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BORIS FEDOROVICH GODUNOV , See also:tsar of Muscovy (c. 1551-16o5), the most famous member of an See also:ancient, now See also:extinct, See also:Russian See also:family of Tatar origin, which migrated from the See also:Horde to Muscovy in the 14th See also:century. Boris' career of service began at the See also:court of See also:Ivan the Terrible. He is mentioned in 1570 as taking See also:part in the Serpeisk See also:campaign as one of the archers of the guard. In 1571 he strengthened his position at court by his See also:marriage with Maria, the daughter of Ivan's abominable favourite Malyuta Skuratov. In 1580 the tsar See also:chose See also:Irene, the See also:sister of Boris, to be the See also:bride of the tsarevich See also:Theodore, on which occasion Boris was promoted to the See also:rank of See also:boyar. On his See also:death-See also:bed Ivan appointed Boris one of the guardians of his son and successor; for Theodore, despite his seven-and-twenty years, was of somewhat weak See also:intellect. The reign of Theodore began with a See also:rebellion in favour of the See also:infant tsarevich See also:Demetrius, the son of Ivan's fifth wife See also:Marie Nagaya, a rebellion resulting in the banishment of Demetrius, with his See also:mother and her relations, to their See also:appanage at See also:Uglich. On the occasion of the tsar's See also:coronation (May 31, 1584), Boris was loaded with honours and riches, yet he held but the second See also:place in the regency during the See also:life-See also:time of his co-See also:guardian Nikita Romanovich, on whose death, in See also:August, he was See also:left without any serious See also:rival. A See also:conspiracy against him of all the other See also:great boyars and the See also:metropolitan Dionysy, which sought to break Boris' See also:power by divorcing the tsar from Godunov's childless sister, only ended in the banishment or tonsuring of the malcontents. Henceforth Godunov was omnipotent. The direction of affairs passed entirely into his hands, and he corresponded with See also:foreign princes as their equal. His policy was generally pacific, but always most prudent. In 1595 he recovered from See also:Sweden the towns lost during the former reign. Five years previously he had defeated a Tatar See also:raid upon See also:Moscow, for which service he received the See also:title of sluga, ' See also:Brough, Mine See also:Surveying, pp. 276-278; Marriott, Trans. Inst. See also:Mining and Metallurgy, vol. xiv. p. 255.an obsolete dignity even higher than that of boyar. Towards See also:Turkey he maintained an See also:independent attitude, supporting an See also:anti-See also:Turkish See also:faction in the See also:Crimea, and furnishing the See also:emperor with subsidies in his See also:war against the See also:sultan. Godunov encouraged See also:English merchants to See also:trade with See also:Russia by exempting them from tolls. He civilized the See also:north-eastern and See also:south-eastern See also:borders of Muscovy by See also:building numerous towns and fortresses to keep the Tatar and Finnic tribes in See also:order. See also:Samara, See also:Saratov, and See also:Tsaritsyn and a whole See also:series of lesser towns derive from him. He also re-colonized See also:Siberia, which had been slipping from the grasp of Muscovy, and formed scores of new settlements, including See also:Tobolsk and other large centres. It was during his See also:government that the See also:Muscovite See also: He was the first tsar to import foreign teachers on a great See also:scale, the first to send See also:young Russians abroad to be educated, the first to allow Lutheran churches to be built in Russia. He also See also:felt the See also:necessity of a Baltic seaboard, and attempted to obtain See also:Livonia by See also:diplomatic means. He cultivated friendly relations with the Scandinavians, in order to intermarry if possible with foreign royal houses, so as to increase the dignity of his own See also:dynasty. That Boris was one of the greatest of the Muscovite tsars there can be no doubt. But his great qualities were overbalanced by an incurable suspiciousness, which made it impossible for him to See also:act cordially with those about him. His fear of possible pretenders induced him to go so far as to forbid the greatest of the boyars to marry. He also encouraged informers and persecuted suspects on their unsupported statements. The See also:Romanov family in especial suffered severely from these delations. Boris died suddenly (See also:April 13, 1605), leaving one son, Theodore II., who succeeded him for a few months and then was foully murdered by the enemies of the Godunovs. See See also:Platon Vasilievich Pavlov, On the See also:Historical Significance of the Reign of Boris Godunov (Rus.) (Moscow, 185o) ; Sergyei Mikhailivich Solovev, See also:History of Russia (Rus.) (2nd ed., vols. vii.-viii., St See also:Petersburg, 1897). (R. N. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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