Moscow uprising. Meal at the Patriarch's

20.11.2023

Which was supposed to help in achieving this goal was gunpowder, accumulated in huge quantities in the city. But he never played his role in the fate of Kazan. During the terrible fire that broke out in Moscow on June 21, 1547, the entire gunpowder stock was destroyed. The scale of this fire was simply terrible. “The fire flowed like a river,” writes Karamzin, “and soon the Kremlin and Kitay-Gorod burst into flames. Big Posad... The crackling of fire and the screams of people were drowned out from time to time by explosions of gunpowder stored in the Kremlin and other parts of the city.”

The year 1547 was marked for Russia not only by a historical fire, but also by a political reshuffle. By the beginning of the forties, Ivan the Terrible managed to gradually free himself from the boyars who showed excessive guardianship. On January 16, 1547, he was solemnly crowned and became the first Tsar in Rus', which completely undermined the influence that the boyars still retained. At that time, the Glinsky boyars, who were hated by the majority of Muscovites, had enormous power and influence. The people blamed their family for the fire that broke out. The fire put an end to the dominance of the Glinskys. Ivan the Terrible was the grandson of Anna Glinskaya - it was her witchcraft influence that popular rumor attributed the terrible act to. She allegedly “took out human hearts and put them in water, and sprinkled that water while driving around Moscow, which is why Moscow burned out.” An angry crowd, led by an executioner, brought Yuri Glinsky to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin and torn to pieces there. Then the people moved to the village of Vorobyov, where the king was at that time. Further inhuman reprisals of the people against the Glinsky family were stopped by the decisive actions of the tsar. The rebellious crowd was soon pacified, but little remained of the former courtly greatness of the Glinsky boyars. Ivan the Terrible managed to derive considerable benefit from this situation: he saved his relatives from brutal reprisals and removed them from all participation in government.

Ivan IV and Archpriest Sylvester during the great Moscow fire on June 24, 1547 (Pavel Pleshanov, 1856)

After the events of that year, ancient, revered icons were delivered to the Kremlin. The fire destroyed treasures that had been stored for many years in temples and ancient chambers. This was the reason why the tsar issued a decree according to which the ancient icons, hitherto located in Veliky Novgorod, Smolensk, Dmitrov, Zvenigorod and other cities, were to be transported to the Kremlin cathedrals damaged by the fire.
After the restoration work was completed, some especially revered icons remained in the Kremlin. Thus, the ancient icon of the Annunciation was not returned to Novgorod. Obviously, it was intended to become a temple image for the Kremlin. Later she found shelter within the walls of the Assumption Cathedral, where in the 18th century she began to be called the “Ustyug Annunciation”.

The fire that raged through Moscow 465 years ago attracted the attention of the state leadership to the state of fire safety in the city. The Tsar passed a law according to which Moscow residents were obliged to keep barrels full of water in their courtyards and on the roof of their houses. The stoves on which food would be cooked were ordered to be built in the garden or in a vacant lot, away from the buildings in which people lived. It was strictly forbidden to light home stoves in the summer. To prevent this, a wax seal was placed on the stoves. To extinguish fires, the first hand pumps appeared at the same time - the ancestors of modern fire nozzles. At that time, such a pump was called a “water pipe.”

Prepared based on materials:
http://www.pobeda.ru/content/view/2317
N.M. Karamzin

MOSCOW UPRISING 1547 - a spontaneous armed uprising of the capital's citizens against the ruling boyar "party" of the Glinsky princes.

The Moscow uprising became a kul-mi-na-tsi-ey so-tsi-al-no-po-li-tic crisis in Russia in the late 1530s - mid-1540s (see so -the same Bo-Yar-government of the 1530-1540s), you-developed: in a significant os-lab-le-niy of the av-to-ri-te -ta and the authorities mo-nar-ha; in the race of the ruling elite and the per-manent shift of non-ruling groups, from -tic stability; in the usi-le-niy of ma-te-ri-al-nyh and so-tsi-al-nyh pro-ti-vo-re-chiy between the division of the nobility and the district nym servant of the nobility; in the all-local growth from the roof not to the freedom of the urban and rural layers in the countryside niya on-the-highest-n-on-logs, on-the-win-no-stey, intensifying the evil-drinking of the hundred-ro-ny on-me-st-ni-kov, hair-te-lei and their ap-pa-ra-ta; in the ineffective activities of the central authorities. This crisis was not overcome even after the crowning of Ivan IV Va-sil-e-vi-cha the Terrible (01/16/1547).

Because of the dryness, the weight of the hundred-year-old heat in the capital in April - June 1547. The disasters they caused, the violence and illegal actions of the Glinskys, their entourage and servants lived directly to the Moscow uprising. A big fire on April 12 destroyed almost all the wooden buildings in Ki-tai-go-ro-de (churches, state and private buildings ), were the stone walls and towers heavily damaged. After 8 days, 2 large industrial settlements in Zaya-u-zye burned down. Already in April, executions took place of persons who allegedly confessed under torture to arson. In some quarters of the city there were outbreaks of heat and later. On June 21, it started to feel hot on Voz-dvi-zhen-ka due to a strong wind, after-the-va-tel-but oh-va-til prak -ti-che-ski the entire territory of the city - the Kremlin, China-tai-city (were destroyed for-the-new buildings), gardens and villages beyond the Ne-glin-ka river, between Ne-glin-ka, Yauza and the Mo-sk-va river, again in Zaya- u-zee.

According to contemporary data, from 1.7 to 3.7 thousand inhabitants of the capital perished, 250 churches were burned and up to 25 thousand courtyards, in the Kremlin you-re-the buildings of the royal treasury, central departments, strongly ski council, uk-re-p-le-niya of the Krem-la and Ki-tai-go-ro-da. The Tsar with his seven and Go-su-da-re-vym's court was at that time in his near-Moscow re-zi-den- tion - the village of Vo-rob-e-vo, Metropolitan Ma-ka-riya with difficulty managed to get out of the Us-pen-so-bo-ra to the Krem-le and took -to the near-city No-vinsky monastery (during the descent through a secret passage, the mi-tro-po-lit received injuries). For several days there was no secular government, no head of the Church, no real authorities in the capital.

The scale of the all-general disaster, the enormous size of the ma-te-ri-al-no-go damage, ineffective -the number of actions of the authorities during the hot hours and in the first days after (perhaps the Glinskys again tried to business to the immediate executions of the next “recognized for-zhi-gal-ni-kov”) you-caused unrest in the city -ro-de. Among the townspeople there were rumors about the witchcraft activities of Princess A.S. Glin-skoy (ba-bush-ki of the king on ma-te-ri), allegedly calling in the heat, about the arson of city houses of servants mi her son-no-vey. “The impact of everything is on-ro-du” (according to A.M. Kurb-sky) “evil” from the Glinskys, apparently, you Well-di-lo-ki-nut Mo-sk-vu fight-ri-on Prince M.V. Glinsky (he returned to his place in Rzhev) and his mother. On June 23, the Po-ste-li Mi-tro-po-li-ta had a meeting for the Bo-Yar Duma, headed by the Tsar (he -tsi-al-but came from Vo-rob-yo-va), where you-stu-pi-li pro-tiv-ni-ki Glin-skikh from among the Duma-tsev: it was re- she-but about the official investigation about the causes of the heat.

The main events of the Moscow uprising took place on Sunday, June 26, and on Wednesday, June 29. At the ve-che-voy so-b-ra-niy of the city-ro-zhan Glin-skys, publicly-but-incriminated-in the count-st-ve, under-zho-gah and on -si-li-yah, would you-recognized vi-nov-us-mi. In the opinion of the observers, the Glinskys’ crimes were especially difficult, since they were explained straight from me: they are in the heat of the “but-ro-vi-li-at-the-ho-d-of-foreign-tribes” - the troops of the Crimean khan Sa-gib- Gi-rea I. Then a crowd of mo-sk-vi-whose (see-di-mo, armed-ru-wives) went to the Kremlin.

There, on So-bor-naya Square, they held their re-go-res from the battle: did you not call the Glinskys to the address? serious thoughts. Prince Yu.V. Glinsky tried to hide in the Uspensky so-bore without a hurry: according to the most probable version, in -the crowd tore violently out of him during the divine service; then he was brought on a rope to the traditional. the place of execution was at the market place, where he was beaten to death with stones. Similar ve-che-ve-she-tions in co-ordination with the norms of customary law have led to the execution of persons from the surroundings of the Glinskys, “after the looting” of the property of the Glinskys themselves, as well as their nobles and servants . You came after the execution of Yu.V. Glinsky and continued to complain, most likely, the next day. Then, where were you killed and the nobles not from the border districts of the upper reaches of the Oka (believe it, they did in Moscow information about the approach of the Crimean Khan's troops to the southern borders of the Russian state), unknown people sk-vi-cham and accepted by them for the Glinsky people.

A new gathering of armed Muscovites was held at the call of the city pa-la-cha on the morning of June 29. Among the rebels there was a rumor that the king and boyar M.V. Glinsky uk-ry-va-yut-sya in the royal residence in Vo-rob-yo-ve. Some persons not named in the sources “po-ve-le-sha kli-ka-ti”, and then a large crowd from the -was in Vo-rob-e-vo, “as it is a custom for battle to have a name.” The unexpected appearance of a large number of armed people shook the 17-year-old king; Subsequently, he remembered the event: “And from this fear came into my soul and trembling into my bones.” With great labor and personal negotiations, the tsar-ryu succeeded in convincing the townspeople of the absence of ancestry. kov in his ko-yah. Although the action of the mo-sk-vi-whose is under the norms about the most serious crimes, king, not having real military forces, he did not dare to resort to massive disgraces and executions (later would you on-ka-za-us only the people who called for the gathering on the march).

A direct consequence of the uprising was the withdrawal from the power of the Glinsky “party”, the loss of disgrace for Prince M.V. Glinsky because of his failed attempt to escape to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The re-lived tremors brought the king closer to Sil-west, who from that time on entered into the near -neck around Ivan IV. The subsequent uprisings also turned out to be more important. In a number of other events of 1547-1549, it contributed to the development of com-pro-misses in internal and external li-ti-ke between different “parties” of knowledge, zones of con-so-li-da-tion of wide layers of “blessed” services -living co-words.

Additional literature:

Schmidt S.O. Mini-tu-ry of the Tsar's book as a source on the history of the Moscow uprising of 1547 // Pro- ble-we-is-not-to-ve-de-niya. M., 1956. T. 5; aka. The establishment of the Russian Federation. M., 1973; aka. Russia Iva-na Groz-no-go. M., 1999;

Smir-nov I. I. Essays on the history of the Russian state of the 30-50s. XVI century M.; L., 1958;

Zi-min A. A. Re-forms of Ivan the Terrible. M., 1960.

MOSCOW UPRISING 1547 , June 21-29. It started after a huge fire. The rebellious townspeople destroyed a number of courtyards of the nobility, killed Prince Yu. V. Glinsky, and demanded from Ivan IV the extradition of the remaining Glinskys, who were considered the culprits of the fire. Brutally suppressed by the government of Ivan IV.

Source: Encyclopedia "Fatherland"

- Uprising of 1547 The immediate cause of the uprising was a huge fire on June 21, 1547, which led to famine and epidemics...
Moscow (encyclopedia)
- large anti-feud. and national liberation. speech of townspeople and peasants...
- see art. Urban uprisings in Russia in the mid-17th century...
Soviet historical encyclopedia
- large anti-feud. an uprising that broke out on July 25, 1662. The uprising was led to economic disorder. life of the country during the wars between Russia and Poland and Sweden, a sharp increase in taxes and a general strengthening of feudal-serfdom...
Soviet historical encyclopedia
- large anti-feud. uprising, ch. arr. archers and soldiers of the capital, supported by part of the residents of Moscow and its environs; continued from the end. April - early May to autumn 1682...
Soviet historical encyclopedia
- the first major uprising in the Czech Republic against the rule of the Habsburgs. It flared up in an atmosphere of increased tax oppression, religion. oppression, strengthening the positions of the Germans. elements in the country...
Soviet historical encyclopedia
- Archimandrite Solotchinsk. Ryazan...
Large biographical encyclopedia
- 9-18.12.1905. Prepared by the Moscow committees of the RSDLP and the Socialist Revolutionary Party, it grew from a general strike. Barricade battles between vigilantes and troops took place in all areas of Moscow, especially on Presnya...
Russian Encyclopedia
- June 21-29. It started after a huge fire. The rebellious townspeople destroyed a number of courtyards of the nobility, killed Prince Yu. V. Glinsky, and demanded from Ivan IV the extradition of the remaining Glinskys, who were considered the culprits of the fire...
Russian Encyclopedia
- GOST (-84) Oils and lubricants. Methods for determining the presence of water. OKS: 75.100 KGS: B09 Test methods. Package. Marking Replaces: GOST -74, GOST 1548-42 Valid: From 01/01/86 Note: reissue 2002 in Sat. "Petroleum products. Oils...
Directory of GOSTs
- a major anti-feudal and national liberation uprising of townspeople and peasants...
- anti-feudal urban uprising in the Russian state...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- “Salt Riot”, a movement of the lower and middle strata of the townsfolk population, urban artisans, archers and courtyard people in June in Moscow, one of the largest urban uprisings of the mid-17th century. Was...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- "Copper Riot", a major anti-feudal uprising that broke out on July 25. To M. v. led to a breakdown in the economic life of the state during the wars between Russia and Poland and Sweden, a sharp increase in taxes and...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- “Khovanshchina”, leader of the Streltsy movement, head of the Streletsky Prikaz), a major anti-feudal uprising, mainly of Streltsy and soldiers of Moscow, supported by part of the residents of the capital and its...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- the first major uprising in the Czech Republic against the rule of the Habsburgs. Caused by tax oppression, religious persecution, strengthening the position of the German element in the country...
Great Soviet Encyclopedia

"MOSCOW UPRISING 1547" in books

From the author's book

Muscovy (1547-1689)

Russia (Moscow Kingdom) Kingdom since 1547, empire since 1721

From the book Scaliger's Matrix author Lopatin Vyacheslav Alekseevich

Russia (Moscow Kingdom) Kingdom since 1547, empire since 1721 1263-1303 Daniil of Moscow1303–1325 Yuri III1325–1341 Ivan I Kalita1341–1353 Simeon the Proud1353–1359 Ivan II the Red1359-1389 Dmitry Donskoy138 9–1425 Vasily I1425–1433 Vasily II Dark1434–1434 Yuri Galitsky1434–1446 Vasily II Dark

Moscow uprising

From the book Alexey Mikhailovich author Andreev Igor Lvovich

Moscow Uprising The growing discontent did not escape Morozov's attention. But the arrogance with which the upper classes were accustomed to look at the lower classes did little to help establish a sober view of things. The people's patience seemed limitless. Impunity and permissiveness

Moscow uprising

From the book Minin and Pozharsky author Shishov Alexey Vasilievich

Muscovy 1547–1689

From the book Chronology of Russian history. Russia and the world author Anisimov Evgeniy Viktorovich

Moscow Kingdom 1547–1689 1542–1563 Ministry of Metropolitan Macarius In 1542, Macarius, an educated and intelligent clergyman, scribe and writer, whose name is glorified in Russian literature and culture, became Metropolitan of Moscow. Macarius developed a code of ecclesiastical

Moscow uprising of 1648

From the book Will Democracy Take root in Russia author Yasin Evgeniy Grigorievich

Moscow uprising of 1648 At some point, the matter went beyond the struggle of the court parties. The government turned out to be weak. The townspeople and service people, who were usually at enmity with each other, were able to unite and force the tsar to send Morozov into exile. On June 10, 1648, the tsar was

Moscow uprising

author

Moscow uprising There has been a very turbulent situation in Moscow since the beginning of March. The day of the Holy Holiday, Easter, was approaching, for which many believers from surrounding areas always came to the city. Under their guise, militias could also penetrate. Pole N. Markhotsky, who was

Moscow uprising

From the book History of Russia. Time of Troubles author Morozova Lyudmila Evgenievna

Moscow uprising There has been a very turbulent situation in Moscow since the beginning of March. The day of the Holy Holiday - Easter, was approaching, for which many believers from the surrounding areas always came to the city. Under their guise, militias could also penetrate. Pole N. Markhotsky, who was

Moscow uprising 1382

TSB

Moscow uprising 1547

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MO) by the author TSB

Moscow uprising 1648

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MO) by the author TSB

Moscow uprising 1662

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MO) by the author TSB

Moscow uprising 1682

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MO) by the author TSB

Czech Uprising 1547

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (CHE) by the author TSB

Moscow uprising. Meal at the Patriarch's

From the book Russian Patriarchs 1589–1700. author Bogdanov Andrey Petrovich

Moscow uprising. Meal at the Patriarch's On April 23, 1682, they feasted in the Cross Chamber. Not far away, in the Terem Palace, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich was quietly dying of scurvy. At the table, without worrying about looking after the near and far dioceses of the great Russian state,

date June 1547 Cause Fires, crop failures, dissatisfaction with tax increases primary goal Massacre of the Glinsky boyar family Bottom line Murder of boyar Yuri Glinsky; arrests and executions of rioters Organizers Middle and lower strata of the urban population

Moscow uprising of 1547- unrest among the middle and lower strata of the urban population that occurred in Moscow after the drought and fires of 1547. In the absence of the sovereign, unrest began in the capital; people left homeless were looking for those to blame for arson and witchcraft. Popular rumor blamed the unpopular relatives of the mother of the Grand Dukes for the incident. On June 26, an angry crowd killed a relative of Ivan IV, Yuri Glinsky. Three days later, the crowd went to the Tsar, demanding reprisals against the rest of the Glinskys. The goal of the rebels was the fall of this boyar family. After negotiations and concessions, the people dispersed, and the instigators were subsequently arrested and executed.

Causes

Socio-political crisis

Portrait of Ivan the Terrible, 1672

According to a number of researchers, the Moscow uprising of 1547 was a consequence of the aggravated socio-political situation in the Moscow state in the first third of the 16th century. On the one hand, this period was characterized by a weakening of the authority of the tsarist government and the struggle for power of boyar clans and families. On the other hand, the tax-paying population was dissatisfied with the increase in taxes, the increase in duties and the arbitrariness of governors and volosts. From the point of view of Marxism-Leninism, the events of 1547 were interpreted as an urban anti-feudal uprising caused by a "sharp exacerbation of class contradictions" and the tyranny of the boyars. The crowning of the young Ivan IV in January 1547 did not live up to the hopes of the people and did not help overcome the existing state crisis. The Glinskys, the Tsar's maternal relatives, gained great influence at court, which caused discontent among other representatives of the highest nobility and people.

Fire damage

The immediate cause of popular unrest was the fires that occurred in Moscow in the spring and summer of 1547. The fires were caused by hot and dry weather: “...the same spring a great drought came and the water subsided in one week, and the ships on the Moscow River dried up”. The first major fire occurred on April 12, when more than two thousand retail shops, guest houses and residential buildings burned out in Kitai-Gorod. A week later, the neighborhoods behind the Yauza burned down.

On June 21 (according to some sources - 24), 1547, Moscow was engulfed in a new, “great” fire. Within two days, Arbat and the Kremlin, the unburned parts of Kitai-Gorod, Tverskaya, Dmitrovka, and Myasnitskaya were on fire. According to chronicle sources, about 1,700 people died in the fire.

A rumor spread throughout the burning city that the Glinskys were to blame for the disaster. The Novgorod Chronicle said: “Because a conspiracy came against them, but they ordered Moscow to be set on fire.”. The Tsar's grandmother, Anna Glinskaya, was accused of conjuring the fire: “she washed out human hearts and put them in water, and sprinkled them with that water while driving around Moscow, and that’s why Moscow burned out”. The Glinsky family was also charged with high treason.

Being a spontaneous explosion of the struggle of the social lower classes against the arbitrariness of the boyar rulers, the Moscow uprising of 1547 apparently did not have any expressed political program. The only demand of the rebel Muscovites, which sources mention, is the demand for reprisals against the Glinskys, who in the eyes of the people personified all the negative aspects of boyar rule. Soviet historian Ivan Smirnov

Video on the topic

Story

Progress of the uprising

The main events of the uprising occurred after the "Great Fire". On June 26, people gathered at a meeting on Cathedral Square, where the Glinskys were found guilty of arson and witchcraft. In the Assumption Cathedral, the Tsar’s uncle, boyar Yuri Glinsky, was “killed by peace”: he was beaten during a service and then stoned to death. The Glinsky households that remained after the fire were burned and looted.

On June 29, the crowd moved to the village of Vorobyovo, where Ivan IV was hiding from the fires along with his wife Anastasia and brother Yuri. Chronicles describe that “there was confusion among the people of Moscow: many black people went to Vorobyov and from the shield and the street, as if to the fighting customs of the imah, at the cry of the executioner”. The goal of the rebels was to deal with the rest of the Glinskys. According to the Soviet historian Sigurd Schmidt, in anger, people were even ready to kill the king, who allegedly hid his relatives. Not expecting an attack by armed Muscovites, the 17-year-old tsar entered into negotiations and promised the resignation of governor Mikhail Glinsky. The crowd dispersed, but unrest in the capital continued for about a week. After the rebellion was pacified, the king ordered the arrest and execution of its instigators. According to Schmidt, the reprisal against the participants in the June uprising was not harsh, since “the political situation in the summer of 1547 was in no way suitable for carrying out mass executions.” During that period, the priest Sylvester appeared in the inner circle of Ivan IV, who convinced the sovereign that the fires were the wrath of God that fell upon Ivan for his unrighteous deeds. Subsequently, Grozny recalled the June events: “And for this reason fear came into my soul and trembling into my bones”.

The Moscow uprising led to the fall of the Glinsky family and the desire of the young tsar to strengthen absolute power. Historian Alexander Zimin believes that, taking advantage of the unrest of 1547, the religious freethinker Theodosius Kosoy and his henchmen fled from Moscow. This guess was supported by another historian, Alexander Klibanov.

Participants

The question of the participants in the urban unrest of 1547 causes controversy among researchers. Written sources from the reign of Ivan IV varied depending on the period. The original description of the events belongs to early monuments, such as “The Chronicler of the Beginning of the Kingdom” and the Novgorod Chronicle according to the list of the historian Nikolai Nikolsky. Subsequent sources were formed in the later years of Ivan the Terrible's reign and reflect the monarch's point of view during the Oprichnina, when Ivan the Terrible sought to blame the hated boyars and justify his political repression. Such materials are considered by modern scientists as the most ideological, and they are trusted less. According to the first version, the rebels acted on their own initiative, the second - under the leadership of the boyars who sought to usurp power.

Soviet historians believed that the uprising was of a class nature, and its main driving force was the lower strata of the townspeople - the “rabble”. Modern researchers point to the mixed nature of the uprising, in which representatives of various segments of the population took part. Thus, historian Artyom Zhukov refutes the fact that the boyars were the “instigators” of the uprising. However, he notes that the riot had “some semblance of a veche organization,” at the top of which were the city nobility, who opposed the Glinskys. The nobility could fight to eliminate political rivals, as well as express dissatisfaction due to burned property. According to the researcher, “[a] general misfortune had a consolidating effect on Muscovites” .

Notes

, With. 114-130.
, With. 762.
Mikhailenko Anna Valerievna. Moscow uprising 1547 (undefined) . Encyclopedia World History. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
Moscow uprising 1547 (undefined) . Chronos. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
, With. 313.
Karamzin N. M. History of Russian Goverment. Chapter III (undefined) . kulichki.com. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
, With. 116.
, With. 182.
, With. 23.
, With. 92.
Under Tsar John IV (undefined) . Couloir. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
, With. 135-136.
, With. 119-120.
, With. 154.
, With. 116-117, 119.
, With. 122-123.

On June 21, 1547, an event occurred in Moscow, about which one of its witnesses left the following note: “Fear entered my soul and trembling into my bones, my spirit was humbled, I was touched and recognized my sins.” The witness's name was Ivan. Occupation: Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke of All Rus'. He will receive the nickname “Terrible” later. In the summer of 1547, only one thing was formidable - that very event. The Great Fire of Moscow.

When they want to say that small, imperceptible causes can lead to enormous consequences, they use an old Russian proverb: “Moscow burned down from a penny candle.” In this case, it is not even one hundred percent, but three hundred percent appropriate.

From a penny candle

Firstly, there is an exact match in the “small reason”. The chronicle collection, compiled from the words of eyewitnesses, tells about the beginning of one of the most terrible fires as follows: “The church caught fire outside the city on the settlement on Ostrov (in the area of the current Lenin Library) in the monastery from a candle. And it began to burn on all sides.”

Secondly, the scale of casualties and destruction. The same chronicler, having begun to list the objects where the fire had spread, clearly understands that the names of streets and churches alone will take up an inadmissibly large amount of space. Therefore, he says in the style of a newspaper editorial: “Let’s just say briefly - the whole hail is burnt out. Outside the hail, not all of the settlement burned out. Nothing else is visible except smoke and earth and the corpses of the dead lying around.”

The chronicler remains silent about why, in fact, a banal fire, of which there were several in Moscow every year, this time turned into a natural disaster. True, he notices, as if in passing, one curious point: “The stone structure was burned out from the inside, and the hailstones were torn apart by the potion.”

It is not said which “strelnitsa”, that is, the tower, and what “potion” was torn apart, so it will have to be clarified. This meant the First Nameless Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. It has another name - Powder. It is not surprising that it was blown to smithereens: “It tore apart the strelnitsa and scattered bricks along the bank of the Moscow River and into the river.”

Gunpowder for Kazan

Tsar Ivan himself was partly to blame for the scale of casualties and destruction. The fact is that not only one tower of the Moscow Kremlin was destroyed. Explosions of powder magazines occurred here and there during the fire, adding absolutely hellish colors to the overall picture of the disaster. This is how he writes about it Nikolay Karamzin:“The fire flowed like a river, and soon the Kremlin, Kitay-Gorod, and Bolshoi Posad burst into flames... The crackling of fire and the screams of people were drowned out from time to time by explosions of gunpowder stored in the Kremlin and other parts of the city.”

Ivan’s fault was that some logistical shortcomings were made in the strategic planning. Safety precautions were also violated. All this gunpowder was intended to destroy the fortifications of a completely different city - Kazan. Preparations for the campaign against the Volga were carried out long and painstakingly. The “saltpetre” duty was imposed not only on the taxing strata of the population - peasants and townspeople, from whom they took “a pound of gunpowder from 20 households, no matter whose yard it may be.” But also the Church, which no longer fit into any gates. True, they took less from the clergy: “And from every six priests, two hryvnias of potion.”

It would have been nothing, but all these pounds and hryvnias flocked to Moscow, from where they planned to begin the complete and final conquest and conquest of Kazan. If it had not been for the fire, it could have taken place several years earlier. And so it had to be postponed until 1552.

"Russian Musketeers"

Perhaps for the better. This is where the third consequence of that very “penny candle” with which it all began comes to light. To begin with, Ivan IV improved fire safety measures. In particular, he ordered that in every Moscow courtyard there should be a vat of water for extinguishing fires and brooms on long poles, which, dipped in water, would help extinguish flying sparks. The city layout also changed - now every ten courtyards it was ordered to make an alley for unhindered access for firefighters.

True, the firefighters themselves had yet to be started. And at this moment two big strategies came together at once. The idea that it was time to improve and unify the military system even visited Ivan’s father, the Grand Duke Vasily III. But the fire of 1547 greatly spurred efforts in this direction. Already in 1550, rifle regiments appeared. The regular army was the first in Russia and one of the first in Europe, where they were called “Russian musketeers.”

It is believed that this was a serious breakthrough, primarily in the organization of the armed forces as such, which allowed Ivan the Terrible to win on all fronts for a long time, and subsequently minimize defeats in the Livonian War. It's like that. But let’s not forget that the archers’ baptism of fire took place only in 1552 under the walls of Kazan. They showed themselves excellently in that matter. And before that, their duty was to serve as the Moscow fire department. In other words, the young king made the right conclusions from the fire of 1547. And far-reaching.