscow, the Pole M. Mekhovsky. It seemed to him that he looked like the deceased impostor. The famous Russian historian of the Troubles, R. G. Skrynnikov, relying on foreign sources, believed that False Dmitry II “understood the Hebrew language, read the Talmud, the books of the Rabbis, it was Sigismund who sent him, calling him Dmitry Tsarevich.”

Letter from False Dmitry II to the Sandomierz governor Yuri Mnishek from Orel about his imminent accession to the Russian throne with the help of the Polish king Sigismund III. Signature - autograph of False Dmitry II, January 1608

Having reached Moscow with his motley army, False Dmitry II sets up camp in the village of Tushino, where his “headquarters” will be located in the future (hence the entrenched nickname of the impostor - “Tushino thief”). An interesting fact in this regard is that in the formation of the legitimacy of the new contender for the throne, Patriarch Filaret, Fyodor Nikitich Romanov, played a significant role, whose support was invaluable for the impostor: Bogdan Shklovsky pretended to be the son of Ivan the Terrible, and Filaret was the nephew of this king - "relatives" had to help each other. Judging by the descriptions of contemporaries of the events, the “thieves’” capital had a very unsightly appearance. The top of the hill was dotted with tents of Polish hussars. Among them stood a spacious log hut, which served as a “palace” for the impostor. Behind the “palace” were the dwellings of the Russian nobility. Ordinary people occupied vast suburbs located at the foot of the hill. Hastily knocked together, thatched “sheds” stood here very closely, adjoining one to another, and the dwellings were chock-full of Cossacks, archers, serfs and other “vile” people.

The impostor was on a walk when Prince Urusov killed him

This is how a situation of political dual power was formed, which inevitably appeared during the civil war. As Karamzin put it, “the people have already played with kings, having learned that they can be elected and overthrown by his power or daring willfulness.” Many of those who fled from Vasily Shuisky to the camp of his enemy, False Dmitry II, returned again, to the point that relatives agreed among themselves who should go to Tushino and who would stay in Moscow in order to benefit from both in one camp and in the other. . Having received a salary in Moscow, they went to Tushino to receive money.

Sergei Miloradovich. Defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from the troops of False Dmitry II in 1608-1610.

A very important aspect in the history of False Dmitry II is his relationship with the Polish king Sigismund III, who at first saw in him a means to weaken Shuisky and distract his own citizens and nobility from the internal affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, in 1609, the position of the “Tushino thief” changed significantly: in his camp they feared the arrival of the Russian-Swedish detachments of J. P. Delagardi and M. V. Skopin-Shuisky, who defeated the Tushino colonel Alexander Zborovsky in the summer. Finding themselves virtually trapped, most of the Polish mercenaries prefer to come to an agreement with their king Sigismund, which certainly undermined the authority of False Dmitry. In the summer of 1610, the army of the Polish hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski occupied Moscow, and he himself, at the proposal of the Duma boyars, agreed to swear allegiance under the conditions of electing Sigismund’s son, Prince Vladislav, to the Russian throne. The Moscow boyars, tired of the ruinous civil war, were interested in eliminating the impostor. They are the first to offer the generally indecisive Sigismund III a way out of the current ambiguous situation: the murder of False Dmitry II, to which the king, although not immediately, agrees.

False Dmitry II is the second impostor who pretended to be the son of Ivan IV. He was also an adventurer and impostor who allegedly escaped during the 1606 rebellion. Molchanov, who participated in the murder of Fyodor Godunov, fled to the western borders, began to spread the rumor that Tsarevich Dmitry managed to survive.

The question of the origin of the impostor causes much controversy. His appearance was beneficial to certain circles. He appears for the first time in Belarus (in Propoisk), was caught as a spy and called himself Andrei Nagim, said that he was a relative of the murdered Tsar Dmitry and was forced to hide from Shuisky. The detainee asked to be sent to Starodub. Arriving there, he begins to spread rumors that Tsar Dmitry is alive in the city. When searching for Dmitry, they pointed to Nagogo. At first he refused, but the townspeople began to threaten the alien with torture; the alien called himself Dmitry.

Tushino thief

Supporters of the king began to gather in this small town. In 1607, campaigns were carried out against Bryansk and Tula.

They reached the capital, but failed to capture the Kremlin. The invaders settled in the town of Tushino near Moscow, so the adventurer was nicknamed the Tushino thief.

His army was composed of Poles who left Moscow after the execution of False Dmitry I. It was led by princes Vishnevetsky and Ruzhinsky. They were joined by detachments of Cossacks, led by Zarutsky, and small groups of Bolotnikov, who survived the defeat. About 3,000 soldiers gathered.

In Tushino, the impostor formed a government, which included some Russian feudal lords and clerk businessmen (Filaret Romanov, the Trubetskoy princes and others). The actual leadership was in the hands of Polish commanders led by Hetman Ruzhinsky.

False Dmitry II managed to carry out a secret wedding with Marina Mniszech in August 1608; the Pole “recognized” him as her husband. Some of the Moscow boyars (Tushino flights), dissatisfied with Tsar Vasily Shuisky, supported the impostor.

In April 1609, False Dmitry II appeared before the people. On his head was a cap decorated with precious stones, they shone in the sunlight. This is how the saying arose that a thief’s cap is on fire.

False Dmitry II managed to take advantage of the people's struggle against the power of Shuisky and take control of territories in the eastern, northern and northwestern directions of Moscow. In order to attract landowners, the Pretender began distributing land with the peasants.

The territory that came under the control of the ruler was subject to monetary and in-kind requisitions for the maintenance of the Polish army. This policy sparked a national liberation struggle.

Since 1609, the lands controlled by False Dmitry have been rapidly shrinking. In the summer, the Poles began intervention against the Russian state, which led to the collapse of the headquarters in Tushino. Poles and some Russian feudal lords go over to the side of Sigismund III. At the end of 1609, the impostor fled to Kaluga.

End of reign

Following her husband, Marina Mnishek comes to the city. On December 11, the Tushino thief was killed by the baptized Tatar Pyotr Urusov. He cuts the shoulder with a saber blow, Urusov's brother cut off the impostor's head. This was revenge for the fact that False Dmitry executed Uraz-Magomet (King of Kasimov).

Soon after the death of the Self-Proclaimed Tsar, Mniszech had a boy. They named him Ivan, popularly called “the little crow.” The Polish lady did not long for her husband for long; her next husband was the Cossack ataman Zarutsky.

Polish troops managed to capture Smolensk, since the country was completely devastated.

False Dmitry II (“Tushinsky thief”) (1572-1610) - an impostor of unknown origin. From 1607 he pretended to be the allegedly saved Tsar Dmitry (False Dmitry I). In 1608-09 he created the Tushino camp near Moscow, from where he unsuccessfully tried to capture the capital. With the beginning of open Polish intervention, he fled to Kaluga, where he was killed.

Instead of the deceased False Dmitry I, gentry-lord Poland put forward a new adventurer, known as False Dmitry II. In July 1607, an impostor posing as Tsarevich Dmitry, who allegedly escaped in 1606, appeared in the border town of Starodub. He arrived from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he had previously been in prison.

In September 1607, when Tula was still defending itself against the troops of Vasily Shuisky, False Dmitry II with a detachment of Polish nobles moved from Slarodub to the upper reaches of the Oka. The fall of Tula in October 1607 forced False Dmitry II to flee to the Sevsk region (Komaritskaya volost). From here he again began to move north and at the beginning of 1608 he stayed in Orel, where he began to gather troops.

During the winter and summer of 1607-1608. Significant Polish-Lithuanian detachments gathered around False Dmitry II. A relative of the Lithuanian Chancellor Lev Sapieha, Jan Sapieha, with the permission of the king, openly gathered troops for a new campaign. The Polish government, trying to get rid of the participants in the gentry uprising - the “rokoshans”, gave them the opportunity to leave within the Russian state. So one of the participants in the “roar,” Lisovsky, ended up in the army of False Dmitry II. Following the large Polish gentlemen - princes Rozhinsky, Vishnevetsky (former patron of False Dmitry I) and others, were small Polish and Lithuanian nobles and all sorts of adventurers. In addition to the main Polish-Lithuanian military core, those who continued the fight against Shuisky’s government began to join False Dmitry II. In the Chernigov-Seversky cities, small service people joined him, then Cossack detachments approached, and even later the remnants of Bolotnikov’s defeated detachments joined him, including Ataman Zarutsky, who became the leader of the Cossack detachments. Having defeated the tsar's troops near Volkhov in the spring of 1608, the troops of False Dmitry II approached Moscow on June 1 and began its siege. The main headquarters of the interventionists was set up 12 km from Moscow, in the village of Tushino. Therefore, the nickname “Tushino thief” was established for False Dmitry II. Soon, Marina Mnishek found herself in the Tushinsky camp, “recognizing” her late husband False Dmitry I in the new impostor. Moscow service people, as well as individual representatives of the boyar families, dissatisfied with Vasily Shuisky - the Trubetskoys, Romanovs and others - began to pour into the camp one by one and in whole groups. Tushino formed its own royal court, the boyar duma. The actual power in the Tushino camp belonged to the “commission of decemvirs”, consisting of 10 Polish nobles. The Roman Catholic Church closely followed what was happening in Russia, hoping to use False Dmitry II for its own purposes. The boyar-noble group in the Tushino camp increased in number. The peasants and slaves who had attached themselves to False Dmitry II after the defeat of Bolotnikov’s uprising, on the contrary, moved away from him. The policy of the authorities of the Tushino camp and the actions of the Polish detachments showed the working population the true face of the Tushino “tsar,” who was a toy in the hands of the Polish nobility and part of the Moscow boyars, who had linked their fate with the interventionists. Not being able to capture Moscow, the Tushino people began to blockade it. They began to expand their area of ​​operations. At first, the population of some cities, who opposed the boyar government of Shuisky, voluntarily went over to the side of False Dmitry II. Very soon, further expansion of the territory became possible only through the armed capture of cities. Tushino residents were especially attracted to a number of rich northern and Volga cities: Rostov, Suzdal, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Vologda and other cities. By the fall of 1608, they had captured and plundered 22 cities. Shuisky's government, unable to lead the fight against the interventionists, was increasingly losing influence in the country. It was during this period that in a number of regions (Pskov, Volga Pomorie, Western Siberia) the struggle against serfdom and the Shuisky government that personified it unfolded. The Tushins robbed not only the captured cities, but with no less zeal they robbed the peasants. False Dmitry II distributed rural areas and cities to his followers, who subjected the population to complete ruin. The real role of the Polish adventurer False Dmitry II was revealed to the Russian people. Already at the end of 1608, the townspeople and peasants responded to the violence of the Tushin people with a spontaneously rising people's war.

In the summer of 1609, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began military operations against Russia. Her troops entered Russian lands, and the first city on the way of the Polish troops was Smolensk. The city, which then had 80 thousand inhabitants, was defended by a 5.4 thousand garrison led by governor Mikhail Shein. Before the arrival of the Poles, Shein ordered to burn out the settlement, and its population also took refuge behind the walls of Smolesk. The surrounding peasants also took refuge in Smolensk, thereby increasing the city’s population to 110 thousand people. Hetman Stanislav Zholkiewski, who directly led the Polish army, after discussing at the military council the methods of capturing the fortress, was forced to report to the king that the army did not have the necessary forces and means for this, suggested that Sigismund III limit himself to the blockade of Smolensk, and the main forces to go to Moscow. The king, having decided to take possession of Smolensk at any cost, rejected this offer. Carrying out his will, the hetman ordered the assault to begin. The assault began on September 27, 1609. During the night attack, Polish miners crept up to the Avraamievsky Gate and blew it up with a firecracker. But the soldiers of the garrison repelled the infantry rushing into the gap with cannon fire. In winter, the Poles tried to make tunnels. But they failed, because the Smolensk people had eavesdroppers on the walls in the ground. Smolensk miners dug to the Polish gallery and blew it up. In underground battles on January 16 and 27, the Smolensk people drove the Poles out of the galleries and then blew up the mines. Defeat in the mine war deprived the Polish troops of hope for quick success. The staunch defense of Smolensk pinned down the main forces of the interventionists, preventing them from moving towards Moscow. This allowed M.V. Skopin-Shuisky to win a number of victories, clear vast areas in the north-west of the country from the enemy, liquidate the Tushino camp of False Dmitry II and in March 1610 liberate Moscow from the siege. However, in the summer of 1610 the situation changed dramatically in favor of the Polish side. After the brutal defeat of the Russian troops coming to the aid of Smolensk near Klushino on June 24, 1610, nothing stopped Sigismund from directing all his efforts to capture the fortress. In July, siege artillery was brought to the Polish camp, and the Poles resumed shelling the city. On July 19, after gunfire made a hole in the wall, the besiegers launched an attack, but the assault was repulsed. On July 20, the assault was resumed, but failed again. On August 11, Sigismund made another attempt. Having lost over a thousand people, the Poles were forced to retreat this time too. Meanwhile, on the night of September 21, 1610, the boyar government allowed the Poles into Moscow, thereby committing an act of national treason. The position of the defenders worsened even more. However, the assault carried out on November 21 also ended in failure for the Poles. After the losses suffered, Sigismund did not take any more risks and moved on to the siege. Negotiations to persuade the townspeople to capitulate in September 1610 and March 1611 did not bring the desired results. However, the forces of the defenders were melting away, and by the summer of 1611, only 8 thousand people remained alive in the city, and the number of people capable of holding weapons was 200 people. It was at this moment that the traitor Dedeshyn ran across to the Poles’ camp. He spoke about the plight of the garrison and pointed out the weakest point of defense in the western part of the fortress wall. On the evening of June 2, enemy troops took up their starting position for the final decisive assault. Exactly at midnight, maintaining silence, the enemy moved forward. In the area of ​​the Avraamievsky Gate, he managed to unnoticed climb the assault ladders onto the wall and break into the fortress. At this time, German mercenaries tried to penetrate the fortress through a hole made in the wall the day before. But here their road was blocked by several dozen Russian soldiers, led by governor M.B. Shein. In a fierce battle, almost all of them died the death of the brave. Only a few people, including the governor wounded in battle, were captured. Having blown up part of the fortress wall in the place where the traitor indicated, the enemy burst into the city from the west. A fierce struggle ensued on the streets of the burning city. The forces were clearly unequal. By morning the enemy captured Smolensk. Its last defenders retreated to Cathedral Hill, where the majestic Assumption Cathedral stood. The fortress's gunpowder reserves were stored in its basements. Up to 3,000 townspeople took refuge within the walls of the cathedral. When all those who defended the Cathedral Hill fell in an unequal battle, and the brutal Landsknechts burst into the cathedral, a powerful explosion was heard. Under the smoking ruins, the Smolensk people who were there and did not want to surrender died along with their enemies. These unknown Russian patriots chose death over captivity. So, after a 20-month heroic defense, having completely exhausted its defensive capabilities, Smolensk fell. During the defense, the entire garrison of the fortress was killed. Of the 110 thousand people who were in the city at the beginning of the siege, practically no one remained alive. However, the Poles did not know that not only the people, but also the Earth itself had a historical memory, and when, 330 years later, prisoners were brought to Smolensk land Poles, the memory of the Earth has awakened - the descendants of those who burned and trampled the Smolensk region found their death here. But these victims were not enough to atone for previous atrocities, and after another seven decades, the top of the Polish elite crashed onto the Smolensk land.

In a desperate situation, the violent Lyapunov brothers again decided to overthrow Vasily Shuisky. This plan was approved by the agents of False Dmitry II, who promised to simultaneously depose their Thief in order to later reconcile with the Muscovites and the entire Russian land to elect a common tsar. On July 17, 1610, a crowd of people led by Zakhar Lyapunov burst into the palace and demanded that Vasily Shuisky “put down the royal staff.” Vasily refused. The conspirators then went out into the street and called the people, who passed a general sentence to beat Shuisky with his forehead so that he would come down from the throne. Tsar Vasily could no longer resist the desire of all Moscow. The overthrown Shuisky and his wife left the Kremlin. The next day the news came that False Dmitry’s people had deceived the Muscovites and did not want to renounce their “tsar.” The Lyapunovs, however, were in a hurry to consolidate the coup that had taken place in Moscow. On July 19, their people came to Shuisky and forcibly tonsured him as a monk.

Power in Moscow passed to the "Seven Boyars", which, not getting along with False Dmitry, entered into negotiations with Hetman Zholkiewski, who had already approached the city. The boyars agreed to transfer the Russian throne to the son of King Sigismund, Vladislav. Residents of the city took the oath to Vladislav, the Seven Boyars allowed the Polish garrison into Moscow. Having arranged matters to the benefit of the Poles, Zholkiewski went to the king, who continued to besiege Smolensk. He brought from Moscow (October 30) captives to the camp of Sigismund Vasily Shuisky and his brothers. Presented to the king, Shuisky behaved quite proudly, saying that he was captured not because of the victories of the Poles, but because of the betrayal of his boyars.

With the blessing and advice of His Holiness Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia [and the consecrated cathedral and by the verdict of all service people, F. I. Mstislavsky and the boyars entered into an agreement with representatives of the king and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the following conditions]:

The Great Sovereign Zhigimont will grant the king his son, Vladislav Zhigimontovich, for Vladimir and Moscow and for all the great states of the Russian kingdom.

And to the sovereign prince Vladislav Zhigimontovich, when the sovereign comes to the reigning city of Moscow, to be crowned with the Vladimir and Moscow state and all the great and glorious states of the Russian kingdom with a royal crown and diadem from His Holiness Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and from everything consecrated to the council of the Greek faith according to to their former rank and property, just as the former great sovereigns, the kings of Moscow, were married.

And being the sovereign prince Vladislav Zhigimontovich in the Russian state, the Church of God in Moscow and in all cities and villages in the Moscow state and in the entire Russian kingdom is to be honored and decorated in everything according to the previous custom and protected from ruin from any kind.

And worship and honor the holy icons of God and the Most Pure Mother of God and all the saints and miraculous relics. And the hierarchical and priestly ranks and all Orthodox Christians continue to be in the Orthodox Christian faith of the Greek law.

And the Roman faith and other religious churches and all other religious prayer churches should not be erected anywhere in the Moscow state, both in cities and villages. And what the hetman said in response to the royal response, so that in the reigning city of Moscow at least one Roman church could serve the people of Poland and Lithuania, who will be procrastinating under the sovereign prince, about that to the sovereign prince with the patriarch, and with all the clergy, and with the boyars, and talk to all thoughtful people.

And our Christian Orthodox faith and the Greek law are not to be destroyed or dishonored in any way. And do not introduce any other faiths, so that our holy Orthodox faith of the Greek law has its integrity and beauty as before.

And the Russian state should not divert Orthodox Christian people from the Greek faith to the Roman faith and to any other by force and necessity and by any other measures.

And Jews should not enter the entire Russian state for bargaining or any other business.

It is a great honor for Prince Vladislav Zhigimontovich to have the celibate coffins and relics of saints.

And His Holiness Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, as well as metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites and abbots, priests and deacons, and priestly and monastic ranks, and the entire consecrated council of our Christian Orthodox faith, honor and cherish the Greek law in everything.

And do not interfere in spiritual matters of any kind. And other faiths, other than the Greek faith, should not be placed in the spiritual rank.

And what was given to the churches of God and to the monasteries of estates or estates, and what went under the former kings of foreign grain, and money, and all kinds of land - and that tribute of all the former sovereigns of Moscow, and the boyars, and all sorts of people, the tribute of the churches of God and the monasteries is not take it away, keeping everything as before, without violating anything.

And do not destroy any church or monastic ranks in any way. And all kinds of church and monastic dues, which were previously given from the state treasury, are all given as before from the state treasury.

And for the sake of the great God, for the sake of mercy, add every kind of giving to churches and monasteries.

Boyars, and okolnichy, and nobles, and clerks of the Duma, and chashniki, and stewards, and solicitors, and clerks, and all sorts of clerks in all orders in all government affairs in zemstvo affairs, and in cities, governors, and clerks, and all sorts of clerks people and all ranks will continue to be as before, as was customary in the Moscow state under the former great sovereigns.

And the Polish and Lithuanian people in Moscow will not have any Zemstvo reprisals, and in the cities they will not be voivodes or clerks, and Polish and Lithuanian people will not be allowed to serve as viceroys and elders of cities.

[Vladislav could reward the Poles and Lithuanians of his retinue with money and estates. Russian service people - from boyars to gunners - he had to have] all according to their dignity in honor, and in salary, and in favor... the former customs and ranks that were in the Moscow state cannot be changed, and the Moscow princely and boyar families foreigners are visiting in the fatherland [of birth] and it is an honor not to oppress or depress.

<Владислав обязывался сохранять за владельцами прежние поместья, вотчины и казенные оклады и изменять их лишь по совету с Думой, как и юридические нормы; важные судебные решения, особенно смертные приговоры, новый царь мог выносить только вместе с боярским судом.

Peace and a military alliance were assumed between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was forbidden to avenge those killed on both sides during the overthrow of False Dmitry I; all prisoners were returned without ransom. Taxes and trade rules remained the same. Serfdom was mutually strengthened.>

There will be no way out for trading and arable peasants to Lithuania from Rus' and from Lithuania to Rus', and there will be no way out for Christians among themselves in Rus'. Boyars, and nobles, and all ranks keep serfs according to the old custom, in fortresses...

<О казаках должны были принять особое решение - быть им или не быть. От иноземцев и «воров» очищались все территории Российского государства, «как были до нынешния Смуты». Королю выплачивалась контрибуция. Лжедмитрия II следовало «изымати или убити», Марину Мнишек вернуть в Польшу.>

And Hetman Stanislav Stanislavovich (Zholkiewski) should not let Polish, Lithuanian, German, and all sorts of military people who are with him and who are with Jan Sapieha into the city of Moscow without orders from the boyars and without doing anything...

And about Smolensk, the hetman was beaten with his forehead and sent to the great sovereign Zhigimont, the king, so that the king would not order a beat in Smolensk and would not order any crowding to be done to the city.

And about baptism, so that the sovereign prince Vladislav Zhigimontovich would be granted baptism into our Orthodox Christian faith of the Greek law and life in our Orthodox Christian Greek faith, and about other non-contractual articles and about all sorts of matters [send an embassy to Sigismund and Vladislav].

The first source is Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich and his work “History of the Russian State” Volume 12, Chapter 4. Thus, the first violation of the treaty occurred, according to which the Hetman had to retreat to Mozhaisk. They used cunning. Fearing the fickleness of the Russians and wanting to quickly have everything in his hands, the Hetman persuaded not only Mikhail Saltykov with the Tushino traitors, but also Mstislavsky and other light-minded, although honest, Boyars, to demand the entry of the Lyakhs into Moscow to pacify the rebellious mob, as if ready to summon False Dmitry . They did not listen to either the Patriarch or the most prudent nobles, who were still zealous for State independence. They let the foreigners in at night; They ordered them to fold their banners and walk silently in the silence of the empty streets - and at dawn the inhabitants saw themselves as if they were prisoners among the Royal soldiers: they were amazed, indignant, but calmed down, believing the solemn announcement of the Duma that the Poles would not rule among them, but serve: to preserve the life and property of Vladislav's subjects. These imaginary guardians occupied all the fortifications, towers, gates in the Kremlin, China and the White City; They took possession of cannons and shells, settled down in the royal chambers and in the best houses with whole squads for safety.

For Rus', the beginning of the 17th century was one of the most difficult periods in history. Crop failures for several years in a row provoked dissatisfaction with the rule of Boris Godunov not only in the circles of the boyar nobility, but also among the common people.

The man who later became known as False Dmitry 1 (and, of course, serious political forces in Poland), took advantage of the most convenient moment and in 1601 declared himself a miraculously saved prince.

It must be said that the origin of False Dmitry 1 has still not been reliably established. However, a short biography of False Dmitry 1 reports that he was the son of Bogdan Otrepyev, a nobleman from Galich. Having taken monastic vows, Grigory Otrepiev became a monk of the Chudov Monastery, from which he presumably fled in 1601.

After 1601, having received serious support from the aristocracy and clergy of Poland, False Dmitry was preparing the return of the “legitimate” ruler to the throne of Russia. During this period, False Dmitry himself generously gives out promises of rewards (to give Poland the Seversk and Smolensk lands) and assistance (in particular to Sigismund 3 against Sweden), and secretly accepts Catholicism.

Only in the fall of 1604 did he, with a Polish-Lithuanian detachment, enter Russian lands near Chernigov. This move was apparently well calculated. Peasant uprisings in the southern lands greatly contributed to the successful outcome of the campaign. False Dmitry 1 was able to gain a strong foothold in Putivl.

Soon after this, Boris Godunov dies. Power passes to his son Fedor. But he was overthrown on June 1, 1605 during the uprising. And the bulk of the army went over to the side of the impostor. Having entered the capital of Russia on June 30, 1605 according to the new style, False Dmitry 1 was crowned king the very next day. The ceremony took place in the Assumption Cathedral.

The reign of False Dmitry 1 began with attempts to pursue an independent policy. He established cash and land salaries in order to gain the support of the nobility. Considerable funds were required for this and they were found by revising the land rights of the monasteries. The peasants also received certain relief. For example, the southern regions were exempt from paying taxes for 10 years. However, these measures did not bring success to False Dmitry. To pay the money, Poland had to significantly increase taxes. And this attracted the Krkstyan-Cossack uprising in the next 1606. To stop it, the impostor had to make great concessions, but military force was not used.

However, False Dmitry 1 was in no hurry to fully fulfill the promises made to Sigismund 3, which noticeably spoiled their relationship. The situation inside the country was also close to a crisis. As a result of the conspiracy that arose, headed by Shuisky, False Dmitry 1 was killed. This happened during a riot that broke out in the capital. The townspeople were extremely negatively opposed to the many Poles who had gathered for the wedding of the impostor and Maria Mniszech. The body was initially buried, but then burned. Ashes were thrown from the cannon towards Poland.

But, already in 167, another impostor appeared in Poland - False Dmitry 2. He is known under the nickname Tushinsky Thief. Very little is known about the biography of this “miraculously saved False Dmitry 1”. Perhaps the only reliably established fact is his incredible similarity to the first impostor. He supported the Bolotnikov uprising that began during that period. However, the two armies failed to unite near Tula, as originally planned.

In 1608, Shuisky’s army was completely defeated, and False Dmitry 2 himself settled in Tushino. He failed to take Moscow, and therefore the army took up robberies and pogroms. It was because of this episode in the biography that False Dmitry received his nickname. This “rule of False Dmitry 2” lasted for 2 years. Unable to change the situation on his own, Shuisky entered into an agreement with the ruler of Sweden, promising to give up Karelians in exchange for help. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, the Tsar's nephew, was appointed commander. He turned out to be talented in military affairs and Shuisky’s victories gave Poland a reason to intervene and begin an intervention. However, the path through Russian lands was not easy. Smolensk was able to defend itself for 20 months.

False Dmitry 2, after the appearance of Shuisky’s army, fled and settled in Kaluga. Sigismund Vladislav was crowned king. The hopes placed on Skopin-Shuisky were not justified. In 1610 he died under unclear circumstances. Hoping to retake the throne, False Dmitry 2 and his army moved towards the capital. But soon he again had to flee to Kaluga, where he was killed in August 1610. In 1613, the Time of Troubles for Rus' ended and the first ruler of the Romanov family was crowned king.

The story of the life and death of False Dmitry 2

False Dmitry 2 - (unknown when born - death December 11 (21), 1610) impostor of unknown origin. He was called the Kaluga or Tushinsky thief. Since 1607, he pretended to be his son, Tsarevich Dmitry, who allegedly escaped (False Dmitry I). In 1608–1609 he created the Tushino camp near the capital, from where he unsuccessfully tried to capture Moscow. With the beginning of open Polish intervention, he fled to Kaluga, where he was killed.

The appearance of False Dmitry 2

Having appeared in Starodub in mid-1607, False Dmitry 2 was a person not at all suitable for the throne. “A rude man, with disgusting customs, foul language in conversation,” is how the Polish captain Samuel Maskevich described him. The origin of this husband is truly “dark and modest” - either a school teacher from the Belarusian town of Shklov, or a Russian immigrant, or a priest, or a baptized Jew, or even an unbaptized Jew (which is completely incredible). Some historians explain his appearance by the desire of the Polish lords to sow confusion in the Moscow state.

They said that the impostor, who left the Lithuanian possessions for the Moscow state, at the instigation of the agent of Mnishek’s wife, Mechovitsky, did not dare to immediately declare himself tsar. At first he was called the Moscow boyar Nagim and spread rumors in Starodub that Dmitry managed to escape. When he and his accomplice, clerk Alexei Rukin, were tortured by the elders, the latter reported that the one calling himself Nagim was the real Dmitry. He assumed a commanding air, waved his stick menacingly and shouted: “Oh, you children, I am the sovereign.”

First victories

The Starodubians and Putivlivtsy rushed to his feet, wailing: “It’s our fault, sir, we didn’t recognize you; have mercy on us. We are glad to serve you and lay down our bellies for you.” He was released and surrounded with honors. He was joined by Zarutsky, Mekhovitsky, with a Polish-Russian detachment, and several thousand Severtsy. With this army, False Dmitry 2 was able to take Karachev, Bryansk and Kozelsk. In Oryol he received reinforcements from Poland, Lithuania and Zaporozhye.

1608, May - the troops of False Dmitry defeated Shuisky near Volkhov. In this battle, the impostor’s army was commanded by the Ukrainian prince Roman Ruzhinsky, who brought under the banner of the new “tsar” thousands of volunteers he recruited in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Soon the impostor approached the capital and settled in Tushino, 12 versts from Moscow (the angle formed by the Moscow River and its tributary Skhodnya), which is why he received the nickname “Tushino thief.”

Tushino camp

Tushino camp

The Tushino period of Russian unrest lasted almost a year and a half. In the camp of the Tushinsky thief there were not only Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian adventurers, but also representatives of the nobility - opponents of Shuisky. Among them, we should mention the Rostov Metropolitan Filaret Nikitich Romanov, who was named patriarch (it seems even against his will). The impostor called the people to his side, giving them the lands of the “traitors” boyars and even allowing them to forcibly marry the boyars’ daughters. The camp soon turned into a fortified city, in which there were 7,000 Polish soldiers, 10,000 Cossacks and several tens of thousands of armed rabble.

The main strength of the “Tushinsky Thief” was the Cossacks, who sought to establish Cossack freedom. “Our king,” wrote one of the Poles who served him, “everything is done according to the Gospel, everyone is equal in his service.” But when high-born people showed up in Tushino, disputes about seniority immediately began to arise, envy and rivalry with each other appeared.

1608, August - part of the Poles released at the request of Sigismund fell into the hands of the Tushino people. Marina Mnishek, who was there, after persuasion from Rozhinsky and Sapega, recognized False Dmitry 2 as her husband and was secretly married to him. Sapega and Lisovsky joined the impostor. The Cossacks continued to flock to him, so that he had up to 100,000 troops.

In Moscow and surrounding cities, the influence of False Dmitry 2 grew steadily. Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Murom, Kashin and many other cities submitted to him.

The Poles and Russian thieves, who were sent around the cities, soon turned the Russian people against themselves. At first, the impostor promised tarhan letters that freed the Russians from all taxes, but the residents soon saw that they would have to give as much as they wanted to take from them. Tax collectors were sent from Tushino, and after some time Sapega sent his tax collectors there from near Trinity.

Poles and Russian thieves gathered in gangs that attacked villages, robbed them, and abused people. This embittered the Russian people, and they no longer believed that the real Dmitry was in Tushino.

After Sapieha’s failure in front of the Trinity Lavra, the position of the “king” of the impostor was shaken; distant cities began to renounce him. Another attempt to capture Moscow was unsuccessful; Skopin and the Swedes were advancing from the north; in Pskov and Tver the Tushins were defeated and fled. Moscow was liberated from the siege.

Kaluga camp

Siege of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

The campaign of Sigismund III near Smolensk further worsened the position of the “king” - the Poles began to come under the banner of their king. False Dmitry, disguised as a peasant, escaped from the camp. In fortified Kaluga he was received with honors. Marina Mnishek also arrived in Kaluga, under the protection provided by Sapega, the impostor lived in honor. Without the supervision of the Polish lords I felt freer. Kolomna and Kashira swore allegiance to him again.

And at that time, the army of Sigismund III continued to unsuccessfully besiege Smolensk, and the young commander Skopin-Shuisky was able to lift the siege from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. And suddenly Skopin-Shuisky died, according to rumors, poisoned by the wife of one of the royal brothers, Prince Dmitry. The latter was appointed commander of the army sent to help Smolensk.

March on Moscow

Near Klushino, 150 km from the capital, on June 24, 1610, Shuisky’s army was defeated by the Poles under the command of crown hetman Stanislav Zhulkevsky. The path to Moscow was open. Zhulkevsky approached it from the west, Tushinsky the thief - from the south. The impostor took Serpukhov, Borovsk, Pafnutiev Monastery and reached Moscow itself. Marina stayed in the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, and False Dmitry - in the palace village of Kolomenskoye. Again, as in Tushino’s times, the Kremlin was just a stone’s throw away and the royal throne was empty (on July 17 he was “reduced” from the throne, and then forcibly tonsured a monk).

But this time too, history assigned only an unenviable role to the Kaluga “king”. His appearance forced the Moscow boyars to choose the lesser of two evils. On August 17, Zhulkevsky concluded an agreement with them, according to which the son of Sigismund III, Prince Vladislav, was to ascend the Moscow throne. The capital, and after many other Russian cities, swore allegiance to Tsar Vladislav Zhigmontovich. From now on, the Polish garrison introduced into Moscow became an insurmountable obstacle for False Dmitry.

Zhulkevsky, however, tried to settle the matter peacefully. On behalf of the king, he promised the impostor, if he supported the royal cause, to give the city of Sambir or Grodno. But, the hetman wrote indignantly in his memoirs, “he did not think to be content with that, and even more so his wife, who, being an ambitious woman, muttered rather rudely: “Let His Majesty the king yield to His Majesty the king of Krakow, and let His Majesty the king yield to His Majesty Warsaw."

Then Zhulkevsky decided to simply arrest them, but Marina and the impostor fled to Kaluga on August 27, accompanied by 500 Cossacks of Ataman Ivan Martynovich Zarutsky, who first came out on their side.

Death of False Dmitry 2

He died as a result of the revenge of the baptized Tatar Urusov, whom he subjected to corporal punishment. 1610, December 11 - when the impostor, half drunk, went hunting under the escort of a crowd of Tatars, Urusov cut his shoulder with a saber, and Urusov’s younger brother cut off his head. His death caused terrible unrest in Kaluga; All the Tatars remaining in the city were killed. The son of False Dmitry was proclaimed king by the people of Kaluga.