Russian statehood went through a lot difficult stages, sometimes one was worse than the other. Most historians call the oprichnina years the most terrible and dark period in the history of Russia. Is the oprichnik a myth, or did he really exist? There were terrible rumors about these sovereign servants; they said that they were not human at all, real monsters, “demons in the flesh.” So what can be said about the guardsmen, who they really were and why such truly terrible stories are told about them?

Forced measures

The emergence of the oprichnina was preceded by a number of events negative for Moscow. The Muscovite kingdom during this period waged a bloody Livonian War. Livonian conflict- this is one of the largest military companies of the 16th century in the Baltic region, which was led by large, influential states in those regions - the Muscovite kingdom, the Swedish kingdom, and the Danish kingdom. In January 1558, Moscow attacked Livonia. At the beginning of the campaign, Russian troops brought Ivan the Terrible a number of significant victories; Narva, Dorpat and many other cities and villages of the Baltic region were conquered.

In conditions of war

For seven years Russian state continued the bloodshed and hard war with the Livonian state. It was not only Emperor Peter I who dreamed of “opening a window to Europe.” also decided to dot the i's in what seemed to be eternal problem Russian economy. The beginning of the military campaign was quite successful for Russia. After the crushing defeat at Ulla, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army fled to the Lithuanians. In connection with the situation that arose, Ivan the Terrible introduced the oprichnika structure into the country.

Strict selection

At that time, not only the king had power in the country; foreign and domestic policy was influenced by large feudal lords, who were divided into eight nests - according to the kinship and allotment principle. None of them acted for the benefit of their country and, naturally, they put taxes into their own pockets. There were sometimes two feudal lords per serf. There were about eighty Yaroslavl princes alone at that time. All these princes did not put a penny into the treasury, which made them very angry. Since the country already had enough problems, and especially during the war, the king needed to solve this feudal problem. In 1565, on January 3, Ivan the Terrible announced that he was abdicating the throne due to anger at the nobles. After such a shocking announcement, thousands of people gathered and went to the king to beg him to return to the throne and lead the country again. Exactly a month later, the Russian Tsar announced that he would return to rule, but with the rights to execute the boyars without trial, impose taxes on them, and deprive them of their property. The state had to give everything else to the zemshchina. To all this he added that he was introducing oprichnina in the country. In it he identified individual boyars, clerks and servants. Therefore, an oprichnik is a person who has certain powers and carries out orders directly from the tsar himself. The tsar obliged certain Vologda, Suzdal, Vyazma, Kozelsk, Medyn and others to maintain the oprichnina.

The essence of the oprichnina

An oprichnik is a person who took on the function of a lightning rod, depriving a prince or feudal lord of power in a certain region. Ivan the Terrible acted very cunningly, thus killing two birds with one stone. He deprived the nobles of arbitrariness and distributed to those who remained the lands conquered in the Baltic states. The meaning of the word oprichnik is “a person holding a position with the king in the ranks of his supporters.”

Black Guards

The oprichnik is the tsar’s personal guard, which recruited not only mature men, but also selected nobles. The main condition under which the selection was carried out was the absence of family or blood ties with noble persons of the nobility. All that Ivan the Terrible demanded from his people was unquestioning obedience. The most important thing for domestic policy there was a guardsman. Its meaning was narrowly focused and somewhat reminiscent of the function of special forces in our time.

Combat encounters

Since the princes had military serfs under their command (a detachment of warriors who protected the interests of their master), depriving this nobleman of his land was not an easy matter. This is where the “black horseman” appeared - the oprichnik. We defined the word a little higher. His occupation was essentially strengthening the unified power of the king and killing those who disagreed with it. They are often characterized as cowardly and vile people. But not everyone was like that; among the guardsmen there were also good military leaders and field commanders. There was a case: during the capture of a Livonian city, an army under the command of Prince Tyufyakin stood near the fortress and began to “argue”; the reluctance to go on the attack and constant excuses angered the king, and he sent a guardsman there, who, having shown the royal decree, removed Tyufyakin and him from command of the army assistants, and he himself undertook to lead the fighters in the assault.

Dog head and broom

Modern historians describe the king's personal guard as follows. A man dressed all in black, with a dog's head strapped to the saddle and a broom behind his back. The head symbolized that the young guardsman would sniff out betrayal and sweep it away with a broom. This was not entirely true. Yes, the oprichnik was dressed in a black caftan, since they were a kind of order and dressed accordingly. As for carrion, it’s complete nonsense; on a hot day, you won’t have much fun with a severed head. This information first appeared from foreigners, who most likely drew an analogy with the Dominican monks; the symbol of this order was the head of a dog that adorned the gates of the monastery. Why a dog's head? The Dominicans called themselves dogs of the Lord. They, like the guardsmen, investigated crimes (against faith), and perhaps this was the reason for the emergence of such an analogy. And the broom was not really a broom. As a sign of their belonging to the king's chosen caste, the guardsmen wore a woolen brush on their belts - a broom that swept away treason.

Hard facts

During the oprichnina, a lot of people died; it is still not possible to say exactly how many. An oprichnik is a murderer, through whose fault at least 6 thousand people died. This is exactly the figure the historian Skrynnikov calls.

Oprichniki

Those terrible years are characterized by many as a period of repression and tyranny. And, of course, there are the most famous guardsmen who were remembered most for their deeds.

Fyodor Basmanov is the son of oprichnik Alexei Danilovich. There was a rumor about Fyodor that he was the lover of Ivan the Terrible himself, in particular, they refer to the stories of foreigners. Reflected the Tatar attack on Ryazan. In 1569 he commanded the oprichnina troops in the south of the country. Was awarded.

Malyuta Skuratov is an oprichnik, the main villain, who received his nickname due to his short stature. He was the leader of the oprichnina. He started his journey from the lowest position, but, thanks to his cruelty, reached high altitudes. He became famous for his passion for conducting investigations. He was more of a killer than a guardsman. Killed in battle in 1573.

Afanasy Vyazemsky is another famous guardsman. Had special status the tsar, they even said that he was Ivan the Terrible’s favorite and enjoyed unlimited trust. It was so strong that the tsar took the medicines prepared by Grozny’s personal physician Lensey only from the hands of Afanasy Vyazemsky. During times brutal repression Vyazemsky, together with Malyuta Skuratov, stood at the head of the guardsmen. Vyazemsky ended his earthly existence during torture, accused of conspiring with Russian enemies and wanting to transfer Pskov to Lithuania.

Mikhail Temryukovich Cherkassky - prince. He came to Muscovy in 1556. Obeying the will of his father, he was baptized and became one of appanage princes. Mikhail became an oprichnik thanks to his valiant campaign against the Tatars and his sister Maria, who related him to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. After some time, Prince Cherkassky acquired sufficient influence at the court of the Moscow Tsar.

Officially, Mikhail Cherkassky was mentioned among the guardsmen since September 1567. He, like all significant figures in the tsar’s personal guard, actively took part in the torture of gentlemen disliked by the monarch. In May, Cherkassky was executed allegedly for treason, and one of the popular versions says that he was even impaled.

The guardsmen looked quite creepy: they dressed in dark robes, similar to monastic robes, and severed dog heads dangled from the necks of their horses. Another “trademark” of Ivan the Terrible’s devoted servants was the brooms attached to the whip. Such symbolism was not accidental: the dog’s head symbolized the dog’s devotion to the sovereign and the ability to thoroughly “bite” all the subjects he disliked, while the metaphorical broom was supposed to sweep away unnecessary rubbish from the hut called “Rus”.

Malyuta Skuratov

"Tsar's Decree. Malyuta Skuratov." Painting by Pavel Ryzhenko

The name of this man became a household name: this is still often called the most inveterate scoundrels. Malyuta Skuratov was considered the main guardsman of Ivan the Terrible, his most faithful servant, capable of committing any atrocities to the delight of the Tsar-Father. The real name of the famous murderer is Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belsky. According to one of the versions put forward by historians, he was awarded the gentle nickname “Malyuta” for his short stature.

The German Heinrich Staden, who by the will of fate became one of the guardsmen of Ivan the Terrible, spoke rather unflatteringly in his memoirs as state system in general, and Malute in particular. “This one was the first in the chicken coop,” this is what a foreigner wrote about Skuratov.

Afanasy Vyazemsky

"Oprichniki". Painting by Nikolai Nevrev

After the tsar’s conflict with archpriest Sylvester and the okolnichy Alexei Adashev and the fall in the authority of the “Chosen Rada,” Vyazemsky quickly gained confidence in Grozny. Afanasy became so close to Ivan IV that the latter agreed to take medicine exclusively from his hands. However, the music did not play for long: Vyazemsky soon found himself at the center of court intrigue. In 1570 he was accused of treason and tortured mercilessly. It was during the brutal executions that yesterday’s guardsman died.

Alexey and Fedor Basmanov

Ambrose Buchma and Mikhail Kuznetsov in the roles of Alexei and Fyodor Basmanov in S. Eisenstein’s film “Ivan the Terrible”

For some “sovereign people” the oprichnina became family business. For example, Alexey Basmanov and his son Fedor worked together for the benefit of Ivan Vasilyevich. According to the memoirs of the aforementioned Heinrich Staden, Grozny even “indulged in debauchery” with the younger Basmanov. It is not known for certain whether everything the German says can be trusted, but evidence remains evidence, so such testimony cannot be ignored.

The opinions of other contemporaries about the Basmanovs were also quite peculiar. For example, Andrei Kurbsky, who is generally considered one of the first Russian emigrants, called Alexei “a maniac and a destroyer of both himself and the Holy Russian land.”

Vasily Gryaznoy

"Oprichnina". Painting by Orest Betekhtin

“From rags to riches” - it was according to this well-known principle that Gryazny’s career developed. According to the tsar himself, Vasily was “very little not in the huntsmen” of Prince Peninsky in provincial Aleksin. However, Gryazny was surprisingly lucky: the town became part of the oprichnina domain of Ivan IV, and the former low-ranking servant was able to enter the sovereign's service. Since then, Vasily Gryazny’s business has gone uphill. He became one of Grozny’s favorite guardsmen and began to create lawlessness together with Skuratov and Vyazemsky. But Ivan Vasilyevich quickly lost interest in Gryaznoy: when the former close confidant was captured, the tsar did not even bother to ransom him.

Text: Matvey Vologzhanin
Illustrations: Vlad Lesnikov

Historians are often tempted to do their science the way, say, biologists, physicists, or mathematicians do. They want to create harmonious systems, inflated general theories and generally classify everything into shelves and drawers. Here's the early formation of feudalism, here's perfect example tribal community, here are the structures of land use and their influence on the historical process of passionarity...

Historians do this not out of innate malice and not because they are tired of being in the eyes of society the types who can tell a cool joke about Madame Sorel’s garter, but are no longer good for anything. In fact, historians have a dream. They want to study humanity's past in such a way that it will be possible to predict its future. To create a science with the help of which every fifth grader would know how to effectively manage countries and peoples and, in general, the entire process of human existence.

So they strive to make history a real science, which is why more than half of serious historical works completely impossible to read. Although the best, the greatest historians simply tell cool jokes about Madame Sorel's garters. They are great because they know: neither to calculate, nor to predict, nor to direct historical process impossible, because it consists of huge number insignificant random facts that cannot be taken into account, determined and, pierced with a pin, catalogued. When great empires lose battles only because one mule in the train had an upset stomach caused by too juicy a thistle bush - from this real science you won't. Alas.

But no one is stopping you from crawling back and forth along the timeline with a ruler and a hygrometer, periodically exclaiming: “Just look at what the establishment of the proto-parliament in Catalhuyuk led to!”

*- Note by Phacochoerus"a Funtik:
« In fact, in the Russian tradition the name Çatal Hüyük is more often written as “Chatal-Hüyük” or “Chatal-Hüyük”, I don’t know for what reasons. This is one of ancient cities world, which existed approximately 8–9 thousand years ago. Very little is known about the Chatal-Khuyuks. For example, the fact that for some reason they made a bunch of stone figurines depicting women with large breasts. Researchers believe that here we see evidence of the cult of the Mother Goddess, but I will see what these researchers will say when they dig up our editorial office and find MAXIM»

Therefore, in this article we are not going to argue that if Ivan the Terrible had been strangled with a pillow in infancy, then we would now be inventing iPads for the whole world. It may very well not be the case. But we can quite scientifically insist that some scraps of the system built by this king are still alive. For example, some elements of the oprichnina are undoubtedly still with us. Unfortunately.

A few words about little Titka

If we are talking about random factors in history, then, apparently, they include the amazing innate cowardice of little Titus, better known to us under the name.

Yes, the little one had to go through a lot. He was born in 1530 and lost his father at the age of three, and his mother at eight. The childhood of the future king passed under the endless strife of his uncles and guardians, who fought for the right to control the young Grand Duke. Conspiracies, executions of traitors, coups and popular riots went on in an endless series, and the fact that Titus-John managed to survive in this snake farm, and not accidentally cut himself with a knife due to childish thoughtlessness, can again be considered a historical accident.

Mistrust panic attacks and frequent attacks of pure paranoia as a result became important features of the royal character: for the ruler of that warlike era, he feared death, pain and illness incredibly.

But still, his character cannot be explained only by a difficult childhood. People who suffered a lot in their youth often turn out to be inclined to mercy and altruism - things for which Ivan the Terrible cannot be blamed. Let's say English Elizabeth The Great One, a contemporary of Grozny, saw even worse pictures in her childhood, including the sight of her mother on the scaffold and her own many-year imprisonment awaiting possible execution, but at the same time she did not become a bloodthirsty beast, and ruled in a completely vegetarian way for those times, which nevertheless did not stop her lay the beginning of the British Empire.

Grozny, in principle, was not familiar with the feeling of mercy, but until his old age he knew how to hide under benches if there was a suspicious noise near the royal bedchamber.

The world for Ivan the Terrible, judging by his own notes, looked something like this.

Knowing his own worth very well, this cowardly, superstitious and ignoble man saw the undoubted God's will is that he is Grand Duke. In his letters, he repeatedly expressed the idea that since the finger of the Lord pointed at him, then, as he is, this is how God needs him. Iron logic. In fact, if higher power could have placed a handsome hero with a knightly disposition on the throne, but they chose him, the evil Titka, urinating under himself at the sight of a bug, then why try to be better? As you were born, so you will be useful...

Ivan the Terrible was even angry with God because he seemed to be preparing him for the fire of hell, forcing him to drown the damned Novgorod babies and execute the peasants who dared to complain. With his hands, John’s, the Goddess clears out this stable. What if he then takes it and pours demonic coals into these little hands?!

Grozny felt very sorry for himself.

However, until the age of 35, John more or less held on. Not trusting the boyars - the highest aristocracy of Rus', he gathered around himself a circle of relative like-minded people, half of whom were not very noble people (Prince Kurbsky calls this circle Elected Rada, since then the term has stuck).

The Tsar and these advisers carried out reforms that subsequently led to the creation in the country of that autocracy that appeared before us several centuries later. He takes care of the additional enslavement of the peasants, takes power into his own hands, grabs land from his neighbors, but behaves relatively carefully. For example, it does not openly encroach on civil liberties; on the contrary, it often promotes democratic norms, to the detriment of the boyars, granting freedom and election to various communities. Heads, of course, sometimes roll, but that’s the king’s job.

But the older the king became, the worse his character became. And soon yesterday’s favorites had to scatter from him to all corners of the world - from Livonia to Italy, since Ivan the Terrible developed an unpleasant habit of looking for conspiracies everywhere, starting with his own outhouse, after which the culprits tried the whole range of medieval investigative activities (we’re not kidding about the outhouse: due to frequent indigestion, the king suspected his relatives, servants and relatives of poisoning him and causing damage). Numerous wars of the 1550s–1560s also did not improve the mood of any of the Muskovits, as we were called in European chronicles that era. Foreigners who came here left damning evidence that the people were swelling from hunger, dying out in entire volosts; in the troops going against the Swedes, then the Tatars, then the Lithuanians, villages from young to old and almost women are taken, and the readiness of the Muscovites to endure everything that happens is truly amazing. After another serious defeat on the Ula River in 1564, Grozny finally decided to restore order and began to remake the country. First, he announced that he was abdicating the throne, confidentially telling the people, they say, let the greedy and evil sorcerers-boyars deal with you now, but I’m tired, I’m leaving.

Some of the people in best traditions howled: “They are insulting the Tsar-Father!” - and Grozny hastened to make a statement: so be it, since you can’t live without me, then I probably won’t renounce, but now hold on, I’ll take care of you all! This is such a simple PR campaign.

First of all, Grozny divided the country in half. Southern part, where the estates of the ancient aristocracy were mainly located, he called “zemshchina”. He declared the northern volosts, inhabited predominantly by free peasants, including Vologda and Galich, a special, that is, oprichnina, territory. Grozny also recruited his personal guard - unborn descendants boyar families, nobles, as well as completely rootless adventurers, both local and European.

These worthy people received the title "oprichniki" - "special officers". Ivan the Terrible calculated that since their rise and income would depend only on him, then he did not need to fear betrayal on their part. And to be on the safe side, he did everything to pit the guardsmen against the boyars and the common population.

The laws did not apply to the guardsmen; they were forbidden to be tried.

The guardsmen did not have the right to be friends, or even simply talk with anyone from the zemshchina, in order to reduce the risk of bribery and conspiracy.

The guardsmen could take any property of the zemshchina for free. If anyone is dissatisfied, you are welcome to submit a petition to the Tsar, as long as you don’t feel sorry for your own skin.

First of all, Grozny sent the guardsmen to slaughter and kill the boyars who were especially unsympathetic to him, members of the boyar families, their servants, their friends, their wives and children. By that time, the tsar had become so Orthodox that he set up his office in the Alexander Sloboda church. Here orders for arrests and executions were given, the still breathing remains of the punished were dragged here if the tsar wanted to admire the traitor one last time or to work with a knife himself.

So that the guardsman could be seen from afar, he was given special signs differences: a broom, symbolizing the restoration of order, and the severed head of a dog, signifying the readiness to gnaw the royal enemies with its teeth. All this was hung on the saddles.

In order for the people to understand everything correctly, the tsar issued several appeals explaining why the servant of the tsar - God’s protege - is above any law and why a person in the sovereign’s service cannot be judged by an ordinary court. Because he is in the government service!

The common people watched, not without pleasure, how the damned boyars were slaughtered, but they turned out to be not humble enough to experience the same pleasure from the fact that the guardsmen were killing and robbing ordinary loyal subjects. At first, the young men who flew into the huts tried to fight back. But punishment for resisting the lawful actions of a representative of the authorities came immediately, and soon the streets of Moscow, Rostov and Yaroslavl began to look like toothless mouths - there were so many burned houses of rebellious owners, whom the guardsmen hanged on their own gates with all their children and household members. And so that the people would not doubt that the oprichniki were committing lawlessness according to the royal will, Grozny himself periodically participated in small campaigns against villages and cities.

The most detailed surviving description of oprichnina life comes from the pen of the German adventurer Heinrich Staden, a native of Munster. IN Moscow State he came from Lithuania because he had, in his words, “an unfortunate habit of getting involved in enterprises that promised not so much benefit to the wallet as a rope to the neck.” Having learned that leaving the Moscow state, once you got here, is impossible, since anyone trying to cross the border will be immediately executed, Henry became despondent, but soon met fellow countrymen who seduced him into joining the ranks of the guardsmen, which “is not difficult to do, since the tsar is much more trusts his fellow tribesmen less than foreigners.”

Having added to his rank and birth, fortunately this required only his own verbal confirmation, Henry went to Imperial Courtyard, where he was immediately hired. He was generously given money, and soon several estates with peasants were also easily given away, and life for Staden went very well.

“Then the Grand Duke went to rob his own people, your land and cities. And I was with the Grand Duke with one horse and two servants. All the cities and roads were occupied by outposts, and therefore I could not pass with my servants and horses. When I returned to my estate with 49 horses, 22 of them were harnessed to a sleigh loaded with all sorts of goods, I sent it all to my Moscow yard.”

“When the Grand Duke left for Pskov, merchants from the city of Kholmogory came running to me. They had a lot of sables - they were afraid that the guardsmen would take their goods from them at the outposts. They asked to buy these sables and give at least some money for them. I could have taken these sables from them and not paid them at all, but I did not need the sables, since a lot of them were sent to me by the man who collects tribute from Samoyed sables. I didn’t do anything to the merchants and let them go.”

“Then I began to take in all kinds of servants, especially those who were naked and barefoot; dressed them. They liked it. And then I began my own campaigns and led my people back into the country along a different road. For this, my people remained loyal to me. Every time they took someone into captivity, they asked honorably where - in monasteries, churches or farmsteads - they could take money and goods, and especially good horses. If the captured person did not want to respond kindly, then they tortured him until he confessed. This is how they got me money and goods.”

“One day we came to a church in one place. My people rushed inside and began to rob, taking away icons and similar nonsense. And it was not far from the courtyard of one of the zemstvo princes, and the zemstvo princes gathered there about three hundred armed people. These three hundred men were chasing six horsemen. At that time, I was the only one in the saddle and, not knowing whether those six people were zemstvo or oprichnina, I began to call my people from the church to the horses. But then the real state of the matter became clear: those six were guardsmen who were being persecuted by the zemstvos. They asked me for help, and I set out to attack the zemstvos. When they saw so many people leaving the church, they turned back to the courtyard. I immediately killed one of them with one shot, broke through their crowd and slipped through the gate. Stones rained down on us from the windows of the women's quarters. Calling my servant Teshata with me, I quickly ran up the stairs with an ax in my hand. At the top I was met by the princess, who wanted to throw herself at my feet. But, frightened by my menacing appearance, she rushed back into the chambers. I stabbed her with an ax in the back, and she fell on the threshold. And I stepped over the corpse and met their girl. Then we drove through the night and came to a large unprotected plantation. I didn't offend anyone here. I was resting."

However, Staden eventually had to flee from these heavenly places. And he succeeded. He made it to Germany, managed to live there to a ripe old age, and not even die on the gallows. He saved our ancestors from “special” power Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey, who decided to plunder Moscow in 1571.

Grozny took the news of the Tatar invasion calmly. The Tsar knew very well what his brave guardsmen were capable of, with the help of whom he had just pacified the rebellious Novgorod - then the sovereign’s servants slaughtered more than six thousand people in a day, including women and babies, and without even breaking a sweat. Grozny believed in his guardsmen. To their reliable head - the valiant Malyuta Skuratov, who had just brutally punished all the rebels in Moscow. Two hundred people were executed Execution Place at the same time: chopped with axes, hanged, burned, skinned. The cry was heard throughout Moscow... What would the frail Tatars do to such brave dogs? Brave dogs, however, had a different opinion. Having heard that he was coming to Moscow Tatar army of forty thousand people, the oprichniki suddenly remembered that they had an awful lot of important matters to do in their northern oprichnina estates. By the time Devlet-Girey approached Moscow, no more than five hundred guardsmen remained there. (To the credit of Heinrich Staden, let us mention that he and his men were just making an attempt to attack the approaching Tatars. True, this ended in the loss of the entire detachment, while Heinrich himself was saved by falling from his horse into the river at the moment of the attack.)

Boyar Mikhail Vorotynsky, the founder of Voronezh, arrived in time to take the battle. His army, albeit small, drove away the Tatars, who had already set fire to and plundered the Moscow outskirts. The Tatars at that moment were more concerned about the safety of the booty, especially the 60 thousand Russian male and female slaves, whom they drove in front of them for sale. Therefore, they preferred to slowly retreat, avoiding an attack on Vorotynsky, but being ready to repel him if he attacked. He never decided to attack, but the job was done: Devlet-Girey was not allowed into Moscow. (As a reward for this, in a couple of years the tsar will personally rip out Vorotynsky’s beard and cover his body with hot coals on the torture table. If you believe Kurbsky’s testimony, this is how the savior of Moscow died, suspected by the paranoid tsar of yet another conspiracy.)

Oddly enough, the tsar reacted quite calmly to the treason of the guardsmen. True, the very word “oprichnina” was forbidden to be uttered; punishment for this was punishable by whipping, but most of the oprichniki were not punished (the same Malyuta Skuratov still enjoyed the royal favor), and many of them simply quietly dispersed to the estates granted to them and became Thus, the main founders of the Russian small nobility.

“Everything they did,” wrote Heinrich Staden, “was with the approval of the king. They did evil deeds not against the sovereign power, but against the people, and in Muscovy they do not punish for that.”

And for a very long time in Russia, those in power will be above the law, which ceases to apply when it comes to the offenses of “sovereign people.”

The section is very easy to use. In the field provided, just enter the right word, and we will give you a list of its values. I would like to note that our website provides data from different sources– encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.

The meaning of the word oprichnik

oprichnik in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

guardsman

guardsman, m.

A serving nobleman, a warrior who served in the oprichnina troops during the reign of Ivan IV (historical). With the help of the guardsmen, Ivan IV finally broke the large patrimonial boyars and strengthened the unified power of the tsar. - We are the royal people, guardsmen! And you are a Zemshchina! We are supposed to rob and rip you off, but you are supposed to endure and bow down! A.K. Tolstoy. The evil guardsman of the Tsar, Kiribeevich, disgraced our honest family. Lermontov.

trans. Oppressor of the people, faithful henchman of the enemies of the people (despise). Ugly forms of exploitation in enterprises plus an intolerable police regime Tsar's guardsmen, a circumstance that turned every serious strike of workers into

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

guardsman

A, m. A person who served in the oprichnina (in 3 digits). Tsarsky Fr.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

guardsman

A serving nobleman, a warrior who served in the oprichnina troops (1*3) during the reign of Ivan IV (the Terrible).

trans. Oppressor of the people, loyal henchman of the enemies of the people.

Wikipedia

Oprichnik

Oprichnik- bodyguard, a person who is in the ranks of the oprichnina army (detachment of bodyguards), that is, the personal guard created by Ivan the Terrible as part of his political reform in 1565.

"Oprichnik" is a later term for this phenomenon. Old Russian word“oprich”, according to Dahl’s dictionary, means: “Outside, around, outside, beyond what.” Hence “oprichnina” - “separate, allocated, special.” During the time of Ivan Vasilyevich the guardsmen were called « sovereign's people» . The word “oprichnik” returned to the Russian language through the efforts of N. M. Karamzin in early XIX century and became a household name for those who fought the revolutionaries with cruel measures.

Oprichnik (opera)

"Oprichnik"- an opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky based on the composer’s libretto based on the story of the same name by I. I. Lazhechnikov. Written in 1870-1872, the premiere took place on April 12, 1874 at the Mariinsky Theater (conducted by Eduard Napravnik).

Oprichnik (clipper, 1880)

Oprichnik- Russian sail-screw clipper (2nd rank cruiser) of the fourth series. Built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel N. A. Samoilov. The only ship in the series is equipped with two side sponsons to accommodate main caliber guns.

Oprichnik (disambiguation)

Oprichnik:

• An oprichnik is a person in the ranks of the oprichnina army, that is, the guard created by Ivan the Terrible as part of his political reform in 1565.
• “The Oprichnik” is the tragedy of I. I. Lazhechnikov.
• “The Oprichnik” is an opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky.
• Oprichnik - bay of the Sea of ​​Japan.

"Oprichnik"- Russian sail-screw clippers:

• The clipper "Oprichnik" is a six-gun sail-screw clipper of the Russian imperial fleet, launched in Arkhangelsk in 1856. Died in Indian Ocean upon returning from the Far East to Kronstadt in November 1861.
• The Oprichnik clipper is a sail-screw clipper of the Russian Imperial Navy, built in 1880.

Oprichnik (bay)

in Oprichnik Bay

Oprichnik (clipper, 1856)

"Oprichnik"- Russian six-gun sail-screw clipper, launched in 1856. He served in Kronstadt, then at Far East. While returning from there to Kronstadt in November 1861, he died.

Examples of the use of the word oprichnik in literature.

In these words of the boyar there was hatred for the enemy of all the greatest boyars: guardsman, not just some nobleman, but a boyar himself, of an old family, he ruined the boyars, depriving them of their ancestral and great-grandfather’s privileges and rights.

The service was rendered by the prince in the same scene to the virtuous robber Ivan Ring, whom guardsmen were going to execute: the prince saved him from death, and he would then lead the prince out of royal prison and will save him.

IN guardsmen Tolstoy sees only a gang of ambitious people, false friends of power, not realizing that the oprichniki were a landowner layer, nobles, more than the boyars, loyal to the autocrat tsar, who helped him strengthen centralized power in the state.

Both the zemstvo people and guardsmen, the tsar praises for his youth, curses the Orthodox people.

As the prince moved away, guardsmen, pacified by the appearance of the holy fool, began to rage again.

Robberies in the vicinity of Moscow have especially increased since guardsmen They displaced entire villages of farmers, entire settlements of burghers.

But from time to time John or guardsmen They let the animals out of their cages, tormented the people with them and made fun of his fear.

True, he has changed since, to the disgrace of all the boyars, guardsmen let's go!

Just fallen asleep guardsmen They heard a familiar ringing, jumped up from their beds and hurried to get dressed.

All guardsmen, dressed individually in shlykas and black cassocks, carried resin lanterns.

To this damned place, but not to dark night, I am on a sunny morning, Malyuta and guardsmen they directed him to run.

How guardsmen They set fire to the hut, so at first it became hot, but as soon as the hut burned down, there was enough frost in the yard!

It’s not because people destroy people because they’re alone guardsmen, others zemstvo, but because both of them are people!

He hurries them to Poganaya Luzha, adjusts the prince’s cap so that they don’t find out guardsmen who is being taken to death.

But they think guardsmen that a simple man is galloping between Khomyak and Malyuta, and they are only surprised that they are taking him so far to be executed.