Tsar Vasily Shuisky, whose reign fell on the most difficult pages of Russian history, was from a famous boyar family descended from the Rurikovichs. This dynasty came to an end with the death of Fyodor Ioannovich. Shuisky became an elected tsar during the war with the Poles, which caused his rapid fall.
Boyar origin
The father of Vasily, who was born in 1552, was Prince Ivan Andreevich Shuisky. He died during the Livonian War (in a battle against the Swedes) near Lode Castle. Vasily also participated in Grozny's numerous military campaigns in the B altic states, which won him favor. He was the royal witness at the wedding of Ivan IV with one of his last wives.
In the last years of Grozny's life, Shuisky became one of the country's most influential boyars. He was a member of the Duma and retained his high position under Ivan's son Fyodor. In the same years, he mastered the art of political intrigue, as several boyar clans began fighting in Moscow for influence over the new sovereign.
Case of False Dmitry
In 1591, Vasily Shuisky, whose reign was still ahead, investigated the mysterious death of Dmitry Ioannovich. The little prince lived in Uglich and was supposed to become the heir to his childless elder brother Fyodor. However, he died under strange circumstances. Boris Godunov appointed Shuisky head of a special commission. Vasily came to the conclusion that Dmitry died due to an accident. Until now, researchers are arguing about whether Boris Godunov was to blame for what happened. In this case, he could force Shuisky to falsify the case.
When Boris himself became tsar, there were rumors on the western borders of Russia about the rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry. This legend was invented by the fugitive monk Grigory Otrepiev. The impostor was supported by the Polish king, who gave him money for his own army. False Dmitry invaded the country, and Shuisky was sent as governor of one of the regiments to meet him.
Together with Fyodor Mstislavsky, he led a 20,000-strong army in the Battle of Dobrynich on January 21, 1605. In this battle, False Dmitry was defeated and fled back to Poland. However, Shuisky did not pursue him. Perhaps he did it on purpose, not wanting Godunov (his rival) to get out of trouble so easily. Very soon, in the same year, Boris suddenly died.
Power passed to his young son Fyodor. Shuisky led a secret conspiracy against the young tsar, but this became known, and Vasily was expelled from Moscow along with his brothers. Meanwhile, False Dmitry came to his senses after the defeat at Dobrynich and came to Moscow with a new army. The people were dissatisfied with the Godunovs, and Fedor was betrayed and killed. The reign of the impostor has begun.
Leading the uprising against False Dmitry
False Dmitry needed loyal boyars. Since the supporters of the Godunovs were in disgrace, the new tsar at the end of 1605 returned their rivals, including the Shuiskys, from exile. Vasily did not waste time in vain. He led a popular revolt against the impostor.
When he appeared in Moscow, False Dmitry was insanely popular with ordinary residents of the capital. However, he made many fatal mistakes. The main thing was that he surrounded himself with faithful Poles and even wanted to convert to Catholicism. In addition, his enemies continued to spread rumors around Moscow that the real Tsarevich Dmitry had died many years ago in Uglich.
The uprising took place on May 17, 1606. False Dmitry was killed. He tried to escape from the palace, jumped out the window, broke his leg and was hacked to death in such a helpless state.
There was a question about the successor. Since the family of Rurikovich died out, and the last Godunov was killed, the boyars began to choose a new sovereign from other influential families. Shuisky was popular, he had many supporters. In addition, his distant ancestor was the Vladimir prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich from the Rurik family. Finally, on May 19, it was Vasily Shuisky who was chosen as tsar. The reign of the sovereign began on June 1, when his coronation took place.
Bolotnikov Uprising
However, the triumph of the former boyar was short-lived. The years of the reign of Vasily Shuisky saw wars with numerous internal andexternal enemies. When False Dmitry appeared in the western regions of the Russian kingdom, the local population ceased to obey the central government. A few years earlier, the country had experienced a terrible famine. Against this background, peasant riots broke out. The most famous of them is the uprising of Ivan Bolotnikov.
Another important reason for such a speech was the formation and consolidation of serfdom in Russia at the end of the 16th century. Back in the days of Boris Godunov, disgruntled peasants took up arms under the command of Ataman Khlopok. In addition, in 1606, the peasants from the provinces were affected by the news about the events in Moscow. Many did not believe that Tsar Dmitry was killed. The dissatisfied believed that this time the legitimate ruler was saved. Thus, the rebels wanted to overthrow the elected boyar tsar.
The center of the rebels ended up in the border area of Putivl. Vasily Shuisky, whose reign had just begun, at first did not pay attention to the discontent of the peasants. And when they moved straight to Moscow, there were already about 30 thousand people under their banners. The rebels defeated the royal squads. In the autumn of 1606, peasants led by Bolotnikov laid siege to Kolomna. It was not possible to take it, and together with this the army went to Moscow.
Victory over peasants
The siege of the capital lasted two months. This was the critical moment of the uprising. Part of Bolotnikov's army consisted of detachments assembled by the boyars. They went over to the side of the king, which weakened the besiegers. Bolotnikov retreated to Kaluga, wherewas blocked for several months.
In the spring of 1607, he retreated to Tula. In June, the tsarist troops besieged the city. Vasily Shuisky himself led the army. The last stronghold of the rebels was the Tula Kremlin, which was captured on October 10. Bolotnikov was exiled to the North, where he was blinded and drowned in an ice hole.
The emergence of a new impostor
Even during the Tula siege, the tsar was informed that a new impostor had appeared in Starodub. In historiography, he is known as False Dmitry II. The reign of Vasily Shuisky did not know a single day of peace.
The impostor managed to capture many cities in central Russia. Due to the fact that the tsarist troops lost control over most of the country, the Crimean Tatars invaded the Oka for the first time in many years.
Foreign intervention
Shuisky's other enemies did not sit idly by. The main enemy was the Polish king Sigismund. He laid siege to Smolensk. Lithuanian troops stood under the walls of the famous Trinity-Sergius Lavra for more than a year. The intervention of foreigners became the cause of the emergence of a national liberation movement. Spontaneous detachments were formed in the province. They acted in isolation from the royal troops.
The reign of Tsar Vasily Shuisky was turbulent. He tried to enlist support abroad. The sovereign sent an embassy to the Swedish king Charles, who agreed to give him an army and mercenaries in exchange for small territorial concessions. The contract with him was signed in Vyborg.
United Russian-Swedishan army led by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and Jacob Delagardi drove the Poles out of several northern cities. However, this alliance was short-lived. The reign of Vasily Shuisky was unhappy. The Swedes, under the pretext that the Russians do not fulfill the terms of the agreement, occupied Novgorod.
Meanwhile, the popularity of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky was growing in the army. He went to Moscow to liberate the central Russian cities from the Poles and Lithuanians. There were several battles that the invaders lost (near Torzhok and Toropets).
Victory Skopin-Shuisky
Poles and Lithuanians supported False Dmitry II, with whom they teamed up. The reign of Vasily Shuisky, in short, continued only in the capital. The combined troops of the interventionists and the impostor were defeated near Kalyazin on August 28, 1609. The Russian army in the battle was led by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, the tsar's nephew. He managed to unlock the besieged Moscow.
The hero-liberator was received in the capital with all honors. Michael was invited to a feast, where he felt sick after taking a sip from a goblet. Two weeks later, the national hero died. Rumors spread among the people that Vasily Shuisky was behind the poisoning. These conversations did not add popularity to the king.
Meanwhile, the Polish King Sigismund himself invaded Russia. He defeated the tsar's brother near Klushin, after which an uprising began in Moscow. The boyars overthrew Vasily and forced him to go to the monastery. The new rulers of the capital swore allegiance to the son of the Polish kingVladislav. The reign of Vasily Shuisky ended in an inglorious coup.
Death and results of government
When the interventionists entered Moscow, Shuisky was handed over to the invaders. The former tsar was transported to Poland, where he was imprisoned in Gostynin's castle. This happened on September 12, 1612, when the liberation war against the interventionists was in full swing in Russia. Soon the whole country was cleared of foreign invaders, and Mikhail Romanov became Tsar.
The results of Vasily Shuisky's reign are disappointing. Under him, the country finally plunged into chaos and was divided between the interventionists.
