PC: Other "False Dmitri"s

Maniakes

In 1605, an impostor claiming to be the (actually deceased) youngest son of Ivan IV successfully seized the Russian throne and held it for the better part of a year. From what I gather, he lost the throne not through being outted as an impostor, but rather for a combination of unpopular religious policies and for marginalizing the Russian aristocracy in favor of his mostly-Polish court favorites.

Was there a unique situation in Russia that made it possible for an impostor to successfully claim the throne, or could impostors have risen to power in other major European countries in that time period had the right opportunities arisen?
 

Just a Rube

The obvious example is Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck in England at the end of the Wars of the Roses. Similar situation (imposter claims to be dead/imprisoned heir, part of long period of civil war). The Tudors defeated both of them, but it demonstrates the possibility.

Several other Russian rebels also claimed to be dead rulers (most famously Pugachev claiming to be Peter III as part of his rebellion against Catherine the Great).

The Italian merchant Giannino Baglioni claimed to be the infant John the Posthumous, switched at birth to avoid his murderous relatives. That rebellion never really got steam, but it's another footnote.

The real problem is that if any imposter did succeed in seizing power, s/he would do their best to erase all evidence of his/her imposture. Conversely, successful usurpers often try to paint the deposed monarch or his/her heirs as imposters (see the Glorious Revolution and the Warming Pan story). Indeed, it's sometimes difficult to tell if a failed claimant was real or not (e.g. Darius I of Persia seized power by overthrowing someone he described as an imposter impersonating the murdered brother of the previous king, but there are some historians who suspect the story was a fabrication by Darius to justify overthrowing the rightful king).
 

Bee

There were also a False Dmitri II (a/k/a the brigand of Tushino) and a False Dmitri III (a puppet of the Swedes) who also arose during the Time of Troubles.

The story of the False Smerdis of Persia (the immediate predecessor of Darius I) is a bit like that of False Dmitri I.
 

Maniakes

Just a Rube said:
The obvious example is Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck in England at the end of the Wars of the Roses. Similar situation (imposter claims to be dead/imprisoned heir, part of long period of civil war). The Tudors defeated both of them, but it demonstrates the possibility.

Several other Russian rebels also claimed to be dead rulers (most famously Pugachev claiming to be Peter III as part of his rebellion against Catherine the Great).

The Italian merchant Giannino Baglioni claimed to be the infant John the Posthumous, switched at birth to avoid his murderous relatives. That rebellion never really got steam, but it's another footnote.
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I knew about Perkin Warbeck, but not the others. What I was wondering was if the first False Dmitri succeeded where Warbeck and others failed because of circumstances unique to Russia (e.g. particularly bad record-keeping), or if it's just a matter of small sample size, the usual crap-shoot nature of usurpations, and the "none dare call it treason" effect you mention where an impostor who meets with sustained success could destroy any credible evidence of his falsehood.
 
Stolengood

Stolengood

Banned
Maniakes said:
I knew about Perkin Warbeck, but not the others. What I was wondering was if the first False Dmitri succeeded where Warbeck and others failed because of circumstances unique to Russia (e.g. particularly bad record-keeping), or if it's just a matter of small sample size, the usual crap-shoot nature of usurpations, and the "none dare call it treason" effect you mention where an impostor who meets with sustained success could destroy any credible evidence of his falsehood.
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It seems more to me like False Dmitriy I encountered a perfect storm of events to gain him the Tsardom; unfortunately for him, the weather soon cleared, and he didn't know the forecast (I know, I know, it's labored).

I don't think there's any other time in modern history where someone with not a drop of royal blood in their veins managed to successfully take the throne of a great European power. Bravo to him.
 
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Tyler96

There were numerous would-be Louis XVII's running around (like Naundorff), but I doubt they were ever viable.
 

Bee

Norway from about 1130 was a mess because of a string of pretenders claiming to be sons of king Magnus Barelegs sired during his adventures in Ireland. The first to take the throne was Harald Gille. There's no way to know if they were genuine. If genuine, they would have been illegitimate, but apparently in Norway that wasn't the problem it would have been elsewhere.
 
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