Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhailovich biography briefly. The meaning of Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky in a brief biographical encyclopedia

Prince Pozharsky, the great Russian statesman and military leader, at the age of twenty (1598) became a solicitor and member Zemsky Sobor. Four years later he was already a steward, and at the Zemsky Council of 1613 he sat as a boyar

He went down in Russian history as a participant in the first militia and uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian invaders in Moscow in 1611, in Time of Troubles. And from the end of October 1611, Dmitry Pozharsky was one of the leaders of the second militia. He, together with the Nizhny Novgorod merchant Minin, developed and implemented in 1612 a plan for the liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders. With the liberation of Moscow, from the end of 1612 to 1613, he, together with Prince D.T. Trubetskoy headed the provisional government. After the election of Mikhail Romanov to the Russian throne, Pozharsky continued his political career, leading the orders: the Galician unit - in 1617, the Yamsky unit - in 1619-1624, the Robbers - in 1624-1628, the order affairs - in 1631-1632. , Moscow court order - in 1634-1638 and in 1639-1640. In 1628-1630 Dmitry Pozharsky served as a governor in Novgorod.

The brightest moments of Dmitry Pozharsky’s life are associated with the defense of Russia during the Time of Troubles at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. The failure of the first zemstvo militia upset, but did not discourage the zemstvo people. In provincial cities, a movement soon began again to organize a new militia and a campaign against Moscow. This time the starting point and center of the movement was Nizhny Novgorod led by its famous zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin. The city council, made up of representatives from all segments of the population, led the collection of funds and the call for military men. The head of the zemstvo militia was invited to be the “steward and governor” Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, a capable military leader and a man with an unblemished reputation; The economic and financial part was taken over by the “elected person of the whole earth” Kuzma Minin.

Having learned about the movement of the Nizhny Novgorod militia, Mikhail Saltykov and his minions demanded from Patriarch Hermogenes that he write a letter prohibiting Nizhny Novgorod residents from going to Moscow. More than half of what was then Russia united around the militia; Local councils from representatives of all segments of the population worked in the cities, and governors were appointed from Yaroslavl to the cities. In Yaroslavl itself, a Zemsky Sobor, or council of the whole earth, was formed, from representatives from the localities and from service people who made up the militia; this council was the temporary supreme power in the country.

Remembering the fate of Lyapunov and his militia, Pozharsky was in no hurry to act until he had gathered enough strength. At the end of July, the militia moved from Yaroslavl to Moscow. Hearing about his movement, Ataman Zarutsky, taking with him several thousand “thieves’” Cossacks, left from near Moscow to Kaluga, and Trubetskoy remained with the majority of the Cossack army, awaiting the arrival of Pozharsky. In August, Pozharsky’s militia approached Moscow, where a few days later they repulsed the army of the Polish hetman Chodkiewicz, who was rushing to the aid of the Polish garrison.

On October 22, the Cossacks launched an attack and took Kitay-Gorod. Soon the Poles sitting in the Kremlin surrendered, exhausted by hunger, and both militias solemnly entered liberated Moscow with the ringing of bells and the rejoicing of the people.

The provisional government of Trubetskoy and Pozharsky convened to Moscow elected people from all cities and from every rank “for the zemstvo council and for state election.” The Zemsky Sobor, which met in January and February 1613, was the most complete of the Moscow Zemsky Sobors in composition: all segments of the population were represented (with the exception of serfs and landowner peasants). Relatively easily they agreed that “the Lithuanian and Swedish kings and their children and some other foreign-language states of the non-Christian faith of the Greek law on Vladimir and Moscow State not to elect, and not to want Marinka and her son for the state." They decided to elect one of their own, but then disagreements, disputes, intrigues and unrest began, because among the "noble" Moscow boyars, who were previously allies, either the Poles, or the Tushino thief , there was no worthy and popular candidate.After long and fruitless debate, on February 7, 1613, the elected people agreed on the candidacy of 16-year-old Michael Romano

Va, the son of Metropolitan Philaret, who languished in Polish captivity; but since they did not know how the whole Earth would react to this candidacy, it was decided to arrange something like a plebiscite - “they secretly sent faithful and God-fearing people in all sorts of people with their thoughts about the state election to find out who they want as sovereign to the Moscow state in all cities. And in all cities and districts, all people have the same thought: why should Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov be the Sovereign Tsar in the Moscow State..." Upon the return of the messengers, the Zemsky Sobor on February 21, 1613 unanimously elected and solemnly proclaimed Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov tsar. The election letter said that he was desired for the kingdom by “all Orthodox Christians of the entire Moscow state.” At the same time, his family ties with the former royal dynasty of Rurikovich: the new tsar is the son of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich’s cousin (son of Ivan the Terrible), Fyodor Nikitich Romanov-Yuryev, and the nephew of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich.

on southern soil

The Yuzhsky region is a protected forest area in the southeast of the modern Ivanovo region. Since the 14th century, it was part of the Starodub principality, the center of which was the city Starodub-on-Klyazma (now the village of Klyazminsky Gorodok, located 40 km east of Suzdal). The Starodub inheritance was allocated by Vsevolod the Big Nest (1197-c.1247) for his youngest son Ivan. In the family of the Starodub princes there is the blessed Prince Theodore (d. 1330), glorified as a locally revered saint of the Vladimir region. His son Andrei, along with other Russian princes, took part in the Battle of Kulikovo, where he commanded the right wing of the Russian troops.

The Pozharsky princes are direct descendants of the Starodub princes, descending from Vasily Andreevich (died in the 14th century), to whom Pozhar, located to the south and southwest of Starodub-Ryapolovsky, near the village, was allocated as an inheritance on the Starodub lands. Osipovo. The princes received their surname from the name of the inheritance. Somewhere between 1437 and 1445. Prince Danilo Vasilyevich Pozharsky exchanged the family nest with a relative of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Ryapolovsky in the village. Mugreevo with villages. During the oprichnina, the Pozharsky princes lost part of their Suzdal estates, but Fyodor Ivanovich, the grandfather of Prince Dmitry, managed to return some of them to his possession, passing them on to his son Mikhail, nicknamed “Deaf”. Almost nothing is known about the father of Prince D. Pozharsky Mikhail, except that he died in 1588, when the future national hero was 10 years old.

In the 1590s, his mother, Evfrosinya Fedorovna (nee Beklemisheva, d. 1632), served at the court of Tsarina Maria Grigorievna Godunova and Princess Ksenia Fedorovna as a riding noblewoman, taking the court name “Maria”.

Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was born on November 1, 1578, on the day of memory of St. unmercenary Cosmas and Damian, and was baptized in honor of one of these saints, Cosmas. In this document from 1588 we find his first autograph with the name Dmitry, the prince’s court name. According to it, the boy invests the village of Three Dvorishcha (near the modern village of Mugreevo-Dmitrievskoye) in the Suzdal Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery for the memorial of his father, according to his will.

Prince Dmitry's signature is under the Council's resolution on the election of Tsar Boris Godunov to the kingdom. Pozharsky served at his court in 1598-1605. first as a “solicitor with a dress”, and from 1604 as a steward. In the same rank, he continued to serve under False Dmitry I (1605-1606) and Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610). Having sworn allegiance to Tsar Vasily Shuisky in 1607, he remained faithful to the oath until the end of his days. In 1608, Pozharsky first showed his talent as a commander: while guarding the Kolomna grain tract, he and his detachment defeated the thieving Cossacks near the village. Vysotsky near Kolomna. When the capital was besieged by the troops of False Dmitry II in 1609, Dmitry Mikhailovich was called to defend Moscow and participated in the defense of the city.

For the “Moscow siege”, Prince Dmitry was granted estates in the Suzdal district: the village of Nizhny Landeh with adjacent villages and repairs and part of the Kholui settlement. From Tsar Vasily’s letter of complaint we learn, that Dmitry Mikhailovich “stood against the enemies firmly and courageously”, the Tsar and the Moscow state “showed much service and valor... He did not encroach on the thieves’ troubles and charms”, stood “firmly and unshakably in the firmness of his mind.”

In 1610, Prince Dmitry was appointed governor of Zaraysk, one of the key points of defense of the southern borders of the Moscow state in the Ryazan region. He pacified his rebellious townspeople, not allowing False Dmitry II to swear allegiance, and returned the rebel Kolomna to obedience to the king. Through the prayerful intercession of St. Nicholas (his image was especially revered in Zaraysk), the prince won many brilliant victories at this time. When in the spring of 1610, after the death of M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, P.P. Lyapunov invited him to enter into an alliance with the Tushinsky thief, Pozharsky indignantly rejected the offer and reported to the tsar about the intentions of the Ryazan nobleman.

After the removal of Tsar Vasily from the throne, difficult times came for Moscow; through the betrayal of the Seven Boyars, the capital was given over to the power of the Polish garrison. In March 1611, when a spontaneous uprising of the Moscow people began, Prince Pozharsky found himself in the thick of things. The mercenary soldiers of the garrison burned the city, advancing on the defenders Rus' followed the line of fire, and the only center of resistance soon turned out to be Sretenka with a wooden fort, which, at the command of Pozharsky, was erected near the Church of the Entry on Lubyanka. The prince was seriously wounded and was taken first to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and then to his estate Mugreevo. The peasant historian O.P. Golikov (a descendant of the priest Savva, who personally knew Pozharsky), wrote in the history of the village. Nizhny Landeh, that Pozharsky was treated for wounds “not just anywhere, but in the Svyatozersky Monastery.” Here, in the village. Mugreevo, and they came in October 1611, envoys from Nizhny Novgorod invited the prince to lead the militia collected by his namesake Kuzma Minin.

In February 1612, inspired by the appeal of the just deceased Patriarch Hermogenes, the militia under the command of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich, armed with folk remedies, with the Kazan icon Holy Mother of God, left Nizhny Novgorod, heading through the Volga cities of Kineshma, Kostroma and Yaroslavl to Moscow. A long stop was made in Yaroslavl, during which Pozharsky and Minin created the Council of the Whole Earth, sent letters on its behalf and gathered new forces. It should be noted that the coins minted by them were issued with a portrait of the last sovereign from the Rurik dynasty, Fyodor Ioannovich (1584-1598). In July 1612, with a detachment of well-equipped troops, numbering about 7 thousand people, Pozharsky set out on a fateful campaign against Moscow, visiting the Trinity-Sergius Monastery along the way. From there, the army, blessed by the monks, approached the capital almost simultaneously with the superior army of Crown Hetman Khodkevich (10 thousand selected soldiers) and entered into battle with him on August 23-24. The scales were outweighed by the feat of K. Minin, who at night with a detachment of brave men, with the consent of his military commander, attacked a resting enemy. Khodkiewicz was driven back, and the starving Polish garrison in the Kremlin was doomed.

After the siege on October 22, the militia of Pozharsky and Minin took China Town by storm, and the Polish garrison capitulated on the condition that the lives of those who surrendered be saved. The Cossacks of D.T. Trubetskoy, when they surrendered from the Kremlin, killed almost everyone; Prince Pozharsky kept his word, and everyone who trusted in his hands remained alive. Since then, October 22 (November 4, New Art.) has become a church holiday of the Kazan Icon, and now a state holiday.

On the initiative of the prince, a Zemsky Sobor was convened with a unique representation of 10 people from all cities and all classes, including peasants. Of the 4 candidates nominated for the throne, the council elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, who became the founder of a new dynasty of Russian tsars. On July 1, 1613, the crowning of Mikhail Romanov took place, Moscow Rus' again gained unity and continuity. The night before the ceremony, Prince Pozharsky was at the “care” of the regalia: Monomakh’s hat and barm. During the ceremony of the procession to the Assumption Cathedral, Dmitry Mikhailovich carried the royal scepter, and during the solemn liturgy he held the “apple” (as the royal power was called in the old days).

The symbolism turned out to be prophetic: after all, during the entire subsequent service, it was Prince Pozharsky who was sent by the young tsar to all the “hot spots”, protecting the power and authority of the new autocrat. In the first years after the Time of Troubles (until 1628), in a country flooded with armed detachments, the prince headed the key departments: the Yamsk and Robber orders. During this time, he managed to build many new routes, ensure their safety, and even introduced new laws: liability for manslaughter and for the purchase and sale of stolen property.

Having received the highest rank of Duma boyar and many new estates, the aging prince in the fall of 1641 drew up a spiritual letter in which, among other covenants, he divided family shrines for the children. It is known that from his marriage to Praskovya Varfolomeevna (d. 1635), he had 6 children: Ksenia (married Kurakina, d. 1625), Peter (d. 1649), Fyodor (d. 1633), Anastasia (Pronskaya), Ivan ( died 02/15/1668), Elena (Lykova). The second wife of D.M. Pozharsky was Fedora Andreevna Golitsyna; they had no children.

The Savior of the Fatherland went to the Lord on St. Thomas' Week on April 20, 1642 and was buried in the family tomb in the Suzdal Spaso-Evfimev Monastery, where during his lifetime and in his will he transferred many funds and family heirlooms.

Prince Ivan Dmitrievich, blessed by the ancestral icon of St. Nicholas, after the death of his brother Peter in 1649, founded the Nikolo-Borkovskaya hermitage near the village. Kholui, which has survived to this day on southern soil. The Synodik of the Svyatoezersk Monastery has survived to this day, to which Ivan made many contributions. The first among the Pozharsky family to be remembered is “Prince Kozma”. The image of the noble warrior, liberator of the Fatherland, Prince Pozharsky, is an example of the embodiment of the covenant of Christ: “There is no greater love than if someone lays down his life for his friends.” We stand by the feat and deeds of the “Bolyar Prince Kozma” today.

Today God Himself draws our attention to the case of Pozharsky: quite recently, on November 19, 1996, the appearance of the Mother of God took place on southern soil and the icon of the Burning Bush was revealed. Like a call to rescue your beloved Fatherland from the flames of fire.

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky (1578-1642) was a representative of an old but seedy princely family, descended from the seventh son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, Ivan Starodubsky.

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky (1578-1642) was a representative of an old but seedy princely family, descended from the seventh son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, Ivan Starodubsky. His ancestors did not escape repression in the middle of the 16th century: his grandfather, Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Nemoy Pozharsky, was deprived of his estates and exiled to Sviyazhsk. He returned to his native place at the age of Livonian War, in which he took part not even in the rank of voivode, but as the head - commander of a hundred. The Pozharsky family mansion was located 12 versts from the village of Kovrovo ( modern city Kovrov), in the village of Sergovo. It was here, on November 1, 1578, that baby Dmitry was born into the family of Mikhail Fedorovich Glukhoy Pozharsky and Maria (Evfrosinya) Fedorovna Beklemisheva. However, his childhood and youth years were spent in Moscow, in the Pozharsky city estate located on Sretenka.

Having lost his father at the age of ten, Dmitry Pozharsky found himself dispossessed of part of his estate, but began to serve only after reaching the age of 15. Since 1593, Dmitry regularly took part in noble reviews and after one of them he was awarded the lowest court rank - solicitor with a dress. Solicitor Pozharsky was a participant in the Zemsky Sobor of 1598, which took place after the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, and it was in this capacity that he signed the conciliar decision on the election of Boris Godunov as the new Tsar. Soon after this, Pozharsky was exiled to the southern border, constantly ravaged by the Crimean Tatars, and stayed there for five years. All these years, the prince commanded a detachment of archers, which carried out patrol duty in the most dangerous places. His zealous attitude to service did not go unnoticed; Pozharsky became the royal steward, receiving a small village near Moscow on his estate.

He took part in several battles with the troops of False Dmitry I, including the famous battle near the village of Dobrynichi, where the impostor suffered a heavy defeat. However, after the death of Boris Godunov, the “named Demetrius” managed to take possession of Moscow in 1605. With generous gifts and awards, he tried to win over the Moscow boyars and nobles, primarily those whom he could fear. Pozharsky was granted the modest but noticeable rank of butler.

In the fall of 1608, he was sent with a detachment of soldiers to help the Kolomna governor Ivan Pushkin, who was having difficulty repelling attacks from supporters of False Dmitry II. Near the village of Vysotsky, 30 versts from Kolomna, the prince met the “Tushins” and defeated them. A year later, Pozharsky won another victory, defeating the bandit detachment of the Cossack ataman Salkov. The “fortress” of his service did not go unnoticed - he was appointed governor of the very strategically important city of Zaraysk. The choice turned out to be correct, Pozharsky did not “shaken”, even after learning about the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky in Moscow, did not recognize the Seven Boyars and repelled a number of rebel attempts to seize the city. However, Dmitry Mikhailovich did not intend to sit behind the strong stone walls of the Zaraisk fortress. His troops drove the Tushins out of Kolomna. Commanding detachments of Moscow servicemen, he subsequently “went to different places against thieves.” In 1611, Pozharsky participated in the creation of the First Zemstvo Militia. It was his detachment that came to the aid of Prokopiy Lyapunov when he was besieged in Pronsk by the army of Grigory Sumbulov, who served the Poles. Lyapunov’s small detachment (only 200 people) would have inevitably been destroyed, but the news of the approach of Pozharsky’s army forced Sumbulov to lift the siege and leave from near Pronsk to Zaraysk, which was left almost unguarded. But Dmitry Mikhailovich managed to return to his fortress and defeated Sumbulov in a fierce battle near the walls of the Zaraisk Kremlin. After this, Pozharsky gathered all the Kolomna and Zaraisk servicemen under his hand into a militia and led it to Ryazan to Lyapunov.

In the early spring of 1611, the prince, who had earned Lyapunov’s trust, was sent to Moscow to lead the uprising that was being prepared there. However, the revolt against the Poles began earlier than scheduled on March 19, 1611. The only detachment of the zemstvo army that participated in it were Pozharsky’s people. The interventionists were unable to suppress the uprising by force of arms and set the city on fire. Retreating in front of a wall of fire, Russian soldiers began to leave Moscow. Covering their retreat, Pozharsky’s soldiers remained in the capital, taking the battle in the Sretenka area. Several times the prince managed to put the enemy infantry to flight. On March 20, he was still holding out in the prison built near the Vvedenskaya Church on Lubyanka. Then Colonel Gosevsky threw all his available forces against the last stronghold of the rebels. In the last battle with the enemy, Dmitry Mikhailovich was wounded three times. Having fallen to the ground, he still managed to say: “It would be better for me to die than to see all this.” The warriors did not abandon their commander to death and, covering him with their bodies, took him out of the battle. Like the other wounded, the governor was taken to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Having recovered a little, he left for his Suzdal estate, the village of Mugreevo. There, still suffering from poorly healing wounds, Pozharsky learned about the death of Lyapunov, and there in the fall of 1611 the Nizhny Novgorod ambassadors found him. On the advice of their zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, they arrived to ask the prince to lead the militia that was then gathering in Nizhny Novgorod.

Prince Pozharsky, who was elected military leader of the militia, also headed the “Council of the Whole Russian Land” - a temporary body of supreme power throughout the territory liberated from the invaders. Zemsky Voivode Pozharsky played exceptionally important role in the liberation of Moscow, the restoration of the destroyed state organization.

After the liberation of Moscow, the prince acquired enormous authority, therefore, at the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, which elected a new tsar to the throne, he led meetings, asking the opinions of the participants. The new Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich highly appreciated the merits of Pozharsky and on July 11, 1613, after the crowning in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, he granted Dmitry Mikhailovich the rank of boyar.

Until his death, Prince Pozharsky served faithfully to his Fatherland: he commanded the troops that fought against the detachments of Colonel Lisovsky who were ravaging the Russian lands, in 1615 he defeated him near Orel and drove him to Karachev. The valiant warrior sought new meetings with the enemy, but a serious illness confined him to bed for a long time. The governor was back in action in the terrible year of 1617, when the Polish army under the command of Prince Vladislav and Hetman Khodkiewicz marched towards Moscow with the aim of seizing the Moscow throne by force. Pozharsky led the fortification of Mozhaisk and Kaluga, which the enemy could not capture and was forced to winter in Vyazma. For his faithful service, the prince received as a reward a silver gilded cup weighing three hryvnias, 36 gold pieces, a fur coat - Turkish satin on sables, silver-gilded buttons.

The following year, 1618, the Poles received reinforcements and continued their march to Moscow. Pozharsky, according to a contemporary, “fought in battles and attacks, not sparing his head.” During the decisive assault on October 1, 1618, the prince took charge of the battle in the very dangerous place, at the Arbat Gate of the White City, and repelled a night attack by the enemy, who blew up the gates of the Zemlyanoy City. However, Pozharsky’s soldiers acted so successfully that they forced Hetman Sagaidachny, who attacked Moscow in this place, to withdraw the remnants of his Cossacks from the Moscow streets littered with their bodies.

In subsequent years, the prince was also in the public eye - he led the Yamsky, Robbery, Local and Judicial orders, and was a governor in Novgorod the Great. During the unsuccessful Smolensk War of 1632-1634, Pozharsky, together with Prince D. Cherkassky, formed a cover army that gathered in Mozhaisk, but this army was disbanded without taking part in military operations.

During the years of the Azov “siege” of the Don Cossacks of 1637-1638, he strengthened Moscow in case of a possible war with Turkey, supervising the work on the construction of an earthen rampart erected around the capital.

In 1637 on own funds Dmitry Mikhailovich built the Kazan Cathedral near the shopping arcades on Red Square and moved it there from his home church miraculous icon Mother of God, sent to him from Kazan and accompanying him during the liberation of Moscow.

Thanks to the generosity of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, he became one of the richest landowners in Russia. Pozharsky's last service was his participation in the spring of 1640 in negotiations with Polish ambassadors who arrived in Moscow. On April 20, 1642, Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky died, having adopted the schema and taken the name Kozma before his death. According to legend, Mikhail Fedorovich, honoring his merits, “saw off the coffin of this unforgettable boyar and honored him with his tears.” Pozharsky's remains were buried in the family tomb in the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery in Suzdal.

Prince, boyar (1613), Russian military leader and statesman, one of the leaders of the Second Militia (1612). Russian national hero.

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was born on November 1, 1578 in the family of Prince Mikhail Fedorovich Pozharsky (d. 1587), a descendant of the appanage princes of Starodubsky.

The place of birth of D. M. Pozharsky is unknown. There is a version that the prince could have been born in the village of Bersenev, Klinsky district (it was part of what was sold to his mother Maria Fedorovna Beklemisheva), since the Suzdal lands of the Pozharsky princes were confiscated by the tsar at that time in favor of the oprichnina.

In 1593, D. M. Pozharsky entered the court service. In 1598, he had the court rank of “solicitor with a dress.” At the beginning of his reign, the prince was repeatedly disgraced, but in 1602 the disgrace was lifted from him, and he was promoted to steward.

D. M. Pozharsky continued his court service under and. In 1608-1610 he took part in the fight against supporters and was a regimental commander. In 1609, for his zealous service, the tsar granted him the former estate of his ancestors - a village with 20 villages, repairs and wastelands in the Suzdal district. In February 1610, he appointed D. M. Pozharsky as governor of the city of Ryazan district.

In 1610, D. M. Pozharsky did not recognize the decision of the Moscow boyars to call the son of the Polish king, the prince, to the Russian throne. The prince took part in the First Militia (1611), joining the detachment of the governor Prokopiy Lyapunov. During the uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian invaders on March 19-20, 1611, he took part in street battles, during which he was wounded.

From the end of October 1611, D. M. Pozharsky, together with the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder, participated in the formation of the Second Militia and became one of its leaders. In August-October 1612, he took part in battles with the troops of the Lithuanian hetman J. K. Khodkevich with the Polish garrison besieged in the Moscow Kremlin, which ended with liberation from the interventionists on October 22 (November 4), 1612.

At the end of 1612 - beginning of 1613, D. M. Pozharsky was one of the leaders of the Zemsky Sobor, at which he played an outstanding role in the election to the kingdom. At his wedding on July 11, 1613, the tsar granted D. M. Pozharsky the rank of boyar, confirmed his previous land dachas and awarded him new lands in the Puretsk volost of the Nizhny Novgorod district.

In 1615-1616, D. M. Pozharsky led military operations against the Polish detachments of A. I. Lisovsky in the area and. In 1618, he took part in repelling the campaign against the Polish troops of the prince and the Ukrainian Cossacks of Hetman P.K. Sagaidachny. From August 1628 to September 1630, D. M. Pozharsky was a governor with the title of governor of Suzdal. During the Smolensk War of 1633-1634, D. M. Pozharsky was the 2nd governor of the Russian reserve group of troops in.

In 1616-1618 and in 1632-1633, on behalf of the Tsar, D. M. Pozharsky headed the collection of “pyatina” from trading people to replenish the treasury in war time. The prince led the orders: the Galician chain (1617), Yamsky (1619-1628), Robbery (1621-1628), Prikazny affairs (1631-1632), Moscow court (1634-1638, 1639-1640).

D. M. Pozharsky also carried out diplomatic assignments. In 1617, in the rank of governor of Kolomna, he negotiated with the English ambassador J. Merik. In 1615-1617 he participated in negotiations on the conclusion of the Stolbovo Peace Treaty with Sweden. In 1635, the prince was a participant in the Russian-Polish negotiations that preceded the signing of the Polyanovsky Peace. In the spring of 1640, he, as governor of Kolomna, twice took part in negotiations with Polish ambassadors. These negotiations are the last services of D. M. Pozharsky, recorded in the Discharge Book.

In the old days, people like Dmitry Mikhailovich were called “adamantes” - diamonds. Not for value, but for transparency and firmness. It is the image of the stone that should be forever associated with the name of the prince. Pozharsky - adamant. They can cut the hardest materials, and no cracks will appear on the cutter itself. Or maybe rhinestone. He allows everyone to see what lies inside him, for his soul does not contain evil. He does not know tricks and cunning. He is full of strength and durability. Transparent indestructible stone.

From a family of battalion commanders

Dmitry Mikhailovich was born in 1577 or 1578, and almost nothing is known about his childhood and youth. He belonged to a family that was not particularly noble and wealthy, but not seedy either. The Pozharskys were Rurikovichs and came from the ancient family of Starodub princes. Moreover, they were the senior branch of the Starodub princely house; True, Dmitry Mikhailovich himself came from one of the younger generations. He bore the family nickname “Mute”, having inherited it from his grandfather, Fyodor Ivanovich. Prince Dmitry will pass this nickname on to his sons, Peter and Ivan. Apparently, in this branch of the extensive family, silent people were valued...

In the 16th century, the Pozharsky family fell into decline and lost its ancient estates. In those days the indicator high position of any aristocratic family were appointments of its representatives as governors in regiments and fortresses, governors in cities, holding the best court positions, as well as in the Boyar Duma. In order to get into the Duma, it was necessary to receive from the sovereign the rank of Duma nobleman, okolnichy or boyar. Throughout the 16th century, dozens of aristocratic families achieved “Duma” ranks, and hundreds achieved voivodeship ranks. But the Pozharskys had none of this. They were appointed to services for more than low level- not a governor, but “heads” (middle officer rank), not governors, but mayors (also of a lower rank). If we translate the service achievements of Dmitry Mikhailovich’s relatives into modern terms, it turns out that his family gave Russia military leaders at the battalion commander level. Many of them are in different time died for the Fatherland. They did not become boyars, nor okolnichy, nor even Duma nobles, despite their nobility. And when fate raised one of them to a slightly higher level - for example, to viceroyalty, then he was proud of such service, although it could take place somewhere on the far outskirts of the state.
Like all nobles, or, in the words of that time, “service people in the fatherland,” Dmitry Mikhailovich from his youth until his death was obliged to serve the great Sovereign of Moscow. He began his service with small ranks.

In the fire of turmoil

During the Time of Troubles, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich entered with the rank of solicitor or, possibly, steward, received under Boris Godunov, which was inferior in importance to the boyar and okolnichy. Roughly translated into modern language military ranks, the steward was a cross between a colonel and a major general. His career was good at that time, better than that of most of his ancestors, but without much brilliance. He was neither in the Boyar Duma, nor in the governorship, and did not receive governorship.

But in troubled years he became one of the most prominent figures of the Moscow state. Under Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610), Pozharsky finally achieved a voivodeship position. According to modern standards, he became a general. He actively led fighting, defending the capital from Polish-Lithuanian gangs and Russian rebels. Near Kolomna (1608), Dmitry Mikhailovich carried out a swift attack on the camp of the enemy army at night. The enemy fled, abandoning the army treasury in panic. Dmitry Mikhailovich showed himself to be an experienced and determined military leader; he earned a promotion through honest military labor.

It was then, at the height of the Troubles, that Pozharsky’s military talent manifested itself in the most obvious way. Starting with Kolomna’s success, let’s trace the main facts in his fighting career.

A year later, the prince defeated fierce battle Salkov's rebel detachment. The remarkable pre-revolutionary historian Ivan Yegorovich Zabelin reports that Pozharsky was awarded new lands for his services to the throne, and the letter of grant, among other things, said: “... against the enemies he stood strong and courageously and showed much service and valor, hunger and poverty in everything... He endured a lot of time, but did not encroach on any of the thieves’ charms and troubles, he stood in the firmness of his mind firmly and unshakably, without any vacillation...”

In 1610, while in the voivodeship in Zaraysk, Dmitry Mikhailovich repelled a violent crowd of traitors who wanted to surrender the city to False Dmitry II. Locked in the powerful stone kremlin and not allowing the elements of treason to enter, Pozharsky survived, and then forced the rebels to submit.
The Russian service aristocracy, having decided to rule the country on its own, gave Tsar Vasily Shuisky to the Poles, and then invited the interventionists themselves to Moscow. It was a terrible, unbearable humiliation for Russia. Ukrainian Cossacks were called to the southern cities to help the new government. Pozharsky and the noble Ryazan resident Prokopiy Lyapunov rose up against them. Together they cleared the Ryazan region of Cossacks and rushed to the capital.
Pozharsky got there first.

In March 1611, an uprising broke out in Moscow: Muscovites could not tolerate violence, robbery and insults from the Polish garrison. Fight for great city was distinguished by its extraordinary ferocity: the Poles stormed the Russian barricades, and their defenders shot crowds of interventionists with rifles and cannons. Suffering huge losses, the Poles decided to set Moscow on fire rather than lose it. A terrible fire destroyed most Russian capital. The last stronghold of resistance was a fort (wooden fortification), built by order of Pozharsky near the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary on Sretenka. The Poles could neither take the fort nor start a fire around it: Pozharsky’s fighters shot accurately and counterattacked. But in the end, their commander fell barely alive “from great wounds,” and then the whole uprising collapsed.

Soon, regiments of the First Zemstvo Militia, gathered from different cities of the Moscow State, arrived in Moscow. For more than a year they stood on the ruins of the capital, fighting the invaders. Dmitry Mikhailovich could not participate in this fight: severe wounds did not allow him.

Minin and Pozharsky.M. I. Scotti.1850

Liberator

The autumn of 1611 was the most terrible time in Russian history. The state disappeared, disappeared. He was represented by a gang of traitors who settled in the Kremlin and tried to rule the country with the help of foreign soldiers. The rebellious Cossacks burned cities and villages, robbed and killed. The Swedes captured the entire Russian North through Novgorod the Great. The troops of the Polish king stood near Smolensk and sent help to the Moscow garrison. With the last of their strength, the small zemstvo army stood on the ashes of the capital, and even that commanders managed to quarrel.

One more step in this direction - and Russia would have disappeared, fallen into the abyss, and would never have been reborn. But it happened differently.
There were still rich cities that were not occupied by the Poles and did not want to submit to the new government. In particular, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. The local townspeople, merchants and artisans, had enough faith in God's help, enough will and energy to make a new attempt to liberate the country. The second zemstvo militia began to be assembled by Nizhny Novgorod residents, led by the merchant Kuzma Minin. In search of reinforcements, the Zemstvo men marched from Nizhny through Balakhna, Yuryevets, Kineshma and Kostroma to Yaroslavl. In Yaroslavl, the militia stood for four months, accumulating cash and bringing up troops. If a small detachment left Nizhny, then a real army was formed in Yaroslavl. A “provisional government” also arose there - the Council of the Land, and with it orders (medieval ministries), the Mint... In fact, Yaroslavl became the Russian capital for a while.

The documents of the Land Council began with the words: “By decree of the Moscow State, the boyars and governor, and the steward and governor of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky and his comrades...” Russia did not have a sovereign at that time, but one of his functions, namely the role of commander-in-chief, was taken over by the prince Pozharsky. He was persuaded to lead the new militia by persistent Nizhny Novgorod residents and Smolensk nobles, who at first were the core of the zemstvo army. Pozharsky had not yet recovered from his wounds and feared new betrayals, however, after long negotiations, he took command of the militia. The prince brought them to Yaroslavl, creating a disciplined fighting force from a motley crowd. He was preparing to strike the decisive blow.

Pozharsky was almost forcibly made the head of the last handful of fighters for Russia. He was famous as a skillful commander, but moreover, as a direct and honest person, not prone to treason and money-grubbing. People were ready to follow such a leader. They trusted him when there was no one to trust. Other commanders, albeit more noble ones, involuntarily yielded to Dmitry Mikhailovich...

In July 1612, the vanguard of the Second Zemsky Militia arrived in Moscow. By August 20, the main forces arrived. From the west, Hetman Khodkevich’s powerful corps was moving quickly towards the city. The collision with him was supposed to decide the fate of the Russian capital.

What did Prince Pozharsky see when he was back in Moscow? Black fires, smoky churches, rare stone chambers stained with ash. Here and there, busy Muscovites built new “mansions.” The soldiers of the First Zemstvo Militia dug themselves dugouts, occupied the surviving houses, and lived hungry. And only the walls of the White City, Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin, although crippled by artillery fire, rose majestically above the chaos of ruins...

Pozharsky had at his disposal very few well-armed, truly combat-ready noble cavalry and serving Tatar cavalry. The bulk of the army were foot soldiers, collected from the pine forest. As an experienced commander, the prince knew that the Russian infantry of that time “in the field” rarely showed resistance. But on defense, few managed to break it. Give me ten Russian archers, not to mention stone wall, and at least a few carts with baggage, and they will hold off the enemy hundred. At the same time, deprived of cover, they can retreat before small enemy forces. And Dmitry Mikhailovich decided to build wooden forts as strong points, and also dig ditches. He planned to combine defensive infantry tactics with active, offensive cavalry actions.

This tactic brought him success in a stubborn three-day battle.

On August 22, Pozharsky’s cavalry attacked the Poles at the Novodevichy Convent. The Poles brought large forces into the battle, and the Russian cavalry retreated, but got caught in the fort at the Arbat Gate. Here Khodkevich threw reserves into the attack. Nevertheless, the hetman failed to dislodge the zemstvos from their position. The Polish garrison of the Kremlin rushed into forays. They were repulsed with great damage to the invaders. The Poles launched desperate attacks along the front. The stubborn confrontation with the seasoned soldiers of Khodkevich forced the Zemstvo people to falter, and the outcome of the battle became unclear. But a sudden attack by the First Zemstvo Militia, which came to the aid of their comrades, decided the matter: the Poles retreated.

On the night of August 22-23, the Poles, with the help of a Russian traitor, captured the fort in Zamoskvorechye. The Cossacks who defended it from the First Militia were unable to fight back...

The hetman spent 24 hours preparing new blow. It was clear to Pozharsky: the second breakthrough attempt would be made from Zamoskvorechye. He sent several detachments to the aid of the First Militia, which was occupying positions there.

On the morning of August 24, Dmitry Mikhailovich, anticipating the Polish offensive, attacked himself. Gradually, the Poles pushed back the attacking detachments, but were unable to break through the defenses of the main forces. The regiments of the First Militia resisted the pressure of the interventionists less unitedly. After a long struggle, they surrendered the key fort, abandoned other defensive lines, and Khodkevich’s task was actually solved: he made his way to the center, to the Kremlin. But the garrison of the fort suddenly counterattacked and drove the Poles out of their wooden fortress. Other retreating units returned to battle...

The fighting stopped for a while. The troops on both sides suffered terrible losses and were mortally tired. Pozharsky considered this moment ideal to seize the initiative. He sent a detachment of several hundred fighters led by Minin across the Moscow River. The unexpected attack of the Russians, who had recently barely held on, took the interventionists by surprise. Soon their fighting spirit was broken, and a turning point came in the battle. Khodkiewicz's soldiers retreated, losing formation, turning into disorganized crowds. The hetman had to leave part of the convoy on the battlefield.

The next day, the general withdrawal of the enemy corps from Moscow began.

Expulsion of Poles from the Kremlin. E. Lissner (1874–1941)

The occupiers held the city center for several more months. In November, militias stormed Kitay-Gorod. Soon the Polish garrison surrendered to the mercy of the victors... Then the peak of the Great Troubles passed.

After the liberation of Moscow and the enthronement of Sovereign Mikhail Fedorovich (ruled from 1613 to 1645), the first in the Romanov dynasty, Pozharsky was rewarded with the highest “Duma” rank - boyar (1613), as well as large land holdings. For him, a completely invisible person in the ranks of the brilliant Moscow aristocracy, the boyar rank was an unattainable dream. We can say that during the fight against the Troubles, he jumped from colonel to marshal...

Servant to the King

Dmitry Mikhailovich was revered as a “great hero,” a military leader, “skilled in warfare.” He continued to participate in hostilities and carry out important administrative assignments. In 1615, Pozharsky defeated the fortified settlements of the brilliant fighters of the famous Polish adventurer Lisovsky near Orlov. Having 600 people under his command against 2000, Pozharsky drove back the enemy, captured 30 prisoners, banners and kettledrums. In the fall of 1618, Pozharsky, sick, barely alive from old wounds, sat as a siege commander in Kaluga, harassing the Poles with forays and ultimately forcing the enemy to retreat from the city.
And even in the Smolensk War of 1632–1634, the prince, exhausted by the “black illness” (serious illness), being in his sixties, still performed voivodeship services...

At his expense, the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square was built, destroyed in Soviet time and restored in the 90s of the XX century. The prince donated a lot to the needs of churches, in particular, he bought expensive liturgical books with his own money and gave them to the priests.
He died in 1642, in an aura of great glory, having completely exhausted his duty to the Fatherland. “You don’t need particularly keen eyes to see what exactly Pozharsky’s motives were always filled with. He did not stand for personal goals and did not serve the goals of any party; he stood for the common zemstvo cause and served it purely, directly and honestly. It was these ordinary deeds and actions that gave his personality an unusual significance for that time, which was well understood in Nizhny and was also indicated by the desire to find a governor who would “not appear in treason,” who would not fall on all sides, depending on where it is more advantageous for honor or for self-interest, as the great majority of the then princes, boyars and governors did.” This is what historian I.E. Zabelin writes about the Russian governor. And this assessment is perhaps closest to the truth of the fact.

In addition to tactical talent, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky possessed another talent, much rarer and urgently needed only in exceptional circumstances. It is not needed for conventional combat operations, but it flashes like a bright star in the years civil wars, uprisings, all kinds of unrest. This unique talent is to become the soul of the army opposing the rebels, always and steadfastly showing perseverance and self-sacrifice for the sake of restoration common house. If Substantial part The people see value in the established order; it is precisely such leaders who lead them to victory. If the old structure of society is supported by a small number of people, such leaders allow their regiments to give the last battle to the revolution and lay down their heads with honor on the battlefield. Always and at all times they are a stronghold of faith, morality, duty to the sovereign and the fatherland.
Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky fully possessed the abilities of the leader of the restorers of order.

***
Two centuries after the fiery period of the Russian Time of Troubles, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky appeared on Red Square. The great Nizhny Novgorod resident shows Dmitry Mikhailovich: “Look, the country is on fire, if we don’t save it, no one will save it!” Two noble people are ready to defend their homeland, accept hardships and wounds for it, and, if necessary, die.

States and peoples are born, reach maturity, become decrepit and die. While society is rich in such people, it is far from old age