#vasily iv

[mostly-history]

Portrait of False Dmitry I (Russia, 1607).

Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich was the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible. In 1591, he died of a stab wound in mysterious circumstances; later rumours would claim that Boris Godunov, who was tsar at the time, had murdered him so he could gain the throne.

False Dmitry I was the first of three men who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry.  He was backed by the Poles, and in October 1604 he crossed into Muscovy, with an army of mercenaries and volunteers.  By November, his army had grown to 16,000 men, and Godunov died the next year (either by poison or a stroke).  The pretender's army stormed the Kremlin, and False Dmitry was crowned tsar on June 10th, 1605.  However, he was murdered nearly a year later, and Vasily Shuisky became Tsar Vasily IV.

[ultimaratioregum1648]

Some illustrations of Medieval Russian Cavalry I retouched to feature the colours and coat of arms I designed for House Vojvodin, the ruling family of The Tsardom of Rus’skaya. These illustrations are for a low-fantasy setting of my design with technology equivalent to the late medieval and renaissance periods, where formations of heavily armoured and mounted knights fight alongside armies of pikemen and matchlock musketeers, where medieval-style stone castles are gradually being outsourced in favour of both lavish country estates and devoted military fortifications due to the advancements made in artillery technology, and where rising nation-states in the form of Kingdoms and Empires look beyond the boundaries of the known world in search of greater wealth and territory. In context to the lore of my low-fantasy setting, House Vojvodin is the ruling family of The Tsardom of Rus’skaya, or my fantasy setting’s rough equivalent to The Tsardom and Empire of Russia during the Tsarist Period. (1547-1917)

[mostly-history]

Vasily Shuisky's chart of election as tsar (Russia, May 1606).

[ultimaratioregum1648]

Some illustrations of Streltsy(Shooters) I retouched to feature the colours and coat of arms I designed for House Vojvodin, the ruling family of The Tsardom of Rus’skaya. These illustrations are for a low-fantasy setting of my design with technology equivalent to the late medieval and renaissance periods, where formations of heavily armoured and mounted knights fight alongside armies of pikemen and matchlock musketeers, where medieval-style stone castles are gradually being outsourced in favour of both lavish country estates and devoted military fortifications due to the advancements made in artillery technology, and where rising nation-states in the form of Kingdoms and Empires look beyond the boundaries of the known world in search of greater wealth and territory. In context to the lore of my fantasy setting, House Vojvodin is the ruling family of The Tsardom of Rus’skaya, or my fantasy setting’s rough equivalent to The Tsardom and Empire of Russia during the Tsarist Period. (1547-1917)