What is Ivan's oprichnina policy? Reasons for introducing the oprichnina

As a result of a brilliant political maneuver carried out at the turn of 1564-1565, Ivan IV achieved unlimited powers - the right, without consulting the Boyar Duma, to “scorch” disobedient boyars, execute them and take the property of the disgraced into the treasury. So in 1565 the oprichnina was introduced. The term “oprichnina” comes from the Old Russian preposition “oprich” - except. IN Ancient Rus' oprichnina was the name given to that part of the principality which, after the death of the prince, was allocated to his widow “oprichnina” along with all the appanages.

Oprichnina included two groups of events:

1. Russia was divided into two parts: the oprichnina (the personal territory of the king) and the zemshchina, in which the Boyar Duma and orders continued to deal with current state affairs. Everyone who lived on the territory of the oprichnina, but was not part of the oprichnina army, was evicted. The tsar took into the oprichnina the cities of Mozhaisk, Vyazma, Kozelsk, Przemysl, Suzdal, Shuya, Galich, Yuryevets, Vologda, Ustyug, Staraya Russa and a number of highly profitable volosts. Important trade routes to the north and east, the main salt production centers and strategically significant outposts on the western and southwestern borders went to the oprichnina.

2. For his protection, the sovereign created a guard of bodyguards. Initially, this corps numbered no more than a thousand people, but gradually its number was increased to seven thousand. Mostly, noble nobles who were personally loyal to the tsar were selected there, although there were some princes and boyars there. The selection of the guardsmen was carried out by Ivan Vasilyevich himself. Each guardsman renounced his relatives and pledged to serve only the tsar. The oprichnina army was organized like a monastic order. Alexandrova Sloboda became its center.

The establishment of the oprichnina marked the beginning of a policy of terror in the Russian state. on his initial stage The princely-boyar nobility was subjected to repression. Later, the terror became widespread. The apogee of the bloody events was the defeat of Novgorod at the turn of 1569-1670. Mass executions of disgraced aristocrats followed continuously. The guardsmen did not spare the villages that belonged to the disgraced. Pogroms and massacres demoralized the oprichnina guards, turning them into a gang of marauders. In an atmosphere of mass persecution, general fear and denunciations, the apparatus of violence created in the oprichnina acquired an outsized influence on political structure states. Ivan the Terrible achieved unlimited power, but the war of the nobility against the boyars, which often resulted in the oprichnina, split main support monarchies are the class of feudal lords, as a result of which the regime has lost stability. In the end, the infernal machine of terror got out of the control of its creators. The latest victims those who stood at her cradle became oprichnina. In 1572, the tsar abolished the oprichnina. The former oprichnina districts were returned under the control of the Zemstvo Boyar Duma. The decree on oprichnina, which vested the monarch with unlimited powers to combat sedition, has lost force. Mass terror stopped, but executions continued. Now the former guardsmen were executed. In determining the role and significance of the oprichnina, it should be noted that it contributed to the formation of a despotic regime, but did not significantly change the structure of feudal land ownership. Large landownership successfully survived the oprichnina, personal life changed, but not social composition land owners. The tsar's main competitor in the struggle for power, Prince Vladimir Staritsky, and his supporters were destroyed.

The oprichnina turned into violence against all social strata, and primarily against the boyars. In essence, the boyars were beheaded, the oprichnina limited the political role and changed some of the functions of the Boyar Duma. The role of the nobility grew: for the first time, nobles received wider and permanent representation in higher authorities authorities, in the Boyar Duma and at the Zemsky Councils. As part of the Boyar Duma, new curiae of Duma nobles appeared, which included only those who served in the oprichnina. The oprichnina accelerated the growth of the bureaucratic apparatus, creating, in parallel with the zemstvo orders, a system of oprichnina orders. The social and political weight of the serving bureaucracy increased, which became a reliable instrument of the monarchy. Through the oprichnina and mass terror, Ivan IV achieved unlimited strengthening of his own power and centralization of the country, but using eastern despotic methods that were unnatural for Russia. Russia was moving towards centralization, it was ready to accept reforms, but not at such a fast pace and not in such inhumane ways. Oprichnina ruined the country. Thousands of people were physically destroyed, rich cities and peasant farms were destroyed. At the height of the oprichnina, natural disasters struck the country: crop failure, plague. The country was experiencing a severe crisis.

Conclusions

The results of the reign of Ivan IV are extremely ambiguous. Economic recovery and urban growth gave way to the “great ruin” of the 1570s-1580s, crisis and agrarianization of many ancient cities in the center of the country. The expansion of the state's territory was accompanied by an outflow of population from the central regions; The economic development of the main territories was replaced by their desolation. The growth of trade relations and the development of the newly annexed eastern and southern lands were combined with the further enslavement of the peasantry. The formation of an estate-representative monarchy was replaced by the unlimited, tyrannical power of the monarch.

There was complete demoralization of the people. Ivan IV created an atmosphere of general fear and denunciation in the country: he pitted all classes and layers of society that could coexist peacefully, and successfully used the principle of “divide and conquer.”

At the same time, the tsar created a coherent bureaucratic system in the country. The oprichnina became a non-state apparatus of the monarch's power.

Ivan IV skillfully used demagoguery. He created the impression that terror was directed only against the top. The deaths of ordinary people went unnoticed, while the executions of aristocrats attracted everyone's attention. And later, the executions of former guardsmen attributed all the atrocities to them in the minds of the people.

At the same time, one should not underestimate the successes in reform activities and foreign policy of Ivan the Terrible. Under the first Russian tsar, the territory of Russia increased significantly due to the conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, the development of Siberia and the northern territories. The codification of laws made it possible to more fully and effectively organize the activities of orders and The chosen one is pleased. The army reform strengthened Russia's military power. The limitation of localism contributed to the weakening of the power of the boyars.

But oprichnina politics prepared the foundation for the future Troubles. The division of the country into zemshchina and oprichnina had a detrimental effect on the state's economy. Vast territories were ravaged and devastated. An even more severe consequence of the oprichnina was the spiritual crisis, which turned into moral savagery of the people.

Ivan achieved unlimited power and centralization of Russia by ruining the country and killing thousands of people. In this way he compromised terror as a method of action.

Oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible - general characteristics

Oprichnina historians call the state policy of terror that reigned in Rus' at the end of the sixteenth century during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

The essence of the oprichnina

The essence of the oprichnina consisted of taking away property from the population in favor of the state. At the sole request of the king, special land plots could be allocated, which were used only for the royal court or state needs. These territories had their own administrative power, and they were inaccessible to the common population. All such land areas were taken away from the landowners through physical force or threats.

Origin of the word "oprichnina"

The very word “oprichnika” has Old Russian roots and means “special”. In addition, oprichnina was sometimes called a part of the state that was transferred to the sole use of the tsar (as well as his courtiers). Oprichniki are members of the sovereign's secret police.

The number of the royal retinue (oprichnina) at that time was about a thousand people.

Tsar Ivan the Terrible became famous in history for his military approaches and his stern disposition. Oprichnina arose in connection with the Livonian War. In 1558, Grozny began the Livonian War in order to take possession of the Baltic lands (coast), but the course of military operations did not proceed as the tsar himself had intended. He repeatedly reproached the boyars and governors for the fact that they did not at all respect their king for authority, therefore they acted softly and not decisively. The current situation is further aggravated by the tsar’s betrayal by one of his commanders, finally undermining Ivan the Terrible’s trust in his own retinue. That is why the oprichnina was created.

The guardsmen had to follow their king everywhere, protecting him from dangers. However, executions and moral bullying occurred more than once from them. Usually the king preferred to turn a blind eye to this, justifying such cruelty of his subordinates in any disputes. The result of such outrages of the guardsmen was hatred towards them not only from the common population, but also from the boyars.

In just two years (1570-1571), many people died at the hands of Ivan the Terrible and his guardsmen. At the same time, the king did not spare even his own subordinates, of whom, according to researchers, at least two hundred people were killed. These Moscow executions were the apogee of oprichnina terror.

The oprichnina system began to fall apart at the end of 1571 due to the attack of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey. The oprichniki, who were accustomed to living off the robberies of their own citizens, did not appear on the battlefield, after which the tsar abolished the oprichnina and introduced zemshchina, which differed little from the first.

Since ancient times, the word “oprichnina” was the name for a special land allotment that the prince’s widow received, that is, the land “oprichnina” - except for - the main lands of the principality. Ivan the Terrible decided to apply this term to the territory of the state allocated to him for personal management, his own destiny, in which he could rule without the intervention of the boyar duma, the zemsky council and the church synod. Subsequently, oprichnina began to be called not the land, but the internal policy pursued by the tsar.

The beginning of the oprichnina

The official reason for the introduction of the oprichnina was the abdication of Ivan IV from the throne. In 1565, having gone on a pilgrimage, Ivan the Terrible refused to return to Moscow, explaining his action as treason by his closest boyars. The tsar wrote two letters, one to the boyars, with reproaches and abdication of the throne in favor of his young son, the second - to the “posad people”, with assurances that his action was due to boyar treason. Under the threat of being left without a tsar, God’s anointed and protector, the townspeople, representatives of the clergy and boyars went to the tsar in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda with a request to return “to the kingdom.” The tsar, as a condition for his return, put forward the demand that he be allocated his own inheritance, where he could rule at his own discretion, without the intervention of church authorities.

As a result, the whole country was divided into two parts - zemshchina and oprichnina, that is, into state and personal lands of the kings. The oprichnina included the northern and northwestern regions, rich in fertile lands, some central destinies, the Kama region, and even individual streets of Moscow. The capital of the oprichnina became Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, the capital of the state still remained Moscow. The oprichnina lands were ruled personally by the tsar, and the zemstvo lands by the Boyar Duma; the oprichnina also had a separate treasury, its own. However, the Grand Parish, that is, the analogue of the modern Tax Administration, which was responsible for the receipt and distribution of taxes, was uniform for the entire state; The Ambassadorial Order also remained common. This seemed to symbolize that, despite the division of the lands into two parts, the state is still united and indestructible.

According to the tsar's plan, the oprichnina was supposed to appear as a kind of analogue of the European church Order. Thus, Ivan the Terrible called himself abbot, his closest associate Prince Vyazemsky became a cellarer, and the well-known Malyuta Skuratov became a sexton. The king, as the head of the monastic order, was assigned a number of responsibilities. At midnight the abbot rose to read the Midnight Office, at four in the morning he served matins, then followed mass. All Orthodox fasts and church regulations were observed, for example, daily reading of the Holy Scriptures and all kinds of prayers. The tsar's religiosity, previously widely known, grew to its maximum level during the oprichnina years. At the same time, Ivan personally took part in torture and executions, and gave orders for new atrocities, often right during divine services. Such a strange combination of extreme piety and undisguised cruelty, condemned by the church, later became one of the main historical evidence in favor of the tsar’s mental illness.

Reasons for the oprichnina

The “treason” of the boyars, to which the tsar referred in his letters demanding the allocation of oprichnina lands to him, became only the official reason for introducing a policy of terror. The reasons for the radical change in the format of government were several factors.

The first and, perhaps, the most significant reason for the oprichnina was the failures in the Livonian War. The conclusion of an essentially unnecessary truce with Livonia in 1559 was actually giving the enemy a rest. The Tsar insisted on taking tough measures against the Livonian Order, the Elected Rada considered the outbreak of war with the Crimean Khan more priority direction. The break with the once closest associates, the leaders of the Chosen Rada, became, in the opinion of most historians the main reason introduction of oprichnina.

However, there is another point of view on this matter. Thus, most historians of the 18th-19th centuries considered the oprichnina to be the result of the mental illness of Ivan the Terrible, whose hardening of character was influenced by the death of his beloved wife Anastasia Zakharyina. A strong nervous shock caused the manifestation of the most terrible personality traits of the king, bestial cruelty and imbalance.

It is impossible not to note the influence of the boyars on the change in the conditions of power. Fears for their own position caused some government officials to move abroad - to Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden. A big blow for Ivan the Terrible was the flight to Principality of Lithuania Andrei Kurbsky, a childhood friend and closest ally who took an active part in government reforms. Kurbsky sent a series of letters to the Tsar, where he condemned Ivan’s actions, accusing “faithful servants” of tyranny and murder.

Military failures, the death of his wife, disapproval of the tsar’s actions by the boyars, confrontation with the Elected Rada and the flight - betrayal - of his closest comrade-in-arms caused serious blow according to the authority of Ivan IV. And the oprichnina he conceived was supposed to rectify the current situation, restore damaged trust and strengthen the autocracy. To what extent the oprichnina lived up to its obligations, historians are still arguing.

Oprichnina

Each part of the state: both the oprichnina and the zemshchina had its own duma, its own officials and its own army. The capital of the zemshchina was Moscow, and the capital of the oprichnina was Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Persecution, terror and executions of boyars and nobles disliked by the tsar began. And the “tsar’s dogs” - the guardsmen - reported to the tsar every day about new “sedition” in order to cause new executions and profit from the wealth of executed wealthy people. The main political result of the oprichnina was the establishment of unlimited autocracy. Metropolitan Philip spoke out against Ivan’s policy, not reconciling himself with the Tsar’s follies. In the end, he, like many at that time, died at the hands of the guardsmen.

OPRI?CHNINA, oprichnina (from oprich - except, especially) - 1) the name of the inheritance of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible with a special territory, army and government institutions. 2) A set of internal political measures of Ivan IV, carried out in 1564–1571. in order to strengthen the personal power of the sovereign; included the most severe terror, mass executions, land confiscations, and robberies of the population.

The term “oprichnina” goes back to the name of the special appanage ownership of widows from the grand ducal family.

The first signs of the tsar's dissatisfaction with his position, as he believed, deprived of the sovereign's sovereign power, appeared long before the official introduction of the oprichnina. In 1560, the main figures of the “Chosen Rada” fell into disgrace, and in 1562–1563. and their supporters. In 1563, Metropolitan Macarius, who had great influence on the tsar, died. During these years, the first places were taken by people whose hands Ivan IV later carried out oprichnina terror: boyar A.D. Basmanov, his son Fyodor, Prince A.I. Vyazemsky, nursery P.V. Zaitsev, archimandrite of the Kremlin Miracle Monastery Levkiy, Novgorod Archbishop Pimen.

On December 3, 1564, at the height of the Nativity Fast, Ivan IV, together with his family and court, left the capital, taking with him the state treasury and “holiness” - the most revered icons, crosses, precious church utensils, taken by him of his own choice from Moscow monasteries and churches. Having initially stopped in the village of Kolomenskoye, the royal train, two weeks later, moved to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and then further north to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, which, after the arrival of Ivan IV there, was surrounded by guards and turned into a military camp.

From the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, the tsar sent two letters to Moscow denouncing the traitorous boyars, but with an announcement to ordinary people that “there is no anger or disgrace against them.” The Muscovites, abandoned by their sovereign, beat him with their foreheads so that the king would “grace them” - return to the kingdom.

At the beginning of February 1565, Ivan IV arrived in Moscow and, convening the Zemsky Sobor, announced the final decision to establish the oprichnina, demanding permission to “scorch” the “traitors” without consulting the boyars, to execute them, taking over the property of those executed. At the same time, “for his sovereign rise,” that is, for his departure to Alexandrov Sloboda, Grozny simultaneously collected from the zemstvo treasury a huge sum for those times - 100 thousand rubles, thereby financially securing his oprichnina undertaking.

The whole country was divided into oprichnina and zemshchina. The oprichnina became a special “sovereign appanage”, which was ruled by the tsar himself - it included many districts in different regions of the country, including part of the territory of Moscow. The oprichnina had its own army, its own Duma, its own orders and the royal oprichnina court. The Zemshchina included the entire remaining territory of the state, which was governed by the Zemstvo Duma and orders. At the same time, all the burdens of the ongoing Livonian War, the administration of the state and the maintenance of the oprichnina lay on the zemshchina.

For the maintenance of his “special court”, Ivan IV took into the oprichnina: in Moscow the streets - Chertolskaya, Arbatskaya, Sivtsev Vrazhek, half of Nikitskaya with settlements; in Pomorie cities and volosts - Dvina with Kholmogory, Veliky Ustyug, Kargopol, Vologda, Beloozero, Vaga; in the central counties - Mozhaisk, Vyazma, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, Shuya, Galich, Yuryevets Povolzhsky; in the southern counties - Kozelsk, Przemysl, Belev, Likhvin, Yaroslavets Maly, Medyn; V Novgorod land in 1565, important trading suburbs, Staraya Rusa and two volosts, were taken into the oprichnina. Later, Kostroma, Dmitrov and Pereyaslavl were also taken into the oprichnina.

In all these cities and districts, settlements and streets, all nobles and officials who were not registered in the royal oprichnina “thousand” were to be evicted.

In the decree on the formation of the oprichnina, the number of oprichnina service people was determined at 1000 people, but over time their number was increased to 6000 people. Almost immediately, a detachment of 500 especially trusted servicemen was allocated from the oprichnina army, who made up the guards and retinue of Ivan the Terrible and members of his family. While in Alexandrova Sloboda, the tsar formed a kind of spiritual brotherhood from this detachment, taking the place of abbot. Prince Vyazemsky became the cellarer of this order, and Malyuta Skuratov (G. L. Belsky) became the sexton.

The external difference of the guardsmen - black clothes of coarse cloth, a dog's head and a broom attached to the saddle - meant that the faithful tsar's guardsmen servants, like dogs, would gnaw at seditious people and sweep away all treason from the Moscow state. The guardsmen rode on black horses, wearing black harness, terrifying those they met with their entire appearance. The selection for guardsmen was extremely strict. The oprichnik swore a special oath on the cross, promising “not to eat or drink with the zemshchina.”

Immediately after the council approved the verdict on the oprichnina, executions began. In total, more than 4,000 people were executed during the years of the oprichnina.

The oprichnina terror had an extremely negative impact on the internal and external situation of Russia. The country, waging wars in the west and south, was ruined by the king himself. In 1570, the oprichnina army devastated and plundered Novgorod and Pskov. After it failed to stop the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey from burning Moscow in 1571, the tsar’s anger turned to the guardsmen. In the beginning 1570s The guardsmen Basmanov, Zakhary Ochin, Prince Vyazemsky, Zaitsev, Mikhail Cherkassky, as well as advisers from the “sovereign court” - the boyars Tulupov and Kolychev - were executed.

In 1572, the tsar banned the word “oprichnina”; using it was punishable cruel punishment whip Instead of the term “oprichnina” the term “yard” began to be used. Despite the cessation of extrajudicial and mass executions, the brutal suppression of any resistance to the royal will continued.

The “second edition” of the oprichnina followed in 1575. The Tsar again “abdicated” the throne. His “successor” was the Tatar prince Sain-Bulat, baptized Simeon Bekbulatovich, who received the title “Sovereign Grand Duke of All Rus'.”

Executions stopped only towards the end. 1570s

ZE?MSHCHINA is a part of the territory of the Moscow state, not included by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in his oprichnina inheritance.

The creation of the Zemshchina was announced at the Zemsky Sobor in February 1565. It was governed by the Zemstvo Boyar Duma, headed by the boyars I. D. Belsky and I. F. Mstislavsky, and by the Zemstvo Prikas. There was a separate zemstvo army, which was under the command of zemstvo governors and formed in the cities and districts of the zemshchina. Despite the division of the country into zemshchina and oprichnina, the supreme power in the state belonged to the tsar. V.V.

ALEXA?NDROVSKAYA SLOBODA? – in 1565–1582. the residence of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, the center of the oprichnina, is located on the river. Serai near Vladimir; since 1778 the city of Alexandrov, now in the Vladimir region.

Known since the 14th century. In 1513, the estate of the Grand Duke was built in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda Vasily III and the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary (now known as the Trinity Cathedral) was consecrated. The southern entrance to the cathedral is decorated with gates painted in gold on black copper, taken from the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. In the western portal of the cathedral, copper gates taken from the Tver Transfiguration Cathedral have been preserved.

In 1565, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible settled in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, turning it actually into the capital of the state, which housed the Oprichnina Court. The old estate of Vasily III was expanded, rebuilt, surrounded by a rampart and moat and turned into a royal residence. In 1578, a printing house was opened in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, where the Psalter was printed. In 1570–1582 Active stone construction was carried out here. In 1570–1571 an octagonal tented bell tower was built not far from the Trinity Cathedral, and the Church of the Intercession was erected; The frescoes with which the tent dome is painted are well preserved. A monastery was built in the settlement, called Uspensky, whose abbot was the tsar himself, and the monks were his guardsmen. In 1581, in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, his eldest son and heir Ivan died at the hands of the tsar.

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda was deserted, and the royal palace gradually collapsed. IN Time of Troubles the abandoned residence was plundered by the Poles. S.P.

SKURATOV-BELSKY Grigory Lukyanovich (nicknamed Malyuta) (?–01/01/1573) – close associate of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, one of the leaders of the oprichnina, Duma nobleman (since 1570).

He came from a seedy branch of the Pleshcheev family. People first started talking about Skuratov in 1561, when he became the tsar's closest assistant in eradicating boyar sedition. After the establishment of the oprichnina in 1565, Skuratov took one of the first places in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda and was awarded by Ivan IV the title of “paraclesiarch” - sexton of the black oprichnina brotherhood. The king himself accepted the rank of "abbot". When early in the morning, at 4 o’clock in the morning, the “abbot” with a lantern in his hand climbed the bell tower, his faithful “sexton” Grishka was already waiting there. They rang the bells together, calling members of their oprichnina “order” to early matins. After prayer and meals, business began - tracking down the dissatisfied and unwanted, torture and execution. In this matter, Malyuta Skuratov showed particular zeal. It is no coincidence that the king trusted him with the most difficult and dirty assignments. It was Skuratov who in 1569 “read out” the guilt of Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky before his murder, and at the very end of 1569 he was sent by the Tsar to the Tverskaya Otroch Monastery, to the former Metropolitan Philip (Kolychev) imprisoned there. The king asked for the blessing of the campaign against Novgorod, but the prisoner refused his envoy. Using this refusal as a pretext, Malyuta strangled the former metropolitan.

During the Novgorod campaign of 1570, Skuratov commanded the oprichnina army. The role he played during this pogrom is evidenced by the “Synodik” of Ivan the Terrible: “According to Malyutin’s skask in the Nougorot parcel, Malyuta finished off (exterminated - V.V.) 1490 people (manual truncation), 15 people were trimmed from arquebus.” In 1571, he conducted an investigation into the reasons for the victory of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey over the Russian army.

The king favored his favorite, bestowing money, estates, and ranks. Coming from a humble family, Skuratov-Belsky became a Duma nobleman and was able to marry off his daughters to representatives of the most noble families in the Moscow state. One - for the Tsar's cousin Prince I.M. Glinsky, another - for B.F. Godunov, the third - for Prince D.I. Shuisky. Unlike other prominent guardsmen, Skuratov escaped royal disgrace and executions. A cruel executioner, a master of investigation and reprisals, he ended his life as a hero - he died in the Livonian War, during the storming of the Livonian fortress of Paide (Weissenstein). V.V.

VISKOVATOV, Viskovaty Ivan Mikhailovich (?–07/25/1571) - statesman and diplomat, Duma clerk since 1553, printer since 1561.

The first information about Viskovatov dates back to 1542, when he held the position of clerk. In 1549 he headed the Ambassadorial Prikaz, and in 1553 he became the Duma clerk. In the same year, during the serious illness of Tsar Ivan IV, in the ongoing struggle for succession to the throne, Viskovatov showed himself to be a strong supporter of his son, Tsarevich Dmitry (the elder). This earned him even greater favor from the recovered Ivan Vasilyevich.

In 1553, Viskovatov opposed the new icons and paintings created on the instructions of Metropolitan Sylvester for the Annunciation Cathedral and the Golden Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Viskovatov doubted the canonicity of the image of the “invisible Deity” (including God the Father) on the grounds that any Deity “is not visible with bodily eyes.” He considered it acceptable for icon painters to reproduce only the image of Jesus Christ. With a written statement of his views, Viskovatov turned to the tsar and achieved the convening of a special church council in 1553–1554. At the council, Sylvester was supported by Metropolitan Macarius, and Viskovatov was condemned. By admitting that he was wrong, he managed to retain the favor of the sovereign.

In 1554, Viskovatov was included in the commission of inquiry into the case of treason against Prince S.V. Lobanov-Rostovsky, who secretly communicated with the Lithuanian ambassador S. Dovoina, at the end. 50s advocated the conclusion of a peace agreement with the Crimean Khanate, became one of the initiators of the Livonian War. During the oprichnina he led foreign policy Russia.

On July 25, 1570, Viskovatov was executed along with the treasurer N. Funnikov. The surviving fragment of the investigative case allows us to connect his fall with the “Novgorod treason” and Ivan IV’s disgrace with the prominent guardsmen A.D. and F.A. Basmanov. V.V.

STA?DEN Heinrich von ( German von Staden) (c. 1542 - ?) - guardsman of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, author of the essay “The Country and Rule of the Muscovites.”

A native of Germany. Son of a Westphalian burgher. Came to Russia in 1564, was an interpreter (translator), guardsman, sales agent. An eyewitness to many events, including the defeat of Novgorod by the oprichnina army of Ivan the Terrible. Having left Russia in 1572, he became its staunch enemy and hatched plans to conquer Russian lands. For this purpose, he turned to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, for whom in 1579 he wrote the “Project for the conversion of Russia into an imperial province”, then to the Swedish King Johan III, inviting him to begin intervention in the most vulnerable place of the Moscow state - from the city. . Kola and R. Onega.

Despite the anti-Russian orientation of von Staden's works, they are an important source on the history of Russia in the 16th century. V.V.

FILI?PP (in the world – Fyodor Stepanovich Kolychev) (02/11/1507–12/23/1569) – Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus' in 1566–1568, Orthodox saint.

He came from a junior branch of the old Moscow boyar family of the Kolychevs. The ancestor of the Kolychevs, boyar Andrei Kobyla, the ancestor of many of the most noble Moscow boyar families - the Zakharyins-Yuryevs, the Sheremetevs, the Romanovs. Father - Stepan Ivanovich, nicknamed Stensur, teacher of Yuri (George) Vasilyevich, brother of Tsar Ivan IV. Uncle - Ivan Ivanovich Umnoy-Kolychev, adviser to Prince Andrei Staritsky, brother of Grand Duke Vasily III.

Fyodor Kolychev spent his childhood at the grand ducal court, received good education, knew the future sovereign Ivan IV closely. At the age of fifteen, Fedor was assigned to military service, on which he remained until the age of thirty. In 1537, Prince Andrei Staritsky rebelled against the government of Elena Glinskaya, but was captured and died in captivity. Members of the Kolychev family close to the Staritskys also suffered.

Fyodor Kolychev decided to leave the grand ducal service and leave the world. Appearing at the Solovetsky Monastery, he hid his noble birth and became a novice, and a year and a half later took monastic vows under the name of Philip. OK. 1548 became abbot of the Solovetsky Monastery. Under him, the monastery entered its heyday. Special attention Philip paid economic activity. Salt production increased from 4 to 10 thousand poods, new salt pans and water mills were built, lakes were connected by canals. The salt trade allowed the expansion of other industries, in particular blacksmithing and brickmaking. Stone construction began. Erected 1558–1566 The Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery was superior in height to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The monastery significantly expanded its land holdings.

In 1566, Philip was invited to take the metropolitan throne. But he set a condition: to abolish the oprichnina. Ivan IV the Terrible demanded that Philip not interfere in royal affairs, but then “put aside his anger” and made a concession - the new metropolitan received the right to consult with the sovereign and intercede for the disgraced. At first, the oprichnina terror subsided, but in the winter of 1567/1568 it flared up again. Philip, in personal conversations, repeatedly urged the king to come to his senses. On March 22, 1568, he publicly, during a service in the Assumption Cathedral, denounced the sovereign for his iniquities and refused to bless him. He subsequently repeated these denunciations twice.

The authority of the metropolitan was very high, so the king could not seize him without reason. A special commission composed of personal enemies Philip, to prepare charges against him based on false testimony. On November 4, 1568, a trial took place: Philip was deposed and sentenced to death penalty burning. The king replaced the execution with eternal imprisonment in a monastery. Philip was sent first to the Epiphany, then to the Staronikolsky and, finally, to the Otroch Monastery in Tver.

On December 23, 1569, during the oprichnina army’s campaign against Novgorod, Malyuta Skuratov arrived at the monastery and conveyed the king’s demand to bless the campaign. After Philip refused, Malyuta, in anger, strangled the prisoner with a pillow. It was announced to the monastery inhabitants that Philip had died from “extraordinary intoxication.”

In 1591, under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, Philip’s relics were transferred to the Solovetsky Monastery, and in 1652, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Days of remembrance: January 9 (22), July 3 (16), and October 5 (18) together with the Moscow saints Peter, Alexei, Jonah and Hermogenes. S.P.