VASILII SHUISKII (1606-1610)

Vasilii Shuiskii was born in 1552 to Ivan Andreevich Shuiskii. (Some authorities believe he was the son of Ivan Petrovich Shuiskii a more prominent member of the clan). The Shuiskii family owed its position to its descent from Alexander Nevski's younger brother, Andrei of Suzdal. In keeping with their exaulted position they numbered important and famous military commanders among their family. They had controlled the government during Ivan IV's youth and retained their power throughout his difficult reign. Ivan Petrovich was one of Fedor Ivonovich's regents. Thus they were political rivals and enemies of the Gudunov family. Vasilii Ivanovich was promoted boyar in 1584, along with Ivan Petrovich's son, Andrei.

Vasilii Ivanovich managed to stay out of trouble during the struggle for power between Ivan Petrovich Shuiskii and Boris Gudunov. When the Shuiskiis fomented a riot in Moscow in 1586, Ivan Petrovich and his son Andrei Ivanovich were banished and confined until they died in 1588 and 1589 respectively. Vasilii Ivanovich and his three younger brothers were also banished, but survived in exile.

Vasilii regained his position as an important military commander and was in the boyar council by 1591. In that year he chaired the commission that investigated the death of Dmitrii Ivanovich in Uglich. When Fedor Ivanovich died in 1598 the struggle between the Gudunov's and Shuiskii's began behind the sceens as Vasilii remained publicly aloof. Boris remained suspicious and had the Shuiskii's carefully watched, then banished once more.

During the defensive campaign against the False Dmitrii's invasion of 1604 Vasilii Shuiskii was sent to the front to take charge from the wounded commander. His conduct enabled Dmitrii to escape from serious defeat. When Tsar Boris died in April, Vasilii returned to Moscow. At that time he continued to proclaim that the real Dmitrii had died at Uglich and appeared to support Feodor's position as the new Tsar. In June, when Feodor was turned out of power, Vasilii Shuiskii quickly reversed himself and proclaimed his allegiance to False Dmitrii as a legitimate Tsar. Shortly, Vasilii changed his story again and began a revolt against the newly entroned Dmitrii. This was discovered and Shuskii was again banished briefly. Still a survivor, in 1605 Vasilii began to plot anew, trying first to enlist the aid of the Polish king without success and then entering into agreement with the Swedish king.

Shuskii attended Dmitrii's wedding to Marina Mniszech in May of 1606 but was by then had already organized a coup d'etat. The following week his forces broke into the Kremlin and murdered yet another reigning tsar, False Dmitrii. Shuskii turned the Moscow mob against the Polish wedding visitors to generate still more confusion. He again publicly claimed that this Dmitrii was an imposter. Then he promptly had himself proclaimed Tsar by his noble supporters, and was crowned on 1 June.

But he was not destined to rule unhindered. His four years in official, but mostly nominal, power were a time of constant civil war. The first opponent was Ivan Bolotnikov, who raised armies of peasants and cossacks all across south Russia. The struggle shifted back and forth until 1607, when Bolotnikov was besieged by Shuiskii in Tula. Bolotnikov surrendered on terms in the fall, but by then a new False Dmitrii had appeared again out of Poland was was advancing with a Polish, Cossack host through Orel. By June of 1608 this new figure, called the Second Pretender, had reached the outskirts of Moscow at Tushino. Remarkably, Marina, the widow of the first False Dmitrii, proclaimed that this new fellow was actually her first husband how had miraculously escaped assassination. During 1609, with the help of mercenaries sent by Sweden and the brilliant military ability of his nephew, Mikhail Skopin-Shuiskii, Vasilii managed to confine the rebellion to Tushino and parts of south Russia.

At that point King Sigismund of Poland decided to reveal his hand and take charge of the stalemated situation in Muscovy. A large Polish army invaded drove the Second Pretender out of Tushino. Skopin-Shuiskii disposed of the remaining rebels and regained control of Moscow in March 1610. He then prepared to deal with the Polish army to the west but suddenly died under suspicious circumstances. Vasilii Shuskii then appointed one of his own brothers, Dmitrii, to command the Muscovite Army against the Poles. Dmitrii was badly defeated by the superior Polish army on 24 June at Klushino, leaving the road to Moscow wide open.

Now the Poles and army of the Pretender both raced toward Moscow. Yet another uprising in the capital, this one supported by rival families of the Shuiskii's including the Romanovs and Golitzyns, forced Vasilii to abdicate. The boyars agreed to a settlement supporting Sigismund's son, Wladislaw, as a new tsar. The Polish army took control of the Kremlin in September and the second Pretender was forced to flee to Astrakhan. The Poles took all the potential Russian claimants they could find off to Poland. These included the ill-fated Vasilii and his two remaining brothers, Dimitrii and Ivan. They all died there without heirs, thus ending the famous or infamous Shuiskii clan.

The Poles went on a rampage sending raiding detachments as far as Kostroma, but failing in a long siege to take the strongly fortified Trinity - St Sergius Monastery at Sergiev Posad.