In 1682, the Moscow archers staged a riot, bringing Sofya Alekseevna, the elder sister of the young princes Ivan and Peter, to power. This uprising was marked by numerous murders of boyars and officials.
Background
The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred for several reasons. Shortly before that, regiments of the new system were created, which noticeably changed the order in the army. Before the archers were the basis of the army, its elite units. With the advent of the regiments of the new system, they actually turned into city guards.
In addition, on the eve of the uprising, the salaries of the archers began to be issued irregularly due to the empty treasury. Hazing also existed in this stratum, in which commanders withheld the salaries of their subordinates and abused their own position in every possible way. All this created tension. Sooner or later it was bound to turn into an open protest. All that was needed for this was some external reason. And he was found.
Heir Problem
On April 27, 1682, the young Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died. His death led to dynastic confusion. The deceased had no children. The throne had to go to one ofhis younger brothers - the sons of Alexei Mikhailovich. Ivan and Peter were still quite children. By tradition, the throne was supposed to go to the first of them. However, Ivan was a sickly child, and the Kremlin believed that he would die early. In addition, the paternal brothers had different mothers, behind whom were warring boyar groups. It was against such a confusing political background that the Streltsy revolt of 1682 took place.
The mother of sixteen-year-old Ivan was Maria Miloslavskaya, a representative of a well-born and powerful family. She died before her husband, so there were uncles and other relatives behind the baby. Ten-year-old Peter was the son of Natalya Naryshkina. The Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred due to the confrontation between two families in choosing a new king.
Tsarevich Peter
According to the law, the boyar Duma had to determine the heir. She gathered when the already mortally ill Fyodor Alekseevich was preparing to say goodbye to life. The boyars chose Peter. This boy was he althier than his brother, which means that his supporters could not be afraid for their future in the event of another fleeting change of power.
Another key character in this story was Ivan and Peter's elder sister Sofya Alekseevna. It was she who initiated the rebellion of the archers. The princess was in her 25th year, she was an adult with great ambitions. Sophia wanted to pull the blanket of power over herself. She was going to do this, firstly, with the help of archers dissatisfied with their position, and secondly, thanks to the support of the Miloslavskys, who were infringed by the thought. The princess also relied on the influential princes Ivan Khovanskyand Vasily Golitsyn. These nobles were not at all happy with the rise of the slender Naryshkins.
Unrest in Moscow
Very soon after the decision of the Boyar Duma to choose an heir in Moscow, rumors began to spread about the impending infringement of the archers. These conversations were supported by a wide network of Miloslavsky supporters. The Streltsy rebellion of 1682 was due to massive propaganda in the armed forces. Cases of disobedience to one's own superiors have become more frequent.
For two weeks the situation in the capital was extremely tense and unclear. Finally, on May 15, Sophia's close associates began to act even more decisively. Ivan Miloslavsky and Pyotr Tolstoy went to the streltsy settlements and there they publicly began to call the streltsy to the Kremlin, allegedly because the Naryshkins had killed the young Tsarevich Ivan. A crowd of armed people really went to the sovereign's chambers. There she demanded to extradite the boyars who opposed Sophia and Miloslavsky and were responsible for the death of the child.
The dissatisfied were met by Queen Natalya Naryshkina. Having learned the cause of the turmoil, she brought Ivan and Peter to the porch of the palace, clearly showing that everything was in order with the children. The reasons for the Streltsy rebellion were rumors that were not confirmed. Thus, the unauthorized action could already be interpreted as high treason.
Start of bloodshed
The situation in the Kremlin has reached a boiling point. The crowd had not yet dispersed when a supporter of the Naryshkin boyar Mikhail Dolgorukov appeared on the same porch. This nobleman has becomeshout at the archers, accusing them of treason and threatening imminent reprisals. At that moment, the excited armed men finally found someone to vent their anger on. Dolgorukov was thrown from the porch directly onto the spears of the soldiers standing below. This is how the first blood was shed.
There was nowhere to retreat now. Therefore, the events of the Streltsy rebellion developed rapidly, and even the alleged organizers of the riots, who had previously spread false rumors, ceased to control the situation. The rebels de alt with other close associates of the Naryshkins, including the leader of their party, Artamon Matveev. In the palace, the soldiers slaughtered the brother of the queen Athanasius. The killings continued throughout the day. Streltsy took control of the Kremlin. The entrances and exits of the palaces and chambers were guarded by the rebels. In fact, members of the royal family became hostages.
Repressions against the Naryshkins
The first Streltsy rebellion led to complete anarchy in the city. Power was paralyzed. The rebels with particular zeal were looking for another brother of the queen - Ivan Naryshkin. On the day the bloodshed began, he hid in the royal chambers, thanks to which he survived. However, a day later, the archers again came to the Kremlin and demanded the extradition of Ivan Kirillovich. Otherwise, they promised to cause even more chaos.
Natalnaya Naryshkina hesitated. Sofya Alekseevna personally put pressure on her and began to explain that this was the only way to avoid further anarchy. Ivan was released. He was tortured and then executed. Father of Ivan and Natalia - old and sick Kirill Naryshkin - was sent to the monastery.
Payoutarchery salary
The massacre in Moscow continued for another three days. One of the last significant victims of terror was von Ganden, a foreign doctor prescribed for Fyodor Alekseevich. The archers accused him of poisoning the king and killed him. The execution took place even despite the persuasion of the widow of the deceased not to touch the doctor. Queen Martha testified that the foreigner personally tried all the medicines that were prescribed to Fedor. This example shows how merciless and blind the Streltsy rebellion was. Sophia at the same time did everything to establish herself in power.
However, before the rebels and the government began to discuss the political future of the country, the rebels on May 19 came to the infant king with an ultimatum. Streltsy demanded payment of all delayed salaries. According to their calculations, the treasury had to pay 240 thousand rubles. At the time, this was a huge amount. The authorities simply did not have that kind of money. Then Sophia took the initiative into her own hands, who, formally not yet having any authority, ordered to increase taxes and fees in the provinces and start melting down the Kremlin's values.
Two princes
Soon new circumstances were revealed, which led to the streltsy rebellion. Briefly assessing the current situation, Sophia decided through the archers to demand actual power for herself. It looked like this. On May 23, the rebels filed a petition in the name of Peter, in which they insisted that his brother Ivan become the second king. A week later, this combination was continued. Streltsy also proposed to make Sofya Alekseevna regent for a reasonco-rulers' infancy.
Boyar Duma and Metropolitan agreed to these changes. They had no choice, since the inhabitants of the Kremlin continued to be hostages of the soldiers. The wedding ceremony of Ivan V and Peter I took place on June 25 in the Assumption Cathedral. She summed up the results of the Streltsy revolt - the power in the country was changed. Instead of the sole prince Peter, Russia received two co-rulers-children. The actual power was in the hands of their elder sister Sofya Alekseevna.
Khovanshchina
Events after the Streltsy revolt of 1682 disturbed Moscow for some time. When Sophia came to power, she appointed Ivan Khovansky as the head of this military formation. The queen counted on his help in calming the archers. The queen feared for her fate. She didn't want to be the victim of another riot.
However, the figure of Khovansky was not the best choice for this responsible position. The prince not only yielded to the archers in their demands, but he himself began to put pressure on Sophia. In addition, the military never left the Kremlin, motivating their action by the need to protect the royal residence. This short period was remembered by the people as “Khovanshchina.”
Old Believer unrest
Meanwhile, a new factor has appeared in the confrontation between the archers and the central government. They were the old believers. This religious movement broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The conflict was caused by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, which affected the essence of important Christian rites. Church recognizedschismatics as heretics and expelled them to the outskirts of the country in Siberia.
Now, when there was a riot in Moscow, the Old Believers again reached out to the capital. They enlisted the support of Khovansky. In the Kremlin, he began to defend the idea of the need for a theological dispute between supporters of the Old Believers and the official church. Such a public dispute really took place. However, this event ended with another riot. Now the commoners have become the source of unrest.
It was at this moment that another conflict occurred between Sofia and Khovansky. The queen insisted that it was necessary to rein in the Old Believers. In the end, some of their leaders were killed, although Khovansky guaranteed them immunity. Fearing reprisals from the authorities, the archers agreed to recognize the schismatics as instigators of another rebellion.
Moving the yard
After the story with the Old Believers, relations between Sofia Alekseevna and Ivan Khovansky finally deteriorated. At the same time, the authorities continued to be in a dependent position from the archers. Then the regent gathered the whole court and literally fled with him from the city. It happened on August 19.
On that day, a religious procession was planned on the outskirts of Moscow. Sophia took advantage of this pretext to move away from the archers to the provinces. She also took the princes with her. The ruler could convene a noble militia, which would become a new army capable of protecting power from fickle archers. The courtyard secretly moved to the well-fortified Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
Archers lay down their weapons
Could a new archery riot have occurred in connection with this maneuver of power? The causes and results of the first bloodshed were still well remembered by Sophia, who decided to finally get rid of this threat. She believed that such a possibility really existed and wanted to stop it in advance.
Khovansky, having learned about the actual flight of the regent with the princes, decided to go straight to Sophia in order to resolve the conflict through negotiations. On the way, he stopped in Pushkin, where he was captured by stolniks loyal to the government. On the same night, September 17, he was executed on charges of organizing a coup d'état. Khovanshchina is over.
There was no second bloodshed. Archers, having learned about the inglorious death of their leader, were demoralized. They surrendered to the authorities and cleared the Kremlin. Duma clerk Fyodor Shaklovity was appointed to the place of the chief of the streltsy troops. He set about restoring discipline and order in these parts. After 16 years, the archers rebelled again, already during the reign of Peter I, after which they were finally repressed, and their army was disbanded.
