Imposture is a common historical phenomenon characterized by the unlawful appropriation of the name or personality of another person with the aim of deceiving and obtaining certain benefits. To truly understand the meaning of this term, it is necessary to turn to historical events.
Origin of the term
Etymologically, "imposture" is a term that can be literally revealed as "call yourself to the kingdom." This explains the nature of identity theft, not just famous people, but representatives of royal blood. The term was actively used until the 30s of the XX century. In subsequent stages, he appears only in historical works. We can say that today linguists attribute the term "imposture" to historicism.
Imposture in Russia
The history of Russia is characterized by the periodic appearance in society of individuals who impersonate rulers in order to destabilize the internal situation in the state. The beginning of the 17th century, when the Russian state was going through the so-called Time of Troubles, is considered to be the classical century of imposture. The official suppression of the Rurik dynasty in 1598 gave rise to personalities who posed as surviving descendants of Ivan the Terrible. Imposture in the years of Troubles is characterized by the appearance of false sovereigns who recognized themselves as the real prince Dmitry, the son of Ivan IV.
False Dmitry I, among the people Grishka Otrepiev, became the first known impostor in Russia, as well as the only one who managed to sit on the Russian throne. For almost a whole year he managed to remain a completely legitimate ruler. Subsequently, people began to notice the strangeness of the tsar’s actions: he behaved “not royally”. The situation was aggravated by the wedding of False Dmitry with the Polish princess Marina Mnishek, who was a Catholic by religion, and, therefore, could not occupy the Russian throne. The combination of facts led to the fact that in May 1906, the "lying king" was brutally murdered thanks to the conspiracy of the boyars.
In the future, two more known attempts were made to call themselves Tsar Dmitry, but these False Dmitrys did not have such success as the first impostor.
Impostors in the era of Catherine II
With the establishment of the Romanov dynasty, the phenomenon of imposture temporarily ceased to exist. However, after the death of Peter III, his wife Catherine II, who was not the rightful heir to the Russian throne, ascended the throne. This fact led to the appearance of the impostor Emelyan Pugachev, who posed as the empress’s husband who was saved. As in the Time of Troubles, ordinary people believed in the impostor and rebelled against official power. It was a real peasant war, which nevertheless ended in the defeat and death of the impostor. The image of Emelyan Pugachev was used in the famous work of Russian literature, "The Captain's Daughter." Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in all colors described the bloody peasant war led by an impostor.
Pugachev was not the only character that Empress Catherine II had to face. In historiography, such a person appears as Princess Tarakanova, who was supposedly the daughter of the late Elizabeth I, the legal representative of the Romanov dynasty. There are different versions on the question of whether she was really an impostor or not. The fate of the girl ended sadly, she died in prison.
Reasons for the popularity of imposture in Russia
Many scholars of Russian culture and history note that there is a direct link between the appearance of impostors and the national character of the inhabitants of Russia. Cultural historians claim that the Russian population has a desire to deify power in the person of the Tsar, the messenger of God. The monarchy in Russia has historically developed over the centuries, which as a result has rooted a sense of submission and dependence of the people on the power given from above. In the eyes of the general population, the ruler looked like an inviolable and divine figure who would save the state from any adversity. The suppression of the dynasty seemed to be the destruction of the entire world order of Russia, therefore the appearance of “legitimate” heirs was perceived positively by the population. Thus, imposture is a feature of the Russian character.
Imposture in World History
Imposture is not only a Russian phenomenon, it is also inherent in the history of other countries of the world. For example, in the history of France appears an impostor who impersonated Louis XVII. His nurse and the Minister of Justice recognized him as a true monarch, but the society and the court did not believe him and expelled him from France. An interesting fact is that the imposture of this historical character is in doubt, and his ancestors still insist on the recognition of Louis XVII as the true representative of the Bourbon dynasty.
Cases of imposture are also characteristic of the history of Portugal, England, Scotland, Persia, Macedonia and many other states. As we see, fake monarchs appeared not only in Russia, but also abroad.