At the end of 1612, the Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow. The issue of choosing a new king was discussed for about two months. The Council rejected all foreign candidates for the throne. As a result, we settled on a candidate Mikhail Romanov.

As a result, the Romanov dynasty was established in Russia, which ruled the country for 300 years (until 1917).

• Firstly, Mikhail Romanov was not involved in the events of the Time of Troubles.
• Secondly, he had family ties with the former Rurik dynasty, and was a relative of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (on the maternal side). The first wife of Ivan the Terrible, Anastasia, was the mother of Tsar Fedor. She came from the Romanov family.
• Thirdly, Mikhail was the son of Filaret Romanov, who suffered from Godunov (he was forcibly tonsured a monk) and, in addition, was captured by the “Tushinsky thief”, and, therefore, suffered from him.
• Fourthly, Mikhail was young, he was 16 years old, and he had a “quiet disposition.” There is a legend that one of the boyars said: “Let’s choose Mishka Romanov, he is young and not yet sophisticated, he will be obedient to us in everything.”

The Russian historian V. O. Klyuchevsky put forward the following reasons for the election of Mikhail: “Mikhail suffered ... family popularity. But what helped Mikhail the most in the cathedral elections was the family connection of the Romanovs with the former dynasty. Tsar Mikhail was seen not as a council elect, but as the nephew of Tsar Fedor, a natural, hereditary tsar. Thus appeared the founder of a new dynasty, putting an end to the Troubles.”

Having elected a tsar, the people's representatives did not leave him alone with the boyars' lust for power and the enormous problems of restoring the country. The Zemsky Sobor constantly supported the tsar. Its participants were elected for a three-year term. They worked almost without breaks for nine years (three convocations).

Ivan Susanin

Having barely found a new king, Russia almost lost him. According to a number of sources, a Polish detachment was sent to Kostroma to capture the new Moscow Tsar and kill him. However, the local peasant Ivan Susanin, having volunteered to lead the Poles to the Romanov patrimony, led them into deep forests. In the meantime, Mikhail, warned by well-wishers, managed to move to Kostroma, under the protection of the high walls of the Ipatiev Monastery. Susanin paid with his life for saving the king.

Historians have long debated the authenticity of this event. But in the memory of the people, the image of the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin became a symbol of heroic self-sacrifice in the name of the Fatherland.

Minin and Pozharsky under Romanov

Minin Kuzma Zakharyev (nicknamed Sukhoruk), a townsman, a zemstvo elder from Nizhny Novgorod under Mikhail Romanov, became a Duma nobleman. Died 1616

Under Tsar Boris Godunov, Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky had the court rank of steward, and under Vasily Shuisky he was a governor in the city of Zaraysk. He fought bravely against False Dmitry I, took part in the first militia in the battles against the Poles in Moscow. Under Tsar Mikhail Romanov, he received the rank of boyar, headed important orders, and was a governor in Novgorod. He died in 1642 and was buried in Suzdal, on the territory of the Savior-Efimiev Monastery.

Letters were sent to cities with an invitation to send authorities and elected officials to Moscow for a great cause; they wrote that Moscow had been cleared of Polish and Lithuanian people, the churches of God had returned to their former glory and God’s name was still glorified in them; but without a sovereign the Moscow state cannot stand, there is no one to take care of it and provide for the people of God, without a sovereign the Moscow state will be ruined by everyone: without a sovereign the state cannot be built in any way and is divided into many parts by thieves’ factories and thefts multiply a lot, and therefore the boyars and governors invited, so that all the spiritual authorities would come to them in Moscow, and from the nobles, boyar children, guests, merchants, townspeople and district people, choosing the best, strong and reasonable people, according to how suitable a person is for the zemstvo council and state election, all the cities would be sent to Moscow, and so that these authorities and the best elected people come to a firm agreement in their cities and take complete agreements from all people about the election of the state. When quite a lot of authorities and elected representatives had gathered, a three-day fast was appointed, after which the councils began. First of all, they began to discuss whether to choose from foreign royal houses or their natural Russian, and decided “not to elect the Lithuanian and Swedish king and their children and other German faiths and any foreign-language states not of the Christian faith of the Greek law to the Vladimir and Moscow states, and Marinka and her son are not wanted for the state, because the Polish and German kings saw themselves as untruths and crimes on the cross and a violation of peace: the Lithuanian king ruined the Moscow state, and the Swedish king took Veliky Novgorod by deception.” They began to choose their own: then intrigues, unrest and unrest began; everyone wanted to do according to their own thoughts, everyone wanted their own, some even wanted the throne themselves, they bribed and sent; sides formed, but none of them gained the upper hand. Once, the chronograph says, some nobleman from Galich brought a written opinion to the council, which said that Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was the closest in relationship to the previous tsars, and he should be elected tsar. The voices of dissatisfied people were heard: “Who brought such a letter, who, where from?” At that time, the Don Ataman comes out and also submits a written opinion: “What did you submit, Ataman?” - Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky asked him. “About the natural Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich,” answered the ataman. The same opinion submitted by the nobleman and the Don ataman decided the matter: Mikhail Fedorovich was proclaimed tsar. But not all the elected officials were in Moscow yet; there were no noble boyars; Prince Mstislavsky and his comrades immediately after their liberation left Moscow: it was awkward for them to remain in it near the liberating commanders; Now they sent to call them to Moscow for a common cause, they also sent reliable people to cities and districts to find out the people’s thoughts about the new chosen one, and the final decision was postponed for two weeks, from February 8 to February 21, 1613.

COMPOSITION OF THE CATHEDRAL

Elected people gathered in Moscow in January 1613. From Moscow they asked the cities to send “the best, strongest and most reasonable” people for the royal election. The cities, by the way, had to think not only about electing a king, but also about how to “build” the state and how to conduct business before the election, and about this to give the elected “agreements”, i.e. instructions that they had to guided by. For a more complete coverage and understanding of the council of 1613, one should turn to an analysis of its composition, which can only be determined by the signatures on the electoral charter of Mikhail Fedorovich, written in the summer of 1613. On it we see only 277 signatures, but obviously there were participants in the council more, since not all conciliar people signed the conciliar charter. Proof of this is, for example, the following: 4 people signed the charter for Nizhny Novgorod (archpriest Savva, 1 townsman, 2 archers), and it is reliably known that there were 19 Nizhny Novgorod elected people (3 priests, 13 townspeople, a deacon and 2 archers). If each city were content with ten elected people, as the book determined their number. Dm. Mich. Pozharsky, then up to 500 elected people would have gathered in Moscow, since representatives of 50 cities (northern, eastern and southern) participated in the cathedral; and together with the Moscow people and clergy, the number of participants in the cathedral would have reached 700 people. The cathedral was really crowded. He often gathered in the Assumption Cathedral, perhaps precisely because none of the other Moscow buildings could accommodate him. Now the question is what classes of society were represented at the council and whether the council was complete in its class composition. Of the 277 signatures mentioned, 57 belong to the clergy (partly “elected” from the cities), 136 - to the highest service ranks (boyars - 17), 84 - to the city electors. It has already been said above that these digital data cannot be trusted. According to them, there were few provincial elected officials at the cathedral, but in fact these elected officials undoubtedly made up the majority, and although it is impossible to determine with accuracy either their number, or how many of them were tax workers and how many were service people, it can nevertheless be said that the service There were, it seems, more than the townspeople, but there was also a very large percentage of the townspeople, which rarely happened at councils. And, in addition, there are traces of the participation of “district” people (12 signatures). These were, firstly, peasants not from proprietary lands, but from black sovereign lands, representatives of free northern peasant communities, and secondly, small service people from the southern districts. Thus, representation at the council of 1613 was extremely complete.

We don’t know anything precise about what happened at this cathedral, because in the acts and literary works of that time only fragments of legends, hints and legends remain, so the historian here is, as it were, among the incoherent ruins of an ancient building, the appearance of which he has to restore has no strength. Official documents say nothing about the proceedings of the meetings. True, the electoral charter has been preserved, but it can help us little, since it was not written independently and, moreover, does not contain information about the very process of the election. As for unofficial documents, they are either legends or meager, dark and rhetorical stories from which nothing definite can be extracted.

THE ROMANOVS UNDER BORIS GODUNOV

This family was the closest to the previous dynasty; they were cousins ​​of the late Tsar Feodor. The Romanovs were not disposed towards Boris. Boris could suspect the Romanovs when he had to look for secret enemies. According to the news of the chronicles, Boris found fault with the Romanovs about the denunciation of one of their slaves, as if they wanted to use the roots to destroy the king and gain the kingdom by “witchcraft” (witchcraft). Four Romanov brothers - Alexander, Vasily, Ivan and Mikhail - were sent to remote places in difficult imprisonment, and the fifth, Fedor, who, it seems, was smarter than all of them, was forcibly tonsured under the name of Philaret in the monastery of Anthony of Siy. Then their relatives and friends were exiled - Cherkassky, Sitsky, Repnins, Karpovs, Shestunovs, Pushkins and others.

ROMANOVS

Thus, the conciliar election of Mikhail was prepared and supported at the cathedral and among the people by a number of auxiliary means: pre-election campaigning with the participation of numerous relatives of the Romanovs, pressure from the Cossack force, secret inquiry among the people, the cry of the capital’s crowd on Red Square. But all these selective methods were successful because they found support in society’s attitude towards the surname. Mikhail was carried away not by personal or propaganda, but by family popularity. He belonged to a boyar family, perhaps the most beloved one in Moscow society at that time. The Romanovs are a recently separated branch of the ancient boyar family of the Koshkins. It’s been a long time since I brought it. book Ivan Danilovich Kalita, left for Moscow from the “Prussian lands”, as the genealogy says, a noble man, who in Moscow was nicknamed Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla. He became a prominent boyar at the Moscow court. From his fifth son, Fyodor Koshka, came the “Cat Family,” as it is called in our chronicles. The Koshkins shone at the Moscow court in the 14th and 15th centuries. This was the only untitled boyar family that did not drown in the stream of new titled servants who poured into the Moscow court from the middle of the 15th century. Among the princes Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky, the Koshkins knew how to stay in the first rank of the boyars. At the beginning of the 16th century. A prominent place at the court was occupied by the boyar Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin, who descended from Koshkin’s grandson Zakhary. He became the founder of a new branch of this family - the Romanovs. Roman's son Nikita, the brother of Tsarina Anastasia, is the only Moscow boyar of the 16th century who left a good memory among the people: his name was remembered by folk epics, portraying him in their songs about Grozny as a complacent mediator between the people and the angry tsar. Of Nikita’s six sons, the eldest, Fyodor, was especially outstanding. He was a very kind and affectionate boyar, a dandy and a very inquisitive person. The Englishman Horsey, who then lived in Moscow, says in his notes that this boyar certainly wanted to learn Latin, and at his request, Horsey compiled a Latin grammar for him, writing Latin words in it in Russian letters. The popularity of the Romanovs, acquired by their personal qualities, undoubtedly increased from the persecution to which the Nikitichs were subjected under the suspicious Godunov; A. Palitsyn even puts this persecution among those sins for which God punished the Russian land with the Troubles. Enmity with Tsar Vasily and connections with Tushin brought the Romanovs the patronage of the second False Dmitry and popularity in the Cossack camps. Thus, the ambiguous behavior of the family name in the troubled years prepared for Mikhail bilateral support, both in the zemstvo and in the Cossacks. But what helped Mikhail the most in the cathedral elections was the family connection of the Romanovs with the former dynasty. During the Time of Troubles, the Russian people unsuccessfully elected new tsars so many times, and now only that election seemed to them secure, which fell on their face, although somehow connected with the former royal house. Tsar Mikhail was seen not as a council elect, but as the nephew of Tsar Feodor, a natural, hereditary tsar. A modern chronograph directly says that Michael was asked to take over the kingdom “of his kindred for the sake of the union of royal sparks.” It is not for nothing that Abraham Palitsyn calls Mikhail “chosen by God before his birth,” and clerk I. Timofeev in the unbroken chain of hereditary kings placed Mikhail right after Fyodor Ivanovich, ignoring Godunov, Shuisky, and all the impostors. And Tsar Mikhail himself in his letters usually called Grozny his grandfather. It is difficult to say how much the rumor then circulating that Tsar Fyodor, dying, orally bequeathed the throne to his cousin Fyodor, Mikhail’s father, helped the election of Mikhail. But the boyars who led the elections should have been swayed in favor of Mikhail by another convenience, to which they could not be indifferent. There is news that F.I. Sheremetev wrote to Poland as a book. Golitsyn: “Misha de Romanov is young, his mind has not yet reached him and he will be familiar to us.” Sheremetev, of course, knew that the throne would not deprive Mikhail of the ability to mature and his youth would not be permanent. But they promised to show other qualities. That the nephew will be a second uncle, resembling him in mental and physical frailty, he will emerge as a kind, meek king, under whom the trials experienced by the boyars during the reign of the Terrible and Boris will not be repeated. They wanted to choose not the most capable, but the most convenient. Thus appeared the founder of a new dynasty, putting an end to the Troubles.

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Russian history

How did Mikhail Romanov end up on the Russian throne?

On July 21, 1613, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Michael’s crowning ceremony took place, marking the founding of the new ruling dynasty of the Romanovs. How did it happen that Michael ended up on the throne, and what events preceded this? Read our material.

On July 21, 1613, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Michael’s crowning ceremony took place, marking the founding of the new ruling dynasty of the Romanovs. The ceremony, which took place in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, was carried out completely out of order. The reasons for this lay in the Time of Troubles, which disrupted all plans: Patriarch Filaret (by coincidence, the father of the future king), was captured by the Poles, the second head of the Church after him, Metropolitan Isidore, was in territory occupied by the Swedes. As a result, the wedding was performed by Metropolitan Ephraim, the third hierarch of the Russian Church, while the other heads gave their blessing.

So, how did it happen that Mikhail ended up on the Russian throne?

Events in the Tushino camp

In the autumn of 1609, a political crisis was observed in Tushino. The Polish king Sigismund III, who invaded Russia in September 1609, managed to split the Poles and Russians, united under the banner of False Dmitry II. Increasing disagreements, as well as the disdainful attitude of the nobles towards the impostor, forced False Dmitry II to flee from Tushin to Kaluga.

On March 12, 1610, Russian troops solemnly entered Moscow under the leadership of the talented and young commander M. V. Skopin-Shuisky, the Tsar’s nephew. There was a chance of completely defeating the forces of the impostor, and then liberating the country from the troops of Sigismund III. However, on the eve of the Russian troops setting out on a campaign (April 1610), Skopin-Shuisky was poisoned at a feast and died two weeks later.

Alas, already on June 24, 1610, the Russians were completely defeated by Polish troops. At the beginning of July 1610, the troops of Zholkiewski approached Moscow from the west, and the troops of False Dmitry II again approached from the south. In this situation, on July 17, 1610, through the efforts of Zakhary Lyapunov (brother of the rebellious Ryazan nobleman P. P. Lyapunov) and his supporters, Shuisky was overthrown and on July 19, he was forcibly tonsured a monk (in order to prevent him from becoming king again in the future). Patriarch Hermogenes did not recognize this tonsure.

Seven Boyars

So, in July 1610, power in Moscow passed to the Boyar Duma, headed by boyar Mstislavsky. The new provisional government was called the “Seven Boyars”. It included representatives of the most noble families F. I. Mstislavsky, I. M. Vorotynsky, A. V. Trubetskoy, A. V. Golitsyn, I. N. Romanov, F. I. Sheremetev, B. M. Lykov.

The balance of forces in the capital in July - August 1610 was as follows. Patriarch Hermogenes and his supporters opposed both the impostor and any foreigner on the Russian throne. Possible candidates were Prince V.V. Golitsyn or 14-year-old Mikhail Romanov, son of Metropolitan Philaret (former Patriarch of Tushino). This is how the name M.F. was heard for the first time. Romanova. Most of the boyars, led by Mstislavsky, nobles and merchants were in favor of inviting Prince Vladislav. They, firstly, did not want to have any of the boyars as king, remembering the unsuccessful experience of the reign of Godunov and Shuisky, secondly, they hoped to receive additional benefits and benefits from Vladislav, and thirdly, they feared ruin when the impostor ascended the throne. The lower classes of the city sought to place False Dmitry II on the throne.

On August 17, 1610, the Moscow government concluded an agreement with Hetman Zholkiewski on the terms of inviting the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne. Sigismund III, under the pretext of unrest in Russia, did not let his son go to Moscow. In the capital, Hetman A. Gonsevsky gave orders on his behalf. The Polish king, possessing significant military strength, did not want to fulfill the conditions of the Russian side and decided to annex the Moscow state to his crown, depriving it of political independence. The boyar government was unable to prevent these plans, and a Polish garrison was brought into the capital.

Liberation from Polish-Lithuanian invaders

But already in 1612, Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, with part of the forces remaining near Moscow from the First Militia, defeated the Polish army near Moscow. The hopes of the boyars and Poles were not justified.

You can read more about this episode in the material: "".

After the liberation of Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders at the end of October 1612, the combined regiments of the first and second militias formed a provisional government - the “Council of the Whole Land”, led by princes D. T. Trubetskoy and D. M. Pozharsky. The main goal of the Council was to assemble a representative Zemsky Sobor and elect a new king.

In the second half of November, letters were sent to many cities with a request to send them to the capital by December 6 “ for state and zemstvo affairs"ten good people. Among them could be abbots of monasteries, archpriests, townspeople, and even black-growing peasants. They all had to be " reasonable and consistent", capable of " talk about state affairs freely and fearlessly, without any cunning».

In January 1613, the Zemsky Sobor began to hold its first meetings.
The most significant clergyman at the cathedral was Metropolitan Kirill of Rostov. This happened due to the fact that Patriarch Hermogenes died back in February 1613, Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod was under the rule of the Swedes, Metropolitan Philaret was in Polish captivity, and Metropolitan Ephraim of Kazan did not want to go to the capital. Simple calculations based on the analysis of signatures under the charters show that at least 500 people were present at the Zemsky Sobor, representing various strata of Russian society from a variety of places. These included clergy, leaders and governors of the first and second militias, members of the Boyar Duma and the sovereign's court, as well as elected representatives from approximately 30 cities. They were able to express the opinion of the majority of the country's inhabitants, therefore the decision of the council was legitimate.

Who did they want to choose as king?

The final documents of the Zemsky Sobor indicate that a unanimous opinion on the candidacy of the future tsar was not developed immediately. Before the arrival of the leading boyars, the militia probably had a desire to elect Prince D.T. as the new sovereign. Trubetskoy.

It was proposed to place some foreign prince on the Moscow throne, but the majority of the council participants resolutely declared that they were categorically against the Gentiles “because of their untruth and crime on the cross.” They also objected to Marina Mnishek and the son of False Dmitry II Ivan - they called them “the thieves’ queen” and “the crow.”

Why did the Romanovs have an advantage? Kinship issues

Gradually, the majority of voters came to the idea that the new sovereign should be from Moscow families and be related to the previous sovereigns. There were several such candidates: the most notable boyar - Prince F. I. Mstislavsky, boyar Prince I. M. Vorotynsky, princes Golitsyn, Cherkassky, boyars Romanovs.

Voters expressed their decision as follows:

« We came to the general idea of ​​electing a relative of the righteous and great sovereign, the Tsar and Grand Duke, blessed in memory Fyodor Ivanovich of all Rus', so that it would be eternally and permanently the same as under him, the great sovereign, the Russian kingdom shone before all states like the sun and expanded on all sides, and many surrounding sovereigns became subject to him, the sovereign, in allegiance and obedience, and there was no blood or war under him, the sovereign - all of us under his royal power lived in peace and prosperity».

In this regard, the Romanovs had only advantages. They were in double blood relationship with the previous kings. The great-grandmother of Ivan III was their representative Maria Goltyaeva, and the mother of the last tsar from the dynasty of Moscow princes Fyodor Ivanovich was Anastasia Zakharyina from the same family. Her brother was the famous boyar Nikita Romanovich, whose sons Fyodor, Alexander, Mikhail, Vasily and Ivan were cousins ​​of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. True, due to the repressions of Tsar Boris Godunov, who suspected the Romanovs of an attempt on his life, Fedor was tonsured a monk and later became Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov. Alexander, Mikhail and Vasily died, only Ivan survived, who had suffered from cerebral palsy since childhood; because of this illness, he was not fit to be king.

It can be assumed that most of the participants in the cathedral had never seen Michael, who was distinguished by his modesty and quiet disposition, and had not heard anything about him before. Since childhood, he had to experience many adversities. In 1601, at the age of four, he was separated from his parents and, together with his sister Tatyana, was sent to Belozersk prison. Only a year later, the emaciated and ragged prisoners were transferred to the village of Klin, Yuryevsky district, where they were allowed to live with their mother. Real liberation occurred only after the accession of False Dmitry I. In the summer of 1605, the Romanovs returned to the capital, to their boyar house on Varvarka. Filaret, by the will of the impostor, became the Metropolitan of Rostov, Ivan Nikitich received the rank of boyar, and Mikhail, due to his young age, was enlisted as a steward. The future tsar had to go through new tests during the Time of Troubles. In 1611 - 1612, towards the end of the siege of Kitai-Gorod and the Kremlin by militias, Mikhail and his mother had no food at all, so they even had to eat grass and tree bark. The elder sister Tatyana could not survive all this and died in 1611 at the age of 18. Mikhail miraculously survived, but his health was severely damaged. Due to scurvy, he gradually developed a disease in his legs.
Among the close relatives of the Romanovs were the princes Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Sitsky, Troekurov, Shestunov, Lykov, Cherkassky, Repnin, as well as the boyars Godunov, Morozov, Saltykov, Kolychev. All together they formed a powerful coalition at the sovereign’s court and were not averse to placing their protege on the throne.

Announcement of the election of Michael as Tsar: details

The official announcement of the election of the sovereign took place on February 21, 1613. Archbishop Theodoret with clergy and boyar V.P. Morozov came to the Place of Execution on Red Square. They informed Muscovites the name of the new tsar - Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. This news was greeted with general rejoicing, and then messengers traveled to the cities with a joyful message and the text of the sign of the cross, which the residents had to sign.

The representative embassy went to the chosen one only on March 2. It was headed by Archbishop Theodoret and boyar F.I. Sheremetev. They had to inform Mikhail and his mother of the decision of the Zemsky Sobor, obtain their consent to “sit on the kingdom” and bring the chosen ones to Moscow.

On the morning of March 14, in ceremonial clothes, with images and crosses, the ambassadors moved to the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail and his mother were. Having met at the gates of the monastery with the people's chosen one and Elder Martha, they saw on their faces not joy, but tears and indignation. Michael categorically refused to accept the honor bestowed on him by the council, and his mother did not want to bless him for the kingdom. I had to beg them for a whole day. Only when the ambassadors stated that there was no other candidate for the throne and that Michael’s refusal would lead to new bloodshed and unrest in the country, Martha agreed to bless her son. In the monastery cathedral, the ceremony of naming the chosen one to the kingdom took place, and Theodoret handed him a scepter - a symbol of royal power.

Sources:

1. Morozova L.E. Election to the kingdom // Russian history. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 40-45.
2. Danilov A.G. New phenomena in the organization of power in Russia during the Time of Troubles // Questions of history. - 2013. - No. 11. - P. 78-96.

On March 3, 1613, the Zemsky Sobor installed Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as king. How was the first tsar from the Romanov family elected, who was behind it, and could a different decision have been made?

Candidates

There were many contenders for the Russian throne. The two most unpopular candidates - the Polish prince Vladislav and the son of False Dmitry II - were “weeded out” immediately. The Swedish prince Karl Philip had more supporters, among them the leader of the zemstvo army, Prince Pozharsky. Why did the patriot of the Russian land choose a foreign prince? Perhaps the antipathy of the “artistic” Pozharsky towards domestic contenders - high-born boyars, who during the Time of Troubles more than once betrayed those to whom they swore allegiance, was reflected. He feared that the “boyar tsar” would sow the seeds of new unrest in Russia, as happened during the short reign of Vasily Shuisky. Therefore, Prince Dmitry stood for the calling of the “Varangian”, but most likely this was Pozharsky’s “maneuver”, since in the end only Russian contenders – high-born princes – took part in the struggle for the royal throne. The leader of the notorious “Seven Boyars” Fyodor Mstislavsky compromised himself by collaborating with the Poles, Ivan Vorotynsky renounced his claim to the throne, Vasily Golitsyn was in Polish captivity, the militia leaders Dmitry Trubetskoy and Dmitry Pozharsky were not distinguished by nobility. But the new king must unite the country divided by the Troubles. The question was: how to give preference to one clan so that a new round of boyar civil strife does not begin?

Mikhail Fedorovich did not pass the first round

The candidacy of the Romanovs as the main contenders did not arise by chance: Mikhail Romanov was the nephew of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. Mikhail's father, Patriarch Filaret, was respected among the clergy and Cossacks. Boyar Fyodor Sheremetyev actively campaigned in favor of the candidacy of Mikhail Fedorovich. He assured the obstinate boyars that Mikhail “is young and will be liked by us.” In other words, he will become their puppet. But the boyars did not allow themselves to be persuaded: in the preliminary voting, Mikhail Romanov’s candidacy did not receive the required number of votes.

No-show

When electing Romanov, a problem arose: the Council demanded that the young candidate come to Moscow. The Romanov party could not allow this: an inexperienced, timid, unskilled young man in intrigue would make an unfavorable impression on the Council delegates. Sheremetyev and his supporters had to show miracles of eloquence, proving how dangerous the path from the Kostroma village of Domnino, where Mikhail was, to Moscow was. Was it not then that the legend about the feat of Ivan Susanin, who saved the life of the future tsar, arose? After heated debates, the Romanovites managed to convince the Council to cancel the decision on Mikhail’s arrival.

Tightening

On February 7, 1613, the rather tired delegates announced a two-week break: “for a large strengthening, they postponed February from the 7th of February to the 21st.” Messengers were sent to the cities “to inquire into all sorts of people’s thoughts.” The voice of the people, of course, is the voice of God, but isn’t two weeks enough to monitor the public opinion of a large country? For example, it is not easy for a messenger to get to Siberia in two months. Most likely, the boyars were counting on the departure of Mikhail Romanov’s most active supporters – the Cossacks – from Moscow. The villagers, they say, will get bored of sitting idle in the city, and they will disperse. The Cossacks actually dispersed, so much so that the boyars didn’t think it was enough...

The role of Pozharsky

Let's return to Pozharsky and his lobbying of the Swedish pretender to the Russian throne. In the fall of 1612, militia captured a Swedish spy. Until January 1613, he languished in captivity, but shortly before the start of the Zemsky Sobor, Pozharsky freed the spy and sent him to Novgorod, occupied by the Swedes, with a letter to the commander Jacob Delagardie. In it, Pozharsky reports that both he himself and the majority of noble boyars want to see Karl Philip on the Russian throne. But, as subsequent events showed, Pozharsky misinformed the Swede. One of the first decisions of the Zemsky Sobor was that a foreigner should not be on the Russian throne; the sovereign should be elected “from Moscow families, God willing.” Was Pozharsky really so naive that he did not know the mood of the majority? Of course not. Prince Dmitry deliberately fooled Delagardie with “universal support” for the candidacy of Karl Philip in order to prevent Swedish interference in the election of the Tsar. The Russians had difficulty repelling the Polish onslaught; a campaign against Moscow by the Swedish army could also prove fatal.

Pozharsky’s “cover operation” was successful: the Swedes did not budge. That is why on February 20, Prince Dmitry, happily forgetting about the Swedish prince, suggested that the Zemsky Sobor elect a tsar from the Romanov family, and then put his signature on the conciliar document electing Mikhail Fedorovich. During the coronation of the new sovereign, Mikhail showed Pozharsky a high honor: the prince presented him with one of the symbols of power - the royal power. Modern political strategists can only envy such a competent PR move: the savior of the Fatherland hands over the power to the new tsar. Beautiful. Looking ahead, we note that until his death (1642) Pozharsky faithfully served Mikhail Fedorovich, taking advantage of his constant favor. It is unlikely that the king would have favored someone who wanted to see not him, but some Swedish prince on the Rurik throne.

Cossacks

The Cossacks played a special role in the election of the Tsar. A curious story about this is contained in “The Tale of the Zemsky Sobor of 1613.” It turns out that on February 21, the boyars decided to choose a tsar by casting lots, but the reliance on “maybe”, in which any forgery is possible, seriously angered the Cossacks. Cossack speakers tore to pieces the boyars’ “tricks” and solemnly proclaimed: “By God’s will, in the reigning city of Moscow and all Russia, let there be a Tsar, Sovereign and Grand Duke Mikhailo Fedorovich!” This cry was immediately picked up by Romanov supporters, not only in the Cathedral, but also among the large crowd of people in the square. It was the Cossacks who cut the “Gordian knot”, achieving the election of Mikhail. The unknown author of the “Tale” (surely an eyewitness of what was happening) does not spare any color when describing the reaction of the boyars: “The boyars at that time were possessed with fear and trembling, shaking, and their faces were changing with blood, and not a single one could utter anything.”

Only Mikhail’s uncle, Ivan Romanov, nicknamed Kasha, who for some reason did not want to see his nephew on the throne, tried to object: “Mikhailo Fedorovich is still young and not fully sane.” To which the Cossack wits objected: “But you, Ivan Nikitich, are old, full of reason... you will be a strong blow to him.” Mikhail did not forget his uncle’s assessment of his mental abilities and subsequently removed Ivan Kasha from all government affairs. The Cossack demarche came as a complete surprise to Dmitry Trubetskoy: “His face turned black, and he fell into illness, and lay for many days, without leaving his yard from the steep hill that the Cossacks depleted the treasury and their knowledge was flattering in words and deceit.” The prince can be understood: it was he, the leader of the Cossack militia, who counted on the support of his comrades, generously gave them “treasury” gifts - and suddenly they found themselves on Mikhail’s side. Perhaps the Romanov party paid more?

British recognition

On February 21 (March 3), 1613, the Zemsky Sobor made a historic decision: to elect Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom. The first country to recognize the new sovereign was England: in the same year, 1613, the embassy of John Metrick arrived in Moscow. Thus began the history of the second and last royal dynasty of Russia. It is significant that throughout his reign, Mikhail Fedorovich showed a special attitude towards the British. Thus, Mikhail Fedorovich restored relations with the British “Moscow Company” after the Time of Troubles, and although he curtailed the freedom of action of English merchants, he still put them on preferential terms not only with other foreigners, but also with representatives of Russian “big business”.

Zemsky Sobor 1613. Election of Mikhail Romanov as Tsar. The cathedral embassy to him. The feat of Ivan Susanin

Immediately after the cleansing of Moscow, the provisional government of princes Pozharsky and Trubetskoy sent letters to the cities with an invitation to send elected officials, about ten people from the city, to Moscow to “rob the sovereign.” By January 1613, representatives from 50 cities gathered in Moscow and, together with Moscow people, formed an electoral [zemsky] council. First of all, they discussed the issue of foreign candidates for kings. They rejected Vladislav, whose election brought so much grief to Rus'. They also rejected the Swedish prince Philip, who was elected by the Novgorodians to the “Novgorod state” under pressure from the Swedish troops who then occupied Novgorod. Finally, they made a general resolution not to elect a “king from the Gentiles,” but to elect one of their own “from the great Moscow families.” When they began to determine which of their own could be elevated to the royal throne, the votes were divided. Everyone named a candidate they liked, and for a long time they could not agree on anyone. It turned out, however, that not only at the cathedral, but also in the city of Moscow, among the zemstvo people and among the Cossacks, of whom there were many in Moscow at that time, the young son of Metropolitan Philaret had particular success. His name was already mentioned in 1610, when there was talk of the election of Vladislav; and now written and oral statements from townspeople and Cossacks were received at the meetings of the cathedral in favor of Mikhail Fedorovich. On February 7, 1613, the cathedral for the first time decided to choose Michael. But out of caution, they decided to postpone the matter for two weeks, and at that time send to the nearest cities to find out whether Tsar Michael would be loved there, and, in addition, to summon to Moscow those of the boyars who were not at the council. By February 21, good news came from the cities and the boyars gathered from their estates - and on February 21, Mikhail Fedorovich was solemnly proclaimed tsar and both the members of the cathedral and all of Moscow took the oath to him.

Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in his youth

The new tsar, however, was not in Moscow. In 1612, he sat with his mother, nun Martha Ivanovna, in the Kremlin siege, and then, freed, he left through Yaroslavl to Kostroma, to his villages. There he was in danger from a wandering Polish or Cossack detachment, of which there were many in Rus' after the fall of Tushin. Mikhail Fedorovich was saved by a peasant from his village Domnina, Ivan Susanin. Having notified his boyar of the danger, he himself led the enemies into the forests and died there with them, instead of showing them the way to the boyar’s estate. Then Mikhail Fedorovich took refuge in the strong Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma, where he lived with his mother until the minute an embassy from the Zemsky Sobor came to his monastery offering him the throne. Mikhail Fedorovich refused the kingdom for a long time; his mother also did not want to bless her son for the throne, fearing that the Russian people were “faint-hearted” and could destroy young Mikhail, like the previous kings, Fyodor Borisovich,