The Time of Troubles

The Time of Troubles (1598-1613): After the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584 and of his son Fyodor in 1598, the Ryurik dynasty (begun in 1462) came to an end. The tsarina’s brother, Boris Godunov, was chosen for the throne. He was a wise, energetic and enterprising leader, and expended much effort to bring a normalcy back to Rus’, which had been brought to ruin under Ivan the Terrible. But Godunov’s rule turned into a succession of endless disasters. Rus’ was assaulted by a horrific famine, a fire destroyed half of Moscow, and there were countless revolts. In Poland, an imposter, the fugitive monk Grigory Otrepyev, asserted that he was the Prince Dmitry, son of Ivan the Terrible, miraculously saved from murderers sent to Uglich by Godunov. He managed to attract thousands of serfs and Cossacks to his cause. He actually ruled Moscow for nearly a year, after which he was murdered as a result of a boyar conspiracy. During the Troubles in Moscow, elected tsars came and went, with the Cossacks playing an influential role. Polish troops attacked Russia, as the Polish King Vladislav also staked a claim to the Moscow throne. The Time of Troubles came to an end in 1613, with the selection of Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar.