Dmitri
Dmitri
(dəmē`trē) orDemetrius
(dĭmē`trēəs), 1582–91, czarevich, son of Ivan IVIvan IVor Ivan the Terrible,
1530–84, grand duke of Moscow (1533–84), the first Russian ruler to assume formally the title of czar. Early Reign
Ivan succeeded his father Vasily III, who died in 1533, under the regency of his mother.
..... Click the link for more information. (Ivan the Terrible) of Russia. His brother, Feodor IFeodor I
(Feodor Ivanovich) , 1557–98, czar of Russia (1584–98), son of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible). Weak and incompetent, he left the government in the hands of his brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, who became czar after Feodor's death.
..... Click the link for more information. , succeeded Ivan in 1584, but Boris GodunovGodunov, Boris
, c.1551–1605, czar of Russia (1598–1605). A favorite of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), he helped organize Ivan's social and administrative system.
..... Click the link for more information. actually ruled Russia for the period of Feodor's reign (1584–98). Dmitri was killed in 1591, possibly on Boris's orders. Subsequently four pretenders assumed his name. The first, whose origin is unknown, appeared in Poland c.1600; claiming that he was Dmitri, he enlisted the support of Lithuanian and Polish nobles and finally of King Sigismund III of Poland. He invaded Russia in 1604. Boris died suddenly in 1605 and the false Dmitri was crowned as czar. But his favoritism toward Poland and his marriage to Marina Mniszech, a Polish noblewoman, aroused the opposition of the boyars, led by Prince Vasily Shuiski. An insurrection was provoked in Moscow, and Dmitri was killed. Shuiski was made czar as Vasily IV. In 1607 another Dmitri appeared. Aided by the Poles after Marina identified him as her husband, he marched on Moscow and had some success, but in 1610 he was killed. In 1612 a man claiming to be Dmitri's son was put to death by strangling. Another, also claiming to be Dmitri's son, was beheaded in 1613. In that year the chaotic period, known as the Time of Troubles in Russian history, came to an end with the coronation of Michael RomanovRomanov
, ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginnings to the 14th cent. Czar Ivan IV took as his first wife Anastasia Romanov.
..... Click the link for more information. , first of the Romanov line, as czar.