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The meaning of the word oprichnik

oprichnik in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

oprichnik

guardsman, m.

Serving nobleman, warrior, who was in the troops of the oprichnina in the reign of Ivan IV (historical). With the help of the guardsmen, Ivan IV finally broke the big boyars-patrimonials and strengthened the unified power of the tsar. - We are royal people, guardsmen! And you de zemshchina! We are supposed to rob you and rip you off, but you are supposed to endure and bow! A.K. Tolstoy. The tsar's evil oprichnik, Kiribeevich, has dishonored our honest family. Lermontov.

trans. Oppressor of the people, faithful henchman of the enemies of the people (contempt.). The ugly forms of exploitation at the enterprises, plus the unbearable police regime of the tsarist guardsmen - a circumstance that turned every serious strike of the workers into

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.

oprichnik

A, m. A man who served in the oprichnina (in 3 meanings). Royal about.

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

oprichnik

Serving nobleman, warrior, who was in the troops of the oprichnina (1 * 3) in the reign of Ivan IV (the Terrible).

trans. The oppressor of the people, the faithful henchman of the enemies of the people.

Wikipedia

Oprichnik

Oprichnik- bodyguard, a person in the ranks of the oprichnina army (detachment of bodyguards), that is, the personal guard created by Ivan the Terrible as part of his political reform in 1565.

"Oprichnik" is a later term for this phenomenon. The old Russian word "oprich", according to Dahl's dictionary, means: "Outside, outside, outside, beyond what." Hence "oprichny" - "separate, distinguished, special." In the time of Ivan Vasilievich, guardsmen were called "government people". The word "oprichnik" returned to the Russian language through the efforts of N. M. Karamzin at the beginning of the 19th century and became a household word for those who fought the revolutionaries with cruel measures.

Oprichnik (opera)

"Oprichnik"- opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky to the composer's libretto based on the story of the same name by I. I. Lazhechnikov. Written in 1870-1872, the premiere took place on April 12, 1874 at the Mariinsky Theater (conductor Eduard Napravnik).

Oprichnik (clipper, 1880)

Oprichnik- Russian sail-screw clipper (cruiser of the 2nd rank) of the fourth series. Built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel N. A. Samoilov. The only ship in the series is equipped with two side sponsons to accommodate the main battery guns.

Oprichnik (disambiguation)

Oprichnik:

• The oprichnik is a person who is in the ranks of the oprichnik army, that is, the guard created by Ivan the Terrible as part of his political reform in 1565.
• "Oprichnik" - the tragedy of I. I. Lazhechnikov.
• "Oprichnik" - opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky.
• Oprichnik is a bay of the Sea of ​​Japan.

"Oprichnik"- Russian sail-screw clippers:

• Clipper "Oprichnik" - a six-gun sail-screw clipper ship of the Russian Imperial Navy, launched in Arkhangelsk in 1856. He died in the Indian Ocean while returning from the Far East to Kronstadt in November 1861.
• Clipper "Oprichnik" - a sail-screw clipper of the Russian Imperial Navy, built in 1880.

Oprichnik (bay)

in the Gulf of Oprichnik

Oprichnik (clipper, 1856)

"Oprichnik"- Russian six-gun sail-screw clipper, launched in 1856. He served in Kronstadt, then in the Far East. When returning from there to Kronstadt in November 1861, he died.

Examples of the use of the word oprichnik in the literature.

In these words of the boyar, hatred for the enemy of all the biggest boyars sounded: do not oprichnik, not some kind of one-palace, he himself was the same boyar, of an old family, - he ruined the boyars, depriving him of ancestral, great-grandfather privileges and rights.

The service was rendered by the prince in the same scene to the virtuous robber Ivan the Ring, whom guardsmen they were going to execute: the prince saved him from death, and then he would lead the prince out of the royal prison and save him.

IN guardsmen Tolstoy sees only a gang of ambitious people, false friends of power, not realizing that the guardsmen were a landowning layer, nobles, more than boyars, devoted to the autocratic tsar, who helped him strengthen centralized power in the state.

The zemstvos are afraid of me, and guardsmen, the tsar favors for youth, curses the Orthodox people.

As the prince retired, guardsmen, pacified by the appearance of the holy fool, again began to rage.

Robbery in the vicinity of Moscow has especially multiplied since guardsmen ousted entire villages of cultivators, entire settlements of philistines.

But from time to time John or guardsmen they let the animals out of their cages, tore the people with them and made fun of their fear.

True, he has changed since then, as, to all the boyars, to shame, in guardsmen go!

Just asleep guardsmen heard a familiar ringing, jumped up from the beds and hurried to get dressed.

All guardsmen, dressed alone in hats and black cassocks, carried resin lamps.

To this accursed place, but not on a dark night, I'm on a sunny morning, Malyuta and guardsmen he was directed to run.

How guardsmen they set fire to the hut, so at first it became hot, but as the hut burned down, there was enough frost in the yard!

Not because people destroy people because they alone guardsmen, other zemstvos, but because both of them are people!

He hurries them to the Poganaya Puddle, straightens the hood on the prince, so that they don’t recognize guardsmen who are being taken to their deaths.

But they think guardsmen that a simple man jumps between Khomyak and Malyuta, and only marvel that they are taking him so far to be executed.

Almost every person is familiar with the term "oprichnina". Is this word usually associated with the dark times of confrontation between Ivan the Terrible, the descendants of specific princes and guardsmen? This is a man who was in the ranks of the oprichnina army, or guard, created by Tsar Ivan IV as part of the political reform of 1565.

The history of the creation of the oprichnina

Tired of the love of power of the boyars and the arbitrariness of the princely aristocracy, which began to think of itself as a co-ruler of the sovereign, in 1565 Ivan the Terrible introduces a reform by his decree. She was called an oprichnina. Its goal was to deprive the opponents of the king of all meaning and power. From now on, the whole country was divided into two parts: the oprichnina and the zemstvo (territories that were not included in the oprichnina). The first included the northeastern lands, where a small number of boyars-patrimonials were concentrated. The oprichnina existed for seven years, but the memory of it is still fresh.

Direct participants of the reform

Who is an oprichnik? First of all, this is an employee of the sovereign, who was in the ranks of the oprichnina army. They could become a representative of different masses. The royal oprichnik swore allegiance. At the same time, he renounced his family and promised not to communicate with the Zemstvo.

The characteristic of the guardsman included a distinctive feature - black robes, similar to monastic ones. In addition, they had special signs - the image of a broom and a dog's head. This symbolized a firm determination to take revenge and gnaw out treason. Thus, everyone could determine who the oprichnik was. Subsequently, the word itself became a swear word among the people.

The essence of the activities of the guardsmen

All the descendants of the specific princes, who seemed suspicious to Ivan the Terrible, were removed from the lands united in the royal possessions. All of them were subject to resettlement to new lands and the very outskirts of the state. According to the king, the traitors there could not pose any danger to the throne. Small landlords and nobles settled on the former land holdings of the resettled people.

The day of the guardsman consisted of the ruin and expulsion of the old nobility. Ivan the Terrible called it "to sort out people." During the entire period of persecution of those objectionable to the tsar, almost half of the state was gathered into the oprichnina. The remaining half was in the same position and was called "zemshchina". ruled there

Of course, all these measures ran into active opposition. Most powerful people did not approve of Russia's course towards centralization and the elimination of old liberties. Therefore, opponents of the changes artificially or nullified a considerable proportion of the cases begun by the guardsmen. These people had allies in other countries, in particular Poland. Many traitors transmitted information to opponents, and the king had information about this.

Duties of guardsmen

The leakage of important state information posed a direct threat to the ruler. Therefore, the day of the guardsman included the protection of Ivan IV. In fact, this meant the creation of the first in All those who swore allegiance were obliged to serve, like dogs, to protect their sovereign and state. Who is the oprichnik, you can imagine by familiarizing yourself with the activities of famous personalities: Malyuta Skuratov, boyar Alexei Basmanov, Prince Athanasius Vyazemsky.

Main characters

Malyuta Skuratov is a nickname, but the real name of the guardsman was Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belsky. Thanks to the strict adherence to the royal instructions, in times of change in the country, he very quickly found himself among the closest associates of Ivan the Terrible. The people became known as the main villain of those times. This happened mainly because of the events of January 1570. Novgorod was suspected of treason, in connection with this, Malyuta undertook to lead the pogroms in the city, during which the inhabitants were massacred by the thousands. Who is the oprichnik, you can also imagine by hearing the folk saying: "The king is not so terrible as his Malyuta." It was Skuratov who became an active executor of all state affairs.

The main inspirer of the oprichnina was Alexei Basmanov. He became its leading figure, blindly following all the instructions of the king. Basmanov stained himself with the deposition of Metropolitan Philip, driving him out of the cathedral with a broom.

The immediate adviser to the tsar and one of the main guardsmen was Prince Afanasy Vyazemsky. He had the boundless trust of Ivan the Terrible. Despite this, at the end of the Novgorod pogrom, Vyazemsky, like Basmanov, was accused of organizing plans to transfer Novgorod and Pskov to Lithuania.

Thus, the oprichnik was an associate of Ivan the Terrible, a participant in the tsarist reform of 1565 and a direct executor of state instructions to expel and neutralize the traitors to the tsar. This is a member of the "chosen thousand", "sovereign man". Oprichniki were people from different social strata. And taking a personal oath of allegiance to the tsar and the state testified to the creation of a single order formation.

Text: Matvey Vologzhanin
Illustrations: Vlad Lesnikov

Historians are often tempted to pursue their science in the same way that, say, biologists, physicists, or mathematicians do. They want to create coherent systems, bloated general theories, and generally classify everything into shelves and drawers. Here you have the early formation of feudalism, here you have an ideal example of a tribal community, here you have land use structures and their influence on the historical process of passionarity ...

Historians do this not out of innate malice and not because they are tired of being in the eyes of society types who can tell a cool anecdote about Madame Sorel's garters, but are no longer suitable for anything. In fact, historians have a dream. They want to study the past of mankind in such a way that it is possible to predict its future. To create such a science, with the help of which every fifth grader would know how to effectively manage countries and peoples and, in general, the entire process of human existence.

So they are striving to make history a real science, which is why more than half of serious historical works are completely impossible to read. Although the best, the greatest historians just tell cool anecdotes about Madame Sorel's garters. They are great because they know that it is impossible to calculate, predict, or direct the historical process, because it consists of a huge number of insignificant random facts that cannot be taken into account, determined and, pierced with a pin, cataloged. When great empires lose battles just because one mule in the wagon train has an upset stomach caused by a thistle bush that is too juicy, you can’t make real science out of this. Alas.

But on the other hand, no one prevents you from crawling back and forth along the timeline with a ruler and a hygrometer, periodically exclaiming: “Just look at what the establishment of the proto-parliament in Chatal Huyuk has led to!*”

* - Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik:
« In fact, in the Russian tradition, the name Çatal Hüyük is more often written as “Chatal-Hyuyuk” or “Chatal-Hyuyuk”, I don’t know for what reasons. This is one of the oldest cities in the world, which existed about 8-9 thousand years ago. Very little is known about the Chatal-Khuyuks. For example, the fact that for some reason they made a bunch of stone figurines depicting women with large breasts. The researchers believe that here we see evidence of the cult of the Mother Goddess, but I will see what these researchers say when they dig up our editorial office and find MAXIM»

Therefore, in this article we are not going to argue that if Ivan the Terrible had been strangled with a pillow in infancy, then we would now be inventing iPads for the whole world. It may very well be not. But on the other hand, we can quite scientifically insist that some scraps of the system built by this king are still alive. For example, some elements of the oprichnina are undoubtedly still with us. Unfortunately.

A few words about little Titka

If we are already talking about random factors in history, then, apparently, the amazing innate cowardice of little Titus, better known to us under the name, can also be attributed to them.

Yes, the little one has been through a lot. He was born in 1530 and lost his father at the age of three and his mother at the age of eight. The childhood of the future king passed under the endless strife of his uncles and guardians, who fought for the right to control the young grand duke. Conspiracies, executions of traitors, coups and popular riots followed an endless series, and the fact that Titus-John managed to survive in this serpentine, and not accidentally cut himself with a knife due to childish thoughtlessness, can again be considered a historical accident.

Distrust, panic attacks and frequent bouts of pure paranoia as a result became important traits of the royal character: for the ruler of that warlike era, he was incredibly afraid of death, pain and disease.

But still, his character cannot be explained only by a difficult childhood. People who suffered a lot in their youth often turn out to be inclined towards mercy and altruism - things for which Grozny cannot be reproached. For example, the English Elizabeth the Great, a contemporary of Grozny, saw worse pictures in her childhood, including the view of her mother on the scaffold and her own long-term imprisonment in anticipation of a possible execution, but at the same time she did not become a bloodthirsty beast, and the rules were quite vegetarian at that time in a way that less did not prevent her from laying the foundation of the British Empire.

Terrible, in principle, was not familiar with the feeling of mercy, but until old age he was perfectly able to hide under benches if a suspicious noise was heard near the royal bedchamber.

The world for Grozny, judging by his own notes, looked something like this.

Knowing his worth perfectly well, this cowardly, superstitious and ignoble man saw the undoubted will of God in the fact that he was a Grand Duke. In his letters, he repeatedly expressed the idea that since the finger of the Lord pointed to him, then, as he is, he is what God needs him to be. Iron logic. In fact, if higher powers could enthrone a handsome hero with a knightly disposition, but chose him, the evil Titka, urinating under himself at the sight of a bug, then why try to be better? As he was born, so he came in handy ...

Ivan the Terrible was even angry with God because he, it seems, was preparing him for the fire of hell, forcing the damned Novgorod babies to be drowned, the peasant who dared to grumble to be executed. With his hands, John's, God clears this barn. And what if he then takes it and pours demonic coals into these little hands?!

Very Terrible felt sorry for himself.

However, until the age of 35, John more or less held on. Not trusting the boyars - the highest aristocracy of Rus', he gathered around him a circle of relative like-minded people, half of whom were not very noble people (Prince Kurbsky calls this circle the Chosen Rada, since then the term has stuck).

The tsar, with these advisers, carried out reforms that later led to the creation in the country of that autocracy that appeared before us several centuries later. He takes care of the additional enslavement of the peasants, pulls power into his own hands, chop off the land from his neighbors, but behaves relatively carefully. For example, it does not openly encroach on civil liberties - on the contrary, it often promotes completely democratic norms, granting freedom and electivity to various communities to the detriment of the boyars. Heads, of course, sometimes fly, but such is the work of the king.

But the older the king became, the worse his character became. And soon yesterday's favorites had to scatter from him in all directions of the world - from Livonia to Italy, since Grozny developed an unpleasant habit of looking for conspiracies everywhere, starting with his own closet, after which the perpetrators ate the entire spectrum of medieval investigative activities (we are not joking about the closet: due to frequent indigestion, the king suspected relatives, servants and relatives of poisoning and spoiling him). Numerous wars of the 1550s and 1560s also did not improve the mood of any of the moskovits, as we were called in the European chronicles of that era. Foreigners who came here left deadly evidence that the people swelled from hunger, dying out by whole volosts; the troops marching now against the Swedes, now at the Tatars, now at the Lithuanians, are taken by villages from young to old and almost women, and the readiness of the Muscovites to endure everything that happens is truly amazing. After another serious defeat on the Ole River in 1564, Grozny finally decided to restore order and undertook to remake the country. First, he announced that he was abdicating the throne, confidentially telling the people, they say, let the greedy and evil sorcerers-boyars deal with you now, but I'm tired, I'm leaving.

Some part of the people, in the best traditions, howled: “They are offending the Tsar-father!” - and Grozny hurried to make a statement: so be it, since you can’t do without me, then I probably won’t recant, but now hold on, I’ll take care of you all! Such a simple PR campaign.

First of all, Grozny divided the country in half. The southern part, where there were mainly estates of the ancient aristocracy, he called "zemshchina". The northern volosts, populated mainly by free peasants, including Vologda and Galich, he declared a special, that is, oprichnina, territory. Grozny also recruited a personal guard - unborn descendants of boyar families, nobles, as well as completely rootless adventurers, both local and European.

These worthy people received the title of "guardsmen" - "specialists". Grozny calculated that since their rise and income would depend only on him, then he did not need to fear betrayal on their part. And for reliability, he did everything to pit the guardsmen against the boyars and the common population.

Laws did not apply to guardsmen, it was forbidden to judge them.

Oprichniki did not have the right to be friends, and simply talk with anyone from the Zemstvo, in order to reduce the risk of bribery and conspiracy.

Oprichniki could take any property of the Zemshchina for free. If anyone is dissatisfied - you are welcome to submit a petition to the king, if you do not feel sorry for your own skin.

First of all, Grozny sent guardsmen to slaughter and kill boyars who were especially unsympathetic to him, members of boyar families, their servants, their friends, their wives and children. By that time, the tsar had become so orthodox that he organized his office in the church of the Alexander Sloboda. Orders for arrests and executions were given here, the still breathing remnants of the punished were dragged here, if the king wanted to finally admire the traitor or work with a knife himself.

In order for the guardsman to be visible from afar, he was given special insignia: a broom, symbolizing putting things in order, and a severed dog's head, signifying the readiness to gnaw the tsar's enemies with his teeth. All this was hung on the saddles.

In order for the people to learn everything correctly, the tsar issued several appeals explaining why the servant of the tsar - the protege of God - is above any law and why a person in the state service cannot be judged by an ordinary court. Because he is in the state service!

The common people, not without pleasure, watched how the accursed boyars were slaughtered, but they were not humble enough to experience the same pleasure in the fact that the guardsmen kill and rob ordinary loyal subjects. At first, they tried to repulse the young fellows who flew into the huts. But the punishment for resisting the lawful actions of a representative of power came immediately, and soon the streets of Moscow, Rostov and Yaroslavl began to look like toothless mouths - there were so many burned houses of rebellious owners, whom the guardsmen hung on their own gates with all children and households. And so that the people would not doubt that the guardsmen were acting out of bounds according to the tsar's will, Grozny himself periodically participated in small campaigns against villages and cities.

The most detailed surviving description of oprichnina life comes from the pen of the German adventurer Heinrich Staden, a native of Münster. He came to the Muscovite state from Lithuania, as he had, in his words, "the unfortunate habit of getting involved in enterprises that promised not so much a benefit to the wallet as a rope to the neck." Upon learning that leaving the Moscow state, if you already got here, is impossible, since anyone trying to cross the border will be immediately executed, Heinrich became depressed, but soon met fellow countrymen who tempted him to join the ranks of the guardsmen, which “it’s not difficult to do, since the king is much believes less in his fellow tribesmen than in foreigners.

Having added to his rank and generosity, since this required only his own oral confirmation, Henry went to the royal court, where he was immediately hired. He was generously endowed with money, soon several estates with peasants were also easily given out, and Staden's life went very well.

“Then the Grand Duke went to plunder his own people, his land and cities. And I was with the Grand Duke with one horse and two servants. All cities and roads were occupied by outposts, and therefore I could not pass with my servants and horses. When I returned to my estate with 49 horses, 22 of them were harnessed to a sleigh loaded with all sorts of good things - I sent all this to my Moscow yard.

“When the Grand Duke left for Pskov, merchants from the city of Kholmogory came running to me. They had a lot of sables - they were afraid that the guardsmen would take away their goods at the outposts. They asked to buy these sables and give them at least some money. I could take these sables from them and not pay them at all, but I didn’t need the sables, since a lot of them were sent to me by a person who collects tribute from Samoyeds with sables. I did nothing to the merchants and let them go.”

“Here I began to take all kinds of servants to me, especially those who were naked and barefoot; dressed them. They liked it. And then I started my own campaigns and led my people back inland along another road. For this, my people remained loyal to me. Whenever they took someone in full, they asked with honor where - in monasteries, churches or farmsteads - one could take money and goods, and especially good horses. If the prisoner did not want to respond kindly, then they tortured him until he confessed. So they got me money and good.

“One day we approached a church in one place. My people rushed in and started robbing, taking away icons and similar nonsense. And it was not far from the court of one of the zemstvo princes, and the zemstvos gathered there about three hundred armed men. These three hundred men were chasing six horsemen. At that time, I was the only one in the saddle, and, not knowing whether those six people were zemstvo or oprichnina, I began to call my people from the church to the horses. But then the true state of affairs became clear: those six were guardsmen, who were persecuted by the zemstvos. They asked me for help, and I set off on the zemstvos. When they saw that so many people had moved out of the church, they turned back to the courtyard. I immediately killed one of them with one shot on the spot, broke through their crowd and slipped through the gate. Stones rained down on us from the windows of the women's quarters. Calling my servant Teshata with me, I quickly ran up the stairs with an ax in my hand. Upstairs I was met by the princess, who wanted to throw herself at my feet. But, frightened by my menacing appearance, she rushed back to the ward. I drove an ax into her back, and she fell on the threshold. And I stepped over the corpse and met their girl's. Then we drove all night and came to a large unprotected tenement. I didn't offend anyone here. I rested."

However, Staden eventually had to flee from these heavenly places. And he succeeded. He got to Germany, managed to live there to a respectable age and even die not on the gallows. The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey, who in 1571 decided to plunder Moscow, saved our ancestors from the “special” power.

Grozny took the news of the Tatar invasion calmly. The tsar knew perfectly well what his brave guardsmen were capable of, with the help of whom he had just pacified the rebellious Novgorod - then the sovereign's servants massacred more than six thousand people in a day, including women and babies, and did not even sweat. Grozny believed in his guardsmen. To their reliable head - the valiant Malyuta Skuratov, who just severely punished all the rioters in Moscow. Two hundred people were executed at the Execution Ground at the same time: they were chopped with axes, hanged, burned, skinned. The cry was for all of Moscow ... What will the feeble Tatars do to such brave dogs? The brave dogs, however, had a different opinion. Hearing that a Tatar army of forty thousand people was marching on Moscow, the guardsmen suddenly remembered that they had an awful lot of important things to do in their northern oprichnina estates. By the time Devlet-Giray approached Moscow, there were no more than five hundred guardsmen left there. (To the credit of Heinrich Staden, we mention that he and his people just made an attempt to attack the approaching Tatars. True, this ended in the loss of the entire detachment, while Heinrich himself was saved by a fall from a horse into the river at the time of the attack.)

Boyar Mikhail Vorotynsky, the founder of Voronezh, managed to take the fight in time. His army, albeit not numerous, drove off the Tatars, who had already managed to set fire to and plunder the Moscow suburbs. The Tatars at that moment were more concerned about the safety of the booty, especially 60 thousand Russian slaves and slaves, whom they drove in front of them for sale. Therefore, they preferred to retreat slowly, evading an attack on Vorotynsky, but in readiness to repulse him if he attacks. He did not dare to attack, but the deed was done: Devlet-Giray was not allowed into Moscow. (As a reward for this, in a couple of years the tsar would personally pull out Vorotynsky’s beard and cover his body on the torture table with red-hot coals. According to Kurbsky, this is how the savior of Moscow died, suspected by the paranoid tsar of yet another conspiracy.)

Oddly enough, the tsar reacted quite calmly to the betrayal of the guardsmen. True, the word “oprichnina” itself was forbidden to be pronounced, punishment with a whip was supposed for this, but most of the guardsmen were not punished (the same Malyuta Skuratov still enjoyed royal favor), and many of them simply quietly dispersed to the estates granted to them and began , thus, the main ancestors of the Russian petty nobility.

“Everything they did,” wrote Heinrich Staden, “was with the approval of the tsar. They did evil deeds not against the sovereign power, but against the people, and for that they are not punished in Muscovy.

And for a very long time in Russia, persons in power will be above the law, which ceases to operate when it comes to the offenses of "sovereign people."

The statehood of Russia went through many difficult stages, sometimes one was worse than the other. Most historians call the years of the oprichnina the most terrible and dark period in the history of Russia. Oprichnik - is it a myth, or did he really exist? There was a terrible rumor about these sovereign servants, they said that they were not human at all, real monsters, "demons in the flesh." So what can be said about the guardsmen, who they really were and why such really scary stories are told about them?

Forced measures

The appearance of the oprichnina is preceded by a series of negative events for Moscow. The Muscovite kingdom during this period waged a bloody Livonian war. The Livonian conflict is one of the largest military campaigns of the 16th century in the Baltic region, which was conducted by large, influential states in those regions - the Muscovy, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Denmark. In January 1558, Moscow attacked Livonia. At the beginning of the company, Russian troops brought Ivan the Terrible a number of significant victories, Narva, Dorpat and many other cities and villages of the Baltic were conquered.

Under the conditions of war

For seven years, the Russian state continued a bloody and difficult war with the Livonian state. Not only Emperor Peter I dreamed of "cutting a window to Europe." also decided to dot the “and” in the seemingly eternal problem of the Russian economy. The beginning of the military campaign was quite successful for Russia. After a crushing defeat near Ulla, the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops fled to the Lithuanians. In connection with the situation that had arisen, Ivan the Terrible introduced the structure of guardsmen in the country.

Strict selection

At that time, not only the king had power in the country, large feudal lords, who were divided into eight nests - according to the kinship and allotment principle, influenced foreign and domestic policy. None of them acted for the good of their country and, naturally, they put taxes in their pockets. For one slave sometimes there were two feudal lords. Only the Yaroslavl princes at that time numbered about eighty. All these princes did not put a penny into the treasury, which made them very angry. Since there were already enough problems in the country, and especially during the war, the king needed to solve this feudal problem. On January 3, 1565, Ivan the Terrible announced that he was abdicating the throne due to anger at the nobles. After such a shocking announcement, thousands of people gathered and went to the king to beg him to return to the throne and lead the country again. Exactly one month later, the Russian tsar announced that he would return to rule, but with the right to execute the boyars without trial or investigation, tax them, and deprive them of their property. All the rest of the state had to give the zemshchina. To all this, he added that he was introducing oprichnina into the country. In it, he identified individual boyars, clerks and servicemen. Therefore, an oprichnik is a person who has certain powers and carries out orders directly from the king himself. The tsar obliged certain Vologda, Suzdal, Vyazma, Kozelsk, Medyn and others to maintain the oprichnina.

The essence of the oprichnina

An oprichnik is a person who took on the function of a lightning rod, deprived the power of a prince, a feudal lord in a certain region. Ivan the Terrible acted very cunningly, thus killing two birds with one stone. Deprived the arbitrariness of the nobles and distributed the remaining lands conquered in the Baltic states. The meaning of the word oprichnik is "a person who is in the position of the king in the ranks of his supporters."

Black Guards

Oprichnik is the personal guard of the king, which recruited not only mature husbands, but also selected nobles. The main condition under which the selection was carried out was the absence of family, blood ties with noble persons of the nobility. All that Ivan the Terrible demanded from his people was unquestioning obedience. The most important for domestic politics was the oprichnik. Its meaning was narrowly focused and somewhat reminiscent of the function of special forces in our time.

Combat encounters

Since the princes had under their command combat serfs (a detachment of warriors who guarded the interests of their master), it was not an easy task to deprive this nobleman of the land. This is where the “black horseman” appeared - the guardsman. The definition of the word we gave a little higher. His occupation, in fact, was to strengthen the unified power of the king and kill those who did not agree with this. Often they are characterized as cowardly and vile people. But not everyone was like that, among the guardsmen there were good military leaders and field commanders. There was a case: during the capture of the Livonian city, the army under the command of Prince Tyufyakin stood near the fortress and began to “argue”, the unwillingness to go on the attack and constant excuses angered the king, and he sent a guardsman there, who, having shown the royal decree, removed Tyufyakin and him from command of the army assistants, and he himself undertook to lead the fighters to storm.

Dog head and broom

Modern historians describe the personal protection of the king as follows. A man dressed all in black, with a dog's head strapped to his saddle and a broom on his back. The head symbolized that the young oprichnik would sniff out treason and sweep it away with a broom. This was not entirely true. Yes, the oprichnik was dressed in a black caftan, as they were a kind of order and dressed accordingly. As for carrion - complete nonsense, on a hot day with a severed head, you can’t really clear up. For the first time this information appeared from foreigners, who, most likely, drew an analogy with the Dominican monks, this order had a dog's head, which adorned the gates of the monastery, as a symbol. Why a dog's head? The Dominicans called themselves the dogs of the Lord. They, like the guardsmen, investigated crimes (against the faith), and perhaps this was the reason for the emergence of such an analogy. And the broom wasn't exactly a broom. As a sign of their belonging to the chosen caste of the king, the guardsmen wore a woolen brush on their belt - a broom sweeping treason.

hard facts

During the oprichnina, a lot of people died, it’s definitely not possible to say how many until now. Oprichnik is a murderer, through whose fault at least 6 thousand people died. It is this figure that the historian Skrynnikov calls.

guardsmen

Those terrible years are characterized by many as a period of repression and arbitrariness. And, of course, there are the most famous guardsmen who are most remembered for their deeds.

Fyodor Basmanov is the son of the guardsman Alexei Danilovich. There was a rumor about Fedor that he was the lover of Ivan the Terrible himself, in particular, they refer to the stories of foreigners. Reflected the Tatar attack on Ryazan. In 1569 he commanded the oprichnina troops in the south of the country. Was awarded an award.

Malyuta Skuratov is an oprichnik, the main villain who got his nickname because of his small stature. He was the head of the oprichnina. He started his way from the lowest position, but, thanks to his cruelty, he reached great heights. He became famous for the fact that he liked to conduct inquiries with predilection. He was more of an assassin than an oprichnik. Killed in battle in 1573.

Athanasius Vyazemsky is another famous oprichnik. He had a special status with the tsar, they even said that he was the favorite of Ivan the Terrible and enjoyed unlimited confidence. It was so strong that the tsar took the medicines prepared by Grozny's personal doctor Lensey only from the hands of Athanasius Vyazemsky. During the time of cruel repressions, Vyazemsky, together with Malyuta Skuratov, was at the head of the guardsmen. Vyazemsky ended his earthly existence during torture, accused of collusion with Russian enemies and the desire to transfer Pskov to Lithuania.

Mikhail Temryukovich Cherkassky - Prince. He came to Muscovy in 1556. Obeying the will of his father, he was baptized and became one of the specific princes. Mikhail became an oprichnik thanks to his valiant company against the Tatars and his sister Maria, who made him related to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. After some time, Prince Cherkassky acquired sufficient influence at the court of the Moscow Tsar.

Officially, Mikhail Cherkassky was mentioned among the guardsmen from September 1567. He, like all significant figures of the tsar's personal guard, actively took part in the torture of gentlemen objectionable to the monarch. In May, Cherkassky was executed allegedly for treason, and one of the popular versions says that he was even impaled.