Ivan Dmitriyevich (, nicknamed as Ivashka the Little Rebel/Criminal, ; – ) was the only son of False Dmitry II of Russia ("''Rebel/Criminal of Tushino''", ) and his wife

Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech or Mnishek (, ; , ; – 24 December 1614) was a Polish noblewoman who was the tsaritsa of all Russia in May 1606 during the Time of Troubles as the wife of False Dmitry I. Following the death of her husband, she later married ...

, daughter of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Jerzy Mniszech Jerzy Mniszech (c. 1548 – 1613) was a Polish nobleman and diplomat in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Member of the House of Mniszech. Krajczy koronny in 1574, castellan of Radom in 1583, voivode of Sandomierz Voivodship in 1590, ...

and his wife ''Jadwiga Tarło''. He was a claimant to the throne of the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

until his death at the age of three, in July 1614. He was killed right after his

step-father A stepfather or stepdad is a biologically unrelated male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. In fiction Thoug ...

, Ivan Zarutsky.

Early life

False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II and Marina Mniszech

In November 1605,

married False Dmitry I, Tsar of Russia and thus became Tsarita consort of All Russia. However, this lasted less than a year. On 17 May 1606, conspirators who opposed Dmitri and his policy of close cooperation with Poland, broke into the Moscow Kremlin. Dmitry attempted to escape out a window, but he broke his leg while climbing out. He was immediately spotted by a plotter and he was shot on the spot. After the death of False Dmitry I, Marina was spared her lifeafter she had rejected her royal titleand sent back to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in July 1608. However, her father

didn't give up on his plan to become father-in-law of 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 ...

. Exiled to

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

, he searched for a way to regain his favours. With his help, Marina turned up in

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

, where she would secretly marry another impostor,

False Dmitry II False Dmitry II (; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called ("the thief of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, the youngest son of Ivan the T ...

after "recognizing" her miraculously "salvaged" husband in him, even though they looked absolutely nothing alike and it was impossible for Dmitry I to have been saved, as his body had been put for display after his murder. Polish

hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

Stanisław Żółkiewski Stanisław Żółkiewski (; 1547 – 7 October 1620) was a Polish people, Polish szlachta, nobleman of the Lubicz coat of arms, a magnate, military commander, and Chancellor (Poland), Chancellor of the Polish Crown in the Polish–Lithuanian C ...

wrote in his memoirs that the only two things False Dmitris I and II had in common was that they were both human and usurpers. This marriage would soon share the same fate as her previous one, as Dmitry II was killed by a

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

prince, Peter Urusov.

Birth of the Tsarevich and Ivan Zarutsky

After the 10 December 1610 murder of

, Marina was once again left widowed. She was, this time, however, pregnant and on 5 January 1611 ( O.S. 26 December 1610), she delivered a baby boy, whom she named Ivan. The infant was subsequently nicknamed ''Little Rogue'', ''Baby Brigand'' or ''Luba''. She met

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

Ivan Zarutsky and by April 1611, they were married. Zarutsky took a liking to little Ivan, and using the fact that Marina was a widow of two Tsars, he proclaimed four-month-old Ivan ''"Ivan Dmitriyevich"'' (literally, ''Ivan, son of Dmitry'').

Patriarch Hermogenes Hermogenes, or Germogen () (secular name Yermolay) (before 1530 – 17 February 1612) was the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia from 1606. It was he who inspired the popular uprising that put an end to the Time of Troubles. Hermogenes was glorif ...

, however, called Ivan "little сriminal". Zarutsky was thinking he would have established his position as '' de facto'' ruler of the

for a long time. He was, however, dethroned, and he and Marina had to flee to

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

Death

When Tsar Michael I of Russia was elected, the citizens of

wanted the pretender and his family to leave the town. In 1614 an uprising of townspeople was aimed solely at capturing the family. They fled into the steppes to escape. A month later, in May 1614, after failing to gather support for a

uprising, they were captured by the Cossacks near the

Yaik River The Ural, also known as the Yaik , is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At , it is the third-longes ...

and handed over to the government. Marina was imprisoned in the

Kolomna Kremlin Kolomna Kremlin () is a fortress in Kolomna, Russia. The stone Kolomna Kremlin was built from 1525–1531 under the Russian Tsar Vasily III. Before its reconstruction in 1531, the Kolomna Kremlin was made of wood. On its territory there are many ...

tower and Ivan and Zarutsky were brought to

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 ...

. Zarutsky was impaled. Three-year-old Ivan was publicly hanged on in Moscow, near the Serpukhov Gate. According to one account, he was too light for the drop to break his neck and died slowly of strangulation. Just five months after the deaths of her son and husband, Marina died in prison on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, 24 December 1614.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivan Dmitriyevich, Tsarevich 1611 births 1614 deaths People from Kaluga Russian children Russian people of Polish descent Executed Russian people Executed children 17th-century Russian people People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging Executed people from Kaluga Oblast 17th-century executions by Russia Pretenders to the Russian throne People from the Tsardom of Russia