Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shuisky was a Russian
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
from the
Shuisky
The Princes Shuisky (russian: Шуйские, Shuyskiye) was a Rurikid family of Boyars descending from Grand Duke Dimitri Konstantinovich of Vladimir-Suzdal and Prince Andrey Yaroslavich, brother to Alexander Nevsky. The surname is derived fr ...
family, a younger brother to
Vasily IV of Russia.
As a playmate of young
Tsarevich Feodor Ivanovich, Dmitry was said to accompany him day and night in his devout wanderings from
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
to monastery. In 1584, his slandering of Prince Ivan
Belsky led to riots in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Two years later, he was attested as a governor of
Kargopol. On Fyodor's accession to the throne, he quarrelled with another boyar,
Boris Godunov
Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
, and was expelled to his family patrimony in
Shuya. Later he made peace with Godunov and married his sister-in-law.
Shuisky is best remembered as a singularly incapable general. He was routed by
False Dmitry I
False Dmitry I ( rus, Лжедмитрий I, Lzhedmitriy I) (or Pseudo-Demetrius I) reigned as the Tsar of Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich ( rus, Дмитрий Иванович). A ...
in 1606 and shared disgrace and imprisonment with his brother Vasily. When the latter was elected
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
, he put Dmitry in charge of the army which would lose its every battle against the Polish invaders and their allies. At last he was relieved of his duties and replaced with a young cousin,
Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, whom many regarded as the future tsar.
The rumour had it that Dmitry grew jealous of his much more successful colleague and poisoned Mikhail in his own house. This was cited as one of the reasons for Shuisky being snubbed by his soldiers and populace. In the
Battle of Klushino he suffered an ignominious defeat: he was asleep when the battle started and escaped to Moscow barefoot. The Poles captured him and took with them to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, where he died in 1613.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuisky, Dmitry
Dmitry
Tsardom of Russia people
1613 deaths
Russian people of the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)
Year of birth unknown
Boyars