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Boris Godunov elected the Tsar of Russia
17 (27) February 1598, in Moscow, the Zemsky Sobor elected Boris Godunov to the throne.
In 1555 the sovereign genealogy register, Godunovs derived from primordial Kostroma boyars, who served the princes of Moscow from the earliest times, but were not among the highest nobility of the Moscow State. The future Moscow Tsar Boris Godunov was born in the family of a nobleman Fyodor Godunov. The first mention of Boris as a member of the oprichniks refers to 1567.
The rise of Boris Godunov began from the time of his entry into the oprichnina and rapprochement with Malyuta Skuratov, favorite of Ivan the Terrible, under the patronage of whom he was able to become first a scrivener under the tsar, and then a postelnichy (a courtier in charge of the personal property of the emperor, his private office). Friendly relations of Godunov with the chief imperial oprichnik brought him favorable promotion: in 1570, he married Skuratov’s daughter, Mary. Somewhat later, Boris's sister, Irina, married the tsar's son, Fyodor Ivanovich. This strengthened the position of the Godunov at the court and guaranteed him the boyar’s rank (1580).
In late 1570s - early 1580s Godunovs gained a strong position at the top of the Moscow elite. After the death of tsarevitch Ivan in November 1581, it was Fyodor Ivanovich who became the heir to the throne, which contributed to the further rise of his brother in law, Boris Godunov, who became a fellow boyar, governor of Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, received large land propery, the exclusive right to collect various state taxes. Gradually, his impact on the policy of the Moscow State grew and strengthened: from 1584 he entered the circle of persons closely connected to the tsar. In the last year of life of Ivan IV, Boris Godunov gained great influence at the court. Together with M. Skuratov’s nephew B. Ya. Belsky, he became one of the closest advisers of Ivan the Terrible.
In March 1584, Ivan the Terrible's son Fedor ascended the throne. However, the new tsar was not able to run the country on his own. A bitter struggle broke out for the right to be a spokesman for the new monarch, eventually won by Boris Godunov. Under Fyodor Ivanovich, he became virtually the sole ruler of the Russian state, had the right to establish diplomatic relations on his own.
The activities of Godunov’s government were aimed at a comprehensive strengthening of the state. Owing to his efforts, in 1589 the first Russian patriarch, Metropolitan Job of Moscow, was elected. As to the domestic policy, Godunov sought to overcome economic ruin. In the 1580-1590, the general census was carried out, and in 1597 a decree on the "Fixed years" was issued, according to which the peasants who had fled from their lord "five years prior to the current," were subject to investigation, trial and return back.
In urban areas, "free settlements" where people were not paying taxes, had been eliminated. Now, all who were engaged in trade and crafts, were to join the community of townspeople and participate in paying dues to the Treasury. The growth of revenue allowed deploying the active construction of cities, fortifications, churches. Godunov also effectively encouraged the colonization of Siberia and the southern regions of the country.
In foreign policy, Boris Godunov proved himself as a talented diplomat. In May 1595, in Tyavzin (near Ivangorod), Russia and Sweden concluded a peace treaty. Taking advantage of a complex political situation in Sweden, he managed to restore Russia's ownership of Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, Korela. In 1580-1590's Russian positions in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Volga region strengthened, foreign trade through Archangelsk and Volga increased.
The sole rule of Godunov was threated by Tsarevich Dmitry, half-brother of Tsar Feodor. In 1584, young Dmitry, his mother Maria Nagaya, immediate family and entourage were exiled to the independent principality inheritance bequeathed by his father, the town of Uglich. There, in May 1591, under mysterious circumstances, he died. The investigation team led by boyar V. I. Shuisky, came to the conclusion that the prince's death was an accident, but people were talking of a political murder.
In January 1598 Tsar Feodor Ivanovich died childless. Dynastic crisis broke out. Irina refused to be crowned and took the veil. In February 1598, the Zemsky Sobor elected to the throne of her brother Boris Godunov. On the occasion of his accession to the Russian throne, the festivities were held in the capital, a general amnesty declared; the county gentry were granted privileges. For some time there were no executions in the country. The beginning of the reign of Boris Godunov was marked by the convergence of Russia and the West. The monarch invited the foreigners to serve in Russia, exempting them from paying taxes.
The year of 1601 turned out to be unusually rainy, early frosts hit. The following year, the harvest was poor again. Due to late frosts, the bread was completely destroyed. The country was filled with crowds of hungry and poor. Famine had lasted for three years. Despite the opening of tsar’s granaries to the starving, the tension in society continued to grow. In the 1601-1602, Godunov accepted a temporary restoration of Yuri’s Day, allowing just the transportation of peasants.
Famine caused riots and rebellions, the largest of which was an uprising led by Ataman Khlopok, which broke out in 1603. Tsar’s forces defeated the rebels, but failed to reassure the country. Especially dangerous were the rumors that Tsarevich Dmitry was still alive. In early 1604, at the Russian-Swedish border was intercepted a letter from a stranger from Narva, which reported as if the son of Ivan the Terrible, Dmitry was not killed, but miraculously escaped, that he was with the Cossacks and was soon going to Moscow with a large army. The search revealed that the person who called himself Dmitry, was a monk of the Chudov monastery, Grigory (birth name - Yuri) Otrepyev, who came from the Galician nobles, and who fled to Poland in 1602.
In October 1604 False Dmitriy, with a small number of Poles and Cossacks, set out to Moscow. Everywhere he was joined by those dissatisfied by Godunov’s governing. However, in January 1605 near the town of Sevsk, government forces routed the army of the Pretender, forcing him to retreat to Putivl. Meanwhile, Tsar Boris was dramatically changing, more and more withdrawing from public affairs. In addition, his chronic disease, gout, reminded of itself more and more often. Those surrounding the monarch began to notice his irritability and suspiciousness.
13 (23) April 1605 Boris Godunov died under mysterious circumstances in his palace of the Kremlin. Officially, the tsar died of a stroke. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin.
Boris Godunov’s son, Feodor, became the new tsar. But in June 1605, in Moscow, supporters of the False Dmitry started a rebel. Feodor Godunov and his mother were killed; only the daughter of Boris, Xenia, was left alive. Soon the coffin containing the body of Boris Godunov was transferred from the Archangel Cathedral to the Varsonof’evsky monastery near Lubyanka.
Lit.: Бестужев-Рюмин К. Н. Обзор событий от смерти царя Иоанна Васильевича до избрания на престол Михаила Фёдоровича Романова // Журнал Министерства народного просвещения. Июль. 1887; Боханов А. Н. Борис Годунов. М., 2012; Зимин А. А. В канун грозных потрясений. М., 1986; Мерцалов А. Е. Борис Годунов. 1584-1605. (Опыт характеристики) // Исторический вестник. 1893. Т. 54. № 11. С. 460–475; Морозова Л. Е. Два царя: Фёдор и Борис. М., 2001; Павлов А. П. Государев двор и политическая борьба при Борисе Годунове (1584-1605). СПб., 1992; Платонов С. Ф. Борис Годунов. Мудрец и преступник. М., 2006; Он же. Повести и сказания о смутном времени. СПб., 1888; Погодин М. П. Об участии Годунова в убиении царевича Димитрия // Московский Вестник. 1829; Скрынников Р. Г. Иван Грозный. Борис Годунов. Василий Шуйский. М., 2005; Он же. Россия накануне «Смутного времени». М., 1980; Он же. Социально-политическая борьба в Русском государстве в начале XVII в. Л., 1935; Флоря Б. Н. Борис Феодорович Годунов [Электронный ресурс] // Православная энциклопедия. 1998–2009. URL: http://www.pravenc.ru/text/153195.html.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
История о самозванце Гришке Отрепьеве. М., 1842;
Маржерет Ж. Состояние Российской державы и Великого княжества Московского в 1606 году. М., 1913;
Павлов П. В. Об историческом значении царствования Бориса Годунова. СПб., 1863;
Платонов С. Ф. Борис Годунов. Пг., 1921;
Полозов Н. П. Очерк исторического исследования о царе Борисе Годунове. М., 1858;
Щербачёв Ю. Н. Подписи царей Бориса Годунова и Алексея Михайловича. М., 1894.