Abstract

The article examines the image of M.V. Skopin-Shuisky in the official historiography of Russian kingdom of the 17th century. Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky (1586–1610) was a remarkable commander of the time of the Troubles and was its “only impeccable hero” (O.A. Tufanova), which was reflected in historical documents, journalism and even folk art of the 17th century. Naturally, the heroic image was used by the first Romanovs for their own purposes, but its content changed depending on the current political moment. Based on the analysis of the Story about Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky, the Chronograph of 1617, Another Legend, the New Chronicler, the Legend of Kings and Grand Dukes, etc. It is concluded that the image of prince is gradually turning from the figure of a brave commander into a tool for the first Romanovs to assert the illegitimacy of the reign of Tsar Vasily Shuisky. In the future, when the legitimacy of the Romanovs themselves was finally confirmed, M.V. Skopin-Shuisky gets a third-rate role in historical sources or disappears from their pages altogether. 

REFERENCES 

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