For many years, Europeans have called Russia a semi-savage country where barbarians live. It was believed that the norms of civilization were not suitable for Muscovites, because their brains were incapable of progress. But all these myths were dispelled as soon as the European "liberators" invaded Russia. They behaved in such a way that against their background the cannibals of Africa could seem like innocent children.
Even during the life of Tsar Boris Godunov, Polish invaders led by False Dmitry I invaded the Moscow kingdom. The pretender was killed during a riot raised by boyar Vasily Shuisky. Three years later, Shuisky was deposed by the boyars, who invited the Polish prince Vladislav to the throne. Trouble reigned in the country.
Guests with ambition
The crisis forced the boyars to look for a way out. Deciding that the main cause of troubles in Russia is the Polish king Sigismund III, they asked his 15-year-old son Vladislav to reign. True, on condition: the Polish prince must accept Orthodoxy and transfer most of the powers to the Boyar Duma.
The Poles invited to Moscow came with the intention to "make happy" the half-savage, in their opinion, people with the true faith - Catholicism. Therefore, they did not feel any piety before Russian shrines. Here is what the German eyewitness of those events Konrad Bussov writes: “In the churches they removed from the saints gilded silver vestments, necklaces and collars, richly decorated with precious stones and pearls. Many Polish soldiers got 10, 15, 25 pounds of silver stripped from idols, and those who left in a bloody, dirty dress returned to the Kremlin in expensive clothes; this time they did not look at beer and honey, but preferred wine, which was indescribably abundant in Muscovite cellars - French, Hungarian and Malvasia”.
At that time, the once formidable Moscow kingdom was in complete decline. The state, as such, ceased to exist, the subjects were in disarray and swore allegiance to all who could force their rights to the throne. The boyars themselves did not know what to do and to whom to bow.
In the spring of 1611, Moscow was besieged by Dmitry Trubetskoy's Cossacks, who were joined by the people's militia. The Polish army of Hetman Chodkiewicz went to the aid of the besieged, and the Polish king Sigismund made a camp near Smolensk. Considering that the country could again find itself under the pressure of foreigners, in Yaroslavl the headman Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky gathered a second militia and went to Moscow.
Promotional video:
On August 22, 1612, the battle of Minin and Pozharsky with Hetman Chodkevich took place, which ended in the victory of the Russian troops. The next day, the Poles retreated from Moscow, leaving the food supply. The provisions were intended for the gentry, hiding behind the powerful walls of Kitay-gorod and the Kremlin. The leaders of the militia reasoned sensibly that in this case there was no need for an assault, for the Poles themselves must surrender out of starvation.
To speed things up, Pozharsky promised the Poles life and even a return to their homeland, but they were in no hurry to open the gates of the Kremlin. The answer of the arrogant gentry was like spitting. They called the militias rioters and donkeys, and all the Russians - the meanest people. Then Minin and Pozharsky decided to trust the Russian proverb "Hunger is not an aunt!"
"Book" hunger
In fact, the Poles hoped that King Sigismund was about to approach them and help them out. And the king, having learned about the defeat of Chodkiewicz, turned back to Poland. But his subjects considered Moscow to be the possession of the Polish crown and saw themselves as defenders of the Kremlin!
In addition, according to the Poles, it was dangerous to believe the enemy. The pans themselves used tactics more than once, when promises to save life remained just promises, and a terrible reprisal awaited the overly trusting. After all, the Poles knew that the Russians hated them. Is it no joke - in just one day, angry and drunken foreigners massacred seven thousand Muscovites ?!
Polish historian Kazimierz Waliszewski wrote: “The resistance of the commander of the Polish garrison Strus and his comrades, lasting until November 1612, would atone for many Polish mistakes, if, pushing military valor to extreme limits, these marvelous warriors did not overstep the limits acceptable for civilized humanity. The Poles stubbornly awaited the king and, judging by their behavior, despite the most terrible trials, did not lose their spiritual strength. They responded to the proposals of their opponents with abuse and ridicule. Have you ever seen a case for the nobles to surrender to a crowd of peasants, hucksters and priests."
In the first days of the siege, the Poles were eating up old supplies. Then cats, dogs, crows and pigeons went into the cauldron. There is grass, which the pans loved to feed the peasants so much, it turned out to be expensive - the snow fell early that year and covered the ground. Finding manuscripts was a real success. “They used Greek manuscripts for cooking, finding a large and invaluable collection of them in the archives of the Kremlin,” wrote Valishevsky. "By boiling parchment, they extracted a vegetable glue from it that deceives their agonizing hunger." But the books quickly ran out, but the hunger remained. Together with the invaders, hundreds of Russian people who remained in the Kremlin suffered hardships. Among them were boyar families, who, in addition to hunger, risked their heads, for the aliens mad with hunger were capable of anything. And this "whatever" happened: people began to eat people.
The Polish Colonel Budzilo, who had the misfortune of being in the Kremlin in those days, described the horror observed there: “I saw many of those who gnawed the ground under them, their arms, legs, body. And worst of all, they wanted to die and couldn't. They bit stones and bricks, asking the Lord God to make them bread, but they could not bite off."
Kremlin horror
In this state, the Poles began to eat their dead comrades. The corpses were dug out of the graves, the flesh that had not yet rotted was cut off from them and thrown into the cauldron. For several weeks, the Poles gnawed about 800 corpses, but no one stuttered about surrender. Moreover, assuming that the siege would not end, the Poles began to salt human meat in barrels. “Human meat was salted in tubs and sold: the head cost 3 zlotys,” wrote Budzilo.
When the graves were empty, the gentry decided to kill the Russians remaining in the Kremlin. The captives were the first to go, then everyone who could be reached. The boyar courtyards were closed with all locks, because for the hungry madmen it did not matter who was in front of them. In one of them, the family of the boyar Romanov took refuge, including the youth Mikhail - the future first tsar from the Romanov dynasty.
Following the dead and the Orthodox, the Poles began to kill each other. Kazimir Valishevsky in his writings cites another recollection: “… the lieutenant and the haiduk each ate two of their sons; another officer ate his mother! The strongest took advantage of the weak, and the healthy took advantage of the sick. They quarreled over the dead, and the most amazing ideas of justice were mingled with the quarrels generated by cruel madness. One soldier complained that people from the other company ate his relative, while, in all fairness, he and his comrades should have eaten them. The accused referred to the regiment's rights to the corpse of a fellow soldier, and the colonel did not dare to end this strife, fearing that the losing side would eat the judge out of revenge for the verdict.
The arrogant gentry literally engaged in self-devouring. A Polish defector who was about to open the gates of one of the Kremlin towers to the Russians was also eaten.
The Russian troops put an end to this nightmare. On November 1, 1612, the militia of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky took Kitay-Gorod by storm, and the garrison retreated to the Kremlin. Four days later, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the Poles began negotiations on surrender and, having received a promise to keep them alive, opened the gates of the Kremlin. What the winners saw plunged them into a state of shock: human bones and skulls were lying near the fireplaces, and human remains were seen in cauldrons. "Enlightened" Europe has once again shown its true face to the "barbarians".
The few surviving cannibals were sent under escort to prison in different cities of Russia. Most of them died in the first year, but some survived and returned to their homeland. Together with the Poles, the boyars who were there, led by Fyodor Mstislavsky, left the Kremlin. Among them was the boyar Ivan Romanov with the family of his brother Fyodor. On July 11, 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich's wedding took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. kingdom, which marked the emergence of the Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №51. Author: Alexey Martov