In the history of Russia, the period 1610-1612. entered as the Semiboyarschina - the reign of seven representatives of the Boyar Duma, who created a transitional government, the purpose of which was to prepare the election of a new king to replace the ousted Vasily Shuisky. However, the features of the Time of Troubles, against which events unfolded, demanded immediate decisions from them.
The country is in a state of severe crisis
The political and economic situation in Russia by the beginning of 1610 was very difficult. The war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth proceeded extremely unfavorably for her, in addition, the army of the next impostor, claiming to be the heir to the throne, False Dmitry II, came close to Moscow. He went down in history under the nickname Tushinsky thief - at the location of his camp in the village of Tushino near Moscow.
The situation was aggravated by the consequences shortly before this swept across Russia, the uprising led by Ivan Bolotnikov, as well as the attack of the Nagai and Crimean Tatars. All this led to the extreme impoverishment of the people and the inevitable social tension in such cases. The next defeat of the tsarist troops in the battle with the Poles served as an impetus for popular unrest and deposition of Tsar Vasily Shuisky.
Education of Seven Boyars
Ahead was the election of a new autocrat, and to prepare this most important act in the life of the state, as well as to govern the country during the transition period, an interim government was formed, which included seven of the most generous and influential members of the Boyar Duma. Among them were the princes F. I. Mstislavsky, I. M. Vorotynsky, A. V. Trubetskoy, A. V. Golitsyn, as well as the boyars B. M. Lykov-Obolensky, I. N. Romanov and F. I. Sheremetev .
So, in the wake of Polish intervention and domestic problems, Semiboyarschina was formed. The years of rule of this authority, headed by Prince Fedor Mikhailovich Mstislavsky, ended with the accession to the throne of the first tsar from the House of Romanov - Mikhail Fedorovich, and the end of the Time of Troubles. But this was preceded by a difficult and long period.
The limited power of the boyars
To understand what Semiboyarschina is and how wide its powers were, one should take into account the situation that had developed around Moscow at that time. From documentary sources it is known that to the west of it, in the immediate vicinity of the city outposts, there were Poles led by the hetman Zhelkovsky, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, the army of False Dmitry was strengthened, reinforced by the Lithuanian detachment Sapega that joined it. Thus, for all the time of the Seven Boyars, its power did not extend beyond the capital.
Forced collusion with the Poles
The question of what the Semiboyarschyna is in the history of Russia, as a rule, never caused discussions. Usually, the members of this government body were assigned the role of national traitors, and this is the point. For them personally, the main threat was not the Poles, with whom it was possible to come to an agreement, but the detachments of the impostor, who had many supporters among the common people of Moscow. In the event of the victory of the Tushino thief, the boyars would certainly not have demolished their heads.
This prompted them to negotiate with the hetman Zhelkovsky and sign an agreement according to which Vladislav Vaza, the son of the Polish king Sigismund III, was to become the Russian tsar . The Lithuanians supporting the impostor, led by Sapega, also agreed to swear allegiance to the Polish prince, thus, False Dmitry II lost the real opportunity to seize power in Moscow.
Hostages of Own Decisions
However, in order to have great guarantees of personal security, the boyars secretly opened the Kremlin gate at night on September 21, 1610 and let the interventionists into the capital. From that moment on, the whole essence of the Semiboyarschyna was reduced to playing the role of puppets in the hands of the Polish king, who drew the political line he liked through his protege - Moscow commandant Alexander Gonsevsky. The boyars were deprived of real power and, in essence, became hostages. It is in this miserable role that they usually see the answer to the question: "What is Semiboyarschina?"
Although the contract infringed on the national interests of the Russian people and was offensive to him, it did not refer to Russia's accession to the Commonwealth, but stipulated the preservation of Orthodoxy throughout its territory. The very same prince, Vladislav, was, according to the contract, obliged to transfer from the Catholic faith to Orthodoxy.
Arbitrariness causing popular outrage
After all the real power passed from the hands of the transitional government to the Polish governor, he, having received the rank of boyar, began to control the country uncontrollably. Out of his own will, Vladislav took away lands and estates from those Russians who remained faithful to his patriotic duty, and gave them to the Poles, who constituted his inner circle. This caused a wave of indignation in the country. It is believed that during this period Semiboyarschina changed its attitude towards the Poles.
In the Time of Troubles, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Germogen, enjoyed special authority among the people . A true patriot of his Fatherland, he, with the support of the boyars, sent letters throughout Russia calling for the creation of a militia and an armed struggle against the invaders. Despite the fact that, by order of the Polish governor, he was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Chudov Monastery, where he soon died of starvation, his messages became the impetus that resulted in Minin and Pozharsky regiments appearing under the walls of Moscow.
The end of the period of the Seven Boyars
The subsequent election to the throne of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1613 was the end of the period that went down in the history of Russia as the Semiboyarschina. The years of reign of seven representatives of the highest Moscow nobility are justly considered one of the most difficult for the entire period of the Time of Troubles. Upon completion, the country entered a new historical era.
Speaking about the origin of the term itself, we should mention the relatively late appearance of the word Semiboyarschina. In the Time of Troubles and for the next two centuries, members of this government structure were called "seven-numbered boyars." The expression used today is first found only in 1813 in the novel by A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.
In Russian history and earlier there were periods when, in the absence of the tsar, power was concentrated in the hands of the boyar commissions. This happened mainly when the sovereign went to war or a long pilgrimage. It was then that it became a tradition to create these temporary government bodies of seven. The Russian historian of the 17th century, the official of the Ambassadorial order G.K. Kotoshikhin writes about this in detail in his writings.
Attempts to rethink past events
It should be noted that in recent years the question of what the Semiboyarschyna is and what its role in Russian history has received a slightly different light. If in the Soviet period the actions of this temporary authority were unambiguously regarded as treason, then in the post-perestroika period publications appeared in which conspiracy with the Poles was seen as the only reasonable diplomatic move aimed at saving the country from the bloody chaos that would be inevitable in the event of the victory of False Dmitry II.
Today, being outside ideological stereotypes, researchers have the opportunity to give a more objective assessment of the historical realities of past centuries, among which the Semiboyarshchina occupies an important place. The years that separate us from that era did not erase from the people's memory the negative aspects of its activities, but they also allowed them to be given a deeper understanding.