Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
who led the Streltsy
Streltsy
Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms. They are also collectively known as Marksman Troops .- Origins and organization :...
during the Moscow Uprising of 1682
Moscow Uprising of 1682
Moscow Uprising of 1682, also known as Streltsy Uprising of 1682 , was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments which resulted in supreme power being devolved on Sophia Alekseyevna...
, alternatively known as the Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina is an opera in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources...
. His life was dramatized by Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
in the eponymous opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. Khovansky's moniker, Tararui, derives from the old Russian word for "chatterbox".
Khovansky came from a senior Gediminid family, whose ancestors moved from Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
to Moscow in 1408. He started his employment under Mikhail I as a stolnik
Stolnik
Stolnik was a court office in Poland and Muscovy, responsible for serving the royal table.- Stolnik in Crown of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania : In Crown of Poland under the first Piast dukes and kings, this was a court office....
. In 1650 he was sent to Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
to counter the raids of Crimean Tatars. In 1651–1654 he was governor in Vyazma
Vyazma
Vyazma is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, the city defended western approaches to the city of Moscow...
, and in 1656 he was governor of Mogilev
Mogilev
Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
.
During the Russian-Polish-Swedish war
Northern Wars
Northern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...
he served as a voivod. In 1657 he blitzed a number of Swedes under Gdov
Gdov
Gdov is a town and the administrative center of Gdovsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Gdovka River, just from its outflow into Lake Peipus. Population:...
. He was promoted to boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s on March 27, 1659. In January of 1660 he attacked Brest
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
and set it on fire. During the Copper Riot
Copper Riot
The Copper Riot, also known as the Moscow Uprising of 1662 was a major riot in Moscow, which took place on July 25 of 1662.-The beginning:...
in Moscow on 25 July 1662 he dealt with insurgents and then led an investigation committee based in Kolomenskoe. In 1663 he was proclaimed a judge of the Yamskoi Prikaz
Prikaz
Prikaz was an administrative or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually translated as "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" means administrative or military order...
. Between 1669–1678 he governed Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
, Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
, and Novgorod. He was reputed as a dour and masterful manager who did not look kindly on local licentiousness and manners.
Upon Feodor III
Feodor III of Russia
Feodor III Alexeevich of Russia was the Tsar of all Russia between 1676 and 1682....
's death in April 1682, taking advantage of his popularity among the Streltsy
Streltsy
Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms. They are also collectively known as Marksman Troops .- Origins and organization :...
, Khovansky helped to dismiss the Miloslavsky
Miloslavsky
Miloslavsky , Miloslavskaya , or Miloslavskoye may refer to:People*Ilya Miloslavsky , a Russian boyar and diplomat*Maria Miloslavskaya , first wife of tsar Alexis I of Russia...
family from power. He engineered the great Streltsy uprising
Moscow Uprising of 1682
Moscow Uprising of 1682, also known as Streltsy Uprising of 1682 , was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments which resulted in supreme power being devolved on Sophia Alekseyevna...
(May 15 to May 17, 1682), during which their old and unpopular leader, Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, was murdered and Khovansky named his successor. Thus, he became de-facto Minister of War of Muscovite Russia. Wishing to secure the allegiance of the Streltsy, he announced total forgiveness to those who took part in the uprising.
Through the support of the Streltsy he established a dual-reign regime, the joint rule of Ivan V
Ivan V of Russia
Ivan V Alekseyevich Romanov was a joint Tsar of Russia who co-reigned between 1682 and 1696. He was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya. His reign was only formal, since he had serious physical and mental disabilities...
and Peter I
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
, under the regency
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of their sister Sophia Alekseyevna
Sophia Alekseyevna
Sophia Alekseyevna was a regent of Russian Tsardom who allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Prince Vasily Galitzine, to install herself as a regent during the minority of her brothers, Peter the Great and Ivan V...
. As he supported the Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
he organized in 1682 a schism
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
atic demonstration and forced Patriarch Joachim to agree to a public debate with one of the Old Believer leaders, Nikita Pustosvyat. The patriarch refuted Pustosvyat's arguments and the next day Sophia had Pustosvyat executed.
Relying on the Streltsy, Khovansky wielded enormous political influence and often interfered in the government affairs. In June 1682 he was appointed to lead the Prikaz of Judges. His uncommon arrogance and vanity alienated Sophia and her Miloslavsky relatives, while inducing jealousy on the part of other boyars.
Eventually, the rumours about Khovansky's intention to assassinate the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
's family and to usurp the throne prompted Sophia to evacuate Ivan V and Peter I from Moscow to Kolomenskoe and then to the St Savva monastery in Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: -History:The community has existed since the 12th century, although its first written mention is dated 1338. The town's name is based either on a personal name or on a hydronym Zvenigorod is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia....
. In September a royal ukase
Ukase
A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
declared Khovansky the mutineer and the patron of heretics, while the Boyar Duma had him sentenced to death. He was captured in Pushkino
Pushkino, Moscow Oblast
Pushkino is a city and the administrative center of Pushkinsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Ucha and Serebryanka Rivers, northeast of Moscow...
near Moscow and taken to Vozdvizhenskoe where he was beheaded together with his son.
When the news of Khovansky's execution reached the Streltsy stationed in Moscow, they started a riot and seized the Kremlin, but the regent soon quelled the mutinous army and appointed Fyodor Shaklovity
Fyodor Shaklovity
Fyodor Leontiyevich Shaklovity was a Russian diplomat best known as a staunch adherent of the regent Sophia Alekseyevna, who had promoted him from a regular scrivener to a member of the Boyar Duma and okolnichy...
as their new leader.