Characteristics of the historical figure False Dmitry 2. Brief biography of False Dmitry II

“Tushinsky thief” - I remember this phrase from school. I, like most of my peers, learned that False Dmitry II was popularly called that way in class. national history. In essence, that was the extent of the matter then. And later, when history became my passion along with poetry, little was added to the knowledge about the second impostor. I had certain hopes for the Internet... Something has become clear, but something, I’m afraid, will forever remain a secret behind seven seals...

Biography of False Dmitry II

Our famous classic, N.V. Gogol, has an amusing phrase: “complete incident” (by the way, this can be said about his own life). So, the biography of the “Tushino thief” is not only replete with “blank spots”, it is all one continuous “blank spot”. We know neither the true name nor the origin of this dark personality. According to very cautious and little-based assumptions, he could be either a priest’s son or even a Jewish offspring from a seedy province. One thing is beyond doubt: the spirit of adventurism inherent in the Russian man and his susceptibility to outside influences played a detrimental role in his advancement. Having played on the fact that False Dmitry I allegedly managed to escape during the Moscow uprising, the “Tushino thief”, however, could not, like his more successful predecessor, reach Moscow and be crowned. His entire short adult life was spent in military skirmishes of a local nature. The ending of the impostor's biography was inglorious: he was killed former ally, Tatar Pyotr Urusov, during a hunt. It should not be surprising that the burial place of False Dmitry II is unknown. Most likely, he was also buried like a thief - secretly...

Domestic and foreign policy of False Dmitry II

The local successes of False Dmitry II were short-lived. It is generally surprising how he was able to gather any significant forces under his banner. Apparently, the people still retained a naive belief in the miraculous salvation of the previous impostor. The “Tushinsky thief” decided to begin his ascent to power from the Belarusian cities of Propoisk and Starodub. It was here that he risked declaring himself “Tsar Dimitri Ioannovich.” The remnants of the Polish gentry, part of the Cossacks, and the rebels of Ataman Ivan Bolotnikov began to gather around him (how much we were told at one time about the first “peasant war” led by the latter...). All this, without exaggeration, motley rabble, led by a very dubious subject, undertook a campaign first against Bryansk, then against Tula. They even managed to defeat the army of Vasily Shuisky and set up a camp in Tushino, near Moscow. Significant territories north of Moscow were under the control of the impostor’s troops. Yaroslavl, Vologda, Rostov, Suzdal, and Vladimir submitted to False Dmitry II. Support for the impostor was provided by widespread popular discontent with the boyar government and personally with Vasily Shuisky. However, the Poles, in whose hands the “Tushino thief” was just a puppet, robbed the peasants themselves. In 1609, the Poles decided on open intervention and besieged Smolensk. The attempt to place the Polish prince Vladislav on the Russian throne also failed. The talented military leader and experienced strategist M.V. Skopin-Shuisky finally thwarted the plans of the impostor. There was nothing left for him but to flee to Kaluga, where he soon met an inglorious death.

• The official widow of False Dmitry I, Marina Mnishek, arrived at the camp of the “Tushino thief” and publicly recognized him as her miraculously saved husband. What do you say to this? Only how strong both the instinct of self-preservation and the thirst for power at any cost are in people. Marina was ready to go to the end in this deadly game.
• The end of those who supported the impostor was also inglorious: he was first blinded, then killed with a blow to the head with a club, and his lifeless body was thrown into an ice hole.

False Dmitry II is the second impostor who pretended to be the son of Ivan IV. He was also an adventurer and impostor who supposedly escaped during the 1606 rebellion. Molchanov, who participated in the murder of Fyodor Godunov, fled to the western borders, began to spread the rumor that Tsarevich Dmitry managed to survive.

The question of the origin of the impostor causes much controversy. His appearance was beneficial to certain circles. He appears for the first time in Belarus (in Propoisk), was caught as a spy and called himself Andrei Nagim, said that he was a relative of the murdered Tsar Dmitry and was forced to hide from Shuisky. The detainee asked to be sent to Starodub. Arriving there, he begins to spread rumors that Tsar Dmitry is alive in the city. When searching for Dmitry, they pointed to Nagogo. At first he refused, but the townspeople began to threaten the alien with torture; the alien called himself Dmitry.

Tushino thief

Supporters of the king began to gather in this small town. In 1607, campaigns were carried out against Bryansk and Tula.

They reached the capital, but failed to capture the Kremlin. The invaders settled in the town of Tushino near Moscow, so the adventurer was nicknamed the Tushino thief.

His army was composed of Poles who left Moscow after the execution of False Dmitry I. It was led by princes Vishnevetsky and Ruzhinsky. They were joined by detachments of Cossacks, led by Zarutsky, and small groups of Bolotnikov, who survived the defeat. About 3,000 soldiers gathered.

In Tushino, the impostor formed a government, which included some Russian feudal lords and clerk businessmen (Filaret Romanov, the Trubetskoy princes and others). The actual leadership was in the hands of Polish commanders led by Hetman Ruzhinsky.

False Dmitry II in August 1608 managed to carry out secret wedding with Marina Mniszech, the Polish woman “recognized” her husband in him. Some of the Moscow boyars (Tushino flights), dissatisfied with Tsar Vasily Shuisky, supported the impostor.

In April 1609, False Dmitry II appeared before the people. On his head was a hat decorated precious stones, they shone at sunlight. This is how the saying arose that a thief’s cap is on fire.

False Dmitry II managed to take advantage of the people's struggle against the power of Shuisky and take control of territories in the eastern, northern and northwestern directions of Moscow. In order to attract landowners, the Pretender began distributing land to the peasants.

The territory that came under the control of the ruler was subject to monetary and in-kind requisitions for the maintenance of the Polish army. This policy sparked a national liberation struggle.

Since 1609, the lands controlled by False Dmitry have been rapidly shrinking. In the summer the Poles begin intervention against Russian state, which led to the collapse of the rate in Tushino. Poles and some Russian feudal lords go over to the side of Sigismund III. At the end of 1609, the impostor fled to Kaluga.

End of reign

Following her husband, Marina Mnishek comes to the city. On December 11, the Tushino thief was killed by the baptized Tatar Pyotr Urusov. He cuts the shoulder with a saber blow, Urusov's brother cut off the impostor's head. This was revenge for the fact that False Dmitry executed Uraz-Magomet (King of Kasimov).

Soon after the death of the Self-Proclaimed Tsar, Mniszech had a boy. They named him Ivan, popularly called “the little crow.” The Polish lady did not long for her husband for long; her next husband was the Cossack ataman Zarutsky.

Polish troops managed to capture Smolensk, since the country was completely devastated.

Due to the failure of False Dmitry I to fulfill his promises (about the introduction of Catholicism, territorial concessions and military assistance Poles against Sweden) relations with Poland worsened. Not as much is known about False Dmitry II as we would like. Outwardly, he looked like False Dmitry I, but no information about his real name has been preserved. As a result, Tushino became a haven for people dissatisfied with the rule of Vasily Shuisky. The image of the reign of False Dmitry II acquired features of similarity with the oprichnina of Ivan IV the Terrible, which was the reason for the death of the impostor. Concise Jewish Encyclopedia.

Jerusalem: Society for the Study of Jewish Communities, 1976 - 1982. Thus, if we analyze the path that False Dmitry 2 took, briefly, we can highlight several main stages of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, reign: features, policies and results Maxim Novichkov. Brief biography impostor. The reign of False Dmitry I, its results and end. On June 20, the “Tsar and Grand Duke of all Rus' Dmitry Ivanovich” - he was soon identified by his mother, nun Martha. False Dmitry 2 briefly The appearance of the 2nd impostor False Dmitry II is the second impostor who pretended to be the son of Ivan IV.

End of reign. Following her husband, Marina Mnishek comes to the city. Help me briefly about the most important thing about False Dmitry 2. Very urgent. Thanks in advance. This “reign of False Dmitry 2” lasted for 2 years.

Unable to change the situation on his own, Shuisky entered into an agreement with the ruler of Sweden, promising to give up Karelians in exchange for help. False Dmitry 1 and False Dmitry 2 (briefly). The beginning of the 17th century is closely associated with Time of Troubles for Rus'. Several lean years and general dissatisfaction with the rule of Boris Godunov made False Dmitry 1 popular and eventually managed to strengthen its position in Putivl. Short course on the history of state and law of Russia. Supporters of False Dmitry II, to strengthen his authority, brought Marina Mnishek, whom they had captured, to Tushino.

False Dmitry I - personality, reign, end. History of Russia. /False Dmitry II - short biography. Dear guests! The Board of False Dmitry. Agreement on the election of the Polish prince Vladislav as king. The oath of Moscow to Vladislav and sending an embassy to Sigismund.

The reign of False Dmitry 1 and 2. For Rus', the beginning of the 17th century became one of the most difficult periods in history. Crop failures for several years, False Dmitry 1 and False Dmitry 2 (briefly) The reign of False Dmitry 1 began with attempts to pursue an independent policy. In an effort to enlist False Dmitry II The first mention of the second False Dmitry is marked in 1607, when he was captured as a spy, the Board of False Dmitry I. Konrad Bussov describes the origins of the appearance of False Dmitry II as follows:. . The image of the reign of False Dmitry II acquired features of similarity with the oprichnina of Ivan IV False Dmitry II (sk.) - an adventurer, an impostor, posing as False Dmitry I, who allegedly escaped during the uprising on May 17, 1606; While still in Tula, False Dmitry began to govern the state. His first concern was to stop the unrest and rebellions that were then boiling everywhere. Vasily Shuisky, before ascending the throne (briefly), Shuisky and Mstislavsky returned to Moscow, where the reign of young Fyodor Godunov had already led to gangs of Polish-Little Russian nobles joining False Dmitry II.

False Dmitry II (“Tushinsky thief”) (1572-1610) - an impostor of unknown origin. From 1607 he pretended to be the allegedly saved Tsar Dmitry during the Time of Troubles in Russia. The reign of False Dmitry I Jacob Marzharet, who observed the management mechanism from the inside, summed up his notes in the following terms: “If 7,500,000 zlotys were equal to 2,300,000 rubles. The reign of False Dmitry I, its results and end 11 Chapter 3. Accession and the “Tushino thief” and his Polish “helpers” 17 The calling of the Swedes 1598-1613. - a period in Russian history called the Time of Troubles. At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries Russia Zemstvo reform Alexandra 2 – a set of reforms in the district administration system and the results of the reign of Tsar Vasily I. Feudal war of the second quarter of the 15th century: stages of development After the death of Svyatoslav, a struggle for rule in Kyiv began between his sons. Like! If the content of the site was useful to you, we will be grateful for your like! Last minutes life of False Dmitry.

Painting by K. Wenig, 1879 Now at the head of the board Here you can familiarize yourself with full text Great Textbook of Russian History Work program By academic subject“History” (grade 10, basic level) Explanatory Municipal entity Pavlovsky district Krasnodar region _ municipal budget FOR APPLICANTS TO UNIVERSITIES. SHORT COURSE. HISTORY OF RUSSIA. from ancient times to beginning xxi century.

False Dmitry 2 - (unknown when born - death December 11 (21), 1610) impostor of unknown origin. He was called the Kaluga or Tushinsky thief. Since 1607, he pretended to be the son of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, who allegedly escaped (False Dmitry I). In 1608-1609 he created the Tushino camp near the capital, from where he unsuccessfully tried to capture Moscow. With the beginning of open Polish intervention, he fled to Kaluga, where he was killed.
The appearance of False Dmitry 2
Having appeared in Starodub in the middle of 1607, False Dmitry 2 was a person not at all suitable for the throne. “A rude man, with disgusting customs, foul language in conversation,” this is how the Polish captain Samuel Maskevich described him. The origin of this husband is truly “dark and modest” - either a school teacher from the Belarusian town of Shklov, or a Russian immigrant, or a priest, or a baptized Jew, or even an unbaptized Jew (which is completely incredible). Some historians explain his appearance by the desire of the Polish lords to sow confusion in the Moscow state.
They said that the impostor, who left the Lithuanian possessions in Moscow state, at the instigation of the agent of Mniszek’s wife, Mechovitsky, did not dare to immediately declare himself king. At first he was called the Moscow boyar Nagim and spread rumors in Starodub that Dmitry managed to escape. When the elders tortured him and his accomplice, clerk Alexei Rukin, the latter reported that the one calling himself Nagim was the real Dmitry. He assumed a commanding air, waved his stick menacingly and shouted: “Oh, you children, I am the sovereign.”
First victories
The Starodubians and Putivlivtsy rushed to his feet, wailing: “It’s our fault, sir, we didn’t recognize you; have mercy on us. We are glad to serve you and lay down our bellies for you.” He was released and surrounded with honors. He was joined by Zarutsky, Mekhovitsky, with a Polish-Russian detachment, and several thousand Severtsy. With this army, False Dmitry 2 was able to take Karachev, Bryansk and Kozelsk. In Orel he received reinforcements from Poland, Lithuania and Zaporozhye.
1608, May - the troops of False Dmitry defeated Shuisky near Volkhov. In this battle, the impostor’s army was commanded by the Ukrainian prince Roman Ruzhinsky, who brought under the banner of the new “tsar” thousands of volunteers he recruited in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Soon the impostor approached the capital and settled in Tushino, 12 versts from Moscow (the angle formed by the Moscow River and its tributary Skhodnya), which is why he received the nickname “Tushino thief.”

The Tushino period of Russian unrest lasted almost a year and a half. In the camp of the Tushinsky thief there were not only Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian adventurers, but also representatives of the nobility - opponents of Shuisky. Among them, we should mention the Rostov Metropolitan Filaret Nikitich Romanov, who was named patriarch (it seems even against his will). The impostor called the people to his side, giving him the lands of the “traitors” boyars and even allowing him to forcibly marry boyar daughters. The camp soon turned into a fortified city, in which there were 7,000 Polish soldiers, 10,000 Cossacks and several tens of thousands of armed rabble.

The main strength of the “Tushinsky Thief” was the Cossacks, who sought to establish Cossack freedom. “Our king,” wrote one of the Poles who served him, “everything is done according to the Gospel, everyone is equal in his service.” But when high-born people showed up in Tushino, disputes about seniority immediately began to arise, envy and rivalry with each other appeared.
1608, August - part of the Poles released at the request of Sigismund fell into the hands of the Tushino people. Marina Mnishek, who was there, after persuasion from Rozhinsky and Sapieha, recognized False Dmitry 2 as her husband and was secretly married to him. Sapega and Lisovsky joined the impostor. The Cossacks continued to flock to him, so that he had up to 100,000 troops.
In Moscow and surrounding cities, the influence of False Dmitry 2 grew steadily. Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Murom, Kashin and many other cities submitted to him.
The Poles and Russian thieves, who were sent around the cities, soon turned the Russian people against themselves. At first, the impostor promised tarhan letters that freed the Russians from all taxes, but the residents soon saw that they would have to give as much as they wanted to take from them. Tax collectors were sent from Tushino, and after some time Sapega sent his tax collectors there from near Trinity.
Poles and Russian thieves gathered in gangs that attacked villages, robbed them, and abused people. This embittered the Russian people, and they no longer believed that the real Dmitry was in Tushino.
After Sapieha’s failure in front of the Trinity Lavra, the position of the “king” of the impostor was shaken; distant cities began to renounce him. Another attempt to capture Moscow was unsuccessful; Skopin and the Swedes were advancing from the north; in Pskov and Tver the Tushins were defeated and fled. Moscow was liberated from the siege.
Kaluga camp
The campaign of Sigismund III near Smolensk further worsened the position of the “king” - the Poles began to come under the banner of their king. False Dmitry, disguised as a peasant, escaped from the camp. In fortified Kaluga he was received with honors. Marina Mnishek also arrived in Kaluga, under the protection provided by Sapega, the impostor lived in honor. Without the supervision of the Polish lords I felt freer. Kolomna and Kashira swore allegiance to him again.

And at that time, the army of Sigismund III continued to unsuccessfully besiege Smolensk, and the young commander Skopin-Shuisky was able to lift the siege from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. And suddenly Skopin-Shuisky died, according to rumors, poisoned by the wife of one of the royal brothers, Prince Dmitry. The latter was appointed commander of the army sent to help Smolensk.
March on Moscow
Near Klushino, 150 km from the capital, on June 24, 1610, Shuisky’s army was defeated by the Poles under the command of crown hetman Stanislav Zhulkevsky. The path to Moscow was open. Zhulkevsky approached it from the west, Tushinsky the thief - from the south. The impostor took Serpukhov, Borovsk, Pafnutiev Monastery and reached Moscow itself. Marina stayed in the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, and False Dmitry in the palace village of Kolomenskoye. Again, as in Tushino’s times, the Kremlin was just a stone’s throw away and the royal throne was empty (Vasily Shuisky was “reduced” from the throne on July 17, and was then forcibly tonsured a monk).
But this time too, history assigned only an unenviable role to the Kaluga “king”. His appearance forced the Moscow boyars to choose the lesser of two evils. On August 17, Zhulkevsky concluded an agreement with them, according to which the son of Sigismund III, Prince Vladislav, was to ascend the Moscow throne. The capital, and after many other Russian cities, swore allegiance to Tsar Vladislav Zhigmontovich. From now on, the Polish garrison introduced into Moscow became an insurmountable obstacle for False Dmitry.
Zhulkevsky, however, tried to settle the matter peacefully. On behalf of the king, he promised the impostor, if he supported the royal cause, to give the city of Sambir or Grodno. But, the hetman wrote indignantly in his memoirs, “he did not think to be content with that, and even more so his wife, who, being an ambitious woman, muttered rather rudely: “Let His Majesty the king yield to His Majesty the King of Krakow, and let His Majesty the King yield to His Majesty the King.” Majesty Warsaw."
Then Zhulkevsky decided to simply arrest them, but Marina and the impostor fled to Kaluga on August 27, accompanied by 500 Cossacks of Ataman Ivan Martynovich Zarutsky, who first came out on their side.
Death of False Dmitry 2
He died as a result of the revenge of the baptized Tatar Urusov, whom he subjected to corporal punishment. 1610, December 11 - when the impostor, half drunk, went hunting under the escort of a crowd of Tatars, Urusov cut his shoulder with a saber, and younger brother Urusova cut off his head. His death caused terrible unrest in Kaluga; All the Tatars remaining in the city were killed. The son of False Dmitry was proclaimed king by the people of Kaluga.
I. Muromov

Even during the struggle between Vasily Shuisky’s troops and the Bolotnikovites, False Dmitry II appeared. Started new stage The Troubles, which was now accompanied by open Polish intervention. At first, the Poles actively supported their protege - the new impostor, then, in 1609, the invasion began Polish army.

Who was hiding this time under the name of the prince, again nominated by the Polish magnates, remained unknown. In the royal letters the new contender for the Moscow throne was called the “Starodub thief.” The impostor knew Russian literacy and church affairs well, spoke and wrote in Polish. Some sources also claim that the impostor also spoke Hebrew. Contemporaries made many guesses about who he could be. According to some sources, this was the priest’s son Matvey Verevkin, originally from the Severskaya side, according to others, the son of the Starodub archer. Others recognized him boyar's son. They also talked about the Lithuanian clerk Bogdan Sutupov, the royal clerk under the first impostor, school teacher from the city of Sokol, about the priest Dmitry from Moscow or the baptized Jew Bogdanko from the city of Shklov.

The initial appearance of this impostor is described in most detail in the Barkulabov Chronicle. According to the Belarusian chronicler, this man taught children first from the Shklov priest, then from the Mogilev priest, was an insignificant person who tried to please everyone, and was very poor. From Mogilev he moved to Propoisk, where he was imprisoned as a Russian spy. By order of the headman, Pan Zenovich, he was released and escorted beyond the Moscow border. The new impostor came to the attention of the Polish lords, who decided to nominate a new contender for the Russian throne. Finding himself in the Starodub area, he began to write letters throughout White Rus', so that “knightly people, willing people” would gather to him and even “they would take him a pittance.” With a detachment of mercenaries, he moved to Starodub.

Rumors about a “miraculous rescue” and the imminent return of the tsar began to circulate immediately after the death of Grigory Otrepyev. Those who saw how the king was killed were few; the body of the impostor was brutally mutilated and covered with dirt, it was impossible to identify him. Muscovites, in fact, were divided into two camps - those who rejoiced at the fall of the impostor, recalling his foreign behavior and rumors of “witchcraft.” Such rumors were in the interests of the boyar elite who organized the coup. On the other hand, there were many adherents of False Dmitry in Moscow, and stories immediately began to circulate among them that he had managed to escape from the “dashing boyars.” They assured that instead of the king, his double was killed. It is believed that some of these rumors were spread by the Poles, as the ground was already being prepared for the appearance of a second impostor. A week after the death of the impostor, “letters of honor” appeared in Moscow at night, written allegedly by the tsar who had escaped. Many leaflets were even nailed to the gates of boyar houses, in which “Tsar Dmitry” announced that he “escaped murder and God himself saved him from traitors.”

Immediately after the death of False Dmitry I, Moscow nobleman Mikhail Molchanov (one of the murderers of Fyodor Godunov), who fled from Moscow towards the western border, began to spread rumors that instead of “Dmitry” another person was killed, and the tsar himself escaped. Molchanov, posing as “Dmitry,” settled in the Mniszek castle of Sambir, after which letters from the “miraculously escaped tsar” poured into Russia in a flood. However, Molchanov could not continue to play his role as “tsar” outside the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They knew him too well in Moscow. That’s why a new impostor “showed up.”

The population of the rebellious Seversk Ukraine waited a whole year for the arrival of the “good king” from Poland, which was largely facilitated by rumors of the “miraculous salvation” of False Dmitry. Putivl, Starodub, and other cities more than once sent messengers abroad in search of the prince. Bolotnikov also wrote letters, who sent Dmitry from besieged Tula to Starodub with a detachment of the efficient Cossack ataman Ivan Zarutsky to meet him. The chieftain knew the first “tsar” well, but preferred to publicly “get to know” the second in order to become his close confidant. In June 1607, Starodub swore allegiance to False Dmitry. The power of the impostor was also recognized by Novgorod-Seversky, Pochep, Chernigov, Putivl, Sevsk and other Seversky cities. The Starodub “thief” was also recognized by residents of several Ryazan suburbs, Tula, Kaluga and Astrakhan. The Boyar Duma began to form in Starodub, and a new rebel army was also formed. Pan Nikolai Mekhovetsky took the position of hetman - commander-in-chief of the impostor's army.

From the very beginning, the new impostor received support and financial assistance from Polish magnates. He was an obedient puppet in their hands. The Poles derogatorily called him “the king.” In the summer of 1607, another gentry rokosh (rebellion) against King Sigismund III ended in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Having suffered a serious defeat in early July and fearing royal revenge, the rebels ran to the impostor, hoping to find glory and booty on Russian soil. This suited the king quite well. Some of the troublemakers could lay down their heads in Russian land. The king himself dismissed the mercenaries recruited for the civil war. This led to an increase in crime; the mercenaries behaved outrageously and engaged in robberies. Now they could be sent to Rus'. At the same time, legends about the wealth of Russian cities and the ease of victories over the “Muscovites” were spread from the participants in the campaign of the first impostor. Everyone knew that the forces of the Russian state were undermined by a series of uprisings, which actually led to civil war.

At the same time, the main task was being solved - the enslavement of Rus'. The Polish elite had long been preparing a new invasion of Russian state, planning to take advantage of the Troubles. In addition, over the winter the army of False Dmitry II was significantly replenished with former Bolotnikovites. “The Don and Volga Cossacks and all those people who were in Tula,” the chronicler reports, “joined him, the thief, not even though Tsar Vasily Ivanovich was in submission...” A peasant war broke out again in the southern border regions, which forced the local nobles, partly to go over to the side of the new impostor, and partly to flee to Moscow. Trying to attract as many service people as possible to his side, False Dmitry II confirmed all the previous grants and benefits of False Dmitry I to the Seversky destinies. But initially the army was small - only a few thousand fighters.

Tula campaign

First, the army of the second impostor moved to Tula to rescue Bolotnikov. Pochep greeted the impostor's troops with bread and salt. On September 20, the rebel army entered Bryansk. On October 8, Hetman Mekhovetsky defeated the tsarist troops of the governor Litvinov-Mosalsky near Kozelsk, and on October 16 he took Belev. The impostor's advanced detachments, meanwhile, occupied Epifan, Dedilov and Krapivna, reaching the closest approaches to Tula. However, the fall of Tula on October 10 confused the cards of False Dmitry. The army of False Dmitry II could not yet withstand the large royal army. On October 17, the impostor retreated to Karachev to unite with the Cossacks.

It should be noted that Vasily Shuisky underestimated the danger of the new “thief” and disbanded the army to their homes, believing that the remaining centers of the uprising would easily pacify the detachments of his governor. Therefore, the king did not have large army, in order to sweep away the impostor’s still weak troops with one blow, until the uprising again grew over a vast territory. In addition, part of the Bolotnikovites, whom the tsar had forgiven and sent to fight the remaining rebels, again rebelled and fled to the new impostor.

The impostor wanted to run further, but on the way the fugitive “tsar” was met by gentlemen Valyavsky and Tyshkevich with 1800 soldiers, intercepted and returned. Detachments of other lords appeared - Khmelevsky, Khruslinsky, and one of the patrons of the first False Dmitry Vishnevetsky also arrived. The Polish core of the army strengthened significantly. On November 9, the army of False Dmitry II again besieged Bryansk, which was occupied by the tsarist troops, who had restored the previously burned fortress. The Don Cossacks also arrived here with another impostor - “Tsarevich” Fyodor, the “son” of Tsar Fyodor I Ioannovich. False Dmitry II granted the Cossacks, and ordered his competitor to be hanged.

For more than a month, the rebel troops could not break the city’s defenses, which were led by the tsarist governors Kashin and Rzhevsky. However, in Bryansk there was not enough water and famine began. The tsar's regiments led by Vasily Litvinov-Mosalsky and Ivan Kurakin went to the rescue of the Bryansk garrison from Meshchovsk and Moscow. Litvinov-Mosalsky approached Bryansk on December 15, but thin ice on the Desna did not allow him to cross the river. The winter was warm and the Desna did not freeze. Across the river the rebels felt safe. Then the warriors began to ford the river, unafraid ice water and shelling of the rebels. Frightened by such determination of the royal troops, the rebels wavered. At the same time, governors Kashin and Rzhevsky led the Bryansk garrison on a sortie. The impostor's army could not stand it and ran. Soon, governor Kurakin came to Bryansk and brought all the necessary supplies. The rebels still tried to defeat the royal commanders, but were repulsed.

Source: Razin E. A. military art

Oryol camp

The impostor troops retreated to Orel. Vasily Shuisky was unable to suppress the rebellion. His governors were never able to take Kaluga. The tsar sent 4 thousand previously amnestied Cossacks, Ataman Bezzubtsev, to help them, but they destroyed the siege army and started a rebellion there. The troops that remained loyal to the government fled to Moscow, and Bezzubtsev took the remaining ones to False Dmitry. Over the winter, the impostor's army strengthened significantly. The defeated Bolotnikovites continued to flock. New troops arrived from Poland. The Tyshkevich and Tupalsky detachments were brought in. Ataman Zarutsky, having traveled to the Don, recruited another 5 thousand soldiers. The Ukrainian Cossacks were brought by Colonel Lisovsky. Prince Roman Rozhinsky (Ruzhinsky), very popular among the gentry, appeared - he squandered his entire fortune, got into debt and was engaged in open robbery in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Even his wife, at the head of a detachment of bandits, carried out predatory raids on neighbors. Now he mortgaged his estates and recruited 4 thousand hussars. The Polish nobleman Alexander Lisovsky, sentenced to death in his homeland for participating in a rebellion against the king, also appeared with the impostor and his detachment.

Rozhinsky came into conflict with Mekhovetsky and carried out a coup, gathering a “knightly stake” (circle), where he was elected hetman. The Cossack part of the army was led by Lisovsky and Zarutsky, who got along well with the Poles. No one took the second “Tsar Dmitry” into account. When he tried to protest against replacing Mekhovetsky with Rozhinsky, he was almost beaten and threatened with death. The Poles forced him to sign a “secret agreement” on the concession to them of all the treasures that would be captured in the Moscow Kremlin. And when new arrivals from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth doubted whether this was the same “Dmitry” who was before, they were answered: “It needs to be that one, that’s all.” The Jesuits surfaced again, promoting the project of introducing Catholicism in Rus'.

The number of the army of False Dmitry II in the Oryol camp was about 27 thousand people. Moreover, unlike the first impostor and the Bolotnikovites, the army of the second impostor mainly consisted of professional military men - Polish mercenaries, Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks, the rest of the masses were nobles, boyar children, archers, military slaves, etc. However, the impostor did not disdain “men.” Fanning the flames of the uprising, he issued a decree according to which the estates of the nobles who served Shuisky were subject to confiscation, and they could be seized by slaves and peasants. A new wave of pogroms broke out.

Moscow campaign

In preparation for the fight against the new impostor, Tsar Vasily Shuisky gathered his army near Bolkhov during the winter and spring of 1608. 30-40 thousand warriors gathered here. But the composition was heterogeneous - both local cavalry, and detachments of serving Tatars, and a regiment of mercenaries. But most importantly, a stupid commander-in-chief was appointed again, another brother of the tsar, Dmitry Shuisky. He did not conduct reconnaissance, and did not discover that the enemy army had launched a new offensive. The enemy's blow was unexpected.

In the spring, the rebel army moved from Orel to Moscow. The decisive battle lasted two days - April 30 - May 1 (May 10-11), 1608 on the Kamenka River in the vicinity of the city of Bolkhov. The battle began with a sudden attack by the vanguard of the army of False Dmitry II, consisting of gentry hussar companies and Cossack hundreds. However, the Russian noble cavalry, with the support of German mercenaries, withstood the attack. Then Russian troops attacked detachments led by the commander-in-chief's nephew, Adam Rozhinsky. The Poles overthrew the advanced Russian regiment of Prince Golitsyn. It became confused and rolled back, crushing the large regiment as well. Only a bold attack by the guard regiment of the skilled commander Prince Kurakin stopped the enemy. This concluded the first day of the battle.

The sides began to turn towards a decisive battle. The tsar's army took up a convenient position behind the swamp, entrenched in a fortification of convoys. The morning frontal attacks of the Polish-Cossack army did not lead to success. Then the Poles used a trick. We found a ford on the flank. And the servants in the distance began to drive the baggage carts back and forth, raising banners and badges above them to distract the enemy. Commander-in-Chief tsarist army Voivode Dmitry Shuisky was frightened, thinking that a huge enemy army was approaching. He ordered the artillery to be taken away to hold the defense in Bolkhov. The troops, seeing that the guns were being taken away, also panicked and began to retreat. At this time, the Poles crossed the swamp and struck the flank of the Russian army. The retreat turned into flight. The guns were abandoned, some of the troops hid in Bolkhov, others ran further. The Poles and Cossacks cut down many of the fleeing people. The defeat was complete. After artillery shelling, Bolkhov capitulated. His garrison went over to the side of the impostor. Some of the scattered troops deserted. Kaluga surrendered to the impostor without a fight. Thus, the road to Moscow was open.

Tsar Vasily hastily assembled new regiments, appointing the best commanders. Skopin-Shuisky ordered the army to block the Kaluga road, and sent Kurakin to Kolomenskaya. However, Hetman Rozhinsky and the “tsarik” bypassed Skopin-Shuisky’s regiments to the west, through Kozelsk, Mozhaisk and Zvenigorod. And suddenly in June the army of the impostor appeared under the walls of Moscow. There was almost no one to protect her. There were few troops in the capital. But the available warriors, mainly Moscow archers, were determined to stand to the end. One decisive attack, and Moscow could fall. But the impostor's headquarters did not know about this and lost time. We were waiting for the approach of Lisovsky's troops with artillery to begin a proper siege big city from several sides.

Rozhinsky spent a long time choosing a place for the camp and settled in Tushino, 17 versts from Moscow and decided to starve it out. The impostor created his orders here, the Boyar Duma. Peasants driven from the surrounding villages built fortifications. Ranks were handed out, estates and estates were complained about, receptions were held. This is how the second “capital” appeared. Subsequently, the impostor began to be called not the “Starodub thief”, but the “Tushino king”, “Tushino thief”, and his supporters - Tushino people.
Skopin-Shuisky did not dare to attack the enemy, since treason was discovered in his army. He withdrew his troops to Moscow. There the conspirators were captured - princes Katyrev, Yuri Trubetskoy, Ivan Troekurov were exiled, and ordinary traitors were executed. However, relatives and friends of the conspirators began to run over to the impostor - Dmitry Trubetskoy, Dmitry Cherkassky, followed by the princes Sitsky and Zasekins, who hated Shuisky.

Lisovsky led a separate detachment with the goal of intercepting the southern roads to Moscow. Zaraysk was occupied without a fight by Lisovsky’s troops, since the city Cossacks surrendered the city and swore allegiance to the impostor. To intercept the enemy detachment, a militia from Ryazan land led by Z. Lyapunov and I. Khovansky. On March 30, the Battle of Zaraisk took place. The tsarist commanders showed carelessness in organizing the outpost, and by a sudden foray of Lisovsky’s men from the Zaraisk Kremlin, their army was defeated.

After the victory at Zaraisk, Lisovsky quickly took Mikhailov and Kolomna, where he captured a large artillery park. His army was strengthened by the remnants of the former Bolotnikovites and grew significantly. Lisovsky headed towards Moscow, planning to unite with the main troops of the impostor, stationed near Moscow in the Tushino camp. However, Lisovsky's detachment was defeated by the tsar's army led by Ivan Kurakin in the battle of Bear Ford. In June 1608, while transporting across the Moscow River at Bear Ford (between Kolomna and Moscow), Lisovsky’s detachment was unexpectedly attacked by the tsar’s army. The first to attack the enemy was the guard regiment led by Vasily Buturlin. Burdened with a heavy “outfit” and convoy, Lisovsky’s warriors, accustomed to maneuverable battles, suffered a serious defeat and lost all their Kolomna trophies, as well as the prisoners captured in Kolomna. Lisovsky fled and was forced to get to Moscow by a different route, bypassing Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Thus, the army of False Dmitry II, which besieged Moscow, did not receive siege weapons, and could no longer count on a blockade of the capital from the southeast.

To be continued…

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