In the photo: “Iconographic portrait” of Tsarevich Dimitri, made in 1899 by the famous painter of Holy Rus' M.V. Nesterov.

Among the people who left their mark on the history of Uglich, a figure stands out Tsarevich Dmitry, who, due to his age, did not have time to do anything either for the city or for its inhabitants. He only died in it - under mysterious circumstances.

Death Tsarevich Dmitry in Uglich is one of the greatest mysteries of Russian history, the past of which, according to one apt expression, is unpredictable. Historians still argue whether this was a murder or just an accident due to the boy’s illness. Only one thing is known for certain: soon after a walk in the yard, the boy was found with a cut wound to his neck, which ultimately turned out to be fatal.

After the death of Ivan IV, his last wife Maria Nagaya and her son were sent to Uglich. Strictly speaking, the young prince’s prospects for the throne were unenviable: born from at least the sixth marriage of a formidable father, only the first three of which were recognized by the Church as official, Dmitry was destined for the role of an illegitimate scion of the royal family.

This happened more than four hundred years ago. On May 15/28, 1591, the land of the princely court in Uglich was stained with the blood of an eight-year-old boy, the son of his seventh (fifth married) wife Maria Nagoya, Tsarevich Dmitry. This event can be called starting point eras of timelessness. However, such statements regarding history are always ambiguous. There are many reasons at work in history, they become entangled in a tangle that is very difficult to unravel. “Russia was reared up,” it was said about Peter. The same can be said about Ivan the Terrible. The brutal violence he inflicted on the country was sooner or later bound to result in tragedy. It responded - sooner rather than later. And the reason is the tenth thing.

Dmitry's father and brothers

Even ten years before the Uglich events, there seemed to be nothing to worry about regarding the succession to the throne. Ivan the Terrible had two sons, and a third was about to be born. The most suitable for the throne, according to many historians, was the eldest, Ivan. But during one of the quarrels, Grozny beat him so much that after that (see the famous painting by Ilya Repin).

Thus, in 1584, the middle son, Fedor, sat on the throne. Fyodor's character completely lacked the qualities necessary for royal service. From childhood he was quiet, pious and turned his eyes more to grief than to the sinful earth. In historical literature it is customary to call him a half-idiot, but this, of course, is not so. It’s just that he was born for a monastery, but was forced to rule a huge and turbulent, unsettled power.

Sometimes, however, he had fits of rage (his father’s blood still had an effect) - they say he used to beat his brother-in-law Boris Godunov with a stick, but these were rare cases. In general, under Fedor it was Boris Godunov who ruled the country - this fact is beyond doubt. But whether Boris wanted to sit on the throne after Fedor is another question.

Who killed Tsarevich Dmitry?

Godunov plays almost a central role in this story. Through the efforts of numerous researchers, a certain stereotype has developed about Godunov. They say that he was ambitious and power-hungry (this is not without sly references to his low origins), so he killed Tsarevich Dmitry by sending an assassin to him. Moreover, at one time there were rumors that Fyodor did not die a natural death, but from Godunov’s poison. And every schoolchild knows about the “bloody-eyed boys” who tormented.

The city of Uglich was given to Tsarevich Dimitri as an inheritance as the youngest son of the king. The estates have always been a headache for the Moscow sovereigns; turmoil often grew in them (in this sense, the fears of the statesman Boris Godunov, who sent his like-minded person Mikhail Bityagovsky to watch the young prince, are understandable).

But Godunov did not have many reasons to destroy the prince. Tsar Fedor at that time could still have born an heir. After all, his wife Irina (Godunov’s sister) gave birth to a daughter!

It seems that Boris did not think about the throne at all then. The country, exhausted from the experiments of Ivan the Terrible, stood on the brink of rebellion; even a small spark would have been enough - would Godunov really have decided to kill Dmitry in such a situation? And even then, in a situation of “anarchy,” Godunov would have been one of the contenders for the throne. last place, the Shuiskys, Romanovs, and Mstislavskys were more suitable in terms of birth.

The death of Tsarevich Dmitry in Uglich - an epilepsy or an attack?

The stretcher on which the remains of Tsarevich Dimitri were transferred to the Moscow Archangel Cathedral from the Uglich Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Now they are in the Church of St. Demetrius in Uglich.

So what happened on May 15? At noon, Dmitry went out to play in the yard with four peers. Volokhov’s “mother” (the mother of one of the alleged killers) and two other nannies looked after him.

Very little time passed, and a terrible scream was heard from the yard. Maria Nagaya ran downstairs and found her son, Tsarevich Dmitry, dead - with a wound on his neck.

Two versions of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry

The story of the death of the eight-year-old “Prince Uglitsky” is described in detail in many sources varying degrees reliability. They all adhere to one of two versions: the official Moscow version and the local Uglich version.

The first version of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry is Uglich:

According to the Uglich version, based on the words of the prince’s mother and a number of witnesses from among the townspeople, Dmitry was killed in the courtyard by hired killers sent by the treacherous Boris Godunov. The main killer was, in particular, the son of clerk Bityagovsky, who, by an evil irony of fate, was precisely guarding the royal family in Uglich.

They approached Dmitry:

“Oh, you have a new necklace, show me,” one of them said.
“No, it’s old,” Dmitry answered, trustingly exposing his throat to the attackers.

And at that same second his throat was cut with a knife.

When scary tale announced, the alarm sounded. The angry people stoned the killers of Tsarevich Dmitry - a dozen Moscow clerks, servants and several townspeople. Their corpses were thrown into a ditch.

The Uglich version was followed by the famous historian and writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, and the plot of Pushkin’s play “Boris Godunov” was also based on it.

The second version of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry is official:

The second, official version of the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry interprets events completely differently. This version was circulated in the materials of the investigation, which was quickly carried out by the future (by the way, Boris Godunov’s constant enemy). According to it, Tsarevich Dmitry, who was playing with a knife with his peers, had an attack of epilepsy, to which he was susceptible. The seizure turned out to be so strong that the mother and the nannies did not immediately dare to approach him. He was hit on the ground, and the child accidentally ran into a knife in his throat. (Here, however, the question arises: how did the epileptic boy end up with a knife in his hands? Did his mother really “bless” games that were so dangerous in his situation?)

This is where Maria Nagaya, unconscious from grief, appeared. She screamed that her son was tortured by Bityagovsky on Godunov’s orders. Meanwhile, Bityagovsky rushed around the yard, trying to stop the unrest. He tried to break into the bell tower, from where the alarm bell was already ringing, but the doors were tightly locked. Mikhail Nagoy also appeared, joining his sister’s cry. The Uglich mob was not slow to gather. Arbitrary reprisals began.

The death of Tsarevich Dmitry and the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Rus'

1997 The so-called “Tsarevich Day” is being revived in Uglich. It is celebrated annually on May 28 according to the new style, on the day of the death of Tsarevich Dimitri.

The case of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry began to get complicated just a few years later. Vasily Shuisky twice refuted the results of his own investigation. Swearing allegiance to False Dmitry-Otrepyev, he said that Dmitry was saved. The second time, having himself become a king, he hastily ordered the remains of the prince to be brought to Moscow and placed them in (it is noteworthy that the documents record many healings from them - and it was precisely as a result of this, and not at all on the orders of Tsar Vasily, that the Church glorified Demetrius as a passion-bearer).

Moreover, Dmitry’s mother, by that time nun Martha, also gave “false testimony.” When Moscow was captured by Otrepiev, she “recognized” him as her son, kissed and hugged him in front of everyone. And when the relics of the murdered Tsarevich Dmitry were brought to Moscow, she repented and returned to her original version of the murder.

Meanwhile, the False Dmitrys came one after another. at it's peak. And the immediate source of this tragic carnival will be found precisely in the day of May 15, 1591. In discussing the events of that day, historians have still not come to an agreement and are unlikely to ever come. Moreover, we will not risk saying anything for sure. There will be no absolute statements, but this is not so important.

Something else is important. This story is unusually instructive, you just need to experience it as if in personal experience, the experience of live participation. How instructive the whole Russian turmoil of that time was. A terrible, bloody, cruel turmoil, so picturesquely depicted by Abraham Palitsyn in his “Legend”. This “Tale” is still difficult and painful to read today - a bygone era screams in it with an inhuman voice. The country finally came to its senses, was able to gather strength, and began to slowly recover. Echo of it all attentive people will be heard clearly today. But that is another story.

A little life ended before it really began, and a reminder of that is the Church of Tsarevich Dimitri “on the Blood,” the color of blood.

Truly, our past is unpredictable, and it is often very innocent souls who pay for it.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 25.02.2017 18:39

The investigation into the death of Tsarevich Dimitri ended in 1591, as was usual in that era, with torture and executions. The naked ones (with the exception of Mary, who was forcibly tonsured a nun) ended up in prison.

The Uglich residents didn’t fare well either. About two hundred people were executed, many people were sent into exile - to the distant Siberian city of Pelym. Siberia was just being developed at that time; it was almost impossible to live normally there. In principle, the people were sent to suffer and die prematurely.

The authorities punished even the big Uglich bell, who called the townspeople for reprisals that day. They cut off his “ear” (which is why they called him “corn-eared”) and sent him to the same Siberian exile - though not to Pelym, but to.

In Tobolsk, the voivode Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky ordered to lock up Exiled Uglich bell in the official hut and make an inscription on it:

“The first inanimate exile from Uglich.”

The “conclusion,” however, did not last long: soon the “corn-eared” bell was placed next to the belfry. And in 1677, during the great Tobolsk fire, when the wooden St. Sophia Cathedral also burned down, the bell allegedly melted - “it rang out without a trace.” Or almost melted.

Again, the versions are split into two, just as the interpretations of the circumstances of the death of Tsarevich Dimitri were split in two at one time.

According to one version, in the 18th century a “new Uglitsky bell” was cast in Tobolsk - using iconographic terminology, as if it were a “list” of the old one. To “distinguish it from other bells,” Metropolitan Pavel (Konyuskevich) of Tobolsk ordered the following inscription to be made on it:

“This bell, which sounded the alarm during the murder of the noble Tsarevich Dimitri in 1591, was sent from the city of Uglich to Siberia for exile in the city of Tobolsk to the Church of the All-Merciful Savior, which was at the auction, and then on the Sofia bell tower was clocked, weighing 19 pounds . 20 pounds.”

In 1890, the Tobolsk Museum bought the bell from the diocese. By that time, it was placed on a small belfry specially built for it and served as a local landmark.

But the people of Uglich have not forgotten their “inanimate first exile.” In 1849, they submitted a petition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the return of the alarm bell, and Nicholas I decreed:

“to satisfy this request” - “having first ascertained the validity of the existence of the said bell in Tobolsk.”

But a specially created commission made sure that the bell was “wrong.” The Uglich residents’ request remained without the consequences they expected. They were convinced that the “first exile” no longer existed.

The discovery took place in connection with the intention to canonize Tsarevich Dmitry and transfer his remains to Moscow. The then took this step in order to stop the “impostor epidemic.”

In May 1606, a special commission headed by Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov arrived in Uglich. The relics of Tsarevich Dmitry were removed from the grave, placed on a prepared stretcher and, to the great grief of the Uglich residents, they were solemnly carried out of the city - to the Moscow road.

According to local legend, on the outskirts of Uglich, a stretcher placed on the ground became rooted to it. And only after many prayers were the Muscovites able to “tear” the stretcher off the ground and continue on their way. The Uglich residents built a chapel in that place, and then a temple in the name of St. Dimitri. It was he who was subsequently called the Church of Demetrius “on the field” - in order to distinguish it from.

Among the relics associated with Tsarevich Dimitri, only the cover from his coffin remained in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Uglich (it was left to the people of Uglich at their tearful request). And in 1631, he deigned to send a stretcher to Uglich, on which the prince’s body traveled from Uglich to Moscow. These valuables lay in a silver shrine that stood on the salt, and now have their location in the Uglich Historical and Art Museum.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 26.02.2017 12:48

Holy Righteous Tsarevich DIMITRY OF UGLICH (†1591)

Tsarevich Dmitry. Painting by M. V. Nesterov, 1899

The Holy Right-Believing Tsarevich Dimitri is the son of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible and his seventh wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna Nagaya. He was the last representative of the Moscow line of the Rurikovich house. According to the custom of that time, the prince was given two names: Uar, after the name of St. Huara, on his birthday (October 21) and Demetrius (October 26) - on the day of his baptism.

After the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, his eldest son, the Christ-loving Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, ascended the throne. However, the actual ruler of the Russian state was his brother-in-law, the power-hungry boyar Boris Godunov. The good Theodore Ioannovich was completely immersed in spiritual life, and Boris did everything he wanted; foreign courts sent gifts to Godunov on a par with the tsar. Meanwhile, Boris knew that everyone in the state, starting with Tsar Theodore, recognized Demetrius as the heir to the throne and his name was remembered in churches. Boris Godunov began to act against the prince as against personal enemy his own, wanting to get rid of the rightful heir to the Russian throne.

For this, Boris decided to remove the prince from the Moscow royal court. Together with his mother, the widowed queen Maria Feodorovna, and her relatives, Tsarevich Dimitri was sent to his appanage city of Uglich.

Ancient Uglich was “great and populous” at that time. According to the Uglich chronicles, it had 150 churches, including three cathedrals, and twelve monasteries. The total population was forty thousand. On the right bank of the Volga stood the Kremlin, surrounded by a strong wall with towers, where the future tsar was to live. Fate, however, decreed otherwise.

Trying to avoid dangerous bloodshed, Boris Godunov first tried to slander the young heir to the throne, spreading false rumors through his followers about the alleged illegitimacy of the prince (referring to the fact that Orthodox Church considers only three consecutive marriages legal), and, forbidding the mention of his name during services.

Then he spread a new fiction that Demetrius had inherited the cruel temper and severity of Ivan the Terrible. Since these actions did not bring what they wanted, the insidious Boris decided to destroy the prince. An attempt to poison Dimitri with the help of Vasilisa Volokhova, Dimitri Ioannovich’s nurse, was unsuccessful: the deadly potion did not harm him.

Then, having decided on an obvious crime, Boris began to look for the killers. And he found it in the person of clerk Mikhail Bityagovsky, his son Danila and nephew Nikita Kachalov. They also bribed the Tsarevich's mother Vasilisa Volokhova and her son Osip.

On the morning of May 15, 1591, the mother took the prince for a walk. The nurse, driven by some vague premonition, did not want to let him in. But the mother resolutely took the hand and led the prince out onto the porch. His killers were already waiting there. Osip Volokhov took him by the hand and asked: “Is this your new necklace, sir?” He answered in a quiet voice: “This is an old necklace.” Volokhov stabbed him in the neck, but did not take his larynx. The nurse, seeing the death of the sovereign, fell on him and began to scream. Danilko Volokhov threw the knife, ran away, and his accomplices, Danilko Bityagovsky and Mikitka Kachalov, beat the nurse to a pulp. The prince was slaughtered like a virgin lamb and thrown from the porch.

At the sight of this terrible crime, the sexton of the cathedral church, locked in the bell tower, sounded the alarm, calling the people. People who came running from all over the city avenged the innocent blood of the eight-year-old boy Demetrius, arbitrarily dealing with the cruel conspirators.

The murder of the Tsarevich was reported to Moscow, and the Tsar himself wanted to go to Uglich to investigate, but Godunov kept him under various pretexts. Boris Godunov sent his people to Uglich, led by Prince V.I. Shuisky, for a trial and managed to convince the tsar that his younger brother, while playing “poke,” was captured by an epileptic fit (epilepsy) and during it he himself accidentally came across a knife.

This result of the investigation led to severe punishment of Nagikh and the Uglich people as guilty of rebellion and arbitrariness. The Queen Mother, accused of lack of supervision over the prince, was exiled to the remote, meager monastery of St. Nicholas on Voskhe, on the other side of the White Lake, and tonsured into monasticism with the name of Martha. Her brothers were exiled to different places for imprisonment; the inhabitants of Uglich were some executed, some exiled to a settlement in Pelym, and many had their tongues cut. Subsequently, by order of Vasily Shuisky, the bell, which served as an alarm, had its tongue cut off (as a person), and he, along with the Uglich rebels, became the first exiles in the newly annexed To the Russian state Siberia. Only in late XIX century, the disgraced bell was returned to Uglich. Currently it hangs in the Church of Tsarevich Demetrius “On the Blood”.

A children's cemetery arose around the prince's grave and the chapel erected over it.

However, fifteen years after the murder of the Tsarevich, already being the Tsar, Shuisky testified in front of all of Russia that “Tsarevich Dimitri Ioannovich, out of the envy of Boris Godunov, slaughtered himself like a sheep without malice.” The motivation for this was the desire, in the words of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, “to stop the lips of lies and blind the eyes of unbelievers who say that the living one will escape (the prince) from the murderous hands,” in view of the appearance of an impostor who declared himself the true Tsarevich Dimitri. A special commission was sent to Uglich under the leadership of Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov. When they opened the prince’s coffin, an “extraordinary incense” spread throughout the cathedral, and then they found that “in his left hand the prince was holding a towel embroidered with gold, and in the other - nuts,” and in this form he suffered death. 3 July 1606 g . he was canonized. The holy relics were solemnly transferred and placed in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin - the family grand-ducal and royal tomb, "in the chapel of John the Baptist, where his father and brothers were."

Cancer of Tsarevich Dimitry of Uglich in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral of the Kremlin

Immediately after the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, rumors appeared that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive. During the reign of Boris Godunov, these rumors intensified, and by the end of his reign in 1604, everyone was talking about the supposedly living prince. They told each other that the wrong child had allegedly been stabbed to death in Uglich, and that the real Tsarevich Dmitry was now marching as an army from Lithuania to take the royal throne that was rightfully due to him. Began Time of Troubles. The name of Tsarevich Dmitry, which became a symbol of the “right”, “legitimate” tsar, was adopted by several impostors, one of whom reigned in Moscow.

In 1603, False Dmitry I (a poor and humble Galician nobleman Yuri Bogdanovich Otrepiev, who became a monk in one of the Russian monasteries and took the name Gregory as a monk) appeared in Poland, posing as the miraculously saved Dmitry. In June 1605, False Dmitry ascended the throne and for a year officially reigned as “Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich”; unprepossessing in appearance, he was by no means a stupid person, had a lively mind, knew how to speak well, and in the Boyar Duma easily resolved the most difficult issues; Dowager Queen Maria Nagaya recognized him as her son, but as soon as he was killed on May 17 (27), 1606, she abandoned him and declared that her son undoubtedly died in Uglich.

In 1606, False Dmitry II (Tushinsky thief) appeared, and in 1608, False Dmitry III (Pskov thief, Sidorka) appeared in Pskov.

With the end of the Time of Troubles, the government of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov returned to the official version of the government of Vasily Shuisky: Dmitry died in 1591 at the hands of Godunov’s mercenaries. It was also recognized as official by the Russian Orthodox Church. This version was described in “History of the Russian State” by N. M. Karamzin. A.S. also adhered to it at one time. Pushkin. In his drama "Boris Godunov" he made Tsar Boris suffer from remorse for the crime he committed. And for 13 years in a row, the king dreams of a child killed on his orders, and the holy fool throws terrible words in his face: “... Order them to be slaughtered, just as you stabbed the little prince...”.

Saint Demetrius of Rostov compiled a life and a description of miraculous healings through the prayers of Saint Tsarevich Demetrius, from which it is clear that those with sick eyes were especially often healed.

During Patriotic War In 1812, the holy relics of the blessed Tsarevich Demetrius were saved from desecration by the priest of the Moscow Ascension convent John Veniaminov, who took them out of the Archangel Cathedral under his clothes and hid them in the altar, on the choir of the second tier of the cathedral church in the Ascension Monastery. After the expulsion of the French, the holy relics were solemnly transferred to their original place - to the Archangel Cathedral.

Since the 18th century, the image of Tsarevich Dimitri has been placed on the coat of arms of Uglich, and since 1999 on the flag of the city. The “Church of Demetrius on the Blood” was also built, erected on the site of his murder.

In 1997, the Order of the Holy Blessed Tsarevich Demetrius was established. It is awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the care and protection of suffering children: the disabled, orphans and street children. The order is a cross with rays made of pure silver with gilding, in the middle of which in a medallion there is an image of Tsarevich Demetrius with the inscription “For works of mercy.” Every year in Uglich on May 28, the Orthodox holiday Day of Tsarevich Dimitri is held.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', “Day of Tsarevich Dimitri” acquired the status of an All-Russian Orthodox children's holiday in 2011.

Troparion, tone 4:
You stained the royal diadem with your blood, God-wise martyr, you took the cross in your hand by the scepter, you appeared victorious and offered an immaculate sacrifice to the Lady for yourself: for as a gentle lamb, you were slain from a slave. And now, rejoicing, stand before the Holy Trinity, praying for the power of your relatives to be godly and to be saved as sons of Russia.

Kontakion, tone 8:
Today there is joy in the most glorious memory of your faithful, for you have vegetated and brought beautiful fruit to Christ; In the same way, even after your murder, your body was preserved incorruptible, sufferingly stained with blood. Noble and holy Demetrius, keep your fatherland and your city unharmed, for this is your affirmation.

Days of Remembrance: May 15 ( old style) — May 28 ( a new style), June 3 (old style) - June 16 (new style) - Transfer of relics, October 19 (old style) - November 1 (new style)

The holy noble Tsarevich Dmitry is the son of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible and his seventh wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna Nagaya. He was the last representative of the Moscow line of the Rurikovich house. According to the custom of that time, the prince was given two names: Uar, after the name of St. Huara, on his birthday (October 21) and Demetrius (October 26) - on the day of his baptism.

After the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, his eldest son, the Christ-loving Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, ascended the throne. However, the actual ruler of the Russian state was his brother-in-law, the power-hungry boyar Boris Godunov. The good Theodore Ioannovich was completely immersed in spiritual life, and Boris did everything he wanted; foreign courts sent gifts to Godunov on a par with the tsar. Meanwhile, Boris knew that everyone in the state, starting with Tsar Theodore, recognized Demetrius as the heir to the throne and his name was remembered in churches. Boris Godunov began to act against the prince as against his personal enemy, wanting to get rid of the rightful heir to the Russian throne.

Boris Godunov.

For this, Boris decided to remove the prince from the Moscow royal court. Together with his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and her relatives, Tsarevich Dimitri was sent to his appanage city of Uglich.

Trying to avoid dangerous bloodshed, Boris Godunov first tried to slander the young heir to the throne by spreading false rumors through his followers about the alleged illegitimacy of the prince (referring to the fact that the Orthodox Church considers only three consecutive marriages legal), and by forbidding the mention of his name during services.

Murder of Tsarevich Dmitry. Engraving. Early 1870s

On the morning of May 15, 1591, the mother took the prince for a walk. The nurse, driven by some vague premonition, did not want to let him in. But the mother resolutely took the hand and led the prince out onto the porch. His killers were already waiting there. Osip Volokhov took him by the hand and asked: “ Is this a new necklace you have, sir?" He answered in a quiet voice: " This is an old necklace" Volokhov stabbed him in the neck, but did not take his larynx. The nurse, seeing the death of the sovereign, fell on him and began to scream. Danilko Volokhov threw the knife, ran away, and his accomplices, Danilko Bityagovsky and Mikitka Kachalov, beat the nurse to a pulp. The prince was slaughtered like a virgin lamb and thrown from the porch.

Sergey Blinkov. Tsarevich Dimitri

This result of the investigation led to severe punishment of Nagikh and the Uglich people as guilty of rebellion and arbitrariness. The Queen Mother, accused of lack of supervision over the prince, was exiled to the remote, meager monastery of St. Nicholas on Voskhe, on the other side of the White Lake, and tonsured into monasticism with the name of Martha. Her brothers were exiled to different places for imprisonment; the inhabitants of Uglich were some executed, some exiled to a settlement in Pelym, and many had their tongues cut. Subsequently, by order of Vasily Shuisky, the bell, which served as an alarm, had its tongue cut off (as a person), and he, along with the Uglich rebels, became the first exiles to Siberia, which had just been annexed to the Russian state. Only at the end of the 19th century was the disgraced bell returned to Uglich. Currently it hangs in the Church of Tsarevich Demetrius “On the Blood”.

A children's cemetery arose around the prince's grave and the chapel erected over it.

Tsarevich Dimitri. Ilya Glazunov (1967)

However, fifteen years after the murder of the Tsarevich, already being the Tsar, Shuisky testified in front of all of Russia that “Tsarevich Dimitri Ioannovich, out of the envy of Boris Godunov, slaughtered himself like a sheep without malice.” The motivation for this was the desire, in the words of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, “to stop the lips of lies and blind the eyes of unbelievers who say that the living one will escape (the prince) from the murderous hands,” in view of the appearance of an impostor who declared himself the true Tsarevich Dimitri. A special commission was sent to Uglich under the leadership of Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov. When they opened the prince’s coffin, an “extraordinary incense” spread throughout the cathedral, and then they found that “in his left hand the prince was holding a towel embroidered with gold, and in the other - nuts,” and in this form he suffered death. On July 3, 1606, he was canonized. The holy relics were solemnly transferred and placed in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin - the family grand-ducal and royal tomb, “in the chapel of John the Baptist, where his father and brothers were.”

Cancer of Tsarevich Dimitry of Uglich in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral of the Kremlin

Immediately after the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, rumors appeared that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive. During the reign of Boris Godunov, these rumors intensified, and by the end of his reign in 1604, everyone was talking about the supposedly living prince. They told each other that the wrong child had allegedly been stabbed to death in Uglich, and that the real Tsarevich Dmitry was now marching as an army from Lithuania to take the royal throne that was rightfully due to him. The Time of Troubles has begun. The name of Tsarevich Dmitry, which became a symbol of the “right”, “legitimate” tsar, was adopted by several impostors, one of whom reigned in Moscow.

In 1606, False Dmitry II (Tushinsky thief) appeared, and in 1608, False Dmitry III (Pskov thief, Sidorka) appeared in Pskov.

Tsarevich Dmitry. Painting by M. V. Nesterov, 1899

During the Patriotic War of 1812, the holy relics of the blessed Tsarevich Demetrius were saved from desecration by the priest of the Moscow Ascension Convent, John Veniaminov, who took them out of the Archangel Cathedral under his clothes and hid them in the altar, on the choir of the second tier of the cathedral church in the Ascension Monastery. After the expulsion of the French, the holy relics were solemnly transferred to their original place - to the Archangel Cathedral.

Holy relics of Tsarevich Dimitri in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin

Church of Tsarevich Demetrius on the Blood. Uglich

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', “Day of Tsarevich Dimitri” acquired the status of an All-Russian Orthodox children's holiday in 2011.

The death of Ivan the Terrible's youngest son, the young Tsarevich Dmitry, still leaves few people indifferent and causes controversy among historians. So it is not completely clear: how exactly the prince died, and whether he died at all on May 15, 1591. There is no clear official version of the prince’s death. Each time, priority is given to the version that is convenient for the current government. Under the Romanovs, it was believed that the prince was killed on the orders of Godunov. At Soviet power adhered to the version of the prince’s suicide as a result of an attack of epilepsy. And despite the fact that there are several deaths of the prince, even today new readings of this event are appearing.

Versions of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry

On a clear afternoon on May 15, 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry died in Uglich. This was the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, the last of the Rurikovichs. And for more than 400 years, disputes about the death of the child have not subsided, versions have been put forward and new mysteries have arisen.

The background to the death of the prince

Dmitry was born to Maria Naga, the fifth wife of Ivan the Terrible. According to church canons, he was considered illegitimate, since the Orthodox Church recognizes only three marriages as legal. In addition to the young Dmitry, of the children of Tsar John, only Fyodor, who was weak in health and mind, survived. Fyodor not only could not govern the state, he could not even manage his own life independently. Therefore, during his lifetime, Ivan the Terrible appointed Fyodor’s brother-in-law Boris Godunov as something like a regent for the feeble-minded Tsarevich Fyodor. The king also took care of his youngest son, giving him the Uglich principality as his inheritance. There, to Uglich, the entire family of the former queen was sent along with the young Tsarevich Dmitry after the death of Ivan the Terrible. Clerk Mikhail Bityagovsky and several other service people were entrusted with keeping an eye on the family. The country was actually ruled by Boris Godunov. Fedor was a decorative figure.

Events of May 15, 1591 in Uglich

In May 1591, Tsarevich Dmitry was in his ninth year. The events of Saturday, May 15, developed as follows. Maria Nagaya went to church for mass. I took my son with me. When she returned, she went to the palace to have lunch, and let her son go play with the courtyard boys in the courtyard. The prince was to be looked after by nurse Arina Tuchkova, nanny Vasilisa Volokhova and bed maid Maria Kolobova. The boys played with knives. The prince did not have a flat knife, but a pile - a type of stiletto intended for stabbing. Suddenly there was a commotion among the boys. Arina Tuchkova ran up and saw the prince lying dead with a wound on his neck. The boy died in her arms. The eldest of the boys, Petrushka Kolobov, ran to the palace to notify the queen. Maria Nagaya, jumping out into the yard, began in a frenzy to hit the nanny Volokhov on the head with a log and shout that the prince was killed by her son Osip Volokhov. After this, the queen ordered the alarm to sound. The townspeople ran to the palace. Together with others, clerk Bityagovsky came, as well as Osip Volokhov. Maria Nagaya screamed that Osip Volokhov had killed the prince. The crowd became agitated and tried to organize lynching. Deacon Bityagovsky and other people who tried to calm the excited crowd were killed. They also killed Osip Volokhov, who hid in the church, where the prince’s body had already been transferred. A total of 15 people were killed that day.

Consequence

Godunov assembled a commission. She arrived in Uglich on May 19. Considering the speed of that time, we can say that this happened immediately. The commission was led by Vasily Shuisky, one of Godunov’s main opponents. Members of the commission were also Kleshnin - okolnichy, Duma clerk Vyluzgin, and from the church - Metropolitan Gelvasiya. The composition of the commission was chosen very competently. All its members had different political preferences, and there could be no agreement between them. The investigation was carried out very carefully. Hundreds of witnesses were interviewed. The interrogations were conducted publicly in the courtyard of the Uglich Krem. Anyone could attend the commission meeting. Falsification or pressure on witnesses was absolutely excluded. The main witnesses were the boys, the prince’s comrades at his last game, as well as the nanny Volokhova, the nurse Tuchkova and the bed-maid Kolobov. Based on their testimony, the commission concluded that the death of Tsarevich Dmitry occurred as a result of an accident. All the main witnesses testified that during the game Dmitry began to have an attack of epilepsy, which he had suffered from for a long time and which Lately He was especially tormented. The prince fell to the ground and either during the fall, or already on the ground during convulsions, he himself ran into a knife.

In 1591, all of Russia accepted this version. The Nagikh family was punished for inciting the crowd. Queen Maria Nagaya was tonsured a nun and sent to Beloozero. The Nagy brothers, Mikhail, Andrei and Grigory, are imprisoned. Many Uglich residents were sent to settle in Siberia for reprisals against the sovereign’s people. A bell was also sent there, which called the people of Uglich to the gathering. The bell's tongue was previously torn out.

Using the death of Tsarevich Dmitry against Godunov

And life in Russia went on as usual. But here in 1598 Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich died. The Rurik dynasty ended there. AND Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov as Tsar. The party opposing Godunov immediately became more active. As a regent under an ailing sovereign, they could still tolerate him, but his election to the kingdom aroused their sharp rejection. Godunov was “thin”, i.e. came from humble, small-scale nobles, and the boyars considered him an upstart. In addition, they did not like Godunov’s policy, which was generally correct from the point of view of the development of the state, but infringed on their personal interests. Then rumors spread that Tsarevich Dmitry was killed on Godunov’s instructions. And then False Dmitry showed up in Poland. Thus, several versions of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry arose.

Versions of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry

The prince committed suicide.
The Tsarevich was killed on Godunov's instructions.
The prince was replaced and thereby saved from death.

Let's look at each version in more detail. Let's weigh the pros and cons.

The prince's suicide as a result of an accident.

This version is supported by the results of a scrupulous and impartial investigation. But there are also “buts” in this... Firstly, the statistics of deaths during epileptic seizures do not know cases when the patient died as a result of injuries inflicted on himself. Immediately after the onset of an epileptic attack, the patient is unable to hold anything in his hands. In Dmitry’s case, the knife should have immediately slipped out of his hands. In order for the prince to impale himself on the knife with his throat, the knife had to be stuck into the ground with its handle.

The carelessness of the queen and the nannies, who allow a child with epilepsy to play with knives, is also striking. After all, according to their stories, he had already cut his mother with this pile during an attack. It seems that the very last fools that were ever found in the Moscow state were recruited to look after the prince.

What also casts doubt on this is that Vasily Shuisky, having ascended the throne, announced that his own conclusion about the prince’s suicide was incorrect, and that the prince was killed on Godunov’s instructions. The church even declared Tsarevich Dmitry a holy passion-bearer. His relics were transferred to the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

Godunov “ordered” the murder of the prince.

According to the law of the detective genre, you always need to look at “who benefits.” Only Godunov benefits from the death of the heir to the throne. But there are some nuances here too. Godunov was smart person and understood that he was in power only thanks to Fyodor Ioannovich. Therefore, he took care of it like the apple of his eye. He also understood that his opponents would use Dmitry’s death against him. Godunov’s position was very precarious for him to allow himself to encroach on the heir to the throne. Moreover, despite the fact that Godunov once served as a guardsman and was the son-in-law of Malyuta Skuratov, he was not distinguished by bloodthirstiness. During all the years that he was in power, there was not a single execution political reasons. In the worst case, Godunov sent his opponents into exile or tonsured them as monks. And the murder of a child somehow does not fit into his reputation as a sane ruler.

But nevertheless, Godunov was considered a usurper of power in Russia, and the version of the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry ordered by Godunov was very popular. Later, this version was supported by the Romanovs. This version is also considered official by the church. Karamzin in “History of the Russian State” also adheres to this version. Following Karamzin, Pushkin writes the tragedy “Boris Godunov”, where Godunov is also guilty of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. And then, based on the tragedy “Boris Godunov,” Modest Mussorgsky wrote the opera “Boris Godunov.” And now in the minds of every Russian person Boris Godunov is associated with the death of Tsarevich Dmitry...

The replacement of the prince and his miraculous salvation.

A separate article should be devoted to this.

To be continued...

On May 15, 1591, in Uglich, during a game of poke, Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of his last wife Maria Nagoya, died under unclear circumstances. This event caused a rebellion, in particular, Nagikh’s political opponents and the mayor of Uglich were killed. The government formed a Commission of Inquiry to clarify the circumstances of the death. The investigation ruled that the cause of the prince's death was accidental suicide, but rumor attributed the blame for this death to Boris Godunov.

Over the past centuries in public consciousness the idea of Godunov’s unequivocal guilt in the death of the prince was firmly established. This belief was given particular popularity by the play by A.S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov". In the work, Boris Godunov is shown as a wise and firm ruler, but throughout the entire narrative he is tormented by remorse for the death of his child:

...Reproach pounding in my ears like a hammer,
And everything feels nauseous and my head is spinning,
And the boys have bloody eyes...

Reality

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, the throne was taken by his son Fyodor Ioanovich. It is believed that he was distinguished by poor health and feeble mind. The real power was in the hands of his brother-in-law, Boris Godunov.

The youngest son of Ivan IV - Dmitry - together with his mother and relatives was sent to the appanage city of Uglich. The prince was brought up surrounded by the queen's relatives - the Nagikhs.

Many historians, starting with N.M. Karamzin, openly accuse Boris Godunov of this crime. Historical sources, stories and legends, illustrate the details of his murder, but none of the authors of the works were an eyewitness to the Uglich events. It would seem that many facts speak against Boris. After all, it was he who ultimately gained power in 1598.

Some historians, including R.G. Skrynnikov interpreted these events radically differently. Dmitry was the son of Ivan IV from his eighth marriage, who did not receive the blessing of the church.

By the time of the Tsarevich’s death (1591), the possibility of Tsar Fedor having a legal heir had not disappeared, because the latter died only a long time after the events described in 1598. Could he really calculate the course of events for the next seven years in advance?

There is an opinion that Boris Godunov specifically sent to Uglich loyal people, whose task was not to find out the truth, but to extinguish the rumor about the violent death of the prince. However, as noted by R.G. Skrynnikov, attention should be paid to the fact that the investigation was headed by Godunov’s political opponent - the cunning and resourceful Prince Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky. The researchers were confused by Shuisky’s behavior, because subsequently he changed his testimony several times. According to the findings of the Investigative Commission, Boris was not involved in the death of the prince. However, later V.I. Shuisky changed his point twice depending on political situation. And in the end, having become king, he recognized and made official the version of Dmitry’s murder. Should we trust such testimony?

It is interesting to note that immediately after the death of the prince, by order of Queen Maria Nagaya, a bloody lynching took place, during which a version arose about the planned murder of the prince. The Nagi prepared false evidence to confuse investigators, but the deception was exposed. If the prince was really killed, why did this have to be done?

From the point of view of some researchers, the Investigative Commission was tasked with investigating two issues: the case of the death of the prince, and the case of Nagikh’s treason.

As noted above, the Investigative Case recorded a version of the accidental, unexpected death of the prince. This version was based on two statements. The first was that the prince suffered from a terrible disease - epilepsy, or, as it was called in Rus', “epileptic”, “black illness”. The second fact is that it was at the moment of playing knife with the prince that he had an epileptic attack. All eyewitnesses recorded the child's seizure.

Some researchers believe that the testimony of the Uglich residents about the accidental death of the prince was obtained under pressure and threats. R.G. Skrynnikov notes that the commission did not persecute its witnesses.

The investigative case carefully and in detail examined the fact of Dmitry’s death and no direct evidence indicating Boris Godunov’s involvement in it was identified. Another thing is that with the onset of the Time of Troubles, the “name of Dmitry” was adopted by the adventurer who captured the Moscow court. And the “myth of the miraculously saved Dmitry Ioannovich” itself began to be used by different classes to satisfy their interests.

Of course, it is impossible to unequivocally state the involvement or non-involvement of Boris Godunov in the death of the prince. This issue is still debatable, but no direct evidence incriminating Boris Godunov has been found at the moment.

Sources and literature

Pushkin A.S. Boris Godunov M., 1978.