Outstanding Russian statesmen and commanders. Great Russian commanders

State and military figures

ADASHEV Alexey Fedorovich (? – 1561) – statesman, okolnichy since November 1553. Brother of D. F. Adashev.

He comes from a rich, but not well-born family of Kostroma nobles who made a fortune in the salt trade. At the court of Tsar Ivan IV he made a quick career - from ordinary “children of the boyars” he became first a solicitor and bedchamber of the sovereign, then a Duma nobleman, and then a deviant and even a royal bed-keeper. Thanks to his intelligence and organizational skills, Adashev enjoyed the exceptional trust of the sovereign, who, according to Prince A.M. Kurbsky, could not “arrange or think of anything” without Adashev’s advice. From the end 1540s Adashev was the custodian of the press, archive and personal office of the sovereign, was in charge of compiling discharge books and the official chronicle, directed the foreign policy of Russia, accompanied the tsar on all his campaigns, and headed the Petition Order, which controlled the activities of all other state institutions under him. Adashev practically headed the activities of the “Chosen Rada” - a group of noble persons especially close to the Tsar, who constituted the de facto government of Russia. Adashev became the initiator of the experiments carried out in Russia in the 1550s. transformations, which in historical literature were called reforms of the “Chosen Rada”.

After Ivan IV’s break with the “Chosen Rada,” which, as the tsar believed, sought to limit his autocratic power, Adashev was sent to war in Livonia (the third commander of a large regiment). Having distinguished himself in battles with the enemy, he did not gain the gratitude of the king and did not return his favor. In addition, Adashev’s enemies slandered him before the tsar: they accused him of poisoning Tsarina Anastasia, the first wife of Ivan IV. Alexey Adashev died in the Yuryev voivodeship from a “fiery illness” on the eve of the planned reprisal against him. Later, all of Adashev’s relatives were subjected to painful executions by order of the king.

BELSKY Bogdan Yakovlevich (? – 7.3.1611) – statesman, close associate of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible.

He came from an obscure noble family and rose to prominence during the oprichnina, probably due to his relationship with G.L. Belsky (Malyuta Skuratov). In the 1570s was the tsar’s “steady guardian.” From 1573 - steward, from 1577 - Duma nobleman. In 1577, during the Livonian War of 1558–1583, he was among the governors who ensured the capture of one of the most important Livonian fortresses, Volmar. In 1580, Belsky was a “friend” at the wedding of the Tsar with Maria Naga. He carried out the most confidential orders of Ivan IV (negotiated the possibility of his marriage to the English Queen Elizabeth or her relative Mary Hastings, kept predictions about the fate of the Tsar, etc.), and was the tutor (uncle) of Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich. After the death of Ivan IV, Belsky was accused by a group of boyars of murdering the tsar and intending to kill his successor Fyodor Ivanovich in order to bring Boris Godunov, whose patronage he enjoyed, to power.

In 1584, Belsky was sent by the governor to Nizhny Novgorod. In 1591 he took part in a campaign against the Crimean Tatars, then commanded artillery in the campaign of Russian troops against the city of Vyborg, which was under Swedish rule. In 1593 he participated in negotiations on concluding peace with the Crimean Khanate. After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (1598), Belsky tried to get involved in the struggle for the throne, which displeased Boris Godunov.

In 1599, Boris granted him the rank of okolnichy and sent from the capital to supervise the construction of the city of Tsarev Borisov on the river. Donets, however, continued to intrigue against his former patron, declaring that Boris is the Tsar in Moscow, and he is in Tsarev Borisov. In 1602, the enraged tsar, who was informed about Belsky's behavior, ordered his beard to be plucked and imprisoned. Returned to Moscow after the death of Boris, Belsky in 1605 participated in the uprising against the Godunovs, welcomed the accession to the throne of False Dmitry I, who granted him the title of boyar. Vasily IV Shuisky sent him as second governor to Kazan. When the Kazan people decided to swear allegiance to False Dmitry II, Belsky refused the oath, after which he was killed by a rioting crowd.

VISKOVATOV, Viskovaty Ivan Mikhailovich (? – July 25, 1571) – statesman and diplomat, Duma clerk since 1553, printer 1561

The first information about Viskovatov dates back to 1542, when he held the position of clerk. In 1549 he headed the Ambassadorial Prikaz, and in 1553 he became the Duma clerk. In the same year, during the serious illness of Tsar Ivan IV, in the unfolding struggle for succession to the throne, Viskovatov showed himself to be a strong supporter of his son, Tsarevich Dmitry (the elder). This earned him even greater favor from the recovered Ivan Vasilyevich.

In 1553, Viskovatov spoke out against new icons and paintings created on the instructions of Metropolitan Sylvester for the Annunciation Cathedral and the Golden Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Viskovatov doubted the canonicity of the image of the “invisible Deity” (including God the Father) on the grounds that any Deity “is not visible with bodily eyes.” He considered it acceptable for icon painters to reproduce only the image of Jesus Christ. With a written statement of his views, Viskovatov turned to the tsar and achieved the convening of a special church council in 1553–1554. At the council, Sylvester was supported by Metropolitan Macarius, and Viskovatov was condemned. By admitting that he was wrong, he managed to retain the favor of the sovereign.

In 1554, Viskovatov was included in the commission of inquiry into the case of treason against Prince S.V. Lobanov-Rostovsky, who secretly communicated with the Lithuanian ambassador S. Dovoina, at the end. 50s advocated the conclusion of a peace agreement with the Crimean Khanate, became one of the initiators of the Livonian War. During the oprichnina he led Russian foreign policy.

On July 25, 1570, Viskovatov was executed along with the treasurer N. Funnikov. The surviving fragment of the investigative case allows us to connect his fall with the “Novgorod treason” and Ivan IV’s disgrace with the prominent guardsmen A.D. and F.A. Basmanov.

VYAZEMSKY Afanasy Ivanovich (? – 1570) – prince, guardsman and swordsman since 1565.

Coming from an impoverished princely family. He enjoyed the unlimited trust of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible after the fall of the government of the Chosen Rada and the removal of A.F. Adashev and Metropolitan Sylvester from power. Vyazemsky accompanied Ivan IV during his move to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. The tsar’s special trust is evidenced by the fact that he took medications prescribed by doctors only from the hands of Vyazemsky. In 1564–1565 Vyazemsky was one of the main advisers to Ivan IV on organizing the oprichnina. Together with the boyar A.D. Basmanov and the nursery I.V. Zaitsev, he selected the boyar children of the Suzdal, Vyazma and Mozhaisk guardsmen. In the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, Vyazemsky took one of the first places and was awarded the title of cellarer by Ivan IV. The tsar himself was the abbot of the oprichnina paramilitary spiritual brotherhood. In the Oprichnina Duma, Vyazemsky received the ranks of okolnichy and gunsmith.

In 1570, along with other prominent guardsmen, Vyazemsky fell into disgrace. He was accused of secret negotiations with the Lithuanians about the transfer of Novgorod and Pskov to them. However, the real reason for his fall was disagreement with the plans of Ivan IV to make a campaign against Veliky Novgorod. The denunciation of the royal hunter Grigory Lovchikov reported that the guardsman warned the Novgorodians about a punitive expedition being prepared against them. The tsar removed Vyazemsky from participating in the campaign, and upon his return he handed him over for execution. The former favorite was tortured and beaten with sticks.

GORBATY-SHUISKY Alexander Borisovich (? – 02.1565) – prince, military and statesman, boyar since 1544, governor.

Representative of the younger line of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal princes, descendants of the son of Alexander Yaroslavin Nevsky Gorodets, Prince Andrei Alexandrovich. He was a participant in the fierce struggle for power that began after the death of Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya (1538); acted on the side of the Belsky princes, who fought the Shuisky boyar group.

He became famous during the campaigns against Kazan. During the campaign of 1552, together with P.I. Shuisky, ahead of the main Russian army, he was sent with a ship’s army to the river. Sviyaga to the recently built fortified city of Sviyazhsk, which became a Russian outpost in the very center of the Kazan Khanate. During the siege of Kazan he was one of the regimental commanders. On August 30, 1552, his army defeated a detachment of the Tatar prince Yapanchi, who was attacking Russian troops, in the Arsky Forest. After the capture of Kazan, he was appointed Kazan governor.

Hunchback-Shuisky was a member of the Chosen Rada and, after its fall, shared the fate of many of his comrades. In the beginning. February 1565 executed along with his only son Peter. After the execution, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible allowed himself a symbolic gesture - he sent a contribution to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to commemorate his soul.

KURBSKY Andrey Mikhailovich (1528–1583) - prince, governor, boyar from 1556.

Already in his young years, Kurbsky became famous as a commander, took part in the capture of Kazan in 1552. Being close to Tsar Ivan IV and his closest advisors A. Adashev and Sylvester, Kurbsky became a member of the “Chosen Rada”, and at the age of 28 he was awarded the rank of boyar. When, during the Livonian War, the tsar began persecuting his recent friends, Kurbsky commanded the Russian army in the Baltic states. Despite the victories he won, he was soon removed from command and appointed governor of the city of Yuryev (Dorpat) recaptured from the Livonians. Fearing the tsar's wrath, on the night of April 30, 1564, Kurbsky fled to Lithuania.

The Polish king granted the noble fugitive the rich Kovel volost and other land holdings in Lithuania and Poland. The former Russian governor, already on the enemy side, continued to participate in the Livonian War, leading detachments in the Polish-Lithuanian armies in campaigns against Velikiye Luki and Polotsk. Only a serious illness prevented him from joining Stefan Batory, who besieged Pskov in 1581.

Kurbsky gained fame as an original thinker and writer. He called Maxim the Greek his teacher. Kurbsky is the author of many works, including three messages to Ivan the Terrible, in which he accused Ivan the Terrible of numerous crimes. In 1573, Kurbsky wrote “The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow” with denunciations of the Tsar and a story about the activities of the “Chosen Rada”. He also owns various works directed against Catholicism and Protestantism.

OVCHINA-TELEPNEV-OBOLENSKY Ivan Fedorovich (? – 1538) – prince, statesman, boyar and equerry since 1534.

Participated in the Russian-Lithuanian wars early. 16th century, in repelling the raids of the Crimean Tatars. During the campaign against Kazan in 1524, he commanded a regiment of the left hand. Close to the court thanks to the high position of his sister Agrafena Chelyadnina, the “mother” (teacher) of the heir to the Moscow grand-ducal throne, Ivan Vasilyevich (future Ivan GU).

Favorite of Elena Glinskaya. After the death of Grand Duke Vasily III and the transfer of power to his widow Elena, Glinskaya headed the government, suppressing the princely and boyar opposition. Under him, a monetary reform was carried out (the “penny” began to be minted). During these years, he continued to participate in military campaigns. Thus, in 1535 he commanded the advanced regiment in the army of Prince V.V. Shuisky, sent to Smolensk, and during the 1537 campaign against Kazan he was the second commander of the advanced regiment.

After the death of Elena Glinskaya, the prince was imprisoned and secretly killed (starved to death).

SKURATOV-BELSKY Grigory Lukyanovich(nicknamed Malyuta)(? – January 1, 1573) – close associate of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, one of the leaders of the oprichnina, Duma nobleman (since 1570).

He came from a seedy branch of the Pleshcheev family. People first started talking about Skuratov in 1561, when he became the tsar's closest assistant in eradicating boyar sedition. After the establishment of the oprichnina in 1565, Skuratov took one of the first places in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda and was awarded by Ivan IV the title of “paraclesiarch” - sexton of the black oprichnina brotherhood. The king himself accepted the rank of "abbot". When early in the morning, at 4 o’clock in the morning, the “abbot” with a lantern in his hand climbed the bell tower, his faithful “sexton” Grishka was already waiting there. They rang the bells together, calling members of their oprichnina “order” to early matins. After prayer and meals, business began - tracking down the dissatisfied and unwanted, torture and execution. In this matter, Malyuta Skuratov showed particular zeal. It is no coincidence that the king trusted him with the most difficult and dirty assignments. It was Skuratov who in 1569 “read out” the guilt of Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritskoto before his murder, and at the very end of 1569 he was sent by the Tsar to the Tverskaya Otroch Monastery, to the former Metropolitan Philip (Kolychev) imprisoned there. The king asked for the blessing of the campaign against Novgorod, but the prisoner refused his envoy. Using this refusal as a pretext, Malyuta strangled the former metropolitan.

During the Novgorod campaign of 1570, Skuratov commanded the oprichnina army. The role he played during this pogrom is evidenced by the “Synodik” of Ivan the Terrible: “According to Malyutin’s skask in the Nougorotsky parcel, Malyuta trimmed (exterminated) 1,490 people (by manual truncation), 15 people were trimmed from the squeak.” In 1571, he conducted an investigation into the reasons for the victory of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey over the Russian army.

The king favored his favorite, bestowing money, estates, and ranks. Coming from a humble family, Skuratov-Belsky became a Duma nobleman and was able to marry off his daughters to representatives of the most noble families in the Moscow state. One - for the Tsar's cousin Prince I.M. Glinsky, another - for B.F. Godunov, the third - for Prince D.I. Shuisky. Unlike other prominent guardsmen, Skuratov escaped royal disgrace and execution. A cruel executioner, a master of investigation and reprisals, he ended his life as a hero - he died in the Livonian War, during the assault on the Livonian fortress of Paide (Weissenstein).

ADASHEV Daniil Fedorovich (? – 1562/1563) – voivode, okolnichy since 1558. Brother of A.F. Adashev.

He began serving in small court ranks. After the Kazan campaigns, in which his military talents were demonstrated, he became a governor. In 1558, Daniil Fedorovich was appointed first commander of the advanced regiment during the capture of Narva, and a year later - commander-in-chief of a large regiment in the army gathering on the Dnieper for a campaign against the “Crimean uluses”.

Having gone down the Dnieper in large boats, Daniil Fedorovich’s army entered the Black Sea, where they captured two large Turkish ships. Then Adashev landed on the western coast of Crimea and defeated the Tatar troops sent against him. Having freed many prisoners, Adashev returned safely. Adashev's expedition became the first retaliatory blow struck by Russia against the Crimean Tatars. The chronicler, glorifying the brave Russian governor, wrote that before that, since the conquest of the Crimea by the “infidels,” “the Russian saber had never been blackened in those wicked dwellings...”.

In 1561, shortly after the death of his brother, D. F. Adashev was accused of treason and executed along with his twelve-year-old son Tarkh, the last representative of the Adashev family.

VYRODKOV Ivan Grigorievich (? – 1563 or 1564) – clerk, military engineer.

Participated in the Kazan campaigns of the 40s and 50s. 16th century In 1551, under his leadership, at the mouth of the river. In Sviyag, the wooden fortress of Sviyazhsk was built in 28 days, which became a stronghold for the capture of Kazan. The walls, towers, and gates of the fortress were cut down in advance in the Uglich area and transported to the construction site along the Volga. The construction of the fortress amazed the surrounding residents, who asked to be accepted “under the high hand” of the Russian Tsar. In 1552, during the siege of Kazan, Vyrodkov supervised fortification work, during which a 13-meter siege tower was erected in one night, 10 guns and 50 arquebuses were placed in it.

In 1557, Vyrodkov built a sea fortress at the mouth of the river in 3 months. Narva, participated in the construction of the fortress in Galich. In 1558 he was a governor in Astrakhan, in 1563 he commanded a pososhny (peasant) army in a campaign against Polotsk.

ERMAK TIMOFEEVICH (?-08/06/1585) - Cossack ataman, leader of the campaign to Siberia.

Ermak's origins are unknown. Some researchers considered him to be from the Don, others from the Kama. Ermak's detachment hunted on the Volga, attacking Russian and Persian merchants and government ships. The Ural mining owners the Stroganovs hired Ermak's detachment to protect their possessions from raids by nomads. In the fall of 1579 (according to other sources - 1581 or 1582), Ermak with a squad of several hundred people set out on a campaign for the “Stone Belt” (Ural) along the Siberian rivers Chusovaya, Serebryanka, Zharovlya, Tagil, Tura, Tobol. The Siberian Khan Kuchum sent a large army to meet him, which was defeated by the Cossacks on the banks of the Tobol. In the battle on the banks of the Irtysh on October 23–25, 1582, Kuchum’s army suffered another defeat. The khan migrated to the steppe, effectively surrendering the capital of his khanate, Kashlyk, to Ermak. In 1583, the Cossacks captured fortified towns one after another along the banks of the Irtysh and Ob, losing atamans and ordinary warriors in stubborn skirmishes with local princes. Meanwhile, Ataman Koltso, sent with yasak to Moscow, enlisted the support of Tsar Ivan IV, who sent 300 (according to other sources - 500) archers to help the Cossack squad. On the night of August 6, 1585 (or 1584), Ermak’s small detachment was unexpectedly attacked by Kuchum. Many Cossacks were killed, and the ataman himself, trying to save himself, threw himself into the river to get to his plow, but drowned under a hail of enemy arrows. The remnants of Ermak’s squad under the command of Ataman M. Meshcheryak left Siberia.

Ermak’s Siberian campaign and his personality are surrounded by numerous legends, reflected in folk art and art.

GOLITSYN Vasily Vasilievich(? – January 14, 1619) – prince, military and statesman, boyar since 1602.

For the first time in discharge records he was mentioned in 1590 as one of the governors who besieged the Swedish fortress of Narva. Subsequently he was a governor in Smolensk.

In December 1604, Golitsyn was sent as the first governor of the advanced regiment against False Dmitry I. Together with some other Russian governors, in May 1605, near Kromy, he went over to the side of the impostor, who appointed him as the main governor in the campaign to the cities of Orel and Tula.

At the head of a special boyar commission, he was sent by False Dmitry I to Moscow to destroy the dethroned Fyodor Borisovich Godunov and his mother. He did not take a direct part in the massacre, but after the murder of the Godunovs he announced to the Muscovites gathered in front of their courtyard about the suicide of Fyodor Borisovich and Maria Grigorievna.

Despite the zeal shown, he did not enjoy special confidence from the new tsar and soon joined the conspiracy of the Shuisky princes. Played an important role in overthrowing the impostor. Shuisky reacted negatively to the accession of Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, believing that he had no less rights to the Moscow throne. He openly opposed Vasily IV Shuisky in the summer of 1610, after the defeat of his troops near the village. Klushino. Together with Z. P. Lyapunov, he organized a conspiracy that ended with the overthrow of the tsar and his forced tonsure as a monk.

Together with Metropolitan Philaret, he headed the Russian embassy near Smolensk to the Polish king Sigismund III, who was there, with a message about the election of his son Prince Vladislav as the new Russian tsar. Contrary to the position of the king, he refused to demand from the governor M.B. Shein the surrender of Smolensk. He was arrested and sent to Poland.

In 1618, after the conclusion of the Deulin truce, V.V. Golitsyn was given the opportunity to return to his homeland, but died on the way in Vilna.

MININ Kuzma (? – 1616) - Nizhny Novgorod townsman, organizer and one of the leaders (together with Prince D. M. Pozharsky) of the Second Zemstvo Militia, Duma nobleman since 1613.

Father - Mina Ankudinov owned salt pans and conducted trading business in Balakhna, a small town near Nizhny Novgorod. Together with his father and brothers, Kuzma Minin was a co-owner of a salt mine. In the beginning. 17th century Minin opened a shop in Nizhny Novgorod and engaged in the meat trade.

In 1608–1610 Minin, as part of the Nizhny Novgorod militia, took part in battles with the army of False Dmitry II. In September 1611 he was elected zemstvo elder.

In the beginning. October 1611 Minin, first in the zemstvo hut, and then on the market square, called on the people of Nizhny Novgorod to gather and equip a nationwide army capable of liberating Moscow captured by the Poles. According to legend, Kuzma Minin was prompted to do this by a vision of the image of Sergius of Radonezh. Minin concentrated in his hands the collection of funds, food and equipment for the needs of the militia.

Together with Prince D. M. Pozharsky, Minin headed the temporary zemstvo government formed under the militia - the “Council of the Whole Land”. In October 1612, the militia, in alliance with Cossacks from the “camps” near Moscow, forced the Polish garrison of Moscow to capitulate. He took part in the Zemsky Sobor in 1613. Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, who was elected to the kingdom, in July 1613 granted Minin the rank of Duma nobleman. Minin received land in his native Nizhny Novgorod district and was included in the Boyar Duma. He was buried in the Nizhny Novgorod Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral; in 1962, after the demolition of the cathedral, his ashes were transferred to St. Michael's Archangel Cathedral.

ZARUTSKY Ivan Martynovich (? – 1614) – Cossack ataman, one of the leaders of the First (Ryazan) militia of 1611.

Originally from Tarnopol. Until the summer of 1607, he fought in the army of Ivan Bolotnikov, then went to False Dmitry II, in whose army he commanded a detachment of Don Cossacks and was granted a boyar status. After the collapse of the Tushino camp, he went over to the side of the Polish king Sigismund III, then, offended by the cold reception, he returned to the impostor. After the murder in Kaluga at the end. 1610 False Dmitry II Zarutsky joined the First Militia of Prince D. T. Trubetskoy and P. P. Lyapunov, and became one of its leaders. In 1612 he tried to organize an assassination attempt on Prince D. M. Pozharsky. In the summer of the same year, together with Marina Mnishek and a detachment of Cossacks, he fled to the Ryazan lands, from there to Astrakhan (1613), where he tried to enlist the support of the Don Cossacks and the Persian Shah. Fearing the approach of the royal army, he went to the river. Yaik. In the fall of 1614, he was handed over by the Cossacks to the royal governors, brought to Moscow and executed (impaled).

LYAPUNOV Prokopiy Petrovich (? – 07/22/1611) – governor, Duma nobleman since 1607. Descended from the Ryazan nobles. After the death of Tsar Boris Godunov in 1605, with a detachment of the Ryazan local cavalry, he went over to the side of False Dmitry I. In 1606, the impostor was killed.

With the coming to power of Tsar Vasily IV Shuisky, Lyapunov joined the army of I. I. Bolotnikov and participated in the siege of Moscow. In November 1606 he went over to the side of Vasily Shuisky and was granted the rank of Duma nobleman.

In 1608–1609 served as a governor in Ryazan. In 1610, after the defeat of the Russian army near the village of Klushino and the entry of the Poles into Moscow, Lyapunov was the first to rebel against the Seven Boyars and began to gather a zemstvo army to liberate the country. The letters he sent to the districts evoked a response in many Russian cities. In March 1611, the Ryazan militia approached Moscow. Here Lyapunov was joined by detachments led by D.T. Trubetskoy and I.M. Zarutsky, forming the backbone of the First Militia.

Lyapunov, D.T. Trubetskoy and I.M. Zarutsky headed the zemstvo government created under the militia. Lyapunov was in charge of the zemstvo treasury, the collection of weapons and supplies for the army, and communications with cities. The Ryazan governor took tough measures to suppress robberies and outrages in the territory controlled by the militia.

Lyapunov's actions caused discontent among the Cossacks of the militia. Trubetskoy and Zarutsky did not provide support to Lyapunov.

The resulting conflict was exploited by the Poles surrounded in Moscow and their supporters of Russian boyars and officials. A forged letter written in the name of Lyapunov was planted in the Cossack camp, which contained a call for reprisals against the Cossacks in all Russian cities. On July 22, 1611, the enraged Cossacks gathered in a circle and summoned Lyapunov. Fearing reprisals, the governor left the militia camp, intending to take refuge in Ryazan. But the Cossack envoys persuaded him to return, promising personal safety. When Lyapunov entered the circle, the Cossacks, at a sign from Ataman S. Karamyshev, rushed at the governor and hacked him to pieces with sabers.

After Lyapunov’s death, many service people left near Moscow. The first militia actually disintegrated.

POZHARSKY Dmitry Mikhailovich(1578 - April 20, 1642) - prince, governor, head of the Second Zemstvo Militia, boyar from 1613.

He came from an impoverished family of the Starodubsky princes. His father Mikhail Fedorovich Pozharsky was disgraced by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible during the oprichnina years. Upon reaching the age of 15, Pozharsky was forced into service. Since 1593, he regularly participated in noble reviews and after one of them he was awarded the lowest court rank - solicitor with a dress. He participated in the Zemsky Sobor in 1598 and was one of those who signed the council’s resolution on the election of Boris Godunov to the kingdom. Soon after this, for five years he commanded a detachment of archers on the southern border, constantly ravaged by the Crimean Tatars. He proved himself to be a brave and decisive commander, for which he was awarded the rank of steward.

During the siege of Moscow by adherents of False Dmitry II in 1610, Prince Pozharsky was the governor in Zaraysk. In 1611 he participated in the organization of the First Zemstvo Militia. His detachment is one of the few that managed to arrive near Moscow and take part in the uprising that broke out there in March 1611. Wounded in battles on the Moscow streets, Dmitry Mikhailovich was taken to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and then to his Suzdal estate, the village of Mugreevo. Here the Nizhny Novgorod ambassadors found him, who arrived on the advice of K.M. Minin to ask the prince to lead the Second Militia.

Prince Pozharsky, elected as the military leader of the zemstvo army, also headed the “Council of the Whole Russian Land” - a temporary body of supreme power throughout the territory liberated from the invaders. Pozharsky played an exceptional role in the liberation of Moscow.

The prince acquired enormous authority in the fight against the enemies of Rus', therefore, at the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, which elected a new king to the throne, he led meetings, asking the opinions of the participants. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov appreciated the merits of the prince and on July 11, 1613, after the crowning of the kingdom, he granted Dmitry Mikhailovich the rank of boyar.

In 1613–1619 Prince Pozharsky led military operations against the Polish detachments and the detachments of Hetman P. Sagaidachny that supported them, then headed the Yamskaya, Robbery and Judgment orders, and was a governor in Novgorod. Thanks to the generosity of the tsar, who rewarded him for his faithful service, he became one of the richest landowners in Russia.

SKOPIN-SHUISKY Mikhail Vasilievich(November 8, 1586 – April 23, 1610) – prince, governor. Nephew of Tsar Vasily IV Ivanovich Shuisky. After his election to the throne in May 1606, he commanded the Russian troops that fought with the troops of Ataman I. I. Bolotnikov, and then with the regiments of False Dmitry II. In 1608, Skopin-Shuisky was sent by Vasily Shuisky from besieged Moscow to Novgorod. In exchange for the concession of a number of Russian border towns, he concluded an assistance agreement with the Swedes. Having gathered the armies of the northern and Pomeranian cities and united them with the Swedish mercenary army, in May 1609 Skopin-Shuisky set out for Moscow. Having won brilliant victories over the “Tushins” near Torzhok, Tver and Dmitrov, in March 1610.

Skopin-Shuisky solemnly entered Moscow. In the midst of preparations for a campaign to help Smolensk besieged by the Poles, the young commander suddenly fell seriously ill and died. The sudden death of the talented governor gave rise to rumors that he was poisoned at one of the feasts on the orders of Vasily Shuisky.

SHEIN Mikhail Borisovich (? – April 28, 1634) – governor, boyar from 1607, head of the defense of Smolensk in 1609–1611.

From the Shein family. During the reign of Boris Godunov, Shein was already an honored governor, commanding troops that suppressed uprisings of rebellious peasants and slaves. He distinguished himself during the first victorious battle of the Russian army with the troops of False Dmitry I near Dobrynichi on January 21, 1605. Boris Godunov granted Mikhail Borisovich from the chashniks to the okolnichy. Appointed to con. In 1607, the governor of Smolensk, Shein, did everything in his power to prepare the city and fortress for the war with Poland. Thanks to this, without any support, Smolensk withstood an almost two-year siege of the Polish army (Smolensk defense) - from September 1609 to June 3, 1611. Shein, wounded in the last battle, was captured and taken with his family to Poland. He returned to his native land only after the end of hostilities in 1619, together with the father of the new Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Filaret. These two people were bound by sincere friendship for the rest of their lives. In the 1620s. Shein first headed one of the detective orders, and then the Pushkar order. When the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Smolensk War) began in 1632, Shein was appointed to command an army to liberate this Russian city. However, all the efforts of the chief Russian governor were in vain. The siege of Smolensk dragged on, and soon the entire Polish royal army arrived to the rescue of the besieged. On February 15, 1634, Shein was forced to agree to an honorable surrender to the Poles. In Moscow he was accused of treason. Patriarch Filaret was no longer alive and there was no one in Moscow to intercede for the old honored governor. By the verdict of the Boyar Duma, he was executed.

BUTURLIN Vasily Vasilievich (? – 1656) – statesman, boyar since 1652

In the discharge records it has been mentioned since 1633 as a bell with the rank of steward at the reception of the Turkish ambassador. In 1640, Buturlin was granted okolnichy, in 1650–1651. headed the Robbery Order, in 1652–1654. - Order of the Grand Palace.

In 1653, he was entrusted with heading the Russian embassy to Ukraine, whose hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky asked Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to accept his country as Russian citizenship. He was present at the Pereyaslav Rada in 1654, the participants of which swore allegiance to the Russian sovereign, and organized the swearing of the oath by residents of Little Russian cities and towns.

MATVEEV Artamon Sergeevich (1623 – 05.15.1682) – statesman and military leader, diplomat, close boyar (c. 1674), okolnichy (1672).

From the family of an embassy clerk. He was brought up at court together with Tsarevich Alexei Mikhailovich, after whose accession to the throne (1645) he received the rank of steward and the rank of colonel. Participated in the Pereyaslav Rada of 1654, during the Russian-Polish War of 1654–1667. Smolensk was besieged. At the head of the Streletsky Prikaz (regiment) he suppressed the “Copper Riot” of 1662 in Moscow. In 1669, he successfully negotiated with the Zaporozhye army at the Glukhov Rada, and achieved the election of D. I. Mnogohreshny as hetman of Left Bank Ukraine. Upon returning to Moscow, he was appointed head of the Little Russian Prikaz. Since 1671, he simultaneously led the Ambassadorial Prikaz and a number of other government institutions.

After Alexei Mikhailovich’s marriage to Matveev’s distant relative and pupil, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the boyar became the tsar’s confidant and the most influential figure at court. Participated in the suppression of the uprising led by Stepan Razin in 1670–1671. In 1673, he obtained the extradition of the impostor “Tsarevich Simeon,” who fled from Astrakhan to the Zaporozhye Sich and posed as the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1674, thanks to the efforts of Matveev, I. S. Samoilovich, a supporter of Russia, was elected hetman of Left-Bank Ukraine.

Matveev was one of the most educated people of his time. He collected an extensive library. Arranged delivery of medical books and medicines from abroad. From 1676 he headed the Pharmacy Department. For the first time in Russia, he organized a private theater, in which his courtyard people and foreigners living in Moscow presented “comedies,” and contributed to the organization of a theater at the royal court (1672). He supervised the compilation of the Titular Book (1672), and was the initiator of writing the official history of the Russian state. He became interested in European innovations and introduced “foreign” practices into his everyday life. Matveev contributed to the revival of trade and diplomatic relations with the Bukhara and Khiva khanates. On his initiative, in 1675 an embassy was sent to China, headed by the translator of the Ambassadorial Order, Nikolai (Milescu) Spafari.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, Matveev fell into disgrace and was sent to the voivodeship in Verkhoturye, soon accused of black book, deprived of ranks and lands, detained in Kazan, then in Pustozersk and Mezen. In 1682, by decree of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, Matveev was returned part of the lands and allowed to move to Kostroma district. After the death of Fyodor Alekseevich in May 1682, during the Khovanshchina, by order of Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, he returned to Moscow with the intention of suppressing the unrest of the Streltsy, but was captured by them in the royal palace and thrown onto pikes.

MOROZOV Boris (Ilya) Ivanovich (c. 1590 - November 1, 1661) - statesman, boyar from 1634, head of government under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1645–1648.

He came from an ancient boyar family. He began his service in 1615 at the court of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. In 1633, Morozov became the “uncle” (educator) of the four-year-old Tsarevich Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1645, after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich, Morozov became the de facto head of the government under the sixteen-year-old Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He headed the orders of the Great Treasury, Streletsky, Inozemny, Aptekarsky and the New Quarter, which was in charge of the drinking business. Morozov removed many boyar families from leadership - the Kurakins, Cherkasskys, Repnins, Sheremetevs, Odoevskys. In their places he put his younger and less well-born supporters. Soon he was granted the rank of a nearby boyar. On January 16, 1648, Alexei Mikhailovich married Marya Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, and ten days later Morozov married her younger sister Anna. Having become related to the king, he further strengthened his position at court.

The finances of the Russian state were seriously undermined by the Smolensk War of 1632–1634. and expenses for the construction of southern fortresses. Therefore, the main goal of the government of B.I. Morozov was to increase treasury revenues: government spending was reduced, primarily salaries and wages to “service people”; new taxes were introduced, the highest of which was salt taxes; trade privileges, etc. were abolished. As a result of these measures, for three years from 1645 to 1648. Morozov managed to replenish the treasury.

But these unpopular measures aroused general discontent among both the poorest part of the population and the noble boyars, merchants and archers, which soon resulted in open rebellion. On June 2, 1648, the “Salt Riot” broke out in Moscow, during which many of Morozov’s henchmen were killed, and he himself was saved by the intercession of the tsar. On June 12, Morozov was sent in custody to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

But already in the fall of 1648, Alexei Mikhailovich returned Morozov to the capital. Soon his opponents were removed from power. Management of the main orders was transferred to the boyar I. D. Miloslavsky, who was the father-in-law of the Tsar and Morozov. Morozov himself did not hold any positions, but retained influence on state affairs, enjoying the trust and friendly disposition of Alexei Mikhailovich.

He took part in the preparation of the Council Code of 1649. In 1654, he was awarded the highest military rank - palace governor, commander of the “sovereign regiment”.

To the beginning 60s Morozov became one of the largest landowners. He owned 9,100 tax farms in 19 counties with 55 thousand peasants, as well as iron, brick, and potash factories, mills and distilleries. He conducted a large trade in bread and potash, lent large sums of money; after his death, his debtors had up to 80 thousand rubles.

Contemporaries considered Morozov a follower of European customs. He invited foreign masters and patronized Kyiv learned monks working in Moscow in the 1640s. was part of a circle of like-minded people that formed at the court of boyar F. M. Rtishchev. Morozov collected a large library, which, in addition to Russian, contained books in Latin and German from the 15th to 17th centuries.

MSTISLAVSKY Fedor Ivanovich (?-12.2.1622) - prince, statesman and military leader.

Son of Prince I. F. Mstislavsky. Kravchiy (until 1576), boyar (from 1576). Participated in the Livonian War of 1558–1583. In 1579–1580 voivode in Novgorod. In 1589–1590 besieged Narva. In 1591, at the head of a large regiment, he was on “coastal service” on the Oka River, together with B.F. Godunov, he successfully repelled the raid of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey, for which he received the “Golden Portuguese” from Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (a kind of order of that time) and the city of Kashin with its suburbs.

During the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky was a member of the Middle Duma (along with B.F. and

D.I. Godunov and others), headed the Boyar Duma. In the fall of 1604 he was sent against False Dmitry I, in the battle of Novgorod-Seversky (December 18, 1604) he was defeated and seriously wounded. In April 1605, he was recalled to Moscow by supporters of the Godunovs, who were counting on Mstislavsky's support in the struggle for the throne.

As a noble boyar, the prince headed the Boyar Duma under False Dmitry I and Vasily IV Shuisky. According to one version, he participated in the preparation of the overthrow of False Dmitry I. In 1607, he led the tsar’s army in a campaign against I.I. Bolotnikov, and participated in the capture of Kaluga and Tula. During the siege of Moscow by False Dmitry II, he remained loyal to Vasily Shuisky; after the overthrow of the latter, he was nominated as a candidate for the throne, but refused to accept the crown. In 1610 he headed the boyar government - the so-called. Seven Boyars. On Mstislavsky’s initiative, on August 17, 1610, an agreement was signed with Crown Hetman S. Zholkiewsky inviting Prince Vladislav to the Russian throne, and a Polish garrison was brought into Moscow.

After the capitulation of the Polish garrison in October 1612, the prince was released to his estate and did not participate in the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, which elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the throne. In April 1613, Fyodor Ivanovich was summoned to Moscow and headed the Boyar Duma, received the title of equerry and “servant” (like B.F. Godunov under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich) and the right to be called the Vladimir governor. As a relative of the king, he took first place in all palace ceremonies. By 1613, Mstislavsky owned St. 32 thousand quarters of patrimonial lands.

ODOEVSKY Nikita Ivanovich (c. 1601 - November 12, 1689) - prince, statesman and military leader, diplomat.

He came from a noble family, the son of boyar I.N. Odoevsky (Bolshoi). In 1618, during the siege of Moscow by the troops of the Polish prince Vladislav, he was in the retinue of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich with the rank of steward. During the Smolensk War of 1632–1634. sent by the governor to Rzhev to gather military men. At the end of the war, he was recalled to Moscow, where in 1635 he was promoted to the “grand stolniks”, and in 1640 to the boyars (according to the nobility of the family, bypassing the rank of okolnichy). In 1640–1643 voivode in Astrakhan. Since 1643, judge of the Kazan and Siberian orders. In 1644, he negotiated with Danish ambassadors about the marriage of Prince Voldemar with Princess Irina Mikhailovna. In 1645, on the day of the crowning of Alexei Mikhailovich, he was granted the status of a close boyar. In 1646–1647 first governor in Livny.

In 1651–1653 first governor in Kazan. During the Russian-Polish War of 1654–1667. participated in the capture of Orsha, Dubrovna, Shklov, Vilna; conducted difficult negotiations with the Polish and Swedish ambassadors. In 1655, he was awarded the honorary title of Astrakhan governor, but in the face of subsequent military defeats and diplomatic failures, Alexei Mikhailovich became disillusioned with Odoevsky and gradually removed him from the most important affairs. Due to his nobility and relationship with the royal family, Odoevsky still occupied a high position at court.

In 1663–1664 During the conflict between the tsar and Patriarch Nikon, Odoevsky negotiated with Nikon, demanding that he return to the New Jerusalem Resurrection Monastery. At a church council in 1666 he acted as an accuser of Nikon and demanded his deposition; then, the only secular person present at this procedure.

In 1668, Odoevsky headed the orders of the Great Treasury, Zemsky and Reitarsky. In 1671, at the second wedding of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with N.K. Naryshkina, he was the tsar’s imprisoned father, and his wife Evdokia Fedorovna (daughter of the influential boyar F.I. Sheremetev, a distant relative of the tsar) was the imprisoned mother.

Under Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, Odoevsky's authority rose again. In 1676, he headed the Pharmacy Department, replacing A. S. Matveev in this post. In 1677 he was granted the title of governor of Vladimir. In 1681, he headed the Moscow Court Order and the Discharge (Execution) Chamber, which in the absence of the sovereign replaced the Boyar Duma.

After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1682), Odoevsky occupied an honorable place at court, but due to illness and advanced years he did not take part in affairs. He was buried in the family tomb in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

ORDIN-NASHCHOKIN Afanasy Lavrentievich (c. 1605–1680) – statesman and military leader, diplomat.

He came from a family of unborn Pskov nobles. He grew up in Opochka, received a good education (he studied Latin, Polish, German, Moldavian languages, mathematics, rhetoric). From 1622 he was in “regimental service” in Pskov. In the beginning. 1640s Ordin-Nashchokin arrived in Moscow, where he met the boss

Ambassadorial order F.F. Likhachev, printer I.I. Patrikeev and others. In 1642 he was involved in border negotiations with the Swedes. In order to clarify the situation in the lands bordering the Ottoman Empire, he visited the Principality of Moldova (1644) and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1645). During the Russian-Polish (1654–1667) and Russian-Swedish (1656–1658) wars, Ordin-Nashchokin participated in the assault on Vitebsk (1654), the campaign against Dinaburg, led the assault on Drissa (1655), made a raid near Dynamunde and Riga. Being in 1655–1656. governor in Druya and Koknese (Kokenhausen), strove for the economic revival of the Podvina region, encouraged trade, created a shipyard on the Western Dvina, promoted the export of potash and timber, and supervised the construction of a copper money yard in Koknese. In the 1650s. he proposed reforming the army by introducing recruitment, increasing the streltsy, soldier and reiter regiments, and reducing the noble cavalry. In 1656 he signed a treaty of friendship and alliance with Courland and established relations with Brandenburg. In 1658, he conducted negotiations with Sweden, which ended with the signing of the Valiesar Truce, which was beneficial for Russia, and was granted a Duma nobleman. However, in 1661, in an extremely difficult international situation, Ordin-Nashchokin was forced to sign the Peace of Kardis with Sweden, which eliminated all the advantages of Russia.

From 1662 he participated in negotiations with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1665 he was sent as a governor to Pskov, Okolnichy. He drew up a project for the city administration of Pskov, transferred a significant part of his functions as a governor to elected representatives from among the “best” people of the town. After the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, he was made a boyar and appointed head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Ordin-Nashchokin’s active diplomatic activity contributed to the revitalization of Russia’s contacts with the East and West. He made the first attempt to organize permanent Russian diplomatic missions abroad. In the summer of the same year, Ordin-Nashchokin developed a project for a new state seal and, after its approval, received the title “Royal Great Seals and State Saver of Great Embassy Affairs.” The Smolensk discharge, the Little Russian order, the Novgorod, Galician and Vladimir chety were transferred to his jurisdiction. He supervised the drafting of the New Trade Charter of 1667, which protected domestic trade. He supervised the construction of a shipyard on the Oka River in the village. Dedinovo. He was the initiator of the establishment of mail between Moscow, Riga and Vilna. In the Ambassadorial Prikaz, Ordin-Nashchokin organized the regular translation of foreign newspapers and the compilation of the handwritten newspaper “Chimes”. The doctor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich S. Collins spoke of Ordina-Nashchokin this way: “A great politician, a very important and wise minister of state and, perhaps, not inferior to any of the European ministers.”

Independence and categorical judgments, as well as a number of miscalculations in the leadership of the Little Russian Order in the context of the complicated situation in Ukraine and the betrayal of Hetman P. Doroshenko led Ordin-Nashchokin to disgrace in 1671. A.S. Matveev, who had headed the Little Russian Prikaz back in 1669, was appointed head of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. In 1672, Ordin-Nashchokin took monastic vows under the name of Anthony at the Krypetsky Monastery in Pskov. Here he transported an extensive archive, on the basis of which he wrote the autobiographical note “Department of Desirable People” and the historical essay “True Notice about the Beginning of the War, about Kiev with Ukraine and the Kingdom of Moscow with the Kingdom of Poland for the Peace to Be Strong” (1678–1679). ). In 1679, Ordin-Nashchokin was summoned to Moscow and participated in negotiations with the Poles, but his proposals to conclude a Russian-Polish alliance were not accepted. He was returned to the Krypetsky Monastery, where he died.

RTISHCHEV Fedor Mikhailovich Bolshoi(April 1626 – June 21, 1673) – statesman, educator.

From the nobles. In 1645 he began serving as a solicitor at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1650 he became a bed servant, replacing his father in this position. In 1654–1655 participated in campaigns against Lithuania; as a result of negotiations with Hetman I. Sapega, the Polish-Lithuanian side achieved the inclusion in the title of the Moscow Tsar of words confirming his power over “Little” and “White” Russia. In 1656 he was promoted to okolnichy and appointed head of the Lithuanian order, and then the order of Livonia affairs. In 1657–1664 supervised the orders of the Grand Palace and Secret Affairs.

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author

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