To be precise, Ivan the Terrible had two sons, Dmitry. One was born in marriage with his first, beloved wife Anastasia Romanovna, and this prince was the legitimate heir to the throne. After the conquest of Kazan, the tsar fell seriously ill: they thought he would not get up. He even commanded to swear allegiance to the infant prince. Not all the boyars and relatives agreed to kiss the cross of loyalty to Dmitry, quarrels began at the bedside of the sick tsar. Ivan nevertheless recovered, but since then his distrust of the boyars has grown into constant suspicion. After his recovery, the king went on a pilgrimage to the monasteries, taking his wife and son with him. Part of the way we sailed on plows. The ceremonial demanded that the prince be carried in her arms by the mother, and two boyars supported her under the arms. One day the whole group climbed onto a rickety gangway and fell into the water. The adults only got wet, and the child choked. According to other sources,Dmitry caught a cold on the way and died.
Icon with the life of the holy blessed Tsarevich Dmitry (XVIII century)
To be precise, Ivan the Terrible had two sons, Dmitry. One was born in marriage with his first, beloved wife Anastasia Romanovna, and this prince was the legitimate heir to the throne. After the conquest of Kazan, the tsar fell seriously ill: they thought he would not get up. He even commanded to swear allegiance to the infant prince. Not all the boyars and relatives agreed to kiss the cross of loyalty to Dmitry, quarrels began at the bedside of the sick tsar. Ivan nevertheless recovered, but since then his distrust of the boyars has grown into constant suspicion. After his recovery, the king went on a pilgrimage to the monasteries, taking his wife and son with him. Part of the way we sailed on plows. The ceremonial demanded that the prince be carried in her arms by the mother, and two boyars supported her under the arms. One day the whole group climbed onto a rickety gangway and fell into the water. The adults only got wet, and the child choked. According to other sources,Dmitry caught a cold on the way and died.
Already at the end of his first marriage, the tsar was profligate, according to the chronicler, "the tsar had begun to be very adulterous and very adulterous," but he himself boasted that he had spoiled a thousand virgins. After Anastasia, Ivan Vasilyevich had six more wives, some died early, others were forcibly tonsured and sent to remote monasteries, two disappeared altogether without a trace. The seventh, the last wife of the tsar was Maria Feodorovna Nagaya.
From this marriage, Tsarevich Dmitry was born on October 19, 1582, unhappy already from conception. Firstly, the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated only three marriages, the subsequent ones were considered godless, and the children born in them were illegitimate. Secondly, Tsarevich Dmitry carried a hereditary ailment: already in childhood epilepsy manifested itself - epilepsy, or black disease, as they said then. In addition, Dmitry's usual epileptic seizures with convulsions and loss of consciousness alternated with the so-called seizure equivalents - sudden attacks of spite and violence. During one such attack, he wounded his own mother with a pile - an iron peg for playing "poke" (in knives), another time he bit the daughter of one of the relatives of the Naked, so much so that the girl was hardly taken away from him.
Ivan the Terrible fell ill. At the deathbed, passions raged: the boyars sought to influence the last will of the sovereign. Boris Godunov won, having only recently received boyars. He achieved the transfer of the throne to Fyodor Ivanovich and the appointment of a board of trustees with him, which he himself entered. At the same time, the dying tsar decided the fate of the tsarina, the younger tsarevich and the Nagikh family: he appointed Dmitry to his inheritance the city of Uglich - the last appanage principality in Russia.
That same night, Tsarevich Dmitry, his mother, brothers and uncles were sent to Uglich - with numerous servants and their own courtyard, in a word, "with great honor." But secretly. Accompanied by two hundred archers.
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Uglich and the Uglich people were famous for their independent character and loyalty to their princes. They selflessly sided with their rulers in their struggle against the Moscow authorities. And now the Uglich people warmly welcomed Tsarevich Dmitry, Tsarina Maria and her relatives. But the Naked themselves considered themselves not the rulers of the appanage principality, but exiles. Tsarevich Dmitry heard the conversations of adults: they scolded his dissolute, insane father, condemned his weak-willed elder brother - Tsar Fyodor, and in particular scolded the boyar Boris Godunov, who actually ruled the state.
A clerk Mikhail Bityagovsky was sent from Moscow to Uglich to manage the farm and, in general, to look after the Nagi. With Bityagovsky Sr. came Danil's son, nephew Nikita Kachalov and several scribes-officials. Queen Mary and the elders of the Nagias regarded the presence of the capital's official as a necessary evil. But the tsarina's brothers, Mikhail and Gregory Nagie, constantly quarreled with the clerk, most often over money.
Epileptic seizures in Tsarevich Dmitry became regular. He was constantly looked after by the mother (the main nanny), the wet nurse (just a nanny) and one of the relatives, often the queen herself. But, as they say, seven nannies …
In the spring of 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry experienced several epileptic seizures. By mid-May, the disease seemed to have receded. On the fifteenth of May, the queen took the boy to mass, and then let him go to play with his peers from the courtyard. He was accompanied by mother Vasilisa Volokhova and nurse Maria Kolobova. The children played "poke": they threw a pile knife into an iron ring laid on the ground. Suddenly Dmitry started a new attack. As Volokhova testified, “a black disease came again, and threw him on the ground, and then the prince stabbed himself in the throat with a knife, and beat him for a long time, but he was gone”. The nurse picked Dmitry up in her arms, and the mother began to shout. At the scream, the queen ran out of the palace. In anger, she began to beat her mother with a log, shouting that she had not saved the prince,and her son Osip Volokhov, together with Bityagovsky's son Danila and nephew Nikita Kachalov, stabbed Dmitry to death. Volokhova begged for a fair trial, but the tsarina did not listen to her and continued to beat her. At this time, the bell ringer in the bell tower, noticing something alarming, sounded the alarm, and the bell rang in another church. The city decided that there was a fire in the palace. The Nagi brothers came running first, Maria handed the log to one of them. The uncle of the tsarina, Andrei Alexandrovich, appeared, he took the body of the tsarevich to the Church of the Savior and was with him "relentlessly." The excited Uglich people had already gathered in the courtyard. The distraught mother and her brother Mikhail called on the Uglich people to deal with the already named villains, and now they added clerk Tretyakov to them. At this time, the bell ringer in the bell tower, noticing something alarming, sounded the alarm, and the bell rang in another church. The city decided that there was a fire in the palace. The Nagi brothers came running first, Maria handed the log to one of them. The uncle of the tsarina, Andrei Alexandrovich, appeared, he took the body of the tsarevich to the Church of the Savior and was with him "relentlessly." The excited Uglich people had already gathered in the courtyard. The distraught mother and her brother Mikhail called on the Uglich people to deal with the already named villains, and now they added clerk Tretyakov to them. At this time, the bell ringer in the bell tower, noticing something alarming, sounded the alarm, and the bell rang in another church. The city decided that there was a fire in the palace. The Nagi brothers came running first, Maria handed the log to one of them. The uncle of the tsarina, Andrei Alexandrovich, appeared, he took the body of the tsarevich to the Church of the Savior and was with him "relentlessly." The excited Uglich people had already gathered in the courtyard. The distraught mother and her brother Mikhail called on the Uglich people to deal with the already named villains, and now they added clerk Tretyakov to them. The excited Uglich people had already gathered in the courtyard. The distraught mother and her brother Mikhail called on the Uglich people to deal with the already named villains, and now they added clerk Tretyakov to them. The excited Uglich people had already gathered in the courtyard. The distraught mother and her brother Mikhail called on the Uglich people to deal with the already named villains, and now they added clerk Tretyakov to them.
A real massacre began. The Nagikh servants and the Uglich people found and killed one after the other the father and son of the Bityagovsky and all the other accused. They killed their servants, who tried to shield the masters with their bodies. They killed a man who dared to put his hat on a battered and simple-haired mother. They killed Uglich people, who interpreted that they were killing innocent people in vain … For three days Uglich was drunk with blood and robberies. Many Uglians fled to the surrounding forests. The people of the Naked were driving around in carts, cordoning off the city so that the news of what was happening would not seep into Moscow. Finally, the Naked ones recollected themselves and began to cover their tracks: they ordered the servants to put knives smeared with chicken blood on all the dead.
On the fourth day, a commission arrived from Moscow and immediately began a "search" - an investigation. The commission was drawn up by Boris Godunov, but he himself withdrew from further participation in the "case of Tsarevich Dmitry." The commission consisted of four people representing, so to speak, various political forces. The investigation group did not have a leader, but Prince Vasily Shuisky enjoyed the greatest authority and influence. He was one of all the disgraced surname was left at court, however, just in case Godunov forbade him to marry. Thus, Shuisky represented the latent opposition in the commission. Okolnichy Andrey Kleshnin, on the contrary, represented Godunov's administration. Clerk Elizar Vyluzgin was just a meticulous performer. Metropolitan Gelasiy of Krutitsky represented the church.
The investigation worked in Uglich for almost two weeks, hundreds of eyewitnesses were interviewed. During the investigation, the Nagyes rejected the initial statement that the prince was killed, and began to say, like many others, that the boy himself stabbed himself with a knife during a seizure. Only Mikhail Nagoy, the tsarina's brother, continued to repeat: "The Tsarevich was stabbed to death," and did not change his testimony even under torture. True, he was not an eyewitness to the event itself, and besides, as it turned out, he was drunk that day.
The results of the investigation were reported in Moscow. Boris Godunov was not visible these days. The Council met and in the presence of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich decreed: the death of the Tsarevich happened by God's judgment; The naked ones deliberately killed the tsar's people and the innocent inhabitants of Uglich, in their actions obvious betrayal is visible. Therefore, the queen was tonsured as a nun under the name of Martha. The naked were exiled to distant cities; some of the Uglich people, guilty of murders, were executed, others were cut off their tongues or thrown into dungeons or exiled to Siberia. Even the bell, which struck the alarm, suffered: he, as a man, had his tongue torn out, his ear cut off and sent to Tobolsk. The local voivode pondered for a long time how to register the newly arrived exiled. Finally, I came up with the following: "Inanimate Prime Minister from Uglich."
Killed? Killed? Spoofed?
This is the version of the investigation, accepted by the official authorities. How convincing it is, judge for yourself. But in this capacity, she lasted a little over ten years.
The scene of the incident is the lawn behind the palace in the Uglich Kremlin
The second version - the murder of the prince - was born with the first cry of the unfortunate mother. In general terms, this version interpreted the events as follows: Dmitry interfered with Godunov, and he "ordered" him. The organizer of the murder was Godunov's confidant boyar Kleshnin, and the executors of the villainous order were called the same Bityagovsky and his relatives. Among the conspirators included the mother of the Tsarevich Vasilisa Volokhova with her son Osip. Naturally, this version has no documentary evidence, but after all, secret conspiracies are rarely recorded in writing. It should only be noted that this version contains the greatest number of absurdities. If it was a contract murder, then it was organized ineptly. The killers didn't even try to hide. And in general, this rough action is not typical for smart Godunov,does not agree with the usual way of solving the "personnel issue": exile or forcibly haircut, and then slowly poison or strangle.
Under the Pretender, the second version turned into a third: there was, they say, an attempted murder, but the loyal people replaced the prince with another boy, and Dmitry miraculously escaped. The "crafty courtier" Prince Shuisky either swore before the people that the prince had accidentally stabbed and died, then he kissed the cross that he was more likely to be alive than dead. And the mother of the prince, the nun Martha, either recognized the Pretender as her son, or retracted her words.
After the canonization of Tsarevich Dmitry under Tsar Vasily Shuisky, the version of the villainous murder finally took shape in the annalistic legends and became official. In the popular consciousness, she acquired folklore features, as, for example, in this historical song:
Not a fierce snake hoisted, Great deceit was exalted.
Cunning fell on Tsar Dmitry's white chest.
They killed Tsar Dmitry in festivities, at games,
Grishka the Undressed killed him, Having killed him, he sat down on the kingdom.
All three versions were supported by the most famous Russian historians, but the dominant one was, of course, the one supported by the state and the church.
Once our great historiographer N. M. Karamzin himself encroached on the official myth. Before the publication of the tenth volume of The History of the Russian State, he proudly told the historian MP Pogodin: “Rejoice, Boris Godunov is acquitted! It's time to finally get rid of the unjust gossip from him. " And now the tenth volume is in the hands of Pogodin, he eagerly finds pages about the tragedy in Uglich and … “I read it and can't believe my eyes. Everything is reversed to what he himself spoke to me with such admiration …"
Yes, Karamzin betrayed his scientific principles. Why? In one of his articles, he explained it this way: "The Russian patriot would like to doubt this atrocity … But what is accepted, approved by the general opinion, is made in some way a shrine …"
And in our time, new versions of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry appear. The new interpretations are based on the ambiguities in the case and in the behavior of some of the defendants. For example, the queen mother behaves really strange! She would have fought a white swan over the corpse of her only son, but what is she doing? He haunts the mother with a log until he is exhausted, then hands over the beating weapon to his brother. The behavior of the Nagikhs, who staged a "sweep" in Uglich, as a result of which 15 people were killed, looks somewhat too violent. And according to the Englishman Horsey, 30 souls died alone! Hence the conclusion is drawn: Mary and the Naked were distracting attention in order to replace the prince with another murdered boy on the sly. Dmitry himself only wounded himself harmlessly, and in an unconscious state he was taken to the distant chambers of the palace, and in the Church of the Savior they put a double, covered with a canvas. The substitution was allegedly not disclosed because few knew the prince by sight. And those who knew were killed. Moscow investigators have not seen the Tsarevich since early childhood. The reader is offered two, so to speak, subversions: 1) the sudden improvisation of the Naga clan in connection with an opportunity and 2) a secret operation prepared in advance, a conspiracy. On the same night Dmitry was taken away from Uglich, and his wanderings through the monasteries began. Many years later he appears in Poland and … Further, this version smoothly flows into the second part of "Boris Godunov" by A. S. Pushkin.conspiracy. On the same night Dmitry was taken away from Uglich, and his wanderings through the monasteries began. Many years later he appears in Poland and … Further, this version smoothly flows into the second part of "Boris Godunov" by A. S. Pushkin.conspiracy. On the same night Dmitry was taken away from Uglich, and his wanderings through the monasteries began. Many years later he appears in Poland and … Further, this version smoothly flows into the second part of "Boris Godunov" by A. S. Pushkin.
There are also more inventive versions, where the number of killed and rescued boys doubles.
Of course, this is a thing of the past, a dark matter, but not too much. The boy played with knives, he had a seizure, he fell and got hurt. The nurse and nurse raised a cry. The frightened mother jumped out and saw that the wound was seemingly harmless, and the child himself was struggling in an epileptic seizure (“He fought for a long time,” Volokhova said, which means that the throat was not pierced or cut - then the boy would have died immediately). The queen fell upon the mother, who did not look after the child, at the same time calling her entire family and all her enemies murderers.
But the wound that the boy inflicted on himself nevertheless turned out to be deadly - most likely, an artery or vein was damaged. In this case, air is sucked in, convulsions intensify this process, air enters the heart, blood circulation is blocked. In medical terms, death was caused by an air embolism in the heart.
The Naked brothers ran to the yard when it was all over. They decided that Dmitry could not be returned, but to settle accounts with the enemies, oh, as they wanted. Maybe at first they just wanted to set up the hated officials, but their hands were itching to deal with themselves. So off it, and off we go! The situation soon got out of hand.
A conspiracy with the aim of replacing and subsequent, many years later, "resurrection" of Dmitry as a real contender for the throne is too intricate scenario for the Naga clan. Unless we assume that they were led by someone from Moscow. There were such scripts and such directors. But in order to carry out their plans, they did not need either the real Dmitry or his family. In essence, the death of the tsarevich suited everyone.
A ghost roams Europe
In Russian, and in world history, the personality of the little tsarevich turned out to be overshadowed by the figure of the Pretender, False Dmitry. This is understandable - a bright character, a romantic plot … And the prince lived only nine years and did not manage to accomplish anything. But it was with the death of the last by birth Rurikovich of the royal blood that the countdown of the Time of Troubles began.
And yet you have to remember something about the Pretender, if only because he may be the only undeniable proof of the version of the substitution of Tsarevich Dmitry in Uglich.
Church of Tsarevich Dmitry on Blood in the Uglich Kremlin
… At the very beginning of 1598, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich died quietly, now really the last Rurikovich from the royal family. Boris Godunov took the throne without shocks. During the wedding to the kingdom, he said to the patriarch: "God is the witness, father, in my kingdom there will be no beggars and poor." And then, in Russian, having torn the shirt on his chest, he addressed those present: "And I will share this last one with everyone!" Casting aside some theatricality of the gesture, we must admit Boris's sincere desire to become a good, perhaps the best king for his subjects. Godunov's independent reign began with significant improvements and favors. New cities were built, Moscow was prettier. The Russian Orthodox Church found its patriarch for the first time. But with the beginning of the new century, everything suddenly changed. Opals and executions resumed.
And the fact is that Tsarevich Dmitry appeared in Europe, supposedly miraculously escaping from the murderers. Everyone who met with him was unanimous in one thing: this young man sincerely believed that he was of royal blood, that he had the right to be a king in Russia. Add to this a regal bearing, extraordinary dignity in every movement and manner, a penchant for noble pursuits, sciences and arts, military prowess, passionate love for horse riding and hunting …
Godunov's government immediately identified this ghost with the runaway monk Grigory Otrepiev and demanded his extradition from Poland. But the document about Otrepiev was drawn up in a hurry, it turned out to be many inaccuracies. Therefore, supporters of the Pretender then and supporters of his authenticity are now insisting: the reborn Dmitry is one person, and Grishka Otrepiev is another.
So, there are already two of them, the ghosts of Dmitry, who died in Uglich more than ten years ago. In the camp of the Pretender, Grigory Otrepiev himself appeared on the Russian side. They talked, then Otrepiev dropped out of sight of historians. But, perhaps, it was a propaganda trick of the Pretender-Otrepiev: he inspiredly played the role of Tsarevich Dmitry, and his own, it is believed, was performed by the monk Leonid.
Not Dmitry, but the son of the Terrible Tsar
There is such a wonderful Russian expression: "They called me Mitka!" So there was - and no. Interestingly, the character disappeared forever, but the name remained. It is believed that this name of False Dmitry firmly stuck in the people's memory. Or maybe Otrepiev was hiding under this mask?
His name was actually Yushka Otrepiev, he became Gregory already in the monastery. His father (real or adoptive) Bogdan Otrepiev was an ordinary nobleman. In his youth, Yushka served with the Romanov boyars, but soon the Romanovs were declared conspirators, accused of intending to "get the kingdom" and poison Boris Godunov. The Romanov brothers were captured and exiled, and Fyodor Nikitich Romanov was tonsured a monk under the name of Filaret. The boyar servants who defended their masters were tortured and executed. Otrepiev hid and took monastic vows under the name of Grigory. Then he moved to Moscow, to the Chudov Monastery, where Patriarch Job himself noticed his abilities, made him a scribe, and then ordained him a deacon, took him to his courtyard for writing a book. Then Gregory was noticed in dissolute behavior and theft (in the then sense of "theft" was understood as a crime against the state) and fled to Kiev. There he served for some time as a deacon, then finally left monasticism, got acquainted with the Catholic doctrine and with the black book. He was persecuted, fled and eventually showed up in Poland.
Well, if Yushka-Grigory served with the Romanovs, then he could receive some education and skills of decent handling. But what if the Romanovs - the most powerful oppositionists to Godunov - specially trained Otrepiev for some of their distant goals? And what if Yushka-Grigory is indeed of royal blood - one of tens or hundreds of illegitimate children of Ivan the Terrible, given to Bogdan Otrepiev to be raised? Then the imperial behavior of the Pretender and his absolute confidence in his right to the throne become clear: well, not Dmitry, but also the son of Ivan the Terrible!
It is difficult to confirm this conjecture (conspiracies are not recorded), but something serves as a basis for it. When Godunov learned that False Dmitry had appeared in Poland, he shouted to the boyars: "The impostor is your handiwork!" And one more thing: when False Dmitry had already set out on a campaign against Moscow, a denunciation came from the Siysk monastery about Elder Philaret (in the world of Romanov): he, they say, is having fun, barking at the monks, tells how gloriously he had lived before, and says at the same time: “See what I will be from now on! " It can be seen that the elder received the good news from "will": his plan is close to embodiment, liberation and exaltation are coming.
Finally, the main question remains: could the Pretender be the true Tsarevich Dmitry? Guided by common sense, let us ask ourselves a simple question: could a patient with epilepsy, moreover in a rather severe form, heal by himself? Meanwhile, the Pretender had nothing like that. And in general he was an unusually healthy and hardy person. Healing without special treatment (and what kind of treatment was there in Russia at the end of the 16th century) can only be regarded as a miracle. And besides, an epileptic is not only seizures, it is also a special character - suspicious, vengeful, severe. Epileptic seizures can be cured, but the character of the epileptic does not change. And the Pretender, although he was an adventurer of the highest standard, but there was no anger, suspicion and vindictiveness in his actions.
The last secret
And yet there is a lot of mystical in this story. Even when the Pretender was king in Moscow, people started talking about the fact that he had bewitched them. When the Muscovites finally dealt with the Pretender, strange events began to occur. At night, over the unburied body of the Pretender, they saw flickering lights, heard singing and the sounds of a tambourine. "The demons glorify the uncut!" - Muscovites said. The body was taken to the Serpukhov outpost and thrown into a pit where vagabonds and beggars were buried. The next morning the body turned out to be at the gate of the almshouse, and two pigeons wandered around it, who did not want to fly away. Then they buried him deeper, but a week later the corpse was found lying in another cemetery. "The Earth does not accept him!" - passed from mouth to mouth. It was decided to burn the corpse, but the fire did not take it either. The remains of the Pretender were loaded into a cannon and fired towards the west, from where he came. That's really really:"They called me Mitka!"
The holy noble Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich was canonized in 1606. His relics were found incorruptible and solemnly brought to Moscow. Preserved memories of several foreigners who described the body of the prince. Fifteen years after the burial, one of them writes, it looked "as fresh as if it had just been put in a coffin." Another testified that not only the body was preserved, but also the clothes, and the coffin itself, and even the nuts that the prince allegedly held in his hand when he went out into the courtyard, where the murderers were waiting for him. The third eyewitness added an eloquent detail: the dress and nuts in the prince's hand were stained with fresh (!) Blood.
And this is the last secret associated with the name of Tsarevich Dmitry: who was in that coffin?
Sergey MAKEEV