Election of Mikhail Romanov in 1613

Causes of the Time of Troubles:

Dynastic crisis. The end of the Rurik dynasty.

Russia's emerging lag behind the West is leading to the emergence of large number supporters of development along the Western path. Poland is cited as a role model, which by this time was turning into an aristocratic republic (“Rzeczpospolita” - “republic” in Polish). The Polish king is elected by the Sejm. Boris Godunov is also becoming a moderate “Westerner.”

Growing public dissatisfaction with the authorities.

1598-1613 - a period in Russian history called the Time of Troubles.

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, Russia was experiencing a political and socio-economic crisis. The Livonian War and the Tatar invasion, as well as the oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, contributed to the intensification of the crisis and the growth of discontent. This was the reason for the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia.

First period of turmoil characterized by the struggle for the throne of various pretenders. After the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son Fedor came to power, but he turned out to be unable to rule and was actually ruled by the brother of the tsar’s wife, Boris Godunov. Ultimately, his policies caused discontent among the popular masses.

The Troubles began with the appearance in Poland of False Dmitry (in reality Grigory Otrepiev), the allegedly miraculously surviving son of Ivan the Terrible. He won over a significant part of the Russian population to his side. In 1605, False Dmitry was supported by the governors, and then Moscow. And already in June he became the legitimate king. But he acted too independently, which caused discontent among the boyars; he also supported serfdom, which caused protest from the peasants. On May 17, 1606, False Dmitry I was killed and V.I. ascended the throne. Shuisky, with the condition of limiting power. Thus, the first stage of the Troubles was marked by the reign of False Dmitry I (1605 - 1606)

Second period of troubles. In 1606, an uprising arose, the leader of which was I.I. Bolotnikov. The ranks of the militia included people from different walks of life: peasants, serfs, small and medium-sized feudal lords, servicemen, Cossacks and townspeople. They were defeated in the battle of Moscow. As a result, Bolotnikov was executed.

But dissatisfaction with the authorities continued. And soon False Dmitry II appears. In January 1608, his army headed towards Moscow. By June, False Dmitry II entered the village of Tushino near Moscow, where he settled. In Russia, 2 capitals were formed: boyars, merchants, officials worked on 2 fronts, sometimes even receiving salaries from both kings. Shuisky concluded an agreement with Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began aggressive military operations. False Dmitry II fled to Kaluga.

Shuisky was tonsured a monk and taken to the Chudov Monastery. An interregnum began in Russia - the Seven Boyars (a council of 7 boyars). The Boyar Duma made a deal with the Polish interventionists and on August 17, 1610, Moscow swore allegiance to the Polish king Vladislav. At the end of 1610, False Dmitry II was killed, but the struggle for the throne did not end there.

So, the second stage was marked by the uprising of I.I. Bolotnikov (1606 - 1607), the reign of Vasily Shuisky (1606 - 1610), the appearance of False Dmitry II, as well as the Seven Boyars (1610).

Third period of troubles characterized by the fight against foreign invaders. After the death of False Dmitry II, the Russians united against the Poles. The war acquired a national character. In August 1612, the militia of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky reached Moscow. And already on October 26, the Polish garrison surrendered. Moscow was liberated. The time of troubles is over.

Results of the Troubles were depressing: the country was in a terrible situation, the treasury was ruined, trade and crafts were in decline. The consequences of the Troubles for Russia were expressed in its backwardness compared to European countries. It took decades to restore the economy.

IN 1613 year after the liberation of Moscow from the Polish garrison, it was convened Zemsky Cathedral.

It was one of the most exemplary cathedrals on the principle that it witnessed a huge number of participants who were represented at it in the entire history of the existence of Muscovite Rus'. Representatives of the clergy, boyars (in an extremely weakened composition), nobility, merchants, urban townspeople and state peasants. But the strongest group was the Cossacks. It, as a class, especially strengthened during the Time of Troubles, when its composition was significantly replenished with representatives of urban Cossacks. These included those townspeople who, during the Time of Troubles, abandoned their main occupations, formed militias, organized themselves in the manner of Cossack detachments, and never returned to their previous profession. It was they who decided that now was the time to act, that is, it was necessary to place on the throne a weak ruler who could quickly organize a strong administration and army and, naturally, fulfill certain demands: a general amnesty and their inclusion in the nobility and the distribution of estates. Many of them also demanded money for the service rendered - the liberation of Moscow. As a result, before the first meeting of the council, several candidates were nominated: from the Cossacks - Romanov, from the nobles - Pozharsky, from part of the clergy and boyars - Mstislavsky. As for the merchants, artisans and peasants, they were an undecided mass. The outcome was decided before the meeting even began. On the night before the opening of the cathedral, the Cossacks blocked the residences of Pozharsky and Mstislavsky and, at gunpoint, forced them to renounce their claims to the throne. No one expected such actions, however, the nobles did not want to give up and demanded several weeks of council meetings until a compromise was found. This class took care of the safety of estates received during the Time of Troubles, and the final approval of the hereditary nature of their possessions. The Cossacks agreed to the following conditions: the top of the Don Cossacks received the nobility and the right to autonomous control of their circle and an elected ataman (he had to exercise military and civil power in this territory), and the policemen would receive money. Anyone who swears allegiance to the king will receive amnesty. As a result of this agreement, Mikhail Romanov was elected Tsar, the boyars went downhill and merged with the losing nobility, and the clergy generally began to lose their autonomy (became under the control of the state administration). Some of the Don Cossacks who took part in the liberation movement went home after Mikhail’s election, others remained in Moscow. They formed the basis of the government's armed forces. In addition to the Don Cossacks, there were detachments of service Cossacks, who during the Time of Troubles were very imbued with the independent spirit of the Donetsk people. The Cossacks had their own military organization, and they did not consider themselves integral part regular army. Separate groups of them, scattered throughout the country, did not want to obey the orders of even their own senior officers. When supplies were depleted, they robbed the population, which was very similar to robbery. In a letter to the Stroganovs dated May 25, 1613, the bishops accurately described the situation (not only regarding the Cossacks, but also the military in general), saying that when they do not receive a salary, they either go home or rob willy-nilly. However, besides these forced robbers, there were many real robbers among the Cossacks. But now Romanov himself had to agree to one more condition: to share power with the Zemsky Sobor. Now it is a permanent institution, which met almost without interruption throughout the reign of Mikhail Romanov. All important decisions were developed with the participation of the Council and signed as follows: by royal decree and by zemstvo verdict. The Council became the highest body of legislative power, without which the tsar could not pass a single law or make changes to legislation. The council shared executive power with the tsar. The reason for this is that after the Time of Troubles it was impossible to immediately restore order and law without relying on the structures that were developed during the Time of Troubles. Thus, the power of the new government was forced to be based not on force, but on popular support, primarily to restore order in the country. The Boyar Duma remained part of the Zemsky Sobor, the highest body of the government and central administration, but at the same time some changes occurred in the composition of the Boyar Duma: the Boyar Party was discredited, its representatives were removed from the Boyar Duma. The first roles in the Boyar Duma were taken by Minin and Pozharsky, Cherkassky, and most of the positions were taken by okolnichy and Duma nobles. The first composition of the new Duma included: 2 boyars, 5 okolnichy, 7 Duma nobles, 4 Duma clerks, and the most influential person in it was the Duma nobleman - Minin. He acted in close contact with Pozharsky, he was appointed chief treasurer and ruler of Muscovy. After the death of Minin in 1616, the Boyar Duma underwent some changes. Several relatives of the tsar were introduced into its composition, who assigned the boyar title and position, but initially this did not in any way affect the balance of power in the Duma. But gradually, with the fall of the positions of Trubetskoy and Pozharsky, the Romanov clan brought the Duma under its control. The range of issues considered by the Duma as a matter of priority was determined: Issues of eliminating the remnants of uncontrolled armed groups Destruction of Zarutsky and Mniszek Restoration of the national economy To resolve the first two issues, it was necessary to establish contact with the Cossacks. At this time, the Cossacks formed the basis of the government armed forces, in contrast to the nobility, whose position was undermined during the Time of Troubles. The Cossacks had their own military organization, they were not considered an integral part of the regular army, they were not subordinate to anyone, and individual groups that were scattered throughout the country knew only one thing - robbery. As a result, the Zemsky Sobor brought charges of treason against them. Local city authorities played a special role in eliminating the uncontrolled Cossacks. They obeyed the verdict of the Zemsky Sobor, and the bandits were caught and executed. This is how the armed opposition to the new regime was eliminated.

Zemsky Sobor 1613. Election to the Russian throne of a tsar from the Romanov dynasty

In January 1613, the Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow, at which the issue of electing a new tsar was decided. We can say that he was, in a way, the Constituent Assembly of that era. After 30 long debates, the choice fell on Mikhail Romanov. The most important criterion was the fact that he was the great-nephew of Ivan the Terrible’s first wife, Anastasia Romanovna. Mikhail’s young age also played a role. At the time of his election he was only 16 years old. Some boyars believed that, using his young age, they would rule behind his back. In July 1613, Mikhail Romanov was crowned king. The young monarch inherited an extremely ruined kingdom. Bandit gangs and Polish detachments were still rampant in many areas of the country. In the fall of 1614, Sweden launched military operations against Russia. However, they soon ended, and in 1617 peace was signed between Russia and Sweden. However, according to the articles of the Stolbovsky Peace, the Baltic coast remained with Sweden. A year later, Moscow diplomats signed the Deulin Truce with Poland. The Poles retained Smolensk and other lands, but returned noble Russian captives from captivity, including the Tsar’s father, Metropolitan Filaret. Important feature initial stage Mikhail's reign was the continuous work of the Zemsky Sobor, which from 1613 to 1622, for 10 years, made decisions and determined the most important directions of state policy. The subject of special concern of the Moscow government was the improvement of general well-being. For this purpose, measures were taken to provide service people with local lands and peasants. During this period, further enslavement of the peasantry took place. There was a process of development and streamlining of the tax and financial systems. During the time of Mikhail Romanov, manufacturing production received an impetus. Mikhail Fedorovich himself patronized the construction of gunpowder mills, herbal production and saltpeter breweries. He regularly sent ore miners, metallurgists, gunsmiths, watchmakers, jewelers and other specialists from abroad. Under him, three large ironworks at that time were built near Tula. With the help of foreigners, weapons and iron foundries were built in the Urals. During the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, the territory of the country increased significantly due to the peaceful development of sparsely populated areas of the North, Eastern Siberia and Far East.

The time of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) 31 In July 1645, Tsar Mikhail died. Contemporaries testify that in connection with this, a Zemsky Sobor was convened, which elected his son Alexei Mikhailovich to the throne and swore allegiance to him. This period is characterized by the influence of constantly operating factors that decisively determined the nature and direction of Russian history. - The country continued to overcome the consequences of the troubled times. - Heavy military confrontation with Poland, Sweden and Turkey, which required significant resources and forces of the nation. - Development and strengthening of economic and cultural contacts with the West. Strengthening the influence of European civilization. - The continued territorial expansion of the state and the development of vast undeveloped regions of Siberia, the Far East and the South of Russia. The first years of Alexei Mikhailovich's reign became a time of serious social conflicts and upheavals. During this period, a tax reform was carried out. The procedure for collecting payments and carrying out duties has been changed. Instead of the previous land-based principle of collecting taxes, they began to be collected according to the available number of peasants on estates and estates, which relieved the nobles of the need to pay for empty plots and increased the taxation of large land holdings. In 1646 - 1648 A household inventory of peasants and peasants was carried out. Increased tax oppression by the state led to social conflict and intensified class struggle. The reasons for this should also be sought in the increasing role of the administrative bureaucracy. In the middle of the 17th century. the country was shaken by the “salt riot”, urban uprisings, the “copper riot” and, finally, a powerful uprising under the leadership of S.T. Razin. It is not for nothing that contemporaries called the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich the “rebellious century.” An important moment in the legal development of Russian society in the period under review was the development and adoption at the Zemsky Sobor of 1649 of the most important legal document of that era - the Council Code. The significance of the new legal document was that all classes of society were subordinated to the interests of the state. With the help of the Code, the state “seated”, as V.O. Klyuchevsky, - social classes in tightly locked class cells. The Code found legal expression for the state’s desire to gather all the available forces of the nation and subordinate them to itself. The Code enslaved a significant layer of the so-called “owning peasants.” The fortress also housed the service class, which was obliged to serve the state. During this period, Russia waged difficult wars with Poland and Sweden. The raids of the Crimean khans posed a great danger to her. During the period under review, Russia maintained active trade and economic relations with the states of Northern Europe. The city of Arkhangelsk then played an important role in this trade.

From the 16th to the 17th centuries, Zemsky Sobors were convened in Russia; they played the role of an advisory body under the monarch. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613 was convened in conditions of crisis, and it the main goal there was the election of a new monarch and a new ruling dynasty. The meeting was opened on January 16, 1613, and its result was the election of the first Romanov Tsar. Read below to see how this happened.

Reasons for convening the council

The main reason for the meeting was the dynastic crisis, which began in 1598 after the death of Fyodor Ioannovich. He was the only son of Tsar Ivan the Terrible - John was allegedly killed by his father, Dmitry was killed in Uglich under unclear circumstances. Fyodor had no children, so the throne passed to his wife Irina, and then to her brother Boris Godunov. In 1605, Godunov dies, and his son Fyodor, False Dmitry I and Vasily Shuisky alternately come to power.

In 1610, an uprising occurred, which resulted in the overthrow of Shuisky from the throne. Power passed to the provisional boyar government.

But chaos reigns in the country: part of the population has sworn allegiance to Prince Vladislav, the north-west is occupied by Swedish troops, and the camp of the murdered False Dmitry II remains in the Moscow region.

Preparations for the Zemsky Sobor of 1613

When the capital was liberated from the troops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1612, an urgent need arose for a new monarch. Letters were sent to the cities (on behalf of Pozharsky and Trubetskoy) with invitations to the authorities and elected people for the great cause. However, people took longer to arrive than expected, because the country was still in turmoil. The Tver region, for example, was devastated and completely burned out. Some lands sent only one person, some - a whole detachment of 10 people. As a result, the cathedral was postponed for a month - from December 6, 1612 to January 6, 1613.

The number of elected elected officials, according to historians, varies from 700 to 1500. In Moscow at that time, destroyed by military clashes and uprisings, there was only one building that could accommodate such a number of people - the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

This is where the Zemsky Sobor met in 1613.

Composition of the meeting

The composition of the assembly is known today only from Mikhail Fedorovich’s election letter, on which elected people from different cities left their signatures. But there are only 227 signatures on the letter, while the number of people present at such significant event, clearly exceeded this number. Some of them simply did not sign the letter. There is evidence for this. Behind Nizhny Novgorod 4 people signed up, and 19 arrived. In total, representatives from 50 cities came to Moscow, so the cathedral was crowded.

Now it’s worth examining the class affiliation of the participants in the Zemsky Sobor of 1613. The representation of people of all classes was complete. Of the 277 signatures on the charter, 57 belong to clergy, 136 to service officials, and 84 to city elected officials. There are traces of participation in the elections of the king and district people - small service people and peasants.

Candidates for the throne: who are they?

The Zemsky Sobor (1613) elected Mikhail Romanov as Tsar, but besides him there were many contenders for the Russian throne. Among them stood out representatives of local noble families and dynasties of neighboring powerful states.

The Polish prince Vladislav was immediately eliminated due to his unpopularity among the people. The Swedish prince Karl Philip had more followers, including Prince Pozharsky (in fact, the latter simply carried out a clever distraction and was a supporter of Mikhail Romanov). According to the version presented to the public, the prince chose a foreign candidate due to distrust of the Russian boyars, who during times of unrest more than once switched from one favorite to another. The boyars nominated King James I of England.

Among the representatives of the local nobility, the following candidates stand out:

1. Golitsyns - due to the absence of the head of the clan (he was captured by the Poles), the Golitsyns did not have strong candidates.
2. The Mstislavskys and Kurakins ruined their reputation because they collaborated with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition, Mstislavsky declared 3 years ago that he would become a monk if they tried to place him on the throne.
3. Vorotynsky - a representative of the family himself renounced his claims to the throne.
4. The Godunovs and Shuiskys were rejected due to their kinship with the previously reigning monarchs.
5. Pozharsky and Trubetskoy were not distinguished by their nobility.

Despite this, Trubetskoy still begins vigorous activity, proposing his candidacy for the throne.

Thus, the Romanovs at the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 became the ruling dynasty.

Why the Romanovs?

But where did the candidacy of Mikhail Romanov come from? It is, of course, not accidental. Mikhail was the nephew of the deceased Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, and his father, Patriarch Filaret, was very popular among the clergy and Cossacks.

Fyodor Sheremetyev actively campaigned for the boyars to vote for Romanov, since he was young and inexperienced (that is, he could be made his puppet). But the boyars did not give in to persuasion. When, after a second vote in 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Romanov, another problem arose. Elected people demanded that he come to Moscow, which could not be allowed under any circumstances. The timid and modest Mikhail would obviously make a bad impression on the cathedral, so the Romanov party convinced everyone that the path from the Kostroma region was very dangerous in the current political situation. After much debate, Romanov’s adherents managed to convince the council to cancel the decision on the arrival of the chosen one.

The decision is delayed

In February, the delegates were tired of the endless debate and announced a break for two weeks. Messengers were sent to all cities with instructions to find out what the people thought about the election of the king. Is everyone happy that in 1613 the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Romanov? In fact, the goal was not at all to monitor the thoughts of the population, because two weeks is a very short period. You can't get to Siberia even in two months. The boyars hoped that Romanov’s supporters would get tired of waiting and leave. But the Cossacks were not going to give up. More on this below.

The role of Prince Pozharsky in the formation of a new dynasty of Russian tsars is also great. It was he who pulled off a cunning operation, making everyone believe that he was a supporter of Karl Philip. This was done only to ensure that the Swedes did not interfere in the election of the Russian ruler. Russia barely managed to hold back the onslaught of Poland; the Swedish army could not be stopped. The new tsar appreciated Pozharsky’s efforts and favored him until the very end.

The role of the Cossacks in the election of a new dynasty

The Cossacks are also credited with playing a major role in the election of Mikhail. A vivid story about this is contained in “The Tale of the Zemsky Sobor of 1613,” which was written by an eyewitness to what happened.

In February, the boyars decided to elect a tsar “at random”, simply by casting lots. It is clear that in such a situation, forgery of any name is possible. The Cossacks did not like this course of events, and their speakers staged a loud speech against the boyars’ tricks. Moreover, the Cossacks shouted out the name of Mikhail Romanov, proposing to place him on the throne, which the “Romanovites” immediately supported. This is how the Cossacks achieved the final election of Mikhail.

He said that Mikhail was still young and not quite sane, to which the Cossacks replied that he was an uncle and would help with business. The future tsar did not forget this and later permanently removed Ivan Kasha from all political affairs.

Embassy in Kostroma

At the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, Mikhail Romanov was elected the new ruler of his country. News of this is sent to the future monarch in February. He and his mother were in Kostroma and did not expect such a turn of events. The embassy was led by Archbishop Theodoret Troitsky from Ryazan. It is known that the delegation also included boyar Sheremetyev, Bakhteyarov-Rostovskoy, children of boyars, archimandrites of several monasteries, clerks and elected officials from different cities.

The purpose of the visit was to present Mikhail Romanov with a conciliar oath and notify him of his election to the throne. Official version says that the future monarch got scared and renounced the right to be king. The ambassadors were eloquent and persuaded Mikhail. Critics of the “Romanov” concept argue that the conciliar oath has no historical and political value.

Mikhail Romanov arrives in Moscow in May 1613, and his coronation took place two months later, in July.

Recognition of the Tsar by Britain

It is reliably known that the first country to accept the decision of the Zemsky Sobor in 1613 was Britain. John Metrick's embassy arrives in the capital that same year. Apparently, it was not in vain that throughout the years of his reign, Mikhail Romanov showed a special affection for this country. After the Time of Troubles, the Tsar restored relations with the British "Moscow Company". The freedom of action of British merchants was somewhat limited, but they were offered preferential terms of trade both with representatives of any countries and with Russian big businessmen.

What is the historical significance of the choice?

The main result of the election of Mikhail Romanov to reign was the end of the dynastic crisis. This had further positive results - the end of the Troubles, a sharp rise in the economy, and an increase in the number of cities (by the end of the century there were 300). Russian people are rapidly moving towards the Pacific Ocean. It rose and Agriculture, increasing momentum.

Small and large trade and exchange of goods are being established between remote areas of the country, which contributes to the formation of a unified economic system.

The election of the ruler contributed to increasing the role of the estates in the management system. The activities of the cathedrals motivated the growth public consciousness and strengthened the system of political governance in the capital and counties. The election of the tsar at the council prepared the ground for the development of the monarchy in Russia into an absolutist one. At subsequent councils (1645, 1682), the elections were replaced by a procedure for confirming the legitimacy of the heir. The opportunity to choose the king yourself disappears.

By the middle of the 17th century, cathedrals completely lost their meaning and power. They are being replaced by meetings with representatives of individual classes under the king. The principle of election was replaced by the principle of official delegation.

The uniqueness of the Zemsky Cathedral

Although historians still argue about how Mikhail Romanov was elected, their opinion clearly agrees on one thing - the cathedral was unique in the history of Russia. Home it distinguishing feature in the mass of the meeting. None of the councils had ever been so multi-class; everyone took part in it, except perhaps the slaves.

Another feature of the meeting is the importance decision taken and its ambiguity. There were plenty of contenders for the throne (including strong ones), but the Zemsky Sobor (1613) elected Mikhail Romanov as tsar. Moreover, he was not a strong and noticeable candidate. It is clear that this could not have happened without a lot of intrigue, conspiracies and attempts at bribery.

To summarize, we can say that the unique Zemsky Sobor of 1613 was of enormous importance for Russia. Power was concentrated in the hands of one man, the legitimate Tsar, who laid the foundation for the strong ruling Romanov dynasty. This election saved Russia from the constant attacks of Sweden and Poland, as well as Germany, who had plans for the country and its throne.

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 provide for the people of God, without a sovereign the Moscow state will be ruined by everyone: without a sovereign the state cannot be built in any way and is divided into many parts by thieves’ factories and thefts multiply a lot, and therefore the boyars and governors invited, so that all the spiritual authorities would come to them in Moscow, and from the nobles, boyar children, guests, merchants, townspeople and district people, choosing the best, strong and reasonable people, according to how suitable a person is for the zemstvo council and state election, all the cities would be sent to Moscow, and so that these authorities and elected the 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 discuss whether to choose from foreign royal houses or their natural Russian, and decided “not to elect the Lithuanian and Swedish king and their children and other German faiths and any foreign-language states not of the Christian faith of the Greek law to the Vladimir and Moscow states, and Marinka and her son are not wanted for the state, because the Polish and German kings saw themselves as untruths and crimes on the cross and a violation of peace: 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 call 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 the final decision was postponed for two weeks, from February 8 to February 21, 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 guided by. 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 Nizhny Novgorod elected people (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 counties. Thus, representation at the council of 1613 was extremely complete.

We don’t know anything precise about what happened at this cathedral, 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 say nothing about the proceedings 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). Four Romanov brothers - Alexander, Vasily, Ivan and Mikhail - were sent to remote places in difficult 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 Siy. Then their relatives and friends were exiled - Cherkassky, Sitsky, Repnins, Karpovs, Shestunovs, Pushkins and others.

ROMANOVS

Thus, the conciliar election of Mikhail was prepared and supported at the cathedral and among the people by a number of auxiliary means: pre-election campaigning with the participation of numerous relatives of the Romanovs, pressure from the Cossack force, secret inquiry among the people, the cry of 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's son Nikita, the brother of Tsarina 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, portraying him in their songs about Grozny 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 Latin words in it in 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. Thus, the ambiguous behavior of the family name in the troubled years prepared for Mikhail bilateral support, both in the zemstvo and in the Cossacks. But what helped Mikhail the most in the cathedral elections was the family connection of the 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.

As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Russian Romanov dynasty, an interschool scientific and practical conference was held in the Zaonezh village of Tolvuya on April 18, as reported in the April issue of the Kizhi newspaper. Today, as we continue our series of publications dedicated to the anniversary, we begin to introduce readers to the best materials from the conference participants.

The election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom, according to the traditional point of view, put an end to the Troubles and gave rise to the Romanov dynasty. People of that time believed (and not without reason) that to have confidence in the future, they needed one sovereign who would be a symbol of power. Therefore, the election of a new king affected everyone.

* * *

The leadership of the Zemsky Militia began preparing for the electoral Zemsky Sobor immediately after the liberation of Moscow. A king had to be elected. The Zemsky Sobor of the correct composition consisted of the Boyar Duma, the Consecrated Cathedral and representatives of the province. Some Russian lands could send only 10-15 people. Moscow was destroyed, and the only building that could accommodate everyone was the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The number of people gathered could be from 700 to 1500 people.

At the very beginning of 1613, elected officials from all over the Russian land began to gather in Moscow. This was the first indisputably all-class Zemsky Sobor with the participation of townspeople and even rural inhabitants.

Representatives of the clergy, boyars (in an extremely weakened composition), nobility, merchants, urban townspeople and state peasants sat at the cathedral. But the strongest group was the Cossacks. It as a class especially strengthened during the Time of Troubles, when its composition was significantly replenished with representatives of urban Cossacks. These included those townspeople who, during the Time of Troubles, abandoned their main occupations, formed militias, organized themselves in the manner of Cossack detachments, and never returned to their previous profession.

The Zemsky Sobor began its work on January 6, 1613, on Epiphany. The first three days were devoted to fasting and prayer. On the fourth day, the decision to elect foreign representatives to the Russian throne - the Polish and Swedish princes - was annulled, and the candidacy of the son of Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry II was also rejected. Following this, a list of eight Moscow boyars was announced, from whom the tsar was to be elected.

The leaders of the Zemsky militia, apparently, had no doubt that former members The Seven Boyars - both those who served foreigners (Prince Fyodor Mstislavsky, Ivan Romanov) and those who refused to cooperate with them (Prince Ivan Vorotynsky, Fyodor Sheremetyev) - will be rejected by the members of the Zemsky Sobor, and were not mistaken in their calculations. They were likely confident that the militia candidates would gain significant advantages in the current situation. In order not to disperse forces, it was decided to organize a rally in support of the main candidate from the militias - Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy.

But none of the candidates proposed by the council received the required majority of votes, and the plan for the tsar’s election, thought out, it seemed, to the smallest detail, failed. Immediately at the cathedral, new contenders for the throne began to appear and be rejected: Mikhail Romanov, Prince Dmitry Cherkassky, Prince Ivan Golitsyn, Prince Ivan Shuisky-Pugovka.

The progress of the cathedral was clearly beyond the control of its organizers. According to established practice, under these conditions, the decision on the issue of tsar's election inevitably had to be taken to the streets of Moscow, where the influence of the Cossack circle was strong. The winners - the Cossack-noble militia - could not agree for a long time: all candidates were rejected. The nobles did not want to see Dmitry Trubetskoy on the throne, because, although he was a prince, he commanded the Cossacks. The Cossacks did not want to have Prince Dmitry Pozharsky as their sovereign: after all, he was the leader of the noble militia. But there was another candidate - a quiet and completely colorless man, sixteen-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov.

* * *

Evidence has been preserved of the decisive influence of the Cossacks on the verdict of the Zemsky Sobor. On April 13, 1613, Swedish spies reported from Moscow that the Cossacks elected M. F. Romanov against the will of the boyars, forcing Trubetskoy and Pozharsky to agree to this candidacy after the siege of their yards. Jacques Margeret in 1613, in a letter to the English king James I, calling on him to intervene, wrote that the Cossacks had chosen “this child” to manipulate him, and that most of Russian society would happily welcome the English army, since they lived in constant fear of Cossacks. The slave of the Novgorod nobleman F. Bobarykin, who fled to Novgorod from Moscow in June 1613, argued that the tsar was chosen by “Moscow ordinary people and Cossacks” without general consent. Finally, the so-called “Chronograph” of Obolensky from the second half of the 17th century. mentions that the “glorious ataman of the Don” spoke in favor of the election of Mikhail Romanov at the council.

Of course, the Cossacks were not the only supporters of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. He was supported by an influential boyar group and certain part nobility. Data from the “Report on Patrimonies and Estates of 1613,” which records land grants made immediately after the election of the Tsar, make it possible to identify the most active members of the Romanov circle. In the first weeks of the reign, Mikhail Fedorovich granted the estates on Vologda, Galich and Beloozer a vast “group of comrades”: Sheremetevs, Golovins, Saltykovs, Prince Lobanov-Rostov, Prince Golitsyn, Prince Troekurov, Prince Pronsky, Prince Khilkov, Prince Egupov-Cherkassky, Prince Lviv. -Saltykov, Prince Mezetsky, Tatishchev, Trakhaniotov, Pleshcheev, Volynsky, Nagikh, princes Repnin, Sumin, Tyumen, Zvenigorod, Shcherbatov, Dmitriev, Selunsky, Shekhovsky, Begichev.

It is noteworthy that among those granted there is no uncle of the tsar, boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov, who was one of the main assistants to the head of the “seven boyars”, Prince Mstislavsky, since in the initial period of the cathedral, together with other seven-numbered boyars, he was on pilgrimage.

So, by February 25, elections were held and Mikhail Romanov was proclaimed Tsar of Russia. On the execution site swore allegiance to the new king Cossack army. The legality of the vote itself was never questioned. It is interesting that V.O. Klyuchevsky later remarked very accurately about the elections: “They wanted to choose not the most capable, but the most convenient.”

Letters were sent to all parts of the country announcing the election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar.

* * *

A special embassy was sent to Mikhail Romanov: ambassadors from the Zemsky Sobor, headed by Archbishop Theodoret of Ryazan, cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Abraham Palitsyn and boyar Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev.

Actually, Romanov still had to be found, since the Council did not have exact information about his place of stay, so the embassy was ordered to go to “Yaroslavl or where he, the sovereign, will be.”

Mikhail and his mother were first in the family estate near Kostroma, where, according to legend, his miraculous rescue from the Poles took place through the efforts of Ivan Susanin, and then in the Ipatiev Monastery.

The embassy reached Kostroma by the evening of March 13. The next day, at the head of the religious procession, it went to ask Michael to accept the kingdom. In reality, it was not him who had to ask, but his mother, nun Martha, who then for several years (before Filaret returned from Poland) made decisions for her son. A report from the embassy to Moscow has been preserved about how they convinced Michael to accept the kingdom and with what doubts he made this decision.

On March 14, 1613, Russia had a legally elected tsar. Subsequent events showed that the choice was not the worst. And it’s even good that for many years Mikhail was only a nominal ruler, and real power was in the hands of people with extensive life experience - first his mother, and then his father, Patriarch Philaret, who, upon returning from captivity, was officially proclaimed co-ruler of the tsar.

The gradual overcoming of the consequences of the Time of Troubles, the marriage of Mikhail and the birth of the heir to the throne created in the country the belief that new dynasty- this will last a long time. And so it happened: the Romanov dynasty reigned for more than 300 years.

* * *

The elections of the sovereign took place, and this was the beginning of the calming of the country. Mikhail Romanov had strong rivals, events unfolded unpredictably, and his chances of becoming king were slim. However, the very election of Michael to the kingdom can hardly be considered an accident. His candidacy was announced by the boyars, then the Cossacks came out for him, the clergy also supported him - thus, we can talk about the popular election of Mikhail Romanov to the Russian throne.

What did the rest of the Zemsky Sobor participants receive?

The nobility took care of the safety of the estates received during the Time of Troubles, and the final approval of the hereditary nature of their possessions.

The Cossacks agreed to the following conditions: the top of the Don Cossacks received the nobility and the right to autonomous control of their circle and an elected ataman (he had to exercise military and civil power in this territory), and the police received money. Amnesty was given to those who swore allegiance to the king. Some of the Don Cossacks who took part in the liberation movement went home after Mikhail’s elections, others remained in Moscow. They formed the basis of the government's armed forces. In addition to the Don Cossacks, there were detachments of service Cossacks, who during the Time of Troubles were very imbued with the independent spirit of the Donetsk people. The Cossacks had their own military organization and did not consider themselves part of the regular army. Separate groups of them, scattered throughout the country, did not want to obey the orders of even their own senior officers. When supplies were depleted, they robbed the population, which was very similar to robbery.

But now Romanov himself had to agree to one more condition: to share power with the Zemsky Sobor. Now the Zemsky Sobor became a permanent institution, meeting almost without interruption throughout the reign of Mikhail Romanov. All important decisions were developed with the participation of the Council and signed as follows: “by royal decree and by zemstvo verdict.” The Council became the highest body of legislative power, without which the tsar could not pass a single law or make changes to legislation.

The council shared executive power with the tsar. The reason for this is that after the Time of Troubles it was impossible to immediately restore order and law without relying on the structures that were developed during the Time of Troubles.

Thus, the power of the new government was forced to be based not on force, but on popular support, primarily to restore order in the country.

* * *

The Boyar Duma remained part of the Zemsky Sobor, the highest body of the government and central administration, but at the same time some changes occurred in the composition of the Boyar Duma:

• the boyar party was discredited, its representatives were removed from the Boyar Duma;
• Minin, Pozharsky, Cherkassky took the first roles in the Boyar Duma, and most positions were occupied by okolnichi and duma nobles.

The first composition of the new Duma included: 2 boyars, 5 okolnichy, 7 Duma nobles, 4 Duma clerks, and the most influential person in it was the Duma nobleman Minin. The range of issues considered by the Duma as a matter of priority was determined: issues of eliminating the remnants of the uncontrolled Cossacks; destruction of Zarutsky and Mnishek; restoration of the national economy.

To resolve the first two issues, it was necessary to establish contact with the Cossacks. At this time, the Cossacks formed the basis of the government armed forces, in contrast to the nobility, whose position was undermined during the Time of Troubles. The Cossacks had their own military organization, they were not considered an integral part of the regular army, they were not subordinate to anyone, and individual groups that were scattered throughout the country knew only one thing - robbery.

As a result, the Zemsky Sobor brought charges of treason against them. Local city authorities played a special role in eliminating the uncontrolled Cossacks. They obeyed the verdict of the Zemsky Sobor, and the bandits were caught and executed. I. Zarutsky, M. Mnishek and her three-year-old son “little raven Ivashka” were executed.

This is how the armed opposition to the new regime was eliminated.

Upon ascending the throne, the new king did not enter into any agreement with his subjects. This meant that the tsarist power again became unlimited, autocratic, as under the Rurikovichs. But after the storms of the Time of Troubles, the country needed a strong individual power for calm to come.

Thus began three hundred years of service of the Romanov dynasty for the benefit of Russia.

When preparing the material, the following literature was used: “The Romanovs. 300 years of service to Russia”, M.: publishing house Bely Gorod, comp. Astakhov A.Yu.; I. Tyumentsev “Misha is young in mind, he hasn’t realized it…”, Rodina Magazine, No. 11, 2006; Klyuchevsky V.O. "Works", M., 1990

Maxim KASHEVAROV, 7th grade. Tolvui Secondary School