1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. Just before 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: midnight on May sixteenth, sixteen oh six, a courtier and 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: several of his accomplices nervously waded in the palace shadows, 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: with traders potentially lurking in every corner of the Kremlin. 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: Speed and stealth were vital, but also nearly impossible considering 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: the group's mission sneaking twenty five horses out of the 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: Tsar's private stable. This was no theft, however, no devious 9 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: horse heist. The courtier Mikhail Milkanov had been tasked with 10 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,599 Speaker 1: securing this royal herd by their owner himself, Tsar Dmitri. 11 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: Milkanov was one of the Emperor's closest associates and had 12 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: helped hatch this escape plan after Dimiti learned of a 13 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: post wedding assassination plot against him that was set to 14 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: kick off in mere hours. Milkanov had tasked and experienced 15 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: stable hand with gathering the horses, But was that man trustworthy? 16 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: Could this risky getaway possibly work? The tense moments ticked past, 17 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: until at last the stable hand delivered the horses as 18 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: covertly as he could. Milkanov and his men met up 19 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: with a disguised Tsar Dmitri and successfully helped him flee 20 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: Moscow under cover of darkness, so that he could then 21 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: travel incognito and daringly test the true loyalty of his 22 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: subjects and purportedly devoted lords. Or so goes this alternate 23 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: version of events. After Vasili Shwisky initiated his murderous plan 24 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: and grotesquely paraded Czar Dmitri's supposed by through the streets, 25 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: Milkanov began to spread his dramatic tale. Within days, the Tsar, 26 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: he said actually escaped, and a few details did add 27 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: a sniff of plausibility. For example, twenty five horses did 28 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: go missing from Zar Dmitri's stables. Milkanov also had Dmitri's 29 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: favorite Turkish horse and state seal to back up his claim, 30 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: and vasily reportedly had that skillful stable hand tortured, hoping 31 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: to make him reveal that he had not actually helped 32 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: Dmitri survive, But that poor stable hand, apparently deeply loyal 33 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 1: to Dmitri after all, died without admitting a thing. Milkanov 34 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: gradually headed for Poland Lithuania, and has been credited by 35 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: some historians as having done more to keep the legend 36 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: of Zar Dmitri alive than any other individual. Vulkanov achieved 37 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: this by not only spinning his yarn that the Czar 38 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: and his horses had artfully escaped their enemies, but by 39 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: also pretending to be Dmitri himself. Milkanov did not bear 40 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: much resemblance to Dmitri, but he knew him so well 41 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: that he could defintely imitate him while traveling among less 42 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: familiar townsfolk. In spite of these efforts, Milkanov is typically 43 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: not even included by scholars as one of the main 44 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: quote false Dmitris because although he elicited considerable Dmitri loyalty 45 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: in certain localities, Milkanov was already too well known in 46 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: Moscow and other power circles to continue to play the role. 47 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: Since the original Czar Dmitri was seemingly never seen or 48 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: heard from again, Milkanov essentially served as a stand in 49 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: who stoke the fires of rebellion until eventually you guessed it. 50 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: The time came to debut a new Dmitri. I'm Danish 51 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: forts and this is noble blood, how was yet another 52 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: man and eventually more after that, able to somewhat successfully 53 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: assume the same Dmitri identity. Much like franchise movie sequels 54 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: or knockoff rollis'es. The market for them was clearly there, 55 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: and to fully understand how Russia's impersonator supply kept up 56 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: with the Dmitri demand, we must first look at the 57 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: unstable situation in Moscow. Following the death of the man 58 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: who had seized power under the name Zar Dmitri, Vasily 59 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: quickly finagled his way into becoming the new Czar. Vasily's 60 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: transition to the throne was rocky, though many accounts have 61 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: pegged Vasily as a cunning strategist, particularly accounts he commissioned 62 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,679 Speaker 1: and or those that conveniently ignore his less cunning plans 63 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: that backfired in farcical ways, But compared to his predecessor, 64 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: Vasily was less respected in the capitol, where many nobles 65 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: reportedly saw him as a detestable trader, and he was 66 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: far less well liked than Dmitri. Within the larger realm, 67 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: Vasily has been unfavorably depicted as a stocky, balding, and 68 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: exceedingly near sighted man who apparently looked fairly ridiculous, yet 69 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: still intimidated his opponents through tireless scheming and betraying. This 70 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: is by no means to say that a ruler's overall 71 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: effectiveness hinges on their looks or benevolence or reluctant to fearmonger. 72 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: There are plenty of historical cases that prove otherwise. But 73 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: unfortunately for Vasily when it came to winning broad support, 74 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: he also did not have many other common image enhancing 75 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: factors to help his case among either the noble classes 76 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: or the wider population. Vasily was of a. 77 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 2: Royal background, but even putting aside the whole committing regicide issue, 78 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 2: any assertion of him being a proper heir was murky 79 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 2: at best. Vasily also did not naturally come off as 80 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 2: a battle tested hero or military mastermind, and unlike Czar 81 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 2: Dmitri with his Jesus esque resurrection, Vasily lacked a compelling 82 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 2: origin story that was anywhere near as interesting or easy 83 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 2: to sell to the masses. Throughout his time in power, 84 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 2: Vasily tried to boost his own legitimacy and combat wild 85 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 2: rooms us about his popular predecessor in numerous ways, ways 86 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 2: which often involved spreading wild rumors about his popular predecessor. 87 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 2: He eagerly picked up where czar Boris had left off 88 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 2: by launching a dramatic propaganda campaign to discredit Dmitri. Remember 89 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 2: grigory Otrepev, the defract Monk, the supposed alter ego of 90 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 2: the supposed Tzar. Vasily incessantly endorsed the idea that the 91 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 2: pretender Dmitri had undoubtedly been that dabbler in the dark 92 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 2: arts all along, and went to great lengths with his 93 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 2: related scare tactics. For example, Vasily allegedly staged a ghoulish 94 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 2: incident where Dmitri's corpse suddenly appeared at a churchyard far 95 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 2: from where it had been buried the weak prior, so 96 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 2: that spooky stories would spread. Then, claiming that the earth 97 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 2: was clearly refusing to accept the body of an evil sorcerer, 98 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 2: Vasily had Dmitri's remains burned in one of the forts 99 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 2: Dmitri had commissioned, and, according to an apocryphal sounding legend, 100 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: ordered his ashes to be fired from a cannon aimed 101 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 2: in the direction from which the so called Sarvich and 102 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 2: his army had marched into Moscow. Along the way, Vasily 103 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 2: continued to promote correlated notions that the heretic Dmitri was 104 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 2: a tool of the devil, had impregnated thirty nuns, was 105 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 2: maybe even the actual Antichrist, and so on. Sure, this 106 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 2: strategy hadn't worked the first time around, but doubling down 107 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 2: on thoroughly demonizing the formers are which surely release people 108 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 2: from their sacred obligation to support him as a monarch. 109 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 2: Right far from it, Vasily's macab displays and scary accusations 110 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 2: seemingly just confused or alienated sizable portions of Russian society. 111 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 2: Many citizens were stout in their Russian Orthodox beliefs, and 112 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 2: some presumably bought Vasili's stories, but many others were just 113 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: fatigued by Vasili's rumor mill and skeptical of his desperate 114 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 2: copying of Boris's talking points. Again, it's worth noting that 115 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 2: the whole painting your political adversary as a demon gambit 116 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 2: had been so frequently deployed by that point that an 117 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 2: average Russian on the street might have been hard pressed 118 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 2: to name a former ruler who hadn't maybe had a 119 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 2: chat or two with Satan. But a more important factor 120 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:48,079 Speaker 2: is that Dmitri had made many promises to towns, soldiers, 121 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 2: and exiled families in order to gain their support during 122 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 2: his Civil war crusade back before he died, and he 123 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 2: had started to deliver on those debts once he became Czar. Vassal, 124 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 2: on the other hand, had not specifically promised these groups 125 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 2: nearly as many legal or financial rewards. So when Mikhail 126 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 2: Milkanov aka stand in Dmitri and his associates traveled throughout 127 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 2: the countryside building up the myth of Dmitri's miraculous escape, 128 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 2: many of Dmitri's ambitious supporters quickly backed the cause once 129 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 2: again and revived their civil war fighting. As this rebellion 130 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,239 Speaker 2: neared critical mass in early sixteen o seven, an individual 131 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 2: emerged in dramatic fashion, claiming yet again to be the 132 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 2: true Czar Dmitri. Russia had not even had to wait 133 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 2: a full year to get there. Exciting, if somewhat slap 134 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 2: dash sequel. The origins of the man who would later 135 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 2: be referred to by many as False Dmitri, the second 136 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 2: or second False Dmitrie, are similarly foggy to those of 137 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 2: Czar Dmitri, who we will now refer to as False 138 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 2: Dmitrie number one, not because we're fully upholding the arguments 139 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 2: of various detractors, but for the sake of historians, naming 140 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 2: conventions and basic clarity, just to keep all of the 141 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 2: Dmitris straight. Apparently, False Dmitri number two was a similar 142 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 2: height to False Dmitri the First, but only vaguely resembled him. 143 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 2: Most accounts described False Dmitri the Second as well educated, 144 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 2: having been able to write in Russian as well as Polish, which, 145 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 2: similar to the prior Dmitri, would have helped him gain 146 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 2: support in both countries. His handwriting apparently even looked like 147 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the firsts, although this could have been thanks 148 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 2: to help from stand in Dmitri, who could have closely 149 00:11:55,679 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 2: modeled the first Dmitri's penmanship for the second Dmitri. Regarding 150 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 2: the background of False Dmitri the Second, consistent facts are 151 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 2: hard to come by. Some sources pinpoint him as a 152 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 2: Jew named Bogden. This is largely based on the fact 153 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 2: that Hebrew writings and a copy of the p Tulmud 154 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 2: were reportedly posthumously found in his belongings. Many other accounts 155 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 2: also represent him as someone far less refined or from 156 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 2: a low socioeconomic class, possibly the son of a coach 157 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 2: driver or blacksmith. Maybe he was an apprentice himself, or 158 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 2: a cossack, or maybe a teacher. According to many contemporary sources, 159 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the second also had some association with the church, 160 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 2: since he was knowledgeable when it came to certain Russian 161 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 2: Orthodox traditions. So he was probably, they say, the son 162 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 2: of a priest, or maybe a priest's servant. But he 163 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 2: was also seemingly a beggar when determined rebel agents were 164 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 2: out looking for lookalikes, or if you were sympathetic to 165 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 2: their spin, when they were out trying to locate the 166 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 2: true Czar, who was certainly alive and had in no 167 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 2: way been cremated and shot out of a cannon, So 168 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 2: that would make False Dmitri the second a priest's servant 169 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 2: turned beggar. Some accounts explained this progression through a salacious 170 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,559 Speaker 2: story about how he was a priest's servant, but how 171 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 2: he had been turned out into the street when he 172 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 2: was caught in bed with the wife of the priest 173 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 2: he had been serving. Whatever this man's pre Dmitri identity, 174 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 2: the general consensus among many historians seems to be that 175 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the Second did not want to be Czar 176 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 2: Dmitri at all, but after being found, jailed and threatened 177 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 2: with execution, he agreed that yes, he definitely was the 178 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 2: real Dmitri. That said, having only just remembered that he 179 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 2: was Dmitri te he needed training and then a big 180 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 2: unveiling in May sixteen o seven. The town of Stardob 181 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 2: was chosen by rebel leaders as a good place for 182 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 2: this because of the helpful fact that the people there 183 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 2: were not remotely familiar with what Zar Dmitri had been 184 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 2: like in person. In a carefully engineered event, surprisingly similar 185 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 2: to an episode of Undercover Boss, False Dmitri the Second 186 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 2: arrived to town under an alias and asks around as 187 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 2: to what people thought of Zar Dmitri and if they'd 188 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: want him back in power again, and then aha, in 189 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 2: a flashy public display, he revealed himself to be Zar Dmitri. 190 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 2: All along he had been hiding as a test to 191 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 2: judge their loyalty, and they'd passed. The whole spectacle supposedly 192 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 2: really stirred up the town and won over its occupants. 193 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the Second then continued to gain support, but 194 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 2: his rise also came at a great cost. His military 195 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 2: forces slogged through bloody battles, sieges, and starvation as they 196 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 2: fought against Tsar Vassili's army, facing steep obstacles preventing them 197 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 2: from sweeping into Moscow. False Dmitri the Second and his 198 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 2: rebel group set up a rival capital in the village 199 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 2: of Tashino, which led to a messy, confusing, and wide 200 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 2: ranging conflict that split the country in a sense. For 201 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 2: over a year, Russia had two tsars, two capitals, and 202 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 2: two armies. Along the way, False Dmitri the second political 203 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 2: alliances became extremely fraught, since, for various reasons, he had 204 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 2: to accept into his circle several other impostors who were 205 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 2: also pretending to be the sons of powerful men, some 206 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 2: of whom themselves were impostors. It's difficult to avoid being 207 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 2: hyperbolic in parts of the story like this, but it 208 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 2: basically got to the point that had you been sitting 209 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 2: in a war planning meeting with False Dmitri the Second 210 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 2: and looked to the person on your left and then 211 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 2: to your right, at least one of them would have 212 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 2: been an impostor, if not all three of you. During 213 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 2: this time, zar vasily tried to speed up peace negotiations 214 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 2: by releasing key prisoners to appease False Dmitri the Second. 215 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 2: Polish supporters, including the wife and father in law of 216 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the First, vasily strictly ordered False Dmitri the 217 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 2: First's widow, Marina and her father stick directly with their 218 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 2: convoy and after reaching Poland Lithuania that they were under 219 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: no circumstances to go join False Dmitri the Second where 220 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 2: they could declare him to be Marina's miraculously surviving husband. 221 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 2: So naturally, after getting captured by rubber, Marina and her 222 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 2: dad met up with False Dmitri the Second, and after 223 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 2: some negotiations about her future, she declared that he truly 224 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 2: was Tsar Dmitri, her husband. He had survived, after all, 225 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 2: what a miracle. This boosted the legitimacy of False Dmitri 226 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 2: the Second, and by sixteen eight more than half of 227 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 2: Russia recognized him as Tsar Dmitri. But this upswing also 228 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 2: brought many more Dmitris. Given how the story of Dmitri 229 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 2: surviving assassination attempts clearly captivated people, Russia became a hotbed 230 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 2: for pretenders hoping to use the same formula for themselves. 231 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 2: During the later stages of the Civil War, about ten 232 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 2: more copycats claimed to be Czar Dmitri. These fellows do 233 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 2: not typically even make it into the top tier of 234 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 2: scholars fall Dmitri lists, since many of them barely scratched 235 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:09,920 Speaker 2: the surface of plausibility or garnered any traction at all. Still, 236 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 2: all this Dmitri duplication led many Russians to lose faith 237 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 2: in False Dmitri the Second. Desperate to curry favor with 238 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 2: certain lords and rejuvenate his public support, False Dmitri the 239 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 2: Second reportedly began offering rewards to those who found Pseudosavich's 240 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 2: roaming around and brought them to him. He even resorted 241 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 2: to executing other impostors in his own circle, some who 242 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,640 Speaker 2: he'd previously claimed were his close relatives, to prove that 243 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 2: he was real and he would not tolerate fakes. However, 244 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 2: False Dmitri the Second's influence was unraveling too fast for 245 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 2: him to stop. Unlike the more open and forward thinking 246 00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 2: ruling style of the first Dmitri, the Second Dmitri's court was, 247 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 2: by most accounts the opposite. It was guarded, paranoid, snobbish, 248 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 2: and cruel. False Dmitri the Second lost the support of 249 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 2: his advisers, and by letting his soldiers looting and pillaging 250 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 2: go unchecked, he lost the support of townsfolk. False Dmitri 251 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 2: the Second fled Tashino as his forces turned on him, 252 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 2: but soon mistreated those around him so egregiously that the 253 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 2: captain of his own bodyguard killed him on December eleventh, 254 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 2: sixteen ten, while they were out sleigh riding. In addition 255 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 2: to costing False Dmitri the Second his life, this bloody 256 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 2: chapter of Russian history also sealed Czar Vasili's fate. Plagued 257 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 2: by backlash over his handling of this civil war, Vasily 258 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 2: was ousted, forced to be a monk, and imprisoned. He 259 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 2: died a couple years later. What a rim and tragic 260 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 2: end to the time of troubles Huh, Nope, hold on 261 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 2: to your fur hats, because it's time for False Dmitri 262 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 2: number three. Don't worry. Within the hem czar studded cast 263 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 2: of False Dmitri's False Dmitri the Third's time in the 264 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 2: spotlight is the briefest and least complicated. Who was he? 265 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 2: Possibly a deacon or a trader. He purportedly ended up 266 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 2: as a beggar in Novgorod, when sometime in sixteen eleven 267 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 2: he or purportedly those who put him up to it, 268 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 2: revealed his identity to be Dmitri, and he attracted some 269 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:49,199 Speaker 2: broader support. Like the first, false Dmitri, the third was 270 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 2: said to be a great speaker and gained popularity among 271 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 2: Cossack groups who had backed prior Dmitri iterations. The third's 272 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 2: popularity act actually grew to the point that several higher 273 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 2: up nobles in the agitated political scene in Moscow once 274 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 2: again had to publicly back him this time, though their 275 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 2: hearts just weren't that in it. In secret, several of 276 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 2: the men trying to seize power at the Kremlin saw 277 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 2: the Third as a nuisance and work together to have 278 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 2: him captured and hanged in sixteen twelve, but that only 279 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 2: paved the way for False Dmitri the fourth. Kidding mostly, 280 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 2: there were a few rumors over the years about Dmitri resurrections, 281 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 2: but some of these might have been due to erroneous 282 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:46,199 Speaker 2: reporting or accounting, and we have now covered the most 283 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 2: influential branches of our dense Dmitri tree. After several more 284 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 2: years of fighting and fierce political jostling. The time of 285 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 2: the troubles essentially came to an end in sixteen thirteen, 286 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 2: when Russia started to accept the Romanov dynasty as legitimate 287 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 2: and citizens went about trying to rebuild their war torn country. 288 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 2: Although the odd and tragic period of the false Dmitries 289 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 2: was relatively brief, their collective story continues to fascinate why. 290 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,120 Speaker 2: In addition to having served up numerous uniquely absurd details, 291 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 2: the procession of impostors brings up intriguing questions of identity 292 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 2: on an individual scale and for Russia as a whole. 293 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 2: It's important to remember that at this time, the Russian 294 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 2: population was extremely widespread and largely illiterate. Accurate salient news 295 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 2: was hard to come by, so two institutional constants that 296 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 2: citizens put their trust in were the sovereignty of Russia 297 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:03,160 Speaker 2: and the Russian Orthodox Church. At various points, the figure 298 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 2: of Zar Dmitri offered them a chance to actively fight 299 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 2: for both. So to say Russian people were repeatedly embarrassingly 300 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 2: duped is perhaps not giving them enough credit. Given the 301 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,919 Speaker 2: information and resources available, combined with the fact that so 302 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 2: many of them were in grave debt and or starving, 303 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 2: it's understandable for them to put their faith in a hopeful, 304 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 2: battle tested legend supposedly capable of near christlike miracles. Beyond 305 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 2: these loftier motivations, it's possible that some Russians support of 306 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 2: Zar Dmitri revealed a very practical desire for stability. Power 307 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 2: struggles meant bloodshed and steep taxes. Even for those skeptical 308 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 2: of the rumors of miraculous escapes, the regal and righteous 309 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 2: seeming Zar Dmitri, whoever he was, may have been significantly 310 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 2: preferable to lesser known usurpers, if only for the sake 311 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:12,119 Speaker 2: of having a semblance of order, stability, and tradition. As 312 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 2: for Dmitri, he was both a person or series of people, 313 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 2: but also an enduring idea. As a symbol, Dmitri galvanized 314 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 2: the masses and for centuries to come inspired creative works 315 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 2: of fiction, theater, music, and poetry. In some ways, Dmitri 316 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 2: was also an aspirational fantasy. For a brief period in Russia, 317 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,880 Speaker 2: there was basically an open casting call for an emperor. 318 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 2: You could be a peasant, a beggar and alleged demon, 319 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 2: accommodating former monk, and be plucked from obscurity and given 320 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 2: the keys to the Kremlin. It's basically Russian American idol Czar. 321 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 2: Dmitri's narrative was a classic rags to riches tale, so 322 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 2: intent icing that it begged to be repeated again and again. 323 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 2: And can we fully scoff at those involved, considering we've 324 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 2: all probably fantasized about sitting on a throne at some point, 325 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 2: maybe deep down we all have a little Dmitri in us. 326 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 2: That's the end of the second part of the deja 327 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,959 Speaker 2: vu filled story of the False Dmitries. But stick around 328 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 2: after a brief sponsor break to hear about one more 329 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 2: supposed Dmitri who baffled Russia. In these False Dmitri chronicles, 330 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,200 Speaker 2: the Dmitries are all intriguing, but just like in any 331 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 2: decent series of comic books or action movies, every legendary 332 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 2: hero needs a worthy foil, and in Vasily Shwisky, this 333 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 2: story has a fascinating antagonist and case study in contradiction. 334 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:06,159 Speaker 2: In analyzing Vasily's battles against various Dmitri incarnations, it's hard 335 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 2: not to picture Vasily as everything from a cunning schemer 336 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,119 Speaker 2: to a ridiculous arch villain shrieking at his underlings for 337 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 2: failing to dispatch his death defying rival. The time of 338 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 2: the Troubles may have been a pinnacle for pretenderism, but 339 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 2: it was also a heyday for hypocrites, perhaps none bigger 340 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 2: than Vasily. For instance, after spending years promoting falsehoods about 341 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,439 Speaker 2: how Dmitri was a dark sorcerer in the League with Satan, 342 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 2: when Vasily feared that he was losing the war to 343 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 2: false Dmitri the Second, he allegedly looked into dark sorcery himself. 344 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,920 Speaker 2: In an even wilder turn of events, There is actually 345 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 2: one more type of false Dmitri we have not yet discussed, 346 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 2: one whose inclusion is debatable, since he never sought to rule, 347 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 2: but whom Vasily had no one but himself to blame 348 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 2: for creating. After usurping the throne, Vasily sought to further 349 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 2: discredit false Dmitri the First by having the body of 350 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 2: the young boy Dmitri, the one who died when he 351 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,439 Speaker 2: was eight years old, dug up under the guise of 352 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 2: honoring him as a martyr. He had the exhumed Tsarevich 353 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 2: paraded around while spreading propaganda that the amazingly well preserved 354 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 2: body of this true Dmitri could perform miracles and emitted 355 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 2: a sublime fragrance. The only problem with this plan, every 356 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 2: part of it accounts claim that the spectacle fooled no one. 357 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,479 Speaker 2: Not only did the body smell like a dead body, 358 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 2: everyone was almost certain that Vasily had actually ordered a 359 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 2: boy of the same age to be killed and used 360 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,440 Speaker 2: as a replacement. In other words, the man who had 361 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 2: spent an extraordinary, very amount of time playing a game 362 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 2: of Whack a Dmitri perplexingly created a retroactive false Dmitri himself, 363 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 2: although allegedly this one was already dead. And not only 364 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 2: did Vasily keep trying to pass off this false dead 365 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 2: Dmitri as legitimate, he made him a saint, which technically 366 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 2: also made him the first canonized but now mostly non 367 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 2: canonical Dmitri. As much as Vasily hated his zombie like nemesis, 368 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 2: having dealt with him at every stage from boy to 369 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 2: boy saint to man to czar to stand in czar 370 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 2: to reluctant tzar to quickly multiplying horde of cheap knockoff czars, 371 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 2: perhaps we should credit Dmitri's clearly obsessed opposite number as 372 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 2: having actually done more to immortalize the Dmitri persona than 373 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 2: any other person in history. Noble Blood is a production 374 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 2: of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. 375 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 2: Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional 376 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,480 Speaker 2: writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit, 377 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 2: and Julia Melaney. The show is edited and produced by 378 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 2: Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il Kaali and executive 379 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 2: producers Aaron Mankey, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more 380 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 2: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 381 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 2: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.