Vorotynsky

This article is about the Muscovite noble family. For the district of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, seeVorotynsky District.

Ancient gravestones in Vorotynsk

TheVorotynsky familywas aRussian noble familywhich was involved in the politics of theGrand Duchy of Moscowand theTsardom of Russia.Their lands lay principally in theUpper Oka regionand comprised the towns ofPeremyshlandVorotynskas well as parts (дольницы) ofNovosilandOdoyev.

History

Between Russia and Lithuania

Originally lords ofVorotynsk,a tinyUpper Oka principality,these princes entered the service of theGrand Duchy of Lithuaniain the mid-15th century, when PrinceFyodor Romanovichwas betrothed toAlgirdas' granddaughter. Their grandson, PrinceIvan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky,defected to theGrand Duchy of Moscowand helpedVasily IIIbesiege and takeSmolensk.He routed theCrimean TatarsinUkrainein 1508 and again in 1517 nearTula.Aiming at advantage against his young rivalPrince Belsky,Ivan did nothing to help him when the Tatars routed Belsky's army four years later. On this event, Vorotynsky fell into disgrace until 1525, when he solemnly promised to forget his enmity against Belsky and to suspend all the contacts with his Lithuanian relatives. The suspicion as to his plans of defecting to Lithuania still lingered, however. It was the reason given by regentElena Glinskayawhen she ordered him to be taken into custody and immured in the distantKirillo-Belozersky Monastery,where he died on July 21, 1535.

The Vorotynskys and Ivan the Terrible

Vorotynsky family chapel and burial vault in theKirillov Monastery(photo from 1909)

Ivan Mikhailovich had three sons, all of whom played a part in Muscovite politics asboyarsandVoivodes.The eldest of these, PrinceVladimir Ivanovich Vorotynsky,was solicitous to talkVladimir of Staritsainto swearing allegiance toIvan IV's baby son during the tsar's grave illness in 1553 but died himself on September 27 that year. The youngest, PrinceAlexander Ivanovich,was recorded in 1558 as governing the stronghold ofKazanbut later lost the tsar's favor and died as a monk in theSretensky MonasteryofMoscowon February 6, 1565.

PrinceMikhail Ivanovich Vorotynskywas one of those commanders who led theconquest of Kazanin 1552 and was the first to take theArskTower. In 1561 the prince was exiled toBeloozero,and his estates were confiscated. Four years later, he was let out on bail and dispatched to govern Kazan. For ten years, Mikhail Vorotynsky was in charge of Russian southern borders, founding new forts and strengthening theGreat Abatis Belt.His bold leadership made itself felt at theBattle of Molodi,where he routed the larger Tatar army in the three-day battle (1572).

According to memoirs of Ivan's opponentPrince Kurbsky,a year later, one of Vorotynsky's menials, incriminated in theft, insinuated that Vorotynsky was plotting the tsar's death by magic charms.Ivan the Terrible,who never wanted a pretext to execute a boyar, put Vorotynsky to the torture. Mikhail's body was placed between two bonfires, and the tsar personally "raked the burning coals closer to his holy body with an accursed staff". Following the torture, the badly burnt boyar was taken to Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. He died on the way and was buried in that monastery close to his father.

The official register books (Razriady) briefly report that Vorotynsky was executed along with two other military leaders, without further details.

Time of Troubles

Mikhail's son, PrinceIvan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky,was eventually released from the monastery and sent to subdue minor risings in the land ofUdmurts.Vorotynsk and other confiscatedvotchinasof his father were compensated by new lands nearMurom,Nizhny Novgorod,andStarodub-Ryapolovsky.DuringFeodor I's reign, he championed theShuiskysagainstBoris Godunov,thus provoking the latter's ire. This time he was exiled to "very distant places", then served as a voivod in Kazan before finally returning to Moscow in 1598. He remained a loyal adherent ofVasily Shuiskyin all of his undertakings and appears as such on the pages ofPushkin's tragedyBoris Godunov.In 1610, however, Vorotynsky was one of the boyars who demanded and secured Shuisky's deposition and imprisonment. In 1611 he supportedPatriarch Germogenagainst the pro-Polish party, which had them both put in chains. After the Poles were expelled from the Kremlin, Vorotynsky was nominated one of the candidates to the Russian throne. When theZemsky SobornamedMikhail Romanovas a new tsar, Vorotynsky led a deputation of boyars to theIpatiev Monasteryto inform Mikhail about his election. Later, he governedKazanandMoscowduring the tsar's absence from the capital. He died as a monk on January 8, 1627.

Thenceforward the Vorotynskys didn't figure prominently in national politics. Ivan's only son, PrinceAleksey Ivanovich(1610–42), died at the age of 32, survived by his wife, a sister of TsarinaEudoxia Streshneva.Their sonIvan Alekseyevich Vorotynskyprobably profited from his being first cousin ofTsar Alexis,as the 1678censusshows him as one of the biggest private landowners in Russia. He died the following year, on July 24, leaving no male heirs. Thereupon his lands fell to a daughter, Anastasia, who married Prince PeterGalitzine.Anastasia died on December 12, 1691, and was buried by the Patriarch inEpiphany MonasteryofMoscow.