- Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Taratui)
Prince Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Иван Андреевич Хованский) was a
Russia nboyar who led theStreltsy during theMoscow Uprising of 1682 , alternatively known as theKhovanshchina . His life was dramatized byModest Mussorgsky in the eponymousopera . Khovansky's monicker, Taratui, derives from the old Russian word for "chatterbox".Khovansky came from a senior
Gediminid family, whose ancestors moved fromPodolia to Moscow in 1408. He started his employment under Mikhail I as astolnik . In 1650 he was sent to Tula to counter the raids of Crimean Tatars. In 1651–1654 he was governor inVyazma , and in 1656 he was governor ofMogilev .During the Russian-Polish-Swedish war he served as a voivod. In 1657 he blitzed Swedes under
Gdov . He was promoted toboyar s onMarch 27 1659 . In January of 1660 he attacked Brest and set it on fire. During theCopper Riot in Moscow on25 July ,1662 he treated with insurgents and then led an investigation committee based inKolomenskoe . In 1663 he was proclaimed a judge of the YamskoiPrikaz . Between 1669–1678 he governedPskov ,Smolensk , andNovgorod . He was reputed as a dour and masterful manager who didn’t look kindly on local licentiousness and manners.Upon Feodor III's death in April 1682, taking advantage of his popularity among the
Streltsy , Khovansky helped to dismiss theMiloslavsky family from power. He engineered the great Streltsy uprising (May 15 toMay 17 ,1682 ), during which their old and unpopular leader, PrinceMikhail Dolgorukov , was murdered and Khovansky named his successor. Thus, he became de-factoMinister of War ofMuscovite Russia . Wishing to secure the allegiance of the Streltsy, he announced total forgiveness to those who took part in the uprising.Through the support of the Streltsy he established a dual-reign regime, the joint rule of Ivan V and Peter I, under the regency of their sister
Sophia Alekseyevna . As he supported theOld Believers he organized in 1682 a schismatic demonstration and forced Patriarch Joachim to agree to a public debate with one of the Old Believer leaders,Nikita Pustosvyat . The patriarch refuted Pustosvyat's arguments and the next day Sophia had Pustosvyat executed.Relying on the Streltsy, Khovansky wielded enormous political influence and often interfered in the government affairs. In June 1682 he was appointed to lead the Prikaz of Judges. His uncommon arrogance and vanity alienated Sophia and her Miloslavsky relatives, while inducing jealousy on the part of other boyars.
Eventually, the rumours about Khovansky’s intention to assassinate the
Tsar ’s family and to usurp the throne prompted Sophia to evacuate Ivan V and Peter I from Moscow toKolomenskoe and then to the St Savva monastery inZvenigorod . In September a royalukase declared Khovansky the mutineer and the patron of heretics, while theBoyar Duma had him sentenced to death. He was captured in Pushkino near Moscow and taken toVozdvizhenskoe where he was beheaded together with his son.When the news of Khovansky's execution reached the Streltsy stationed in Moscow, they rose in uprising and seized
the Kremlin , but the regent soon quelled the mutinous army and appointedFyodor Shaklovity as their new leader.
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