generally believed that Boris Godunov remained in control of the situation, he formally ascended the throne only after being elected by a specially convened zemskii sobor and implored by the patriarch, the clergy, and the people to accept the crown. He proved to be, or rather continued to be, an intelligent and able ruler. Interested in learning from the West, Boris Godunov even thought of establishing a university in Moscow, but abandoned this idea because of the opposition of the clergy. He did, however, send eighteen young men to study abroad. In foreign policy, Boris Godunov maintained peaceful relations with other countries and promoted trade, concluding commercial treaties with England and with the Hansa.
But, in spite of the efforts of the ruler, Boris Godunov's brief reign, 1598- 1605, witnessed tragic events. In 1601 drought and famine brought disaster to the people. The crops failed again in 1602 and also, to a considerable extent, in 1603. Famine reached catastrophic proportions; epidemics followed. Although the government tried to feed the population of Moscow free of charge, direct supplies to other towns, and find employment for the destitute, its measures availed little against the calamity. It has been estimated that more than 100,000 people perished in the capital alone. Starving people devoured grass, bark, cadavers of animals and, on occasion, even other human beings. Large bands of desperate men that roamed and looted the countryside and sometimes gave battle to regular troops appeared and became a characteristic phenomenon of the Time of Troubles.
At this point rumors to the effect that Boris Godunov was a criminal and a usurper and that Russia was being punished for his sins began to spread. It was alleged that he had plotted to assassinate Prince Dmitrii; it was alleged further that in reality another boy had been murdered, that the prince has escaped and would return to claim his rightful inheritance. The claimant soon appeared in person. Many historians believe that False
Dmitrii was in fact a certain Gregory Otrepiev, a young man of service class origin, who had become a monk and then left his monastery. Very possibly he believed himself to be the true Prince Dmitrii. Apparently he lived in Moscow in 1601 and early 1602, but escaped to the cossacks when authorities became interested in his assertions and decided to arrest him. Next he appeared in Lithuania, where he reiterated his claim to be Ivan
the Terrible's son Prince Dmitrii. While the Polish government gave him no official recognition, he obtained support from the Jesuits and from certain Lithuanian and Polish aristocrats. He also fell in love with the daughter of a Polish aristocrat, the beautiful Marina Mniszech. The Jesuits received from him the promise to champion Catholicism in Russia. The role of the Muscovite boyars in the rise of False Dmitrii remains less clear. Yet, in spite of the paucity and frequent absence of evidence, many scholars have become convinced that important boyar circles secretly supported False Dmitrii in order to destroy Boris Godunov. Indeed, the entire False Dmitrii episode has been described as a boyar stratagem. Boris Godunov, on his part, in an effort to defend his position, turned violently against the boyars around the throne, instituting in 1601 a veritable purge of them. In October 1604, False Dmitrii invaded Russia at the head of some 1,500 cossacks, Polish soldiers of fortune, and other adventurers.
Most surprisingly, the foolhardy enterprise succeeded. False Dmitrii's manifestoes proclaiming him to be the true tsar had their effect, in spite of Boris Godunov's attempts to confirm that Prince Dmitrii was dead and to brand the pretender as an impostor and a criminal by such means as his excommunication from the Church and the testimony of Gregory Otrepiev's uncle. Much of southern Russia, including such large centers as Chernigov, welcomed False Dmitrii; in a number of places authorities and population wavered in their stand, but failed to offer firm resistance. Dissatisfaction and unrest within the Muscovite state proved to be more valuable to the pretender's cause than Polish and Lithuanian aid. False Dmitrii's motley forces suffered repeated defeats, but regrouped and reappeared. Still, False Dmitrii probably owed his victory to a stroke of luck: in April 1605, when the military odds against the pretender appeared overwhelming, Boris Godunov suddenly died. Shortly after his death his commander, Theodore Basmanov, went over to False Dmitrii's side, Boris Godunov's wife and his young son and successor Theodore were deposed and murdered in Moscow, and on June 20, 1605, False Dmitrii entered the capital in triumph.
The people rejoiced at what they believed to be the miraculous return of the true tsar to ascend his ancestral throne. On the eve of the riots that overthrew the Godunovs, Basil Shuisky himself had already publicly reversed his testimony and claimed that in Uglich Prince Dmitrii had escaped the assassins, who killed another boy instead. In July 1605, Prince Dmitrii's mother, who had become a nun under the name of Martha, was brought to identify her alleged long-lost child: in the course of a tender meeting she proclaimed him her own. Followers of False Dmitrii, such as Theodore Basmanov, succeeded the supporters of Godunov around the throne. A Greek cleric, Ignatius, who had been among the first to side with the pretender, replaced Boris Godunov's friend Job as patriarch. The new tsar returned from disgrace, prison, or exile the boyars who had suffered during
the last years of his predecessor's reign. Those regaining favor included Philaret, formerly Theodore, Romanov, the abbot of a northern monastery whom Boris Godunov had forced to take holy orders and exiled. Philaret became the metropolitan in Rostov.
False Dmitrii has been described as an unprepossessing figure with no waistline, arms of unequal length, red hair that habitually stood up, a large wart on his face, a big ugly nose, and an expression both unsympathetic and melancholy. His qualities, however, included undeniable courage and considerable intelligence and ability. He refused to be anyone's puppet, and in particular failed to honor his promises concerning the introduction of Catholicism into Russia. Instead of acting on these promises, he propounded the grandiose project of driving the Turks out of Europe.
Their new ruler's manners upset the Muscovites. False Dmitrii repeatedly failed to observe the established traditions and etiquette. He would not attend church services, and did not take a nap in the afternoon, but instead wandered on his own in the city, dressed as a Pole. The Polish entourage of the tsar proved still more disturbing: these Poles, loud and prominent, generally despised the Russians, who in turn suspected and hated them as enemies and heretics. But the main argument against False Dmitrii, in the opinion of Platonov and many other specialists, rested simply in the fact that he had already served his purpose. The boyars had utilized him successfully against the Godunovs and now made arrangements to dispose of him in his turn.
It would seem that almost immediately after False Dmitrii's victory Basil Shuisky and his brothers began to spread rumors to the effect that the new tsar was, after all, an impostor. Caught and condemned to death, they were instead exiled and, after several months, entirely pardoned by the clement tsar - a sure sign in the opinion of some specialists that False Dmitrii believed himself to be the true heir to the throne. The next important event of the reign, the tsar's marriage, served to increase tensions. In November 1605 in Cracow, False Dmitrii became engaged to Marina Mniszech. The tsar's proxy for the ritual, Athanasius Vlasiev, surprised those in attendance by refusing to answer the ceremonial question as to whether the tsar had promised to marry anyone else, on the ground that he had no instructions on the subject. Marina came to Moscow on May 2, 1606, and the wedding was celebrated on May 8. Marina, however, remained a Catholic, and she brought with her another large group of Poles. Arguments and clashes between the Poles and the Russians increased.
Having prepared the ground, Prince Basil Shuisky, Prince Basil Golitsyn, and other boyars on the night of May 26 led into Moscow a very large military detachment stationed nearby. Their coup began under the slogan of saving the tsar from the Poles, but as it progressed the tsar himself was denounced as an impostor. The defenders of the palace were overwhelmed.
False Dmitrii tried to escape, but was handed over to the rebels and death by a guard of the streltsy, apparently after they had been persuaded by the mother of Prince Dmitrii of Uglich, the nun Martha, that their tsar was an impostor. Theodore Basmanov and two or three thousand other Russians and Poles perished. The Patriarch Ignatius was deposed.
Both the Godunovs and their rival had thus disappeared from the scene. Prince Basil Shuisky became the next tsar with no greater sanction than the wishes of his party and the endorsing shouts of a Muscovite crowd. The new ruler made certain revealing promises: he would not execute anyone without the decision of the boyar duma; innocent members of a family would not suffer because of a guilty relative; denunciations would not be given credence without a careful investigation; and false informers would be punished. Although historians who see in Basil Shuisky's declaration an effective limitation of autocracy seem to overstate the case, the tsar's assurances did reflect his ties to the boyars as well as the efforts of the latter to obtain minimal guarantees against the kind of persecution practiced by such rulers as Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov. Moreover, it appears that the boyars
