Death of Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible, dies in mysterious circumstances. After his father Ivan's death in 1584, Dmitri's elder brother Feodor I succeeded to the throne. However, government effectively rested in the hands of nobleman Boris Godunov. Since Dmitri had a claim to the throne which Godunov wanted to prevent, he was sent into exile with his mother and brothers, and died of an unexplained stab wound. The mystery surrounding his death led later to the appearance of a 'false Dmitri', claiming to be a royal prince, in Poland in 1601.


89 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Death of Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=10241, accessed 23 November 2024.]

10241 Death of Dmitri, son of Ivan the Terrible 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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