Bolotnikov, Ivan Isaevich

In the historical literature there are a number of unfounded allegations concerning the early stage of Bolotnikov’s biography: some claim that he came from impoverished boyar children , from poverty he sold himself to slaves to Prince Andrei Telyatevsky and served in his armed retinue as a battle serf (“ servant ”). Others believe that Bolotnikov was an ataman of the Don Cossacks . However, there is only one historical source giving information about the early (before the uprising) stage of Bolotnikov’s biography: these are memoirs of a German officer in the service of False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II Konrad Bussov .

According to this author, Ivan Bolotnikov was a “simple” serf of Prince Telyatevsky , in his youth he fled from his master to the Cossacks in the steppe, was captured here by the Crimean Tatars and was sold into slavery to the Turks . He spent several years in galleys as a slave-boatman. After an unsuccessful sea battle for the Turks with the Christian ships, he was freed by the German ship and headed for Venice , where he lived in the German trade fair Fondaco dei Tedeschi . From here, having heard stories about amazing events in his homeland (apparently, about the adventures of False Dmitry I ), Bolotnikov moved through Germany and Poland to Russia.

Rumors about the rescue of the Moscow Tsar Dmitry attracted Bolotnikov to Sambir , where the Moscow fugitive Mikhail Molchanov , a former minion of False Dmitry I, was hiding from his wife Yuri Mnishek Yadvigi. This adventurer presented himself to Bolotnikov as prince, who had escaped after the May plot in Moscow ^[1] . The imaginary prince talked with Bolotnikov for a long time, and then supplied him with a letter to Prince Grigory Shakhovsky and sent him to Putivl as his personal emissary and “great governor” ^[2] .

He began hostilities against the government of Vasily Shuisky , being called "voivod Tsarevich Dmitry." He was actively supported by the Cossacks, service people (noblemen) under the leadership of Prokopy Lyapunov , archers led by Istova Pashkov , as well as serfs and serfs; in the Soviet historiography, Bolotnikov’s uprising was viewed as the Peasant War (1606-1607) , along with the uprisings of Stepan Razin and Yemelyan Pugachev .

The first victory was won by Bolotnikov in the battle of Kromy in September 1606, followed by the victory at Yelets . The rebels on the way to Moscow approached Kolomna . In October 1606, the suburb of Kolomna was taken by them by attack, but the Kremlin continued to resist stubbornly. Leaving a small part of his forces in Kolomna, Bolotnikov headed down the Kolomna road to Moscow. In the village of Troitskoye, Kolomna district, he managed to smash government troops. October 22, 1606 Bolotnikov stopped in the village of Kolomenskoye, seven versts from Moscow. Here he built a fortress, and began to send letters to Moscow and various cities, rousing the disadvantaged and the poor against the rich and urging the legitimate sovereign Dmitry Ivanovich to kiss the cross.

The militia of Bolotnikov grew, separate detachments stood out from it, mainly from slaves, who with their raids and robberies kept the capital in a state of siege. Muscovites were ready to submit to Bolotnikov, asking only to show them to Tsarevich Dmitry, and even began negotiations with him. But Dmitry did not appear. Many began to express doubts about the existence of Dmitry and went over to the side of Shuisky. In the very army of Bolotnikov there was a split: one camp was made up of noblemen and boyar children, the other - slaves, Cossacks and other people. The latter in the leaders were Ivan Bolotnikov, in the first - Istoma Pashkov and the Lyapunov brothers. Differences arose between the leaders, as a result, first the Lyapunovs and then the Ishtom Pashkovs went over to the side of Shuisky. Shuisky, meanwhile, thoroughly strengthened Moscow and now received into his army the militias from the towns that had turned to him.

Seeing that the forces of Shuisky were increasing with every passing hour, Bolotnikov decided to force the events. He tried to storm the Simonov Monastery, but was thrown back with heavy losses, after which Vasily Shuisky moved from defense to attack. Bolotnikov was forced to leave the prison. Moscow military men pursued him to the village of Zaboria, where the voevoda, loyal to the False Dmitry, was able to strengthen again. However, this fortification also fell; part of the Cossacks, with the chieftain Bezzubtsev at the head, went over to the side of Skopin-Shuisky, the head of the Moscow army. Bolotnikov fled. In Kaluga, he gathered up to 10,000 fugitives and prepared for defense. In May 1607 the rebels managed to defeat the tsarist troops during the defense of Kaluga . After this, Bolotnikov started the 2nd campaign against Moscow. Having walked around Kashira, the rebels, numbering up to 38 thousand, met with government troops on the Vyma river on June 5, 1607 , where they were defeated by voivode I. M. Vorotinsky . After the Battle of Vosem, the army led by Bolotnikov was driven back to Tula. During June - October 1607 Bolotnikov led the defense of Tula , besieged by the troops of Vasily Shuisky . Shuisky ordered a dam to be built on the River Upea , which flows near the Kremlin , which flooded some of the Kremlin’s premises, including those in which food supplies were located. On October 10, 1607, the defenders surrendered.

After the victory of the troops of Shuisky in October 1607, Bolotnikov was exiled to Kargopol , blinded and drowned in the hole.

The main, though contradictory, information about the life of Bolotnikov is contained in the notes of foreign authors: the Dutch merchant Isaac Massa [1] , the German mercenary Konrad Bussov [2] , who served under Bolotnikov in his army near Moscow, the Swedish diplomat Peter Peter de Erlesund [3 ] and the German merchant from Augsburg, Hans Georg Paerle [4]

• In Lipetsk there is Bolotnikov lane
• In Moscow there is Bolotnikovskaya street

Bolotnikova street

• In Tula there is a street to them. Bolotnikov monument is erected in Bolotnikova, Bolotnikova (1.5 km from the Kremlin)
• In Kaluga, there is a street to them. Bolotnikov, a monument in honor of the uprising led by Bolotnikov
• In Krasnodar there is a street to them. Bolotnikova and Bolotnikova lane
• In Magnitogorsk there is a street to them. Bolotnikova
• In Tyumen there is Bolotnikova street
• In Kolomna in the Kolomna Kremlin there is Bolotnikova street
• In Kazan there is Bolotnikova street
• In Gorlovka there is Bolotnikova street
• In Nizhny Novgorod there is Bolotnikov street
• Kargopol, Arkhangelsk region, there is a street and a stone with an inscription on the place where it was drowned
• Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod Region
• In Serpukhov there is Bolotnikov street
• In Minsk ( Belarus ) there is a street and Bolotnikova lane
• In Putivl there is Bolotnikov lane

In Vladimir - South-West - Leninsky district. Bolotnikova Street is located from the Far Passage through ul. Pugachev to the street. Vasilisina. The street is named after I. I. Bolotnikov by the decision of the Executive Committee of the City Council N 540 of June 23, 1952.

In Tomsk there is Bolotnikova street.

• Rudakov V.E. Bolotnikov, Ivan Isaevich // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Skrinnikov R. G. Smoot in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century Ivan Bolotnikov / Ed. ed. Dr. East Sciences A. G. Mankov . - L .: Science , 1988. - 256 p. - ( Pages of the history of our Motherland ). - 50 000 copies - ISBN 5-02-027218-3 .
• Mayorov M.V. Bolotnikov's Personality in the Russian Pre-Revolutionary Literature // Literary Transit. - Tula: Grif and Co. , 2008. - Vol. 2: Tula province passing . - p . 233-240 . - ISBN 978-5-8125-1076-3 .
• Razumovsky F.V. On the banks of the Oka / Reviewer: Dr. East. Sciences L.V. Ivanova . - M .: Art , 1988. - 216 p. - ( Roads to the beautiful ). - 100 000 copies

Fiction

• Storm G.P. The Tale of Bolotnikov. 1930
• Zamyslov V. A. Bitter bread. 1973
• Zamyslov V. A. Ivan Bolotnikov. 1984
• Romanov V.I. The path to liberty. - Tula: Prioksky Prince. publishing house, 1988
• Anoshin I. P. From Putivl to Kargopol. (On the national leader I. I. Bolotnikov). Historical novel - Tula: Grief and Co., 2012 - 486s. ISBN 978-5-8125-1751-9
• Saveliev A. S. The Peasant Son: A Historical Tale. - Tula: Prioksky Prince. publishing house, 1972. - 368 p. - 100 000 copies