In 1682, Moscow archers shot a riot, bringing to power Sofya Alekseevna, the elder sister of the young princes Ivan and Peter. This uprising was marked by numerous killings of boyars and officials.
Background
The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred for several reasons. Shortly before the regiments of the new system were created, which markedly 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 archers were paid irregularly due to the empty treasury. There was hazing in this layer, in which the commanders kept the salaries of subordinates and in every possible way abused their own position. All this created tension. Sooner or later, she was to result in 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 Fedor Alekseevich died . His death led to dynastic confusion. The deceased had no children. The throne was to go to one of his younger brothers - the sons of Alexei Mikhailovich. Ivan and Peter were still quite children. By tradition, the throne was to go to the first of them. However, Ivan was a painful child, and the Kremlin believed that he would die early. In addition, the paternal brothers had different mothers, behind whom the warring boyar groups stood. It was against such a confused political background that the archery rebellion of 1682 took place.
The mother of sixteen-year-old Ivan was Maria Miloslavskaya - a representative of a noble and powerful family. She died before her husband, so uncle and other relatives were behind the baby. Ten-year-old Peter was the son of Natalia Naryshkina. The Streletsky revolt in 1682 occurred due to the confrontation of two families when choosing a new king.
Tsarevich Peter
According to the law, the heir was to be determined by the boyar thought. She gathered when the terminally ill Fedor Alekseevich was preparing to say goodbye to life. The boyars chose Peter. This boy was healthier than his brother, which means that his supporters could not be afraid for their future in the event of another short-term change of power.
Another key character in this story was the older sister of Ivan and Peter Sofya Alekseevna. It was she who initiated the rebellion of the archers. The princess was 25 years old, she was an adult with great ambitions. Sophia wanted to pull a blanket of power over herself. She was going to do this, firstly, with the help of archers who were dissatisfied with their position, and secondly, thanks to the support of the infringed upon the Duma of the Miloslavsky. The princess also relied on the influential princes Ivan Khovansky and Vasily Golitsyn. These nobles were not at all pleased with the rise of the artifact Naryshkins.
Riots in Moscow
Very soon after the decision of the Boyar Duma on the choice of an heir in Moscow, rumors began to spread about the upcoming infringement of the archers. These conversations were supported by a wide network of Miloslavsky supporters. The Streletsky revolt of 1682 occurred due to massive propaganda in the armed forces. Cases of disobedience to their superiors have become more frequent.
For two weeks, the situation in the capital was extremely tense and unclear. Finally, on May 15, Sophia's associates began to act even more decisively. Ivan Miloslavsky and Pyotr Tolstoy went to strelets' settlements and there they began to call archers to the Kremlin, allegedly because the Naryshkins killed the young Tsarevich Ivan. A crowd of armed people really went to the sovereign chambers. There she demanded to extradite the boyars who opposed Sophia and Miloslavsky and who were responsible for the death of the child.
Dissatisfied met Tsarina 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, an unauthorized action could already be interpreted as treason.
The beginning of bloodshed
The situation in the Kremlin has reached a boiling point. The crowd had not yet dispersed when Mikhail Dolgorukov, a supporter of the Naryshkins boyars, appeared on the same porch. This nobleman began to shout at the archers, accusing them of treason and threatening with speedy reprisal. At that moment, the agitated armed men finally found on whom to sweep out their anger. Dolgorukov was thrown from the porch directly onto the spears of the warriors below. So 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 previously spread false rumors, ceased to control the situation. The rebels cracked down on other Naryshkin associates, including their party leader Artamon Matveev. In the palace, soldiers killed the brother of Queen Athanasius. The killings lasted all day. Sagittarius took control of the Kremlin. Entrances and exits from palaces and chambers were guarded by rebels. In fact, members of the royal family became hostages.
Repression against the Naryshkins
The first streltsy revolt led to perfect anarchy in the city. Power was paralyzed. The rebels with particular zeal were looking for another brother of the tsarina - Ivan Naryshkin. On the day the bloodshed began, he hid in the royal chambers, thanks to which he survived. However, within 24 hours the archers again came to the Kremlin and demanded the extradition of Ivan Kirillovich. Otherwise, they promised to create even greater chaos.
Natal Naryshkina hesitated. Sofya Alekseevna personally pressed on her and began to explain that the only way to avoid further anarchy. Ivan was issued. He was tortured and then executed. The father of Ivan and Natalia - the old and sick Kirill Naryshkin - was sent to the monastery.
Archery payout
The reprisals in Moscow lasted another three days. One of the last significant victims of terror was von Ganden - a foreign doctor who was prescribed for Fedor Alekseevich. Sagittarius accused him of poisoning the king and killed him. The execution took place even despite the entreaties of the deceased's widow not to touch the doctor. Tsarina Martha testified that the foreigner personally tried all the medicines prescribed to Fedor. This example shows how merciless and blind the archery 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 young king with an ultimatum. Sagittarius demanded payment of all delayed salaries. According to their calculations, the treasury was to pay 240 thousand rubles. At that time it was a colossal amount. The authorities simply did not have that kind of money. Then the initiative took Sofia into her own hands, which, formally still without any authority, ordered to increase taxes and requisitions in the provinces and to begin the smelting of Kremlin values.
Two princes
Soon new circumstances emerged, which led to the Streltsy riot. Briefly assessing the situation, Sophia decided through archers to demand actual power for herself. It looked as follows. On May 23, the rebels filed a petition in the name of Peter, in which they insisted that his brother Ivan be the second king. After a week, this combination was continued. Sagittarius also proposed making Sofya Alekseevna regent due to the co-rulers' infancy.
The Boyar Duma and the Metropolitan agreed to these changes. They had no choice, as the inhabitants of the Kremlin continued to be held hostage by the soldiers. The wedding ceremony of Ivan V and Peter I was held on June 25 in the Assumption Cathedral. She summed up the results of the Streltsy rebellion - the power in the country was changed. Instead of the sole Tsarevich Peter, Russia received two co-rulers-children. Actual power was in the hands of their elder sister Sophia Alekseevna.
Khovanshchina
Events after the Streltsy rebellion of 1682 for some time excited Moscow. When Sofia 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 did not want to become a victim of another riot.
However, the Khovansky figure was not the best choice for this responsible position. The prince was not only inferior to the archers in their demands, but he himself began to put pressure on Sophia. In addition, the military did not leave the Kremlin, motivating their action by the need to protect the royal residence. This short period was remembered among the people as “Khovanshchina”.
Old Believers' unrest
Meanwhile, a new factor appeared in the confrontation between the archers and the central government. They became 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, affecting the essence of important Christian rites. The church recognized the schismatics as heretics and expelled them to the outskirts of the country to Siberia.
Now, when there was a riot in Moscow, the Old Believers again reached for 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 in another riot. Now commoners have become a source of unrest.
It was at this moment that another conflict occurred between Sofia and Khovansky. The queen insisted that it was necessary to restrain 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 dissenters as instigators of the next riot.
Yard relocation
After the story with the Old Believers, the relationship between Sofia Alekseevna and Ivan Khovansky finally deteriorated. At the same time, the government continued to be dependent on the archers. Then the regent gathered the whole yard and literally fled with him from the city. It happened on August 19th.
That day, a procession was planned on the outskirts of Moscow. Sophia used this pretext to retire from the archers to the province. She took the princes with her. The ruler could convene a noble militia, which would become a new army capable of protecting the government from inconstant archers. The courtyard secretly moved to the well-fortified Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
Sagittarius lay down their weapons
Could a new streltsy revolt have occurred in connection with this maneuver of power? The reasons 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 an opportunity 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 the stolniks loyal to the authorities. On the same night, September 17, he was executed on charges of organizing a coup. Khovanshchina is over.
There was no second bloodshed. Sagittarius, learning about the inglorious death of their leader, were demoralized. They surrendered to the authorities and purged the Kremlin. Duma clerk Fedor Shaklovity was appointed to the place of the chief of the Streltsy army . He began to recreate in these parts of discipline and order. After 16 years, the archers rebelled again, already during the reign of Peter I, after which they were finally repressed, and their army disbanded.