The disturbed state of the Russian realm / Conrad Bussow ; translated and edited by G. Edward Orchard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bussow, Conrad, -1617.

Contributor:

Orchard, G. Edward (George Edward)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russia--History--Time of Troubles, 1598-1613.

Russia.

Russia--History--Time of Troubles, 1598-1613--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xlii, 244 pages) : illustrations, portrait

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Conrad Bussow (1552-1617), a soldier of fortune from Lower Saxony, spent most of his career in foreign service. He arrived in Russia in 1600 and spent the next eleven years serving under a variety of rulers and rebel leaders. He witnessed many of the sensational events of that period: the triumph of the first False Dmitry and his subsequent overthrow, the Bolotnikov rebellion (his description is the most detailed provided by any contemporary observer), the civil strife and foreign intervention which bedeviled the reign of Tsar Vasily Shuisky; the Polish occupation of the Kremlin, and the beginning of the Russian struggle for national liberation. Bussow had all the instincts of an investigative reporter - most of the events he recounts are from first-hand experience - and he interviewed many of the key players. Although at one time a fairly prosperous landowner, Bussow was eventually reduced to living on the charity of his wife's relatives. He tried to recoup his fortunes by becoming an author, but died before his ambition could be realized. His authorship of this work remained largely unknown until the mid-1800s. This is the first English translation of the unabridged text of Bussow's chronicle. It is based on careful examination not only of various printed versions in early modern High German but also of several of the original manuscripts in the Herzog August Library, Wolfenbuttel. Complemented by an illuminating commentary by Edward Orchard, it will be of particular interest to those concerned with Russian and European history and the evolution of the Russian "spirit."

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chronology

The Disturbed State of the Russian Realm

Prince Fedor Ivanovich

Concerning Tsar Boris Fedorovich, and How He Came to Rule

Fedor Borisovich, Son of Boris Fedorovich

The First Dmitry and His Reign

What Befell the Governor of Sandomir and the Poles after the Tsar's Murder

How the Muscovites Dealt with the Tsaritsa and her Father

What Happened to the Murdered Dmitry and His Champion Lord Peter Fedorovich Basmanov, and Also to the 2,135 Poles, Who Willed That the Second Dmitry Should Rescue Them in a Miraculous Fashion, and the Miracles Which Occurred When They Brought Dmitry's Corpse

True Evidence That This Dmitry Was Not the Son of the Tyrant Ivan Vasilievich but an Alien

Concerning Prince Vasily Shuisky and the Second Dmitry, Who Sought to Overthrow Shuisky, and Claimed to Be the Escaped Dmitry; also Concerning Sigismund III, King of Poland, How He Intervened, and How His Son, His Royal Highness Prince Wladyslaw, Was Offered the Muscovite Land and Throne

How Prince Grigory Shakhovskoy by Theft and Falsehood Brought Great Harm to Tsar Shuisky

Concerning Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov, Who Came to Poland from Venice, and How in Poland a Certain Person, Who Allowed Himself to Be Addressed as Dmitry Tsar of Russia, Sent Him into Russia to Wage War

Concerning a Certain Cossack Sent to Poland to Urge Dmitry to Make Haste, or to Commit Everything to the King in Poland, and How a Certain Man from Shklov Claimed to Be Dmitry and Came into Russia

How Russia in the Year 1609 Was Beset on All Sides by War and Tribulation

Concerning the Return of Skopin and the Arrival of Jakob de la Gardie with Three Thousand Foreigners

Concerning Aleksandr Jozef Lisowski, the Second Dmitry's Commander Over Several Thousand Cossacks, and How He Proceeded with Them Too Deep into the Country, and How the Enemy Cut Off His Retreat to the Encampment, and How for This Reason He Was Compelled to Retreat to Suzdal, and How, Finally, Having Effected a Wide Diversion, He Withdrew Towards Pskov

Concerning the Embassy of His Majesty the King of Poland to the Poles in Dmitry's Encampment

Concerning Shuisky's Deposition; Also the Destruction of the Second Dmitry and the Election of Lord Wladyslaw, Son of King Sigismund of Poland

What Occurred in the Year 1611 in Russia, Especially in the Capital City of Moscow, and Why the Polish King Did Not Allow His Son Wladyslaw, Who Had Been Chosen Russian Tsar, to Proceed Thither, and What Great Misfortune and Irreparable Harm Resulted Therefrom

Appendices

Conrad Bussow's Missive to Duke Friedrich-Ulrich of Brunswick, 28 November 1613

Conrad Bussow's Letter to J. Peparino, 3 February 1614

Bussow's Map of Moscow

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Translation of: Relatio : das ist summarische Erzehlung vom eigentlichen Ursprung dieses itzig en blutigen Kriegs-Wesens in Moscowiter-Land oder Reussland.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-6457-8

OCLC:

929121171