Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shuisky (; died 1613) was a Russian

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

from the Shuisky family, a younger brother to Vasily IV of Russia.

Life

As a playmate of young Tsarevich Feodor Ivanovich, Dmitry was said to accompany him day and night in his devout wanderings from

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

to monastery. In 1584, his slandering of Prince Ivan Belsky led to riots in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Two years later, he was attested as a governor of

Kargopol Kargopol () is a town and the administrative center of Kargopolsky District in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on both sides of the Onega River, several miles north of Lake Lacha, in the southwestern corner of the oblast. Population: ...

. On Fyodor's accession to the throne, he quarrelled with another boyar,

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

, and was expelled to his family patrimony in Shuya. Later, he made peace with Godunov and married his sister-in-law. Shuisky is best remembered as a singularly incapable general. He was routed by

False Dmitry I False Dmitry I or Pseudo-Demetrius I () reigned as the Tsar of all Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich (). According to historian Chester S.L. Dunning, Dmitry was "the only Tsar ever raise ...

in 1606 and shared disgrace and imprisonment with his brother Vasily. When the latter was elected as the

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, he put Dmitry in charge of the army which would lose its every battle against the Polish invaders and their allies. At last he was relieved of his duties and replaced with a young cousin,

Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky (; – ) was a Russian statesman and military figure during the Time of Troubles. He was the last representative of a cadet branch of the Shuysky family. Life Having lost his father, Vasili Feodorovich S ...

, whom many regarded as the future tsar. The rumour had it that Dmitry's wife poisoned Mikhail to ensure that the throne passed to him following the childless death of Vasily. This was cited as one of the reasons for Shuisky being snubbed by his soldiers and populace. In the

Battle of Klushino The Battle of Klushino, or the Battle of Kłuszyn, was fought on 4 July 1610, between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia during the Polish–Russian War, part of Russia's Time of Troubles. The battle occu ...

he suffered an ignominious defeat: he was asleep when the battle started and escaped to Moscow barefoot. The Poles captured him and took with them to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, where he died in 1613.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shuisky, Dmitry

Dmitry Dmitry (); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Demetrios (, ). The meaning of the name is "devoted to, de ...

16th-century Russian nobility 17th-century Russian nobility 1613 deaths Russian people of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618) Year of birth unknown Boyars Heirs presumptive Monastery prisoners People from the Tsardom of Russia