The Story of Moscow

by Wirt Gerrare

The bodies of “Dmitri” and Basmanov, their faces covered with ribald masks, prepared for “mummeries” in celebration of the wedding, were dragged out on to the Grand Square and exposed to the public; later these corpses were burned, and the ashes fired from a cannon.

On the day following the massacre, Vasili Shooiski was proclaimed Tsar. The action was too precipitate. Galitzin, who was a candidate, was not satisfied; the provinces were annoyed that they had not been consulted. Shooiski did not feel secure. He sent into the distant parts of the empire as voievodes those boyards who had taken the side of “Dmitri.” Among them was Mossolski, who, on leaving Moscow, took a letter addressed to “Dmitri,” and had already formed the idea of advancing someone else to the throne. Vasili Shooiski was fifty years of age, he lacked energy, and his rule satisfied no one. Pretenders sprang up everywhere; at one time there were seventeen people claiming to be “Dmitri”; others took the name of Peter; all claimed to be sons of Ivan. Fighting men took their part. Cossacks, Zaporogians, and others, wanted war for the booty it brought. The nobles led a war in the south; in the east the Tartars thought the time opportune for action; Finns tried to recover their independence; Swedes and Poles looked on, waiting for the best moment at which to interfere. News travelled slowly, lack of communication made local risings possible. The people in distant parts heard almost at the same time that the Tsar was dead, that Dmitri had recovered his own, that the usurper had been dethroned—they knew not what to believe. In Moscow the citizens remembered that the bodies which had been exposed on the Grand Square had the faces masked: to most it seemed possible that “Dmitri” had escaped after all.

It was some time before the revolutionists joined forces. In the meantime Shooiski instigated an anti-foreign reaction. Dmitri exiled a bishop named Hermogen, an able, devout man, uncompromisingly orthodox, stubborn and bigoted, who now became Patriarch, and won the confidence of the people.

In due course the different sections of the army of revolutionaries closed in towards Moscow. Lissovski, a noted brigand, had a large following. There was John Zapieha, exiled from Poland, seeking fortune, and with him numerous “pans,” intent on the spoils of war; a host of Zaporogians, and the usual large army of Cossacks, under the hetman Rojinski, joined them. In the field the superior talents of Michael Skopin-Shooiski, a nephew of the Tsar, saved the situation. He refused overtures made by Liapunov, and this voievode consequently separated his following from that of the revolutionaries and joined Shooiski. Bolotnikov had then to fall back on Tula, and he wrote to Mniszek that unless “Dmitri” was produced, their cause would be lost. He was found, but too late to save Bolotnikov, who was drowned; another leader was hanged. The identity of the new impostor is as disputed as that of “Junius”; to historians he is simply the “second false Dmitri,” the “Brigand of Tushino,” or the “Little Tsar.” His party was strong, because each of its units expected spoils in case of victory; it received such support as it had from the people by reason of the ex-Tsaritsa Marina, the widow of “Dmitri,” and Mniszek, recognising the impostor as “Dmitri.”

The northern towns supported the impostor, and Sigismund and the Poles made common cause with him against Moscow. Shooiski, who had refused the proffered aid of Sweden, now sought help, and from Novgorod the young Delagardie was sent on behalf of Sweden. More could have been accomplished had not Vasili Shooiski been so jealous of the successes and popularity of his nephew. He was afraid to let him take the field, and the impostor established himself at Tushino, a village ten miles to the north of Moscow. Here he held his court, and enticed the Muscovites by promises. Nobles and citizens alike essayed to be on good terms with both Shooiski, the “half-Tsar,” and the impostor, the “little Tsar,” spending their time at both courts, and earning the name of Pereletsi (birds-of-passage) by their frequent changes of residence. The townsmen were so demoralised that they were ready for whomsoever should succeed, yet gave little assistance to either “Tsar,” and responded but feebly to future attempts at insurrection within the capital. The soldiers returned to their homes, and Shooiski became by turns devout and ribald. Now spending all his hours in church, anon seeking aid of sorcerers; one day punishing traitors with extreme rigour, the next proclaiming that all were free to do as they wished. The few who remained true to Shooiski sent sons or near relations to make court to the impostor.

The Church saved Russia in this extremity; it was unswervingly orthodox and opposed to Polish supremacy. The rich monastery of Troitsa attracted the cupidity of the revolutionaries, and some 30,000 men under Zapieha and Lissovski laid siege to the famous monastery in 1608. The monks held out bravely, keeping the besiegers at bay for sixteen months. In September 1609 Sigismund himself laid siege to Smolensk. The people refused to submit; the voievode Shein defended the town so well that Sigismund found it necessary to call all Poles to his banner. Zapieha very reluctantly left Troitsa and joined Sigismund, knowing that in case of victory the spoils would now fall to the King of Poland. The Russians with the “little Tsar” had no choice but to accompany the Poles, and the impostor, deserted, sought refuge in flight. Disguised, he went south, and later Marina and Mniszek joined him.

The condition of the nobles and commoners who had taken the part of the impostor was pitiable. In despair a deputation, headed by Soltikov, waited upon Sigismund and said that the Muscovites beat their foreheads in the dust before his majesty, and begged that his son Vladislas would take the throne of the Tsars, making only one condition, namely, that he should become of the orthodox faith. A compact was made between Sigismund and the delegates, by which, under certain conditions, Vladislas was to succeed to the throne of Muscovy.

In the meantime Michael Skopin-Shooiski died in the hour of his victories. His uncles were accused of having poisoned him. When, at last, Dmitri Shooiski went out against Sigismund, he was beaten by Jolkievski and betrayed by the leader of the foreign regiment. The Poles then marched on to Moscow, and thitherward also came the impostor with a fresh following, thinking the town would choose him in preference to Vladislas. Moscow was in uproar; the inhabitants knew not what to do. On one hand the proclamation of Jolkievski promised peace, abundance, and prosperity; on the other, the impostor with more specious promises held fast those who had already paid court to him. Some suggested that neither candidate should be accepted, but a new Tsar elected by the people. Matters drifted on until the 17th July 1609 when, after the result of a meeting at Serphukov became known, the boyards and citizens together most humbly requested Vasili Shooiski to abdicate, because “he caused Christian blood to be shed and was not successful in his government.” He retired to his private dwelling and subsequently became a monk in the Chudov Monastery.

When the boyards had to choose between the Pole and the impostor, some wished to restore Shooiski to power. For the time being the Council was content to enforce an oath of fealty to it, and to await the coming of Jolkievski, then at Mojaisk.

Sigismund had determined upon securing the throne for himself, and Jolkievski had a difficult part to play. The Russians elected an embassy to Sigismund; it consisted of those who were most likely to oppose the Polish supremacy: then, the better to guard against the impostor, the Poles were requested to garrison the Kremlin. The dissidents were thus got out of the town, and the key to the stronghold of the empire was given into the hands of the Poles. The Muscovites progressed so slowly with their negotiations that Jolkievski left Gonsievski in command and returned to Smolensk, taking Shooiski with him. The Patriarch alone remained inexorable. He protested against the Polish occupation and refused all attempts at compromise. More, he was unceasing in his attempts to awaken the Muscovites to their duty, to their religion, their country and themselves. His attitude was most irritating to the boyards favouring the Poles and to the officers of the garrison, for the indomitable prelate, deprived of the wherewithal to write, called out loudly to the people to revolt. The boyard Soltikov, enraged by his repeated refusals to sign the submission, struck at him with a dagger, but the cross of the prelate warded off the blow. “The cross is my only weapon that I have against thee, cursed one!” he called, and the garrison did their best to prevent the people from entering the cathedral to hear him. Cast in prison, he still found means to inflame the populace.