The son and heir of Ivan IV., Theodore, was a weak man whom his father called more fit to be a bell-ringer in a convent than a tsar. The direction of affairs fell to the hands of his father-in-law Boris Godunov, an able man who continued the policy of Ivan IV. The Church of Russia received its independence and equality with other orthodox churches by the granting to its head the metropoli tan Job of the title of patriarch at the hands of Jeremiah, patriarch of Constantinople (1589). Another important measure was in tended to strengthen economically the middle landlord class cre ated by Ivan IV. as against the boyars. Peasant labourers were forbidden to leave their estates or migrate to other landowners. All such "fugitives" who fled from their masters after 1592 (the time of the completion of government registers) were ordered hack in 1597. This was the origin of legal serfdom.
In 1598 Theodore died; after some hesitation Boris had himself elected tsar by a zemsky sobor. He pursued Ivan IV.'s policy of weakening the boyars. But he met with opposition on their part. The only legal heir of Theodore, Demetrius, had been killed in Uglich, the place of his exile, in 1591. But the boyars with the help of the Poles opposed to Boris a "Pseudo-Demetrius," a young and well educated man of obscure origin. Boris died (April, 1605) soon after the appearance of this pretender (Autumn, 1604), who was accompanied by Polish volunteers and aided by the Cossacks. On June 19, 1605, the im postor entered Moscow. On May 17, 1606, he was killed in a pop ular outbreak caused by the boyars who took advantage of the popular dislike of Pseudo-Demetrius' free habits of life and the Catholic tendencies of his Polish protectors. The old dynasty was completely extinguished. The throne of the Tsar passed to an influential boyar, Basil Shuisky (1606-161o). He gave a formal promise to the boyars "not to repeat the policy of Ivan IV." against them, i.e., not to exterminate them by capital punishment, by exile and confiscation of estates, without resorting to the boyars' Court. However, the power of the boyars could not be restored; much more influential now was the rising class of small landlords, "men of service." Still more dangerous for Basil were the Cossacks and the fugitive serfs in the newly colonised south of Russia. A real social uprising was started in the south by a former serf, Bolotni kov. The ferment was rife over the south and the east. A second false Demetrius appeared and in the spring of 1608 marched on Moscow. He established his camp at Tushino, near Moscow. The boyars wavered between the Tsar Basil and the "thief of Tushino" : there were many "flittings." Basil turned to Sweden for help but as soon as he received aid from Charles IX. of Sweden Charles's rival, Sigismund, king of Poland, also entered Russia as Basil's adversary and a new pretender to the Russian throne. In Sept. 1609 Sigis
mund appeared before Smolensk. In July 1610 Basil was de throned by the boyars and the "men of service." The throne re mained empty through internal dissensions and a real "time of troubles" set in, which lasted for three more years (1610-13).
The boyars preferred a Polish can didate and together with the "men of service" they offered the throne to Sigismund's son Vladyslay. A delegation was sent to Smolensk, and Moscow voluntarily received Polish troops under 2olkievsky. A treaty was concluded with Vladyslav which secured the rights of the duma and the privileges of the landed gentry. A Polish dynasty might have settled in Moscow but for Sigismund's desire to keep the throne for himself. Sigismund's pretension woke up the spirit of national opposition. The second Pseudo Demetrius at once won popularity—especially among the Cos sacks and the lower classes. But in December 1610 the impostor was killed by a Tatar of his suite. The middle landlord class then took action on the urging of the Patriarch Hermogene. The "men of service" under Lyapunov and the Cossacks under Prince Trubet skoy and ataman Zarutsky blockaded Moscow ; inside the town a popular uprising forced the Poles to retreat to the Kremlin. But here again dissensions arose among the besiegers. Lyapunov was killed by the Cossacks, and the men of service returned to their homes. The south of Russia was in complete disorder; crowds of Cossacks and Polish marauders dispersed all over the north. This finally decided the gentry to make a new effort and to gather a new national army which would "exclude the Cossacks and stand firm until a new sovereign is elected by all the land." Prince Poshar sky was made commander-in-chief of the army and Cosmo Minin, a butcher from Nishni-Novgorod, the treasurer. All northern towns and districts sent their detachments and their represent atives to the army as it advanced up the Volga. In April 1612 it stopped at Yaroslavl. As Novgorod had been taken by the Swedes, Posharsky offered the throne to Charles Philip, brother of Gustavus Adolphus. In August Posharsky's army moved south wards to Moscow. On Nov. 27 the Poles capitulated in the Krem lin, and a national candidate was set free : the young Michael Romanov, whose father, the metropolitan Philarete, a nephew of the first wife of Ivan IV., was at that moment a prisoner in Po land. All votes were at the disposal of a national tsar, more accept able to the gentry as he did not belong to an old princely family, and young enough (he was 17) to secure the boyars against over bearing conduct. Michael was unanimously elected by a regular zemsky sobor on Feb. 2 1 , 1 6 1 3 .