The Seven Boyars (russian: link=no, Семибоярщина, the Russian term indicating "Rule of the Seven Boyars" or "the Deeds of the Seven Boyars") were a group of Russian nobles who deposed

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Vasily Shuisky Vasili IV Shuisky (russian: Василий IV Иванович Шуйский, ''Vasiliy IV Ivanovich Shuyskiy'', c. 155212 September 1612) was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitri I. His rule coincided w ...

on 17 July 1610 and, later that year, invited the Poles into Moscow. The seven were Princes

Fedor Mstislavsky Prince Fedor Ivanovich Mstislavsky (died: 16 December 1622) was a Russian boyar, one of the leaders of the Duma aristocracy, leader of the Seven Boyars (who governed Russia for a brief period between 1610-1612) and the Chairman of Zemsky Sobor of ...

(the leader of the group), Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynskii, Andrei Vasilevich Trubetskoi, Andrei Vasilevich Golitsyn, Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolenskii, and Boyars Ivan Nikitich Romanov and Fedor Ivanovich Sheremetev. Due to the Polish advance into Russia, the

Bolotnikov rebellion Ivan Isayevich Bolotnikov (russian: Ива́н Иса́евич Боло́тников; 1565–1608) headed a popular uprising in Russia in 1606–1607 known as the Bolotnikov Rebellion (Восстание Ивана Болотникова). The up ...

, and other unrest during the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

, Shuisky was never very popular, nor was he able to effectively rule outside of the capital itself. The seven deposed him and he was forcibly tonsured a monk in the

Chudov Monastery The Chudov Monastery (russian: Чу́дов монасты́рь; more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the mi ...

in the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

. He was later carried off to Poland where he died in prison at

Gostynin Gostynin is a town in central Poland with 19,414 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodship since 1999 and was previously in the Płock Voivodship from 1975 to 1998. It is the capital of Gostynin County. History Gostynin h ...

in 1612.Robert O. Crummey, The Formation of Muscovy 1304–1613 (New York and London: Longman, 1987), pp. 224–5. On 17/27 August, the seven agreed to accept Władysław as Tsar of Russia. The Poles entered the city on 21 September. While some consider the rule of the Seven in Moscow to have lasted only from about June 1610 until the arrival of the Poles in September, others consider their rule to have lasted until the Poles were driven from Moscow by the popular movement headed by

Kuzma Minin Kuzma (Kozma) Minin (; full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky, born late 1570s - died 1616) was a Russian merchant from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, became a national hero for his role in defending the ...

and Prince

Dmitry Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky ( rus, Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ pɐˈʐarskʲɪj; 17 October 1577 – 30 April 1642) was a Russian prince known for his military leadershi ...

in 1612. Their power to act after September 1610, however, was rather nominal.

References

1610 in Russia Time of Troubles {{russia-hist-stub

See also

References