Biography
Malyuta Skuratov (born? - death on January 1, 1573), real name - Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belsky - Russian statesman, military and political figure of the 16th century, Duma nobleman, favorite of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, is the embodiment of the gloomy and cruel period of the oprichnina … The nickname Malyuta was given to him for his small stature. The surname is derived from the nickname of his father (Skuratov - literally "son of Skurat"), which at that time denoted poor-quality skin that was wiped off.
Skuratov was a native of a poor provincial nobility, so initially he could hardly count on any serious career achievements. In the service, he moved slowly, was in modest positions, all the time was on the sidelines.
Historical portrait
This is one of the most sinister and mysterious figures in history. He is credited with inhuman atrocities, massacres of entire cities, the murder of thousands and thousands of people. Rumor has given rise to many myths that are associated with the activities of Skuratov and his personality. The name Malyuta Skuratov has become a household name to denote a ruthless executioner, a soulless killer who unquestioningly fulfills the most cruel orders of his master. Surely, now it is no longer possible to distinguish fiction from truth and unambiguously distinguish between the real Malyuta Skuratov and his image, generated by the popular consciousness.
The motives of his actions remain unclear: whether he was by nature a sadistic nature, deriving pleasure from the torture of his victims, or was only an instrument of Ivan the Terrible, a weak-willed puppet in the hands of the autocrat, and perhaps Malyuta was simply an unprincipled careerist, for the sake of wealth and power, ready in any way please your master?
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Service
The first mentions of Grigory Belsky are found in 1567 in the category books, where the names of all "service people" were recorded, with general information about their service. According to these books, Skuratov took part in campaigns to Livonia and was in the oprichnina army in the position of the hundredth head of the lowest rank.
The name of Malyuta Skuratov is strongly associated with the oprichnina. But contrary to popular belief, he was not at all one of its creators. Initially, he occupied a rather modest place in the oprichnina system: he was taken into service as a paraklisiarch (sexton), that is, he was at the very bottom of the oprichnina hierarchy.
Everything changed when the tsar launched a policy of bloody terror against his opponents, true and imaginary. By order of Ivan the Terrible, who dreamed of conspiracies everywhere, the guardsmen raided the houses of boyars, governors, and clerks disliked by the tsar, abducted their wives and daughters to satisfy the orgies of Grozny and his entourage. Malyuta fulfilled the royal orders with special zeal.
First thing
1567 - Skuratov's first case - an investigation into a zemstvo conspiracy. The Livonian War was going on, the sovereign was preparing for an offensive, and the conspirators were accused of conspiring with the Poles. Malyuta was appointed as an investigator in the Gubin estate in the possession of the boyar Fedorov-Chelyadnin - a suspect in organizing a boyar conspiracy. There he showed his abilities, tortured 39 people - the servants of the unfortunate boyar and, apparently, was able to obtain the necessary information. The sovereign noticed the zealous guardsman.
After 2 years, Skuratov moved up the career ladder and became the head of the "highest police for treason."
Ivan the Terrible and Malyuta Skuratov. (G. Sedov 1870)
Favorite of Ivan the Terrible
The autocrat made him one of his closest henchmen. Skuratov enjoyed the great confidence of the sovereign, as far as the concept of "trust" in general can be applied to the figure of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In particular, it was Malyuta who was entrusted with the organization of the murders of Prince V. A. Staritsky and Metropolitan Philip, as well as reprisals against the inhabitants of rebellious Novgorod. A complete list of the victims of the tsar's henchman is unlikely to ever be established.
The execution of Prince Staritsky
1569 - the sovereign suspected his cousin Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky of preparing a coup d'etat. Staritsky, in whom the blood of the Rurikovichs flowed, was a real contender for the throne and could unite the disgruntled boyars around him. The tsar had no direct evidence of the existence of a conspiracy, therefore he instructed Malyuta Skuratov to fabricate a case against Staritsky.
The beloved royal oprichnik was brilliantly able to cope with the task. Suddenly there was a man, the tsar's cook Molyava, who confessed that Prince Staritsky had paid him money for the murder of the tsar; clues were also found: money (payment for the crime) and poison. The key witness himself and the alleged perpetrator of the intended murder, of course, did not live to see the end of the investigation. And on October 9, 1569, Prince Vladimir Staritsky was executed by the tsar's order. The verdict was read by Malyuta Skuratov himself.
In the verdict, which Malyuta read to Prince Staritsky before his execution, it was said: "The tsar considers him not a brother, but an enemy, for he can prove that he attempted not only on his life, but also on his rule."
The assassination of Metropolitan Philip
In the same year, Skuratov, by order of the sovereign, killed Metropolitan Philip. To eliminate the disgraced priest did not need such a lengthy and inventive preparation as the accusation and execution of Prince Staritsky. Everything was done quickly. But the very circumstances of the case were monstrous, although indicative of the era of Grozny's rule. The sovereign with an army went to Novgorod to inflict reprisals on its inhabitants. His path passed through Tver, where the former Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Philip, who was sent there in 1568 by the tsar himself, was imprisoned. An extremely religious sovereign asked for the blessing of a clergyman for the pogroms in Novgorod. Philip did not give a blessing. At the behest of the angry autocrat, Malyuta Skuratov strangled the former metropolitan with a pillow.
1) Metropolitan Philip and Malyuta Skuratov. 2) The last minutes of the life of Metropolitan Philip
Pogrom in Novgorod
1569 - Grozny received information about another conspiracy. Allegedly, Novgorod residents, headed by the Archbishop of Novgorod Pimen, decided to swear allegiance to the Lithuanian king, and they planned to kill the king. A punitive expedition was immediately sent to Novgorod, which of course was headed by Malyuta Skuratov, a loyal to the king. 1570, January 2 - the army of the guardsmen rushed into the city and staged a pogrom there, unheard of in its cruelty. More than 10 thousand people were killed and tortured.
Almost immediately after the pogrom in Novgorod, an investigation began over the leaders of the oprichnina Afanasy Vyazemsky, Alexei and Fyodor Basmanov, and others. According to the verdict, 116 people were tortured to death. Skuratov personally took part in the execution of his former associates.
Chronicle
1570 - Malyuta Skuratov became a Duma nobleman. At about the same time, the tsar instructed him to conduct important diplomatic negotiations with the Crimea and Lithuania.
According to one of the legends, Skuratov drowned the young princess Maria Dolgorukaya, in whom the autocrat allegedly discovered "the absence of virginity."
1571 - Malyuta conducted the case of the raid of Khan Davlet-Girey and the burning of Moscow during it. The head of the Oprichnina Duma, Prince Mikhail Cherkassky, and three oprichnina governors were declared guilty. They were all executed.
1571 - the sovereign married Martha Sobakina, a distant relative of Malyuta. Skuratov himself was a friend at the wedding.
1572 - during the Swedish campaigns, Malyuta was promoted to a courtyard governor and commanded the sovereign regiment.
Marriage of convenience
One should not see in Skuratov only a thoughtless executioner. He was a cunning and calculating courtier. After he gained power, he was able to marry his daughters to representatives of the noble families. One daughter of Malyuta became the wife of Prince Glinsky, the other - Dmitry Shuisky, brother of Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The third daughter Maria married the future Tsar Boris Godunov and became a queen herself.
Death
1573, January 1 - Skuratov personally led the storming of the Livonian fortress of Weissenstein (modern Paide) and was killed in battle.
Skuratov was buried in the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery. By royal decree, the widow of Malyuta was assigned a life pension, which was absolutely atypical for those times. The place of the main favorite of Ivan the Terrible was taken by Malyuta Skuratov's nephew Bogdan Belsky.
