Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov election to the kingdom. Romanov dynasty

Election of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov Elected people gathered in Moscow in January 1613. From Moscow they asked the cities to send the best, strongest and most reasonable people for the royal selection. Cities, by the way, had to think not only about electing a king, but also about how to build

1. Election of Michael

Immediately after the liberation of Moscow in October 1612, letters were sent to the cities to send elected people to Moscow, 10 representatives from each city, for the “Sovereign's fleece.” By January 1613, elected representatives from 50 cities gathered in Moscow and, together with the highest clergy, surviving boyars and representatives of Moscow, formed the Zemsky Sobor.

For more than a month, various candidates were proposed and discussions continued. But on February 7, the Cossack ataman and two elected noblemen proposed to the Council the name of the son of Metropolitan Philaret, 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. On February 21, 1613, Mikhail Romanov was proclaimed Tsar of the Moscow State and the Council swore an oath to him. Then ambassadors were sent from the Cathedral to Mikhail, who lived with his mother in the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma.

As soon as it became known that Mikhail Fedorovich was elected to the throne, one detachment of Poles headed to Kostroma to find and kill Mikhail. When the Poles approached Kostroma, they began to ask people where Mikhail was. When Ivan Susanin, who was asked this question, asked the Poles why they needed to know this, they answered that they wanted to congratulate

a new king with his election to the throne. But Susanin did not believe them and sent his grandson to warn Mikhail about the danger. He himself told the Poles this way: “There is no road here, let me lead you through the forest, along a nearby path.” The Poles were glad that now they could easily find Mikhail and followed Susanin.

The night passed, and Susanin kept leading and leading the Poles through the forest, and the forest became more and more dense. The Poles rushed to Susanin, suspecting him of deception. Then Susanin, in full confidence that the Poles would not be able to find their way out of the forest, told them: Now you can do with me what you want; but know that the king is saved and you will not reach him! The Poles killed Susanin, but they themselves died.

The family of Ivan Susanin was generously rewarded by the Tsar. In memory of this self-sacrifice, the famous composer Glinka wrote the opera “Life for the Tsar,” and a monument was erected to him in Kostroma, Susanin’s homeland.

The Council's ambassadors spent a long time begging Michael and his mother (Mikhail's father, Metropolitan Philaret, was in Polish captivity) to become king. Mikhail's mother said that the Russian people were exhausted and would destroy Mikhail, like the previous kings. The ambassadors replied that the Russian people now well understand that without a tsar the state perishes. In the end, the ambassadors declared that if Mikhail and his mother did not agree, then Rus' would perish through their fault. 4.Mikhail's reign

The young Tsar Michael had to rule during difficult times. All western part The state was devastated, the border areas were captured by enemies - the Poles and Swedes. Gangs, and sometimes large detachments, of Poles, thieves, and robbers roamed and robbed the entire state.

Therefore, the young and inexperienced Tsar Mikhail did not dissolve the Zemsky Sobor for 13 years and ruled together with it. It became easier for Mikhail Fedorovich when in 1619 his father returned from captivity and became “the great sovereign, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.” Until his death in 1633, Patriarch Filaret, in accordance with Russian traditions, helped Tsar Michael rule.

Since unrest continued in the Moscow state for a long time, Tsar Mikhail always used the help of the Zemsky Sobor in governing the country. It should be said that the Zemsky Sobors played a purely advisory role. In other words, the tsar consulted with the Zemsky Sobor on various issues, but made the final decisions himself, agreeing or disagreeing with the opinion of the Council.

Russian Zemsky Councils consisted of three parts:

1. "Consecrated Cathedral", i.e. senior clergy.

2. "Boyar Duma", i.e. know.

3. "Earth", i.e. elected from the “servants” (nobility) and “taxable” free people - townspeople and peasants.

The Zemsky Councils of these times developed a tradition: the requests and wishes of the “land” were almost always fulfilled by the tsar, even when they were unfavorable to the boyars. Zemsky Sobors forever destroyed the dream of the “princes” about the “boyar tsar”. The king's sole power increased, but he always relied on the "ground", i.e. people, and the “land” always supported the king.

2. Return to order

Tsar Michael's first task was to restore order in the state. Astrakhan, occupied by the Cossacks of Zarutsky, who was trying to found a Cossack state, was cleared of rebels. Marina Mnishek died in prison, and her son was executed along with Zarutsky.

The huge robber army of Ataman Balovnya reached Moscow and only here was it defeated and most of his people were overcaptured. Prince Pozharsky hunted for a long time for the Polish robber Lisovsky, but it was not possible to disperse his gang until Lisovsky himself died.

It was very difficult to restore obedience and honesty among the governors and officials who were accustomed to the anarchy of the Time of Troubles and tried to govern as they pleased.

Letters were sent to cities with an invitation to send authorities and elected officials to Moscow for a great cause; they wrote that Moscow had been cleared of Polish and Lithuanian people, the churches of God had returned to their former glory and God’s name was still glorified in them; but without a sovereign the Moscow state cannot stand, there is no one to take care of it and there is no one to provide for the people of God, without a sovereign there is enough Moscow State they will ruin everyone: without the sovereign the state is not built by anything and thieves' factories are divided into many parts and theft multiplies a lot, and therefore the boyars and governors invited all the spiritual authorities to come to them in Moscow, and from the nobles, the children of the boyars, guests, merchants, townspeople and district people, choosing the best, strongest and reasonable people, since a person is suitable for the zemstvo council and state election, all the cities would be sent to Moscow, and so that these authorities and elected best people They agreed firmly in their cities and took full agreements from all kinds of people about the election of the state. When quite a lot of authorities and elected representatives had gathered, a three-day fast was appointed, after which the councils began. First of all, they began to talk about whether to choose from foreign royal houses or their natural Russian, and decided “the Lithuanian and Swedish kings and their children and other German faiths and no foreign-language states of the Christian faith of the Greek law should be elected to the Vladimir and Moscow state, and Marinka and her son should not be wanted for the state, because the Polish and German kings saw in themselves a lie and a crime on the cross and a peaceful violation: the Lithuanian king ruined the Moscow state, and the Swedish king took Veliky Novgorod by deception.” They began to choose their own: then intrigues, unrest and unrest began; everyone wanted to do according to their own thoughts, everyone wanted their own, some even wanted the throne themselves, they bribed and sent; sides formed, but none of them gained the upper hand. Once, the chronograph says, some nobleman from Galich brought a written opinion to the council, which said that Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was the closest in relationship to the previous tsars, and he should be elected tsar. The voices of dissatisfied people were heard: “Who brought such a letter, who, where from?” At that time, the Don Ataman comes out and also submits a written opinion: “What did you submit, Ataman?” - Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky asked him. “About the natural Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich,” answered the ataman. The same opinion submitted by the nobleman and the Don ataman decided the matter: Mikhail Fedorovich was proclaimed tsar. But not all the elected officials were in Moscow yet; there were no noble boyars; Prince Mstislavsky and his comrades immediately after their liberation left Moscow: it was awkward for them to remain in it near the liberating commanders; now they sent to invite them to Moscow for a common cause, they also sent reliable people to cities and districts to find out the people’s thoughts about the new chosen one and final decision postponed for two weeks, from 8 to 21 February 1613.

COMPOSITION OF THE CATHEDRAL

Elected people gathered in Moscow in January 1613. From Moscow they asked the cities to send “the best, strongest and most reasonable” people for the royal election. The cities, by the way, had to think not only about electing a king, but also about how to “build” the state and how to conduct business before the election, and about this to give the elected “agreements”, i.e. instructions that they had to be guided. For a more complete coverage and understanding of the council of 1613, one should turn to an analysis of its composition, which can only be determined by the signatures on the electoral charter of Mikhail Fedorovich, written in the summer of 1613. On it we see only 277 signatures, but obviously there were participants in the council more, since not all conciliar people signed the conciliar charter. Proof of this is, for example, the following: 4 people signed the charter for Nizhny Novgorod (Archpriest Savva, 1 townsman, 2 archers), and it is reliably known that there were 19 people elected from Nizhny Novgorod (3 priests, 13 townspeople, a deacon and 2 archers). If each city were content with ten elected people, as the book determined their number. Dm. Mich. Pozharsky, then up to 500 elected people would have gathered in Moscow, since representatives of 50 cities (northern, eastern and southern) participated in the cathedral; and together with the Moscow people and clergy, the number of participants in the cathedral would have reached 700 people. The cathedral was really crowded. He often gathered in the Assumption Cathedral, perhaps precisely because none of the other Moscow buildings could accommodate him. Now the question is what classes of society were represented at the council and whether the council was complete in its class composition. Of the 277 signatures mentioned, 57 belong to the clergy (partly “elected” from the cities), 136 - to the highest service ranks (boyars - 17), 84 - to the city electors. It has already been said above that these digital data cannot be trusted. According to them, there were few provincial elected officials at the cathedral, but in fact these elected officials undoubtedly made up the majority, and although it is impossible to determine with accuracy either their number, or how many of them were tax workers and how many were service people, it can nevertheless be said that the service There were, it seems, more than the townspeople, but there was also a very large percentage of the townspeople, which rarely happened at councils. And, in addition, there are traces of the participation of “district” people (12 signatures). These were, firstly, peasants not from proprietary lands, but from black sovereign lands, representatives of free northern peasant communities, and secondly, small service people from the southern districts. Thus, representation at the council of 1613 was extremely complete.

We don’t know anything exact about what happened at this council, because in the acts and literary works of that time only fragments of legends, hints and legends remain, so the historian here is, as it were, among the incoherent ruins of an ancient building, the appearance of which he has to restore has no strength. Official documents They say nothing about the progress of the meetings. True, the electoral charter has been preserved, but it can help us little, since it was not written independently and, moreover, does not contain information about the very process of the election. As for unofficial documents, they are either legends or meager, dark and rhetorical stories from which nothing definite can be extracted.

THE ROMANOVS UNDER BORIS GODUNOV

This family was the closest to the previous dynasty; they were cousins ​​of the late Tsar Feodor. The Romanovs were not disposed towards Boris. Boris could suspect the Romanovs when he had to look for secret enemies. According to the news of the chronicles, Boris found fault with the Romanovs about the denunciation of one of their slaves, as if they wanted to use the roots to destroy the king and gain the kingdom by “witchcraft” (witchcraft). The four Romanov brothers - Alexander, Vasily, Ivan and Mikhail - were sent away remote places into heavy imprisonment, and the fifth Fedor, who, it seems, was smarter than all of them, was forcibly tonsured under the name of Philaret in the monastery of Anthony of Siysk. Then their relatives and friends were exiled - Cherkassky, Sitsky, Repnins, Karpovs, Shestunovs, Pushkins and others.

ROMANOVS

Thus, the conciliar election of Michael was prepared and supported at the council and among the people by a number of aids: election campaigning with the participation of numerous relatives of the Romanovs, pressure from the Cossack force, secret inquiry among the people, shouting from the capital's crowd on Red Square. But all these selective methods were successful because they found support in society’s attitude towards the surname. Mikhail was carried away not by personal or propaganda, but by family popularity. He belonged to a boyar family, perhaps the most beloved one in Moscow society at that time. The Romanovs are a recently separated branch of the ancient boyar family of the Koshkins. It’s been a long time since I brought it. book Ivan Danilovich Kalita, left for Moscow from the “Prussian lands”, as the genealogy says, a noble man, who in Moscow was nicknamed Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla. He became a prominent boyar at the Moscow court. From his fifth son, Fyodor Koshka, came the “Cat Family,” as it is called in our chronicles. The Koshkins shone at the Moscow court in the 14th and 15th centuries. This was the only untitled boyar family that did not drown in the stream of new titled servants who poured into the Moscow court from the middle of the 15th century. Among the princes Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky, the Koshkins knew how to stay in the first rank of the boyars. At the beginning of the 16th century. A prominent place at the court was occupied by the boyar Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin, who descended from Koshkin’s grandson Zakhary. He became the founder of a new branch of this family - the Romanovs. Roman Nikita's son, brother Queen Anastasia, is the only Moscow boyar of the 16th century who left a good memory among the people: his name was remembered by folk epics, depicting him in their songs about Ivan the Terrible as a complacent mediator between the people and the angry tsar. Of Nikita’s six sons, the eldest, Fyodor, was especially outstanding. He was a very kind and affectionate boyar, a dandy and a very inquisitive person. The Englishman Horsey, who then lived in Moscow, says in his notes that this boyar certainly wanted to learn Latin, and at his request, Horsey compiled a Latin grammar for him, writing in it latin words Russian letters. The popularity of the Romanovs, acquired by their personal qualities, undoubtedly increased from the persecution to which the Nikitichs were subjected under the suspicious Godunov; A. Palitsyn even puts this persecution among those sins for which God punished the Russian land with the Troubles. Enmity with Tsar Vasily and connections with Tushin brought the Romanovs the patronage of the second False Dmitry and popularity in the Cossack camps. So the ambiguous behavior of the surname in troubled years prepared for Mikhail bilateral support, both in the zemstvo and in the Cossacks. But most of all she helped Mikhail in the cathedral elections family connection Romanovs with the former dynasty. During the Time of Troubles, the Russian people unsuccessfully elected new tsars so many times, and now only that election seemed to them secure, which fell on their face, although somehow connected with the former royal house. Tsar Mikhail was seen not as a council elect, but as the nephew of Tsar Feodor, a natural, hereditary tsar. A modern chronograph directly says that Michael was asked to take over the kingdom “of his kindred for the sake of the union of royal sparks.” It is not for nothing that Abraham Palitsyn calls Mikhail “chosen by God before his birth,” and clerk I. Timofeev in the unbroken chain of hereditary kings placed Mikhail right after Fyodor Ivanovich, ignoring Godunov, Shuisky, and all the impostors. And Tsar Mikhail himself in his letters usually called Grozny his grandfather. It is difficult to say how much the rumor then circulating that Tsar Fyodor, dying, orally bequeathed the throne to his cousin Fyodor, Mikhail’s father, helped the election of Mikhail. But the boyars who led the elections should have been swayed in favor of Mikhail by another convenience, to which they could not be indifferent. There is news that F.I. Sheremetev wrote to Poland as a book. Golitsyn: “Misha de Romanov is young, his mind has not yet reached him and he will be familiar to us.” Sheremetev, of course, knew that the throne would not deprive Mikhail of the ability to mature and his youth would not be permanent. But they promised to show other qualities. That the nephew will be a second uncle, resembling him in mental and physical frailty, he will emerge as a kind, meek king, under whom the trials experienced by the boyars during the reign of the Terrible and Boris will not be repeated. They wanted to choose not the most capable, but the most convenient. Thus appeared the founder of a new dynasty, putting an end to the Troubles.

Similar institutions arose in Western Europe, and in the Moscow state. However, the causes and consequences of their activities were radically different. If in the first case class meetings served as an arena for deciding political issues, a battlefield for power, then in Rus' mainly administrative tasks were solved at such meetings. In fact, the sovereign became acquainted with the needs of the common people through such events.

In addition, such gatherings arose immediately after the unification of states, both in Europe and in Muscovy, so this body coped with the formation of a holistic picture of the state of affairs in the country as well as possible.

1613, for example, played a revolutionary role in the history of Russia. It was then that Mikhail Romanov was placed on the throne, whose family ruled the country for the next three hundred years. And it was his descendants who brought the state from the backward Middle Ages to the forefront at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Zemsky Sobors in Russia

Only the conditions created by the class-representative monarchy allowed the emergence and development of such an institution as the Zemsky Sobor. The year 1549 was outstanding in this regard. Ivan the Terrible gathers people to eliminate local corruption. The event was called the “Cathedral of Reconciliation.”

The word itself at that time had the meaning “nationwide”, which determined the basis of the activities of this body.

The role of zemstvo councils was to discuss political, economic and administrative issues. In fact, it was the connection between the tsar and the common people, passing through the filter of the needs of the boyars and clergy.

Although democracy did not work out, the needs of the lower classes were still taken into account more than in Europe, permeated through and through with absolutism.

All free people took part in such events, that is, only serfs were not allowed. Everyone had the right to vote, but the actual and final decision was made only by the sovereign.

Since the first Zemsky Sobor was convened by the will of the tsar, and the effectiveness of its activities was quite high, then this practice strengthened.

However, the functions of this institution of power changed periodically depending on the situation in the country. Let's look at this issue in more detail.

The evolution of the role of the cathedral from Ivan the Terrible to Mikhail Romanov

If you remember something from the textbook “History, 7th grade”, without a doubt, the period of the 16th - 17th centuries was one of the most intriguing, starting from the child-killer king and ending with the troubled time, when the interests of various noble families collided and arose out of nowhere folk heroes like Ivan Susanin.
Let's see what exactly was happening at this time.

The first Zemsky Sobor was convened by Ivan the Terrible in 1549. It was not yet a full-fledged secular council. It took active participation clergy. At this time, the ministers of the church are completely subordinate to the king and serve more as a conductor of his will to the people.

The next period includes the dark time of the Troubles. It continues until the overthrow of Vasily Shuisky from the throne in 1610. It was during these years that the significance of Zemsky Sobors changed dramatically. Now they serve the idea promoted by the new contender for the throne. Basically, the decisions of such meetings at that time ran counter to the strengthening of statehood.

The next stage became the “golden age” for this institution of power. The activities of Zemsky Sobors combined legislative and executive functions. In fact, this was a period of temporary rule by the “parliament of Tsarist Russia.”
After the appearance of a permanent ruler, the period of restoration of the state after devastation begins. It is at this time that a young and inexperienced king needs qualified advice. Therefore, councils play the role of an advisory body. Their members help the ruler understand financial and administrative issues.

For nine years, starting in 1613, the boyars managed to streamline the collection of five-dollar money, prevent a re-invasion of Polish-Lithuanian troops, and also restore the economy after the Time of Troubles.

Since 1622, not a single council was held for ten years. The situation in the country was stable, so there was no particular need for it.

Zemsky Sobors in the 17th century increasingly took on the role of a regulatory body in the internal sphere, but more often foreign policy. The annexation of Ukraine, Azov, Russian-Polish-Crimean relations and many issues are resolved precisely through this instrument.

From the second half of the seventeenth century, the importance of such events noticeably decreased, and by the end of the century it stopped altogether. The most notable were two cathedrals - in 1653 and 1684.

At the first, the Zaporozhye army was accepted into the Moscow state, and in 1684 the last gathering took place. The fate of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was decided on it.
This is where the history of Zemsky Sobors ends. Peter the Great especially contributed to this with his policy of establishing absolutism in the state.
But let's take a closer look at the events of one of the most important councils in Russian history.

Background to the cathedral of 1613

After his death, the Time of Troubles began in Rus'. He was the last of the descendants of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. His brothers died earlier. The eldest, John, as scientists believe, fell at the hands of his father, and the youngest, Dmitry, disappeared in Uglich. He is considered dead, but there are no reliable facts about his death.

Thus, from 1598 complete confusion begins. The country was successively ruled by Irina, the wife of Fyodor Ioannovich, and Boris Godunov. Next on the throne were Boris's son, Theodore, False Dmitry the First and Vasily Shuisky.

This is a period of economic decline, anarchy and invasion by neighboring armies. In the north, for example, the Swedes ruled. Polish troops led by Vladislav, son of Sigismund III, the Polish king and Lithuanian prince, entered the Kremlin, with the support of part of the population of Moscow.

It turns out that the 17th century played an ambiguous role in the history of Russia. The events that unfolded in the country forced the people to come to a common desire to get rid of the devastation. There were two attempts to expel the impostors from the Kremlin. The first was under the leadership of Lyapunov, Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, and the second was headed by Minin and Pozharsky.

It turns out that the convening of the Zemsky Sobor in 1613 was simply inevitable. If it were not for such a turn of events, who knows how history would have turned out and what the situation in the state would be today.

Thus, Pozharsky and Minin are at the head people's militia expelled Polish-Lithuanian troops from the capital. All the prerequisites were created to restore order in the country.

Convocation

As we know, Zemsky Sobors in the 17th century were an element of state governance (as opposed to spiritual ones). The secular government needed a council, which in many ways repeated the functions of the Slavic veche, when everyone came together free men kind and solved pressing issues.

Before this, the first Zemsky Sobor of 1549 was still joint. It was attended by representatives of the church and secular authorities. Later, only the Metropolitan spoke from the clergy.

This happened in October 1612, when, after the expulsion of the Polish-Lithuanian troops that occupied the heart of the capital, the Kremlin, they began to put the country in order. The army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which occupied Moscow, was liquidated quite simply due to the fact that Hetman Khotkevich stopped supporting it. Poland has already realized that they cannot win in the current situation.

Thus, after clearing out all external occupation forces, it was necessary to establish a normal strong government. For this purpose, messengers were sent to all regions and volosts with an invitation to selected people to join the general council in Moscow.

However, due to the fact that there was still devastation and a not very calm situation in the state, the townspeople were able to gather only a month later. Thus, the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 was convened on January 6.

The only place that could accommodate all the people who arrived was the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. According to various sources, their total number ranged from seven hundred to one and a half thousand people.

Candidates

The consequence of such chaos in the country was large number wanting to sit on the throne. In addition to the original Russian princely families, rulers of other countries joined the election race. Among the latter, for example, were the Swedish prince Charles and the prince of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Vladislav. The latter was not at all embarrassed by the fact that he was kicked out of the Kremlin only a month ago.

The Russian nobility, although they submitted their candidacies for the Zemsky Council in 1613, special weight was not in the public eye. Let's see which of the representatives of the princely families aspired to power.

The Shuiskys, as well-known descendants, were undoubtedly quite confident of victory. However, the danger that they, and the Godunovs who found themselves in a similar situation, would begin to take revenge on past offenders who overthrew their ancestors was very high. Therefore, the chances of their victory turned out to be scanty, since many of the voters were related to those who could suffer from the new rulers.

The Kurakins, Mstislavskys and other princes who once collaborated with the Kingdom of Poland and the Principality of Lithuania, although they made an attempt to join power, failed. The people did not forgive them for their betrayal.

The Golitsyns could well have ruled the Muscovite kingdom if their most powerful representative had not languished in captivity in Poland.

The Vorotynskys did not have a bad past, but secret reasons their candidate, Ivan Mikhailovich, recused himself. The most plausible version is considered to be his participation in the “Seven Boyars”.

And, finally, the most suitable applicants for this vacancy are Pozharsky and Trubetskoy. In principle, they could have won, since they especially distinguished themselves during the Time of Troubles and drove the Polish-Lithuanian troops out of the capital. However, in the eyes of the local nobility, they were let down by their not very outstanding pedigree. In addition, the composition of the Zemsky Sobor was not unreasonably afraid of the subsequent “purge” of the participants of the Seven Boyars, with which they could most likely begin political career these candidates.

Thus, it turns out that it was necessary to find a previously unknown, but at the same time quite noble descendant of the princely family, capable of leading the country.

Official motives

Many scientists were interested in this topic. Is it a joke - determine real move events during the formation of the basis of modern Russian statehood!
As the history of zemstvo councils shows, together people managed to make the most correct decisions.

Judging by the records of the protocol, the first decision of the people was to exclude all foreign applicants from the list of candidates. Neither Vladislav nor the Swedish prince Charles could now participate in the “race”.

The next step was to select a candidate from local representatives of the nobility. Main problem was that most of them had compromised themselves over the past ten years.

The Seven Boyars, participation in uprisings, support of Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian troops - all these factors largely played against all candidates.

Judging by the documents, in the end there was only one left, which we did not mention above. This man was a descendant of the family of Ivan the Terrible. He was the nephew of the last legitimate Tsar Theodore Ioannovich.

Thus, the election of Mikhail Romanov was the most correct decision in the eyes of the majority of voters. The only difficulty was the lack of nobility. His family descended from a boyar from the Prussian princes, Andrei Kobyla.

First version of events

The 17th century in the history of Russia had special meaning. It is from this period that we know such names as Minin and Pozharsky, Trubetskoy, Godunov, Shuisky, False Dmitry, Susanin and others.

It was at this time, by the will of fate, or perhaps by the finger of God, that the ground for the future empire was formed. If it were not for the Cossacks, which we will talk about a little later, the course of history would most likely have been completely different.

So, how did Mikhail Romanov benefit?

According to the official version, set forth by many respected historians such as Cherepnin, Degtyarev and others, there were several factors.

Firstly, this applicant was quite young and inexperienced. His inexperience in government affairs would allow the boyars to become “gray cardinals” and act as actual kings in the role of advisers.

The second factor was his father’s involvement in events related to False Dmitry II. That is, all the defectors from Tushino did not have to fear revenge or punishment from the new tsar.

Of all the applicants, only this clan was least connected with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the “Seven Boyars”, so the patriotic feelings of the people were completely satisfied. Of course: a boyar from the family of Ivan Kalita, who has a high-ranking clergyman among his relatives, is an opponent of the oprichnina and, moreover, young and “disciplined,” as Sheremetyev described him. These are the factors, according to the official version of events, that influenced the accession of Mikhail Romanov.

Second version of the cathedral

Opponents consider the following factor to be the main motive for electing the mentioned candidate. Sheremetyev strove quite strongly for power, but could not achieve it directly due to the lack of nobility of the family. In view of this, as history teaches us (7th grade), he developed unusually active efforts to popularize Mikhail Romanov. Everything was beneficial for him, because his chosen one was a simple, inexperienced young man from the outback. He didn't understand anything public administration, neither in metropolitan life, nor in intrigues.

And to whom will he be grateful for such generosity and who will he listen to first when making important decisions? Of course, those who helped him take the throne.

Thanks to the activity of this boyar, most of those who gathered at the Zemsky Sobor in 1613 were prepared to make the “right” decision. But something went wrong. And the first voting results are declared invalid “due to the absence of many voters.”

The boyars, who opposed such a candidacy, made an attempt to get rid of Romanov. A detachment of Polish-Lithuanian soldiers was sent to eliminate the unwanted applicant. But the future tsar was saved by the previously unknown peasant Ivan Susanin. He led the punishers into the swamp, where they safely disappeared (along with the national hero).

Shuisky is developing a slightly different front of activity. He begins to contact the Cossack atamans. It is believed that it was this force that played main role during the accession of Mikhail Romanov.

Of course, one should not belittle the role of zemstvo councils, but without the active and urgent actions of these detachments, the future tsar would have virtually no chance. It was they who actually put him on the throne by force. We'll talk about this below.

The last attempt of the boyars to avoid Romanov’s victory was his appearance before the people, so to speak, “to the bride.” However, judging by the documents, Shuisky was afraid of failure, due to the fact that Mikhail was a simple and illiterate person. He could discredit himself if he started making a speech to voters. That is why tough and urgent action was needed.

Why did the Cossacks intervene?

Most likely, thanks to the active actions of Shuisky and the approaching failure of his company, as well as due to the attempt of the boyars to “dishonestly deceive” the Cossacks, the following events occurred.

The importance of zemstvo councils, of course, is great, but aggressive and brute force often turns out to be more effective. In fact, at the end of February 1613, something like an assault on the Winter Palace took place.

The Cossacks broke into the Metropolitan's house and demanded that the people be convened for discussion. They unanimously wanted to see Romanov as their king, “a man from a good root who represents a good branch and the honor of the family.”
The frightened clergyman convened the boyars, and under pressure a unanimous decision was made to enthronement of this candidate.

Conciliar oath

This is actually the protocol that was compiled by the Zemstvo Councils in Russia. The delegation delivered a copy of such a document to the future tsar and his mother in Kolomna on March 2. Since Mikhail was only seventeen years old at that time, it is not surprising that he was frightened and immediately flatly refused to ascend the throne.

However, some researchers of this period argue that this move was later corrected, since cathedral oath in fact, it completely repeats the document read to Boris Godunov. “To confirm the people’s thoughts about the modesty and fear of their king.”

Be that as it may, Mikhail was persuaded. And on May 2, 1613, he arrives in the capital, where he is crowned on July 11 of the same year.

Thus, we have become acquainted with such a unique and hitherto only partially studied phenomenon in the history of the Russian state as zemstvo councils. The main point that defines this phenomenon today is the fundamental difference from the veche. No matter how similar they may be, several features are fundamental. Firstly, the veche was local, and the cathedral was state. Secondly, the former had full power, while the latter was still more of an advisory body.