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The period from the death of
Ivan the
Terrible in 1584 to the election of Mikhail Romanov to the tsardom in 1613
is known as the "Troubled Times" (Smutnoe Vremia) or simply the
"Upheaval" (Smuta). Actually, the date of Tsar Fedor's death in 1598
is more appropriate to mark the starting point of the deep crisis and dynastic
changes that Russia underwent, because with his death came an end to the first
Russian dynasty of Riurikids. Fedor was Ivan's son by his first wife, Anastasia
Romanovna. The weak-minded, very pious and childless Fedor was not interested
in "The secular nuisance," as he called governing the country, and
preferred to spend most of his time praying, visiting monasteries and ringing
church bells. Palace intrigue resumed, and
Boris
Godunov managed in the end to eliminate all his opponents and govern the
country in the name of his brother-in-law Tsar Fedor. In 1591 the ten-year old
Tsarevich Dmitrii, son of Ivan the Terrible by his seventh wife, Maria Nagoi,
died under mysterious circumstances. People have believed that Boris was
involved in Dimitri's death probably because, in 1598, a few months after the
death of Tsar Fedor, he was elected to the throne by the "Zemskii
Sobor," an assembly representing most social groups.
Boris Godunov was a descendant of a Tatar family of petty nobility. His
patriarch was Murza (Count) Chet, converted to Christianity by the Metropolitan
Peter, who left the Golden Horde and moved to Russia to live. Legend has it
that on his way to his new country, he was caught in a terrible storm near the
Volga river, and only prayer saved his life. It was at this spot that he
decided to remain, and where he later established the famous Monastery of Saint
Ipatiev. The Godunovs soon prospered, and with prosperity came the title of
boyar. See the
wax
museum figures of these rulers.
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