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On January 7, 1598, Boris Godunov seized the Russian throne on the death of Feodor I. From the article:
"The Time of Troubles in Russia was a tense period of 15 years when the near-800 year Rurik dynasty came to end after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor I, and political chaos on whom should succeed ensued. It sparked wars and invasions, assassinations and murders, uprisings, rebellions, and multiple pretenders to the throne, all of which left the country quite literally in ruins.
But really, it could be argued that the Time of Troubles really began with Fyodor I’s father, Ivan the Terrible.
His brutal and often cruel (but all in all quite successful) 51 year reign saw the formation of Russia itself, the establishment of the political system (the unquestionable autocracy answerable only to God), and the ruin of the country’s economy. Known for his anger, paranoia and random fits of rage (hence the moniker) Ivan began his family’s downfall by physically assaulting the pregnant wife of his son and heir (who was also called Ivan) causing her to miscarry, then in the subsequent disagreements he beat his son with a sceptre over the head, which killed him. He mourned the death of his beloved successor and eldest son, cursing himself for his bad temper, and when he died three years later in 1584 his sixth son of his first marriage, Fyodor I, was named successor.
But Fyodor was not cut out to rule, and is generally considered by historians today to have been a kind, generally good man (in contrast to his father), but was not interested in politics, and suffered from either an intellectual or learning disability that rendered him incapable of ruling in any capacity. He allowed his brother in law Boris Godunov (a powerful Boyar in court and favourite of Ivan the Terrible) to do most of the work as acting regent, remaining leader in title only.
Boris Godunov
When Fyodor died childless in 1598, this brought an end to his family’s eight century ruling line, and appointment needed to be made. Naturally, having ruled as de-facto regent for 14 years already, Boris Godunov was selected by a committee as the next Tsar. An ambitious man, he had already put the pieces in place during his regency to get ready for this moment.
And this is where things get really interesting (and a bit complicated).
Two years before he died, Ivan the Terrible did have another son, via his 7th wife (he was the Russian Henry VIII in many ways), called Dmitriy. Recognising that Dmitry would be Fyodor I’s natural successor in the likely event that he produced no children of his own (which turned out to be the case), Godunov as acting regent had the boy and mother exiled to the town of Uglich.
Now, there are three possible explanations given as to what happened next:
Boris Godunov had Dmitry assassinated,
He attempted to have him assassinated but another boy they mistook to be Dmitry was killed instead, with the real Dmitry escaping and going in to hiding (more on that later),
The real Dmitry died by accident, suffering a seizure while playing with a knife and stabbing himself.
The official report at the time spuriously claimed it to be suicide. It is still much debated amongst historians, but despite how far fetched it sounds, the third theory is considered the most likely, with Godunov generally being absolved of the crime.
Either way, Dmitry was dead via a stab wound and the only possible obstacle to Boris Godunov’s path to the throne was out of the way (at least for now). He ruled as Tsar in his own right for 7 years, and while the country was already in chaos, and an appointed successor at this time was always likely to struggle, he proved extremely unpopular and made a lot of enemies at home and abroad. The first few years of his rule saw a third of the Russian population die to famine.
The False Dmitrys
Now we return to Ivan the Terrible’s exiled and potentially murdered son, Dmitry. After his death, rumours circulated almost immediately that he hadn’t actually died, but had escaped. No matter how it happened the rumours of his survival (along with Boris Godunov’s unpopularity) gave enough impetus for a string of pretenders in the following years to claim to be the returning Dmitry, and desperation amongst the population in wanting to believe it to be true gave it power.
It started one day in March 1605, when the first of the False Dmitrys marched on Moscow with the backing of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, looking to overthrow Tsar Boris Godunov. Over the following month or so they fought a few skirmishes, and then Godunov suddenly died after a stroke. This left his only son to rule as Fyodor II, aged just 16.
As historian Simon Sebag Montefiore said, “the transfer of power is always the ultimate test of a regime’s stability” and this one was already hanging by a thread.
Despite being extremely intelligent and well prepared to succeed as Tsar, and despite his cautious and wise father ensuring he was protected with powerful friends, treachery by the boyars led to Fyodor II and his mother being arrested and strangled a mere two months later. The False Dmitry marched in to Moscow and his coronation was soon after, with the head of the powerful boyars, Vasili Shuisky, even confirming his identity as the real son of Ivan.
This pretender ruled for almost a year, but his downfall came when he angered the Church by not having his Polish wife convert to Russian Orthodoxy, as was tradition. Vasili Shuisky, whom had favoured him and helped him seize the throne in the first place, now did a U-turn. Funnily enough, it had been Vasili himself who had reported from Ulgich all those years ago that the boy Dmitry (the real one) had died by suicide, then after confirming the imposter’s identity, in a final twist, he suddenly reminded everyone that the real Dmitry was actually dead, and publicly called out the Tsar as an imposter. Just ten days after the False Dmitry’s marriage, he was captured and killed after briefly fleeing, his body was cremated, and his ashes dramatically fired from a canon in the direction of Poland.
Via some first rate politicking, the head of the boyars was crowned Tsar Vasili IV, but Russia at this point was fractured internally, at war with an invading Poland, and rebellions were emerging throughout the country. Vasili’s reign was so ineffective that it wasn’t formally recognised until long after his death. Indeed, the boyars themselves continued to command the real power, and Vasili remained Tsar simply because there was no one else who could replace him. During his rule, two further False Dmitrys would stir up unrest, claiming once again to be the real Dmitry who had miraculously escaped the previous murder, gaining support from various factions in the country in the process (the first False Dmitry’s Polish wife, in a desperate attempt to regain the throne, even claimed the second to be her husband, despite them looking nothing at all alike). But these pretenders proved far less successful, competing with invading and far more powerful Polish forces, and both in turn were captured and killed to put the matter to rest for good.
Four years later, the conquering Polish had stormed in to Moscow (after years of them trying to take advantage of the unrest caused by the Troubles), Vasili IV was deposed, and the Polish King’s son Vladislav IV Vasa was elected Tsar by the boyars (with Vasili being shipped off to Poland where he would die shortly afterwards in prison).
History may well have turned out far different were it not for Vladislav’s meddling father, who refused to allow his son to move to Moscow and convert to Russian Orthodoxy, as per the request of the boyars. The Polish Prince was technically Tsar, but like many during this time, held no power or legitimacy, was never coronated and never sat on the throne. Not long after this, renewed Russian forces pushed out the Polish armies occupying the country and regained independence. Vladislav would technically remain the Russian Tsar, but once again by title only.
The rise of the Romanovs
Eager to end the chaos of the past 15 years, a parliament called the Zemsky Sobor met in 1613 with a difficult decision to make. To fully appreciate the mess the country was in, the participants in this meeting (between 700 and 1500 of them) arrived in Moscow and the only building standing that could hold them all was a cathedral, with much of the capital completely destroyed. Needing a legitimate ruler who could not be contested or challenged, and needing to start a new line of succession to quell the uprisings, imposters and intrigue in court, they assembled a list of possible candidates. On this list was Vladislav (technically still the Tsar at this point) who they considered legitimising, and the Swedish King’s son, who they considered borrowing, but neither of these foreigners were appealing after years of war and occupation.
They then ran through the noble families in Russia, and eventually unanimously decided the Romanovs would take the throne, namely Michael, whose great-aunt was the beloved first wife of Ivan the Terrible, and uncle and father had been powerful and respected boyars.
Having decided on Michael, however, the matter still wasn’t settled. They had two problems: firstly, the Romanovs were exiled in 1600 by Tsar Boris Godunov, so they had no idea where Michael was, and secondly, when they finally found him at the Ipatiev Monastery months later, he and his protective mother were resistant to the poisoned chalice that had become the Russian crown. The Zemsky Sobor had to literally get down on their knees and beg, until he eventually relented, and aged 16 became Tsar Michael I.
Despite these initial hurdles, the chaos of the country, and his own listless and indifferent attitude to the throne, Michael’s reign proved to be incredibly successful. It stabilised the country, ending the succession crisis and formally bringing an end to the Time of Troubles, and established a new dynastic line that was rule Russia for the next 304 years."
"The Time of Troubles in Russia was a tense period of 15 years when the near-800 year Rurik dynasty came to end after the death of the childless Tsar Fyodor I, and political chaos on whom should succeed ensued. It sparked wars and invasions, assassinations and murders, uprisings, rebellions, and multiple pretenders to the throne, all of which left the country quite literally in ruins.
But really, it could be argued that the Time of Troubles really began with Fyodor I’s father, Ivan the Terrible.
His brutal and often cruel (but all in all quite successful) 51 year reign saw the formation of Russia itself, the establishment of the political system (the unquestionable autocracy answerable only to God), and the ruin of the country’s economy. Known for his anger, paranoia and random fits of rage (hence the moniker) Ivan began his family’s downfall by physically assaulting the pregnant wife of his son and heir (who was also called Ivan) causing her to miscarry, then in the subsequent disagreements he beat his son with a sceptre over the head, which killed him. He mourned the death of his beloved successor and eldest son, cursing himself for his bad temper, and when he died three years later in 1584 his sixth son of his first marriage, Fyodor I, was named successor.
But Fyodor was not cut out to rule, and is generally considered by historians today to have been a kind, generally good man (in contrast to his father), but was not interested in politics, and suffered from either an intellectual or learning disability that rendered him incapable of ruling in any capacity. He allowed his brother in law Boris Godunov (a powerful Boyar in court and favourite of Ivan the Terrible) to do most of the work as acting regent, remaining leader in title only.
Boris Godunov
When Fyodor died childless in 1598, this brought an end to his family’s eight century ruling line, and appointment needed to be made. Naturally, having ruled as de-facto regent for 14 years already, Boris Godunov was selected by a committee as the next Tsar. An ambitious man, he had already put the pieces in place during his regency to get ready for this moment.
And this is where things get really interesting (and a bit complicated).
Two years before he died, Ivan the Terrible did have another son, via his 7th wife (he was the Russian Henry VIII in many ways), called Dmitriy. Recognising that Dmitry would be Fyodor I’s natural successor in the likely event that he produced no children of his own (which turned out to be the case), Godunov as acting regent had the boy and mother exiled to the town of Uglich.
Now, there are three possible explanations given as to what happened next:
Boris Godunov had Dmitry assassinated,
He attempted to have him assassinated but another boy they mistook to be Dmitry was killed instead, with the real Dmitry escaping and going in to hiding (more on that later),
The real Dmitry died by accident, suffering a seizure while playing with a knife and stabbing himself.
The official report at the time spuriously claimed it to be suicide. It is still much debated amongst historians, but despite how far fetched it sounds, the third theory is considered the most likely, with Godunov generally being absolved of the crime.
Either way, Dmitry was dead via a stab wound and the only possible obstacle to Boris Godunov’s path to the throne was out of the way (at least for now). He ruled as Tsar in his own right for 7 years, and while the country was already in chaos, and an appointed successor at this time was always likely to struggle, he proved extremely unpopular and made a lot of enemies at home and abroad. The first few years of his rule saw a third of the Russian population die to famine.
The False Dmitrys
Now we return to Ivan the Terrible’s exiled and potentially murdered son, Dmitry. After his death, rumours circulated almost immediately that he hadn’t actually died, but had escaped. No matter how it happened the rumours of his survival (along with Boris Godunov’s unpopularity) gave enough impetus for a string of pretenders in the following years to claim to be the returning Dmitry, and desperation amongst the population in wanting to believe it to be true gave it power.
It started one day in March 1605, when the first of the False Dmitrys marched on Moscow with the backing of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, looking to overthrow Tsar Boris Godunov. Over the following month or so they fought a few skirmishes, and then Godunov suddenly died after a stroke. This left his only son to rule as Fyodor II, aged just 16.
As historian Simon Sebag Montefiore said, “the transfer of power is always the ultimate test of a regime’s stability” and this one was already hanging by a thread.
Despite being extremely intelligent and well prepared to succeed as Tsar, and despite his cautious and wise father ensuring he was protected with powerful friends, treachery by the boyars led to Fyodor II and his mother being arrested and strangled a mere two months later. The False Dmitry marched in to Moscow and his coronation was soon after, with the head of the powerful boyars, Vasili Shuisky, even confirming his identity as the real son of Ivan.
This pretender ruled for almost a year, but his downfall came when he angered the Church by not having his Polish wife convert to Russian Orthodoxy, as was tradition. Vasili Shuisky, whom had favoured him and helped him seize the throne in the first place, now did a U-turn. Funnily enough, it had been Vasili himself who had reported from Ulgich all those years ago that the boy Dmitry (the real one) had died by suicide, then after confirming the imposter’s identity, in a final twist, he suddenly reminded everyone that the real Dmitry was actually dead, and publicly called out the Tsar as an imposter. Just ten days after the False Dmitry’s marriage, he was captured and killed after briefly fleeing, his body was cremated, and his ashes dramatically fired from a canon in the direction of Poland.
Via some first rate politicking, the head of the boyars was crowned Tsar Vasili IV, but Russia at this point was fractured internally, at war with an invading Poland, and rebellions were emerging throughout the country. Vasili’s reign was so ineffective that it wasn’t formally recognised until long after his death. Indeed, the boyars themselves continued to command the real power, and Vasili remained Tsar simply because there was no one else who could replace him. During his rule, two further False Dmitrys would stir up unrest, claiming once again to be the real Dmitry who had miraculously escaped the previous murder, gaining support from various factions in the country in the process (the first False Dmitry’s Polish wife, in a desperate attempt to regain the throne, even claimed the second to be her husband, despite them looking nothing at all alike). But these pretenders proved far less successful, competing with invading and far more powerful Polish forces, and both in turn were captured and killed to put the matter to rest for good.
Four years later, the conquering Polish had stormed in to Moscow (after years of them trying to take advantage of the unrest caused by the Troubles), Vasili IV was deposed, and the Polish King’s son Vladislav IV Vasa was elected Tsar by the boyars (with Vasili being shipped off to Poland where he would die shortly afterwards in prison).
History may well have turned out far different were it not for Vladislav’s meddling father, who refused to allow his son to move to Moscow and convert to Russian Orthodoxy, as per the request of the boyars. The Polish Prince was technically Tsar, but like many during this time, held no power or legitimacy, was never coronated and never sat on the throne. Not long after this, renewed Russian forces pushed out the Polish armies occupying the country and regained independence. Vladislav would technically remain the Russian Tsar, but once again by title only.
The rise of the Romanovs
Eager to end the chaos of the past 15 years, a parliament called the Zemsky Sobor met in 1613 with a difficult decision to make. To fully appreciate the mess the country was in, the participants in this meeting (between 700 and 1500 of them) arrived in Moscow and the only building standing that could hold them all was a cathedral, with much of the capital completely destroyed. Needing a legitimate ruler who could not be contested or challenged, and needing to start a new line of succession to quell the uprisings, imposters and intrigue in court, they assembled a list of possible candidates. On this list was Vladislav (technically still the Tsar at this point) who they considered legitimising, and the Swedish King’s son, who they considered borrowing, but neither of these foreigners were appealing after years of war and occupation.
They then ran through the noble families in Russia, and eventually unanimously decided the Romanovs would take the throne, namely Michael, whose great-aunt was the beloved first wife of Ivan the Terrible, and uncle and father had been powerful and respected boyars.
Having decided on Michael, however, the matter still wasn’t settled. They had two problems: firstly, the Romanovs were exiled in 1600 by Tsar Boris Godunov, so they had no idea where Michael was, and secondly, when they finally found him at the Ipatiev Monastery months later, he and his protective mother were resistant to the poisoned chalice that had become the Russian crown. The Zemsky Sobor had to literally get down on their knees and beg, until he eventually relented, and aged 16 became Tsar Michael I.
Despite these initial hurdles, the chaos of the country, and his own listless and indifferent attitude to the throne, Michael’s reign proved to be incredibly successful. It stabilised the country, ending the succession crisis and formally bringing an end to the Time of Troubles, and established a new dynastic line that was rule Russia for the next 304 years."
Russia’s Time of Troubles
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World History
Military History
Monarchy
Murder
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Time of Troubles - History of Russia in 100 Minutes (Part 9 of 36)
"History of Russia in 100 Minutes" is a crash course for beginners. Here you will find the complete history summarized and retold in simple language with acc...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on January 7, 1598 Boris Fyodorovich Godunov seized the Russian throne on the death of Feodor I.
Time of Troubles - History of Russia in 100 Minutes (Part 9 of 36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06v1F8r2v_4
Image
1. Boris Godunov I Tzar of Russia
2. Boris Godunov Overseeing the Studies of his Son, painting by N. Nekrasov [19th century].jpg
3. Godunov's estate near Moscow.
4. 'Boris Godunov,' 1992, by Sergey Prisekin
Background from {[https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Boris_Godunov]}
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov Tsar of all Russia
Reign January 7, 1598 - 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605
Coronation February 21, 1598
Full name Boris Fyodorovich Godunov
Titles de facto regent of Russia (March 18, 1584 - January 7, 1598)
Born c. 1551
Died 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605 (aged 54)
Moscow
Predecessor Feodor I
Successor Feodor II
Issue Feodor II, Ksenia Godunova
Royal House Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (Russian: Бори́с Фёдорович Годуно́в) (c. 1551 – 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605) was de facto regent of Russia from 1584 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descending into the Time of Troubles, a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar Feodor Ivanovich of the Rurik Dynasty in 1598 and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613.
Godunov's life was the subject of two of the great works of Russian art, a drama by the famous Romantic poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin and the opera by Romantic composer Modest Mussorgsky. The sense of intrigue that surrounds the events of Godunov's life proved great dramatic material for their artistic imaginations as the end of the founding dynasty, which precipitated a period of confusion that even led to the rise of a false heir to the throne, was not only of great historical importance but full of dramatic intrigue as well.
Early years
Boris Godunov was the most famous member of an ancient, now extinct, Russian family of Tatar origin, which migrated from the Horde to Kostroma in the early fourteenth century, through the Tatarian Prince Chet, who emigrated from the Golden Horde to Russia and founded the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. Boris was the son of Fyodor Ivanovich Godunov "Krivoy" (d. c. 1568-1570) and wife Stepanida N. His older brother Vasily died young and without issue of his wife Pelageya N. Godunov's career of service began at the court of Ivan the Terrible. He is mentioned in 1570 as taking part in the Serpeisk campaign as one of the archers of the guard. The following year, he became a member of the feared Oprichnina.
In 1570/1571 Godunov strengthened his position at court by his marriage to Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya, the daughter of Ivan's abominable favorite Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy. In 1580 the Tsar chose Irina (Alexandra) Feodorovna Godunova (1557 – October 26/November 23, 1603), the sister of Godunov, to be the wife of his son and heir, the fourteen year old Tsarevich Feodor Ivanovich (1557–1598); on this occasion Godunov was promoted to the rank of Boyar. On November 15, 1581, Godunov was present on the scene of Ivan's murder of his own son, also called Ivan. Though he tried to intervene, he received blows from the Tsars scepter. Ivan immediately repented, and Godunov rushed to get help for the dying Tsarevich, who died four days later.[1]
On his deathbed Ivan appointed a council consisting of Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, and Vasili Shuiski along with others, to guide his son and successor; for Feodor was feeble both in mind and in health; “he took refuge from the dangers of the palace in devotion to religion; and though his people called him a saint, they recognized that he lacked the iron to govern men.”[2]
Upon his death Ivan also left behind the three-year-old Dmitri Ivanovich (1581–1591), born from his seventh and last marriage. As the Orthodox Church recognized only the initial three marriages, and any offspring thereof, as legitimate, Dmitri (and his mother's family) technically had no real claim to the throne.
Still, taking no chances, the Council, shortly after Ivan's death, had both Dmitri and his mother Maria Nagaya moved to Uglich some 120 miles north of Moscow. It was there that Dmitri died a few years later at the age of ten (1591). An official commission, headed by Vasili Shuiski, was sent to determine the cause of death; the official verdict was that the boy had cut his throat during an epileptic seizure. Ivan's widow claimed that her son had been murdered by Godunov's agents. Godunov's guilt was never established and shortly thereafter Dmitri's mother was forced to take the veil.[2] As for Dmitri Ivanovich he was laid to rest and promptly, though temporarily, forgotten.
Years of regency
On the occasion of the Tsar's coronation (May 31, 1584), Boris was given honors and riches as part of a five-man regency council, yet he held the second place during the lifetime of the Tsar's uncle Nikita Romanovich, on whose death, in August, he was left without any serious rival.
A conspiracy against him of all the other great boyars and the metropolitan Dionysius, which sought to break Boris's power by divorcing the Tsar from Godunov's childless sister, only ended in the banishment or tonsuring of the malcontents. Henceforth Godunov was omnipotent. The direction of affairs passed entirely into his hands, and he corresponded with foreign princes as their equal.
His policy was generally pacific. In 1595 he recovered from Sweden the towns lost during the former reign. Five years previously he had defeated a Tatar raid upon Moscow, for which service he received the title of Konyushy (or in 1584), an obsolete dignity even higher than that of Boyar. Towards the Ottoman Empire in Turkey he maintained an independent attitude, supporting an anti-Turkish faction in the Crimea, furnishing the emperor with subsidies in his war against the sultan.
Godunov encouraged English merchants to trade with Russia by exempting them from tolls. He civilized the north-eastern and south-eastern borders of Russia by building numerous towns and fortresses to keep the Tatar and Finnic tribes in order. These towns included Samara, Saratov, Voronezh, Tsaritsyn, and a whole series of lesser towns. He also re-colonized Siberia, which had been slipping from the grasp of Russia, and formed scores of new settlements, including Tobolsk and other large centers.
It was during his government that the Russian Orthodox Church received its patriarchate, which placed it on an equal footing with the ancient Eastern churches and emancipated it from the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople. This reform was meant to please the ruling monarch, as Feodor took extraordinary interest in church affairs.
Boris's most important domestic reform was the 1587 decree forbidding the peasantry to transfer themselves from one landowner to another, thus binding them to the soil. The object of this ordinance was to secure revenue, but it led to the institution of serfdom in its most grinding form.
Years of tsardom
On the death of the childless tsar Feodor (January 7, 1598), self-preservation quite as much as ambition forced Boris to seize the throne. Had he not done so, lifelong seclusion in a monastery would have been his lightest fate. His election was proposed by the Patriarch Job of Moscow, who acted on the conviction that Boris was the one man capable of coping with the extraordinary difficulties of the unparalleled situation. Boris, however, would only accept the throne from a Zemsky Sobor, or national assembly, which met on February 17, and unanimously elected him on February 21. On September 1 he was solemnly crowned tsar.
Godunov's short reign (1598–1605) was not as successful as his administration under the weak Feodor. Extremely poor harvests were encountered in 1601–1603, with nighttime temperatures in all summer months often below freezing, wrecking crops; see Russian famine of 1601 - 1603.[3] Widespread hunger led to mass starvations; the government distributed money and foodstuffs for poor people in Moscow, but that only led to refugees flocking to the capital and increasing the economic disorganization. The oligarchical faction, headed by the Romanovs, considered it a disgrace to obey a mere boyar; conspiracies were frequent; the rural districts were desolated by famine and plague; great bands of armed brigands roamed the country committing all manner of atrocities; the Don Cossacks on the frontier were restless; and the government showed itself incapable of maintaining order.
Under the influence of the great nobles who had unsuccessfully opposed the election of Godunov, the general discontent took the form of hostility to him as a usurper, and rumors were heard that the late tsar's younger brother Dmitri, supposed to be dead, was still alive and in hiding. In 1603 a man calling himself Dmitri—the first of the so-called False Dmitris—and professing to be the rightful heir to the throne, appeared in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In fact the younger son of Ivan the Terrible had been stabbed to death before his brother's death, allegedly on Godunov's order; and the mysterious individual who was impersonating him was an impostor but was regarded as the rightful heir by a large section of the population and gathered support both in Russia and abroad, particularly in the Commonwealth and the Papal States. Factions in the Commonwealth saw him as a tool to extend their influence over Russia, or at least gain wealth in return for their support; the Papacy saw it as an opportunity to increase the hold of Roman Catholicism over the Orthodox Russia.
A few months later he crossed the frontier with a small force of 4000 Poles, Lithuanians, Russian exiles, German mercenaries and Cossacks from the Dnieper and the Don, in what marked the beginning of the Commonwealth intervention in Russia, or the Dymitriad wars. Although the Commonwealth had not officially declared war on Russia (as its king, Sigismund III Vasa, was opposed to the intervention), some powerful magnates decided to support False Dmitri with their own forces and money, expecting rich rewards afterwards. In 1605 in the midst of these intrigues, Godunov died. Immediately after Boris's death in 1605 Dmitri made his triumphal entry into Moscow, but after a short reign, he was murdered and a period of political and social uncertainty ensued until the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty eight years later.[4]
Boris died after a lengthy illness and a stroke on April 13/23, 1605, leaving one son, Feodor II, who succeeded him for a few months and then was murdered by the enemies of the Godunovs as was his widow, both murdered in Moscow on June 10/July 20, 1605. Their first son Ivan was born in 1587 and died in 1588, and their daughter Xenia, born in 1582/1591, was engaged to Johann of Schleswig-Holstein, born on July 9, 1583 but he died shortly before announced marriage on October 28, 1602) and she died unmarried and without issue on May 30, 1622 and was buried at Saint Trinity Monastery.
Legacy
Godunov was the first tsar to import foreign teachers on a great scale, the first to send young Russians abroad to be educated, the first to allow Lutheran churches to be built in Russia. Having won the Russo–Swedish War (1590–1595), he felt the necessity of a Baltic seaboard, and attempted to obtain Livonia by diplomatic means. He cultivated friendly relations with the Scandinavians, in order to intermarry if possible with foreign royal houses, so as to increase the dignity of his own dynasty.
Ultimately, however, he was not able to create a new dynasty nor prevent an era of great confusion that would engulf the country until the establishment of a new dynasty."
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Time of Troubles - History of Russia in 100 Minutes (Part 9 of 36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06v1F8r2v_4
Image
1. Boris Godunov I Tzar of Russia
2. Boris Godunov Overseeing the Studies of his Son, painting by N. Nekrasov [19th century].jpg
3. Godunov's estate near Moscow.
4. 'Boris Godunov,' 1992, by Sergey Prisekin
Background from {[https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Boris_Godunov]}
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov Tsar of all Russia
Reign January 7, 1598 - 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605
Coronation February 21, 1598
Full name Boris Fyodorovich Godunov
Titles de facto regent of Russia (March 18, 1584 - January 7, 1598)
Born c. 1551
Died 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605 (aged 54)
Moscow
Predecessor Feodor I
Successor Feodor II
Issue Feodor II, Ksenia Godunova
Royal House Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (Russian: Бори́с Фёдорович Годуно́в) (c. 1551 – 23 April [O.S. 13 April] 1605) was de facto regent of Russia from 1584 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descending into the Time of Troubles, a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar Feodor Ivanovich of the Rurik Dynasty in 1598 and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613.
Godunov's life was the subject of two of the great works of Russian art, a drama by the famous Romantic poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin and the opera by Romantic composer Modest Mussorgsky. The sense of intrigue that surrounds the events of Godunov's life proved great dramatic material for their artistic imaginations as the end of the founding dynasty, which precipitated a period of confusion that even led to the rise of a false heir to the throne, was not only of great historical importance but full of dramatic intrigue as well.
Early years
Boris Godunov was the most famous member of an ancient, now extinct, Russian family of Tatar origin, which migrated from the Horde to Kostroma in the early fourteenth century, through the Tatarian Prince Chet, who emigrated from the Golden Horde to Russia and founded the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. Boris was the son of Fyodor Ivanovich Godunov "Krivoy" (d. c. 1568-1570) and wife Stepanida N. His older brother Vasily died young and without issue of his wife Pelageya N. Godunov's career of service began at the court of Ivan the Terrible. He is mentioned in 1570 as taking part in the Serpeisk campaign as one of the archers of the guard. The following year, he became a member of the feared Oprichnina.
In 1570/1571 Godunov strengthened his position at court by his marriage to Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya, the daughter of Ivan's abominable favorite Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy. In 1580 the Tsar chose Irina (Alexandra) Feodorovna Godunova (1557 – October 26/November 23, 1603), the sister of Godunov, to be the wife of his son and heir, the fourteen year old Tsarevich Feodor Ivanovich (1557–1598); on this occasion Godunov was promoted to the rank of Boyar. On November 15, 1581, Godunov was present on the scene of Ivan's murder of his own son, also called Ivan. Though he tried to intervene, he received blows from the Tsars scepter. Ivan immediately repented, and Godunov rushed to get help for the dying Tsarevich, who died four days later.[1]
On his deathbed Ivan appointed a council consisting of Godunov, Feodor Nikitich Romanov, and Vasili Shuiski along with others, to guide his son and successor; for Feodor was feeble both in mind and in health; “he took refuge from the dangers of the palace in devotion to religion; and though his people called him a saint, they recognized that he lacked the iron to govern men.”[2]
Upon his death Ivan also left behind the three-year-old Dmitri Ivanovich (1581–1591), born from his seventh and last marriage. As the Orthodox Church recognized only the initial three marriages, and any offspring thereof, as legitimate, Dmitri (and his mother's family) technically had no real claim to the throne.
Still, taking no chances, the Council, shortly after Ivan's death, had both Dmitri and his mother Maria Nagaya moved to Uglich some 120 miles north of Moscow. It was there that Dmitri died a few years later at the age of ten (1591). An official commission, headed by Vasili Shuiski, was sent to determine the cause of death; the official verdict was that the boy had cut his throat during an epileptic seizure. Ivan's widow claimed that her son had been murdered by Godunov's agents. Godunov's guilt was never established and shortly thereafter Dmitri's mother was forced to take the veil.[2] As for Dmitri Ivanovich he was laid to rest and promptly, though temporarily, forgotten.
Years of regency
On the occasion of the Tsar's coronation (May 31, 1584), Boris was given honors and riches as part of a five-man regency council, yet he held the second place during the lifetime of the Tsar's uncle Nikita Romanovich, on whose death, in August, he was left without any serious rival.
A conspiracy against him of all the other great boyars and the metropolitan Dionysius, which sought to break Boris's power by divorcing the Tsar from Godunov's childless sister, only ended in the banishment or tonsuring of the malcontents. Henceforth Godunov was omnipotent. The direction of affairs passed entirely into his hands, and he corresponded with foreign princes as their equal.
His policy was generally pacific. In 1595 he recovered from Sweden the towns lost during the former reign. Five years previously he had defeated a Tatar raid upon Moscow, for which service he received the title of Konyushy (or in 1584), an obsolete dignity even higher than that of Boyar. Towards the Ottoman Empire in Turkey he maintained an independent attitude, supporting an anti-Turkish faction in the Crimea, furnishing the emperor with subsidies in his war against the sultan.
Godunov encouraged English merchants to trade with Russia by exempting them from tolls. He civilized the north-eastern and south-eastern borders of Russia by building numerous towns and fortresses to keep the Tatar and Finnic tribes in order. These towns included Samara, Saratov, Voronezh, Tsaritsyn, and a whole series of lesser towns. He also re-colonized Siberia, which had been slipping from the grasp of Russia, and formed scores of new settlements, including Tobolsk and other large centers.
It was during his government that the Russian Orthodox Church received its patriarchate, which placed it on an equal footing with the ancient Eastern churches and emancipated it from the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople. This reform was meant to please the ruling monarch, as Feodor took extraordinary interest in church affairs.
Boris's most important domestic reform was the 1587 decree forbidding the peasantry to transfer themselves from one landowner to another, thus binding them to the soil. The object of this ordinance was to secure revenue, but it led to the institution of serfdom in its most grinding form.
Years of tsardom
On the death of the childless tsar Feodor (January 7, 1598), self-preservation quite as much as ambition forced Boris to seize the throne. Had he not done so, lifelong seclusion in a monastery would have been his lightest fate. His election was proposed by the Patriarch Job of Moscow, who acted on the conviction that Boris was the one man capable of coping with the extraordinary difficulties of the unparalleled situation. Boris, however, would only accept the throne from a Zemsky Sobor, or national assembly, which met on February 17, and unanimously elected him on February 21. On September 1 he was solemnly crowned tsar.
Godunov's short reign (1598–1605) was not as successful as his administration under the weak Feodor. Extremely poor harvests were encountered in 1601–1603, with nighttime temperatures in all summer months often below freezing, wrecking crops; see Russian famine of 1601 - 1603.[3] Widespread hunger led to mass starvations; the government distributed money and foodstuffs for poor people in Moscow, but that only led to refugees flocking to the capital and increasing the economic disorganization. The oligarchical faction, headed by the Romanovs, considered it a disgrace to obey a mere boyar; conspiracies were frequent; the rural districts were desolated by famine and plague; great bands of armed brigands roamed the country committing all manner of atrocities; the Don Cossacks on the frontier were restless; and the government showed itself incapable of maintaining order.
Under the influence of the great nobles who had unsuccessfully opposed the election of Godunov, the general discontent took the form of hostility to him as a usurper, and rumors were heard that the late tsar's younger brother Dmitri, supposed to be dead, was still alive and in hiding. In 1603 a man calling himself Dmitri—the first of the so-called False Dmitris—and professing to be the rightful heir to the throne, appeared in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In fact the younger son of Ivan the Terrible had been stabbed to death before his brother's death, allegedly on Godunov's order; and the mysterious individual who was impersonating him was an impostor but was regarded as the rightful heir by a large section of the population and gathered support both in Russia and abroad, particularly in the Commonwealth and the Papal States. Factions in the Commonwealth saw him as a tool to extend their influence over Russia, or at least gain wealth in return for their support; the Papacy saw it as an opportunity to increase the hold of Roman Catholicism over the Orthodox Russia.
A few months later he crossed the frontier with a small force of 4000 Poles, Lithuanians, Russian exiles, German mercenaries and Cossacks from the Dnieper and the Don, in what marked the beginning of the Commonwealth intervention in Russia, or the Dymitriad wars. Although the Commonwealth had not officially declared war on Russia (as its king, Sigismund III Vasa, was opposed to the intervention), some powerful magnates decided to support False Dmitri with their own forces and money, expecting rich rewards afterwards. In 1605 in the midst of these intrigues, Godunov died. Immediately after Boris's death in 1605 Dmitri made his triumphal entry into Moscow, but after a short reign, he was murdered and a period of political and social uncertainty ensued until the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty eight years later.[4]
Boris died after a lengthy illness and a stroke on April 13/23, 1605, leaving one son, Feodor II, who succeeded him for a few months and then was murdered by the enemies of the Godunovs as was his widow, both murdered in Moscow on June 10/July 20, 1605. Their first son Ivan was born in 1587 and died in 1588, and their daughter Xenia, born in 1582/1591, was engaged to Johann of Schleswig-Holstein, born on July 9, 1583 but he died shortly before announced marriage on October 28, 1602) and she died unmarried and without issue on May 30, 1622 and was buried at Saint Trinity Monastery.
Legacy
Godunov was the first tsar to import foreign teachers on a great scale, the first to send young Russians abroad to be educated, the first to allow Lutheran churches to be built in Russia. Having won the Russo–Swedish War (1590–1595), he felt the necessity of a Baltic seaboard, and attempted to obtain Livonia by diplomatic means. He cultivated friendly relations with the Scandinavians, in order to intermarry if possible with foreign royal houses, so as to increase the dignity of his own dynasty.
Ultimately, however, he was not able to create a new dynasty nor prevent an era of great confusion that would engulf the country until the establishment of a new dynasty."
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LTC Stephen F.
Musorgsky left us two versions of Boris Godunov, presenting different conceptions of Russia’s troubled history, but both resonate with the world today… A lec...
Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov
Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov (1872) is set in the ‘Time of Troubles’, using Pushkin’s incisive verse tragedy on the chaotic period preceding the establishment of the Romanovs. Such a work was bound to draw the attention of the censors, and Musorgsky’s two versions of the opera also led to various ‘improved’ versions that conflated scenes from each. Despite all the interference it has suffered, in any of its forms it remains a formidable exploration of power, as well as a highly moving personal drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ongYgIseItk
Images:
1. Russia 1913 Stamp with Boris Godunov
2. Boris Godunov profile
3. 1996 Russian Stamp 'Boris-Godunov' [1552-1605] History of the Russian state.
4. Coin, Russia, Boris Fyodorovich Godunov, Kopek, 1598-1605
Background from {[https://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/history-and-mythology/boris-godunov/]}
Prominent Russians: Boris Godunov
The ruler of Russia from 1587-1598 and Tsar from 1598 to 1605, Boris Godunov played an important role in Russian history.
According to legend, Godunov’s family originated from the Tatar Prince Chet, who immigrated from the Golden Horde to Russia. Boris was the son of Fyodor Godunov, an average landowner. After his father’s death, he was brought up by his uncle Dmitry Godunov, who reached a high post at the court of Ivan the Terrible. Boris Godunov’s career of service began as an “oprichnik”- a member of the organization “Oprichnina,” established by Ivan the Terrible as a prototype police force but also as an instrument to expose, torture and murder his internal enemies.
Godunov married a daughter of the Tsar’s favorite, Malyuta Skuratov, which further strengthened his position. In 1580 Boris Godunov’s sister married the Tsar’s son Fyodor and after that Godunov received the aristocratic title of boyar.
The role of the entire family of Godunov gradually increased and by the end of the 1570s they obtained a footing at Ivan the Terrible’s court. Still, Boris Godunov himself was very cautious in his actions and preferred to stay in the background. Unexpectedly, the year of 1581 brought a series of changes to Godunov’s life: Ivan the Terrible had an argument with his son Ivan and hit him with a staff, which caused the death of the prince. Boris Godunov’s brother-in-law,
Fyodor, became the heir to the throne.
Until 1584 Boris Godunov was not very close to Ivan the Terrible, though he did use his positions at court to favor of his family. According to some historians, Godunov, together with Bogdan Belsky, was a confidante to the Tsar during the last year of the Tsar’s life. Boris Godunov’s role in the death of Ivan the Terrible remains unclear. There were rumors that the ruler was suffocated or poisoned by Belsky and Godunov. The official version stated that the Tsar died from a long-term illness. But, the truth remains unknown.
Ivan the Terrible’s son Fyodor ascended to the throne. According to various sources, the new ruler had physical and mental problems and was not able to control the country. A board of noblemen was created to serve as Fyodor’s advisors and guardians. Starting as a member of the board, Boris Godunov soon became the factual head of the country. Among the 14 years that Fyodor held the throne, 13 of them were the years of the rule of Godunov.
Boris Godunov’s internal and external policies were aimed at the all-round strengthening of the country. He played an important role in the implementation of a patriarchate in Russia and in 1589 Metropolitan Job was appointed as the first Russian patriarch. This event increased the prestige of Russia.
In terms of internal policy, a massive construction of cities and fortresses was undertaken, among them Voronezh Fortress and Belgorod City. Moscow experienced unbelievable innovations for the times, including the building of a water supply system, which pumped water from the Moscow River. The economic crisis of the 1570s – 1580s lead to the introduction of serfdom and a corresponding law that all peasants who ran away from their masters must be returned if caught within five years from the time they fled.
In his external policy Godunov showed himself a talented diplomat. In 1595, having taken advantage of a complicated domestic situation in Sweden, Boris Godunov signed a peace treaty and returned several cities and regions to Russia.
In 1598 Tsar Fyodor died. Since he didn’t have children, his death designated the end of the Moscow branch of the Rurik Dynasty and also marked the beginning of the so-called Time of Troubles (a period between 1598 and 1613, preceding the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty). Immediatley after Fyodor’s death the Zemsky Sobor (the first Russian parliament) appointed Boris Godunov Tsar.
The period of Godunov’s official reign was characterized by the unprecedented closeness of Russia to many western countries. Documents show that he sought to found a high school in Russia, with foreign teachers, though the idea was criticized by the Church authorities. The foreign specialists (doctors, metalworkers and tradesmen) were greeted in Russia as never before. His external policy was generally peaceful.
Regarding internal policies, the Tsar allowed peasants (except those from the Moscow Region) to move from one landowner to another. Godunov put great effort into finding royal spouses for his son and daughter, in order to reinforce the positions of his family line, but he was not very successful.
1601 was the beginning of bad luck for Boris Godunov. Three years of failing crops, caused by frosts and heavy rains, led to a famine. Godunov’s orders to keep the price of grain at the same level were not followed, and instead prices increased a hundredfold. The Tsar opened the state granaries for the poorest and also provided them with money. Nevertheless, there were not enough resources for everyone. Having heard about the Tsar’s help, people from all over Russia left behind their homes and their poor, personal stores of food, and headed to Moscow. During 1604 a minimum of 127 thousand people died of hunger in the capital city. Godunov’s position dramatically deteriorated; word spread that his reign was not lawful, and thus cursed by God.
Rumors began circulating that Ivan the Terrible’s son Dmitry was still alive and was going to take the throne. Evidently, there were three impostors who claimed, during the Time of Troubles, to be the youngest son of Ivan IV. In 1604 False Dmitry I gathered some troops and headed towards Moscow in order to attack it. Godunov’s army crushed the attackers, who had to abandon their positions.
Boris Godunov’s son Fyodor, an intelligent and educated man, became the next Russian tsar. In a few months’ time False Dmitry I organized a coup in Moscow and took the throne. He ordered the death of the young tsar and his mother. Fyodor’s sister Ksenia was spared, but was forced to become a concubine for the newly-appointed Tsar False Dmitry I.
Boris Godunov’s personality inspired many famous artists to create pieces of art named after him, including a drama by Aleksandr Pushkin, an opera by Modest Musorgsky and a film by Sergey Bondarchuk.'
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Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov (1872) is set in the ‘Time of Troubles’, using Pushkin’s incisive verse tragedy on the chaotic period preceding the establishment of the Romanovs. Such a work was bound to draw the attention of the censors, and Musorgsky’s two versions of the opera also led to various ‘improved’ versions that conflated scenes from each. Despite all the interference it has suffered, in any of its forms it remains a formidable exploration of power, as well as a highly moving personal drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ongYgIseItk
Images:
1. Russia 1913 Stamp with Boris Godunov
2. Boris Godunov profile
3. 1996 Russian Stamp 'Boris-Godunov' [1552-1605] History of the Russian state.
4. Coin, Russia, Boris Fyodorovich Godunov, Kopek, 1598-1605
Background from {[https://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/history-and-mythology/boris-godunov/]}
Prominent Russians: Boris Godunov
The ruler of Russia from 1587-1598 and Tsar from 1598 to 1605, Boris Godunov played an important role in Russian history.
According to legend, Godunov’s family originated from the Tatar Prince Chet, who immigrated from the Golden Horde to Russia. Boris was the son of Fyodor Godunov, an average landowner. After his father’s death, he was brought up by his uncle Dmitry Godunov, who reached a high post at the court of Ivan the Terrible. Boris Godunov’s career of service began as an “oprichnik”- a member of the organization “Oprichnina,” established by Ivan the Terrible as a prototype police force but also as an instrument to expose, torture and murder his internal enemies.
Godunov married a daughter of the Tsar’s favorite, Malyuta Skuratov, which further strengthened his position. In 1580 Boris Godunov’s sister married the Tsar’s son Fyodor and after that Godunov received the aristocratic title of boyar.
The role of the entire family of Godunov gradually increased and by the end of the 1570s they obtained a footing at Ivan the Terrible’s court. Still, Boris Godunov himself was very cautious in his actions and preferred to stay in the background. Unexpectedly, the year of 1581 brought a series of changes to Godunov’s life: Ivan the Terrible had an argument with his son Ivan and hit him with a staff, which caused the death of the prince. Boris Godunov’s brother-in-law,
Fyodor, became the heir to the throne.
Until 1584 Boris Godunov was not very close to Ivan the Terrible, though he did use his positions at court to favor of his family. According to some historians, Godunov, together with Bogdan Belsky, was a confidante to the Tsar during the last year of the Tsar’s life. Boris Godunov’s role in the death of Ivan the Terrible remains unclear. There were rumors that the ruler was suffocated or poisoned by Belsky and Godunov. The official version stated that the Tsar died from a long-term illness. But, the truth remains unknown.
Ivan the Terrible’s son Fyodor ascended to the throne. According to various sources, the new ruler had physical and mental problems and was not able to control the country. A board of noblemen was created to serve as Fyodor’s advisors and guardians. Starting as a member of the board, Boris Godunov soon became the factual head of the country. Among the 14 years that Fyodor held the throne, 13 of them were the years of the rule of Godunov.
Boris Godunov’s internal and external policies were aimed at the all-round strengthening of the country. He played an important role in the implementation of a patriarchate in Russia and in 1589 Metropolitan Job was appointed as the first Russian patriarch. This event increased the prestige of Russia.
In terms of internal policy, a massive construction of cities and fortresses was undertaken, among them Voronezh Fortress and Belgorod City. Moscow experienced unbelievable innovations for the times, including the building of a water supply system, which pumped water from the Moscow River. The economic crisis of the 1570s – 1580s lead to the introduction of serfdom and a corresponding law that all peasants who ran away from their masters must be returned if caught within five years from the time they fled.
In his external policy Godunov showed himself a talented diplomat. In 1595, having taken advantage of a complicated domestic situation in Sweden, Boris Godunov signed a peace treaty and returned several cities and regions to Russia.
In 1598 Tsar Fyodor died. Since he didn’t have children, his death designated the end of the Moscow branch of the Rurik Dynasty and also marked the beginning of the so-called Time of Troubles (a period between 1598 and 1613, preceding the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty). Immediatley after Fyodor’s death the Zemsky Sobor (the first Russian parliament) appointed Boris Godunov Tsar.
The period of Godunov’s official reign was characterized by the unprecedented closeness of Russia to many western countries. Documents show that he sought to found a high school in Russia, with foreign teachers, though the idea was criticized by the Church authorities. The foreign specialists (doctors, metalworkers and tradesmen) were greeted in Russia as never before. His external policy was generally peaceful.
Regarding internal policies, the Tsar allowed peasants (except those from the Moscow Region) to move from one landowner to another. Godunov put great effort into finding royal spouses for his son and daughter, in order to reinforce the positions of his family line, but he was not very successful.
1601 was the beginning of bad luck for Boris Godunov. Three years of failing crops, caused by frosts and heavy rains, led to a famine. Godunov’s orders to keep the price of grain at the same level were not followed, and instead prices increased a hundredfold. The Tsar opened the state granaries for the poorest and also provided them with money. Nevertheless, there were not enough resources for everyone. Having heard about the Tsar’s help, people from all over Russia left behind their homes and their poor, personal stores of food, and headed to Moscow. During 1604 a minimum of 127 thousand people died of hunger in the capital city. Godunov’s position dramatically deteriorated; word spread that his reign was not lawful, and thus cursed by God.
Rumors began circulating that Ivan the Terrible’s son Dmitry was still alive and was going to take the throne. Evidently, there were three impostors who claimed, during the Time of Troubles, to be the youngest son of Ivan IV. In 1604 False Dmitry I gathered some troops and headed towards Moscow in order to attack it. Godunov’s army crushed the attackers, who had to abandon their positions.
Boris Godunov’s son Fyodor, an intelligent and educated man, became the next Russian tsar. In a few months’ time False Dmitry I organized a coup in Moscow and took the throne. He ordered the death of the young tsar and his mother. Fyodor’s sister Ksenia was spared, but was forced to become a concubine for the newly-appointed Tsar False Dmitry I.
Boris Godunov’s personality inspired many famous artists to create pieces of art named after him, including a drama by Aleksandr Pushkin, an opera by Modest Musorgsky and a film by Sergey Bondarchuk.'
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LTC Stephen F.
Bryn Terfel and Antonio Pappano on what makes Boris Godunov a masterpiece (The Royal Opera)
This short film featuring interviews with Bryn Terfel, who sings the title role in the Russian opera, and Music Director of The Royal Opera House Antonio Pap...
Bryn Terfel and Antonio Pappano on what makes Boris Godunov a masterpiece (The Royal Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjP0VJELls4
Image:
1. Russia 1598 - 1605 Boris Fedorovich Godunov Silver Kopek
Background from {[https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/russian-soviet-and-cis-history-biographies/boris-godunov}]
BORIS GODUNOV (RUSSIA) (c. 1551–1605; ruled 1598–1605), tsar of Russia. Boris Fedorovich Godunov rose to prominence at the Russian court in the time of Ivan IV the Terrible's oprichnina. He married the daughter of a leading oprichnik, and his sister Irina became the wife of Tsar Ivan's son Fedor (ruled 1584–1598). When the latter ascended the throne on Ivan's death, Boris was one of the five-man regency for the weak tsar. By 1587 Boris had exiled many of his rivals and become the de facto ruler of Russia. Tsar Fedor's younger brother Dmitrii was given an appanage in Uglich on the upper Volga, and his mysterious death in 1591 gave rise to rumors of Boris's complicity.
Boris, in Fedor's name, led Russia to victory over Sweden in 1590–1595 and recovered the Russian lands lost in the Livonian War. He laid the foundations for Russian expansion into Siberia and heavily strengthened the southern frontier. He convinced the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople to raise the metropolitan of Moscow to the rank of patriarch in 1589. Nevertheless, the reign of Fedor was a time of hardship. The wars of his father, Ivan IV, had undermined Russian agriculture and general prosperity, and Boris's government issued the first decrees limiting peasant movement—the beginnings of serfdom. Though trade with the Dutch flourished, Russian towns only slowly rebuilt their trade and crafts.
In 1598 the death of Tsar Fedor brought to an end to the dynasty that had ruled the Moscow principality and Russia since the end of the thirteenth century. An Assembly of the Land representing the boyars, gentry, towns, and the church elected Boris tsar over other aristocrats and lesser relatives of the former dynasty. Even as tsar, Boris did not feel secure. In 1600 he exiled Fedor Nikitich Romanov (later Patriarch Filaret) and other members of his clan, as well as their relatives and allies, such as the princes Cherkasskii. Increasingly isolated from the ruling elite, he tried to raise his prestige through the marriage of his daughter to a prince of Denmark. In 1601–1603 bad harvests led to a famine throughout much of Russia. At the end of 1604 the first "false Dmitrii," probably the monk Grigorii Bogdanovich Otrep'ev, appeared on the southern frontier. Supported by a number of Polish magnates, Otrep'ev claimed to be the tsarevich Dmitrii who had died in 1591, the legitimate heir to the throne, miraculously rescued by God. Boris's army was at first able to contain the threat, but Boris suddenly died in April 1605, leaving the throne to his sixteen-year-old son Fedor. At the news of his death, resistance to the false Dmitrii collapsed. As the pretender moved north, the boyars in Moscow, led by the princes Golitsyn, overthrew and murdered Fedor and his mother.
Boris was at once a successful ruler, especially in foreign affairs, and a spectacular failure. The rivalries at his court rendered the state weak at its center in a time of rising social tension in the countryside and on the southern frontier. The result was the period of state collapse and anarchy known as the Time of Troubles.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjP0VJELls4
Image:
1. Russia 1598 - 1605 Boris Fedorovich Godunov Silver Kopek
Background from {[https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/russian-soviet-and-cis-history-biographies/boris-godunov}]
BORIS GODUNOV (RUSSIA) (c. 1551–1605; ruled 1598–1605), tsar of Russia. Boris Fedorovich Godunov rose to prominence at the Russian court in the time of Ivan IV the Terrible's oprichnina. He married the daughter of a leading oprichnik, and his sister Irina became the wife of Tsar Ivan's son Fedor (ruled 1584–1598). When the latter ascended the throne on Ivan's death, Boris was one of the five-man regency for the weak tsar. By 1587 Boris had exiled many of his rivals and become the de facto ruler of Russia. Tsar Fedor's younger brother Dmitrii was given an appanage in Uglich on the upper Volga, and his mysterious death in 1591 gave rise to rumors of Boris's complicity.
Boris, in Fedor's name, led Russia to victory over Sweden in 1590–1595 and recovered the Russian lands lost in the Livonian War. He laid the foundations for Russian expansion into Siberia and heavily strengthened the southern frontier. He convinced the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople to raise the metropolitan of Moscow to the rank of patriarch in 1589. Nevertheless, the reign of Fedor was a time of hardship. The wars of his father, Ivan IV, had undermined Russian agriculture and general prosperity, and Boris's government issued the first decrees limiting peasant movement—the beginnings of serfdom. Though trade with the Dutch flourished, Russian towns only slowly rebuilt their trade and crafts.
In 1598 the death of Tsar Fedor brought to an end to the dynasty that had ruled the Moscow principality and Russia since the end of the thirteenth century. An Assembly of the Land representing the boyars, gentry, towns, and the church elected Boris tsar over other aristocrats and lesser relatives of the former dynasty. Even as tsar, Boris did not feel secure. In 1600 he exiled Fedor Nikitich Romanov (later Patriarch Filaret) and other members of his clan, as well as their relatives and allies, such as the princes Cherkasskii. Increasingly isolated from the ruling elite, he tried to raise his prestige through the marriage of his daughter to a prince of Denmark. In 1601–1603 bad harvests led to a famine throughout much of Russia. At the end of 1604 the first "false Dmitrii," probably the monk Grigorii Bogdanovich Otrep'ev, appeared on the southern frontier. Supported by a number of Polish magnates, Otrep'ev claimed to be the tsarevich Dmitrii who had died in 1591, the legitimate heir to the throne, miraculously rescued by God. Boris's army was at first able to contain the threat, but Boris suddenly died in April 1605, leaving the throne to his sixteen-year-old son Fedor. At the news of his death, resistance to the false Dmitrii collapsed. As the pretender moved north, the boyars in Moscow, led by the princes Golitsyn, overthrew and murdered Fedor and his mother.
Boris was at once a successful ruler, especially in foreign affairs, and a spectacular failure. The rivalries at his court rendered the state weak at its center in a time of rising social tension in the countryside and on the southern frontier. The result was the period of state collapse and anarchy known as the Time of Troubles.
FYI LTC John Shaw SPC Diana D. LTC Hillary Luton
1SG Steven ImermanSSG Pete FishGySgt Gary CordeiroPO1 H Gene LawrenceSPC Chris Bayner-CwikSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySSgt Marian MitchellSGT Michael HearnPO2 Frederick DunnSP5 Dennis LobergerCPO John BjorgeSGT Randell RoseSSG Jimmy CernichSGT Denny EspinosaMSG Fred Bucci
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