Boris Godunov 1598-1605

Boris Godunov was no longer a representative of the Rurikovich dynasty, his sister was the wife of Fyodor Ivanovich - the last ruler of the Rurikovich family, but Boris Godunov began a new Godunov dynasty. The time of his reign falls into a historical period called the “Time of Troubles.” The reign of Boris Godunov was quite successful in military affairs, he also developed trade, carried out reforms of the judicial system and established the patriarchate. In 1601-1603, famine began. One of the reasons for the famine of 1601-1603 is called the eruption of the Huaynaputina volcano in Peru (in 1600), during the year the accumulated sulfur and ash in the air reached the northern hemisphere, preventing the passage of sunlight, thereby causing climate change: in the summer there were heavy rains, in the fall it got colder much earlier than usual, in winter there was more snowfall than usual, the temperature outside was lower than usual, summer was very short (the same phenomenon happened in 1816, this phenomenon is also called the “year without summer” or “little ice age”). As a result, wheat did not grow, grain reserves began to run out, and food prices jumped. ("Slavic Encyclopedia. XVII century". M., OLMA-PRESS. 2004.). The plague began to spread.

In 1602-1603 there was an uprising that was suppressed. In 1604, False Dmitry I appeared with his army, who declared himself the surviving son of Ivan the Terrible from the Rurik dynasty, but he was an impostor who agreed to transfer part of the lands to Poland, in exchange for Poland helping him by military force to become Tsar. These difficult years fell on the reign of Boris Godunov. In the process of fighting against False Dmitry I, in 1605 Boris Godunov died, and False Dmitry I ascended the throne.

There were no coins of Boris Godunov with the date 1598, but all other years can be found on coins: RZ - 1599, RF - 1601, RAI - 1603, RBI - 1604, RGI - 1605