The Exiled Bell of Uglich

When Ivan the Terrible died in 1584, he left behind two sons, neither of whom was suitable to carry forward their father’s heirloom. One was Fyodor Ivanovich, who, growing up under the shadow of a terrible father and denied of motherly love, turned out to be shy and timid and sickly of health. He was the complete opposite of his father: a pious young man, fond of visiting churches and spending hours in prayer and contemplation. Ivan’s other son, Dmitri Ivanovich, was a three-year-old infant. Ivan did have a capable heir, his eldest son Ivan Ivanovich. But three years previously, Ivan the Terrible—in an act befitting his name—delivered a fatal blow upon the head of his son in a fit of rage and killed him. With no competent heir to the throne, Ivan the Terrible was forced to appoint Boris Godunov as the regent to Fyodor and rule on his behalf, while the three-year-old Dimitri along with his mother were sent to exile to Uglich, some 120 miles north of Moscow. Seven years later, in 1592, Dimitri was found dead with his throat slit. Foul play was suspected, and Dimitri’s supporters summoned an insurrection by ringing the great bell of Uglich. Suspicions naturally fell on Boris Godunov and a violent riot ensued during which enraged citizens lynched fifteen of Dmitry's supposed assassins, including the local representative of the Moscow government. Godunov immediately sent troops and the riot was swiftly quelled and the rioters arrested. Even the bell was not spared. In the Russian Orthodox faith, bells are believed to have souls and since only living creatures can have one, bells are considered alive and very much like humans. The church bell, in particular, was once considered a prominent citizen of the village. They had human-like names and parts of the bell’s body were given names after human body parts. A Russian bell had a head, a waist, a lip, a tongue, and ears.