False Dmitry I: Difference between revisions
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When Boris Godunov heard about the pretender, he claimed that the man was just a runaway monk called Grigory Otrepyev (born Yury Otrepyev; Grigory was the name given at the monastery), although on what information he based this claim is unclear. Regardless, his support began to wane, especially when he tried to spread counter-rumors. Some of the Russian [[boyar]]s also claimed to accept Dmitriy's claim. Such a support gave them legitimate reasons not to pay taxes to Godunov. |
When Boris Godunov heard about the pretender, he claimed that the man was just a runaway monk called Grigory Otrepyev (born Yury Otrepyev; Grigory was the name given at the monastery), although on what information he based this claim is unclear. Regardless, his support began to wane, especially when he tried to spread counter-rumors. Some of the Russian [[boyar]]s also claimed to accept Dmitriy's claim. Such a support gave them legitimate reasons not to pay taxes to Godunov. |
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Dmitriy attracted a number of followers, formed a small army and supported by approximately 3500 soldiers of Commonwealth magnate's private armies rode to Russia on June 1604. Enemies of Godunov, including the southern [[Cossacks]], joined his forces on his way to Moscow. Dmitriy's forces fought two engagements with reluctant Russian soldiers; they won the first capturing [[ |
Dmitriy attracted a number of followers, formed a small army and supported by approximately 3500 soldiers of Commonwealth magnate's private armies rode to Russia on June 1604. Enemies of Godunov, including the southern [[Cossacks]], joined his forces on his way to Moscow. Dmitriy's forces fought two engagements with reluctant Russian soldiers; they won the first capturing [[Chernigov]] (modern ''Chernihiv''), [[Putivl]] (''Putyvl''), [[Sevsk]], and [[Kursk]] but badly lost the second and nearly disintegrated. Dmitriy's cause was only saved by the news of the death of Tsar Boris. |
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The sudden death of Tsar Boris ([[April 13]], [[1605]]) removed the last barrier to the further progress of the pretender. Russian troops begun to defect to Dmitriy's side and on [[June 1]] boyars in Moscow imprisoned the newly-crowned tsar, [[Feodor II of Russia|Feodor II]], and his mother and later brutally murdered them. On the [[20 June]] the impostor made his triumphal entry into Moscow, and on the 21st of July he was crowned tsar by a new patriarch of his own choosing, the Greek [[Patriarch Ignatius|Ignatius]]. |
The sudden death of Tsar Boris ([[April 13]], [[1605]]) removed the last barrier to the further progress of the pretender. Russian troops begun to defect to Dmitriy's side and on [[June 1]] boyars in Moscow imprisoned the newly-crowned tsar, [[Feodor II of Russia|Feodor II]], and his mother and later brutally murdered them. On the [[20 June]] the impostor made his triumphal entry into Moscow, and on the 21st of July he was crowned tsar by a new patriarch of his own choosing, the Greek [[Patriarch Ignatius|Ignatius]]. |
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Revision as of 14:19, 18 November 2005
False Dmitriy I, Cyrillic Дмитрий (other transliterations: Dmitry, Dmitri, Dmitrii), (ruled 1605-1606) was one of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, tsarevich Dmitriy Ivanovich, who had miraculously escaped the assassination attempt. It is generally believed that the real Dmitriy was assassinated in Uglich and False Dmitriy's real name was Grigory Otrepyev, although this is far from certain.
Background of the pretender
This would-be Dmitriy appears in history circa 1600, when his learning and assurance seem to have greatly impressed the Muscovite patriarch Jove. Tsar Boris, however, ordered him to be seized and examined, whereupon he fled to Prince Constantine Ostrogsky at Ostrog (modern Ostroh), and subsequently entered the service of another Lithuanian family, Wisniowiecki's. Princes Adam and Michał Wiśniowiecki, accepted him for what he pretended to be, as this would present a very interesting opportunity for them to get involved in the Russian affairs.
There were vague rumours that he was an illegitimate son of previous Polish king, Stefan Batory. According to a later tale, False Dmitriy blurted out his identity when his master had slapped him in anger. Dmitriy himself claimed that his mother, the widow of Tsar Ivan, had anticipated the assassination attempt by Boris Godunov and had given him into a care of a doctor who hid with him in Russian monasteries. After the doctor died, he had fled to Poland where he worked as a teacher for a brief time before coming to the service of Wisniowiecki. A number of people who had known the Tsar Ivan later claimed that Dmitriy did resemble the young tsarevich. Dmitriy displayed noble skills like riding and literacy, spoke both Russian and Polish.
Regardless of whether they believed the tale of Dmitriy, Adam Wiśniowiecki, Roman Różyński, Jan Sapieha and several other Polish noblemen decided to support him against Boris Godunov. On March 1604, Dmitriy visited the royal court of Sigismund III in Kraków. The king provisionally supported him, but did not promise any direct aid to help him in his way to the throne of Russia. To attract the support of powerful Jesuits, Dmitriy publicly converted to Roman Catholicism on the 17th of April, 1604, and convinced the papal nuncio Rangoni to back up his claim. At that time he also met Marina Mniszech, a Polish Catholic noblewoman, daughter of Jerzy Mniszech. He asked for her hand and was promised it in return for giving Mniszech family Pskov, Novgorod, Smolensk and Novhorod-Siverskyi.
Way to the Russian throne
When Boris Godunov heard about the pretender, he claimed that the man was just a runaway monk called Grigory Otrepyev (born Yury Otrepyev; Grigory was the name given at the monastery), although on what information he based this claim is unclear. Regardless, his support began to wane, especially when he tried to spread counter-rumors. Some of the Russian boyars also claimed to accept Dmitriy's claim. Such a support gave them legitimate reasons not to pay taxes to Godunov.
Dmitriy attracted a number of followers, formed a small army and supported by approximately 3500 soldiers of Commonwealth magnate's private armies rode to Russia on June 1604. Enemies of Godunov, including the southern Cossacks, joined his forces on his way to Moscow. Dmitriy's forces fought two engagements with reluctant Russian soldiers; they won the first capturing Chernigov (modern Chernihiv), Putivl (Putyvl), Sevsk, and Kursk but badly lost the second and nearly disintegrated. Dmitriy's cause was only saved by the news of the death of Tsar Boris.
The sudden death of Tsar Boris (April 13, 1605) removed the last barrier to the further progress of the pretender. Russian troops begun to defect to Dmitriy's side and on June 1 boyars in Moscow imprisoned the newly-crowned tsar, Feodor II, and his mother and later brutally murdered them. On the 20 June the impostor made his triumphal entry into Moscow, and on the 21st of July he was crowned tsar by a new patriarch of his own choosing, the Greek Ignatius.
His policies as a tsar
At first he tried to consolidate his power by visiting the sepulchre of Tsar Ivan, and the convent of his widow Maria Nagaya, who accepted him as her son. From all accounts, he must have been a man of original genius and extraordinary resource. He at once proceeded to introduce a whole series of political and economical reforms. He did his best to relieve the burdens of the peasantry; he formed the project of a grand alliance between the emperor, the pope, Republic of Venice, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovy against the Turks; he displayed an amazing toleration in religious matters which made people suspect that he was a crypto-Arian; and far from being, as was expected, the tool of Poland and the pope, he maintained from the first a dignified and independent attitude, for example by supporting the rokosz of Zebrzydowski against Sigismund. He was also lenient to his enemies, pardoning Vasily Shuisky who plotted against him (this would eventlually lead to his downfall as Shuisky would become the next Tzar). His extravagant opinion of his own authority (he lost no time in styling himself emperor), and his predilection for Western civilization, alarmed the ultraconservative boyars, who had formerly supported him only to get rid of Boris Godunov.
The boyars, headed by Prince Vasily Shuisky, began to plot against him, accusing him of sodomy, spreading Roman Catholicism and other Polish customs. They gained popular support, especially as Dmitriy was guarded by Commonwealth forces, who still garrisoned Moscow, often engaging in various criminal acts and angering the local population.
A favorable opportunity for the conspirators presented itself on the 8th of May 1606, when Dmitriy was finally married in Moscow to Marina Mniszech. Usually when a Russian Tsar married a woman of another faith, she converted to Orthodox Christianity first. It is believed that Dmitriy made a concession to his Polish supporters to convert Russia to Catholicism after gaining the throne. For this reason Mniszech did not convert to the Orthodox faith. This angered the Russian Orthodox Church, the boyars, and the population alike.
At the morning of May 17 1606, about two weeks after the marriage, conspirators stormed the Kremlin. Dmitriy tried to flee through a window but broke his leg in the fall. One of the plotters shot him dead on the spot. At first the body was put on display, then cremated and the ashes were reportedly shot from a cannon towards Poland. Dmitriy's reign had lasted a mere ten months. Vasili Shuisky took his place as Tsar.
Portrayals in literature
- Dmitriy's story was dramatized by Schiller, Sumarokov, Pushkin, and by Modest Mussorgsky in the opera Boris Godunov.
- Rainer Marie Rilke recounts the overthrow of Otrepyev in The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, Rilke's only longer prose work.