Recent Western Historiography of the Time of Troubles in Russia

In spite of the length and detail of Dunning's background chapters, there are some curious omissions. His comparative material does not include any discussion of the many pretenders in early modern Europe whose claims preceded those of the First False Dmi- trii and may have served as a model for him: he makes no mention, for example, of the false Don Sebastians, who were seen by Dmitrii's contemporaries in Poland, and by Pope Clement VIII, as prototypes for the Russian pretender. Indeed, Dunning's narrative of 16^th century events deals almost entirely with domestic Russian developments, largely ignoring foreign affairs and the broader European context: he does not consider the Counter-Reformation and the Union of Brest that created the Uniate Church, nor does he explain events in Poland-Lithuania and on the Baltic. Because of these omissions, a non-specialist reader would find it difficult to understand the attitudes of the elites in the Rzeczpospolita and of the Catholic hierarchy towards the appearance of the pretender at Brahin.

The most striking feature of Dunning's book is the highly positive picture he presents of the First False Dmitrii. Dunning is not convinced by the evidence that the pretender was Grishka Otrepev, but he offers no alternative explanation of his identity, other than to suggest that he might actually have been the real Tsarevich Dmitrii of Uglich. Dunning (like Philip Barbour and others) believes that “Dmitrii” was not a conscious impostor, but was genuinely convinced that he was the tsarevich Ibid. P. 131-132.. He was not the tool of the Jesuits or the Poles: his secret conversion to Catholicism was merely “a necessary political ploy” to obtain support in Poland, as was his promise of the concession of Russian territory to Jerzy Mniszech Ibid. P. 135-136.. When he came to the throne, Dmitrii proved to be no revolutionary: he may have behaved as an unconventional, Westernised ruler, but his policies were traditional ones, in line with those of his predecessors, including Boris Godunov Ibid. P 202-204.. Nevertheless, Dunning suggests, Dmitrii was an exceptional figure, whose “unique and remarkable story” set the precedent for all subsequent pretenders in Russian history Ibid. P 119-122, 479..

If many of the books we have considered so far place aspects of the Time of Troubles in the context of broader themes that concerned Western historians in the decades following the Second World War -- such as comparative history, peasant studies, and the history of rebellions and revolutions -- then a more recent work by a member of the younger generation of American historians derives from a different agenda. In the Preface to his book on the Orthodox Church during the Time of Troubles, Isaiah Gruber (b.1977) states that he became interested in the topic because of the resurgent role of religion in the post-Soviet period -- Russia's “new Time of Troubles” Gruber I. Orthodox Russia in Crisis: Church and Nation in the Time of Troubles. DeKalb (IL), 2012.

P IX.; he draws attention to the revival of interest in the period in Russia itself, and to the creation in 2005 of the new public holiday of the “Day of National Unity” on 4 November, commemorating the liberation of Moscow in 1612 and the supposed role in the victory of the Kazan' icon of the Mother of God Ibid. P 11-12..

Gruber deals with the history of the Church in the early 17^th century in more or less chronological order, but he identifies four main themes which he pursues throughout his narrative. The first of these is the representation of Russia as “New Israel”. As the author recognises, Christians of virtually all denominations share the view that they have replaced the Jews as God's “chosen people”, but Gruber argues that the New Israel idea acquired a distinctive form in Russia after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, when Muscovy became the world's only independent Orthodox state, claiming to preserve the true Christian faith. The idea of Muscovy as the New Israel, Gruber suggests, was more influential in 16^th century Russia than the similar notion of Moscow as the Third Rome; and its significance developed further during the Time of Troubles, when Orthodox churchmen compared the sufferings of the Russian people to the afflictions of the Jews during their Babylonian captivity and Roman exile. While the concept of New Israel increased in prominence during the Troubles, the idea of the Third Rome declined: perhaps, the author suggests, because of Russians' identification of Rome with the Polish-Lithuanian Catholic invaders Ibid. P. 23-50, 181-184..

Gruber's second theme -- for which he made use of some archival materials -- is the role of the monasteries during the Time of Troubles. He concludes that the monasteries were primarily great economic corporations, rather than spiritual institutions, and that their main preoccupation was the pursuit of profit, whichever regime was in power. Only in the later stages of the Troubles, when their profits were threatened, did they participate in initiatives to restore political stability Ibid. P. 51-74, 163-172, 184-186.. The third theme of Gruber's book -- and the one in which he arguably makes the greatest contribution to our understanding -- concerns the role of Orthodox churchmen in developing new concepts of monarchical legitimacy following the dynastic crisis of 1598. In order to justify Boris Godunov's succession, the old hereditary criteria were replaced by three new principles, which Gruber identifies as vox Dei, voxpopuli and vox feminae. The first of these, the “voice of God”, took the form of approval of the new ruler by the Patriarch and other Orthodox hierarchs; the “voice of the people” was expressed by the Assembly of the Land; and the “voice of the woman” was that of Tsaritsa Irina, who sanctioned the transfer of power from her husband, Tsar Fedor, to her brother, Boris Godunov. The “voice of the woman” continued to be heard throughout the Troubles, when the dowager Tsaritsa Maria Nagaia acknowledged the First False Dmitrii as her son, and Marina Mniszech “recognised” the Second Dmitrii as her husband Ibid. P. 75-96, 186-190.. Finally, as his fourth theme, Gruber argues that Orthodoxy became fragmented during the Time of Troubles, as the Church leadership lost credibility with believers because of its constant shifts of allegiance amongst tsars who were presented as legitimate rulers one day, and as usurpers or impostors the next. The habits of independent thought acquired by the critics of official Orthodoxy during the Troubles, Gruber suggests, may have contributed to the similar independence of thought vis-а-vis the Church hierarchy that was displayed by the Old Believers later in the 17^th century Ibid. P. 152-163, 180-181, 190-196..

Gruber's book falls short of the author's aim of providing a comprehensive history of the Church during the Troubles -- and indeed, as he himself recognises, the fragmentary nature of the surviving sources makes such an aim a difficult one to achieve Ibid. P. 18-21.. Nevertheless, his account represents an enterprising attempt to deal with a topic which -- as the author rightly maintains -- has considerable relevance for present-day Russia Ibid. P. 11-13, 197., and he successfully demythologises some of the more grandiose claims made for the role of the Orthodox Church in saving the country from disaster.

* * *

It will be evident from this review that there are no distinct “schools” of Western scholarship on the Time of Troubles: indeed, there are surprisingly few serious studies that deal with the period Perhaps the preoccupation of so many Western historians with the nature of the Russian state has led them to avoid this puzzling period of virtual statelessness.. The works we have considered are very much the products of individuals who have been attracted to aspects of the Troubles from very different starting points. We can however detect a number of main themes. Samozvantsy have of course been a popular and intriguing subject ever since the 17^th century. Philip Barbour makes a lively contribution to the debate about the identity, personality and policies of the First False Dmitrii; and new approaches to cultural history, such as semiotics and the study of mentalitйs, have led to a reappraisal of the phenomenon of pretendership and the popular attitudes associated with it (Bercй, Perrie). Broader intellectual trends in Western historiography since the Second World War, such as comparative history, have influenced approaches to the social movements of the Time of Troubles (Mousnier, Dunning). Finally, the eternal search for relevance and topicality in relation to present-day concerns has influenced some historians. Paul Avrich found in the Bolotnikov uprising a precedent for the role of peasants and the urban poor in 20^th century revolutions; while Isaiah Gruber sees parallels between the 17^th century Time of Troubles and Russia's post-Soviet difficulties.

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