What is a Tushino camp. Tushino camps

The fall of the Tushino and Moscow governments Despite the appeal of the Tushino people to the king, unrest continued in Tushino. It was empty, he was threatened by the troops of Skopin-Shuisky, who then approached Moscow, and the Thief from Kaluga. Finally, Rozhinsky, unable to stay in Tushino,

Since False Dmitry II was recognized by many Russian cities and his cause was on solid ground, influential people in the Commonwealth, who once patronized Otrepiev, began to show interest in the impostor intrigue. Among them were the princes Vishnevetsky, Ruzhinsky, Tyshkevich, Valevsky and others.

King Sigismund III did not want to participate in the adventure. But the rebellion against the royal power strengthened the elements of anarchy in the Commonwealth. Hired soldiers, left without work after the suppression of the rebellion, poured into the Russian borders in the hope that the "king" would generously reward them for their labors.

Otrepiev's longtime associate, Prince Roman Ruzhinsky, was not averse to playing the same role under False Dmitry II that Yuri Mnishek played under the first impostor. Both grandees were on the verge of ruin and pinned all their hopes on the success of the adventure and the generous awards of the “king”. The impoverished Ukrainian tycoon mortgaged his land holdings and went into debt. With the borrowed money, he recruited a detachment of mounted spearmen.

Among the mercenaries there were many participants in Otrepiev's Moscow campaign, and Ruzhinsky had to prepare them for a meeting with a tramp. It was impossible to prevent unwanted rumors by violence alone. The hetman hired a doctor of theology, Vincent, who spoke to the soldiers with tales that he saw "Tsar Dmitry" when he first appeared in Poland and when he was in Moscow, then in a cell with Bernardine monks, and then in Starodub, and all this one person. To justify the adventure, the theologian wrote a report to Rome with evidence of the truth of "Tsar Dmitry".

Arriving in Rus', Ruzhinsky sent ambassadors to False Dmitry II. When the ambassadors returned, the soldiers turned to them with the question whether this was the “king”. The ambassadors' answer was more than ambiguous: "The one to which you sent us!" Two and a half months passed before Ruzhinsky resumed negotiations. The Poles were convinced that the "king" did not have a rich treasury sufficient to pay for their services. This was the main reason for the delay.

Having moved to Kromy, the army sent new ambassadors to the "thief". In the spring of 1608, they appeared in Oryol, where the "chancellor" Pole Valevsky greeted them on behalf of the "autocrat". Court etiquette was grossly violated by the "sovereign". He reviled the Poles, accusing them of treason. The “thief” considered any doubts about his royal origin to be a betrayal. The impostor was given the ambiguous phrase of the first ambassadors, and he assumed the pose of an offended person.

The abuse convinced the inhabitants of Starodub that they had before them the true sovereign. But it had the opposite effect on the Poles. In response to swearing, the ambassadors - hired soldiers announced that now they were sure that they were not facing the former "Tsar Dmitry", since he, unlike the new one, "knew how to respect and understand the soldiers." The ambassadors ended the speech with a direct threat, stating that the soldiers "will know what to do."

The old leadership in the person of Hetman Mekhovetsky did not want to allow Ruzhinsky into their camp. But Mekhovetsky lost his credibility, as he did not ensure the payment of the promised money to the mercenaries. Behind Mekhovetsky's back, the soldiers came to an agreement with Ruzhinsky's army.

When Ruzhinsky entered the Eagle, the impostor gave a feast in his honor. At the table, the "king" talked at length about the fact that he would never have agreed to become the Polish king, "because the Moscow monarch was not born to be ruled by some kind of archbes, or, as we say (in Polish. - R.S.) my name is Archbishop. In the mouth of False Dmitry II, the scolding of the Catholic "archbishop" is understandable. One of the main accusations against the murdered Rastrigi was his adoption of the Catholic faith. Attacks against Catholics were supposed to prove the devotion of False Dmitry II to the Greek Church.

The denunciations of the ambassadors and the threats against the "thief" were forgotten. The mercenaries were most worried about whether they would be paid for their service in Russia.

In April 1608, Polish soldiers gathered for a military camp for the election of a hetman. Once again, the focus was on money. The mercenaries called Ruzhinsky the new hetman. False Dmitry II, called to the colo, tried to argue. “Tsyt, b ... children!” he shouted. There was a terrible noise. The soldiers demanded that the scoundrel be put to death immediately: “Kill him, the swindler, cut him to death! Oh, you such and such a son, a robber! He beckoned us, and now you are paying us with ingratitude!”

Ruzhinsky convinced the soldiers that he would provide them with a salary corresponding to their dignity. The rebellious mercenary army surrounded the court of the "king" with armed guards. Mekhovetsky did not want to admit defeat and tried to challenge the decision of the Polish army. The first patron of the Shklovsky teacher counted on the support of the “sovereign” and the Cossack army, which far outnumbered the mercenary army in numbers. But False Dmitry II was afraid and could not protect his hetman. Once under house arrest, he drank bitter. Having sobered up, the "autocrat" had to endure new humiliations. He asked for forgiveness from the hired soldiers and recognized the power of the elected hetman Ruzhinsky, after which Mekhovetsky was expelled from the camp.

The new hetman did not immediately feel himself master of the situation. He was forced to stay in Kromy, while False Dmitry II was in Orel with Zarutsky.

The change of command had important consequences. The Bolotnikovites, who brought the "Starodub thief" to power and enjoyed great influence in his camp, began to lose one position after another. Following the nobility and magnates, the Moscow nobility appeared surrounded by False Dmitry II.

The meeting of the mercenaries with the "sovereign" gave rise to rumors about his imposture. The confidence of the army in the success of the adventure was shaken. The hetman had to resort to new dramatizations. Doctor Vikenty and a certain Trobchinsky, who supposedly knew many secrets of False Dmitry I, came to his aid. Trobchinsky undertook to examine the “king” and establish whether he was the former “Dmitry”. In a public debate, he stated "secrets", deliberately distorting the details. The school teacher confidently corrected him and gave accurate and comprehensive answers to all questions. At the same time, the questioners portrayed the greatest amazement and declared that only they knew about it, and even “Tsar Dmitry” himself, which means that it was undoubtedly he, although outwardly he did not look like him.

Speeches about the truth of the "sovereign" concluded a disastrous clause for him. The recognition that the applicant did not at all look like the crowned "Dmitry" doomed the "thief" to the position of a puppet, which the Poles could at any moment declare a deceiver and throw it into a landfill. A sword hung over the impostor's head.

Nevertheless, the hired soldiers were satisfied with the performance and were ready to forgive the “sovereign” for his appearance. They were satisfied with promises to pay the money.

Ruzhinsky's idea was designed not only for mercenaries. Soon the hetman sent a message to Prince Vasily Golitsyn, one of the boyars who placed Otrepiev on the throne. Lithuanians do not serve the numerous false princes who have appeared in Russia, but he, Ruzhinsky, became convinced of the truth of “Tsar Dmitry” and was among the first to serve him, since his father, grandfather and uncle faithfully served the born Moscow sovereigns. (The Ruzhinskys enjoyed authority in the Zaporizhzhya Sich and more than once led detachments of the Cossacks and fought against the Tatars side by side with the royal governors.)

The appeal was supposed to sow doubts among the associates of False Dmitry I in Moscow, who had lost their former influence after the accession of Shuisky.

Ruzhinsky developed a vigorous activity. On his orders, False Dmitry II turned to his "parent" - father-in-law Yuri Mnishek for help, in order to enlist the support of the king through him. Mnishek responded to the call and drew up a detailed note for Sigismund III with assurances that his son-in-law was alive and, referring to the articles of secret treaties, asked for recognition and military assistance. Mnishek again outlined plans for the imposition of Catholicism in Muscovy, tried to protect the rights of his daughter as a Moscow queen.

The agents of the impostor appeared in Krakow. One of them, the Jew Arnulf Kalinsky, received the authority "for negotiations in all matters of the Commonwealth, both military and commercial." Perhaps he was the banker of the "king". It was through him that False Dmitry II, having an empty treasury, offered the king half a million zlotys annually for help.

Sigismund III did not want to enter into negotiations with the "deceiver". Mnishek's note did not impress the king and the Sejm. The senators pushed for a ban on recruiting troops for the impostor in Poland.

Having taken the post of commander in chief, Ruzhinsky immediately gave the order to attack Moscow. The trip started badly. An accidental fire destroyed all the stocks prepared in Orel for the troops.

Tsar Vasily concentrated large forces on the approaches to the Volkhov. The army was led by the tsar's brother, Prince Dmitry Shuisky. The governors managed to build a fortified camp. Having learned about the approach of the enemy, Dmitry Shuisky on April 30, 1608 withdrew the regiments from the camp and lined them up in battle formations. Ruzhinsky ran into the Russians on the march, having no time to rebuild the troops. Cavalry companies attacked the Russian positions on the move.

The commander of the advanced regiment, Vasily Golitsyn, repulsed the attack and pushed the attackers back. Then the detachments of Ruzhinsky and Valevsky entered the battle. They threw Golitsyn back and went to the location of a large regiment. The participants in the battle noted that the main forces of the Russian army did not provide assistance to their dying comrades. The situation was saved by the attack of the guard regiment of Prince Kurakin.

The military council, convened at night by Shuisky, decided not to resume the general battle, but to withdraw the regiments to Volkhov in order to take up defense along the notch line and block the enemy's path to Moscow. In the "thieves" camp, Ruzhinsky and his captain also decided to postpone the battle and move to more advantageous positions. Minor skirmishes continued on 1 May.

Russian warriors began to withdraw artillery to the rear. At the same time, Hetman Ruzhynsky ordered the transport of military carts across the river and began building a camp in a new place. The train wagons kicked up clouds of dust. The Russians decided that the enemy was reorganizing his formations in order to strike from the flank with large forces. Panic broke out in the royal regiments. The defectors reported everything to the "king". Ruzhinsky immediately gave the order to advance. “The thief” and the Poles, the chronicler wrote, “crossed the river and came under the village of Kobylino, 15 miles from Volkhov, behind the regiments of the Muscovite state.”

The exit of the Polish cavalry to the rear of the tsarist army finally killed Shuisky. His regiments lost control and turned into a stampede. Part of the forces retreated to the Volkhov, the other went to the notch line. Volkhov opened the gates to Ruzhinsky after two days of resistance. The winners got a lot of guns and a huge convoy.

The reasons for the defeat were not limited to the inept leadership and cowardice of Dmitry Shuisky. The civil war demoralized the noble militia. The county children of the boyars were not eyewitnesses to the death of False Dmitry I and were confused by the successes of the resurrected tsar. If "Dmitry" again took fortress after fortress and irresistibly advanced towards Moscow, then God himself patronizes him, and punishment will inevitably befall those who resist. The governors lost all confidence in the servicemen, while the warriors ceased to trust their commanders. The number of defectors again began to grow rapidly.

In order to keep the Polish detachments with him, the impostor concluded a new agreement with them after the battle. He undertook to share with them all the treasures that he would get upon entering the royal throne. The people who welcomed the new "true Dmitry" had no idea about the conspiracy behind his back.

In June 1608 the impostor's army set up camp in Tushino. Skopin located on Khodynka against Tushin. Tsar Vasily with the court took up positions on Presnya.

The appearance of Polish and Lithuanian detachments in the army of the impostor caused alarm in the Kremlin. The Russian authorities developed a feverish activity, trying to prevent a military conflict with the Commonwealth. Tsar Vasily hastened to complete peace negotiations with the Polish ambassadors, promising them to immediately release the Mniszeks and other Poles detained in Moscow to their homeland. The ambassadors agreed in principle to immediately withdraw from Russia all military forces fighting on the side of the impostor.

To celebrate, Shuisky informed Ruzhinsky about the near peace and promised to pay his mercenaries the money "deserved" from the "thief" as soon as they left the camp.

Tsar Vasily rejoiced prematurely. For two weeks, his governors stood still, taking no action. Confidence spread in the regiments that the war was about to end. Hetman Ruzhinsky used the carelessness of the governor and at dawn on June 25 delivered a sudden blow to Skopin's army. The royal regiments retreated in disarray. The Tushinos tried to break into Moscow on their shoulders, but were driven back by the archers. Ruzhinsky intended to give the order for a general withdrawal. But the governors did not dare to pursue his retreating detachments. Three days later, the tsarist governors utterly defeated Lisovsky's army, which was trying to break into the capital from the south.

In vain, False Dmitry II sought to conclude an "allied" treaty with the king and showed his readiness to make any concessions. The most far-sighted politicians of Poland strongly objected to interference in the internal affairs of the Russian state. Sigismund III followed their advice, because he had not yet managed to forget about his failure with Otrepyev and did not completely suppress the opposition within the country.

In the end, the easy victories of False Dmitry II deprived Sigismund III of prudence. The king gave the order to prepare troops for the occupation of the Russian fortresses of Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky.

The aggressive plans of Sigismund III ran into objections from the highest dignitaries. Crown hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski pointed to the unpreparedness of the royal army for a big war. The king had to postpone the implementation of his intentions.

In Moscow, Tsar Vasily dictated the terms of a truce to the Polish ambassadors. The ambassadors, who had been languishing in Russia for two years, signed the document in order to be able to return to their homeland. The peace treaty turned out to be nothing more than a piece of paper. On the very day of the signing of the armistice, Lithuanian magnate Jan Petr Sapieha invaded Russia with a large army.

In fulfillment of the agreement, Tsar Vasily freed the Mnishek family. The senator took an oath to Shuisky that he would never recognize a new impostor as his son-in-law, and promised to contribute in every possible way to ending the war. But Mnishek did not at all think of fulfilling his promises. He played a risky game and did everything to stir up confusion.

The king instructed the governors to accompany the ambassadors to the border and ensure their safety. The governors drove the Poles along forest roads, hiding from the "thief". But the very next day after leaving Moscow, Mniszek told the Tushino people information that allowed them to intercept the convoy.

The Polish ambassadors insisted on observing the truce and returning to their homeland. But the Mnisheks separated from the embassy convoy and stopped near the border in the Belaya region. Ruzhinsky sent Colonel Zaborovsky after them. In a letter to his father-in-law, False Dmitry II expressed his wish for a “soon, joyful and pleasant meeting,” but at the same time he transparently hinted that it would be safer for the father-in-law to return to Poland: it would be better for him, “Tsar Dmitry,” to hear that you are in Poland on freedom than here nearby in full.

Zaborovsky gave the senator the "royal letter", but did not rush to return to Tushino. Soon he was joined by Jan Sapegas with Lithuanian detachments. The Lithuanians staged a parade in honor of the "Moscow Queen Marina".

In Mozhaisk, Sapega received a letter from False Dmitry II with the order to leave a small retinue to Marina Mnishek, and to go to Tushino himself, "not in the least doubting our mercy."

The reception at the "palace" at the "king" made a depressing impression on Sapieha. During the feast, the Shklov tramp, as usual, blasphemed. The dishes struck the Poles with squalor. All dishes were rude, prepared in a simple way, somehow, dirty. "There was no abundance."

With the appearance of new faces in the camp, the struggle for power resumed. Ruzhinsky did not want to part with the title of commander in chief. But now Yuriy Mniszek and Yan Sapieha also applied for this post.

Ruzhinsky's subsequent steps showed that he considered Sapieha his main rival. In a new letter, the impostor and Ruzhinsky informed Sapega that "Tsar Dmitry" suddenly fell ill, and suggested that Sapieha enter into negotiations with the "Chancellor" of the "Tsar" Valevsky. The two hetmans had to come to an agreement between themselves without any participation of the "king" and his "father-in-law".

With regard to Queen Marina, the Tushino people had their own plans. When Mniszeki and Sapieha arrived in Zvenigorod, they received a letter from the “ill” “king”. False Dmitry II asked "his wife" to take part in the position of a saint in the Zvenigorod Monastery in order to strengthen the disposition of the people of Moscow towards the "royal couple".

An eyewitness to the events, Nikolai Marchotsky, testified that the appearance of the Mnisheks brought the Tushins "more harm than good, since the tsarina and other persons who knew Dmitry in the capital, seeing ours, did not want to recognize him, and it was impossible to hide it." A week passed, and only “after much persuasion,” Markhotsky noted, “everyone, including the tsarina, agreed to pretend with us that this was not another tsar, but the same one that was in Moscow.”

The first meeting of Yuri Mniszek with the "thief" took place on September 5, 1608. Sapieha's secretary wrote in his Diary that pan voivode Sandomierz "for the second time went to the impostor to find out whether he was the one or not." A frank and mocking entry from the Diary gives an accurate picture of the beginning of the bargaining.

The question of whether the "thief" was the true "Dmitry" was not significant. The Poles could not share power. Yuri Mnishek, who claimed the role of ruler of Russia under False Dmitry I, demanded the same post in Tushino for himself. The first meeting ended with Ruzhinsky rejecting Mnishek's claims, and he refused to recognize False Dmitry II as his son-in-law.

Once Otrepiev agreed to satisfy all the territorial claims of his betrothed father-in-law. Now the "father-in-law" reminded the new "son-in-law" of his obligations. The people interpreted that Mnishek demanded a widow's lot and famous cities for his daughter. These rumors could only complicate the position of the impostor.

On September 6, Marina saw her "husband" for the first time. In the diary of Jan Sapega, an entry appeared that the “Queen of Moscow” did not really want to greet her “husband” and was clearly not happy about his arrival.

On the way to Moscow, a young gentry, out of chivalrous motives, warned Marina that in Tushino she would see not her married husband, but an impostor. The conversation was confidential. But the Mnisheks immediately gave the “thief” the name of their well-wisher. Ruzhinsky immediately ordered the gentry to be impaled, and he died in agony in the middle of the camp.

One of the princes of Mosalsky was captured by the Tushins. He also turned to Marina with a warning that "the king is not real." Frightened by the execution of the gentry, he fled to Moscow and notified Tsar Vasily about everything.

Marina was repeatedly offered to return to Poland. Rejecting advice of this kind, Marina wrote in messages that she would prefer death to consciousness, that "the world will continue to mock her grief"; “Being the mistress of the peoples, the Moscow queen, she does not think and cannot be a subject again and return to the class of the Polish gentry.” Marina's words were filled with pride. She compared herself to the sun, which does not cease to shine, although "dark clouds sometimes cover it."

The exorbitant claims of the Mnishek family irritated the Tushino people. From their camp to the Kremlin was a stone's throw. The richest treasury of the Moscow sovereigns kindled the greed of the mercenaries. Having entered the Moscow land, Sapega first of all demanded that Ruzhinsky equalize "in the well-deserved" soldier brought by him with mercenaries from Tushin. The Tushino people initially rejected the claims of the Sapezhins as impudent and absolutely unacceptable. But Sapieha brought 1,700 soldiers with him, and he had to be reckoned with.

By the autumn of 1608, in the camp of False Dmitry II, there were, according to the Poles, "18,000 Polish cavalry and 2,000 good infantry." As an eyewitness wrote, reinforcements were constantly arriving in Tushino: "... a quarter of a year or a month rarely passed during which a thousand from Moscow or at least several hundred people from Poland would not arrive." The impostor was served by several thousand Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks. Even their commanders probably did not have accurate data on their numbers. It was interpreted that False Dmitry II had up to 45,000 Cossacks, but this information was exaggerated.

The Commonwealth waged a uniform war with Russia, although the war was not declared. A special role in this war was played by the Zaporizhzhya army, twice as large as the Don army. It seemed that all of Ukraine, together with the Orthodox Ukrainian magnate Ruzhinsky, gathered under the Tushino banners.

The Cossacks fought on foot. But on the battlefield, the attacks of the hussar cavalry were of decisive importance. The maintenance of hired hussar companies required huge funds. The treasury of False Dmitry II was empty. The “thief” swore that he would distribute all the wealth of the Moscow treasury to the mercenaries on account of debt, but the Kremlin still had to be conquered.

Mnishek had his own way of looking at things. He demanded the return of huge sums of money and precious gifts that were taken from him after the coup and transferred to the royal treasury. He also did not forget that the “prince” owed him a million zlotys, promised in Sambir on the occasion of a future wedding with Marina. As a reward for recognition, False Dmitry II gave the "father-in-law" a letter of commendation with the obligation to pay 300,000 rubles. The obligation was not supported by the signatures of the captains.

Mniszeki's father and daughter soon realized that their "relatives" were just a figurehead, a doll in the hands of Ruzhinsky and other people around him. However, there was nothing to be done. On September 10, the “queen” solemnly entered Tushino and played the role of a loving wife who had found a husband. The return to the "throne" did not bring the "queen" the expected benefits. Marina agreed to become the rogue's concubine, without receiving either the treasury or the land. Her claims to rule the special cities were not satisfied.

According to rumors, Mnishek tried to protect the honor of his daughter, and at the same time his own wallet. False Dmitry II allegedly could not enter into the rights of a spouse until he took the throne and paid the promised money. But all these were later inventions, designed to justify the sin of the “queen”, who broke the law and shared a bed with a tramp without a wedding.

The hut of the “king” stood in the middle of the camp, and the separate life of the august couple would have been immediately noticed and would have caused rumors that would be deadly for the impostor.

Six months passed, and Marina had to endure an explanation with her brother, whom she accidentally met. Young Mnishek reproached his sister for debauchery. To soften his anger, the "queen" declared without batting an eyelid that one of the priests had secretly married her to her new husband. Marina could hide the wedding from outsiders, but it is absolutely incredible that the ceremony remained a secret for her father and brothers, who were with her in the camp.

The “queen's” butler, Martin Stadnitsky, testified that Marina lived with the impostor unmarried, because the thirst for power was stronger in her than shame and honor.

The comedy played out by False Dmitry II and Marina could not mislead the nobles and mercenaries, who knew the first impostor well. But the performance made an impression on the common people. The news of the meeting of the crowned empress with the "true Dmitry" spread throughout the country.

Harassment Mniszekov contributed to the reconciliation of rivals. Ruzhinsky made an amicable deal with Sapieha. The hetmans swore not to interfere with each other. At a feast, over a cup of wine, they exchanged swords and divided the Moscow lands into spheres of influence. Ruzhinsky retained power in Tushino, southern and northern cities. Sapega undertook to get the Trinity-Sergius Monastery with a sword and conquer the lands north of Moscow.

On September 13-14, at a feast in honor of Sapieha, the “king” pronounced toasts in honor of King Sigismund III, Jan Sapieha and his knighthood. Tushino soldiers did not show much joy at the feast table. The Sapezhins received equal rights with the Tushinos to share the Kremlin treasures.

The struggle for power in the Tushino camp was accompanied by bloodshed. The old hetman Mekhovetsky, one of the main organizers of the impostor intrigue, tried to use Ruzhinsky's rivalry with Sapieha and regain power. He secretly made his way to the camp and took refuge in the hut of False Dmitry II. The soldiers discussed plans to overthrow Ruzhinsky. Upon learning of this, the hetman broke into the chambers of the "king" and hacked Mekhovetsky to death. The impostor tried to protest, but the hetman "ordered me to tell him that he would break his neck."

Yuri Mnishek did not stay with the person of False Dmitry II for long and left for Poland. He was followed by desperate letters from his daughter. Turning to her father, Marina begged to give her a parental blessing and forgive her, "that she did not say goodbye to you as she wanted," she asked to write to the "Moscow Tsar" about her so that she "could wait for love and respect from him." Apparently, the impostor treated the twenty-year-old concubine queen extremely rudely.

The defeat of Shuisky's army and the siege of Moscow led to the fact that the uprising in the country broke out with renewed vigor. In Pskov, the urban poor overthrew the tsarist administration and recognized the power of False Dmitry II.

Since the death of Otrepiev, Astrakhan has become a hotbed of resistance to Shuisky. The non-Russian peoples of the Volga region took up arms. The power of False Dmitry II was recognized by Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Balakhna and Vologda. With the support of the urban lower classes, the Tushino detachments occupied Rostov, Murom and Arzamas. Detachments of townspeople, peasants and Cossacks hurried to Tushino from different parts of the country. Their wave would inevitably overwhelm the camp near Moscow, if the mercenary army did not dictate their laws here.

The civil war undermined the prestige and economic well-being of the "royal city" - Moscow. Within a year and a half, the country had two kings and two capitals. Near the old capital, where Tsar Vasily was sitting, a "thieves'" capital was formed in Tushino.

The residence of False Dmitry II did not have towers and walls that even remotely resembled the powerful fortifications of Moscow. But Tsar Vasily could not do anything with his formidable double in Tushino, because the fire of civil war was raging in the country. At times, the power of the "Tushino thief" extended to a good half of the cities and districts of the country, including Yaroslavl - in the center, Vologda - in the north, Astrakhan - in the south, Pskov - in the northwest.

The lower classes waited in vain for the beginning of the "happy kingdom". The second impostor promised the people the same as the first - peace and prosperity. But the people did not receive either one or the other.

The Tushino army was flesh and blood of Bolotnikov's army. But over time, the appearance of Tushin has changed.

On the outskirts, the rebellious lower classes equipped detachments and sent them to the aid of False Dmitry II. Some of these detachments were commanded by their own Cossack or peasant "princes". At first, there were many Bolotnikovs in the army of the impostor, and crowds of rebels met with a warm welcome in the "thieves'" camp.

After the coup and the transfer of power from Mekhovetsky to Ruzhinsky, the situation changed. On April 14, 1608, False Dmitry II, in a manifesto to the inhabitants of Smolensk, announced that he had ordered the execution of self-proclaimed princes. Inviting the Smolensk boyar children to his service, he explained that it was not he who was to blame for the beatings of the nobles, but “tsarevich Peter” and other Cossack “princes”.

The news of the executions of impostors echoed in the Cossack villages. On the Volga, the "descendant" of Grozny Osinovik was hanged by his "subjects". But the other two "princes", Ivan-August and Lawrence, the Cossacks brought with them to Tushino. The "king" graciously accepted the Cossacks, and ordered two of their "princes" to be hanged on the road from Tushin to Moscow. The execution of the "princes" marked the final rebirth of the rebel army.

In Tushino, under the person of False Dmitry II, a sacred cathedral was formed with a "patriarch" at the head and a "thieves'" Boyar Duma.

By the grace of Otrepyev, Filaret Romanov occupied the metropolitan see in Rostov Veliky. He took part in the defense of Rostov from "thieves", was taken prisoner in October 1608 and was taken to Tushino in a simple cart. The impostor executed the Rostov governor, and Filaret was offered the rank of patriarch. Romanov had no choice. "Thieves" did not stand on ceremony with the hierarchs of the church. They killed the Archbishop of Tver, who was trying to leave Tushino.

Romanov had political experience and popularity. His support was invaluable to the impostor. Bogdan Shklovsky pretended to be the son of Grozny, and Filaret was the nephew of this king. "Relatives" were supposed to help each other.

It is believed that Filaret, his relatives Mikhail Glebovich Saltykov, Ivan Godunov (Filaret's brother-in-law), princes Alexei Sitsky, Dmitry Cherkassky, brothers-in-law of the Romanovs, took dominant positions in the "thieves" government.

Apparently, this is not the case. Saltykov conducted a search for treason against the Romanovs and led Fyodor Nikitich to the monastery. These people hated each other, which suited the commanders of the Lithuanian detachments quite well.

The question of groupings within the "thieves" Duma has long attracted the attention of researchers. But this question is not of great importance, since the Duma itself was a puppet.

The commander of the Lithuanian mercenary detachments threatened the “king” with beatings. Mercenaries waged a war in Russia for the right to rob monasteries, villages and cities, to commit robbery in a foreign country.

The key figures in the "thieves" Duma were the ataman "boyar" Ivan Zarutsky and the boyar Mikhail Saltykov. Their main advantage was that they unquestioningly carried out all the orders and instructions of Hetman Ruzhinsky and the Poles. By granting the highest rank to the Ukrainian Cossack, “Lithuania” showed the Muscovites how little it values ​​their Duma titles.

Hetman Ruzhinsky, like the great hawker, “marshal” of the “thief” Adam Vyshnevetsky, was rarely sober. Boyar Zarutsky was always on the alert. Hanging several Cossack "princes", "descendants" of Grozny, and heading the Cossack order, he completely subordinated the Cossack freemen to Hetman Ruzhinsky. Zarutsky daily placed guards on the ramparts and at the gates, sent patrols along different roads in order to prevent a sudden attack by the enemy.

Tushino was an unusual sight. Founded on a hill near the confluence of the Skhodnya River into the Moscow River, the "thieves'" capital had an outlandish appearance. The top of the hill was dotted with the tents of the Polish hussars. Among them stood a spacious log hut, which served as a "palace" for the impostor. Behind the "palace" were the dwellings of the Russian nobility. On the hill lived gentlemen and those who wished to appear as masters. The common people occupied the vast suburbs that stretched out at the foot of the hill. Hastily knocked together, thatched booths stood here in great crowding, one to one. The dwellings were chock-full of Cossacks, archers, serfs and other "mean" people. During the rainy season, the "capital" was drowning in mud. There was an unbearable stench all around.

False Dmitry II repeatedly asked Sigismund III for patronage and help, but he was refused. However, as the civil war undermined the power of Russia, the military party in the Commonwealth raised its head higher and higher.

Many Polish and Russian nobles gathered in Tushino, enjoying the favors of the first impostor. All of them frankly despised the "king" as an obvious swindler, but could not do without him. Creating violence and robbery, hired "chivalry" trumpeted everywhere that its only goal was to restore the "lawful sovereign" on the throne, overthrown by the Moscow boyars.

The personality of False Dmitry II meant little in itself. No matter how insignificant and faceless the "Tush thief" seemed, it was not he himself that was important, but his name. In the eyes of ordinary people, he remained "a born sovereign Dmitry."

However, the success of the new impostor turned out to be illusory. Tushino did not compete with the white-stone Moscow for long. The thieves' capital was waning when a new act of the great Moscow tragedy began.

The collapse of the Tushino camp

The governors of False Dmitry II surrendered city after city. Failures sowed discord in the Tushino camp. The "Boyar Duma" of the "thief" split. Some of its members started secret negotiations with Shuisky, others sought salvation in the camp of interventionists near Smolensk.

The mercenaries were not averse to returning to royal service. Greed was the hindrance. The mercenary army did not even want to hear about the rejection of the "deserved" millions. At the end of 1609, the impostor, together with Marina, sadly watched from the window of his hut for the "chivalry", solemnly welcoming the ambassadors of Sigismund III. The ambassadors did not honor the "king" even with a courtesy visit. The Tushino captains and the gentry claimed that, while serving "Dmitry", they served Sigismund and defended his interests in the war with Russia. Therefore, they demanded that the royal treasury pay for their "labor", and then they would immediately go to the camp near Smolensk. The negotiations stalled.

Taking advantage of the moment, Adam Vishnevetsky, the “marshal” of False Dmitry II, secretly made his way to Tushino. The meeting ended with a bout. To celebrate, the "king" presented the old "friend" with a saber, a horse with a rich harness and his formal clothes. The news of this aroused the indignation of the soldiers. Ruzhinsky put out the door of the royal hut and began to beat the drunken pan Adam with a stick until the stick broke in his hand. Then he called the “autocrat” a son of a bitch and threw in his face: “The devil knows who you are. We, the Poles, have shed blood for you for so long, and have never received a reward and what is due to us yet. Shklovsky tramp barely escaped beatings.

Negotiations with the royal ambassadors aggravated the discord between the Poles and the Russians of Tushino.

Things in the "thieves" camp went awry and awry. Ruzhinsky was unable to keep his army in obedience. The hetman never stood on ceremony with the "king" before. Now he treated it like it was trash. False Dmitry II stopped giving horses and forbade walks. However, he managed to deceive the vigilance of the guards.

The population of the outskirts of the Tushino "capital" continued to believe in the just cause of "Dmitry". It sheltered the "king" when he managed to leave the "palace". The mercenaries carried reinforced guards at the outposts that surrounded the camp from all sides. On the evening of December 27, 1609, Cossacks drove up to the southern outpost with a cart loaded with timber. Seeing nothing suspicious, the soldiers let them through. They did not know that at the bottom of the wagon lay, huddled into a ball, the Moscow "autocrat". He was littered with shingles. Near the "thief" at the bottom of the wagon lay his jester.

Arriving in the vicinity of Kaluga, False Dmitry II addressed the inhabitants with an appeal. He complained about the betrayal of Ruzhinsky, who promised the king Seversky land. The "thief" swore that he would not give the Poles an inch of Russian land, but together with all the people he would die for the Orthodox faith.

The garrison of Kaluga immediately opened the gates and met the "king" with bread and salt.

As soon as the news about the disappearance of "Dmitry" spread in Tushino, the mercenaries rushed to rob the "palace", stole the property and regalia of the impostor. Royal ambassadors kept their soldiers under arms. Their convoy was searched. It was suspected that the corpse of False Dmitry was hidden in the embassy carts. Pan Tyshkevich accused Ruzhinsky of either capturing or killing the "king". His detachment opened fire on Ruzhinsky's tents and tried to capture the military convoy. The hetman's men, firing back, retreated.

Soon in Tushino they learned that the "king" was alive and in Kaluga. Messengers brought his appeal to the army. False Dmitry II informed the mercenaries that Ruzhinsky, together with the boyar Saltykov, had clearly made an attempt on his life, and demanded the removal of the hetman.

In a moment of danger, False Dmitry II acted with Marina in exactly the same way as Otrepiev. Abandoned by her husband to the mercy of fate, Mnishek vainly fussed about saving her ghostly throne. The proud "queen" went around the tents and tried to touch some soldiers with tears, others with her feminine charms. She "spent the nights lewdly with the soldiers in their tents, forgetting shame and virtue." So wrote her butler in his diary. The efforts of Mnishek did not lead to success, and she went to Sapieha's camp in Dmitrov.

Diverse forces, with difficulty coexisting in one camp, came into open conflict after the disappearance of False Dmitry II. The lower classes instinctively felt what a threat to the country was fraught with an agreement with the conquerors who besieged Smolensk.

Polish mercenaries were preparing to go to the service of Sigismund. The Cossacks did not want to follow their example and intended to follow the "sovereign" to Kaluga. In vain Zarutsky called them to the royal camp. Ordinary Cossacks refused to obey him.

The head of the Cossack order continued to faithfully serve Hetman Ruzhinsky and the Tushino boyars. Faced with defiance, he tried to keep the Cossacks in the camp by force. The skirmishes ended not in favor of Zarutsky. More than two thousand Don people passed the Tushino outposts and with unfolded banners moved towards Kaluga.

Zarutsky is accustomed to getting his own way, no matter how much blood it costs. He rushed to Ruzhinsky's tent. The hetman led his cavalry into the field and attacked the retreating foot Cossacks. The road from Tushin to Kaluga was strewn with corpses.

However, the mercenaries soon had to reap the fruits of their massacre. The bloodshed accelerated the disengagement of forces inside the Tushino camp. The resistance was led by Bolotnikov's closest associate, Ataman Yuri Bezzubtsev. Pan Mlotsky, who was standing in Serpukhov, had to be the first to pay the bill. The inhabitants of Serpukhov raised an uprising. Bezzubtsev's Cossacks, who did not want to enter the royal service, supported them. The detachment of Mlotsky was subjected to total extermination. The population of several other cities, loyal to False Dmitry II, revolted.

In the chaos of the civil war, the usual paths-roads have long been confused. Abandoned by fate in the Tushino camp, the rebels found themselves in a truly tragic situation. They had no place in the camp of those who defeated Bolotnikov's army. They had no other way but to follow the "king" to Kaluga.

The experience with Ruzhinsky taught the “thief” nothing. Most of all, he was afraid of being left without the help of foreign patrons. In Kaluga, the impostor surrounded his yard with German mercenaries.

Skopin defeated Sapega and stormed Dmitrov. During the defense of the fortress, Marina distinguished herself. Seeing the cowardice of the soldiers, she rushed to the shaft with a cry: “Villains, I am a woman, and even then I was not afraid!” Sapieha did not want to let the "queen" go, but she threatened that she would defend herself against him with three hundred Don Cossacks. Dressed in a man's dress, Mnishek fled to Kaluga, the capital of her specific principality.

Having broken with Ruzhinsky, the “king” turned to Jan Sapieha for help and won his support.

To their great displeasure, the Cossacks saw that their "sovereign" was diligently reviving the old Tushino camp. Having had enough of the war, the Don people left Kaluga in droves and returned to their villages.

In Tushino, events developed in their own way. Sigismund III ordered his emissaries to enter into negotiations with Filaret and the Russian Tushians and offer them to surrender under his authority. The ambassadors convinced the patriarch and the boyars that the king had come to Russia for the sole purpose of taking the Russians under his protection and freeing them from the power of tyrants. The adventure was drawing to an inglorious end, and the "thieves" boyars were ready to go all out in order to prolong the game.

Even they did not dare to declare themselves subjects of the Catholic king. In the eyes of the Russian people, the sovereign was first of all the head of the Orthodox kingdom. The patriarch and the thieves' thought thanked Sigismund III for mercy, but reported that, with all their desire to see the king and his offspring on the Moscow throne, they could not decide such an important matter without the advice of the whole earth. Thus, the "Tushino" Duma avoided accepting the citizenship of the Commonwealth.

As soon as the impostor fled from the camp, Filaret and the boyars immediately strengthened themselves by an agreement and entered into an agreement with the Polish-Lithuanian commanders: not to leave "to Shuisky and Mikhail Skopin", and also "neither the Shuiskys nor other Moscow boyars want anyone in the state."

Once Vasily Shuisky, trying to get rid of the first impostor, offered the throne of Moscow to the son of Sigismund III. The Tushino people revived his project in order to get rid of Shuisky himself. The idea of ​​a union between Russia and the Commonwealth, which had a number of advantages in peaceful conditions, acquired an ominous meaning in an environment of intervention. Thousands of enemy soldiers besieged Smolensk, captured Russian cities and villages with an armed hand. To hope that the election of a Polish prince to the throne of Moscow would put an end to the foreign invasion was pure madness.

The Tushino camp was disintegrating before our eyes. But the patriarch and the boyars still tried to portray the government. For two weeks, the Tushino ambassadors - boyar Mikhail Saltykov's son, Prince Vasily Mosalsky, Prince Yuri Khvorostinin, Lev Pleshcheev, Mikhail Molchanov and clerks - negotiated with the king in his camp near Smolensk. Proposing to erect a prince on the royal throne, Mikhail Saltykov “weepingly” spoke of the need to preserve the Orthodox faith and the traditional orders of the Muscovite state intact, and the boyar’s son expressed the hope that the king would increase the “rights and liberties” of the people.

Articles about the union, presented by the Tushino ambassadors, have not been preserved. But the “refusal” (answer) of the king to these articles is known, dated February 4, 1610. This document was handed to the Tushins, and also distributed in the Commonwealth and sent to the boyars in Moscow. Sigismund III agreed that the Muscovy, having entered into a close military alliance with the Commonwealth, would retain full autonomy.

The Russian articles of the agreement stipulated that Vladislav Zhigimontovich "produces" to accept the Greek faith and be crowned by the Moscow Patriarch according to the Orthodox rite. The king's answer to this point of the boyar "articles and requests" was ambiguous. Sigismund did not accept any obligations regarding his son's refusal from Catholicism.

According to the Tushino project, Vladislav was supposed to rule Russia together with the Boyar Duma and the sacred cathedral. The upheavals of the Time of Troubles expanded the boundaries of Zemstvo sobor practice. It now seemed impossible for the Russian people to decide matters without councils. The prince was charged with the duty to confer on the most important issues with the patriarch, with the higher clergy, with the boyars and with "the whole earth." By "the whole land" the Tushinos understood, first of all, the nobility and the merchant elite.

The drafters of the treaty never mentioned the "Moscow princely families." Such silence was explained by the fact that the princely nobility, including the Suzdal princes, in the mass remained loyal to the Shuisky dynasty.

The Tushino people showed concern for the ruined nobles and carefully defended the principle of paying "smaller camps" (small children of the boyars) according to their merits. Vladislav was not supposed to "willy-nilly" take anyone out of Muscovy to Poland. Russian nobles were allowed to travel to other states for science. The treaty guaranteed them the safety of estates and "belly".

Tushino boyars defended the inviolability of serfdom. They insistently recommended to Vladislav "not to give the peasants in Rus' a way out", "not to give the serfs of the boyar will, but to serve them in the fortresses." The question of the future of the free Cossacks remained open.

Filaret Romanov approved the agreement and, leaving the "thieves" capital, went to the royal camp.

Whatever the content of the Smolensk treaty, the treaty itself remained nothing more than a piece of paper. King Sigismund refused to provide guarantees to the Tushinians for its implementation. However, there was no need for guarantees: the Tushino government collapsed the day after the signing of the agreement. Saltykov and other "ambassadors" remained in the royal convoy near Smolensk. They finally turned into servants of foreign conquerors. The king used the treaty to disguise the true aims of the war he had started and hasten the conquest of the frontier lands.

The Smolensk Treaty further complicated the already complicated situation in Russia. Next to the two kings - legal in Moscow and "thieves" in Kaluga - appeared, like a mirage in the desert, the figure of the third king - Vladislav Zhigimontovich. Acting on his behalf, Sigismund generously granted the Tushians lands that did not belong to him.

In the Smolensk treaty, the king saw a sure means to "complete mastery of the Muscovite kingdom." However, even he was aware that the military situation was not too conducive to the implementation of brilliant plans. The siege of Smolensk lasted for more than six months. The royal army suffered losses, but could not force the garrison to surrender the fortress. The detachments of Ruzhinsky and Jan Sapieha failed to stay in the Moscow region. After bloody battles, Jan Sapega retreated from under the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to the Lithuanian line. Ruzhinsky burned the Tushinsky camp and went to Volokolamsk.