There are many examples in world history when impostors seized power in one country or another, posing as real rulers. There were such cases in Russia. The first of them occurred in 1605, when False Dmitry 1 appeared on the Moscow throne. The biography of this historical figure contains many contradictory facts. Some historians attribute to him royal origin, but most scholars are inclined to believe that the man who declared himself miraculously saved by the younger son of John IV the Terrible Dmitry is an adventurer who possessed cunning and an enviable mind.
The origin and youth of the impostor
Who was False Dmitry 1 really? A brief biography of this man does not contain much information about his life before his accession to the throne. In official history, it is generally accepted that False Dmitry 1 was born approximately in 1581 in Galich (Kostroma volost). At the birth of the impostor, they called Yuri (Yushka), and his father was a nobleman from the impoverished Lithuanian family of Nelid Bogdan Otrepiev. Arriving in his youth in Moscow, the young man entered the service in one of the orders. After working for some time, Yuri Otrepyev tonsured monks under the name of Gregory. It happened in 1600. He did not go to the monastery of Yushka from great faith, but in order to avoid reprisal, because in worldly life he stole, drank and did not listen to his father.
A year after being tonsured as a monk, Gregory managed to settle in the Miracle Monastery in Moscow. Being literate and possessing calligraphic handwriting, the young man received the position of a copyist of books in it. It is here that Otrepyev comes up with the idea of posing as the prematurely deceased heir to the Moscow throne, Tsarevich Dmitry. Gregory was about the same age as the youngest son of John IV, and even resembled him.
Description of the appearance of Otrepyev
The characteristic of False Dmitry 1, left by his contemporaries, indicates that he was below average height, unusually wide, with a short neck and arms of different lengths. This man cannot be called handsome: his round face was "decorated" with large warts and a large nose resembling a shoe. He was gloomy and thoughtful, but he had remarkable physical strength and could easily bend a horseshoe with his bare hands.
Life in Poland
What happened to the fate of a person who went down in history as False Dmitry 1? A brief biography of him testifies that in 1602 he was accused of theft and fled from the monastery. For some time the fraudster stayed in Kiev, and then he moved to Poland and secretly accepted the Catholic faith. There he proclaimed himself the rightful heir to the Russian throne and secured the support of King Sigismund III. In gratitude that he would help him take possession of the Moscow throne, False Dmitry 1 promised to give part of the West Russian lands to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The impostor also secured the support of the governor Jerzy Mnishek, vowing to marry his daughter Marina, present the cities of Pskov and Novgorod and pay 1 million zlotys.
Offensive on Russian cities and seizure of power
False Dmitry 1, together with the three thousandth Polish army, began its campaign on Russian lands in the autumn of 1604. Due to the discontent of the local population with the internal politics of Boris Godunov, who was the de facto ruler of the state under the puny son of Ivan the Terrible, Otrepiev quickly managed to subjugate a number of Russian cities and settle in Putivl. It was here that False Dmitry settled with his government. 1. A brief biography of the impostor contains facts confirming that the people supported the new ruler, believing that before him, the miracle of the saved son of John IV, and he would restore order in their lands.
In April 1605, Boris Godunov suddenly died and his son Fedor was proclaimed heir to the throne. However, he did not manage to hold out for long in power: a few weeks later he was overthrown by supporters of False Dmitry. Having officially reigned on the throne on June 20, 1605, the impostor ordered the death of Fedor and his mother, and he made his sister Ksenia his concubine, and then sent her to the monastery.
So that the people would finally believe that he was the real heir to the throne, an adventurer had a meeting with Marya Naga, Dmitry’s mother. The woman recognized her son in the man standing before her. Later, after the death of Otrepyev, she renounced her words, confessing that her supporters forced her to tell a lie.
Characteristics of the domestic policy of False Dmitry 1
Once in power, the newly-made ruler officially banned bribery, ordered the return of people affected by Godunov from the exile, reorganized the army and increased the salary of everyone who was in the service. The impostor eased the fate of serfs, freed the south of Russia from taxes and took away land plots from monasteries.
False Dmitry 1’s domestic policy was aimed at strengthening Polish influence in all spheres of the state’s life. He laid the construction of churches, distributed foreign amusements among ordinary people, and organized the Secret Chancery, which included Poles. Under the impostor, the Boyar Duma was renamed the Senate, and construction of a wooden palace with secret passages began near the Kremlin. In foreign policy, False Dmitry 1 led preparations for the war with the Turks, in which Sigismund III was interested.
Otrepiev's wedding with Marina Mnishek and his murder
Very soon, False Dmitry lost his support of the people. His biography indicates that he had a lot of fun, loved hunting and beautiful women. The discontent of the Orthodox people was caused by the marriage of the ruler with Marina Mnishek, conducted according to the Catholic rite. During the celebration, many Poles gathered in Moscow, who, pretty drunk, robbed passers-by and burst into the homes of the local population.
On May 17, 1606, in the midst of the wedding, Prince Vasily Shuisky, seeking to seize the throne, raised an uprising in Moscow, as a result of which False Dmitry 1 and his supporters were killed. People, angry at the arbitrariness of the impostor, scoffed at his body for a long time, and then burned it and, loading the cannon with ash, shot it from it in the direction of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Thus False Dmitry ended ingloriously. A brief biography of this historical figure is an instructive story about what happens to impostors.