The False Dmitri's of Russia
The Sons of Ivan the Terrible and the Fight for Succession
Mar 13, 2008
Even those not very familiar with Russian History has more than likely heard the name of Ivan the Terrible (who ruled Russia as Czar throughout much of the sixteenth century), famous for, among other terrible things, his gang of peons who traveled throughout Russia, murdering anyone and everyone that Ivan pleased.
The nation spiraled quickly downhill under Ivan’s reign, becoming poor and stricken with famine due in part to his poor leadership. This in itself is a remarkably cruel and twisted story, but it is not the one being told here.
Young Dmitri
This is the story of the offspring of Ivan the Terrible – a story that may be found particularly fascinating. Particularly, it is the story of his youngest son, Dmitri (though the term youngest must be taken with a grain of salt, for no one was entirely sure just how many sons Ivan fathered, and by how many different women).
Dmitri, whose full name was Tsarevich Dmitri Ivanovich (Tsarevich being his title as “son of Czar”), was only two years old when his father died in 1584 (while playing chess, in fact – a noble way to go for a such a decidedly ignoble person). Being the youngest son, however, Ivan was not heir to his father's throne.
The Dispute Over the Throne
The honor of being heir to Ivan’s Czarship fell to Ivan’s older brother, Feodor I, though his claim to the throne was disputed by Feodor's brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, to whom Ivan had willed the title on his deathbed (Ivan had apparently never been particularly fond of Feodor's intellect – the boy is believed by many to have been mentally retarded).
Boris argued not only against Feodor, but against Dmitri as well (for Feodor was yet childless, thus making the child Dmitri next in line for the throne after Feodor). Boris led a rebellion which resulted in the helpless toddler, Dmitri, being banished from Moscow to the city of Uglich, where he would live for the next seven years.
At the age of eight, in 1591, Dmitri died from a stab wound inflicted under mysterious circumstances.
According to the original investigation, Dmitri was playing a game of darts with throwing knives (yes, this is what the historical account indicates) when he suddenly went into an epileptic seizure (which he was apparently prone to do), and, as poor luck would have it, the eight year old boy stabbed himself in the neck with his own knife.
Historians have generally held to the position that the traditional story of Dmitri’s death rings of untruth, and that he was, in fact, assassinated by order of Boris (who was still fighting for the throne at this point – he would finally gain it upon Fyodor’s death in 1598 – an event which began a period known to this day as the Russian “Time of Troubles”).
To the casual scholar, this should be the end of Dmitri’s story.
The Posthumous Rise of Dmitri
By all accounts Dmitri Ivanovich was officially dead. But his memory remained alive and well.
People tend to do strange things when they have ideas they believe to be inspired.
It is not certain how Grigory Otripyev came up with the idea, but he was apparently a rather bright person. He showed up on the Russian political scene in 1591 to challenge Boris Godunov for the Russian throne. His claim? That he was Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible; that he had survived the assassination attempt and had been in hiding ever since.
And, believe it or not, people believed him. Grigory – also known as “False Dmitri I” - found favor with many of the boyers (members of Russian aristocracy) and threatened to go to war with the forces of Boris for the throne.
Fortunately, this war was short-lived, as Czar Boris died in 1605, leaving the throne to his son, Feodor II (it is surely a bit ironic that he would give his son the same name as his enemy).
False Dmitri and the Boyers kidnapped and killed Feodor II and took the Russian throne (if only for eleven months, after which he was shot by conspirators).
But, it is important to ask, why was Grigory Otripyev called “False Dmitri I”?
False Dmitri II
Because he came before “False Dmitri II”, of course. The second False Dmitri (whose identity is to this day unknown) happened upon the scene in much the same way as the first False Dmitri, starting small in 1607, claiming to be the real Dmitri, gaining followers, going to war (with 100,000 troops! He must have been quite the actor) and quite nearly taking over the country.
He might have been successful had False Dmitri II not flogged a man at one point who later beat him to death while the would-be-Czar was drunk.
So that was the end of False Dmitri II.
Final Dmitri’s
Of course, this just paved the way for “False Dmitri III”, who fared even less successfully than the previous two False Dmitris. While he gained the support of the Cossacks to the east - who did pronounce him Czar in 1612 – he was captured and delivered up to Moscow to be executed only a couple of weeks later.
And that, as far as we know it, was the end of the False Dmitris. Could one of them have actually been the real Dmitri? Surely it can probably never be known for sure, but more than likely they were all imposters.
If nothing else, they were all proof that Russian history is never boring.
References:
“The Time of Troubles.” Russiaabroad.com.
Sommerville, J.P. “Russia and Poland.”
“False Dmitri.” Everything2.com.
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