1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised, as legend 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: has it, Shortly after dawn on May seventeenth, sixteen o six, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: Sar Dmitri crouched on a window ledge outside his palace 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: in Moscow. This was not part of the Russian Emperor's 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: typical morning routine and was definitely not an activity that 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: he and his new bride, who was hiding inside in 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: an adjacent room, would have had on their ideal post 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: wedding itinerary. But times were desperate. There were assassins closing in, 10 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: so Sar Dmitri gazed down from his window perch. The 11 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: drop was substantial, but over in the direction of Red Square. 12 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: Loyal citizens were street onto the Kremlin grounds. If Dmitri 13 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: could leap to the next building, his supportive subjects would 14 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: surely be able to arrive in time to protect him 15 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: from the horde of coordinated assassins who had surrounded his 16 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: bedchambers and were about to break in at any moment. 17 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: The next few seconds would prove vital for Czar Dmitri's 18 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: life and reign, as well as for the entire course 19 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: of early modern Russian history. He prepared to make his 20 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: daring leap, But unfortunately for Dmitri, like so many aspects 21 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: of the period of political turmoil that would become known 22 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: as the Time of Troubles, Dmitri's plan took an almost 23 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: comically dire turn. Dmitri slipped and plummeted to the ground, 24 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: breaking his leg in the process. He was soon at 25 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: the mercy of his enemies, and that's where things got 26 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: even more peculiar. In the heat of a violent coup, 27 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: plenty of rulers find themselves in the tense and awkward 28 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: position of needing to beg for their lives. But even 29 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: within that pantheon of impassioned please, the back and forth 30 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: that Czar Dmitri had with his particular group of would 31 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: be assassins stands out because a good portion of his 32 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: pleading supposedly focused on him trying to convince them that 33 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: he was in fact who he claimed to be. He 34 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: begged his captors to bring him to his people. They'd 35 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: embrace him as Czar Dmitri, their rightful leader, or they 36 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: could go ask his mother. She'd certainly vouch for him 37 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: that he was her son. And the heir of former 38 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: Zar Ivan, why not even pray those of ardent faith 39 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: would receive confirmation from God that he Dmitri, had been 40 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: divinely chosen to rule. With the larger crowd fast approaching, however, 41 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: the assassins chose not to waste time praying and to 42 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: avoid any further delay by shooting, hacking, and bludgeoning their target, 43 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: who may or may not have been the rightful Czar Dmitri, 44 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: to death. But Dmitri's story was far from over. Whoever 45 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: he truly was, that young emperor who literally fell from 46 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: power kicked off quite a trend. Many more so called 47 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: false Dmitries would eventually come forward, all claiming to be 48 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: the one, the only, the original Czar Dmitri. I'm Danish 49 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: forts and this is noble blood. Unlike other famous characters 50 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: who probably never existed, such as your King Arthur's or Odysseus's, 51 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: there is evidence that at least at the start of 52 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: this heightened tale, there was a real person named Dmitri 53 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: Ivanovitch who had a hereditary link to the Russian monarchy. 54 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: In fifteen eighty two, Tsarevich, or son of the Tsar Dmitri, 55 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: was born to Tsar Ivan Vassilovitch, commonly known to the 56 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: modern world as Ivan the Terrible, and his sixth wife, Maria. 57 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: Relatively few details seem to be known about Dmitri's earliest years, 58 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: especially since many accounts of this period focused more on 59 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: the royal succession plan, of which the young Tsarevich was 60 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: not initially a featured contender. According to some, Dmitri was 61 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: not even a fully legitimate Tsarvich. His parentage was not 62 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: necessarily in doubt, but per Russian Orthodox law, the offspring 63 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: of a man's fourth marriage was typically deemed to be illegitimate, 64 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: so the child of a sixth marriage pretty far down 65 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: the potential inheritance standings. After Ivan died, his oldest living 66 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,799 Speaker 1: son became czar. The new power dynamic was complicated, however, 67 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: because Ivan's heir purportedly possessed what might be classified today 68 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:44,359 Speaker 1: as significant neurodivergence or learning disabilities. Ivan had foreseen his 69 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: oldest son struggling to rule on his own, and he 70 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: appointed a council of regents to help run Russia behind 71 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: the scenes. What could go wrong right? An ambitious member 72 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: of that council named Boris Godunov soon relished his newfound 73 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: influence so much that he didn't see why he should 74 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: stop at being mere regent with a sidelined, ineffectual tsar 75 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: Boris envisioned taking the throne for himself. This path meant 76 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: weeding out all likely future challengers, so Boris pushed the 77 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: illegitimate Tsarevich narrative while also exiling Dmitri, along with his 78 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: mother and numerous members of their family, to the far 79 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: off principality of Uglik. Unfortunately, few memorable personal details about 80 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: Dmitri's upbringing appear to have survived. Sources recount that his 81 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: grandfather and several relatives, having not taken their banishment very amicably, 82 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: plotted to topple Boris. It is highly unlikely that young 83 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: Dmitri meaningfully participated in any of that planning, given that 84 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: he would have been under the age of eight, but 85 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: it is probable that on some level, his family's desired 86 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: retribution triggered his tragic demise. In May of fifteen ninety one, 87 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: young Dmitri reportedly died in Uglik. His family members were incensed, 88 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: certain that the event was a covert murder orchestrated by 89 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: Boris as retaliation for their opposition to his governmental control, 90 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: and their argument may very well have been valid. As 91 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: the circumstances of young Dmitri's death were dubious. Boris sent 92 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: an official delegation led by a zealous prince named Vasily 93 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: Schiski who will become integral later on, so remember that name, 94 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: to investigate the death. But given the conflicts of an 95 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: interests involved, it seemed like less an act of proper 96 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: due diligence and more like let's say, an oil company 97 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: sending a team to check if they were at fault 98 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: for an oil spill. Sure enough, the commission ruled that 99 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: Dmitri's death was accidental, reporting he had suffered a seizure 100 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: at the exact time that he had been playing with 101 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: a knife, which had led him to inadvertently cut his 102 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:37,359 Speaker 1: own throat. A possible explanation, sure plausible, you be the judge. Nevertheless, 103 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: despite being sad and a little suspicious, more than a 104 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: little suspicious, the death of a debatably legitimate tsarvich did 105 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: not initially seem to cause that much of a stir 106 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,479 Speaker 1: in larger Russian society. After all, in those days, individuals 107 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: in line for the throne frequently died in odd accidental 108 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: ways years before. Zar Ivan himself had even been said 109 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: to have accidentally killed his own eldest son at the time, 110 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,719 Speaker 1: which we actually covered in the fittingly titled Ivan the 111 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: Terrible and his Oldest Son episode. In general, to many 112 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: Russians outside of Moscow, news of Dmitri's passing was likely 113 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: met with fairly mild reactions, ranging from who to well 114 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: these things happen. Flash forward to sixteen o two. Boris 115 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: had successfully become Tzar by out maneuvering and dispatching all 116 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: of Ivan the Terrible's remaining descendants, or at least he 117 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: thought he was rid of the lineage. Rumblings began that 118 00:09:55,040 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: young Dmitri Ivanovitch had miraculously survived the attempt to kill 119 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,199 Speaker 1: him as a boy. After a few months, a man 120 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: finally came forth in Poland Lithuania in sixteen o three 121 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: and declared that he was, in fact Dmitri, the rightful 122 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: claimant to the throne. It was quite the assertion then 123 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: and even now. Historians continue to debate the origins of 124 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: this mysterious figure. The most widespread theory at the time 125 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: was that this Dmitri impostor was originally a monk named 126 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: Gregory Otrepev, who had been defrocked for dabbling in dark sorcery. 127 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: Sar Boris tried to push that idea to undermine his challenger, 128 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: and for centuries that presumption prevailed, largely due to how 129 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: the political climate under subsequent regimes dissuaded historians from questioning 130 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: that theory. However, modern scholars, less fearful of Russian Tsars 131 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: threatening their lives and freedoms, have pretty persuasively shown that 132 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: this adult Tsarevich Dmitri impostor could not have been Otripev. 133 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,079 Speaker 1: Another key theory is that the pretender was someone raised 134 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:27,079 Speaker 1: to believe he truly was Dmitri. Contemporary witnesses marveled at 135 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,359 Speaker 1: how convincing he was, believing that not even a talented 136 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: actor could so seamlessly inhabit the role. The proposed timeline 137 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: is critical here, since producing a Dmitri who so wholeheartedly 138 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: bought into his backstory would have meant in doctrinating him 139 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: at a very young age. Considering the contentious rift between 140 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 1: Dmitri's family and Boris Godunov, it's not unthinkable that after 141 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: the murder of actual Dmitri as a child, his calculating 142 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: relatives had the foresight to immediately start training a replacement 143 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: Dmitri to have ready to go when the opportunity arose. 144 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: There's a third main theory as to who the pretender 145 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: or false Dmitri was the real Dmitri. This notion was 146 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,080 Speaker 1: laughed off by many historians over the years, but there 147 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: is actually a bit of evidence to possibly bolster that argument. Specifically, 148 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: there were many suspicious details involved in the aftermath of 149 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: Dmitri's young death. For example, there was a highly irregular 150 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:49,239 Speaker 1: four day delay in bearing his body. The investigative commission 151 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: apparently could not confirm that the body was Dmitri, and 152 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: a few sources at the time declared outright that the 153 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: real Dmitri had been swapped for a different boy before 154 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: the alleged murder took place. Dmitri's godfather, at one point 155 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: even apparently swore on a cross that the man claiming 156 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: to be Dmitri was his true godson, who he'd been 157 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: hiding from Boris since the assassination ordeal. But again in 158 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: terms of conflicts of interest, Dmitri's close relative insisting that 159 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: he had outwitted the man he'd been trying to overthrow 160 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: for a quarter of a century is not exactly the 161 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: most reliable testimony. Whatever his true identity, this adult Tsarevich 162 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:46,079 Speaker 1: Dmitri was soon making waves, and he amassed an impressive 163 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: army to take the throne as Russia's reputedly rightful and 164 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: if overlooking the Church's debatable fine print on sons of 165 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: sixth marriages, wholly knew ruler naturally, at this point you 166 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: might be wondering how this adult Dmitri was able to 167 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 1: sow effectively hoodwink people, or if he was the real deal, 168 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: how he managed to convince everyone of that. Looks mattered little, 169 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: since few knew or remembered what Dmitri looked like as 170 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: a boy. This adult version was apparently not the most 171 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: striking or handsome. He was of middling height and had 172 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: a distinctive wart by his nose, but he won people 173 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: over with his demeanor. As a supposedly twenty two year 174 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: old man, this Dmitri was a skilled horse rider, a 175 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: brave warrior, smart, and very eloquent. In short, he was popular. Still, 176 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: launching a full scale rebellion was not as simple as 177 00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: trotting around on horseback and making charismatic speeches. Many elements 178 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: were involved in winning support from both the Russian people 179 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: and the nobility. One massive tragic factor that greatly aided 180 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: this Dimitri's case among the people was starvation. One of 181 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: the worst famines in Russian history arrived in sixteen o two, 182 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: and it was so devastating that contemporary reports estimate that 183 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,479 Speaker 1: it ultimately killed roughly one third of the total population. 184 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: To czar Boris's credit, he desperately tried to help his 185 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: subjects by distributing food and money, but the situation was 186 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: so extreme and corruption so rampant that the crisis snowballed, 187 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: and with unceasing hunger, disease, and death being overwhelming obstacles 188 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: to nuanced reflections on macroeconomics, many surviving citizens predominantly blamed 189 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: their leader for the horrific state of things. Thus, when 190 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: this new Tsarevich Dmitri emerged, many disgruntled Cossacks, soldiers, merchants, 191 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: and townsfolks quickly backed him. Religion was another crucial factor 192 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: that helped Dmitri. Throughout the sixteenth century, the major players 193 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: at the Kremlin had strived to fortify their standing by 194 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: sacrilizing the monarchy. Essentially, the goal was to assure the 195 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: Russian Orthodox masses that it was not worth bothering to 196 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: question Azar's right to rule, since God handed down that right. 197 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: This effectively laid the groundwork for Dmitri in the sense 198 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: that his apparent evasion of the assassination attempt against him 199 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: when he was a child fit with a story that 200 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: he was divinely selected. It was easy enough to even 201 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: promote parallels between his grand reas appearance and Christ himself 202 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: rising from the grave. Plenty of Lord's influential families and 203 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: exiled boyars, members of the highest ranking nobility, also harbored 204 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 1: ample animosity toward tsar Boris, and so they joined the 205 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 1: Tsarevich Dmitri's cause, hoping to sway the political scene back 206 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: in their favor. Dmitri's own mother, Maria, had been stripped 207 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: of her privileges and forced to go live in cramped 208 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: confinement as a nun. So when the plucky supposed Tsavich 209 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: arrived with his growing army and promised to bring his 210 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: mother back to Moscow and restore her to status if 211 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: she confirmed that he was in fact her son, it 212 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,199 Speaker 1: likely didn't take her long to declare something along the 213 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: lines of yep, definitely this guy is my son everyone. Meanwhile, 214 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 1: in Moscow, Tsar Boris grew increasingly paranoid about the man 215 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: leading a military campaign through the country against him. Thus, 216 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: in citing the first civil war in early modern Russian history, 217 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: harsh punishments awaited anyone deemed to be a supporter of 218 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: the impostor Dmitri. Boris tried to counter his rival's popularity 219 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: by continuing to espouse the idea that this impostor was 220 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: the disgraced monk Otrapev, who was disgraced since he was 221 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: clearly debauched and evil. However, it should be noted that 222 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: accusing a political foe of being a wicked heretic was 223 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: pretty standard practice in those days, and in this case 224 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: it does not appear to have significantly helped zar Boris's cause. 225 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 1: Far less helpful to his cause was an illness that 226 00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: killed him before Tsarevich Dmitri even reached Moscow. So faced 227 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: with a magnetic young warrior prince leading a sizeable army 228 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,400 Speaker 1: toward them, the noble classes at the Kremlin were suddenly 229 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: also offered a relatively easy choice over whether to acknowledge 230 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 1: this Dmitri's legitimacy or call him out as a sacrilegious poser, 231 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: to loosely paraphrase their general response, Hi, the long lost Dmitri, 232 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: welcome back. We are your loyal supporters and we always 233 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:36,439 Speaker 1: thought so. Dmitri air Quotes was crowned on July twenty first, 234 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: sixteen oh five. Historians would later refer to him by 235 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,880 Speaker 1: names such as false Dmitri, the first, the pretender Dmitri, 236 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: and the quote first false Dmitri. But for now, since 237 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: he did undeniably attain the title of Czar, I think 238 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: we can simply call him Czar Dmitri. But after riding 239 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: Russia's f first Civil War to the highest seat of power, 240 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 1: did he actually have a plan for ruling. It's tricky 241 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: to get a complete sense of Czar Dmitri's short reign, 242 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: since his successor ordered numerous court documents be destroyed, and 243 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: he vigorously tried to discredit his predecessor through an intense 244 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: propaganda campaign. Nonetheless, in spite of being frequently labeled a 245 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: conniving impostor or evil runaway monk, perhaps the biggest shock 246 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: of all is that, gasp, this Dmitri may have been 247 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: a deserving and effective monarch. Many of his contemporaries, including 248 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: some avowed enemies agreed that he possessed many outstanding qualities. 249 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: He was apparently well educated, adept at state craft, and 250 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: highly resourced and wise. Czar Dmitri was also an ambitious 251 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: military leader who sought to greatly improve Russia's army. Unlike 252 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: countless other rulers who eschewed the nitty gritty of battle 253 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 1: preparation in favor of lounging around and bragging about the 254 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: size of their conquered territories, Dmitri enjoyed immense popularity with 255 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: his soldiers because he actually trained with them. Fun fact, 256 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: he was also the first Russian czar to use the 257 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: title of emperor, so yeah, he was feeling himself a little. 258 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: But still, many biographers point out how, rather than fully 259 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: descending into egomania once he gained power, Zar Dmitri actually 260 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: apparently tried to use his platform to improve Russia's government. 261 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: For example, he ushered in more progressive laws, promoted plans 262 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: to further education and scientific research, and even tried to 263 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 1: cut down on bribery of public officials. That last one 264 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: may sound basic to the point of obvious, but it 265 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: was a decidedly rare stance for seventeenth century Russia. Former 266 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: czars were extremely reliant on their private police forces to 267 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: terrorize enemies and extort peasants, so the idea of even 268 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: proclaiming that someone would want to limit corruption, much less 269 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: taking any relevant action, would have been likely laughable to them. 270 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: Dmitri was no old school czar, and he went a 271 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: step further to try to ensure timely justice for average citizens. 272 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: He allowed them to come and petition him in person 273 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: twice a week. Imposter or not, you have to give 274 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: the guy credit for his dedication. Dmitri's different ruling style 275 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: started to rub a few at court the wrong way. However. 276 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: He reportedly cut back on traditional ceremonies and dressed in informal, 277 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: quote Western ways. He supposedly scorned certain entitled or uneducated, 278 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: high born lords. Dmitri also flummixed many of his nobles 279 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: by essentially being a bit too chummy. Many nobles were 280 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: used to living in fear of provoking vitriol and retribution, 281 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: and they were apparently confused as to why Dmitri sometimes 282 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: seemed to want to hear them talk without first threatening 283 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:44,640 Speaker 1: them or commanding them to do so. Perhaps far more consequentially, 284 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 1: Dmitri was unusually welcoming of foreign intellectuals, and he did 285 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 1: not follow many of the same religious rights as former czars. Supposedly, 286 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: he was reluctant to spend hours in every day he 287 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: ate food seen as unclean by the Russian Orthodox Church, 288 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: and he was relatively tolerant of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. 289 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,199 Speaker 1: The friction between Czar Dmitri and some members of the 290 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: aristocracy all came to a head with his planned marriage 291 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 1: Marina Mnishek, was a Polish Catholic princess, daughter of the 292 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 1: commander who had led Dmitri's forces during his rebellious military campaign. 293 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: Many higher ups in the Russian Church eventually signed off 294 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: on the marriage agreement, but there were fanatical holdouts who 295 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: saw this as proof of a plan to secretly convert 296 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: Russia to Catholicism. While there is essentially no convincing evidence 297 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,959 Speaker 1: that a religious overhaul was ever Zar Dmitri's goal, his 298 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: plan to marry Marina gave his usurper the ammunition and 299 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: opportunity they needed. His primary usurper would be Vasily Shuisky, who, 300 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,880 Speaker 1: if you'll recall, was the power hungry prince who happened 301 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 1: to be the man who once oversaw the dodgy investigation 302 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: into the death of Dmitri the child back when he 303 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: was eight years old. In an ironic turn of fate, 304 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: all these years later, Vasily's ascension to the throne hinged 305 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: on him covertly gaining enough allies to oversee a deadly 306 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: coup of Dmitri the grown man. Despite some of the 307 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: initial wariness regarding Czar Dmitri marrying a Polish Catholic woman, 308 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,639 Speaker 1: Russians living in the capitol were still clearly suckers for 309 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: a big, glamorous royal wedding. Marina was reportedly given a 310 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: warm public welcome in Moscow on May second, sixteen o six, 311 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: and over the course of two celebratory weeks there there 312 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: were grand processions, Lavish festivities, and on the wedding day itself, 313 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: huge crowds who gave the bride enthusiastic ovations. However, cross 314 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: cultural tensions also ratcheted up between certain resident Russian factions 315 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 1: and incoming Polish wedding guests. Behind the scenes, Vasily sought 316 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: to maximize this chaos by fanning the flames of xenophobia. 317 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 1: While it is again difficult to separate the truth from 318 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 1: rumors that he perpetuated. There were multiple reports of thefts, vandalism, 319 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: and even the alleged murder of a Russian by a 320 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: Polish visitor. But rather than put his assassination plan into 321 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: action as fights spilled onto the streets when Ri and 322 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: his security forces were on highest alert, Prince Vasily waited. Finally, cunningly, 323 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 1: Vasly struck at a time when Dmitri was most vulnerable, 324 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: the direct aftermath of all the wedding celebrations. By then, 325 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: Dmitri was feeling confident that most of the discord and 326 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: danger had passed, so seemingly, ever, striving to be a 327 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: thoughtful boss, he told half his guard to stand down 328 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: to rest. In the wee hours of May seventeenth, sixteen six, 329 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: Vasily snuck his amassed group of over two hundred armed horsemen, merchants, clerics, 330 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: and relatives into the Kremlin. At the same time, he 331 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: played up the idea around Moscow that the Polish were attacking, 332 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: so that angered crowds would storm the gates and inadvertently 333 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: block reinforcements from coming to Czar Dmitri's aid. Dmitri still 334 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,719 Speaker 1: had enough time to retreat through his chambers and try 335 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: to leap out the window to safety. But we now 336 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: know how that turned out. Even for an athletic guy 337 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: who loved military training exercises, he likely never practiced specific 338 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: window escapes. After he fell and unsuccessfully tried to reason 339 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,439 Speaker 1: with his attackers, who clearly did not buy into his 340 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: identity and overall hype, he was murdered. Thus ended the 341 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: life of an enigmatic figure who had ruled for a 342 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: little under a year, been married for a little over 343 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: a week, had played a starring role in Russia's first 344 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: Civil War, and ostensibly became the only czar to take 345 00:28:54,200 --> 00:29:00,040 Speaker 1: over the throne thanks to popular uprisings and a military campaign. 346 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: It's worth taking a moment here to recognize just how 347 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: influential this young man's unprecedented reign potentially was, even though 348 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: it was so brief. From Zar Dmitri's legal reforms to 349 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: his incentives that improved many citizens' livelihoods, to his military innovations, 350 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: Zar Dmitri demonstrably backed up his purported goal of governing 351 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: as a fair minded emperor rather than a ruthless tyrant. 352 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: Historian Richard Helley went so far as to call Zar 353 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: Dmitri quote one of the few really enlightened rulers Russia 354 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,680 Speaker 1: has ever had. Several scholars have even argued that Czar 355 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: Dmitri's short but productive rule made him a clear forerunner 356 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: to Peter the Great. The flip side of his legacy 357 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: is that while he was a potential role model for 358 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: future czars, Dmitri also served as a an excellent proof 359 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: of concept for subsequent royal pretenders. Following Czar Dmitri's assassination, 360 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:14,479 Speaker 1: Vasily immediately began fretting over his victim's legendary popularity and 361 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: hold on Russia's collective imagination. He ordered that Dmitri's body 362 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: be dragged through the street in a horrific manner to 363 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: show everyone that he was not some divinely selected monarch 364 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: and that he was very clearly dead. But if there 365 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: was one thing that Vasily had not prepared for in 366 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: all of his scheming, it was having to deal with 367 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: a czar who would not remain dead, a czar whose 368 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: ghost would insist on haunting him throughout the rest of 369 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: his life. Really, this oversight was silly, a Vasily, having 370 00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: led the investigation of Dmitri's murder back when Dmitri was 371 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: a child, Vasily knew as well as anyone that this 372 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 1: wasn't the first time that Dmitri had quote unquote died 373 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: and returned from beyond the grave. The last time Dmitri 374 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:18,760 Speaker 1: had been murdered, Ham had accidentally slit his own throat 375 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: as an unsupervised knife wielding caeizure prone child. It took 376 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: over a decade for rumors to start spreading that Dmitri 377 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: had miraculously survived this time, though whispers that Dmitri Ivanovitch 378 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: had somehow, yet again cheated death would begin circulating within 379 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: a matter of days. That's the first part of the 380 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 1: wild and duplicitous story of the false Dmitris. But stick 381 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,960 Speaker 1: around after a brief sponsor break to hear about another 382 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: key slip up that helped to seal Csar Dmitri's fate. 383 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: The intriguing duality of Zar Dmitri was such that some 384 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: of the same traits that won him favor, like his 385 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: thoughtful approach to doling out justice, also directly contributed to 386 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: his own downfall. Specifically, this was the case with an 387 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: early assassination attempt on the Czar's life. The assassination attempt 388 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: was easily sniffed out right after Zar Dmitri took over 389 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: in Moscow, and guess who was behind it? One Vasily Schwisky. 390 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: That's right, good old Vasily tried to pull off a 391 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: murderous plan with his two brothers, but this time early on, 392 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: he was caught and put on trial in what basically 393 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: played out like a riveting Time of Troubles era episode 394 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: of Law and Order. Zar Dmitri himself acted as prosecutor. 395 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: He reportedly wowed the crowd with his eloquent argument against 396 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: Vasily's family history of traitorous behavior, and Vasily was sentenced 397 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: to death several days later in Red Square. However, Dmitri 398 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: allegedly halted Vasily's execution at the last second, in a 399 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: dramatic reversal likely intended to foster unity. Dmitri mercifully exiled 400 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: Vasily to a far off town where we know now. 401 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: Vasily spent time strategizing about how to return for his 402 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: next assassination attempt. So as strategic as his eventual successful 403 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: usurping was, Vasily perhaps does not deserve too much credit, 404 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: considering it was his second try. He bungled his first 405 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,480 Speaker 1: attempt and was still granted a second chance to go, 406 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: perfect his plan and return once he was ready to 407 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 1: fully step in to ahem starring role. Noble Blood is 408 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. 409 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,400 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional 410 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy 411 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: Hit and Julia Melaney. The show is edited and produced 412 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima il KLi and 413 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For 414 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 415 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.