Politics of the boyar duma 1610 1612. History and ethnology. Data. Developments. Fiction. Appeal to Poland and acceptance of her authority

Seven Boyars
Reign: from 1610 to 1613

Seven Boyars- the name of the transitional government in Russia of 7 boyars in July-September 1610, accepted by historians, which formally existed until the election of Tsar Mikhail Romanov to the throne.

The composition of the Seven Boyars included members of the Boyar Duma:

Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky (? - 1622).

Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky (? - 1627).

Prince Andrei Vasilyevich Trubetskoy (? - 1612).

Boyarin Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev (? - 1650).

head Seven Boyars They elected a prince, boyar, governor, an influential member of the Boyar Duma since 1586, Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky. Previously, he refused to be nominated to the Russian throne three times (1598, 1606, 1610), and agreed to become the head of the united boyar government only in 1610, during the period of the so-called Troubles.

After Tsar Vasily Shuisky was overthrown on July 17, 1610 as a result of a conspiracy, the Boyar Duma, a group of 7 boyars, assumed supreme power. The power of the Seven Boyars did not actually extend beyond Moscow: in Khoroshev, to the west of Moscow, the Poles stood at the head of Zholkevsky, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, False Dmitry II returned from Kaluga along with the Polish detachment of Sapieha. The boyars were especially afraid of False Dmitry, since he had a large number of supporters in Moscow and was more popular than they were.

Afraid to seek help and support within the country due to the blazing peasant war under the leadership of I.I. Bolotnikov, the boyars decided to make a proposal to the Poles. In the ongoing negotiations, members Seven Boyars made a promise, despite the protests of the Russian Patriarch Hermogenes, not to elect royal throne representative of Russian families.

As a result, it was decided to invite the Polish prince Vladislav to the throne with the condition of his conversion to Orthodoxy. On August 17 (27), 1610, an agreement was signed between 7 boyars and hetman Zholkevsky, after which Moscow kissed the cross to Vladislav.

However, Sigismund III demanded that not his son Vladislav, but himself Semiboryaschina recognized as the king of all Russia. By his order, S. Zholkiewski brought the captive Tsar Vasily Shuisky to Poland, and Semiboryashchyna government at that time, on the night of September 21, 1610, Polish troops were secretly let into Moscow. AT Russian history this fact is considered by many researchers as an act of national treason.

After these events, from October 1610, real power actually passed to the commander of the Polish garrison Alexander Gonsevsky, the governor of Vladislav. Ignoring the Russian government of 7 boyars, he generously distributed lands to supporters of Poland, confiscating them from those who remained loyal to the country.

This changed the attitude of the representatives themselves Seven Boyars to the Poles called by them. Patriarch Hermogenes, taking advantage of the growing discontent in the country, began sending letters to Russian cities, urging them to resist the new government. By the beginning of 1611, the main Moscow ambassadors were arrested and imprisoned. And in March 1611, Patriarch Hermogenes was imprisoned in the Chudov Monastery.

A movement against the Poles was growing in the country. Detachments were organized in almost twenty cities of Russia, which from the end of winter began to pull up to the capital. On March 19, 1611, an uprising broke out in Moscow. After heavy fighting, arson of houses and buildings in Kitay-gorod, the Polish garrison managed to suppress the protest of the townspeople. It was this event that was noted in historiography as "the final ruin of the Muscovite kingdom."

Seven Boyars nominally functioned until the liberation of Moscow in August 1612 militia under the leadership of the mayor K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky. On October 22, 1612, exhausted by the siege and famine, the Polish garrison surrendered to the victors. Moscow was completely liberated from foreign invaders. The Boyar Duma, which had stained itself with cooperation with the Poles, was overthrown.

AT Polish history grade Seven Boyars different from Russian. It is considered an elected government, which is legally legal basis invited foreigners to rule Muscovy (agreement of August 17, 1610).

Seven Boyars Reign: from 1610 to 1613

Seven Boyars- the name of the transitional government in Russia of 7 boyars in July-September 1610, accepted by historians, which formally existed until the election to the throne Tsar Mikhail Romanov.

The composition of the Seven Boyars included members of the Boyar Duma:

Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky (? - 1622).

Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky (? - 1627).

Prince Andrei Vasilyevich Trubetskoy (? - 1612).

Boyarin Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev (? - 1650).

head Seven Boyars elected a prince, boyar, governor, an influential member of the Boyar Duma since 1586 Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky. Previously, he refused to be nominated to the Russian throne three times (1598, 1606, 1610), and agreed to become the head of the united boyar government only in 1610, during the period of the so-called Troubles.

After July 17, 1610, as a result of a conspiracy Tsar Vasily Shuisky was overthrown, the supreme power was assumed by the Boyar Duma - a group of 7 boyars. The power of the Seven Boyars did not actually extend beyond Moscow: in Khoroshev, to the west of Moscow, the Poles, led by Zholkevsky, stood up, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, False Dmitry II, who returned from Kaluga, along with the Polish detachment of Sapieha. The boyars were especially afraid False Dmitry, since he had a large number of supporters in Moscow and was more popular than they were.

Fearing to seek help and support within the country due to the blazing peasant war under the leadership of I.I. Bolotnikov, the boyars decided to turn to the Poles with a proposal. In the ongoing negotiations, members Seven Boyars made a promise, despite the protests of the Russian Patriarch Hermogenes, not to elect a representative of the Russian clans to the royal throne.

However, Sigismund III demanded that not his son Vladislav, but himself Semiboryaschina recognized as the king of all Russia. By his order, S. Zholkevsky brought the captive Tsar Vasily Shuisky to Poland, and Semiboryashchyna government at that time, on the night of September 21, 1610, Polish troops were secretly let into Moscow. In Russian history, this fact is considered by many researchers as an act of national treason.

Seven Boyars nominally functioned until the liberation of Moscow in August 1612 by the people's militia under the leadership of the mayor K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky. On October 22, 1612, exhausted by the siege and famine, the Polish garrison surrendered to the victors. Moscow was completely liberated from foreign invaders. The Boyar Duma, which had stained itself with cooperation with the Poles, was overthrown.

In Polish history score Seven Boyars different from Russian. It is considered to be the elected government, which, on a legal basis, invited foreigners to govern Muscovy (agreement of August 17, 1610).

in the Moscow state. Power Boyar Duma- seven representatives of the noble aristocracy

Formally, the Seven Boyars existed from 1619 to 1613, but in fact several Meyats of 1610 owned power in Muscovy

Composition of the Seven Boyars

Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky (c. 1550-1622) - boyar, prince, military leader, statesman
Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky Jr. (XVI century - 1627) - boyar, military leader
Andrey Vasilyevich Trubetskoy (? -1612) - boyar
Andrei Vasilyevich Golitsyn ((? -1611) - boyar
Ivan Nikitich Romanov (1560s-1640) - boyar, uncle of the first tsar from the Romanov family, Mikhail Fedorovich
Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev (? -1650) - boyar, statesman
Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky (1576-1646) - boyar, military leader. statesman

Reasons for the emergence of the Seven Boyars

In the spring of 1610, Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky, a relative of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, a talented military leader, a respected, authoritative statesman among the people, died. With his death, the situation of Tsar Basil himself became much more complicated.

“And before they didn’t love, didn’t respect Vasily, they saw him as an unfortunate king, not blessed by God; according to Skopin, he reconciled the tsar with the people, giving the latter a firm hope for a better future.

And now this mediator was no more ... The future for the people was no longer connected in the least with the name of the Shuiskys: the tsar is old and childless, the heir is Prince Dmitry, who before could not be loved and respected, and now they were accused of poisoning his nephew ... one might say, that Skopin was the last of those crowned in the hearts of the people .. on the throne of Moscow "(S.M. Solovyov" History of Russia from ancient times ")

at the beginning of summer near the Smolensk village of Klushino from Polish forces The army of Prince Dmitry Shuisky was defeated. The defeat drew a line under the rule of Vasily Shuisky. In July he was overthrown. Moscow was left without power. It was claimed by the 15-year-old prince Vladislav, the son of the Polish king Sigismund, and False Dmitry II, known in history under the nickname Thief.

Despite the prisoner near Smolensk about the acceptance of the Russian throne by Vladislav, the case stalled due to the destructive policy of Sigismund, who wanted to rule Russia behind his son's back. The thief-False Dmitry was afraid and did not want the boyars and many law-abiding Russian people. The power vacuum was filled by the Seven Boyars

“We do not know how they came up with the idea to establish a “seven boyars” in which four representatives of the oldest princely families sat: F. I. Mstislavsky, I. M. Vorotynsky, A. V. Trubetskoy and A. V. Golitsyn, together with one of Romanovs, Ivan Nikitich, and two of his relatives, F.I. Sheremetev and Prince Bor. Mich. Lykov. It must be assumed that at first V.V. Golitsyn was also on this list, but, no doubt, his comrades preferred to get rid of him, sending him near Smolensk for negotiations with Sigismund.

In any way, the highest nobility of the country became at the head of power: representatives of the tribal nobility mixed with the boyars who had served at the court. I. S. Kurakin, who were absent at that time, did not enter the government either: he was dismissed for his too obvious sympathies for the Poles. However, both the emergence and composition of this corporation represent a lot of unknown ”(K. Valishevsky“ Time of Troubles ”)

History of the Seven Boyars. Briefly

1610, April 23 - death of Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky
1610, June 14 - the siege of the hetman of the Zholkievsky Russian army, led by governors Yeletsky and Voluev, in the Smolensk village of Tsarevo-Zaimishche
1610, June 24 - the defeat of the Russians near Klushin

“From Klushin, Zholkevsky returned to Tsarevo-Zaimishche and notified Yeletsky and Voluev of his victory. The governors did not believe for a long time, the hetman showed them noble captives taken near Klushino ... The governors unwittingly kissed the cross of Vladislav. When Yeletsky and Voluev swore allegiance to Vladislav, and when Mozhaisk, Borisov, Borovsk, Joseph's Monastery, Pogoreloye Gorodishche and Rzhev swore allegiance to him, the hetman's army increased by ten thousand Russians.

Zholkiewski himself says that these new subjects of the prince were quite faithful and benevolent, often bringing him news from the capital, entering into relations with their own, and transferring the letters that the hetman wrote to Moscow to certain persons, also universals, prompting the deposition of Shuisky "( Valishevsky)

1610, July 17 - the overthrow of Shuisky

“Lyapunov, Khomutov and Saltykov shouted for everyone to go to a spacious place, across the Moscow River, to the Serpukhov Gates ... Boyars, nobles, guests and merchants are here the best people advised how the Muscovite state should not be ruined and plundered: they came under Moscow state Poles and Lithuania, and on the other hand, the Kaluga thief with Russian people, and the Muscovite state became crowded on both sides.

The boyars and all sorts of people were sentenced: to beat the sovereign, Tsar Vasily Ivanovich, with his forehead, so that he, sovereign, would leave the kingdom so that much blood was shed, and the people say that he, sovereign, was unhappy ... There was no resistance among the people ... The brother-in-law went to the palace royal, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky, ask Vasily to leave the state and take it for himself Nizhny Novgorod. To this request, announced by the boyar on behalf of the entire Moscow people, Vasily had to agree and left with his wife for his former boyar house.

1610, July 19 - in order to avoid the intrigues of the deposed tsar, “again, the same Zakhar Lyapunov with three princes - Zasekin, Tyufyakin and Merin-Volkonsky, and even with some Mikhailo Aksenov and others, taking monks from the Chudov Monastery with them, went to the retired to the king and announced that in order to calm the people, he should have a haircut.
1610, July 20 - the Polish army under the command of Zholkievsky set out from Mozhaisk to Moscow, informing the government that its main concern was the desire to protect the capital from the "thief". The Seven Boyars replied that they did not need his help.
1610, July 24 - Zholkevsky, seven miles from Moscow. At the same time, detachments of the impostor approached the city. So the Seven Boyars were the first to enter into negotiations with Zholkevsky about the fate of Prince Vladislav

“It was not easy for him to come to an agreement with Mstislavsky and the other six boyars. They demanded that Prince Vladislav convert to Orthodoxy and promise not to place Polish garrisons in the border fortresses of Muscovy, so that estates and estates would not be given to the Poles in this area. But Zolkiewski knew how Sigismund was going to use them... Since the Battle of Klushino, he was waiting for instructions from Smolensk, but Sigismund was in no hurry to send them.

Three weeks passed in futile negotiations; it was impossible to wait longer: an impostor was standing near the capital itself, this is, firstly, and secondly, the Klushinsky winners, not receiving a salary, began to pretend that they were not averse to following the example of all mercenaries. With such a shy position, Zolkiewski decided to enter into a deal. Having agreed on issues related to material interests, he managed to pass over in silence the question of faith, and Vladislav was elected to the Moscow throne.

1610, August 17 - Princes F. I. Mstislavsky, V. V. Golitsyn and D. I. Mezetsky, accompanied by two Duma clerks, Vasily Telepnev and Tomila Lugovsky, concluded an agreement with Zholkevsky on the Maiden's Field. The Tushino Treaty of February 4, 1610 was adopted as the basis; new intermediaries introduced only some amendments
— the right of seniority was recognized for representatives of the main princely families, and they were provided with an advantage in favors, the restriction of autocracy adopted by the Tushins was preserved
— only the article concerning the right to freely travel abroad for commercial and scientific purposes has been excluded.
— An article was included setting the condition that the Tushinsky thief be subdued by the common forces

Zholkiewski, on behalf of the king, undertook to withdraw Polish troops from all the territories they occupied
They could not come to an agreement, especially regarding the conversion of the future king to Orthodoxy, the solution of this issue was postponed until direct negotiations with Sigismund

1610, August 18-19 (August 27-28, New Style) - Muscovites swore allegiance to the new sovereign: 10,000 people swore allegiance on the first day; the hetman, for his part, swore an oath in the name of Vladislav to observe the treaty. The next day, the oath took place in the Assumption Cathedral, in the presence of the patriarch. In a decree sent to the regions, it was said that Vladislav undertook to accept the crown from the hands of the supreme saint, which could pass for a promise to renounce Catholicism. Not a word was said about this in the contract, but everything they wanted was attributed to him.
1610, August 21 (O.S.) - the hetman received a letter from the king, where he demanded that the Muscovite state be established for himself, and not for his son ... The hetman found it impossible to fulfill the desire of the king, whose name was hated by the Muscovite people , but began to enforce the article of the agreement, in which he undertook to drive False Dmitry from Moscow

“The hetman announced his intention to the boyars: after passing through Moscow at night, approach the monastery and take the impostor by surprise there. The boyars agreed, allowed the Polish army to pass through the almost empty city at night, because the boyars had already withdrawn thirty thousand troops into the field. However, the power of attorney was not deceived: the Poles hurried through the city, without dismounting from their horses, without any harm to the inhabitants.

The Polish and Moscow armies united at the Kolomna outpost and went to the Ugreshsky monastery, but from Moscow they managed to notify False Dmitry of the danger, and he fled to Kaluga. Having driven away False Dmitry, the hetman began to insist on the speedy dispatch of ambassadors to Sigismund ... Flattering V.V. Golitsyn, he persuaded him to take over the chairmanship of this embassy; he managed to include in the embassy and. It also included Avraamiy Palitsyn with Zakhar Lyapunov and representatives of all classes, elected in such numbers that the embassy consisted of 1246 persons, accompanied by 4000 clerks and servants.

1610, September 11 - the embassy left Moscow to Polish king Sigismund for final negotiations on the terms of the government of Muscovy Vladislav. It was held by Sigismund until 1619.

“Left alone near Moscow with his small army, Zholkiewski saw that the Russians only because of extreme necessity agreed to accept a foreigner to the throne and would never agree to accept a non-Christian, and Sigismund would never agree to allow his son to accept Orthodoxy. But even now, as before, the impostor continued to help the hetman; out of fear of the common people, who would not hesitate to stand up for False Dmitry at the first opportunity, the boyars themselves invited Zholkevsky to send the Polish army to Moscow "

1610, September 21 - the Poles quietly penetrated Moscow, occupied the Kremlin and two central quarters, Kitai-Gorod and the White City, the Novodevichy Monastery, as well as Mozhaisk, Borisov, Vereya for the safety of their communications with the king. To resolve the strife between the Poles and Muscovites, Zholkovsky ordered the creation of a court with equal number judges from both nations; the court was impartial and strict ...
1610, September 30 - ambassadors to Sigismund wrote to Moscow that many Russian nobles come to the king near Smolensk and, by the will of the royal, swear allegiance not to one prince, but to the king himself
1610, early October - Hetman Zolkiewski left Moscow. He knew that an uprising in Moscow would break out at the first news of the unwillingness of the king to let Vladislav go to Moscow. With his personal presence, he wanted to persuade the king to fulfill the contract. The boyars escorted him far beyond the city, even the common people showed him a disposition, paying with kindness for kindness; when he rode through the streets, the Muscovites ran ahead and wished him a happy journey. The hetman handed Gonsevsky command over the garrison, which already consisted of only 4,000 Poles and several thousand foreign mercenaries.

years of government: from 1610 to 1613

The concept of Seven Boyars- the name of the transitional government in Russia of 7 boyars in July-September 1610, accepted by historians, which formally existed until the election to the throne

Briefly about the Seven Boyars

The composition of the Seven Boyars included members of the Boyar Duma:

Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky (? - 1622).
Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky (? - 1627).
Prince Andrei Vasilyevich Trubetskoy (? - 1612).
Prince Andrei Vasilyevich Golitsyn (? - March 19 (31), 1611).
Prince Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky (1576 - June 2, 1646).
Boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov (? - October 23, 1640).
Boyarin Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev (? - 1650).

Prince, boyar, voivode, an influential member of the Boyar Duma since 1586, Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky, was elected head of the Seven Boyars. Previously, he refused to be nominated to the Russian throne three times (1598, 1606, 1610), and agreed to become the head of the united boyar government only in 1610, during the period of the so-called Troubles.

After he was overthrown on July 17, 1610 as a result of a conspiracy, the Boyar Duma, a group of 7 boyars, assumed supreme power. The power of the Seven Boyars did not actually extend beyond Moscow: in Khoroshev, to the west of Moscow, the Poles, led by Zholkevsky, stood up, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, False Dmitry II, who returned from Kaluga, along with the Polish detachment of Sapieha. The boyars were especially afraid of False Dmitry, since he had a large number of supporters in Moscow and was more popular than they were.

Fearing to seek help and support within the country due to the blazing peasant war under the leadership of I.I. Bolotnikov, the boyars decided to turn to the Poles with a proposal. In the negotiations that began, the members of the Seven Boyars promised, despite the protests of the Russian Patriarch Hermogenes, not to elect a representative of the Russian clans to the royal throne.

Board of the Seven Boyars

However, Sigismund III demanded that not his son Vladislav, but himself be recognized as the king of all Russia. By his order, S. Zholkevsky brought the captured Tsar Vasily Shuisky to Poland, and the government of the Seven Boyars at that time, on the night of September 21, 1610, secretly let the Polish troops into Moscow. In Russian history, this fact is considered by many researchers as an act of national treason.

This changed the attitude of the representatives of the Seven Boyars to the Poles they had called. Patriarch Hermogenes, taking advantage of the growing discontent in the country, began sending letters to Russian cities, urging them to resist the new government. By the beginning of 1611, the main Moscow ambassadors were arrested and imprisoned. And in March 1611, Patriarch Hermogenes was imprisoned in the Chudov Monastery.

Period of the Seven Boyars

The Seven Boyars nominally functioned until the liberation of Moscow in August 1612 by the people's militia under the leadership of the mayor K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky. On October 22, 1612, exhausted by the siege and famine, the Polish garrison surrendered to the victors. Moscow was completely liberated from foreign invaders. The Boyar Duma, which had stained itself with cooperation with the Poles, was overthrown.

In Polish history, the assessment of the Seven Boyars differs from that of Russia. It is considered to be the elected government, which, on a legal basis, invited foreigners to govern Muscovy (agreement of August 17, 1610).

Seven Boyars

After the overthrow of Shuisky, power passed to the council of seven boyars; this government was called the Seven Boyars. This name became a household name for many years, and in a purely negative sense. This was especially characteristic of the Stalin era. N.P. Konchalovskaya in the poetic history of Moscow for children "Our ancient capital" characterized this government as follows: "The Seven Boyars was / A government pleasing / to Poles, Swedes, kings, / Alien noble lords, / Their traitor princes / And all neighboring countries."

V.D. Charushnikov already believes in our time that “the boyars (from the Seven Boyars) wanted to live like Polish pans, in fact independent in their estates,” which seems to be a strong exaggeration, although there are some guarantees from the arbitrariness of power after the lessons of history related to Oprichnina and the events that followed it, they certainly would like to. The polonophilia of a part of the Russian elite, the spread of Polish words (up until Catherine II, the Russian nobility called themselves “gentry.” - D.V.) is an indisputable fact. But back to the characterization of Konchalovskaya.

Let's start with the fact that it is not clear how one can be pleasing to the Poles and the Swedes at the same time - irreconcilable enemies, and even more so "to all neighboring countries" that had very different interests. That is, there are always enough people who want to profit at the expense of a country that has fallen into a difficult situation, and the Russia of the Time of Troubles was no exception, but the most anti-national government cannot immediately please all such people, no matter how much it wants to.

But let's not be too strict with Natalya Petrovna - after all, this was written in 1947 (on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of Moscow), when such inconsistencies were not usually noticed. Thus, in the 1939 film “Minin and Pozharsky”, a detachment of Swedish mercenaries operates as part of the army of Hetman Khodkevich - but in fact Poland and Sweden were, as they say, irreconcilable enemies. German and Hungarian mercenaries were there, but the film was released after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, so it became, as we would say now, not politically correct to mention the Germans and their Hungarian allies in such a negative way.

We also note that even under Stalin, Konchalovskaya dared to write about the Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible what I said at the beginning of the book - that the guardsmen ruined the country, because they were temporary workers on their estates, and not owners, and, accordingly, they only sought to rob the peasant like a sticky (“ And the peasant carried in a short time / What he could give to the boyar / Give in a decade). She also restored the historical truth about foreign mercenaries in Khodkevich’s army (“To fight against huge Russia / The Poles did not go alone: / The Germans, the Hungarians, the dark force / They led behind them”). However, here the motives were already connected with the Great Patriotic War - even the terminology is the same (“The country is huge ... dark power”). And we will take a closer look at the members of the Seven Boyars and be surprised to find that they were not such immoral types, ready to trade the country wholesale and retail.

Let's start with the head of this government - Prince Mstislavsky ("The leader of the Seven Boyars - / Traitor Prince Mstislavsky / He became richer than the Russian Tsar, / Under the royal caress"). However, power was transferred to Mstislavsky only temporarily, until that time, “until God is pleased to give Moscow a sovereign” (that is, obviously, until such a “whole earth” is elected. - D.V.).

Let us also add that Mstislavsky had honestly served Boris Godunov before too - his career began with participation in repelling the Krymchak raid on Moscow in 1591. Note that, having become king, Godunov forbade him, like Vasily Shuisky, to marry. Served Mstislavsky and Shuisky. By the way, during the election of the tsar in May 1606, they initially wanted to elect Mstislavsky as the tsar, but he refused this honor “because of rare scrupulousness and decency” (maybe an overly enthusiastic characterization, but the fact remains: Mstislavsky, like Rurikovich, had no less rights to the throne than Shuisky. D.V.), and led the Seven Boyars only so that before Vladislav came to the kingdom, there was (in addition to the Tushinsky thief) at least some kind of power in the country.

He remained faithful to Vasily Shuisky until the summer of 1610, and Ivan Nikitich Romanov, the brother of Fyodor-Filaret. I'm not talking about one more of the "seven boyars" - F.I. Sheremetev, who, as already mentioned, perhaps even surpassed M.V. Skopin-Shuisky. In the autumn of 1612, he entered the new Provisional Government created by Minin and Pozharsky, which in itself speaks of his impeccable reputation.

Prince A.V. was also a patriot. Golitsyn, who maintained ties with the leaders of the First Militia (more on him below) and was arrested by the Poles for this; he died in prison in 1612 shortly before the liberation of the Kremlin. Like F.I. Sheremetev, like another member of this government, B.M. Lykov, Golitsyn initially supported Vladislav, but opposed him when it turned out that the Poles were deceiving and did not give their prince to the Moscow kingdom.

Of course, adventurers also joined the Seven Boyars, such as, for example, the same M. Molchanov, who received the post of “head of the pan order,” that is, the department responsible for relations with the Poles. But these were clearly in the minority.

I said above that R.G. Skrynnikov writes about "the Council that led the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky" and called it an exaggeration. But the Seven Boyars, already on the third day after the overthrow of Shuisky, on July 20, 1610, sent a letter “to the cities” convening a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar; this was the first decree of the boyar government. Therefore, they did not recognize the agreement concluded on February 4 by the “Tushins” about calling Vladislav, and the authorities of the Tushinsky thief, too. At the same time, the Seven Boyars called for the continuation of the defense of Smolensk.

In addition, the program of the Seven Boyars included the adoption of a kind of program of national reconciliation: before starting the election of a new tsar, it was supposed to make a cross-kissing record that people “between themselves ... do not want anything bad and ... do not kill or rob and do harm to anyone who can’t think of any kind of treason ... don’t want anywhere. ” The boyar government, for its part, pledged to "judge everyone with a righteous judgment" and elect the tsar "with all the land, exiling from the city." Vasily Shuisky was ordered to leave the throne “forever and no longer sit on the state” (let us pay attention to this point - it indicates that the Seven Boyars did not recognize the fact of Shuisky’s tonsure, otherwise depriving him of the right to the throne was self-evident. - D.V.). The former tsar was forbidden to appear at court, and his brothers were excluded from the Boyar Duma; at the same time, however, "the whole earth" had to pledge not to take revenge on all Shuiskys.

Be that as it may, so far the so-called Sobor (or perhaps the real Zemsky Sobor had time to convene during this time? - D.V.), who overthrew Shuisky, continued to work in Moscow, Zholkevsky, who also approached the Russian capital with an army, did not consider himself the master of the situation. Part of the participants of the Council (the most influential) managed to be sent to Smolensk as an embassy, which, headed by F. Romanov, V. Golitsyn and Z. Lyapunov, left the capital on September 11, and only after that, on September 19, 1610, the Poles entered Moscow. But even then they did it secretly, at night, "like a tati", tying the horses' hooves with towels so that they would not knock on Red Square. But before talking about this step, let's discuss its background.

On August 17, 1610, the Seven Boyars recognized the son of Sigismund, Vladislav, as the king of Russia, concluding an agreement on calling him to the kingdom on conditions similar to those of the agreement on February 4. However, not exactly the same: the new treaty canceled the award of people of “smaller camps” (that is, less noble families) for merit and permission for noblemen to travel abroad “for science”. This is understandable: the boyar elite recovered from the fear caused by the threat from the Tushinsky thief, and the new treaty became more “pro-boyar” and took less into account the interests of the “smaller camps”.

In addition, according to the agreement on August 17, Jews were forbidden to enter the Moscow kingdom; as for the Poles, they were allowed to give money and estates for the royal service, but not places and not ranks, to carry out the death penalty only by the verdict of the boyars or “thinking people”, with the return of the property of the executed to their “innocent relatives” (a big step forward compared to with previous times, when the estates were selected "for the sovereign"! - D.V.).

Finally, Marina Mnishek was asked to give up the title of queen and leave for Poland. It was supposed to provide materially for the “thief”, but Marina Yuryevna arrogantly answered the parliamentarians from Moscow: “Let the king give the king (“thief.” - D.V.) Krakow, and the tsar, out of mercy, will cede Warsaw to him. The Tushinsky thief himself added: “I’d rather serve with some peasant and get bread by labor than look from the hands of his Polish majesty.” It is clear that after such answers the negotiations were interrupted, and a clause was included in the contract on calling Vladislav to the kingdom: “And which thief is called Tsarevich Dmitry by the name, and stand and fight for that, and hunt for him for one thing.”

They demanded from Vladislav that he be baptized into Orthodoxy back in Smolensk by Filaret and Archbishop Sergius of Smolensk, and that he arrived in Moscow already Orthodox. Among other things, the agreement included a condition that the Poles should not be given estates in counties near the Polish border, but only in the interior of Russia.

However, Zholkiewski immediately managed to remove from the contract “until Sigismund’s special order” the clauses that Vladislav was forbidden to communicate with the Pope “about the law” (i.e., about faith), about the death penalty for those who converted from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, about a ban on new the tsar to have with him more than 500 Poles, on the observance of “the entire royal title” (including the titles of “sovereign of Kyiv and Lvov”), as well as on the obligation of the future tsar to marry a Russian. However, the unity and indivisibility of Russia was still not disputed: “But Vladislav should be sovereign in the Muscovite state, as well as the former natural sovereigns, and rule throughout the Russian state (that is, Poland had to liberate all the Russian lands occupied by it. – D.V.)».

Again, there was a disengagement: the boyars took the side of Vladislav, for example, the princes F. Dolgoruky, A. Sitsky, F. Zasekin, M. Turenin and many nobles left the "thief"; only Dm remained with him. Trubetskoy. Representatives of the lower social classes leaned towards the Tushinsky thief, whom Zholkevsky, even before entering Moscow, on August 27, pushed back from Kolomenskoye. After the Poles and Russians began to leave the "thief", who returned to Kaluga. On the other hand, at about the same time, in August, Tver, Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov and Galich repented of the calling of Vladislav and brought the “guilty” to the “thief”.

Nevertheless, it seems that Vladislav still had a chance to "arrange in silence" the Russian land. The country, in principle, was ready to accept it, at least when the oath began in Moscow on August 27, then on the first day everyone simply did not have time to take the oath (about 10,000 people managed to do it, and there were at least three times as many who wished), they had to continue in the following days. In the autumn of 1610, the Pole Tsar was recognized by everyone - both the future leader of the First Zemstvo militia, Prokopiy Lyapunov, and the future hero of 1612, Dm. Pozharsky (who swore allegiance to him as the governor of Zaraisk, in which position Dmitry Mikhailovich was still at that moment), and even such a conservative and hater of everything foreign as Patriarch Hermogenes, also agreed to recognize Vladislav on the condition of his conversion to Orthodoxy. Filaret also supported him, despite the fact that he was the “Tushino” patriarch and supposedly had to support False Dmitry II. However, after Filaret was taken to Tushino, this is not surprising.

This circumstance (the support of both patriarchs), as well as the promise not to build Catholic churches in Russia, but to invite Poles to serve only on an equal basis with other foreigners, which was provided for by the agreement of August 17, as well as earlier by the agreement of February 4, sharply increased the chances of the Polish prince.

Here it is necessary to digress about the problem of building non-Orthodox churches. Zholkievsky, on behalf of either Vladislav or Sigismund, promised “the Christian faith from the people of Moscow will not be taken away, and Roman churches will not be built ...”; according to another version, it was still allowed to build a church in Moscow, but only with the permission of the patriarch and the Boyar Duma. By a special clause of the agreement, the Poles who served in Russia were allowed to enter Orthodox churches, but taking off their hats and not bringing dogs there.

Some authors draw perspectives such as the opening of a university in Moscow during the reign of Vladislav or an introduction to Russian cities Magdeburg Law. Someone A. Golovatko believes that the agreement on the calling of Vladislav to the kingdom (he talks about the agreement on February 4, but the same can be said about the agreement on August 17. - D.V.) laid the foundations of the rule of law in Russia.

V.D. Charushnikov sharply criticizes Golovatko for this position, as well as for many other things (for example, for "attempts to rehabilitate False Dmitry I", although the latter, as we have seen, deserves it). In some ways, Charushnikov did not go far from the Soviet historian L.V. Tcherepnin, who called the treaty of February 4, 1610 "an anti-state act."

And I, in order to clarify this dispute, I will add: yes, the agreement on February 4 (as well as on August 17), 1610, laid would foundations of the rule of law, if the Poles were disposed to observe it, which, as we shall see below, they did not intend to do.

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