The The The The The The The The The The The Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 125, the rebellion of Stenka Razin.

The piece of music I hope you just enjoyed was from the Nutcracker Sweet Act 1, Number 2, by Peter

Chikovsky, also known as The March.

Last time we recounted the tale of the first major rebellion of the 17th century, led by Ivan Bolotnikov.

This week, we will move ahead in time some 63 years later to the year 1670 and the revolt led by a person who has one of the best names in Russian history in my humble opinion, one Stenka Raisin.

While the Balunnikov rebellion had been put down brutally, Russia was still inching its way out of the time of troubles.

With Michael Ramon off in charge, there came a sense of stability returning to Moscow, but the

South was still for the most part lawless.

Roving bands of brigands, sometimes Cossacks, sometimes just bands of marauders,

attack traveling merchants, and pretty much anyone who cross their paths.

The government, weak as it was, could do little to stop them.

On top of it, many of the poor peasants would shelter the men in return for protection,

alerting them if government forces were coming.

In Moscow, Sir Michael Romanov, or should I say his advisory team, led by his father, Metropolitan

Filaret, was stabilizing the central government.

But one glaring problem was not being dealt with,

and that was the underlying issues that led to the Bolutnikov rebellion.

Instead, they increased the subjugation of the people.

After Zor Michael died in 1645, his son Alexis took over and created the law code of 1649.

It essentially divided the whole of Russian society into a stratified order.

As my former professor Paul Averich put it in his book, Russian rebels,

1600 to 1800, quote, peasants were tied to the land and townsmen were frozen into the occupations of their fathers and

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