Vasily Shuisky (short biography)

Vasily Shuisky (lived from 1552 to 1612) was a Russian Tsar who belonged to the ancient Rurik family (Suzdal line). This ruler was crowned king as a result of the conspiracy of False Dmitry the First. Historians also often call Vasily the “boyar prince.”

From the biography of Shuisky that has reached us, it is known that Vasily was married twice. At the same time, there were no children from the first marriage, but from the second two daughters were born, who died in infancy. Due to the fact that Shuisky did not have an heir, the royal throne was to be taken by Dmitry Shuisky, Vasily’s older brother.

From about 1584, Shuisky was a boyar, and also acted as the head of the court chamber and took part in some military campaigns as a governor in 1581, 1583 and 1598. Also during this period, Vasily was exiled (the reasons are not clear).

From 1587 to 1591, Vasily Shuisky was in Galich, after which he was pardoned by Boris Godunov and returned to Moscow with his family.

In 1591, Vasily recognized an accident as the cause of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, fearing Boris. At this time, he is also returning to the Boyar Duma.

Four years after the events described, Shuisky takes part in a military campaign against False Dmitry, and was soon exiled again with his family for attempting a coup. By the end of the year, False Dmitry returned Shuisky and his family to Moscow.

During the events of May 17, 1606 (a major popular uprising), False Dmitry is killed, and Shuisky’s supporters “cry out” him as king. Researchers of Russian history count the beginning of the Time of Troubles from here. Already on the first of June, Shuisky received the blessing to rule as metropolitan.

At the same time, Vasily Shuisky himself gives a cross-kissing record that limits his power. In the summer of this year, the board of Vasily Shuisky recognized Tsarevich Dmitry Boris Godunov as the murderer.

During Shuisky's reign, a new military charter appeared, and the major uprising of Bolotnikov (1607) was suppressed, which marked the second stage of the Troubles in Rus'. An agreement was also concluded with Sweden, according to which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gave rise to the war. The same alliance turned out to be the beginning of the Swedish and Polish intervention for Russia.

In 1610, Vasily Shuisky was forcibly tonsured a monk, and the so-called period of the Seven Boyars began throughout the Russian land.

Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky came from the Rurikovich family. He was born around 1553, when Ivan IV the Terrible reigned, and lived under Boris Godunov. Vasily Shuisky, whose reign as tsar brought a lot of worries and worries, rose to prominence during the Time of Troubles. But it all ended tragically.

Ascension to the throne

In 1604, when Godunov was still alive, an impostor appeared in the south, calling himself Tsarevich Dmitry (False Dmitry I) who had survived in Uglich. Unexpectedly, Tsar Boris died, and at the Tula headquarters Dmitry received guests, including boyars from Moscow, who invited him to the throne. As a result, feeling the support of the political elite and the people, on June 20, 1605, he solemnly entered the Kremlin.

He first sentenced Shuisky to death, then sent him into exile, and then forgave him and returned him. But False Dmitry's reign was not long - he lasted less than a year.

Intrigues of Shuisky and his supporters

The fickle people, seeing that the new tsar welcomed foreigners and married a Polish woman, at the signal of Shuisky and his accomplices, began to beat Poles throughout the capital, and Vasily Shuisky himself, laying claim to the throne, entered the Kremlin with the people. Dmitry tried to escape through the window, but fell out and died.

In the morning Vasily Shuisky was shouted out to the kingdom. His reign began with an unprecedented act. In the Assumption Cathedral, he swore on the cross that he would exercise power only together with the boyars. Obviously, in order to get a bit of power, he was ready to sacrifice everything. Vasily Shuisky, whose rule became negotiable, gave access to power to the boyar elite.

Reign

Vasily Shuisky began his reign by distributing letters throughout the country. They announced what crimes Dmitry had committed. The free south received them with distrust. Fermentation began in the minds, and the rebels gathered an army. It was led by Ivan Bolotnikov and went to Moscow. He assured everyone that he had met with Dmitry, who had survived. Near Kolomensk, and this is almost at the walls of Moscow, Bolotnikov’s forces split.

The poor - the dregs of society - began to rob everything. The nobles who took part in the campaign wisely went over to the side of the king.

The position of the nobility during the reign of Vasily Shuisky is briefly characterized by one word - “discontent.” It was not for nothing that they joined Bolotnikov’s detachments. Firstly, they did not like the “boyar tsar”. Secondly, they began to defend their rights: the government began to pay daily “feed money” to all the bankrupt nobles and paid salaries to the warriors. Tsar Vasily Shuisky, whose reign was characterized by the expansion of unrest, as it turned out, did not sit firmly on the throne.

New impostor

In 1606, a certain Ileika Muromets appeared on the Don. He began to call himself the son of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and led an army to Moscow. His troops moved to Tula, where Bolotnikov fortified himself. There they came to an end. Shuisky's army dammed the Upa River and flooded the Tula Kremlin. Bolotnikov, who surrendered, and all his accomplices were drowned.

Tushino thief

The period of Vasily Shuisky's reign was very difficult, since he found himself hostage to the turmoil that he himself sowed on his way to power. A new impostor appeared - False Dmitry II, who, having gathered an army of nobles, marauders and all sorts of rabble, moved towards Moscow and set up a camp in Tushino. By the way, thanks to this he received the nickname - Tushinsky thief. The power-hungry Romanovs, Trubetskoys, and Saltykovs joined him.

Polish intervention

Shuisky, finding himself locked in Moscow, asked for help from the Swedes. The young, intelligent commander Skopin-Shuisky distinguished himself very much in the fight against Bolotnikov and the new contender for the throne. With a small detachment, including several hundred Swedes, he successfully defeated gangs of marauders.

But the King of Poland, Sigismund, declared war on Rus' under the pretext of its alliance with the Swedes. His army stood near Smolensk. The Tushino camp quickly came running to him. The siege was lifted from Moscow. Skopin-Shuisky was greeted everywhere as a hero; moreover, he liberated the Trinity-Sergius Monastery from the siege.

The boyars of Moscow decided to open the city to Sigismund. Skopin-Shuisky returned to fight him, but did not have time to do anything: he was poisoned.

Fall of Shuisky

The Moscow boyars organized a conspiracy against the tsar and forcibly tonsured him as a monk.

Vasily Shuisky, whose reign spanned 1606-1610, was transferred to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Humiliated and broken, he died in prison in 1612.

Events of the reign of Vasily Shuisky

The main events under Tsar Vasily Shuisky can be briefly listed as follows:

• Shuisky's promise on the cross (“kissing record”) is valid only with the consent of the Boyar Duma. That is, the country was ruled by the boyars, not the tsar.
• The uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov.
• Concessions to the nobles. Thus, the search period for fugitive peasants increased to 15 years.
• Continuous struggle with impostors, bands of bandits and other scum.

Shuisky's reign was difficult due to the constant invasion of interventionists.

Vasily IV Ioannovich Shuisky
Years of life: 1552–1612
Years of reign: 1606-1610 (7th Tsar of Russia)

From the Shuisky dynasty , branches of the Grand Dukes of Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod, descendants of the prince. Prince, boyar and governor.

Son of Prince Ivan Andreevich Shuisky.

He spent his youth near Grozny: in 1580 he was the tsar's groomsman at his last wedding, and in 1581 - 1582. stood as a governor with regiments on the Oka, guarding the border.

Brief biography of Vasily Shuisky

Since 1584, he headed the Court of Justice, being a boyar.

He is also known to historians as a great commander. Voivode of the Great Regiment on the campaign to Serpukhov in the summer of 1581, on the campaign to Novgorod in July 1582, on the campaign to Serpukhov in April 1583. Voivode of Smolensk in 1585-1587.

For unknown reasons Vasily Shuisky in 1586 he was in exile. During the persecution of the Shuiskys by Godunov in 1587, he was exiled to Galich. And in 1591, Godunov, deciding that they would not harm him, returned them to the capital.

In 1591, Shuisky led the investigation into the case of Tsarevich Dmitry. Under pressure from Godunov, he recognized the cause of the Tsarevich’s death as an accident, suicide. From the same year, Vasily again entered the Boyar Duma and soon became the Novgorod governor. In 1598, he was the first commander of the regiment in Mstislavsky’s army in the Crimean campaign to Serpukhov.

From January 1605, he was appointed commander of the regiment of the right hand in the campaign against False Dmitry. However, not really wanting Godunov to win, he went over to the side of the impostor.

After he took the throne, Vasily Ivanovich announced that the conclusions of his commission regarding the death of Tsarevich Dmitry were incorrect, and the new tsar was the true son of Ivan the Terrible. But in June 1605, Vasily tried to carry out a coup against the impostor, was captured and condemned to death by False Dmitry I, but was soon pardoned and sent into exile with his brothers.

Needing boyar support, False Dmitry at the end of 1605 returned the Shuiskys to Moscow.

In 1606, Vasily organized a conspiracy against False Dmitry I, which ended with the Moscow popular uprising on May 17, 1606 and the death of the impostor.

Board of Vasily Shuisky

On May 19, 1606, a group of adherents “called out” Vasily Shuisky as king. He was crowned on June 1 by Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod.

At the very beginning of his reign, confrontations between the capital's nobility and the boyars intensified (an uprising led by Bolotnikov). In 1607, with the support of large cities, he managed to stop the uprising, but in the summer of that year, Polish intervention in the Russian state began.

The defeat of the troops of Dmitry Shuisky near Klushino on June 24, 1610 from the army of Sigismund III and the uprising in Moscow led to the fall Tsar Vasily Shuisky. On July 17 (27), 1610, part of the boyars Vasily IV Ioannovich Shuisky was overthrown from the throne and forcibly tonsured a monk.

In September 1610, he was handed over to the Polish hetman Zolkiewski, who took him and his brothers Dmitry and Ivan as prisoners to Poland to King Sigismund.

Vasily Ivanovich died in custody in Gostyninsky Castle in Poland. In 1635, his remains were reburied in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin.

He was married twice:

on Princess Elena Mikhailovna Repnina, daughter of the boyar Prince Mikhail Petrovich Repnin;
since 1608

on Princess Maria Petrovna Buinosova-Rostovskaya, daughter of Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Buinosov-Rostovsky, tonsured a nun in 1610;

• Princess Anna Vasilievna (1609 - died in infancy)
• Princess Anastasia Vasilievna (1610 - died in infancy)

Contemporaries and descendants accused Shuisky of many sins and offenses. He was stingy, stubborn, and resorted to magic. But meanwhile, one cannot help but admit that in the life of Vasily Ivanovich there were many moments when he showed true wisdom, courage and greatness of soul.

It was short in time. He reigned for only four years (1606 - 1610). His reign can be assessed ambiguously in the history of Russia. Some historians say that Vasily was capable of ruling the country, but did not have the charisma so necessary for a sovereign. In contrast to the same, he did not make open contact with the people and those close to him; he was a somewhat closed person.

If we talk about its origin, it is very noble. The Shuisky family was one of the “top 5” most famous families of the then Moscow Rus'. In addition, they were descendants of Alexander Nevsky, thus they were not the last heirs in the struggle for the throne. Vasily was not liked in Moscow. Klyuchevsky wrote about him as “a plump short man with furtive eyes.” The circumstances of Vasily's accession to the throne were new to Rus'. When ascending the throne, he gave a “kissing record”, that is, he swore allegiance to his subjects and promised to rule only according to the law.

Briefly the beginning of the reign of Vasily Shuisky

Period 1608-1610 called “Tushensky flights”. The boyars constantly moved from Vasily to False Dmitry II, and vice versa. They received estates and a salary. Some received land and money from both Vasily and False Dmitry II.

Briefly the reign of Vasily Shuisky

In fact, we can say that the state has split into two parts. False Dmitry gathered about 100 thousand people, I must say a decent number of people. In fact, Tushino became a “Bandit Settlement”; they plundered many lands. could not protect the cities from the invasion of gangs. Then the city authorities began to form security regiments in their localities - zemstvo militias. This was especially developed in the northern lands.

The second half of the reign of Vasily Shuisky became a turning point for him. Gradually, power flowed out of his hands. Many cities were either subordinate to False Dmitry II or tried to take care of themselves. In the North, a lip reform was previously carried out. Local kupas and other wealthy strata began to appoint the governing apparatus themselves. It was precisely the developed self-government that later led to the formation of the first militias.

Vasily Shuisky negatively accepted the rise of the local zemstvo movement; he did not like it at all. On the one hand, he had to confront the troops of False Dmitry, and then there were some local militias. Vasily turned to the Swedish King Charles IX. They signed an agreement. In short, according to this agreement:

1. A detachment of mercenaries numbering about 5,000 people (mostly Germans and Scots), under the command of a Swedish commander, was sent to the territory of Rus';
2. Shuisky promised the Vedas to cede part of the territories;
3. Allowed the “circulation” of Swedish coins across Russian territory.

The Russian troops were commanded by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, the nephew of Emperor Vasily. Mikhail advanced greatly in his career during the reign of Vasily Shuisky. He performed well in battles against Bolotnikov. Many even thought that Mikhail could subsequently lay claim to the Russian throne. But he was a very responsible man, of a military type. He served primarily the state, for the benefit of his country. It is unlikely that he would have taken part in intrigues against Vasily.

Results of the reign of Vasily Shuisky

In the spring of 1609, a united army of Russians and mercenaries launched an offensive against False Dmitry II. Near Tver, they managed to defeat the army of False Dmitry. After the victory, the mercenaries began to demand payment of the promised salary. There was no money, the Swedes did not wait, they left Skopin-Shuisky and scattered across Russian lands. In addition, seeing how the Swedes interfered in the affairs of the Russians, the Poles, led by Sigismund III, also decided to participate. The Poles besieged Smolensk, and after 21 months it fell. The camp of False Dmitry II, having learned about the approach of Sigismund III, simply disintegrated.

Tsar Vasily Shuisky

On the southern outskirts of Russia, the coup carried out in Moscow by Vasily Shuisky caused strong discontent. Democratic principles in these places were more developed than in the center of the country. The population on the southern borders was half made up of Cossacks. Continuing to believe that False Dmitry was the “people's king,” the Cossacks, townspeople and minor nobility saw Shuisky as a protege of the hostile boyar class. Exiled by Shuisky to Putivl for his loyalty to the impostor, Prince Grigory Shakhovskoy began to spread rumors there that False Dmitry I was not killed in Moscow, but again miraculously escaped. Putivl rebelled against Shuisky. The governor of neighboring Chernigov, Telyatevsky, also joined the outbreak of the rebellion. Fermentations against Shuisky began in Moscow as well. They were gradually fanned by some boyars who dreamed of seizing the throne from Vasily.

In the south, the rebels gathered an entire army. With the consent of Telyatevsky and Shakhovsky, Ivan Bolotnikov became its head. A daring man who has seen a lot, Bolotnikov spent many years in Tatar-Turkish captivity, visited Western Europe and now claimed that he had seen the survivor Dmitry abroad. With 1,300 Cossacks, Bolotnikov defeated Shuisky’s 5,000-strong army near Kromy, and the entire southern half of Russia quickly joined the uprising: the cities of Venev, Tula, Kashira, Kaluga, Orel, Astrakhan. The Lyapunov nobles raised the entire Ryazan region against Vasily Shuisky.

In the fall of 1606, Bolotnikov’s army marched on Moscow “to return the throne to Tsarevich Dmitry.” The Ryazan detachments of the Lyapunovs also moved to the capital. On December 2, Bolotnikov entered the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, but here the forces of the rebels split. In Bolotnikov’s army, the poor, the robber class and other social scum took first place. These people were terribly outrageous, robbed everyone, establishing bloody anarchy everywhere. The noble militia of the Lyapunovs, horrified by the actions of their original allies, decided to break with them and, in the name of restoring order, unite with Vasily Shuisky. The noble detachments left Bolotnikov and moved to Moscow to Shuisky, although their leaders continued to dislike the boyar tsar. Bolotnikov, driven away from the capital by Shuisky’s young nephew, Mikhail Skopin, retreated to Kaluga, where he was besieged by Prince Mstislavsky.

The battle between Bolotnikov's army and the tsarist army. Painting by E. Lissner