An important event in history was the siege of the Trinity-Sergeev Monastery by the troops of False Dmitry 2. What were its reasons, and what did the events of those times lead to? You will learn about all this in the process of reading the article.
In August 1530 (according to the old style), the young Princess Elena Glinskaya, who belonged to the family of Temnik Mamai, who was defeated in the Battle of Kulikovo, was the second wife of Vasily III, an heir was born. He was baptized in this monastery and named Ivan, later known as the Terrible. At 4, his father dies, and at 8, his mother dies. In the fortieth year of the sixteenth century, Ivan, most likely listening to Metropolitan Iosaph, gave a decree to build stone walls around the aforementioned monastery. Before that, it was surrounded by wooden walls, sometimes helping to escape, and sometimes not, from the encroachments of neighbors. The monastery kept holy relics and excellent icons, food, cattle, dishes, horses.
This house for monks was a large landowner. In the Zamoskovskiy Territory, he had more than 200,000 hectares of land, on which at least 7,000 peasant households plowed. Every year, conducting economic activities, the monastery received about 1,500 rubles. It was a big amount. For example, a cow could be bought for about 1 ruble, and a chicken for 1 kopeck. Today this amount is 30 million rubles.
Also, the monastery led the way to the northeast and north. The stone fortress was completed by the year 50 of the 16th century. The house for the monks has become a serious building for defense.
Objects on the territory of the monastery
At the beginning of the 17th c. on its territory were the Trinity and Assumption cathedrals made of white stone, Soshestvenskaya and Sergius churches, a refectory on two floors. And also the dwellings of monks, a bell tower made of wood and other different buildings. Graves were located almost on the entire free space of the southern half of the building, next to which there were tombstones made of white stone.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Trinity Monastery had a lot of different weapons, for example, cannons and four-legged thorns. They were scattered along the roads to harm the horses of the enemy. A deep ditch was dug along the wall from the east side. Around the wall, they put gouges, which are logs that were dug in several rows. Before False Dmitry II approached the walls of Moscow, the Cossacks guarded the monastery. Later, about 800 nobles and boyar children, about 100 archers, led by Prince Dolgoruky-Grove and nobleman Golokhvastov, were sent to help them.
Wohon paradox
Vokhonsky peasants were more consistent, as adherents of the Pretender, despite the legend in Pavlovsky Posad local history about the battle of local peasants of the monastery underthe leadership of Colonel Chaplinsky, which allegedly took place on the coast of the Klyazma in the autumn of 1609. Sapieha's secretaries noticed that, having arrived at the Trinity, he sent people to the temple twice to negotiate, inviting them to admit defeat. The words in his messages, which A. Palitsyn cited, as well as the answers of the besieged, are all fantasies and literary works of the writer.
Previous events
Before the Time of Troubles, this monastery already had a strong influence on religion, possessed many treasures and an excellent fortress. Around this temple there were twelve towers, which were connected by a fortress wall more than a thousand meters long, and their height was from eight to fourteen meters, one meter thick. There are more than 100 cannons on the towers and along the walls, throwing devices, cauldrons in which tar and boiling water were boiled, devices so that they could be knocked over on the enemy.
False Dmitry II with the Poles who supported him, stopped near Moscow, after which he tried to completely block it. When the monastery was busy and controlled the northeastern regions of Russia, the treasures were seized.
The financial situation could have been strengthened, and the influential brethren of the monastery would have been involved, which would have completely destroyed the authority of Tsar Vasily Shuisky and, in the future, False Dmitry II would have been crowned king. To achieve this goal, the Lithuanian-Polish army was sent to the temple, led by hetman Jan Sapieha. It was reinforced by detachments of Russian Cossack allies and Tushinos, whocommanded by Colonel Alexander Lisovsky. There is no single information about the number of these soldiers (some sources claim that it is about fifteen thousand people, and the second - about thirty thousand people).
According to the historian I. Tyumentsev, the Lithuanian-Polish regiments and mercenaries numbered about five thousand people, and the Tushinos - about six thousand people. The army included: infantry - 6000 people, cavalry - 6770 people. At that time, this number is a huge fighting force. And then there were the field guns, which were of no use in conducting the siege. Previously, the leadership of Vasily Shuisky sent detachments of Cossacks and archers to the temple, led by the nobleman Golokhvastov and the governor Dolgorukov-Roshcha.
Before the outbreak of hostilities, there were approximately 2000 military men and approximately 1000 peasants from the villages, monks, employees of the temple, pilgrims who actively defended it. During the entire blockade, Princess Ksenia Godunova lived in this building, who was cut into a nun by order of False Dmitry I.
Beginning of the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery
For the commanders of the Lithuanian-Polish troops, it was unexpected that the population so stubbornly defended the temple, en masse not accepting the kingdom of Vasily Shuisky. For this reason, they were embarrassed by the refusal of the troops to give up the protected building without opposing them. At first, the besiegers quickly built their camps, fortified them and began to prepare for the assault. At the same time, they tried to start negotiatingwith the besieged. But in the end, Sapieha was destined for defeat - Joasaph, the archimandrite of the monastery, sent him a letter in response, where he put at the forefront not the fulfillment of the oath to Tsar Shuisky, but the need to defend Orthodoxy and the duty to be devoted to the sovereign. Copies of letters, on which this message was, were distributed throughout Russia. This had a serious impact on the consciousness of the Russian people. So, from the very first days, the protection of the temple by the besieged and Russian people began to have a national character, which was multiplied by the forces of the armed guards of one of the main shrines of Orthodoxy.
In mid-autumn 1608, small clashes begin: a struggle takes place between the besiegers and Russian spies. The besieged are engaged in cutting off and destroying small groups of attackers at construction work and fodder. Under the monastery towers began to build tunnels. On the night of November 1 of the same year, for the first time, they tried to storm with a simultaneous attack from several sides. One of the main wooden fortifications was set on fire by the besiegers. The fiery flame illuminated the approaching troops. The defenders of the monastery in the face of Russian artillery in large numbers with the help of accurate fire stopped the attackers and forced them to flee. And when the next sortie was made, the scattered groups of Tushinos, who were hiding in the trenches, were destroyed. For the besiegers, the first assault turned out to be a failure, they suffered huge damage. The commanders of the monastery garrison were actively defending.
Siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery
The situation was very difficult for those who defendedmonastery. Even though they had rye, it was impossible to grind it, because the mills were located outside the monastery walls. Because of the cramped conditions, people lived outdoors. Pregnant women were forced to give birth to babies in front of strangers. During one sortie, two peasants discovered a tunnel, they decide to blow themselves up in it and thereby disrupt the enemy's insidious plans. The troops of False Dmitry 2 besieged this temple in the seventeenth century (the date of the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery - 1608-23-09 - 1610-12-01) It lasted 16 months. Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and Jacob Delagardie managed to lift the siege with the help of their troops.
Sallying out
At the end of 1608 - at the beginning of 1609, thanks to sorties, hay and cattle were taken from the opponents, several outposts were destroyed, several of their structures were set on fire. But the defenders lost a lot. At the beginning of winter, they counted more than 300 people killed and captured. Also, several people went over to the side of the enemy. At the beginning of 1609, during one of the attacks by the besieged, a tragedy almost happened - they suffered from a trap from the enemy and were separated from the temple, and the cavalry of the besiegers attacked the gates of the temple, which were open. Several attackers were able to break into the temple. And again, help came from the Russian artillery, she made an accurate fire and plunged the Tushino into confusion. This helped the archers who participated in the sortie to return to the temple, of which forty people were killed. Almost all the horsemen who were able to enter the temple were destroyed by the peasantsand pilgrims. They threw rocks and logs at them.
Events of 1609
At the beginning of 1609, the situation of the besieged became worse, because there were not enough food supplies, they began to suffer from scurvy. In February, more than fifteen people died a day. Gunpowder began to run out. This information was reported to Hetman Jan Sapieha, who was preparing to carry out the attack again. He planned to blow up the gate with prepared firecrackers.
The governors of Vasily Shuisky made an attempt to support the besieged. Gunpowder was sent to the temple. He was accompanied by 20 monastery servants and 70 Cossacks. The Poles seized the messengers sent by the senior of this convoy to the monastery in order to coordinate the plan of action. Because of the torture, the messengers gave away everything they knew. For this reason, on the night of February 16, 1609, the convoy was ambushed, the Cossacks guarding it began to fight in an unequal battle. The noise of the boyars was heard by the governor Dolgoruky-Grove, and he decided to make a sortie, after which the ambush was dispersed, the valuable convoy was able to break into the temple.
Colonel Alexander Lisovsky was disappointed by the failure and gave the order in the morning to bring the captured prisoners to the monastery walls and brutally kill them. In response to this, Dolgoruky-Grove ordered that all the prisoners who were in the temple be brought and chopped up (these are more than 50 people, many of them mercenaries, as well as Tushino Cossacks). Because of this, the Tushino besiegers rebelled and accused Lisovsky of the tragic death of their comrades. Since that time, quarrels in the camp between the besiegers have intensified. Another disagreement began to occur between monks and archers in the monasterygarrison. Some began to go over to the side of the enemy. Aware of the difficulties of the besieged, Sapega began to prepare for a new Trinity siege, and in order for everything to be successful, the Pole Martyash was sent to the besieged building in order to win the trust of the Russian governor, and at the right time to disable part of the artillery of the fortress.
He managed to achieve the intended goal, that is, he was able to inspire confidence. But before the assault, a defector Litvin (of the Orthodox faith) appeared in the temple, who spoke about the scout. Martyash was seized and tortured in order to find out all the information about the planned assault, which he eventually gave out. The fight took place at night. The storm was repulsed. During the battle, more than thirty people were captured. But, unfortunately, in the ranks of the besieged, the number of soldiers was reduced to two hundred people. For this reason, Sapieha began to prepare for the third attack. He joined the Tushinites operating in the nearest areas, and the number of his troops began to number 12,000 people. He planned to attack from all sides in order to completely split the garrison forces and destroy the defenses of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The signal to attack should be a shot from a cannon, from which a fire will occur in the fortress, and if it does not happen, then the next volley, if it misses again, then repeat, and so on until the goal is reached.
Performing an attack
The attack was scheduled for July 28, 1609.
Voivode Dolgoruky-Grove, who saw all the preparations, did everything necessary to arm the monks with the peasants. Hegave the order to carry all the gunpowder to the walls, but there was almost no chance of a successful duel. The besieged could only be saved by praying and hoping for a miracle. The notification system for the start of the battle was very confused - some units began to storm when the first shot was fired, and the second - after the next. Because of the darkness, the order of the attackers was mixed up. When the German mercenaries heard the cries of the Russian Tushians, they thought that the besieged decided to make a sortie - they began to fight with them. On the other hand, during the shots, a column of Poles was able to see the Tushinos, who came in from the flank, and opened fire on them. The besieged began to fire on the battlefield, which increased the turmoil and began to panic. The besiegers began to cut each other. Several hundred people were killed in this turmoil and panic. Sapieha decides to stop attacking the temple. He planned to kill the defenders in the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery by the Poles with the help of hunger.
Historian Golubinsky noted that they teased the starving, grazed cattle behind the ponds in the south side of the temple, on Klementyevsky field and Red Mountain. The Poles wanted to use the cattle as bait, so that the besieged would want to make a sortie in order to beat them and take the cattle. And in fact, the besieged did just that. But it so happened that they were able to get some of the cattle from among their people without any losses. And in mid-August, the besieged sent several people on horseback to fetch a herd grazing on Red Mountain. They managed to sneak in and suddenly attack the guards of the herd and beat them, and the animalstaken to the monastery. But in autumn, a severe famine occurred in the monastery - the grain ran out, people ate all the cats and birds.
Ending the siege
Since the attackers could not agree among themselves, there was a turning point in the struggle for the temple. All disagreements: on the one hand, between the mercenaries and the Poles, and on the other hand, the Tushinians, came to the surface. There was discord among the besiegers. Most of the Tushino atamans were taken away by their own troops from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and many deserters appeared in the remaining detachments. After the Tushians, foreign mercenaries left the Sapieha camp. And among the besieged, there was confidence that the salvation of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was the result of God's intercession and the siege would soon end.
In the autumn of 1609, under the leadership of Jacob Delagardi and Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, Russian troops were able to win the battle against the Poles and Tushino. Then they again began to advance towards Moscow. Some troops were sent to fight Sapieha's troops. They surrounded him in their own camp and restored constant communication between the besieged and the troops that went to the rescue. In the autumn of the same year and at the beginning of the winter of 1610, help came to the people holding the defense: the archers of the governor Zherebtsov and Grigory Valuev managed to enter the monastery. The troops began to fight. Streltsy, having made one of the sorties, set fire to the wooden fortifications that were in the Sapieha camp. They were outnumbered by the enemy, which prevented them from entering the camp, but the outcome of the struggle was already clear.
Having received information that fromNovgorod, the troops of J. Delagardi and M. Skopin-Shuisky are moving, Sapega gave the order to lift the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. In mid-January 1610, the Lithuanian-Polish detachments left the temple for Dmitrov. There they were overtaken and defeated by a detachment of Russians under the leadership of the governor Ivan Kurakin. After that, Sapieha brought back about a little more than a thousand people to False Dmitry II. By the end of the attack, there were no more than 1000 people in the besieged monastery from those who were there at the beginning of the siege, and the number of troops was less than two hundred people. The 16-month siege by the Poles of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery ended in victory. This greatly improved the mood of the people, the morale of the soldiers, who bravely and decisively fought against the invaders during the Time of Troubles, increased.
The siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery during the Time of Troubles was the beginning of a difficult period for Russia. Tsar Vasily Shuisky was tired of receiving petitions from the besieged building, and therefore (on the basis of petitions) he first presented the award to Davyd Zherebtsov, and then to the governor Grigory Dolgoruky-Roshcha. The prince felt insulted and sent a complaint to the court. But the court session was not held, and he was sent to Vologda by the second governor. There he constantly drank and did not engage in the defense of the city, for which he was executed in September 1612 (the city was captured by a gang of Cossacks, and the governor was executed by them).
Afterword
In 1618, the Polish prince Vladislav attempted to attack the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, but thanks to his new, heavily fortified structures, the temple wasimpregnable. As a result, in Deulino, near Sergiev Posad, the Treaty of Deulino was signed, which served as the end of the Russian-Polish war of 1609-1618.
