He emerged out of the chaos in Russia claiming to be the son of Ivan the Terrible, riding the tide of history to become Tsar. But Dmitri Ivanovich, aka, Grigory Otrepyev, was an imposter, and it was only a matter of time until he made the catastrophic mistakes that sealed his downfall.
He Had A Shady Background
According to the most commonly accepted version, Grigory Otrepyev was the son of a nobleman who became a monk in the monastery of the Moscow Kremlin. But he left the monastery in 1582. He then went on hiatus from the historical record, keeping a low profile for the next two decades.
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He Made A Big Impression
Otrepyev turned up again in Moscow in 1601, telling everyone that he was Dmitri Ivanovich, the son of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The real Dmitri Ivanovich had died as a captive of the acting tsar Boris Godunov back in 1591. Otrepyev claimed that his mother had actually helped him escape while the authorities covered up his disappearance by announcing his death. Otrepyev’s farfetched tale reached the ears of Boris Godunov.
He Fled Again
Upon hearing of Otrepyev, Boris Godunov immediately smelled trouble. He demanded Otrepyev be seized at once and brought in for interrogation. But by that time the wily Otrepyev had already fled to Poland. There the smooth talker found a welcome audience.
They Wanted To Be Convinced
After convincing several Polish princes that he was the rightful heir to the Russian throne, Otrepyev, (now known as Dmitri) got support from the king of the then Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth as well. Dmitri made other political maneuvers as well.
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He Got Full Backing
Dmitri publicly converted to Catholicism in 1604. He married the daughter of a Polish noble in exchange for a promise to sign over to the father-in-law a large chunk of land in western Russia upon attaining the throne. Whether anyone really believed his claims, or they just wanted to take advantage of the chaos in Russia, Dmitri now had financial and military backing to topple the Tsar Boris Godunov.
He Swept To Power
With an army of Polish adventurers and the aid of Godunov’s enemies including the Cossacks, Dmitri swept to power in Moscow. Godunov had perished, and his son Feodor was now Tsar. When he failed to pledge allegiance to Dmitri, he had him executed. On July 21, 1605, the imposter was crowned Tsar.
She Accepted Him As Her Son
The first thing the new Tsar did was visit his “mother” and widow of Ivan the Terrrible, Maria Nagaya. She falsely, but wisely claimed that this was her long-lost son, thought to have perished in 1591. But his sense of triumph was short-lived.
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He Was A Despot
Not only had Dmitri wiped out Godunov’s heir, he had imprisoned Godunov’s daughter as his personal concubine. As disturbing as this was, his first real mistake was not to force his wife to convert from Catholicism to the Russian Orthodox church, as was customary for Russian nobles marrying outside the faith. He immediately lost the support of the Russian church, and others were starting to turn their backs on him as well.
He Was A Westernizer
Dmitri invited all his Polish colleagues into his court, hob-nobbed with Catholics and allowed them to pray in Russian Orthodox churches. The Russian boyars (princes) seethed at what they saw as the transgression of Western intruders and infidels. They began to hatch a plan to deal with Dmitri.
His Routine Had Worn Thin
Being an impostoe had helped Dmitri get to the top. The problem was that his enemies knew he was a fraud, and made no hesitation to get rid of him when they were done with him. They spread a rumor that Dmitri was going to carry out a purge in Moscow. In an uproar, the townspeople formed a mob and stormed the Kremlin. Dmitri jumped out of a window to try to get away.
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He Suffered A Reversal Of Fortune
Dmitri had escaped some tight squeezes in the past, but this time his luck had run out. Leaping from the window of the Kremlin, he broke his leg in the fall. He tried to hobble and stagger his way to shelter but he was seized. The mob fell on him, hacking him to pieces in the process. They burned his remains and fired them out of a cannon toward Poland. The False Tsar Dmitri was no more.
He Tempted Fate And Got Dealt A Cruel Hand
Known now to historians as False Dmitri, Grigory Otrepyev turned out to be only the first of three impostors who claimed the Russian throne. He brazened his way through his fraud for as long as he was useful to others, until he had nowhere left to run and no one left to turn to.
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