Background
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was born circa 1551, a member of the noble Tatar family.
Tsar Boris Fedorovich Godunov, by Anonymous Painter, 1750, 18th century, oil on canvas. Russia, Moscow, Gosudarstvennyj Istoriceskij Muzej. Whole artwork view. Frontal portrait half-length, in an oval box, of the tsar in imperial robes, with globe, scepter, crown, and a large crucifix around his neck. (Photo by Sergio Anelli/Electa/Mondadori Portfolio)
Boris Godunov (1551-1605). Tsar of All Russia. Engraving. Colored. (Photo by Ipsumpix/Corbis)
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (c. 1551-1605) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as de facto regent from c. 1585 to 1598. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group)
Portrait of Boris Godunov. Found in the Collection of State History Museum, Moscow. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images)
Boris Godunov. Found in the Collection of Russian National Library, Saint Petersburg. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images)
Boris Godunov (1551-1605). Tsar of All Russia. Engraving. Colored. (Photo by Ipsumpix/Corbis)
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov (c. 1551-1605) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as de facto regent from c. 1585 to 1598. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group)
Portrait of Boris Godunov. Found in the Collection of State History Museum, Moscow. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images)
Boris Godunov. Found in the Collection of Russian National Library, Saint Petersburg. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images)
Fyodor I Ivanovich
Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was born circa 1551, a member of the noble Tatar family.
The role of the entire family of Godunov gradually increased and by the end of the 1570s, they obtained a footing at Ivan the Terrible's court. Still, Boris Godunov himself was very cautious in his actions and preferred to stay in the background. Unexpectedly, the year 1581 brought a series of changes to Godunov's life: Ivan the Terrible had an argument with his son Ivan and hit him with a staff, which caused the death of the prince. Boris Godunov's brother-in-law, Fyodor, became the heir to the throne.
When Ivan IV died in 1584, Fyodor became the tzar of Russia. Feodor, however, had the mentality of a child and was temperamentally incapable of taking initiative. Rule, therefore, passed to a dual regency of Nikita Romanovich Yuriev, the Tzar's uncle, and Boris Godunov. With the death of Yuriev in 1586, Godunov became Russia's new master in all but name.
Godunov kept a separate court of his own and dealt directly with foreign powers. He is believed to have controlled completely the machinery of the government, especially the security police, headed by his cousin, Simon Godunov, which he used to eliminate his political rivals.
During Godunov's regency, Muscovy's warlike operations dating back to the reign of Ivan IV continued on the various frontiers. In 1590 the Russians became engaged in a war with Sweden that lasted until 1595 and resulted in Moscow's recovery of the territories on the shores of the Gulf of Finland lost under Ivan IV. Sweden, however, retained the port of Narva, which was the real object of Russian ambitions.
Russia also resumed its advance in western Siberia and strengthened its hold there by establishing new military and trading outposts. Russian infiltration in the northern Caucasus continued, and in 1598 Moscow established relations with Georgia.
Significant developments also took place in domestic affairs. Taking advantage of the visit to Moscow by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who came to Russia in quest of alms, Godunov obtained his consent to the elevation of the head of the Russian Church to the rank of patriarch. Job, a nominee of Godunov, was elected by a Russian Church Council in 1589 as the first incumbent of the new office.
Godunov was interested in learning from the West and even thought of establishing a university in Moscow, but he had to abandon the idea because of opposition from the clergy. He did, however, send 18 young men to study abroad. He also promoted foreign trade, concluding commercial treaties with England and with the Hansa.
It was not surprising that after Feodor's death in 1598 the head of the Russian Church offered Godunov the crown on behalf of the nation. Although Godunov was well fitted by experience and ability to become tzar, he refused the crown, insisting on the convocation of a national assembly. The assembly met in 1598 and duly elected Godunov to the throne. Godunov acquired, however, unlimited autocratic power like any hereditary autocrat.
In spite of all his efforts, Godunov's brief reign witnessed tragic events. In 1601 famine brought disaster to the people. The crops failed again in 1602 and also, to a considerable extent, in 1603. Although the government tried to feed the population of Moscow free of charge, send supplies to other towns, and find employment for the destitute, its measures availed little against the calamity. It has been estimated that more than 100,000 people perished in the capital alone. More and more peasants fled from the center of Muscovy to join the Cossacks. Godunov's attempts to restrain them failed and mass banditry developed.
The people blamed Godunov for these problems. Rumors spread that he was a criminal and a usurper and that Russia was being punished for his sins. It was rumored that Godunov had plotted to kill Prince Dimitry, the son of Ivan IV, but had mistakenly murdered another boy. It was further alleged that the true prince had escaped and would return to claim his rightful inheritance.
In 1603 a claimant to the throne did appear, professing to be Tzarevich Dimitry. The true identity of the Pretender is not known, but it was as Grishka Otrepyev, a runaway monk and former serf of the Romanov family, that Godunov officially denounced him. The Pretender spent the year 1603 canvasing help in Poland. In 1604 he crossed into Muscovy at the head of over a thousand adventurers, chiefly Poles. He proclaimed himself rightful heir to the Russian throne and denounced Godunov as a usurper. A measure of Godunov's unpopularity was the fact that Cossacks and disaffected elements in southwest Russia rallied to the invader in large numbers. As Dimitry marched toward Muscovy, many towns went over to him without a shot being fired.
Tzar Godunov himself seemed paralyzed in the Kremlin. He did not personally take the field against the Pretender, although he did attempt to confirm that Prince Dimitry was dead. When it seemed that his efforts might succeed, Godunov died suddenly on April 23, 1605. He was succeeded by his son Feodor II. But in a few months riots broke out in Moscow, and Feodor and his mother were murdered. In June 1605 the Pretender entered the capital in triumph.
Boris Godunov was the first tsar to import foreign teachers on a great scale, the first to send young Russians abroad to be educated, the first to allow Lutheran churches to be built in Russia. Having won the Russo-Swedish War (1590-1595), he felt the necessity of a Baltic seaboard and attempted to obtain Livonia by diplomatic means. He cultivated friendly relations with the Scandinavians, in order to intermarry if possible with foreign royal houses, so as to increase the dignity of his own dynasty.
Boris Godunov's personality inspired many famous artists to create pieces of art named after him, including a drama by Aleksandr Pushkin, an opera by Modest Musorgsky, and a film by Sergey Bondarchuk.
Boris Godunov was an Orthodox Christian.
It was during his government that the Russian Orthodox Church received its patriarchate, which placed it on an equal footing with the ancient Eastern churches and emancipated it from the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople. This reform was meant to please the ruling monarch, as Fyodor I took extraordinary interest in church affairs.
Godunov's policy was generally pacific. In 1595 he recovered from Sweden the towns lost during the former reign. Five years previously he had defeated a Tatar raid upon Moscow, for which service he received the title of Konyushy (or in 1584), an obsolete dignity even higher than that of Boyar. Towards the Ottoman Empire in Turkey he maintained an independent attitude, supporting an anti-Turkish faction in the Crimea, furnishing the emperor with subsidies in his war against the sultan.
Godunov encouraged English merchants to trade with Russia by exempting them from tolls. He civilized the north-eastern and south-eastern borders of Russia by building numerous towns and fortresses to keep the Tatar and Finnic tribes in order. These towns included Samara, Saratov, Voronezh, Tsaritsyn, and a whole series of lesser towns. He also re-colonized Siberia, which had been slipping from the grasp of Russia, and formed scores of new settlements, including Tobolsk and other large centers.
Boris's most important domestic reform was the 1587 decree forbidding the peasantry to transfer themselves from one landowner to another, thus binding them to the soil. The object of this ordinance was to secure revenue, but it led to the institution of serfdom in its most grinding form.
Godunov was interested in learning from the West and even thought of establishing a university in Moscow, but he had to abandon the idea because of opposition from the clergy. He did, however, send 18 young men to study abroad.
In 1570/1571 Godunov strengthened his position at court by his marriage to Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya, the daughter of Ivan's abominable favorite Malyuta Skuratov-Belskiy. Godunov had two children, Feodor II and Ksenia Godunova.
