Boris Godunov

Boris Godunov in Historical Figures Boris Godunov is a great politician and statesman, from 1598 to 1605, the year – Tsar of All Russia. Boris Godunov was born in 1552 in the family of a nobleman Fyodor Godunov, popularly known as Fyodor Krivoy. Godunovs of their kind led from the Tatar murza named Chet, which appeared in Russia around 1300 and served at the court of Ivan Kalita. After the death of father Boris and his sister Irina, their uncle Dmitry Godunov took up the education of their uncle. Shortly after the reform of the oprichnaya uncle against the will recorded in the guardsmen and he was at the court of the king. According to documents from 1567, Boris Godunov also became a member of the oprichnich court. In 1570, Boris successfully married the daughter of Ivan the Terrible’s favorite, the oprichnik of Malyuta Skuratov. From that moment began the rapid promotion of Godunov on the career ladder. Thanks to his father-in-law, he received a Kravchev post in 1578, his position became even stronger at the court after his sister Irina became the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor. In 1581 he was the friend of Tsarina Maria Naked at the king’s wedding, in the same year he became a boyar. Despite the fact that he becomes one of the closest people to the king, Godunov tries to keep a low profile, remembering that the king without hesitation removes competitors revered by the people. After the death in March 1584 of Ivan the Terrible, the royal throne was occupied by his son Fyodor. Boris Godunov becomes the main adviser to the new tsar, in addition to this he receives the rank of a stable and becomes the closest great boyar and governor of the tsar in Astrakhan and Kazan. Godunov gradually eliminates his main rivals – the boyars of the Shuisky, Romanovs and Mstislavsky and in fact becomes the head of Russia with an incapable king. It should be noted that he proved himself a wise statesman, a strong politician, a comprehensive and intelligent ruler. He personally received ambassadors of other states, led diplomatic negotiations and signed treaties, tried his best to expand and strengthen the borders of the Russian state, while resorting to military force in a pinch. Under Godunov, active colonization of Siberia began, the southern steppes continued to be settled, Voronezh, Belgorod, Valuyki and other cities were built to defend against the raids of the Crimean Tatars. In 1587, duty-free trade for foreign merchants was allowed in Russia, which is evidence of a prudent trade policy and contributed to the rapprochement of Russia with the West, and ties with Georgia were expanded and strengthened. Thanks to Godunov, in 1589 he obtained from the patriarch of Constantinople consent to the establishment of the Russian patriarchate, the first patriarch became Metropolitan Iov. All this had orthodox political consequences, the prestige of Russia increased, Moscow finally consolidated the status of the main city of the Russian land. Under Godunov, for the first time, a full-fledged water supply system was built, water from the Moscow River was supplied through underground canals. Thanks to Godunov, more than a dozen monasteries, fortresses and several cities were built in Russia by the end of the 16th century. In 1591 Tsarevich Dmitrii unexpectedly dies, and among the people, rumor spread about Godunov’s being responsible for his death. However, this did not prevent him from occupying the royal throne in 1598 after the death of Tsar Fedor and the rejection of the kingdom of his widow Irina. Boris Godunov proved himself a wise and cautious ruler. Understanding the backwardness of the state, he invites from Europe doctors, cloth makers, rounznattsev and sends several of his young men to study abroad. In addition to rumors that Tsarevich Dmitry is alive and claims the kingdom, the years of the reign of Godunov were darkened and an unprecedented three-year crop failure, which swept across Russia from 1601, which caused terrible epidemics of all diseases. Gangs of bandits began to appear everywhere, and in 1604 False Dmitry I appeared at the head of the Polish detachments. In January 1605, the Polish army was stopped, but the threat has not yet passed. Boris Godunov understood all this perfectly, but did not have time to do anything, since he died suddenly in April of the same year. The inhabitants of Moscow swore allegiance to Boris Godunov’s son, who was killed in the period of unrest organized by the princes headed by Vasily Shuysky.