DEMETRIUS OF MOSCOW, False, called the False Demetrius. - On May 15, 1591, the child prince Demetrius, son of Ivan the Terrible, had ceased to live. The death of the infant, still shrouded in mystery, was attributed by public opinion to Boris Godunov. At the beginning of 1604, in Kraków, a man proclaimed himself the tsarevich D., miraculously escaped from the assassins sent against him by Godunov.

Russia was passing through one of the most turbulent moments of its history: a struggle between the remnants of the old noble families humiliated by Ivan the Terrible and the "remade villeins" raised by the tsar to the highest offices, terrible personal rivalries, Polish pressure on the western frontiers, years of tragic famines accompanied by agrarian revolts and by the formation of bands of brigands. The "resurrected" D., not very cultured, but certainly intelligent and bold, immediately found valid support in the Polish magnate George Mniszek. Perhaps also in view of political considerations, D. secretly converted to the Catholic religion. Still in 1604 he burst with some Polish volunteers into the territory of Muscovy. The most diverse social strata hoped that the "true" tsar would improve their conditions. The unexpected death of B. Godunov (April 13, 1605) removed every obstacle from the invader who, amid the enthusiasm of the population, installed himself "on the throne of his ancestors." The reign of D. lasted only from June 1605 to May 1606. In Moscow, D. declared himself "faithful to the Orthodox religion," emphasizing his will for independence from Poland. Nevertheless, despite this, he soon aroused numerous dis

contents: to the upper classes his manner of behaving did not appear befitting a prince; he furthermore did not observe numerous religious functions and feasts; he was then surrounded by very many many Poles, largely adventurers who had accompanied him on the expedition. His marriage to the daughter of Mniszek, the non-observance on that occasion of the vigil of St. Nicholas, finally numerous other indelicacies aroused the indignation of the common people, skillfully exploited by the boyars who saw themselves completely set aside. The soul of the aristocratic plot was Basil Shuisky; at dawn on May 17, 1606, D. was barbarously slaughtered in his bed, while in the city the massacre of the Poles was unleashed. Thus also collapsed the dream of the nuncio in Poland Alessandro Rangoni, who had hoped, from D.'s benevolent phrases, to bring Russia back into the bosom of the Catholic Church.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: Pastor, XI, pp. 424-27; XII, pp. 489-92; E. Lo Gatto, Storia della Russia, Florence 1946, pp. 180-94 and bibliography cited there. Wolf Giusti

@incollection{ec4_demetrio_zar_di_moscovia_detto, author = {Giusti, Wolf}, title = {Demetrio, zar di moscovia, detto il falso demetrio}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IV}, pages = {1397--1398}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/demetrio-zar-di-moscovia-detto-il-falso-demetrio} }

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Demetrius of Moscow, False, called the False Demetrius

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