ABSTRACT
Mikhail Tatishchev was appointed ayaselnichiin 1596. Two years later he was sent to Lithuania to announce Boris Godunov's accession and in 1600 he played a prominent part in the negotiations with LewSapieha's embassy sent to Moscow to conclude 'eternal peace' between Poland and Russia. In these negotiations he was rude to Sapieha and even went so far as to call him a liar; Sapieha retaliated by calling the yaselnichi a groom. On Tatishchev's return from Georgia he won the favour of the False Dmitri and became a frequent guest at the merry-making in the royal apartments. When the Pretender's position began to deteriorate, Tatishchev turned against his patron and went over to the anti-Dmitri faction. He played a prominent part in the plot which led to Dmitri's overthrow and was at the head of the mob which broke into the palace. He was killed in 1609 by the mob at N ovgorod where he had been sent as commander in the previous year (RRS under name; see also article by Allen, 'The Georgian marriage projects of Boris Godunov', in OSP, 1965).
